Tagged!

I was just tagged by Bri over @ Habbala: Spazzing Since 1985. Seriously, how cute is she! It's funny to get tagged for this 8 randoms thing- has anyone else noticed the 25 Randoms going around on facebook? Yeah, I gave in and did that one too!

K Here it is!

8 Things About Me
Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the 6 categories
3) Tag others


8 Favorite T.V. Shows:
1) I have
2) No favorites
3) Because
4) I am a
5) Channel Surfing
6) Pro.
7) Sorry.
8) Next Time. :)

8 Things I did Yesterday/what a wonderful life I lead
1) Worked
2) Left work early
3) Scored some awesome deals at Marshalls
4) Went grocery shopping
5) Put away some winter decor.
6) Waited for Z to get home & called family
7) Started working on an awesome DIY throw pillow
8) Made an impressive looking pizza


8 Things I look Forward To
1) When Z gets home from work (it's late, lately)
2) Either buying or building our own house
3) My family visiting in March
4) Getting an adorable little puppy (darn apartment rules!)
5) Making some darn friends out here!
6) Seeing Z's face when he finds out what I cooked for him tonight!
7) Having adorable little curly blonde haired babies running around
8) Getting my oversized bum in shape! :)


8 Favorite Restaurants
1) Pizzano's in Chicago.. (although last time I was there it disappeared!!)
2) That italian place we went in Times Square.. what was the name?
2) Chipotle
3) Starbucks (does that count?)
4) Olive Garden
5) Red Lobster (only for the biscuits!)
6) Cracker Barrel (biscuits again..)
7) Slopes (back home)
8) Wendy's (I don't like fast food, but their light ranch dressing lures me in!!!)


8 Things on My Wishlist
1) New house
2) Travel overseas
3) Moving back home
4) New Living room furniture
5) A memory foam mattress topper
6) To be closer to my family when we have children
7) A bigger kitchen
8) Right now: Starbucks!

8 People I Tag
1) Abby @ Life with B & A
2) Erin @ Blue-Eyed Bride
3) Andrea @ Living Large on a Dime
4) Lindsay @ Learning to be a Wife
5) Megs @ Newbie New Yorker
6) Megan @ Pumps, Pearls, and Politics
7) Jeanie @ Serious Shopaholic
8) Mary @ Welcome to My Life!

Inner Strength

Recently I've been reminded of how good I've had it in my lifetime. I've never really had anything traumatic or exceptionally bad happen. My heart just goes out to those women that have been TTC (trying to conceive) for a long time, who've lost a loved one, or who've had an unfaithful partner, among many other things. But, for something that's hit close to home- Z's oldest sister has a heart condition and wasn't expected to live past her teen years (she's 28), and because of it she has to take an oxygen tank with her if she travels anywhere far away, can't walk up a lot of stairs, can't have children.. the list goes on. So she and her husband decided to adopt. If you know anything about the adoption process- it's a rediculously long and complicated one. (Sidenote: Baby Mamas don't have to take parenting classes or pass any test, but well established adults that want to adopt have to jump through hoops to do it??? Please..) Well, their social worker found a pregnant woman in jail that was thinking of giving her child up for adoption when it was born. So said sister and husband drove 2 hours to see her in jail several times, and the mom decides she wants them to adopt the baby. Oh- the dad is black, mom is white. The mom says that if the baby is biracial she doesn't want anything to do with it, and if it's white, she might want it.. Last week the baby is born and Z's sister is in the delivery room with her because all her family are druggies, in jail, or just plain old don't care. Note: Moms have 3 days after birth to decide if they want the baby or not. Sister and husband are super supportive to the mom, and stay up there (2 Hrs. away from home) for the three days only to find out that the mom isn't letting them adopt the child. She wants it put in foster care thinking that her mom will be able to get it. Yeah right- her mom has a criminal record too, along with the rest of the family. So the poor child that could have had an awesome Christian home to grow up in, is now stuck in the less than desirable foster care system. Z's sister was heartbroken, along with her husband. But wow.. she was so strong through the whole process. I talked with her every time there was an update, and she was just giving everything to God, and releasing her anger. I'm so proud of her. That's real strength, people.. She's been so strong through everything in her life. People like her just don't get enough credit. Anyway, your prayers for her and her husband would be appreciated! Here's to J&L:

From a Former Veggie

My relationship with meat is an interesting little affair, and I think I'll take this morning to tell you about it. It's been a rocky road..See when I was very young, I ate fish (mostly fish sticks..eww), chicken, and turkey (although I thought turkey was so try I'd shove as much as possible into my mouth and go to the bathroom and spit it out.. don't tell mom!), but no red meat. Then, somewhere around the age of 10 or 11 my sisters and I got grossed out by our overactive minds and stopped eating meat altogether. Meaning: we got stuck thinking about a little fish swimming around and then eating it.. or a dirty chicken in a barnyard eating it's own poop or something.. We just couldn't do it anymore.


During the Veggie Years, as I'll call them, I tried many many soy and tofu products, and loved most of them- I'll share some @ the end of this post. My friends seemed to think it was great fun to try and trick me to eat meat (Ex: throwing popcorn chicken in my mouth while I was talking, sticking pepperoni under the cheese on my pizza, etc.). But.. I must say, I had a chicken craving from time to time when I smelled it's deliciousness.

Funny story from Veggie Years:

I worked for a grocery store during high school & would help out in the deli from time to time. One day, the manager says, "C, could you go pick the chickens for me?". Okay, so really, I knew it had to do with the rotisserie chickens, but I was a bit unclear on the rest. But, to be a good employee, I acted cool and calm and said "Sure!".

I wander back to the deli and figure it must mean I was supposed to pick out some chickens for the next day.. so I go in the freezer, grab a few, stick them on a tray, and set them in the cooler to thaw.

Manager comes back and says, "Oh, forgot to tell you- the chickens are in the left side of the cooler".

Me: "Uh... I got some new ones and stuck them on the right side already.."

Manger: "Huh? Why?".. And she proceeds to go into the cooler and grab a tray of already cooked chickens from the previous day. "Here, these are the ones you're supposed to use. Just throw away any part that looks iffy".

Me: "Wait. What exactly am I supposed to be doing?". I gave in...

Manager: "Picking the chickens so we can use the meat for chicken salad."

Me: "Right. Of course. Thanks!"

So.. I was still a little unclear until of of the stock boys informed me that picking a chicken involve tearing the nasty thing apart and putting all the good meat in a bowl and throwing the rest away. UGH. So I put on gloves and started at it. I'd never touched a chicken in it's original form before.. let alone peel it's skin off. And let me tell you, figuring out what is meat and what is cartilige is not as easy as it looks!

Many questions to the stock boys helped me figure out what exactly to keep and throw away. And, I had no clue those little rats went and told the whole halarious thing to my manager... til she came up and slyly asked me how I was doing.. before cracking up! Gosh.. take it easy on a veggie!


During my senior year of high school I was working out and seemed to be hungry all the time. Friends suggested I start eating chicken to get filled up more. So.. I gave in. Chicken and I had a great relationship.

Then, I move to the midwest. On my first visit to meet my then BF, now Husband's family, I had never tasted red meat before in my life. And, what were they serving that night? That's right! Home grown hamburgers! They took pride in their own meat, so of course I had to eat it! I tried to play it cool.. until Z noticed I was actually eating one and pointed out to the whole family that I'd never tasted one before! To that, I was told "Oh, honey, you don't have to eat it! I wish we would have known!". Ugh. So embarassing! That started my relationship with cow meat. The first time I had a half piece of steak I was so full I had to be rolled out of the dining room..(okay, not quite, but you get the idea..)

However, I've never tasted pork and don't plan to. Neither will I eat anything that ever swam or floated around.. I just can't. I've been trying to do this domestic wife thing and cook all sorts of meat dishes.. but it's made me hate meat more. The first time I bit into some fatty chicken I almost tossed my cookies. So.. other than the occasional meal.. I might be a veggie again.. it's a very fickle relationship. The end.

Some fave veggie foods:
Morningstar Farms Chik'n Nuggets
Morningstar Farms Veggie Corn Dogs
Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Links

Sorry this post was soo long.. but like I said.. It's been a rocky relationship. And yes, if you're wondering, I DO have relationships with foods, exercize classes, fabric patterns, and weather conditions. Don't laugh, I know you do too!

Random Deals

Here's a peek at some decor. items I got on crazy clearance prices at random places:

These caught my eye as I walking into Kroger ~a week or two ago. I was a little hesitant buying from there, but they were on clearance for $12 and then being a member, I got them for $10. Not bad, eh? Here they are after Z hung them on the wall:
Ignore the blah white walls.. apartment living :p And, here's the sconces I found at target:
...for like $7-something.. and after Z put them on the wall:
(without candles yet)

Trip Highlights

So.. I didn't actually get this post done last night, but hey! it's up now!

I'll try to go in order. Friday we went skiing.. I LOVE skiing, and the midwest well.. there are no "mountains"- I suppose we could stretch it and call them hills. These are the before pictures(before getting frrozzzenn, before all of us wiping out on an ungroomed trail Z decided to take us down, before stuffing our faces with the lodge's famous fries..)

My parents, Z, & I

Other than it being freezing, the skiing was amazing. MOST of the trails were freshly groomed and pretty much no one had been on them- the rest of the world was working! We didn't run into any ice, and other than that one "oops" trail Z led us down, we had a blast!

Dog stuck in snow.. :) (below)

This is Kobie. He's a Welsch Corgi. He's very fat and has very short legs. Thus.. when he plows through the snow to get to the door.. he can't turn around or turn sideways.. and of course it doesn't occur to him to back up.. this was too cute! :)

Also for your cuteness viewing pleasure... My little cousin Chloe- showing some team spirit for my sisters' HS basketball game (colors=blue&white).
She was my flower girl by the way! :)

Okay, that's all for now! I won't overwhelm you with photos any longer! :)

Back!

So I know I've been MIA for the past few days, and I wanted to warn you all that this might happen, but I couldn't because it would ruin my surprise. See, Thursday afternoon Z & I caught a flight back to New England to spend the weekend with my family. My mom was the only one that knew I was coming, and since my dad reads my blog.. I couldn't let the secret out! I just LOVE going home.. even when it's FREEZING! I'll post later tonight on our 14 degree skiing adventure, my parents' stubby welsh corgi getting stuck in the snow, my Mom's awesome minestrone soup recipe, and my sisters' awesome basketball game (including my adorable little cousin's cheering efforts)!

For those of you who don't know me personally (most of you :) ), everytime I go home (something like 6 times in the past year- wedding planning!) we make it a big surprise for someone! I need to do a few posts on the halarious stories we have from surprising my family members.

Also.. I've been making some progress on getting our apartment to feel more "homey", and found some awesome deals on decor that I'll share!

And last but not least.. here's an alert for those of you who are as jet-set as myself! Not sure if this applies to all airlines, but I fly US Air a lot, and Z found this out while packing! As if making you pay $15 to check a bag isn't enough... now the carry on size is SO SMALL you pretty much have to check a bag! *Starts Feb. 1*

Not the best morning ever..

So I wake up this morning.. Z's still in bed because he starts his new job on Monday and has the rest of the week off. Not a happy feeling- going to work while the husband is at home! To make it more wonderful, I tried to swallow and discovered my throat was swollen and my nose completely stuffed up! What I should have said:I swore I wouldn't get this cold, darnitall! It's been going around at work and the guys told me to try Airborne. Personally, it just seems like a marketing ploy, so I'm setting out on my own to cure this cold! I can get 3x the vitamin dosage without going out and buying it.

I swear by my Nutrilite vitamins, so I pulled out what's called the triple threat- 3 bio C plus vitamins, 3 triple guard echinacea, and 3 garlic heart care formula. Take that dose 3 times per day and it's supposed to kick it! I'll report back on it's success rate. Also.. I'm going to drink 3 glasses of water with a Strawberry Kiwi Immunity twist tube in each before I leave work today (they're like a little shot of flavor you put in your water- this one has tons of Vitamin C.. and they taste amazing). So... if that doesn't cure me, I'm not sure what will.

.. Other than sleep. Of course, last night our power went out so Z and I gave up on doing things by candle light and went to bed early, so that helps! I'm sure I'm not the only one out there coming down with this darn cold, so take your vitamins & stay healthy so we don't all end up feeling miserable! Now, I must go disinfect my mouse...

NOTE: This is not an advertisement, nor is author trying to promote or demote any brand labels. I just talk about what I like and don't like. No one from Zumba pays me, no one from Nutrilite pays me.

Taking a Moment to be Political

So.. Z is pretty smart when it comes to politics and really, they've always just annoyed us. I keep reading all these blogs with some really great points, and I have to agree with some things, and I have to point out some things that.. well, drive me nuts. So, not to be offensive or stir up more drama, but just to put my 2 cents in & practice my right to free speech while it's still existent.. :)

• I agree- American has come a long way in the area of equality. I'm glad that we are no longer blinded by racism towards blacks. I fully support a BIRACIAL president (just pointing out that he's not 100% black like some have made him). However, I was listening to the radio yesterday when a listener called in and admitted that he voted for Obama for the sole reason that he was black and so was Obama and now was actually taking the time to look at his policies, and didn't like them much. So, blogland, I ask you, is this racism? If I as a white female were to vote for a certain political figure based solely on our common skin color, would I not be considered racist by the black community? I'm afraid I would. I am VERY GLAD blacks are past the oppression of slavery, but.. has it gone to far? Has racial pride turned into a new form of racism? I'll let you decide..
• I will respect the leadership position of president, and believe the entire country should- for presidents past, current, and future. I am not an Obama supporter, however I wish him luck in his attempt at running this country- God knows it's not an easy job. I only ask the same respect from those who are not Bush supporters. He wasn't my favorite guy either, but really, must we stoop to this????

America, this is your new chief of staff. I do believe he needed to listen to the part of Obama's speech where he said "The time has come to set aside childish things". Reports say that this face was directed at our former president.
Oh, by the way, terrible american who did this, the George Bush that you painted on hasn't been president for quite some time now. If you're going to do something stupid, you could at least paint on the right guy. Genious.

And, last but not least: To the Americans who sang "Nah nah nah nah, Nah nah nah nah, Hey hey hey, Goodbye..." yesterday.. get a grip, and some respect.



*takes a deep breath* Ahhh.. okay done with the rant. Some things just get me fired up. Tune in later for the regularly scheduled program. :)

My First Award

I was so excited to be given my first award by Mary over at Welcome to My Life! I am really ecstatic to be recognized as a blog of Great Attitude and Gratitude. And I am so excited to pass on the LUV! A few easy to follow rules before nominees can accept …
1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

Here are my top picks for Blogs with Great Attitude and Gratitude:
All Things G & D
marital-bless
Newlywedisms by Bryn
Pumps, Pearls, and Politics
Life with B & A

I know I'm supposed to list ten, but I'm new to blogging and I don't even have 10 blogs in my google reader yet, so I promise I will return the award favors as soon as I ramp up my reading list!

Organize Me!

So I'd heard about organize.com before, but this morning I took the time to check it out a little better, and I found a few things we've been needing! Ever have the problem where you just don't know what to do with keys, mail, coupons, receipts, and everything? We do.. it ends up on our kitchen table til I can't stand it and I find some other random place for everything. Well, this little number just might solve our problem:
The design will go really well with our kitchen.. and for $15?? It's a steal.. just have to talk to Z and stick it in the budget (which we've been following quite well by the way).

And... I think this would look lovely in our living room:
And.. last but not least, these little guys would do wonders with our enormous amount of cords behind our entertainment center and our office desk!

There are tons more I could share.. but you'd probably rather go check it out yourself.. so go for it!

Dinner Plans

Tonight Z's grandparents are coming over for dinner, so I wanted to cook up something nice- here's the menu:

-Toasted almond Salad
-Whole Grain Baguette
-Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast (Yes, I know.. I like chicken.. and stuffing it is fun)
-Roasted Potatoes and Green Beans
-Tiramisu for desert (What I'm really pumped about)


(Recipes and pix posted after it's all done!)

Am I missing anything? I really don't know what is wrong with me.. I get REALLY excited about cooking dinner. For me.. that's just.. strange. The things marriage does to you..

Now, as far as how I'm going to get everything ready in the hour and a half I have after work, before they arrive:

-Tiramisu is already made and in fridge
1) Pound Chicken & stuff, put in oven
2) Chop Potatoes & put them, along with Green Beans, on the skillet
3) While that's cooking, wash veggies & make salad
4) Throw baguette in the oven
5) Set table
6) Take all food out of the oven (Which I'm sure won't all be done at the same time)
7) Serve salads, Dish out other food, and:
8) Voila!

Let's just hope it goes off that smoothly!
(Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post- they will reappear in the following posts ;) )

Accidental Betrayal..

Zumba my dear, I am sorry. I know we had a date tonight. It's just.. I thought it was at 5:30. I thought I was there on time. I was dressed appropriately and looking forward to spending a wonderful hour sweating with you.

It was an honest mistake. I would never leave you for Belly Dancing. I was mortified and embarrassed to find myself in a room with her. I didn't know what to do when she wrapped her jingly, blingy sash around my hips.. so I tied it tighter. Her music was a little bit like yours.. and I gave in.

But she's nothing like you, Zumba! I was a mess. I may have trouble with your shoulder shimmy, but her million-mile-an-hour hip shimmys are much more out of my league.

Please don't give up on me. I'll be there tomorrow. And I know it's at 5:30 this time. Goodnight.

The husband.. :)

So, I'm just feeling very blessed this morning, and I just have to... well, brag on my husband! :) This is him 2 years ago, when he did a bit of modeling.. ow, ow!!



And... this one from our wedding day.. <3

Ahh.... thank you for allowing me to boast a bit.. I promise it won't happen all the time!

NYT: Simple Meals

Someone on the nest posted this link today, so I thought I'd share. It's from the summer, but hey, who doesn't love and easy meal anytime??

New York Trash (Oops, I mean Times) Article: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less

Note: whoever wrote this must like prosciutto! This former veggie will be leaving those recipes out! :)

Oh weekend.. please come!

I do believe my apartment is feeling forgotten. I was looking forward to tackling some of those spare room projects this week.. but it's not happening for the following reasons:

• Monday- Had to clean.. and Z reminded me it was our date night (like I was going to say no!).
• Tuesday- Found out that we got invited to some friends' house for dinner at 6:30. I got home at 4:30 from work and sat on the couch for what was supposed to be 5 minutes, and turned into Z waking me up 5 minutes before we had to leave for dinner.
• Tonight- I have a couple of hours to tackle some dishes, laundry, and de-cluttering, and then people will start arriving for Bible study (we're hosting this week). We usually go late, so there won't be any time after.
• Thursday- We're having Z's sweet grandma and grandpa over for dinner. (What should I cook by the way.. I want to do something with chicken that I haven't tried before.. ideas??)
• Friday- I received our post card thank yous for wedding gifts in the mail today, so I plan on getting those done by this weekend.. eek!!

So.. not this week. Maybe Sunday?? Seriously, how do newlyweds master the housekeeping and entertaining thing?? I have some work to do..

A Zumba Romance

Zumba and I met about 6 months ago. It was love at first beat. She let me mess up, even miss a few big dates, but was always there with her energy and wonderfully latin music. I, however, was unfaithful. I left her for a few months... met back up at a different gym... then left her again for my wedding, honeymoon, and the holidays. But all that's over now.. and I've come back yet again. Oh, how I missed Zumba. We could totally have a future together.. if it weren't for that one ugly habit she has.... the shimmy. I simply cannot do it. I try.. and, well, my shoulders just aren't the part of me shimmying. :( I'll stick with you, Zumba, just ignore my shimmys and I'll ignore your 12-year-old-I'm-too-young-for-clubbing-so-I-sneak-into-Zumba followers. :)

Note:Author has no ties to the ZUMBA Fitness company, nor was paid for this plug. :)

Weekend Find!

So this weekend was the first since our wedding that we didn't have somewhere to go, or something big planned, and it was wonderful! Saturday was so relaxing.. for an early dinner Z suggested we go to a place he'd seen while driving for work- The Coldwater Cafe. It was great! It has a very warm, small town feel, yet a classy, almost tuscan style. I had their Chicken Tortilla Soup, and it was A-Maze-Ing!! Z had the Coldwater Burger and his reaction was, "This is how much meat should be in a sandwich!". I hadn't been to Tipp's old downtown before, so even though it was cold, we took a little walk around. When it's warmer, I might have to end up in the shop I saw for "Elegant Home Designs".. ah, to dream! (And of course go with Mom when they come out in March) :)

So.. if you're ever in the area- check it out!!

Bruchetta and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

I made this for Z & his friend whom we had over for dinner while he was home on leave from the army. They loved it.. (& I got raves for being a good cook.. **beams**) I'm on my way people!!

Recipe from Kraftfoods.com w/ my pictures & comments

What you need:

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1-1/4 cups KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
8 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 lb.) (I used 10 & had the perfect amount)
1/3 cup KRAFT Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan Dressing

What to do:

HEAT oven to 350°F. Mix tomatoes, 1/2 cup cheese and basil in medium bowl. Add stuffing mix; stir just until moistened.

PLACE 2 chicken breasts in large freezer-weight resealable plastic bag. Pound with meat mallet or side of heavy can until chicken is 1/4 inch thick.

Remove from bag; place, top-sides down, on cutting board. Repeat with remaining chicken. Spread chicken with stuffing mixture.

Starting at 1 narrow end, tightly roll up each breast. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish. Drizzle with dressing.

BAKE 40 min. or until chicken is done (165°F). Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake 5 min. or until melted

For a South of the Border variation, and nutritional info., see Kraft's website!

If you make it, I want to know how it turns out!! :)

I'm LISTening..

Lately, I've become obsessed with lists. Probably because I'm bound determined to master this working housewife thing. Here are my lists for this week:

• Grocery list (trying to save trips for the weekend and do it all at once)
• Random Items needed (patch for Z's work jeans, shower drain stopper, etc.)
• Detailed lists of home improvements (must expound on that)

Items needed / Items already possessed in order to complete the look for each room
Projects to work on (refinishing/painting furniture)
Where organization efforts are needed
Etc.

• Fun ideas for my family's trip out here in March
• Dinners/Recipes I plan to cook and when

Of the many areas of my lists that I could expound further on.. I must talk about my ideas for our spare room/office.

See.. we're in an apartment. How do you go about making it look like "yours" without painting or any of the other things you're not allowed to alter? That's where I turned to my nestie girls for help! I posed a question about that room- how to coordinate my colors & make the room "flow" a little better, and they came through for me!

Since we received a lot of Aqua/Brown things for our wedding (those were our colors), we have no choice but to make use of those things in this room. Here's some ideas:

• White down comforter w/ aqua/brown quilt folded in half over end of bed (both gifts) See right.. maybe I'll get an aqua duvet..
  
• Lots of white/aqua/brown pillows:

I have to DIY this pillow with my leftover ribbon! Adorable or what?? [Will post instructions once attempted..]

• Brown bedskirt
• DIY curtain rods: wooden dowels painted brown w/ a metallic finish & fancy end 'things'
• Sheer swag curtains- don't need full curtains- our blinds are always closed
• DIY headboard.. possibly like this one found on the Trading Spaces site

Only maybe without that top row.. I don't know if I like it that high..

• Refinish or paint the dresser we already have in that room
• Purchase a new computer desk.. probably Craigslist it.. which means possibly refinishing that as well!

Whew! So that's the list so far! Whatcha think??

Sidenote... I cannot walk properly today.. more on that later. :)

No pain, No gain... right?

So, like a very large percentage of Americans, my husband and I decided it was time to get in shape this year! See... our wedding was Nov. 29 (mucho eating), then of course the honeymoon (mucho mucho eating.. come on- NYC??), and as soon as we were back from that- Christmas and New Years. My experiments with new yummy recipes did NOT help either. So we still fit in all our clothes, and weigh the same, but as far as being toned... ha! So we joined the Y last week.. yes, us and about 2 million other New Years hopefuls! The gym has been rediculously full! We've been going at it.. only took one night off so far- when his friend who's on leave from the army came over for dinner (I must share the bruchetta stuffed chicken breast recipe with you soon!).. and boy, am I sore.

Ever feel super good about the workout you just had and then that horriffic moment comes... you sneeze and your abs feel like they're being ripped mercilesly from your stomach?? That was me at work yesterday. And I sneezed like 7 times! Not fun! And today.. bent over to pick something up & my backside had the same sensation! Lord, help me!! I love it, but I hate it..

However, one benefit is that we'll get some use out of our awesome new scale! We got a gift album for the wedding and ordered this:

S43 Salter® Body Fat Scale

Is it right to offer a body fat scale as a wedding gift? Of course. You look great together, and this precision device can help you keep it that way! Plus, the modern design with beautiful glass platform and invisible electrodes trimmed in brushed silvertone adds sleek style to any bath. Advanced BIA technology measures body fat and body water to within 0.1%. Choose normal, athlete or even childe mode. Up to 400 lbs/180 kg capacity in 0.2 lb/0.1 kg increments. Stores data for up to ten people! Calorie feature displays calories needed to maintain present body composition. Measures muscle mass. Four "AAA" batteries included. Ten-year manufacturer's warranty. Shipped separately: allow extra time for delivery.


Pretty cool, eh? We had way too much fun trying it out!! I'm guessing they're around $50 to buy in-store. I'll let you know how we like it after tracking our body fat % decrease!! :)