Watching weight.

Just a little update...

Today was weigh-in Wednesday. Mom and I have been killing it as far as getting in our exercise goes. She comes over before work in the morning and we get in at least 2 miles. I try to get in another one sometime throughout the day and it's safe to say that in the last month, there are more days I've gotten in 3 miles than days that I haven't. That's pretty exciting! (I'm driven by stickers - see previous post).

So this morning I was pleasantly surprised to see the number on the scale tell me that I am officially down 16 pounds! That's REALLY exciting and means I'm only about 30 more away from my ultimate goal!

AND, I stopped at Target to try to see if I can find a cheap but super fun & cute dress for the wedding this weekend and I was down another dress size! Which is also great news!

I'm thrilled to see progress and especially because I don't feel yet like I'm REALLY limiting myself in terms of what I eat. I still splurge every now and then and yet I'm still losing. I still give into this guy from time to time...

Love your heart.

That's the quote on the office exercise calendar. Here's how it works. Everyone has their own stickers (mine are Popsicles - which I find funny, since it's an exercise calendar, I didn't pick them out, but I do love them). If you exercise you get to put a sticker on the calendar for that day. At the end of the week, whoever has the most stickers for the week wins. The winner doesn't owe money and the rest of the people owe $1. Then at the end of the month, whoever won the most weeks, gets the whole pot!

It turns out that, at least in my case, being able to put a sticker on a calendar works as well for exercise as an adult as it did going potty on the potty when I was a kid. I LOVE putting a sticker on the calendar. Even better - I love when I get in my exercise before work and as soon as I get in the office, get to put a sticker on the calendar.

The first couple months, I wasn't taking it super seriously and more often than not, ended up paying the dollar. However, the last month, I've been kicking sticker butt. My Popsicles are totally taking over the calendar. More than the kitties, or the dogs, or the stars, skulls or ladybugs! I tied the 2nd week of the month and WON the 3rd & 4th! (honestly - had it not been in an office setting, I probably would've done a little dance for winning!)

I'm waiting out the rest of this week to see if I can win the whole month and so far - it's looking good! This has worked so well that I've started adding stars to the calendar at home - just another place for me to put a "sticker" on the day I exercised!

Turns out, it works like a charm! Well, that and the fact that I'm broke as a joke and could TOTALLY use the extra $30-$40 this month! And I'll tell you what, if I do win? You can bet your sweet ass that money is going towards something I can put on my recently exercised body and not towards bills!

Recipe of the Random Period of Time.

So I was originally going to do Recipe of the Week, which turned into Month, and now it's more of a quarterly effort. Whatevs, I'm still sharing a recipe every now and then.

This time - it's Creamy Parmesan Orzo. The title would lead you to believe I'm sharing a fatty fatty 2x4 recipe with you. BUT WAIT! It's from Cooking Light (and slightly modified). So it's actually pretty damn healthy for you!

Creamy Parmesan Orzo
1 c. orzo
1 tbsp butter
1 1/4 c. less sodium, fat free chicken broth
1 1/4 c. water
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp basil
4 oz. mushrooms, roughly chopped (can be omitted if you hate on fungus)
Salt & Pepper

Place butter in a medium pot and let melt. Add orzo & mushrooms and "toast" for a few minutes (stir constantly or it will burn a little), about 3 minutes.

Add water & broth and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 15 mins (or until orzo is done). Somehow, magically, the water & broth mix w/ the cooked orzo and it looks like you've added some kind of creamy concoction, but you haven't.

Once orzo is cooked, remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and basil. Add a little salt & pepper to taste.

Obviously, if you don't want mushrooms - just don't add them.

This is a really fun side dish. SUPER easy. Unlike most recipes it really does, like it says, take less than 20 mins to make. We've played around with it, added bacon, taken out the basil, etc. You can really do with it whatever you want, but it's a nice base to start with. Great side dish and if you add enough goodies to it, it's a great meal in itself!

Enjoy.

Pictures by Chris Howard

One of my favorite things about Sae & Jeremy getting married so far was seeing the incredibly awesome engagement pictures they had taken. One of Jeremy's fraternity brothers, who's also a close friend to Sae now, and also a friend of mine (Christian says you can play a way more entertaining game of 6 degrees from Greek Row w/ me and my MN friends), Chris Howard went out w/ them and took some absolutely amazing pictures. He really did capture Sae and Jeremy and how great they are together. It was the most perfect set of engagement pictures the two of them could have had taken.
In the last couple years I've gotten really intrigued by photography. I read a few photographer's blogs and follow them through the various engagement sessions, wedding pics, and baby's first pictures. I've found the best ones tell a story. It's not one snapshot of two people, it tells a story of who they are, where they came from, and why they're together. I actually shed a few tears (I know, shocking, I cried) when I paged through their album of pictures Chris took. Here's a couple more - he really did get all sides of Sae & Jeremy.
This one by the tree is sheer brilliance. I love that you can hardly see them, but they're there. See? It tells a story. Love it.

So anyways, then I started checking out some other pictures he had taken (because that's how I am. I'm a pretty good Internet researcher - that whole "public facebook profile being like Christmas day...562 pictures, don't mind if I do?"...that's totally me).

Here's a few more he's taken over the last couple years. It's pretty amazing to me. I can't believe what a talented photographer he has become. If you're in the MPLS area - you should REALLY consider him taking whatever pictures you need taken. He's got the gift people!

Congrats on becoming so damn talented Chris Howard. I'm impressed. And I've cried over pictures of strangers - which in my book, makes you a pretty good photographer!

One whole year.

In other non-related wedding news.

The BF & I celebrated our one year anniversary this weekend. For the last few months I've been referring to the day as when we hit "One whole year." This is for two reasons. One, I have yet to be in a relationship that cracks the 2 year mark (I've dated some real winners (read: losers) in my time who have expired long before the 2 year mark) and two, I can't believe it's been a year because the time literally flew by. I can't hardly remember life before him, but I can't believe it's been 12 months since we first started dating.

But regardless, it has been one whole year. We've dated for 12 months. 365 days. I can't imagine how different the last 365 days would've been without him and can't wait for the next 365.

For our 6 month anniversary, we went on an amazing gondola ride around a beautiful resort in Phoenix. It was a surprise, incredibly romantic and just a wonderful evening all together.

On the day of our one year, we woke up and went to Buffalo Wild Wings to catch some of the college football games and get our lunch on. It may sound strange, but BWW really has a special place in my heart in regards to this relationship. We've had a lot of meals together there, we always sit in the same booth and order almost always the same thing. It may not sound romantic, but BWW has provided me with a ton of happy memories in the past 365.

After lunch we did a Target run. Again, you might not think it gets the sparks going, but for me it does. I always tell him one of my favorite things to do w/ him is run errands. I love having him incorporated into daily life. To me that's the special part. I like Target a lot more when I get to go with him...this time was no different.

Following Target, he took the large task upon himself to teach me things. Namely, how to drive a manual car and how to golf. I warned him, there was a good chance that should this go poorly, we may end up not speaking over our anniversary dinner, but his ambition got the best of him and he decided he wanted to teach.

I'm happy to report, not only did we not fight, but I successfully drove his manual car home (after reliving my 16th year of life by driving a car around a high school parking lot for an hour) and then was able to successfully make contact w/ and hit about 50% of the golf balls I swung at - which he promised wasn't bad for my first time. (I also kind of teared up a little bit when I wasn't making contact. He was extremely patient and helped me through my frustration - although I was asked to remove my sunglasses so he could stop me before I cried upon next swing of frustration).

We ended the day going to a wonderfully romantic and delicious dinner and a movie. While I loved the getting dressed up and going to a fancy dinner part, this anniversary reminded me of why I love him so much. I can spend a whole day with him, doing nothing extraordinary and have the best day ever. He makes the mundane, exciting. The ordinary, extraordinary. I love doing everything and nothing with him. And that's how I know I'm ready to keep him around for quite a few more 365's.

Happy Anniversary Bug - it's been a good 365.

Goin' to the chapel

...for Sae & Jeremy!
In just a few short days, I will be boarding a plane with the BF to attend the wedding of two of my dearest friends from the college life. This event has been on my calendar for a while now and has been one of the highlights I've been looking forward to in 2009. I have been friends with both of them for about 6 years (wow!) and can't even put into words how much I love them as a couple. Sae is a sister of mine from Alpha Chi. Her and Jeremy went to high school together and dating while they both attended the U of MN. Jeremy happened to belong to the nearby & personal favorite fraternity DU. Or perhaps, DU was a personal favorite because Jeremy belonged there and Sae introduced me to the house via him...and then we consequently spent a considerable number of hours there. Hell, I even lived there for 2 weeks (fun times but I found more open and possibly used condoms than I generally prefer to find within the walls of my "house").

Sae is a petite young lady, barely cracking the 5' mark. Jeremy played both high school and college football and could throw her around like a ragdoll. Separate, they are two of the most fun and genuine people I know. Together, they are even more fun & entertaining. They still look at each other with these adorable stares. You can tell from a mile away that even a decade later, they're still just two crazy kids in love. Everyone who knows them loves them. They've had a TON of friends overlap between high school and college so most of their friends know their other friends. His friends are her friends, her friends are his friends...I can't wait for their big day! I'm totally going to bawl my eyes out.

Anyways, I'm so thrilled to be going to their wedding. I've been sitting on the edge of my seat for basically all 6 years of knowing them for them to get engaged. And the icing on the cake? I have the honor of being Sae's personal attendant! (I actually screamed when I was asked. Loud enough to make the dog hide under the bed).

So this week's posts will most likely revolve around the wedding, how excited I am for the weekend, how much I can't wait to go to MPLS, and the like. So get ready for that.

Missing.

I realized lately that I’ve been missing some things lately. The BF has spent 6 of the last 7 days working closing shifts (4pm –midnight). AND has spent the last two weekends on closing shift. This means that collectively between our two schedules we have seen very little of each other (almost measureable by minutes rather than hours). I get frustrated when this happens and start to feel this icky disconnect that’s upsetting because it’s caused by nothing that either of us are doing intentionally…just crappy schedules.

Furthermore, I have been missing Minneapolis friends (those still in the cities and those scattered across the country) and the city itself. I love living in Milwaukee and being close to my friends and family here, but hate that it comes at the cost of being far from all things Twin City related.

Then I read a post on JT’s blog about how she’s also having some crappy schedule imposed time apart from her man and was just realizing how much she’ll miss him in that time.

I responded to her post with the following advice (without realizing while writing it how applicable it was to my own situation):

“Missing someone sucks. But remember that the reason you’ll miss them is because of how great they are. And how happy it makes you to be around them. If they weren’t so great, and you weren’t so happy with them, there wouldn’t be nearly as much to miss. So it’s really just a shitty way of being reminded how wonderful that person is, how happy they make you, and how wonderful things will be when you see them again.”

Like I said, I took my own advice and realized. I miss the BF because he’s my best friend in the whole world (hence the reference BF – he’s my Boyfriend and Best friend). I love being around him and I have more fun than I ever thought I would w/ a significant other. I miss him when he’s not around. And that reminds me of how important he was to me. I’d actually be really sad if I didn’t miss him when we’re apart. I miss him because I love him.

I miss Minneapolis and the people that I associate with the city because of how amazing they all. Because of what an impact that period of my life made on me as a person and how every single one of them had something to do with that. I miss it because I love it and I love them.

Missing things might hurt a little bit, but in the end, ya miss ‘em because of how wonderful they are. That’s a kind of hurt I can handle.

Nike+

...equals me moving more!

That's my equation. Me buying the Nike+ equals me doing FAR more walking than usual. I honestly can't remember exactly when I bought it, and will admit there was a month or two where there wasn't as much activity. However, my mom and I have started walking more in the mornings before work and I am certainly getting in the miles. I officially moved up to the second level a couple weeks ago and have walked over 40 miles in the last few months. For you runners, that might not seem like many miles, but to me, it's a pretty sweet number!

I'm totally motivated by this little bean in my shoe! It makes me want to walk more (because I love seeing it mapped out on the website). It makes me want to beat my current fastest pace so I can hear Lance congratulate me on it. I want to walk more so I can keep that number of miles rising. And it might even help inspire me to run (we'll see, I'm still working on that).

In the end - it was a really great purchase and I'm totally pleased with the changes it has caused!

Ignorance is bliss (maybe).

I was thinking to myself tonight on my drive home about the recent tone of life. Not just mine, but mine and those around me. Thinking about how lately it seems like life is kind of reminiscent of when you have an itch but no matter where you scratch, the itch is still there. (Bear with me...I have point).

Everyone has a friend/family member/neighbor who has lost their job, foreclosed on their house, can't find work, or in some way has had their life greatly altered due to the current status of the world around us. There's a certain gloomy cloud that seems to be looming around and while there's talk of hope of change (and I do believe there is) it just doesn't seem to be happening fast enough or measurable enough to change the current mood.

I take pride in living in a country where the government can be open with their people. That they can admit mistakes have been made and acknowledge their efforts to develop and enact a solution. While it plays its role in causing the feeling of gloom and doom, knowing a problem exists, has been acknowledged and is being worked on, does provide a sense of comfort in that, as most bad things, it won't last forever.

Here's where the ignorance comes in. I can't help but feel as though (Carrie Bradshaw moment) back in the day when all this crazy ruckus was going on that got us into this mess, I didn't feel this gloomy stress. I didn't notice as much fear/unease in the lives around me and in my own. It seems as though it wasn't until the shit hit the fan, circled around a few times (building momentum) and FLUNG back down on us that we realized how bad it really was. I had no idea said ruckus was taking place...and feel like I might have been a bit happier? Is ignorance bliss?

I mean, realistically, I've seen my fair share of the economy and the toll it takes on people and families, my own included. But, when put in perspective, live is still pretty great. I wake up each morning to wet-nosed puppy kisses, take a walk through a nice, safe neighborhood, go to a job where I get paid to do work I enjoy. I spend my free time with a wonderfully loving supporting cast made up of the best family, friends and boyfriend a girl could ask for. I have my health and my entire supporting cast is healthy as well. There's some negative, some really negative things. But I've still got a lot of really great things in my life. I've learned some great lessons from this. My family has shown me that no matter what situation, love and support of each other really can pull you through it.

So all in all, I haven't been that affected by all this hoo ha going on...but every now and then I do get that feeling of gloom and doom...which again, brings me to my point...is it better to not know? Would not hearing about it on the news every morning, from co-workers every day and on the radio each night on my drive home help? Would I feel less gloomy?

Probably not - but reminding myself of the good, the intangible and the things that survive the gloom certainly does.

Missing MPLS

Sometimes I really miss Minneapolis...like more than I usually do (I always miss it a little bit).

One of my favorite views ever of the Minneapolis skyline.

Lately I've been streaming cities97 live at work...it's only making it so much more amplified. Thank God I have a trip planned soon or I'd probably go crazy. Only have to last one week from tomorrow...and until then I've got cities97 (complete w/ commercials about Twin Cities companies, events, and weather and traffic for the Cities :)).

Hope all my MN friends are doing well - I'm thinking 'bout you lots today while I miss the cities!

And MPLS - I'll see you soon!

p.s. Check out Cities97 - it's a GREAT radio station that I miss having in my car on a daily basis!

To be sixteen again.

I coach a high school cheerleading squad. Specifically, I'm the head JV coach. The majority of the 18 girls on my squad are freshman (I have 4 sophomores). Sometimes I find it endearing the naivety of some of the girls. It's cute the "problems" they're going through. Cute in an entirely NOT condescending way. I remember high school and I remember some of the exact phrases coming out of my mouth. "What if I don't get a date for the dance?" "So and so bought the same dress as me" "Johnny and I are going to be together forever!" It's cute because I recall those feelings and in that moment, that shit is REAL.

However, there are other times, when they've got more complaints than problems and somewhere (must have been VERY fine print in the contract) it seems to have stated that their complaints are now my problems. Let me point out - if there were legit complaints or problems, I have no problem figuring it out and creating a solution. In 4 years of coaching, I've gotten very good at that. However, here are some of the complaints from the anonymous (read: say whatever you want - they won't know it's you) (stupid idea on our part) bitching they did via pen & paper.

"Our coaches sometimes are late to practice"

Listen here ladies. I drive my butt 30 mins from work to school in crazy
traffic. I am almost ALWAYS there in plenty of time, and when I'm late
another coach is already there. If someone wants to pay me a full time
job salary to coach - I'll quit my day job and show up an hour and a
half early each night.
Til then, deal.
You're stretching for the first 20 mins anyways.

"The coaches single out one girl and tell her what she's doing wrong."

Yes ma'am I do. It's called criticism and you can get used to it.
Your parents, boyfriend, husband, children, boss are going to be
doing this for the rest of your life.

P.S. Your parents have entrusted me w/ your life - when you're
effing around and being all dangerous w/ a girl6' in the air,
you bet your ass I'm going to call you on it.
Be thankful that's all I do!

"We don't like to practice at the same time as Varsity."

Apparently high school math has failed you miserably.
Let me lay it out for you.
There are 5 week days.
There are 2 squads who share a practice space.
We each practice 3 days a week.
Currently we have one day w/o them there for practice.
You have games once a week.
If you can find those magical additional days somewhere in there
we'll have practice on them.

P.S. If you so much as mention a Saturday or Sunday
you're off the squad.

"Some of the girls drink & do drugs."

Are you freaking kidding me?! I was no angel in HS,
but I am positive I was not drinking and getting high
at 14. I think I may have still been wearing leggings
(probably not, but maybe!). Maybe their parents should
spend less time e-mailing me about what Suzie said
to you at practice last night and more time
keeping you off the sauce!!
You're 14 and getting high often enough to be "known for it"?
Where are you going to be come your 20's?
R-E-H-A-B. What does that spell? Rehab.

For the most part, I really enjoy coaching. This is my "senior" season and for the past 3 years I've greatly enjoyed the position. However, without fail, these high school girls never cease to amaze me (and their parents can be even worse!)

Glee brings me glee.

I know, I know, I already spent some of the last post raving about how fantastic Glee is. But just in case that wasn't enough to encourage you to watch last night - here's some quotes from last night's episodes that got an out loud laugh. Not just from me either! The BF promised me one episode (and I knew I would make him love it) and he laughed with me out loud!

-"Who is Josh Groban?! Kill yourself."

-"The Accafellas (the boy band some of the male teachers at the High School started and later sing "I Wanna Sex You Up" at the PTA meeting

-"They say it takes certainty more than talent to make a star. I mean, look at John Stamos.") drives my girlfriend nuts in the pants."

-"Josh Groban loves a blousy alcoholic."-Spoken actually BY Josh Groban

I'm serious this show is too good. The "Thumbs Up" cake (for the Carpentry teacher who, due to his over the counter cold medicine addiction, cut off both his thumbs in class) being delivered by Terri's "Sheets & Things" co-worker, because she's doing inventory ("I can't count past 30"), hilarious scene that lasts all of a minute.

They pack a ton of punch and comic relief in short quick scenes (perfect for the ADD tv watcher like myself). Within 3 episodes, it's totally taken over as my favorite show.

Honestly - this conversation happened three times w/in the last 10 mins of the show.

Me: "Ugh, I just LOVE this show!"
BF: "Yeah, I know."
Me: "This show is SO good!"
BF: "Yeah, you mentioned that."

watch. the. damn. show!

Neglect

I've been a horrible blogger...but I think (prepare for excuses being made and blame being shoved off) it's the weather. Honestly - almost all the blogs I regularly follow have had a lull in posts...so it's just a slow blogging time. (right?)

That being said, I'd like to blog about Fall TV.

I'm super excited for the usual offenders to join us again. i.e. Grey's Anatomy. I totally forgot until yesterday that I'm STILL waiting to find out if George & Izzy both died? Did just George die? Was the elevator symbolism for the "tunnel" of death?

Total side note: (format stolen from Annie P who stole it from someone else)
isn't it crazy how at the end of the season you're all "How will I EVER make
it to Sept when these shows return?!" and then come Sept you're all
"Oh yeah, that happened?!"

Can't wait for The Office - are Jim and Pam REALLY preggers?! The previews have been hilarious and if that's insight of how Season 5 is going down, I'm thrilled. i.e. Kelly is an anorexetic.

It's always Sunny comes back also. I just was introduced to this show last year and saw some episodes on DVD but I enjoyed it and thought it could become a favorite in the hilarious genre. Again - previews got me hooked, loved when Danny DeVito thinks he's having a roast (actuality, an intervention).

Also excited for some newbies to add to the collection. Glee has quickly become my show crush. Complete with stealing my heart and making me wait 6 whole days to hear back from him. I love this show. I know it's not deep and probably won't inspire my life on a regular occurrence but what's not to love about it?! They've got entertaining songs & performances (did your high school choir teacher have moves like that when s/he sang "Golddigger?!"). The characters are lovable and fun to watch (i.e. Rachael - "You may think that every guy in school would totally, want to tap this, but my myspace schedule keeps me way to busy to date." and the Cheerios coach "You think this is hard? Try living with hepatitis, that's hard"). And it has the high school dynamic. If you haven't watched it - give it one episode. It really has something for everyone and spans a number of potential audiences.

The BF makes fun of me frequently because of my nostalgic love for all things
high school / college related. I just love being taken back to that time and
"re-living" all the fun / drama / ridciulousness that goes with it.
Because of this I am also a die hard fan of ABC Family's "Greek" and
"Friday Night Lights".

Okay, that sidenote is also going to flow into a regular note here. Speaking of show crushes, I practically fell in love with and married Friday Night Lights, 3 years ago. The show is literally one of my favorite TV obsessions. I watch it religiously, have it on DVD and just cannot get enough of the show. Again, it takes place in a high school setting - which means I'll always watch one episode. However, this show has incredible cinematography, the way it's filmed and scripted makes you immediately engaged. You went to Dillon High. Matt Sarecen is your best friend. You worship Coach Taylor and love his wife. And most of all, no matter how naughty Riggins is, you just want him to pin you against the wall and make out with you (beer breath and all). I'd love to tell you to start watching it this fall, however, FNL loves to tug at your heart and make you wait infinite lengths of time to return and even sometimes threatens to never do so! So at any rate - when it starts back up, give it a go. You'll probably love it like me (and Annie!)

Those are the ones I'm most looking forward to...at least for now - maybe I'll take this and run w/ it and do a review...or something. (I'm lacking ideas here people!)

My dream.

It's a small one...

but if I could have a McDonald's diet coke w/ Sonic's ice, I'd have the best Diet Coke ever.

That is all.

I Want to Ride my Bicycle.

But I don't have one.

Help me friends, followers, and annonymous stalkers of the blog.

I want to get a bike.

I do NOT want to do tricks w/ said bike (if you know anything about my coordination, you know it will be amazing if I can get on the bike and move it without falling off and hurting something).

I will ride said bike on roads / possibly some trails (mostly paved trails - again see above, I don't need to mess w/ gravel).

I don't want a super expensive bike (I have very little extra moola right now. Also - I haven't been on a bike in about 15 years so I don't want to buy a super expensive one and find out I hate biking - which IS a possiblity).

I'm perfectly comfortable with a used bike (did you know there are USED bikes for sale for $900 on craig's list...are you effing kidding me!? People buy CARS for that amount - cars with FOUR wheels and entire body of steel....oh, and a MOTOR).

I have no idea where said $800 cars are - if you're looking - I just always seem to think that anything >$600 and <$50,000 is comparable to a car (I also happen to always reference "you could get a house for that" for anything >$50,000 - I also have no idea where these $50k houses are, but when I find one, you probably won't hear about it, as I'll want to keep it a secret so I can have it).

Where did you get your bike? Do you like it? do you wish you would've gotten a different / cheaper / more expensive bike? Do you fall off it a lot? And most importantly, does your butt feel like it's never going to be the same when you get off it? (My butt is quite picky about places it will be spending copious amounts of time).