Stealing the Family Christmas Tree

What!? Stealing a Christmas tree??? More on that in a minute…

First, I hope everyone’s Friday is truckin’ along nicely.

Fridays seem to draaaag or fly by for me. Today is a fly by kinda day, though I hesitate to say this because time will now inevitably stop. 😉

How’s your Friday going? Fast or s-l–o-w?

Lunchtime came quick and I was really looking forward to my leftover pasta dish.

Lots O' Parm

I omitted the goat cheese (mainly because I forgot to add it in before I left my apartment), so my noodle bowl included:

• Carba Nada roasted garlic fettuccine noodles
• Tomato basil marinara
• Sauteed spinach
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Parmesan cheese

Isn’t is crazy how a truckload of fresh spinach yields a teeny-weenie amount of cooked spinach? It’s like magic. I even made Ryan watch the spinach cooking process and he was amazed (or did a good job humoring me and pretending to be amazed, which is probably more likely).

This lunch was good! I love eating foods I typically eat for dinner for lunch. It feels so indulgent. I also love breakfast for dinner. I crave sweet stuff in the morning, so salty eggs and buttery toast sound much better later in the day.

Tonight I will be cooking dinner for the whole fam. My mom has an appointment so she will not be home to cook dinner and I jumped at the opportunity to play chef! I’m not sure what’s on the menu but I gave her these ideas and told her to pick one:

• Roasted chicken with lemons and thyme
• BBQ meatloaf (yes, the BBQ meatloaf)
• Salmon
• Spaghetti squash with mushrooms, zucchini and squash

Which one would you pick?

Roasted Chicken

I’m leaning toward the chicken, but I’m not sure if time constraints will permit that selection since we may be getting our family Christmas tree tonight! Woop, woop!

Christmas Tree

Stealing Our Christmas Tree

Going out to purchase our family Christmas tree is always a fun event because the entire time we hound my mom, asking if she’s going to steal a tree again this year.

Again you may be thinking… yes, again. A few years ago we went to Publix (a grocery store in the southeast) to pick up a tree. While my dad was talking with the tree guys, my mom, sister and I ran into the store to pick up some things for dinner.

When we came out my dad had the tree all loaded up, so we hopped in the van and headed home. Naturally we assumed my dad paid for the tree. Well apparently you’re supposed to pay inside, so imagine my mom’s surprise when my dad asked her how much the tree was.

“What!?” my mom said.  “You didn’t pay for it? I thought you paid for it before you loaded it on the car!”

Every Christmas since then we’ve berated my mom about stealing our family Christmas tree – the symbol of giving, caring, Jesus and generosity that sits in our living room.

(Note: My mom ended up going back to Publix and making a donation to ease her guilty conscious. She’s a good woman..)

Freegans

Hooray for Friday! I love the energy on Fridays. Everyone seems 10 times happier.

Plus, there was free food in the break room this morning, which made all the freegans happy. Unfamiliar with the term “freegan?” A guy I used to work with informed me of this term used to describe people who will eat anything, as long as its free.

I’m sure you’re familiar with these people. Anytime something free is suddenly available in the break room or at an office potluck, they load up as if preparing for hibernation. Freegans can also be found prevalently around college campuses and are frequently seen hording free pieces of pizza  in their dorm room to enjoy throughout the week.

Are you a freegan?

I passed up on the freegan frenzy since I was nice and full from my yummy breakfast.

Friday's Breakfast

Yeah, you know that’s my College Park Orthodontics free coffee cup! I’ve been rockin’ it almost daily. It’s awesome.

CPO, what, what!?

Ballin'!

I think I may be a little overly excited about this free mug. Might I be a freegan, too!? Ah!

For breakfast I enjoyed a small pack of Kay’s Naturals French vanilla protein cereal on top of Chobani Greek yogurt.

French Vanilla Protein Cereal

Yum Yogurt

This was my first time trying the French vanilla flavor of Kay’s Naturals protein cereal and I loved it! 😀 It was crunchy, sweet and very flavorful.(I bought it online at Netrition.com.)

Also, the nutrition facts are pretty impressive. One pack of the cereal has 100 calories, 15g carbs, 3g fiber, 3g sugar and 9g protein. Plus it’s all natural so it’s sweetened with honey, cinnamon and vanilla extract. It’s also gluten free.

Workout and Walk

I woke up this morning feeling wishy-washy about going to BodyPump. I walked to the gym thinking I’d do my own total-body weights routine.I even got on a cardio machine for a little warm up for about 30 seconds before changing my mind and rushing into BodyPump just in time! I scrambled to get the weights and everything ready, but I made it! So indecisive.

I’m glad I went to the class though because it was a good one. I am obsessed with the song “Now You’re Gone” by Basshunter that was played during the shoulder workout. It makes me wanna sing and dance, but at 5:45 a.m., I think I’d get smacked in the face by other people in the class if I was too enthusiastic.

I finished up my workout with 25 minutes of light cardio on the elliptical.

Then it was time for Sadie’s morning walk. Since Ryan has the day off work, he joined us. While he was grabbing a jacket, I snapped this very presidential-looking picture of Sadie.

Wise Old Sadie

Yes, she is wearing a red t-shirt. 🙂 She gets cold really easily since vizslas have no undercoat and she’s so flippin’ skinny.

I ordered this t-shirt for her last year around the holidays. It says “Santa Paws’ Little Yelper” on the back. I’ll snap a picture of it this weekend for ya. It’s way too big on her, but it looks adorable. She actually likes wearing it! Whenever we bring it out of her little doggie storage bin she jumps around and wags her tail. She must get her love of clothes from her mama. 😉

Weekend Plans

After work today I’m swinging by the apartment to pick up Ryan and Sadie for a weekend at my parents’ house in St. Pete. We have wedding planning appointments with a florist and a photographer. I also have an appointment at a bridal boutique to try on dresses tomorrow at 11 a.m. Can’t wait! Will it be simple or sha-zaam???

For those of you with wedding planning experience, aside from food, drink and the overall expense of the reception, where did you end up spending most of your wedding budget?

All this finance/budget stuff is tough! Thank goodness Ryan is number-savvy. Every time I’d send him a potential wedding venue he’d reply with a spreadsheet breakdown of all the costs. I love my little mathematician.