Mother's Weekend

In case you missed it, last week's Throwback Thursday was all about my wonderful mother.

Today, we're going to talk about Mother's Day weekend and the wonderful time that Dan and I spent with the family.

First of all, I think something that captures my mom's loving personality is an update she posted to Facebook on mother's day:

She truly feels that her greatest accomplishment has been motherhood - which makes me all the more excited about how she will embrace being a grandmother.

NOT a hint - sorry friends, you're welcome Dan

Back to Mom's special day!

Sunday morning I set out for a nine mile run while Dan called his mom and thanked her for everything she's done as a mother. I got back home and he was mid-call with his dad, and I couldn't even recognize his voice. He was so far into sports-mode that I thought there was a Sportscenter announcer sitting in our media room. Boy's got another calling.

After cleaning up a little, we drove 20 minutes away with latte's for all of us in hand. We arrived to crazy puppy town and got the girls all hyped up before taking them on a boardwalk park walk while learning that Tiger Woods won yet again - Go Tiger!

These girls walked so well through the park and had nothing but smiles on their sweet little mugs. It's evident how much mom and dad both love these little girls - they are the luckiest puppies around!

We made it back from the walk and a gourmet meal was cooked up in no time! Our favorite mix of grilled chicken and sweet potato fries can make any meal whole - but even better and not pictured were the accompanying lettuce, salsa, greek yogurt and sisters snoozing at our feet.



The evening turned risky when we pulled out the crude card game (that I absolutely love): Cards Against Humanity

This past week the game with two expansion sets arrived on mom and dad's doorstep from brother Matt - and Dan and I were the lucky ones to test the waters with the parents.

I knew they'd warm up to the game after a while, but didn't realize that my dad would be responsible for some of the most hilarious, raunchy and blush-worthy combinations of cards I'd ever witnessed. After I saw some of the hands mom and dad were playing, Dan and I loosened up and actually played the same way we would have if we were surrounded by a group of peers. It was bliss.

Laughing until we cried, snorting, avoiding eye-contact; all indicators of a great time with the parents. Can't wait until Matt comes home and gets to join in on the fun!

What a wonderful day with mom, dad, the sisters and the comfort of home.

May's Eight Great Goals

It's here. May. The month I've been waiting for to really show what I'm made of, kick the summer off right and to get down to business.

Last month's goals were difficult to achieve with all of the craziness that came at me with work, so you'll find that this month's goals are a bit more aligned with taking care of myself, making plain times into fun times and appreciating some of the simpler things in life that otherwise could go overlooked in the shadows.

I know that this month will be even busier - so while I'm getting my grind on at work - I think it's important to focus on me, my Daniel and my friendships.

Thanks for sticking around with me through the good times and bad times - it's been a wild ride!

May's Eight Great Goals

1. Be Spontaneous.

Too often my day, outfit, meals, workouts and spare time is planned out to the minute. I'd love to throw caution to the wind this month and let my hair down when the opportunity comes my way.

2. Spend more quality time with my Daniel.

This means knocking out writing my blogs ahead of time, inviting him for runs with me, paying attention to all of the things that prevent stress-free time together today and promote more happy times together tomorrow.

3. Run more during the week.

I graphed it - and close to 70% of my miles this year have fallen on weekends. That means that weekday life is out of hand and I need to get back to lacing up to decompress after a hard day's work.

4. Sleep in on the weekend. 

Getting more runs in the week will lead into less pressure to wake up early on the weekend. Dan and I bicker with each other every Saturday & Sunday morning when I have an alarm set for 7am to beat the morning rush and get a peaceful neighborhood run in. "groan-sleep-murmur-grrr" While that's just my style, it's important to me to spend those mornings with my man as well.

5. Hydrate.

I have this goal on this list almost every month and it keeps coming back because I'm pretty spotty about meeting my daily water quota. 64+ ounces per day, no excuses - and maybe even more as the temperatures begin to rise.

6. Photography.

I have a great camera that takes beautiful photos and I can't remember the last time I posted something on here that wasn't from iPhone / instagram. It may be because editing/posting takes a lot of extra time, but I should take photos for more than just the purpose of this blog.

7. Pamper Myself.

More than just my monthly massage, I'm going to get my nails done, schedule a hair appointment and take care of my skin. I deserve it.

8. Leave work NO later than 6pm.

This is the maximum - I've made it a point to leave before 5pm both days so far this week and all of my co-workers are shocked. I think it's a trend that I like and can make a point of keeping.

Wish me the best of luck this time around - these seem like more realistic goals than what I set for myself in April.

What are your goals for the month? Can you borrow a few of mine?

Week 9: Cohabitation

Its ONLY  been 9 weeks that we've lived together in SE? Where has the time gone?

For how this week started off I am pretty impressed that we made it through.

Dan and I returned home from the coast early Sunday night to make sure we had laundry + food prep in order and also so that we had time to enjoy the latest episode of the Walking Dead. We headed to bed at a decent time because I wanted to be in to work at 6am and to do that he would have to come with me.

Monday morning our alarms went off, Dan rolled over, I sighed - then murmured that it was "okay" if we didn't go in early. Check - set, we will wake up at the normal time (5:15) so that we can leave the house a little after 6. We both were back to sleep before we could even count to 10.

I wake up to words I shouldn't type, several shakes, and an announcement that "It's 6:00!" I've never gotten ready so quickly in my life. It may surprise you that this very scene used to happen to me so often in college that my brother started sending me videos of annoying alarms to test out.

Never have I been so thankful that a top knot is in style, that I have a long commute to do my make-up (stop lights) and that I didn't have any meetings scheduled.

A huge award goes to Dan - because normally he can sleep until noon on weekends and he was the one that got us up and running. I would have never lived it down at work and would have been forever paranoid of how many alarms were set.

After this bump, the week only got better!

1. Mid day latte on a sunny day at my favorite local coffee shop

2. Hit my goal with the sunrise with my new and improved black ice Nike+ Fuelband

3. Yummy mid-day yogurt, honey & granola snack

4. An evening latte after Dan and I passed out napped after getting in the door Tuesday night

5. Tiger is happy to be back home from his road trip beach vacation

6. Dan posing at the beach, my handsome :)

7. Garlic Naan from Trader Joe's for dinner (with grilled chicken + steamed veggies)

8. Sister snoozes on Thursday at home with my family

9. Puppy play date at the park - Dan didn't make it but the girls had a great time!

Happy Friday to all!

Don't forget to Spring Forward this weekend. Sleep an extra hour for me, please!

Beach Weekend | Part 2

If you didn't stop by yesterday I recommend reading yesterday's Part 1 post to catch up - Now where were we?

Oh yeah, that beautiful day at the coast!

Saturday night after warming up by the fire we had a meal to make! We all played our part in the preparation or clean-up of the taco night and had fun creating our own idea of a heartwarming dinner. Mom browned the meat and cooked the beans, Matt steamed the tortillas, Dan and I chopped vegetables + avocados and we all had our fill on a rainy Saturday evening.

After stuffing our faces with healthy eats, we joked about going out to karaoke, played with the puppies and found ourselves falling asleep in our chairs. I just can't party like I used to and honestly that's not a bad thing - weekends are all about relaxing and resting. Especially when adorable moments like these are just around the corner:

Sunday morning came too soon but it was exciting to be woken up by the sound of two puppies ripping around one floor above us. I put my contacts in, kissed Dan good morning and ran up the stairs to see what all the commotion was about!

A sight for sore eyes - Bella was protecting the wall of toys, Bailey was yearning for a walk on the beach and everyone was getting ready for another day together!

I know that I promised some yummy breakfast photos but those are going to have to wait for another day. While they're mouthwatering, there's just too many puppy beach photos to share and I'm afraid it would distract you from the most important detail - that it was a beautiful day at the Oregon Coast and a perfect way to round out the weekend. We even splurged with ice cream cones!! Bella's first steps on the moon beach were as exciting as you could imagine - she was careful, curious and witnessing every move made by her older sister so that she would know what to do when she was one day old enough to go crashing in the waves along with her.

^ Look at his eyes! ^

I only wish that it could have been a few degrees warmer and a little less windy for our long walk up and down the coast, but it was a perfect excuse for hot cocoa with marshmallows and cuddling with my sweetheart. Wonderful weekend!

Beach Weekend | Part 1

The past weekend at the coast with the entire family was exactly what the doctor called for. A new sister to love, a brother who lives far away home for a week and some extra R&R demanded by my body and my mind. You can't argue that snuggling is the best medicine!

Since the entire family was invited, I brought Tiger to work so that he could leave for the coast with us on Friday evening. He didn't seem to enjoy the smaller home and going on a road trip, but we think it was a better alternative than letting him starve and have no social interaction for a few days. Protective mother.

Dan and I set out after another long week to dine at Mo's and use up some vouchers we had purchased a few months ago and had a tasty and filling meal before meeting up with the family. Steamed clams, salmon steak, cannonball bowl and a cookie and we were happy oysters.

We tucked into bed early on Friday night in anticipation of a fun weekend ahead. Saturday morning we woke to a beautiful breakfast bar with anything we could ever ask for all presented by my mom the hostess. Once we were well fed and caffeinated - we bundled up and headed out to the sand to get some walk-time in before the rain was supposed to hit. It was pretty cold, and since miss Bella isn't allowed to walk on the beach yet, but we made the most of our time outdoors and Bailey got to strut her stuff in the sand and crashing into the waves. Goldens just want to have fun!

Once we made it back indoors and everyone warmed up (for me it took a shower and hot cocoa) we had a fun time watching the puppies play and figure out their relationship with each other while heating our feet by the fire. I'm not sure if it was the glow from the fireplace or the glow from our laptops/iPads/kindles - but everyone looked Happy. 

That's all for today, look forward to seeing our tasty dinner, filling breakfast, and a SUNNY day at the coast with cuteness-overload and even ice cream cones!

South(east) Scramble

Most weekends Dan and I are pretty bad about eating breakfast at a normal time. Weekdays we are on a strict schedule but on Saturday and Sunday we like to sleep in and get our lazy on. Once we finally roll jump out of bed I often go for a run and he's surprisingly never really hungry until the afternoon.

This weekend actually was no different, but when we decided to make brunch after noon we put a little extra flare into it. We were both skilled cooks in the kitchen and had fun making a Southwesteast Scramble that would end up keeping us full all day long!

The inspiration for the scramble was the dozen eggs in the egg caddy that hadn't been touched for two weeks. The rest was fridge and pantry magic.

Check it out and make your own next weekend!

Ingredients:

8 Eggs

3 Trader Joe's Chicken Jalapeño sausages

1 Green Pepper

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 can black beans

MmmMmm Sriracha and maybe a little post photography shredded low-fat mozzarella

Simply amazing!

<3 JE