Joyous News!!

Congratulations to Angie and Andrew on the birth of Evelyn Marie! I am so excited to meet her and share in your joy!

Matt left for softball camp early this morning. I half-awoke to say good-bye and then slept for a couple more hours. Berkeley and I went for a walk and then I headed out for the day. I'm at work right now and have a couple things to get done and plan to meet Sarah and mom for lunch in a little while. It is nice to have a day without too many specific plans.

I plan to spend this evening alone in my house just enjoying the solitude. Sarah is coming over tomorrow with desires to learn how to back a pie from scratch (crust and all) and scones. She also mentioned desires for chicken pot pie, but we may put that on the back burner until the weather is more appropriate. She shared with me a recipe for brownies made with Guinness that we may be trying. My co-workers will likely enjoy the fruits of our labor :)

I am out of town the next three weekends (KC, then Springfield, then STL) and August is sure to fly by with something to look forward to every weekend.

Summer Fading...

This summer is just flying by. The month of July especially. Matt and I have had guest each of the last three weekends (his parents, then his sister and family, then our friends Andrew and Amy). It seems we have spent each week looking forward to a fun weekend and the weeks just keep rolling by. This weekend I get the house to myself as Matt heads to softball camp in Wayne with his players. As of right now the only plans I have are to cook with my sister on Sunday. She sent me and email and said that she is interested in learning how to make scones and chicken pot pie (an interesting summer choice, but we can go with it) and wanted to enjoy some sister time by getting together with me to cook/bake this weekend. I have a Guinness Brownie recipe I have been wanting to try so we may throw that in also.

Saturday has left itself nicely open for me. I plan to spend the day catching up on some paperwork, getting some things done so I can start classes this fall, possibly setting up my study room in our small guest bedroom, reading (trying to finish HP and the Half-Blood Prince so I can see the movie) and working on a couple of crafting projects. I anticipate spending the entire day in solitude and plan to thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

Matt and I will be out of town each of the next two weekends and then I will be gone the weekend after that so I plan to thoroughly enjoy a weekend of no guests, no travel, and a quite house.

We will just have to see how Matt enjoys a weekend of teenagers. He may go into hiding for a few days when he returns :)

This week has definitely gotten away from me. We leave for Washington, DC on Wednesday and I have been preoccupied with planning. I'm going to try to blog while we are on the trip, but we are not planning to take a laptop with us (we have an iPod Touch we can use for internet access if needed) so blogging might not be very convenient. We made a huge purchase on Friday night for the trip - a Canon Rebel XS Digital Camera. I've been wanting one for awhile and am very excited. I spent a good deal of time today checking out the different features and making lots of notes in the manual. I'll have some fantastic photos to show when we return.

Matt and I went to see OAR with Dan and Becky last Sunday. Omaha and the surrounding area was under a Tornado Watch for most of the day and there were various thunderstorms around. We ended up heading over to Westfair and the weather was PERFECT! It started raining and lightening during the very last song, but up to that point it was wonderful. We wore jeans and sweatshirts and sat on a huge blanket. The concert was great. OAR is one of the only groups I listen to where I can honestly say that I like each and every song on their albums. U2 is definitely my all-time favorite band, but they have produced some songs I don't care for.

Matt and I planned on a nice calm night on Friday and ended up doing a bit of partying. We met at NFM to purchase our new camera, and Matt told me Pell and called and asked us to stop by and feed The Bubbs. Unfortunately, the key to their apartment was at our house. So we headed that way, picked up the key and plugged the camera battery in to get charged up, and then headed back east. We stopped at Fundruckers for some dinner (I decided that I prefer Burger Star) and then headed to P and B's apartment. The Bubbs is usually very elusive when we are around and he was very confused when we walked in the door before disappearing to the bedroom. Matt went into the kitchen to feed him and found his food bowl and water bowl turned over and the rug they sit on disheveled. I stepped into the bathroom to check on the litter box and found that he had pushed all of his litter to one side - obviously he was not happy about being left. We hung around for a little while because we were waiting for my sister to call and The Bubbs actually showed up for a belly rub. He loves to flop over in the middle of the floor and wait for someone to pay attention to him. I joined the exclusive club of insiders who The Bubbs trusts for a belly rub.

After Sarah called we drove by her new house and then headed to the Slowdown to meet up with Sarah and Jim. However, it was a little bit difficult to hear at there because they were hosting a live band so we headed to The Homey Inn for a little while. What a great, little, hole-in-the wall neighborhood bar.

Summer Weekend

Matt and I tried to remember this week the last time we actually went out for "date night" on a Friday night. This was a tradition we started when we were first married and every Friday night when neither of us have other plans we go out together. Sometimes we try new restaurants, and sometimes we got without old favorites. Sometimes we go do something else in addition to dinner.

Last night we tried out Ted's Nebraska Grill. A few weeks ago we got a $10 coupon in the mail for Ted's and thought we would try it out. The menu was really extensive (as long as you want meat) and both Matt and I tried the a bison burger - mine with guacamole, green chilis, and pepper jack and Matt's with bacon, cheese, bbq sauce. I really enjoyed mine and did not find the bison to be much different than beef - but the lower fat content keeps it from holding together as well - it was really nice and tender. The nice thing is we got the coupon back to continue using if we want to.

I headed to the gym for a consultation with my new trainer, Josh, this morning. We talked about the nutrition plan I will be following along with my exercise plan. I have my first workout with him on Monday. The nutrition plan and cardio plan are a new thing for me - my previous trainer just worked with me on weights but left cardio and nutrition up to me. I'm now eating 5 small meals a day and watching my protein, fat and carb intake at every meal. Tracking my meals will be a new thing for me and I am excited to see how it works.

We have a couple of errands to run today (Target, Hobby Lobby, etc) and may head to the Countryside Art Festival later.

I always find that it is easier to work out during the summer. Part of it for me is that January through April are insane at work and I essentially leave work late so I can come home and work more until I go to bed :(

But summer is so much better. I think the fact that we have so many more wonderful minutes of sunlight helps! I can work out after work, come home, shower, and eat dinner and it is still light out! I love it! My goal this summer is to work out at least 5 days per week and I think my goal is very realistic. I also manage to leave my computer at work for most of the summer which gives me more time for myself.

My first training session was cancelled yesterday because my trainer had difficulty with some travel plans and did not make it back into town. I'm really looking forward to getting it rescheduled. I did a mini-session with a trainer on Sunday and was pretty sore afterward, but it was a really good type of sore - a type of sore I haven't felt in awhile.

Matt and I have plans for a "date-night" this weekend and I am very excited. We typically reserve Friday nights for date-night, but we haven't made it happen in awhile. We have no plans on Friday so we plan to spend the evening together. it will be nice to spend an evening with my sweetie!

Resolutions

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to begin blogging more.
I even set a goal for myself that I would blog at least three times per week.
I thought this seemed like a reasonable goal.

Apparently not.

So I decided that before I get halfway through the year without blogging, I should get a start on that resolution.

On the subject of resolutions, I have also decided to get back on the weight loss kick I was on last summer. I have realized that my life is just far too out of control from January through mid-April to be too hard on myself about losing weight. I'll be happy with maintaining through the craziness that is interview days and file review time. Now that it is summer and my work life is much less crazy, I'll be returning to my weekly weigh-ins in Tuesdays because that seemed to work really well last time. I have hired a trainer at the gym Matt and I joined a few months ago, and I am committed to reducing my portion sizes and focusing on more fruits, vegetables, good proteins, and whole grains. I am trying to shed processed foods, and junk from my diet. I will always have weaknesses (salt for me), but I can learn how to control them.

We enjoyed a fun-filled and very busy weekend. I joined my friend and co-worker Mackenzie for some sushi at the Urban Wine Company and then sat in the THIRD ROW for a performance of Wicked! It was phenomenal! Amazing show, incredible cast - I would have watched it twenty times if I could have!

Saturday we enjoyed a nice trip to the farmer's market for tomatoes, salsa, cottage bacon, and ciabatta roles - YUM! I love, love, love the farmer's market. After we walked around, made our purchases, and enjoyed a gorgeous spring/summer morning, we met up with Pell and Bren for a trip to the Urban Wine Festival (hosted by the Urban Wine Company - are you getting the weekend theme, here?). We were able to taste several different wines and enjoyed more of a gorgeous day. Our day of fun did not end there though - we enjoyed a late lunch at M's Pub (yes, I had to have some lavosh!) and then headed to Lincoln for some Ivanna Cone and to watch my friend Michelle compete in a women's rollerderby match. I can honestly say it was my first rollerderby match - and I am very thankful that they included a demonstration of how it all works prior to the start of the match. Those girls are viscious! There was one girl taken off on a stretcher during the match and Michelle told us that two girls on her team are out with broken legs, and one is out with a separated shoulder - all caused by roller derby! Michelle's team did not win, but it was a unique and interesting event to attend.

We hosted a small gathering at our house last night and had a great night celebrating the beginning of summer with friends and family. Matt made some homemade ice cream (vanilla and maple-grapenut) and we grilled hamburgers, chicken, and sausages and everyone brought something to share! Fun times!

My camera is out of commission at the moment so I don't have any photos of our fun weekend to share :(

Back on the Wagon!

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs.
Last Weigh-In: 160.0 lbs.
New Weight: 160.6 lbs.
Total Gain: .6 lbs
Total Loss: 15.3 lbs.

Starting Weight: 175.9 lbs.

Last Weigh-In: 161.2

New Weight: 160.0
Loss during travel: 1.2
Total Loss: 15.9

I haven't weighed in for awhile. After returning from travel I relished time with Matt, and my trips to the gym grew few and far between and then the holidays hit and we got incredibly busy.

I returned to work after 12 wonderful days off and renewed my weight-loss journey. So, weighed in today ready to accept that I had probably gained weight.

However, I didn't gain - I lost. Which makes it a little bit easier to keep going - knowing that I didn't backtrack.

I gave my blog a makeover so it has a little bit if a "holiday" look to it. However, I am still insanely jealous of the blogs I read owned by bloggers who actually know what they are doing when it comes to blog makeovers. I wish I were more tech savvy.

I might be playing with it for awhile until I find something I really like.

Back from the silence

My sister informed me that I need to update my blog because I am not in California anymore. She is correct...it is 3 stinkin' degrees outside which is definitely not characteristic of most of California. Matt and I went to the Creighton basketball game with Dan and Becky last night and then went to Barley's Tiptop for some drinks. After driving them back to their car (we left it at California Pizza Kitchen after dinner so we only had one car downtown) we arrived home at about midnight. The gauge on our car indicated it was a balmy 48 degrees outside. I remember not buttoning my jacket when we walked out of the Qwest.

I woke up this morning to the sound of wind howling so I turned on the tv to find out what the temperature was and discovered it was 10 degrees. I think that was our high for the day. Matt and I headed out to do some Christmas shopping and froze running in and out of buildings. But, we got some very important Christmas shopping done! Ma tt talked to his sister this afternoon and they went from 60 degrees to 20 degrees in about 30 minutes!

I also finished decorating our hearth tonight. I started working on it last week and bought the finishing touches today. I included a picture below just for fun.

In January, our household is growing! Pell and Bren have decided to move back to the midwest and Omaha was on their list of possible cities to move to. Matt and I let them know that they would be welcome to move in with us until Pell finds a job and they are able to sell their house in Oregon. They have taken us up on our offer so we are gaining three roommates (they are bringing their cat with them) around January 25th! We are excited to have them close by and thrilled that they will be able to live with us while they figure things out! We will be spending some time over our holiday breaks getting the house ready.

I am working a 4 day work week this week (I'm taking Friday off to finish some Christmas shopping and get some things done) and then I only work Monday and Tuesday the following week. I love working in Higher Ed - especially Creighton because we were supposed to be off until January 2nd, but the university imposed a mandatory vacation day so I don't have to go back until January 5th. Twelve straight days off! And I need it - especially since we have plans to go to Shelbina for a few days and then thought we would head to Saint Louis because Gregg is home for the holidays and there is a Jameson baby we haven't met yet!

I have decided to give candy making a try this year and will be starting with english toffee. I bought a candy thermometer the other day and plan to make a batch sometime in the next week. I need to figure out when the humidity will be the lowest - maybe next Sunday since the high is supposed to be 5!