Minnie took it out of me!

Hello!

Once again I have been MIA... sadly this is happening more as the norm now a days!  But I am back and ready to fill you all in on my little life.  I was lucky enough to spend the last 2 weekend in Minnesota with my love!  Back when we learned the BF was going to grad school we planned a bunch of flights at least once a month so that we could see eachother.  My trip on the 19th had been planned for ages but about a month ago the BF learned that the 28th was his college homecoming and that there would be a ton of fun events going on.  Thanks to some cheap airfare I was able to go out and enjoy both weekends!

The first weekend we decided to just keep to ourselves and escape up to the lake house for some relaxation.  I have only ever gone up to the lake house during the summer so it was an experience to go up in the fall and enjoy the colors changing and bundled up boat rides!  We stocked the house with some amazing goodies from Williams Sonoma and had such a perfect weekend after 6 long weeks apart.  We also had some champagne to celebrate me finally completing my master program!!

 

This last weekend we decided that we should be less anti-social and soaked up all of the homecoming festivities.  Of course the weather was craptastic so Saturday it was low 60's and pouring rain.... thankfully we both had the same idea and just drank to make up for it!  We ended up having an amazing time and I loved being able to meet all of the people that he is spending every day with in school.  Honestly I get so jealous of all of the people he talks about because they get to see him everyday and go through the bad and the good together.  I really can't wait until I can be a part of all of it to!

 

So now I am back counting down the three weeks until the BF comes out and visits, and trying to make up for 2 weekends away and 1 week of sickness in between. 

 

True talk...... I haven't owned a scale in a long time but when I moved in with the BF he had one that I would use regularly.  When he moved he took it with him but last weekend I finally decided to weigh myself again and OMG now I knew everything was a little tighter but I did not expect to see that I had reached the highest weight I have been in years.  Now I know that the numbers on the scale don't always mean you're doing something wrong but I know that I have been majorly slacking on all aspect of my fitness and healthy eating.  The detroit relay is in 3.5 weeks and in general I really want to feel better about the way that my clothes are fiting me so here are my goals for the next few weeks:

 

1) Run everyday until the relay, it doesn't need to be a lot but at least get in at least a mile everyday on the day's that I don't have a training run until the relay.

 

2) Get back to my fitness pal, I was doing really well but then kinda let it slip as I started to fall off the eating wagon instead of keeping myself accountable.  It really does help me to keep track of what I am putting in my body and what nutrients I need to be getting more of.

 

3) Stop drinking to drink, a glass of wine after work, a vodka soda a trivia, there seem to be so many times that I only drink because those around me are or because it is just so convenient.  I love myself a glass of wine but I need to keep it to girls nights and nights on the town.

 

Anyone else have any goals to help get back on track?

 

Weekend recap (only a few days late)

So apparently it took me a little bit to get caught up from my long weekend! Thanks to Labor Day and my standard every other Friday off I was able to get in a full 4 days of fun, friends, and sadly homework.

Thursday night J and I headed out to Chicago where she had invited me to be her plus one to a sorority sisters wedding. We didn’t' get in until super late but it was perfect because then we had all day Friday to get brunch, lay out at the beach, and get ready for the wedding. I had never been to the beach in Chicago and I thought that it was sooooo cool that you were literally right in the middle of the city being able to enjoy the lake!

 

It was so much fun being a plus one, I have never been to a wedding where I wasn't either a part of the wedding or with someone that was. Being able to just attend, enjoy the drinks, and not follow a schedule was pretty amazing! It was also fun to meet a bunch of J's sorority sisters and friends from college. We were both AXO's at different schools and I feel like I have known her forever even though it has been such a short about of time.

Saturday morning we headed out for Grand Rapids to spend some time with my HS girls. What should have only been a 3 hour trip turned into a 5 hour mess. We literally did not move more than 30 MPH through the entire state of Indiana! Have to say though I had the best company in the world and when we weren't singing along to stupid songs, or flipping through every Sirius station searching for Britney Spears, we were either talking about everything under the sun or cursing out every stupid driver on the highway. There is a reason she is my bestie!

When we FINALLY made it we spent some time at the pool and then headed downtown GRap to some of my favorite bars. We had way more fun than anticipated and ended up spending most of the night downing girlie drinks and dancing our hearts out!

Sunday was a final drive to home and some recovery. I spent most of the day relaxing with my feet up trying to figure out what I needed to accomplish for my last two weeks of school! Sadly that meant that Monday was completely full of homework but I am happy to say I got my final 2 papers done and only have 2 final exams standing between me and my Master Degree!!!!!!

I don't think I can eat anymore fudge!

This past weekend was my final big vacation of the summer!  The BF and I decided that we would love to do a weekend getaway just us two before he left for Minnie in August.  I haven't been to Mackinac Island since I was in middle school and we thought it would be the perfect place for a quick weekend trip.

 



I have gone with my family before but was never able to actually spend the night on the island because of how pricey it can be.  We decided to go all out and stay at The Grand Hotel which is by far the fanciest hotel on the island.  Thankfully they were running summer specials and by staying on the off nights we were able to get a great deal on a food and lodging package!

There are zero moterized vehicles on the island so you have to arrive by ferry and get everywhere by bike, horse, or walking. Since I can't ride a bike (long story) we decided to walk most of it except for a quick horse taxi ride to get to our beautiful hotel.

 

 

We could not have asked for a more perfect experience, everything from the food to the room to the staff were wonderful and there was so much to see and do.  My favorite part is that every night at 6:00pm every guest on the grounds has to be in formal attire.. women in dresses or pant suits and men in a suit coat and tie.  The BF and I love dressing up and it was so amazing to be in such a timless place with guest that also enjoyed the experience. 

The hotel has a lot to do but most of it involves walking through their gardens, playing bocce ball, golf, listening to live music, and porch sitting.  The BF and I had the hardest time just sitting and enjoying ourselves and our environment or walking around the gardens we constantly were asking eachother "what do you want to do?" instead of just enjoying the place we were in.  Def taught us a lesson that we need to just let ourselves relax more often and step away from the chaos and plans of our every day life.

Anyone not from Michigan that might not get the fudge reference in the title, Mackinac Island is known for their fudge shops.  So much so that they call their tourists Fudgies because they mainly just come or talk about the fudge!  About every other store on Main Street has their own brand and flavors of fudge and each one is more than happy to hand out as many samples as your heart desires.  The BF and I decided that we had to try each place before we made a purchase and then bought a pound and a half because we thought we should lol!  I ate all of my peanut butter fudge before we even got home and we are still working on a tiny bit of turtle fudge still.

I am so happy we were able to get away just us two for some much needed quality time before we start oh so joyous long distance hell relationship!

Crustless Mini Quiche

While on vaca I wanted to make a breakfast that each person could eat when they decided to roll out of bed on their own time.  I make these at home all the time and decided they were the perfect make ahead/ make a bunch/ crowd pleasing breakfast for the vacation.  Also I had an amazing view from the kitchen island so I was totally in the cooking mood!

These treats could go by a bunch of names, I have seen them online as breakfast muffins, cupcake omelets, mini quiches, etc.  I have always just called them mini quiches so that is what they will be here! 

My favorite part about these is that I usually just add in whatever veggies we have leftover from the week and are about to go bad.  Also on week where we don't have sausage and I don't feel like grocery shopping I just use real bacon bits instead.  Feel free to load these up with whatever things you love and have in your fridge.  The recipe I have listed below clocks in at about 75 calories a piece with 6.5 grams of protein!

Crustless Mini Quiche

 

 

Ingredients (For 12)

10 whole eggs

1 colored bell pepper chopped

1/2 yellow onion chopped

2 cups fresh spinach chopped

1 link Jenny-O Spicy Italian Turkey Sausage

 

Directions

1) Remove casing from sausage in cook in saute pan making sure to crumble the meat

2) Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and evenly divide veggies and meat between the cups

3) In large bowl whisk all eggs and 1/8 cup of water, pour evenly into cups

4) Stir the cups with a knife and place into a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes

5) Enjoy

 

I usually package these up 2 per plastic baggie and keep them in the fridge for the week ahead!  Just heat them up in the microwave for about 30 seconds and you have a perfect warm breakfast.





Happy Birthday America!

So I was lucky enough to spend the entire week of the 4th in northern Minnesota at the BF's lake home.  It was a perfect week and we were lucky enough to have a bunch of friends make the trek to join us!  Independence Day is by far my favorite day of the whole year (and it's also the BFs which is how I know were meant to be HA).  The whole point of the holiday is to soak up the sun with a drink in hand surrounded by your friends.  So we did exactly that!

I figure a picture is worth a thousand words so it will probably be better then me writing a novel!

 

Hello Minnie!

This is where you can find me for the next week!!! Everyone have an amazing 4th of July!!