Just call me chef.

After working late Friday evening and into Saturday, I awoke to find a Sunday that was blissfully work-free for the first time in roughly a month.  Nathan had to work all day, which left me to my own devices with nothing planned.  So what's a girl to do?  I cooked.  All freakin afternoon long.  Now, I know what you're thinking:  "All Sunday free and you choose COOKING?!  Where you snowed in?!"  And, that would be a logical question given it's Wisconsin and even though it's the beginning of April, we're still wearing winter coats.  But, no, I was not snowed in, and yes, I spent all day cooking.  And you know what?

I had a blast!

I never thought I would find cooking and baking a good form of stress relief, but recently I absolutely have.  I think it has something to do with feeling like I'm in a chemistry lab, except I have free reign to do whatever the hell I want without risk of blowing something up.  Well...without AS MUCH risk, anyway.  On Sunday's menu was a blueberry oatmeal bake, oatmeal raisin cookies, an avocado egg salad, and for dinner that night I made greek yogurt marinated chicken with balsamic sauteed mushrooms.  Everything turned out incredibly tasty!  All of it was a big hit with Nathan as well with the exception of the avocado egg salad, which he has not tried.  That's just because I've been hogging it all for my lunches to take to work and he's not big on avocado anyway.  Here's a rundown of the results! :)

The oatmeal raisin cookies!! Nathan was pouting like a five year old when I was loading up the tupperware to take some to work.  I still say I was doing us both a favor, considering the batch made 3 dozen.

Blueberry oatmeal bake.  FANTASTIC breakfast if you like blueberries.

Oatmeal raisin batter.  I may or may not have sampled some before baking.....(I did.)

Avocado egg salad.  It may not look appetizing, but it's very yummy.

Ok, I know this picture comes off as "look.....mushrooms...." but trust me, the picture does not do them justice.

The greek yogurt marinated chicken.  May not look like much either, but was also very very yummy.

The bonus to all of this is my lunches and breakfasts that I've been taking to work have kicked some serious tail all week!  It's also keeping me on track as the only unhealthy recipe was the oatmeal raisin cookies and I still say that they have oatmeal AND raisins which are both healthy foods soooooooo......that counts right?  If anyone would like links to any of the recipes feel free to ask!  And with that I'm off to look at cooking classes because I've obviously missed my calling.

Burgers, Beer and Backbends

A life without burger and beer nights would be a life not worth living.  I mean, why else would you live in Wisconsin if not for the awesome beer?  In my case, I prefer Spotted Cow from New Glarus.  I'm going to have to get that stuff shipped regularly if we ever move out of state.  Another completely fantastic option: pasta and wine.....or dessert and wine....or really just the wine.

I like wine.

Tonight was burger and beer night, however.  Me and Nathan are both particularly stressed out at work right now and it was exactly what we needed.  I'm a big fan of the 80/20 rule of being healthy 80% of the time and splurging 20%.  Hey, anything that equates it back to math is going to work for me because I'm just....that...nerdy.  :)  The splurging helps me stay sane during high stress points at work and also helps me not break and go on a "oh my god what is that, I must stuff it in my face!" food-n-drink-a-thon.  The good news is the work stress should subside soon....should....

Most recent workout:  yoga!  I blew off working out tonight (see above).  But yesterday's was yoga.  I may have started yoga as just a way to supplement my running, but it has since become much more than that to me.  It has become a very effective way to de-stress and challenge my body to do things it has either never been able to do before or hasn't been able to for a very long time.  Case in point:  Upward Bow pose (yogi sanskrit name Urdhva Dhanurasana.....I think....I'm still learning those)  I still can't believe I can actually do that now!

Yes! OK? Yes, I was so excited that I got up into that pose that I made Nathan come in and take a picture.  Yes.  I'll admit it.

Ok, so basically it's a back bend.  But you wanna know when the last time I was able to do that was?  Gymnastics.  I WAS SIX.  For those keeping track, that's 23 years ago.  I'm probably not executing it perfectly but I'm still completely jazzed about the fact that I did it after practicing for over a year.

My next hurdle is Crow pose.  Look it up, if you wish.  It is the current bane of my yoga existence.  Basically anything arm balance related has been very difficult for me to get.  I would probably be able to progress faster if I attended classes in person, but my work schedule makes it difficult, so finding teachers online has been my way of doing things so far.  One thing I can say is that yoga absolutely teaches patience and not trying to push your body into poses it's not ready for.  A knee injury early on helped me learn that REAL quick.

If anyone is interested in teachers/dvds/yoga books that have helped me, just let me know and I'd be happy to give recommendations!

Back in the saddle.

What? It's only two years later.

Also, I heard that AWESOME Aerosmith song on my way to work this morning and it's stuck in my head as I'm writing this.

I've decided to pick this blog back up for two main reasons:  1.  Other blogs I read routinely have picked back up and it made me think about doing it again (yes, I am, occasionally, a follower).  2.  I've decided to use it as a way to keep up with my health maintenance.  If you know me at all, you are already aware that one of the major changes in my life over the past two years (in addition to new jobs and relocation) has been my health.  I started running, doing yoga (neither of which I am particularly great at but vastly enjoy) and trying my best to eat better.  When I started I came up with a plan, stuck to it and managed to lose a significant amount of weight.  The hardest part of all that was the initial effort of coming up with the plan and forcing myself to stick to the schedule.  I don't mean to trivialize that to anyone who might read this that is currently in the process of where I was then.  It took me over a decade to have a successful attempt.  Keep going!  However, now that I'm at my goal weight, there's one aspect that I wasn't expecting:

It turns out maintaining is HARD.

The difficulty has caused me to start overly obsessing about numbers (calories, etc.) and taking the fun out of the whole thing.  I know, I know what you're thinking, and YES, running can be fun.  In a way.  I never actually thought I would agree with that sentence, but it's true.  So, I mostly intend on using this blog as a catch-all for updates about our life, running progress, yoga progress, any fun new workout I discover, and new recipes I find and really just a way to get it all out of my head.  The recipes will NOT all be uber-healthy-insertlatesthealthcrazehere recipes.  One of the main reasons I've focused so much on the working out is I love food.  A lot.  And I didn't want to give any of it up.  Cut back? Sure.  Give up? No.

Oh, also you can probably expect random geek references.  Sorrynotsorry.

I will probably not be posting when I update this blog to my facebook page mostly because I'm doing this for me as a way to get my thoughts out.  I may decide to later, but right now I don't feel like it's necessary.  I do, of course, still welcome any and all who might be interested in reading!

Also, despite the fact that I've been showing it off like a new parent shows off pictures of their kid, I'm closing with my before/after picture.  (I feel slightly guilty about how much I've been showing it off....but...meh) See it as a "here's part of what I've been up to!" thing.

Ta-daaaa! :)

  

Winter-een-mas and Things

There's a reason for my distraction lately:

Ahhhh obsession. 

Game of Thrones Season 1 came out on DVD.  We may or may not have coincidentally been out at Wal-Mart at midnight the night it came out.  This also may have coincided with the Mass Effect 3 video game midnight release which we weren't there for, but many others were.  And I may or may not have been 2 seconds away from threatening the nearest stock boy that if he didn't find a copy for me ASAP I would make his job very difficult.  (I didn't actually threaten anyone.  I was just getting very antsy when waiting for the Mass Effect 3 line to go down so I could get some help.  I'm not very patient.)

I bet you thought I forgot about the Winter-een--mas trip post didn't you.  Well, HA.  I did NOT!  Although, I should warn you.  This post may ramble more than others.  This is likely due to A.) The lack of oxygen to my brain due to not being able to breathe, and B.) Being hopped up on cold meds.  Stupid Mother Nature and her P.M.S.-like mood-swings.  Let it be known that I REFUSE to turn the air-conditioning on in March! I don't care if it's 85 in our apartment.  Here that Mother Nature?!  You will not be breaking my stubbornness determination!

Anyway, so Winter-een-mas.  For those that are unaware, it's a gamer holiday.  It started as a part of the online comic Ctrl+Alt+Del and gained in popularity with gamers everywhere.  Since my dear husband is an avid gamer, he has celebrated this holiday since he found out about it.  And since he didn't get to go home during Christmas, we could think of no better 2nd Christmas and no better time to make a trip home then during Winter-een-mas.  (Last week of January)  

We went home for a record five day long trip.  It was pretty great.  Usually we only have a 3 or 4 day weekend when we go home.  One of the disadvantages of living as far away from home as we do and having our friends and family mostly in one place (*cough*mom*cough*), is that trips home always seem rushed and we never get to see as many people as we would like.  To help this, we decided that instead of rushing around like chickens with our heads cut off, we made family a priority and spent time with them separately and then we would have one big party and anyone that wanted to celebrate the holiday/party with us could come!  

In general, it was a huge success.  We even had our friends Andrew and Amanda drive up from Alabama, and our friend Frank drove up from Kentucky for the party! (Did I mention they were awesome?  Cause they are.)  There was booze, friends, much visiting, and a good time was had by all (at least, I hope it was for everyone).  The only catch:  Ironically, there wasn't much gaming.  We didn't think about the fact that everybody hadn't been gathered together like that in a very long time.  So, mostly people forgot about the games once booze and visiting was involved.  Next time we do this, we're gonna try to set up pre-set tables for people that wish to do more gaming.  We DID play an awesome board game called Zombies!  And there was tons of food, since we made it a potluck.

And here comes the bombardment of pictures.

I blame the wine.

This is a great picture of these three.  They all look so happy!

Everything about this picture makes me laugh.

Me with Andrew and Amanda

Wade with a baby rattle...I don't know why

There was bacon and beer!

AAAAhhhhh! Zombies!

Apparently, Zombies required much concentration

Definitely, one of the best trips home ever.  You can't go wrong with bacon and booze :)

Our Neighbors are Jerks

I'd like to interrupt the previously scheduled Winter-een-mas '12 post for a segment I'd like to call Holy Crap Our Neighbors are annoying.

.....

Holy crap our neighbors are annoying! We apparently live above a nightclub and under a racetrack.  The amount of pounding noises that surrounds us during the day is insane.  I still have yet to decide if the people above us have a small child, or a large dog.  I'm pretty sure the running sounds like a small kids stompy run, but OH MY GOSH, do they really run around for that long without stopping?  Like, is that normal?  We don't have kids so I'd have no clue but I'm pretty sure the only living thing I've seen with that much energy usually has four legs.  Not to mention the kids on our floor running around screaming in the halls day and night.  One of these days, I'm gonna stick my foot out our front door and trip them.  Because, obviously, their parents never taught them not to run in the halls! and also screaming is bad!

....Ok, that was mean.  I wouldn't trip them.  Just glare maybe.  Or....you know...just complain to other people some more in the most passive aggressive way possible.

.....

So, the real story here, is that I'm pretty sure my frustrations with the job search are manifesting itself as an irrational, (or, maybe, not so irrational) annoyance with our apartment, and apartment living in general.  I've grown to pretty much loathe everything about this apartment.  Everything from it's small size, to it's crappy plumbing, to it's overactive heating vents.  We have to keep the windows cracked in the winter if we want the apartment to be below 85.  (we don't control the heating)  The good thing is, we've learned to laugh about it anytime something else goes wrong.  Well, ok, I've learned to laugh about it.  Nathan's so laid back that he naturally just laughs about things like this.

My solution to this frustration is to plan our future home in my head.  We're definitely nowhere near being able to buy, but this is not stopping me from the planning.  It helps me escape the apartment-life doldrums.  Pinterest.com has only served to worsen this new habit.  Only problem, is with all the plans I've made, I'm pretty sure we're gonna have to live in a castle.  A castle that we're gonna have to build, because I'm pretty sure there aren't any preconstructed castles with the specifications that I'm gonna need.

Included will be:  at least 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a game room including pool tables and gaming consoles, his office, an art studio for me, a reading nook and a badass kitchen.  OH, and a closed-in porch.  And maybe a pool.  And this is where Nathan would want me to include a room for pet ferrets.  Jury's still out on that one.

Speaking of art studio:  I got a professional-ish camera for my birthday!  I say ish because it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of a high-end professional camera that is way way way out of our price range.  It's an entry level one which is perfect for hobby type photography.  Expect many pictures of the cats on here because they're the only subjects I have available right now.  Apparently spring is starting in other parts of the world, but here in Wisconsin, March still counts as winter so it's been too cold to take the camera out.  I promise this blog won't turn into a cat-picture blog.

Maybe.

Playing Catch-up

I promise, we're still alive.

The holidays are over and we're getting back into the swing of things so I wanted to get back into the routine of this whole blogging thing.  Over the holidays, I surprisingly heard a lot of "I've been reading your blog!" type comments from friends and family.  I want you all to know, I thought that was awesome.  I've been doing this largely as a way to try and document all of the events have been coming and going with great speed for me and Nathan.  New jobs, new places, etc.  But, I did also hope that I could use it to let friends and family know what we're up to since I am absolutely awful with calling all of you as much as I should.  Just so you know, I am aware that I suck at that.  Unfortunately, I don't get to know what YOU all are up to this way, but that just hammers home that I need to get better with that whole phone call thing.  Anyway, I'm gonna use this post to catch up on the past couple months before continuing forward.  A couple of months, where I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time with many of you.  But, unfortunately, not all.

Oh, and as always, it'll include lots of pictures.  This is gonna be a long one.

Christmas
This past Christmas was both very happy and very sad all at the same time.  For instance, I got to see both of my awesome aunts! (yay alliteration!) BOTH!  That's almost unheard of.  Most of the time I will see one, or the other, but very rarely do I see both in one holiday.  Major downside:  Mom wasn't able to make it home.  I officially have not seen my mother since Christmas of 2010.  That sucks, and I miss her terribly.  Good side: I got to sleep in my old room at Dad's and see them, all of my wonderful cousins and their children on his side and got to see my always stylin' cousin Salena and her husband Brian from mom's side who live far far away and I also rarely get to see.  And even made time to go see my absolutely wonderful mother and father-in-law Jenny and John.  (also, all the puppies!)  Family was definitely the theme for this Christmas.  Downside:  Nathan had to work Christmas.  All of it, the day after and New Year's.  So while, I was able to see all of the family, he had to sit at home by himself.  I hated that.

Other bonus fun time:  I got to meet Jude finally!  The most awesome one-year-old ever and spend some time with his wonderful parent, Ashleigh and John.

It turned out I was too busy to take tons of pictures of Christmas, but here are a couple.

We couldn't all be together in person, but Skype is a wonderful invention. :)

Even though he wasn't there to see it, Nathan officially has his own stocking at Dad's

Santa Deer.

Christmas pt. 2 A.K.A. Kirby's Wedding

I had the week between Christmas and New Year's off.  Relaxing right?  Not really.  But definitely tons of fun!  After driving down to Mattoon for Christmas, I then drove down to Huntsville and Guntersville, Alabama, for my good friend Kirby's Wedding.  She was a bridesmaid for me, and I was more than happy to return the favor.  Now THIS one had tons of pictures.  It was a blast.  I hadn't seen Kirby since my wedding, so seeing her again was great.  Also, I got to stay with my good friends Amanda and Andrew.  I had not seen them in, I think, close to seven years.  I missed those two so freakin much, and it was so great to get to spend time with them again.  We picked up right where we left off.  Complete with Rotel and Milo's sweet tea.  I also, got to see Samantha!  I hadn't seen her in probably about seven years or more either!  It turns out I had really missed being in the south.  There's not many places you can be outside in short sleeves in December.  :) The downside to all of this again, was that Nathan was stuck working, but we made up for that with his own visit in January.

Bachelorette!

She was gorgeous

Sam!

She was incredibly busy, as brides often are, so we just took a picture with her back :)

Bachelorette Party!

Lake Guntersville, from my hotel room

They. Are. Awesome.

Did I mention Milo's?  Cause I should have.

I was gonna include our Winter-een-mas visit home in this post too, but I believe I'll put that separately.  I just now previewed this post and saw how freakishly long it was becoming and figured the Holiday Extravaganza deserved it's own post anyway.  I got back into Madison New Year's Day. around 1 o'clock pm.  It was snowing, of course.  In total, I had spent over 24 hours on the road by myself.  While there were both upsides and downsides, it was definitely time well spent.  

Our Thanksgiving in Pictures

I'm blogging at 8 p.m. on a Saturday night.  I know how to party.  :)  Truthfully, last night was spent at our new favorite local bar, Antlers, drinking my new favorite local micro-brew, Spotted Cow, listening to Dropkick Murphys (one of Nathan's favs, they're growing on me also, the more we hear it).  So, tonight is promising to be rather chill.  I've been meaning to blog about the Thanksgiving we had.  We weren't able to make it home as we had hoped but I did have my own personal accomplishment of making an entire thanksgiving dinner all by myself, while Nathan was at work.  Rather than go into long-winded explanations of it, and since I take way too many pictures anyway, I decided I'd just post pictures that I took throughout the process.  I should really look into getting a good beginner SLR or something with all the pictures I take.

I swear this is going to end up being a food blog.

The beginning of the process:  Turkey breast in the crockpot and apple pie filling cooling on the counter.  Making dessert first seemed logical since it had to cool.  Unfortunately, I did not EAT dessert first.

Random ingredients.  Also, this is basically all the counter space I had to work with.

MMM.  Coffee.  This became necessary midway through the day.

My "assistant."  And by assistant, I mean sneaky, scrap-stealing, ninja-cat.

Crockpot full of chicken and noodles.  My first try.  Turned out good but not great.

PO-TA-TOS!  I actually considered making mom's twice-baked recipe, but didn't have a large enough baking dish, and at this point I was running low on time.

The finished product:  Turkey, chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, gravy, greenbean casserole, tea and apple pie.  I'm still pretty impressed with myself.

So there you have it.  It occurs to me now a picture of us eating the food would have completed this nicely, but I was way too concerned with actually eating.  Tip:  If you ever have a thanksgiving where you know you'll never eat a whole bird, the turkey breast in the crockpot idea worked out really well.  We had leftovers, but not too many and it turned out really juicy.  While, not exactly the way we would have liked to spend Thanksgiving, a holiday feast for two actually made the whole thing kind of special.  And besides, this way I didn't have to feel guilty for having a four day weekend while he worked 10 hour days for all four. :)

I couldn't very well end on a sappy note, now could I?