Day 235-239: New Recipe, What I ate, What's Been Up!

Hi Friends! Yes, I have lots of catching up to do! To make this one simple and quick it’s in 3 parts: (1) what’s been up (2) What I Ate/Exercise and (3) Recipe!

What’s Been Up

• I went to Ikea and my scrapbook room is now COMPLETE minus a few knickknacks and a pillow for one of my chairs!
• I’ve been sick – I got the WORST allergy problems on Sunday – spent the day feeling awful (eyes dried shut; sneezing; etc.). Monday I was worse and in a benadryl-induced slumber. It’s been ROUGH – I hate pollen.
• The second guest room’s bed was delivered Sunday and that room is now pretty much done!
• Today in the break room these two girls in my department noted “how much I eat.” They were super nice but were just like “wow – you’re tiny girl but you EAT that’s awesome.” I said thank you – haha- odd to say thank you to that! Later I was heating up my spicy southwest chicken wraps and they were in there (apparently I eat when they break for coffee!) Again – they were like look at you eating again – we’re so glad you eat. I’m like dang – who is anorexic on their team? Crazy! Has anything like this ever happened to you?
• I finished my “art” in the other guest room – but still need to hang it.
• Austin’s den is looking great – pictures hung and everything!
• I’m officially signed on with the granite installers who comes TOMORROW to template the kitchen – woo! I’m getting tan brown granite to go with our new bronze hardware – woooo!
• My friend Lindsey stopped by on her way to a Dave concert! So good to see her!
• We bought the rest of our TVs! Do you know how motivated I am to cook with my LCD + Friends!! It’s ON!
• We found the Trader Joe’s & Whole Foods over here!
• Mon & Andy came by to get boxes – they’re moving this coming weekend and getting married in 3 – woo!
• Reuben decided to stop peeing in the box - now he'll only put his front paws in and go all over the floor. Argh. We got puppy pads. They're working!
• My headphones broke. What? Just one ear stopped working. They were replaced quicklight!
• We’re leaving tomorrow for Megan’s wedding – can’t wait to see everyone and visit with my mom some more.
• I cooked another recipe – Lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichokes & Mushrooms (adapted from the fabulous Aggie’s Kitchen!!) see below!
• My weight has been weird. Mostly 110 - hit 119.5 one day - crazy. I feel ewy though - I need to do legs and abs PRONTO know what i mean?

What I Ate/Exercise

Saturday I basically ate kinda crappy all day…. tuna pita for lunch…. Wendy’s chicken nuggets & baked potato for dinner (we were on the go all day!) BUT – I still came in okay because I didn’t really have snacks and my breakfast was a nutrigrain bar so – it could have been worse! I had 1,428 calories, 160 carbs and 47 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.

Sunday I had 1,478 calories, 197 carbs and 33 fat grams. It was a good eating day! Three whole meals and I even had one snack of fruit and it was FAB! Here’s what I ate.

Monday I had 1,698 calories, 220 carbs and 36 fat grams. Good day – but I did feel bad and CRAVED sweets and caved on baby snickers and twix. Blah. Here’s what I ate.

Tuesday I had 1,888 calories (high day!), 202 carbs and 32 fat grams. I was still feeling sick and all defenses were down! I even got FRIES at lunch – first time in a long time. Yum yummy but I felt like CRAP afterwards! Here’s what I ate.

Today I had 1,840 calories, 233 carbs and 51 fat grams. I went over – but it felt good. Yes, I didn’t NEED the candy (200+ calories) OR the kettle chips – but they were good and I ate healthy and I got in 3 miles so it’s okay – these are high days I like! Here’s what I ate.

Over the weekend I did what i'd like to call nontraditional exercise in the form of house stuff/errands/etc. :) Monday I did get in 6 miles (3.5 during lunch; 2.5 after work). Tuesday was a wash though. But today, I walked 3 miles during lunch and plan to do strength training tomorrow! We’ll see! AND I plan on gyming it Friday AND Saturday no matter what!!

Recipe

Lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichokes & Mushrooms Adapted Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen - LOVE HER RECIPES!!

2 4 oz. chicken breasts chopped
salt and pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
2 tsp olive oilnonstick spray
4 oz of chopped mushrooms
½ can artichoke hearts, quartered and marinated
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup low sodium fat free chicken broth
20 sprays butter
1.5 cups white rice

Pour olive oil in a hot non stick skillet over medium high heat. Once olive oil is warm, place chicken into skillet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic salt on both sides. Brown chicken for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side, then take out of pan and place on plate. Spray skillet with non stick spray. Immediately add mushrooms into skillet and start to saute. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until mushrooms start to brown and soften. Add artichoke hearts, lemon juice and chicken broth. Place chicken back into pan and let everything cook uncovered over medium low heat for approximately 8-10 minutes. Sauce will thicken slightly. Serve over white rice.

Me & Austin love, love loved it! Super filling and fabulous and only 469 calories, 61 carbs, 9 fat grams and 28 protein grams. NOT BAD! Yes, high on carbs - but isn't everything I cook? for real - you could easily cut down on the rice but add 1 oz. of chicken 2 oz. of mushrooms and add in the asparagus Aggie recommended! YUM!

Days 231 - 234: House Pics: Our Living Room, Bedroom & Entryway! Woo!

I'm behind again - argh! haha This post will be two parts - pics of the house and the usual -what i've been up to and what i've been eating! Let's start with of the house!! Hope you like it - can't wait to get fully caught up and hope you guys are all having the best weekend. I'm spending the weekend with Austin and Reuben and friends, and today i'm setting up my scrapbook room - WOO! For starters... here is our Living Room!

Eeee I just love it! I love the new couch, the chairs, the pillows- and one of my favorites is the throw. I'm so glad to be able to use the new red pillows and think Austin did a great job with the curtains!! I love the set up my sister did with the furniture and with the jugs. We think it's a super cozy room and I love that it has a good bit of seating even though it's not the largest space. All that's left to do is ironing the curtains and filling the console with books and/or DVDs - woo!!

Here is our Bedroom

I personally don't think this room photographed as well as the living room - but that's okay - I love it in person. For instance, the mirror/chaise wall seems bare in the photos but it fills it in person - I swear! haha The only things I really have left to do (this year!) is clean up those cubbies - can't decide if I like the way I set up stuff in my sister's absense. Next year, i'd like to get new night stands and reupholster the chaise! (or, if it's too expensive, just get a new chaise). In the meantime I would like to buy a throw to go on it to lighten it up a little - probably an ivory or darker cream color. And lastly, for your viewing pleasure, a glamour shot of Reuben! He's such a model with his new summer cut. He matches our bedroom well!

Our Entryway

LOVE the entryway!! Me and Devie found that piece at Ballard's on major clearance - woo! And I love the Restoration Hardware lamp Austin's mom gave us! We were originally going to do a coat rack here and i'm still thinking about it. The one at Pier 1 was $100 and the closest store that had it in stock was in a city i'd never even heard of 45 minutes away. However, I found this one on Ikea for only $30. Still deciding.... :)

Other progress: the seating area/pool table area needs some work (need lights hung, pictures hung, etc.; the two guest rooms are coming along good! Have the last mattress being delievered tomorrow then that room should come together and again, I hope to have the scrapbook room completed tomorrow, with the exception of a few decorative things. Austin's "xBox room" is going well too -he just needs to hang pictures!!

Now on to what i've been up to!!! FYI: It's been pretty uneventful, peeps - just house stuff!

Tuesday was slightly uneventful! Just worked, skipped my lunch workout to go to Target to switch some stuff out and get some new curtain rods, and raced home after work (skipping the other end of the workout – eek!) to get home and get back to house stuff! I got lots done and passed out early – like I said- pretty uneventful! I ended up at 1,682 calories, 257 carbs and 28 fat grams. Not bad but too high on carbs – imagine that! I’m so glad I made that sausage/pasta again – so good! Here’s what I ate. Yes, I caved during lunch at Home Depot and bought a bag of sour patch kids. Hehe I’m such a candy fan!

Wednesday was a bit more relaxing. I worked, got in 3.5 miles at lunch and headed home after work. I know – I’m a wild child! Haha Austin went out to play poker so I honestly didn’t get much done – just a few small things here and there, and got ready for laundry day the next day! I went to sleep early and slept SO GOOD! Burning the candle at both ends sucks so it was great to CHILL. At the end of the day I had 1,600 calories, 218 carbs and 30 fat grams – not bad! Here’s what I ate.

Thursday was SUCH a good day. I mean it – work from home days make me sane. I got so much work done with no interruptions, and used my lunch to do laundry and hang out with Reubey bear! When Austin got home we knocked out a few things and I worked on my scrapbook room inspiration board. It finally came together and I was SO READY to go to Ikea and buy it all up! But decided to wait until the weekend or later and focus on the other rooms. I rounded out the day at 1,629 calories, 235 carbs and 34 fat grams – I’ve GOT to find some low-carb snacks. Hehe Here’s what I ate.

Friday on the way to work I realized I didn’t have my gym bag. What?! I was so looking forward to working out – really! haha So I called Austin for advice: what should I do during lunch instead? DUH – go to Ikea and buy the scrapbook room stuff – WOO! I raced over, got it all and headed back to work with a car full of fun. Work sped by and before I knew it I was on the way home to see Austin and our friend Phil (in town from Texas). Fun! They helped me unload the car, gave me a beer, and I got started in my room. I only had an hour – because then it was time for Philapalooza – poker night at Jason/Crystal’s. SO FUN! We headed over with Reuben and our overnight clothes (so nice to have the top down – great weather!) We played poker, Rock Band and caught up with everyone – AWESOME time. Crystal and Jason are expecting a baby boy in August so it was fun to see their nursery and all of the amazing work they’d done – so happy for them! We had a great time – so good to see everyone and visit with Phil, too. I definitely had a ‘high day’ ending up at 2,174 calories, 219 carbs and 51 fat grams. Yes – it was the vodka, beer and the late night pizza and chips. But what are you going to do? I had a great time and enjoyed it – even with the extra calories! Here’s what I ate.

We finally went to bed at 4 a.m. – blah – and I woke up at 9:30 – double blah. I didn’t feel too bad though because it was time to go to the granite place in Kennesaw to pick out our slab – WOO! The meeting went well, we decided on our sink and officially chose tan brown as our granite (love it!) – now we just need an updated quote and we’re on the way! We took backroads home and just enjoyed the weather/convertible – SO nice. We stopped and got tuna sandwiches at My Friend’s Place (love them – it had been a LONG time) and got to work in the Scrapbook room putting together the desk chair, visitor chair, lounge chair/stool, 3-drawer dresser, floor lamp and some small storage boxes. Problems though: must go back to Ikea – only got 1 of 2 boxes for the bookshelf, only got 2 desk legs instead of 4 and actually got the wrong color in the dresser AND floor lamp – but decided to keep my mistakes – I like them! Haha

So now I’m catching up on the blog, catching up on TV and getting ready to nap before hitting up Ikea (again). Sigh. Oh who am I kidding – I can’t WAIT to go back – such a fun store.

Starting Monday i'm hoping to be back to normal on work outs, recipes, etc. - i'm excited and have missed the gym!! And my weight is dropping which I don't like - i've been weighing around 110 and I think 115 was my "happy weight" - I just NEED to do my strength training!! :( I'm going to get back on it! In the meantime, i'm going to take a nap! Bye!!

Days 227 - 230: Go Big or Go Home...Getting it DONE

Can't even begin to think of everything that was done this weekend!! Between me and Austin having Devon (sister!) and mom there, we were unstoppable - SO MUCH was set up, put together, purchased, worked on - you name it! It was out of control amazing. And I mean it - anytime you see “put together” or “set up” in the list below- for the most part - it was my hero of a sister. WOW she's good at this stuff and I owe her HUGE. We had a time getting this together and I’m just thrilled at the turn out. I need to take some pics!! For now I can only offer this – a somewhat blurry photo of the seating area off the kitchen taken last night on my phone! haha


For now I’m doing this post in two parts: what we did and what I ate. Important note: I only walked 4 miles last week. I just REALLY want to focus on the house and get it done so there you go – no exercise unless you count racing through Ikea before closing or going up and down my stairs hundreds of times decorating. Oh – and heavy lifting and putting together Ikea cubes (kill me now – me and Dev just about let that piece of furniture win – WOW!) Not only did I not work out, I didn’t eat the best either. It was hard being out and about all day AND eating right – eek! K – now I’m going to get to it. I’m blogging now and reading tonight NO MATTER WHAT – I have no idea what’s going with you guys and that bugs me… :( boo.

What I Ate

Friday: I was SO excited to see my mom and sister and get the weekend going – WOO! I ran errands during lunch, raced home after work to unload the car, then headed down to Ikea to start the extravaganza! I got everything I wanted – WOOT! – and shut the store down. We headed back to my place for wine, sleepover and putting together furniture – nice! Great, great night and SO much fun. I ended up at 1,763 calories, 222 carbs and 42 fat grams. I blame the milkshake – it was super yummy though! I never have them and the girls brought it and I thought it was YUMMY! Here’s what I ate.

Saturday: Stayed up WAY too late. Stupid Expedit bookshelves, Ikea! I woke up tired, but ready to EAT! I had cereal, then later when I was out and about I had chick fil a. Nope, not the salad, 2 chicken strips, 4 nuggets and I split an order of fries. It was yummy!! I was SO FULL though and it held me over all day. But later my next door neighbor came by to introduce herself – SO NICE. She brought brownies. Warm brownies. I had two. And it was FABULOUS! We went out again and I got home around 9:30 or 10 to a 6” subway – fab!! I ended up at 1,692 calories, 190 carbs and 57 fat fat grams. Not bad, especially since I had a beer while visiting with Mary & Scott – our first visitors outside of family – fun! Here’s what I ate.

Sunday: Still tired. Boo. But again, I think I ate pretty good being that I was out and about all day - with the exception of the starbursts! And pizza… haha We had a hyper productive day visiting Pier 1 (twice!), Homegoods, Michael’s, TJ Maxx, Target, Ikea and more! I ended up at 1,692 calories, 250 carbs and 54 fat grams – eek! WAY too much pizza, friends. It’s such my favorite weakness! I got home late, stuffed my face and PASSED OUT. Here’s what I ate.

Monday: I was exhausted… but I didn’t give in. I just worked, walked 3.5 miles during lunch and went home to get back on the house stuff. Austin played poker so I just hung out with Reuben and cleaned some stuff. I ended up at 1,595 calories, 223 carbs and 36 fat grams. I totally slacked at dinner and just had leftover pizza and a beer – yes, I did that, but I still ended up in a good range and got even MORE done at the house (put together a dresser, hung curtains, cleaned, etc.) Here’s what I ate.

House Stuff: Here’s What we Did

Kitchen/Seating Area/Den

Bought new hardware and installed it. yay Austin!!
Chose granite for the countertops. Love it - tan brown
Put together 4 chairs for the seating area; bought pillows/throws for chairs
Put together a coffee table (then disassembled and returned it – too big!)
Put up curtains for the back French doors. love them!
Hung a valance over the sink. so cute!
Bought rugs for kitchen area. still deciding on!
Hung the Wrought Iron M over the fireplace
Moved the armoire into the pool table area - looks so good!
Hung a key rack by the door
Bought a piece of art for over the bistro table - love it!

Entryway

Bought a piece of furniture - small black console
Hung a picture over it, set a lamp by it and chose a ‘catch all’ white bowl from my china
Bought a glass case and set up a neat floral arrangement in it; hung art by it

Half Bath

Bought a rug - looks great!
Bought a toilet paper holder

Living Room

New couch was delivered/set up - LOVE it.
Bought two leather club chairs - LOVE THEM.
Moved new console in - i'm obsessed with this room.
Hung large iron piece over couch
Bought large glass jugs and set up the area with vase filler and sand - looks SO good!
Bought 3 pillows for chairs/bench and a throw
Bought new coasters, tray and jar for the coffee table
Bought curtains/curtain rods
Bought a new floor lamp - SO cool!

Master Bedroom

Bought a floor mirror - swoon. It's awesome.
Put two new chairs in - they blend so well - although we have TONS of seating!
Bought a console cubby system and put it together with 4 new cube baskets - eeee a biatch to put together but it looks fabulous!
Bought décor items for the birch sleeves and console (vase filler, candle sticks, etc.) Devon did an AMAZING job putting this area together - love it
Bought curtains/curtain rods

Master Bath

Set up new stool for vanity
Bought closet organizers and set them up - so much easier to use now!

Guest Room #1

Bought bed
Set up bed frame/headboard/bedding - i just love this room. Love it!
Bought fan & installed it - the fan looks GREAT!
Bought curtain & rod
Bought mirror

Guest Room #2

Bought bed (will be delivered on Sunday)
Set up bed frame
Bought headboard - so cute!
Set up dresser - loving the ivory and how it's all turning out!
Bought Curtain/rod
Bought side table & lamp

Guest Bath

Set up shower curtain/lamp/rugs/etc.
Installed new hardware

xBox Room

Moved couch upstairs and put in console - Austin's space is starting to look GOOD! I know he's excited.
Bought a coffee table
Have art ready to hang

OUTDOOR

Bought 2 sets of patio furniture (set up one)
Bought pillows for the furniture - love the pillows/love the conversation set. Can't wait to see it all together!

Notice what’s missing? The office and the scrapbook room! They have lots of work… I can’t decide on a color scheme for the scrapbook room and the office has become a catch all – eek! And of course there's lots of things left to do in each of these rooms (hang curtains, etc.) but MY GOSH did it come together quick and me and Austin couldn't be more thrilled with the restults. We LOVE IT - and are so grateful to have Devon and Mom spend the weekend with us and lend their time and expertise. We're some lucky new homeowners. :)

A note about weight: Believe it or not I’ve pretty much maintained. I was even 112 this morning – random. Must be losing muscle. Not good! I will strength train this week – THURSDAY – there. Now it’s written so I have to do it, right?!

Can’t wait to catch up – hope you’re all having fabulous Tuesdays!!

Sneak Peek...

I'm going to catch up tonight no matter what! But in the meantime, here is a photo that somewhat illustrates how my nonstop shopping/decorating/putting stuff together weekend went.

Ahhhh Love Ikea... And yes, i'm the only one purchasing that evening. I got teh best stuff, friends!!! Can't wait to read tonight and see what you girls have been up too!! Hope all is fabulous with you.

Days 225 & 226: Hanging in There…. And a New Recipe– woo!

Hi friends! I’m still terribly behind with my blog reading – forgive me! I am trying to keep up with Spark People though so I don’t get out of control! Haha Let’s back up – Wednesday was a good day – took Reuben to the new groomer and got to work in plenty of time – woo! Decided that day to move my workouts to next week. Yes, taking off Wednesday – Friday so I can really focus on getting things done at the house and spending time with my family this weekend. At first I felt guilty, but I also feel guilty knowing Austin’s at home putting up fans and stuff while I’m walking so… it’s all good! My TOM has had me feeling like CRAP combined with my allergies it’s like WHOA – hella bitch! But I’m trying to be nice and not eat an entire bag of mini reese’s cups. Wednesday: I decided I wanted granite countertops sooner rather than later and reached out to Stacy for her granite info, bought patio furniture, bathroom organizers, light bulbs for track lighting, put new cabinet pulls on in the kitchen and bought a fan for the guest room – woo! That’s about it – no work out! I ended up at 1,739 calories, 232 carbs and 41 fat grams. Could have been worse – I had 200 calories worth the mini snacks and wanted more but stopped myself! Haha So it’s a high day but it’s okay, right? :) Here’s what I ate.

Thursday was MUCH better. I was able to sleep in (work from home day) and get to work at 8 a.m. I had a productive morning and Austin came home for lunch for red chicken curry! After he left I used my lunch to shower and relax INSTEAD of doing house stuff, but as soon as that clock struck 5 p.m. I got to work! By the end of the evening we had put together 2 chairs and a coffee table, installed a fan, hung a few items, cleaned both bathrooms, did a load of laundry, put together two bed frames, installed a headboard, met with the granite people for an in-house quote AND made a new recipe – WOO!! This recipe was adapted from Aggie’s Kitchen – love her! I’ll call ours Rotini Italian Sausage Pasta! For 2 servings:

4 oz. rotini
2 links of al fresco chicken sausage (Italian flavored), chopped
2 servings of fat-free mozzarella cheese
1 cup muir glen pasta sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper
1 tsp olive oil


Set water to boil. Once water is close to boiling, set small/medium-sized skillet to medium and pour in olive oil. Once water is boiling and pan is hot, drop pasta in water and sausage in pan and cook simultaneously for 7 minutes. Turn sausage often and stir pasta often. Heat pasta in a covered medium-sized bowl in microwave until hot, rinse and chop basil and measure out cheese. Drain pasta and place pasta, sausage, cheese and basil in the bowl with sauce and toss. Season with salt and pepper; serve hot. Nutritional Information: 462 calories, 58 carbs, 11 fat grams and 32 protein grams

It was SO good, friends. Very filling though – I actually couldn’t eat the last 6-7 bites it was so filling. Loved it though, wouldn’t change a thing and it made the house smell fabulous! I ended the day with a full belly (even had a miller lite) at 1,600 calories, 223 carbs and 33 fat grams – great day! Here’s what I ate.

HAPPY FRIDAY!! I’m so excited – my mom will be here very soon – woo! I can’t wait to get stuff done – yay! I’m going to take some pics this week of the finished (or almost finished) products!

Days 221 - 224: Moved in, Unpacked, Cable Installed, Cleaned Old Place.... SIGH!

So I have lots of catching up to do! Not just with my blogs, with yours!! Eek! I hope to get all caught up tomorrow night with my reading! In the meantime, here is my long weekend!! And I owe pictures but don’t want to take any until this weekend because, while everything is unpacked, I’m not all set up yet!! Anyway… here goes!

Saturday started early with yummy breakfast burritos. We packed up my car and me and Reuben headed to the house to clean up some more, unpack the car and get him settled before the movers came. We were quoted a 3-hour move. 1.5 hours to load the truck. Long story short – they were out of here in 5 hours. Wow – crazy. After they left we unpacked all day. For real – ALL day! Austin took a break to go get our taxes done but that’s about it! We got pizza for dinner and kept on packing! His parents stopped by and brought us all kinds of stuff – lamps, a ladder you name it! Great to see them. Around 11 I finally stopped and CRASHED. I had 1,435 calories, 36 fat grams and 159 carbs – not high but not the best foods at all!
Here’s what I ate. Here's a cabinet - want to get the rest set up first - woo! I also want granite installed pronto - but will def post pics before we do that! haha

Sunday I woke up pretty tired and wanting to do more, but it was off to his grandparents for Easter! We had fun visiting with them, hanging out with his brothers and cousins and catching up. Around noon we had to head back home to get our AT&T U-verse cable/Internet hooked up. It took over 6 hours. Crazy. And the guy messed up at every turn. Sigh. At least it’s done for now! (he couldn’t put in all of the jacks we wanted so we have to figure that out) We (again) got lots done and then my sister and her husband came over! Devon (sister) is a GREAT decorator – she already helped us move some things around and it looks 10 times better – woo! We opened up a couple of bottles of champagne – YUM. Great to relax and visit with them for the evening!! At the end of the day I had 1,622 calories, 128 carbs and 45 fat grams – most of those calories are from pizza and booze – haha! Here’s what I ate. Also, fun side note, I ordered furniture online! Two more chairs and a coffee table for the seating area, a stool for my bathroom vanity and a couch – woo! Now it's time to go say bye to our loft...

Monday I woke up feeling awful – HORRIBLE storm. Like so bad the power went out! Crazy! We gathered our cleaning supplies and tools and headed to our apartment to clean it for the walk-through – woo! We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned… then the walk through lasted all of 5 seconds. In other words, we did way too much work – but if we hadn’t it wouldn’t have worked out ya know? haha At least we’re done with it! We raced back home and fell asleep! Then got up and hit up the grocery store, had yummy sushi for dinner and then, you guessed it, we passed out. I ended up at 1,540 calories, 239 carbs and 32 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.


You guys I’m SO GLAD we’re in the house and I’m SO GLAD we got so much done but I’m downright worn out! haha I went back to work today and just had a crazy bad morning. Awful traffic, still bad weather, doctor appointment (ugh), running late all day long. Just no good! I did get in 4 miles though and got to catch up with several of my friends so that’s good but WOW – I need a break! I cooked some advance meals and am now in bed – mapping out the route to Reuben’s new groomer and then to work from there. I ended up at 1,641 calories, 207 carbs, and 49 fat grams – not a bad day! But that’s pizza like 4 days in a row haha. Must stop! Here’s what I ate.

My parents are coming this weekend so I’m super excited to see them and spend time decorating with my mom and sis – it’s going to be such a fun weekend! I also have a shower to go to – fun!! I plan to spend a lot of time at home, and a lot of time shopping!!! Can’t wait!

Days 219 and 220: All Packed Up – Our Days in Photos!!

Happy Packing!!



Yes- we had a successful evening of packing (thank GAWD since the movers will be here in 9.5 hours). Anywy - I must start this post by saying I feel, thanks to you all, completely normal for turning to food in times of stress! It seems we’re all handling, dealing with, suffering from, recognizing, and/or saying WHATEVER to the fact that we stress eat. I think my mini-not-written-in-stone-goal will be to pay attention this month to WHEN/WHERE I stress eat. Is it at work? Is it during meetings? Is it in the evening? Am I alone or with people? Etc. Then look at these situations and figure out what to do INSTEAD! We’ll see how this works. Again – know that I’m not really that worried about the extra calories or having a much-needed treat here and there – I just would prefer to find a healthier way to deal with stress because, let’s be honest, stress is there. It just is! Whether it’s at work or at home - or both - trying to fit in everything you want to do AND everything have to do and have time for yourself AND time for others can be a challenge, so I need a healthy crutch! Haha Anyway, thank you guys AS ALWAYS for your support and empathy – and if any of you have any tips to combat emotional/stress eating holla! (btw: I wrote back to each of you in the comments section of the last post!)

So let’s back up, ladies! Thursday was a great day – work from home day – woot! Got tons done as always – no distractions are amazing when one of your primary responsibilities is copy editing. I used my lunch to pack, then after work I walked 5.5 miles (a special thank you to Mary T for catching up via phone with me for the first 4 – woo we caught up girl!). Then Austin was home – yay! We made some SIGNIFICANT progress, but stayed up too late again, and finally passed out at 11:30. An exciting thing happened though – the pool table moved! Woo! I heart the pool table movers (same ones who installed it 3 years ago). Nice guys – Reuben didn’t like them though (shocker). Austin said it looks GREAT at the new house though – can’t wait to see it! I ended the day at 1,629 calories, 258 carbs and 25 fat grams – not a bad day (pretty carby though) – here’s what I ate.

Today was great too – different. So I got to work all revved up to get stuff done! I ended up getting the bulk done! I even walked 3.5 miles during lunch. But then at 2 p.m. my boss’s boss sent an AIM – go home! Like – go home 3 hours early for Easter weekend! Eek – I wasn’t ready! I had JUST eaten my spicy southwest chicken wraps and was in the middle of an assignment! So I finished my work and headed out around 2:45. I wanted to go to the gym – but I was SO FULL. So I headed home hoping I’d go at 5 to work out (yeah right). I got in my PJs and got in bed- then Austin got home at 3:30 (off early for Easter too). So, alas, I omitted the other 2.5 miles and ALL the strength training I had planned and instead relaxed and packed with Austin. We even took a break and went to our fave pizza place Fellini’s for salads + cheese slices – YUM! Nice to get out. We are OFFICIALLY all packed up. (again, good thing - as if we had a choice!) The house is so mover ready – all stacked boxes and furniture ONLY – the rest was already taken up or is in my car now! (i.e. lamps, a bowling ball, trash cans, etc.). Afterwards we had some wine and discussed “the end of an era.” We’ve been in this loft for almost three years – we’re going to miss “the city” but we’re ready for the ‘burbs and know it’s only a cab ride away! So today I ended up at 1,680 calories, 190 carbs and 48 fat grams – not bad! (dinner had to be estimated though!) Here’s what I ate.

Below are some photogs from the last couple of days! But first a BEFORE shot (taken when we first moved in - but not much changed - just added more color with red!) :)




The inside of a pool table...


Going, Going...


Gone!



And now the legs are gone and it's back to our messy place with stuff everywhere!


Reuben, our furry snowball, was sad to see it go. He went over there several times throughout the remainder of the afternoon and laid in the place where it used to sit. He'd lay, flat bellied on the floor, and look up at the light - no longer blocked by the bottom of the table. Poor little fella lost a comfort zone! In other news - YES - he's super fluffy and we have an appointment with a new groomer on Wednesday! And back to photos of today...

Me and my pull truck. It's borrowed from work - i heart it. The last time I borrowed it to move I kept it for weeks taking groceries in and stuff. Austin thought I was crazy, as the neighbor strangers likely did too, but I thought it was fab - like my own personal wagon!

TA DA! Where the pool table used to live - woo!! I'm going to miss that view... bye bye Buckhead!



So we don't get Internet until Sunday - hopefully I can post some then but, in the meantime the in between time, HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND, talk to you all soon and hope to catch up on your blogs ASAP!!

Day 217 and 218: Moving has Made me an Emotional Eater

Happy Thursday, Ladies! I wanted to start this post by thanking all of you for your support! I know I’ve been quite the bratty blogger because, clearly, I have a difficult time handling packing/moving/etc.! Dailygoods is right – I have to enjoy this journey – I’m trying – and thanks to all of you for making it even more enjoyable!

To back up a little – Tuesday, like Monday, was pretty uneventful! Just working + packing + walking 5.5 miles – not bad! I ended up at 1,672 calories, 229 carbs and 33 fat grams – a good day! Here’s what I ate. Yes, I caved in the break room and had a mini brownie bite. Then I went back for another one. It’s like as SOON as stress hits I want chocolate or candy. Well, really, I want a cigarette, but I don’t want to pick that up again so….chocolate and sweets it is. I just feel like there has to be a better way!!!

Yesterday was a pretty good day! Stacy couldn’t walk – boo – but I did get in 4 miles at lunch (walked in the gym in my building so I could walk longer; usually we drive to our parent company’s gym because there’s more treadmills). Work was good – got done what I needed to get done and got oughta there! After work I headed to the gym for another 2 miles and chest/tris but I didn’t feel good again – so I left before my strength training. Had to go to the store for a few things… and I did the ultimate stress eat – I bought 4 airheads and ate them – like in the car on the way home (the car ride is maybe 5 minutes from the store with traffic – under a mile). Haha I just caved and had gotten myself all worked up and stressed. I must admit – the airheads were YUMMY! I just have to get a hold on this rando stress eating – I don’t think it’s healthy (not what I eat; but the fact that I resort to that sometimes when I’m worked up). Other than that – me and Austin made greek feta chicken and I fell asleep. Like on the couch at 7:30 p.m. I think my lack of sleep is catching up with me. I woke up about 30 minutes later – a little groggy – but helped finish packing until 11 (again) – boo. We got lots done though and I went straight to bed and got a GREAT night’s sleep – woo! I ended up CRAZY high on carbs (hello, airheads and late night cereal!) at 1,889 calories, 309 carbs and 20 fat grams. Here’s what I ate. Oh – and when I put this in my Spark People and clicked the ‘I’m done entering food, please give me feedback’ it said and I quote, “Get a handle on emotional eating. It isn't easy to learn new ways to deal with your emotions that don't involve food. Try our 10-step process to beat the emotional eating blues.” Haha I was like FOR REAL? LOL I clicked on it and followed the path to this article about emotional eating. Interesting, no? K – off to take advantage of my lunch break – trying to decide if I want to pack or walk!!

P.S. Do you think the new Old Navy commericials with manequins are hilarious or creepy? Or both? LOL I just saw one (the tatoo on his 'old legs') haha.

P.S.S. I ordered two chairs for our seating area and they were delivered to WORK not HOME. OMG so embarrassing! They're at home now though - and we put one together and it's so cute - love!

Day 215 & 216: Slacker Sunday and Moody Monday

So Sunday & Monday were pretty freaking lazy and uneventful! Haha Here’s the days in a nutshell!

Sunday

• I woke up feeling awful and decided to stay home all day and do nothing. Hehe
• As I walked to fridge around 2:30 p.m. unshowered with last night’s make up on I saw a bridesmaid’s dress receipt under the magnet… I’m supposed to go get my dress today. Like, I have no choice because the rest of my weekends are tied up.
• I brushed my teeth, packed some boxes, loaded the car in the rain, begged Austin to come with me promising him frozen yogurt and we were off – with Reuben to Lenox mall for yogurt, Duluth for the dress, then Alpharetta for unpacking, then… we made a detour and got awesomely greasy Mexican food to go. I got chicken nachos – O. M. G.
• Got home, ate, felt like crap because I ate too much, watched crap TV and just had a wash of a day! Part of me feels bad for this – part of me really enjoyed it!
• I weighed 112.5
• I had 1,662 calories, 191 carbs and 63 fat grams. BAD calories though, too high on carbs and too many fat grams (what happens when you make nachos the majority of your daily intake).
• Here’s what I ate.
  

Monday

• Woke up feeling okay – kind of blah.
• Walked 3.5 miles at lunch.
• I worked on my scrapbook room – still can’t decide what I want in there and what I’m willing to spend.
• Didn’t go walk 2 miles and do abs after work like I was supposed to – eek!
• Instead I cooked and/or prepped: 6 servings of potato/egg/sausage burritos, 4 servings of curried chicken salad, 4 servings of bacon/egg/cheese muffins; and 2 servings of pita pizzas (for dinner) and tomato basil pasta bake, Thai chicken curry, Greek feta chicken, Blackened Chicken Pasta, Sweet & Sour chicken and sweet potato fries.
• I didn’t finish cooking until 11 – dang! Then I passed out.
• I weighed 113.
• I had 1,643 calories, 209 carbs and 41 fat grams
• Here's what I ate.

I’m feeling all anxious about the move. I don’t know why – I just keep thinking about everything that needs to be done and it’s making it hard to focus at work and hard to get a good night’s sleep! Other than that I’m SO over this weather. Hot Saturday, snow flurries today – BLAH! I’m ready for some warmth! No tights in April – come on!

My Seventh Month: March 2009 Monthly Assessment

By the Numbers

Pounds Lost: .5 (114.5 to 114)
Highest Weight: 116.5
Lowest Weight: 112
Pounds left to Lose: 0
Posts: 20
Days Worked out: 18
Miles of cardio: 83.5
Great Nutrition Days: 22
Low Nutrition Days: 0
High Nutrition Days: 9
Injuries: none!
Days out for injury: 0
Vacations: 2 bachelorette parties – does that count?
Days out for vacation: If so, 4!
Day worked out during vacation: 0

Interesting Charts

March Weight



March Calories



Yay! I’m proud of my weight maintenance and getting in my (almost) 84 miles even though we’ve had a lot going on! Also – I’m glad I hit my goal of 113, and managed to stay at or under 115 every day but three times! Woo! Granted, I didn’t weigh every day this month (too many get overnight get togethers). I will say I was disappointed in how much I let strength training go – I just need to be better about making it a priority!

A Look Back: March Goals

1. Have 7 or less days over 1,700 calories. I had lots of over days – eek! This was just one of those months with lots of drinking and two bachelorette parties and a trip to Alabama for a shower – just no way around it – boo.

2. Weigh 113 five days this month. Non-issue – the weight went great this month. I truly hope it’s not because I slacked on my strength training though… April will be better! I’m motivated to do better. DONE

3. Walk 84 miles. I walked 83.5 – so I’m going to say… DONE haha (it's SO close!)

4. Introduce 3 new recipes. I’m SO HAPPY with the new recipes – woo! DONE

5. Update the home blog 5 days/week. DONE I really enjoyed this and have been keeping up with it easily. Austin said he’s glad we’ll have it to look back on the whole process one day!

6. Read 2 books. DONE I started out the month as a reading machine… then I let it slide. I’m going to pick up the mucho reading again in May!

7. Take back the rest of the stuff we don’t want/need. IN PROGRESS We’re moving a few things with us we don’t want/need but I’m thinking May will be the time to get it gone!

8. Buy a house/pack! DONE/IN PROGRESS It’s going great – we’re THRILLED, as you know. :)

9. Organize recipes; print them out and bind them. DONE It’s totally version 1 of many but I did it and I’m glad. Now we’re making handwritten notes in it to make the next version even better!

10. Organize 2 weeks of meal plans; print them out and make grocery lists for each. IN PROGRESS I started… but didn’t finish. I’m going to move this over to May!
You probably noticed a lot of ‘in May’ up there… I’ve decided to do what I want to do – focus on the house in April! Based on my urge to get our home ready, but still keeping in mind the other things I want to do, here are April goals!

A Look Ahead: April Goals

1. Have 7 or less days over 1,700 calories.
2. Weigh 113 10 days this month.
3. Walk 84 miles AND do strength training 3 days/week (day 1: chest/tris; day 2: abs/legs; day 3: back, bis, shoulders)
4. Introduce 2 new recipes.
5. Update the home blog 4 days/week.
6. Read 1 book and 3 home décor magazines.
7. Make a headboard for the guest bedroom (eeee!)
8. Refinish TWO dressers and get new hardware.
9. Decide once and for all which Ikea items I want for my scrapbook room!
10. Make a list of items I want for the house; prioritize them; SAVE money for them!

I'll go drop these in the sidebar now! I'm a little worried about April – but not too bad. I just know that this week will be hectic finishing up packing. Thursday the pool table moves. Saturday we move. I can’t believe Saturday night will be spent in our new home! Eeee! Then comes Easter. Then the following weekend my parents are coming to town – yay! They’ve never really gotten to stay with me (the loft doesn’t really make for a cozy overnight stay for out-of-town guests). I can’t wait! Then the next weekend is OPEN, then it’s off to Enterprise for Megan’s wedding – woo! So I can see how this month could be a little crazy…. Especially if the pollen ends up making me sick… But I know I’ll just need to focus and keep up my walking and eating right and just do a little bit on the house and on myself each day! I can’t wait you guys – April is going to ROCK!!! Do you have any goals for this month? Are you pumped for Spring?

Day 212 – 214: Catching Up (again) with Photos – Lots of Packing, Moving and Hardwood Fun!

So Thursday (AKA work-from-home day) went well. I (almost) got caught up on work. Instead of working out during lunch I packed and loaded the car to the brim. I know – I can’t help it – I’m feeling behind and that feeling makes me queasy! After work I made pita pizzas and hit the gym for a quick 3.5 mile walk, then ran upstairs, grabbed Reuben and the pizzas and we headed to the house to meet Austin! He had the oven ready so we popped in the pizzas, set a timer and unpacked the car! We got everything in it’s new place, ate and headed back home – woo! Great day! I ended up at 1,699 calories, 256 carbs and 34 fat grams – here’s what I ate!

Friday was pretty hectic at work – and instead of working out during lunch I had a much-needed and much-enjoyed lunch with my girls! (M & Stacy) We went to Outback – yummy salmon and a baked potato – fab! It upset my stomach though. Boo. Had to go straight home from work instead of the gym… once I got here there was no going back – I was sucked into packing, packing, packing. Austin was feeling the bug too (or perhaps he was finally feeling my kicks in his ass) and he packed a bunch too – then we headed out at 8 p.m. for Home Depot for a bunch of lame stuff. We got there and got to work on getting a blower, hedge clippers, a weed eater, a vacuum cleaner, 2 hoses, 2 hose boxes, a lawn mower and an extension cord. We were barely halfway through when the store closed – WHAT?!! We start racing around trying to get the rest of the stuff and had a hard time in the vacuum cleaner section. We finally buy one at random (i.e. one not on my list of ones I researched; figured we might just have to take advantage of the 30-day return policy) and head to the front. We’re checking out (yes, the power is off and they’re having to pry the doors open to let you out) and the guys like, “Wow kids, you got everything but a lawnmower.” We’re like yeah… we ran out of time. He’s like, “oh no – let’s go get one now!” So he has the girl put our stuff ‘on hold’ then we run over and he very helpfully walks us through all the brands and talks it out with Austin and we leave with a cute red Toro hehe... all I could think of was Bring it On! We check out, they load up the car (by the way – our biggest car is my PT cruiser hehe – but I can make that thing WORK – the seats aren’t even in it!), shake our hands (so nice!) and tell us to come back! We tell them we WILL – great experience! Afterwards we head to Wal-Mart for a few things we didn’t have time to get (hoses, hose boxes, gas container, hose nozzle, etc.) and check out lawn furniture – then it’s time to go back to the house to unload then back home to SLEEP! Wonderful, productive day – and now Austin has tons of shiny new toys! I ended the day exhausted at 1,529 calories, 196 carbs and 27 fat grams! Here’s what I ate!

Austin's New Toys!


My New Toy!



Saturday Austin insisted I sleep in so he left at 7 a.m. to meet the hardwood installers at the house. I slept in “as long as I needed to” which ended up being 9:30 a.m. I got up, had a breakfast burrito and got to work loading up what we packed last night, and packing more. I finally headed up to the house sans Reuben – I couldn’t wait to see the floors! When I got there it was so exciting! The yard was full of machines and vans and wood and people – they had a 6-man crew there working quickly getting those floors IN! Austin had put together all of his toys and started on yard work. I got out the cleaning supplies, the chicken/white bean chili and diet pepsis ready to work! I headed upstairs and Austin helped me put together the vacuum cleaner (he did it; I watched and chatted). Then I vacuumed the entire upstairs, used an attachment for the stairs and all the baseboards and fans. I wiped down all of the mirrors, cleaned both bathrooms, cleaned all windows, etc. It took forever - but I KNOW it’s super clean – I’ve never seen so much nasty come out of a vacuum cleaner (and the place was professionally cleaned – you could tell – but still – this Bissell is AMAZING!!!) When I got done Austin had finished mowing, edging and clipping the hedges, and the guys were wrapping up the hardwoods – they look great!! We were worried – match jobs don’t always turn out right. But this one sure looked great and we’d highly recommend Emperial Hardwoods!! They were courteous, clean and quick – they even helped us pack up the PT with debri (we didn’t want to pay the $250 charge) and gave us gloves! Haha So at 7 p.m. we headed back home – we needed to get the debri out of my car, go buy boxes and packing paper and get ready to go have a few drinks at Hudson Grill with Mon and Andy. Well… we drive up to the 4th floor trash shoot, open the door and VOILA – a room full of broken down boxes with three tidy Pottery Barn bags of packing paper – SCORE! We took out there stuff, threw in our stuff and raced down the hallway to get showers. We finally got to Hudson at 9 or so but it was so fun to see them and catch up and Lauren and a few others were there – blast! I had a high day (I mean really – could alcohol have more calories and add up more quickly?) but it was worth it as always – great night!! I ended the day at 1,956 calories, 226 carbs and 27 fat grams. Here’s what I ate.

Our Day in Pictures!

This is how I pack... hehe


The wood is in and ready to go!


Yay! Laminate and carpet are gone!


An aerial shot. hehe

Living Room: BEFORE


Living Room: DURING

Living Room: AFTER!!!

Dining Room: BEFORE

Dining Room: DURING

Dining Room: AFTER!!!!

Den: BEFORE


Den: DURING


Den: DURING

Den: AFTER!!!

Shot towards whole kitchen!

Pretty trees are coming in!

We took this picture from the master bathroom - I just think the backyard is so pretty!

That's it so far you guys! It's going so well - we're VERY excited!! Just can't wait for the big move with movers Saturday - woo!!! I must go do my monthly assessment and April goals now! Eek!