I am thankful for...

I am getting a jump start on this post because I'll be busy cleaning tomorrow to get ready for our guests this weekend! 
Sometimes I complain, I feel concerned, I get stressed out, I have fights, I cry, I lack motivation, I look for help, or I want to be somewhere else.  I am human, and I make mistakes and don't always see the goodness in front of my eyes.  I try to not take things for granted, but let's be honest, it often unintentionally happens.  I love that at least once a year (and usually more), I am reminded to step back and look at my life and appreciate everything and everyone I have in it.  I pinned this to my Pinterest a couple weeks ago...I truly am thankful.

I bet all of you reading this have all of those blessings to.  Be thankful.

Three Day Weekend Recap

For some reason, short weeks at work always feel like the longest, so I was so ready when I got off work on Thursday!  What was going on on a Thursday night you ask? Why, Game of Thrones marathon of course.  Ashley came over to continue catching her up on the amazingness that is Peter Dinklage...and the rest of the cast, and show.  I think we only have two episodes left now and she'll be all caught up!

On Friday, I met Brooke for breakfast and we sat at Panera for almost three hours discussing her wedding! So much fun :)  Later that afternoon, Ryan and I went up to Cedar Rapids to visit my sister and Brad.  We had a great time snacking, playing boggle and eating Pad Thai.  Then we headed out to Dublin for a couple of drinks and played some shuffle board.  We didn't stay out super late because we wanted to get home and play some euchre!  We had a lot of fun Friday night before finally going to bed around 1:00 (yes, I made it that long!).

On Saturday, Emily made some delicious banana bread and then we went to Perkins later for brunch/lunch.  Ryan and I did head home after that and enjoyed an entire Saturday evening/night at home doing NOTHING! Oh it was wonderful :)

Sunday, I got up early and went to the gym! I love early mornings at the gym...not many people there at all.  Then I came home and made breakfast (see precious post) and got some stuff down around the house before going to choir practice.  Last night, we caught up on two of our favorite shows and then I finally went to bed.

Top Chef: Texas just started

It was a good weekend, and now it's already over :(  That's alright, it's a new week and I'm going to rock it!

Two EASY Recipes

These two recipes are so ridiculously easy that I figured I'd just share them in one post.  I made both of these yesterday and just had to share the ingeniousness of them.

I suppose I wouldn't so much call this first one a recipe as much as I would a fantastic idea! I got this idea from Pinterest, or course.

Step one: buy jumbo cinnamon rolls

Step two: heat up and grease waffle iron

Step three: place one roll on each divided side

Step four: cook until light goes off (or a little before) 

Step five: top with icing and enjoy!

They were so good and so easy.  When you want cinnamon rolls, but don't care about to gooeyness of baking them, these taste great and they're obviously quite fast to make!  It has been a couple of years since I've cinnamon rolls at home, and at a whopping 360 calories each, it will be a long time until I have them again....but I would make them this way again for sure!

As for recipe number two, you will need to go to the store to purchase the ingredients...all two of them that is!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Step one: Buy one box of spice cake mix and one 15 oz can of pumpkin

Step two: Stir together in a bowl until mix is moist, then spread into a greased cake pan

*Note that because this batter is not runny, you will have to spread the batter out as evenly as possible.  This step worried me two, I could have sworn I was going to get a super dry cake.

Step three: Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes (for me this ended up being 22 min) and remove to cool

*Again, I could still see the texture quite defined so was worried it was just one big, dry cake thing...but when I pressed a finger on it, it was bouncy! I was excited!

Step four: Cut of a piece and top with light cool-whip and enjoy

Oh my goodness, this cake is just to die for.  If you make the 9x13 cake and cut into 15 pieces, it is 137 calories per slice.  Two tablespoons or light cool whip is 20 calories per slice.  So for just over 150 calories, you get a delicious snack to satisfy that sweet tooth.  Also, if you make this into 24 mini cupcakes, each one would be 86 calories.

Happy Monday and happy eating!

Just have to remember...

I am sort of plateauing when it comes to my weight.  I feel stuck in a rut...but I'm determined to push through.  I am getting to the gym 4-5 times per week, and I am continuing to make smart food choices.  I know it will eventually catch up with me and the weight will finally budge again.  I think the biggest thing I've been learning during my weight-loss journey is that is actually about way more than losing weight.  I guess I have always known it's important to focus on the bigger picture, but I never wanted to accept anything other than the number on the scale.  I am SO over that...in fact, my scale is hidden right now!  I can do this, without the positive (or negative) reinforcement from the scale.  

Healthiness isn't a size and happiness isn't a weight.

Happy Halloween (and Engagement!)

Halloween weekend is always a magical weekend.  It's always full of fun, and friends...and sometimes even love...and running?! :)


This weekend, we had some out-of-town visitors come stay with us and we had a great time.  It was so wonderful having friends that were able to come celebrate this fun holiday and partake in the weekend's events!
Friday started with some last minute errands and cleaning and then dinner at Old Chicago with my mom, dad, and Emily.  We had a great dinner, wonderful conversations, and lots of laughs.  I always forget to take pictures in those moments, but it was fun.  Around 10:30, Laura and Jason showed up!  The boys went to the bar, but Laura and I stayed in because of the race in the morning.  She introduced me to the show New Girl, it was so cute and funny! I'm glad I'm jumping on the bandwagon early, I'm already all caught up :)

How I wasn't watching this show when it first started, I'm not sure, because I absolutely love Zooey Deschanel!  Shortly after midnight, we went to bed.  Early morning ahead of us!
Saturday came and with a 7:00 wake-up call, the whirlwind of events began.  Laura and I got our running clothes on, ate some breakfast, and joined Emily R (I really did type "D" first, it's hard remembering you're an "R" now!) over to Moline for the Cocoa Beano 5K.  We met up with my friend Jess, my mom and her friend Becky, my sister (the other Emily), and Stephanie and her mother.

This race was so much fun, we all agreed we'd love to do it again next year and maybe be joined by some others?  I'm looking at you Brooke and Ashley F!  We were handed chocolates at the end, followed by a banana to enjoy, some water, and the best hot chocolate any of us had ever had.  I beat my last 5K time and wasn't far behind my friends, winning.
We cleaned up, had lunch at the BierStube, went our separate ways for the afternoon to get some rest and what not and got ready for our Halloween Party!
People started arriving a little after 6:00, bringing snacks to munch on and drinks to enjoy!  We all got into costume and had some laughs and took some pictures.  We spent the first part of the evening at our house partying, eating, and drinking, and then we went to the bar, where Brooke was able to meet up with us.  It was a great evening, despite having thought I lost my phone, which I found in the morning...silly me.

Toga, Sailor, Pirate, Daria, Clay Matthews

Clay tickling Elmo!

Brooke as a cute clown!!

Yes, my husband is Bob Ross

Jay Leno, haha

End of the night!

On Sunday morning, I woke up, cleaned up, and made some Pumpkin Pancakes, yum!  We said goodbye to Laura and Jason and The Reed's and I went back to bed for a nap/movie watching.  In that time, I received a picture message followed by a phone call!

Oh my goodness, Brooke got engaged!!!  I could not express my excitement enough for this highly anticipated event!  What a wonderful way to start my Sunday and end my weekend. I can't wait to celebrate with her and Ryan, I am just so happy for them.
Happy Halloween everyone, enjoying your tricking and treating today! :D

Zuppa Toscana

I found this recipe on Pinterest, of course :) And that lead me to annies-eats.net, which is full of fantastic recipes, including her version of the popular Olive Garden soup, Zuppa Toscana.  This tastes remarkably similar to Olive Gardens, but probably even better!  Please do try this for yourself sometime, we give it four thumbs up!

Zuppa Toscana

Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian sausage (we used turkey sausage)
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine to deglaze the pan
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
2 russett potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks
2 cups fresh kale, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
2.5 cups water
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Place a large stockpot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat.  Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until well browned.  Remove the cooked sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl; set aside.  

Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté until tender, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for a minute more, just until fragrant.  Add the wine to the pot and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits.  

Add the potatoes, kale, chicken broth and water to the pot.   Return the sausage to the pot.  

Increase the heat to medium-high, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer on medium-low.  

Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork-tender and cooked through.  **Important step (added by me): Pour yourself a glass of white wine.

Stir in the heavy cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.

I had this really awesome picture of the finished product in my bowl, ready to be devoured, but I accidentally deleted it.  So this last picture doesn't really do it justice, but just trust me when I saw it was FanTasTic! :)