Coffee Date

I really haven't been in the mood to sit down and write lately. There really isn't that much that is worthy of writing about.

• But if we were sitting and having coffee together, I would tell you that I am so close to being done with the bathroom. I am going to find some cute accessories soon (maybe even today) and once we hang the shower curtain and blinds back up, it will be functional again. FINALLY.

• If we were having coffee together right now, I would tell you that I am heading into work, despite it being vacation, to do some prep work. I went the other day with intentions of staying until it was completely done, but left rather quickly because the snow started to pick up. I am heading there today and will have a couple of hours before I have to leave. My goal is to do as all of the lesson planning and prep work to get me throughout the end of March.

• If we were having coffee together, I would tell you I sort of fell off the wagon with my healthy goals. I am overall doing okay with not eating after 8:00 pm but definitely not nearly as strict as I was in January. But the workout one, I recently failed at. I was good up until last Monday (like 10 days ago) where I was consistent but then I took a rest day on Monday and then it just continued.  I haven't gotten anywhere close to accomplishing the water goal. I keep forgetting to drink a full glass. (On the positive side though, I have been filling up my water bottle more frequently at work so that's gotta count for something)

• If we were having coffee together right now, I would tell you that I am doing really well at chipping away at my credit card bill.

• If we were having coffee right now, I would probably complain to you that my mother is driving me nuts about wedding stuff. I am pretty sure she is being the ridiculous over-bearing one. Seriously. Like for instance, she is being quite obnoxious about me asking certain people to be in the wedding party...or not asking others. She has even said that I am not allowed to having a flower girl or ring bearer. Yep, I kid you not.

• Speaking of wedding planning, I hate it. It's so not fun. It's not my wedding and I have accepted that I do not get to make any real decisions. I love my mother, but she is being a bitch about certain things and it is making wedding stuff not fun at all.

Tastes kind of like chinese food.....

 

A few weeks ago, I made this recipe that I found from watching a bunch of Rachel Ray 30 minute meal episodes while endlessly painting the bathroom.

During one particular episode, she made this meal and I was instantly intrigued.

It turned out SO. FREAKING. GOOD.



Ingredients:

• half box of whole wheat linguini (Rachel Ray used soba noodles but I couldn't find any)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 TBSP rice vinegar (I used garlic infused rice vinegar)
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated.
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, grated (Original recipe calls for one clove of garlic)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 cup shelled edamame. (I have been eating these as a snack ever since and they are AWESOME)
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 1 small bunch scallions, sliced
• 3 TBSP sesame seeds
• Steak tips as desired

 

 

Directions:

 

Boil water and prepare pasta according to box directions.

 

Toast the sesame seeds over low head until they start to get slightly brown

 

 

Grill the steak tips on cast iron skillet as desired. Chicken or shrimp would be delicious in this as well.

 

 

Combine honey, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic.

 

 

Whisk in olive oil.

 

 

 

 

Add in the edamame, grated carrots, scallions,

 

 

 

Toss with sesame seeds, pasta, steak and combine until all ingredients are incorporated.

 

 

 

Tips:

Freeze the ginger and use a potato peeler to peel.

A cheese grater was my best friend for this meal. I used it for everything.

 

  

 



Mulder's friend, Cole, and little puppy Ella. I almost died from insane amount of cuteness.

 

It's 9:00 at night.... what are you doing?

Me....I'm painting the bathroom.

If We Were Having Coffee Right Now

I have read a lot of blog posts with this format so I thought I would join along.

• If we were sitting down together having coffee right now, I'd tell you that I am sick of snow days. The first two were exciting, but now it just makes me realize I'd rather be in school in January than in June.
• If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that I am STILL in the process of painting the bathroom. It is taking me WEEKS...I just always seem to find something else to do instead of working on it. I'd also probably tell you that I have every intention of trying to get some of it done today.
• If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that I am not one of those brides who loves this whole wedding planning thing. In fact, I think it sucks. I would also tell you that we are having a tough time find a band that we all love and agree on. I might even ask you for your opinions. Actually....I may do that!
• If we were having coffee together, I would tell you about Ryan's new endeavor of immersing himself in carpentry and projects. Currently, he is convinced that is he is going to be the one to handcraft ALL of our furniture-that we will never purchase another piece of furniture.
• If we were having coffee together, I would tell you that the teenager got his term 2 report card and overall, he is still doing very well. I didn't give him nearly as much support this term but he learned some good lessons about Independence and priority.

What would you tell me if we were sitting down together and having coffee?

A Wednesday In The Life

 

6:15 Ryan's alarm goes off. He hits snooze

 

6:20 Alarm goes off again. Snooze again.

 

 

6:25 Repeat

 

 

6:30 Teenager gets up. I opt for extreme laziness this morning and stay in bed as long as possible, knowing that I will feel rushed but do it anyways. It's so hard to get out of bed when this guy is curled up in there with you.

 

 

 

6:52 Get out of bed. Turn the kettle on to boil some water and let the dog out.

 

 

 

7:02 Say goodbye to the teenager as he goes of to school and bring my glass of juice into the bathroom as I do my hair and makeup. (Ignore the mess please-bathroom is STILL in the in-between-phase) 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, I used to use the Naked foundation and still to this day love it but I recently found Almay's foundation and think it is a phenomenal, light weight, even coverage. And best of all, it's like it magically blends to your natural skin tone. I never see any of those weird foundation lines. For less than $10.00, it is now my go-to foundation for everyday use while the much more expensive foundation is reserved for special occasions.

 

 

 

7:40 ish - After getting dressed and picking up the bedroom, etc. I go back to the kitchen to eat my oatmeal and cran-grape and make my lunch.

 

 

7:59 Leave the house and the gas light goes off as soon as I turn the car on. Shiiiit. I wanted to leave the house by 7:30 so I could have some extra time before students this morning....whelp. That's not happening! Gotta make a pit stop and get some gas first.

 

 

 

 

 

8:30 I run into work, racing around like a chicken with its head cut off and immediately see a hole puncher on my desk. The day before, I ran across the hall to the secretary to borrow her hole puncher and the next day, I see this on my desk. I love this job at this school. 

 

 I get set-up for the day and go to the teachers lounge to throw my coffee in the microwave for a minute to reheat it a bit.

 

 

 

9:00 Get my first student for the day. See and work with different  groups of students every half hour until 11:00

 

 

11:00. Paperwork time-I either write an IEP, write a report, do Medicaid logs, data collection, photocopies and plan some activities, emails. Or all of them at the same time.

 

 

11:30-12:30 Do more paperwork while I cover the office when the secretary is at her lunch. I cover for her lunch break quite often and I always seem to get so much work done while I am at her desk, despite the constant craziness that goes on in the office of an elementary school.

 

 

 

1:00 Three more groups of students, in half hour increments.

 

2:30-2:45. Finish up data collection for the day, put away all files, and clean my classroom.

 

2:45 I get a text from Ryan saying that the teenager is going over a friend's house after work. Wait, wait wait....so that means I will have some time by myself in the house....no interruptions....quiet, me time??? YYYYEEEESSSS!!! Feel a little joyous as I say goodbye to students and hang out by the front door and front lobby during dismissal.

 

3:00 Bust out of school. I got a lot accomplished today, despite the hectic start so I don't feel the need to stay late today. I am home, let the Mulder out, and settle in by 3:30.

 

3:35 Immediately get going on my burpees, pushups, sit-ups. Booyah. It was the second to last day of the challenge and I banged out 135 sit-ups, 95 burpees, and 19 pushups. I actually thought to myself that this is pretty do-able on a daily basis. After jumping in the shower, I blow dry my hair and fold/put away a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, and think to myself how much I can get done during this one hour.

 

4:30 ish Ryan gets home and immediately goes to play in the basement with his man toys. I find it adorable.

 

 

5:30 Ryan and I cook dinner together. Recipe to come soon-it tasted like a healthier, less greasy version of Chinese food. SO. FREAKING.GOOD.

 

 

6:30-Teenager calls and is ready to be picked up from his friend's house. I volunteer to do that since I needed to stop at Rite Aid as well.  

 

 

 

7:15. Back home and sitting down with the teenager to go over homework . Of course, this turns into a battle. I keep my cool this time. Teenager-not so much. Deep breaths. This homework battle is a particularly stubborn battle, lasting nearly an hour.

 

8:30 Wind down

 

 

10:00-ish, Brush my teeth and get ready to get settled in for the night. By the way, I found these Dead Sea make up removers pads at TJMaxx for very cheap and LOVE THEM but I cant find them anywhere! I did find Mulder already hogging the bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's it.

 

 

What does a typical day look like for you?

 

 

Making small goals to lead to better life habits

So I started this post in the beginning of January with intentions of finishing.....but then I got distracted and not motivated to do much blogging.

The premise of this started with the obligatory new years resolutions. With the upcoming wedding and my recent milestone birthday, I wanted my resolution to be an overall healthier and better lifestyle. So I came up with the idea that I was going to make 2 small goals that I could focus on for January and I was going to do my best to stick with those goals. At the end of the month, I could reassess to determine if they were realistic and could become lifestyle changes or if they were completely unrealistic.


My first goal was a health related goal and that was to cut myself off from the kitchen after 8:00. I have a horrible habit of snacking binging at night so I gave myself some rules: I could drink as much water after 8, but nothing else. I gave myself Friday and Saturday's off because I knew that wouldn't be realistic.

The verdict: With the exception of 2, maybe 3, nights, where extenuating circumstances came up (like I didn't get home until way past 8 and one afternoon I was sick, but starving by nighttime), I really stuck to it and will continue to maintain this no-eating-after-8:00-thing.


My second goal was fitness based and it was to complete  the 30 day sit up challenge, push up challenge, and burpee challenge. Every day. No matter what. I am determined to look and feel kick-ass in my wedding dress and for the first time in YEARS, wear a bikini on my honeymoon so I figured I gotta get my ass in gear.

source


 

The verdict: DONE. I didn't miss a single day. I did get incredibly sick and ending up in the hospital during one of the days, so I just switched out the upcoming rest day, but I am SO PROUD of myself for sticking to this. As the days increased, I broke down the large numbers into smaller ones and rotated through all the different exercises until completion. For example, I would do 12 burpees, then 4 pushups, then 27 sit-ups, then I would do 7 more burpees, 3 more pushups, 38 more sit-ups, etc. until I reached the total amount for the day.



So, to up my own ante for February:

Health goal: I am going to continue to the no eating after 8:00 habit. My new goal will be to drink an entire glass of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I guarantee I am going to be peeing even more than I already do.

Fitness goal: My goal is to be able to do 20 pushups consecutively, 50 burpees consecutively, and 100 sit-ups consecutively. I am also going to start tackling the pull-up bar. Daily plans to come-I need them to keep myself accountable!

I am adding a financial goal: I am going to figure out a way to pay off $350.00 towards my credit card bill. My long-term goal is to pay off the entire debt before the wedding. I already budget $150/month towards the bill but I am going to find every possible way to scrape together a total amount of $350.00 for this month.



How are your New Years resolutions going?

100th Post: Chocolate Cinammon Bread Pudding.

Yay for me-my 100th post. No better way to celebrate than with something chocolate!

 

 

I wish I could give credit to the proper person/source, but I have NO idea where I even found this recipe. I've had it in my recipe book for as long as I have been cooking.

 

 

Ingredients:

• loaf of cinnamon bread, cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• dash of salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 2.5 cups of milk



 Directions:

 

1. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Cut/tear up bread into pieces.

 

    

 

 



 

 

 

 

2. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.

 

 

 

3. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, vanilla, brown sugar, salt. Pour over bread and press down to ensure that all of the bread is saturated. 

 

 

 

4. If possible, refrigerate until needed or you can pop right into a preheated oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

 

 



 

 

 

One of our favorites around here.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy