Happy Memorial Day!

If you were my shadow today you would:

go to the beach for a 2 mile walk followed by swim in the ocean

make broiled scallops with couscous and peas

stencil more of the bedroom

BBQ with my wonderful grandparents

take the dogs for a long walk around the lake

try out the new icecream maker

Dear Sunday Mornings,

I have missed you so much!

I have missed our couch time together, the iced coffees we used to drink while still in sweats.

I have missed my Sunday morning movie, sugared cereal, and catching up on blogs.

So today... Sunday Morning... we are going to rekindle our affair with the help of Reese's Puffs, Sex & the City on DVD, a few fashion magazines, and homemade iced coffee.

And I might just snag a pedicure and eye brow wax while I am at it.

5/28: More than I can chew...

Mr. R and I had an incredibly busy week this week and all I wanted to do today was relax, sleep, nap, hang out...

But that was just not possible. We had errands to run, walls to paint, clothes to wash, a refrigerator to clean, meals to prep, and a whole house to straighten and clean.

I was almost in tears when I looked at the growing to-do list. So, we made a decision. We are going to have our house cleaned once a week by a professional. This will take some of the pressure off of me and guarantee that our house will hopefully always look presentable.

I am a little nervous about having someone in my home, but we will have our initial interview on Tuesday so hopefully I will feel more comfortable then.

A few questions though:

I am unsure of what to offer as payment. She will be cleaning the kitchen, our bedroom, two bathrooms, the dining room, living room, and TV room. I was thinking between $75 and $100.

Also besides the normal dusting, vacuuming, and sweeping as their any other things I need to add to my to-do list?

Thanks for listening to me vent!

5/28: Memorial Day Weekend!

Our Memorial Day weekend started with books. Travel books!

We are going to Europe this summer!

Let the planning begin :)

5/27: Happy Birthday Lindsay!

My first year of teaching I worked with Lindsay teaching 6th grade. I loved our lunches together. We have a similar sense of humor and our minds usually go to same the same place in a conversation. There were whole days when we couldn't make eye contact over the lunch table for fear of laughing inappropriately.

After my first year Lindsay transferred to 8th grade and I was moved to 7th. I see her in the halls, at meetings, and during fun birthday events, but its just not the same. I am so glad I was able to celebrate her 26th!

Things I love about Lindsay:

1. She had great clothes and style.

2. She share my love/obsession for cardigans

3. She loves Taylor Swift and the bachelor

4. She wear tutus!

I also had dinner with these lovely and very photogenic people!

Kristin & Emily

Rachel & Leia

Heather & Brent

Danielle & Carl

5/26: Goodbye Gladys

Gladys Richards was my grandmother's best friend. They met in church 16 years ago when my grandparents made their big move to Florida. Gladys was kind, funny, sweet and full of love. She loved to give and get hugs. She loved to cook, her apple pie recipe is AMAZING! She loved jewelry. And most importantly she loved Jesus. And last Friday he called her home. I am thankful I was able to know and spend time with Gladys. I am thankful she was a wonderful friend to my Grandmother. And I am thankful that I know she is in heaven and I will see her again someday.

5/25:

Today I had my first Marine Science meeting. This summer I will be teaching 6th grade students and my rotation is teaching CPR and biking at a local wildlife preserve. The meeting ran a little later than I thought, putting me behind on running errands and making dinner.Tonight we settled for my single girl dinner of pasta and peas.

The recipe is ridiculously easy and it can be made in on pot on a hotplate.

(Told you it was from my non-kitchen using single girl days).

1. Boil 1 box of possible

2. In the last 3 minutes of cooking add half a bag of frozen peas.

3. Drain pasta and peas and add 3 Tbs of butter.

4. Top pasta and peas with cheddar cheese.

5. Season with salt and tons of fresh grated black pepper.

5/24: My New Favorite Dress

My favorite part of any weight loss is finding that some old clothes now fit. This dress hadn't seen the light of day in 18 months and I was able to wear it to work today! Size 12 thank you very much!

Here's to another month of running, lifting, and losing!

Menu Monday: A little peak at our weekly menu & my workout plan

Monday: Chinese dumplings (from Costco), with green salad, and thai peanut sesame noodles

Workout: Arc Trainer for 40 minutes

Tuesday: Pioneer Woman's chicken pot pie with green salad

Workout: 60 minute incline walk (I am taking a little break from running. I keep telling myself I will be back at it soon!)

Wednesday: Pancakes/Waffles with sausage

Workout: Tae-bo (fat blasting cardio)

Thursday: OUT!

Workout: Elliptical for 40 (weight loss setting, level 9)

Friday: Pioneer Woman's Meatloaf with macaroni & broccoli and green salad

Workout: incline walk

5/22 - 5/23: Weekend in Paris

For our May date I promised Mr. R the world, well not really I only promised him a trip the city of love.

PARIS!

When Mr. R and I were dirt poor, still in grad school, and living off of Raman,we would plan trips to faraway places and dream about the fun we would have there.

Currently I can not afford to take Mr. R is Paris, but I can make our little town feel just like Paris for the weekend. There are a few things that you must do/see when in the capital city.

1. A stroll along the Champs Elysees

2. French Food (ham croissant)

A dinner of steak and frites at a local bistro (with a bottle of red of course)

3. A visit to the louvre

4. A trip to the eiffel tower

5. A Decadent dessert shared

6. And maybe solving a murder along with Inspector Clouseau

5/21: Retail Therapy

My week was awful! I had a bit of a scare at work on Thursday. I am mentally and physically exhausted and I have no jeans in my closet that fit. Mr. R's computer died on Wednesday. And this just happens to be his company's biggest week of the year. He also had a zoning meeting this week and a potential client that had been putting him through the ringer for two weeks only to end up not signing. Ugh!

When I rolled in the driveway Friday afternoon Mr. R was all about a night out. First, we headed to the outlets to check out the pre-memorial day sales. Gap was AMAZING! Two pairs of jeans, two cardigans, a shirt, and two tanks for $70. And Mr. R found a few dress shirts at Banana. (His new favorite store. Brooks Brothers is no longer at the top of his list).

A night out is simply not complete without dinner and I was craving some creatures of the sea. As commercial as this sounds I love Red Lobster. I know I live in Florida and can get seafood at any hole in the wall I choose, but there is something about those cheddar biscuits. They lore me in the sirens in Homer's iliad. I feasted on crab legs and Mr. R had the lobster and scallops. (I think I won "the best meal competition" tonight.) I ate my weight in Alaskan King Crab and came home fat and happy.

Let's just hope those new jeans I bought still fit tomorrow!

5/20: God's Plan

I am firm believer in God's plan. I don't alway understand, like it, or have faith in it. But I know that God has a plan and that no matter what I do the plan is going to happen and he is in control.

Even though I just said that and it sounds great. It does not stop me from being anxious, nervous, and even crazed. A very wise and astute coworker of mine posted this as her facebook status.

(Philippians 4:6-7) In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.

Mr. R

• had a bad day today.
• was chewed out over a presentation he made for work.
• decided a date night was very much needed.

We strolled Barnes and Noble, where I read many decorating mags and a few scrapbooking how-tos.

Frustration!

I just deleted all of last weeks photos from my iphone!

I am so angry right now!

If this is not a reason to get a real camera I do not know what is!

Are you reading this Mr. R?

A new camera is needed pronto!

Taco Tuesday and a 3 mile run

Tonight was a gym night, Mr. R had to take a late work phone call, I was all about procrastination, and the treadmill seemed more favorable than the current humidity. (Although in a month I will laugh at only 30% humidity because it will soon be summer in Florida and my hair will be the size of Texas.)

For dinner we had steak fajitas. I made a Costco run on Saturday and picked up fresh salmon and marinated flank steak. Mr. R grilled up the flank steak while I made Pioneer Woman's pico de gallo and guacamole. (Her stuff beats Cantina Laredo's and I could eat it everyday for the rest of my LIFE!) To bump up my veggie/filling foods intake I served the fajitas with black beans and Spanish rice.

Mr. R and I are back on track for the monthly menu and a new Rachael Ray came in the mail so be looking for lots of new recipes coming shortly.

Happy Tuesday :)

5/17: A very rainy Monday

I woke up this morning to rain, drove to school in the rain, taught most of the day in the rain (well really inside in my classroom), but the rain made it super dark and tiring.... by the time I left school the sun was out and I was ready for a run. I RAN 4 miles! Here that, 4 miles on a MONDAY! And I was fast! One 10 minute mile, one sub 10 minute mile, and two 12 minute miles. I feel like a rockstar. And now this rockstar is going to cook some dinner. Salmon, couscous, and peas anyone?

5/16: Pioneer Woman is brilliant and she is making me fat!

We got a late start this morning. I woke up around 3AM feeling nauseous, stayed up for about an hour, and then slept until 9AM. Thus making us late for church, but we had plenty of time for a leisurely brunch. I made Pioneer Woman's cinnamon baked french toast and it is EPIC! I could eat plate after plate of this stuff, but then my pants would no longer fit and I would be sad.

We did end up going to church, just not our church. It was a good service and its sometimes nice to mix it up every once in a while. After church we ran a few errands (Target & Publix), took a nap, bathed the dogs, had afternoon tea, and ended the night with a little scrap booking.

The picture below was taken right before Simon's bath, he is trying to blend into the chair!

5/14: New Hair!

Highlights, lowlights, and bangs.

I still look like me, just with great hair.

I LOVE PANACHE :)

Cute flapperdoodle image found here.

5/15: Dining Room Table

Our dining room table is a catch all. It hold that things I will need to take to work each day, projects Mr. R is working on, unfinished scrapbook pages, and the results of many errands run during a day. Today's table contains goodies from Costco, new scrapbook papers from Joanne, a two new splurges from Anthro, and Mr. R's zoning board staff report.

5/8: Superhero Saturday

Dressed in my Superman shirt I ran 3 miles, cleaned house, did lots of laundry, ran errands, and swam for a bit in my Uncle's pool. It was 93 degrees today and as much as I wanted to lay out and soak up the sun, the water was the only think that made the heat bearable.

Tonight is also date night which means I am dressing up (as dressy as a tank, jeans, and a cardi can get), wearing make-up, and am headed to the movies to see the flick Mr. R has been excited about all year.

I will give you a hint... its superhero themed and includes a song by Ozzie Osborne.

5/7: Happy 26th Birthday Chris!

We celebrated Chris' 26th trip around the sun with sushi and cupcakes!

We started at Yamato where I ordered mango sushi, salmon sushi, and the super delicious scallop and crab sushi! Thank goodness I shared these choices with Mr. R.

We rang the gong in honor of Chris, sang a rousing happy birthday and honored him once more with Luli's cupcakes. The double chocolate cupcake is so amazing you will want to cry! And then eat more cupcakes!

Great Birthday! We love you Chris!

5/6: In the Zone.

Mr. R's first meeting as a member of the zoning board.

My hubs is cute, smart, and now has a name tag!

5/5: Takeout

I had a bad day. I am physically and mentally exhausted. I am not cooking tonight.

Mr. R is in charge of dinner.

We called for takeout.

We will eat in front of the TV and watch Bewitched with Nicole Kidman and Will Farrell.

5/4: My day in numbers

1. My haircut was cancelled so I went to the gym!

2. It is pouring rain and our gutters need to be cleaned out. (I vote that this is a Mr. R job).

3. I ran 3 miles, burned around 400 calories, and sweated out every drop of water I drank today. Seriously I looked like I ran in the rain and not the gym!

4. I made Giada's blueberry pancakes for dinner tonight. (I always eat breakfast for dinner when its raining. I know I am weird)

5. I spent part of my evening in the Barnes and Nobel kids section searching for a book to give as part of a baby shower gift. I bought Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! It is a favorite of both Mr. R and myself.

photo source

5/3: Yummy dinners and a workout plan:

Sunday:

1. Loaded baked potatoes with bacon and cheddar. (The Dubliner cheddar from Costco is my new fave!)

2. Plyometrics class! (I swear no amount of running has hurt my legs this BAD!)

Monday:

1. Shrimp & crab ravioli with lemon butter sauce (thank you Costco!)

2. Tae-Bo fat burning workout (45 mins)

Tuesday:

1. Salmon burgers with salad

2. I need to complete an AM workout today (Tae-Bo) because I am getting a HAIRCUT! I am doing something a little different think new cut and color so I am pretty excited. Wish me luck!

Wednesday:

1. Soup and salad with cheddar and tomato sandwiches

2. Elliptical workout: weight-loss setting, level 9

Thursday:

1. Celebrating Mr. R's first zoning meeting! Since we are celebrating I will be making on of his favorites. Grilled shrimp and scallops served with a fruit and nut salad and crusty bread.

2. Running intervals (60 mins)

Friday:

1. Mr. R has a baseball game and I will be cheering in the stands. Dinner needs to be easy and fast! Baked empanadas with steamed broccoli.

2. 5 mile run and abs.

Anyone up for a challenge?

My monthly goal is to log 31 workouts in the 31 days on May.

A coworker of mine went to her doctor and she was informed that 60 minutes of exercise a day should be the minimum goal we women strive for. I know I don't always hit that goal. In fact many days I am counting the stroll I take with my lazy puppies as a workout.

If anyone wants to play along keep a tally of your weekly workouts and post them either to your blog or facebook status each Sunday.

At the end of May I will have a prize drawing giveaway for anyone who logged over 20 workouts. The winner will receive a itunes gift card and my favorite water bottle of all time.

Good Luck!

5/2: Staycation Sunday

I could use a whole week of this!

Sleeping in, late morning brunch, leisurely reading, puppy walks, grilling, and quality time with my peeps!

P.S. Mr. R. got some new duds. I think he looks preptastic!

Running is my fave!

Even though I leave the gym looking like this.

I feel amazing.

I can tell its getting close to the end of the school year, my patience is wearing thin, I don't want to grade anymore, and overall I am just tired.

I am so glad I get to run a few days a week. It just makes me feel so much better.

I think running is my anti-depressent.