Birthday Bliss

I had the most wonderful birthday! I made a breakfast of eggs, fakin, and sweet tomatoes. Then, I spent the morning picking in the park.


Dinner was pizza (not on my regular eating plan) and a red velvet cup cake for dessert. Mark and I are finishing up my birthday (and our spring break) watching Roxanne. Cup cakes, Steve Martin, and the man I love. Happy birthday to me!!!

Cooking up a storm

I have found a whole new food world. I've started following a bunch of vegetarian and paleo bloggers. PaleOMG has some GREAT recipes for treats and No Meat Athlete reminds me that I can get enough nutrients with out animal protein.

I am cooking a lot more. Cooking is starting to become part of my routine. And, I like it. Besides feeling great, I can justify putting all those great items on our registry!

I've got some red beans cooking right now with onion, garlic, and yummy spices. Man, I eat a lot of beans. Last week it was black beans. My favorite part is the toppings!

Oh, and I don't know why I didn't think of adding almonds to to the baked peaches. Yummmmmmmm!

In CrossFit related news-Lori and I did our first CrossFit total today. I love working out with Lori. We are both realizing that we are strong, strong, strong! My totals for today were:

Back squat - 175
Shoulder press- 75
Dead lift - 155 (I've got to work on my form)

I'm feeling great and loving every day!

Week 2-ish

Well, this weekend went well. I used Saturday as my "don't feel guitly" day. I had a glass of wine and even ate a small cookie! But, I didn't go out of control with bad foods. When I have cravings I just pop a couple of nuts or raisins in my mouth, or drink more water.

I did not make the stew this weekend. I also didn't make black beans. If I am going to stay on track this week I'd better make sure I soak the beans before I go to work so I can cook up some go-to protein this week.

Mark got Chinese food and I asked for only steamed broccoli. Wow, who am I? I am taking fake chicken, broccoli, and the sweet potato (that is now cooling) for lunch tomorrow. I also baked up a batch of sweet potato brownies. If they were cool I could tell you if they are any good. They are cool and they are good. Oh, so good. Excuse me, I'm going to go make sure they still taste good.

Yup.


My clothes are fitting better and I just feel strong. So, things are going well. Tomorrow I am doing "Fran" for the first time. I've got to make sure that I have good food tomorrow and that I pack my protein powder for after the workout!

Oh, and my new favorite thing: baked peaches with ground ginger. Yum..

Nom Nom Changes

I am two days into my foodie goals. Wednesday I stocked up on nuts, seeds, and fruit. I had to make sure I had snacks on hand for those weak moments. I bought my protein powder again so I wasn't starting my day with cereal. Nut based or not, I wasn't getting enough protein in the morning.

I nearly lost my mind today and had the equivalent of 3 chips with my vegetarian chili dinner. And, I'm okay with this. Ashley reminded me not to go cold turkey. I have to remember to make subtle changes so I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of things I love.

We have fallen in love with the Moosewood Gypsy Stew recipe. I have made it nearly every week this year. There are some chick peas in it, so we usually have to add more protein to our meal. But, it's packed full of veggies, spices, and nothing else. Yum!

I'm craving black beans, so I'm sure next week's meals will look very different. Happy Weekending!

 

New...something

With help of my friend (certified CrossFit trainer) I am going to treat my body better. This is a duplicate post from her Power Monkey blog. :) Here goes nothing!

Hi all, Val here. Ashley and I haven't been so active here on the blog, but you must know this does not reflect our actual activity in the real world. I'll give you a quick recap and then post some of my goals for the next few months.

So...I started strong right before our winter vacation. Ashley has been working with me and our friend, Lori. Through some giggles and banter we really are pushing ourselves during workouts. Then, it happened-VACATION. You know, that time. Sweets, lush meals, chocolate for dessert...after breakfast. I actually didn't go crazy eating this year. But, since I was away visiting my mom I didn't work out...Well, it did a lot of sit ups the day I went wedding dress shopping (found one!)

Fast forward to January 1st. I got up and did a workout on my own. January 2nd I tried to beat my Annie time and pulled my back. (BTW, stretching really does help). So, after a week of doing NOTHING I was back, again.

Psssst! Hit-and-run, you're up next. Yes. Horrible. My fiancé's car was totaled and the jerk drove away. There is a lot more to the story, but why dwell on the negative. So, I spent a couple of sore days, but Ashley coddled me just enough to get me going again. Now, I'm really back. I did beat my Annie time (by almost 3 minutes) and I feel stronger. I feel like I CAN do this. That being said, I need to do more.
Ashely is in day 20-something of her Paleo challenge. I am SO impressed. I love the foods she is eating (except for the meat). I can't take a Paleo challenge, I'd got very little protein as a vegetarian. That being said, I am inspired to evaluate my eating habits and put better foods in my body.
I eat a lot of grains as sides. I love them. Give me a steaming bowl of veggies and brown rice. My goodness, vegetables to so boring! Bread, check! However, if there is an alternative I am more than willing to try it. Great, I just publicly committed to GOAL ONE.

Now...I...oh, is that the phone ringing? I think I have to go...What? Oh, busted. No phone, it's 3:30 in the morning. This goal is just going to be a hard one.

I love to bake. I still have cookies cutters I used with my mom when I was a kid. I went to pastry school. I love great tasting dessert. I bake for other people.
I have a cookie order for Friday. I love sweets. Yeah, well, I think you understand what I'm trying to say.

But, I am starting-today-but cutting waaaaay back on my sweet consumption. GOAL TWO. This is going to be hard folks. I made my first batch of paleo muffins this week-yummy. And, instead of whipping up a batch of brownies, last night I had a banana and few chocolate chips for dessert. I know, chocolate-sugar, but I have to start somewhere.

UP NEXT: Less talking, more pictures. And, once I get my hair done, another video!

images: frint-http://www.morguefile.com/archive/display/210554

Happy New Year!

I have been a bad blogger. All my online time lately has been spent looking at wedding things. But, I have had a wonderful year and will not be too hard on myself. I don't really have any resolutions, but I have a list I would like to check off.

1. Plan a lovely wedding with Mark and get hitched
2. Continue with Cross Fit thanks to Ashley's motivation and training
3. Play my beautiful new banjo a lot more

Those goals shouldn't be to hard to reach!

I wish an amazing 2012 to all!

I think I've been busy

I noticed my last post was over a month ago! Well, I've been playing the banjo, working, and now I have a wedding to plan! Yeah! Saturday Mark proposed and I couldn't be happier. Actually, we couldn't be happier! Yeah! Did I already say that?

I've already looked at every online wedding site out there. And, my wonderful friends have already offered to help me make...well, anything I can think of for the reception.

Good thing I have lots of fabric scraps!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

"New" Ukulele

I tried my hand at wood burning this weekend. Though I'm not quite done burning, I'm inspired to play my uke a little more.



(original artwork by Sailor Jerry)

Woah, what's this?

So...I have a blog. I almost forgot. The end of school is always a bit crazy and I've been having a great summer. So, my computer has been a bit neglected. I have tons of pictures to upload and will get to it one of these days! Here are the Cliff's Notes from my summer so far:

The sweat shop...I mean sewing camp

Steve Kaufman's Acoustic Kamp

A fiber workshop at Arrowmont

Pearl Fryar and his topiary garden

The 4th at TJs

Whew! Well, back to practicing the banjo!

Mug Rugs

I've seen them all over the internet. I didn't think I wanted one until Mark turned his Valentine's Day card over and used it as a mug rug. Well, I made this that same day.


Then I had to make one for my dear friend Sue.

I love these things! And, yes, coffee tastes a little bit sweeter when I use it.

Thin Mints

I'm never experienced this before (with Thin Mints). But they seem to be melting in my mouth today. I eat one and I have to pop another in my mouth. I am bringing them up to the office. This cannot continue!

Gifts for Friends

I am a big geek. I can't help it. I love when I get to make something sports related. I hope everyone likes their goodies!


My friend LOVES Rajon Rondo. This is my favorite. It's just so silly.

A Beautiful Monday

We had the day off and decided to take a walk by the Pier. Pictures don't do the water justice. I love Florida!

Sketchbook Delight with Alisa Burke

I love to make things. I have great confidence with fabric, beads, and frosting. However, I've always been self conscious when it comes to drawing and painting. I asked Mark for drawing lessons in January. We've discovered that we don't do so well taking classes from each other (he never followed my recorder lessons!)

This is my first line contour drawing. Mark said I should do this every day.
This is my second line contour drawing. I did not do this one the next day. It was about 1 1/2 months later. At least I did it...

I've been following Alisa Burke's blog for a little while now. I can't remember how I came across it. But, I am always inspired when I read a new post. I was so excited when she offered an online class called Sketchbook Delight. I must say, the class is a delight.

Alisa's personality and passion come through even in her videos. She makes the process of sketching, exploring, and enjoying my art almost...easy. I've done some sketching this week and I don't hate anything I put on the paper. Miracle!

Just checking out the color palate of my watercolors.

I call this the "Alisa shell" because I simply followed her directions in one of the initial videos. It was really nice to be retaught about shading and using color.
Here are two sketches I did from pictures I took on vacation.

I had a lot of fun and I can't wait for more directions, more lessons, and more inspiration!

Valentine's Day and more

I saw this idea for a card or craft on a blog. I can never remember where I find inspirations when I write my posts. So, if I find the link I'll add it later. Mark has class on Wednesday nights, so the boys and I spent these nights stitching the card. He loved it.

This weekend I finished paining more Scrabble tiles. Yes, I am keeping that beautiful red one in the middle. I can't wait for baseball season to start!

Fiberologie is back!

Fiberologie is my favorite fabric store not just because of the beautiful fabric, but because of Karrie, the store owner. Fiberologie has opened up inside of Whim-So-Doodle, an amazing scrapbook store. It is a beautiful marriage.
I popped in Thursday night for a workshop. We each made an adorable fabric covered file folder. I had a blast, and it was great seeing Karrie again. Funny, she didn't forget any of my quirks!
I decided to make two more folders this weekend. One for a former student and one for a wonderful parent at school who does so much for us teachers.
This is a great way to use up scraps and fat quarters. I can't wait until I'm off my fabric diet so I can so shopping at Fiberologie again.

Want: Kelly Moore Bag

I have two camera bags already. One to hold just my camera and the basic lens. The other is a backpack that holds my camera, the two other lens I have, plus some. The only problem with these two bags it they are very causal. I never take my camera to slightly dressy functions because I don't have an appropriate camera bag.

ENRTER KELLY MOORE. I have been on the Kelly Moore site over 50 times in the past month. Really. Her bags are fabulous. I'm in love with the B-Hobo Bag.

Why haven't I bought yet? Well, I'm having trouble choosing just one fabulous color. I'm digging the Mustard...but maybe I should get the Grey.

If I could go crazy I would get two bags. The B-Hobo (of course) and the JuJu Bag for every day. The internal dividers are removable so you can use these sans camera.
Yes, I am just going to look at this picture for a while. Love. It. I must have a Kelly Moore bag!

Do you have a Kelly Moore bag? Tell me how much you love it!

(all images from kellymoorebag.com)