What Do You Think?

Sunday began with a pretty fruit salad.  With spring in the air it seemed only fitting :)

I also had a slice of PB Banana bread.  I did link the recipe yesterday, but I think sometimes my links are hard to see, sorry, I need to make them another color so they're more visable!  

Click HERE for the PB Banana Bread recipe (sorry Running on Coffee!).

It was another lazy morning at home, but thankfully our doorbell did not ring while I was lounging in pajamas.  I had TIVO'd the controversial Lifetime movie, Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy.  It was your typical Lifetime movie with some pretty cheesy scenes, but I was curious to see their take on things anyway.  Anyone else fascinated by this case like I am?  I think I've seen all the Datelines and other new shows on the case and I can't make up my mind about whether I think she did it/was involved or not.  I kind of lean towards thinking she didn't do it, because I really don't see why she would have.  Arguments over housework and promiscuity hardly are motives for murder.  I also think the physical evidence is extremely weak. Her DNA being on her own sink seems a little far reaching considering it was her own sink.  I'm pretty sure my DNA is likely on every sink in my house!  Also, the Italian justice system not sequestering the jury til deliberations seems very unfair considering the amount of media involved in the case and the influence it would undoubtedly have on jurors...  I tend to believe that Rudy Guede committed the murder himself.  There's a lot in the case that is weird and confusing though, so I don't know for sure...  It's interesting though.  Thoughts?

Lunch was a panini with cheddar, sliced apples, and spinach with a side of yesterday's chips.

Greg kind of gave me a funny look when I suggested this, but he agreed to try and it and liked it.

We took a walk (with Clyde of course) after lunch and I was amazed at how warm it was outside!  It was about 80 degrees... unreal!

We did one of our epic Costco runs in the afternoon.  The take and bake pizzas were on sale, and we couldn't resist the margherita pizza, even though we had a pizza for dinner on Friday.  It just looked so good!

I attempted to watch the Oscars last night but fell asleep about an hour or so into it, missing Natalie Portman's win/speech, and a lot of other parts of the show.  Oh well!  

My Monday is hectic all ready, but I'm hoping that the week calms down a little!

The Weekend So Far...

First, thank you everyone for your great comments on my last post.  They were supportive and wonderful.  I feel encouraged and excited to pursue this next journey, and I'll keep you guys posted.

Greg made it home Friday night after about a week and a half away.  He actually had a trip to Venezuela the other day so we were out of range for about 30 hours while he was in South America.  It made it all that much sweeter to have him home so we catch up in person.  I whipped up a semi-homemade (eeeek, I hate that term!  Scary Sandra Lee!) pizza for us, using a Pillbury pizza crust.  I just spread tomato sauce on it and put mushrooms on Greg's half, and for me I put mushrooms, spinach, left over eggplant parm, and artichoke hearts.  I covered the whole pizza with mozarella and parmesan and a little Italian Seasoning.

Greg loves pizza, so he was psyched :)

We had a quiet night in so Greg could relax from his travels and enjoy being home.

Saturday I woke up early and decided to bake.  I made this recipe for peanut butter banana bread, with the following changes:  I didn't used crushed peanuts, and I subbed out a couple tablespoons of white flour for peanut flour to make it extra peanutty.  I also didn't make the glaze (it's great without it!)

Katie gave me this loaf pan, and I love it :)

While the bread was cooking, I made breakfast for Greg and I.  We had omelets.  I sauteed mushrooms, onions, peppers, and spinach for the filling.

(I did the spinach seperate, because Greg didn't want any in his)

Yum :)

We had kind of a lazy morning at home.  Around 11:30am or so, our doorbell rang and we looked at each other in a panic as we were both still in pajamas and not "doorbell" ready.  We ended up not answering the door after a brief tif/debate and the poor person at the door was forced to go away even though I'm sure they knew we were home.  Ooops! 

At that point I threw on workout clothes so that I was at least be somewhat presentable and we started getting ready for the day.

We decided to take a long walk and get some lunch.  The weather was gorgeous, and Clyde promptly collapsed and rolled around in the warm grass.

Look what is blooming!

Spring hits pretty early in Charlotte and I love that.  It's my favorite season!

We walked on a little wooded trail nearby.

It was warmer than I thought it would be so I was a little overdressed.

We had lunch at a deli and sat outside with Clyde.

We ordered chips and cheese at Greg's request, and split a sandwich.

Clyde definitely snagged some tastes of cheese...

It was all just ok.  I should have ordered something veggie heavy instead of all the meat and cheese.  I ate less than half the sandwich and a couple handfuls of chips.  I was also in salt overload, which is hard for me to get to, because I love salty things.  I had an apple at home later to balance things out.

We spent a couple more hours together before I headed out to a Chocolate Party at my friend Kim's house.  I didn't take pictures because it was a lot of co-workers and many don't know I blog (I kinda keep it on the DL at work).  It was like a pampered chef party.  We got a demo on a bunch of chocolate things like white chocolate fondue, chocolate mousse, pb and chocolate truffles, dark chocolate covered almonds, chai mixed with whipped cream...

It was yummy stuff, but honestly most of it was stuff I could make/buy elsewhere for much cheaper.  I ended up ordering packets of chai in a bunch of different flavors (chocolate, raspberry, vanilla, and spice).  You can use it as tea or mix it with whipped cream, like we had at the party.  I felt like it was the most unique option and wanted to buy something I couldn't necessarily buy elsewhere.

I was only gone a couple hours and then hurried home to the boys for our evening cuddle session :)

How was your Saturday??

Wanting More

There's been kind of a reoccurring theme for me popping up this week.  I think life/god/the universe is trying to tell me something. 

At yoga Wednesday night the theme was to enjoy where you are NOW.  To not always want more.  When you've mastered where you are more will come to you.  I think I've gotten this idea down pretty well in the last few years.  When Greg got furloughed, I felt like life got put on hold (hence "life in a holding pattern") and it took me a while to settle that burning desire to keep moving forward with our lives and what we wanted.  We were forced to take a step back from our goals in life and kind of just get by until things were back on track for us.  During this time, I looked around and asked myself what I could do while I was "waiting" and found my love for running, blogging, an active social life, my puppy, and many other fantastic things.  It's been wonderful and I love the things I've accomplished and learned about myself in this interim time.

But lately I've allowed my desire for the things I wanted before, that I put on hold a few years ago, to creep back in.  I want to have a baby, and the desire has suddenly taken hold of me in an extreme all consuming kind of way.  We are finally at the point where Greg's career is getting back on track and we both feel like it's time.  Suddenly I've become hyper aware of all things baby and all the pregnant people around me and I am green with envy.  I'm admittedly jealous of those younger than me that get to live the dream without having to wait like I did. 

Today I read this post, and I am really trying to embrace this message.  I truly am happy for the people in my life that have, are expecting, or trying for a baby, and I hope we all get to experience this joy.  While right now, I'm envious of those that are already experiencing it, I know that they deserve it and I deserve it too, and hopefully I will get to experience it soon. 

I'm terrified that it will be more difficult for us than a lot of couples just due to the fact that my husband is gone so much and may be gone at the wrong time of month, but we are just starting the process, so we'll see how things go.

I feel like good things did come from me having to wait, because I am truly ready now.  I accomplished so much in becoming who I've wanted to be.  I feel centered and I really know myself now and feel pretty complete.  I also feel like it was a great test for Greg and I to go through this struggle together and come out on the other side still loving each other and wanting to be together and have a family.  Not everyone would have survived this struggle like we did.  

Anyway, that's where I'm at with everything right now.  I've been debating whether to share more details about trying to conceive or not, and can't really decide if it's something I want to blog about or not.  Most people I know in real life that read this blog know I'm trying anyway, so it doesn't seem like a big deal to put it out there.  I also don't know if you guys want to hear about that or not.  I welcome feedback... 

My ABC's

Just for fun, I thought I'd do one of these surveys...  Enjoy!

A.   Age: 32
B.   Bed size: Queen
C.   Chore you hate: Mopping floors, cleaning bunny cages
D.   Dogs:  Yes, I love my little Clyde!

E.   Essential start to your day:  breakfast
F.   Favorite color: Green or blue
G.  Gold or silver: Silver
H.  Height: 5’3
I.   Instruments you play: zero (tried flute once, it didn't work out...)
J.   Job title:  That's top secret.  Really, it is.
K.  Kids: Working on it...
L.  Live: Charlotte, NC

 (source)

M. Mom’s name: Darah (cool right?)
N.  Nicknames: Britt, Babe (hubby calls me), Brittles (bro calls me)
O.  Overnight hospital stays: none
P.  Pet peeve:  slow drivers.
Q.  Quote from a movie:  "I'm bursting with fruit flavor" Reality Bites

R.  Righty or Lefty: Righty, although, I'm using my mouse left handed now at the advice of my sports chiropractor because my right side is under a lot of stress.  Try the left handed mouse thing!  You can change the settings so that the clicker is on the other side too.  It's interesting...
S.   Siblings: One younger brother
T.   Time you wake up:  Usually around 5:15am.  I'm sloooooooooowwww in the morning, so I need a lot of time to get ready.
U.   Underwear:  Yes, I wear underwear.  I wear two pairs most days, a thong during the day and granny panties when I get home and go into "comfy mode"...lol.
V.    Vegetables you dislike: Not a big fan of turnip...
W.   What makes you run late:  Blog reading/writing in the morning and getting my hair just right.
X.    X-rays you’ve had: stomach, teeth, lungs, knee
Y.    Yummy food you make: Blueberry pie
Z.     Zoo animal favorite: penguins

Did any of my answers surprise you??

Ups and Downs

It was back to the grind for me yesterday after my awesome three-day weekend, and I think I left my mind in Hilton Head...

So did Clyde...

Honestly, it was not the best day for me.  Greg's schedule is still very up in the air (no pun intended...ba dom chink) right now, and this is probably the third time in two weeks we thought he'd be coming home and then couldn't, because of schedule changes.  The problem is that he finished ground school in the middle of the month, and therefore doesn't have a set schedule, so they can basically do whatever they want with him.  Luckily in March, he does have an actual schedule, so it will be nice to know when to expect him home again and have it be more concrete.  I got pretty bummed out when I realized he wasn't coming home last night as we originally thought.

The highlight of my day was probably when Diana sent me a message asking if I wanted to meet her for fro-yo at a new place called The Frozen Isle near our offices.  Um, YES please!  I had eaten a boring lunch consisting of noodle bowl and carrots at my desk and jumped at the chance to get outside for a few minutes.  

(photo stolen from Diana!)

I had a mix of cake batter and blueberry fro-yo with fruit and coconut.  We were both disappointed that they didn't have mochi, but the store assured us it was coming.  Next time!

 I thought about going to yoga last night, but didn't make it home in time for the class I was thinking about going to.  I took Clyde for a walk instead and then got started on dinner.  

Did you know that yesterday was actually National Margarita Day?  I actually did know, but wasn't in the mood to make margaritas without Greg (he LOVES them), so I decided to make something else to drink: Sangria.

I had a bottle of white wine sitting in the fridge, so I just took some strawberries and oranges, some grenadine and maraschino cherries, and some ginger ale, and threw it all together.  It was pretty good!

I had about half an eggplant sitting in the fridge, so I decided to make Eggplant Parmesan.  

I used Jen's recipe, which is a baked version.

I also decided to try my hand at kale chips again.  You may remember last time I tried this it was a kale fail.  This time I drizzled with olive oil, used less salt, and then put it in the oven on 400 degrees (since that was the temp the eggplant was cooking on), and only cooked it for about 8-9 minutes before it was done.  It actually came out GREAT this time, and now I understand what all the hype is for.  They are pretty tasty when done right!

All together...

Yum :)  I spend the remainder of my evening catching up on Brothers and Sisters and Glee on Tivo.  I miss Greg and hope he gets to come home soon...

Girls Weekend in Hilton Head Part II

Hi!  If you're just tuning in, I'm in Hilton Head having a girl's weekend with my mom (part I here).  Our men are out of town and we've taken the opportunity to do a few things that our antisocial men don't always want to do with us.

When we got up, we made a Veggie Frittata.

Here's the recipe:

• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 a bell pepper (we used 1/4 orange pepper and 1/4 yellow pepper)
• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 scallion
• 1/2 cup cooked spinach
• 1 small tomato
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 400. 
Sautee veggies til tender (a couple minutes).

Grease 9x13 baking dish. 
Whisk eggs, flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Stir in remaining ingredients and sauteed veggies.  Pour into prepped baking dish.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and continue baking for 25 minutes.

Voila:

Served with fresh fruit and coffee.

This frittata rocks!  The ricotta cheese makes it soooooooooo light, fluffy, and delicious.  You can sub in/out any veggies you like.  Try it!

We took Clyde for a little walk around the neighborhood after breakfast.

We took a little detour down the the crab dock.

The view from the dock.

I suggested going to Savannah for the afternoon, since I haven't been in a while.  Hilton Head is only about 40 minutes or so from Savannah, so if you ever want to vacation in Hilton Head or Savannah, the other is close by enough for a day trip.  On this trip we tried something new, we parked at the Westin, which is across the river from River Street.

The Westin has a ferry that will take you across the river.  Parking at the Westin and the ferry are both free, and you get to take a quick boat ride!

Ready for the ferry!

There's River Street across the water...

We arrived in Savannah in about 5 minutes.  It's a quick ride and it was fun!

First on the agenda was lunch, as it was already around 1pm.  We headed to Broughton Street and found a Thai place that looked good. 

We ordered the lunch specials, which came with spring rolls.

We ordered the Garden Noodles (rice noodles) with tofu and veggies in peanut sauce.

And the Thai Ginger Chicken with veggies and rice.

Beautiful, right?  Everything was so good.  I haven't had Thai food in a while.  It really hit the spot :)  My mom was a little afraid of the tofu, but she liked it.  Win!

We walked around Broughton for a while after lunch and I got this necklace at the Marc By Marc Jacobs store, embracing my inner brand whore.

Clearly, I have an addiction to simple silver necklaces...  Seriously, I'll show you my collection sometime, it's out of control...  I figure this one is kind of perfect for St. Patty's day though, with the shamrock and horse shoe on it and couldn't resist...

We didn't stay in Savannah long, just a few hours, but it was fun to shop a little and walk around.  We stopped in at the Tanger Outlets on the way home and I got a top at Banana Republic (my fav!).

We had a low key evening in, and watched "Why Did I Get Married II".  Holy drama fest! 

I'm sad that my weekend is winding down, but I should probably get back to reality soon anyway.  I think I'll get in a run before I head out of Hilton Head.