The One on Thanksgiving

Here I am in Spokane, just about to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. In just a few short hours we will be eating a yummy meal made by mom. Can't wait! Yay I don't have to cook this year!

This year I am thankful for:

My husband Matty who is always super nice to me.

My two-eyed cat Leo, and my one-eyed cat Flash

My baby brother and his wife Josie

My sister who is far away in Germany....her 22nd birthday was yesterday!

My awesome parents who I get to see very soon.

Matt's amazing family, who I consider my family as well.

My awesome friends

I am thankful for lots of THINGS but today I'm just thinking about the PEOPLE.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The One with Thanksgiving Traditions

I have been realizing lately that I have a few personal traditions that surround this wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving. These are of course exclusive to the obvious ones, such as consuming a ridiculous amount of Turkey and pumpkin pie.

1) I run a lot. The past three years I have run the Seattle half marathon right after Thanksgiving. So right before it I am training a ton! This year I am not running since I did a race a couple of weeks ago. But I am still trying to keep up my mileage.

2) I start to think about things that I'm thankful for. This time of year is great for that. In the past I've usually made lists and scrapbook pages and blog posts. Here is a post from 2009 that I particularly like.

3) I drink lots of Thanksgiving blend coffee!

4) I play more games than usual. This started in 2009 with poker and every year around this time I get excited about playing games. When I was a kid, we used to play scrabble after Thanksgiving dinner.

5) I love watching Thanksgiving Friends episodes.

6) I make place tags for the table. This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions. Here is a blog post from 2011 where you can see those place tags.

This year we are heading over to the East side for Thanksgiving! I am excited that I don't have to cook this year. I just get to eat!

Another Amazing Holiday

My favorite holiday came and went to quickly this year! It may have had something to do with all the food I prepared and the many, many dishes that I washed. Those things made the day just fly by!

My husband Matty helped me with the turkey because all the giblets really gross me out. Flash and Leo got to meet the turkey (but no touching of course!!!)



I like things to look pretty on Thanksgiving! I made some fancy napkin holders and everyone got to use a unique glass. (Perfect since I don't have ACTUAL fancy glasses.)





I didn't get very many photos of my guests this year, nor any epic photos of the turkey or the spread of food. Still, I think its more important to enjoy the day than to obsess about photography!

We went to Josh & Ellen's for dessert.



The boys had a little ugly sweater contest, complete with a mustache from Josh! We may have a clear winner here!



I wore my turkey earrings:



A really fun time was had by all! Here we are all playing mafia!



And it would not be Thanksgiving without a few leftovers...



It was a wonderful holiday! I am so glad I got to spend so much time eating delicious food with some of my favorite people in the world.

Now less than 24 hours before I kill myself in a half marathon! Update coming soon...

Thankgiving!

My favorite holiday is almost upon us! I am up a little too late because I have to get up bright and early to start COOKING! I tried to cook a bunch today, but really everything is pretty much last minute. Never-the-less, I made a big mess in the kitchen!



Today I made a paleo pumpkin pie!

I made some cranberry sauce (also Paleo.)

I made blueberry salad, which was Matt's request. We learned about it last year from Josie. Its NOT Paleo, but is delicious!

I made some pumpkin pie cups to bring to Matt's work today!



I also reorganized the living room to make room for everyone. This photo explains why I will not be washing or setting the table until tomorrow!



Tomorrow will be so much fun...I can't wait! I am trying to take photos of course, but also incorporate a little video this year which is something new.

More photos to come!

An Adventurous Weekend!

I was so glad to have a really fun weekend! Lately we have been staying home a lot on the weekends, partly due to my strict diet, and partly due to budget constraints. It was worth spending a little money because we had so much fun!

Friday night we went to the new Twilight movie with Josh & Ellen. We really liked the show, and its always a fun adventure to see a movie on opening night.

Saturday started out with some productivity. We hung pictures, did laundry and took a load to good will. Flash had fun while we worked:



We went over to Bob and Annie's to help Bob finish the Kitchen floor. When I arrived I found a package from UPS! I received the winnings from my very first blog give-away! So I took a picture of course:



We went shopping at Central Market and I bought a coconut! It was quite the adventure trying to crack it open!



Later I made dinner for Matt and I. We were so bored being at home, so we decided to meet Peter at Joey for appetizers (since we had already eaten!) It was so nice to get out! I photographed my food of course. I got the wedge salad and left off the dressing:



On Sunday Matty had a great idea to go on drive up in Bellingham. There is a really beautiful road called Chuckanut Drive. We stopped in Lynnwood at Goodwill and bought an ugly sweater for Matt for Thanksgiving Day! I have a picture, but I will show it later!

Josh and Ellen came with us on our little adventure. We got to stop at a scenic viewpoint and take pictures:



We finally arrived at the cute little town of Fairhaven and got a bite to eat. We found a cute little restaurant! Here we are waiting for our table...



And of course another food photo...my bun-less sauce-less burger! It was yummy but the coleslaw made me feel a little sick.



The weekend would not have been complete without a few cupcakes! I enjoyed the cupcake photography and everyone else enjoyed eating the cupcakes. They were SO cute and I am sure completely delicious!





Well that's all for now! I will have some more Paleo food photos coming soon!

Paleo Update

I think its high time for a Paleo Diet update! Its actually Day 32 over here, and I have some good and bad news! I guess we will do the bad news first.

I went to see my trainer at the gym today and she weighed me...I have gained SIX POUNDS in the last two weeks! Of course I had a mental break down and almost left the gym immediately! I mean, come on? Six pounds? I am not that big, so six pounds is A LOT to gain and call it a "fluctuation." At this point, for my sanity sake, I am blaming it on the scale. I have only weighed myself once on that scale back in January and I had gained 5 pounds in a week. Then Christina weighed me two weeks ago, and again today. SIX POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS!!!

It may have had something to do with day 28 when I was tempted and succumbed to one of these....



And then on Day 29 Matty and I did some "Primal" indulging...



Well, I guess its high time for a little good news! This could be bad news too, not sure! The good news is, I LOVE THIS DIET! I love the way I feel (not hungry) and the food is delicious! (This is only bad news if it makes me gain another six pounds...that would be BAD!!!)

I bought a cook book yesterday! Love this book!



I am planning my Paleo Thanksgiving! (Using a lot of those recipes!)

I found an awesome Paleo food blog! NomNomPaleo

These are all good things. Hopefully Day 32 and beyond will improve this sad six pound situation. If not, I may become super-size Jenn.

Paleo Pancakes!

For the first time I did a little Paleo baking with my coconut flour. I made Paleo pancakes this morning after being awakened at 4:30 am with a nightmare. (I did not get out of bed until Matt left for Cross fit at 5:50) The pancakes were a fun experiment. I think they did turn out a little dry but I am sure they would be delicious doused in butter and maple syrup. As for me, I enjoyed them with an egg. :)

Here is the recipe that I used that I got from:

http://www.primal-palate.com/2011/02/coconut-flour-pancakes-and-waffles.html

I did not add any of the tempting toppings to keep this marginally healthy. (Still have 5 more days in my challenge!):

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I used less than 1/4 because nutmeg is often strong for me)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 dropper of stevia
4 eggs
2 tbsp almond milk (I used instead of coconut milk and added one extra tbsp to make them more runny)

Cooked in coconut oil and added and egg on the side!

I think next time I would like to try some vanilla and leave out the stevia. Somehow I don't think pancakes themselves are supposed to be sweet. That's why we smother them in syrup...ha!

Anyway, great website that I got this from. I am so tempted by so many recipes on the blog that I might even buy the cookbook, yikes!!!

Matt tried them out after he got home from cross fit. He just said, "Make more!" They were too small. :) He liked them with honey.

One other note....I have no idea how many calories these things are but I DO know that I ate them at 6:30 am and wasn' t hungry until 3PM. Crazy!

Paleo Day 19

I have just finished day 19 on this crazy diet and I have only 11 more days to go! The first thing I will have on this day is DARK CHOCOLATE! I can't wait! As long as I get the really dark stuff, I will still be technically eating "Primal." So I think that's the first thing I will add into my diet. Not bad, eh?

This way of eating has really been awesome. I have had several opportunities to eat at other people's houses and I have always made it work. Sometimes I have to fudge it just a little. For example, today a friend fed me some yummy tomato soup made with coconut milk, and after trying it I was pretty sure that it had sugar in it. Oh well! It wont kill me.

I have still been taking an inordinate am0unt of tree photos. Can't get enough. Here are my favorite trees at Green lake. See them there across the water?
One more photo I will share. My friend Renae came to visit me this weekend and she posted a picture of me on her blog, taking a picture of her. (Isn't she a great photographer?)

http://renaesadventures.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekend-in-seattle.html

Here is the picture from the other direction. Photography not so awesome...I was trying a new manual focus lens that I was terrible at using. (But I like her pretty fingernails!)
Well that's all for today...a bit of a random post! Eleven days until dark chocolate! Can't wait!

Its Day 13...

...I have completely forgotten to take food photos! I have no photos this week (except for some pretty fall leaves photos).

Overall I am doing great on this new way of eating! I purchased the book "Primal Blueprint 21 day challenge." I guess it takes a full 21 days before you are more of a fat-burner than a sugar-burner. Maybe it even takes that long to lose weight? We will see. Last night I told Matt that this 30 days may just go on forever. After all, its a lifestyle, not a diet!

Don't worry everyone. I am not a crazy person. I will be eating pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving!

One suggestion in the Primal Blueprint book, is to take lots and lots of walks! Basically keep moving and don't sit around! This week that has been a goal of mine, and I took a walk at Green lake on Wednesday afternoon and again with Matty last night after dinner. Its been very relaxing.

This year we have had a gorgeous fall in Seattle. I have been LOVING all the pretty trees and changing colors. I took many cell photos at the Lake on Wednesday. Love having my phone with me as a quick camera.

A little cheating...

I guess you could say that Day 7 and 8 involved a little cheating! Not a lot, but just a little.

On Saturday I was very good! I avoided donuts! No pastries for me. By early afternoon I was completely sick to my stomach and feeling light headed. Matt decided it would be a good idea to feed me some greek yogurt and honey:
I only ate a few bites, but I felt SO MUCH BETTER! I guess in this case cheating was worth it, because I stayed on my diet (pretty much) the rest of the day and had a lot more energy.

On Sunday I was tempted by pizza TWICE, made myself some Paleo biscuits (that were disappointing), carved a pumpkin, made some roasted pumpkin seeds (healthy!) and only managed to cheat a LITTLE! At our pumpkin carving party I ended up eating the topping of a slice of pizza. Cheese! Fatty meats! Not very smart.

Here is Matty making us a lovely fresh fish for lunch:
And here is my pumpkin...since I am sure you are all wanting to see it...
Now that it is MONDAY, I am newly inspired and ready to have a wonderful Day 9 without any cheating!

Paleo Days 5-6

(So from now on I will refer to this diet as "Primal Blueprint" because that's really what it is. The Paleo diet is much more strict and doesn't allow any fat. It also is much more strict about dairy. Because I have been eating fatty foods such as butter, avocado and bacon, its really more "Primal Blueprint" style.)

Both Photos from this week feature my favorite pan. This nonstick pan was given to me for my wedding and it almost completely has lost its "nonstick." But I still love it! I use it lots and lots.

Thursday...Day 5
Made another souffle! I didn't burn my hand this time. :)
Friday...Day 6
Made green beans for the home meeting.
I was lucky tonight at the home meeting because there were lots of healthy food options! I ate these green beans, cauliflower, chicken wrapped in bacon and some salad with pears. I ate concord grapes for dinner! (Those were almost too sweet!)

Today was my long run day. I decided that its okay for me to stray a tiny bit when I have to run for over an hour! On my nine mile race I decided to have a little energy gel...my favorite, the blackberry one! And then I had a little protein shake afterwards. That's not too terrible right?

But besides this, my diet has really been pretty perfect the last 6 days!

24 more days to go!

Paleo Day 2-4

This diet is an interesting ride. Its so different than anything I've ever done! I have done so much more cooking than I usually do. I have loved having the freedom to eat whenever I am hungry and have felt so wonderful not having to count calories. (I still write everything down)

Monday: I bought a huge veggie tray at Sam's Club. I used some of the veggies for the stew I made on Monday night and then put a lot of them in my little containers to bring to lunch. The small containers are re-used from veggie trays from TJ's. I am so proud of my innovative idea to reuse these containers! :)
Tuesday: I had a little mishap with my fruit souffle that I made for breakfast. I grabbed a very very hot handle and burned my hand! This was so miserable, as I still had to go to work, wash my hands a ton, put gloves on, and clean people's teeth. It was pretty excruciating, but the ibuprofen helped!

Here is Matt enjoying the souffle. (Its the best photo I got...I was in a lot of pain while I took this shot!)
Wednesday: Here is a cell phone photo that I took at work of my lunch salad. (Yes, there is feta in there! I already had some and I'm not being wasteful!) I found that eating avocado today really helped me stay full. I have been pretty constantly hungry on this diet.

Paleo Day One!

I made it! I only made a few mistakes.

I ate a peanut butter lara bar in the morning (avoiding yummy poundcake!) only realizing after finishing it that peanuts are legumes and NOT ALOUD! Oops!

I got made fun of a lot yesterday. These next 29 days will be very interesting.

PHOTOS:

Yummy afternoon snack, thanks to Josh:
My amazing dinner, thanks to Ellen:

Being Healthy

Today I had a stunning idea.

Why not combine the things I am good at and the things I am terrible at?
I am great at scrapbooking.
I am terrible at dieting.

I think I will combine the two!

I have already decided that starting on Sunday I am beginning 30 days of the Paleo diet! I think it might be a fun idea to take a picture each day and write a little about my successes (and hopefully not failures) each day and then maybe put it in a little book. The format is yet undecided. (Don't worry, not all mundane details will end up on this blog!)

Today is Negative One Day. (Yesterday was Negative Two)
Matt and I decided to do a "soft start." That's because I am certainly not throwing away delicious foods from my fridge. So I will eat them up now and just not buy anymore!

The Paleo Diet is mostly about eating meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I will try to be as strict as possible for 30 days and after that I am sure I will re-incorporate healthy foods such as greek yogurt, dark chocolate, quinoa and maybe even some black beans and brown rice. I will have to introduce these slowly, of course. The white flower and sugar can stay out forever! (Except for Thanksgiving of course!....see why the 30 days starts now?)

Because I am training for the half marathon I will possibly still allow a sport gel during a long run. I figure that I pretty much burn it off during the run and it can't do too much damage, right?

So wish me luck!

Here's my first pictures:

Day Negative Two: Discovering recipesDay Negative One: Made a delicious breakfast

Happy Thanksgiving!

I told my family that I finally figured out what I want for my birthday. I want a Polaroid instant camera. I was met with great disagreement from all parties. I guess because I already have a nicer camera, why would I want to pay for an instant camera? I thought it would be fun. But apparently it is a BAD IDEA as evidenced by the opinions of Matt, James, Dad and Mom. (Josie thought the camera was cute.)

So....I downloaded the poladroid which sits on my desktop. I drag and drop photos and they form Polaroids right there in front of me! Its complete with cute sound effects AND you have to wait for the picture to develop. Its really fun!

So here are a few photos from Thanksgiving that I made into Polaroids. :)

Anne-Marie and I did a little swing dancing on the ice rink the day before Thanksgiving. I have had a really nice time here in Spokane!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone ate as much as I did!

Beezley Burn

Matt & I had a lot of fun with Josh & Ellen this weekend in Ephrata. Matt & Josh competed in the Beezley Burn, which is a difficult mountain bike race that they do every year. I thought I would just quickly share a few pictures from the weekend...

It was a beautiful weekend and I'm really glad we went. I just have one more photo, which shows my raccoon eyes!