Memorial Day Weekend and a Recipe

Sometimes a weekend comes along that is just so full, it's almost perfect.  This Memorial Day weekend was that for me.

It all started on Friday when I had the chance to sub for a second grade class on field day.  It was so much fun!  Cheering kids on at the field, extra long recess, a movie, and popsicles were all a part of the day.  Weren't days like that the best in elementary school?  It was fun to be there for it.

Unfortunately, 7 hours of all that fun with a class full of very rambunctious second graders pretty much zapped all my energy for the night.  So Friday night (and Saturday morning actually)  I lazed around in our cool house and watched reruns of Dawson's Creek.  What could be better?  It has been in the 90s all weekend here, so staying in for a bit was necessary.

Saturday night is when the fun really started.  Luke and I had a little dinner-and-shopping date night, and then headed to his parents' house where we had a campfire.  The first of the year for us, and it felt like we were officially welcoming summer.

Sunday after church I headed to my parents house since they were grilling burgers and hot dogs for lunch.  My grandma and aunt were visiting, so we all ate on my parents' new patio and visited.  Mom had lots of good Prism-friendly food, including watermelon.  Since we can't have desserts on this diet, fruit is basically like candy to us, and the watermelon was one of the best things I've tasted in 4 weeks.  I'm going to have to buy one at the grocery store today for sure!

After that, Luke's aunt and uncle had a little party.  It was fun to hang out on their beautiful patio all afternoon!  We played Mexican Train for hours, ate delicious food, and watched baby Lilly take her first swim in the lake.

We were so tired by the end of the day, somebody (ahem...Luke) fell asleep on Lilly's blanket!

On Monday we were able to go to an Indians game with our brother-in-law's family.  And, no big deal, but we got to ride up to Cleveland in my dream vehicle...an Escalade! 

It was a hot, hot game!  90 degrees with absolutely no breeze.  But the Indians won, and it was a great game, so I'm glad we were able to go!  Our seats were also really close, which was great.

***

Before I sign off, I just wanted to share the recipe for the dip I made on Sunday.  It was so good, and healthy, too.  I found the recipe on Pinterest, but it was uploaded directly to Pinterest, so I have no link for it.  I thought I'd just type it out here since it's super simple:

Skinny Poolside Dip

Combine 1 can corn, 2 unseeded jalepenos - chopped finely, 1 diced red pepper, 1/2 can diced olives, 16 oz fat free cream cheese, and 1 packet Ranch dip seasoning mix.  Stir it all together and serve with crackers or tortilla chips.  My mom and I were able to eat it with our almond nut thin crackers, and it was even healthier that way.  This is definitely one I'll be making again over the summer, especially as the title says, for a day at the pool!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  But more than that, I hope we don't forget the sacrifices that have been made so that we could live freely.

Someone at Netflix Reads my Blog

Remember this post?

In the past year since I wrote it, it has remained one of my most popular blog posts according to Google Analytics.  

In the post, I wrote all about my love affair with a little show called Dawson's Creek.  I mentioned a few times (and I may have tweeted this a few times as well) that I wished Netflix would add it to their instant streaming shows.  

I guess someone from Netflix must reads my blog, because as of this week, Dawson's Creek is available for instant streaming! (Yes, I am totally sure my blog is the reason it's available.  Note the sarcasm)

Anyway, I just thought some of you 90's kids might be interested!  I know I've spent a good chunk of the past few days belly-laughing at how ridiculous this show is.

...Ridiculously awesome, that is!

In all seriousness, I can't believe how cheesy it all seems 14 years after the series premiered.  But I still love it!  

Anyway, enjoy the long weekend!  Please let me know if you were a Dawson's Creek fanatic too, and if you will be enjoying it on Netflix as your guilty pleasure, as I will be. 

Something Beautiful

Luke planted two rosebushes at our house a week ago.  I could not wait until they started to bloom, and have been checking them every day, impatiently awaiting their big debut.

Well, today was the day!  I walked around the front of the house and the roses had started to come out.  One in particular looked absolutely perfect to me.  And just like that, my day was made!

I'm so thankful for the beauty of creation, especially this time of year.  God is such an incredible artist.  I don't think anything man-made could even compare to the beauty of that flower.

What is the "something beautiful" God is blessing you with today?

Afternoon at the Greenhouses

My mom invited out on a spontaneous trip to a couple of greenhouses on Monday.  We stopped at a place called Lonardo's Greenhouse and also at Altiere's Home and Garden Center, both in Boardman.

It was such a peaceful afternoon looking through all the plants, admiring them and picking a few to take with us here and there.  I didn't really buy much, but my mom bought a flat of Impatiens that she is going to share with me!  I was really thankful and excited because I'm going to use them to put together some hanging baskets to hang on my porch.

It was a beautiful late spring day, and we stopped halfway through for an iced tea at Dunkin Donuts (not sweetened, of course...we added our own natural sweeteners that Mom jut happens to carry in her purse wherever she goes.  The things you do when you're on the Prism diet!)  Anyway, I hadn't had iced tea in about 6 weeks, so it tasted so good to me.  Definitely a highlight of my day!

I am so thankful to be able to spend quality time with my mom so often, and also that my allergies have improved so much that a day around flowers and pollen was enjoyable instead of torture!

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Mom!

Health Update

It's been awhile since I've updated on my health and the Prism Diet.  And for the most part, things are going great!

Let's talk about allergies first.  I feel like I have discovered a secret that everyone needs to know about!  My health has taken a complete 180 as far as my allergies are concerned.  A couple of months ago, I had to make sure I had my inhaler with me at all times, and would use it every 4 hours.  I'd wake up multiple times in the middle of the night having violent coughing fits.  I was completely congested.  We couldn't even open our windows, or else I'd pretty much be up all night, unable to breathe, and coughing like crazy.

About 3 weeks into the program with my chiropractor, things started really making a change.  I was not eating much sugar or dairy, and no wheat at all.  I was also taking a supplement called Antronex, which supports the liver and also the body's natural antihistamine function.  And now, 7 weeks after starting, I feel better than I have in over a year.  All without the help of allergy pills, more steroids, more antibiotics, or my inhaler.  I have no side effects!  I am still in awe.

Another reason I started going to the chiropractor was for my fertility issues.  I'm on a number of supplements to support my adrenal and thyroid glands, because they are not functioning properly.  And without going into too much detail, I'll just say that the supplements plus dietary changes have really gotten my body back to doing what it's supposed to be doing, and I'm really excited!

And finally, the other thing I wanted to "fix" was my stomach, and the major pain and cramping that I've been experiencing on and off for almost 3 years.   Unfortunately, we haven't quite nailed that one down yet.  We did discover that I'm very lactose intolerant (which I kind of already knew), so I'm really limiting my dairy consumption.  However, this weekend my stomach pains were the worst they've ever been.  I have been drinking a bit of Diet Coke, and adding Stevia or Ideal sweeteners to things.  So my guess is that it's either the caffeine or the sweeteners that are irritating my stomach, and I might just need to stay away from them.  I guess I just have a really sensitive stomach, and I'm going to have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life in order to avoid being sick all the time.

As far as weight loss goes, I've lost about 12 pounds since a year and a half ago, when I was my highest weight ever, but about 7 pounds since I actually started the program.  I feel great, and my clothes are fitting much better, and most of my pants are getting too big.  I am really excited about this, and it is great to not be dreading swimsuit season this year!  I a starting to run 3 days a week to get a little more toned as well.  My goal is to look the same, and be the same weight as I was on my wedding day.

Just to touch on the Prism Diet a bit...it's been difficult!  The diet is extremely strict and rigid.  However, I'm finding a lot of great things that I can still eat.  Here's an example of what I might eat on a normal day:

Scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast

A salad and some form of protein for lunch. For example, yesterday I had a salad of spinach, strawberries, sunflower seeds, and balsamic vinaigrette, with a few slices of leftover pork tenderloin.

For dinner I usually make some form of protein, vegetables, and a starch.  Last night I baked chicken marinated in this honey mustard sauce (it's like my favorite thing right now), sauteed yellow squash and onion, and brown rice.  

I also usually have a snack sometime in the evening.  Some examples of the snacks I've been eating lately are: grapes, strawberries, nuts, oatmeal, or anything with peanut butter (all natural) if I still have a lot of calories left for the day (I am trying to stay between 1,000 and 1,200 calories per day based on Prism's requirements).

Overall, I'm feeling great and seeing great improvements in my whole life.  From being able to go outside for more than a few seconds without wheezing for the rest of the night, to having softer hair and stronger nails.  I don't think I'll ever go back to my bad eating habits, because I feel like a new person!

Summer Lovin'

Okay, so it's not technically summer yet.  But it feels like summer, and classes have been over for 2 weeks.

This past week, Ohio seemed to finally make the shift from spring to summer.  We had been having a lot of dreary days and temperatures had been in the 60s and low 70s.  All of a sudden, something wonderful happened last week, and we've had sunny, beautiful days with the temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s.  This is my kind of weather!  To make things even better, look at the forecast for the next 5 days: 

Perfect!  I hope I can really take advantage of this perfect weather week.  I seriously don't think I've ever seen a 5-day forecast with no rain (or snow) predicted!

Last week was equally beautiful, and I spent it doing a lot of great things.  On Thursday morning, my grandma invited all of her (local) granddaughters over for brunch.  So I went with my cousins Sarah and Rachel, and of course the babies were there, too.  We had eggs, asparagus, fruit, all from Grandma, and delicious chicken salad made by Rachel.  And then we walked through the flower gardens and picked some poppys and just laughed at Hudson as he played in the dirt, and Elin as she wanted to pick every flower she saw.  

The best part of the day was that I realized that while at one point I may have been a bit jealous of my cousins and their adorable babies who are only 1 month apart in age, I now realize that God has blessed me so much in having close friends with adorable babies since I don't have my own.  

When we got home, I put my poppies in a little yellow vase, and have been enjoying them all week

Friday I had to sub, but when I got home I visited my grandma since it had been awhile.  We talked nonstop for 3 hours.  Lately, my grandma has been telling a lot of stories about when she was younger.  I have a fascination with all things old-fashioned or retro, so I love hearing these stories.  It was a fun afternoon.  It put me in the mood to watch Mad Men, so that's what I did for a good portion of the evening.  I love going out, but I also love spending Friday nights in, just chillin' at home.

Saturday was not spent just chillin', that's for sure!  It was a big shopping day spent in Pittsburgh at Ikea with my mom, sister, and brother-in-law.  We spent most of the day getting lost in Ikea, and had a great time, as always.  I didn't have any big buys, but I have been wanting to buy a tray for our big, square, coffee table for a long time, and I found the perfect one there!  I also bought a summery candle and this (faux) plant.  I put some of my old books there too, and I like the way it all turned out.  I have been trying to figure out what to put on that table for over a year, so I was happy.  After our trip to Ikea, we ate lunch at Chipotle, and I was basically in heaven.  Bless you, Chipotle, and your Prism-friendly-yet-delicious foods!

On Saturday night, my friend Kristin came over and we had a movie night.  We watched some cheesy thrillers from the 80s, and it was pretty fun.

Sunday was my mom's birthday so after church we all went to her house to celebrate.  Since my mom and I are both doing the Prism diet, we couldn't have a birthday cake.  Luckily, a friend had shared a link with me awhile ago about this raw cashew dream cake (which I made into bars, because I somehow lost all my pie plates in the move).  It was dairy-free, gluten-free, and sugar-free.  It contained almonds, dates, lemon, honey, coconut oil, cashews, and lots of raspberries.  And it is the best, sweetest thing I've eaten in the past 3 weeks.  I highly recommend this recipe!  Here is the link

We had a great afternoon, outside on my parents' beautiful patio they built last year, celebrating my mom's birthday.

This morning since I didn't have to sub, I decided it was as good a time as any to start the Couch to 5k program, which is one of my 30 before 30 goals.  I realized how out of shape I am when I felt like I was going to die at the end.  But I'm sure it will get easier as I get keep going. 

 I then spent the remainder of the morning working outside on our landscaping.  I don't think I ever shared a picture of the finished product after we mulched last weekend, so here it is.  Luke has been working really hard!  He even got a comment on Facebook that that's the best our (OLD) house has looked in 40 years!  We were pretty excited to hear that!  We recently planted some roses, too, because we need some serious color!  I can't wait until they start to bloom, and will definitely be sharing pictures.  

Well that is what I've been up to during the past few days.  I feel refreshed and renewed after the sort of horrible week I had the week before.  I am so excited to begin this summer, and see what amazing things are in store!  

30 Before 30

Here it is: the 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30 on November 6, 2014.  Most of them are pretty functional, but I made sure to throw a few fun ones in there, too.  I was careful to make sure that they are all attainable with the time-frame of 2.5 years.  I am really excited about this list!

1. Graduate with my masters in speech-language pathology
2. Walk across the stage on graduation day
3. Take a graduation trip
4. Find work in my field
5. Go on a 5-year anniversary trip with Luke
6. Go para-sailing
7. Go through at least 2 of Beth Moore's devotional Bible studies (I'm thinking I want to do Esther and David)
8. Finish reading through the Bible
9. Do the couch to 5k program
10. Run a 5k
11. Pay off all credit card debt
12. Pay off my car loan
13. Start saving for our "forever" house
14. Start looking for our "forever" house
15. Buy a dSLR camera
16. Decorate the whole house in lights for Christmas
17. Go camping
18. Maintain my weight, remaining the same weight I was on my wedding day
19. Make photo books for each year we've been married
20. Go blond (or blond-ish)
21. Go biking
22. Try kayaking
23. Create my own blog design
24. Try canning something
25. Go zip-lining
26. Eat at a restaurant that's been featured on The Food Network or Travel Channel
27. Learn ASL
28. Buy a pair of Toms
29. Pull off a surprise party for someone close to me
30. Pass the Praxis the first time