Things That Drive Me Insta-Bonkers
Posted: March 3, 2016 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Fun, Uncategorized | Tags: confessions, instagram, lists, random, thinking out loud 4 CommentsHappy Thursday Friends!
Any big weekend plans?
I am heading to Syracuse tomorrow for a meeting on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon, Farmer Ben and I start vacation! I am SO looking forward to taking some time off. We will be visiting family, resting, and sleeping in. After almost a year of being out straight, I am totally ready.
Anyway, moving on….
I was scrolling through Instagram this morning and I have to be honest… I was bored. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Instagram and it’s really the only form of social media that I keep up with on a daily basis (I don’t use Facebook or Snapchat and Twitter is just downright overwhelming!).
I follow some amazing accounts but there seems to be a lot of monotony in my feed lately. Maybe this means it’s time for an insta-cleanse? Perhaps.
Now… I’m not saying that my own Instagram feed is perfect, because it’s definitely not. I’m so guilty of posting things that other people find super annoying (see: post-run selfies, #bigasssalads and pictures of my bulletproof coffee and eggs).
That being said, it got me thinking about the things that drive me most crazy….So, here are the top five posts (in no particular order) that I am totally over!
- Pancakes, specifically protein pancakes. I’m sorry, but there are only so many things you can do to a pancake to make it look interesting. Do I enjoy eating them? Yes. Do I want to see 123435431341341 pictures of them? No.
- It Works anything. Come on! We get it… you love being an independent distributor, blah blah blah! Also, telling me that the wraps and vitamins will help me get a body like yours, when I’ve known you since birth and you’ve always had a super model physique is not convincing me to buy your product. Sorry. It doesn’t work like that (see what I did there?).
- Smoothie Bowls. My apologies, but I don’t get the appeal. If I’m going to drink a smoothie, I want it in a glass. Otherwise, it’s just a sad pretend version of ice cream.
- Pictures of you doing a handstand. Is it awesome that you can do a handstand, heck yes! I cannot do one… Do I want to see you doing a handstand not once, not twice, but three times a day? No. There are only so many ways to make this interesting.
- Negativity. I get it, sometimes you have trouble squeezing into your jeans, or you spill your coffee, you get in a fight with your significant other or you are just having a no-good-rotten day. But taking a completely unrelated picture or using a selfie to complain about your life, your looks or to berate your spouse on the internet? Come on. You’re better than that.
This is all meant in good fun… and totally not serious. Except maybe the protein pancakes.
Let’s chat! What drives you crazy on Instagram?!
Also, linking up with Amanda at Running With Spoons for today’s Thinking Out Loud Post….check out some of the other posts! Thanks to Amanda for hosting the link-up!
Confessions; Life, Lately (Mostly Food).
Posted: September 5, 2015 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions | Tags: confessions, dinner, Food, random, recipe, working out Leave a commentHappy Saturday Friends!
Any exciting weekend plans? Farmer Ben and I are having some friends over for an evening of good food and games. I’m really looking forward to it!
Other than that, my back-to-school game is in full swing! Not gonna lie, I’ll be happy once my orientation class is over so I don’t have to log in every day. I probably still will… but I won’t be obligated to. That makes all the difference!
In other news, have you guys heard of EBATES? It’s stupidly easy. You sign up, download their button, and when you are on a site that gives cash back, it turns red. Once activated, you get money back! If you don’t want to download the button, you can go to the EBATES’ site and find what you’re looking for that way. I’ve gotten money back on a book for school, protein powder and a baby shower gift.
(Full Disclosure, if you sign up via the link above and make a purchase, I get $5. Thank you in advance!).
I signed up about a month ago and I’ve already gotten $8.05 back from online purchases. My sister, on the other hand, got $26 back (I think she does more online shopping than I do). It doesn’t seem like it’s that much, but those few dollars here and there add up! You’ll either receive a check in the mail or you can have it go to your PayPal account.
Confession time… (Mostly Food)
- Farmer Ben and I had pizza for dinner three times this week (Unless you count Sunday as last week, then it’s technically only 2 times). One of said pizzas was a “nacho pizza.” Yes, it was ridiculously good and I think I gained approximately 5 pounds.
- I am officially over summer squash and zucchini…we’ve been eating it SO MUCH and people keep giving us more! I’ve gotten creative, making a zucchini “lasagna,” and just eating it raw, dipped in hummus or dressing…and a few other ways… but there are only so many things you can do to squash. Sometime next week, we’ll have zucchini fritters and the elusive zucchini pizza crust (because clearly, we never get sick of pizza). Gulp…wish us luck!
- I made these cupcakes with a few modifications, to use more zucchini up (and then my mom gave us 3 more). They were good but only required a cup… I may need to quadruple the recipe and freeze them! Any suggestions for what else we should make?
- I am really into snack plates (Always with radishes and cucumbers)… I think it’s becoming a problem…this was a recent work meeting.
- Farmer Ben and I have a problem with making everything boozey. The cupcakes I talked about earlier? I put Kahlua in them… And Farmer Ben? He made this…
I can’t even.
- I’ve been alternating between three pairs of running capris. I have other bottoms to wear, but they just aren’t as comfortable! I’ve been doing a lot of laundry the last few weeks.
- Speaking of running… I’ve been eyeing different GPS Watches/Heart Rate Monitors… I’ve even gone as far as putting some in my online shopping cart… but I can’t convince myself to spend the money on them. Any suggestions on brand? I’m bouncing back and forth between Garmin and TomTom. Are they worth all the hype?
- And sports bras. It’s time to cough up some cash for some new sports bras. Why is having boobs so darn expensive?!
- Looking back over my last month of posts, I realize that I haven’t blogged about so many things…look for some major photo/catching up posts in the next week or two!
That’s all for today, Friends! Any confessions on your end? Let me know in the comments!
(Food) Scenes from a Christmas Weekend
Posted: December 31, 2014 Filed under: Food, Holidays | Tags: Christmas, Christmas scenes, life update, random, weekend Leave a commentHi Friends!
Hope you had a lovely holiday… I know that I did, in spite of still having this pesky cough! I didn’t capture a lot of photos…
Here’s a quick recap:
We continued our tradition of Chinese food on Christmas Eve paired with some wine (thanks Uncle Mike & Aunt Terry!)
The Christmas day menu was as follows: delicious leg of lamb, along with spanakopita, tabouleh, a marinated mushroom salad and a roasted root vegetable soup on Christmas Day. Basically, we ate all day long…which is totally fine! Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling up to baking so we didn’t have any desserts other than a few cookies (thanks Ben & Ashley!) and some chocolate. And that was really okay with us.
Even though I was really missing the family this year, it was really nice to sleep in and just relax—I ended up reading a book and a half (the half a book being really long!) and sipping on hot toddies for the long weekend.
Other than some major relaxing, we went to see Into the Woods with a couple of friends. Who knew Chris Pine could sing?!
On Saturday, we drove over to Burlington to pick up a few essentials (like siggi’s and coffee) and skipped over to Trader Joe’s… I LOVE that store.
We also discovered a new pizza place which was delicious…and we may have eaten all but two slices of the pie on the drive back across the lake… Whoops!
I made a batch of almond butter and a chocolate peanut butter (sweetened with stevia) in the ninja. Note to self: Next time either soak or roast the almonds first.
Sunday was spent doing a lot of running around and church. Not gonna lie, it felt like a long day.
Monday we had small group and wound up at the bowling alley. Have I ever discussed my bowling skills? Yeah, I don’t have any. My friend Ashley tried bowling with her left hand and ended up tossing the ball into the next lane… it was probably the funniest thing I have seen in 2014!
Tuesday, I started my morning at the DMV…after work I went home and went to bed early!
And here we are on Wednesday…At the moment, we don’t have any plans for New Year’s Eve… which is okay. Ben is working for part of the evening… we will probably pick up some wine and snacks and call it all good! I’m hoping this cough goes away.. It is so last year!
What about you? Any NYE plans? Most embarrassing bowling experience?
Confessions; Life, Lately
Posted: January 13, 2014 Filed under: Confessions, Health and Wellness, Life, Ridiculousness | Tags: challenges, confessions, exercise, Farmer Ben, fitness, GBN, Gross But Necessary, health, health and wellness, healthy-living, life, motivation, random, Strides for James 6 CommentsI haven’t done one of these posts in a while…so here we go…
-Friday, I applied to be a part of the “fit team” for a company that I adore… with my cell phone. I could NOT get the link to work on my computer so I finally resorted to using my phone… Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?! I really hope I didn’t make any fat-finger typos…and I really hope they pick me!!!! I’m 90% sure that they won’t… but there’s always that 10% chance…keep your fingers crossed!
– You may or may not know that I haven’t been on Facebook in a long time. In all honesty, I don’t miss it (other than it seems to be the only way some people keep in touch), however, as much as I hate to admit it, as I am trying to grow/improve the blog… I may have to reactivate it sooner rather than later… any thoughts on this? I’d love some opinions from other bloggers.
-I really miss just hanging out with my best. I haven’t seen her face in far too long and it really stinks…we keep in touch, don’t get me wrong, but it would be nice to hang out in person and not through phone or internet.
-Speaking of social media, Twitter completely overwhelms me sometimes. That is all.
-The #WinterMiles Challenge? I ran a total of 20.25 miles for week 1 (that includes an unscheduled rest day to deal with the head cold from hell). I am pretty proud of myself because getting up the gumption to run in the cold is really difficult for me…some nights, I’ll sit in my car for 20 minutes before I finally talk myself into getting out and actually doing the run!
-Speaking of running, we have our first two registered runners for Strides for James! I am so excited! Once again, if you’re looking to visit Upstate NY…or live here, sign up! It’s going to be a great race! Not to mention, we have some amazing swag!
-I told a white lie the other day, Farmer Ben and I never made it to the gym the other night… by the time he got home the other day, we wouldn’t have made it before they closed…but we did get out and run on a crazy windy night… this weekend, I took advantage of the ridiculously warm weather… maybe this week. I’m dying to check it out!
-I was really happy to get some positive feedback on this post. In case you missed it, here it is again:
-I probably forgot to mention this, but Farmer Ben and I are doing the core and more challenge from Lifting Revolution. Basically, you commit to doing a plank, followed by some push-ups every day for the month of January. I am happy to report that I haven’t missed a day yet…. this never happens!
-Yesterday, Farmer Ben forced me to go to Burlington with him for a mini-date day…which meant that I had to do a night run. I don’t regret it one bit.
-I haven’t been working at job number 2 much lately… really not at all for the last month or so (except New Year’s Eve). Anyway, I got called in to work Friday and Saturday night at the new location. This location has an upstairs…. my calves are ridiculously sore from running up and down the stairs carrying trays of food and drink…can we call this cross-training?
-I saw a post on Instagram the other day that really ticked me off. It was one of those “inspirational” quotes that people take time to fancy up and make pretty. It said something along the lines of “It’s easier to get up early and workout than it is to look in the mirror every day and not like what you see.”
Ugh!!! Why is it that the only reason a person needs to work out is if they don’t like their appearance? Okay, I get it…sometimes we need to lose a little weight or tone up and it’s easy to get stuck on that, but seriously?! Chances are if you hate the way you look that much, working out at 5:00 am is NOT going to change that. Why can’t someone work out because they like to? AND why is it that in order to be considered an athlete, you have to wake up at some ungodly hour in order to “get your sweat on?!” I’m sorry, but I do the majority of my workouts in the evening…and I’ve always been that way. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with getting up early, and I truly envy those who have the discipline to do so… but I am NOT one of those people …and I still like myself… and I don’t workout because I hate what I see in the mirror…I workout because I like the way it makes me feel …End rant.
Your Turn: What’s going on in your life? Any juicy confessions I need to know about? “Fit-spirational” quotes, yes or no?
“What is my expertise?” or The Art of Photo-Bombing Part III
Posted: December 18, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Entertaining, Fun, Holidays | Tags: confessions, goals, Holidays, how to photo bomb, life, life lessons, memories, photo bombs, photo-bombing, random Leave a commentHi Friends!
Today’s #elf4health challenge is to “share my expertise.” Obviously, because I’m a Renaissance Woman, this is hard. I’m really good at many things, such as tripping up stairs, running into furniture, jam sessions while driving, spilling stuff all over myself and rocking second-day hair, but I didn’t think any of these were what Elle & Lindsay had in mind.
I tossed around a few other ideas.
I love to eat…bake and cook, weird things, especially… and add whiskey to cookies (or everything)…. but I’ve told you all about that before.
So, back to the drawing board I went… and I came up with something really good–and super useful–to share with all of you and my fellow elves.
Photo-bombing.
Yes. I am a not-so-secret photo–bombing expert. I realize that I’ve already written two posts on this, but what can I say? it’s kind of a big deal. AND, what better time of year to ruin carefully planned photo sessions with your loved ones than Christmas/New Year’s parties???
So, here is Noelle’s Notebook’s Photo-Bombing Refresher Course:
1. Pick your victims.
We all know THAT person. You know, the person who HAS to take the perfect photo… they need to stand “just so,” to hide their muffin top or do 2341354134135245 retakes until they finally look better than all other parties in the photo. OR, they have to document EVERYTHING (seriously, do you need to take a picture of Uncle Charlie eating a piece of celery?).
This person is almost always the one I pick…probably because sometimes I am that person (Farmer Ben can attest to this).
2. Plan your entrance.
Depending on the location, I have a few different approaches… at a party, I like to casually dance up behind the subject of the photo–slide to the left, you know? If the subject is sitting down, I prefer the walk-by… OR, I just quietly creep into the background. Your photographer is key to this step because if they so much as let out a chuckle, your cover is blown.
3. Find your motivation.
Are you the photo-bomber who tries to go unnoticed with the blank stare? Or do you go big–arms, eyes and all? I am typically the “make the most horrendous face possible” girl, but to each their own. The important thing is, once you figure out what you’re going for, you have to commit…
There’s no turning back in photo-bombing–you only have seconds to ruin the perfect photo.
4. Escape.
Find the quickest way to flee once the camera flashes…this could be as simple as turning around with a sweet spin move, or as complicated as leaping over a couch. Just remember to plan ahead and act natural.
5. Have fun.
This one should be obvious but sometimes we forget. I realize that photo-bombing is serious business–Just remember why you’re doing it and the fun will follow.
Finally, because I love this photo so much, here is my finest photo-bombing moment (thus far):
He never saw me coming…
To read Photo-Bombing Part I, click here.
To read Photo-Bombing Part II, click here.
Let’s chat! Are you an expert at anything? Discuss. What are some of your favorite photo-bombing techniques? OR are you a victim? Share your story.
Some Fun Facts for Friday
Posted: November 15, 2013 Filed under: Confessions, Food, Life, Random | Tags: confessions, Farmer Ben, fitness, Food, happiness, Holidays, random 2 CommentsHi Friends!
Sorry if I completely confused you with yesterday’s post, and thanks for your continued support! Did you know Noelle’s Notebook has been around for almost two years now? I can’t believe it!
Moving on, I figured I’d give you some random facts today.
1. This may not be a big deal, but I was pretty excited to find my last TWO posts featured on the Pace Per Mile website.
2. I am currently craving an exact replication of this meal. And bagels (Hint, hint, FB).
3. My “AHA” Moment post was published on the Fit Approach website. I was incredibly nervous about posting this-especially because I reveal my numbers (gasp!) and some other personal info… but I am really happy that I shared…I’ve gotten positive feedback and I hope it helps someone else. Check out my story here.
4. I’ve been contemplating doing an ENERGYbits giveaway…thoughts? Or RECOVERYbits… it’s getting into cold/flu season, after all.
5. This morning, I had to dumpster dive. Someone at work thought something was accidentally thrown out and needed to check. No, it was not the regular dumpster (Thank God!)… it was the paper dumpster, and I was given the task because I was the younger, more limber of the people looking for said item. Not the way I thought I’d be starting my day, that’s for sure. There may be photographic evidence not in my possession. The worst part, I didn’t find what I was looking for.
6. This is what happens when I try to take an action photo of myself while running… normally, I’d be ashamed of my failure, but I find it hilarious… Moving too fast for the camera, obviously. 
7. I just signed up to for this and I can’t wait! Side note: The event is being held where Ben and I got married. Food and Wine is always a win! Between this and the Turkey Trot, my month is made.
8. Lastly, the winners of the Sworkit Giveaway are: Liz, Vanessa, Jessica and Chelsea! Congratulations, Ladies! Please email me (noellesnotebook@gmail.com) to claim your discount codes!
And thanks to Ryan for creating an awesome app!
Let’s chat, any big plans this month? Ever had to dumpster dive?!
Confessions: Daylight Savings Edition
Posted: November 11, 2013 Filed under: Beliefs, Confessions, Food, Fun, Health and Wellness, Life, Local Food, Marriage, Random, Ridiculousness | Tags: confessions, Daylight Savings, exercise, Farmer Ben, Food, gardening, health, health and wellness, life, marriage, motivation, race, random, relationships, running, training 2 CommentsHi Friends!
Can we talk about how foolish I was when I believed that life would slow down after the marathon? Yeah, call me crazy. Regardless, life’s been pretty good lately. Also, confession: I started writing this post last week…and am just now publishing…fail.
Prepare yourselves, this is going to be RANDOM!
As you know, I am officially 26 as of a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t feel much different than 25, other than I didn’t have a birthday meltdown. I’ll call it a win! How did I celebrate? A margarita and nachos with girlfriends, of course! On my actual birthday, I woke up to a delicious breakfast of filet mignon, homemade hash browns and a fried egg. Perfection.
My excuse for being absent? I’ve been insanely busy at work and in spite of some major technology/communication issues, extremely productive. I’ve managed to finish some special projects that have been hanging over my head and am able to focus on other things, at least for now. As a result of this busy-ness, I haven’t even wanted to look at a computer outside of work/on my lunch break. My bad.
Also, does anyone else get completely weird with daylight savings? I just can’t get a handle on it. Hence my writing this post more days after Daylight Savings than I care to admit….
In other news, I’m super excited because my friend Tina is not only doing the Turkey Trot this year (AND, Vanessa, too–I think!), but she asked me to run the loop with her a couple of weeks ago. She may have thought it was a mistake when I made her run up the hills, but she was glad when it was all said and done. I’m still waiting for her invite to run the loop again…
Post-forcing Tina to run up the last hill!
Other than that, I did a race three weekends ago. My friend Kristy and I even went in costume…kind of. She did an awesome job of painting our faces. Read about it here.
Big news! Farmer Ben and I finally bought a new bed. Not only did we upgrade from a full to a queen, but we also went with memory foam, and let me tell you, I have not slept so well in a LONG time. We also got a ridiculously good deal.
In fact, between daylight savings and our new bed, getting up in the morning is damn near impossible!
Moving on, Farmer Ben made bagels. While cooking dinner. I know I’ve said this before, but how amazing is he?!
My Mad Scientist
I love Farmer Ben.
Breakfast was epic last week…
And dinner? Even better. What he made while making bagels:
Pan-fried (garden) potatoes, grass-fed bison steak and homemade sweet-and-sour (local) cabbage.
In other food news, I’ve been craving greens lately. Greens and anything kind of related to tacos/nachos.
On the running front, I’ve been bad about getting out and running (shocker, I know), but I have a run planned after work (Hi Kristy!) and as soon as I finish this post, I’ll be updating my schedule to include workouts this week. I am still deciding if I want to a December half marathon for giggles… and I have it narrowed down to two races! One of them will be free if I can find a volunteer…any takers? It’s in Gloucester, MA…. The other is in New Hampshire…apparently I like torturing myself by running in freezing weather….
This weekend was marvelous. I slept in on Saturday, drove the hubby to work, came home, vegged out with a movie, took a nap, caught up on some reading and discovered an awesome new workout app. I’ll fill you in a little more on my next post, but I am still sore today.
Big shoutout to my friend Chelsea on her most recent 5k. She ran a kick-ass race and improved her time by about 9 minutes. 9 minutes!!!! Amazing!
Happy Monday!
Tell me, what’s your favorite breakfast? What foods are you craving lately? Any winter races on the docket? Give me a random update!
Finding a Balance: Burgers and Big Workouts
Posted: October 16, 2013 Filed under: Beliefs, Confessions, Food, Health and Wellness | Tags: cheeseburger, confessions, dinner, eating well, exercise, fitness, Food, goals, happiness, health, health and wellness, healthy-living, instagram, mental health, motivation, random, restaurants, twitter, weight loss, working out 2 CommentsHi Friends!
Farmer Ben and I are back from our road trip/vacation down south! Can I tell you a secret? I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much barbecue in my life…I loved every morsel…but I must admit, it is good to be home, sleeping in our own bed and cooking at home. I’ll do a full post on that later…
I need to get something off my chest.
I was perusing instagram the other day and came across a photo of a giant cheeseburger with French fries. To put you in the right frame of mind, the burger was similar to this one, minus the braised kale:
Pictures like this speak to me.
Anyway, my immediate thoughts? “Oh my, that looks delicious!”
Obviously, I was drawn to it and stopped to read the caption and comments.
I won’t tell you who the user was but the caption was something along the lines of “Yes, I ate this…trying to tell myself that my ridiculously long, strenuous workout makes it okay.”
Cue screeching record sound… What?!
I’m sorry… but that is ridiculous.
Why do you have to do a ridiculously long and strenuous workout in order to justify eating a cheeseburger and fries? Why do you have to burn a million calories in order to enjoy it? Or, make a vow to run a million miles the next day? Why can’t you just eat it and say, “man, that was delicious,” without feeling guilty?
Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am in no way saying that you should go out and only eat cheeseburgers and fries (or whatever your guilty pleasure of choice may be), obviously.
Not at all… but if you eat well most of the time, and yes, if you do ridiculously long and strenuous workouts more often than not (as this person does), then what the heck? Eat a damn cheeseburger!
Occasionally enjoying an “unhealthy” meal is not going to “ruin all of your hard work,” and it’s not going to make you gain 20 pounds or ruin your diet/workout regimen. Depending on the burger and your digestive system, you may be a bit bloated or gassy after…but it’s not going to ruin your overall health plan. It’s about balance, people!
I guess what I found most disturbing was the user who posted this picture. You are a role model in a healthy living community. That is not a healthy state of mind…and it’s a common theme I am finding as I peruse my instagram and twitter feeds of bloggers/people who claim to have a healthy lifestyle…people I look up to!
People would rather drink a protein shake or eat an energy bar full of artificial sweeteners and ingredients they can’t pronounce, than enjoy real, whole foods that happen to be calorie dense. I see more protein shakes with a side of celery or a few apple slices than real, balanced meals on my feed. WHY?!
When did we get so far away from balance…and eating real food?
Again, I am NOT saying that a cheeseburger and fries is “healthy meal,” nor am I saying that all protein shakes/energy bars are bad…not at all!
I’m just saying, everything in moderation.
Neither of these options is going to completely nourish/sustain a person, especially a highly active person.
Balance is necessary.
When you start looking at food as the enemy or depriving yourself…or even trying to justify what you are eating with ridiculously long and strenuous workouts, then there is a problem…and this I am saying from personal experience. On the same note, you also can’t look to food for comfort/stress relief…again, it’s about balance.
I am in no way perfect, and I am totally guilty of having that small voice in my head saying, “are you sure you want to eat that? Do you know how many calories are in it?!”
But, I’ve come to appreciate balance and I’ve finally learned the “everything in moderation” principle…Yes, I watch what I eat…but I don’t completely deprive myself and I don’t freak out after eating a burger. I’m no expert, but I think I’m a lot healthier now because of this.
Thanks for letting me ramble.
So tell me, what are your thoughts? Cheeseburgers, yes or no? Are you guilty of trying to justify your meals with workouts? Favorite food to drool over on Instagram?
Scenes from a Full Weekend and a Confession
Posted: October 7, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Beliefs, Confessions, Food, Health and Wellness, Life, Local Food, Marriage | Tags: beliefs, confessions, cooking, dinner, easy recipe, exercise, Farmer Ben, Food, health and wellness, healthy-living, iron sharpens iron, local food, random, running, Valorie Burton, women 1 CommentHi Friends!!!
Life has been moving pretty fast around these parts lately…I’m looking forward to some much-needed time off and a road trip with Farmer Ben, later this week (Georgia and South Carolina, here we come!).
This weekend, I went to a women’s conference with some ladies from my church in Worcester, MA…this was a completely new experience for me and one that I needed.
I actually hemmed and hawed about going because, well… I just felt like I wouldn’t have time…but I made time and it was so worth it!
Not only did Natalie Grant lead worship (so powerful!), but we got to see some great speakers. I learned a lot and came back feeling refreshed and empowered.
Please excuse my blurry fan-girl photo…
My favorite speaker was definitely Valorie Burton.
Valorie Burton…I wish you could see the shoes she had on!
I mentioned that this conference was something I needed and I found Valorie’s workshop especially relevant to some things I am dealing with right now.
I got home from the conference really late and Farmer Ben and I were up bright and early on Sunday Morning to volunteer with our church for our Faith in Action Sunday… basically, the congregation divides up into groups and does various service projects around town…
Our group went to a local park and raked leaves…for three hours. By the time we left the park, we had 97 giant bags of leaves and a ton of piles that we just didn’t have the man-power to bag. Needless to say, I am sore today and have some really attractive blisters on my hands.
After volunteering we went to my mother’s house and took a quick shopping trip… I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I absolutely despise shopping at Wal-Mart…This shopping trip reminded me why. I think I’ve had my fill of misbehaving, screaming children and rude people for the next three years.
We dropped my mom off and then headed to our friends’ house to make a quick dinner.
I made this mac & cheese from Pinch of Yum and fooled their son into eating butternut squash. Not only was it delicious, but it only had 1 cup of cheese in a double recipe!
Delicious.
After dinner, I whipped up these cookies…they were also a hit.
Farmer Ben and I finally made it home at about 9pm and I immediately went to bed.
Other than that, life has been good…
We’ve been going to the market.
$1 for this entire bag of “imperfect produce”
This was $38…$20 for local meat and cheese.
Hubby bought me some beautiful flowers from a local farm….
And we’ve been enjoying the weather. I finally got to break in my sweet orange wind-breaker from the race.
And now for a confession…
My biggest frustration at the moment is that I haven’t run since my marathon. I took a few days off for recovery and, much to my dismay, ended up having to work both jobs for the entire week following the race.
Running a marathon and then working 12-15 hour days for five days is not conducive to recovery.
That Saturday, I was going to go for a short run but I started having a weird pain behind my knee. It hasn’t gone away. It’s more annoying that downright painful and almost feels like a snap or a pinch…does that make any sense?
It’s not my knee… but I don’t know how else to describe it. I did some google-ing and am guessing that it’s either a baker’s cyst or a meniscus but doesn’t feel painful enough to be either.
I did notice that the pain was a little more annoying this past week, depending on what I am doing. Yesterday, it was pretty uncomfortable and by the end of raking it was burning.
Any ides as to what this is?
I broke down and went to a walk-in doctor but honestly, he was no help. He felt around and played with my knee, stood back and said, “Well, I don’t know what’s wrong with you…I have no idea what to tell you!”
Super helpful, right? I did, however, finally get a full physical, for the first time in at least five years.
I don’t think I’ll be returning to that doctor as, honestly, I found him a bit kooky (and that is saying a lot, coming from me), but it’s nice to know that as far as he could tell, I am perfectly healthy.
Anyway, I have a friend who works for a knee specialist and she offered to get me an appointment… it sounds silly, but I am putting it off because I am convinced it’s actually nothing and will feel silly if I turn out to be right.
These are the things that go through my head… sigh.
Well…that’s all for now… It’s going to be a short work week and a lot of driving. I cannot wait!
What have you been up to? What are your weird aches and pains? Cooky doctors-discuss. Butternut Squash, yes or no?
Real Talk: Hot Mess Addition
Posted: July 17, 2013 Filed under: Awkward Moments, Confessions, Life, Ridiculousness | Tags: bad luck, confessions, embarassing moments, grand finale, hot mess, life, random, real life, roasted garlic, spills 2 CommentsI can’t function today.
Let’s be real, I can’t function this week.
I am a hot mess. Scratch that… I am THE Hot Mess.
The last 24 hours have been full of bruises, spills, and mishaps.
I have managed to do the following:
- Bang my head on a countertop and now have a lovely giant bump on my forehead.
- Run into a desk, leaving a nice thigh bruise.
- Bang my arm against a shelf, another bruise.
- Spill soup
- Almost drop a tray of food
- Spill a container of ketchup.
- Get a teeny tiny, miniscule shard of glass in my foot while getting ready for work (how does that even happen?!) …and then spend ten minutes trying to get it out with a pair of tweezers…
And for the grand finale?
During lunch, I was opening a bottle of delicious (homemade) roasted garlic vinaigrette to pair with my giant salad… and well, instead of dressing my greens, I managed to violently spill half the bottle all over my desk, my phone, my chair, the floor (carpet) and my pants in the process.
OHMYWORD.
Is this real life?
Anyway, I happened to have an extra pair of pants in my bag…otherwise, it would have been a rough rest of the day..
Casual Wednesday?
So… I’m rocking jeans at work….sigh.
Is it Friday yet?
What are some of your hot mess moments? Are you having a better week than me?
Noelle's Notebook 