1 down, 26 to go

Tonight we went out to this little old school house to get some photos for my homework assignment.

and then we ended up in the middle of nowhere on this dusty road.

It was fun. And hot. Very hot.

And then I came home to upload the pics, and the program wouldn’t work!  I’m hoping my instructor will give me an extension…it’s crazy feeling like I’m in college again.

We also managed to get to the store and buy groceries, which I’ll be showcasing as the week goes on.

I’ve kind of strayed a bit from my straight laced eating habits, which inevitable happens to all of us from time to time.  And while I don’t expect myself to be my best all the time, my body’s is not thanking me for it.  So, tomorrow (my next meal) it’s back on track for me!

Also at the grocery store tonight I accomplished one of my 27 goals for my 27th year of life!  At least I made a start toward it.  I bought Burt’s Bees all natural facial cleanser and moisturizer.  Lately I’ve been feeling more and more bothered by the fact that I put chemicals all over my face and don’t think a thing about it.  I spend so much money and time on what I put in my body – what I put on my body should get the same attention and concern. This is just a first step as all my other makeup products are not all natural.  But I must start somewhere!  Anyway, I’ll do a full review on these products here in a couple of weeks!

Next in news tonight;)  Jon and I have officially decided to drop down to the half marathon in November as opposed to the full.  This actually causes me to regress on my list of 27 things:(

It has been a very hard decision, but we both feel that it is the best one.  When I announced that we were going to train for the full, I mentioned that Jon’s work situation was going to make it difficult to get the training time in, but that we wanted to shoot for it anyway.  Well, you’ve heard the quote – shoot for the moon and if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.  I guess our stars are going to be the half marathon.

I am so competitive that this has been a very hard decision for me to swallow.  But with Jon taking on his boss’ responsibilities (on top of his own) for the next 3 months plus the demands that Outbox is putting on us, it just isn’t going to be feasible or healthy for us to train for the full.  We know from our first full marathon that training is a huge time and energy commitment.  While it’s one that we definitely plan to make in the near future, it’s not going to be right now.  It’s taken me several days to accept the decision and to get excited about training for the half.  But I’m all on board now, and I’m so ready!  So, we’ll run it, and we’ll have a blast running it together:)

For the record, I did consider going ahead and doing the full on my own, seeing as how I do still have more time than the husband.  But after discussing it, we decided that it’s much more fun to stick together throughout training as well as the race.  Like  I said this morning “it’s always better when we’re together”  🙂  We’ve run all our races together so far, and there’s no good reason to stop now.

So, since we had already started our full training a few weeks ago, we’re a little bit ahead of schedule.  We’re just going to press on, and either run an extra run or two in the weeks preceding the race, or have a bit of flexibility if something comes up one weekend between now and then.

So, that’s all the big news for tonight.  Hope you all have had an awesome weekend – time to get geared up for the week ahead!

Do you use all natural skin care products?  Is that something that you think about/is important to you?  How do you go about choosing a skin care system?

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home sweet home

Good Morning!

Despite missing my peeps from HLS, I am happy to be back home with my favorite person.

and my baby of course:)

After Jon and I drove the two hours home from Wichita, we hopped into bed and slept for about 2 hours.  I’ve gotten a total of about 8 hours of sleep the last two nights combined, so I needed it!  I wanted to keep sleeping, actually, but had some homework to do!

My homework for my photography class is due on Sunday nights and I didn’t have time to complete it before I left for HLS, so it had to be done!

Jon and I had a great time wandering all over our little city looking for good shots…it was so sweet just to spend some time together. I missed that boy! Plus, the temps had cooled down to the mid eighties yesterday (hallelujah!), so it was a beautiful evening.

I gotta run to the city again today for my last (knock on wood) orthodontist appointment.  I hope I never have to see the inside of that place again!

I thought I’d leave you with some of my homework shots from yesterday. Practice, practice, practice!!

yoga on Library Lawn – taken by Jon

This building is where most of upper level English classes were in college

Student Union

This last one is obviously way overexposed, but I had to post it because of the story.  We were looking for a good shot and we saw this biker coming up the sidewalk and Jon said “see if you can get a cool shot of the biker!” So, I shoot it, totally neglecting to adjust my exposure, and then instantly realize that she is a friend of ours.  Random, right?  I think this picture kind of looks like it was taken with my Mini Diana.

Hope you all have a great Monday.  I’ll be back later on for another HLS recap!

life happens

Good morning!

Well, I ended up getting about 1/4 of my to-do list completed last night, so it’s gonna be a crazy day!  We’re going to shoot for leaving around 6:30ish tonight, so hopefully I’ll be able to get it all done before then.

Having gone to bed at about 1:30am, I made the executive decision to skip my run this morning in lieu of getting straight to work.  I hate the way my body feels when I skip my workout, but sometimes life happens and you just gotta roll with it! I told myself that if I get everything done I can hit up the gym later this afternoon.  lol.  You and I both know that’s pretty laughable:)

I decided to come to the coffee shop this morning because our house is such a disaster and I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist cleaning it if I stayed home.  Obvs. there’s no time for cleaning today, so I’m just going to avoid it like the plague.  Sorry babe:) Anyway, I was craving veggies like no other this morning, but alas, I needed something I could make in a hurry and throw in a ziplock bag to take with me – so pb banana rice cakes it was!  I’ll have to load up on veggies at lunch.

and an iced soy latte

So far throughout the course of my photography class,  I think my photography skills are getting worse before they get better!  I’m in this weird phase of knowing how to use most of the settings, but still a baby as far as experience goes.  I’m really enjoying the process of learning it though, and I’m anxious to get better.

I’m off to do some editing – I’ll see you all a little later!

a day in the life of olive

**Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for your very own Operation Beautiful book!

Good morning lovelies!

I did it, I did it, I did it!  I taught my very first PiYo class.  I have been so nervous about this all week.  It was a great exercise in not letting fear rule me, but instead facing it head on and conquering it!

My class was supposed to start at 9:15am, so I arrived early, dimmed the lights, got the music going and waited.  And waited.  9:15am came and went. 9:20 came and went.  Just as I was about to give up hope, an angel (aka Betty:) walked through the door!  I was so happy! It would have been a huge let down if no one had showed up.  A few minutes later another person showed…so my class ended up consisting of only two people.  Hey, I’ll take it.  Thank the Lord for Betty;)

Despite my nervousness I think everything went really well!

Before class this morning, I was so nervous that my appetite was virtually non existent.  I knew I needed some fuel though, so I managed to get a larabar down.

And then after PiYo, I had a hankering for some cereal.

Shredded wheat n bran, Kashi U + almond milk

Amidst the chaos of today, I’ve been working on my homework assignment for my photography class.  For the creative part of the assignment I decided to focus on my favorite little furbaby by doing “A Day in the Life of Olive” project.  So, if you’re interested in the least bit in what little miss does from the time her parents’ alarms go off to the time her furry head hits the pillow at night – or if you just get all giddy inside when you see cute pictures of pups, then here’s a little treat.

This is just the first part of the project

Olive wakes up from a restful night of sleep

A bit annoyed because she isn’t ready to get out of bed

Time to go outside to potty!  Ohhh, something smells good – is that breakfast??

time to eat!

looks like someone forgot to shower

In the top five of favorite daily leisure activities.  Staring out the front window.

And back outside for more potty time…and a little fresh air:)

to be continued later…

I gotta run now – I’m getting my hairs cut this afternoon!

I’ll be back a little later to show you what tasty creation I made with these

asian food rocks

for lack of a better title..lol.

Hi!

Thanks for the sweet and encouraging comments on this morning’s post.  You guys are so great:)

It’s funny how the blog community works – I am so freaking excited for Caitlin, and I’ve never even actually met her!  At least not yet.  I’m really looking forward to Healthy Living Summit for that reason…among many others.  It has been such a fun day of seeing so much support from everyone and all the Operation Beautiful posts that have gone up.  I’m loving it!  Don’t forget to tune into the Today Show tomorrow morning at 8:30am to see Caitlin talk about the book!

Today has been so crazy!  Sadly, Jon and I did not get outside for our run this morning.  We stayed up so late working last night and just couldn’t pull ourselves out of bed this morning.  It is for that very reason that I must make this quick!  So I can actually get some sleep tonight.

Even after we finally got up, I still felt like I was dragging so I whipped up an energizing green monster.

2 handfuls of spinach, 1.25 cups soy milk, 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1/2 banana, ice

After a couple of hours of writing, it was due time for a snack!

Ezekiel bread with homemade Classic Garlic Hummus

Today was my weekly lunch date with my sweet friend, Grace.  We met at Qdoba.  I ordered the vegetarian salad with black bean and corn salsa, grilled veggies, black beans, pico, verde salsa and guacamole.

I promise there is lettuce under there;)

It was just meh.  I have come to like Chipotle so much better than Qdoba.  It is good to change it up occasionally, though.

After lunch I worked on some Outbox tasks for awhile, and then it was time to get crackin’ on my photography class.  It actually started on Monday, but today was the first time I really studied for it.  Every week there is an online lesson and then a homework assignment.  My assignment isn’t due until Sunday night, but there is a live chat with the instructors tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure and be prepared for any questions I might come up with while shooting!  I’m so excited about this.  Today I learned about all the parts/settings of my camera, aperture and shutter speed.

I literally spent about 3 hours studying, taking one short snack break of course:)

recycled photo.  You guys know I’m obsessed with this snack.  I can’t help myself!

Anyway, I wrapped it up and flew out the door just in time for yoga. It was a great class as always, but also the last chance for me to talk to my instructor before I teach on Friday morning.  I’m getting so nervous, y’all!  I’m definitely feeling more confident about it than I did this time last week, but it’s still so nerve wracking.  I can’t wait to accomplish this, though.  I’ve dreamed of being a fitness instructor for so long…and it’s finally happening:)

Dinner tonight was fun and easy!  We decided to copy a dish that we used to eat a lot in Thailand – stir fried rice.

Tempeh Stir Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 cup dry brown rice
1.75 cups water
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 block tempeh
2 organic, free-range eggs
3 tbsp gluten free organic teriyaki sauce
2 tsp olive oil

Directions

1.  Bring water to a boil.  Add rice and lower to a simmer for about 10 minutes or until all water is absorbed.
2.  Meanwhile, add 2 tsp oil to wok or skillet.  Toss in green onion and tempeh and heat through.
3.  Add two eggs and continue to stir fry until eggs are cooked.
4.  Add rice and 3 tbsp teriyaki sauce and mix everything together well.

I served mine with a side of sauteed brussel sprouts, seasoned with garlic powder and ground red pepper

Delicious!  I loved this meal.  It really took me back to our days in SE Asia.  I’ll definitely be making this again.

Well, folks, I’m off to bed!  I’m already getting a late start.  Tomorrow is a big day – my last day to prepare for PiYo and my first photo class instructor chat.  Yay!

What’s your favorite type of food? It’s no secret that Mexican food = my life.  But I do love me some asian food as well!

the mailman = my best friend

The mail man is my new best friend!!

Yesterday when I got home from tutoring, a much anticipated package had been dropped off.

Jon and I have had our DSLR camera for about 4 months now, and I still don’t really know how to use it.  I mean, I shoot using the manual setting, but oftentimes it’s just a shot in the dark (on more than one level:) on whether or not it comes out a good photo.  I’ve been wanting to take a photography class since we got our camera, and now that I’m working part time helping Jonathan with Outbox, I have an even greater urgency to improve my photog skills:)

Enter Nicole Hill Gerulat. Nicole is the writer and photographer of A Little Sussy, and she offers online photography courses.  I signed up to take a month long course throughout August to learn everything from lighting to staging to the inner workings of my camera and beyond!  I am beyond stoked about it…and I’m counting the days ’till August! Nicole writes the reference book herself, and I jumped for joy when it came in the mail.  The front cover makes you want to just devour it!

Also causing me to literally jump for joy was the sweet mail man’s delivery when I got home from Turbokick today…

Okay, okay.  So he didn’t deliver this exactly.  But I went from picking the box up off the front porch to spiralizing a potato in about 12 seconds flat.  No time for photos, people…I had to get this baby going!!

I spiralized my little heart out.

First I made some curly fries for the husband.

I mixed up one tablespoon of olive oil + 1/2 tbsp of seasoned salt + a heavy sprinkle of ground red pepper.  After placing the fries in a gallon sized plastic bag, I poured in the oil and shook it like a mad woman.  Last, I dumped them out onto a greased cookie sheet, spread them out evenly and baked them for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees, flipping them ever 10 minutes or so.

I think I could go into business making curly fries for my husband.  He LOVED them!

S is for spiralizer!

Next I made some zucchini noodles.

I was planning on eating them raw, but as I was putting the potatoes in the oven, I got the bright idea to soften them up a bit by adding a sprinkle of kosher salt and black pepper and baking them for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

Then I topped them with some leftover Easy Vegan Crock-pot Pasta Sauce.

Eeek (said in high pitched squeaky voice:)!!

with a side of plain soy yogurt and fresh blackberries

Best. lunch. eva.

CSN stores sent me this spiralizer, and I’ll be doing a full review soon!  I promise…you’ll be wanting one by the time I get done with you:)  And you wanna hear the best news?  I’m going to be giving one away!

I’m off to get some work done….see you guys later on!

Have you ever taken photography classes?  Is that something you’d be interested in?
Have you ever used a spiralizer or eaten anything created by using one?  What did you think?