Well, we made it back from vacation safe and sound a couple of days ago, and aside from me being deathly ill the day after everything is going just great. I am loving not having to commute to work everyday! I feel more at ease and less overwhelmed than I have in I don’t know how long. I finally feel back to myself, and I’m soaking it up.
Sadly, I had to basically drop off the face of the blog world for the rest of vacation because our Paris hotel did not have free wifi. Actually, there was a “mac station” in the lobby which you could use for twenty minutes. That’s right, twenty whole minutes! I’m pretty certain I wouldn’t even have been able to get my photos uploaded in that amount of time. Plus, the keyboard was not an American keyboard so the letters were all in crazy places, so typing even a one line email took an eternity. Needless to say, I was out of touch.
I still will be posting a recap of each day – I’m planning on putting up one post each day this week, in addition to my daily posts. So, don’t be confused…I am officially back on American soil:)
Today has been a blissful day. From sleeping in this morning to finishing my current read, “American Wife,” to working in the yard, shopping at the health food store, cleaning the house and just spending glorious time with my sweet J, it couldn’t have been a better Saturday. I’ve also enjoyed some delicious food.
For lunch I decided to pull together a variation of the meal in this post by Caitlin. I added frozen peas, corn and rinsed/drained black beans to a skillet and sauteed until thawed. Next I added two heaping spoonfuls of hummus plus a sprinkle of ground red pepper and mixed it up.
In the meantime I smeared a tad bit of hummus on a whole wheat tortilla and added some broccoli slaw and alfalfa sprouts.
All together now!
Delicious – with a side of cherries.
For dessert, Jon and I each had a little something that he created for my raging sweet tooth a couple of weeks ago:) A brown rice cake slathered with Maranatha dark chocolate almond butter, aka perfection.
I also snacked on some blue corn chips and salsa this afternoon. Do they have a support group for people who have a serious addiction to chips and salsa? I need help!
I’m off to work on cleaning out our office. I’m still trying to decide on what’s for dinner. There is nothing more fun than getting back from vacation and getting the fridge stocked with great food. The only problem now – there are too many awesome choices I can’t decide what to make!!
One other thing I need to mention. Jon and I have decided to take on a challenge. This is serious people. You see, we have developed a seemingly uncontrollable love for eating out. For the past month (or maybe more:), we have eaten out SO much! Generally we eat at healthy places, but our bank account sees little difference between pizza and veggies.
So, we are challenging ourselves to go a full week without eating out. Starting tomorrow (Sunday) and going through next Sunday, we will be eating at home. And this means no Starbucks as well (eek!). We figure it will be a good way to rediscover how much we love eating at home and how much money we can save in the process. I’ll be posting all of my meals for the next week, so you guys have to help keep us accountable! Do you think we can do it?
From eating bikinis to holding the hand of a giant, day 2 in Barcelona was one to remember. Here’s our day in pictures:
We hunted down this restaurant that was built in 1786 – it is the oldest restaurant in Barcelona. Sadly, it was closed, so we didn’t actually get to eat there. It made for a cute picture, though.
Instead we opted for this cute little cafe – Cafe de L’Opera. We saw it the day before while strolling down La Rambla, one of the busiest and most interesting streets in the city.
I ordered a bikini – hold the ham:) A bikini is a staple menu item at most restaurants here. It is essentially a ham and cheese sandwich – so you can see exactly how exciting my lunch really was. It actually was quite tasty, though. Jon went with the full bikini. He’s crazy like that.
Jon had scouted out this quaint little herb shop in our guidebook called L”Herboristeria. Del Rei. It really was just a little hole-in-the-wall shop that was cute as it could be. It even had this giant guestbook for us to sign, leaving our mark on this little place forever.
Adorable, right? And guess what else…
…chia seeds! It was the most random moment when I spotted them. This sweet little lady is the owner of the shop, and she didn’t even know what chia seeds are. Jon nearly brought her to tears by showing her the picture of her shop in our guidebook. Sweet.
The building on the left is an old government building where the royal family used to live. Inside you find these absurdly large statues of royalty. Kind of creepy…yet fun!
And moving on…
Sweet little nuns.
I love this little girl – from a distance of course:)
Beautiful church – even though it’s under construction. That is another quirk about Barcelona – there is construction everywhere!
Remember yesterday when I mentioned pick pockets being a serious problem here? We found this sign in Starbucks.
Arc de Triomf – when Jon and I were in Laos, the main (and only) sight to see was the Arc de Triumph, which was built by the French in Laos. This was my favorite part of day 2 in Barcelona because it was so beautiful. There was a huge park that backed up to the Arc and we spent some time just laying in the grass and walking around. The weather was beautiful and there were a lot of Spaniards out just hanging with friends, sun bathing, playing games etc.
Jon and I in front of the Laotian Arc de Triumph two years ago. I have to say I’m pretty excited to actually get to visit the Parisian one in the next few days.
Jon chillin’ on the Arc de Triomf
lovin’ on each other:)
Next on our path was this group of yoginis. I seriously wanted to join them, but I resisted. We still had sights to see!
Cascada in Parc de la Ciutadella – Okay, honestly that is all I know about this place. We saw it, climbed it, took pictures of it…just because it was so dang pretty.
Another beautiful church. I have to say, though, that if you’re into this sort of thing you must stop back by tomorrow because there will be an insanely gorgeous and amazing church in tomorrow’s post.
Mid-afternoon snack – a veggie pastry
and the precious little shop we bought it from
One of our last stops for the day was this Mediterranean port – there was a mall at the end of the pier and we did a little shopping at H & M.
And of course to top off the day Jon and I found our Mexican food. This guacamole was some of the best I’ve ever tasted! I also ordered a vegetarian burrito that was to die for. It was filled with veggies, refried beans, avocado, lettuce and some kind of unidentified sauce that was the key ingredient. Delish.
That’s all for day 2 (I’m blogging a day behind)! Tomorrow morning we leave for Paris. I’m going to try to keep posting, but our Paris hotel doesn’t have internet, so I’m going to try to track down an internet cafe. If you don’t hear from me, I’ll post recaps once we’re back in the States!
I miss you all, and I hope you’re all having a great week!
Hola! We arrived in Barcelona yesterday morning after getting only a couple hours of sleep on the red eye. By the time we caught a bus to our hotel and showered, it was about 1pm. Despite our tiredness, we decided to get out and explore this beautiful city.
Here is our day in pictures:
First stop on our exploration was the National Art Museum. We didn’t go in, opting to enjoy the beauty from the outside instead:)
The pictures are a bit dark because it was overcast. The weather is amazing, though, 70 degrees during the day and 60’s at night.
Looking back toward Plaza Espanya (where our hotel is) from the museum
where the 1992 Olympic Games were held
We went to La Boqueria (the main outdoor market) and I couldn’t resist snapping photos of the beautiful fruits and vegetables
the architecture and structure of Barcelona is absolutely quaint and breathtaking. I love it – it has stolen my heart.
there are many horses and carriages
the front of our hotel – we love this big wooden door that slides open
the Torre Agbar building – or as the guidebook calls it “Barcelona’s own cucumber shaped building”
We are spending plenty of time on the subway where pick pocketing is supposedly the worst. We keep getting warned by complete strangers to be careful. Today a security guard walked up to us on the subway and told us to put our camera, which was around Jon’s neck, in our bag. They are serious.
We finished off yesterday with dinner at a quaint little restaurant on the side of the street.
I ordered the vegetarian plate – hummus, pita, falafel balls, grape leaves stuffed with rice and a salad. It was delish! I haven’t had any problem avoiding meet whatsoever. I just say “soy vegetariano” and they know exactly what I want….or don’t want:)
Jon ordered this chicken dish with hummus, falafel and salad
That’s day one in a nutshell. We are loving Spain and the people here are wonderful. The things that really stand out to me so far are that pickpocketing is a really big deal (but people are being so kind to try and warn us), this should be called the “city of love” because everyone is always kissing each other, the weather is perfect and the streets and alleyways are adorable, and Spaniards are very laid back and friendly. I don’t want to ever leave! I guess I’ll let Jon peel me away, so we can go to Paris;)
Stay tuned for day 2 and to find out what I found in a little hole in the wall shop that is very dear to my heart. Adios!
This morning started off kind of rocky due to sleeping through our alarm and missing church. Sad:( We made a last minute run to the city last night because I needed to get some shoes to wear on our trip. I had a little too much luck with shopping and ended up with more shoes than I really need.
I’ve had worse problems. Either way, I guess our bodies weren’t quite ready to be up and at ‘em this morning.
We turned things around pretty quickly though, putting it in high gear to get ready to leave for Europe. By mid afternoon we had laid out most of our clothes to be packed, cleaned out the fridge, mowed two lawns (I mowed ours, Jon mowed a friends), and done three loads of laundry. I also was fortunate enough to get two of my drawers and my closet cleaned out. You see, I have had this stellar pair of Nike spandex workout capris that I absolutely adore, and they have mysteriously gone missing as of about three weeks ago. I really want to take them, but alas, even after looking every last place I can imagine they’d be – they have remained undiscovered.
Regardless of the busyness of the morning, I managed to throw together a healthy breakfast and lunch.
Breakfast – Yogurt bowl w/ one soy yogurt, sliced almonds, granola and dried cherries
Lunch – two slices Ezekiel bread, spinach and artichoke hummus, sliced cucumber, tomato and onion. With a side of corn on the cob. Kind of random, but we’re trying to eat the last of the perishables in the fridge.
I am so happy that I planned out my vacation outfits a couple of weeks ago. It has made packing so much easier. Now, if I could just get the laundry done, I’d be set! Folding laundry is my least favorite household task. I’m not sure why, but I’d rather do just about anything else.
We are flying out of Dallas on Tuesday, so we’ll be driving down early to stay with my sister for a day. We are actually comtemplating going tonight, but still have not decided whether it is possible, so we’ll see! Regardless, we will be making a pit stop at Whole Foods once we get there so I can stock up on some healthy snacks. I wouldn’t want to get caught with plane food as my only option!
As far as our time in Europe, I plan to enjoy the food and indulge, but in moderation. I’ll be packing a few of my own healthy things (think rice cakes, nut butter and bars) to supplement, and doing the best I can! I’ll be updating later about ideas for taking food on trips in case any of you are planning your own trips and are interested.
Gotta go finish packing – talk to ya’ll later!
What are some ideas that you have as far as packing food to take on an international vacation? How do you balance eating healthy and indulging while on vacation?
Tomorrow is my last day of school! I honestly cannot believe that my first year of teaching is finally over. It has truly been the most stressful, tiring, time consuming, emotional, roller coaster of an experience that I have ever been on. Through all the mountains and valleys, I have honesty learned so much – about myself, but mainly about teaching. When I started this year, I walked into such the unknown. Even though I student taught for three months in 2007, the two years separating then and now might as well have been ten years. Our year spent in Thailand was a hazy dream that divided all prior experiences from my current reality. Last August, I walked blindly into two preps, 150 16-17 year olds, two hours of commuting each day and quite literally scrambled each and every minute to figure out what I needed to do and how to do it. There were many tears shed and many sleepless nights. But I did it. I accomplished it. And I have to say…I’m so proud of myself.
I also have to pay tribute to my sweet husband who so graciously and patiently put up with my rants, my stress, my total neglect of wifely duties and, at times, my withdraw from normal life. I cannot even begin to explain how loving Jon has been throughout this year. He did laundry, cooked dinners, washed dishes, cleaned the house, helped me with school projects, went on Starbucks runs for me and encouraged me during the times I needed it most. And get this – he got up at 5:30 am every morning this entire school year and made my green monster, made my lunch and helped me get my stuff out to the car. Unbelievable. I most definitely could not have made it without his love and support. And to think he wrote me a sweet card and bought me a massage, manicure and pedicure as a reward for getting through my first year. He is truly the one who deserves the reward. My absolute world, that boy:)
And my mom. So many long drives home of her listening until my little heart was content. She’d give me advice, we’d hang up, and I’d call her right back for more. She never shows that she is weary of listening to me or helping me gain perspective. She has supported me so much through everything this year, and she’s always on my side. When I think of my mom, I find myself searching for a word deeper and more thorough than – thankful. There is no one quite like her and no one who could take her place.
All that to say…tomorrow will be a sweet day. Not only because the year is over, but also because there will be no more of this:
lunch for tomorrow – Amy’s Split Pea soup
some spinach and artichoke humms with Rye Crisp crackers…
and Greek yogurt with sliced almonds, cinnamon Puffins and a sprinkle of unsweetened dried cranberries for a snack
Plastic!
From now on, my daily eats will no longer be housed in plastic containers or plastic baggies. I will also no longer be eating half my meals in my car. It’s time for some real honest-to-goodness ceramic and silver!
My plan for the coming weeks is that I will be posting regularly to CSM and also that I’ll have time for more blog worthy meals…among other things of course. I’m in such anticipation of what is to come!
And let’s be honest, for starters that is Europe. Only 5 days and counting!
And with that, I’m off to bed. Apologies for this post being a bit heavy and non-food focused. Just had to go with what was on my heart:) G’night.
After another mini hiatus, I’m back again. I have been a terrible blogger, and I take full responsibility. Even tonight I’m under a time crunch, and I’m going to have to make this short. I just HAD to say a quick hello, though. I miss blogging tremendously, and I cannot wait to blog like a madman this summer. Only 2 more days of school and the chaos will settle. Then it’s off to Europe in 6 days!
Here’s a quick little update of what I’ve been up to the last week.
Dodging tornadoes
We had a serious tornado scare last week. This is the line of cars trying to get into the parking lot of our campus (Oklahoma State) basement. Finally, people just had to ditch their cars and run!
And taking pictures of the aftermath.
I’ve been making lots of these for lunch.
Posing for Jon in the morning before work.
Going to visit family and getting PeiWei to go on the way there.
Cooking healthy fare with my sweet MIL.
Sharing meals with Jon at Qdoba.
And drinking way too much Starbucks (as if there’s a such thing!).
I miss everyone, and I’ll be back full swing asap!
After a week long hiatus that seemed like an eternity…I’m back. I just needed a bit of a break. I’m in the final weeks of my 1st year of teaching, and I’m honestly just feeling a bit run down and overwhelmed. Give me 14 more days and all will be sunshine and roses. Forgive me for being a bit naive in thinking my life will be blissful in 14 days, but summer break has never looked better:)
Some of the things I’m dreaming of doing once I have some free time are: cleaning out our office. early morning runs, spending more time in the kitchen (which = a better CSM:), reading for pleasure, getting 8 hours of sleep, blogging more, gardening, going to classes at the gym, helping Jon with his business…I think that’s enough to get me started. Something you may not know about me is that I love being at home, and I love being domestic. So, 10 hours of commuting a week + working around 50 hours a week gets really old after awhile.
This weekend Jon and I have stayed busy trying to get ready for vacation. We’re counting down the days – only 17 days left until we’re on our way! Yesterday we spent the day shopping in the city, working on building a bit of a wardrobe up! That’s my kind of vacation prep:) We both got some really good deals. Today after going to church and getting some work done, we picked out the clothes we want to pack for our trip. The amount of luggage we can take is limited, so we went ahead and put together an outfit for each day. We laid them all out on the bed and took a picture of each one, so when we get ready to pack, we’ll already know exactly what to take!
When we lived in Thailand, we traveled so often that I became a self proclaimed pro at packing; however, as of late my skills have waned a bit, and I’ve become notorious for just throwing in almost everything I own because “how am I to know what I’m gonna want to wear??” I’m hoping this pre-planning will cut down on luggage weight as well as the “last minute running around like a crazy person throwing in random t-shirts I haven’t worn in the last decade just because I might need it” phenomenon! This will also make my husband very happy:) We also used our iPhone app to check what the weather is going to be like both in Barcelona and Paris. Praise the Lord, it’s going to be in the upper sixties and lower seventies the entire week!
Changing the subject – I got caught up for awhile earlier, looking at pictures of our time in Thailand. I get so nostalgic sometimes, thinking bout our time there. I found this video and thought I’d show it to your for fun – and for an example of how the Thais get their exercise in! They honestly don’t exercise like we Americans do. In fact, you would almost never see a Thai person out running. When Jon and I would go running near our neighborhood, the Thais would just stare at us like we were from another planet. haha.
This video is when we were visiting a village over Christmas, and as we were wandering through the streets, we came upon a group of Thais “working it out.” If you look closely, you can see Jon in the back in the green shirt – he decided to join in:)
I’m sorry that I’m not posting food pictures tonight. I have been slacking a bit with the busyness this past week, and I honestly haven’t taken many food pics. I’m sorry I haven’t been more committed to making that happen. I’ll be getting back in the groove this week, and it’s only going to get better once school is out and I’m at home more! Thank you so much for sticking with me. I’m so thankful to you who come to my little blog. You’re amazing:)
We just arrived back home from our Mother’s Day vacay about an hour ago. It was a fun overnight trip, but I am exhausted! Too much driving methinks.
Anyway, last night my mom made enchiladas for dinner. She custom made each of our enchiladas just the way we like it. Sweet mom:) Mine was stuffed full of sauteed spinach, onions, mashed black beans and diced green chilis all rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla and drowned in green enchilada sauce. Delish!
This morning we spent time hanging out at the house, then headed out to take my mom out to lunch. Mexican food was the meal of choice (again!) – no complaints about that! I went with my favorite way to healthify Mexican food by ordering the taco dinner. I subbed in steamed pinto beans for the meat and added lots of lettuce, tomato and salsa. I also ate a bit of rice on the side and of course tortilla chips and guacamole. Might have went a bit overboard on the chips. Oops! Unfortunately I failed to get a pic, so you’ll just have to take my word – it was tasty!
After lunch we headed over to visit my Grandma and Grandpa. Luckily, my aunt, uncle and cousins had the same idea, so we all ended up there at the same time. Fun!
I am so very thankful for the moms in my life. I am so blessed.
My mom is there for me anytime I need her. I always think of the zillions of times I’ve called her to ask for advice or even just to vent about something. She never fails to listen for as long as I need her to, and she always gives the best advice. She knows me better than almost anyone. I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life. She’s the best mom I could ask for and a heck of a grandma too:) Right, Olive?
I’m also so very thankful for my mother-in-law. She is the sweetest, most wonderful MIL I could ask for. She loves me like I’m her own daughter and is always so supportive of Jon and I. She’s selfless, sweet and darn funny:) Don’t know what we’d do without her. She’s off galavanting (love that word:) around Greece right now, so we didn’t get to spend time together today. We were together in spirit, though;)
I hope that I’m able to be even half the mother that these two are.
Well, I’m off to get some grading done. I’m still buried in essays, but I can see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Just gotta keep chipping away!
Hope you all have a great end to the weekend and a great start to your week!
Friday I took off work so that Jon and I could leave early for the Train concert. I started my morning off with an ice cold green smoothie and Pilates at the gym. Bliss. I miss going to the gym in the morning. Only four more weeks until I can go everyday!
Later I had some carrots and hummus to hold me over until lunch.
A little while later we packed up, hopped in the car and headed south. The concert was at a casino about 3 hours away, so we had quite the drive! It was nice, though, and we arrived just in time to check into our hotel, eat some pizza for dinner (sorry, no pics!) and make it to the concert with plenty of time to spare.
Guys, the concert was awesome! If you don’t listen to Train, you should, and if you do listen to Train, you MUST hit up one of their concerts. They put on a great show and played all my favorite songs. Jon and I sang and danced the night away:)
The concert was over by about 10:30. We just headed back to our hotel and spent the evening just hanging out. It was the best night.
Saturday morning we slept in a bit, then hit the road. We picked up some Starbucks for breakfast – I had the perfect oatmeal made with soymilk. I added about half the amount of nuts and dried fruit that they gave me. This was my first time to try Starbuck’s oatmeal, and it was fantastic! It was the perfect serving size and was so delicious! I would definitely get this again.
Next, we met up with my MIL and FIL in the city. My FIL was going to play some golf, so we planned to hang out with my MIL for a couple hours. Not before joining in on a little family golf and juggling.
I promise there is a ball there:)
Later we hit up PeiWei for lunch. Yum! My favorite. I had a nice ice water with orange…
one vegetable spring roll…
and the Korean Spicy dish which consisted of brown rice, tofu, mushrooms, carrots, long beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, onions and sesame seeds. I cannot get enough of this dish! I ate almost all the vegetables and about half the tofu and rice.
After lunch and some quick shopping, we stopped at my mom’s house to pick up Olive and headed back home. It was such a great weekend…I totally wish I could go back and re-live it all!
I started off this morning with a bowl of cereal. I found a new Nature’s Path cereal that has corn flakes, amaranth flakes and quinoa . It’s awesome! We found it at Big Lots ( a bargain store) of all places. So random! I’ll be doing a real review over it later.
After church, we had lunch at Panera (I had my usual – black bean soup and mediterranean veggie sandwich), then spent the rest of the day taking a nap, watering the flowerbeds, doing laundry, washing the car, cleaning out the fridge and buying groceries! Such a productive and fun afternoon.
Olive even made a new friend:)
And I ended the afternoon with another energizing green smoothie. This one had a TON of spinach, Amazing Grass, 1/2 banana, almond milk, a bit of soy yogurt, ice and a sprinkle of granola on top!
Well, that’s it for tonight! I’ve got to do some work for school still, and I need to be off to bed in about a half hour. eek!
Jon and I have been working on planning our summer vacation for awhile. Remember this post? Well, Jon has been spending a lot of time researching flights and hotels, trying to get us a good deal. We really haven’t been picky about where to go…we just knew we wanted to go overseas because we haven’t been outside the U.S. since Tokyo almost 2 years ago!
Anyway, we were looking more into South America because the flights are much more affordable than Europe. On a whim the other night, Jon typed in the information to find out how much a flight to Barcelona would cost, and in another instant a round trip flight from Dallas to Barcelona to Paris and back to Dallas popped up. Whoohoo! I’m so excited. I’ve never been to Europe, but have always wanted to go. We leave just a few days after I get out of school. It’s already almost time to start packing, ha!
Now I just have to survive four more weeks of madness and we’ll be on our way!
I’ve been bursting at the seams all day, but now on to breakfast.
I had an Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter and 1/2 a sliced banana. One of my favorite breakies. Gotta love the fine paper dishware as well. Great for on-the-go!
Lunch today was Pita Pit, and unfortunately I didn’t get a picture. It was delicious as always, though!
Later I had a snack of Whole Soy vanilla yogurt and raw oatmeal. And some carrots for later on.
Raw oatmeal is SO good in yogurt! I used to eat it in Greek yogurt a long time ago, and I hadn’t had it in awhile. The other day I ran out of granola, and decided to throw in some oats instead, and I fell in love all over again! You MUST try it.
I had a meeting after school today that lasted until 5, which means I didn’t get home until 6. As soon as I walked in the door, Jon had some casual clothes laid out for me and said “get dressed, we’re goin’ out!” What a guy!
Needless to say, it’s been a busy evening, and I’m about to peace out and get some sleep. This is really Thursday night for me because I took off work Friday. The plan is to stay home and grade essays all day, and then head south to hit up the Train concert! We’re staying in a hotel Friday night, stopping in the city to see the inlaws on Saturday and then heading home! Blogging may be a bit “hit and miss” this weekend, but I’ll def. be around.
Hi! Tonight is going to have to be a quickie. I’m going to try to work out before I go to work in the morning, which means getting up at 4:30am…eek! It’s just not working for me – this “working out when I get home from work” thing. I’ve tried and tried, but it is just brutal, and I miss morning workouts so much! We’ll see how it goes:)
I did want to wrap up events from this past weekend. We had such a great time with our friends who were in town, and we did end up going to see my cousin finish his marathon. A couple things about it: A. I have been kicking myself for not running at least the half marathon this year. B. It was so fun just to be a part of it and see all the runners finish their races. It totally made my day!
Here he is finishing the race. His race time was approx 3 hours and 44 minutes. And it was his first time! I thought he did awesome.
Proud finisher:)
The marathoners in our family:)
After the race, Jonathan and I met my grandma and my aunt for lunch. Unfortunately I didn’t get a pic (shoot!), but I had a “vegetable plate,” which consisted of a house salad with honey mustard dressing on the side, corn, steamed broccoli, steamed carrots and a plain baked potato with a side of salsa. It was delish!
We finished off our time in the city with a trip to Target and Marshall’s. I got some new workout capris, which I’ve been wearing pretty much constantly since yesterday afternoon. They are so comfy!
Anyway, I got all excited there for a minute and jumped ahead a bit. Let me back up and show some weekend fun in pictures
Baby Kate – Our friend’s Jason and Emily stayed with us Saturday night. This is their adorable little one
After dinner at our Thai Restaurant in town. Also, the same restaurant where Jon took me to tell me he wanted to be “more than friends.”
Cashews and Veggies with a Chili ginger sauce. Seriously to die for. Literally and figuratively if you consider the amount of sodium in it. o’well. Can’t win ‘em all, can we?
served with brown rice. mmm.
Well, that’s it from the weekend, and I’m off to hit the sack! Only 4 weeks and 3 days until I have much more time for exercising, blogging, cooking and eating!
sidenote: I wrote this post Saturday afternoon, but it didn’t publish. So, I’m actually posting it Sunday night instead. Can’t let a post go to waste!!Recap of the rest of the weekend to come on Monday.
I have been having a serious itch to go biking lately. The problem is that I don’t own a bike. boo! So, I opted for the next best thing this morning and went to an 8am spin class. It was not fun dragging myself out of bed on the one morning I get to sleep in a little, but it was so worth it! I knew it would be – it always is, right? Anyway, I realy enjoyed spinning, and I’m definitely planning on hitting up another class this week. If you’ve never been before, I have to warn you – it is tough stuff! I went to my first spin class soon after we ran our marathon last year, and I thought it’d be a piece of cake. Boy, was I in for a suprise!
Speaking of our marathon, this weekend is the one year anniversary. I cannot believe it has been that long! My little cousin is running it this year, and we’re contemplating going to see him tomorrow. As you know, we have friends staying with us this weekend, though, so I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it!
Ironically, the friends who stayed with us last night are the same friends that ran the half marathon last year. We met up with them before the race.
before the race last year
After spin this morning, we had a green monster partay!
The goods. You’ve gotta give people options! Everyone ended up going with my recommendation: cocoa bliss and frozen cherries…with the other usual staples of course. I loved getting to make gms for everyone…so fun!
Spreading the GM love totally made my day:)
Our friends, Jason and Emily, and their baby Kate are coming in this afternoon as well. We’ll be spending time with them this afternoon, and then we’re all slated to go to a friend’s wedding tonight. It’s an outdoor wedding on our university campus, so it should be fun!
I slowly come to consiousness as a faint glint of light peeks through my bedroom window. I think to myself that something just doesn’t seem right. Rubbing my eyes, I sit up and look over at the clock. The moment of panic hits me like a ton of bricks…it’s 6:21am. I was supposed to leave for work 21 minutes ago. Whoopsie!
Needless to say my morning was a little crazy! I got ready in record time (15 minutes) and only ended being about 15 minutes late for work. On the way, I nervously gulped down my newest version of a green smoothie.
Yesterday Jon even crumbled up a tiny bit of coconut butter and sprinkled it on top. As I sipped away, I would get an occasional chunk through my straw. They don’t call it cocoa bliss for nothing!
Lunch today was leftover chili, Ryvita crackers and a pear.
On my way home from work I snacked on this Clif bar, while listening to a Jillian Michaels podcast. I had heard about her podcasts for awhile, but had yet to listen to one. It was ironically appropriate for the things that are going on in my life right now. She talked about how being empowered means you have to have a dream, then overcome your fears to make that dream your reality. Usually the fear is rooted in being afraid of failure. Also in order to reach you dreams, you must first believe that you can actually do it. Sounds cliche, but it’s so true.
After I got home from work, I decided to “kill two birds with one stone” by getting in a mowing workout. Our yard was in serious need of a trim, and I knew that Jon had a million things on his to do list for this evening, so it was me versus the yard. I just barely won:) I have a feeling I’m going to be quite sore tomorrow, and to be honest I think I pulled something in my left leg. Hopefully it’s all in my imagination and will be back to normal by the morning. We’ll see. While cleaning up our front porch, we decided it was high time we take care of this:
A few weeks ago we noticed that a bird had made its nest in the wreath on our front door. It was quite dangerous, really, because there were many times that I or Jon almost got decapitated by the mama as we tried to go in or out of our front door. Unfortunately, she must have given up on this little one, because we have not seen her in days. So, sadly, we decided that because it was past due time to switch from our Christmas wreath to our Spring wreath, we had to do away with the little nest as well. I know this seems tragic, especially considering it’s Earth Day and all, but the mother had abandoned it anyway, so it really had no chance:(
After finishing up with the yard, we headed out to get a quick bite to eat, run an errand and race back home to get some cleaning done. As I mentioned yesterday, we’ve got company coming for the next few days, so the house needed some major work. First, we had a second round of this
In the interest of the blog, I have to apologize for getting the same exact sandwich I got last Saturday. I tried to convince myself to switch it up, but I just couldn’t do it. It was too good! However, surprise! this time it came with cheese on it, which I happily removed. The other slight tweak from last Saturday’s meal:
I do realize this is not the healthiest choice, but by gosh, I just had to do it tonight! When we went to this restaurant on Saturday, I lusted after this guy, so I decided I’d just cure my lusting by indulging a little bit tonight. It was ice cold and worth every sip!
We’ve spent the rest of the evening cleaning like mad. Bring on the company!
I better get to bed if I want to avoid another incident like this morning. Can you believe it’s already Friday again?? I’m so glad!
Wow, guys. I have been so MIA the past couple of days. I have been swamped with work…essays seeming to multiply like bunnies. I wake up thinking about work. I go to bed thinking about work. Eek. I need to get a grip.
I do have to say I am stoked about some coming announcements that I’ll be making – I know it’s kind of mean to say that and not provide more info…I hope you’ll forgive me. Sorry! I just can’t contain myself!
Anyhow! I’ve totally slacked on snapping food shots the last couple of days, but I have some weekend eats lined up, just waiting to get their chance in the spotlight.
Friday lunch was leftover vegan basic pasta sauce over whole wheat spaghetti. Also added a special touch of chopped avocado on top! I used to would have never thought of putting avocado on top of spaghetti sauce, but these days I more often ask myself “why not??” rather than “why?”
Snack on Friday:) Yogurt with sliced almonds and dried crans
Breakfast on Saturday. The return of the Pumpkin Protein Waffles. Round two = better than eva’
Next up: easy prep for mystery recipe – to be featured in a coming post, so stay tuned!
more prep…
simmerin’ away – Can we say “fix it and forget it?” I think we can:)
On Saturday, Jon and I strolled downtown to check out the arts festival. While the festival wasn’t exactly as festive as we had hoped, we dined at our most beloved downtown restaurant – Cafe Bella. The atmosphere is quaint and cozy and the menu has a plethora of veggie/vegan options. Here was my menu item of choice:
sub in hummus for cream cheese. Obbbviously. I die.
Next on the Saturday afternoon agenda was a trip to the health food store – Nature’s Supply. They were hosting a customer appreciation sale, and I’ll tell ya what…I was feelin’ the love. I picked up some Pirate’s Booty (obsessed), blue corn chips, organic whole wheat tortillas, tempeh, some dark chocolate and…wait for it…Artisana Cacao Bliss Raw Chocolate Coconut butter – whew! That’s a mouthful! And it was.
I had never tried coconut butter before, but of course had seen it all over the blog world. I just couldn’t bring myself to fork over the big bucks for it; however, who could pass it up as part of the customer appreciate sale? I mean, c’mon! Of course, the second I was in the car and out of public view I had to pop it open and get a good taste. The verdict? Delish! I can’t say I will be buying it again because it set us back a good $10 (on sale!), but that is no reflection on how tasty it was. I’m lucky to splurge on a $5 jar of almond butter though, so I best not get ahead of myself.
Perfection on an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin english muffin.
The rest of the weekend was spent working on projects, hugging and cuddling, and soaking up every last moment of the weekend. Monday morning swept in much too soon.
We also watched a movie called Beyond Borders. Have you guys seen it? It was riveting. It was also very thought provoking and impactful. I adore movies that make me think outside the bubble that I live in. When we lived in Thailand, I was confronted every day with the reality that many people don’t have everything, such as materials possessions, food, shelter etc., that I’ve been blessed with. Since we moved back to the States, however, I’ve found it’s easy to forget. I like watching movies that deliver prespective right to my front door. This movie really made me think about all that I have to be thankful for. It also made me really evaluate the things that I really don’t need. More on that to come in the future.
What is your favorite thing you did and your favorite thing you ate over the weekend?
Do you find it hard sometimes to keep perspective in this material driven world that we live in?What kinds of things do you do to keep yourself in check?
I hope you have had a great start to the week. Here we go again, ya’ll!
Happy Thursday:) I honestly can’t believe we’re only a night’s sleep away from Friday. I am SO glad. I’m just counting down the days until school is out – only 6 weeks and 1 day to go.
I received my Women’s Health magazine in the mail today, and it has some great stuff. Women’s Health and Oxygen are my favorite magazines – I feel they are the most down-to-earth and real of all the fitness magazines. This issue has Jillian Michaels on the cover and a great interview with her inside. It’s funny how when you need a certain kind of affirmation about something, it just keeps popping up everywhere. In her interview, Jillian gives some great tips on how to achieve success, so I thought I’d share them with you!
Define your goal and be specific: you have to know exactly what you’re going after before you can go after it.
Believe in your ability: A lot of times people don’t really believe they can accomplish their goals. If you don’t believe in you, then who will? This is the one I have the most trouble with. At times I’ll feel so confident and self assured, like I could become the next Oprah if I wanted…other times I have trouble believing that I can make it through my next workout. This is something I am really working on in my life right now.
Stay positive: the minute you turn around to bash yourself, reverse it and give yourself a compliment.
Imagine your goal: Visualization allows you to get comfortable with the idea of change. I was just thinking about this today. I took a few minutes to visualize my goals. I pictured myself as I would be a year from now if I actually stepped out and tackled my goals. I even envisioned what the blog post would look like when I recap everything I will have accomplished (obvs. I think of everything in terms of blog posts:) This was really motivating for me. I desperately want to live that story!
Get educated: Studying up before pursuing your goal helps you make powerful choices that effect change. Knowledge is power.
Don’t fear failure: It is an integral part of success. I fear failure all the time! I think the big point here could even be – it’s okay to fear failure, as long as you don’t let that fear hold you back. Conquer it!
Get feedback: look for someone who’s educated in the goal you’re trying to achieve and seek out constructive criticism from him/her.
I think I’m going to type these up and post them where I can see them on a daily basis. Keeping things like this in front of me helps me stay motivated and inspired!
Today was honestly pretty stressful. Work was more stressful than usual (I won’t even go into that), and I got a call from my mom this morning, letting me know my grandpa had an accident. He had climbed up on the roof of our lake cabin to clear off some limbs, and when he went to climb back down, one leg of the ladder sunk into the ground, causing him to fall from the roof level. Unfortunately, he cracked three ribs. Fortunately, he didn’t have any other injuries. I am so thankful to still have my two grandparents, and all the time I think about the possibility of something happening to them. I don’t know how I would handle it. Even this got me all worked up, and I just wanted to go visit him, not be at work! I got to talk to him on the phone for awhile after work, though, and he seemed to be in pretty high spirits, considering.
For lunch, the parents at our school put together a luncheon for the teachers. I knew right away (from past experience) that there would be nothing there for me, so I packed this
Overnight oats! 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup plain soy yogurt, 1/3 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, sprinkle of cinnamon, 1/2 chopped banana. Let sit overnight. Add toppings! Almond butter to be specific. Delish! My coworkers give me the strangest looks sometimes;)
Here’s the rest of the day’s eats
Yes, that would be cheeseless pizza again. Yes, I just had it last Saturday. What can I say? I was having a serious hankering for it, and I was exhausted from the day. What’s a girl to do?
I also am proud to say I worked out today, even though it was all I could do to keep my eyes open during the commute home. I threw on my gym clothes and headed to the gym. I cranked out a quick 2.5 miles on the treadmill, and followed it up with some ab work using the Bosu ball. Yay!
What is your favorite fitness magazine? Or would you rather read online articles/blogs instead?
What strategies do you have to help you stay motivated and inspired?
Chia Seeds Direct is having a sale on white chia seeds. Get 10% off by using the code WCS. Also, U.S. residents get free shipping. What are ya waiting for??
Well, that’s it for today, folks! Hope you all have a great Friday! G’night.
Hey! How is the end of your weekend treating ya? I love Sundays, but I’m not too crazy about Sunday nights because I start feeling not too excited about the week ahead. Do you ever feel bummed out on Sunday nights at the thought of starting the work week? Or do you feel excited about the coming days?
Honestly, I don’t have a whole lot of exciting things for you tonight…sorry! We have just had kind of a lax day. I did snap a quick shadowy shot of breakfast
This bowl included 1/3 cup oats, 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 tbsp almond butter, a couple of spoonfuls of soy yogurt and homemade granola. I’ll never tire of this combination – the toppings are where it’s at! This granola is a homemade recipe that I created. I’m on a misison to create the best clean granola I’ve ever had, and while this one wasn’t quite it, it was pretty close. It was definitely tasty enough to sprinkle on for breakfast! As soon as I hit it, I’ll let you guys know, but until then…onward and upward!!
The rest of the day was spent napping, grading essays, going to visit some friends, working on some projects and watching Amazing Race. Tonight they were in Singapore, which was so fun because Jon and I were just there about a year ago. We saw some of the same places we had been – fun! Here are some pics from our time there
They ate ice cream sandwiches exactly like this on the show tonight
China town
The contestants took an overnight train from Malaysia just like we did, and I swear we saw this same sign on TV when they got off the train. It was definitely the same station. Ah, memories:)
Have you been on any international vacations? What has been your favorite place to visit? Jon and I are planning an international vacation for this summer, and we are trying to decide where we want to go. We’ve been to Israel, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. Any suggestions on great destinations? I’d love to hear about your favorite trip!!
Apologies for the lack of food pics tonight. Hope you all have a great start to the week tomorrow!!
Sorry I’ve been MIA all day! I’ve just had a lot going on…trying to make decisions and work on some things. Hopefully I’ll be able to share more about them sometime soon. In the meantime, let’s get to the good stuff – food!
Unfortunately, I came out seriously lacking in the veggie department today. I did start off well, though! Jon and I slept in, then got up and went for a 3.5 mile run. Upon arriving back home, Jon made me an awesome green smoothie. That’s not all, though:) Check this out:
Green Smoothie: 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop Amazing Grass, 1 tbsp almond butter, 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1/2 frozen banana and ice
+
2 shots of espresso
=
Cafe Green Smoothie…yahoo!
Jon and I are lucky to have the best barista in the world as one of our good friends. Ginger owns one of the local coffee shops in town, The Daily Grind. Jon worked there for about 5 years, thoughout the course of college, and we still love to stop by and visit and get our coffee fix whenever we can. Ginger was a bit skeptical when I showed up with my smoothie, requesting that she add espresso to it, but she gave it a whirl too and loved it! It as pretty tasty, if I say so myself:)
After leaving the coffe shop, we decided to hit up the little Farmer’s Market in our town. I LOVE the Farmer’s Market, but unfortunately I don’t get to go too often. We had a great time! Here’s our loot:
Locally made peanut butter dog treats!
Pepperjack goat cheese – I’ve been wanting to try goat cheese for a long time. As you guys know, I aim to eat 90% vegan. I feel better when I don’t eat meat or dairy, plus I have a serious problem with the way dairy is produced in our country. However, I know that Goat’s milk is easier to digest as well as lower in fat than cow’s milk. If I’m going to eat cheese, I definitely want it to be produced locally. So, I got really excited when I found this, and I was so excited to try it.
On a Ryvita cracker. It was quite tasty. I probably won’t be buying any kind of cheese on a regular basis, but if I ever eat any it would defnitely be goat cheese. Huge fan!
Fresh salsa made by this friendly man:
Not a great pic, but I love photographing people! Especially real people in their everday lives:)
Fresh eggs for Jon
Lunch wasn’t quite as fresh unfortunately. I finished off leftover cheeseless pizza from the other night. It was pretty tasty, but I was a bit disappointed with the lack of veggies, and I honestly didn’t feel to great afterwards. o’well. I’ll get ‘em next time;)
Midafternoon snack was this fruit strip. These are all natural with no added sugar, and you can pick them up at your local Walmart. They’re a nice sweet treat to have on hand.
Do you go to a local Farmer’s Market? Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or whatever, how do you feel about buying non local food products? Do you feel strongly about trying to buy local?
We spent the rest of the day working on projects and cleaning the house. I can’t believe that Saturday is already over…it has seriously flown by. I’m off to bed, so I can get up for early service in the morning! We haven’t been to church in several weeks because we’ve been out of town etc., so I’m really looking forward to it. G’night ya’ll:)
Hey friends! Happy Easter! I think I’ve said that already in at least one post, but I think it’s fun to just celebrate all weekend!
Saturday Jon and I headed to my hometown. We met up with my mom and step dad and then headed over to my Grandma’s for Easter dinner. Before we left our house though, I tried to shove a little too much into the morning, which made us run pretty late. I did get a lot accomplished, though! Went for a three mile run, made a couscous salad and protein bars, packed, went shopping for a birthday present for my Grandpa and drove an hour home! No wonder we were late!
We had such an awesome day with family, though. I got to meet my little cousin, Caroline for the first time ever, and she is just a doll! It totally made my day (and gave me a little bit of baby fever:) to see her.
I just have to say – my Grandma and Grandpa are awesome. I love them so much, and I’m so proud of them. They have both made healthy changes over the past year, and jointly have lost about 60 pounds so far. They both have so much more energy!
It thrills me to no end, too, because my Grandma has moved to fixing healthy dishes at family gatherings, as opposed to all the traditional unhealthy staples. She does still mix some of those in, but I never have to worry about having something healthy, even vegan, to eat when I go home! Check out my plate from yesterday.
I ended up with fresh strawberries and pineapple, a black bean and rice dip, red bell pepper strips, cucumbers, the couscous salad that I made, and one perfect little chocolate covered strawberry:)
It was delicious! She had a ton more options of veggies, as well as some ribs, chicken and baked beans (which I passed up of course:). I was just too full to eat it all!
After dinner, we had great family time. I love just sitting around hanging out together. We did have a little dessert as well. It was my Grandpa’s birthday, so my aunt brought birthday cake.
I brought vegan peanut butter chocolate chip protein bars, and everybody loved them! Well, most everybody at least. It totally made my day because the last time I took a vegan cake, it was NOT a hit:( Can’t win ‘em all I guess!
Tomorrow I’ll be posting the recipes for the couscous salad as well as the protein bars that I made. Make sure you stop by because the couscous salad was to die for! It was the first time I’d made it, and I seriously loved it. Here’s a little teaser:)
Today we went to my mom and Clark’s church, and then met my grandparent’s for lunch at Mazzio’s (an italian restaurant here in OK) afterward. I was a little concerened because I hadn’t been to Mazzio’s since I became vegan, and my old favorites included their famous ranch dressing and deep dish pizza (eek!). It totally worked out, though! I’ll also be sharing that with you tomorrow:)
Well, I’m off to get stuff ready to start another week of school. I hope you all had a lovely weekend, whatever you did, and have a great start to the week! See you tomorrow!
As mentioned (ahem) yesterday, I’ve been a bit behind on blogging my meals. And I figure what’s a food blog without pictures of food?! So, here’s a little catch up…
Two different days this week lunch was Amy’s low sodium lentil vegetable soup. I love to have Amy’s soups on hand for busy weeks like this one. I think this is my favorite one!
The stats:
Not bad, eh? The ingredient list is stellar as well. I also had a nice, juicy pear on the side.
This is my “plan b” for mornings when I don’t have a green monster: an ezekiel english muffin, 1 tbsp nut butter and half a sliced banana. Heaven.
A quick and easy dinner – Joseph’s whole wheat and flax lavash wrap, hummus, mushroom, cucumber, zucchini, squash, onion, spinach and hot sauce! With pear slices and a kiwi.
I love to take salads for lunch – they’re so refreshing! They’ve got to be loaded with goods if they’re gonna make the cut, though;) This one was fixed up with chopped cucumber, zucchini and squash, corn, chick peas, chia seeds and balsamic.
I hope everyone has a fantastic, family filled Easter! It’s one of the greatest weekends of the year because we get to specifically celebrate Christ’s Resurrection and the fact that we serve a living God. I love that! I honestly don’t know how I would live without Jesus by my side giving me comfort, guidance, love, grace and acceptance.
Aside from praising and thanking Him, we’ll be spending lots of time in the beautiful weather doing this…
First things first – don’t forget to enter my chia seed giveaway if you haven’t already! Deadline is tonight at midnight!
Hey guys! Happy April Fool’s Day! I’ve only had one trick played on me today. A couple of my super thoughtful and wonderful sophomores (insert eye roll) hid their cell phone up in the ceiling tiles of my classroom and then proceeded to call it incessantly during the next period. Imagine the Lion King ring tone going off every 2 minutes throughout an entire class period. Wonderful.
I’ve been very contemplative for the last couple of days. These pictures exhibit exactly how I’m feeling.
Picture taken on one of our outings to the villages during our year in Thailand
Picture taken on a boat in Halong Bay, Vietnam
Right now I’m in the midst of making a pretty big decision. I don’t want to disclose any details yet, but I can’t help but write about it because it’s been on my mind constantly.
I have so many different thoughts swirling around in my mind. One of them has to do with passion. I am a firm believer that everyone has the ability to chase after something they want, and catch it if they have enough determination and discipline. I think the one factor that often holds people back is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of taking risks. Fear of failure. Fear often paralyzes people and holds them back from living the story that God wants them to live.
My mom told me a story this morning about my step-dad’s dad (we’ll call him Steve). When he was younger, he and his wife (we’ll call her Ann) lived in New York, and he worked for the FBI. He hated living in New York and longed to move away from the busy city. When Ann became pregnant with their first baby, Steve knew he couldn’t live another day in the city. So, he sent Ann ahead of him to a small town, and after quitting his job he soon joined her. He didn’t have another job yet, and I can only imagine the fear he must have felt at taking that risk. In the grand scheme of his life, however, that huge risk became just a small stepping stone that led him to where he wanted to be. Needed to be. In fact, he has lived quite a lovely story and has been blessed beyond measure.
This story reminded me of an article I read not long ago. This article made me really ponder this one question: what if? What if I took that risk? What if I actually threw myself full force into pursuing my dream? What if I failed? What if I allowed myself to live without abandon and without regret by pursuing my passions? What if I stopped taking myself too seriously and gave myself a little more credit for the things I do well? What if I stopped worrying more about what other people think of me than about what I think of myself?
When Jon and I decided to move to Thailand for a year, despite the fear, I kept coming back to this same conclusion: that if we didn’t go, we’d always wonder – what if? What would it have been like? What kind of relationships would we have built? In what ways might God have changed us to be better than we were before? I’m so glad I don’t have to wonder about those questions. I want to look back on my life and see a story that possesses many victorious, joyful moments, yet also many difficult moments resulting from living so fervently that occasional failure was inevitable. I’m praying that God will provide opportunities for this kind of story and give me the courage and the confidence to embrace them.
Sorry this post is a little heavy tonight. But many things are heavy on my heart, and I need to talk them out, if even only in my head. So, I ask you – what might your “what if” questions be? Please share them in the comments. Feel free to make yours a little more specific. Sometime soon I’ll share my own specifics with you, but for now I need to keep them under wraps:) Thanks for understanding.
I hope to see you all again tonight for a wrap up of today’s eats – I’ve been a very bad food blogger the last couple of days, but I promise I’ve got photos just waiting to be unleashed:)
