As of Lately

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on yesterday's post and on Twitter. It means the world to me and appreciate all of your love so much <3

For right now we are still at home. I will most likely be traveling to Pennsylvania for the services either this weekend or next week. Also, thankfully we were able to get a full refund on our vacation. From now on I am always booking anything with travel insurance because you just never know.

I don't want to be a total debbie downer today, my uncle wouldn't have wanted that. 

So my life lately:

Since I haven't been at my house alot this week, all my meals lately have been in tupperware form. Yesterday's lunch was cut up broccoli, brown rice, and grilled chicken. Simple, but delicious.

Very Sad News

I had another post planned for today, but in light of some terrible news we received yesterday, it just didn't seem right.

We found out late last night that my uncle had passed away suddenly from a heart attack. What makes it even worse is that he is young, only in his thirties.

I am asking everyone to please send our family some prayers, thoughts, and support during this difficult time.

Everything does happen for a reason, even if we don't always know what that reason is.

Also, we will not be going to Mexico. We are in the process of cancelling our vacation today and hoping to get some refund back since it is so last minute.

Gone but not forgotten <3333

WIAW-Almost Caved

Wow I can't even believe it is Wednesday already. Halfway to the weeekend. Mondays off just make the work week fly by....

So much delicious food was eaten yesterday, which is perfect timing for What I Ate Wednesday.

Let's get started...

Meal #1-

Breakfast started off with a batch of oatmeal. Shocked right? ;)

My Snazzy New Ride

And I thought I had hardly any plans yesterday....Monday proved me wrong.

After waking up early to get a hamstring workout in and I mean early!, mom and I headed over to one of the parades. My grandfather was driving a veteran that couldn't walk in his corvette.

We ended up parking far away from the actual parade- about two miles. So we had to jog to make it on time. Nothing like a little unplanned cardio run haha!

I ended up heading over to my family's for a little to visit in the morning. I wasn't planning on being out of the house all day, so I had no food on me. Also, no car/purse emergency snacks. I'm not supposed to be having dairy, but it was pretty much my only option.

I Swear I'm Not A Beauty Product Junkie

We're off to another Marvelous Monday, especially since most of you are probably in bed enjoying the day off today.

It is just starting to feel like Memorial Day weekend around here. The past couple of days had pouring rain and was freezing. Forty degrees in May is just crazy!

Luckily, the sun started shining yesterday :)

Saturday Snaps

Fun Facts Friday

That pretty much sums up how I'm feeling :)
Now onto some fun facts.......

1. Liquid eyeliner is one of my everyday staples. I was reading some magazine with a tip from Taylor Swift saying she does the flick of her cat eye first and then fills in the line. This goes again any beauty rule you're ever taught. But I've been giving it a try and it makes it SO much easier.

2. Apparently I'm reflective but often can't make up my mind. Plus I am a safe bet. Hmmmm, I am a very quiet person, but I like to think I can be spontaneous. What kind are you?

Cooper's Death Stare + Pancake Recipe

Last night was pretty amazing at the gym. I hit a new PR with weight walking lunges. I can do them with half of my body weight. Absolutely insane!!! Last summer I could barely do a lunge with a 5lb dumbbell.

I guess hard work and effort pays off huh?

Yesterday was a day that called for breakfast for dinner. So protein pancakes it was. Okay, so I cheated and used cottage cheese. I know I'm not supposed to have any form of dairy, but a little bit at one meal is not going to kill me. My real competition diet starts in June so it was my last pancakes for awhile.

Anyway, they were oh my god good. I combined:

• 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese (mine had pineapple in it which I didn't realize til the end)
• 1/2 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 egg whites

WIAW-Discovering A New Veggie

Time for What I Ate Wednesday, but really Tuesday in my case. Thanks to Jenn for all the lovely recipe ideas!

And let's jump right in!

Breakfast started off with the usual overnight oats in my hershey's bowl again. What can I say? I love oats :)

My New Squash Favorite

Hi all.

Let's take a look into my weekly eats shall we?

My grocery cart was stocked with the usual. Tons of eggs, frozen veggies, and rice cakes that I eat daily.

I Went Running

 for the first time in a LONG time, but we'll get to that in a second...

Well hello there guys. How was your weekend?!
Mine was pretty darn relaxing, with some fun things thrown in there. I had a ton of downtime to unwind and was super productive around the house at the same time. It was marvelous....

You guys saw how Friday night was spent being up wayyyyyy past my bedtime.

After restocking the fridge on Saturday am, I finally got my butt into workout mode. I have a love/hate relationship with running. Running comes in phases and Saturday was one of them. Since I'm don't do long-distance, I'm a huge fan of intervals. So I usually wear my watch along to time myself. But I couldn't find my "junkie" running watch so I had to resort to wearing one of my good ones.

Except I didn't notice when I left that the time was stuck at 6 o'clock and I went running around 12ish. Major fail status haha.

Ummm, What's Your Name Again?

Just popping in to share some pictures from the fun we had celebrating my grandfather's award last night.

All the guests were impressed with the beautiful centerpieces my grandmother made. She picked all the flowers from the backyard. It turned out pretty swell don't you think?

Good Thing I Have A Big Purse

Hey guys! Hope everyone is having a good start to the weekend. I know I sure am since I got to sleep in.

Yesterday was my last final so I am all done studying for the semester. It was an even better day since I am officially done with college! For an actuary I don't need a master's degree, just have to pass lots of exams.

Since I won't be attending graduation, mom and I celebrated at Panera. Nothing wild and crazy, that will be in Mexico haha ;)

As Of Lately...

Ok so I was about to do the happy dance this morning, then realized it's not Friday yet. Whoops.

Some things as of lately:

As of lately-Troy and I are almost finished watching Prison Break. We've been watching about 3 episodes a day can not wait until the end. It's safe to say we are both obsessed. Besides Wentworth Miller isn't exactly bad to look at ;)

WIAW- A TJ's Kinda Day

Good moooooooorning everyone. Anyone else having a slow start on this morning? After waking up at 5am for the past couple days, I'm dragging. I can thank the birds nesting in my air condition for the early wake up calls. Chirping is nice, just not at 5am hah.

I did manage to get some good eats in yesterday, which is perfect for what I ate this wednesday  tuesday.

Of course breakfast started off with a nice bowl of cold oats. I guess I should try having them warmed up one of these days ;)

Protein Powder vs. Real Food

I've been tossing around the idea of this post for awhile now, but couldn't exactly get my thoughts down on the screen until tonight.

I don't know about you, but it seems lately so many healthy living bloggers are obsessed with protein powder. But just not protein powder in smoothies, but pancakes, muffins, homemade protein bars, and pretty much anything you can sneak protein into.

What's the deal? Is it because they are working out so hard they need that extra protein?  Or is it because they think replacing meals (real food) with protein powder or bars will save them those extra calories to loose weight?

The Best Dessert

Hey all! It's been awhile...
Sorry I didn't get to pop in and chat with you all this weekend. It was a busy one!

Friday started off with absolutely gorgeous sunshine and perfectly hot weather (think 75 degrees). Troy and I both had the day off from school/work so we made a spontaneous trip to the beach.

It Got Real

You wouldn't think it, but cleaning can be exercise. I worked up a good sweat yesterday tackling the entire mess that has been consuming my room.

Enter Exhibit A:

I was debating whether or not to put this picture up here because well you'll see. It makes me look like I could enter to be a contestant on TLC's show Hoarders.

But let's be real. My house does not look like it just came out of ad in a magazine all the time.
I was in the process of switching all my winter & summer clothes out of my closet.

Thoughts On A Thursday

Hey. How are you all doing this morning?!

1) Even though I’m super excited about all this warm weather, one thing I will miss is blankets. Nothing beats being lounging around on the couch on a chilly evening layered in blankets. Most nights you can find me parked right on the couch with my phone or a good book.

WIAW-Smoothie Craze

Happy WIAW!

I woke up thinking today was Friday and then was surprised it's Wednesday already. I honestly thought this week would be going suuuuuper slow for me since it's my last week of classes before finals. But it's moving right along! I'll take it.

Now let's get to the goods.

What I Ate All Day Tuesday:

Breakfast:

Started off with the usual oats.

And it's still just as delicious every morning.

Things College Has Taught Me

Since graduation is slowly approaching, I figured I would put together a fun list of everything I learned in college NOT in the classroom.

What college has taught me:

1) Sweatpants are your friend!

2) Reading for fun doesn't happen. Reading outside of your textbooks is impossible.

3) Procrastination is really just time management.

4) Snow days are still awesome.

5) There are never any parking spots. Ever.

6) Coffee is always a better choice than water.

7) Your senior project is similiar to your 3rd grade project. Think lots of stickers, glitter, and colored paper on a giant poster.

8) Any math you didn't understand in high school, you're never going to understand it.

9) You will never get enough sleep, no matter what.

10) You learn the best days to skip class not to miss anything.

11) You can never have enough hoodies.

12) You're so happy that your final paper is a short one- only 15 pages woohoo.

13) How to turn a 3 page paper into a 10 page paper
14) Read the bathroom signs carefully. Walking into the men's bathroom is just awkward.

What has college or school taught you?

Playing With Pigs

What better way to start off the work week then linking up with Katie and chatting about some marvelous things that happened this weekend. Not having a good start to the morning? Go check out Katie's link up and I'm sure you'll be feeling better!

Now let's get to the weekend highlights!

Saturday was spent doing the usual errands. I ran to the grocery store for only a couple items...

and came out with that. How does that even happen?!

Versatile Blogger

Hey all. I was up early for a spin class this morning. It somehow turned into Bikram spin since the gym accidentally had the heat on. Whew, I was sweeeeeeeaty.

Thanks to the lovely lady who nominated me for this award. Go so hi to Christina and you will see how lovely she is. She is getting married soon too!

 Here’s How it Works!
1. Add the Versatile Blogger Award photo on a blog post.
2. Thank the person who presented you with the award and link back to him or her in your post.
3. Share 7 things about yourself
4. Pass the award onto 15 of your favorite bloggers. Contact the chosen bloggers to let them know of the award.

7 Things About Me:

1) If you would have told me a year ago that I would love coffee, I never would have believed you.

Beginner's Guide To Weight Lifting Part Two

I'm so glad many of you enjoyed my top five tips for a beginner getting into weight lifting.

Now time for Part Two!

There's always new tips & tricks to learn! I'm including myself in this too because it's an ever evolving process.

Acts of Kindness

If you follow me on Twitter, then you already aware of how good a day I was having yesterday.

1) The sun was shining
2) Troy and I got a good round of badminton in (Troy- if you're reading this I won!)
3) We played frisbee with Cooper

After a week of some intense school stress and basically living there this week, I needed a mental break. All those things listed above were great enough, but something happened at the gym yesterday that just made me incredibly happy.

I was training quads (no fun as usual) with my trainer and one of his other clients was finishing up before me. Now let me describe her to you all. I call her "Beyonce" even though that's not her real name. You can imagine how fabulous she looks. I mean, her hair is basically the same as Beyonce's, her body is amazing, and she is incredibly strong. I've seen her working out at the gym for the past two years and she is a dedicated weight lifter. Her body shows what hard work looks like. She doesn't compete in figure competitions, but I'm sure if she did she would win them all. She looks that good.

WIAW Plus Teen Mom

Round 15 for What I Ate Wed. I am on a roll. Technically What I Ate Tuesday, but same idea. Thanks for Jenn for hosting! I'm currently lusting over her sweet potato nacho recipe. Is it weird I love looking at food pictures online? Nah, it's totally normal, just makes me extra hungry ;)

Meal Number One:

Peanut butter oats eaten in bed while catching up on some much needed homework blog reading. Procrastination at its finest.