Monday, October 31, 2011

Almost that time again

Pig Pickin' in 2 weeks


My bestie, Allyson won't be here this year. She up and moved out of state on me last December. There will be lots of family though, friends of family, and sometimes random folks popping by. You never know who will show up and it definitely gets bigger every year.


Ally and I made the arrangements last year Shelley wasn't feeling well, hoping she is 100% this year. So excited to see her addition to our family again, little miss Norah.


Me and the Mema.


Mom and Sarah.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Spaghetti and Cheeze Sauce

Just whipped up some Cheeze Sauce made with pumpkin and nutritional yeast. I didn't have any macaroni so I added some spaghetti instead. I got this recipe from Oh She Glows, it is a winner! I added some Valencia hot sauce,Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke to mine and didn't add the whole can of pumpkin. I think it would go great with broccoli or cauliflower.


Align Center

Fall Time

One of my favorite decorations ever, found these cute acorns at Pier One on sale a couple of years ago. They still make me smile.

Made pumpkin oats again this morning, delicious! Popped some pecans in the toaster with some truvia and apple pie spice to give the oats some crunch.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Easy Egg Drop Soup

I whipped up some soup on this chilly morning. It took me all of 15 minutes. This makes 2 large servings or 4-6 appetizer servings.

4 cups water brought to a boil
added 4 tsp "better than bouillon" beef soup base
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup leftover cooked cabbage (could use canned greens)
cook all until a rolling boil then
2 eggs, stir in one at a time until cooked

Delicious!

Rockin' Weekend

Weekend started off with a nice long 5-6 mile walk after getting off Saturday morning. Mom came up to visit and we trespassed into the beautiful woods and found this amazing clearing with the coolest rocks and moss. I may or may not have imagined that I was a fairy for a moment.

This place was so beautiful that I may have to trespass again for a picnic with the husband.

Found this cutie crossing the road on the way back. We took turns carrying him for a while and sprinkling him with our water bottle until we found a suitable spot to drop him off.

Clay is all smiles at the Rockapella concert.

Do it Rockapella!

After the concert, we walked over to Front Page News in ATL. It was beautiful patio weather and we hung out there until about 2AM and where I attempted to consume what must be the world's largest shrimp po boy. We stayed at a friends house that night and were treated to a pancake breakfast the next morning. We headed out in search of Crocs however ended up finding a better deal on the Croc website so ordered them online. I can't wait for mine to come in. I LOVE Crocs!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Spark Challenge 4

I love music so this was a fun challenge for me. The problem was narrowing my favorite exercise songs to just 15. These are listed in no particular order.

1. Bionic - Christina Aguilera
2. Folding Chair - Regina Spektor
3. Run the World - Beyonce
4. 24 - JEM
5. Aha - Imogen Heap
6. Give it up to me - Shakira
7. Dog Days are Over - Florence and the Machine
8. Rolling in the Deep - Adele
9. Black Betty - Spiderbait
10. Raise your Glass - Pink
11. Waka Waka - Shakira
12. Fergalicious - Fergie
13. Hey Ma - Cam'ron
14. Juicy - Better than Ezra
15. Alejandro - Lady Gaga

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Oh Dreary Day How I Love Thee

Alvin is hanging out in her favorite cozy spot (a wet planter). Go figure. Ok, before everyone thinks I am weird or depressed or something for loving a dreary day let me preface that with the fact that a.) I woke up this afternoon after working last night without the alarm yay! and b.) I finally busted the weight plateau today and I am super excited

Delicious hot cup of coffee with peppermint extract and cocoa powder, tastes even more delicious in dreary weather.

Align Center

Just chilled out on the back porch with the doggies.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Chickpea Blondies

I found this recipe linked from RunEatRepeat and decided that I "needed" to give it a try. I am currently cycling carbs and yesterday was a low carb day so I was dying for something sweet so I got up today and whipped these up.

The recipe calls for some kind of preserve, I used grape jelly because we had that left over and I will never choose to eat it on PBandJ so I used it and Jiff peanut butter. I also subbed half the sugar with splenda. I think the whole amount could be subbed for lower calories. I need to buy a large bag of stevia sugar substitute since I am trying to get away from using splenda. I also used all whole wheat flour in the recipe except for 1tbsp of chia seeds.

They are very moist and were very good out of the oven. Have not had any cold yet. I think I would like them with some walnuts or pecans in them, but I am a fan of crunch in my sweets. I think next time I may try them with fig jam and pecans. Yum!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

6.75 miles done

Dear half marathon,

I'm getting ready for you. I am doing my training runs or walks or whatever I can manage to do. Today was a great one! I did intervals walking and jogging, and on the way back I was feeling so good and the wind was perfect so I jogged a whole mile straight. I am excited to see you in a month and a half. Please be kind to me. K-thanks!

Sincerely,

Rebekah

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Yummy!

Went for 5 mile walk at 11 today, so glad the weather has cooled off! Afterward I fixed a giant cup of iced coffee and reheated some lentils and soaked them in ketchup. I had an awesome salad combo: romaine, onion, green bell pepper, home roasted roma tomatoes (slice and place on silicone cookie sheet and put in oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until they shrivel up), goat cheese, and balsamic dressing. I love this dressing (Maple Grove Farms), just sweet enough with a nice tang. I get it at my local Ingles.

Pacing with Music

I just found this LINK to a site that takes your min/mile pace and suggests appropriate music for your speed. Awesome!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Pumpkin Oats

0.5 cup oats

1 cup original almond milk

dash vanilla extract

truvia to taste

-cook per oatmeal directions, after cooked add 0.5 cup of canned pumpkin

-top with chia seeds for crunch and sunflower butter

Spider lillies


Picked a giant bouquet of spider lillies from a neighbor's yard. These are Mema's favorite flower and they make me smile. Now they are gracing my counter in a giant vase.


Sunday, October 2, 2011

Spark Challenge



1. My teeth/smile

I used to be so self-conscious about my teeth. I have very large front teeth on the top which stood out a lot more when I had a Madonnaesque gap in between them. Thanks to braces the gap is gone and other than the occasional need for whitening thanks so coffee stains I LOVE my smile. I have also made it to 27 with no cavities,which I give the credit to sugar free gum, abstinence from flossing, and good genetics. I am so thankful for the gift of braces and good dentition! I see people's photos sometimes where they are half-smiling, obvious they are embarrassed to give a big grin, and I feel so bad for them. It is great to be able to show your happiness all over your face!

2. My Hair


Not the best picture to show off my hair, but I am always wearing it up. Oh, just remembered that I have a great pic of it from my wedding...digging that up and will post now.


I love my hair red, I dyed it myself about a month before my wedding not knowing that I was going to be getting married so soon. My husband does not like my hair any color other than natural (dirty-blonde, with natural highlights). I had to go to a salon and spend 6 hours bleaching and dyeing my hair back to a more natural color for the wedding, but the pre-wedding photos were with my red hair. Regardless of the color, I love my hair. I have a thick head of fine hair, it is very straight and easy to manage.


3. My Legs

Always the relative smallest part of my body, my legs are the feature I do not mind showing off. They are strong and muscular, sometimes they have a nice tan. They are long and are part of why I am so tall.

4. My Newly Discovered Collarbones


5. Strength and Well-being

I have always liked feeling strong. I was a tom-boy: climbing trees, riding bikes, rollerblading, exploring. I like to have muscles and I would rather be strong and healthy than rail thin. I can lift heavy things at the grocery store, I do not always need help to rearrange my furniture, I can pick up my doggies (or my mom) and give them big hugs. I also have been blessed with good health, no major medical issues and I am so thankful for that. As a nurse I see every day how many people's lives are touched by devastating illness, I know how truly blessed I am.

Nap Time



Got off Friday morning and stayed up all day with Clay running errands. We got home around 6pm which meant I had been up about 25 hours. I went outside to sit for a minute and enjoy the beautiful weather and yesterday Clay sent me these photos to remind me that I fell asleep out there. Glad I didn't wake up with a crick in my neck!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

To do list:


1.) Make this muffin

2.)Eat this muffin

I Need Glasses?

It had been about 5-6 years since Clay got his current pair of glasses and had been about the same amount of time since my last eye exam so we made a date together to the optometrist. I laughed at Clay because he had his eyes dilated and got to wear those super stylish sunglasses. I was polite and did not take a photo to place on here as well. I was STUNNED however when I was getting my eyes checked and the guy kept asking questions about my self proclaimed increased distance blurry vision and it was like he knew exactly how my vision was. Turns out I am a "textbook" example for needing reading glasses. I couldn't help but exclaim "How old lady!" Clay couldn't resist some jokes about me wearing one of those librarian chains for my glasses. So I found my glasses after trying on almost every pair they had: womens, mens, kids (they did not fit my big head).

I had decided not to get these because they won't match everything since they are red and I figured a black pair would be more practical.

I couldn't decided between 2 pair of black ones and sent the pics to Ally and she agreed with me that they smaller ones were better so these are going to be my first pair of glasses. I lucked out though and they were on sale, so I got the red pair that I really loved for the same price as adding the insurance, and I will have an awesome back up pair.

In other news, Clay ordered a new pair of awesomely hot blue and black framed Randy Jackson glasses. They have a set that has longer arms on the sides and fit Clay's unusually large head to a T. He did not however buy the signature Randy Jackson cardigan that I suggested to go with.