Showing posts with label playing wifey. Show all posts

offers, sweet potatoes and fedoras

4 Comments »

i know, i'm a little behind on this process.  this week was a little crazy.  we got a call on tuesday letting us know we would have a showing on thursday.  this led to a scan of the house and a quick mutual conclusion between eric and i:  "oh crap."  i was proud of myself for still managing to cook a good dinner on wednesday (and a new recipe to boot) before we rushed around the house, cleaning in an absolute frenzy.

apparently it paid off, because we got an offer on the house yesterday!  we are still in the process of negotiating, but God willing, we will hopefully begin looking for our next home this week.  i am still trying to find all of our before pictures from when eric first moved into the place pre-engagement so i can show all of the updates we made in our 2 1/2 years here.  it'll be fun to see the differences.  more on that later.  oh, and also i got into a car accident which was so stupid of me and now i'm really embarrassed because it was all my fault and i will never drink coffee in the car again and i've totally learned my lesson and can we please never talk about it again?

now, to play catch-up.  my first meal for this 30 day challenge of mine was bbq beef sandwiches and sweet potato fries/chips:























i'll freely admit that i cheated on the beef by buying it prepared, but those sweet potatoes were all mine.  i'm proud to lay claim to them, because this is the first batch i've ever made that actually turned out crisp without being burnt.  sweet potatoes are tricky, y'all.  to finally get them right, i sliced them about 1/4" each, put them in a large ziploc bag with about a tablespoon EVOO (does this make anyone else think of Baby Mama and immediately giggle?) and some rosemary and shook it up.  then i baked them at 450 degrees on some parchment paper for about 30 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.  perfect.

it was the perfect summer meal to share on a great summer day with the hubs...and my new fedora.


please pay no mind to the ridiculously wonky state of my hair these days.  if you'd like to know why it's so awful, see more on my moronic promise to eric here.  needless to say, it's time to hack it all off for a trim *le sigh*.  my solution to the problem currently is wearing my hair up or wearing hats.  at least with hats, you can't see how wonky my roots are.  can i get an amen for hats?

i think i should go look for those house pictures now...

winding down the year

3 Comments »

the tree came down today, and the last of the presents found a proper home.

christmas lists have been traded in for new year's resolutions.

today is a time for reflection, and tomorrow is a time for new beginning.

there is something absolutely magical about this day, and my day truly summed up my 2010 experience.  i started it off with breakfast in bed.  the hubs made me eggs, toast and coffee (swoon).  the love that i have experienced from him this year has been more than i could have ever hoped for from someone.  wedding events and honeymooning were wonderful to us in 2009, but 2010 was the year that really solidified this whole marriage thing for us.  we finally met some days that tested us, which was a new experience as everything prior to that had been roses.  but you know what?  we still haven't had a real fight.  i think that speaks volumes of our communication and willingness to swallow our pride.  but even more than that, i think it speaks so highly of the ways that God works when you allow him to take the reigns.

today was also mind-boggling crazy.  there was a huge to-do list and not everything ended up getting checked off.  i have felt so often this year that i just fill and fill my time.  i started my first full-time job at the end of last year, so this is still fairly new to me.  on top of that, i have begun to go deeper with my leadership in young life, spending more time with girls outside of our weekly club meetings, and also taking on a small group on sunday nights.  i trained for three races this year, and as if all of this wasn't enough, got a new puppy and started a blog.  somehow it all just works, although nothing seems to ever get crossed off the to-do list, at least as far as my house is concerned.

2010 has really been a year of discovering myself.  i have explored my passions, my heart and my faith.  i have been tested in ways that i would have never imagined were possible and discovered both creativity and strength that i never knew i had.  heading into 2011, the sky is the limit.  my new year's resolution for 2010?  to run at least a half marathon.  what i accomplished?  two half marathons and a full marathon in which i raised $2900 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  take that, 2010.

watch out 2011, because i'm about to blow your mind.  especially with these three in my life.  as long as i've got their love, nothing can hold me back:

meatless monday

3 Comments »

yes, i know it's tuesday.  but i lost almost an entire day yesterday, and i'd like to reclaim a piece of that now.

yesterday, i woke up and got in the shower, only to be sucker-punched with dizziness and nausea.  i've already gotten the question several times, "are you pregnant?"  let's just dispel any rumors right here and now.  i'm fairly certain i'm not.  not that i would be upset by any means if i was.  but i digress.

so i called off work, watched a little of the today show before taking a massive nap, and then proceeded to watch about 7 episodes of friday night lights on netflix.  serious waste of space.

luckily, today i felt well enough to go to work, go shopping after, and then come home and make us a wonderful vegetarian meal.  the whole idea behind meatless monday is that cutting meat out of your diet one day per week can have significant health benefits, as well as reducing your caloric intake.

this is where it sounds really lame for me to say that we followed up our healthy dinner with peach crisp.  someone please revoke my apron and sugar jar, because i have a serious problem.

without further ado, i present to you egyptian edamame stew:

recipe can be found on my favorite cooking site ever:  eating well
you may be saying, "but lauren, is that chicken in the bowl on the left?" in which case i would reply, "yes, good observation.  my husband happens to not be a fan of meatless any-night-of-the-week."  so i let him have his way and added some leftover lemon chicken from two nights ago.

the recipe was wonderful, as every recipe i've gotten from that site is.  i had every intention of putting it on top of some couscous, but forgot to pick some up at the store. drats.  happy to say that white rice was a good substitute.

bonus: it was only 257 calories for two cups and i have plenty more to last for a couple lunches.  score.

« Previous Entries