TGIF

Happy Friday, everyone!  I hope everyone had a great week!  I'm very happy to greet the weekend today!  Here's how my week played out.

The high of my week was getting together with a friend I used to work with for lunch. I saw her at a wedding in December but I hadn't had one-on-one time with her in many months. It was so great to catch up!

The low of my week was ... nothing really stands out which is great because January has not been my best month due to the health issues I've had.

A book I am reading is The Known World by Edward P. Jones. This Pulitzer-prize winning novel is mostly about a freed slave who goes on to own slaves (I had no idea that actually happened!). There are many other stories woven in along the way, so at times I've had a hard time keeping track of who is who but overall it's been an interesting read. I've owned this book for 5+ years and am glad I'm finally getting around to reading it! It will also count toward the read harder challenge for the book set before 1900 category.

A recipe I am making this week is this enchilada casserole that I saw on Huffington post last week which I am making tonight.  I had leftover tortillas and enchilada sauce from the enchiladas I made last week so it's a good way to use up the leftover ingredients!

For my workouts I went to power yoga on Monday, did a strength training workout on Tuesday, went to yoga sculpt on Wednesday, ran with a friend on Thursday, and today is a rest day. Tomorrow I will run with my club and then on Sunday I'll go to a power yoga class. This is my first week of normal workouts since early January.  I'm being careful about how much I am working out and the intensity of those workouts as I know my body is still in a bit of a fragile state due to my RA flare. Normally I'd like to do 2-3 sculpt classes a week and 1 power yoga class (in addition to other workouts) but right now I am switching it around to 2-3 power yoga classes and 1 sculpt class until I feel more confident that my body has fully healed.

The best money I spent was on some bare minerals foundation and eye shadow. Gone are the days of getting cheap make-up from Target as I now realize that some things, like facial products and make-up, are worth spending a bit more money on.

My plans this weekend include staying in tonight and making dinner for Phil. Tomorrow I am going to run with my club in the morning and then in the evening, Phil is taking me to the recording of A Prairie Home Companion as an early birthday present!  I am sooo excited for this as two of my favorite artists, Ben Folds and Brandi Carlile, are guests on the show!  Afterwards we'll go out for dinner somewhere in St. Paul. On Sunday I'm going over to Phil's mom's as I am going to make dinner for her and Phil.  When I made dinner for her last fall she was so excited that she told pretty much everyone in the neighborhood, which I thought was so cute.  Since it meant so much to her, I am going to try to make dinner for her once a quarter.  Last time I made something that was way too spicy so this time around I'm making my favorite chicken pasta dish.

What was the high of your week?  What are your plans for the weekend?

Try This at Home Tuesday: Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad

Greetings and happy Tuesday!  Here we are in the final week of January which means I have one last salad recipe to share with you. It's been fun to focus on salads for this past month. I've learned a couple of things along the way but the biggest lesson I learned was that I should never buy salad dressings again because they are cheap and easy to make and taste WAY better than the processed ones I used to buy.

For my final week of salads-for-lunch, I made a  Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad. I had made this as a side dish for Thanksgiving but it's hearty enough to stand on it's own as an entree salad. I did make some modifications, though, such as substituting roasted butternut squash for the pear and toasting the almonds. I also added some chicken for protein and celery for extra crunch.

The balsamic maple dressing for this salad is sooooo good and very easy to make.  I doubled it so I'd have enough for 4-5 salads:

2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. EVOO
1 T. pure maple syrup
1 t. dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Shredded brussel sprouts are such a great substitution for greens as they area  bit more hearty and will be more filling than lettuce, I think. 

It's been fun to focus on salads for the last month. That said, I'm looking forward to switching back to warm and savory dishes, especially since I crave warm things during this time of year. But this challenge showed me that salads can be filling and enjoyable on their own. 

What are you planning to eat for lunches this week?

The Year of Less: My February Purge

Since the start of the year, I've seen many posts from fellow bloggers about their one word mantra for 2016. It's always interesting to hear the word that others choose and how they go about turning that one word into action. After thinking about it, I decided that my one word for 2016 is less.  Less saying yes to things I don't truly want to do.  Less feeling guilty about saying no to things I don't want or truly need to do.  Less accumulation of physical possessions.  Less worrying about things that are out of my control. Hopefully by focusing on less, I will make room for more. More time to invest into the relationships that matter most to me. More time to invest in the hobbies that bring me joy. More of a sense of enjoyment and fulfillment. Throughout the year, I plan to share how I am incorporating my one word into my everyday living.

Sometimes these one word mantras are a bit philosophical and not exactly measurable. But there are aspects of my one word mantra that are measurable - like looking around and seeing less physical possessions. Which is why my focus for February will be on possessions. I've moved quite a bit over the last several years which always results in a purge when I begin the packing process. But I look around my small 1 bedroom condo and know that more can be done. Then earlier month I was listening to The Minimalists podcasts and they mentioned a minimalism game. Here is how it works:

"For a month, you must get rid of one thing on the first day. On the second, two things. Three items on the third. So forth, and so on. Anything can go! Clothes, furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, etc. Donate, sell, or trash."

Sounds a little bit extreme, right?  But also kind of fun if you are the kind of person who is looking for a fun and unique way to get rid of possessions you don't need. I decided that February is going to be my month to play this game. If I make it through the entire month, I will have shed 435 items.  I told another friend about my plan to do this, and her and her husband were so excited by the idea of this that they started that very day and are now on day 14. It's nice to know another person that is doing it as we've talked about the kind of things we are going to get rid of and she's talked about how good it feels to get stuff they don't need/use out of the house.

I've already had a couple of people tell me that this is so extreme and impossible and that no one, besides a pack rat or hoarder, has 435 things to get rid of. Anyone who has been to my home can attest to the fact that I am not a pack rat or hoarder, but I still think I can come dang close to finding 435 things to donate or throw away.  So in February, I'll be checking in mid-month and at the end of the month to share what exactly I've gotten rid of.

I'm really excited to take on this challenge. I find that the older I get, the less "stuff" I want and this will provide an organized way to get rid of some of that stuff.  If this has sparked your interest, I challenge you to join me!  Maybe you won't make it through all 29 days but at a minimum you'll end up getting rid of some things.

Where do you stand on the accumulation of things? Do you find yourself wanting less as you get older or is the opposite true for you?

Year in Review: 2015 Reading

Here we are, well over half-way through the first month of 2016 and I am just getting around to sharing a summary of my 2015 reading!  I debated whether to even share this but then Stephany shared hers last week so I figured I could still share mine!

I've been using goodreads.com for many years to track my reading but in 2015 I decided to also keep a spreadsheet so that I could keep track of the source of the books I read. What can I say - I'm a math major data geek!  In 2015, I read 84 books and here is a pie chart break down of how I sourced the books I read. 
 

As the chart shows, I clearly get most of my books from the library as 58 out 84 of the books I read came from the library. I did end up buying 5, but 4 out of 5 of the books I bought were book club books that I couldn't get from the library in time for our discussion. Overall, my spending on books was pretty low for the year, but if you included the books I bought as gifts for friends or my nieces/nieces and faux nieces/nephews, the number would be much bigger as I pretty much exclusively gift books to the little people in my life.

Here are some other stats about the 84 books I read, courtesy of goodreads.com:
- Total number of pages was 25,861
- The shortest book was 137 pages (I Feel Bad About My Neck)
- The longest book was 528 pages (The Engagements)
- The average length was 312 pages
- My average rating was 3.6

In 2016, I'm planning to track more in my spreadsheet, such as the genre of the book and the sex of the author as I'm curious about the breakdown of what I read each year.

Do you use anything to track your reading (goodreads, a spreadsheet, something else)?  Do you use the library or do you tend to buy the books you read? If you are on goodreads and we aren't friends, please friend request me as I love seeing what others are reading!

Shouldless Days: January

I had my first "shouldless" day this past Monday and in a word, it was fabulous! I'm really glad I made it a goal to have one shouldless day a month as I know it is going to be so good for me - especially for my mental health.  Here's how I filled my day.

I woke up in the morning without an alarm (which is oh so blissful) and started my day by reading while cuddling up under the electric throw blanket Phil's mom got me for Christmas. 

Later that morning, I got a kick out of watching Oscar try to be patient and wait for Phil to finish his cereal so she could have some of the milk.  Her patience wore thin, though, so she started to reach for the bowl which cracked us up.

Hey, I want some of that!

Phil was heading to his mom's for the day so he dropped me off at home and I did some more reading. By the way, the book I am reading is "Blindness" which is a book that I have owned for 5+ years and am finally getting around to reading. The style of writing is very unique but I am enjoying it.

I had taken it easy for the past several days but was feeling the itch to get a workout in, so I decided to go down to the gym for a run on the treadmill. Running on my treadmill is not my favorite thing to do but it was -8F and even colder with the windchill so it was my only option. It felt good to get my sweat on while listening to the latest podcast released by The Minimalists.

After my run, I had worked up an appetite so I enjoyed the last serving of the Asian chopped salad that I made last week while watching Gilmore Girls.

Mondays are my RA medication injection day, which I still hate doing even though I've been doing it for 2+ years. So I rewarded myself with a mug of salted caramel cocoa (full confession: I'd had one the previous day, too) and 2 GF chocolate chip cookies. It was a delightful treat.

After that, I did some knitting while watching the first couple of episodes of season 4 of Gilmore Girls. This is the season when Rory goes to college and it made me sooo nostalgic for my freshman year of college.

This is the shawl I have been working on for over 2 years... It's going to be beautiful when it's done but it's such a big project!

The rest of the day was spent reading, relaxing on the couch, and enjoying some leftover chili for dinner. It was so great to have such a low key day where I did whatever I felt like doing for the entire day. I spend so many weekends feeling like I am just checking item after item off my to-do list so it was very nice to have a day with no to-do's, chores or other obligations!

If you had a "shouldless" day, what would you do?

Try This at Home Tuesday: Petite Crust-less Quiches

Greetings and happy Tuesday!  I'm shifting the focus of this week's post from salads to breakfast, mostly because the salad I prepped this week was a Greek salad, which is such a basic, easy salad. I picked it as it isn't labor-intensive, which is good since my hands are still stiff/tender from my RA flare so I'm trying to not overuse them.  I did make a good, refreshing dressing that I wanted to share, though, as I know some of you have been enjoying the salad dressing recipes.  So here are the ingredients for the Greek vinaigrette I made.  I doubled it so that it would yield a little over 1 cup of dressing. Similar to other dressing recipes I've made, I only had to buy 1 ingredient (lemon) so it was low cost:

- 1/4 c. EVOO
- 2 T. red wine vingear
- 1/2 of a lemon, juiced (recipe calls for 1 lemon but I found it to be a bit too lemony)
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 t. dried oregano leaves
- 3 pinches of salt
- 10-15 grinds of black pepper

This week I wanted to share the new breakfast that I've been eating this month. For the last 3+ years, I have been eating GF oatmeal with a banana for breakfast nearly every day of the week. What can I say - I am truly a creature of habit! However, lately I was feeling a need for a change but it needed to be something that is as quick and easy as oatmeal. Then I saw this recipe for Petite Crust-less Quiche on Skinny Taste's most popular recipes of 2015 post.  I tried them for the first week of January and they were excellent so this is my new go-to breakfast at least for the time being.

What I like about this recipe is:
- they refrigerate/freeze well and taste great when re-heated.
- they are versatile. The recipe calls for onions and green peppers, but you could substitute whatever vegetable you would prefer or have on hand. Some things I'll be trying in the future will be broccoli and asparagus.
- they are very filling. It helps that they are packed with protein (18 g). I eat them with a little salsa on top and have been able to push back how early I have my mid-morning snack of yogurt and granola, so these are definitely more filling than the oatmeal + banana I was eating.

If you make these, one tip I have is to buy liquid egg whites instead of separating eggs yourself. The recipe calls for 4 egg whites and I think it's hard to find a use for 4 egg yolks (at least for me). So it's much less wasteful if you just buy liquid egg whites, which can be found near the egg beaters in the grocery store. According to my carton, 3/4 c. of eggs whites = 4 large egg whites.

Do you have a breakfast regimen or do you change up what you eat each day/week? For me, I value something that is fast, easy and healthy versus full of variety. But I'm all about making it easy to eat healthy.

Living with RA: My First Flare

Those of you who have been reading my blog for quite awhile know that I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in August of 2013. If you are unfamiliar with it and are curious about it, you can read more about it here. Here's an extremely abbreviate version of what it is:

"Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease which attacks primarily, but not solely, the joints. It is an incurable disease affecting the synovial tissues which surround joints and similar lining tissues of certain organs. Through a very complex process, various kinds of immune cells attack and eventually destroy otherwise healthy tissues."

When I got diagnosed with it in 2013, I started a pretty aggressive treatment plan that put my disease into remission and for the most part, I've been asymptomatic for the last 2 years. Most days I forget that I even have RA. Well, besides when I take my bevy of drugs each week.

Well last Thursday, I was reminded that I do, in fact, have a shitty chronic illness, when I experienced my first RA flare since my diagnosis. When I went to bed on Wednesday night I had some pain in my middle finger but was thinking/hoping it would go away overnight.  Boy was I wrong.  I woke up on Thursday to a very swollen hand.

Due to the swelling in the joints of my right hand, I could not fully extend my fingers or made a fist and the pain was so bad that I ended up crying quite a bit that morning. I could not do the simplest tasks, like grasping the handle of the fridge to open it, holding a spoon, fork or glass to eat and drink, or open my make-up compact. My left hand was fine but doing everything one-handed is challenging - especially eating and applying make-up as I am FAR from being ambidextrous.

My Rheumatologist was not in the clinic that day but luckily I was able to get an appointment with his partner and he did an ultrasound which confirmed that it was definitely an RA flare as he could see the fluid around my joints, indicating that they were under attack by my immune system. He also determined that my cold had turned into a sinus infection so in addition to putting me on a steroid to reduce the swelling, he prescribed a strong antibiotic to take care of the sinus infection.

I know there are a lot 'at least' statements that can be made, like "at least this was your first flare in 2 years!" or "at least this didn't happen when you were in Mexico" or "at least the steroids will help" and I certainly said some of these statements in an effort to make it seem like I was handling it ok. But the reality of the situation is that it royally sucked and I once again felt betrayed by my body. I was reminded that you can do ALL the right things (eat healthy, exercise, etc) but sometimes it does not matter. So I let myself mope and cry and feel all the "why me?" feelings. Because in my opinion, you have to let yourself feel all those things so you can release those emotions and move on from the experience.

The steroids have kicked in and the swelling has subsided but what I am left with is a feeling of fear.  Fear that this was not a fluke and that I will have more flare-ups in the future. Fear that this might happen again when I am traveling for work or while on vacation or at some other time when I don't have access to my physician.  I know that I have to make the choice to not give into those feelings of fear and to trust that my physician will figure something out if more flares continues, but it's hard to choose to walk away from that feeling of fear.

I realize that this is a Debbie Down post and not at all uplifting but I believe in "keeping it real" and showing what real life looks like (when it's your story to share, as it is in this case). Because life is not all sunshine and roses.  I know that I am very blessed to have a supportive boyfriend, kind and caring family members, and compassionate friends. But you can be thankful for all of those big things and still be sad over the circumstances of your life. And right now I'm feeling a little sad.

So right now I'm trying to focus on self-care. I'm giving my body lots of rest and am taking more rest days than I've taken since the marathon. And I'm trying to squelch those feelings of guilt over my lack of activity as I know that rest and extra sleep are what my bodies needs right now. And luckily this flare coincided with a mostly plan-free weekend and today's "shouldless" day. I know that with time this bout of sadness about my RA diagnosis will dissipate as I continue to get better but right now I just have to be OK with not always being OK With my diagnosis.