Mar 28, 2012

A VERY Happy Birthday!

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Today is a great day.

Saying it with me.. TODAY IS A GREAT DAY!

Why do you ask?

Because today is my 26th birthday!

Now, I know that some people aren’t into their birthdays. Some people hate getting older. Some people hate being the center of attention. Some people just think birthdays are not a big deal.

I am not one of those people.

I love my birthday!

So much in fact that I try to spread it out over a couple of days every year if I can and this year I was pretty successful at it! So last week, while I was in Miami, we started some birthday celebrations by having the opportunity to attend the Miami Heat game. I’m not a HUGE basketball fan but I don’t care who you are- it’s still cool to see a good game!

Then Saturday, as you may have read a few days ago, I got to celebrate my birthday with Casey and Mark. And Sunday I got to celebrate by spending the day with Kara! Then Monday I got to open some presents with Peyton and my sister!

Then last night the birthday festivities really kicked off at Sushi on a Roll in Medina by having dinner with my wonderful parents, Tim, and Peyton. We had a fantastic time! We have a traditional in our house that we have been doing for a little while now where the birthday person has to find the hidden cupcake. This cupcake contains a wonderful surprise… like make-up, gifts cards, money, or other special little birthday treats and since we were out to eat for my birthday celebrations I had to walk around the restaurant to find the cupcake!

And with Peyton’s help I found it stashed behind the water feature! YAY for a gift card to Bath and Body Words… I L.O.V.E. their hand soup and candles and always have the house stocked up on those goodies so this gift was just perfect! Thank you Mom and Dad!

For dinner we had MASSIVE amounts of Sushi which was really delicious. I wasn’t sure how authentic this sushi place would taste but I’ll tell you what it was just a casual atmosphere with great food. It is set up more like a Panera where you order at the counter and then just find a seat and the guy running the place didn’t seem to mind us laughing loudly and having a great time! Chances are good that we will be back =)

Now Peyton is a pretty picky eater and she has a tendency to want to spend more time playing than eating when we are out to eat so we had to think of some unique ways to get her interested in her food. After the failed attempt with the chop sticks we tried NO utensils and she seemed to like that for a little while!

But then, like any normal 3 year old, she got bored of that and we needed to move on to something else! So we decided to have our own little version of lady and the tramp… although I’m not sure we ever specified who was the lady and who was the tramp!

Either her skin looks very white or I am starting to darken in my old age haha

We wrapped up dinner with a family photo before taking off for a delicious treat!

After dinner we debating a while over Dairy Queen or Lemonberry (the new Fro-Yo place in Medina on the square) and Peyton and I agreed that the winner was… LEMONBERRY! This was my first time there and as you know I am pretty close to being obsessed with Menchies so I figured I would love Lemonberry and well I did!

That wrapped up my “Birthday Eve” celebration and Tim and I went home with very full bellies and a lot of left over sushi!

The next morning I woke up to a great day filled with sunshine and warm weather! Then when I got to work I was thrilled to see that my co-worker and friend Jackie had decorated my cubical for me! She did such a fabulous job!!

And on top of a very delicious box of treats from Panera she left me this adorable card (which is just so Jackie- girly and adorable!)

Casey was also there to greet me in the morning with a nice surprise from Pandora’s Cupcakes!

Tim is going to be VERY happy for these Peanut Butter Cup cupcakes after our birthday date this evening!!

And my birthday celebrations don’t end there! My other co-worker and friend Angela made me one of my favorite desserts (in the top 3 for sure) APPLE CRISP! She is a DELICIOUS chef and baker so this Apple Crisp quickly became my breakfast!

And my birthday celebrations STILL didn’t end! Alyson made cheesecake brownies, Christina brought me over a funny and wonderful card with Reece Cup treats and then after a meeting I came back to my desk and found THESE!

It is probably already obvious at this point that Tim is wonderful to me and this was just an extra special treat! There is something about getting something delivered to you at work that just makes you feel really special! It’s a very obvious and outward sign that someone loves you and that anyone can appreciate that! I don’t always know if I deserve him and how good he is to me, but I love him and appreciate all that he does for me!

And even though Jen sort of forgot about my bday until the very last minute she made me this pretty sweet sign out of post-it notes…

THEN to top ALL off…

- The bridal shop called and my DRESS IS IN! So I get to try on MY VERY OWN wedding dress this Saturday!

- My friend Renee just told me that a baby was born not too long along and I got to see her picture and she was just adorable!

 

So a special thank you to all of my family and friends who have helped make my birthday an extra special! To all of my facebook friends that said hello to my friends that baked, decorated, and hugged me to my family who loves me every day and always makes my birthday special, to the stranger on the street that smiled this morning…. THANK YOU! You all truly made this a magical day for me and I am looking forward to my date with Tim this evening and more celebration with Robin, Gary, and crew on Friday!!

 

  • What is the best birthday memory you have?
  • What is the best birthday gift you have ever received?
  • What is your FAVORITE flower?

 

 

Filed Under: My family is the best · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
Aug 17, 2011

Taco Meatloaves and Organization Turn Me On

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No rain on Tuesday morning so we laced up the tennis shoes and headed out to hit the pavement. It was a very chilly morning so I had to wear pants and a long sleeve shirt but Tim didn’t care and headed out in his t-shirt and shorts. Again, another reminder that the weather in Ohio gets very cold very quickly. Before we headed out I visited my old friend Peanut Butter Puffins and Almond Breeze Almond Milk. I don’t know why but it felt like I hadn’t had these in forever so it was like going to see an old friend from college when I poured them in my bowl! Tim stuck to the usual peanut butter on an English muffin.

 

Tim's pre-run treat

Hey there old friend!

We decided that since my Susan G. Komen 5K is in just a few weeks I really need to set a plan for myself to make it through the next few weeks so this week we decided on doing at least 2 miles every morning. Next week step it up to 2.5 then 2.75 and then 3. That should take me perfectly into the 5K. This morning we ended up running a little over 2 so that was pretty awesome except that the hill toward the end was almost the death of me. We made it through though and I was at least happy that Tim was struggling just as much as I was! It is always better to struggle together rather than separately right? I mean, of course, I would rather no one suffer through it but hey everyone likes good company.

So anyway, after a great run we came in and I rushed to get ready for work so I wasn’t late for my first day of training. Training this week is rough because we do so much sitting. They do a great job at letting us get up and move around for group projects but we are still sitting uncomfortably in chairs pretty much all day. They feed us lunch so I ended up eating some chicken fingers, I did sneak in a few breaded ones but stuck mostly to the grilled ones, with some mixed veggies, salad, and fruit. I don’t usually like these catered lunches but this one was OK. Not great… but OK.

I was home a little later than usual because on top of the week long training class they also hosted a reception at this restaurant called the Galaxy in Wadsworth. It is a pretty good restaurant- I have been there a few times with my parents and our proms were hosted there.  The good is good and they have quite a variety of different rooms you can eat at. There is a bar, a more formal dining area, and a few others big rooms to host functions. Worth checking out if you are ever in the area and well, kind of the only place in Wadsworth to check out!

When I got home Tim had dinner ready already! TACO MINI MEATLOAFS! My sister introduced Tim and I to mini meatloaves- kind of the typical meatloaf but in mini sizes and Tim mentioned it to a girl at work and she suggested we make them with taco seasoning and TADA… it was so good I wish I could eat it every night. So I just had it one night (well and left overs) with some taco rice on the side and some corn on the cob that Amanda brought us (BEST CORN EVER)! Tim sure can make one of the best dinners! Not to mention it was so nice coming home to a nice meal waiting for me after a very long day. So if you do want to make these yourselves just start with a regular meatloaf recipe, add in taco seasoning, and cook them in a muffin pan! You will not be sorry- I promise!

Looks at that beautiful plate

Ok but on to the BEST part of the evening. So we moved in over15 months ago and we have HATED our pantry area since the day we loved in. I mean it wasn’t even really a pantry it was just a big open space under the stairs and in the kitchen that was the best place to put a pantry. So this area has been this ridiculously messy and disorganized and it sort of makes me twitch every time I open the door. We tried this ugly cheap freestanding plastic shelf and didn’t like it so we bought this nice freestanding steel thing and it has been working pretty well but was still too small. So when we went next door and saw that Mark and Casey put in a Rubbermaid Pantry kit and screwed the wire shelves into the wall and just created this beautiful masterpiece. I immediately told Tim “WE NEED TO DO THAT” and sure enough I came home from my day and Tim had the wires all out and was already working hard. NOW it looks beautiful. I can’t wait for my parents to come over and see Tim’s handy work- my dad also twitched every time he opened that door. So there you have it… over a year later and we are finally making improvements haha. YAY US. So yea you have no idea how excited I get to open that pantry door… I just do it for fun now because it makes me so happy. Who knew that organization could turn a girl on?

My present!

My Handy Man

YAY For Organization!

 

Tell me! What do you HAVE to have organized or you will go CRAZY?! 

Filed Under: Good Eats and Treats, My family is the best · Tagged: , , , , , , , ,
Aug 9, 2011

Just a few regular days

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Morning morning was ROUGH. Tim and I woke up after going to bed far too late and managed to get our tennis shoes on and out the door. Before we did that I made Tim his delicious peanut butter English muffin and I enjoyed the unstoppable duo of Almond Breeze Almond Milk and Puffins.

What a pair!

I realized that this weekend I have a 5K to support tissue and organ donation so I knew that this week I would need to challenge myself and get my butt moving. Tim agreed to change our mind set this week to mileage instead of minutes. So we decided to do a little walking warm-up and then headed out for a full 2 miles run. I get that doesn’t seem like a lot but I am just trying to take it one step of a time here to get myself moving.

We took a route today that put us past Tim’s mom’s house and we laughed when we saw her light on. She was either up waaaay earlier than I have ever known her to get up or she never went to bed. Turns out…she hadn’t even bed to bet yet! She had been out of town and hadn’t gotten into bed yet from her long trip but gosh it made me tired! Knowing she was about to get into bed to go to sleep. So yea, anyway, the run was pretty good until about 1.5miles. THEN I started to get very tired but I still made it. The route we took was a pretty bad one though because we had to go through a bunch of circles and back track a bit which just makes you feel like the run is never going to end. Still, after a long weekend of beer and ice cream it was a more than needed run. Did I mention I ate 2 scoops of ice cream? Oops!

So got home from the run and finally headed out to work after a smoothie! I picked up a 5lb bag of frozen strawberries at Sam’s Club over the weekend so i was ready to use some of those delicious treats. I had no idea that the workday was going to be so incredibly busy but it was which made the day go by pretty fast. For lunch I took the left overs of the jambalaya from Sunday nights dinner. It was just as tasty heated up and I put it on a bed of lettuce again. Other than that I had some fruit snacks and an apple and called it lunch! It was just enough to take me through the rest of the day and head out to my parent’s house for a kick-butt workout class.

The juice that kept me going throughout the day!

So rowing/CrossFit class we did a lot of things! My mom had an open rower so Tim was able to come and I really enjoyed that. 2 workouts in a day with him! What a treat right? So after doing a 10 min warm-up we did a mix of a lot of exercises for 15 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 2 min.  Here is what we did….

  • TRX Bands Hanging Knee Raises
  • Olympic Bar Curl
  • Dips
  • Reformer Curl
  • Burpees
  • Rowing
  • Squat, Curl, Press
  • Med Ball Clean

I was sweating SO BAD. It was such an amazing workout. In workout class tonight I got to see Faye who I had not worked out with in a long time! It was great seeing her… she always inspires me and pushes me to work harder. Angie was also in class tonight and between her and Kari I was working to do my very best. Angie got stuck doing most of the workouts in-between Tim and I… poor thing haha. She had to listen to our terrible jokes and laughing about nothing.

After the workout I also got a B12 shot, which is supposed to give you more energy, sleep better, and speed up your metabolism. My mom had a nurse in to give shots to some clients and I had gotten one last month and I felt like it bad a difference so I decided to get it again. Do you/know anyone who get B12 shots consistently?

After the shot Tim and I had dinner with my parents. We had grilled chicken with a bunch of seasonings on it along with red potatoes and a frozen veggie/pasta mix thing. It was pretty delicious and kept me full all night long. Mom and I checked out some wedding dresses online and tried to get a better idea of what we both like so that was fun! I LOVE so many of the “beach” dresses that are short and cute but I still want the beautiful big dress. There is just something about having the wedding dress of your dreams that you can’t stop thinking about! Tim and I made the journey home and watched some of the Bachelor Pad (omg this is a crazy show) until I was too tired so we hit record and went to bed! Not an exciting Monday- but a pretty productive one!

Love dinner at my parent's house!

Tuesday

Goodmorning! That B12 shot must have really helped because I sprung out of bed this morning and was ready to run. When I first looked out the window I thought it was raining so I was half disappointed/excited but was pretty happy when I realized it was just left over wetness from the morning rain. Tim rolled out of bed and walked downstairs to a peanut butter English muffin (he sounds spoiled doesn’t he?) and I enjoyed a handful of Puffins. I love just those little bit of Puffins in the morning… it is just a few puffs but it is just enough to get my metabolism going and put something in my tummy.

My puffins!

We did another 2 mile run after a few minutes of walking and I was feeling fast and good throughout the run. Tim was complaining today though so the B12 shot must not have worked for him very well! The hills were touch but my legs were feeling great and my breathing was pretty steady. I hope I can keep this up on Saturday when I am in the race. I am not looking to win but I certainly want to do the very best I can and I know training for it is the way to go. So I made it this morning and realized that I think I am on week 4 right? Well, this has gotta be becoming a habit. My neighbor told me if I keep running I will become addicted to it… gosh I hope so!

Got ready for work and left myself time to pack my lunch and make some breakfast. This morning I had an egg white sandwich on a everything bagel thin with muenster cheese, of course, and this time I didn’t have the tomato but did enjoy a piece of bacon. I know I know I should not substitute a questionable fruit/veggie with bacon but it just sounded good this morning! My packed lunch consisted of some tuna, lettuce, tomato, salsa Sun Chips, and a mix of blueberries and blackberries. I ate lunch with a few girls from work and finished my afternoon up and finally got in the car with Casey and headed home!

When I got home from work Tim and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few goods for a little girl get-together I am having this weekend for a few friends! I am making this mango black bean salsa that I hope will be delicious. Then we came home to make dinner together…. And we made a killer dinner! We made some chicken fajitas.  So we made the chicken with dry fajita seasoning with zucchini, squash, onions, peppers, and lots of cilantro. I put mine on top of lettuce; see I told you I think a bed of lettuce can make anything a meal, with tomatoes, some salsa, and a little fat free sour cream. Tim put his on a tortilla, which looked exactly as tasty. Then as usual weekday nights go we settled in to spend some time together and I wrote this blog as Tim did some work! We are just a really exciting bunch hu? Enjoy a happy healthy week! Make sure to catch up with me after this weekend; I think I’ll have a fun post to read about!

all the veggies cooking

my tasty dinner

Tm's tasty dinner

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Jul 11, 2011

Day 1

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Boring title I know but it is probably the best way to sum up the run today! So I started off my first day of commitment, well committed. My alarm went off at 5:30am and up I went into the bathroom… quick brush of the teeth, water on my face, shorts on, t-shirt up over the head and there I was standing in the bathroom ready to run.

Before I could let my shoes hit the pavement I popped a quick piece of bread in the toaster and got a spoonful of Peanut Butter. My I-POD had been in the car and was most likely dead so I stole Tim’s out of his car so I had some musical inspiration while I ran! I also downloaded this app on my phone that is just a simple interval timer so that it was easier for me to keep track of my time. I decided to start interval training first because I don’t want to kill myself before I really even start!

My interval for the week looks like this:

Warm-Up 2 min
Run 5 min
Walk 2 min
Cool-Down 2 min

So I am doing 3 rounds of the running, walking which gives me a solid 25 min run (plus the extra time it takes me to get back if I don’t time it well enough)! Which in this case was only about 2 extra minutes.

Anyway, I set off on my journey today and thought I did pretty well! I kept a pretty steady pace and at no point did I feel like I was going to throw up. Plus I saw some pretty interesting things. For example, there was this very fit man running toward me with his nice reflective vest on who waved politely and said good morning. Next thing I knew here comes a dog running in the same matching vest! How cool- this guy races his dog every morning! And oh my goodness that dog was running fast not to mention he was so focused he didn’t even attempt to stop and have me pet him… that was one determined dog!

Lots of things were going through my head this morning, mostly about starting this blog and wondering if anyone would ever read it. Secondly, the WEDDING. I kept thinking about the destination vs. traditional wedding discussion Tim and I have been having. Neither one of us feels totally passionate for one or the other and are constantly coming up with new pros and cons to each. I guess it’s a great thing we are in agreement about not knowing which one to do but it sure does feel like the pressure is on. Anytime I tell someone that we got engaged they ask us what our date is! Goodness, it hasn’t even been a week how the heck do I know what the date it? In any case a destination wedding seems cheaper and I think the pictures would be amazing. The traditional wedding is great because most of our friends and family will attend and the planning process is more involved- which for me is great because I love that stuff. I don’t really get to pick colors or make table cards for a destination wedding but then again that may not be a bad thing. So my question today to all of you is quite simple… what the hell should we do?!

 

Run went well and I got home and felt energized. Tim rolled over just enough to ask how my run was as I jumped in the shower to start my day. Day went well at work and I was so excited for my buffalo chicken wrap that my mom dropped off the night before for lunch. Not only did I get this delicious wrap but I was also delivered the full delicious dinner below! Salmon, asparagus, champagne, and balloons! It was heavenly. Tim and I topped it off w/ about a half serving of tortellini as well because we were starving!

The day rolled by as usual and I headed out of work at 5 and went straight to my parent’s house for rowing class. This was the first time I had seen my parents since I got back from vacation which means it was the first time they were going to see my ring so it was very exciting and between you and I, I think I drove a little too fast on the way there (still managed to put gas in Tim’s car though!). The other ladies arrived for class and were just fantastic. They were all so excited for Tim and I so it was a lot of fun telling our proposal story. The workout went by really fast- maybe because I was so excited and the ladies were so great about letting me go on and on.

I should just take a minute to mention here how AMAZING the ladies that workout with me are. Patti, for example, has been in my life since 1st grade! Her daughter Abby and I are friends so I just love catching up with her and hearing about life. Then there is Angie who is more like a friend than anything else. So fun to be around and just a true pleasure to work out with. She is constantly challenging me to do better and to be better and I love her for it! Diane is one of the sweetest people I know and Joy makes me wanna be buff because she is just amazing. I have so much fun in class with all of the ladies and really appreciate their excitement for my engagement in today’s class!

In today’s rowing class schedule we did…

- Walking Lunges

- Kipping pull-ups

- Chest Presses

- Olympic Bar Thrusters

- This ab workout on this killer Pilates machine my mom has

- Side to Side Ball taps

- Kettle Bell Swings

- Push, Push, Pull

Needless to say I will be feeling this tomorrow! I told my mom I wanted buff arms and a nice back for the wedding… guess I’ll be getting that!

K signing off for tonight! Thanks for reading.

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