nice to beet you!

There's a secret I've been meaning to share with you all for some time now. For the past 8 months, I have been dreading and also counting down the days until I could check out the 10 day forecast for the day of my wedding. The verdict is in:

84 degrees, sunny, 0% chance of precipitation, 61% humidity

I must tell you right now, I am not ashamed of the happy dance I did this morning!!!!! Now, I know this is subject to change over the course of the next ten days. Everyone start praying it doesn't change! I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

I ended last night by reading a little bit of this...

I got this book from the library on Monday, and I will finish it tonight. It is so good. I'm not sure what drew me into it, and what is keeping me entertained, but it is so well written. It is a story about 2 awkward teenagers that don't fit in and the in's and out's of their friendship/relationship. The main character (Alice) has anorexia and that is the cause of much turmoil in her life.

I told you this morning I would eat something different for breakfast. Blueberry Oatmeal Flax Pancakes, anyone?

The last time I ate these, I was sad to inform you they defeated me - meaning, I couldn't eat them all.

Today however, the hunger beast kicked in and I was able to finish these babies off.

you are so beautiful.

After I piddled around for a while (aka: danced like a crazy fool when I found out the weather and called everyone and anyone who would actually care about it) I decided to go out for my 35 minute tempo run. This "tempo run" turned into a "run until your lungs can't make it anymore then walk until you can breathe" kind of a run. Whatever, all in all, it was ridiculously hot outside, and I just can't take this humidity!!

When I got home, I ate another one of these.

individually wrapped and ready for snackage!

i see you specks of zucchini - you can't hide behind the chocolate. i know you're there!

For lunch, I stumbled upon some beets which needed to be used ASAP! I really like pickled beets, so why wouldn't I enjoy the fresh ones? I had these atop a ginormous salad.

no seriously - it's huge... romaine, tomato, cucumber, onion, chickpeas, avocado, beets

Conversation with my niece about my salad...

Me: Look, isn't my salad beautiful?

Niece: It is beautiful Auntie Chelsey! You should take a picture of it!

Me: Oh, don't you worry... I already did.

Niece: You're not weird, you're just... different.

Thi was followed up by an unpictured amount of cashews, almonds, and a fig (I originally was going to use the picture from yesterday, but then got lazy and forgot).

We had some fun in the sun today (which is probably why my eyes keep trying to close) - including sprinkler time and some play time over at the neighbor's inflatable water slide.

I had to dash to my house today to meet the Comcast Cable guy (who was an hour early - when has the cable guy EVER been early?), and was frustrated immediately upon arrival because our paint was not touched up yet. Now, I understand it will not be the end of the world if my house is not finished by the time the wedding arrives. It's liveable, and that's fine. However, I REEEEAAALLLLY just want to come home from our honeymoon to an unpacked, clean, stress free zone. Come on, just tell me it will happen - humor me, will you?

On the way over, I ate an apple - and forgot to take a picture until I was done eating.

it was a gala - and yes, that cup has been in my car for a few days. don't judge me.

When it's all said and done, at least I have cable and internet. I also got a beautiful present from my nephew - BIL and kids came over to see the current progress.

a rose, pour moi? merci monsieur!

Yes, the rose is set upon my new kitchen table - which is AWESOME and you will not see for a couple of days :)

I wanted a FEAST when I got home, so I called in the sweet potato and tofu troops. It was more than delicious - it was DEEELLLIIIICCCIOOOUUUSSS!! The cauliflower was also amazing. Mad props to mommasita for chopping it up for me! :)

Sometimes I wish my house wasn't already 90 degrees so I could withstand the heat of the oven every night.

i know you feel nice in my belly.

Emily sure knows how to make a mean slab of tofu

i'm sorry you couldn't be the star of the show today, cauliflower. there's always next time...

I'm off to go do some wedding escort cards, eat a snack (btw, i only have one blueberry muffin left!!! ::gasp:: what's a girl to do when they're gone?) , read and rest my eyes. I'm mucho sleepy today.

Question: How do you handle stress? Do you tend to freak out, stay cool, or melt under pressure? For me, I think I handle it well until I cry at the drop of a hat about silly things...

this was anything BUT a lazy sunday

Where in the world did this day go?? Thank you for all your comments about my little "blue" dress - it's actually kind of purpley in person. How versatile! I bought it a couple of years ago from The Loft for New Year's Eve and loved it!! The Loft used to be my favorite store - until I had to buy a house and pay for a wedding! :)

After church, FH's aunt, uncle, and cousins came with us to our house to pick out paint colors. His uncle owns a painting business and will be painting in there all week long! His aunt just has really great style so I wanted her input. I am really happy with the colors we ended up choosing. I cannot wait to show you the pictures! I also get something I have always wanted: a red door!!!

I was debating whether or not I wanted to go to the beach, but it was starting to look a little cloudy. FH and his cousin were the only ones going, so I let it be a "boys" trip - I went out and ran some errands with mommasita. We had a mission today: get a closet organization system to install into the master bedroom. We mosied over to Menard's because I had a gift card there. We found the perfect one, had it in the cart, and I got out my gift card only to find out my gift card was to Lowe's. UGGGGH!!! It would have been fine, but we went totally out of our way to get it. Before I could get frustrated, we decided we needed to get food in our bellies to make the situation seem better. So, we went to Chipotle (unpictured). One ginormous burrito bol later, we were off to Lowe's!

Long story short, today's shopping trip was a total bust. I came home with nothing and felt like I wasted my afternoon. I was aggravated, so I had a snack.

first off - lighting in this pic is absolutely stunning, no? grapes, a naner, almonds.
another snack included unpictured hummus and crackers

After I had some food in my stomach, I was feeling nice and sleepy - nap time! I find that Sunday afternoon naps are perfect. I cozied up with a book and read until I drifted off for a good 45 minutes.

I putzed around for the rest of the afternoon doing random wedding things and an abs video was thrown in there. Around 6:30 I decided to make dinner despite my kind of "off" stomach. It was probably from all the fiber in that burrito bol I ate earlier. I eat when I'm not hungry - I know I have to, so I kind of force it down. Once I start eating though, I am glad I did!! I kept dinner light and fresh.

baby spinach salad

sweet tater halves

After dinner, I went over to FH's (parent's) house where his mom helped me do the seating arrangements for her side of the family. That was a HUGE help - if you have never planned a wedding, the seating chart is the most DIFFICULT part of it all! It has given me the most stress (which is so minimal it's almost funny) of the entire planning process.

While I was there, she was making zucchini bread - yum! Would you like to know why? She wernt to her garden yesterday to get the two of us some fresh produce (for this, i love her) and came home with the most massive zucchinis you will ever see in your entire life!! To show you a comparison, I have paired my zucchini up with a roll of paper towels.

mr. zucchini

I see lots of zucchini in my future - I have that huge one, two normal sized ones, and my mom and I got two zucchini yesterday! I am planning on making bread tomorrow. Any more ideas on what to make with zucchini?

When I left FH's it was raining like nobody's business. I got drenched when I was walking running to my car. I couldn't see when I was driving - perfect! When I got home, I also had to make another run for it! Moments like that just make me laugh. I feel like a little kid and have to just giggle. My FMIL asked me if I wanted an umbrella, and I said, "No! It's more fun this way!" - which it totally was.

After I got home, I felt a small twinge of hunger, so I decided it was best I made a snack. An apple sun butter "sun" with raisins. I am currently eating it, and just got sunbutter on my keyboard - whoops! Guess who's at my feet - Chagall! He knows the crunch of an apple from a mile away.

i miss you natural sunlight....

I'm off to go enjoy the thunder and lightning - I may watch a movie or just read myself to sleep!

Question: Do you like storms? Why or why not? Have you had a scary incident with storms?

sleep deprivation is taking over my life

... Starting with this here table.

This table has been living in our basement for as long as I can remember. As a child, I stuffed many food wrappers under it in hopes that my parents would not find them (was I stupid or something?) - I was too lazy to walk to the garbage can 5 feet away. Get over it, I was 10.

My mother decided at 6:30 this morning when I was sleeping (in the basement, might I add - my room is a stinking sauna in the summertime) that she really wanted to get rid of this table. I suppose it was my fault for moving a pinky because she in turn thought I was wide awake and ready to get my day in gear. My mother so sweetly asked me to help her carry this very light (insert sarcasm here) table up the stairs and out to the street for the garbage man to take away. This table would have been hard to carry at 3 in the afternoon, let alone groggy and weak from not getting enough sleep. HOLY COW! I was sweating and panting and my head was pounding. I also do not understand why the two men in my family were not ever available to complete this daunting task. Come on! Thanks Mom - you made me love my life this morning.

With my strength training done for the day, I decided to move onto bigger and better things: overnight oats in MY NEW BREAKFAST MUG FROM ALLIE.

1/3 cup oats, 1/2 naner, flax, cinnamon, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup almond milk. topped with bloobs and pb

isn't this the most beautious (is that even a word?) mug you have ever seen? Thanks Allie!!!

I told you all a while ago I would show you an updated picture of my basil and tomato plants. They are getting so big! I had to send an email to the mother of my student who gave it to me today. It was an ongoing joke throughout the school year that I killed any plant my students gave me. I would leave the plants over breaks, forget to water them over the weekends, accidently knock them over and the plant would fly everywhere. I am so proud I have not killed this plant yet that I just had to email her to give her an updated picture and report on how well her plants are doing. Not to mention I use the basil every day! I love fresh basil!

Speaking of basil, lunch was a tomato and basil quinoa salad inspired by Diana. I made some changes - substituting the millet for quinoa and omitting the chickpeas. This was so nice and refreshing on such a hot summer day. I love cold salads - I will definitely be making this again!

big bowl of tomato basil and quinoa salad (times this bowl by 2)- do you see my hummus and zucchini slices hiding out in the back?

some people may think quinoa looks weird when cooked - i think it looks so cool!

I tried to get the kids to eat this, but they were not having it. I caved and made them pb&j.

The kids and I had a great day - we spend the morning in my aunt's spa, had lunch, took a snooze, and then went to the library this afternoon. I signed them up for the summer reading program and they are so excited! We were at the library for almost 2 hours looking at books and playing games on the computer. It was a nice break, and their teacher aunt is oh so happy they are reading in the summer!!!

I then had to run some errands after I dropped them off with BIL, and on the way I saw a rainbow!

you have to look really close. I swear there is a rainbow.

When I got home I was in need of some grub - grilled sweet potato rounds were on the menu tonight.

don't judge me by the massive amounts of ketchup I use every day

along side was a huuuuge salad!!!

When I was done with dinner, all I wanted to do was read this:

and lay in this:

sorry for the messy made bed - an 8 yr old took a nap in it today :)

but mommasita wanted to go to the grocery store. Who am I to turn down a trip to the store? I mustered up enough energy to accompany her and get some essentials, but really all I want to do is sleep. I... am.... exhausted....

But, before I go, I must leave you with this video clip that Megan told me about. This was inspired by the serving size comments from the past couple of days.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - I am having an EPIC breakfast tomorrow!!! I am so excited!

Question: How are your sleeping habits? Are you a light sleeper? A heavy sleeper? Do you get about the same amount every night? How do you cope when you are exhausted?

my afternoon/evening described in two parts

Caitling asked the question today - "how would you describe your day in two parts?" Since I already focused on the morning, I'll just hit up the rest of the day for you all! :)

Okay, so I'm kind of cheating because I want to make a sidenote to tell you how wonderful my afternoon of running around with FH was!!!! We never get to spend any time together anymore because he is suer busy with work and the house - it was awesome. Funny how excited I am that I got to run errands with him today. I'm sure that will change eventually.... But, onto bigger and better (okay not really) things!

Part 1: Listen to your body

I made a mistake today. I did not listen to my body.. at ALL! When I woke up this morning, I thought, "hmmm I really don't feel like working out. My hip hurts and I'm just not feeling it."

This is me... this afternoon.. about to embark on a run.

Unfortunately, I did not listen to my body. My run = horrible. Let me count the ways it was terrible for you:

1. It was hot and humid at 4 pm when I decided to go
2. My legs would not move as fast as my mind wanted them to go
3. My right hip hurt bad
4. My body felt "unbalanced" - kind of like my right side ws being weighed down, so I ended up lopsided and my left side had to overcompensate.

I have been getting better about listening to my body when I feel like I should just take a rest day. Unfortunately, I get super antsy, very uncomfortable, and overly anxious if I don't work out (except for Sundays - I never work out on Sundays). Last week, I listened. Sure enough, the next day I did a great 15 mile bike ride because I was rested!! This week, not so much. I'm going to pay for it tomorrow though. Whatever workout I had planned will either: a)not be happening or b) be painful.

Part 2: Food and Flowers

As I mentioned earlier today if I don't work out, I am always super hungry. Well, going for that run sure didn't stop me. I snacked so much today... almonds, raisins, crunchmaster gluten-free crackers (crack in a box - I can't give them up!), hummus, and raspberries. No, I am not joking. No, they are not pictured due to the fact that I was too busy shoveling as much food into my face as I possibly could.

So after my run, I decided to make a delicious dinner of tofu a la Emily. I made tofu her way a couple of weeks ago, and I will never turn back. Along side: baked sweet potato fries and brussel sprouts.

doesn't that look yummy?

you have no idea how good this dinner was!!!

While dinner was cooking, I went into the backyard and cut a couple of hydrangeas off of our plants! Aren't the different colors really pretty? I decided to put them into a mason jar instead of a vase because, let's be real here... mason jars rock.

I only made it an hour after dinner before I needed my snack - apple, raisins, and a peanut butter spoon. I always have peanut butter in the morning and at night. It helps to keep me full until the morning! I think that's my excuse for: "I really like peanut butter and would like to eat it 10x a day!"

Hi Caitlin!

Enjoy the rest of your night!

Question: Have you ever not listened to your body and regretted it later?