Front Closet Project

Half the reason for my lack of posting recently is the amount of projects we have going on in the house.  I wanted to complete a project so I could get the before and after posted.  We haven't fully finished two of the major projects going on in the house, so the complete "after" photo will have to come later.

It started with a thought.... "what are we really using our front closet for"  and a pinterest idea!





While I was gone in Minnesota for work, the closet went from this - I didn't take a "before" photo

[source]

to this

 the door and frame were taken out and the space was expanded slightly. 

then there was color! 

Next, furniture courtesy of Andrew's workshop!  Glad I married a handyman! 

I will try to post the final "after photo" shortly.  Andrew just finished putting up trim and staining this weekend.  Last thing to do is hang the hooks and call it finished!  I think this semi mud room will function a lot better for us in the long run.  It will give us a place to store shoes and boots and hang up jackets and bags!  

Recipe Wednesday- Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

A few weeks ago, our amazing neighbors gave us some zucchinis and cucumbers out of their garden.  I wish I had taken a picture of the zucchini before I cut into it, it was HUGE!  As soon as I saw the zucchini I knew what I had to do with it.  Clearly, Andrew was thinking the same thing I was.  When he called me that night to let me know he was headed home from work, I mentioned our neighbors gave us some zucchini.  He said, "I guess that means you will have to make some chocolate zucchini bread".  Already a step ahead, I had the bread done!

I cannot express to you how amazingly delicious this bread is.  Healthy, not so much.  Delicious, yes!





If you have a large zucchini, you will have enough to make 4 total loaves of bread.  I shred up the zucchini and freeze it so I can make another match of bread in the future. 


2 1/2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Cups packed, grated Zucchini
1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray two loaf pans with nonstick spray.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine Eggs and Sugar until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and Oil. Beat until well combined.

4. Blend egg mixture into flour mixture.

5. Fold in zucchini and chocolate chips.

6. Pour batter into two greased loaf pans.

7. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick pushed into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

8. Allow to cool for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Is Gratitude A Thing Of The Past

I really didn't intend for it to be almost two months in between posts.  I know I started typing a post previously, but I must have deleted it without publishing it.  Clearly, it was a really important post.  Life has been more than a little crazy lately.  Since my last post, Andrew was gone for part of a week, and I was gone for part of the next week for work.  We were home one week, but both working crazy hours, then we swapped out weeks being gone again in August.  In the midst of it all, we picked up another foster dog.  Sometimes life in our house feels like a circus! But, moving along to the post of the day.   

The subject of this post stems from a conversation Andrew and I were having with my parents over dinner last weekend.  It has taken me about a week to compile my thoughts on the topic, but I think I can finally put two semi calm, coherent sentences together on the matter.  I have to say, this is something I feel pretty strongly about.  I was raised on please and thank you; were you raised the same way?  I fear people have grown too busy for please and thank you as of late.  If I hold the door for someone, a smile and a thank you is appreciated.  I don't hold the door because I expect something in return, I do it because that is how I was raised.  Recently, we were out to eat and Andrew stood and held the door for several groups of people.  Not one of them bothered to turn and say thank you as they were passing through the door.  Does it take too much time to stop and say thank you?  Are you too distracted with the latest and greatest cell phone to peel yours eyes up and see who held the door so you didn't walk right into it?

The day to day thank you's kill me, but the ones that really get under my skin are the big, what I call obvious, thank you's.  I don't remember the last thank you we got for attending a wedding.  There are all sorts of stats out on how much it costs a wedding guest to attend a wedding these days.  While that thought doesn't always cross my mind, it does bother me that we took our day to spend with you and there is not a thank you given.  I took part of a day to pick out a wedding gift and wrap it nicely to present to you.  Yes, I realize the gift likely came from your registry, but there is still a process to determining which gift on the registry I'm going to pick.  I spent another twenty minutes of a Sunday standing in the card aisle at Target trying to find just the right card to go with the gift I picked out.  I say "I" because the gift picking out and card picking is left to me.  I enjoy it, and Andrew admittedly isn't a card person.  However, check the next card you get from us.... I promise you his signature will be on it.

Perhaps the thought behind the lack of a thank you note following a wedding is, we invited them, we gave them food, cake and dancing.  Perhaps you even provided free booze as well.  We gave our guests all these things, why do we need send them a card too?  Ok, maybe it isn't quite that obvious or harsh.  Perhaps the thought is, "we thanked them at the wedding".  Having been the bride, I can safely say our wedding day was a blur.  Sure, I remember who was there because I wrote out all the invitations and the table assignments.  Yes, we spoke to every single person in attendance at the wedding as we were dismissing them from the church.  No, I don't count that thank you as sufficient.

A recent reason I have heard for not sending out thank you's is that the person throwing the party simply doesn't have time.  I'm going to pause for a minute to let that really soak in with you.....  You had time to plan a party - compile a guest list, send out invitations, put together food, decorate, etc. But, you lack one to two hours to complete thank you notes when the party is done and the wrapping paper is sitting in the middle of the living room floor?  Perhaps, if you lack time to write thank you notes, you also lack time to throw a party.  Thank you notes are part of the party throwing package as far as I'm concerned.  Be it a wedding, baby shower, wedding shower, birthday party, bachelorette party, house warming party, graduation, etc. show a little gratitude to your friends and family for taking time out of their day to celebrate with you. A thank you note doesn't have to be a five paragraph essay.   A couple of sentences acknowledging someones attendance at the event and your appreciation goes a long way.   

Here is some additional food for thought, gratitude = respect.  Not saying thank you is disrespectful to those you should be thanking.  If I took my time to attend your party, you can take your time to tell me that it was meaningful to you.  Why do you invite the people you do to your parties?  I invite people because I care about them, I value their friendship and their place in my life.  When we compiled our invitation list for our wedding, we invited those whom we valued as friends and family members.  We invited those who mentored us along the way.  I wouldn't dream of disrespecting those we love and care about.
 
I'll leave you with a few additional things to mull over on the topic of gratitude.  Take these things into consideration be it on a daily basis, or the next time you host an event.

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others" - Cicero

"Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone" - Gladys Browyn Stern

"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other"
 - Randy Pausch

Why We Wait

Warning, this post may offend some of you.  If it does, we are all entitled to our thoughts and opinions, and these are simply a few of my thoughts.  

Recently, my newsfeed on facebook has been peppered with people announcing their pregnancy or welcoming their beautiful babies into the world.  With all the baby cuteness, it is enough to make my uterus feel lonely; feel like it is missing out on the party.  I frequently have an internal battle about wanting babies right now, and then reminding myself that really isn't what I want at this juncture.  Andrew and I are coming up on our three year anniversary this September, and I feel like some people find it mind boggling that we don't have kids yet.  We talk about kids, we know we want them, but we aren't ready yet.  I know, you are never ready.  But, I feel there are stages of readiness.     

Call it selfish, but we like our life right now.  We have the money and the time to work on our house, travel, go out to eat, go to the movies, go out on a whim with friends, or simply sleep in on the weekends.   I can't tell you how many weekends recently we have spent a good chunk of the day sleeping.  These are things you simply can't do when you have kids.  Right now, I don't want to get up at 7:00 on a Saturday morning because my child is hungry and wants to watch cartoons.  Rather, I would like to sleep in until 10:00 and get out of bed only because my body hurts from being in bed too long, and the dogs need to go outside.  With two recent nights of minimal sleep while our foster dog adjusted to being in our house, I had a glimpse of what not sleeping through the night would be like.  I didn't like what I saw; I like my sleep.  

Life is not a race; I'm learning this with each passing year.  When I was younger, I couldn't wait until I was 16 so I could drive.  Then, I couldn't wait until I graduated high school or until I turned 18 and could vote.  When I was 18, I couldn't wait until I was 21..... Once I hit college, peoples obsession seemed to turn toward getting married and having kids.  I felt like life became a race.  Get married, buy a house, have a baby, that was the way life was supposed to go, right?  I got married, we bought a house, and then we got a furry child. 

Recently, there seems to be an increase in the number of articles in news magazines discussing the declining American birth rate.  I find these articles refreshing rather than alarming.  Many of them point to the fact that people are getting married later in life, and therefore having kids later in life.  As a result, it seems people are also having fewer kids.  These articles calm my nerves and anxiety about feeling like I missed the baby boat.  I'm reminded that the boat hasn't completely left the harbor, it is simply circling around at a leisurely pace, waiting for us to decide when we would like to board.   

I wrote this post not to chastise those who had kids right away, but to encourage those who have decided to wait.  It often feels lonely in the world of waiting to have kids and I find comfort in knowing there are other couples out there like Andrew and I who have postponed parenthood.

Hard Work Does Pay Off

I think I mentioned in my last post that I hadn't really made any progress in the weight loss department.  At least, I hadn't made as much progress as I would have liked.  As I mentioned in that post, I was going to buckle down with my eating for a couple of weeks and see if that was the culprit.  Needless to say, I found the culprit of the pounds not dropping off. 

Two weeks ago during my morning training session, after another weigh in I wasn't pleased with, I told my trainer I needed to get serious about my diet.  I thought I could do my diet on my own, but I couldn't.  My trainer sat down and wrote out a meal plan for me and told me to stick to it as much as possible for the next two weeks to see how I did.  The meal plan consisted of the following:

Breakfast-
1 whole egg
2 egg whites (I use the carton of egg whites so I don't waste yolks)
1/4 C shredded cheddar cheese (low fat)
Packet of maple and brown sugar (low sodium) instant oatmeal
Coffee
2 Tbs. fat free/low fat creamer

Morning Snack-
Chobani Greek yogurt. 

Lunch-
Packet of tuna in water
Sandwich thin
pickles
Salad
2 Tbs. fat free ranch dressing

Afternoon Snack-
Coffee
1-2 Tbs. low fat half and half
1 wedge laughing cow cheese
1 bagel thin

Dinner-
Lean Cuisine meal containing a meat and less than 300 calories.
Salad
2 Tbs. fat free ranch dressing

The microwave meals were just for a short time to get things in check.  Slowly I will try to introduce low calorie meals back into my diet that I cook at home.  Portion control is a huge challenge for me.  When I thought I was eating one serving of something I made for dinner,  I was actually eating two.  Even healthy foods are bad for you if you eat too much of them.  

I stuck to the meal plan above almost exclusively for one week before my next weigh in.  At weigh in the following week, I was down 3.5 lbs!  In the three months I have been working with my trainer, I have lost a total of 16.5 inches.  In one week, I lost more weight than I have in the last year. Why? Because of my diet.  Because I wasn't being honest with myself about what I was eating.  There were a couple times during the last couple of weeks that I have gone out to eat.  The first time I was faced with making a healthy choice was over a lunch meeting at Jimmy Johns.  Rather than having my sandwich on delicious bread, I opted for an unwich.  While not as delicious as the bread, it seriously wasn't that bad and knocked about 500 calories off the sandwich. 

Another time I went out with Andrew for dinner to a local pizza place.  I had a couple of small slices of pizza.  The pizza is homemade with fresh ingredients and doesn't come out dripping with grease like most delivery pizzas do.  I just finished up week two of my new meal plan and will be weighing in again tomorrow.  I have made a few splurges this week, but I hope to continue seeing downward results on the scale.  

Let my trials be a lesson to anyone attempting to lose weight and not seeing the results you think you should.  Double check your diet.  Use the MyFitnessPal ap and track everything, and I mean everything, that goes in your mouth for a week.  You will be surprised at where the calories are hiding.  The thing I need to work on now is really getting my water intake up; that is a work in progress. 

Fitness Update

I realize it has been a while since I posted about my journey with personal training.  In good news, Andrew is now doing personal training with the trainer I am working with.  As suspected, his results have been more impressive in a short time period.  I really just don't think it is fair that guys have an easier time dropping weight and inches.  That being said, here is my update. 

I continue to drop inches each week.  My next weigh in will be tomorrow.  In total, I have lost around 17 inches, I believe.  I have lost a total of four inches off my thighs, which is the most inches of any one location.  Good riddance to those inches!  They can go far, far away and not come back.  In terms of pounds lost, I'm stuck around about the three pounds down mark.  No matter how many times I'm reminded that muscle weighs more than fat and inches are the important thing, I'm still beyond annoyed with the scales unwillingness to budge.  

Have I been following the eating plan like I should?  No, not to the letter.  Am I hitting the McDonald's drive thru ever?  No, I'm not.  Ice cream is my downfall.  Yes, I will eat ice cream at least once per week in the summer.  We have tried to make the switch to frozen yogurt, and for the most part we have.  I have fallen off the wagon of food tracking on MyFitnessPal.  For anyone that has ever done food tracking, I hope you can relate when I say it is a pain in the butt.  Last Friday, I used my 20% off coupon from Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase a food scale in an attempt to get back on the food wagon. 

I'm willing to admit, I haven't been the best supporter of my own weight loss.  I don't drink as much water as I should; I would much rather drink coffee during the day.  I don't measure my food; I'm not sure if this is due to being lazy and not wanting to take the time to do it or not wanting to dirty my measuring cups and spoons, but I find food measuring to be totally annoying.  I enjoy ice cream/frozen yogurt at least once per week; I really refuse to give up ice cream as I feel it would be admitting total defeat. 

There comes a time with weight loss, and I'm guessing many of you can relate to this, where you just plain get angry.  I'm angry that I have had to try so hard for so long to drop weight.  I'm angry that I have to count and measure my food to get the results I need.  I'm angry that I have been working out three or more times per week for the last eight weeks and am still struggling to go beyond three total pounds down. 

When you are angry about something, the typical reaction is to blame someone or something.  So, whom/what am I blaming? I'm blaming my body.  About a month ago, I became convinced that one of my medications was causing me to hold weight.  I spoke with my health care providers and decided to wean off my medication.  I'm now heading into three weeks off the medication and am not seeing the results I thought I would see.  With my continued struggles, I'm again contemplating going to the doctor for additional blood testing. 

But, before heading to the doctor I believe I need to give one last true attempt.  It is time to get serious with myself; buckle down and stick to a food plan for a few solid weeks to see where I end up.  Time to stop making excuses and talking myself into eating and drinking things that are sabotaging my efforts.  Time to pull on my big girl panties for a few weeks.  I have run the gambit of excuses; the weight wont come off because I'm stressed from my job (problem eliminated and still the weight is on), my medicine is causing me to keep weight on (off my meds for three weeks and the weight is not coming off), my body hates me (I'm still on the fence on this one).  All this being said, who wants to come weigh and measure my food for me for the next week? 

A Summer DIY Project

I have started a new project with some friends of mine, so for today's post I'm sending you over to our new site to check things out. 

Today, I posted about the table Andrew and I designed and built.  Ok, he did the building and I did the watching.  To be fair, I did stain one of the benches though!  I hope you enjoy looking around on the new site.  I will still post on this blog as well, don't worry!  Click on the picture below and it will take you to the blog post!