Thankful Thursday

Hey look, it's Thursday and I'm actually remembering to post!

This week was our annual floor cookie exchange. I put this together a few years ago for our floor at work on a whim, and it's taken off. This is the 4th year (I can't believe how fast time has gone by!) and we had a great turnout and amazing treats. Unfortunately, they were also super unhealthy. So other than enjoying one of my healthy black bean brownies (delicious, but didn't win a single vote - not surprising!), I only had a few crumbs of the others. The winner was one called "gooey butter cookie" and involved butter, cream cheese, sugar, powdered sugar, you name it. Here's the damage halfway through the day:

I also got an interesting letter this week. I've been called all sorts of things, but this is probably my favourite title. Someone was desperate to get my attention.

 I'm still enjoying my egg kick. Count for today is 8 eggs. Whew. This is what my afternoon snack often looks like...with my 5th egg of the day:

Best news of the week so far was just another reason for me to be immensely proud of my rockstar husband. Oh no big deal, he was just chosen to be a Chief Resident next year for the Emergency Med program! I wish I had some kind of exciting picture to celebrate, but the only recent picture of Nolan that I have is one I took of him in bed to try and wake him up with the flash. I'll save that for another time :)

And guess what? It's almost Christmas! I am so crafted out, I don't know if I'm more excited about being ALMOST done than about being close to the holidays, hah! I had a great idea I was going to make for a baby shower right after Christmas that I'm going to, but NOPE. I'm not touching my sewing machine for a long time after this. And with that:

1. I'm thankful for Nolan's amazing new position next year! It's so gratifying to see other people recognize how incredible he is. See? I'm not just biased. Plus he's going to make a truly great Chief.
2. I'm thankful tomorrow is the last day before the holidays! I would be more thankful if I hadn't just gotten a mandatory meeting on my calendar for tomorrow at noon. Isn't that too many faux pas in one meeting? Not only on a Friday afternoon, but the last day before extended vacation, AND during the lunch hour and not serving lunch? Boo. But still (not to get sidetracked)! Thankful tomorrow is the last day before fun and family time!!!
3. I'm thankful our neighbour is going to take care of FDR for us. Milo's going to stay with Harley for Christmas, and FDR is SUCH a pain to take in the car down to Mountain View. Every little turn or bump and his water sloshes out of the bowl all over my lap. Also: thankful for Harley's family who watches Milo when we're out of town! So awesome and convenient.
4. I'm thankful for the ice scraper I bought last year. I thought I wouldn't even really use it. Lo and behold, it's saved me a significant amount of time and frustration in the mornings, as my windshield is generally iced over with how cold it's been here in the mornings!
5. I'm thankful for my car and how reliable and safe it is. This morning it told me that the tire pressure was low and should be checked...I love that it warns me about stuff like that! Normally I would have checked once I saw that light, but since it's been so cold I knew that's why the pressure dropped. Sure enough, after 10 minutes the light clicked off. Thanks for taking the precautions, car!

What are you thankful for?

black beans and baked apples

I finally finished our stockings! There's no guarantee they'll look like this next year, what with me deciding to leave bits of scrap on there and all, but here's what they look like this year! Milo's is admittedly wonky-looking. I'm okay with that. He's a wonky guy. Yesterday he rage-peed on the floor because there was a toddler in the house and he has NO IDEA HOW TO HANDLE A TODDLER. That will need to change someday. Anyway. The stockings:

 I've also been savouring the cold mornings doing crafts, because they're usually accompanied by breakfasts like this:

 A delicious, hot baked apple with pepitas, some oats, sunflower seeds, and a dash of spices and squirt of honey. It's the best. I usually have a glass of water with protein powder to go with this too because this is filling enough as it is, but I need to get protein somehow!

On Sunday, I hosted a gingerbread house party. I was overly ambitious and made the gingerbread and icing myself this year. It took ages. And I overdosed on the gingerbread dough (a tiny piece here and there while rolling it really adds up), and ended up moaning on the couch. I'm not used to that much sugar!

But the party was awesome. We watched ignored Holiday Inn playing  merrily in the background while we munched on appetizers and attempted to keep our houses in tact.

Love these girls! It was a great way to close out the last normal weekend of the year!



Tonight: my mission is to make my DELICIOUS black-bean brownies embedded with cherries. I'm telling you: they're so good that even Nolan wasn't ashamed of their relative-healthiness. We brought them to the ugly sweater party and he would jab his finger at them when someone grabbed one and say "those are (kinda) healthy!" Here's the recipe (I press half a cherry into the top of each piece (8x8 pan = 16 pieces) to make them pretty) - it's delish. Good thing, too, because these are for the cookie exchange at work tomorrow. One of my coworkers already walked into my cube and said "If I hear that any of your treats have veggies or healthy stuff in them, I'm not eating them!". Oh dear, I've got a reputation.

I'm going to make my own sugarless chocolate chips for the recipe sometime too...but I'd better not push it for tomorrow :)

Thankful Thursday

The countdown is on. Just a little over 10 days until Christmas! We are officially in that part of the year where I want to slow time down - even at work-so I can enjoy every second. I love the music at my desk, the decorations, the warm drinks, the holiday parties, everything. And yet the next week will go painfully slow since I can't wait to see our families, spend time together relaxing, playing games, eating good food...and so:

1. I'm thankful it's here! The best time of year. You can't not feel jolly these days!
2. I'm thankful for the progress I've made with crafts. It's taken a lot more time than I've realized! But I'm getting there! One of these days I'll actually stop the other crafts, and attach the last finished piece to our stockings so I can take a picture.
3. I'm thankful for Nolan's last call tomorrow night! He's worked so incredibly hard. I have absolutely LOVED visiting him those nights for our impromptu picnics at the hospital, but I'm ready for him to be done with those dangerously long shifts too.
4. I'm thankful for time with our families coming up! We love spending time together, and it will be nice to have a day or two to just relax after Christmas too.
5. I'm thankful for holiday lunches this week and time to enjoy my coworkers outside of actual working. They're good people :)

What are you thankful for?

Fud

This weekend, Nolan was home both evenings, so we had little dinner dates and I actually had time to cook tasty things (It's been awhile - salad and tofu has been our fare when I'm in a rush.)! He was so enthralled that he demanded to take pictures both nights. So we did. Nothing fancy, but delicious nonetheless! Saturday night we had sauteed scallops, leeks, and shallots over roasted spaghetti squash with a white wine reduction (and put some of the leftover wine in our glasses!):

Sunday night we had some extra spaghetti squash (my bad for buying a 2 lb one for just the 2 of us - I've been adding it to my lunch this week too!) and a green salad on the side of an avocado and almond crusted chicken parmigiana. A healthier version of the classic dish:

I've had this in my lunches this week too - who knew that CostCo chicken breasts were the size of whole chickens. I made 3 and halved them and now even a half is humongous.

I even broke out my greek yogurt and tofu cheesecake for Sunday night's dessert. It was a good thing.

This is N's last week on this rotation, and he has just 2 on-call nights left. So far we've managed to have a little picnic each time when I've visited him, bringing coffee and treats. It's one of my favourite parts of each week and I'm just so glad he has been able to get away each time to spend a little time with me! Last time he tried (and almost succeeded!) to convince me to stay overnight, since it was Friday and I had nowhere to be Sat morning. "You can sleep in the on-call room  - they have bunkbeds!!!" Because of course, that is the selling point right there. Tempting, but I went home to my nice warm bed and cat to cuddle.

Crafting is coming along slowly, but surely. I finally finished my stockings (but haven't taken pics yet!), and am plodding along on gifts. Some I'm really proud of, and some I want to keep myself. But all of them are taking a lot of time, and I'm becoming very intimate with my sewing machine, hot glue gun, and embroidery needles, not to mention crochet hooks! The other day I looked in my purse and found random bits of thread, a pack of needles, and some industrial scissors along with some cardboard cutouts. This means I've been spending too much time crafting. I can't wait to post pics (after Christmas, of course) of my projects! Best holiday idea ever.

Thankful Thursday

This week has been a hectic one at work. It's been harder to remember what I'm thankful for when my mind is clouded with stress/frustration! Nevertheless, I thought of some things, because truth be told, I have a lot to be thankful for.

1. I'm thankful for friends. I met a friend for dinner last night, and was 25 minutes late on top of an already murderously bad day. It took me an hour to drive from Millbrae to Palo Alto. AN HOUR! As soon as we sat down and started eating and chatting, I started feeling much better, and by the time we left and I drove home, I was cranking up the Christmas tunes and singing my heart out. Good friends can make you forget the stressful stuff!
2. I'm thankful for our bed. Even though I've been sleeping terribly lately, the best thing in the world is crawling into our big, super comfy bed with Nolan after a long day and wrapping ourselves in our giant down comforter. Bliss!
3. I'm thankful for time - my schedule after work has been clearing up a lot lately and it's giving me time to catch up on stuff around the house (and gifts!) that I've been holding on to-do lists. Ahhh.
4. I'm thankful that Nolan is just about 2 weeks away from a block of time-off! It'll be so great to spend time with him during the day (what a novel idea!) and give him the opportunity to actually get bored again. Bonus: it falls over Christmas! Can't wait!
5. I'm thankful that next week is recovery week for P90X! I think I've said that many times before, but my muscles need a break! I'm also a little bit sad that next week is not only recovery week, but the LAST week of this P90X doubles cycle. So...debating ad hoc daily workouts after that vs. the structure of Insanity again. We'll see. But for now: glad next week is recovery week!

I hope you've had a fantastic first week of December!

What are you thankful for?

Public Shaming

Friday night we went to the annual ugly sweater party. I've known about this for a long time, and I distinctly remember thinking the last time I was at my parents' house: should I bring my ugly sweater back to my house with me? Nah, I'll be up again before then. NOPE. So we had to improvise. I thought of the ugliest sweaters I've ever seen, and found that they all had a general theme:

So we rolled with it. This had me running to the printer to make sure nobody saw that I was printing pictures not only of my cat, but of random kittens. SOB.

On Saturday, I was persuaded to go see the last installment of Twilight with a friend. After severely what time I'd finish my morning workout, I was running really late. So I grabbed what I thought had potential as a cute, appropriate outfit as I was frantically shoving chicken and veggies into my mouth. Turns out, it wasn't cute. But I nailed "appropriate" on the head. What else would a teen going to see Twilight probably wear? So Erin took a picture of me so that I could shame myself, after a lengthy discussion on why I would think it was okay to wear this. See for yourself:

If you can't see them, my tights had hearts on them too. What! It was a pair Nolan brought me from China!

Sure enough, when I got home, Nolan swiveled in his chair to greet me and stopped humming to say, "Whoa. Wait a second. What...what is this...did you wear this outside?"

Consider me shamed.

Sunday, we were getting ready for church, when we decided that since it was practically a monsoon outside, what sounded best was a peaceful morning at Peet's, with hot drinks, sitting outside on the covered porch and watching the rain. This is possibly the worst picture ever (does it even show anything?), but the storm was so bad that a gigantic tree fell across all of the Camino Real and blocked it off. So we took the scenic route.

And commenced our morning. It was lovely and peaceful and wonderful.

After coffee, we walked across the lot to the pet shop...just to see what cat stuff they had. If that wasn't pathetic enough, we bought something totally unnecessary for Milo. We have to keep up his tradition of a new costume each year! So this year, he got a top hat:

And oh, does he hate that thing.

When we got home, Nolan had a skype-chess date with our friend in Scotland, and so I made us a nice hot lunch of leftover ingredients. Which translated out to coconut peanut curry over riced cauliflower! So tasty, and nothing beats curry on a rainy day.

My goal this week is to finish sending out Christmas cards, work on more family presents, and try to SLOW DOWN so that my favourite time of year doesn't just pass me by. We'll see how it goes.

Thankful Thursday

What do you think, is 3 posts in 4 days enough contrition for being a slacker lately? Or is it really that interesting to read about how I like to eat eggs now? Anyway, here I am and guess what? It's Thursday! Since I've already drained my list of quasi totally uninteresting topics, I'm going to jump right in.

1. I'm thankful for early mornings. I'm totally a morning person, and so waking up at 4:30am every Thursday for 90 minutes of yoga before work is awesome. It's silent, peaceful...and it's complete "me" time.
2. I'm thankful for Christmas music! Nothing makes me feel jolly like some good ole Bing Crosby or, dare I say, Roger Whittaker.
3. I'm thankful for free time tonight! I have a lot I need to get done at home, and finally have some time to do it. Let's see how good I can be at ignoring chores - my constant distraction!
4. I'm thankful for good food with good friends. We had a fun dinner with some friends last night and it really reminded me how grateful I am to have friends that you can just relax with and enjoy a nice meal.
5. I'm thankful for another good book - I don't know how I keep managing to find such great ones! Today I hopped on the elliptical at lunch with the kindle, and when I looked up I had burned too many calories and there was only 3 minutes left of my workout. Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini - it's a classic and it's free on kindle...so read it! There's not much that can top a really good book!

What are you thankful for?

Gaston

You know how I hate eggs? I haven't liked them since I was little, and can't even stomach the smell of them? It seems I've turned a corner. In a big way. A couple days ago I ate 7 eggs in a day just because they sounded good. I've been bringing them to work for snacks, scrambling up the whites at home for dinner and breakfast, and had to upgrade from buying the half-size carton of egg whites to the big size...and restocking it during the week! I'm like a whole new person, y'all. The other day I was eating an egg at work (stealthily, so as not to offend anyone with the smell!), and I realized how many eggs I'd had that day, and thought of that song from Beauty and the Beast where Gaston juggles all those eggs into his mouth and croons something about 4 dozen eggs making him the size of a barge. That's me. Let's at least hope I get some shiny hair and lean muscle mass out of all this, right?

Much to be Thankful For.

Nothing like missing a Thankful Thursday post on Thanksgiving to say I've been busy, right? Seriously, I thought I was in danger of boredom going into the long weekend, and lo and behold I am now even further behind on things that need to get done than I was before. How is that possible? Especially when you hear the things I've done, you'll be amazed that I burned through those 4 days off without a moment to spare. I even woke up early in the mornings so I could be productive! Oh well.

Last week I got to the point where I hadn't been to the store in way too long, and was missing a good, fresh meat to have for dinner. So I made protein fries - tofu sliced, dried, sprinkled with spices and almond meal, and roasted in the oven. Mmmm!

However, I made up for not going to the store in awhile by going probably 5 or 6 times in the first 2 days of break.

At some point, I realized I needed to clean my vacuum. I've been LOVING my Shark "pet-hair" vacuum for a year and a half now with no issues. It picks up every little piece of hair, fluff, dust, you name it. Except recently, when there's been an odd noise, and less efficiency. So I flipped it over and LOOK, just look what I found:

A creature! Okay, not really, but those are BIG scissors I left in the picture for scale, and it looked like my hair had been turned into a wig and sucked around the vacuum wheel. I think I gasped out loud when I saw it. Poor vacuum, no wonder you were sick. Also that just goes to show how much hair I shed even after carefully cleaning up after myself. Speaking of which, it was time to at least get rid of a little of my hair:

Haircut time! I bet I lost close to a pound of hair - my head feels SO much lighter now! And the best part - I can do pushups now without my hair thwacking me in the face each time. Yay!

Something I did a lot of over break was cook. I did a LOT of cooking and baking. Starting with these beautiful graham crackers:

I take a recipe I liked, modified it to make it healthier and tastier, and voila! Now I can make my own graham cracker crusts whenever I want. I also tried using these babies for a chocolate crust using 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers, 3 tbsp milk, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, and 2 tbsp agave. It was fantastic! Here's my top secret recipe (modified from Chocolate Covered Katie's graham recipe):

-1/4 cup almond meal

-1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp coconut flour (the key ingredient!)

-1/4 cup brown rice flour

-1/4 cup corn flour or more coconute flour and almond meal

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking soda

-1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt

-4-5 tbsp xylitol

-1 tsp vanilla extract

-2 tbsp agave or maple syrup

-1/4 cup melted coconut oil

-2 tbsp water

Mix dry ingredients together, then combine with wet in large bowl and mix thoroughly. Grease a cookie sheet, and dump the dough onto it. Press into corners until dough is about 1/4 inch thick (depending on how thick you want your graham crackers!). Press thoroughly until smooth, then pop into a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Let cool, then cut into shapes and enjoy!


On Thursday, Milo and I watched the Thanksgiving Day parade while I did some chores. He was immovable! So I left the parade on for him while I went to pick up Nolan from his overnight shift at Stanford.

Nolan slept most of the day until we headed over to one of his attending's for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a veritable feast, complete with champagne-roasted turkey, homemade pickled beets, apple crumble...mmm! It was awesome. And so fun to see some of those he works with outside of a professional setting! After some wine, the conversation settled on zombies for a good hour. Speaking of which: did you know the CDC has a website dedicated to zombie preparedness? I'm not joking - look it up! :)

Yesterday I learned how to make wreaths with some girlfriends, and except for my still-stinging hands from all the wily needles, I'm pleased with my result! Okay - it's a bit wild looking, but it's my first one! I even incorporated some of my burlap into it (I'm drowning in burlap at home because of all my crafts!). I even put it on our front door already:

Last night was Nolan's second night on-call, which on this rotation means 30 hours straight at the hospital. Brutal! He has 7 total to do during these 4 weeks, and so far I've either dropped him off or picked him up for each one, and stopped by with his favourite cup of fancy coffee (Philz, of course!) and a treat. My goal is to do this for each one...because you've gotta have something to make a 30-hour shift more enjoyable! Last night he even had a few minutes to hang out, so we sat outside the hospital while he enjoyed his coffee and little treat. I'll take any chance I get to hang with him! 



He doesn't even look that tired...right?



 And finally, last night, right before I put up the tree, I ALMOST finished our family stockings! Here is how they look right now (if a little wrinkly still):   

Milo's looks a little funky, but he doesn't care so what the heck.

I love the way they turned out! They're fully lined and ready to go...and my fingers are sore! They just need the names added now. I'm thinking of just adding our first letter (A, N) and hanging it by twine on there somewhere. We'll see what I feel up to! Nolan said he really liked the "Tiny Tim" feel they have. I wouldn't think that is a good thing, but who knows?

All in all, a great weekend, though I wish I'd had more time to check other things off of my list! I guess it's time for my list, huh?

1. I'm thankful for my incredible, hilarious, compassionate, uber-smart and ruggedly handsome husband. He's the best partner-in-crime I could ever ask for, and without him I'd be just half an orange (points for you if you know the reference!).

2. I'm thankful for our home. Even though we're just renting, it feels like home, and has been everything we could ask for...repairs and all.

3. I'm thankful for our friends and family who have been such a huge support system as we navigate residency this year. What a huge blessing!

4. I'm thankful for our jobs. So many are unemployed, that it feels almost wicked to not only have jobs, but ones we enjoy! I was actually looking forward to coming to work today - yeah!

5. I'm thankful for, above all, God and his mercy and love. It just never gets old! We're so blessed that He's provided us a great church, a great marriage group, and a desire to know Him. I may be intensely private about this most of the time, but I want you to know how important (He's everything!) God is in my life.

What are you thankful for?

verb-ing

Ok guys, I wanted to wait to blog again until I had a picture of our new Christmas stockings, but alas! I'm only mostly done with Nolan's. Mine and Milo's (yes, I made one for my cat) are just two sad sacks (hah - arrested development, anyone?) right now. Boo. But that's what a few days off is good for, right? So no pictures yet. Maybe tomorrow?

I get to take off a bit early from work today, and Nolan is working his first overnight shift on this rotation (7am today until 11am tomorrow, ouch!), so I made a point of not making plans tonight and having a night in alone! It feels like it's been so long! So far my agenda is:

5pm - Walk to the grocery store. Possibly buy "sample size" (read: white trash) mini-bottle of cheap red wine for dinner. Possibly. I can't bear to open a whole bottle just to take one glass!
5:30pm - Last workout of the day
6pm - Dinner...and a bath?
7pm - Start making dessert and veg on the couch. You know I can't NOT have dessert!
8pm - See if Nolan wants a visitor who will bring him a coffee and little treat :)
9pm - Think about working on stockings, choose not to, and watch an episode of something instead. Or read. I'm in the middle of "Scaramouche" right now and it's exciting!
10pm - Most likely go to bed...a whole hour later than usual! I'm a rebel.

Doesn't it sound glorious? I'm betting it will end up being less luxurious than that and involve more chores that I find to do...but here's hoping!


Quote of the week:
Nolan (from the shower): "What does Redken mean?"
Me: "What? Redken?"
Nolan: "Yeah. Like, 'to Redken' something?"
Me: "Uhh...I don't..."
Nolan: "Well ok so your shampoo bottle says "Shines as well as Redken".
Me: "Bahahahaha! OH! Redken is a brand of hair products. It's comparing its quality to a more expensive brand."
Nolan: "...oh."

How can you not love him?

Thankful Thursday

This week has been great. Long, but great. It's weird how some weeks fly by and then others are like...every single minute just drags by. But! I've had fun stuff to work on all week - challenging things. And I've been able to maintain my workout schedule (barely!) this week, even in the last and most time-consuming phase of this program which just started. I'm spending generally 2 hours a day (2.5 on Thursdays - those are hardest to make work) working out during this phase, and LOVING it...but it does take a lot of time. And I'm always hungry! Hah. It also makes me look forward to weekends more though - only an hour each day on Sat and Sun, and much easier workouts at that. As much as I enjoy it, I can't imagine how bodybuilders or Olympic athletes do it and spend several hours a day working out - it really must be a full-time job. I've definitely noticed changes in my body, and other than the bigger legs (what's up with that!), I'm loving seeing lines and definition where I didn't before. The best part of this whole thing? The energy. Excepting when it's bedtime or when I'm severely lacking sleep, I have a TON of energy. It's fantastic. Looking for a great workout plan? There's a reason P90X is so popular - and you don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of time like I do; it's only because I'm doing the doubles plan (and using Insanity for some of my cardio times). Classic is very reasonable. Check it out!

Okay. Tired of me talking about working out? Sorry. I just really like it. Maybe I need to pick up another hobby. Because I'm sure you want to read me droning on about how amazing knitting cat sweaters is. Ahem.

1. I'm thankful for family, and the chances we have to see them. It always feels like we don't get to see them enough, but I know many people see their families way less than we do.
2. I'm thankful for a short week next week and a staycation! We're going to have Thanksgiving dinner with one of the Stanford faculty, so we nixed our orphan dinner plans...which leaves me free of meal planning, and gives me lots of time to work on Christmas gifts! Score.
3. I'm thankful for quality time with Nolan. I've realized recently that although we've been seeing each other a lot, I often am a bad listener or we just end up vegging on the couch and eating dessert. It's easy to forget how much I need to ask questions and listen - and how much joy it brings me to do that! So I'm grateful for that realization and for having those opportunities.
4. I'm thankful for tomorrow - I'm going to wake up a little later, enjoy breakfast with Nolan, then start work at the usual time with no commute! Working from home is great (if a little boring) just for allowing me to take my mornings slower and catch a little extra sleep.
5. I'm thankful for music! Not only is it beautiful and moving to listen to, but it's one of my spiritual pathways too. It's amazing how much calmer I feel during my commute after having either classical or k-love on for a few minutes.

What are you thankful for?

Win the Day!

This weekend, my families came to visit! Nolan's parents came down on Friday, and met us after work for some wine, dinner, and then the Lion King in SF! The show was super impressive for it's costuming, design, props...so cool!

Inner Fog wine bar...tasty!


The next day, my parents joined us, and after an afternoon of playing games, we headed over to Berkeley for some Zachary's pizza and the Ducks vs. Cal game. Zachary's deep-dish was so crowded that we had to get it to go (still had to wait forever!), and find some random bench to spread out on and eat it. It was so delicious! And then of course we walked a couple miles to the stadium, froze our butts off while cheering for the glorious Ducks, who (unsurprisingly) crushed Cal, 58-17. Still undefeated!

Our bench dinner :)

The next day Nolan had to work, and so the 5 of us headed to church after breakfast and a nice coffee stop at Philz, then had lunch at Pluto's and went about our afternoons! My parents had to head back, but the Sr. Caldwells stayed on and we went to more coffee and eventually saw Skyfall (the newest Bond installment) and had mousse before crashing a little early. Best part of the afternoon? Nolan got to come home a few hours early to join us for the rest of the day!

My mom brought me these pretty fall flowers, and I was so expecting Milo to have eaten them all (he loves flowers!) by the time we got home from the game, but now it's Monday and he still hasn't touched them! Maybe he's finally maturing a little bit. Maybe I'll get to enjoy these for more than a day!

Thankful Thursday

Today felt like the holidays. There was rain slanting against my window, I had a hot coffee warming my hands, and I was listening to Christmas music. Plus I keep getting those groupon deals and other spam about early Christmas savings..."get it now!". So all in all, it's a good day. I realized the other day that this is my absolute favourite time of year, and I'm not enjoying it as much as I should because I keep getting distracted by all the planning! So this is me stopping, taking a breath, and revelling in the most wonderful time of year.

1. I'm thankful for the last two days of offsite training. It made me miss my cubicle, and I think that was needed.
2. I'm thankful for my new bike! It's so fun to have something that Nolan and I both can do together! Whenever we finally get a chance to go, that is...
3. I'm thankful for a weekend of family coming up! Tomorrow night we see The Lion King with my in-laws, and then my parents are joining us the next day for a trip to the Oregon Ducks vs. Cal Bears game tomorrow night. Fun!
4. I'm thankful for bootcamp after work with my friend today. This is recovery week for P90X and I have so much energy I think I'm going to bounce out of my chair. It's ridiculous. So I'm glad I get a chance to burn off some of that extra energy!
5. I'm thankful for Nolan, who not only keeps me sane, but also loves me unconditionally. He's the funniest, smartest, and kindest person I know - I am so lucky to have him!

What are you thankful for?

Take 2

Best discovery last week?

A healthy, delicious and oh-so-easy recipe for chocolate pecan pie from (who else?) Chocolate Covered Katie. I ran out of pecans for the top, so I just sprinkled on what I had left...but there were TONS whipped into the filling, along with my favourite, TOFU! So tasty. I made two tiny ones (see above in my cute little ramekins!) and we devoured them while watching The Dark Knight Rises. Bliss!

Speaking of great things, you know how sad I was last week about my bike being stolen? I was also SO SAD that it meant the loss of an activity Nolan and I like doing together. Yesterday I was scouring Craigslist, hoping to see my bike for sale by the thief, and clicked on a link that I was pretty sure might be it (!)...and found this instead:

Notice anything interesting about this picture? It's in my garage! Yep, I found that bike, it was a smokin' deal, and so cute! Plus exactly what I need in a bike. So...an unplanned replacement, but perfect! Cannot wait to test this baby on the trails! And in the meantime...she'll be locked up in the garage :)

In other news...

Congratulations to our re-elected President Obama! Looking forward to what great things you'll do in the next 4 years as our leader!

Thankful Thursday

Halloween party this week? Awesome. Nolan and our friend John did an amazing job decorating (which I didn't really get a picture of, sad!), and we had great food, drinks, and a fantastic turnout. I want to say 40-50, though you can't tell at all from this picture taken early in the evening. That's Nolan in the front with the fake beard.

 At the party, I introduced myself to one of the applicants...who was someone I already knew! It was bizarre and awesome. I've known this guy since like 7th grade, and here he is randomly showing up in our garage to woo Nolan and his colleagues. I'd apologize for the picture quality, but it was N who left the flash on. Oh well.

 Here's our little treat table too! Most of the food was over by the grill, and of course the sangria and the apple cider had their own set ups...but these s'more pops (left) and pumpkin pie cupcakes (back) took forever to make! So I wanted a picture for posterity. You can ignore the bowls of bread and spinach dip in the front - those just happened to be on the same table :)

Later that night sometime, my mountain bike was stolen. Someone literally crept through our gate in the back, looking for something to steal, and my bike was closest and probably easiest. So sad! And creepy that someone was back there while I was sleeping literally 15 feet above (I could've seen it happen through my bedroom window). A friend described a guy she saw creeping around the neighbourhood late, and I sent it on to the police. But I seriously doubt anything will come of it. At least they're aware.

I was really sad about it at first, and Nolan helped me figure out why, because even though it was just a thing, it represented a lot that I won't go into detail about here. But I also had some great times of reflection that day on how my bike being taken was a good thing. I mean, it could have been Nolan's bike, and that would have been much worse. Or it could have been all the bikes! We had all 5 out there that night because we needed more space in the garage (we usually have them locked up inside). Or there could have been nothing out there and the guy might have tried to come into the garage or into the house! Or he could have walked around to our neighbour's area in the back and taken her stuff or gone inside her house. So really, it could have been so much worse. And it made me realize what's important. Because even though symbolically that bike was really special, when I think about other things that have made me feel really sad like that, a missing bike is nowhere NEAR as bad as some of the other situations. So I'm saying my goodbye, and we'll start looking for a new bike sometime in the future. Sigh.

So with that:

1. I'm thankful it was just my bike that was taken. And thankful for our safety.
2. I'm thankful the Halloween party went so well! But I'm also thankful it's over, haha. A lot of work!
3. I'm thankful for fun new things happening at work! I like to be challenged, so this is good.
4. I'm thankful we're in "The Holidays" now. At least, I like to think of it as the time between Halloween and New Year's. It's my favourite time of year, and I feel almost giddy!
5. I'm thankful next week is recovery week for my workout cycle. It means I'll get a little bit more rest and sleep, and I could use some of both!

What are you thankful for?

Hallowe'en e'en

This weekend was spent in preparation. Other than devoting Saturday morning to friends, I spent the rest of Saturday working on our costumes Nolan's costume and baking pumpkin pie cupcakes for a big Halloween party we had that night. More on that later.

Sunday, though, was all prep for the party. Well, mostly. After church and doing our workouts, we went to our office to do work (meaning the doctor in the house), and to a friend's to pick up Halloween supplies and decorations. Then it was off to Costco to start loading up on stuff for our party...which is tonight. But as a reward? We went out to ramen for dinner with our Missouri people. And it was delicious. It may have put us all into a sodium-induced coma for a few hours, but at least it was tasty. Oh and hey, we walked into a bar afterwards to see the last 5 seconds of the Giants winning the world series. Does that mean I can stop hearing about it on my facebook feed? Because I'm tired of that almost as much as the political stuff.

Nolan with his ramen.



Ladds with their big bowls!



 As to our costumes, they turned out great on Saturday! I already can't wait to wear them again tonight, though it does get a little bit tiresome having to walk sideways through doors and crowds with my frame. Can you tell what we are from this tiny picture that I can't get to enlarge? Nolan was obviously trying to get me to crack my poker face pose - I think he's doing the sprinkler in photo 2 :) You can click on the image to enlarge at least a little bit.

Da Vinci and his Mona Lisa! It's amazing how many people don't have any idea who painted the Mona Lisa - we had a lot of people guessing successfully who I was and then asking if Nolan was, therefore, either Van Gogh or even Michaelangelo. What is this world coming to, I ask you.

I'll have more pictures from tonight! I meant to take some of all our work last night - we invited a friend over for dinner and ended up making him work until 10:30. Granted, the last hour was stabbing marshmallows, dipping them in chocolate and rolling them in grahams...so I don't feel too guilty. I know how many chocolate covered strawberries they ate.

Favourite treat of the week:
Peanut butter banana (and chocolate!) protein shake
1 tbsp raw peanut butter
1 scoop chocolate protein powder (I use the good kind - 23 grams of protein a scoop and almost no sugar!)
1/2 of a banana
1 cup light vanilla soymilk
3 tbsp nonfat plain greek yogurt

(when I need more sustenance, I double up on the banana and peanut butter)
Blend and enjoy!

Thankful Thursday

This week, we finally got around to some good ole Fall activities. We went to a pumpkin carving party, and drank hot cider and ate gingersnaps and pumpkin pie. And the Giants won the pennant. It was fantastic.

Nolan's pumpkin is on the far left, and mine is 2nd from the right.



 I had to take a picture of the little curly tail on Nolan's pumpkin because it was so cute how it lit up. Glad I took it then because it fell off in the car on the way home :)

Tonight we relaxed with some dinner and watching Game 2 of the World Series. We planned our Halloween party for next week while we savoured our tasty mixed pudding desserts (both are healthy, of course!) and snuggled with the kitties on the couch.

They like to curl up with us at night, but the rest of the time, this is generally what they are doing:

I can already tell Milo will miss Harley when she goes home!



This morning we woke up to warm steel-cut pumpkin pie oatmeal that was waiting for us in the crockpot, ready to be eaten and savoured! How can anyone not like Fall?

So much to do this weekend, and I still have to put together our Halloween costumes...ahh! So let me stop and take a breather here:

1. I'm thankful for so many fun nights with Nolan. We've loved his new schedule of having evenings off. We may be turning into that old couple, but it's such a nice change! Plus I think he likes coming home to a hot cooked meal :)
2. I'm thankful for a great weekend with family the last 2 weekends!
3. I'm thankful for answered prayers. I've been seeing a lot of them lately, and it's kind of amazing and humbling.
4. I'm thankful for Pinterest. Don't laugh! I've gotten probably 100% of my Halloween party ideas and recipes off of there. Makes holiday planning easy (or easier anyway).
5. I'm thankful for my doctor at Kaiser, who switched one of my prescriptions to one that has almost zero side-effects. I was tired of always being kind of under the weather since January! It's nice to be able to email your doctor and have her actually listen and respond.

What are you thankful for?

Argo

This weekend I was in Pville again, having more family time, and getting to spend quality time with parents, grandparents, and siblings. Between really good food, wine and some decent sleep, it was a win overall. I also brought Milo back home, and that always makes me happy.

Sunday was our date day after I got home around lunchtime, so we hung around in our pjs and talked for awhile, then decided on seeing Argo and going to a new Thai place for dinner since our fave spot is closed on Sundays. As for the Thai, it was a fail. Not really bad food, just not really good. But Argo! You need to see it. It was excellent. I thought I was going to have a heart attack the last...HOUR or so of the movie. And be shocked: Ben Affleck is actually pretty great in it. Plus who doesn't love movies based on true historical events?

Mountain biking still hasn't happened, due to all sorts of circumstances, Sunday's being that Nolan was exhausted. But one of these days, I'm telling you...it will be awesome!

Last night I made pumpkin curry for dinner (delish!)with just a little chocolate mousse (the tofu kind!) for dessert. So we ate curry and did something rare: sat down in front of the tv and turned it on. We switched between the presidential debate and the Giants game, and let me tell you, it was an exciting night!!! So afterwards we talked about our finances, because you have to temper excitement with boring things, right?

Harley's staying with us for the week, and after 2 days of hissing and slinking around, I think she and Milo have finally agreed to be in a relationship again. It always takes a few days of him wooing her.

Thankful Thursday

Phew, another week gone by. When I was filling out my form for a flu shot, it asked my age, and as I was writing the number, I thought maybe I was mistaken because there is no way I'm that age already. How has life started to fly by so quickly? So many changes happening around us that it feels like the next time we open our eyes we'll be sitting in our rockers with our grandkids at our feet. Time to really savour each moment before it's gone, eh?

This weekend I'm returning to Placerville, and working from there tomorrow. Which means I'm driving up very late tonight. Which means: latte time. I've been getting up before 5 a lot recently, and it's starting to wear on me since I haven't been able to make up for it with early bedtimes. Is this a taste of what it will be like to be elderly and awake at all hours (except afternoons and after dinner, hah)?

Speaking of which...

1. I'm thankful for the chance to rest this weekend and sleep! Even just 2 nights will do me some serious good.
2. I'm thankful for extra energy. It would have been so easy to not do that load of laundry or not take 10 minutes to make Nolan a nice breakfast, or not do my workout...but I would have regretted it. So many times this week I've been amazed at the little extra motivation to keep getting stuff done when I just wanted to be a blob.
3. I'm thankful for a great small group. I can't even tell you how encouraging those girls have been this past week, and how thoughtful and kind!
4. I'm thankful for Milo coming back this weekend (if I can find him, grrr). It's just a little bit sad to cuddle on the couch and have an empty spot on our laps where Milo would fit perfectly.
5. I'm thankful for the holidays! Talk about a picker-upper! I'm already planning Thanksgiving and Christmas things, not to mention all the baking, and prepping for our Halloween party and all that good stuff. Best time of the year. EVER.

What are you thankful for?

pom

I've never really gotten into Pomegranates or Persimmons or Figs or any of those other less-common and less-loved fruits. But I've been seeing Pomegranates pop up all over the stores recently, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. I'm so glad I did! I had a salad for lunch that was just the right mix of sweet, spices, and savoury.

Last night I figured out how to de-seed the pomegranate (in water!), and I thought it would be tasty to toast some pecans and spices too. They were fall and spice and everything nice in one nutty concoction. Here's what I came up with:

Spiced Pecans

- 1/2 cup pecans

- 2 tsp coconut oil

- 1-2 tsp xylitol

- 1 tsp cinnamon

-1/8 tsp ground cloves

- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

- pinch ginger

I tossed everything in a saucepan and just stirred until they were warm, crispy and fragrant. It's okay to scorch them a tiny bit! As they cooled I sprinkled a tiny bit more xylitol on them, and they were perfect. As for the rest of my delicious, autumn salad?

Autumn Pomegranate Salad

- 2-3 oz. plain grilled chicken breast

- 1 1/2 cups greens

- handful pomegranate seeds

- 2 small spoons of goat cheese

- 1 oz. pepitas

- 1 oz. spiced pecans

- 1 oz. organic light balsamic dressing

I know, the food thing again. I'm not trying to turn this into a food blog, but I thought I'd better start documenting my discoveries on here or I'll forget about them!

Speaking of food, tonight Nolan and I are checking out Vesta with friends...yay for specialty wood-fired pizza, and yay for our splurge night!

a case of the mondays

Maybe it's because I got my flu shot this morning, but today has been tiring. Also because I am running a little bit low on sleep after the weekend? Who knows. Either way, I'm secretly hoping my bootcamp after work will be low-key (it never is though!) so I can be lazy. Ah well.

This weekend Nolan and I headed up the hill to visit the fam in Placerville. Sadly, our mountain bikes went from the car to the work palace, and never saw the dirt. But! There is always next time. And we did other fun things. Like going to sushi with Nate at one of our fave spots:

Having an egg-cracking contest to see who could crack their share of 250 eggs into this bucket the fastest. I think Nolan would have won if he didn't cheat by leaving an eggshell in there. Don't worry - it didn't go to waste! The eggs were eaten by 90 men the next morning and apparently delicious. But still.

 Check out all those shells!

 We hung out with Gramma, who is the newest magnet for the animals with her fuzzy blankets.

 And as usual, the not so fun part: leaving to go back home. Milo anticipated this as he always does, and picked a bomb hiding spot. If Nate hadn't secretly seen him crawl in, we never would have found him. Check it out - can you see him back there?

 Here's the zoom-out (below).

He was in the left cabinet behind all the photo albums. I don't understand how such a pea-brained creature can always outwit us. Like the time he hid behind my mom's books in her room and blended in with the white wall. Or when he tucked himself under the covers at my in-laws house, and we couldn't find him for ages because he had laid so flat we thought he was just a wrinkle in the bed covers.

Anyway, he eventually came out, but went back into hiding (in a NEW place!) right before we had to leave. Since we didn't find his hiding place that time ($5 says he was under the house, since we caught Hagrid sneaking out of there when Nolan brought treats to coax them out), we had to leave him up there temporarily. I guess I'll pick him up this weekend since I'm going back anyway. But this time I'm putting him on lock-down.

We also took our Christmas pictures while up there. I am amazed at how quick and painless it was this year! So excited that Christmas is just two and a half months away!

Thankful Thursday

Newest obsession:

This little cup o' joy is so tasty and good for you that I just can't resist! It's super low in sugar for yogurt, super high in protein, and SO delicious. My friend Julie introduced this to me on top of baked apples with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds, and it was heavenly. So I went and bought a cartful. Not really. Almost. I'm already looking forward to my afternoon snack.

This weekend we're headed up the hill to Placerville to visit the family and get away from it all. We're probably definitely going to test out my mountain bike too, EEEEEEEE! Either way, I slept terribly while Nolan was away at his conference (cue: awwww), and I'm looking forward to a few good nights' sleep. We always sleep SO well at my parents'. And so:

1. I'm thankful Nolan has a few days off and we can take advantage of it to relax! We need a nice weekend.
2. I'm thankful for this recovery week of my workout program. My body needed a little break, and I'm really enjoying this week of yoga, stretching, and really low intensity exercise. I feel stronger and ready to jump back in next week! I love that they build in a week of recovery for every 3-4 of hard work.
3. I'm thankful for all the fun social things we've had going on. Even though I'm tired and busy, it's all good stuff, so I can't complain about stress...unless it's the stress of what to make for lunch the next day (it's a big deal to me!).
4. I'm thankful for food. I'm obsessed with it. I really need to somehow make a career out of cooking and eating because I could just do it all the time. And I do. I cook (and eat) a lot. It's awesome. God is good for deciding to give us tastebuds. I'll share one of my new fall favourite recipes below!
5. I'm thankful for my job. Sometimes I hate the commute and sometimes I don't fully appreciate how great my work is, but then I realize how fortunate I am to have work that I enjoy, a place I like, people I like, flexibility...the list goes on.

What are you thankful for?

Recipe Sharing Time!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins
Ingredients

2 /1/2 cup oats (old fashioned)
1 cup plain non-fat greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 cup xylitol or other natural sweetener
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of ginger
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
*add the ginger, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon to taste - I didn't actually measure so I'm guessing at how much I put in*

Note: The paper liners don't work well when baking with a base that does not include flour unless you grease them. So don't forget!

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease liners or pan.
2. Place the oats in a food processor until finely ground, then add all the other ingredients.
3. Divide batter among cupcake liners (full recipe makes 12), and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
4. Enjoy! When muffins are this low in calories, fat, sugar, and this high in protein and taste so delicious...why wouldn't you?

Fun tip:
*You can substitute the pumpkin for 2 bananas, or a cup of strawberries and remove the salt, ginger, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice to make either banana muffins or strawberry shortcake muffins!*