The one with the Salmon Patties

Wow!! I can't believe I am sharing my second "recipe" in such a short time. I guess I have been extra domestic this week!

As I may have mentioned earlier, I made some salmon patties to go with that pesto that I made the other day.

I followed a recipe here but I altered a few things based on what I had available. For instance I used lime juice instead of lemon. I also didn't use a food processor (I don't have one) and the magic bullet was still tired out from the pesto from yesterday. Instead, I just mashed with a fork and everything turned out fine.

 I have never made these before, and actually never eating salmon patties before, but they were delicious! I topped them, of course, with some delicious home made pesto and they made me super full all night long. (Even got me through a successful swimming lesson and I didn't need to eat afterward. I've got to interject swimming stuff here and there since it has become my whole life lately.)

I will be making them again.

The one with the Fremont Photo Walk

Yes it is time for another photo walk!

I had a gap between patients today and decided to wander down the hill to the wonderful neighborhood of Fremont. There are always lots of things to see in Fremont and I really liked using this area for a photo walk.

 (If you click on the collage, it should get bigger)

As I walked I focused on the art of Fremont, mostly being murals and things that were on buildings and walls. There are some other photos included here, mostly pictures of pretty signs or patterns. I also snuck in a photo of my gluten-free muffin that I ate after walking around for forty five minutes. (Don't worry, I also biked 20 miles today, so hopefully that muffin wont contribute to my wasteline.)

This photo walk thing is getting pretty fun. I like having a specific subject in mind when I go out to take pictures.

I just have to remember to bring my big camera so my images will actually be quality!

Better luck next time, Jenn. :)

The one with the fun Saturday Night

 We strayed from our diet (just a little, ha!) on Saturday night. We had a lot of fun! I was so excited to take lots of and lots of pictures. So here are a few. Words aren't really necessary.

 

 

We had fun. We splurged. We played shuffleboard (first time!). Drank a little (not a lot...I was a good girl.) Ate a yummy pretzel at Brave Horse Tavern and some yummy Mexican food at Cactus. I was so glad to have a blast. Now I just need to figure out how to have a fun night out without too many calories! Its a work in progress.

The one where Jenn makes Pesto

Woo hoo! I did something domestic.

Not only did I make Pesto from scratch, but I made it from my very own basil plant! (I have one tiny secret though...I had to supplement with Trader Joe's basil since I didn't have enough)

I used my handy dandy Magic Bullet.

I started with just a few leaves, a dash of olive oil and some pine nuts. Little by little I mixed and added more stuff.

I used:  About three cups of basil leaves, (see bowl above) 1/2 cup of olive oil, a little more than 1/4 cup of pine nuts. 

It took awhile to grind up all those leaves, but eventually it worked! I kept adding a little more olive oil each time. It was super quick and easy, besides the part where Matt's eardrums hurt from the Magic Bullet whirring.

Tomorrow night we are going to eat Pesto on top of our Salmon Patties. Can't wait! (I will be eating dinner tomorrow after my very first swimming lesson at Green lake, will keep you updated on that!)

The one with the tiny little swimming update (and lots of food photos)

For all those that are following along closely (ha!) I have now been swimming three days.

I can blow bubbles. I can actually BREATHE with my head under the water. (Not in, of course)

On Wednesday a nice gal at the gym gave me a tip to use the kickboard so that I don't have to use my arms. All I have to do is kick my feet and practice my breathing. One-Two-Three under the water and then take a breath. Repeat on each side. I am working on tipping my head to the side instead of straight up. I still have ALOT to learn. I feel like someone trying to run a marathon that can only run one mile. When it comes to swimming I am SERIOUSLY out of shape. I can swim back and forth and be completely out of breath.

Four weeks to go! Can I swim 400 meters in open water, possible sloshing and freezing? We have yet to see.

 On another note, I have been eating pretty healthy for the last couple of weeks. I have been loving my eggs, spinach and goat cheese every morning:

For lunches I usually eat salads. For dinner I try to cook lots of veggies and eat chicken or chicken sausage.

One of my favorite combinations has been brussels sprouts, broccoli, yellow squash and chicken sausage. The brussels sprouts and broccoli come in bags at Trader Joe's, so I can microwave them to speed up cooking time. (Matt likes this)

I have also been making healthier choices when I eat at other places. In this meal, at Chris and Terry's, the only "bad" thing I ate was this tiny piece of bread that was home made by Donella. She is my favorite bread maker and she tried a new recipe, so of course I had to try. :)

Here is a quick Instagram of my groceries from Trader Joes last weekend. Even the check out lady was impressed by how healthy I eat!

Thanks for reading my healthy update. I am so happy to be doing so well. :)

The One where Jenn learns to swim and promptly forgets how to run.

Yes that is right.

I had my first swim lesson today. Matty taught me how to blow bubbles and kick.

This may seem super lame-o, but before I started today I couldn't even put my head in the water without plugging my nose.

Thank you Matty for the nice lesson!!

The rest of the story is that after work today I ran around Green lake and couldn't even make it around the whole lake without stopping to take a quick walk. I blame the LACK OF CARBS!! I have been on a pretty low carb diet now for about 8 days and my running always gets affected.

So what did I do?

Ate a delicious apple and almond butter after my run. Now I feel completely better. :)

Matty says don't eat fruit, but I am sneaking in a little fruit before and after exercising. Without it, I am toast. :)

My triathlon check list is getting complete! I bought a swim suit and tri bike shorts and arranged to borrow a road bike and a wet suit. So all I need to do now is SWIM BIKE RUN! This will be my life for the next five weeks. Its coming up.....!!

:)

Scrapbook Pages: Tulip Fields

 These pages are about our April trip to the Tulip Fields in LaConner.

The first two pages are meant to sit side by side in my album, that's why their color schemes are so similar. I hate to do 2-pagers, but sometimes I have too many photos to fit on only one page.

I used my favorite supplies, including recent Studio Calico kits, washi tape, and random embellishments that I am trying to use up. Those flowers are big and bulky brads and I have been avoiding them, so glad to get them on a page at last. 

The second page is about our little trip into LaConner for lunch. It was a unique experience involving a brand new cafe, delicious food, and dozens of ferraris.

I think I will post a few more scrapbook pages this week. I haven't really scrapbooked in awhile, but these are older pages that I just recently photographed and put away in my album. Maybe getting these on the blog will inspire me creatively to sit down and scrapbook.

In other news, I am in my second week of eating healthy (mostly Paleo) and working out/running again. Its going really well (not that I've lost any weight) and I am still planning and doing a triathlon in July. I will keep you posted!!

Photo Walk: Flowers

Today I am super busy and crazy but I had to take a moment to be lazy and take some flowery photos.

After my six mile run today I stopped to walk for a few blocks. I saw so many pretty flowers that I started taking photos with my phone camera.

I cropped and edited them at home, so as to not flood my Instagram feed. :)

The photography isn't great, but this inspired me to get out my SLR more often and do photo walks in my neighborhood.

Now its time for some laundry. (yuck!)

Project Life

Week of May 20-26


Things to note: I had no SLR camera this week because mine was broken! :( Renae came to the rescue and I copied some of her photos while she was in town. The rest of the photos are phone photos.

The week started out pretty normal. I grabbed a photo at children's meeting playing Duck, Duck, Goose. I also snapped some photos of food, which is my favorite subject. This week we ate Pancakes at my favorite restaurant, Portage Bay. I also took a photo of my caprese salad...basil from my own plant!

The second half of the spread is mostly weekend photos. We had a Christian conference in Bellevue for Memorial Day, so my friend Renae stayed with me (thus the stolen photos!). I also picked up lots of "ephemera" which included a parking reminder, sushi stuff, and a tag from World Market.

Week of May 27-June 2


This week was insert heavy!! I didn't care. Bring on the inserts, I say. The more photos the better!

In the first half of the week, I also didn't have my camera...I didn't get it back until Friday, just in time for our trip to San Juan Island.On the first page you will see an iPhone photo of Matty and I, taken by someone else at a restaurant. I also have the receipt...we went to Maggiano's. In the lower corner I made a photo collage from Renae's pictures, its Hans making all the girls cry! The next photo over is Matty on the roof, as well as the label from my favorite bottle of wine, Toasted Goat.

The front half of the insert has my massage (yay!) notes, business card from the photo shop, and Pippa's 3 month photo!

This next photo shows the back of the insert, which is the beginning of our trip on Friday. I also included a map of San Juan as a second insert. You can see my photo of the farmer's market, as well as the camp cat...reminded us of Flash!

The last page is mostly photos. I had just gotten my camera back and was a little photo crazy! We did some sightseeing on Saturday, including the Alpaca farms and British camp. On the upper right you will see a self timed photo of us reading by the fire...that's really how we spent our evening.

Week of June 3-June 10

Starts in San Juan and ends in Boise!
I always start my week on Sunday, even if I am splitting up a trip. I don't mind.

 I ran a marathon on Sunday! I had to put an instagram in here of my race medal.

We read a funny book over the weekend called "Stuff White People Like." Apparently they like to run marathons, and when they complete said race, they hold their race number over their head triumphantly! Matty and I got a kick out of that book, and that's the inspiration for that top right photo.

Also on this page: A coffee sleeve, embellished with one of Elise's stamps "You're my favorite". A popcorn photo from Les Schwab as I waited for my tires to be done. A photo of our bookshelf, we have quite a collection, now. Finally an instagram of Flash sitting in his usual strange position. I have yet to mount this photo of a nice piece of 4x6 paper...will get done soon!!

 Oh, and here's the back of that first insert. Just another San Juan map...on this one I outlined my race course with highlighter, and then added some race highlights on a 4x3 card.

 Here is the second half of the week! Again there is a second insert. The first one I made by chopping up a 12x12 insert that had 9 4x4 slots. I made some of them narrower to fit a 4x3 card.

These instagrams are all from our road trip on the way to Boise. I included the envelope from the Hotel Key, as well as a coaster from our room. Best Western...yes! The breakfast was indeed amazing.

 Here is the second insert and last page. (getting bored yet? :) ) All instagrams are race photos from Matt's half Ironman. I threw in lots of fun ephemera, including his race sticker for his bike and his race bracelet. I don't let that guy throw anything away!

 On the last page are some general photos of our trip to Boise. The first photo is my expensive and delicious sandwich. (Apparently white people love expensive sandwiches!) The second photo is our friend John and his new girlfriend Aldin. We had a blast with them! Lower left photo is the beautiful swim start....when were completely drenched in rain. Lovely times! The last photo is our Margaritas after the race! Mostly Matty deserved it, but I indulged too! Diet starts tomorrow right? (And it did, don't worry. I have been sugar, flour, alcohol-free for six days now.)

So how's that for a Project Life update? Pretty overwhelming I am sure. I tend to finish these up about three weeks at a time and then I can't help by posting them all at once. Sorry! If you made it to the end, THANK YOU!

I will be back with more excitement soon.

Back to Normal

This week is all about getting back to normal. I have been really needing my usual routine. I haven't really felt normal for months! Doing the marathon also set me back a bit, because I had to take about a week off before and after my race. All in the name of staying injury free...which I have so far!

This week I am eating healthy again. Trying to incorporate more protein into my diet, and lots more fruits and vegetables. My goal is to eat healthy and lose a little weight. Two days in...I am really struggling but trying to remain positive and remember that the first few days are always the hardest. My body and mind really loves SUGAR. And its hard to live without. Truthfully I tend to feel much better when I don't eat so many refined carbohydrates.

I am also back to the gym! Doing weights this morning was really hard, but I survived. :)

My next big race will be my first triathlon in Chelan in July. The main obstacle will be learning how to swim, especially to put my head in the water. I have six weeks!

I am so excited to get back to my real self.

And with that, I will leave you with a couple photo of myself and my cute hubby. We were at a rooftop party overlooking Lake Union and took the opportunity for a quick photo shoot. I happened to be wearing my favorite new earrings and fabulous tangerine scarf.

I am so glad its summer. Its the perfect time for dreaming, planning and relaxing!