(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Studying to easier when you have scenery to look at!

Totally made my Tuesday

Trivia is my new fave!

And playing trivia with friends over good food is even better.

I would love to say that we rocked tonight!

I would love to say we even placed.

We apparently did not read enough comics or watch enough TV as children.

And yay to Lindsay for answering the final question!

A Summer Wishlist:

As a teacher I seem to impatiently demand summer right after spring break. My students start to get a little squirrely (or frisky) as my principal might say. And I too get a case of spring fever in early May. Two weeks into May, my countdown to summer begins. And I find myself wishing more and more that the last day of school will finally come.

And then all of a sudden it does! And my summer vacation begins! Mr. R and I were talking about making the most of our time. And I find that I sometimes squander my summer. I wait so long for it to come and then all of a sudden my vacation is gone and I am not quite sure what I have done with my glorious days off.

To make the most of my summer vacation, I am making my summer wish-list. A few things that I want to make sure I accomplish for the sheer fun of it.

• Eat Rita's water ice and walk along the beach
• Go to free music night at the pier
• Go dancing
• Host a grill only dinner party
• Take a vacation with Mr. R (sans cell-phones)
• See Mr. R's grandparents
• Visit Mom and NJ family
• Play mini golf
• Eat lobster
• Play with sparklers
• Jump on a trampoline (but I will settle for a bounce house)
• Eat an ice-cream cone
• Pack a picnic with friends to hear music downtown
• See the fireworks at Disney
• Take a roadtrip
• Get a pedicure
• Go to a drive-in movie
• Run on the beach
• Go vegan for a day
• Go to a luau

What's on you summer wish list?

6/27: Mellow Sunday

Have you ever woken up tired? This morning I just couldn't get started even with my daily coffee. Mr. R and I missed our usual 9:30 service and opted to try a new church instead. We aren't sold on it, GoodNews still rocks my socks, but it was a nice change of pace. And its always good to meet new people.

After church we came home, had brunch, walked the dogs, watched a little Netflix, and walked the dogs again.

It's been raining on and off all day which to me is a sign that I should stay inside, on my couch, with a book, my laptop, and the TV remote.

I did make it to the gym late this afternoon for a quick run and some leg work. I tried the new glute machine and I think I may pay for it tomorrow. It was very obvious that my buns are not made of steel!

Today's picture, that you see at the beginning of this post is my new favorite breakfast/afternoon snack. I needed a break from my usual green monster and stumbled upon Kellogg's wholewheat waffles. (All the cool kids eat them sliced in half with pb & honey on one side and cream-cheese on the other).

6/26: Anniversary Dinner (2 days late!)

4 years ago we were married on the beach, barefoot, dressed in linen, with our hair blowing in the ocean breeze.

We said our vows surrounded by tiki torches.

Our wedding march was played on steel drums.

We served our guests brunch.

We danced to songs played by a band called Big Pineapple.

Our song is Little Surfer Girl.

Tonight we celebrated our 4th year in island style.

We toasted to surviving our first year of marriage, learning to love each other's families, moving to Florida, buying our first house, fixing up our first house, and trying to start our own family.

I do not think I could love this man more.

Young House Love Inspiration!

I started the bedroom renovation during my Spring Break in early April. In the course of four days, I painted the walls, found a headboard, painted the headboard, bought linens, stenciled two of the four walls, and found a few accessories. (Including my nightstand, lamp, yellow chair, and sisal rug).

That week was a whirlwind of crazy productivity! But... I haven't been motivated since. My bedroom sits half finished and I am struggling with where to begin.As many of you know, I am an avid reader of Young House Love. I love their creativity and their systematic approach to design. Each design begins with a mood board, complete with project outline, followed by a series of DIY projects that overtime complete the room.
Our bedroom started similarly. I had my original moodboard, followed by my list of necessities, and now I am so close to being complete I can almost taste it.

Here is my final moodboard and project list. I plan to complete each step over the next 4 weeks and blog about the process. Wish me luck!

Happy Anniversary!

Image Source

6/24: Anyone up for a picnic?

Our town celebrates summer with music in the plaza on Thursday nights. Each Thursday a new band sets up in the main gazebo downtown and plays a free concert. Tonight we packed our own picnic dinner, grabbed two camp chairs, and set off to listen to The Grapes of Wroth.

Dinner was excellent, the music was fun (lots of covers from Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac), and best of all, its a free night out! (And its always fun to people watch!) Have you seen this people watching game? I think I need to make some of these for next week!

6/24: He gives me love, love, love, love, crazy love!

4 years ago Mr. R and I were married.

We call our marriage a merger.

A merger of love, friendship, goals, desires, and plans.

We made our vows in love,

but also in the desire to push each other forward in reaching our goals.

In the four years since we have been married, we left jobs, found new jobs, got promoted, earned degrees, adopted two dogs, bought a house, ran a marathon, volunteered on and ran political campaigns, started a Young Republicans club, hosted many successful events, Mr. R got elected to the zoning board, and I got tenure!

I fully acknowledge that without Mr. R I would not be who I am today.

Like VanMorrison said, it's all about the love!

Image Source

6/23: (Almost) Wordless Wednesday

She has been saving this half of a milk-bone for 3 days. Until recently, it was buried under our chaise cushion. And then Simon found it. You should have seen Sophie's face. She couldn't believe he found it!

In other news, the lap lanes in the pool were occupied today so I did water aerobics instead. That class is no joke. We didn't stop jumping, kicking, and twisting for 60 minutes. I also did arms and abs at the gym tonight. Mr. R says my muffin top is starting to become more of a mini-muffin top. Progress is progress people.

Geek Chic

I am blind as a bat without glasses or contacts. In fact I have been sporting the sexy 4-eyed look since 2nd grade. My current pair of glasses is older than I would like to admit and they just recently decided to break. Seriously, I didn't break them. They actually just fell apart.

I am in the market for some new specs. And I want the Geek Chic look.

I love the thick black frames of the 80s and the cat-eyes that made the 60's girls so prim looking in their cardigans and pearls.

I also love the pink in these frames....

Decisions, decisions...want to help me choose?

Totally made my Tuesday (2nd Ed.)

• Great class today, great students, great lesson, great day.
• 800 meter swim at the YMCA. I feel stronger even if my arms are crazy sore.
• Dinner with my grandparents on a Tuesday! I love that we are getting a chance to spend more time with them this summer.
• Homemade blueberry cobbler.
• In bed by 10 PM

A few months ago, after a couple of crazy nights of insomnia, Mr. R started reading to me before bed. It is seriously the highlight of my day. Since February we have finished both volumes of Sherlock Holmes and now we have moved onto Book #1 of the Stephanie Plum series. (I think Mr. R is a fan of Joe Morelli!)

6/21 Random Monday Musings:

• One of my students found conch eggs at the preserve today. We also caught a ton of shrimp!
• Our new gym opened today and I love it.
• New equipment, great treadmills, and the gigantic fan that keeps me from sweating like a man while I run my 3 miles.
• Mr. R and I made some exciting plans for our London trip. We actually have most of the days planned out.
• And I am pretty sure we can still make it to Paris and stay under budget.
• I have made ZERO progress toward finishing our bedroom.
• We bought chocolate chip cookies at Costco and I am sure they are going to be the death of my diet.
• I need new sneakers. I always run in Nikes so I think they new flexible ones might work for me. Or maybe I should just be cheap and go to the outlet.
• I think I may have said this before but Tracy Jordan (from 30 Rock) reminds me of Gonzo (from the Muppets).

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

Monday: Steak enchiladas with corn and rice.

Workout: 3 miles

Tuesday: BBQ crockpot shrimp serve with bread and garden salad.

Workout: 800 swim, Arms & Abs

Wednesday: Green beans, bacon, and corn

Workout: 3 miles

Thursday: OUT! Anniversary Celebration to commence!!!!

Workout: 800 swim, Arms, & Abs

Friday: Grilled Scallops with couscous and peas

Workout: 3 miles

Saturday: Gumbo & Cornbread

Workout: Spin class and abs

Image Source: designhergals.com

6/20: Happy Father's Day

Father's Day is always a hard holiday for me. For those of you who don't know, my dad died 10 years ago. And while 10 years may seem like a very long time, its not. I miss my dad so much sometimes. I missed him at my high school and college graduations. I missed him when I broke the 1,000 meter swimming record in college. I missed him walking me down the aisle at my wedding. I missed him when I bought my first house. And I am sure I will miss him a thousand times more throughout my life.

I used to spend Father's Day wallowing in self-pitty angry that my dad was taken from me. But now I choose to remember how awesome he was.

• His crazy laugh and how he loved the three stooges.
• His passion for art and his black and white sketches.
• His glasses and the imprints they would leave on his nose after a day of wear.
• I loved how his hair would stick up in crazy directions in the morning.
• His old blue pick-up truck and how happy he was when he traded it in for the explorer.
• I remember how much he loved food and would try almost anything.
• He loved taking trips to new places.
• He was incredibly patient, Mom and I would tease him and call him Job.
• How he could never find a parking spot that he liked, so we would end up taking a guided tour of the parking lot.
• How much he loved teaching and touching the hearts of his students.
• He made up silly nicknames for EVERYONE.
• Any boy that called our house was always Gerritt Kenyon, no matter if the boy actually said his name or not.
• He loved the shore, especially the boardwalk and Manco's Pizza
• He always dressed for work in a shirt and tie. Even if he was just going to ruin his clothes with paint, chalk or clay.
• His tie collection is enormous! I kept a few, they sit on a special shelf in my closet.

Miss you Dad!

If heaven had mail delivery I would be sending you card and new tie. But instead you will have to settle for the impact you had on my life and how much I still love you.

We're not building a rocket ship here. We're cooking, plain and simple. -Emeril Lagasse

Every once in a while hunger inspires me to be creative and try something new with dinner. Recently I have been craving all things spicy and I stumbled across habanero chicken sausage at Costco. To be honest I wasn't sure what to do with it.

I went out on a limb and sauteed it with peppers and onions. Topped it with tomato and served it over cheese grits.

The entire dinner was incredibly simple, very colorful, and almost low fat (minus the cheese grits).

Ingredients:

3 habanero chicken sausages (I used Aidell's brand)

1 medium red onion (diced)

1 green bell pepper diced

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 plum tomatoes

2 cups of cheese grits

Directions:

Saute bell pepper and onion in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove veggies from heat and place in a separate bowl.

Slice sausage and sauté in pan (no live oil needed).

Prepare cheese grits according to package.

Serve sausage and veggies over cheese grits.

Top with diced tomatoes.

6/19: So apparently my husband is a celebrity!

(www.photofunia.com)

More photo fun!

My Dining Room Table

After a Costco Run

6/18: Friday Night In

Can you tell who won?

You will run 4 miles and you will like it!

Sometimes I need to give my body a little tough love.

You see, my brain really wants me to be an athlete. To get into shape and feel good in my clothes and be confident in my body. My body on the other hand wants to sit on the couch, read Real Simple, and eat cupcakes. (I listened to my body two years ago and gained 30 pounds. Not cool!)

Working out, especially running is not easy for me. Its hard, sometimes painful, and almost always tiring. This means I need to give myself a bit of tough love to get out there and actually accomplish what I set out to do.

So today, I ran my 4 miles. I came home covered in sweat. And I am smiling. Because my brain and my body knew I could do it all along :)

6/17: Taco Thursday

I think Taco Tuesday has a better ring to it, but it's Thursday and we just ate half a pan of walking tacos, so Taco Thursday it is.

I was in the mood for Mexican tonight, really I just wanted to eat avocados and lots of pico de gallo. And I had some organic ground beef in the freezer. Walking tacos is basically your typical 7 layer dip, minus a few layers.

To make: layer the following ingredients in a 9x13 pan.

(I prefer glass so you can see the pretty layers, but mine was otherwise occupied with remnants of Sunday brunch).

1. Fat free refried beans

2. Diced jalapenos (I use the pickled ones in the jar. They are less spicy).

3. Cooked ground beef seasoned with the taco packet.

4. Cheese (I am on a reduced fat cheese kick)

5. Diced avocado (I used two. Also sprinkle your avocado with salt and pepper)

6. 3 diced plum tomatoes

7. 1 can of sliced black olives

8. 1/3 of a red onion (diced)

(Serve with chips or on a bed of spring mix)

Ok, so there are actually 8 layers. But it comes together super fast. Mr. R actually browned and seasoned the beef so I was only responsible for the veggies and assembly. Dinner was done in 15 minutes.

And yes, here is the proof! We ate half the pan!