Can’t Quite Grasp It

My bachelorette party (part one) is exactly a month away!!! I got an email from one of my friends with a basic itinerary and required attire this afternoon which pretty much sent me into a frenzy of excitement (as those of you who follow me on Twitter already know). I can’t wait! 😀 

I’m sorry but I just had to get that off my chest. 😉 

Dog Park 

Our evening began with a trip to the dog park. 

Sadie was beyond thrilled when we loaded up the car. 

Pumped Puppy

Family Fun

 Our trip to the park was dominated by playing fetch with a crazy-shaped red ball. 

Get It Girrrrl

Ryan took the above action photo of me and Sadie, so naturally I had to turn the camera on him. 

Of course he put on an intense tough guys face… though Sadie’s face was 100 percent authentic. 

Like Father, Like Doggie Daughter

I’m not sure who looks crazier! 😀 

When we first started playing with the red ball, Ryan and I could not stop laughing because Sadie had such a hard time grasping it in her mouth. 

I caught one of her first attempts on video, which made us laugh at her all over again: 

Her big red ball got the attention of some other dogs who stole it away for a while… 

Stolen!

…But she swooped in and got it back when they got distracted. 

"Mine!"

Gotcha!

Eventually it was bath time. 

Bath Station

For as much as Sadie loves the lake and the ocean, you’d think she would love baths. 

Not the case. 

She hates them. Fortunately she loves being toweled off and gets all snuggly afterwards. 

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean

With a clean pup on our hands, we headed home for din-nah! 

Dinner 

Dinner tonight was another easy creation. 

The base was my two-ingredient crock pot pulled chicken which I smothered in BBQ sauce for a simple BBQ pulled chicken sandwich. 

BBQ Chicken Sandwich

To get some greens in our meal, I roasted broccoli at 415 degrees for 20 minutes after spraying it with cooking spray and dusting the veggie with garlic salt. 

Roasted Broccoli

Dinner is Served

Simple and simply delicious! 

Now I’m off to relax a bit and watch The Blind Side with Ryan. He’s never seen it and I loved it! Let’s hope he’s a fan, too!

Coyotes, Cows and Turkeys, Oh My!

First things first, your comments about the crazy things you’ve seen while working out not only made me laugh out loud, but they truly amazed me!

Here are some of the things you’ve encountered while getting your sweat on:

• Coyotes
• Road runner (Are you sure you weren’t just watching Looney Tunes? 😉 )
• Cows that somehow escaped the farm
• Family of turkeys
• Man walking on the treadmill at a 1.5 pace while using his arms to do dance moves
• A kid on a school bus who threw a pencil at the runner
• Guy doing push-ups in work attire
• Naked man sweeping his driveway
• Mockingbirds dive-bombing a squirrel that was trying to steal from a bird feeder
• Dog running down the street with a mailbox attached to its leash

And my personal favorite:

• A middle-aged Amish man walking across a road with a dead turkey on his back while his wife walked behind him in her dress holding a gun.

All of your comments reminded me of a weird thing I once saw while working out:

One time a guy was doing ab exercises on an exercise ball near the treadmills at my gym.

Crunch it Out

He had his legs propped up on the ball, and mid-crunch the ball flew out from underneath his feet and into a nearby treadmill.

The problem? A woman was running on that treadmill and the ball caused the treadmill to stop, sending the woman flying. While this was happening, the exercise ball squeaked loudly as the treadmill tried to keep moving.

It was insane! Luckily the woman was okay, but she was clearly very shook up. It also took a good two minutes or so for someone to turn off the treadmill and stop the ball from squeaking, which made the whole scene seem all the more dramatic. Totally nuts!

Lunch

My lunch today included two new things!

• Avocado
• Tabouleh

They’re probably not new to you, but they’re new to me! Well, I’ve loved avocado for years, so it’s not technically new to me, but since I rarely buy avocados, it felt like a new discovery!

Tabouleh

The tabouleh, on the other hand, was definitely a new dish. I’ve tried tabouleh (a Middle Eastern salad featuring bulgur, mint, parsley, and other herbs and spices) one other time at TooJay’s Deli when I was in college. I liked it a lot back then, but totally forgot about it until Sunday evening when my friend Merri gave me a box mix to make my own!

Using Fantastic World Foods’ box mix, I made tabouleh last night while dinner was cooking and let it chill in the fridge. By the time I was ready to eat it for lunch today, it was nice and cold.

I topped a bed of fresh spinach with the tabouleh, along with grape tomatoes, cucumber and celery and half of a large avocado.

Tabouleh + Avocado

I used Ryan’s method to prep the avocado, which made it super simple! Ryan makes the most amazing (and simple) avocado salsa dip and has perfected his avocado slicing technique.

To prep the avocado, simply cut it in half, lengthwise, and twist to separate the two sides. Stab the pit with a knife to remove it before carving a grid into the avocado. Scoop out the avocado! You should have perfectly diced chunks of avocado!

Avocado Grid

Sliced Avocado

My lunchtime salad was definitely taken to another level due to the addition of the tabouleh and avocado. I forgot how much creaminess and flavor avocado adds to any dish (not to mention it’s a great source of good fat!).

Summer Salad

I’ve actually noticed something about my body and food recently.

I seem to feel much fuller off of fat and fiber than I do when I consume protein alone. A simple protein shake might calm hunger pains for a little while, but if I eat a small handful of nuts with the shake or add some high-fiber fruit to the mix, I feel much more satisfied. I guess the whole “eat protein + carbs + fats” at every meal is a pretty decent equation. 😉

Of Possible Interest

• Tips to Avoid Weekend Weight Gain (FitSugar.com)
• 50 Fattiest American Foods (One from Each State!) (Health.com)
• Coupon for $.30 off Yoplait Greek yogurt

Berry Barley Breakfast Parfait

“You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits. Have you ever met a person, you say, ‘Hey, let’s get some parfaits,’ they say, ‘Hell no, I don’t like no parfait?’ No! Parfaits are delicious!”

What a fantastic scene from Shrek. I love Donkey. 🙂

Donkey

Donkey is right on the money with that quote if you ask me.

Seriously who doesn’t like a parfait?

Layer after layer of deliciousness? I mean, c’mon. They’re fantastic.

This morning my breakfast was a berry barley parfait.

Berry Barley Parfait

I made the parfait by layering vanilla Greek yogurt, cold cooked pearled barley, and thawed frozen strawberries in a wine glass for visual appeal.

View from the Top

I Love Parfaits

This meal was basically my favorite barley breakfast bowl in parfait form.

I followed up my parfait-in-a-wine-glass with toasted walnuts-in-a-shot-glass.

Shot o' Nuts

Quite the filling breakfast!

Workout

This morning Sadie and I set out on yet another five mile run. I was feeling kind of sleepy, and by the time I actually felt awake, the run was over. Can’t beat that!

On our run this morning we saw quite a neat little sight.

For some unknown reason there are a small handful of peacocks that live a mile or so from our apartment. They’ve always been there and seem to enjoy roaming around peoples’ yards in a one-block radius.

Well, today we saw little baby peacocks!

Baby Peacocks

I’ve never seen a baby peacock before and thought they were so cute! They reminded me of a bigger, more awkward looking chick. Adorable!

Question of the Day

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen while working out?