DIY Couple

Today was a super busy day. I'm so glad to be sitting right now!  Right when I woke up I started in on some DIY for the wedding and so did Matt.  We each had some things we wanted to get done today.  I finished everything for the wedding ceremony decor:

We'll be filling these with water on the day of and lighting a floating candle on top. These will line the aisle during the ceremony.

I also finished everything for the candy buffet:

Can't wait for this!

Before lunch I snuck in a quick run.  I did 4 miles around the neighborhood. It was a pretty rough 4 miles because my hamstrings are really sore from my workout on thursday.

Elvis hair...oh yea!!

When I got back from my run Matt had just finished up his project.  He made a chalboard to put at the bar to display all the drinks available. Instead of buying a chalkboard, Matt got chalkboard spraypaint, a plain frame and plywood ot make his own. All he had to do was cut the plywood, spray it and stain the frame.

He did such a good job! I'm so lucky to have a fiance that actually wants to help me with all this crap lol.  I don't know what I would do if it were all on me. 

Lunch:

egg white omlet with spinach and zucchini.  and apple on the side and a half of a deli flat with apple butter. 

Then it was time for endless errands.  I was seriously running errands from 1pm to 4:30.  But when I got home Matt had cleaned the whole house!! I'm glad he is so good at cleaning because lord knows I'm not.  For dinner we both did our own thing.  I made half a turkey sandwich on great harvest dakota bread with some veggies and pineapple on the side.

Hummus, cucmber and spinach on the sammy

And I almost forgot the highlight of my day!! When I got home from my errands  Matt was sitting on the couch just like normal.  But when I got over by him I saw this:

I asked what he was sitting on and got the best response ever. Matt decided that he wanted a burger for dinner but didn't have any thawed so he thought that they would thaw faster if he sat on them!! hahahah omg I almost peed my pants. This is why I'm marrying him haha

You can see the two buger patties if you look close.

We are taking it easy tonight because Matt has a mud run tomorrow and we have to get up super early, like 5:30am.  I'm sorta peeved that I can't run it too (the teams are 3  person teams and Matt got asked to run on a team that someone had backed out on).  But I'll be there taking pictures and chearing them on!!



30 Days And Counting!!

Today marks 1 month until our wedding :)  We still have sooooo much to do, but we will get it done (I just have to keep telling myself that).  Today I checked off one big thing from my long to do list.  I finally finished my thank you cards from my shower:

YAY!! Only took me 2 weeks haha. I can only imagine how long it will take me after the wedding. 

Matt is at the Eagles draft party tonight with his dad, so me and Champ are spending some QT together.  When I got home from work I started a 45 minute strength training workout that I found online.  I used these these 2 in 1 toners that  I found on pinterest.  I did the ones I could with the equipment I had at home. I went through these exercises 3x

Deadlift and Bent Over Row Combo (12 reps, 12lb dumbbells)

Thrusters (12 reps, 8lb dumbbells)

Push Up Row with Core Hold (10 reps each side, 8lb dumbbells)

Sumo Squat and Curl (12 reps, 10lb dumbbells)

Single Arm Step-Up and Press (12 reps each, 8lb dumbbells)

After completing this circuit each time I would do a quick cardio burst before starting the next round. I did 10 burpees, 50 jumping jacks and 20 180 degree jump squats.  This took me about 30 minutes and then I ended with some video workouts from Blogilates.  She has so many great workout videos that you can do at home. I did one video for my toosh and one video for my abs.  The abs one I could barely even finish. It was hard!

I'm so excited to be seeing some muscle definition in my arms!

raahhh!! haha. I think I just look like i have muscle b/c I just finished working out.  And my arms look like a totally different color than my legs, it kind of freaks me out lol.  For some reason I have always had an easier time getting definition in my arms than in my legs.  I think it's just in my genes.  I got this whole outfit at old navy by the way. I love their workout clothes! The shirts have cups in them and they are nice and form fitting up top and looser at the bottom.  The shorts are nice, but I would never wear them to the gym, just for at home stuff.  Time to go watch all the trashy tv I can while Matt isn't home haha.  Real housewives it is!



My Day Of Eats

TGIW for serious. Thank the lord this week is over half way done!!

Now for What I Ate Wednesday!  I do have to warn you all that volleyball season started today.  That means that every Wednesday for an hour or two I'll be playing volleyball after work, which also means that dinner will most likely be leftovers since we get home so late.  Matt and I went to our first game today.  We won one gam and lost two (this is really good for our team so we were super happy with the results)!!

Now let's start from the beginning:

Broken record player I know. Overnight oats for breakfast.  I probably eat this 5 out of 7 days of the week for breakfast b/c it keeps me full for over 3 hours which is super important for me.

Mid morning snack:

Unsweetened apple sauce and a handful of trail mix.  I feel like I'm 5 when I eat this applesauce, but I love it.   

Lunch:

This was definitely my favorite meal today.  I used some leftover southwest blackbean salad from last night and mixed in half a can of tuna. I had a whole wheat tortilla on the side for scooping along with my apple.

I have a feeling I'm going to be making this a lot.  Just  look at this stuf...

so pretty and yummy

When I left work I snacked on some dry cereal and a wheel of mini babybell cheddar cheese.  This tided me over until we got home from volleyball, around 7pm. Then I through together a quick dinner of leftover turkey in a salad.

spinach salad with carrots, string beans, snap peas, turkey, blue cheese and hummus.  I ended my night with a slice of watermelon and a peice of dark chocolate (this is a must).  I'm off to go write some more thank you cards! I'm determined to get these things out by the end of the weekend.  Easier said than done for me.



Teamwork Dinner

My day today was....meh to say the least. When I broke out of work I was ready for a nice easy run to get my head back on my shoulders. I drove to a local park which is right across the street from the house I lived in during my junior/senior year of college. 

I know you guys are jealous of this beauty.  It wasn't much better from the inside unfortunately haha. I took off running and had a bit of a hard time.  It was really windy out which was killing me by the end, but I made it through 4 miles!

Mile Splits:

9.19

9.00

9.04

8.52

Oh and I forgot sunglasses :(  One of my pet peeves is running without sunglasses. Sheilds the wind from my eyes and keeps bugs from hitting me in the face.

Hellos lovely new shoes. Ok I swear this is the last time I'll bring up my new shoes.

When I got home Matt and I started whipping up dinner. Matt was on grill duty cooking our steaks and I was on side duty making mac and cheese and a southwestern black bean salad.  The mac and cheese was easy:

A boxed organic mac and cheese?? Yes Please

Good list of ingredients

The southwestern black bean salad was also pretty easy.  I altered it a bit for what I had. I mixed black beans, corn, chopped tomato, cucumber, and red onion together with 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper. I jusy eyeballed everything, no measuring necessary.

Matt did such a good job on the steaks.  I'm not a huge steak person, but these were good. A perfect medium thanks to our new digital meat thermometer.

The southwestern salad was my favorite part of the meal.  I'm having it for lunch tomorrow too mixed with some tuna.  The mac and cheese was ok.  I think next time I'll just make it myself though. 

Tomorrow maks the start of Matt and my after work volleyball league. We play every wednesday until the end of August.  I usually use these days as a rest day from weights/running.  Volleyball is a lot of fun, but not the most strenuous game, at least the way I play it haha.  I haven't touched a volleyball since last August so this should be interesting!  We're bringing Champ along and hoping he doesn't have a coniption while he is tied up and we are a whole 20 feet from him.  Fingers crossed!



First Run In My New Shoes

Today after another Monday, I headed to the gym to run on the treadmill since it was so gross out today.  I started out with 15 minutes of ab work since my arms and legs are a bit sore from my weights workout yesterday.  Then I was ready to run in my new Brooks Adrenaline running shoes!! I completed this interval workout and finished 3.5 miles.

At the end of the first section I was right around 3 miles so I completed the last .5 miles increasing the incline by 1 each 0.1 mile.  This kicked my booty but my shoes rocked!!! I love them, it's official.  I'm hoping to get a run in outside tomorrow. It's supposed to be around 60 but windy.  Even though I hate running in the wind, it might be the only chance until the weekend to get a good run in.

Dinner:

Chicken fajitas: Chicken, peppers, and onions cooked in fajita seasoning topped with cheese, guacamole, black beans and later added spinach.  YUM. 

Matt is taking the reins with dinner tomorrow night and grilling up some steaks.  Matt loves him some steak so I humor him and cook it sometimes.  I don't know what it is but I never crave steak anymore. I don't crave steak or burgers and I haven't since college. I'll probably have a little steak but mainly stick to the sides.  I'm planning on making a variation of this southwest black bean salad from skinnytaste and some healthified mac and cheese to go with our meal. 

Time to go hang with my guys:

Sleepy little man.

PS my mom just gave me four over ripe bananas.  Anyone out there know any good recipes I could make with them? Right now I'm thinking of making whole wheat pumpkin banana bread. 



Free Meal

This morning I woke up on a mission. I wanted to get to the gym and have a really good long strength training workout.  First I fueled up with these pumpkin protein pancakes for breakfast.  I think this might become a weekend tradition for me.

Delish!! Apple butter in between and peanut butter on top. No need for syrup here.  And then I was off to the gym...in the rain.

I did this fisrt set of workouts up top 3 times.  Each set took me about 10 minutes and I rested for 1 minute in between sets.  Aftet that I did a couple of machines before I moved on to just a little bit of ab work in the second workout.  I finished off with some planks before stretching and heading home.  When I got home Champ was waiting for me! I played with him for a little before making my lunch.  Matt and I picked up a new toy for him last night.  It has 16 squeakers in it. Champ pretty much freaked out when he realized this haha.

squeaker cow. one squeak per square

Lunch:

Tuna salad that I mixed with hummus instead of my usual yogurt, grapes and a pumpkin yogurt mixture up top!

Then for my project of the day...cook a turkey breast for the first time.  I got a free turkey breast from our grocery store for spending x amount of dollars before easter. 

Success!!!

Turkey dinner! Turkey, corn, cranberry stuffing and baked zucchini fries

I love these zucchini fries. They are perfect for cookouts and so easy to make. I got the idea from skinnytaste and adapted it to what I had in my pantry.  I mixed together some panko, parmesean cheese and garlic powder in one bowl and egg whites in a nother. I cut the zucchini up into strips, dipped them in the egg whites and then into the panko mixture.  I baked them at 425 for 20 minutes.  They even turned out good the next day. I just popped them in the toaster oven for a few minutes and they were good as new. 

The rest of my day was spent writing thank you cards, watching the flyers and doing some crafting.  I think I'm beginning to reach my diy quota haha.  34 days til the big day!!