Random Wednesday: Priorities

1. I'm giving up Facebook. My promise was to give it up for a week. I only failed once. I'm ashamed that my willpower is so weak that I HAD to check it. Did I find anything cool on my "give in check?" NO! Same ol' Like this picture because I want a puppy, Like this picture if you don't want to go to Hell, Like my picture because I went to the club this weekend and I'm showing my boobies. Wow, I am addicted to what now? Yeah, I'm definitely going to do this.

2. I have 5 drafts of unfinished posts in my Blogger. I write them during my lunch, on my phone, or when I'm on the loo, but I'm big on pictures and I can't upload pictures quickly at any of those times. I like to post lots of pictures because I like blogs with lots of pictures. I would rather gawk at pictures than read sometimes. I'm a first grader apparently.

3. Tonight, I will be making Pineapple Fried Rice, but with quinoa. All I can think about is that I'm going to hate it. I tried quinoa and I'm not a fan of the texture. I want to like it, mostly because I bought a big box of it and I don't want to waste it. If you have any recipes that I might fancy, please pass them to me.

4. Joaquin is starting to get a little too attatched to me. Sometimes he wants just me and only the warmth of my arms. I love it.

5. I really hope my dinner turns out edible.

6. I'm not posting pictures today. The first grader in me is crying.

Motivation Monday

Sitting and browsing on Pinterest is ubermotivating! I mean, where else can you sit and scroll for three hours straight and find motivating pictures such as:

Source: awkwardfamilyphotos.com on Pinterest

This fully motivates me to call my mom and say "Thank you...for not being weird."

And this:

Source: img525.imageshack.us on Pinterest

This motivates me to start trying to make babies...like before Halloween. (Not really. Sorry, mom)

Seriously, I found some things that really put a fire under my underloos to getting choppin' this week.

Source: healthylivingforyou.tumblr.com on Pinterest

I will not reward myself with cakepops after going out for a run. I will not reward myself with french fries after yoga class. I will not reward myself with candy because it's a weekday.

Source: stephiehunter.tumblr.com on Pinterest

I will remember that  I DO deserve to be happy. I'm WORTH IT! Thanks Loreal.

Source: 9gag.com via Joanna on Pinterest

This motivates me to remember that no matter how dumb I look when I'm running, I'm still running. I'm still trying my best and being proactive with my health.

• Give me your best motivating quote.

Part II: Stuffing My Face in Solvang

Contrary to popular belief, I did not go to Europe for the weekend. Unfortunately, I do not live the life of a rich person. It's ok... I am rich in love, life, and food. ::cue the strings:: I traveled 3 1/2 hours North to Solvang, California and I STUFFED my mouth hole with sweets of all kinds, meats of all kinds, and I threw in some vegetables  for good measure. Here are just a few things we did up in this little Danish town.

We arrived at our Hotel on Friday night. It was very simple and IKEA-ish, with a dash of a Hostel sort of feel. Sure, I wanted to slap myself for not booking a hotel, say, with amenities and a room a bit bigger so that doo-doo smells wouldn't attack the WHOLE hotel room when someone is in the toilet room, or a place that offers more than two pillows. But hey, it was decent enough for showering, sleeping, and other bed activities.

The best part of the hotel was that it came with complementary bikes...

We rode them with pride around the town, showing off our Danish filled guts.

And the other great thing about our Hotel was that it was a matter of steps to the best eatery in Solvang. That's not just my opinion, that's a FACT! Look it up on Wikipedia in about an hour.

Their Danish pancakes were LEGENDARY!! The service was impeccable, the line was out the door, the place was clean, and the bacon was thick as fruit leather. If those aren't true stamps to a good place, I don't know what to tell you.

After we ate the best meals of our lives, we moseyed on over to spend about a good hour in this odd spot.

This store reminded me of my childhood in Germany. I had a wonderful nostalgic feeling and I didn't want to leave. Good thing Hubby kept himself busy by finding the only pair of Boobie Stein glasses in the store.

And, the lady at the counter thought we were billionaires and kept trying to sell us one of these $500 clocks. She should've looked at our Hamlet Inn bikes.

The rest of the trip consisted of food... because that was my main goal after all...to gain a ridiculous amount of weight in my buttocks area.

    

 

I ate real food, too.

 Day two, we rode our bikes again. Do you think a few hours pedaling cancels out all this food?

Don't worry, I was in fact wearing shorts under my dress. I don't know how the Danes feel about Hello Kitty Chonies and I wasn't about to find out.

Back to the eats...

Chipmunk Cheeks courtesy of all the sweets....glorious glorious sweets. 

And lastly, I searched for my childhood fav, Weinershnizel. It was sadly a disappointment. Not as good as I remembered it. The little fat girl inside me wept. 

While in my food depression, Hubby enjoyed his AMAZING Chicken Fried Steak.

I gave him puppy dog eyes the WHOLE meal and all he gave me was a measly 4 bites! Can you believe that? And he vowed to be with me through good times and bad.... pshhh.... lies. (Love you, Hubs!)

It was the best birthday I've had all year. wait... yeah... best one.

• How was your weekend?

Quick Fix Dinner: Lasagna Roll-Ups

Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well and if it's not...you're half way done! WHOO HOO!

I hate to make people jealous, but I'm on break and loving every minute of it! I know, you want to shoot all the teachers out there right now, but walk a mile in our uncomfortable high heel shoes and you'll be begging for a summer vacation, too! Am I right Fellow Teachers?

I've been getting a lot done in the house:
-laundry up the wahzoo...done.
-organize closet monster...killed it
-read to my hearts content...Bang-a-rang Peter!
-train for my next race... Hellz to the Yeeah
-sleep up a storm... get that umbrella ella ella A
Ahhhh! Feels nice.
**To all my friends close by, I do house calls for dinner. Hard day at work? Request a meal and I'll bring it to ya! :) Serious!**

Turns out that when you're on break, your lazy bone starts to grow a little bit. Instead of making complicated meals, I find myself making the easier kind...but still just as equally delicious. I have a month of break left so I still have time for some challenges.

Until then, I give you a dinner so easy and fun to make, that even a teacher who is on break and whose lazy bone prevents her from showering sometimes, can make, half awake from a 7 hour nap.

Project Wifey Wife Week #18-
Spinach Ricotta Roll Ups

Ingredients:
-pack of frozen spinach, thawed
-16 oz tub of part skim Ricotta Cheese
-1/2 Tbs of garlic salt
-pepper to taste
-your favorite pasta sauce
-10-12 lasagna noodles, cooked
-2-3 cups of Swiss cheese; shredded
-1 cup of breadcrumbs
-drizzle of olive oil

I used my FAVORITE German Bolognese mix that my Auntie Irene brought from Germany. Even though I was born in Germany and lived there most of my childhood, I do not speak a lick of it.

Thank God for pictures!

Moving right along.....

So organized and beautiful, no?

 Now I got-stah get my butt up and make dinner! Do you think I need to take a shower before Hubby gets home from work? I mean we're married now so he can't really leave me. Ok, I'll shower.

• What's the easiest dinner you can make? Link it to me!
• If you were on break, how would you spend your lazy days?

Thursday Favorites! Look Ma, I Can Read!

Summer reading was never my thing. Heck, reading was never my thing, which is ironic since I am a teacher and all. I always envied those teachers who talk about how they just finished their 3rd book this week. It takes me SOOOO long to finish just one.

Let the record show that I am not a slow reader, I am quite fast actually. It's just I get so distracted. I watch a copious amount of stupid stuff on the boob tube, I love to do anything that doesn't require moving, and really...I've always been more of a magazine person...ooooh prudy pictures! I never wanted to admit any of this because now you probably think I'm an illiterate lazy bumhole. Illiterate...no. Lazy bumhole...mayhaps.

But this summer year has been quite different for me. I've been lucky in love at the bookstore. I'm reading actual books and not magazines!! And there are no prizes or ice cream parties at the end of this journey, I'm very much enjoying the feeling of getting lost in books. It feels good since it was in fact, part of my New Year's Resolution.

Here are some books I finished at truly enjoyed! (all images from Amazon.com)

       

1. This book was so intense. Very graphic in nature, suspenseful, and exciting. I really enjoyed it and was quite disturbed at the same time. You really have to get past the first half (which was full of lawyer jargon) to really get into the "good stuff" but I thought it was a great book.

2. If I had to describe this book it would be the same description I give to a Gummy Bear. This book is filled with a handful of sweet and delightfully funny stories. It's about the author's experience moving to Whitter, California as a young child in the 70's. It's very cute and it was a fast read.

3. This book is now my all time favorite book. First off, this book is NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE! Sure, it has snippets of the cooking and Julie breaking down and how she was inspired by Julia Child, but the movie left out Julie's crude humor (she curses like a sailor and I LIKE IT!), 100 more recipes that she has funny little adventures trying, and a crap load of weird characters that are her friends. In a nutshell, this book is about a girl who uses blogging and cooking to relieve herself from her crazy job with the support of her patient hubby. THIS IS ME!!!

4. This is my second time reading this book. I read it when I graduated college (Almost 7 years ago! WOW) and for some reason I couldn't get into it. Reading it again has given me a different perspective and I think I'm reading it in a good time in my life. It's about chasing your dreams and finding your passions. I'm diggin' it!



5. One word: HILARIOUS! The first half is about her childhood, about her teenhood, and her personal life. The second half is mostly about SNL and 30 Rock. Both halves made me laugh out loud and read it to my hubby. I LOVED IT!

6. More on this later because I'm only a quarter through it. So far, it's eye-opening and life altering. I don't want to accept the fact that I've been abusing my insides with all the butter, cookies, and burgers I've been consuming, but this is really going to help me feel better about myself. I can feel it already.

7 & 8. I purchased these two and look forward to reading them! Can't wait! I'll let you know how that goes.

I understand that these books aren't going to make me any smarter (DARN!) or make me look any smarter (Double DARN!!) but they make me happy and that's all that matters to me.

• Have you read any of these books?
• What's on your summer reading list?

The Hills are Alive, with the Sound of Hiking

And what does hiking sound like, you say?

"Why did we choose the hard path?"
"My thighs are buuurning!"
"Are we almost to the top?"
"Is that a SNAKE?"
"How come those old Asian ladies are passing us up?"

Last week, my friend Grace asked me to go hiking with her. The Lazy in me wanted to say no, but I think my couch needed a break from my BUH-DONK. Extra emphasis on the DONK.
Anywho- I said yes (obviously) and we had a grand old time...except for my left buttcheek and thigh, it wanted me dead and I know it.

I packed what I thought was necessary. But it turns out that when you are hiking up a mountain, an extra hand sanitizer in your bag feels like you're carrying a family of Koala bears on your back. I wanted to chuck my mini-bag off the cliff but apparently there are rules against that.


Hey! Look who remembered their inhaler this time!

Upon arrival, the clouds were covering the mountain, so I thought it would be cake. As the clouds parted, I realized that I might die today.

There was a cute little brook that marked the beginning of our journey. So peaceful and serene. We were ready to tackle the hill!

Then we found this crazy animal and we let him come along with us. We figured he would be able to carry us if we got hurt or something. Just kidding, he can't carry us, his noodle arms would buckle and we'd all plunge to our deaths.(I keed Richard! Your muscles can go up against any woman body builder.)

We complained climbed 2.5 miles all the way up and the view was breath taking!

I even met a little friend on the way! He was a fast little booger!

Even though we started our climb up the mountain around 8 in the morning, the sun burned off one layer of shirts for all of us. HOT! It had to be in the 80's or 90's!

Finally at the top, we came to a little tiny hut with two benches. I vote for a pool and an air conditioned ice cream stand, but that's just me.

Kidding aside, I had a great time with two of my buddies. It was hard, but we made it. I never hiked like this before and I felt strong when we finished. It was a challenge and we completed it! Even though I couldn't sit down on the toilet when I got back home because my thighs were mad at me, it was totally worth it!

The 2.5 miles down the hill was very scenic. Grace described it as a forest scene from Snow White.

And this is the spot where we Yelped a place to eat (which I will post tomorrow! Such a cute place we found). Ahhh, memories.

• Hiking...yay or nay?
• Would you like to come with me next time? I need someone to hold my bag.
• Seriously, I'm going again...I'm ready for these hills!