We finally got a pool…

…in the basement.

We were planning to have a nice relaxing weekend, keep it low-key.  Friday night we went to dinner in town and then to the bar for a few beers. There weren’t that many people out, but it was nice to let loose a little and relax after the long week.

Saturday morning J and I slept in and decided we were just going to lay around all day and watch Game of Thrones. It stormed pretty bad on Friday night so J wouldn’t have to go work, which is always nice.  But as we were talking I kept hearing water. It wasn’t raining anymore – it was bright and sunny.

The water sound wasn’t coming from outside, it was coming from the foot of water standing in our basement.

Water up to J’s knees

Neither J nor I knew what to do.  So after spending about an hour with my best friend Google, we figured out we needed a pump, which thankfully J has from all of his farming. Getting all of that water out probably took at least 2 hours.  Then I set up two fans and a dehumidifier so it doesn’t get moldy. Not the way I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon.

After all of that drama, we decided to go swimming and drink a few beers at a neighbor’s pond.  It was a much-needed break and fun time that we needed.  There’s nothing like a cold beer and a warm pond on a hot day.  But we noticed it was starting to lightning so we left since the vehicle we took doesn’t have a roof.

And of course there is like 4 more inches of water in the basement! We spent all morning getting it out again. I guess we need to call someone to take a look at the basement and see why it’s coming in.

Being a homeowner is hard folks, I never know what to do (just kidding we rent the house). Wish us luck!

New Job

I accepted a new job in April and man oh man it is a lot. I did 2 months of training and then I started in the office on July 1.  I get what everyone says about working in an office though. By 5 I’m not even seeing straight let alone can I work anymore.  And of course since I’m new I stay late because I’m not good at getting everything done during the day (I don’t have a routine yet, I’m not slacking).

Most days after work I’m even too tired to go to the gym which kills me. I used to hear people say that they can’t get to the gym after work and I thought you’re just being lazy, go to the gym.  But after working all day, going to the gym is the last thing I want to do sometimes.  I do make myself go sometimes or I go on a walk during my lunch break…if I get one. Or I have an elliptical at home that I’ll get on for 20 minutes as a last resort.

But it’s a great job.  Just a life adjustment.

Everything else is going well.  My wedding is only 51 days away and thing are getting stressful.  Why are there so many small details in a wedding.  Every decision you make, there are 12 more decisions to make associated with it.

My brain is about to explode.

I’ve been working on eating really well to help with my mental clarity and stress.  All this stress makes me want to go eat an ice cream or get a candy bar whenever I’m at the gas station or grocery story, but I know it’s not going to help me.  The cleaner my diet the better I’m going to feel and the better I’m going to be with wedding planning and at work. Oh and I guess at regular life when there’s any time for that.

What do you do to help keep stress levels down?

Body building

“You can really see your tummy tone when you godzilla yawn like that” – My loving fiance this morning.

We were laying in bed trying to avoid waking up, pretty much just playing with Octane (our cat).  He recently figured out going under the covers which is just hilarious and now another thing we like to brag about him.

But anyways, J doesn’t work out, he doesn’t really ask me about my work out, but he is very supportive.  He knows how hard I work and how I’m trying to lose weight and tone up for the wedding.  So his compliment was very nice and heart-felt.

I posted a few weeks ago about my fitness rut.  I’ve been working out even more since I moved here since the wedding is really sneaking up on me (5 months and 2 days away) but haven’t been getting the results I had been hoping for.  My health is good, which I know is a big reason to work out in the first place, but I wanted physical results like more muscle tone and fat loss.

Wedding dress shopping and Easter celebration

I’ve had an exciting past few days!

On Wednesday, I got the job offer I had been waiting for! We had interviewed a few times so I felt like they were interested, and I was so relieved to hear they were.  I’m very excited to get started with this company.  I did have to give my 2 weeks at my current position.  They weren’t too happy…apparently they had “big things” planned for me in the future, but I wasn’t going to work at a part time job I was overqualified for forever.  It was a great opportunity and job while it lasted though.  I have never quit a job before so it was very nerve-wracking but it’s done and over with so I learned how to do it!

Yesterday I went down to Kansas City to go wedding dress shopping with one of my friends.  There were 8 of us in a group — a lot of opinions were said! I always tried to ask what she thought about the dress before I rated it because I didn’t want to offend her.  Her sister and MOH brought small chalkboards and chalk we could all write our ratings from 1-10 on.  It was a really fun idea.  And she said yes to a beautiful dress at the second boutique we went to.  She’s going to be such a beautiful bride.  I’ll be sure to share a photo after her wedding.

I do have to say I was very nervous that she only bought her dress in early April.  I’m getting married 2 weeks before she is and I bought my dress in October.  I’m a planner though and she’s more of a go with the flow person so she’s not worried.  It’ll all work out.

Farm Fresh Eggs

I’ve been trying to convince J we should get chickens, but he is very against it.  It would be an investment of like $400-500 or so, which is not terrible for a lot of eggs.  Think, you buy a dozen eggs every week for $2.50, so it would even out eventually.  Especially if we sold them or even just gave them away to friends and family.

Anyways, his solution was to buy local eggs from a neighbor who does have chickens.  Ok yes, this is a better plan than mine.  And in the end we have farm fresh eggs which was the goal from the start.  All I do for these eggs is facebook message her, ask for however many I want.  If she has that many available, you leave money on your counter and she drops them off on her way to work.

As a former “city” gal (suburbs*), the thought of someone coming into my house and putting eggs in my fridge as I’m sleeping is still creepy to me.  But apparently it’s no big deal.  What do I know?

I’ve buy some organic foods.  I try to buy organic from the dirty dozen when I can afford it.  But I’ve never really noticed a difference.

Eggs are the one thing I can actually notice a difference on when I buy fresh or from the store.  I’m not sure what it is but they are definitely creamier and more full of flavor.  I would choose a farm fresh egg any day over those wimpy store bought ones.

While we’re discussing eggs, lets talk about the yolks.  I know for quite a while, yolks have been deemed bad because they have a lot of cholesterol.  Luckily, they’ve decided against this since only some of the cholesterol in your body comes from the cholesterol in the foods you eat.  1 egg has 190 mg of cholesterol.  So say half of that is absorbed, maybe, you’re doing alright.  I’m not a doctor though so if (s)he says to stop eating as many eggs, maybe you should listen.

The yolk is where a lot of the vitamins are.  When you only eat the white, you’re missing out on those vitamins as well as protein.  I will admit, I do one egg and one egg white to fill me up a little more, but always eat the yolk.

Shopping!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while friends.  I’ve had the post about the Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash in my drafts for about a week now.  I didn’t even realize it, until I logged on today.  Sorry I kept that from you for so long.  But now you have it in your life.

I’ve been trying to cut out as many processed foods as I can, just to be a healthier person and because I have less than 6 months till the wedding!!! My sister has been doing low-carb for about 6 months and has lost quite a bit of weight.  From all of the nutrition education I’ve had, I’m not sure how I feel about the high-fat dairy all of the time and not sticking to the AMDR (acceptable macronutrient distribution range), but that’s a different story.  I’ve tried to do some research but I haven’t figured out my opinions yet.  Anyways, but I thought taking some notes from that book is a great way to cut out unwanted calories and chemicals in my food.  Like today, instead of a tuna sandwich or tuna on crackers, I cut a tomato in half and stuffed the tuna in there.  It was so good! And such a simple and healthy (and cheap) alternative.

 

Italian Sausage Spaghetti Squash

I don’t know how many of you are on the spaghetti squash train…but if you’re not, you should jump aboard because they are delish.  I found a recipe on pinterest

Those yellow peppers really add a nice color

Then again almost all of the recipes I make are from pinterest because I’m not that creative…I just add my own flair to them.  This one said to remove the sausage from the casing so it would be more of a ground beef texture.  I cut  mine into small pieces so that it would act more as a meatball and really give it that spaghetti essence.

Breakfast

Today has been a pretty nice day.  J woke me up at 8:30 after he had already gone and checked the cows, and took me to breakfast.  I LOVE breakfast, but only one restaurant in town serves it so I was very thankful he woke me up and suggested it.  I was starving since we had a pretty small dinner (whoops, didn’t make enough) so I got the big breakfast. It was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast (which I didn’t eat, trying to spare some calories) and biscuits and gravy.  Also I guess they have a new cook so they gave us 2 biscuits. Talk about a big breakfast.  But it was so worth it.

Since we were done with breakfast so early I had the entire day to do what I wanted! J and I watched Slumdog Millionaire, which I’ve never seen and still don’t know if I totally understand it.  I guess it’s good to get watch something than my 10 go to movies. but what can I say? I like them.

The gym didn’t open until 1 pm so I had to wait, but I go there right at 1 so it wasn’t too croweded yet.  My knee is still making me nervous so I decided running may not be the smartest idea and I should to the elliptical instead.  Then lifted some heavy weights — gotta overload the muscles to see some gains!

I decided to wash the floors when I got home.  I don’t know if this is just a farm thing or a consequence of having a gravel driveway, but there is always dirt on the floor. ALWAYS.  I can sweep and then walk barefooted and there is more dirt.  WHERE DOES ALL THE DIRT COME FROM? It kills me.  I sweep everyday and I still get so annoyed by the dirt that sticks to my feet.

Octane and I are taking it easy before I go start dinner.  I’m trying a new spaghetti squash recipe tonight.  Last time I made spaghetti squash I tried to do carbonara but it turned out dreadfully bad.  J hated it.  And I know he’s not too fond of it but he eats it because he knows I like it.  God bless him.

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken from Pinterest

Tonight I tried a recipe I’ve had my eye on while browsing pinterest — Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken from Damn Delicious.

I work 3-8 pm usually, so I never really get to make dinner because J is hungry so he wants to eat before I get home at 8:45 and I don’t really want to cook that late either.  Then I would be eating at 10 pm and I would go on a hangry rampage before I would be able to wait until dinner is ready.

I would rather have a chicken thigh than a chicken breast — I think there is so much more flavor from the skin and the dark meat.  Don’t get me wrong I eat chicken breast all the time, but a good chicken thigh really gets me going.  However, J does not like them as much as I do, so I did half chicken thighs and some drums.  Drums taste quite a bit like thighs so he probably wouldn’t have even known.  Also I’ve cooked with thighs cut up in things and he’s never noticed, so maybe I can convert him.

The recipe was very easy.  The longest part was it cooking in the oven.  You’re supposed to make it on an oven safe skillet, but I don’t know if my pans are so I just transferred it to a pyrex container once it was done on the stove.

Pre-oven chicken

At first when I put the sauce on top, it was just in clumps and I was like great — this is not going to work.  But I just trusted the system and put them in the oven.  THANKFULLY it turned out great.  The brown sugar mixture melted in the oven and coated it beautifully.  I did flip it halfway through so both sides could bathe in it.

I really liked this chicken, it was easy and delicious.  I would recommend adding something salty like bacon to offset the sweetness a little and give it another element of flavor.  Also I would have added garlic to season it with the salt and pepper to give it even more of a salty flavor.  Next time I make it, I’ll have to experiment!

 

Fitness rut

I’m in a rut.

I have less than 6 months until my wedding and we officially booked the honeymoon, but I have not seen any of the results from my training program I had planned on by now.  I’ve been set back a little bit with my knee injury this week, but I make sure I’m watching what I eat even more since I can’t go to the gym.  I don’t want to do anything crazy, I just wanted to lose 10 pounds and a little ‘jiggle’ — so far my progress is 2 pounds.  I know muscle weighs more than fat, and I think I have definitely gained muscle and lost fat, but I should have also lost some weight.  I didn’t have that much muscle to start with.

I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and when I don’t go I try to do something at home.  At the gym I split time between cardio and weights, making sure I get all the major muscle groups within the week.  I’ve realized that I’m really likely to skip ab day.  I don’t know why because abs are definitely something I want for my honeymoon, but doing ab work is boring I guess.  I like squatting and lifting heavy weights instead of laying on the floor trying to work my stomach.

I’m trying to overhaul my eating even more too.  That phrase “80% nutrition and 20% exercise” is true.  And I know that.  I make sure I have a fruit or vegetable at every meal.  When I snack I try to keep fruit clean and vegetables handy so I don’t go for something else.  I’ve been trying new recipes since I think I ate so much of the same stuff, my body started to acclimate and didn’t change.

This morning I made overnight oats again — this time apple and cinnamon.  I put oats, almond milk, chopped up apple, chia seeds, protein powder, honey, cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and vanilla in.  It’s really good.  Pretty filling too.  I made sure to add protein powder this time since Tuesday when I made them it didn’t have enough protein for my breakfast.

Maybe I’ll make a little reminder sign for the fridge so I when I try to get a snack I’ll see it and choose something better.

I don’t know, I know I shouldn’t complain because I’m in good health and I have money (well, sometimes) to buy good food — but it’s just a little discouraging when you work so hard and then don’t get results.  Actually that last phrase is the story of my life.  Ugh.

Well have a good day everyone! I’m gonna finish my coffee and hit the gym for as much as my knee can handle!