Weird.

Guess what I did yesterday?

That's my model face

I got out of the pajamas that I’d been in for 3 days! Making myself look decent changed my mood instantly. I looked better, therefore I felt better. Goes to show that clothes really can affect how you feel about yourself. If you dress like a slob, you will probably feel like a slob too!

Yesterday was a good day

After showering and putting on makeup, I drove around to do a few errands (the library was closed ) and came back to work on my blog! Right now, I’m in the process of deciding on a new name for it…it’s taking a while I want to make sure I pick the right one!

The rest of the afternoon was spent practicing my side crows pose. Remember my Lululemon goal?? With a little practice, I’ve finally got it!

Consider that goal accomplished (a month late, but who cares?!) ;)

Now I’ve just got to work on splitting those legs while I’m in that pose

Anywho, while I took pictures of myself doing yoga, Jason was on his way home! Once he was here, we headed to the gym together and here is what I did:

x=sets of

• 15 minute warmup on elliptical
• 3×10 tricep extensions 40 lbs.
• 3×10 bicep curls 35 lbs.
• 3×10 chest press 20lbs.
• 3×10 row backs 45lbs.
• 3×10 lateral pulldowns 55lbs.
• 100 crunches
• 40 side planks (each side)

Wheewwwwww…that was just what I needed! I love feeling sore after a good strength training session

Leftovers were for dinner (that vegan shepherds pie has got it going on, fo’ sho’)..Recipe to come soon!

So that was yesterday! And this morning, I woke myself up with a hot mug of green tea and a waffle breakfast

Waiting for this to settle so I can do some yoga from yogadownloads.com!

As of right now, I’d better get to work on the blog! I leave you with pictures that were taken during our fun in the snow It snowed 7 inches here this past weekend! Such fun!

Jason made a sled for me using the side of a washer and a dryer belt, haha

We went sledding with Jason and his two sisters, Sarah and Rebecca. It.was.so.fun. Can’t wait to do it again next year! That is, if it snows

Okay, now I leave you! Time to do some “work” Tootaloooooooo!

I am going to try to go vegan again. Remember my last attempt? My “vegan day” didn’t last very long, but that is because I went into with the wrong mindset.

I was scrolling the aisles at Books-A-Million yesterday (mainly the cookbook/health aisle) when I came upon the vegan section. I grabbed a few huge cookbooks and sat down in the middle of the aisle. With the books on my lap, I proceeded to skim through them one by one and I was pretty excited about what I saw

Food that looked as tasty as EVER, with no animal products! “Can you be vegan and really enjoy food? Is it possible?”, I thought to myself.

My heart started skipping with excitement! This time, I knew veganism would be feasible, I just can’t take it lightly or be too careless with the things I eat.

Would it be a challenge? Only giving up cheese!

As you know, I already despise buying eggs. I buy them out of habit and most of the time I don’t enjoy eating them. For a while, I didn’t mind buying “Cage-Free” eggs until I found out how the company I was buying from defined “Cage-Free”. Basically the hens were free to roam, indoors on a marble floor with some exposure to light. Um, that’s not outdoors. Yes, it is Cage-Free but not what I thought it was. This infuriated me. And of course, the company can get away with it because after all, the hens are “Cage-Free”. Rawr.

I protested eggs for the next few weeks after finding that out, but eventually went back to buying them (reluctantly).

I was looking at Healthy Ashely’s blog, trying to figure out what made her want to go from vegetarian to vegan, and how she went about it. The one thing I remember reading is the word: freedom.

Freedom. How freeing would it be to go into a grocery store and not feel the pressure to buy animal products? That would cut out half of the store! Knowing that you can still have delicious food without any animal products is exciting to me! It makes me feel adventurous and daring You guys know that I love a challenge!

Why am I going vegan?

I am going vegan because I feel like it’s my way of doing right in the world. Not only to animals, but to our environment as well. Besides, I’m partially already there! I do not drink cow’s milk and I loathe buying eggs, so why not just cut them out? Cheese may be a little hard because it’s in everything I cook, but there are some vegan cheeses out there that I can’t wait to try! Oh, and I’ve already ordered a go-to vegan cookbook:

Am I scared? No, just excited

Am I worried? A little bit. I’m mainly worried about whether or not I’ll be able to tell if a product is vegan or not. Research will be in order! And I’m sure this will be a trial-and-error sort of thing until I get the hang of it

I want this. I feel like it’s what’s best for my body and the environment around me

Later this morning, I am hitting up my local library to check out a few books that will get me started on my vegan journey! My body is practically giddy with excitement about the good I will be doing for it

Oh, and guess what? I am going to blog my seven vegan days for you this week! Each day I will hop on here and do a blog post of things I ate, how I felt and just the process in general.

So, I guess I’ll see you ladies and gents later Have a wonderful (snowy?) day! I’ll leave you with a pic of my snow puppy

Thanks for your input on a few good reads

It feels good to be blogging again. I’m not even sure what I plan on writing about today, I just know that feel like writing

This weekend was a little stressful for us, actually this whole week has been stressful for us! Christmas is coming up and you can’t even turn on the radio or TV without hearing “Hurry! Buy now!” Or some crap like that. I don’t buy into that mess. I find it a little ridiculous and annoying, actually

We’ve decided not to get each other presents this year. Money is tight, and while I am still job-hunting, it may be awhile before I actually get a response to all of the applications I’ve put in! Which brings me to another note:

I’m starting my own business!!! <–Just a wee bit excited So far, I’ve planned out what services I will be offering and what area I will mainly serve. The things still left up in the air:

1. How much to charge for said services.
2. What to name the company.

It will be a home-based nutrition consultation company, something that I will do on the side at first, just to see if there is a demand for that sort of thing or not! But either way, it’s very exciting  getting out there on my own and practicing nutrition the way I want to practice it! So, yay for me!

Moving on, this weekend we took Trixie to the dog park to get her “socialized” a bit. She pretty much stayed by our side until time to go, she’s such an old fart!  Haha

I can’t imagine having a dog that plays like this:

Hehe I love watching all of the dogs at the dog park. (A few of them even play a game of fetch with me!)

After the dog park, we came home and Trixie immediately settled into her afternoon nap with the cat.

Yes, I agree. They ARE so cute.

Aside from starting my business, know what else I’m excited about? Working out!

It’s been 3 days since my last gym visit and I’m craving it like a model craves a doughnut. Bad analogy? Oh well.

I’ve downloaded some new tunes (GLEE, duh!) and I’m ready to throw on my running shoes and hit the treadmill like whoa. Just gotta wait for Jas to come home, and then it will be time!

Switching subjects:

Last night I found a new black bean burger recipe.

From here on out, I shall dub myself the “Bean Burger Queen” Bean burgers are becoming my “specialty” if I may say so. This recipe was just okay. I think I liked the pineapple rice more than the burgers themselves! The flavor was kind of “meh”. The rice that goes along with it was pretty fun to eat! Who would have ever of thought to put pineapple in rice?? Not me! But I loved it!

I think this recipe is still my favorite go-to bean burger recipe. It has a lot of flavor and a crunchy outside too. Nomnomnom. ( ‘Tis also Jason’s favorite as well!)

And that concludes my sermon on the best bean burger

This morning I woke up and went to my last Chemistry class before finals and it. is. freezing outside! Yesterday we had about 10 minutes of snow, but ohmygosh, it is so cold today! Lower 30′s and the wind is unbelievable! I’m now snuggled inside with a warm sweater and the space heater at my feet

I love the fact that technology has allowed me the pleasure of searching for a job while I sit in my flannel pajamas and drink hot tea Yay, technology!

Oh! I’ve started “Born to Run” and I love it! Can hardly put it down!

Feel free to keep sending reading suggestions! I love adding items to my list

And if you have an awesome bean burger recipe that you think is out-of-this-world, send that my way too!

I’d better go for now! See ya later in the week Stay warm folks!

It is such a beautiful day here in N.C. It’s about 70 degrees out and there is a little breeze going, so pretty It’s the perfect fall day.

Too bad I’m too exhausted to get out there and enjoy it! — I know what you are thinking: This is going to be another whiny post! I promise you, it is not

First and foremost, let me say that the Secret Clinical Strength deodorant totally rocked. I still am a little shocked by how well it worked. I know it’s only deodorant, but it’s a big deal to me because now I don’t have to worry about pit stains or smelliness at the gym. No more missing out on my workouts because I’m too embarrassed or worried about my sweatiness! That’s major!

When I first opened it, I realized it was not the solid kind, it was a liquid…and that immediately gave me doubt. I had tried the liquid kind before and it seemed to disintegrate as soon as I put it on. I quickly put some on (was taken aback by how strong the scent was!) and headed out the door to my internship. It dried very quickly and I didn’t notice it for the rest of the day! I was even back in the pool area – where they keep the temps at about 80 degrees for the swimmers – and I didn’t sweat at all.

Around 4:30 I went upstairs to get ready for my Pilates/Sculpt class and wondered for a few moments whether or not I should reapply, but I chose not to. You guys- it was fabulous! I went through the whole sweaty, high-impact class without sweating under my pits once!

In a nutshell: It’s the best I’ve ever tried and definitely a keeper I’m willing to pay the extra few dollars for something that actually works…now I can focus on my workouts instead of focusing on my sweatiness! And that’s awesome

Moving on – Who’s ready for Thanksgiving??!! Me Me Me!

I’m mostly ready for Thanksgiving because I know that the weekend after Thanksgiving, we get to get out our tiny, fake Charlie Brown Christmas Tree!

I love that little tree. It’s been in storage all year and I can’t wait to bust it outta there! Along with my other Christmas goodies….such as my reindeer antler headband

It’s actually Trixie’s reindeer headband but she freaks out whenever I put it on her!

Yay for all things holiday-ish!!! By the way, Trixie is acting like she feels a lot better. Today is her last day of medication, hooray! She’s even started participating in our nightly race back to the house Every time Jason and I take her for her last walk during the night, we all race back to the house (with me announcing the person or dog that is in the lead) and usually Jason wins, except Trixie won last night! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her that energetic!

And yes, if you are wondering: we are dorks. 

Switching topics!

This past week was my last at the internship. I’ve gotten all of my hours (actually 10 hours over what I needed!) and I am now done with my co-op. And I am also one step closer to graduating! I wasn’t excited about it at first, but the closer it gets, the more freakin’ awesome it sounds! Jason keeps asking me how I’d like to celebrate and my first initial thought is always: Um, I’d like to celebrate by being accepted into the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ! That’s how! We will see about that though

I guess in the meantime, I could always use a weekend (or just a day??) in the mountains No cell phone, no computers…nothing but window shopping and hiking on the agenda…yeah, that sounds real nice.

This past week was a tough one – physically. Sometimes my insomnia doesn’t bother me that much, other times it’s like going through the day after being hit by a truck. My body begins to feel heavy and it takes so much effort to do even the smallest thing. That’s how it’s been this week. Even though I slept 10 hours last night, I woke up feeling utterly exhausted. It’s just one of those days and I’m not in a crabby mood or anything but this girl does not feel like doing anything.

Thinking it would give me more energy, I made a trip to the gym earlier and completed 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio (elliptical/stairs), 30 minutes of strength training and 15 minutes of abs…I left feeling even worse than before! It’s funny how that happens I guess the body knows when it needs rest

Anywho, I’ve been reading non-stop all morning…it’s the only thing I can think of to do that doesn’t take hardly any effort at all. Plus, I love to read. Right now, I’m reading this:

It’s just a tad bit scary; the type of book that I definitely don’t want to read before bed! It is well-written and suspenseful, a little sad too..I only have about 5 chapters left!

I’m snuggled on my bed – still in my workout clothes, no shower yet – with the computer on my lap and fuzzy monkey slippers on my feet..see?

Jason just called across the house: “What time are we grocery shopping?” Bugger. I forgot about grocery shopping! And we have to go  today because if we don’t, we will be eating dried cereal for dinner. Boo. Better get my game face on! I’m sure the stores are swarmed with folks that are trying to buy Thanksgiving Day ingredients! BUGGER AGAIN. I was given the chore of putting together all of my recipes and making a grocery list out of them! Crap.

I better get started before he comes in here and see’s that I’m lollygagging By you guys! Have a wonderful/pretty weekend!

Sorry I haven’t posted in so long (or maybe it just feels that way??)!

Life sort of got in the way. Shall I give you an update? Mkay

My best friend gave birth to her first child last Friday!! I’ve been spending time falling in love with him and trying to help the new mommy out as much as possible. Oh, and I also made another A on my Chemistry test that Friday too That’s 3 in a row….BOO-YAH. <–I especially want to say that to the know-it-all that sits in front of me in class.

Anywho, in other goings-on: Trixie has been sick. Last week she pee’d on the floor everyday of the week. She is not the type of dog to do that, so I knew something wasn’t right. And that suspicion turned out to be true when I found blood in her urine yesterday Today I took her for a vet visit and they confirmed that she had a UTI…they gave me antibiotics and all of that good stuff, so hopefully this will pass within the next 10 days. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that a UTI is all it is and there is nothing underlying going on! *I just want my old doggie back. I hate to see her mope around the house with a sad look on her face! It tears up my wittle heart*

If you are looking for pics, they aren’t coming! Sorry! I’m babysitting at the moment and I’m on someone else’s computer. I was just feeling the need to write and connect with the blog-world again But I can promise you one thing: I’m about to pour my soul onto this little screen (yet again)..so here goes…

For the past week or so, I haven’t been myself. Every day I wake up and look for a job but there is nothing out there in my field right now and it’s really getting me down.

I want to work again. 

I should be happy that I’m graduating in 5 weeks, but honestly, I feel nonchalant about it. Like: “Whatever”. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’ve been having mood swings like crazy. The other day I started crying because I put too much BBQ sauce on my breakfast burrito. I mean, seriously?? Come on, Stacey!

And another part of it is -and I wasn’t going to mention this, but I guess I will- my internship.

I’ve been pretty vague about what I’ve been doing and how it’s going, but I’d like to talk about it. To someone other than Jason, because I’m sure he is sick of hearing about it!

It’s not what I expected. When I first started, I was full of energy and enthusiasm about spreading the great word of Nutrition around. I couldn’t wait to host a healthy cooking class or give nutrition consultations to help people start eating a little healthier.

I’d go in every day with bright eyes and perfect posture and confidence, ready to tackle any questions or concerns the members had for me….but the things is: they didn’t. 

I spent weeks trying to conduct and promote my classes and nutrition education sessions. I even tried to organize a Diabetic grocery store walk-thru…I volunteered on Saturdays, sitting outside with sign-up sheets for all of my classes, and guess what?

Nothing. Not one person signed up for any of my classes. It’s made me heartbroken in a sense. Heartbroken.

I feel stupid and naive for thinking people would come rushing to me to learn about nutrition. I feel like a complete jacka** sitting out there, trying to get people to come over and see what I’m doing in the YMCA.

I feel defeated.

I can’t believe it’s affected me as much as it has. It’s even affected my relationship with Jason. I feel useless and unimportant, like I don’t matter.

Instead of hanging my head high, I’m looking down at the ground and ignoring the world around me. I just want to feel needed….

One day, after a particular disappointing day at my internship, I called my advisor at college and told her that I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a nutritionist anymore..that maybe it wasn’t the right field for me.

Thank God for advisors, is all I can say.

She told me to not give up and to take this experience and learn from it. That people are stubborn and most of them don’t want to change, and that all I can do is put the information out there and wait for them to bite. That even though there will be many people who don’t want help,  there will be a few that do. These words of wisdom soothed me a little…

I still can’t help but feeling like a complete failure.

Where am I headed after college? To University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ to become an R.D. And I have no idea what I will do after that…

I am passionate about health and wellness, and I feel I will remain passionate about it in the years to come. I just hope that after becoming an R.D., I will find a job that suits me and makes me feel needed, or like I make a difference.

I’m a dream-big kind of person. The type that wants to save the world and make it a better place, the type that would help anyone if they just asked…I wish they would just ask…

I need my happy-go-lucky spirit back. Please keep Trixie in your thoughts! I’ll be back this weekend Sorry if I’ve downed your Wednesday :/ Thanks for listening

I can’t believe it’s only Wed! I haven’t much felt like blogging these past few days. Probably because I’ve been too busy laying on the couch underneath a fluffy blanket, watching old SNL episodes In other words: It’s cold outside!! Hot tea has become part of my daily regimen again, and I could not be more excited about it! Hopefully the Celestial Seasonings holiday teas have hit the grocery store shelves by now

Moving on…I’m going to go ahead and apologize for how random and scatterbrained this post is going to be. There are a ton of topics that are bouncing around in my noggin and I’ve chosen to write about them all So if you are looking for a smooth-flowing story to follow, please look elsewhere NO NO! STAY AND READ BECAUSE I LOVE YOU

First order of business:

Lookey, lookey what I go in the mail!

*Please ignore dirty dishes in sink!* Can’t wait to pump this baby up! The lovely folks from the CSN stores sent me this to do a review on the blog Be on the lookout for a “How-To” guide! And maybe even before and after pics?? They also sent me an oh-my-gosh-it’s-so-cute-I’m-going-to-pass-out oven mitt!!! Mine was in dire need of replacing…for reals. It had holes in it and stains on it…blech

It no make me happy.

Not like this one!

Isn’t it the cutest thing ya ever did see?! I have a thing for owls. I totally wanted the apron too, but my bank account would not tolerate the extra spending. Maybe for Christmas?? *Hint hint Jason*

So cute! Okay, enough of that Moving on the next unrelated topic!

Trixie at the dog park.

What other dogs do at the dog park:

(source)

What my dog does at the dog park:

She sits on her rump and looks annoyed when other dogs come near here, but I still love her.

Next subject! (Are you liking all of these subjects? Haha! I like it because I can type the exact way that I think: Like a total spaz. If you ever have a face to face conversation with me, I am all over the place. I owe that to A.D.D

I’ve been cookin’ good lookin’ (s?) . For one, I hate to blog my food. Well, it’s not that I “hate” it but I find it very time-consuming. By the time that I am done taking a million different pictures of it (surprise: they all come out looking the same!), it’s gone cold Another thing, my house has bad lighting…and I’d rather sit down and enjoy it rather than have it go cold and miss out on dinner time with Jason because I have to get back up to go heat it!

But I have been making some yummy dishes The other day I made a pizza using homemade pizza sauce! My very first I was so proud

All I did was add some jarred red bell peppers, olive oil, parmesan cheese, basil and tomato paste into a blender and VIOLA! A yummy pizza sauce was born The topping is just mozzarella cheese and roma tomato slices. (You hafta spend a little time dabbing off the extra grease or not, but it’s worth it!) I hate half of this bad boy. What? I like pizza

And the thought of pizza brings me to my next subject: Thanksgiving!

Jason and I are hosting our very first Thanksgiving (Thankstaking?) lunch/early dinner at our house this year Who’s excited to eat yummy food all day until you can’t button your jeans and have to change into stretchy pajama pants?! Meeeeeeeeeeee!!! I am! I am!

Clearly, I am way excited I’ve been working on the “menu” and am having a blast coming up with things to cook and bake! So far, we are having:

• Honey-glazed ham (for the meat-lovers out there)
• Sweet potato casserole (duh)
• Deviled eggs
• Whole wheat dinner rolls
• Green beans
• Pumpkin and pecan pie
• Apple crumble
• Pumpkin beer (wait, what?)

Other vegetables at the dinner: TBA (To Be Announced)

Moving away from food and on to fashion:

Yeah, I went there. Sunday’s are my most fashionable day (obviously). Jason’s response: “I can’t believe you’re going to put this on the Internet babe.”

 In my defense: I hadn’t left my house all day. You know when you have those days where you just spend all day inside, watching TV, working in front of the computer, cleaning house, not brushing your teeth until about 2 p.m.? Well, it was one of those days for me Shine on, inner nerdiness, shine on.

And our last topic of the evening (afternoon/day?): Jobs, careers and all that fun stuff!

Since I graduate in December, I’ve been looking for a job - in my field - steadily for the past few weeks. The only one’s that have come up are out-of-state! Florida, Pennsylvania and Arizona Sorry, but I’m not willing to move. My life is here in N.C.

I’m getting a bit discouraged, feeling like maybe I’ll have to accept something less than what I want. And of course, I have the ability to just go out and get a job at any old place (like a clothing store…or a clothing store) but then my mind says “You didn’t go to school for 3 years to go back to work at Old Navy!!” Not that there is anything wrong with working at Old Navy, it is a job. No hate mail please. But you guys know what I mean.

Did any of you have trouble getting yourselves off of the ground after graduating?

Okay! Today is Coupon Day!

Time to start clipping! Clip, clip, clip!

Over and out!

*Two after-thoughts* <–I knew this would happen!

1. Wish me luck on my Chemistry exam this Friday! Hopefully I’ll make another 100, woo woo!

2. If I were to do a VLOG (video blog) what would you guys want to hear (besides the sound of my beautiful voice ) about or see? Would you even be interested in a vlog?

Later taters!! Over and out..for realz this time

Thank goodness it’s finally here! My week has been a little boring, but I still have some random thoughts brewing in my brain, so why not blog about’em??

The most exciting things I’ve done this week include:

Riding the bike while watching “Friday”… (my favorite part is when Smokey gets set up on a blind date with that girl’s friend that supposedly looks like “Janet Jackson”)

..And giving my stinky dog a bath. Does washing a 55 lb. dog count as exercise? No? Well it should. It’s been 2 months since her last bath (I know! I know! I feel terrible..no hate mail please Sometimes things like that just get pushed to the side, but now she is clean and happy)

I think she was ready for one too, she practically jumped into the tub…and she even gave me a few kisses on the face while I was washing her

The worst, most cumbersome part? Grooming her afterwards!

“Rawwwrrrrrrrrrr”

That’s the Hair Monster. He comes around all the time, hiding in sneaky places like under the couch and in corners of the kitchen. And he stays for days. Especially after Trixie-bear has just had a bath. I have to brush and brush and brush her to get all of the fur off! She’s a golden retriever/chow mix…does that give you an idea of the amount of fuzz we have around here??

That’s pretty much all of I’ve done this week except for Chemistry, my internship and working out. I update my Activity Log on a regular basis, be sure to check there if you’re wondering what my workouts have been like!

Exciting things that haven’t happened yet:

• Today is my iced coffee day! I allow myself to get one iced coffee a week, and today is the day! I think I may even add a shot of pumpkin to it
• This afternoon I get to hang out with my preggo friend (she’s due next week!). We are going to the bookstore to look at trashy celebrity gossip magazines!
• Tomorrow (at 7 a.m.) I get to run a 5k with my old Girls on the Run team Can’t wait to see them again!
• I have 2 product reviews coming up for the blog, and one involves a “How-To” tutorial
• My first Vlog is coming soon! You guys will get to hear my sweet southern accent along with my terrible grammar, haha

The other day when I was working the fitness floor at my internship, I had a random thought pop into my head:

What makes a person a runner, and not a jogger? Is there a difference in the two? Is a runner a person that runs at a faster speed on every run? Do you think any person that gets out there and runs is a runner? Should there be a difference in the two?

I’m wondering this because the other day I was on a run (or jog?) and someone asked me “How did your jogging go?” Ummm…my what? I’m a runner, darn it! Just because I run 10:30 minute miles, am I now classified as a jogger? Do “joggers” run two half-marathons in one year? What’s your input?

Anywho, I better get off of here and get to cleaning my house. I have to get ready for school in a little bit…..though, I kind of wish that I was on a boat. With my swim-trunks and my flippie-floppies.

“This boat is REAL!” “F*@# oak trees, I climb buoys motherf***er” Bwhahahahahaha Now that should start your Friday off right!

(source)

Everyday Sometimes I daydream about being able to see the Grand Canyon at sunrise.

(source)

Sometimes all it takes is some rolling around on the floor with my dog for my sour mood to go away.

Sometimes ice cream is the first thing that comes to mind when I’m deciding what to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner.

(source)

Sometimes I want to trade in my 4 mile run and opt for some dancing in high heels around my house.

(source)

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve chosen the right career path. Culinary school seems very tempting.

Sometimes the kind of person that I used to be makes me want to cringe.

Sometimes I wonder if peanut butter-flavored almond milk will ever be invented.

(source)                                                              This                                            +                       This

Sometimes I want to buy a hotdog from the vendor at the corner store just because I feel sorry for how desperate he looks for customers. And I don’t even eat meat. (One time he tried to wave me down to buy a hot dog)

(source)

Sometimes I wish there was a national “Cook In Your Kitchen” day, where you can spend all day in the kitchen experimenting with different foods and hold taste-testing for yummy recipes

Sometimes it feels like my brain is splitting in half. Literally.

(source)

Sometimes I laugh uncontrollably during serious situations.

Sometimes I want to shove a sock in Jason’s mouth when he snores!

Sometimes my cat and dog really get on my nerves. Sometimes it’s like I have two toddlers running around that I have to clean up after.

Sometimes I surprise myself.  (You are looking at my Test grades for Tests 1 and 2 for Chemistry…um 96 and then 100?!? Who am I?!)

Sometimes I feel like I form stronger bonds with animals than I do with humans. Sometimes I feel like a weird-o saying that!

Sometimes I wake up with the strong urge to dye my hair pink and get oodles and oodles of tattoos all over my body. (Identity crisis much?)

(source)

(source)

Sometimes I shout “BOO-YAH” after winning a game of UNO.

Sometimes I wish I could straighten my hair in less than 2 hours.

Sometimes I envy Jillian Michael’s ability to scream and yell at people, and tell them how it really is. I’d probably get punched in the face if I tried it.

(source)

Sometimes I watch Spongebob while working on Chemistry homework.

Sometimes I try to dance while I run…and it’s not very pretty…but it is fun!

Sometimes I have many different outlets, but writing is usually my best one

Ugh. I’ve had a pretty cool weekend, but my stupid camera is doing weird things! So no pics of any of it Every time I would try to snap a picture it would cut off! So then I would charge the batteries, but they refuse to charge. So…RAWR. Maybe it’s because we’ve had them for the past 5 years and they are finally just dying on us…never to be brought back to life again *Sniff Sniff* Boo hoo!

Anywho, guess what?!

I got me some glasses <–I’m meaning to use bad grammar by the way

Whatcha think?? You like? Don’t worry. The sticker on the left lens is temporary! Hehe

It took me over an hour to find a pair that I thought were semi-cute. And these were it. So there you have it

Oh and I was also able to take a picture of the most fantastic dinner I’ve ever made. Friday night was deemed Southern Dinner Night for two reasons:

1. I wanted southern comfort food.
2. I wanted southern comfort food.

But the “healthy” version of course!

On the menu for our southern fare (said in a southern drawl):

Cajun Black-Eyed Peas and Greens (source)

• 1 (14 oz.) can black-eyed peas
• 2  teaspoons  canola oil
• 2/3  cup  chopped onion (1 medium)
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper (1/2 medium)
• 10  garlic cloves, pressed
• 1  (1-pound) package chopped fresh collard greens
• 2  teaspoons  Cajun seasoning
• 1  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  (32-ounce) carton fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1  bay leaf

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender and break easily. Drain. Using potato masher, mash potatoes. Add milk, butter, salt and pepper. Stir and serve.

Vegetarian Brown Gravy

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Preparation

Add all ingredients into a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir, cook until mixture thickens, stirring frequently.

And last but not least: The cornbread!

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup yellow corn meal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix together wet ingredients into a bowl, dry ingredients into another. Combine all ingredients together. Spray 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Pour ingredients into pan, baking for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Let cool. Serve hot with butter.

Oh. my. fanny.

This meal was the most delicious southern meal I think I’ve ever eaten. Not to toot my own horn or anything but………………TOOT TOOT! And there wasn’t any meat! Even without meat, the meal was very filling. All of the flavors went together so perfectly. Here is my plate!

Times this plate by 2 please Making the cornbread with honey really gives it a sweet and savory taste. I will definitely be making this meal again soon!

That’s all I was able to capture with the camera :/

If you must know, I spent Saturday volunteering a YMCA fundraiser and then went on a 3.5 mile run with Jason. He and Trixie had a snuggle session in the kitchen this morning:

I’m not really sure what is with our dog. This morning we wanted to eat outside so we took her out there with us. There is a tree over our house (resulting in bad lighting!) and the acorns fall onto the roof making a loud popping noise. Trixie is scared to death of loud noises. This morning she jumped when it happened and at first I thought it was a little funny because she’s such a scaredy dog, but then I saw that she was trembling uncontrollably from it Poor dog! She then started to hide under our chairs and table, almost knocking us and the table over! So we took her back in and ate in peace

That’s pretty much it for my weekend! I’m off to go buy batteries for the camera! And next time you see me, I’ll be inviting you in to take a look at my dojo!

Hope you guys had have (it’s not over yet!) a wonderful weekend! Thanks for all of the kind words on the last post

I put on some work out clothes, drove to the grocery store and bought a 24 pack of bottled water. I filled a cooler full of ice and shoved the bottled waters down in there so they would get nice and cold. I then proceeded to drive to the greenway, set up my cooler near the front and hand out waters to everyone that was exercising that morning. It was 8 a.m.

I could have stayed in bed. I had a million other things to do that day, but I wanted to give back in a small way. I wanted people to have a small reward for getting out of bed themselves and making the choice to exercise.

At first I got some really weird looks from runners and walkers. Like: Why is she just giving out water? A few people couldn’t believe it was free and offered to pay me for it! Others called me sweet and said “Thank you” many times over. And that made me happy One older lady was extremely nice and kept telling me what a sweet girl I was and I think she was about to start pinching my cheeks until her husband caught her attention, haha!

It took 45 minutes to give out all of the waters, which was a little shorter than I had planned (I had even brought a snack with me!). Once it was over I packed my cooler back in my car and drove home. With a smile on my face It made me feel so great to give to others. Even if it was only a bottle of water. I felt like, in some small way, that I had encouraged them to get up early and exercise again next weekend.

I got to thinking that day.

About how wonderful our bodies are, and I’m not talking about look-wise. I mean, I have imperfections everywhere. One huge birthmark on my leg, another on my stomach. A few pimples on my face every now and then. Stretch marks on my hips and maybe a little cellulite on my arse (:D). But inside, I think my body is beautiful.

I think I’m sounding pretty hippie-ish right now, but that’s okay

My body carries me day in and day out. It allows me to place my feet on the floor in the morning when getting out of bed. It gives me the strength and flexibility to do a back bend during a yoga session. It allows me to chug uphill on a long run. And sometimes at the end of the day it tells me to relax and soak my muscles in a hot bubble bath.

And so….I try to do things that will make it happy.

Like staying active…

Feeding it ice cream when the craving hits…

or going the other way and loading it up with veggies…

My body loves that first sip of coffee in the morning..

(source)

and it also loves the many cups of water that follow throughout the day!

(source)

My body is happy when we take Trixie for a walk in the park…

or when I take it up the mountain for a hike..

It’s also happy to get the occasional beer or glass of wine

And did I mention dark chocolate? It goes crazy for the stuff!

(source)

It’s happy when we complete 13.1 miles together

My body loves getting hugs from my fur-child…

…and from my not-so-furry boyfriend

It’s happy to stand in the kitchen for long periods of time while I cook up a  nutritious meal to feed it..

..and it’s always happy to get some rest when it can…

I’d like to think my body is pretty happy with me and the way I’ve been treating it It may even stick around for years to come if I keep up the good work!

My Philosophy?

Put good things in so that good things will come out. Challenge your body on a regular basis. Test your strength and go beyond what you think are your limits. Find new boundaries and discover a whole new comfort zone that you never thought could exist. Buy a new vegetable that you have never cooked with once a week. Experiment in the kitchen with healthy baking recipes. Find time to try something that you have always wanted to try. Explore. Discover. Experience.

What have YOU done to make your body happy today?

[I am getting glasses today! A happy body is one that can see where it's going, right?? ]