It's Friday, Friday.... ♫♪♫♪

Good morning! There are many reasons I am happy this morning:

1. It's Friday!
2. I get Jimmy John's for lunch today. That always makes it a good day. 
3. I leave for Iowa after work and get to see my best friend! 
4. I had my husband kidnap my violin from my in-laws so I could take it to Iowa with me.*
5. I meet my new therapist today and I am really looking forward to seeing what she can do for me.
6. Did I mention it is Friday?
7. I get to bring grandma back home to celebrate Thanksgiving. Fun!
8. I put up all of my Christmas decorations yesterday and the entire apartment smells like Pine. 
9. IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!!
10. It's Friday!
11. SYDNEY! 
12. Ok, now I'm being obnoxious. 

*Back story:

Sydney and I met in orchestra in Jr. High School. We have both been playing for a very long time and she is now an amazingly talented player and orchestra teacher in West Des Moines, IA. I had purchased a violin off of ShopGoodwill.com that was a Stradivarius Copy made in Germany in the 1930's. It was beat to hell and I had it restored by an amazing violin maker in Macomb, IL. He did a fantastic job and the violin has the most beautiful, rich sound. I am so happy I purchased the violin and put the money into it to have it taken care of. Sydney and I will get a chance to play together this weekend which is something we haven't done since we were 13 or 14 years old! 

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WeightWatchers & Stuff:

Yesterday went VERY well. No binge eating and the only thing I went over my points on was a vodka tonic (made with diet tonic) that I had while watching American Horror Story from Wednesday night. I spent majority of my evening putting up the Christmas stuff and cleaning the apartment and it kept me out of the kitchen and out of binge mode. That is basically all I have to do at night is keep super busy doing something. However, we all know there are some nights where you just plop down and don't want to do ANYTHING. Those are the nights that get me into the most trouble. 

Oh! And I earned 4 APs yesterday from all the decorating I did! 

Menu for today:

B: 3 pancakes, coffee, milk (7P+)

S: String Cheese (3P+)

L: Jimmy John's #6 Vegetarian with no mayo, thinny chips (19P+) <-- totally worth it.

S: Carrot Sticks (0P+)

D: TBD - I'll be on the road so it'll have to be something clever... I'll have 11P+ to use and IF I need them I have my WPs.

Activity: None - driving! Iowa! SYDNEY! 

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Beauty Products of the Day:

I bought these little gems at CVS the other night. It was in this little gift package for $4.99. It came with another cream that I keep on my nightstand. I LOVE the chapstick. (I know, I'm obsessed with chaptstick. Get off me) The lotion has a really nice consistency and doesn't make my hands feel slick or greasy. Just makes them super soft and I love the smell. It is not overwhelming at all. For $4.99 I think it was a nice little treat.

I got my Avon delivery yesterday and got these lip crayons. They were $3.95 each (on sale) and I have never used lip crayons before so I thought I would give them a try. The top one is Mauve Model and the Bottom one is Nude. I really like them. The nude one shows up a little darker than what you see on the bottom of the packaging but I still like it a lot. The Mauve color is really pretty with a sheer gloss over the top. It is what I used this morning. 

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Random Things:

You know how when you're on Facebook and you just start clicking and browsing? Well, that happens to me and my cousin's wife just uploaded a ton of pictures she has taken throughout 2013 and I was looking at them. Apparently my cousin Mat is in a Toyota commercial and I have been trying to find it on YouTube or somewhere on the internet all morning! My cousin and his wife live in LA and he has been in acting school the past 3 years. He has been in a few independent films and I wish him all the luck in the world! 

If you have seen this commercial or know where it is on line then send me the link! 

I leave you with Hobbs. His life is hard. Like. Ridiculously hard. Don't judge him.

Happy Friday!

Good morning, blogger world! It is FRIDAY! You know what that means? It is FRIDAY! Haha. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my husband. We really do not see each other much during the week so I really cherish our time on the weekends. In fact, I feel like I haven't really talked to my husband much at all this week. He's been working like crazy and I've been working and our shifts are so different.... I just miss him. I guess with this schedule we will never get tired of each other!

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WeightWatchers & Stuff:
Yesterday went really well. I stayed 100% on program and ate such wonderful, tasty, filling foods. My dinner was the highlight of my day.

A very lean cut of meat (I honestly did not see ANY fat on it when I bought it), half a sweet potato and some asparagus. Yum! I didn't eat all of the asparagus because I got really full. It was so good though and I wasn't hungry at all the rest of the night. 

I didn't eat my lunch yesterday until after 3:00pm!!! That has never happened to me before. Usually I'm starving by or before noon. Not yesterday. I was set. I love Simply Filling. Have I said that yet? 

I don't know when I am going to weigh in. If I run the race Sunday I will weigh in tomorrow. If I am foregoing the race I will weigh in at my normal meeting on Sunday morning. I'm still way too wheezy when I wake up in the morning. I'm hoping it is partially allergies too. I am going to see how I feel tomorrow morning and decide then. 

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Random Things:

You know what's awesome? Not having any credit card debt. We are credit debt free. We owe less than $5,000 on my car and the rest is school. I love it. I absolutely love it. I mean, I hate having school loans, don't get me wrong, but not having any credit debt and not having any more credit cards is so liberating. 

I went to PetsMart yesterday to pick up some Cat Attract litter for the cats, a scratching post, some science diet food and some other odds and ends and got Caesar this magical costume for the Halloween party we are going to next weekend:

AHHHHHHH!!!! It is funny because I call him "Caesar Monkey". It is so hilarious when I put it on him. I think this may be his costume the rest of his life. 

I also got Caesar a new collar, which is adorable, a new place mat for his food and water dish and some dingo chew bones that he likes. But he's not spoiled.... not at all..... 

The cats aren't spoiled either.... nope. 

See, I don't want children. I just want to be surrounded by pets the rest of my life. 

Kind of Blah...

Usually I am a very upbeat, optimistic person. With the past days events though I haven't been my happy-go-lucky self. It is understandable that I feel the way I do and I know as time goes on I will feel less of the heartache for Hyatt. Part of me wants to run out and get another dog to heal the hurt but that is like having a rebound relationship and hoping it'll work out. Caesar is SO confused without Hyatt. Last night we were outside on the patio and our neighbor walked by with his black lab mix and Caesar shot off my lap and went running because he thought it was his brother. He was soon disappointed though when he realized it wasn't Hyatt. His little tail fell down and he sauntered back to Andrew and I. Sometimes Caesar will just start to cry for no reason at all and I know it is because he is confused. He'll get over it faster than Andrew and I will but I know he is used to being around other dogs and I think he's sad being the only one.

 He is such a sweet boy. We walked around on Saturday morning for a little bit... just wasn't the same.
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WeightWatchers & Food:
Well, I had my awesome 2 pound loss yesterday and my 4 mile run so I was feeling pretty good about myself for that. I had some wine in the evening and then made a huge dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic bread. It needed to be a comfort food night. I used all of my daily points and 14 of my weeklies. That isn't too bad though.
Also, on Saturday I made this fun little recipe and forgot to post about it:

 It was really good! I love fried rice so this was a nice bargain. I added chicken to it to plump it up a bit and it makes a TON. I will make this again.

I was also impressed with my ActiveLink activity from yesterday. When I plugged it in this morning I was shocked and VERY happy!

Go me! 10APs to start the week with. Can't do much better than that. (Except maybe the day I do my 10K) haha.

I don't have much else to update. Again, I am just really frumpy and want to go home and mope. On my training schedule for today I have "stretch & strengthen". I've been doing my wall pushups and well... resting my muscles.

Random Pet Picture of the Day:

AHHH! It is a HOBBZILLA COME TO ATTACK ME.

With hugs, kisses and snuggles.

Weekend Recap & Other News

Happy Monday, everyone! Let us start off the blog with this. I changed my Weigh In Day at WeightWatchers. I was going Wednesday afternoon at 12:00 but I was so rushed because I was doing that on my lunch break. I decided I wanted to be able to go to the meeting and really relax and enjoy it instead of checking my watch constantly thinking I have to get back to work. I went on Sunday because they have a 9:00 meeting that is smaller and those are the ones I like.

Sunday Weigh In:
Weigh In: -0.4
Total Lost: 1.6
Pounds to Lose: 101.6

I think a 0.4 pound loss in 4 days is pretty good. Considering my weekend was full of pizza and doughnuts. My weekend was also full of ridiculous activity. Our apartment complex was having a community yard sale and we could sell from our garages. I decided the day of that I was going to do it so I was running around like a crazy person trying to get together everything I wanted to sell. After I got it all set out I just let people come and browse as they pleased. Andrew and I ended up making $115 in 3 hours! We had a lot of old cell phones, game consoles and furniture to get rid of. What we didn't sell went to Salvation Army. We split our earnings in half and bought some things we had been wanting. Andrew wanted new jeans and some shoes and an Amazon gift card. I wanted a new book shelf, new lamp shades for the bedroom lamps and some storage bins. I didn't end up finding any storage bins I liked so I just got a new bookshelf and my lamp shades. Of course, you know what a new bookshelf means right? The entire living room had to be rearranged, pictures hung and carpets shampooed. Andrew and I have lived in our apartment almost a year and I never hung any pictures!!! AH! So, I decided it was time to make the apartment more "homey" since we are going to be there at least 1 more year.

Now, that doesn't even scratch the surface of what I did this weekend but I am really pleased with how the new bookshelf looks with the wedding stuff put out. Our unity candle had been in a box in our storage unit/garage since we got married. It needed to have a place! Now, the wedding picture above the couch really needs a frame but lazy 'ol me hasn't gotten around to that either. So, right now it is being held up with tape. Yeah, I know. Classy huh? I'll get there eventually. I really want to wall mount the TV too.

So, after shampooing the carpets, having a yard sale, moving furniture, hanging pictures, shopping, cleaning, renting a UHaul, donating stuff, delivering chairs (from my parent's house to his parent's house), grocery shopping, kitchen cleaning, desk/computer moving, table moving, etc...... I earned 10 APs over the weekend. Haha! I was very proud of that!

Here was my food and Activity yesterday: 
Breakfast: 2 Slices of Wheat Toast with 1 Egg and 1 Slice of WW American Singles (7P+)
Snack: Tall, Nonfat, No Whip, Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks (5P+)
Lunch: (2) 4 oz 96% 4% beef patties cooked on the grill and covered with homemade salsa, 1 oz Pop Chips, Cauliflower (10P+)
Snack: NONE - I was entirely too busy to eat
Dinner: 9 oz Wild Atlantic Salmon cooked on the grill, 1/2 Sweet Potato, Cooked Baby Carrots (11P+)
Activity Points Earned: 3

I still had 7P+ left when I went to bed last night and I was going to have some ice cream but I wasn't hungry. I was very proud of myself that I didn't eat the ice cream even though I was full. Normally I go straight for the dessert after I finish dinner but yesterday I did the dishes and then got comfortable on the couch. I didn't think about food the rest of the night. Go me!

Random Pet Picture of the Day:

"I can haz your burger?"


She sat on his lap the entire time he ate lunch. It was cute. Every time he would lift the burger to his mouth she'd tilt her head like she was going to get a bite. That one there is a beggar. She loves all kinds of human food which cracks me up. Usually cats could care less.

Should've seen them after I cooked the salmon.
Kitty craziness.

My Body Hates Me & Other Things

Seriously. Why can I not feel good for more than a week? Haha. I woke up this morning with a UTI. If any of you know anything about me, I get these frequently. I am one of those people prone to them. I do everything the doctor tells me, I take cranberry pills, I wipe front to back, I clean with unscented soap, I pee after intercourse (TMI, right?) lol... however, I STILL GET THEM. I'm miserable this morning and I'm about to punch something. I have medicine left over from my last one but it hasn't fully kicked in yet. I wish it would.

Update on the Chia Seeds:
I really like them. This morning I had them in water as Chia Fresca only I didn't add agave or honey. I like limes a lot and enjoy the tartness it added to the water.

*Note: If you have an issue with drinking things with weird texture this is not the way for you to ingest the Chia seeds. They do turn into a gel like substance that makes the water kind of, well, gel like a goopy. It doesn't add any flavor to the water, the lime does.

So, after drinking that down I then had 1 c. grits with 1 tsp of butter and 1 Tbsp of Chia Seeds. Very yummy and incredibly filling. I don't think I will be eating my morning snack because food just doesn't sound good right at the moment.







Last night I went to Food Fantasies which is our local health food store. Here in Springfield, IL we do not have Whole Foods or Trader Joe's which pisses me off  so I just go where I can for the oddball things I want to eat. While there I picked up this little gem. Organic Spicy Avocado Hummus. ZOMG. My new favorite thing in the world. Yes, it was over $6 for that tiny little tub of it but I do not go to that store often and buy this kind of stuff so it was really a treat!



I also discovered this Blog after reading Born To Run a second time. I was doing a Google search on how to make Pinole and that blog had a lot of information and an eBook of recipes. I got the recipe book for $17 and stocked up on what I needed to make Pinole Flatbread. Mostly, I just needed the coarse corn meal. I am not going to give the recipe on here because I do not have permission to give that information out. If you are interested, visit this link to get the recipe. I LOVE the flatbread. It is almost like making your own grain chips with tons of healthy things in them! It has whole wheat flour and chia seeds! (and more obviously) It makes 8 "discs" and I cut them into 8 wedges each. One entire disc of 8 wedges is 5P+ on WeightWatchers.

You have to let them cool a bit once they come out of the oven and they look.... interesting. However, the taste is fine and I really enjoy them dipped in my new hummus!

 Close up.

Got lots of them! (64 chips)

Dipped in the Spicy Avocado hummus.









I brought 5 chips (3P+) and 2 T of the hummus (1P+) for a snack today. I am looking forward to eating it once I am hungry again!

I also picked up these at Food Fantasies and am having one for lunch! They are 10P+ for the entire box but there are so many good, healthy and wholesome things in it that I know I'm going to love it!

Menu of the Day:

B: Grits with 1 t of butter and 1 T of Chia Seeds, Chia Fresca water

S: Pinole Flatbread with 2 T of Hummus

L: Go Picnic Box, tomatoes

S: String Cheese

D: Leftover Salmon over romaine lettuce

Activity: I'd like to squeeze in a run after my doctor's appointment. Andrew and I leave for Davenport tonight and I have to pack still. 

AND, here is your random pet picture of the day:

Hobbs was very interested in everything I was doing last night. Especially since I cooked salmon!




Happy Weekend Everyone! I might blog and I might not. Depends on how busy Valerie and grandma keep me!