Sunday was one of those wonderful days where you just want to spend every moment soaking up the sun, which is pretty much what we did. Greg and I enjoyed one final trip down to DC to be “tourists” for the day, and it was pretty much perfect.
I taught my (second-to-last) Sunday Spinning class bright and early, and then followed it up with a quick breakfast before hitting the road.
There’s just something about a toasted (Ezekiel sprouted grain) English muffin with butter – I can’t think of many food combinations that are quite as perfect. Am I alone here?
I wanted to make my breakfast a little more hearty, so I topped the other half with peanut butter and banana and scrambled up an egg and two egg whites. Yummy.
You may have already noticed this before, but I like blueberries just a little bit. Wild blueberries are my favorite, which we having growing in the woods near our house. In the summer, I take full advantage of blueberry season and pick all that I can fit into my big (blueberry pickin’) bowl!
When I heard that Heather was naming blueberries as her ingredient for “B” for the #MMAZ linkup, I immediately started thinking of possibilities. Unfortunately, my life is completely crazy right now and consumed with moving across the country, so recipe making just didn’t happen this past weekend. But, I did manage to look through my collection of blueberry-inspired recipes and found a few that I wanted to share today!
Hey there! For my friends who live in the DC area, I sure hope that you were outside enjoying the fantastic weather that we had this weekend! It’s been pretty perfect- low 70s, lots of sunshine and low humidity. And the good news is, this beautiful spring weather is supposed to stick around all week! I’m particularly happy about that, since this is my last (full) week living in Maryland. And, I have to give it to Maryland lately- I am digging this weather, big time (the forecast in Denver is cold and snowy!).
Since it was so incredibly beautiful out, I made sure to take full advantage of every moment! I started out my weekend late Friday afternoon with a hike at the Appalachian Trail with my beautiful friend, Brie.
We had never hiked together at the AT before (although I’ve been there myself a bunch of times) and it was one thing that I wanted us to do together before the big move. It really is nice to have uninterrupted time with friends where you can just talk without any distractions. That’s one of the things that I love about hiking so much! It was also cool to know that the next time that the two of us hike together it should will be in Colorado (when she visits me!).
**
Greg and I enjoyed our Saturday ritual of sleeping in and being lazy all morning, before heading over the river and through the woods to West Virginia.
As another week winds down, it seems like time is just flying by! I can’t really complain about much right now, so I won’t. I will say that the weather has been lovely this week here in Maryland- it was in the 80s on Tuesday and Wednesday! Looks like we’re skipping over spring and going directly to summer! I don’t mind though. Any excuse to live in these…
I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of Cassie’s confessions posts, so I’m here today with some of my own. In no particular order, here’s what’s on my mind:
1. I am totally hooked on these yogurt “tubes” from Chobani Champions.
I randomly won an Instagram contest (how- I have no idea) and they sent me boxes of four different flavors. They actually arrived the day that I left for Colorado, so I told Greg to put them in the freezer. He made his way through the various flavors and raved about how delicious they were, so I’ve made sure to try each one. I love them all- and have been eating at least one (usually two) a day. Not only are they delicious- but they’re only 70 calories each. So go ahead, have two. Or three. Or the whole dang box!
Happy Thursday! Today marks exactly two weeks until we embark on our cross-country adventure, also known as moving from Maryland to Colorado. There are three possible routes that we could take, and I think we’ve decided to drive along the one that leads us a bit north. We’re not under a huge time crunch to get there, because the moving truck won’t be at our house until the following Monday. We’re thinking that we’ll break up the drive over a 4-day period, with the longest stretches of driving being on Friday and Saturday.
We’ve gone back and forth on the idea of paying to ship one car from MD to CO, so that we could drive together (and take turns driving, rather than both of us having to do all of it). It costs a bit of money to do that, but really, I think what’s keeping us from shipping a car is that it would leave less room for us to pack things in our cars (you can’t have more than 100 lbs. of cargo in your car when you ship it). There are certain (fragile) things that we definitely want to pack in our cars, along with whatever we will need for the trip and for a few days after (just to be prepared). Oh yeah- and then there’s the two 70+ lb. dogs (who will probably ride in the back of my car) and their crates, food, etc.
I’m trying to come up with a list of things that we need to take with us. It’s a little overwhelming! Any advice would be very appreciated. We have a loose plan of where we will end up stopping for the night during the trip, but will also need to be a bit flexible.
I’ll admit it. I was really bad about taking photos while I was in Colorado last week. But, I’m also not really sorry about that, because sometimes there are other things in life that are more important than capturing the moment on my iPhone for the rest of time. I try to create a healthy balance between living life and taking pictures of it, and the “living” part seems to take priority more often than not lately. And that’s okay.
I did manage to actually photograph a few things last week, which included a few meals and snacks.
During my first (full) day in Colorado, I hit up the oatmeal bar at Whole Foods for breakfast. I didn’t take a single breakfast photo all week, but you can use your imagination or refer to this. On that same day, after my hike with Paige, I had one place on my mind for lunch: Native Foods Cafe. I remember that when I first went there last fall, there were about 20 things I wanted on the menu, so I’ll be returning again and again to work my way through. On that particular day, I ordered a wrap with “chicken” and avocado along with a side of kale.
We all have those friends that are just really great. They’re there for you when you need them- always able to provide a laugh or a shoulder to cry on, and you can talk for hours about nothing at all. And the only way that it gets better than that, is if those friends happen to also be home brewers with 4-6 different beers on tap at all times.
I would be speaking of course, about my friends Zack and Michelle. They were gracious enough to have Greg and I over, along with our friends Jenny and James (James is also Michelle’s brother) for lunch on Sunday afternoon. And yes, they brew awesome beer. It was so beautiful outside and I was beyond excited to be able to finally break out my flip-flops and wear a sundress!
As soon as we walked in the door Zack said “who wants a mojito?” and got right to work.
After a crazy week running all over Colorado, it was nice to come home and sleep in my own bed on Saturday night. I still haven’t quite caught up on everything, but that’s okay. It will happen eventually. The trip to Colorado was a whirlwind, and I pretty much spent the entire time driving from one place to another without a moment of downtime. One thing that I learned from my experience last week: don’t ever think that finding a house by yourself (for you and your husband to live in) will be easy. Because it’s not.
I originally thought that it would be a piece of cake to find a house to rent, but quickly found out that wasn’t true. Because we have two large dogs, a few challenges were 1.) finding a place that would allow dogs, period (which was surprisingly difficult!) and 2.) making sure that house had a fenced-in yard (which actually wasn’t that hard to find). I also didn’t realize how insanely competitive the rental market is! Within hours of a house being listed for rent, it would be gone! So, I pretty much had to look for options on a daily (or more like, hourly) basis. Craigslist was my best friend. One other thing- most people that use a property management company or realtor want you to pay a (non-refundable) application fee- which can be up to $50 a person- and that doesn’t guarantee that you’ll even get the house!
I went through a roller coaster of emotions while I was driving, and looking, and driving, and looking…. BUT… I did find a house. Thank goodness! We’ll be renting here for (at least) a year, until we figure out where we want to buy.
Although you’re reading this on Friday (or maybe later if you’re catching up!), it is currently Monday morning when I’m typing this. So, consider this “currently” post to be a bit of a stretch. Maybe I should title it Sort of Currently….
Currently: April
Current books: Sadly, I am sucking on my New Year’s resolution to read more. I’m still reading The Happiness Project, which has been slow-going since I only read it once a week for about 30 minutes (while on the stairmill before teaching Bodypump on Fridays). I’m hoping that maybe by the time this post is published, I will have finished it (on the plane, perhaps!). I’m also bringing the book Bossypants by Tina Fey with me to read during the flight to/from Colorado.
Current music: I’ve been living in nostalgia ever since reading this post by Callie last week. Thank goodness for the Sirius XM channel Lithium, where I can get my Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt, Social Distortion, Screaming Trees, Lemonheads, Julina Hatfield, Everclear, The Breeders, Cranberries, Tori Amos, Blind Melon and Nirvana fix!
And thinking about all of those great bands just makes me want to watch these two movies right now!
Happy Thursday, friends! I’m currently enjoying my week in Colorado, full of house-hunting, hiking and seeing some great friends. I fell in love with the outdoor adventures that Colorado has to offer several years before I even knew what “healthy living blog” was. Since I started writing Oatmeal after Spinning a year and a half ago, I’ve had the pleasure of making some incredible, life-long friends. And many of those blog-turned-real-life friends happen to live in Colorado!
Today I am paying tribute to some of my Colorado blog friends. You’ve probably heard of at least a few of these lovely ladies, and if any are new to you- go check them out!
Heather is a rock-star athlete and triathlon coach who relocated to the Denver area from Atlanta last summer. She lives with her wonderful husband Kirk and their two dogs, Abbott and Zurie (who are huge and super lovable!). I’ve been lucky enough to hang out with Heather and Kirk many times in the last year, and they are graciously letting me crash at their house as we speak!
Heather also heads up the Meatless Mondays from A-Z (#mmaz) linkup on her blog. She eats a plant-based diet and is one heck of a good cook!
Katie is a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom who takes beautiful photographs of her life and the delicious things that come out of her kitchen. She also has the most adorable, charming little girl that I’ve ever met and shares photos and videos of her that will make even the coldest heart melt.
Hi, I'm Lauren.I love good food, craft beer, fitness and my two crazy dogs. I am a NESTA certified Personal trainer, Spinning and Bodypump instructor. Thanks for spending some time with me and my thoughts!
I remember that when I first went there last fall, there were about 20 things I wanted on the menu, so I’ll be returning again and again to work my way through. On that particular day, I ordered a wrap with “chicken” and avocado along with a side of kale.
Recent Comments