Reflecting:Day 5

Sunday Funday! Today my friend Steph's family is in town from Long Island so we headed to the villages to meet up with them. Oh The Villages. Always good for a laugh. This place is college for retirees. There is happy hour daily, music pumped through the sidewalks, and everyone is on the prowl! Super entertaining. I am loving the wallpaper in this picture ha.

 

 

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Reflecting:Day 4

Saturday and the hubs comes home!!!

I was excited to start the day today because I got to empty my suitcase and not just repack. It has been fun but I am stoked to be settled for a while. The first order of business is to get the food situation under control. With neither of us home for any steady amount of time these last 2 moths the food kind of just got old. So I started the day at the farmers market with my parents. It is a VERY small market haha.

Afterwards I went to the Publix to fill in the gaps. When I got home I cleaned out the fridge and cabinets and went to work organizing.

 

 

Publix had some great deals on meat and I stocked up for the next few weeks. I divided all the meats into single servings, dated it and put the individual serving bags in categorized freezer bags. Yay me!

This all took a couple of hours but I am stocked to be back to ready to go with Paleo.

Once the boy got home we made some food on the grill and spent an evening on the porch playing.... Farkle! I really am addicted. (the beer and bread are not mine. I was a good paleo)

 

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Reflecting:Day 3

Today I am keeping it short. I woke up this morning and learned of the tragic shooting in Colorado at the Batman movie. It was such an unspeakable act but then to add in the fact that it was only 15 minutes from Columbine really added to the heartbreak for me. Columbine, out of all the tragedies out nation has faced has always hit me the hardest. I remember watching it unfold and all I could think of was my parents who were both school administrators. I have read every book I can get my hands on that researches why that event happened and what we can do to help avoid it happening again. My brother went to the Air Force Academy in Colorado and going there just made it seem even more real. I am not sure why that shooting in particular sticks with me, but as soon as I heard of this newest one all I could think of was that community having to relive and go through something like this again.

After reading as many news reports as I could I packed my bags and headed out to meet my husband and his news boss for lunch on my way back home. His boss was nice and we enjoyed a pleasant meal. Meals with new people are always so awkward :/ but he does seem like a good guy and W is really excited to be working with him so I was glad I got to meet him, even if I am awkward.

Then I had to drive home on this beautiful road. Living in Florida ain't bad.

 

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Reflecting:Day 2

AWESOME day! Today was by far my favorite day of camp but sadly also my last. I got to spend pretty much the entire day outside (in the field, hehe it's like I am a journalist) with kids. Before that though I got to go back to Mazzaro's with W and get a cannoli and some coffee. Breakfast of champions. He did not have to work until later so he even came to camp with me for a while. What a guy;)

My first task at camp was to take two girls to film an interview with a gentleman who works with youth in the community through athletic training. He was unbelievable. His work outs were impressive (I took notes for volleyball practices) but more than that, is relationship with the kids,was inspiring. After watching a training session the girls got a chance to talk with two of his students as well as him. It is always good to be reminded how many good people there are in the world.

We got done with the interviews just in time to rush back to camp, have some birthday cake that the director had gotten for one of the kid's birthday, and then head to Mud Wars. That's right, Mud Wars. We toot he kids to have a shoot off. Now this was a cool event, with a cool location right on the water.

But with all these kids it was going to be a task keeping track of them while giving them the freedom to work. But these are photographers we are talking about so a photo was taken to make sure we brought them all home ;)

These kids were pretty lucky, some amazing photogs that a lot of people would kill to learn from we're there just to help out and give them shooting tips.

 

I took a few too to get in on the fun. This is why I usually leave the shooting to the professional.

 

After some friendly competitive shooting was done we were all hot, muddy, and ready to call it a day.

The kid part of the day was fun, but this was my last night in St. Pete and I was hoping to have some adult fun. I was not disappointed. I went back to the house and took a nap while M and W finished up their shifts at the paper. When M got home she told me her friend was coming over with her two wolf dogs for yappy hour. Told ya it was an awesome day!! Not only were the dogs stinking awesome but so was their owner. It was really nice to get to hang out with M and her friend for a while before W got home. She is one of those people I have known casually for a while but is really the hubs friend. Every time we are around her I go home gushing about how much I enjoyed talking to her but it is always at some sort of photo thing. Having a beer with the girls while the dogs played was more my territory.

Eventually W got home and we grilled out. Dinner was delish. When we finished we played a dice game called Faroe. I had never played before (I am sticking with that is why I did so poorly) but am pretty much addicted. Before we knew it, it was 2am. Sadly, time to call it a night. GREAT End to the week.

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Reflecting: Day 1

Well I am in St. Pete today. The hubs is working down here now and he is staying with a warm, funny, and ridiculously talented photographer, M, a few days a week. She pushes him to be a better photographer, has a really cool dog, and was kind enough to let me crash this week too!

I started the day off by going on a fun adventure to a yummy Italian market on M's suggestion. Mazzaro's has been a staple in St. Pete for generations. www.mazzanosmarket.com. So delish. I can not wait to go back tomorrow with my cute photographer.

 

The reason I am in town is to help with a camp for http://www.thewhyproject.org/. The kids are sweet and funny as are all of the adult volunteers. This program is run by a (sadly) former teacher/journalist. Some of you may have seen the (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sLkqVdRWk8I) about John Hopkins Middle earlier this year. This was a class project she did with her kids and the boy who came up with the ideas is one of the kids I get to work with :). These kids crack me up! My better half ad been in volunteering a few days ago. One of the boys I had been with all day realized he and I were connected he said "You know Mr. Will? Is that who you talk to? He's my homeboy". So stinking awesome!!!

After the food and the fun I decided it was time To go for a run. I have to get back on track. Food wise today was not the day but at least I ran. It was cool to run out the door of an adorable house in a neat little neighborhood and run to a park.

Got to end the day with sushi with some intelligent, funny, creative types. This whole 2 lives thing is not so bad. St.Pete is a great place and it makes my heart smile to see Will in such a good place professionally and making stronger connections with friends down here. All in all a happy day!

 

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The next 30 days

I know, I know. I said Monday and today is Wednesday. But I do have a new challenge for myself. As I was running today and thinking about the blog and my last post I realized how many awesome life experiences I have had in the last few months. The sad part is that I have been so busy having amazing experiences that I have not done a good job recording the memories. I have to actually work at remembering all of the things that have been happening. I can not tell you how many times in my education that I have heard that if we do not reflect we will lose the experience. I also am very aware of the fact that I am someone who needs accountability in my life. As such my new 30 days will be spent recording my day. My hope for this challenge is that it will help me be better about reflecting on my days and experiences while also hold me accountable for be, well, productive. I do not want to have to write a blog that says "spent the whole day watching Netflix and eating pizza, should really try and shower tomorrow". So I think this is a fret way to continue improving multiple aspects of my life. Here goes....

 

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Blog revisited

 

Ok so obviously I did not do a very good job keeping up with the blog. The 30 day challenge was just that, a challenge. As such it took a great deal of time and effort and I was smart enough to do it during the most stressful month of a teacher's year. Adding a dedication to blogging every day proved to be too much at once and the blogging started to feel like work.

The good news is that, while I did not finish the blog, I did finish the challenge! It felt amazing :). Then I got on a plane to Croatia and fell off the paleo wagon big time. It was not that I was not a believer. If anything going from paleo to the Croatian diet of bread, cheese, meat, and sugar made my body very aware of just how awesome paleo is. The food was wonderful and delicious and once in a lifetime, but the stomached ache I had for weeks afterward was no bueno!

After the trip we came home, did laundry, and packed our bags to go celebrate the wedding of some friends in Connecticut. Then I came home, did laundry, and packed my bags for my nephews' birthday party in Georgia. Then I came home, did laundry, and packed my bags for another beautiful wedding in Palm Coast and a week in Destin with my family. Then I came home, did laundry, and packed my bags for a conference but it was at the Ritz so it was ok with me :). Oh during all of this my rockstar hubby got an offer from work that caused some very serious changes and challenges in our lives. They are all fun and we love challenges so yay but still stressful.

This trend of living out of a suit case and being somewhat out of control of my day to day happenings is somewhat over. As you can see staying paleo has been... Difficult. So today is a new day. I am going to try to get back on the wagon and am also trying to decide what my next 30 day challenge is going to be. I have continued working on small changes to better myself but have been all over the place. I have worked on dressing better, being more positive, I have sort of tried organizing but want to do more, I have read more, I have (wanted) to have a more focused workout life..... Basically I have been all over the place. I am going to reflect on all of it and will let you know Monday what my new 30 day challenge will be.

 

 

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13 of 30

Friday and field trip day! Bring it!

Breakfast:

Hard boiled egg and a tangelo

Lunch:

Wet n wild provides a buffet for the field trip of hamburgers and hot dogs. Luckily they give tons of veggie soft the burgers. I just used lettuce for the buns and used tomatoes and pickles with 2 burgers and mustard. Great lunch.

Dinner:

After a fun filled day at the park a friend and I decided to hit up Applebee's for dinner. It is really great how many places have gluten free menus now. I had a bruschetta chicken salad with champagne dressing. Best diet ever!

 

 

11 of 30

Tonight we are featuring steak! I did not use to be a big fan of red meat but now I can not get enough of it. Those of you who are opposed to red meat for health reasons should read The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Foods You Were Designed to Eat by Dr. Loren Cordain. My family has a strong history of colon cancer so it took some convincing to get me to believe that red meat can be healthy but here I am. On to dinner.

Dinner:

Sweet potatoes

Carrots and broccoli steamed with garlic

STEAK!

We put mushrooms and onions in some olive oil with balsamic vinegar and sautéed. Pour over grilled steak and enjoy.

 

10 of 30

Today was NOT a good day with adults. My kids are amazing though and I spent the day interviewing them for entrance into AVID for next year. It is so comforting to listen to them discuss their goals for the future and the work they are willing to do to get there. They saved my sanity between dealing with crazy people :)

I was so stressed even after an hour of yoga AND an hour of body pump that the hubs and I decided to forgo a real dinner and meet an old friend for a drink. I just ate some hard boiled eggs and an apple in the car on the way. Sorry it was not exciting but I kept my sanity in the end. Tomorrow is another day and there is steak in the fridge so it can only get better.


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Day 9 of 30

Monday and back on track. Feeling good today after going shopping this weekend and getting some cute new clothes for our Croatia trip. I even managed to incorporate one of the shirts in my work clothes today. Score! So on to the food:

Breakfast:

Breakfast casserole

Lunch:

Left over tilapia, green beans, and a quarter sweet potato with a tangelo for dessert. I actually did not enjoy a single bite until the dessert.

Dinner:

Chicken breast with garlic and Mrs. Dash, frozen veggie mix. Yuck. I am getting bored.

 

Tomorrow night I am going to try merging this stuffed zucchini recipe with spaghetti squash to hopefully make some yummy veggie goulash. The hubs is searching for a snack now, maybe I will get creative after all....

 

Day 8 - 14 of 30

 

Ugh my photo streaming was not working right this week so I tried to work around it. This of course led to me crashing the blog and basically deleted 5 entries, frustrating me greatly! The week was full of a lot of left overs and boring food anyway so you did not miss much. Basically I slacked on the dairy a few times but still avoided gluten. I did not plan very well some days and that led to my downfall. I relied too much on nuts and paid for it on the scales. Anyhow, here is a recap of the week.

 

I started off strong with a trip to the store where I bought lots of fruits, veggies, and lean meat. I also picked up the ingredients to make a shake in the morning. After scouring some other whole 30 blogs I saw a lot of almond butter, banana, and cocoa shakes so I decided they must be ok.

As it turned out I used WAY too much unsweetened cocoa. Instead of a welcomed treat it was bitter and chalky :( Oh well! I will try again with less powder.

That night we had grilled tuna with pan seared garlic green beans (amazing!) and sweet potato. I am really starting to enjoy sweet potatoes without butter. Crazy.

An example of boring leftovers: Greek salad left over from the party with all of the potato salad and feta left out and Boar's Head ham on top.

I went to an all day meeting this week. I knew it might be challenging since they were feeding us so I brought a hard boiled egg along with me. All I had to do was take the bread and cheese off the sandwich and supplement with my egg and viola! A great lunch.

My husband's family is Croatian. His mom grew up on a farm there where she cultivated a taste for high quality food. Luckily she spreads the love. She sent us these amazing sausages that are made by family in Kansas City. They are tasty! I was running extremely late one night so my sweet husband made sausages, sauerkraut, and oranges on the side. Total sodium overload. I felt like a whale when I woke up the next day.

I ended up having a weekend packed with friends and food. I am a very lucky girl. However there were some food challenges. But I am starting o get good at working my way around the gluten. This is a Cobb salad sans blue cheese and with oil and vinegar.

Ok time to move on to a new week. I am going to try to not only actually stay completely away from dairy and nuts but also lower the sodium and up the veggies. I will try to update daily this week, barring computer issues.

 

Day 6 of 30

Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Hubster, happy birthday to you!

We started the day off with brunch with some awesome friends at this quaint little bistro in town.

-I ordered the veggie frittata without the cheese and fruit on the side in place of potatoes and banana bread that normally comes with it. The only thing that I did miss was having a mimosa :( Water is just not the same.

Lunch consisted of leftover salad and a nap.

Dinner. We went to my parents for a cookout where they pulled out all the stops. My sweet mom even added fruit to the cheese and cracker plate so I would be less tempted. They were both great about trying to make sure I had plenty of options available that fit Whole30. The menu was as follows:

• Steak with mushrooms
• Lobster tail
• Sweet potatoes
• Salad

• Corn -I did not eat
• Rolls -I did not eat
• Homemade lemon ice box pie made from my grandmother's recipe- yes, I resisted :)

All in all it was an amazing night, just like all the nights we get to spend with my folks. We are really lucky to have them so close.