Wedding Ceremony Brainstorming

Not only have I severely neglected my love of Greek yogurt recently, but my poor beloved noodle bowls have fallen to the wayside as well.

Once again, let’s bring back the ol’ favorite!

Noodle Bowl

Hooray for a veggie-packed noodle bowl!

Today’s pasta explosion contained:

• Carba Nada egg fettuccine pasta (12g protein per serving!)
• Marinara meat sauce
• Eat Smart broccoli slaw
• Roasted Brussels sprouts (the ones that Sadie didn’t eat)
• Small handful of arugula

Mix it up and you’ve got a nutritious and delicious mid-day meal.

Get a Load of This!

Get That Sauce Everrrrywhere

Pasta is so good. Plain and simple.

Wedding Ceremony Brainstorming

When I get off work today, Ryan and I are heading to my parents’ house in St. Pete for the weekend to accomplish some wedding-related to-dos.

First up: Meet with our pastor about our wedding ceremony.

Wedding Ceremony: Renaissance Vinoy Tea Garden

Our pastor has a basic outline of traditional ceremonies he performs, but we want to omit certain aspects and replace other parts with pieces we create ourselves to give our ceremony a more romantic and personal feel.

To me, the ceremony is the most important of the whole day. Of course I am looking forward to the reception and gettin’ my boogie on, but I really want our ceremony to be memorable and signify the commitment we are making to each other.

Ryan and I want our ceremony to convey love, hope and excitement, but also recognize that we’re about to embark on a journey that will require work, nurturing and constant care. By including those sentiments in our ceremony, I hope it will help us to always remember to make our relationship a priority and cherish the love we have for each other for a lifetime.

Being the avid “Googler” that I am, I set forth on a internet-wide search of creative wedding ceremony ideas and boy-oh-boy did reading through vows and words of devotion make me an emotional nutcase.

Must… not… cry… during… lunchbreak…

Ryan and I already created a personalized segment of our ceremony that we love, but I’m still on the lookout for inspiring ideas.

For example, I thought these vows were absolutely beautiful:

Groom
In your eyes, I have found my home.
In your heart, I have found my love.
In your soul, I have found my mate.
With you, I am whole, full, alive.
You make me laugh. You let me cry.
You are my breath, my every heartbeat.

Bride
You are my inspiration and my soul’s fire.
You are the magic of my days.
You help me laugh, you teach me love.
You provide a safe place for me, unlike I’ve ever known.
You free me to sing my own song.
You are more of an amazement to me, each day I rediscover you.
You are my greatest boon.

– Frau Ava, 1160

So romantic.

I don’t want to share our ceremony ideas on the blog because I want our ceremony to be a surprise for our guests and our parents, but I will definitely post a recap after the wedding… which is in 50 days. AH!

Please share any ideas you have to make a wedding ceremony feel extra-special. Any stories from your wedding or weddings you have attended are more than welcome!

Neglected

I just realized something this morning. I’ve been severely neglecting my love of Greek yogurt.

For some reason, I’ve been bypassing the creamy, protein-packed lil’ cups every day for the past week or so.

It was high time to change that!

Hello Again, Old Friend

I made myself a bowl of yogurt mousse, using a cup of plain Greek yogurt and a big spoonful of instant chocolate pudding mix.

I then topped the chocolate-flavored yogurt with a sliced frozen banana.

Naner

Time for a Bite

Neglected, no more! 😀

Workout

Today’s workout had me sweatin’!

I took a BodyPump class, followed by 10 minutes of cardio split between the stair master and the elliptical.

The teacher at my gym this morning annoyed me a little because she was pretty negative and was a stickler for form. I totally understand the importance of proper form, but I could tell her intense focus on the improper form of certain class participants made some people uncomfortable.

It’s all about the delivery!

Had she harped on the proper way to do certain exercises with a positive tone, it would’ve made all the difference. I don’t think most group exercisers want to feel like they’re back in school and getting reprimanded. A polite correction is appreciated, but a condescending one is not. I even saw three people leave before the third track was over.

Question of the Morning

Have you ever had a bad experience with a group exercise instructor?

I think my worst experience was during a spinning class several months ago.

The instructor was a big, beefy guy who never got on the bike, played screaming heavy metal music and danced like he was in a club the whole time (as in he never moved his feet, but grooved in one spot like a mega-tool). You could tell he thought he was a hottie tottie. Not my cuppa tea!