Hair, views, and odd translations

The past week I've had the chance to do a few things here and there. I always feel guilty admitting that more often than not, I am inside the apartment doing a whole lot of nothing. I don't go out and explore and even though its probably seen as a little lame, I don't because I hate spending money.

Not just the money, the time. It takes a lot of time to go somewhere and by the time I get there, my shoulders are killing me from lugging my heavy bag with my camera and before I know it, I have to come back to start dinner before G-man gets home from work.

I told you it was lame.

I went to my hair stylist three times last week (we're developing a nice friendship) and she's an hour away and my old self was pooped out from that. But let me tell you, she did a fabulous job. I wanted to go lighter, for the first time in 10 years, and she delivered like no one I think would have. It took four hours, but it was worth it. 

So you can get a full grasp of what my hair (and GREYS) looked like before, this will show you. Plus the amount of foil it took to cover my entire head. She leaves them flat so its two foils to one (small) section of hair. I can't even describe how heavy all that foil was.

G-man and I set up and decorated the tree over the weekend as well. With one strand of cicle lights and one strand of normal white lights, we got very creative and hung them up around the living room. Though we certainly won't be winning any awards for best decorated, we think its charming in a "wow, that's really bad" sort of way.

Feel free to notice the "tree skirt" is in fact a pillow sham and the transformer on the ground that keeps all the American electronics running smoothly. Keeping it classy over here.

This is where I wait for my trains whenever I want to go anywhere. This one passing is headed to Kanazawa-Hakkei where I would get off to get onto the limited express to Yokohama. As it was that day, I was waiting to go to Yokosuka in the other direction.

G-man and I went to Landmark Towers in Yokohama to see the city from their highest floor. They have the fastest elevator in Japan going 28mph. Ears were popping and the views were beautiful.

Afterward, we were looking for a place to eat, and would you believe we passed this place up?

I know, I'm sure you can't imagine why. 

That nearly rounds out all the happenings with me this past week.  Well, except the fact that while I'm in blogger, everything is in Japanese. Whenever I'm writing out a post, the page is constantly translating back and forth from English to Japanese, and because of this, while I'm typing, its nothing for it to completely delete an entire sentence mid sentence. I'm constantly retyping my sentences. Its odd and funny, and just another little quirk with being in Japan.










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Case of the Mondays

Can you name that movie?

It’s a happy Monday today. Many have it off. Many get to relax and get that second or third cup of coffee. Nothing like starting your week off right with an extra day off.

It’s normal every day for me. Working on the schoolwork. Getting myself all mentally into my classes. The one I’m enjoying most, and doing it a little too fast (which is having me lose points..eek) is my Applied Food Principles class. I’m zooming through my assignments and it’s obvious after getting my first week’s graded, that I need to slow down just a bit and read carefully before answering.

My other class is First Year Composition. I found out as I was registering for my Spring classes that I have a very “writing heavy” degree. So begins the first of what I hear is many writing classes. This one is a little challenging as I navigate the enormous amounts of information given and sort through all the assignments but if it helps me learn to write better, I welcome it.

It had me thinking how much my writing style will change once I get a couple writing classes under my belt. Will it stay the same? Will I be all refined and deep? More witty but with a smoother delivery? Time will tell. Right now, all I care about is getting an A.

My food class is part cooking class and once I realized that, I was all sorts of excited. We have to prep and cook and show pictures of each with explanations. So far, I’ve made microwaved mashed potatoes and set the table. Each week we get new recipes, so you can bet you’ll be seeing my ‘products’ throughout the next few weeks. I doubt the professor intended us to take the photography so seriously, but I’m determined to take as good of pictures as I know how, to showcase everything.

Here are the first and second week’s labs.

I’m having fun to say the least. I’m hoping and wanting to get back into blogging. Things are bouncing around again in my mind so I’m hoping that’s a sign of better blogging from me. Plus I’m about to do some more traveling, so that always gives a little bit of interest in this home-body’s life. So, keep an eye out for a little more from me starting today.

I hope you had quite the weekend, whether you watched football or Pride and Prejudice, I hope it was a nice one.

**Movie: Office Space

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Chicken Satay

I think it was out of my health insurance booklet they sent a month ago, that I saw this recipe inside. I promptly tore it out and threw the booklet away. Stuff’s not important any way.. I kid.

It looked easy and delicious, so I was eager to make it. Only thing was, while G-man was here, I learned he didn’t like satay. My first thought was, how in the world does he know what satay is?? But being the world traveler, he knows, and doesn’t like it, so I had to put this off until he left to make it just for me.

Friends, its good stuff. What’s more, its easy. I’ll say out the gate, I use boneless skinless chicken thighs and PREFER them over chicken breasts. Why? Because they’re cheaper…they’re actually the same in the way of ‘healthy’…and they have so much more flavor! I swear, no matter how long I cook a thigh, they never come out dry…ever! Thighs get such a bad rap for no reason.

The small catch to them is the excess fat that needs to be cut off. That can be time consuming, but if you don’t mind doing it, it will pay off with every bite you take.

For the recipe, its all about the marinade. What you’ll need:

Combining all of the above ingredients and after cubing the chicken, throw them all together in a bowl (and cover) or a ziploc to marinade for at least 2 hours, if not overnight.

It calls to grill them when you’re ready, but I don’t have a grill, so to the pan they go for me.

After all is said and done, eat them alone or put them on a bed of rice with a side of broccoli. Or salad. Or whatever your heart desires.

I only did the skewers for you. I took those bad boys off and immediately chowed down after this photo since I didn’t grill them. If you’re grilling them, definitely skewer them! You kinda have to.

Chicken Satay:
Prep time: 2 hours 10 minutes (due to marinade)
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 TBSP creamy peanut butter
1/4 C low sodium soy sauce (definitely make sure you get low sodium, otherwise it’ll be a SALTY dish)
1/4 C lemon or lime juice
1-1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 TBSP curry powder
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 8oz boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed
lime slices (optional)
skewers

Directions
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter through the hot pepper sauce. Place the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate. Let the chicken marinate at least 2 hours, overnight is best.

2. Preheat a grill to high heat (or a stove top on med-high heat)

3. Weave the chicken onto skewers, then grill for 5 minutes per side. (or no skewers and put in a pan for 5 minutes each. Or longer to get nice crunch on the outside from the marinade)

4. Serve with lime slices (optional)

How much easier can that be? Mix it, chop it, throw it all together and go sit down for a few hours, because you have nothing else to do, right? Then 10 min into cooking, you’re done!

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7 year old pasta

Friday is finally here. This week went by a little slow, am I right?

I did a new{ish} thing to me {lately any way}, and have been working out the moment I wake up. I’ve done it all 5 days this week and its both a relief and a killer. I’m still half asleep as I do my ab video. If I were smart, I wouldn’t have the first thing I do once I wake up, be an exercise that lets me lie on the ground. I do almost the whole dvd with my eyes closed, they’re just not ready to be opened.

But I’ll be honest, its so nice having it out of the way for the entire day. No worrying or stressing when I’ll get around to working out. Its done! And that’s probably the one of two reasons I do it. Here’s hoping I stick to it for longer than a week. (just keeping it real).

I wanted to update and clarify about the demise of the job I went after. I called my retirement company and they actually said I would be able to take that job and keep my retirement and health insurance (hooray), however…they must approve the position and that would take up to 60 days from the day they hire me. I’m pretty sure no employer ever would be ok with waiting for their new employee to start after an additional 60 days, so I called and took my name off their list. The guy I spoke with said it was the right thing.

That’s all there is to it.

I’ve been doing a lot of different recipes lately. Those outside the pinterest kind. In books even! I figure I have a ton of cookbooks on my counter, I might as well make good use of one of them. I’m so glad I did because I’ve had some delicious dinners.

There’s one that I made that I’ll be making again and {will attempt} to document so all the world can make it…or just my Mom, since she asked.

I’ve refrained from sharing all the food pictures on Instagram, but that’s not to say I haven’t taken at least 3 pictures of my dinner every night. Just in case I break down and post it. So for all those who get sick of seeing them in your feed, you’re welcome.

I’ll leave you with a photo that was well before {my} iPhone days, before Instagram and certainly before blogging.
were there even smart phones then?

Two things strike me with this.
1. Social media is in no way to blame for people feeling they need to share what they ate for dinner.
2. That after 7 years, I still have this picture.

I distinctly remember being very proud of myself for making this pasta, and sent it off to my mom to show her. (I’m a visual person, therefore everyone else has to be too).

Have a happy and safe weekend everyone.

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Grilled chocolate sandwich

Happy Tuesday, my friends. Have you heard of these delicious sandwiches? If you haven’t let me be the first to tell you, they will change your lives forever the moment you make them.

G-man wanted to make a dessert one night and started to search for ideas. He came across this recipe and knew it was something we needed to make. I picked up the ingredients wondering what in the world he was thinking wanting grilled chocolate sandwiches but kept my reservations to myself and brought everything needed for it, home.

After dinner, we got everything ready and went to work.

It should be noted that its “required” to drop the whisk and have it roll across the top of your stove. If it doesn’t do this, your chocolate won’t taste as good.

Ok, so maybe it’ll taste just as good if not better if you don’t drop it, but I guess you’ll never know unless you do it.

These are incredibly delicious. Not too sweet like you would think (or like I was thinking). They’re just perfect.

1/4 C evaporated milk (also can use 1/2 and 1/2 or heavy cream)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp softened butter (for spreading)
8 slices of whole wheat bread
3 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate
chopped hazelnuts or any nuts (optional)
sliced fruit – strawberries or bananas (optional..and very good)

1. Heat milk  until just boiling, add bittersweet chocolate, let stand for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly.

2. Spread thin layer of butter on one side of each slice of bread. Divide melted chocolate onto each unbuttered side of bread, leaving a small boarder. Sprinkle chocolate chips onto each slice, top with other slice of bread and press down gently.

3. Grill sandwiches on med-high heat for 1-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and chocolate is barely melted. Serve warm.


The 2nd night we made these, we used ‘barely sweet’ chocolate and it wasn’t as good. Bittersweet chocolate is what you need to melt to make them amazing.

Run, don’t walk to the store to get everything you need to make these. Your family will thank you eternally for making them.

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Finding the happies

This weekend has been one of those weekends. Where good happened but so much frustration was mixed in. Rather than go on about the frustration, I’m going to focus on the happies throughout the week, because when 7 days goes up against 2 days, the 7 days will always win out.

- Tuesday, I was at my desk when a bunch of school kids, maybe 2nd grade, walked by our big office windows, and they started waving. I happily waved back and one girl said, ‘she’s pretty.’ and the other girls all started chiming in, ‘yes, she is pretty.’ and I just have to say, that made my day. They had no idea I could hear them.

- I scored 4 free lunches last week, and that will always make this girl exceedingly happy.

- Having my friend come over for a girl’s night in was such a pleasure. While waiting, it prompted “Philosophical Emily” to come out and say the following.

I haven’t always felt that way. For a long time when I was younger, it really would upset me, but it struck me while waiting for her (and having the extra time to do my dishes because she was running behind) that its useless getting worked up over it all. I would hope in the future any kidless friends would extend me the same courtesy.

- Since I’m on the topic of tweets, I inadvertently sent one out that was completely innocent however the moment I reread it a few minutes later, I saw it in a whole new light.. and it got its fair share of concerned and relieved replies…

- I finally got to see Les Miserables this weekend and I’m happy to say that it will probable the only time I’ll ever watch it. It was good, but once is more than plenty.

- I went to Costco and next thing I knew my (though I have bought small amounts) 16 months of no official cheese buying has been broken. In a very very big way. Those are all Costco sized, mind you. I have good intentions with all of them, for instance, I did make Broccoli and Cheese soup from Peas and Crayons’s blog. And it was good, friends.


- I signed up for The Typing Web and if you want to have fun typing as fast as your fingers can go and be timed while doing it, sign up! Maybe this is my geek side, but I have so much fun testing out how fast and accurate I can type on this website. They have every level and text imaginable. And they say you can get a certificate but I’m having too much fun, I haven’t gone for it yet. I want to get even faster before I get it.

- 2 things became obvious from Thursday’s post. 1) I am 100% in the minority on number 2 on the list.. thank you for pointing that out… and 2) a lot of us struggle with flossing!! I now have a 2nd accountability partner since then, and its been fun getting her texts of flossing. If you want, you’re more than welcome to join the flossing anonymous texting group (FATG). We do not judge you for the last floss you’ve done.

I feel the weekend downers getting washed away as I think of all these happies. (and yes, I realize ‘happies’ is not a word).

What good things can you see from your week or weekend that overshadow the crappies that wanted to drag you down?

--crappies and happies… I don’t know what’s gotten into me.

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Sweet relief

We start all over again today. Weekends never seem long enough yet I seem to get everything done in those 2 short days. This weekend was no exception. So many notable mentions. I made the big leap to fold up the 2 winter blankets on my couch and bed and tuck them away in the closet. Its too warm here now for either. And I’ve officially shut off the pilot light to my fireplace.

No more pretty warm and cozy fires needed here.

Saturday, I woke up still under attack from whatever I was dealing with. Some of the blood tests came back negative for anything, Friday, and I was getting irritated that by all accounts, I was “fine”, though I was far from it. I hadn’t eaten in over 2 days (beyond toast for breakfast, lunch and dinner) and people were commenting that I had lost weight…and I could definitely tell I had!

By Saturday afternoon, with G-man’s prodding, I called the doctor’s office and asked for something for the pain. I picked up the meds, and within 30 seconds of walking in my door, the office called saying they received more test results that showed I have a bacterial infection.

Halleluiah! They found what’s wrong!

They called in the prescription for the antibiotics and told me I no longer needed the other meds. Thank goodness they only cost me $2 otherwise it would have been a huge waste of money. They’re still waiting for the remaining test results but I’m already feeling better after 2 days of the antibiotics.

It’s linked to raw foods. Poultry, milk and contaminated water. Its hard to pinpoint, but it was either me somehow coming in contact with the water in Mexico, the raw milk I drank, or cross contamination of the raw chicken I handled. Honestly, I’m leaning toward the chicken…but who’s to say. To be on the safe side, I threw all foods away in my fridge, including the leftover chicken and did some major grocery shopping to start all over.

And then I ate. I ate real food..and it.was.good!!

Did you know it’s the start of strawberry season? Strawberry stands are open all over and its one of the few things that help me live where I live.

Don’t let the look fool you, this is one of the best strawberry stands around!

Are you like me? Here’s a little taste of how I pick for instagram (@emily_grapes if you want to follow along) …and how slow my brain works sometimes with ideas.
Originally I was going to post the whole box (simple.. a little boring), then I felt like making it look like a flower bud, then with a drooping stem, slowly adding leaves but still feeling something’s off…

I shift the stem over and finally happy with the final look. (in all actuality this served to keep me from deep cleaning my bathroom, so I was ok with experimenting).

I also got dressed up over the weekend and couldn’t help but notice how long my hair has gotten. This is the longest I’ve ever had it. Ever. A haircut is so very necessary. 
Can’t wait to see how your weekend went.

If you’re on Instagram, how do you choose your photos? Do you play around like I did with the strawberries until you get the best photo? Or take 1, maybe 2 shots and pick the best and post? Or are you a snap and poster!? Blurry and all??

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Poofs and salads

As of late, I’ve been a busy little bee. no.pun.intended.. ok, maybe a small one. Which by the way, the bees are gone. When I got to work in the morning (I’m always the first person at the office), I saw that about half the beehives were gone and all the bees had disappeared.

By lunch there was a slow growing number of bees flying around, but by the time I left the office, all the beehives were gone and not a bee was in sight. I still have yet to demand my honey!

Some other note worthy happenings are my food and my hair.

Let’s face it. I know 2 hair styles. Wavy (with my flat iron) and board straight (also with my flat iron). Never really an in between, a fun way, or anything fancy happenings. Its down in either of the two ways or in a ponytail because its “wash day” and I don’t want to fiddle with it.

I’ve attempted to do other styles, watch hair tutorials and attempt to branch out but darn if my arms start to fall asleep within 20 seconds of having them up playing with my hair, then I can’t handle the lack of circulation any longer, and drop them while walking out the bathroom.

I admit, there have been times I’ve only half brushed my hair (from the previous day’s do) and walked out the door. Coincidentally, I got a few compliments that day.

But yesterday, while sipping my coffee I watched a very easy hair tutorial. I thought surely I’ll be able to do this and even achieve the dreaded poof in the hair that’s always eluded me. So I gave myself my normal 8 minute window to do my hair (plenty of time every morning) and set out for something new. I’m still quite scared of the poof in the back, so I went small but I’m still quite impressed by the end result (for me).

To me that’s a BIG poof. I’m used to flat flat flat. I can’t even tell you how nice it was not to have my hair in my face all day.

Then there’s food. I’m a eat the same thing day in and day out kinda gal, and I know not everyone is. Its just too easy to do, so literally, I’ll eat the same thing.

breakfast – steel cut oats
mid morning snack – apple slices and peanut butter (every day for over a year)
lunch – tuna sandwich (this actually proved hard to eat every day) or chicken leftovers
dinner – salmon or chicken

I’m wild and crazy, people!

The past two nights I decided to make chicken salads. Only difference was the cheese. I did a sprinkle of monterey the first night and feta the second. The feta won out. Hands down the winner of the two.

I’d actually recreate this for lunch if the rest of my spinach hadn’t gone bad. I like to live on the edge.

Can you eat the same thing every day?

Are you a “poof” expert?

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The life of my

Happy day today!

Let’s recap my week and subsequent weekend in bullets and pictures:

* I made 3 batches of peanut butter cookies for the potluck at work on Friday. I don’t have my hand mixer (its in HI) so since I didn’t feel like killing my shoulder, I made 1 batch at a time, thus taking 3 times as long. C’est la vie.
The first batch, I took out of the oven too early and they were way too chewy.
The second batch, after taking the last sheet of cookies out of the oven to cool, I realized I forgot to add the egg. They’re very.very.dense.
The third batch…just like Goldie Locks, is juuuust right and are absolutely perfect.

I’ll let you figure out which batch I kept at home for myself. *cough* 3rd batch *cough cough*

(and wouldn’t you know, I still got rave reviews on the other batches)

* here’s a taste of how G-man and I text… I’ll see if you can figure it out.
* I did some spring cleaning over the weekend. Tackling the 2nd bedroom real good like, not to mention it’s closet. I feel accomplished.

* I rearranged all my décor in my dining and living room to give it a fresher look…but really, it all still looks the same.

* Thanks to my amazing mom for giving me the best tip to get stains out of my counter tops. Baking soda + water = paste. Best creation ever. I took it one step further and tested it out on the burnt burner I have and oh my goodness, it got it all out.

What’s even better than me getting the burn mark off the stove, is telling G-man and him using it on his burn mark on his stove and “wowing” over and over at its wonder.

* I made some really really good food.

* As if my cherry blossom pictures aren’t evidence enough, Spring is definitely here and its pretty.

* Bloglovin’.. we’re all aware of what’s going on so I’m on the bloglovin’ bandwagon..officially..for good. I’m sure they’re loving all this new traffic to their site. Any way, from here on out, its how I’ll be following/reading blogs, so if you’ve jumped {reader’s} ship, you can follow me here w/Bloglovin'.

* God has given me some mighty good friends. New and old, and they mean a whole bunch to me. Knowing they’re there for me when I need them. Those who will pray and encourage and send me scripture. And those who give me the ear I need.

Last week was a mentally rough week. A lot was going on inside that was leaving me broken and feeling worthless, but God was watching over me. Not only did He give me just what I needed through a very dear friend, He made G-man available to me when otherwise he wouldn’t have been, Friday. In the middle of the day, I was able to share my struggles and pain and it led to a long conversation later that night that left me with so much peace. All of what I had throughout the week evaporated and I thank God for His blessings.

I realize no one knew this was going on. Some knew I was quite cranky last week but I keep rather guarded and hopefully I’m not hurting anyone personally for ultimately keeping it to myself.

-------

I’d love to hear how your weekends went. Have you started your Spring cleaning yet? Have you used the baking soda/water trick before?

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Raindrops on roses

Hello there. <—said like Julie Andrews. The song popped into my head as I waited for Windows Live Writer to load (best blogging program eveeeeer!) so it had to be incorporated into the post, though it has no relevance whatsoever.

My weekend was a mix of so many things. I almost got into a very bad car accident… and it would have been my fault.. never something you want to be your fault. Pulling out in front of car I didn’t see coming, while putting on my sunglasses (which kept me from looking left since I thought I was clear) left them blaring their horn at me and my heart beating a mile a minute.

I heard that horn repeated in my head for the next 30 minutes, it shook me that bad. I’m so thankful I escaped the wreck, and thankful that even though they were screaming at me, that they were paying attention when I wasn’t.

After, I raced to the clothing store to return a torn sweater, but forgot the receipt. urgh! Then raced to a day spa to have me some stuff done.

{TMI..maybe?}

IF you get waxed, which do you prefer? Hard wax? Or soft wax w/strips?

I’m a hard wax girl. It works best on me, more gentle too. I called to make the appointment and I asked the girl 5 times if the esthetician used hard wax. First she said no, then changed it to yes every time. I stressed I didn’t want to come up there (35 minutes away) if she used strips. The girl assured me, she used hard wax. OK.

I walked into the room and the first thing I asked was if she used hard wax. Nope! I wasn’t happy, and the esthetician got to hear it. Long story short, she claimed she was very good at what she did, so I let her do her way. It was fine, but once was enough.

After her, I went to another girl to get my eyelashes tinted. First time ever getting it done and the only reason I did it was because going to Mexico next week, I don’t want to bother with mascara if I’ll be in the water and this would take care of it. Well, it stung..not just a baby sting, but full on, what the heck is happening, sting.. for 10 minutes straight. Apparently this isn’t normal (as my esthetician SIL told me) nor is it normal to have so much smudging below my eyes.

Goth Emily, anyone?
The girl did a sloppy job. Once I got home, I cleaned it all up and they look fine now…but once is enough. Then! I mentioned I need a hair stylist and she referred me to their one and only stylist in the salon. I talked to her and I’ve never had a more awkward conversation where the person didn’t listen to a word I said. I said no red or golden, she said red and golden. I said I want color that’s a rich chocolate and she said she’ll color it in the middle of red and golden.. and this went on for over 5 minutes. All I saw was oil and water.

My weekend had several good points too, lest you think I’m griping about it all. A lot revolves around breakfast food. I’ve been eating a lot of breakfast foods. Exploding omelet with way too many ingredients, is the way to go.

I also have to give a big huge thank you to Angie {and her husband} Phil for helping me with my first Vimeo upload. They held my hand, walking me through how to compress it and upload it to Vimeo, Thursday night. For pretty much 4 hours they helped me by answering all my questions, looking up tutorials, getting out their PC (since they’re Mac peeps) and being more than patient as I got it all worked out. They’re the sweetest ever.

I’m counting down the days to Mexico! 5 more days!!! Woot!

Happy Monday, my fellow friends!

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A holding pattern

Welcome to the very first Monday of the new year! Already in this one week alone, so much has gone on. Its been a busy one! Especially the weekend.

Its taken over 8 months, but I’ve finally made the decision to get myself back. Its been about that long since I’ve actually cooked for myself. I’ve made a meal here and there, but 9 times out of 10, I’ve gone the route of veggies and sweet potato and called it a night. Or just a sweet potato..or just the veggies.

Not exactly the healthiest for me.

I’ve had myself in this holding pattern for so long with little to no motivation or energy to do anything more. A funk if you will and over the weekend, I finally told myself to snap out of it. I’ve held onto a lot of stress lately and its been so draining and it leaves me with no ability to make anything at night. I think all of its been the main reason my clothes are a lot looser and ultimately dropping down a size in pants.

I was shocked and confused months ago when I noticed how loose they were and couldn’t figure out why. I’d synch a belt just so they’d stay on. I cheered with a friend when I tried the next size down and had them fit perfectly, celebrating my new ‘tinier’ size. I size I’ve never been. I thought it was because I was working out consistently that was doing it, but it wasn’t until this past week that I really got to thinking that it might be because I haven’t been eating enough.

To put the fears aside, I’m not anorexic. I actually still weigh the same with the same 5lb fluctuation. And I could easily link back to the week where I ate a buffalo burger every day for a week straight. I love food. There’s no doubt about it. I just wasn’t eating enough.

When I went to the store Monday night last week, I loaded up. On stuff I thought would get me through the week, but what ultimately didn’t last me past Wednesday morning. It was in that moment, opening my fridge and seeing a carton of 1/2 and 1/2 and a couple apples and nothing else, that I realized I haven’t gone grocery shopping in months. I’d go to the store every week, but only for something here or there, but never to actually make meals.

Cooking for 1 isn’t exactly the most enjoyable thing. Its actually downright depressing and tiring and I made sure to avoid it at all costs.

Saturday morning came and I had every intention of making the morning a Costco morning. My weariness won out and I ended up staying warm under a blanket on the couch, eating the bear minimum. I had a jewelry party that night and even though I was starving, I knew she’d have food (as most of them do) and waited until I got there.

Nasty oven baked fake taquitos were her party food of choice. I had 2…and that was my dinner that night.

Sunday, I had more resolve. Even though my energy was zapped, I made the drive to Costco and got as much as I could possibly think of. Then once I got home, I poured over my food board on pinterest, and wrote down all the other things I needed and made the trek to my grocery store. $200 later, I was ready to get to work.

For 3 1/2 hours I cooked.

I made 5 Roasted sweet potato wraps for lunches.


5 steel cut oats w/fresh fruit for breakfasts.


and 5 dinners of sautéed veggies and chicken.


A week’s worth of meals, healthy complete meals, where I can come home, reheat and not have to wonder what I’ll be making. It takes so much stress out of my week knowing I have healthy meals already prepared for me. No more running to Subway and wasting money on lunches. Or making toast in the morning that will only leave me starving by 9am.

I’m ready to eat again, to cook again for myself and get back into a functioning human being who’s not in this stall pattern. Its amazing how much I’ve wasted these past many months but from this moment on, my goal is to make my week’s worth of meals every Sunday and to eat like there’s no tomorrow…even if that means not being able to fit into my new smaller pants.



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His blessings

As of Wednesday night, my friend’s daughter was released from the hospital. An entire day early! She spent a total of 8 days in the hospital, where they said she screamed in pain and fear for most of them. Her heart rate would jump over 30 beats a minute the moment anyone in scrubs walked in the room. The moment they were told she was going home was a very happy one to say the least.

They shared they have their good moments and bad moments, and thankfully, I happened to visit on a good moment. I don’t think I could bear seeing a bad moment. I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived. I prayed I wouldn’t be standoffish because I get uncomfortable around things I don’t know how to be, but when I walked to their back door, I saw through their window, them sitting at the table…eating. Like any normal family.

I just stood there watching for a second amazed.

There she was…sitting, eating pasta and chicken. I praised God right then and there.

She was nothing but smiles as we sat and talked about the past 9 days and how it effected their lives. Amazingly, they felt so grateful for their situation as they were around many less fortunate parents with children far worse off than their daughter.

They know they have a long way to go with her recovery, but she’s doing just that. Recovering. The more she walks and eats, the more she heals and is able to do the things she’s always wanted to do.

I asked permission to share the few shots I got last night as well as an email she sent out with an update the day she was released.

”One concern right now is that she has been having rather severe bladder spasms at times and, as thought, she reacted very badly to the medications the doctor tried.  We only have two more options, however, insurance doesn't want to cover either of them.  We're praying that as she continues to heal the spasms will go away, but the doctor isn't so sure.  We are so grateful for the prayers, gifts, and support as well as to the nurses and doctors that have done so much for her in the last week.”

So if you can continue to pray specifically for her bladder spasms, I know they’d really appreciate it.

They loved the cards that were sent. They couldn’t believe how far they traveled and she loved knowing that she had so many people throughout the entire country who loves and prays for her.

The stickers were a huge hit with her and her brother!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Squeeze your little ones tight…and your big ones too.

I have big plans tomorrow, and I truly can’t wait for them to be underway, this week has been nothing but crazy leading up to it.

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