I know, 3 blog posts in 2 days! It's crazy! Work has been crazy slow this week due to Spring Break and crappy weather. Thanks Utah for deciding to drop back into the 30's now that it's April. We all REALLY appreciate it! I just thought I should blog about the progress I have made in being healthy.
I know I've written what seems like 405858392 blogs about attempting to get in shape and be healthy and all that fun stuff. Well I am finally starting to make progress. And it's all thanks to John.
After coming back from our Florida trip I had decided that I was FINALLY going to be successful about going to the gym. I hadn't really talked to John about it, but in my head I was making plans to be healthy. Then one Sunday night (actually it was about 3 weeks or so ago. A week and a half after we got back. Whenever that was) John and I are laying in bed. He out of nowhere asks me what days I want to go to the gym. Now I have asked John at least a few times if he would ever want to go to the gym with me. His response had always been a resounding NO. So when he asks me what days I want to go to the gym my gut reaction is "why do you care what days I go to the gym?". As it turns out, he was asking me because he had decided he wanted to start going to the gym. I have no idea what prompted this complete change of mind, but I really didn't think I should question it. So the next night we went to the gym and got John a membership.
John is the type of person that when he sets his mind to do something he does it all the way. There is no cutting corners or slacking off. John set up a schedule for us and has not let me slack off once. We go to the gym 5 days a week. We do cardio every day and then work out different muscle groups. I have never felt like I was getting so much out of my gym membership. In the past, when I had gone to the gym it was strictly to use the elliptical or treadmill and be on my merry way. Now I use all of these crazy machines and leave sore EVERY SINGLE DAY! Luckily its a good sore. . . most of the time. . .
On top of going to the gym 5 days a week, John has really helped me eat healthier too. We've dropped soda from our diet completely (goodbye Dr. Pepper. We had a good run. You are still my go to soda of choice. Don't worry this isn't goodbye forever, just for now). We've started eating more fruits and veggies. I think we've only gone out to eat once since starting this journey. We casually count calories.
It has been so nice having John to help me accomplish my goals. Having a gym buddy makes it so much more fun. Having that gym buddy be your boyfriend is even better :) No offense Ky! And having that gym buddy live with you means you can't slack off and sneak junk food into your diet. Or at least you can't do that without him finding out. Or without feeling guilty about it later.
We are in our 3rd week of gym attendance. I feel so much better about myself and am hopeful that all of the goals I have set for myself will FINALLY prove successful. Here's to a cute bathing suit body for Connecticut this summer! And to maybe finally running a 5k in LESS than 40 minutes!
Until next time,
Tara
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Every Tuesday night John does a web show right around 7. Because of this show, John typically stops and gets a sandwich from Blimpie on his way home for work and chows down before the show. That leaves me to make whatever I want for dinner without worrying about whether or not John will eat it. (For those of you who don't know, John is a fairly picky eater. He's getting better, but it's still a struggle balancing my desire to try new recipes with his picky eating habits). I look forward to Tuesdays and the opportunity they present to try all sorts of new recipes.
Last week I tried a recipe I found on the good ol' Pinterest. Seriously I love that website! It is a fantastic source for crafts, recipes, outfit ideas, wedding planning, adorable animal pics, random life hacks, quotes. . .you name it you can probably find it on Pinterest. It's awesome.
I based my dinner on this recipe I found on Pinterest. I did modify a bit though. Here's what I changed:
First I just used regular ol' black beans from a can. As it turns out, I didn't happen to have a spare black bean burger hanging out in my fridge. I drained and rinsed the beans and added cumin, granulated garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and ground red pepper. They were really tasty and I probably could have just eaten that for dinner but alas the potato was baking so I stuck to the game plan.
I didn't have any pepper jack cheese at home and I really didn't feel like going back to the store. Yes I live a stone's throw away from a grocery store. But I was feeling lazy and I had other shredded cheese at home so I just used what I had. I ended up using a fiesta blend or maybe it was a Mexican Style blend of cheese. It had cheddar and Monterrey jack and maybe another kind of cheese. Whatever it was, it was tasty.
I don't know if I didn't cook the potato long enough, but it did NOT scoop out of the skin easily, nor did it mash well. As it turns out I'm not really picky about how my food looks as long as I know what it is and that it is edible. Here is my finished product:
This was really tasty. I know John would never go for it, but I would definitely eat it again. If you like avocado and sweet potatoes I definitely recommend this dish.
On a somewhat different note, how does one take a good picture of food? All of my plates (except for one random plate I acquired probably from a college apartment) have some sort of color or pattern to them. No matter what camera I use, the food just doesn't look as appetizing as the professional photos one sees in magazines (or on other blogs for that matter). I'd like to think my cooking is an actual representation of the normal, every day, non professional cook. I don't worry about my food looking like it came out of a 5 star restaurant. It's all eaten within 20 minutes of getting on the plate, so why worry about how pretty it looks? This got me thinking about possibly including more recipe/craft type posts here, showing what a NORMAL person can produce based off of magazine recipes and Pinterest. Because lets face it MOST people aren't professional chefs. Most people don't devote their entire lives to creating the best pictures of inanimate objects that they consume immediately after taking the picture. While I would love to be able to produce 5 star restaurant quality food every single day and then be able to take a picture worthy of magazine covers to display said food, it's just no realistic for me. After all I am Just an Average 20 Something. . .
Last week I tried a recipe I found on the good ol' Pinterest. Seriously I love that website! It is a fantastic source for crafts, recipes, outfit ideas, wedding planning, adorable animal pics, random life hacks, quotes. . .you name it you can probably find it on Pinterest. It's awesome.
I based my dinner on this recipe I found on Pinterest. I did modify a bit though. Here's what I changed:
First I just used regular ol' black beans from a can. As it turns out, I didn't happen to have a spare black bean burger hanging out in my fridge. I drained and rinsed the beans and added cumin, granulated garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and ground red pepper. They were really tasty and I probably could have just eaten that for dinner but alas the potato was baking so I stuck to the game plan.
I didn't have any pepper jack cheese at home and I really didn't feel like going back to the store. Yes I live a stone's throw away from a grocery store. But I was feeling lazy and I had other shredded cheese at home so I just used what I had. I ended up using a fiesta blend or maybe it was a Mexican Style blend of cheese. It had cheddar and Monterrey jack and maybe another kind of cheese. Whatever it was, it was tasty.
I don't know if I didn't cook the potato long enough, but it did NOT scoop out of the skin easily, nor did it mash well. As it turns out I'm not really picky about how my food looks as long as I know what it is and that it is edible. Here is my finished product:
 | ||
| I am by no means a professional food photographer. Can't you tell? |
On a somewhat different note, how does one take a good picture of food? All of my plates (except for one random plate I acquired probably from a college apartment) have some sort of color or pattern to them. No matter what camera I use, the food just doesn't look as appetizing as the professional photos one sees in magazines (or on other blogs for that matter). I'd like to think my cooking is an actual representation of the normal, every day, non professional cook. I don't worry about my food looking like it came out of a 5 star restaurant. It's all eaten within 20 minutes of getting on the plate, so why worry about how pretty it looks? This got me thinking about possibly including more recipe/craft type posts here, showing what a NORMAL person can produce based off of magazine recipes and Pinterest. Because lets face it MOST people aren't professional chefs. Most people don't devote their entire lives to creating the best pictures of inanimate objects that they consume immediately after taking the picture. While I would love to be able to produce 5 star restaurant quality food every single day and then be able to take a picture worthy of magazine covers to display said food, it's just no realistic for me. After all I am Just an Average 20 Something. . .
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Florida Vacation. . .with pics!!!
Hey everyone! It has been FOREVER since I've posted and even longer since I included pics in a post. I've finally joined the 21st century and got a smart phone so uploading pics is a LOT easier and way less time consuming. Eventually I will post all of the pics from 2014 that I want to share, but until then here's some pics from our vacation to Florida.
We decided to go to Florida when our friend Steven invited us to his wedding. Typically I don't think we would have flown all the way to Florida for a wedding that wasn't a family member, but there was a lot more we could do there than just go to wedding. My dad lives about an hour away from Orlando and I have a very good friend that lives in Jacksonville. So John and I decided to take a Spring Break if you will and visit Florida.
Dad so graciously bought us 3 day, park hopper tickets to Universal Studios. I have been wanting to go to Universal ever since the Harry Potter parks opened. The park hopper pass allowed us to take the Hogwarts Express between the 2 parks, which is WAY better than walking. Here we are waiting for the train
I also got the awesome opportunity to try some Butterbeer
If you go to Universal Studios and don't at least TRY the Butter Beer you are missing out. I don't think I could drink it all the time, but it really is delicious.
The Harry Potter parks are a must see for any Harry Potter fan. They are a lot of fun and really help bring the books to life. You have to ride the Castle Tour and Escape from Gringotts. Those rides were epic and the queuing for them are great too! I've never had so much fun waiting in line for 45+ minutes as I did waiting to ride the Harry Potter rides. Even just walking around Diagon Alley and Hogsmede is fun. Walking into all of the shops and buying candy from Honey Dukes or joke toys at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes was a blast. You can also explore Knockturn Alley, which is cool.
While the Harry Potter parks were by far my favorite part of Universal Studios I enjoyed the rest of the park as well . We got to watch some pretty cool shows and ride some other epic rides. Shooting Aliens on the Men in Black ride and getting soaked on the Popeye water ride was a blast. Despite getting a horrendous headache my first day at the park I really had fun hanging out with John and my Dad and Step-mom. Word of advice to anyone planning a trip to Florida. Drink LOTS of water and make sure to eat on a regular basis too. Universal Studios allows you to bring food and water into the park to help cut the costs of expensive park food. And if I remember right from my trip to Disney World a few years ago, they do as well. Take advantage of that! It's really hard to enjoy the parks if you have a headache because you are dehydrated or haven't eaten!
Wednesday and Thursday (as well as Monday of the following week) were spent at Universal Studios. Friday John and relaxed pretty much all day. We ran to Wal-Mart to get some last minute wedding stuff, got our hair cut (John) and got our nails done (me). Then we got all fancied up and went to the wedding.
Unfortunately I don't have any great pics from the wedding. John and I apparently were horrible at taking selfies that night and a lot of the pics I have took on a very red hue because of the lighting. But just know it was a LOT of fun. While we didn't know anyone other than the bride and groom, John and I managed to really have a good time (with the help of an open bar :) ). John and I don't get dressed up and go out drinking and dancing ever so it's a nice change of pace when we go to a wedding. And ever since the wedding John and I have started talking a little bit more seriously about our future wedding, whenever that will be. And no this is not an engagement announcement. There is still no ring on my finger. . . YET :) Thanks Steven and Kate for a great night!! Sorry I have no awesome pics to show for it. Maybe I will get in and try to do some editing at some point.
Saturday John and I drove up to ST. Augustine to meet my friends Russ and Alesha. They spent a couple hours with us at Universal Studios on Wednesday, but I didn't come all the way to Florida to spend just a few hours with my good friend Russ! For those of you who don't know, Russ and I have been friends for 6 or 7 years. We met doing early morning custodial way back in the day at BYU. We've been close ever since. I consider him almost like another brother. He is from Florida originally and moved back to Jacksonville after graduating (and brought his then fiance Alesha with him). I haven't seen them since they moved to Jacksonville and I just HAD to meet their little one. So they graciously met us in St. Augustine to spend the afternoon. I loved walking around and chatting with them, and hanging out with the kiddo. She and I had so much fun just walking around. I loved it. It was nice to get to know Alesha better as well. I had met her only a couple of times before they moved so I really enjoyed talking to her more. I knew she was awesome because she landed Russ, who is just so cool :) My hunch was confirmed after spending time with her and getting to chat about the possibility of getting engaged and all that other girl stuff us girls have to talk about whenever we get together. And I'm glad John got the chance to meet Russ. Russ is so important to me as a friend and John is obviously important to me. Russ meeting John and "approving" of him was so great. And John saying he enjoyed hanging out with Russ was pretty cool too. It's always nice when 2 important guys in my life meet and get along. I think John has finally met all of the important guys in my life and they all seem to approve. So we can move forward and get engaged any time now. haha
We had so much fun in St. Augustine and can't wait to see Russ and Co. again when they come out to Utah in June!
Saturday night we hung out with the newlywed couple again. It's always interesting to go out when we aren't in Utah. The atmosphere and people are so different outside of the "Utah Bubble". We had a good time eating dinner and getting drinks with Steven, Kate and some of their other friends that were visiting from out of town. While I love all of my LDS friends and hanging out with them, it's always nice to go out with people that have a similar lifestyle to us. Not that the LDS lifestyle is bad by any means, it's just different.
Sunday John and I drove out to Cocoa Beach. Cocoa Beach is MAYBE 20 minutes away from my dad's house, which is so cool to me. Finding parking at the beach in the middle of March on a weekend is by no means an easy task, especially since we REALLY didn't want to pay for parking. We are pretty sure we ended up parking outside of a strip club, but hey, parking was free for 3 hours so we were ok with it. John and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach and collecting some seashells. We found some way cool ones that we are planning on displaying as soon as I go out and buy a vase. John taught me how to body surf which was fun. I don't think I ever actually did it correctly, but I had a blast pretending to know what I was doing and hanging out in the ocean. I love the beach and how relaxing it is (even when there is a HUGE crowd every where you turn). To me, there is nothing better than laying out in a bathing suit with the sun shining down on you and being able to hop in the water to cool off if need be. Whether it's a lake or the ocean, I just love that setting.
John and I had so much fun in Florida. I'm so glad we got to visit so many different people and see so many new places. Vacations are always nice, but it's nice to get back to our routine as well.
Soon I promise I will get pics up from 2014. We did so much last year that I want to share with everyone! And we still have most of 2015 left to go! We have a couple more fun trips tentatively planned, both to Connecticut. We also have concerts we want to go to, races to run, recipes to share, crafts to try, and just our normal life. I am going to try to post more frequently, I promise!
Much love!!!
~Tara
We decided to go to Florida when our friend Steven invited us to his wedding. Typically I don't think we would have flown all the way to Florida for a wedding that wasn't a family member, but there was a lot more we could do there than just go to wedding. My dad lives about an hour away from Orlando and I have a very good friend that lives in Jacksonville. So John and I decided to take a Spring Break if you will and visit Florida.
Dad so graciously bought us 3 day, park hopper tickets to Universal Studios. I have been wanting to go to Universal ever since the Harry Potter parks opened. The park hopper pass allowed us to take the Hogwarts Express between the 2 parks, which is WAY better than walking. Here we are waiting for the train
I also got the awesome opportunity to try some Butterbeer
The Harry Potter parks are a must see for any Harry Potter fan. They are a lot of fun and really help bring the books to life. You have to ride the Castle Tour and Escape from Gringotts. Those rides were epic and the queuing for them are great too! I've never had so much fun waiting in line for 45+ minutes as I did waiting to ride the Harry Potter rides. Even just walking around Diagon Alley and Hogsmede is fun. Walking into all of the shops and buying candy from Honey Dukes or joke toys at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes was a blast. You can also explore Knockturn Alley, which is cool.
While the Harry Potter parks were by far my favorite part of Universal Studios I enjoyed the rest of the park as well . We got to watch some pretty cool shows and ride some other epic rides. Shooting Aliens on the Men in Black ride and getting soaked on the Popeye water ride was a blast. Despite getting a horrendous headache my first day at the park I really had fun hanging out with John and my Dad and Step-mom. Word of advice to anyone planning a trip to Florida. Drink LOTS of water and make sure to eat on a regular basis too. Universal Studios allows you to bring food and water into the park to help cut the costs of expensive park food. And if I remember right from my trip to Disney World a few years ago, they do as well. Take advantage of that! It's really hard to enjoy the parks if you have a headache because you are dehydrated or haven't eaten!
 |
| This picture is a must if you go to Universal Studios. And look at what a great job Dad did at getting this!!! |
 | ||
| nothing like checking out Fear Factor live. Not as crazy as the actual show, but it was a nice way to relax and eat some snacks. If you need a break from all of the rides and craziness, stop by and check it out. |
Wednesday and Thursday (as well as Monday of the following week) were spent at Universal Studios. Friday John and relaxed pretty much all day. We ran to Wal-Mart to get some last minute wedding stuff, got our hair cut (John) and got our nails done (me). Then we got all fancied up and went to the wedding.
Unfortunately I don't have any great pics from the wedding. John and I apparently were horrible at taking selfies that night and a lot of the pics I have took on a very red hue because of the lighting. But just know it was a LOT of fun. While we didn't know anyone other than the bride and groom, John and I managed to really have a good time (with the help of an open bar :) ). John and I don't get dressed up and go out drinking and dancing ever so it's a nice change of pace when we go to a wedding. And ever since the wedding John and I have started talking a little bit more seriously about our future wedding, whenever that will be. And no this is not an engagement announcement. There is still no ring on my finger. . . YET :) Thanks Steven and Kate for a great night!! Sorry I have no awesome pics to show for it. Maybe I will get in and try to do some editing at some point.
Saturday John and I drove up to ST. Augustine to meet my friends Russ and Alesha. They spent a couple hours with us at Universal Studios on Wednesday, but I didn't come all the way to Florida to spend just a few hours with my good friend Russ! For those of you who don't know, Russ and I have been friends for 6 or 7 years. We met doing early morning custodial way back in the day at BYU. We've been close ever since. I consider him almost like another brother. He is from Florida originally and moved back to Jacksonville after graduating (and brought his then fiance Alesha with him). I haven't seen them since they moved to Jacksonville and I just HAD to meet their little one. So they graciously met us in St. Augustine to spend the afternoon. I loved walking around and chatting with them, and hanging out with the kiddo. She and I had so much fun just walking around. I loved it. It was nice to get to know Alesha better as well. I had met her only a couple of times before they moved so I really enjoyed talking to her more. I knew she was awesome because she landed Russ, who is just so cool :) My hunch was confirmed after spending time with her and getting to chat about the possibility of getting engaged and all that other girl stuff us girls have to talk about whenever we get together. And I'm glad John got the chance to meet Russ. Russ is so important to me as a friend and John is obviously important to me. Russ meeting John and "approving" of him was so great. And John saying he enjoyed hanging out with Russ was pretty cool too. It's always nice when 2 important guys in my life meet and get along. I think John has finally met all of the important guys in my life and they all seem to approve. So we can move forward and get engaged any time now. haha
 |
| Checking out the fort. |
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| Russ is such a good dad. And look at that cutie! Isn't she adorable!!!!! |
We had so much fun in St. Augustine and can't wait to see Russ and Co. again when they come out to Utah in June!
Saturday night we hung out with the newlywed couple again. It's always interesting to go out when we aren't in Utah. The atmosphere and people are so different outside of the "Utah Bubble". We had a good time eating dinner and getting drinks with Steven, Kate and some of their other friends that were visiting from out of town. While I love all of my LDS friends and hanging out with them, it's always nice to go out with people that have a similar lifestyle to us. Not that the LDS lifestyle is bad by any means, it's just different.
Sunday John and I drove out to Cocoa Beach. Cocoa Beach is MAYBE 20 minutes away from my dad's house, which is so cool to me. Finding parking at the beach in the middle of March on a weekend is by no means an easy task, especially since we REALLY didn't want to pay for parking. We are pretty sure we ended up parking outside of a strip club, but hey, parking was free for 3 hours so we were ok with it. John and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach and collecting some seashells. We found some way cool ones that we are planning on displaying as soon as I go out and buy a vase. John taught me how to body surf which was fun. I don't think I ever actually did it correctly, but I had a blast pretending to know what I was doing and hanging out in the ocean. I love the beach and how relaxing it is (even when there is a HUGE crowd every where you turn). To me, there is nothing better than laying out in a bathing suit with the sun shining down on you and being able to hop in the water to cool off if need be. Whether it's a lake or the ocean, I just love that setting.
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| No we are not on a nude beach. I just happen to be wearing a strapless bathing suit top. I promise. |
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| The obligatory beach kissy picture. We are just so cute right? |
Soon I promise I will get pics up from 2014. We did so much last year that I want to share with everyone! And we still have most of 2015 left to go! We have a couple more fun trips tentatively planned, both to Connecticut. We also have concerts we want to go to, races to run, recipes to share, crafts to try, and just our normal life. I am going to try to post more frequently, I promise!
Much love!!!
~Tara
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