Smoothie Overload

Last night I came home, once again, to a lovely meal created by the hubs. It was a simple & comforting type of meal - spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were a mix of ground beef, ground lamb and something else....I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess ground turkey. ground veal & ground pork. 

They were delicious! The meatballs & sauce were fragrant & flavorful. I don't really mind Pete's use of different meats, although he usually uses ground turkey, but I am trying to get him to switch to whole wheat pasta. It's better for you and more filling! C'mon guys! Comment and tell him you agree! ;)

This morning I was up early again to walk this little guy.

I don't know what I'll blog about once the dog leaves next Monday!  I sorta hate the fact that he is crated all day when I'm at work but I shouldn't break the habits of his owners. Plus his only long days in the crate are today and tomorrow. Every other day me or Pete are home, or our work hours only overlap a few hours. It's really just my issue... I can't stand the whimpering and whining! I constantly feel bad for animals. If it were up to me we'd have 15 cats and 3 dogs. I always tell Pete I'm one trauma away from becoming a hoarder cat lady.



Nom nom nom


For breakfast I had another smoothie! I love making smoothies but hate washing the blender. I keep shredding my sponges. (Extra fiber?)

Doesn't it look like dessert?

I've been itchin' to switch up my smoothie contents. This morning I was craving something chocolatey which is actually very unlike me (I much prefer salty snacks.)
In the blender:

• 1 frozen 'naner
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries (they were buy 1 get 1 at the store this week! Score!)
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt (loving this option)
• 3/4 cup of chocolate almond milk (ZOMG)
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• extra large handful of spinach

I took my first sip of chocolate almond milk and let me tell you - this is not like the unsweetened vanilla variety, oh no! I quickly wondered to myself how bad I would feel if I drank the entire carton. IT'S SO TASTY!

I love moments of temporary insanity before 8am.

IIIII didn't do it! I only had the 3/4 of a cup and I was proud of me since that is one step of 9,000 that I need to take to meet my goals.

This smoothie was filling, chocolatey and thick.

TWSS

It was a great start for the day! I also did Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 2 again, and walked the pup for about 20 minutes. Oh, and lost .8lb! LOL slow and steady right? Down 9 - only 20 more for the 29 x 29!

Case of the Mondays

Yesterday evening was just a lazy Sunday one. Me & the hubs ordered food. He got Chinese, I got sushi. I love that the same place makes both!



Seaweed Salad

Naturally, as a new blogger, I completely forgot to photograph the sushi. Oops! It was really good though. I got spicy tuna and yellow tail rolls. I wish sushi was the same price as Ramen noodles so I could eat it all the time! *I don't eat Ramen*

Puppy did well all day and tuckered out in the bathroom.

I love when he has his little legs out behind him haha! So weird!

After a super relaxing weekend, I have to admit that I had a bit of a case of the Mondays. I opted to sleep in a bit instead of going to the gym so I will probably do some 30 Day Shred this evening, and definitely hit the gym in the morning.

I prepared a giant yummy salad that includes lettuce, broccoli slaw, carrots, tomato, blueberries & tuna.

If I don't hit the gym, at least I can make healthy choices!

Interesting links:

• Since I had trouble getting out of bed early this morning, let's check out some of Tina's tips over at  Carrots 'n' Cake  for morning workout motivation.
• Looking for baby steps on where to start your healthy eating? I like this article.
• And in sticking with the self-helpy vibe of a fresh week, check out this article from a while ago about 10 ways to solve different problems in your life.
• Finally, let's end on something creepy!! Doug Hutchinson from The Green Mile married some 16 year old. Yes, the age difference is crazy, but that's not even what I find most disturbing about it... this "girl" looks like a 38 year old Reno stripper! And she's 16!! Check it out.

29 x 29

I started this blog for a number of reasons. One being to have a creative outlet, hobby and place to dust off my writing skills. Another was to keep myself on track towards some goals I want to hit before I turn 30. Thirty is a definitive number & deadline, but really I'm just looking to work towards the person I want to be - fit & healthy, out of debt, and happy! (I'm pretty happy, but it's good to keep working at it, no?)

So I'm setting an official bloggy goal of 29 x 29: To lose 29 pounds by the time I turn 29 on September 16th. I'm already down 8.9 pounds so I'm nearly a third there, however, I've often gotten to this place and stopped. I've been riding a HUGE  motivation wave lately and am loving it! I need a solid goal to look forwards to - not something so broad as "I wanna be healthy n stuff" LOL. So that is my first goal! I have about 9 weeks to get there and will be doing it the healthy way with lots of exercise, fresh fruits & veggies & lean proteins. (And probably a bunch of Sugar Free Jell-o.)

This morning I started out with an awesome smoothie!

In the mix:

• 1 frozen 'naner
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberry
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 a container of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• handful of spinach

This smoothie was tasty and filling. I don't normally add Greek yogurt in the mix but it made it really creamy and added an extra flavor I don't usually have in my morning smoothies. It was a win! I need to experiment with different combinations and mix it up a bit. Any suggestions?

Ya know what's a great motivator to get some exercise? A whiny dog!!  LOL Like I mentioned before, I've never had a dog in my life until Friday when we agreed to watch Pete's sister's dog Duke. GOD HE IS SO CUTE.

I don't know if you're supposed to let them tough it out to train them to hold their pee or what (he's only a puppy and not really trained - his sister has a yard that they just let him out in). I wound up taking him out once early in the morning, then again mid morning (both for 30 minute walks) and again in the early afternoon for a quick walk around the block. I had already walked an hour by noon! After the 800 walks, I came home and did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Level 2. That is no joke, but I was able to complete the whole thing! 29 x 29 baby!!

On a final random note- look at Peach's rediculous forepaws.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Three Day Weekend!

Hey y'all! I took the day off from work yesterday and went to the beach!!  I haven't been to the beach in so long, and was super excited about it. I went with my friends Mike, Brandon & Patrick.

Picture these people in swim trunks.

Oh wait! Brandon just sent me the pictures :D

It was such a relaxing fun day! Brandon was an awesome class mom dad and brought SO many yummy snacks ranging from healthy fruit & veggies to home made rice krispy treats and gourmet popcorn. If it were left to me, I'd just bring 8 different kinds of chips and be proud of the variety. Patrick & Mike brought an assortment of spiked beverages. And me? I brought 1 type of chip & some nuts. OH and Fiber One bars. LOL It was the only snack I had in the house and the chocolate & oat ones are tasty! 

 I need to get back to the beach a few more times this summer. (And use way more sunscreen!!) I'm a bit lobstery.

In the evening, Pete came home with Duke, a lil puppy we're watching for the week! I'm a bit nervous how he'll interact with our baby girl Peach. Have you met her? She's not usually shy...

No pictures!



Old Long Paw

We adopted her about a year and a half ago and she is the sweetest cat ever! She follows us around the house, plays fetch, and doesn't mind other people at all. We love our little girl!

So far, good enough! Peach is a bit thrown off by Duke but he has left her alone. At one point Pete was bringing them close together so they could sniff one another or whatever it is animals do to get acquainted with each other and she hissed. Duke came foward again and she hissed again. Third strike and Duke innocently sniffed again and ol' giant long paw came and WHACKED poor puppy in the face! Our girl is defending her territory.  Oh my, I'm lost in a pet saga story.

Anywhack, I walked over to my parents house today to show them the dog we're watching and wound up hanging out with them in their ginormous yard for 4 hours. My parents loved him! And loved my impromtu visit as well.

This is the first real dog experience I've ever had! I've never played fetch before today or anything! I'm liking it, but have grown up with cats and have never fully appreciated their ability to poo in a box and leave me out of it until this morning when, at 6:50am, I took Duke for a walk because he was whining. He didn't go have to pee, came back in the house and promptly peed on the carpet. (We have one fricken carpet in a 4 room apt)! Whatever, he's a still a puppy and not fully trained and besides, who can resist this face?

It was a pet filled day! Now I'm relaxing with the hubby watching Just Go With it and enjoying a Brooklyn Lager Summer Ale

And with the dog safely crated for the night, Ms. Peach is fully free to relax! G'nite!

zzz

Bow Tie Pasta & Bow Ties for the Emmys

There's nothing better than coming home after a long day of work and dinner being ready for you!! :) My husband is the best and enjoys cooking.  We had a nice cold pasta salad for dinner. It included bow tie pasta, chopped red pepper, green pepper, & onions, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds and was dressed with a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, lemon & lime zest, salt & pepper. It was super refreshing, easy to make and delicious!

 We spent a large chunk of the evening FINALLY sorting through our wedding pictures to create our album. We are allowed to have 75 pictures.....and have 799 to choose from! We narrowed it down to 152, and then 103 but we'll have to revisit and chop out a few more. It's getting so hard to choose. I love them all!!

We decided to keep pictures more like this:



Aww he's so cute! ;)

And less like this (despite my intense love for them!!):



"Pull up the dress" Dance moves by Laura & Mike!

We're gonna let them sit for a bit and revisit over the weekend to make our final chocies.
This morning I had the best breakfast of 2 waffles with bananas & blueberries. It was hearty and felt like a weekend breakfast.

EMMY NOMS!

Is anyone else excited about the Emmy nominations??? I love my DVR box like I love my pet. When it's on the fritz I call up the cable company, inquiring about it's health, and have even driven it to the store for checkups repairs.

Me & my friend Emily often get together to watch the Oscars & the Emmys. It reminds us of the great three years we lived together! I can't wait for our September mini party.

I'm super excited for Ms. Melissa McCarthy who is nominated for Mike & Molly. This show is super cute and funny and Melissa deserves this nom! I absolutely loved her on Samantha Who? and Bridesmaids. Go Melissa! (I'm not even covering other people in this catergory!)

Source

Other interesting nominations include for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. I'm glad to see Steve Carell (his last Office nom!), Louis C.K. (who is also an awesome stand up) & Alec Baldwin - who can do no wrong. Who doesn't love Jack Donaghy?? ... Or those Capital One commercials? (Ha)

I love that nearly the entire cast of Modern Family has been nominated. That is a great show. I'm rooting for Ed O'Neill  or Eric Stonestreet who plays Cam.

As for drama- I don't really watch anything that was nominated! I predict The Good Wife will win everything. Or Mad Men. And Michael C. Hall should win for Dexter. That's really all I have to add about that! LOL.

You can see the entire list of nominees here.

Are you excited about the Emmy's? Who do you think should've been nominated?

Fire Flies & Fro-Yo

Last night after dinner me & Pete took a walk through an area of town where we'd love to buy a home. It was fun walking around, pointing out what we liked and didn't like about different houses. We definitely want a driveway, backyard and a porch with enough room for 2 chairs (possibly rocking chairs). I know nothing about real estate so I can't even describe what we do and don't like, but at least I can say we tend to like the same things!
This is my pathetic attempt to capture a photo of some lightening bugs! (Um, this is impossible).

"what am i looking at?'

oh maybe its not?

I still have desires to wash out a mayo jar, poke holes in the lid, and capture as many lighting bugs as I can! After our walk Pete drove straight to Red Mango!  MmMmM

I got vanilla &  black cherry (zomg!) with strawberries, yogurt chips & cocoa pebble flakes. I could've done with out the flakes but it was overall super yummy. 

This morning i woke with good intentions to hit the gym, but some stuff prevented me from getting there with enough time so I wound up driving Pete to the train and then stopping by the park.

It was so pretty and peaceful there! I was only able to briskly walk/jog for about 20 minutes, but I was happy with that. I had Ms. Bethenny Frankel in my head going "Do what you can, when you can." I was glad I was able to get fresh air & enjoy such a beautiful morning!

When I got home I had some cereal with fresh blueberries. I also enjoyed a banana on the side. (That's what she said.) (Get used to this phrase ;))

Questions -
Do you own a home or co-op? How long did it take you to find it?

What's your favorite breakfast?

I Heart Morning Smoothies

This morning I awoke with determination to work out again. I was going to walk with the hubby to the train station where my gym is, but decided I'd stay home (in my air conditioning) and do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I can never quite get through this in it's entirety! It's rough! :p Something I need to work on.

Afterwards I made an awesome smoothie

In the blender:

• fresh pineapple
• fresh bluberries
• 1 medium frozen banana
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
• large handful of spinach
• a few ice cubes

This turned out pretty tasty! I was concerned about pineapple and chocolate together but it was quite nice. I was going to photograph it but lets just say it was an unfortunate vomit color.

Random thought - can you guess what this is??

Hmm??? I'm a sucker for all little gadgets and containers that are randomly hung on the aisles of grocery stores.
Tada!

A tomato holder! How convenient! My hubby Pete will be shaking his head at my rediculousness of even blogging about this lil tomato holder, but I love it so! Who wants to waste endless ziplock bags?

Links of interesting things today:

• Jewel was pregnant?
• These people are defending their rights to have a crappy TLC show!
• The Muppets movie is coming out in 4 short months. Have you seen the trailer? It looks so cute!
• The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have finished their North America trip. I sorta heart Princess Kate! Who doesn't?
• Four stars for Harry Potter! I love HP and still haven't seen HP7p1!! Bad fan.