Eggy Oatmeal

This week on The Wednesday Oatmeal, I'm featuring a favorite combination of mine: eggs, greek yogurt and oats. This might sound crazy, but the creamy tasty mix of egg yolk and oats is a fabulously tasty way to start the morning. This dish is high in protein, and will keep you full all morning. Try it sometime!

The mix:

1/4 c. rolled oats

2 T oat bran

One egg, sunny side up

A big scoop of plain, nonfat greek yogurt

Mix it up very well, and...

Enjoy!!

Over-fooding it

Eating good food is something I care about... seriously. It's no joke, I love to munch. I look forward to breakfast when I wake up, all morning at work I think about lunch, and I can't wait to get home at 4:30 so that I can start cooking dinner. This has been my life for as long as I can remember. Three o'clock snack was the best part of my entire day when I was a kiddo. The mindset hasn't changed much for me over my lifetime.

For the first time in my life, I'm in a place of combined independence and abundance. I've got the opportunity to buy real food from the grocery store. Whereas I used to be very picky about low calorie soups, now I'm a little more like, "why not buy three types of hummus?"

Now, I know that no one gets fat from eating hummus. However, the habits I had as a kid are in all-out, hyper drive. All I want to do is eat. All the time. I don't know what this is all about, but it's not healthy, and what I hate the most is how I feel.

I feel lethargic and sore. My body hurts. I have a raincloud over my head. So bummed.

Lucky me, I have a great, supportive, super-duper fiancé who knows what's up. It takes a really special person to talk to you about your food issues and suggest some changes without making me feel like a loser. He made me a healthy, spinach-based dinner, and recommended that we walk after. Guys, I have a winner over here. Just for fun, he's doing my meal planning for the week- seven days of doing what he's doing. He's had some success following a low carb-y eating style. I'm intrigued. Will report back in one week. 

Running- less is more

They say that for a runner, the hardest step is the first step out the door. Needless to say, I have had a really, really tough time getting my feet out the door for the past... oh, I don't know, month?

Marathon Sweetheart via Pinterest

For the next few months, I am only committing to 30 minute runs. I have been stuck in the rut for the longest time with running, and I think it's because I'm putting pressure on myself to run long distance. So! The new rule, for awhile anyway, is that I'm only going thirty minutes at a time. That is plenty of exercise, and it's sure better than nothing. I was so encouraged reading this post at SkinnyRunner- we all suffer setbacks!

It's easy for me to feel like my running regimen isn't good enough. Not fast enough, not far enough. To be real though, what makes a runner a runner? I have been doing this forever, and I still feel weird about calling myself a runner. So much of this sport is mental. I will be heading out the door for my second run in two days in about an hour. I'm feeling motivated and confident. Here's to a great weekend!

How far we've come

I am so excited to share this update with you, because this trip of organizing and decorating the new place has been a very fun but sometimes crazy process. We moved into our new place about three months ago, and things sure have changed quickly! It's been wild and frustrating, but I am having a great time watching it all evolve and come together.

The cardboard box on the floor was our dinner table. There was no space to eat at the breakfast bar, because we had all of our stuff piled up from the move. Yikes. So after what seemed like hours of unpacking and storing, we finally got to our blank slate: no furniture, no nothing. We used the open space as a dance floor. Party in the high rise!

Still, it was a little sad having nowhere to sit, and we really felt like having a television was a good idea. We found that anytime we wanted to watch a show or a game, we would have to find a restaurant or bar that was showing whatever we wanted to watch. So we finally made some big kid moves and filled up the living room. You know what? It was all worth it, because now we have a way cozy living room that is perfect for relaxing at the end of a long day.

After lots and lots of planning, moving and shaking, we really put it together. This is it, here we are today!

We entered this photo in a contest hosted by our apartment management company, and actually won the style contest, the prize was a brand new Kindle Fire! I was shocked- we really just entered that on a whim, but I am feeling very encouraged and like all of the hard work we put in has really paid off. 

Will it change? Without a doubt. For now, it's working for me and I am digging the eclectic vibe. 

Mean green juice

This morning, I was feeling a little lethargic thanks to some very tasty bar food that I had for dinner last night. I wouldn't trade dinner in- the truffle fries and chicken wings were so SO good, however I found myself seeking a healthy boost this morning. Enter green juice.

Have you ever had green juice? This is some of my favorite stuff. I don't own a juicer, so I bought this drink from a local coffee shop. This one involves the usual suspects like kale, cucumber and apple, but it also has jalapeño and cilantro, so I started my morning with a little kick.

As I walked up to work with my funny looking drink, I noticed a funny thing: I walked past the treats for sale at the farmer's market without even thinking about it. It's like one healthy choice influences another. After realizing that small win, I decided not to pick up a cookie that was up for grabs in our break room. It was a healthy decision snowball effect. Neat! I found that I was hungry by 10:00 am, so maybe juice isn't quite substantial enough to be my breakfast on the regular, but I think I may work it into my routine every now and again.

Pumpkin oatmeal

I'm on board- it's officially autumn in my world. We had this awesome sixty two degree day, and I decided that it was officially time for real fall food. Just like everyone else, I really adore the transition from summer to fall, everything from changing colors to football season, and of course, the changing temperature. That said, you are going to hear me back-peddling in about three months, saying, "what on earth am I supposed to do with this freezing cold weather, HELP!"

So that leads me into the oatmeal of the week: Pumpkin! Yummm...

1/4 c slow cooker pumpkin oatmeal
1/4 c rolled oats
2 T oat bran
1 T chia seeds
Spoon full of peanut butter
extra milk

I might not be a fabulous chef, but I know what mixes up well in a bowl of oatmeal. This yummy breakfast kept me going all morning, and I fit hearing aids way better when I'm full and happy.

Tuesdees

There are about one million things that I love about my job, but one of them is that I get every other Tuesday off of work. This is leisure day, and I revel in getting to buzz around town, no schedule, just fun.

Today it's raining- lots of thunder and lightning here in Midwest-land. I've posted up at Mud Pie coffee shop and (vegan) bakery, where I have found a corner desk, procured a large cup of coffee and have set about to write profound things for you to read. By the way, I love living in the kind of place that has vegan bakeries. The plant-based lifestyle isn't for me, but it's fun to pretend sometimes. Also, city living is the best. We didn't have nichey places like this in the small town I lived in last year.

Not much going on, clearly, but isn't that great? It's so nice to take the time to just do nothing. That seems like a backwards thing- reserving time to do nothing, but I think it's important. In real life, I am a huge fan of a prioritized to-do list, a plan for improvement, and a full schedule. These things make us better and more productive individuals. You need a task list with a back-up plan and an emergency plan for if that plan falls through...

...but not on Tuesday!

Today I eat cookies, type unfocused blog posts, and watch the rain fall out the window. Have a great day, everyone!

Snap!

I used to run almost every day, but about a month ago I fell down and busted my knee up pretty bad. I was sore for a week, and I never really got back moving again. I just didn't feel like it. I had been training for the Kansas City Marathon, and I just felt so burned out and defeated. I have spent the past month coming up with little excuses to avoid running again. I started to feel really gross, down and blah.

Out of nowhere today this super weird thing happened: I woke up really agitated. I promptly put on my tennis shoes, sloppily changed into workout gear in the dark, went downstairs and ran two miles on the treadmill. I was tired, my legs hurt a little, and I just powered through the whole thing like I didn’t care at all.

I think that I snapped this morning. I just got restless to the point of anger. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been so sedentary, a total couch spud. It was an inertia thing: an object at rest staying at rest. I guess when I woke up this morning, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had this awful and powerful urge to move.  I had to do something or else I was going to freak out. For the past couple of weeks, I have putting all this pressure on myself to go work out, go to the gym (I don’t even really like my gym), count calories and watch what I eat, all while doing none of those things. I was caught in the most negative thought pattern, and it wasn’t doing anything for me. All the while, I'm just feeling super burned out. It’s as though I had someone sitting on my shoulder and nagging me all the time, and I was just ignoring that voice. Truthfully, I've been beating myself up. This had become a pattern of constant self-berating, and I just couldn’t deal. I think it comes down to analyzing why I run, or exercise at all for that matter. Has it ever really been about my health?

When I woke up this morning and decided that I was going to run, I don’t think it was about a healthy figure, weight or quieting the nagging voices telling me that I should be exercising. It was more like busting out and being free from the trap of sitting down and not doing anything. Maybe I was running away from these ideas of what I “should” be doing as a healthy, good, whole person. I decided today that I don’t want to worry about quantifying every move I make as a step in a healthier (or unhealthier) direction.  Sometimes you just want to run for fun, or get out on the bicycle because there is a nice breeze, or eat a cheeseburger and not hate yourself. Is that okay? I think it’s okay.  Food is not an enemy, and exercise it not a savior.

I’m making some changes in my life to be a little bit better-rounded, and I’m going to try to quit with the rules. Accepting yourself the way you are is not profitable, and if you are susceptible to marketing, advertising, magazines covers and negative self-talk, you set yourself up for a lifetime of notgoodenough. I’m a sponge for all that stuff (I admit it!). It's time to beat back all that negative self-talk with a little bit of movement. It's times like these when I remember why I really love to run. It's about freedom.

Apple peanut butter oatmeal

¼ c leftover overnight apple oatmeal- I got the recipe from Pinterest.
½ c rolled oats
1 t chia seeds
2 T oat bran
A spoonful of peanut butter
½ c skim milk
½ t agave nectar
A little bit of water
A few dashes of cinnamon









This combination was super good. Just like everyone else, I am so eager for autumn to be here, and I think that one of the best ways to celebrate the change in seasons is with tasty, autumn-themed food. Apple cinnamon is one of my favorite combos- and the peanut butter takes this breakfast from normal good to excellent. 

Peanut butter really is the best. I get in trouble for eating it out of the jar with a spoon. I overheard something on a quiz show the other night that the FDA has set a standardized allotment for an acceptable number of insect parts in peanut butter. Gross! This is why I don’t watch TV.

The game of house

Here is the thing about playing house... you never win the game. It never ends. Clean, decorate, furnish, cook, start over. Invest. All that said, our apartment is having a style contest via Instagram, and I'd love to win- the prize for first place is a Kindle Fire, so now I'm a competitive decorator.

Cheddar likes it okay- see that happy cat on the couch? I'm digging it, too. It sure is nice to feel like you have a cozy apartment, and roots, and all that squishy, comfortable stuff that makes a house a home. It isn't about the furniture or the decor, it's about the feeling. I haven't had a chance to truly settle down anywhere until now. I feel this uneasiness, as though I don't want to let myself settle down here, either. It's like I still think I'm just going to have to move again in one year. After years and years of annual moving, how do you let yourself sink into a place and call it your own?

I've had all these great years of bouncing around the country living here and there, but I don't have much experience in just being present in a moment, staying still in one place. I think that's why I'm all about the home stuff right now. This is the first chance I've given myself to relax into a place. And so, even though it means constant chores and never really being done, playing house remains my favorite game.

We love pie!

Rhubarb pie! This pie here, it's called a cutie pie! YUM!

So that's what we do now, we eat pies. Health food, guys. I can't help myself, I have no apologies, I love pie.

This entire week has been a food fiesta for us, but we don't feel bad about it. Thanks to marathon training (psh), I've decided that it is okay to eat anything...everything? We went to Pryde's in Westport, our new favorite home goods store, and decided that we are going to have to furnish our entire kitchen with the cute stuff from this darling local establishment. Check out these coffee cups- I think that this sums it all up:

All in all, we are having a great time, living it up and loving everything about life.

So. Happy.

Casa updates

So, this is actually kind of older news, but we bought a sofa about a month ago. This might not seem like a big deal to many, but we haven't ever bought furniture so the sofa thing felt like this giant leap into adulthood. We finally got it together and put up a real living room. It took us awhile, but now that we have it all set up, it feels really cozy up in here. 

Turns out that you really can move a sofa without a truck! All you need is lots of rope, a Geo Prism, and to cross your fingers and hope for the best. Then we have a picture of the whole thing all set up. It's likely a temporary arrangement, but until we have a little more to work with, this makes an awesome book reading and cereal-eating nook. I'm glad that this place is finally starting to feel like home. This sofa nook is the perfect spot for drinking coffee and reading books (favorite things).

Also, here are some pictures of us from a night out in the crossroads art district. Lots of wine involved.

Yep, this is us being grown-ups :)

Keeping it simple

I think it's important that everyone have some sort of philosophy, so that when people ask you what you are all about, you have a good answer. I think that I say it a few times a week: "I believe in keeping it simple."

This philosophy applies to lots of things for me. I just don't dig on all the fussy stuff. I don't believe in complicating life with a bunch of junk, clutter, options, whatever. I think that freedom comes from not being too tied down with stuff. I'm the kind of person who reads Real Simple magazine, and I truly love that publication. That said, I don't actually buy it- that would just be one more thing I'm buying that I don't need. I wonder sometimes if Real Simple magazine ever thought about that- they likely have a huge invisible fan base that just doesn't buy the mag.

So back on topic- what is stuff? To me, it's physical junk, such as clutter and bad food and junk mail. It's also spiritual and mental junk. Think noise, advertisements, etc. Just today I received about one million (give or take) junk e-mails from retailers, magazines, sellers of things, who all have a deal or an offer that I just couldn't stand to miss. The thing is, I truly enjoy getting these e-mails- I like to see what is new, trendy or on sale. However, I have started to notice that the more I read that stuff, the more I need that stuff. I don't know how virtuous it is for me to continue to look at all the stuff I don't have (and truly don't need). It changes you and makes you believe that you are without, when in reality, you've got all you need.

I think it's better to have a well cultivated life speckled with special things rather than a world full of stuff. A little different, but it works for me.

Playin' house

I started my first real job two weeks ago, I love Kansas City and am thrilled to be living with my fiancé again. We have been up to all sorts of shenanigans.

First off, when moving to a new town, it is important that one try every single new restaurant in the neighborhood at lightning speed (everyone does that, right?) We have discovered a great local deli that makes apple fritters as big as your face. Murray's Ice Cream shop in Westport actually makes a chocolate mole ice cream that is spicy. Breweries are all over the place, which is perfect for me.

Onto my new favorite pastime, playing house. Here is our living room today. Check out that killer hole in the wall! You can't tell from this picture, but the view is incredible. Living on the 7th floor definitely has it's perks, including perfect natural light. We have got to get some furniture up in here, so that has become a high priority talking point for these two apartment dwellers.

We went on an extreme sofa buying mission, which involved PHC sitting on every sofa we liked for pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:

The last one is the winner- or at least we think it will be. Paul's head is a little blurry because he is nodding. Super cozy couch. We are going to go back in a couple of weeks to shop around just one more time before we really decide. 

Also, we bought these curtains from Urban Outfitters, a very inexpensive source. Paul picked out the pattern, naturally I was going for something plain and boring...

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=24751646&parentid=A_RUGPILCUR

I've always been a little weird about this style of curtain, but we are going to try it on a tension rod and try not to put any holes into the walls of our lovely rental apartment. Not yet, anyway. 

Wedding season, continued.

Nevermind the raccoon eyes... here are a couple of pictures from Kyle and Aly's wedding in Dallas, TX. Congratulations! We had a great time!

Moving progress

It's all coming together!

Photo #1 is from July 5th. The big victory that day was selling my loveseat. Woo! More gas money for the great road trip of 2013 (one week countdown is on). On July 6, I managed to sell a writing desk, and have ditched a few more furniture items. My closet is almost completely empty, and the laundry is done. You know what is crazy is that even with all the work, it still looks like no progress is being made. It's hard to see the big picture here.

Another thing, it's enlightening to see what all your stuff looks like in one room, all together. I think it's kinda neat that I can fit all of my things into one picture. The pictures will hopefully get neater and more compact over the next several days.

Here's to new beginnings!

Moving out, y'all!

One year after the great relocation to Augusta, I'm moving again. This time, I'm headed out of the south and into the Midwest! Kansas City, Missouri, here we come!

I'm super thrilled and excited because I get to move (back) in with my fiancé, Paul! After one year apart, we will finally be back together again.

But not until I finish up with some rather icky moving stuff. Here is the challenge: I'm moving without a truck, without a helper, all by myself. Translation: if it doesn't fit in the Camry, it isn't going to Missouri. Do I live like a vagabond? Maybe so. It's a traveler's life for me.

My life is in shambles, y'all. Stay tuned! It always gets way worse before it gets better. Sometimes I think that my mid-20s have prepared me to be a professional mover. I have lived in SEVEN different apartments in the past seven years. Looking forward to number eight- this one's going to be a winner for sure, picked out by Paul. He has already moved in, and I'm just wrapping things up here before I roll out in just one week.

Sugar, sugar

I have a philosophy about sugar. It's terrible for you and there is just no reason to eat it at all, ever. If I am baking something for you, it doesn't have sugar in it. Ever. I believe that it is just one of the worst and most unnecessary thing that a person can eat. It makes me moody and sad and pudgy.

So why do I own this bag of sugar right here?

I don't know. It has been sitting in my cabinet for the past nine months completely untouched. So today I threw it away. I don't even feel bad, it's not healthy for anybody. I stopped really eating it about three years ago, and very quickly dropped something like ten pounds. That's not to say that I don't ever eat it, everybody slips sometimes. But as a general rule I don't touch the stuff. That's not just sweets, it's ketchup, soft drinks, white bread, and so on.

If you do the research you will learn some awful stuff about what sugar does to your body. I don't like to be preachy, and it's better to learn about it for yourself. If you have the time, there is a great lecture here, thanks to UCTV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

A healthy life is a happy life.

On giving it away

It's spring cleaning time, so I'm challenging myself to give away at least one thing every day for thirty days. There are two reasons, the first is that I'm moving away soon. The second reason is that giving things away is an important process for me- it helps me to remember that things are just things. Everyday I'm picking another thing that I don't need anymore and putting it into a pile. Watching the stack grow is rewarding, and keeping the things set aside for awhile instead of just running them off to Goodwill softens the impact.

I feel like my apartment is on a diet. Seriously though, it's easy to feel like you are owned by your possessions. As an adventurer, it makes more sense for me to get rid of all the things that just don't make my life better. Besides, my moving van is a Camry, and my philosophy is that if it doesn't fit in my car, it doesn't go with. This is going to mean LOTS of creativity come moving day.

Two weeks in, and this little give-away pile has grown into a give away monster. I think I'm already at thirty things and it hasn't even been two weeks. I'm going to keep the pile going for a full thirty days and see how much I can part with.

At three weeks in, I am WAY over 30 things in my give away pile... but I'm still adding at least one thing every day. It's getting easier. May 14th is the day that it all goes to Goodwill.

Another bookshelf project

My dearly loved cheap-o bookshelf came from Target about two years ago. It barely survived the move from Memphis, and was literally falling apart. Swift action was required, and after not too much shopping around, I decided to revamp this one just like I did with my other bookshelf. To start, I had to re-do the back, and just like I did with my other bookshelf, I used fabric and foam board to create a new background (thanks, Pinterest!). It isn't perfect, but it is so much better. You can see it in the background here, don't mind Ched.

Once I got the bookshelf put together again, I had serious decoration anxiety. I couldn't decide what to put on the shelves. I just used it as a holding place for my pictures for a long time (months!).

About two weeks ago, I realized that I hated seeing the ugly bookshelf first thing in the morning everyday, and that changes needed to be made. With a goal in mind, I headed out to Hobby Lobby and picked up three funky frames for about $30. I printed out some of my favorite pictures as 4x6s and added a white mat to fill up the extra space in the 5x7 frames.

As a side note, it was a good idea to update my pictures, I was living in the past!

I have a small collection of owls compared to some of my friends (you know who you are!), but I didn't really like them all scattered out wherever on the top shelf. I found a little blue cake dish on sale... and now my owls have a cute house!

Before (in Memphis) and after!

Here is my new view! This clearly isn't done yet, it is a work in progress. The bottom shelf needs help, and I don't think I will keep things set up like they are now, but still. So much better than before.

Where have you been?

Since the last post... I went to Texas for Christmas,

[and got engaged]

Back to Augusta,

To Dallas for a friend weekend,

Back to Georgia...

To Nashville, then Austin,

(JDVAC conference, family time)

Georgia.

To Austin, then Los Angeles,

(Easter, AudiologyNOW! Conference, 3rd place trivia team, proudest moment of my audiology life!)

...and finally back here in lovely Georgia.



I should have gotten a frequent flyer number!