Today I Am...

Today I am...

Reading: a few books: Looking for Alaska (didn't realize it was sad and my heart is broken!), Dissolving Illusions, and A Feast for Crows. I've been reading A Feast for Crows for a long time, but I keep taking breaks for other books. I don't know why I can't just finish the Game of Throne series already. I'm on goodreads if you wanna be frannnds. My goal for the year is 30 books and I've already finished 10 (with two more almost done) so I have high hopes to complete my goal.

Sipping: on jasmine green tea. So much sweeter tasting than regular green tea, but without being actually sweet!

Anticipating: getting wood floors. We'll be fixing our foundation in the next year or two which may requiring raising the house a bit, so we're just doing laminate floors for now to not risk messing hardwood floors up. We're getting dark five inch planks and I'm wayyyyy excited. The carpet in the living room is just so gross! It won't match the laminate that's already in the rest of the house, but oh well. 

Listening: to audiobooks! I have a 20 minute drive to and from work, and I figured that would be a good way to pass the time. I am a visual learner so audiobooks are really difficult in the beginning, but once I'm able to get a grasp of what the book is about and the main characters, I'm good. Meaning the first hour of the book I'm just thinking, "This is so dumb. I don't understand any of this. WHO are they talking about? WHAT'S GOING ON??" But I keep persevering and I've been enjoying them. So far this year I've listened to The Messenger (ugh, as a Giver lover I had high hopes but this book was just terrible!), Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs (geared towards a generation 10 years older than me - not bad on audio but I would've stopped reading the book) and Rogue Lawyer (I love John Grisham, so it didn't disappoint). I'm about halfway through The Lost Gate and it is so enjoyable. I've also been listening to The Slow Home and The Minimalists podcasts. 

Baking: a lot, actually! I've made some tasty gluten free biscuits and gravy (following the recipe on the side of the Bob's Redmill 1:1 replacement flour mix) and cornbread muffins - I don't include the butter and bake it for 20 minutes in 12 greased muffin tins then eat with honey butter. We've made the bread in our cast iron many times until we tried muffins, and they're just easier to keep moist and store. We went out to breakfast the other morning for the first time ever in town, maybe? Not many gluten free options here. I got blue corn pancakes that were AMAZING, so I had to make some yellow corn pancakes using this recipe. Vince and I agreed that these were a delicious pancake being so light and fluffy, and by far my favorite pancake recipe now. To make it gluten free, I used the above-mentioned flour replacement.

Post theme found on Camp Patton and kept alive by SK Bell.

I always want to spell it Instagraham.

I know, I still have to finish our Tucson trip and the post is almost ready! Maybe this is my way of holding on to vacation. Once I post about it, it means the trip is really over. As if having to wake up at 7am and go to school and work wasn't a good enough indicator. Whatever. Here's some Instagram photos.

Homemade paleo thin mints. Holy shit, these were the best cookie I've had, ever. I've made them three or four time in the past couple weeks. Go make them, now! And keep them in the freezer, they are a zillion times better. || Someone must have sinned pretty bad because Jesus was not happy with Flagstaff.

Roxi and I went on a run in the woods after it snowed and we both had the best of times. It was kind of magical. || Homemade raw yoghurt with frozen blueberries and a dribble of local honey.

Sarah at Yes and Yes recommended everyone buy a pair of Rockstar jeans from Old Navy because they are awesome, fit well, and go far enough up your back that your butt doesn't show, yet doesn't make you feel like a grandma. I've NEVER listened to anyones advise regarding clothes because my body is whack and doesn't fit in things right because I'm so tall and skinny, but I took a chance and bought a pair anyways. AMAZING. I need to buy more. They are normally $34, were on sale for $28, and I got an additional 15% off that along with free shipping. So worth it. I got a size up based on reviews and they are perfect! Oh, and they have short, regular, and long sizes! || Laughing is good for the soul.

Grapefruit is so dang good. || A peek at how we do our laundry using a Wonderwash and a Spin Dryer.

After the snow, the sun came back for a while meaning I could wear tanktops for a brief period!

Duh. || I had some extra juice leftover so I used it as the liquid for a smoothie. I combined frozen strawberries, homemade raw yoghurt, chia seeds and the juice that had celery, beets, carrots, broccoli stalks, kale, and Brussels sprouts. It was fantastic.

Sweet shirt I got on vacation. HP fo lyfe! || Roxi pooped on the lawn of a muti-million dollar house down in Phoenix. Then she rolled in the grass.

Another shirt I got on vacation: ZEBRAS! || Work life.

This lady at my gym. She had her shoes off, feet up, and was eating cotton candy and drinking a soda. Just go home. || New workout clothes. Thank you, Tar-jay.

Roxi guarding the door at Run Flagstaff while Vince was getting new shoes. || Warm weather means shorts for workouts!

I got my Joe Sorren trading cards and I can't wait to frame them for a future nursery! || Spring has arrived, wind and all, so I bought a new plant to add to the million I already have.

Follow me on Instagram @iffyinkling and leave your Instagram in the comments so I can follow you!

Spring Bucket List

Sara does a mini bucket list every once in a while, and I love the idea! It's nice to have a little to-do list of things I want to do so I can print it out to have a constant reminder so on the days I have nothing to do, I can take a look and pick something. Here is mine, and be sure to go check out Sara's bucket list!

I plan on printing this put and putting it on my bulletin board in the kitchen.

Do you have a bucket list for spring or things you want to do?

Because I shouldn't keep it a secret...

No, sorry, I'm not pregnant. I did come across a super awesome cold prevention, though, which is way more exciting to most of you!

I read the blog DIYNatural and one of the writers also has a separate blog, Matt Jabs. He posted a health tonic and it just so happened to be a few days before I started getting a cold.

A couple weeks ago I was feeling awful. I started getting the super exhausted, whiny, grumpiness I get before I get sick. Then I started getting all mucousy and had a bad headach from the sinus pressure. I started complaining to Vince and as I did, I remember Matt's post for his health tonic! I quickly rushed to the store for Vitamin C powder after some research told me that Vitamin C powder is different from a Vitamin C pill. (For one thing, Vitamin C powder is one ingredient and a pill has like 8...what?!) I came home, mixed up a cup, and gulped it down expecting it to taste awful. It didn't taste too bad, and Vince and I came to the conclusion that it reminds us of Emergen-C, just without the fizz. (And it's healthier!) Well, I wanted the fizz, so I made it fizzy with some sparkling mineral water. Here's a little how-to for the health tonic:

In a small mason jar or any jar with a lid, add 1 tablespoon raw honey(+ local is best!), 1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar (you can get Bragg's from the regular grocery store and it's cheap and the best), 1 teaspoon Vitamin C powder (don't just crush up a pill!) and 1/3 cup water. Put the lid on and shake, shake, shake. If you used raw honey it will more than likely be a solid, so after shaking for a minute or two I let it sit for a 1/2 hour to dissolve, shaking every five or ten minutes. When everything is dissolved, I poured the tonic into a larger cup and filled it to the brim with sparkling mineral water for the fizz. This is optional! Sometimes I drink it with the sparkling water, and other times I just add a little regular water and drink it. It tastes good either way.

I drank some the night I was starting to feel sick, the next morning before I went to work, and then that night as well. I started off Friday feeling the same as I had Thursday night, still not 100%, but by Friday night I felt great! To be on the safe side I also drank one cup a day for four days after.

This will be my future go-to for when I feel sickly again, and I hope it continues to work just as well! Vince is feeling a little sick right now and I've been loading him up on this and elderberry. I'm also loading myself up, because there has never been a time when he's been sick and I haven't gotten sick. This test will tell!

I know a lot of you believe things like this are bullshit, and if you believe that, by all means, support the drug companies and buy yourself a bottle of NyQuil. I am no doctor and cannot tell you that this will cure you of anything, but it can't hurt, right? Vince and I now drink this a couple times a week, especially if we wake up and just feel a little off or need a boost of energy. He calls it the 'orange drink' even though it's not really orange and doesn't taste too much like orange? Either way, he approves.

Lastly, to those of you who are intimidated by the 'raw this' and 'raw that', don't be! I get my raw honey from the farmer's market and it's $12 for a quart, compared to $11 for pasteurized local honey. Only $1 extra for raw? Yes please. (And if you are buying 'regular' honey from the grocery store, I encourage you to do some research because you're not actually buying real honey!) Also, raw ACV? You can get it at the regular grocery store in the vinegar section! Can't get any easier than that.

Pretending it's summer.

Saturdays are now my only day off. I work Job #1 on Sundays, Job #2 Monday through Friday, and have classes Monday through Thursday. I'm only working part-time, but needless to say, I will really appreciate my Saturdays, especially after the first weeks of chaos that come with a new semester!

School started last Monday and I LOVE all my classes. Last semester I didn't have all good teachers and it made me kind of bummed about school. I was not as excited about things because none of the subjects were being taught in the greatest of ways. This semester, all my teachers are freaking outstanding. I have already learned so much and the way they all teach makes it stick in my brain! They love teaching and they love the subjects they are teaching. But, this week was still crazy and until I figure things out, like what to bring for quick lunches, where I want to study, and how to keep my house clean, things will be crazy. I'm taking this week to try and sort that stuff out, though, so hopefully everything will be running smoothly by the weekend.

Saturday I started my day off with a cup of tea, a can of coconut water, and an apple. I lounged on the couch, read some blogs, and read part of the book I'm reading for Sara's book club, Sarah's Key. So far I am in love with the book and don't want to put it down! I will definitely be finishing it by the end of the week.

Once I realized I was wasting away on the couch and was starving, I meandered into the kitchen to make some grain free/dairy free/paleo pancakes. I had to do some dishes first, so I got some strawberries out to snack on. I realized they would be much better a little sweeter and on top of pancakes, so I quickly diced two of them up and poured half a tablespoon of pure maple syrup on them to marinate while I did dishes.

I finished the dishes and started the pancakes, a recipe I had never tried before from Guilty Kitchen.

They turned out great!

They weren't sweet, so the added strawberries soaked in maple syrup and a spoonful of coconut fat were a perfect addition. The colors also scream summer to me, which I love.

The recipe made six 5-inch pancakes, but three were more than enough to fill me. Coconut flour is very high in fiber! Next time I'm going to double or triple the batch because the recipe says they freeze good.

Are you in school this semester and have a crazy schedule? Or just a crazy schedule in general?

Blog Friend

I have a post coming soon, a full post, but for now I'm popping in to let you know I'm guest posting at The Traveling PhoBlogWriPher! So go over and read! 

Healthy Inklings #2

This series will consist of healthy tips, recipes, and random things I've learned along my paleo journey.  To learn more about the paleo lifestyle, click here. This is not necessarily paleo specific, just overall health.  To read previous Healthy Inklings posts, click here. 

I cannot tell you how many times I've said, 'We're never going out to eat again. Every food I buy will be healthy. NO MORE processed food!' as I throw away all the bad food from my cupboards. I'd maybe last two days, three at the most, before I caved in to the cravings of a popsicle or the mexican food restaurant down the road. My body (but more likely just my mind) could not handle such a sudden change. To have everything I loved food-wise ripped away from me in one fell swoop? Made me miserable.

So for the Healthy Inklings Tip #2:

Choose one meal to focus your healthy efforts on. Start with the easiest thing, such as breakfast or snacks. Just worry about that one meal until you have it down and are comfortable with it, then add another meal and another until you are eating the healthy foods you want throughout the day. When I started transitioning to paleo, I didn't do it all at once and I believe that is why it's such a success for me now and why I can be 99% paleo and happy.

Here are some simple healthy recipes for breakfast and snacks that I've tried:
Avocado-Lime Deviled Eggs (personally, I leave out the lime)
Regular Hard Boiled Eggs
Breakfast Smoothie - So. Many. Options.
Mini Crustless Quiches
Paleo Banana Muffins (I eat these every day I go to work!)
Sauerkraut and Over-Easy Eggs
Fruit & Coconut Milk
Almonds
Sautéed Spinach and Onion in Coconut Oil
Guacamole with Carrots, Cucumber, and Tomatoes, or just plain!

What meal will you start with?

I'm not a doctor (yet!) so do not take any advice I give as medical advice. If you have anything you want to hear about, let me know in the comments or email me at iffyinklings@gmail.com.

Liebster Award

Emily at eleven shakes of a persimmon tree nominated me for the Liebster award because I'm an awesome up and coming blog with less than 200 followers.  Let's change that to 200 million readers, okay? But not really because that would be stressful and would just prove that the world is going to the crapper if that many people liked reading about things I hate and what I hear in public restrooms.

The rules for receiving this award

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.

3. Choose people and link them in your post.

4. Go tell them!

5. No tag backs.

6. My own personal rule: you don't have to follow any of the above if you don't want to. 

11 Things About Me

1. I'm never content with how my house is. I love constantly changing things up!

2. I use coconut oil as deodorant.

3. I have a betta fish named Guy.

4. I drink at least one pot of tea a day, typically more. 

5. I've been cleaning out my cupboards of things I don't want to eat anymore, and I quickly filled an entire grocery bag with candy. Most of it is super old, but I couldn't believe how much I had! Maybe that's a good things because it means that I didn't eat it?

6. I'm nervous about next semester.

7. I was so obnoxious and loud in high school. Like louder than the loud kids. I'm pretty sure I'd punch myself in the face if I could go back in time.

8. I take hyperthyroid medicine three times a day and hate it.

9. I think Gogol Bordello is the shit.

10. I've watch sooooo many documentaries on Ancient Egypt. They pretty much all say the same thing, but I can't pass one up!

11. I own all the Little House books.

Questions from 

1. Pick a travel destination based on food alone. Where is it and what would you eat?

Honestly, any place would work for me, but more than likely a foreign country with small cities. I eat whole fresh food, which I can pretty much find anywhere!

2. Which career would you choose if money was no object?

The career I've already chosen...to be a doctor! It would be wonderful to be able to graduate and not be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, but so be it.

3. How do you best express your creativity?

By crafting anything. I love sewing and making things.

4. Why did you start blogging?

The first blog I ever started reading, SO many years ago, was Dooce. Heather is so funny, so personal, and just plain amazing. I wanted to create a little place where I could document my life, as well as be funny, personal and inspiring for others!

5. Do you have a goal or resolution for 2013?

Yep! Read about them here.

6. Who is your weird celebrity crush?

Adrian Grenier. I've had a crush on him since he was in Drive Me Crazy, so since I was 8. He's my 'free to bang' person and I almost had the chance to. I was at work downtown and he was here with Ryan Gosling a couple months ago and was at stores close to mine. I'm pretty sure I would have keeled over and died if I saw him, though.

7. Do you accept leggings as pants? Why or why not?

I didn't used to, until I realized how comfy they were and started wearing them! I wear the long shirts with them though, so my butt is covered.

8. What is the most important lesson you have learned in life, so far?

Do whatever the hell you want. In the end, it doesn't matter what other people think of you.

9. When do you feel the most like your true self?

When I'm around my husband or my best friends.

10. What makes you smile?

Ha! Too many things to mention. Sunny days, rainy days, my dog, babies, music, good grades, friends, etc.

11. How do you make time for yourself?

I listen to my body and when it tells me to chill, I do. I don't worry too much about what I'm 'supposed' to be doing, unless it's being in class or going to work. Even if I have homework, I'll put it on the back burner sometimes so I don't lose my mind.

My nominees are...

Sara at The Traveling PhoBlogWriPher

Patricia at Stranger in Moscow

Lisa at lisa goes to market

Bombshell at A Bombshell Life

Ashley at Longing for Louisville

Rachel at Blonde Strands

Melissa at [insert sarcastic remark HERE]

Kate at Made For You By Me

Janna Lynn at Shewearscrazywell (JL I feel like you may have more than 200 followers...?)

Madi at Madi's musings

CC at I AM CC SMITH

11 questions for my nominees to answer:

1) Do you use a daily planner? If so, what kind of things do you use it for? Just work? School? To-do list?

2) What is your favorite TV show on Netflix? I'm only asking this because I need new suggestions. If you don't have Netflix, it's probably a good thing.

3) Bungee jumping or skydiving: which would you prefer to do?

4) What's a blog you would be sad to see stop writing?

5) What are your thoughts on eggnog? I've been reading a lot about how people hate it but have never tried it. Are you in that category? 

6) Are you sick of the word vintage like I am?

7) Do you like putting things together, like bookshelves, lego kits, etc. or would you rather have someone else do it?

8) What is the last book you read? Yes or no: did you like it?

9) Do you keep your CDs or DVDs in the case, or do you put them in a big CD case? The hubs and I are debating our method of keeping them in their regular cases because it takes up too much room.

10) Do you use the word 'bro' at all? I find myself using it far too often.

11) I can't think of another question so make up your own.

If you do a post, link in the comments!

Links.

I have 5 gazilion links that I've bookmarked, so I'll take the time to share some.

|| I've been wanting to make an advent calendar for a couple years, and I'm glad I haven't! After reading about this idea I'm in love. Instead of opening a treat for the 24 days leading to Christmas, you do something nice for others! I love that you can modify it a little every year to keep it current and different. Now I just need to come up with some of my own ideas that apply to our life.

|| This series about living life in a 240 square foot apartment. Makes me appreciate my 600 square foot one!

|| After seeing a very young kid (maybe 10 or 11) with dyed hair the other day, Vince asked if we'd let our kid dye their hair young or have weird haircuts. At first I said probably not, but after reading this from Jada Smith (Willow Smith's mother) I don't know what I think. Plus, I dyed my hair pink, purple and blue for the first day of 7th grade and crazy colors for years after!

Me in 8th grade.

“A letter to a friend…This subject is old but I have never answered it in its entirety. And even with this post it will remain incomplete. The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women, girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It’s also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother’s deepest insecurities, hopes and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be.”
Found via 

|| 43 People You Won't Believe Actually Exist

|| This mini kitchen for when I have a toddler.

|| Also, for when I have a toddler, I want to make a similar quiet book and felt car mat. I had a rug that was a car mat as a kid and loved it!

|| This recipe for Sweet Potato and Kale Gratin. I'd sub coconut milk for heavy cream and raw cheese for parmesan. Yum.

|| This blog that lists free e-books! One of the many ways I never pay for e-books.

|| A letter Amelia Earhart wrote to her fiancé before their wedding.

|| Reminder: Email Sara some Christmas photos of your town!

|| 50 Reasons to Leave It Alone. Why you shouldn't circumcise your baby. I don't know where I stand on this viewpoint(I think more towards uncircumcision), but it was a good read.

|| Lastly, did you read about baby mice being born from stem cells? I read about it a few months ago and forgot about it until I went through my links. This is AMAZING.

What would you do in a little canoe, when the moon is shining all around?

I haven't posted a 'personal' post in a while, so here I am. Except after reading it you'll probably tell me to stop being so chipper and die in a ditch already. I've just been so happy even though I've been stressed about school and money and have had to take care of my gimp husband (is the term gimp PC?) who hurt his leg a few weeks ago and can still barely walk leaving me to take care of pretty much everything around the house and feed him out of a silver spoon and wipe his ass.

I think I can attribute the happiness to the fact that I've really taken to heart the about what I've explained in this post. I've been pretty good at managing my time and have gotten SO much done. Since I wrote that post at the beginning of last month, I've just been going, going, going and trying to fill my days with as much as possible.

I also attribute it to transitioning to the paleo diet, even though I'm still not 100% there.

I've had a lot more energy and have been having fun cooking some amazing (and not so amazing) meals. Having my kitchen warm and smelling delicious is just such a good and inspiring feeling, especially when it's cold outside. Vince has been interested in this as well and has even 'gasp' talked about trying to be gluten free for a month to see how he feels. When I cook it's always gluten free, but he still eats regular pasta and sandwiches, and isn't gluten free when we eat out. We'll see if he tries it!

Lastly, I attribute my happiness to seeing every little thing I do as an accomplishment. I finished organizing under the kitchen sink? Awesome! I ate that whole bowl of pumpkin ice cream? Amazing! I brushed my teeth and finished at the exact time as the timer? I'm a champion! Start seeing everything you do as an accomplishment and I swear you'll feel like your on top of the world, even if you just managed to walk up stairs without tripping.

General updates:
School: I'm fuckin' killing it. Today my math teacher talked to me on our break and said that I had a brilliant mind (I kid you not, he said brilliant) and asked if I was going to further my math career. I told him I am going to be a doctor and he said I would be a fantastic doctor and that it was a great choice. I was speechless! I still have all A's somehow and don't see them dropping in the next month before the semester is over.

I went to the cadaver lab with my class last week and was blown away by how awesome it was. I was nervous as first because hello dead bodies, but I quickly got over that and was awestruck with how amazing our bodies are. We were able to look at four bodies and to compare them was so cool. There was a lady who died of metastatic breast cancer and it was intense to feel it in her breast tissue, and then see the other organs that were just covered in tumors. It definitely made me more conscious about doing self breast exams, as every women should.

Roxi: She's as cute as ever. I've been taking her on more walks since Vince has been sick and there are guys in the yard all the time redoing the plumbing, and she's been pretty good. I took the sheets off the bed the other day to wash them and left Vince's pillowcase on the bed. She curled up into the smallest ball and laid directly on it. I was laughing so hard and thought it was just darling!

Vince: As I said before, he hurt his leg when he was mountain biking, so I've been at his beck and call. It's not bad anymore because he's got most of his mobility back, but he wasn't able to do anything for a while! He wasn't able to drink while on his painkillers and continued to not drink, so since he hasn't had any beer he's been eating sweets, which is so unlike him! I guess his body wanted the sugar it wasn't getting from the beer. So he was sharing my pumpkin ice cream with me, but refused to admit that he liked it. When I tried to take a picture he was mortified that I would document him eating something sweet.

Purchases: I bought a new wallet from Issa.Ino and love it. I was sick of my giant bulky one and now I don't even have to carry a purse, I can just throw my new wallet in my pocket! (Oh, and she's doing a promo soon for small business Saturday!

Projects: I've been doing a lot of random things around the house to make things more functional and pretty. I've been going through kitchen cupboards and getting rid of so much old stuff that has been there for god knows how long. I also hung up some new curtains that I got from the thrift store, made a fall table runner for the table and 4 matching placemats, and sewed two new gold spotted pillows since Vince ruined the old ones with a bloody elbow after his wreck and they were forever old anyways.

Drinking: Lots and lots of Yogi Chai Rooibos Tea with a splash of milk and a bit of honey. Vince and I are both in love with it (thanks to Sara's suggestion!) and I can't see it leaving our diets anytime soon. Pots and pots of it are made each week and all throughout the day since it's caffeine free.

Cutest little girl around: I got to hangout with my niece today and holy heck she is getting so big! She'll be two in January, and it doesn't seem possible. She's starting to talk a lot more and is so playful. When Roxi is happy, she makes a long sigh/groaning sound, and Alyla kept going up and putting her nose on Roxi's and making the groaning sound. Today we went to the park and played on the 'sings'!

 

Spookify Your Town

Sara is doing a Spookify Your Town photo project and since she's one of the best ladies ever, I of course wanted to participate and send her some photos, but I hadn't gotten around to it. I got home from work today and was all set to watch The Vampire Diaries after reading some blogs, and saw her reminder about the project. I immediately threw on my jacket and a hat and grabbed my camera to walk around my neighborhood. I live downtown and there are quite a bit of abandoned houses here. It was fun to walk around some yards and hop a fence or two (ooo, I trespassed!) to get some 'spooky' shots. It's been sooooo long since I walked around with my camera just to take pictures, so it was fun. (I totally feel silly acting all artsy-fartsy with my camera.)  Now, I'm curled up on the couch with the heater blasting, a new scarf around my neck, a warm cup of tea waiting for me, and editing some pictures while Hocus Pocus is playing in the background. Can life get any better?

Here are two of my favorites from today. Head over to TheTravelingPhoBlogWriPher on Monday or Tuesday for more! If you want to send her some photos of your town, do it by Sunday night(10/28). So fun!

Bountiful Baskets

I absolutely loved Bountiful Baskets when I was participating last year, but my schedule ended up always conflicting with the pickup time, as well as Vince's, so we had to stop. After reading about Sara getting Bountiful Baskets and seeing her pictures, I was reminded of how much I love it and decided to look into it again and see if there was another added pickup spot. There was! So now Vince and I are participating again! For those who don't know, here's a quick re-cap of how this works: basically you pay $15 (or $25 for organic) a week ahead of time to participate in a food co-op. Bountiful Baskets then buys cases of fresh fruits and veggies as locally as possible (think California instead of Mexico or China), then volunteers separate it into boxes the morning you pick it up. Because everything is volunteer run, you save a huge amount of money on the food because you aren't paying a store that needs to cover various bills. They claim that the average box 'retails' for about $50, so you save anywhere from $25-$35 depending on if you got a regular or organic box. I would agree with that statement!

This week (I'll get it every other week) I got an organic box for the first time. I was nervous that it would be a lot less food, and while it's a little less food when I compare it to what I got last year and what Sara got a few weeks ago, it's still a lot of food! This is what I got:

 

A lot of organic food for only $25! I don't buy all of my fresh food organic, but rather follow the 'dirty dozen' rule. I have the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen app on my phone and I look at it every time I go shopping. It gives a list of the top 12 foods that have the most pesticides and should be eaten organic, and then also gives me a 'clean fifteen' list that are foods that should be safe if they're non-organic. All of these, with the exception of the watermelon(because it has a thick peel, it doesn't need a lot of pesticides), I would buy organic, so this was well worth it! From my memory, here's about what some items would cost organically if bought from the store: apples cost about $1.25-$1.50 each, so they're about $10. Plums are a little under $1 each, so about $6, lettuce in a bag like that would be $5, butter lettuce $2, bananas about $1 each, so $6, peaches about $2 each, so $4, cauliflower about $2 a pound, so $6, packs of bell peppers about $6, and personal watermelon about $4. So total, everything would be around $46, not including tax! So that puts us around the estimated $50 retail price when you add tax. Not bad.

Vince is particularly excited about juicing the apples, as am I because I want to make some fresh cider! Can you tell I'm excited for fall to be here?

I've already eaten half the watermelon and will be sad to see it be out of season soon. It's definitely one of my favorite fruits!

And does anyone know what these are?!

Let's Get Physical

I'm back on the working out bandwagon again, as I've said like 500 times before. BUT I never actually stopped working out, so I guess I'm just upping it up? I was always doing something active, just not as much as I'd like. So for a little bit of support and accountability, I'm going this new awesome linkup called Let's Get Physical over at Simply Evani. I read about it at [insert sarcastic remark here] and now I'm even more excited about working out.

As I said last week, I've been doing morning walks with my friend (though admittedly since school started we've only gone once or twice because I suck and have a slight cold) and I really want to bump it up. We did Day 1 of the Couch to 5k and I was dying because of my oncoming cold, but we finished it! I've also been continuing the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video which I still claim to be so hard even after doing it pretty consistently for over a year, as well as added on arm and core workouts. So that's where I am right now, fitness-wise.

I hate running. I feel like there is so much pressure in the exercise world to be able to run but I feel like there are other workouts that are just as affective. I do get a runners high, though, so I guess it's a love/hate relationship.

I like sleep. I know my day is better when I start it with exercise but I REALLY like sleep.

I love workout classes. I workout so much more and so much better when I'm doing it with someone else or in a group, yet I hate groups! I'm so weird, I know.

I feel incredibly guilty when I miss a workout. When I set a goal I want to succeed, and when I miss a workout I totally beat myself up for it.

I eat very healthy due to my gluten free diet and low dairy/meat diet. I think these confessions are supposed to be 'bad' things, but I'm proud of this one! Even though my body can't handle these foods and I have to be on this kind of diet, it's still something I have to work at.

I feel like having a hyperthyroid and being skinny without any work is like cheating. I don't do a lot of work to have a good body and while other people think it's great, I feel like I'm cheating myself out of real work.

I am tall and lean but I still need to exercise to be healthy. Being skinny doesn't mean healthy.

I may be gluten free and low dairy/meat, but I can always eat healthier. I shouldn't settle with how I eat now.

I am busy with school and work. So are many other people, self, and they find a way to workout!

Naps are ok. Taking a short nap mid-day is actually a good thing and healthy for your heart.

I have an energized dog who needs to workout, too. I chose to bring her into our lives, therefore my husband and I owe it to her to treat her right.

Do other cardio aside from running. I still want to run, but I also want to do workouts like run stairs (which I loved when I did it on our roadtrip) or those weird cardio machines at the gym that don't have you actually like your feet off the machine. This leads me to my second goal...

Workout for 5 days a week for 2 months, then get a gym membership. A lot of people think gym membership = working out, but that's not the case for me. If I don't start off with a consistent routine, then I'm not going to get my money's worth at the gym. So if I workout for 5 days a week for 2 months, I'll be in a routine and when the cold weather hits, I'll be able to hide in the gym!

Wake up by 7am, but try for 6:30am, to workout. I need to get over my love of sleep and really dedicate to doing workouts early morning before my 8:30am class. I can start by waking up early on the mornings I don't have early classes and then transition to class days so I won't be dead tired.

Take a group fitness class. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to be judged (which is why I never go to group yoga classes, some of the people are SUCH assholes) but when I was doing spin classes with old folks I loved it! I need to get over my fears and just do it.

Be ok if I miss a workout day. It just makes me sad which turns into me just stop working out because I don't want to feel like that again! I need to just accept that some days I will be too tired or something else will come up and that the next day I will be able to continue my workout.

Try one new recipe a week. I love sticking to tried and true recipes, but I need to branch out!

So there you go. Feel free to join in this here, it's such a great thing!