happy holiday weekend

I wish more than anything that we had a grill and a pool for this weekend.

I have a newly unemployed husband running around our house cleaning everything (fantastic), making “no soliciting” signs for our front door (good?), bothering me about his resume every five seconds (can’t you see i’m trying to work here, bro?), and when he gets really desperate, turns on music and starts dirty dancing with my lime green resistance band (HALP).

I sigh, carry on, and Thank God for my good job that not only allows me to provide for our basics, but also allows me to work from home where I don’t need to commute and be stressed and take it up the you know what every time I fill up my gas tank once a week.

& I thank God for good friends willing to do cheap things with us to entertain us on our Memorial Day Weekend.

Thank you for listening, here is a recipe in return for your time.

No disposable income = getting up off my bum

I’m starting a new thing to keep me occupied these days… coincidentally it has to do with fitness so that’s a good thing, right?

I’m sacrificing some things for a cheap gym membership and with this I get unlimited equipment and fitness classes for endless cardio possibilities.  I should still be running, but I’m not sure about that yet…I am kind of back to hating it after taking two weeks off.

I tried their spin class on Monday and dragged Mr. Mans He died and I felt so strong and superior. It was my least favorite spin class though; I went from pitch black room with 20-something people with great energy and blasting music to having to carry our own bikes into the multi-purpose “class room” having the lights on and cycling in a straight line of 5 people with the lights on.   I’m hoping there is a different instructor for the Wednesday class (that I’m not going to try until next week because I’AMSOSORERIGHTNOW).

Okay, I’m going to rewind and actually share the new thing I am trying now that I have lots of fitness equipment to choose from:

It’s awesome because it’s free and I LOVE to be organized with weekly workouts.  I used to make them myself from my book of circuits for different muscle groups but it’s nice to have it all planned out for me.  Plus I usually pick the wussy workouts when I’m not feeling it, and that’s not an option now.  I’ve done the first two days and they were excellent.  My arms and chest are completely destroyed right now and I do love that sore feeling.  I’m also supplementing with cardio (pretend running on the treadmill now that I can barely run for 20 minutes straight, spin class, elliptical).

I’ve been sleeping like crap for the past month and I’m already getting better night’s sleep, and I do have a more positive outlook on all situations in life right now.   I hate to be that guy, but working out really does make everything better.

& that’s just the first step in everything getting better for us right now.  This will be an interesting summer but I’m up for the challenge in all aspects.

What doesn’t kill me…

Last week I conquered something I truly feared.

very intimidating.

I always hated eggplant…which I can probably attribute to the days when I’d get myself a heaping stack of “Chicken Parmesan” at Grandma’s on Sundays and I’d bite into a pile of mushy, sweet eggplant instead.  TRAGIC.

The conclusion here?  I still hate eggplant, but this dish disguises it well…husband enjoyed it, and sometimes that’s enough.  I ate it anyway because it was edible food. For real though- it’s pretty good even for the eggplant haters out there.  This appropriately reflects the fact that I am now on a tight budget due to some financial distress (yes, the outcome from the last post was the bad one), alas the theme for the next few weeks will probably be vegetarian. It is time to be more creative in the kitchen- let’s pretend that it’s fun to be on a budget!

nothing better than a melty baked cheesy dish when you need serious comfort

Welcome every morning with a thankful heart

I needed comfort food this morning – I’m dealing with one of those wonderful situations where something bad can happen but I don’t have control over the outcome.  Normally I’d be a ball of anxiety in the corner not being able to function; but thankfully throughout the years of dealing with these things I just pretend it’s not happening and pray for the best outcome.

Don’t you just love going away and coming back to real life that you don’t have the capacity to deal with?

One more question: do you like oatmeal?  I couldn’t stomach it.  Thank goodness for food blogs or I would’ve never had the ability to eat oatmeal.

Ohio Wedding #2

Oh hey.

Fancy seeing you here.  I’ve been busy driving miles and miles down 25 mph speed limit roads, eating Panera for breakfast every day, sitting on back decks with deciduous trees, wearing sandals and sundresses in 60 degree weather because I’m an ignorant Floridian, and being a matron of honor to one of the most wonderful person to ever walk the earth.  Look at this beautiful girl.

Helloooo wonky eye on the left, beautiful girl on right.

Being a matron of honor is STRESSFUL, especially when mrs. bridey pants asks said matron of honor if she is ready to give her speech when idiot matron of honor assumed there would be no speech because it wasn’t mentioned previously.  Oops.  Thank goodness for a 4 hour limo ride where I could text myself a makeshift speech to not disappoint the bridezilla (just kidding, she was the opposite of that, and I actually yelled at her about it).

Livin’  life flying by the seat of my pants.

There I am , being the best matron of honor to my princess bride

Guess what?   There is more good news.

I’m cooking right now as I type, and I’m going to the gym for the first time in 100 years tonight.

I miss my family more than anything though; I am kind of obesessed with [some of] them.  Food post coming asap I promise.

Can’t you tell I’m so proud of myself for being an honored attendant?

Check out that lipstick… I obviously didn’t look in a mirror before I walked down the aisle (I literally didn’t…you’re welcome Tanya for making you look even more beautiful).