Thankful Thursday

Last week, I didn't blog. At all. Not even in my head. I have all these great plans of just blogging every day about random things, and then I get home from work, cook dinner, clean up the house, sometimes do a little more work, prepare for the next day, then go to bed. Seriously - how terrible. I've been trying to get better at making space to relax and do nothing, and it's tough! I tested myself this morning - I left the house for work while the bed was unmade and there were dishes in the sink and a pair of jeans on the floor in the office. You laugh, but that was hard to walk out on; just knowing that there is chaos where I can make order easily.

Kind of like when I try to make myself not adjust my mat during yoga. It's hard to not focus on the crooked mat, but I think it's a good practice in overcoming my OCD type A-ness, right?

Anyway, so I made space last week, and decided not to blog and to relax instead with my dad and brother, who were in town for the night (Nate's home from China, yay!).

So I have this picture from probably a week and a half ago, from a Great Gatsby-themed party that we went to, but what I really wish I could share is the string of photobooth pictures that we took. It convinces me each time I look at it, that we're real winners. 

At least this picture turned out nice! I got me a hottie for a husband.

Speaking of winning, this was taken early in the morning, some day last week. This is how Nolan attempts to make himself think that it's bedtime after a night shift, even though the rest of the world is just waking up. Aviators, wine, robe, and posed selfie on your wife's phone? Check.

I know, the beard is out of control.

What is it about this time of year that makes everything go so slowly, until Christmas Eve, and then next thing you know it's January 2 and you're trekking back to the office? As much as I love my work, I love Christmas more. I can't stand the long wait until the holiday, and how the 2 days themselves just seem to disappear! Boo.

However...I'm still glad it's this time of year still, and that we haven't plunged into frigid, lonely January already. So with that:

1. I'm thankful for my parking spot at BART this morning! On Tuesday, there were no parking spots left...not a single solitary one. Knowing that by the time I either got to another BART station or got into downtown SF to park, neither would have spots open either, I decided to head to the only place that I MIGHT have some luck - our old neighbourhood. I won't relay all the terrible details of trying to park and then commute to and from the Sunset again (oh, the Muni!)...but it was terrible. So - thankful for parking.

2. I'm thankful for my favourite lunch spot! I love having a little treat to look forward to for lunch, and a delicious meal to fill my belly.

3. I'm thankful for the vacation coming up! Long strings of days with family and friends, and time off to just play and spend time with Nolan? I'll take it.

4. I'm thankful for my work. It's a consistently satisfying and (dare I say it) fun part of my weeks. Doesn't hurt that I'm part of a great team too. Except for whoever it was that made me take a very embarrassing and large white elephant gift home on the BART with me. I don't forgive you!

5. I'm thankful for Christmas music. It's my happy place. And it's good for anything! I listen to it while cooking, driving, working, even CrossFitting (bench-pressing to the Muppets' Christmas Carol? Check.). I love it year.round.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday (and a little cheer!)

This week, I made some delicious new (and healthy, if you ignore the glaze on the one below) treats. I made Nolan some doughnuts with my new doughnut pan, and added a little chocolate glaze to his, since it was a special treat. Also! I'm posting a recipe later this week for a delicious dinner idea. Stay tuned!

I was met with an onslaught of texts at lunch on Monday from a bunch of residency applicants that Nolan was interviewing. Apparently he decided he'd leverage his influence on them to brighten my day a little bit! Also: it was hilarious.

And, as usual in our household, Christmas came early! We couldn't wait to exchange gifts, so we opened ours to each other early. Nolan got me a gorgeous necklace that I had been wanting, with my initials on it. See??? Thank you, Nolan!

Highlight of my week so far? This video that my boss put together of us. Dancing on Xeroxes? Yeah, that's what we do every day.

Onto the good stuff!

1. I'm thankful for learning to rest. I was having a hard time physically this week, and learned that I had to force myself to rest and do absolutely nothing for a couple days. I had been doing long yoga sessions and running on rest days, and my body was trying to tell me to slow down. Amazing how a little rest can fix you!

2. I'm thankful for super interesting and engaging learning opportunities at work! Not only do I get to attend a really great conference in February that I'm excited about, but I'm in 2 days of workshops this week that are very insightful and challenging around Human Capital Financial Statements. Woo! And you thought HR was boring. *cue the sniggers*

3. I'm thankful for meeting my goal of being done with Christmas shopping early! So fun to have all the presents purchased and bought

4. I'm thankful for exciting new opportunities to adventure with Nolan coming up! Can't say much right now since nothing has been set in stone, but stay tuned for excitingness!

5. I'm thankful for the holidays, and all the concentrated family + friend time that goes with this season. I'm loving getting to visit with all of our favourite people (yay for bff visiting this weekend!), and I'm so looking forward to some time off to enjoy with family in just 2 short weeks!

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday - Thanksgiving Edition!

This week has been eventful. In mostly good ways. For example, we got to see a lot of old friends and spend time playing vicious games of Dominion with a few new ones. Our new roommate My dad spent another evening with us this week, which we always really enjoy. Oh and I got to experience strangers controlling my brain. No really. I am doing another round of that pain research study I did before, and this time they were sending magnetic pulses through my scalp and telling my thumb to move, among other things. So fascinating. See?

I always have to beg a little to get them to take a picture.

This morning, I woke up and ate a nice, slow breakfast and coffee, then stretched a bit before turning on the tv (seriously, I think we turn that thing on maybe once a year!) to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Because you know, it's Milo's favourite. Every single year he watches that parade - we've had other movies and stuff streaming from the tv screen, and he never watches them...so it truly is something about the parade itself. This year I took the picture of him glued to it when he didn't know I was watching.

By the time I got home from my workout, the cool balloons had already passed, and there were random people jump-roping on the stage. By that point he was only watching with one eye open and half-asleep. I don't blame him. Who cares about jump-ropers.

Throwback time! Let's see how energetic he was about watching the parade the last couple of years:

2012 - Charlie Brown is his favourite! Yes, I know he's just a cat.

...and a series of 4 pictures over 4 hours from 2011 (my favourite series of pictures ever!!!)

This morning I decided to run Pulgas Ridge against my better judgment. See, I know as well as the next person that the 2 biggest "traffic" days for walking and running are Thanksgiving Day, and New Year's Day. The former because people in 'Merca somehow trick themselves into believing that if they go for a very long walk that morning, they "earn" the right to stuff themselves silly with food later. Like I said...'Merca. The latter, of course, because everyone's starting their soon-to-be failed New Year's Resolutions. Do I sound cynical yet? Sorry.

Anyway. So I went to Pulgas Ridge, and the usually empty parking lot was overflowing. So I parked on the little street, strapped on my water belt, and started running. I swear, every person in San Mateo county was on that trail. It was herds. Droves, I tell you. Good news is that none of them braved the whole loop and left out the brutal climb in the middle - so I got to do that alone with nobody to watch me cry blood as I climbed those massive hills out of the canyon. Bad news is that when I finally was on my way back down the last mile, they had the nerve to all make comments as I passed about "must be easy running downhill!". Yeah. Must be. Turds.

We had our Thanksgiving with a few friends around noon this year, and so Nolan got to have his feast after all, though he has to work the next few nights. At least with his work schedule, we've somehow managed to still celebrate Thanksgiving grandly each year. And Milo's still gotten to watch his parade. So we all win. Onto what else is winning?

1. I'm thankful for growth. An area I've been surprised and pleased to see growth in myself in this year has been learning to like people. You laugh, but although I really like spending time with people I care about, I really didn't like strangers or "people", if you know what I mean. Now (with a lot of encouragement and pushing from Nolan), I'm finding myself chatting up strangers and meeting people everywhere and being downright (dare I say it?) agreeable? This was supposed to be a good reflection but now I realize I sound like the grinch. Sigh. Still thankful though.

2. I'm thankful for my undeservedly wonderful husband. How do I even put into words how much he means to me? I see reasons every.single.day why I am so incredibly blessed to have such a good man and such a fun, challenging and loving marriage and friendship to come home to for the rest of my life. Nolan, you are my sun and stars.

3. I'm thankful for our great families. Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas and enjoy good quality family time!

4. I'm thankful for our jobs that we both love and our future career plans! Also, I say this a lot but I'm super grateful for my boss! I love my job, but having a phenomenal person to lead, support and coach you makes such a huge difference.

5. I'm thankful for the holidays and the reminder to love on each other and appreciate the world and people around us, as well as the real reason for the season. So grateful that I get to celebrate that first time God gave us His most amazing gift, so many years ago.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

This week has been odd. I think I got confused working from home a few days and then going into the office in between - it's like my body was in this rhythm and now I have no idea what day of the week it is. Plus, next week is Thanksgiving, and those 2 random days off always throw me.

In other news, Nolan and I are practically caught up to the current season of The Walking Dead. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't doing it. Who knew a zombie show could be so good?

This week I broke some fitness milestones: I set new PRs (personal records) in a couple lifts, and I ran over 8 miles without knee pain. Okay, that still isn't super far, but since I've been oh-so-gradually increasing the distance over the past 8 or so months so that my knees can take it slow and adjust, it's nice to be finally at that medium distance. Woo!

I discovered very bad recipes these past few weeks. Really bad. Like, getting me back on the dessert wagon bad . Did I mention I was off for awhile? Okay, so to back up - I decided to go officially, legit, Paleo a few weeks ago. I'm not saying I'm going to stay Paleo, but since the only real difference between my eating habits is that now I'm not eating greek yogurt (or any dairy) or oats, it was a super easy switch. We'll see how long I can go without those oats. Confession time: I also used to count calories. It was usually to make sure I was getting enough to support my workouts, but sometimes it got a little bit too calculated, and I didn't feel like that was healthy. So that's stopped too.

Anyway: desserts. So since switching over, I haven't really craved sweets as much. No idea why, but I'm not complaining - it was a bad habit!

Also: nobody make that recipe I linked because I'm making it for the holidays! kthanks.

So, other than delicious desserts my sweet tooth finally starting to ebb:

1. I'm thankful for the rain. It's been SO.DRY. here in California, and we desperately needed rain. Plus, there's nothing better than falling asleep to the sound of it! Also: my car stays cleaner.
2. I'm thankful for extra time with my dad! He's been staying with us in between work stints nearby, and it's so fun to have a little extra time to spend together. He's a good ole fellow.
3. I'm thankful for being halfway done with Christmas shopping. Are you jealous? You should be, because I'm planning on being done by December 1, and then just letting the excitement build to give the presents away without stressing about picking them out. I can spend December weekends away from holiday shopping crowds? Excellent.
4. I'm thankful for fun times with friends. We have an awesome weekend coming up, with Hunger Games, game nights, Stanford tailgating, dinners, you name it.
5. I'm thankful for relaxing on our first ever "Treat Yo Self" day this coming Sunday. I'll just pretend that I'm not spending 3 hours Sunday afternoon getting my palm burned to a crisp for another pain study, and call the rest of the day a Treat Yo Self day. I plan on...buying myself lunch? Hah - we'll see if I actually take advantage of the day or not so much. Nolan already tried to convince me that him making me give him a massage was him treating himself. I'm not sure what world he's living in.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I went into the gym at lunch kind of dreading my WOD. It was this:

Muscle snatch 1-1-1-1-1

Power snatch 3-3-3-3-3

Snatch 5-5-5-5-5

Knowing how bad I am at snatches, I was nervous. So I planned to use the MaxRack (never a good idea for Olympic lifts), because it made me *feel* more stabilized. Especially those squat snatches at the end - yikes. So I went in, started warming up with the bar, and then started on the MaxRack. After maybe 2 minutes there, I saw one of the super-friendly trainers behind me, grinning, and poking the technique bar at me. That trainer took me to the mirrors and worked on correcting, stabilizing, and perfecting my snatch technique for an hour. Unscheduled and on his personal time. He was SO helpful, so encouraging, and by the end he had me try a much heavier weight than I thought I could handle, just to push me out of my comfort zone. I did end up having to throw the weight down (fail!), but it was liberating to even get it over my head. The snatch is such an incredibly technical lift, but so much fun when you really start to get the hang of it!

Today is a rest day, and thank goodness. Tomorrow involves a lot of OH squats and double-unders. I have big plans for wearing tall socks.

I finally remembered I actually took a picture of my paleo guac that I made last week, so if you care - that post has been updated with a pic.

But hey! Reason to celebrate: it's Thursday and HERE I AM. Yay for follow-through. Let's go:

1. I'm thankful for intentional kindness. That trainer yesterday seriously made my day, and I recognize that he gave up his time to do so. 

2. I'm thankful for tasty fall treats. Sweet potatoes with pesto, pumpkin waffles, bacon and coffee. What am I saying, I eat all those things year-round. I guess this was a roundabout way of saying that I'm thankful for food...again.

3. I'm thankful for playtime with friends! I've been lucky to get a lot of that lately, and it's rejuvenating.

4. I'm thankful for being halfway done with Christmas shopping. Yeah, you read that right. In fact, I'm more than halfway. But some stuff is still in the mail, so it doesn't count yet. Score for productivity!

5. I'm thankful for work-at-home days, like tomorrow. I get an extra hour or so of sleep, AND I get excellent, focused work time, AND I can eat whatever I want out of my fridge for lunch? Win.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful...day

Okay, I know. Obviously I missed Thursday again. What can I say? I have so much to be thankful for, so I need to prioritize sticking with the program, eh?

Speaking of things to prioritize: I finally got Nolan to send me the pictures we took from our photobooth at our Halloween party. Please don't ask where Nolan got the faux mustache, because I have no idea and that makes me nervous.

So dirty. 

Anyway: I've been cutting back on dairy lately due to the bad effects of over-consuming it a couple weeks ago. As a by-product of that, I've discovered new fixes for old, good recipes. For example: Nolan wanted game day food to enjoy with the Ducks game this week, and since we've got the drumsticks covered (story: Nolan made us buy 70ish drumsticks for the Halloween party that I strongly protested against because "we needed enough food". We had tons of food. Drumsticks never left the freezer. So we've been eating drumsticks every.single.night.since.), I had to come up with dips, appetizers, that kind of stuff. So I found an excellent recipe for spinach artichoke dip, and then ran with that idea and came up with an excellent guacamole recipe. Check it out!


Dairy-free Guacamole

1/2 cup cashews, roasted and salted

1 tbsp olive oil, with more as needed to thin

2 avocados

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp sundried tomatoes, julienned

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp dried minced onion

Shake of salt to taste

Toss cashews in food processor with olive oil until creamy. Add avocados, and any additional olive oil as needed to thin to desired consistency. Throw in other ingredients and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve! We enjoyed this with clean sweet potato chips and sliced veggies. Oh and grilled drumsticks and that tasty spinach artichoke dip. Nom nom nom.

Until this coming Thursday, I'll just leave off by saying that I am SO THANKFUL for my incredible husband. Even though I wanted to kill him this morning for waking me up by blasting this song on his phone in my ear and laughing like a maniac...he's perfect and I'm incredibly lucky.

Candy Corn and Pedometers

Last week was our Halloween party for Nolan's colleagues. This year as last year, we also used it as an applicant social event...so we had a lot of planning and prepping to do in order to host 50+ people in our small place.

Party prep meant our mini-fridge got really cosy. That door just barely closed.

So many eggs! Deviled eggs are such a pain.

We also managed to cover every surface with cookies, cupcakes, and other snacks and goodies before we brought it all downstairs for devouring.

"Candy Corn" cookies (orange zest shortbread)

The party was awesome. It was crowded and noisy, and there were tiki torches, a photobooth, corn-hole and beer-pong and delicious treats. Somehow, I even managed to be in bed by 10 (I had to seriously tune out the music and laughter downstairs), and Nolan joined me around midnight. Not bad, since the last couple years involved hearing people still carrying on around 2am, and waking up to find people crashed on our living room floor. Whew.

Someone's been feeling pretty clever lately.

After I was done cleaning up the next day (hey, Nolan did ALL the setup, so it was only fair), I got this text from Nolan while I was out running errands. Apparently me throwing out the sweets that we never like to keep in the house was not welcome quite yet:

October 31 marked the end of Nolan and I's month-long step challenge. I won't bother saying who won, because the winner gets to choose dinner and a date of their choosing...so really, it's a win-win. So on Halloween, I wanted to remind Nolan that our challenge was ending. I got this text back:

Either I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have such a hilarious husband or I have a long road ahead of me :)

Discoveries and the best costume ever.

This weekend, I got to test out a new product that I bought last week. You know those weird blisters I was getting on the bottoms of my feet from running? No more! This stuff is fantastic. It rolls right on without having to dry before use, stays put for at least 7.6 miles (the farthest I've tested it so far), and doesn't smell or linger on the skin. I think I've found my new favourite accessory!

Our Halloween costumes this year are different this year. No boxes, no frames or beards, no wigs. Just normal clothes that somehow work as Curious George and The Man in The Yellow Hat.

Why is this the best costume ever? Because I basically get to wear skinnies, a headband and a turtleneck (okay and there's a tail too) to host our party this week. That means I'll be warm, super-comfy, and have my hair out of my face. Excellent! Nolan gets to wear skinnies (hot!), a button-down and his fave Dansko black shoes (not pictured. hah. there's also the small matter of the hat, but it just kind of sits on top of his head so it's a non-issue).

 Today I used PayPal for the first time. My favourite lunch spot has been advertising this deal for awhile now - where you get $5 off lunch when you pay with PayPal (which means my lunch was $3 something). Not only that, but the remaining balance due goes onto the card I've set in PayPal as my default. Fantastic lunch for a killer price and paid for via mobile? Google wallet, you've got competition.

Over the weekend, we got to hang out with Nolan's parents and spend some quality time enjoying the lovely Fall weather! We went on a nice walk in Edgewood Park, ate delicious foods, watched The Walking Dead (I know - I never thought we'd like it!), watched the Oregon Ducks dominate their game again (mostly), and just generally enjoyed family time. Love those weekends!

Thankful Thursday

This week I tried something new. Rather than sticking to my neighbourhood (-ish) for my run, I ran this trail on Tuesday and it was rough! Not too far of a distance, but the elevation - ! I came home and had to finish my CrossFit WOD and I was t.i.r.e.d. But it was beautiful and isolated and probably very scary when dark. I swear the continuous climbs were totally worth it when I got to the top of the ridge and literally heard nothing but the wind and an eagle. Really. I'm adding every trail run within 15 miles of my house to my to-do list. They're everywhere! Nate, if you're reading this - I'm bringing you here the second you get back from China.

We were up in Placerville this weekend, and actually managed to make a one-night stay feel like a 3 day stay, and enjoy some prolonged relaxation time with family! We even got to bring home a souvenir from the ranch: Huevos a la Rory. He apparently keeps his chickens so happy that they keep giving him HUGE double-yolk eggs. Here's one we brought home - conjoined twins!

Yesterday I placed an order for some items from a sports-adventure site we like, and when I checked the tracking today...apparently it was almost to my house. Holy cow. Amazon can't touch that.

This week has been really interesting, what with the BART strike keeping me at home, and the rushed weekend getting up to the ranch and back, but I'm feeling pretty good. And productive. Working at home is the best way to get in really solid work with no distractions - amazing! With that:

1. I'm thankful for being caught up. Not just at work, but at home, with all the little to-dos I have going on. It feels good to be more or less on track and able to relax at night!
2. I'm thankful for new/old finds. We were able to sort through some of my grandma's stuff, since her home is being sold soon, and found some pretty great things that I will continue using in her honour! Some cool antiques, and some old classics. And a new roll of wax paper, which was on my list anyway. w00t!
3. I'm thankful for resolve. I've been struggling in terms of some of my WODs, not working quite hard enough (or working too hard and falling over publicly at the gym, like yesterday :( ), or like today - not wanting to wake up at 5am and face the scary darkness. I'm thankful that I've pushed through it, because I'm starting to feel more like my old self again - and already plotting my next excellent workout!
4. I'm thankful for the holidays! I'm already in the thick of my favourite season, but the day after Halloween is just next week, and that is the official start of the "Holiday" season! YAY! Then maybe I can crank up my Christmas music a little louder on my morning commute.
5. I'm thankful for a respite in Nolan's schedule these 2 weeks. It's so nice to see him actually getting sleep, actually being able to see friends, and actually being around for even more meals together. Double YAY!

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday/Friday

I think I'm starting a bad habit here and becoming okay with posting my Thankfulness on Fridays. It's a slippery slope until I forget to do it at all! So let this be the last time, if I can help it.

This week I got *this* close to overdosing on my favourite lunch. I ended up with just a little too much sauce and a few too many eggplant chips (blasphemy!) on my salad...so that you can barely tell it's a salad anymore! It was delicious, if not a little drowned. Mmm, tandoori chicken, chickpeas and cauliflower over spinach and drenched in sauce with eggplant scattered on top. Best lunch ever.

Wednesday I checked out happy hour with my friend Susan in Mountain View at a place I've been wanting to try - Xanh. Seriously tasty eats for fantastic happy hour price! And with that kind of weather, why wouldn't you sit outside and sip cocktails all night? You can't see it in the picture, but I had a gorgeous glass of prosecco with lychee floating in it. We only ate about half the food here (mine's on the left), and I had the rest of my salad and tofu wraps today for lunch. Yum!

I also got a random whim to redecorate our pillows this week. I had been looking for the burlap to start on something for our halloween party, and found this lovely pumpkin-coloured fabric. 15 minutes later, we have "new" pillows on our couch. Hah!

Nolan's back from Seattle, and one of my jobs was to unpack his suitcase while he's working a late shift, and repack for our weekend at the ranch. I found this little gem rolled up in there:

 I guess ACEP has hopped on the zombie fan train too. Fitting, since we watched our first episode of The Walking Dead last night. No comments, please! I had weird dreams last night and am still deciding if I can watch another episode/invest in that kind of creepy show.

 It's Friday night, we have a fun weekend ahead of us, and I'm going to try and fit in a quick yoga sesh before Nolan gets home and we sit in the car for a couple hours. So let's hop to it!

1. I'm thankful for yoga! I fit it in as often as possible, and haven't ever been anything but SO GLAD that I made time for it. Even if that means waking up at a terribly early hour to squeeze it in. 

2. I'm thankful for breakfast with Nolan. We go out to places a lot and are fortunate to have a lot of meals together, but breakfast is one that I really cherish. We get to start our day off together and just sit in the morning quiet and sip our coffee and enjoy the company. Nothing I like better than that, and I'm so thankful we get to make that happen relatively often.

3. I'm thankful that I have the option to work from home fairly often. Days like today when there is a BART strike make me realize that even more. Not only is working from home great for the benefit of solid, focused work time, but I can't imagine having to use PTO or take a day unpaid because some selfish folks in the union decide they want more money and that they're going to close down my commute to try and get it. Bah! Anyway: thankful, yes.

4. I'm thankful for my youth! Whether it's the ridiculous amounts of food I eat, or the awesome physical things I can make my body do, I'm thankful every day for the chance to really enjoy my youth and not let it pass me by. Today my WOD included some sprints, and just feeling how fast and hard I can push my body (relatively speaking here: I'm no Usain Bolt) makes me truly appreciate what we're capable of. So cool!

5. I'm thankful for family friendships. Whether it's siblings that are true and dear friends to whom you can tell anything, or parents that you can have such a loving, open relationship and friendship with - I recognize it's a true blessing, and a rare one.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

This week has been more experimenting with food, more squeezing in small dates with Nolan, and more Indian food. This is one of our go-to weekend activities when Nolan's too drowsy to really do anything else (this means I stand a better chance of winning one of these days, though I realize it's still a long shot).

Favourite new side dish: Moroccan cauliflower rice! See recipe here :) I didn't have any apricots, but I did have delicious charred eggplant and lamb to go with it! Spicy, delicious, and healthy. Oh and easy to make. 

Among all the little things, I'm finding so many little (and big) reasons to be thankful. So, as we head into the holiday season (YAY!), let's reflect a bit:

1. I'm thankful for those little dates with Nolan, though he's been working such long hours. Even though I've been grouchy some days, and he's been tired, those times with him are cherished.

2. I'm thankful for the beautiful, chilly mornings and the warm drive to work. WHICH has gotten a bit longer since I've changed my BART station to Daly City...but my overall commute is a bit shorter, and now I can take any train I choose without having to wait for a specific one or time my coming or going to catch a certain train. Yay for less stress!

3. I'm thankful for less structure. Lately I've been trying to de-structurize my life a little. I've put so many little boxes and checklists around my days, that I end each day productively, but stressed. I'm thankful for the chance to relax a little more each day.

4. I'm thankful for my health. I overworked my back a bit during a workout last weekend, and it basically crippled my workouts for a few days. I'm thankful it was just sore muscles and not a chronic or more serious problem.

5. I'm thankful for good food - I've had a lot of it this week (can we say, 5 times having some sort of Indian?). Nothing satisfies like a full belly of tasty food!

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

This past week for date night, we tried something we haven't done in several years: homemade sushi. I was so proud of preparing the rice (cauliflower rice - YES it works in sushi and tastes just fine once you add rice vinegar!), cooked up the shrimp in coconut flour, egg, and coconut oil and spices to get a delicious tempura, and then got our nice teriyaki sauce and chopsticks all ready to go with the Nori. However, it turns out that sushi is my downfall in the kitchen. It TASTED fantastic, but, well...see for yourself. 

Apparently Nolan is a great sushi-maker (top plate with crab california rolls is his), and I make a plate of nasty little seaweed and shrimp turds. At least it was delicious.

Since I've added a lot more running on top of my CrossFit days, my feet have been paying the price. A little blister here, a little chafing there...even when I wear my super comfy socks and shoes. So thank goodness my husband procures me free rolls of medical tape, which is squishy and soft and keeps my feet feeling good even after several miles! Too bad it's so ugly.

Last night we had this week's date night, and decided to re-try an Indian place in Redwood City. We tried it 2 years ago, and it was horrendous. But you know, everyone's gotta improve after years of bad feedback, right? You hope? Well the good news is that this place definitely improved. Bad news is that now we have yet another tasty Indian place to eat at whenever we want. Thai, Indian, Indonesian...curries are our weakness.

Speaking of good things:

1. I'm thankful for a couple nights in the last couple weeks, that I've actually gotten to spend with Nolan. He's working quite a bit these days, and I so look forward to nights alone with him. 

2. I'm thankful for a continued drive to excel at work! I'm still very much on a learning curve, but it's satisfying, exhausting, and very exciting work. I'm so fortunate!

3. I'm thankful for a weekend coming up. I'm going to shut down my laptop, get some extra sleep, and eat delicious and healthy food. Yay!

4. I'm thankful for my mom's taste in shows and movies. I scoff at them, but it turns out that she always knows best. It's nice to have something funny to watch in the background as I'm doing work.

5. I'm thankful for the fantastic fall weather. There's been pumpkin foods, apple spice candles, crisp mornings with hot coffee on my drive to work, and chilly runs that require eating homemade turkey chili afterwards. I LOVE this time of year.

What are you thankful for?

Thankful Thursday

Today has been a beautiful, productive, jam-packed day. So I'm going to jump right in and reflect on all the lovely things I have to be grateful for.

1. I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve others. I love hosting events, or bringing meals to people, or cleaning Nolan's room, because those things show me just how much I really care about the people I'm serving. Sometimes you tend to take the folks in your life for granted, and I'm finding that when I really stop to think about them or do something focused on them, it reminds me of just how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life. Funny how that works, huh?
2. I'm thankful for the perfect Fall weather! Nothing beats riding my bike in the sun or going for a run in the chilly morning or wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and being JUST chilly enough to feel cozy.
3. I'm thankful for this time to post tonight. I've been running on empty a lot lately, and the fact that I can sit down and write this right now demonstrates that I really am in the middle of a breakthrough with my time-management skills. Yay!
4. I'm thankful for all the excitement of our future. We're trying to stay grounded in the present by hosting parties and staying connected to friends and our area...but it's tough when we have SO much to look forward to next summer! We even have a great Indian place all picked out for our new area, hey-o!
5. I'm thankful for Nolan, who is my rock and truest friend, whether we're adventuring in SouthEast Asia, or sitting at home eating desserts with Milo sprawled on our lap, or biking through our neighbourhood, filled to the brim with joy at how blessed we are. He makes my every day special and worth getting excited about. I am so, so grateful for such an amazing partner.

What are you thankful for?

On bacon and bike rides

Things have certainly been a little crazy for us in the last month, but last week was good to just kind of start to manage everyday activities again. Laundry is done, house is clean, Milo finally has a store of food again (we were down to the canned stuff while waiting for a shipment!)...you know, those things that have to happen to keep you relatively sane when you come home each night.

And in the last week and a half I've made 2 batches of mint Nanaimo bars. That helps.

It's also been nice (and painful) getting back to my CrossFit routine. I had to improvise with Insanity and random workouts while in Chicago, so last week I started back at the gym with my CF workouts and running. Other than the fact that I could not walk up or down stairs a couple days last week, it feels good.

Last week we had a surprise visitor - my dad has been in the Bay recently quite a bit for work, and we're not complaining! It means we get to see him more than usual, which is really nice :) And, you know, it's allowed for some bonding time between him and Milo - to resolve their past differences. I think it's finally working:

Wednesday, I was thinking that the weather has been SO awesome, I really need to take advantage of it. So since it was my day off from CF (and Thursday - you know how I adore Thursdays!), I woke up early for a nice long yoga sesh, had a delicious zucchini oatmeal breakfast, then hopped on my butter-yellow cruiser and rode to the CalTrain station in Redwood City. Which apparently has the nicest weather anywhere.

Admittedly, biking, taking CalTrain, and then walking to the office from there turned my commute into 2 hours each way (thank goodness I got up early!) instead of the usual 70 min, but it was awesome. That bike ride was my moment of meditation for the day - so nice!

This past weekend was awesome. Most relaxing, best weekend we've had in a very long time. We both had to work Friday (okay, Nolan chose to work), so we sat at home and at Starbucks and just worked side-by-side, taking time for a little lunch together and then just enjoying getting to sit together while we were on calls or working through presentations or spreadsheets. Friday night we met some friends for dinner in East Sac and explored the neighbourhood a bit before coming home for a late hot tub session with my mom under the stars clouds. So fun!

Saturday we each met our BFFs for breakfast in El Dorado Hills/Folsom, then met back up with my mom for visiting Gramma, running errands, and getting lunch at a new BBQ spot in Placerville. It was okay. By the time we got home the rain was pouring down, the fireplace was blazing, and it felt like a genuine fall day. So we settled in for some Rummikub, a nice nap, and then I worked on dinner items for our dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. Note: if you tell me you like bacon, I will put it in everything. We had bacon-wrapped rosemary pork tenderloin (double pig! yay!), sauteed veggies with little bits of bacon, and then black-bean brownies with a chocolate glaze and studded with...bacon! Tasty. We also played Carcassonne, but we won't talk about that because it was a travesty - I got utterly destroyed by pretty much everyone!

Sunday I woke up to do CrossFit with my sister-in-law, followed by a gorgeous little 4-mile run in the sunshine. We had a little breakfast, and then packed up and headed down to Granite Bay/Roseville to check out a new church and the general area. After church, we googled a good Indian lunch buffet (okay, maybe not the healthiest weekend ever!), and hit it up. It...was so good. And seriously good value. We already have plans to return. Definitely doesn't hurt (or does it?) that it's basically across the street from Nolan's new job that starts next year. Oh...did I mention he has a job next year?

YES. I'm so proud. If it wouldn't thoroughly embarrass him, I'd take a video of me dancing and post it here to convey my emotion. But.

Anyway. We documented the food (of course that's only pic we took of the whole weekend - we're fatties) with this pic, which demonstrates the value of the restaurant and the guaranteed goodness by its proximity to Subway and the appearance that it's in a strip mall. Quality. But seriously: really tasty.

My husband is super hot.

And now for an anecdote:

Somehow while blogging about our travels, I forgot to mention a crucial piece of the stress factor. While we were in the South of Thailand, Nolan was checking out our next hotel and figuring out other trip details in the lobby where there was good wifi. He brought his iPad, water bottle, and wallet down with him. When he came up to bed, he apparently just brought his iPad and water bottle. Of course this wasn't discovered until the next morning, and since it's an open-air lobby by the street...of course the wallet was gone. Good thing we each hold our own money. 

Stressful, eh? Just wait. That afternoon, we'd landed back in Bangkok, arrived at our admittedly terrible hotel, and decided to head to Chatuchak market, which is (by area) the largest market in the world. They say if you see something you like, buy it right then, because you'll never ever find the same stall again if you walk away from it. It's ginormous. Anyway, so we're walking along, eating tasty foods and checking out random things like stoneware and brass knuckles (hah!), and Nolan decides to try on a few dress shirts. They're like, $3, which is a little bit pricey in comparison to other stuff, so he says he'll think about it. We walk away. Half an hour later we're checking out some other stuff on the other side of the market, and Nolan reaches for his backpack...which is gone. He took it off to try on that dress shirt, and left it there. So I'm thinking, Okay, his wallet is already gone and I have our cash and we left the phones and cameras at the hotel...who cares about the backpack, since there is no way we'll ever find it? Thai and US Customs care, as apparently his passport was in there, and we have no photocopies (we're idiots, we know). So we're frantically running through the world's largest market with NO idea where we're going, I'm praying frantically and we're dodging shoppers and wares and oh by the way it's pouring down rain. 45 minutes and 12,000 steps on my pedometer later, I hear Nolan say, "Look! Brass knuckles! Brass knuckles!" and we turn around, and the dress shirt guy is cackling at us and saying, "you forget something I think?" Needless to say, out of our gratitude (and restored faith in humanity that he didn't pilfer it), we bought a $3 dress shirt. 

Lesson learned that trip? Anneliese holds the valuables.

Speaking of pedometers, we finally ordered one for Nolan, and are now officially engaged in a competition to see who can get the most steps per day from now through...(did we say an end date?). This seems a wee bit unfair to me, since even my CrossFit WODs don't always rack up tons of steps (I probably take like, 10 steps while doing a long set of thrusters, MAYBE). Then I sit at work all day at my desk, and sometimes don't get a chance to even go outside. Meanwhile he's on his feet and walking at the hospital for 12 hours straight without even bathroom breaks some nights (yikes). So I think I'm on my way to losing this one.

To summarize: TRAVEL.

Sometimes I don't even know where to begin when it's been awhile since my last update. Right before leaving on vacation, I was trying so hard to stay on top of everything that blogging absolutely took a backseat. And while we were in SE Asia? Pfft - forget about it. I was too busy eating delicious things, mostly. So here are some highlights, as best as I can put them together. These are a very poor representation of all the wondrous and incredible things we saw and did, so just...use your imagination to fill in the gaps where hundreds of pictures and stories are missing. Or, you know, check out the whole album on facebook.

Somebody last week asked me what my favourite part was. Hardest question ever. So let's see if I can list them out a bit:

1. The food? Pretty freakin' amazing. Curries, noodles, street-meat, coconut ice-cream served melting in the shell from a cart...nothing I really enjoy like sampling random foods from street vendors in foreign places!

2. Angkor Wat and all of the ruins around Siem Reap in Cambodia? Breathtakingly beautiful and unforgettable. Of all the wonders I've been privileged enough to see, this was certainly the best. Put it on your bucket list. NOW. Cambodia in general was probably one of my top highlights. LOVED the people, culture, natural beauty, everything.

3. Playing in the waterfalls and experiencing the markets and laid-back culture of Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Such a cool little place!

4. Scuba. Diving is one of my favourite things, but these were challenging dives, and all the better for it. I cannot even begin to describe the rush of exploring an underwater cave 75 feet below with no light and no sense of anything around you except for your own breathing. Terrifying and absolutely thrilling! And wreck-diving at 100+ feet? I loved it the first time and adored it the second. Exploring rusted old wrecks overcome by marine life on the ocean floor with limited light and visibility is awesome! I think I see a specialization in our futures.

5. Quality time with my lover. Nothing, NOTHING beats as many days as possible of solid time together exploring the world and getting to know new sides of each other. This is one of life's true joys and something I can't wait to continue doing for many, many years to come.

In pictures: 

Temples and Ruins.

Angkor Wat

Mind-blowing amounts of good food.

Lok Lak and Amok (Cambodian tasty dishes!)

Relaxation.

One of MANY massages. Support local economy, meet new people, feel amazing...why not?

Quality time!

In our tuk tuk on the way to Bayon Temple.

Motorbikes and mountains.

Cruising up Doi Suthep to see the Wat at the top.

Monuments and Temples.

Wat Phra Doi Suthep outside of Chiang Mai. Definitely the most..."golden" one we saw.

Long, sweet friendships.

Visiting with Briggs in Chiang Mai!

Waterfalls.

Relaxing at the bottom of the limestone waterfalls!

The Andaman Sea!

Koh Doc Mai (Flower Island).

Scuba!

Doing our pre-dive check: BWRAF - Bangkok Women Really Are Fellas. I'll never forget that acronym again.

Last dive - ready for hot coffee and reliving the rush!

After our long flights back across the Pacific, I was at home for all of 11 hours before taking off (pun intended) again. But man - jetlag was my friend. There was no way I could have done all that I needed to do if I wasn't wide-awake from 3am - on. So in those 11 hours, I unpacked from SE Asia, repacked for a business trip, did 2 loads of laundry, went for a run, did a CrossFit WOD, ate breakfast and showered, uploaded and edited all of our vacation pictures, slept for 4 hours, skyped for an hour with Nate in Beijing (jetlag win for the difference in timezones!), caught up on all work email from vacation, breathed a big sigh of exhaustion, then drove back to the airport to board my flight to Chicago.

Needless to say, those first 2 days were rough, especially after 1 more night of only 3 hours' sleep. I think the room service guy who brought my breakfast thought I was insane. 

But! Once I adjusted, it was fantastic. Honestly the most peaceful and rejuvenating work experience I've ever had, and that includes a day of lunch and facials at my old job. Seriously. We had someone from the SIY institute at Google teach us about mindfulness and meditation, and practiced it every day, several times a day. I did yoga with my boss one of the mornings, and learned to eat my meals slowly and enjoy the breeze during a hot Chicago day. Mindfulness: best lesson ever. I'm still working on putting it into practice. 

I also had an awesome time getting to know my colleagues better and especially my new boss, who I've  already praised to the high heavens on here, so I'll spare you the sappiness. But really - makes me sad that work can't always be this way. At least I'm excited about the good things we're doing on our team this year!

My super-fantastic boss and I! Love her!

Coming home was tough. It was SO good to see Nolan (and Milo, I guess), and I was so relieved to be home for good...but I was exhausted and a little bit wrecked. So Saturday was kind of a wash - I was productive and did restorative things like walk to the froyo shop and snack on it very slowly while people-watching in the sunshine. Even a little self-restoration takes time, though. Finally by Sunday I was back to my normal self. And I woke up to this after all my manic-cleaning on Saturday:

Sigh. I can never have truly clean things.

Today was my first day back in the office in 3 weeks, and I went for a little walk on lunch to see what's changed - because in San Francisco, change is constant. Sure enough - they've now installed a bike-share program (I saw it in Palo Alto last night too, so it's all of the Bay Area!). So now I really need an excuse to use one of these babies.

Bike-share! So much prettier than the DC bikes!

As if my boss wasn't great enough, she brought me this little souvenir today from Chicago as a reminder of mindfulness. One of the analogies used that really stuck with me was that our mind is like a snowglobe - sometimes there is a lot of stuff going on, but if you just wait and remain calm and focused, you'll see the still water again. The still water was always there, it's just a matter of focusing on the water instead of focusing on the "snow" floating around chaotically. So now I have this thoughtful little reminder sitting square in front of me at my desk, to remind me to focus on the water and not the snow.

What a busy, crazy, fun and exciting few weeks these have been!