Thank you for your get-well wishes and also for dropping by to share what your favorite foods are. I love that! It seems like such an obvious thing to know what we like to eat, but like one commenter said, it's easy to forget what we like to eat when there are so many foods that we think we should like, yet don't.

I'm trying to get back into blogging and a whole mess of things, but as usual I've got so much to do (self-inflicted, mind you) that I have a hard time just starting, or even just sitting down and writing when I know that is exactly what I need to do for myself.

The rest of the month is pretty much booked up for us, in a good sort of way. My mom and aunt are visiting this weekend. Rumor got out that I'm turning 27 on Sunday. So I decided to go all out and have a roller skating party. I haven't roller skated in oh, 14 years? maybe more? I'll be right there at the rail, where I always was.

We are still in financial-moving limbo, which up until this point I was totally "go with the flow" about. I like to pick and choose what I get bunched up about in my life and for some reason not owning a home isn't one of them. That was, until they told us they would call with approval at the latest on Tuesday. It's now Wednesday and word has it that they called my employer for proof of employment. Apparently a W2 and pay stubs weren't enough. And then plan B sinks in...

What is plan B? Reapply for a loan? Move to another city and continue renting? Find another home? Plan B, can sometimes be the best move even though it never feels like it at the time. I'm old enough to realize that sometimes it's what doesn't happen that is the best for us. But, I'm also old enough to realize that you have to make things happen too. So we wait.

And then I start asking myself...Am I where I need to be? Am I headed in the right direction? I'm way too much of an existentialist for my own good. I don't lose sleep over the fact that I haven't cleaned in god knows how long, or maybe not getting approved for a mortgage, or the fact that I over dyed my roots last night and look sorta crazy, or just little tiny details of day to day life. Nope, not me. Those things can be fixed: I can clean today, we still have a roof over our head and I can dye my hair back

Everything is related and I just wish sometimes that I could be like other people. Okay with being at the same job for the rest of their lives, okay with simple day to day security, okay with watching the same network tv shows after work, okay with never dancing, or changing the color of my hair, or how I dress, or never wondering that I'm giving enough of myself, or never accomplishing anything. I worry about losing friends, or never making new friends, or never being a truly kind or likable person. Just okay with being, just as I am for the rest of my life. I envy those people, but grateful that I'm not.

I always ask myself "will i be okay if i go my whole life without doing __________" and the answer is almost always no. But, it's not possible to do everything in one life. I worry about never making enough money to travel, to visit new cities, to visit old cities that I once loved, to own my own business, to raise a child, to eat good food. I worry about getting stuck, complacent, comfortable. I worry about being one of those women who has the same hair style for 15 years, that ones I see sobbing on Oprah makeover specials. The ones that forget who they were, their dreams and some how changing their hair, changes everything. Even though it has nothing to do with their hair.

Am I having a quarter life crisis?

I apologize for my nonexistant posting this week. I got sick again a week ago today. Which was mostly weakness, painful coughing and a lot of congestion. I hate talking about being sick, it's a lot like talking about the weather...boring to me. So all told, I went to the doctor  nurse practitioner, I had an ear infection.

I've been taking vitamins and drinking water on a pretty regular rotation and eating really well. I have so much energy today because of it. I'm still coughing, but I'm just ready to get back to normal.

What do you like to eat?

I've been thinking a little this week about food that I like. Food that I actually like. As I was craving garlic, olive oil, salmon, salads and qunioa pretty much everyday this week. When I'm sick I like comfort food and those foods comforted me, but traditionally I think of comfort food as mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese.

Often times I will eat something that I think I like, usually of the high carb, high fat, high sugar variety only to find that I  only think I like it. I mentally think I like eating crap food, but when I actually think about it while doing it I find myself thinking "this really isn't that good, why am i eating it?" which is pretty common for me when it comes to most fast food or convenience foods. I know I'm not alone, I've heard people say "I ate __________ and I really did not like it at all, I felt like crap afterwards" and so I've been asking myself what do I really like to eat?

When I listen to my body, my body likes salads with protein. I love salads. I don't like them because they are healthful, or because they are "diet food" I love them because they taste good and I feel good when I eat them.

I love oily salmon with lots of garlic and olive oil and quinoa (very high in protein and fiber) pretty much the same as the salmon: with lots of garlic and a dash of sea salt. I've found that I crave this food a lot on dark salad greens  mixed together with yogurt dressing or oil-based dressing.

Eating this way is not only filling, but satisfying. I never feel physically sick after eating it. I'm finding that I'm gravitating towards food that make me feel good and I crave that feeling over comfort. This is a place that I have not easily arrived to, trust me, this has been a struggle.

So I'm just curious about the rest of you... comfort, stress, advertising aside, what does your body crave?

I decided to take Friday night off from Insanity because my sore throat has moved into my chest and it causing much coughing and hacking. Let me tell ya, it's attractive stuff.

I haven't been getting enough sleep this week, my body is tired and I just needed a break. Back to it today though (Saturday!) and ready for it. I've been eating emergen-c like crazy. Josh tells me he used to eat it as candy right out of the packet. Have you tried emergen-c? I'm eating the kind with 500 mg of glucosamine because I'm worried that being so heavy + intense exercise is taking it's toll on my body.

I was going through archives recently and realized that I haven't done a wardrobe remix or anything fashion related in a long, long time. I'll get on that!

What are your plans for the weekend? Here is my tentative to-do list:

• Finish up custom jewelry orders, get those out in the mail
• Organize jewelry area, make jewelry for shop update and upcoming craft show
• Update blog (of course)
• Exercise
• Create a meal plan for next week
• Clean the house and do some packing (!!!) (I desperately need to clean)
• Get all my shipping/packaging supplies together and organized
• Return emails
• And a bunch of other loose ends.

So guess what? My favorite blogger ever (ever ever ever) of all time is adopting and while I've never met her in person and doubt I ever will I am as happy for her as I could be for a close friend. Alicia Paulson from Posie Gets Cozy.

I've been reading her blog for years, I re-read her blog archives at the beginning of every season. She writes memories in such a way that would make you think she has time travel abilities, she draws upon feelings and emotions from childhood, and growing up as if she just watched everything play out in a movie. She is super creative, self-employed, author and all around genuinely special person. She has has hardship in her life; an accident shortly after moving to Portland and yet she has accomplished so much.

She has inspired me, and a lot of what I do has been energized by her own passion and success in blogging and creativity. I could not imagine someone better suited to be a mother. And I just wanted to share because I needed to tell someone how excited I am and what better way than my own blog? I came this close to waking Josh up telling him that "Alicia and her husband are adopting!!!!" but instead I'm telling you guys.

Ever wake up in a panic not knowing what day it is? That happened to me this morning around 7am. We set the alarm for 6am, but it was accidentally set for pm and it was daylight when I woke up. I was convinced it was Saturday until Josh informed me it was Thursday.

We finished up day four of Insanity. Today was a struggle for me...my sore throat from last month seems to be coming back and I'm just tired. Luckily today was 38 minutes of recovering cardio. Which was still hard, but nothing compared to the past couple of days. Want to see my GoWear Fit calorie burn?

Wednesday 2,703 total

Thursday 2,419 (so far)

And there you have it...keepin' on. Did you do anything today even though you didn't want to? Were too tired? Didn't feel well?

Tonights entry is brought to you from my bed via my blackberry. I didn"t want to miss posting, but man I"m pooped! We did day three of insanity tonight which is a double dose of sore. My body is angry : )

Anywhoo, I"ll be back tomorrow with todays calorie burn total. I'm off to dream land, kitty is at my feet!

Ps: happy 27th to fat bridesmaid!!

Sweaty and sore pretty much sum it up. We just finished day two of the Insanity workout and guess what? It was insane. We actually got into the workout today and it was by far the hardest workout I've ever done. Ever. In my whole life. It was like Biggest Loser contestant hard. Grunting included.

For serious. I loved it though. How is it possible to enjoy something that is so hard? For starters when I couldn't do an exercise like say jumping push ups, I modified it and pushed myself. The 45 minutes went by quickly and while the exercises were hard I liked not having to memorize steps. The warm-up was just as hard, if not harder than the actual workout.

Check out my GoWear Fit results:

See that huge spike around 7pm? That was Insanity, I was burning up to 14 calories per minute. I can only imagine what my body is going to feel like tomorrow.

Oh! I (we) got new workout shoes...this is funny to me, but we got his and her's nike air span + 7 running shoes:

I'm still following the "S" plan (no snacks, sweets or seconds except for days that begin with S or special occasions) and it really has cut out a lot of excess eating. I did allow myself to have moderate seconds as lunch today to make up for not having breakfast, but I'm really pleased with how I feel on this plan.

I've moved my weight loss goal up to April to coincide with our trip to Vegas on the first, I really want to be at 265 by then! What goals are you working on?

You know what? I love unintentionally active days. I realize that I can burn a bunch of calories and actually have fun. Well, for the most part.

Saturday started out innocently enough, we were headed out to our neighboring shopping center so that I could get a new phone and have dinner out. But, I naively drove down our very muddy and snowy driveway the night before preparing for a warmer weekend. Bad idea. We got stuck and between me, josh and his sister we finally dug it out after two and a half hours! Shoveling and pushing a car is hard work, my GoWear Fit says so:

See that 12-2:30 chunk of activity? That's me shoveling snow. Burning calories.

That 4pm-6pm is shopping! Who says shopping is a bad idea?

And in the evening we were invited to a dance club thing in Blacksburg, which since moving to Floyd is something we rarely do because, well, we live in Floyd. That started at around 8pm which you can see above and went on well into the morning:

That is from 12-4am. I forget how much I love to go dancing and realize that this is a fun way to get exercise. I'm not particularly good at it, not that that has ever stopped me. Do you guys like to dance? Do you go out dancing, or crank up the music in your home? Seriously fun exercise.

And now, I'm about to tell you something that will totally shock you (insert sarcasm): I saw an infomercial about two weeks ago and pretty much had to try to program. INSANITY. Have you seen the commercial? I mentioned it to Josh with my usual "you have to see the commercial! it will convince you too!" and so we bought it. I have to try new things, it's in my blood. Anyway, the DVD set arrived a few days ago and we started the program today (as recommended on the poster) with the fitness test. It. was. hard. There were a lot of things I simply could not do very well like jumping jack push-ups (how messed up is that?), but I did the best I could and started sweating withing 2 minutes.

Me and Josh were screaming by the end of each round, it put Jillian's 30 day shred to shame and this was just the fitness test that involved about 10-15 minutes of exercise:

We are going to follow the program for the full 60 days and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I think I've mentioned that we are in the midst of buying our first home and we definitely need the stress relief.

What's your favorite unintentional/intentional exercise?

hoorah! It's Friday night, we made it. I just realized that I'm going to be 27 in less than a month, hello late 20's!

I have few do's and don't's for 27, it's going to be a good one. Everything I've been preparing for and acting on lately is coming to fruition this year... health, weight loss, self-employment, home ownership that is my 27th year plan. Do you ever have the gut wrenching feeling- the one that asks  "what are you waiting for?" Everyday that I don't chase my goals, it gets even louder.

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You guys love oatmeal too! And for those of you on the fence about it, give loaded oatmeal a try. It's so good! 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oatmeal (splash of vanilla if you like) and like cook until it bubbles, turn the heat down and let cook for 3 minutes until your desires consistency. I start watching it when it bubbles because i know there is a short amount of time between two thick and two thin.

Have you guys tried chia seeds yet? The new super food buzz going on around the internet? I was sent a packet of Ruth's Chocolate chia goodness to give a try. I said yes, because I rarely turn down free food and because they said chocolate. Oh and that stats were pretty good:

Chocolate Chia Goodness has five times the calcium of milk, more Omega 3 than salmon or flaxseed, along with protein and a powerful wallop of fiber. It’s also gluten-free, lactose-free, and low glycemic – so just about anyone can partake of its benefits. You can mix Chia Goodness with juice, applesauce, yogurt, or cottage cheese. Use it as a toping on yogurt or fruit. You can even add it to pancake or muffin batter for an extra nutritional punch.

That's great and all, but how does it taste?

I liked it a lot in yogurt and dry straight out of the bag, but when I made it as directed I found it to be too salty. I gave some to my co-worker to try and she really liked it mixed in with other foods, but not alone it was too salty for her too. It has sea salt in it, which frankly I didn't want to taste over chocolate. I really liked the health benefits and the protein boost in my greek yogurt. I also liked the occasional cocoa nib.

I've looked for the chocolate flavor online, but only came up with a few other flavors on amazon that have their own reviews:

Have you tried chia seeds? Thoughts? You can read more about chia here.

Okay, it's the weekend! See you tomorrow!

Can I just say that I'm totally addicted to Lost? We started watching in January and we are now into season 4 and the addiction is epic. We will probably need an intervention soon as our lives have been : eat, sleep, work, lost and not much else. help! It's so good!

Now onto oatmeal...

I'll admit I've hated oatmeal most of my life, but I didn't realize that what I was hating was the wrong sort of oatmeal. Dry and instant is not  as good as the real thing cooked with milk, water and vanilla extract. Woah, it's amazing. I started loving oatmeal after having the "loaded oatmeal" at our local diner. Old fashioned oats, butter, brown sugar, pecans and raisins. There are many healthier ways to eat oatmeal, I'm aware, they could throw in some protein powder or a banana, but this is Floyd and as far as I'm concerned loaded oatmeal is an amazing path to travel down.

Behold:

Sometimes with or without the butter, and always cranberries and pecans. I love it because I am full for hours after eating it and is about 400 calories. Are you guys eating oatmeal? I am really late with the oatmeal love.

I finally got around to using some of the spices that the fine folks at Swanson Vitamins sent me. They have a full range of organic spices at really good prices. Their organic cinnamon is $2.62 which is considerably lower than the $4+ prices I've seen at the store.

I've been following the "No s" plan (no snacks, sweets or seconds except for s days or special occasions) for almost two weeks now and my morning oatmeal is so helpful.

I decided to jump on the lent bandwagon with my girls Fatbridesmaid and Question for Dessert. I've thought hard about what I would like to sacrifice/accomplish in the next 40 days. I'm not a religious person, which isn't necessary to mention, but I like challenging myself to try something different, to be better.

Instead of announcing my Lent goal, I thought I would let my recorded actions here on the blog do the talking for me and let you guys figure out what my goal is/was. Starting today for the next 40 days I'm going to do one thing everyday that will help me achieve my weight loss goals, for every correct answer left in the comments on any day during Lent will be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card (funded by me, not Amazon) and a gift package of local foods/products from my current hometown Floyd, Virginia (USA-only entries please).

Hint: My Lent goal will not be overly obvious.