Just because...

Nope, not any sort of anniversary...

but just because...
he thinks I'm special. What a lovely surprise, beautiful flowers hand delivered by Scott.

Um, yeah, I'm partial and I don't care...I have the sweetest husband.

And look at all the different flowers...






This is a special addition...a monkey tail...it played a prominent roll in our wedding. :)

we aren't sure what this one is...but I'm sure something just as fun as the rest.


Ps. Who noticed the huge tire and knee board on the couch behind the flowers? Yep, that's what every true Student Ministries office should have on the couch at all times. You just never know when you'll need either.

Not that you care...

This mornings workout consisted of:

• 40 minutes on the treadmill walking/running intervals
• 5 sets of 12 of the following: angled leg press/side lunges with taps/step ups with 10 lb weights in each hand.
  

I was quickly and forcefully reminded of this workout as I was going upstairs to the break room. Ouchy. Talk about getting my butt kicked this morning. Felt good though. Wonder how Scott's leg's are feelin' right about now?

Also this morning, I enjoyed another (in a very long line) bowl of over night oats. Have you tried this great concoction yet? It's so tasty and so easy and saves time in the morning.

All you do is, before you go to bed or after dinner (whatev's), mix up a bowl of equal parts oats and your liquid of choice, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. I like to do a half cup of oats and a half cup of almond milk (Scott likes chocolate almond milk). My friend Rachel uses water. Whatever. Trust me, in the morning, your oats are fluffy and yummy and you don't even have to cook anything on the stove. Some mornings I pop mine into the microwave to heat them up a bit, especially if I add in some peanut butter.

Oh yeah, speaking of peanut butter, I cannot forget to mention the toppings. They are endless! And the best part! I add in fruit and nuts and whatever I want and love on my regular oatmeal. Lately I've been on a canned pumpkin kick (must be Fall), so I've been mixing in a half cup (two good sized scoops) of the yummy stuff and then adding in extra pumpkin pie spice...nummy! I also add in a half cup of cottage cheese to get some good protein in there. And do not(!!) forget the nuts, they are SO GOOD in overnight oats!

So...there ya go! I'll post a picture sometime...but it's not very pretty, just VERY tasty! I should mention that Scott loves the stuff too, it's not just me or just a gender thing. :)

Dangerous, I tell ya

Dangerously good that is.

I don't suck.

Ever feel like your the worst employee ever?

Like your not really sure why they hired you?

A bit unsure of why they are still employing you?

And, come to think of it, sure they are going to fire you any second?

Yep, that's about how I'm feeling right now.

"I suck" keeps running through my head.

It's not true. I'm trying to remind myself that I made a mistake and that doesn't mean I suck.

I'm reminding myself that through these kinds of situations all I can do is learn and move on. And while moving on, I can put into practice what I learned.

But I still kinda think I suck. Just sayin.

I love when I ...

1... bite into a wedge from one of these little cuties to find that they are in fact seedless. Yay and phew!2... buy my husband and I each our own bunch of banana's (can you guess who's bunch is who's?)
3. discover new yummy yogurt (especially LOVE it when it's from a local dairy)
4a... get to look at this lovely view...4b.... from this fun little place...4c... while enjoying the last of the smoked salmon for the season (well, at least that is what our waitress informed us)...4d... with this wonderful guy...4e... and a tasty drink.4. get to wind down the weekend enjoying a dinner that is delicious AND nutritious (spaghetti squash with ground turkey, asparagus and mushroom spaghetti sauce).
5. get to dry the dishes while Scott washes them. Time in the small confines of a kitchen always makes for great conversation...and teasing. (but not picture taking)

Speaking of picture taking. I REALLY love when I hang out with great friends and enjoy great wine, food and conversation and then forget to take any pictures... (sense the sarcasm much?)

What is that all about?

Yeah, well, I really gotta work on that. (Sorry Beks! Sorry Dawn!)

A good little article to share

I just read this great little article that I knew I had to share with you...it goes quite nicely with my last post and what I'm working on doing in my personal life these days.

A Self-Care Buffer Zone
By Michelle May, MD

Do you over-diet the way you over-eat? In other words, do you focus on eating instead of fueling your life? (yes, how'd you know?)
If you’re fixated on dieting, it’s easy to miss the most important goal: optimal health. Optimal health is not a certain dress size or even the absence of disease. It is wellness of your body, mind, heart, and spirit. Fortunately, the more you care for your whole self, the easier weight management becomes. Here are some ideas for building an effective self-care buffer zone.

Your Body:

• Schedule a check-up.
• Do something active to increase your flexibility, stamina, or strength.
• Take a hot bath or long shower to relax and unwind.
  
• Give yourself a manicure, pedicure, or facial.
• Treat yourself to a massage or a new hairstyle.
• Wear clothes that are attractive, comfortable, and fit your current size and shape.
• Clear clutter and create a pleasant space that helps you feel happy and calm.
• Plant a garden and grow fresh vegetables, herbs, or flowers.
• Spend time in nature walking, hiking, or sitting.
• Download 101 Things to Do Besides Eat

Your Mind:

• Challenge yourself to think positively and powerfully.
• Give your brain a map to follow by setting inspiring goals.
• Learn a new skill or language.
• Do brainteasers and play challenging games.
• Be creative; experiment with art, crafts, and hobbies.
• Listen to music, sing, or play an instrument.
• Take classes online or at your local community center or college.
• Participate in stimulating discussion groups (like this one!).
• Travel—or explore areas close to home like museums.

Your Heart:

• Accept yourself as you are right now.
• Embrace the full spectrum of emotions for the depth and richness they bring to your life.
• Spend quality time with your family and friends.
• Schedule a date night to build intimacy with your partner.
• Identify your feelings by writing in a journal or talking with a trusted friend or counselor.
• Set appropriate boundaries for healthier relationships.
• Assert yourself to let others know how you feel, what you think, and what you need. Accept that beyond that, you can’t control what other people think, feel, or do.
• While it’s not possible or even desirable to eliminate stress, learn to manage it.
• Practice forgiveness. Harboring anger and hurt is harmful and eats up precious emotional energy.
• Be vulnerable. This deepens intimacy and frees you from the need to be perfect.
• Seek coaching, counseling, or therapy if needed for emotional support and to build coping skills.

Your Spirit:

• Practice mindfulness. Be fully present in whatever you’re doing—eating, talking, working, playing—to experience pleasure and meaning.
• Renew and restore yourself through prayer and meditation.
• Schedule time for your inner work. Know yourself, your values, and your purpose.
• See your problems as opportunities for learning and growth.
• Reclaim peace and joy even as you face challenges.
• Look for the good in others; it’s there somewhere, just waiting to be nurtured.
• Volunteer and give back to your community by helping others.
• Write down all you are grateful for.
• Practice kindness without any expectation of receiving something in return.
  

Remember, the purpose of eating is to fuel your healthy, balanced, fulfilling life.

Let's change, shall we?

I'm a healthy weight.

I've been overweight.

I've been underweight.

Now, I think I'm at a healthy weight.

Notice I said think.

I still can beat myself up with the best of 'em when I eat the "wrong" things or miss a day at the gym. I still have days where I hate my body and think I'm fat. I am so good at beating myself up on a regular basis. I have moments when I think I could/should be smaller than I am. I still worry about what people are going to think of me now that I've gained a bit of weight. And oh my goodness, what is my husband going to think?

But...I'm working on this. I don't want to think I'm at a healthy weight, I want to know that I'm at a healthy weight and actually, truly feel good about my body. I don't want food guilt or gym guilt.

So...I'm a work in a progress.

I'm working on changing this inner chatter I hear every day, every hour, every minute...this inner berating of myself.

I'm working on changing how I view myself and what is behind the daily decisions I'm making.

I'm working on enjoying the life the Lord has granted me and not wasting it with worry, guilt and regret.

I'm working on eating to be healthy and not eating to be skinny.

I'm working on going to the gym and being active so that I can stay active for the rest of my life and be a healthy wife, mom, grandma some day....not so that I can fit into a size 0.

I'm working on believing my husband when he tells me he thinks I'm sexy. (thanks babe!)

I'm working on believing family and friends when they tell me I'm looking healthier than I have in a long time.

I'm working on believing myself when I say that I am feeling better, happier, and more content than I have in a long time.

I'm working on chatting with the Lord when the chatter gets above a dull roar in my head.

I'm a work in progress...and very happy and proud to be!

I hope we all can be works in progress if we have too much inner chatter that beats us down and is not truth. We are all beautiful, each in our own way. Let's work on reminding each other of this.

Thanks for letting me share.

Check out this video. It's crazy what is happening out in this crazy world when it comes to body image and advertising. Disgusting actually.




LIFE IS GREAT! ENJOY IT!

Another Hood 2 Coast down!

A VERY looooooooooooooooooooooooong over due post.

Here are a few pictures from my 6th year of participating in Hood to Coast:
Our team, the Killer Snails!
The starting line up at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood
The 6 peeps in my van, the first van.
The hand-off
That's me.

Ryan showing off his fancy schmancy nike shoes.
two of the great and fun gals in our van.
My fave cyclist coming to cheer us on at the 2nd major van exchange.

I didn't take any more pictures til the beach...I think I was in too much pain...
(these are kinda outta order...just sayin)

My rad running mates for H2C 2010
My new shirt and medal to add to the collection.
the fab husband
crossing the finish line
My daddy-o
my blister.

There ya go and there ya have it.

Why must we watch this again?

There are a few shows that Scott likes to watch that just don't make sense to me. To explain, he doesn't go searching for them or know the nights they air new episodes, he just watches when he comes across them while channel surfing which I think makes it all the more exciting to him. It's like discovering gold or something, I don't know. But I don't get them. At all. I'd rather read a book than watch them.

Please don't get me wrong though. I love my husband. I really, honestly, very much, madly, deeply, truly love this wonderful guy who loves me and is better at cleaning up than I am. But sometimes, I just don't get how or why he enjoys watching these stupid shows.

I don't know why we have to watch people do stupid tricks in a minute, or get beaten by large foam covered mechanical arm thingy's and fall into water a hundred times over, or watch as people drive around in a cab answering money for cash? This is good entertainment? Apparently to a whole lot of people out there, it is. The fact that these shows are on the air and have been for a while means that there must be other people watching. And I guess it goes back to the differences between girls and boys, girls playing with barbies and boys playing with trucks and little green military men. Girls playing house and dress up, boys playing war and pulling pranks. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus ring a bell?

So when he pauses on one of these shows, I hope against hope that he truly is only pausing and will continue on to find something a little more involved, a little more challenging to the mind, a little more...interesting, perhaps. But, even though I sit hoping, I have to take note that the pause is growing longer and longer...and now he's watching a show that he enjoys, that makes him laugh, that lets him sit back and relax and let go of a long day. Ultimately, that is all that matters. I think I can handle that. Goodness knows I do and enjoy things that he finds ridiculous and a waste of time, and he handles that very well...probably a lot better than I do.

I will note, though, that I think he likes seeing my reaction every time he starts to watch one of these shows. I look at him with a "Really??" look...then when he hasn't changed the channel yet, I follow my look with "Really? Your gonna watch this? This show is stupid" (I'm terrible, aren't I?). This is usually said over his laughing because 1) something "funny" has happened on the tv and 2) he loves getting reactions out of me. He's such a stinker. This is all followed by one of us giving in and then teasing the other for while...it's a great little cycle.

PS. I KNOW there are girls that enjoy these shows too, it's not just for the male species. I am just not one of them. Nope, I'm not.

Take The Money And Run

So, today was a big day.

Scott closed down his bank account and joined mine.

We now have a shared checking account.

And savings account.

We ordered checks with both our names on them.

One word I have for this: CRAZY!

Okay, it's not crazy, people do this all the time, I know this. But, like most of you reading this blog, I've always had my own account. That's how it goes when your single and living on your own. You do your own thing...worry about yourself, take care of yourself, pay for yourself. You (hopefully) know exactly what you'll see whenever you sign into your online banking. And no one else looks at it but you. Then you get married. You have to shift your thinking to know/remember that someone is going to be seeing all your charges and that you'll be seeing all their charges. You have to shift your thinking to remember to discuss large purchases with someone other than your other self. And that, my friends, is a bit of a shift to make.

To be honest with you, it kinda freaks me out...just sayin.

I mean, I was still working on talking about all the things we each were buying and fine with the fact that I didn't know every last little thing he bought and visa-versa. Now? Now...he's gonna know, I'm gonna know, all of us in this little two person family are gonna know. (God already knows so I'm not mentioning him)

I honestly don't mind this at all, I've been wanting and wishing to do this for awhile now. It's been hard having two accounts and not fun asking questions like "Are you paying?" or "Want me to write you a check for half?" I just don't like that and I'm glad to not have to deal with that anymore. We are married, for crying in the night! We have enough awkward moments as it is, let's not add to it, okay?

I know it goes with out saying but it's something that I think is pretty normal to worry about when sharing a checking account with someone and what I'm going to have to remind myself from time to time: Scott is not going to judge me and he will still love me no matter what purchases he sees. I mean, I'm not planning on judging him and I DEFINITELY will still love him no matter what I see (especially if I see a charge from Tiffany's or Nike).

We've talked about a few ground rules that come along when two people are using the same account. We have chosen a set amount that we can't spend over without discussing with the other person first. We have discussed what to do when it comes time to buy gifts. We've chosen the bill payer. Me! Yay! Yep, I did just say yay about being the bill payer. I'm weird, what can I say. I especially love setting up online payments and going down the list once a month making sure everything is payed. Side note, I really hate writing checks with a passion. Hate it so very much, it's not even funny. Weird maybe, but not funny. For some reason, it stresses me out to write out the amount and make sure it's to the correct person and having to write my signature. Oh how I hate my signature...even my new one.

Back to the topic at hand. I suppose I just need to leave it alone for now. I mean, let's be honest, it has only been a few hours...and I'm still processing...and no one has looked at the account but me and no one has spent anything but me, so it's not that huge of a deal just yet (and not at all saying it will be). I just thought I'd share all the crazy thoughts in my head, be honest with the maybe 5 of you that actually read this. I'll keep you posted about the future of this shared checking account business. I'm sure (not really) that it will (won't) be interesting.

Funny little story to cap this boring post: when we ordered checks with both our names on them my name was listed over Scotts. For some reason (maybe you can chalk it up to the old fashioned girl in me) I thought it just didn't look right so I asked them put his name first. I probably owe it to him, anyway, since my name came first on almost all the wedding things we had printed or created. I also had them print out his middle name instead of just using his initial. He goes by his middle name, it should be printed out. I don't think the gal helping us liked me much after that.

A few more pearls of wisdom...that aren't mine.

"True power is the ability to say no!" - from an email devotional I get daily. Too good, and true, not to share.

And another little nugget of truth that was too good not to share:

“Be careful of your thoughts, they may become words at any moment.”

― Iara Gassen

I sure do think he's great

A short text conversation with my husband today:

me: So what are you up to the rest of the day?
scott: going grocery shopping.

How can I not love this guy? Seriously.