Making Time fo' Dat (a bunch of personal yadda yadda yaddas)

I'm making time for this. And that and that and that and that. 

Spring semester was a bit of a doozy for the first five weeks. I took an accelerated Economics course because it was the intro level and I thought, "'eeeey, those are always pretty easy - let's do it faster than normal!" My just-barely-a-B final grade proved that it wasn't as awful as I made it seem for five weeks but I worked really stinkin hard for that damn B. In fact, it was only the last weekish that I managed to bring it up to an 82. Economics is no freaking joke. Now I'm wrapping up my other class, American History and am kind of bummed about it. I've had one of THE best professors yet and the material is fantastic - a great combination!! 

When Econ ended I told myself I would start some sort of exercise again; I'd been using my hardcore studying as an excuse not to work my lungs and muscles - my brain was working overtime, afterall. So Econ ended and I started doing a 20-30 minute strength training routine about twice a week (well, the first week it was three times + two HIIT cardio sessions but it's no secret I don't mind just stopping doing stuff.) I always feel really great afterward but but but... My first dress fitting is July 8 so I was trying to use that as motivation - it's about a month away and I like to think I work really well under pressure. Maybe today will start a better week :) 

The kids are doing awwwwesome! J+J are moving to the fourth grade and not-so-Lil Bit (who we've begun calling Sharky because water seems to be his new best fren) will be in kindergarten next year! We're working a lot on reminding the big boys that outsmarting a five year old isn't that impressive, they gang up on him sometimes and that's frustrating but Stephen and I seriously can't wait til Lil Bit gets the balls to just clock one of them in the jaw. It's going to be fantastic, really! My dad picked on me A LOT growing up and I think it made me a stronger person, hopefully Lil Bit will be the same way. 

3-boy weekends are exhausting but this past weekend was a ton of fun (in the sun!). We pooled, wrestled (I was not involved. I was crafting :)) beached, and then pooled again - we all have pink cheeks - and two of us have a few more pink spots - to prove it! The boys were very well-behaved, each got some extra one-on-one time, especially Middle Child who I think needed it most; maybe it's just me but I think the extra attention made a HUGE difference in his demeanor. I think he struggles with how to ask for the extra attention and that sucks because what eight year old doesn't crave it? Stephen is a fantastic and attentive father; we're all lucky to have him! (Love you, boo!)

A few more blog posts coming about wedding crafts and stuffs; aesthetically speaking I've narrowed my focus and am starting to get stuff started & finished! WHATWHAT!

xoxo
jess

Sleepy Jessica Ruined My Title.

When I went to bed last night I had some witty title for this post; Blogger Jessica was all "write it down!" but Sleepy Jessica was all like "no way! that's too awesome to forget. go to sleep instead!" Sleepy me won and for now I remain titleless.

This past weekend in Litchfield (just outside of Myrtle Beach, SC) was dynamite! We beached, pooled, drank, ate like we wouldn't gain that 5lbs that inevitably DID show up on the scale, and enjoyed some quality time with our Anderson family. Also, I learned something about my future; as an official member of the Mommarazzi - it can be summed up in four pictures:





Jack Stephen Russ Josh

 

this is probably as good as it's gonna get.

I'm going to have to learn how to splice pictures together. A big shout out to Stephen however, he managed to maintain the same amused smile for each shot and then humored me with this:

I do adore him :)

I stepped on the scale yesterday morning out of sheer curiosity and with the solid notion that it would NOT ruin my day. It didn't. What it did do, however, is kick this ass back into overdrive and real-life diet mode. A little more than a year ago I went from 203 to 160 in about 6 months by sticking to a no / low carb diet. So no more of this "but i don't understaaaand" as I admit only to myself the crap I ate that day. The new guy at work brought in donuts last Friday; what, like we can control ourselves around here?! No. So, to show him, I took a small bite of four different donuts and threw the remainder of each away. God they were good. I'm wasteful, I know. shut up. I did it for everyone else.

...Anyways, Atkins and I are BFF's again after I doled out booku dollars at Sam's Club for "friendship supplies". As of this a.m. I weigh about 2lbs less than I did yesterday. I was feeling so psyched about it I did some yoga this morning to get the day started. I'm loving the 10minute series for beginners. I usually just do two of the sets but on days I'm feeling extra amazing I do all 5 of them. Yay me.

Only one month out until I haul my crap across the bridge to invade the Land o' Stephen. While I'm not worried anymore about getting my house ready to rent, now we've got to figure out bedroom / furniture situations for the boys and (fingers crossies) the dining room and living room; the last two being of the least importance but I am NOT in love with his dining room table and chairs (glass top, iron base, and some modern patterned parsons chairs). First world problems.


Annd a few (ok, a lot) more pics from our weekend on da beeeeach:

Jack (7) Josh (8) Russ (so-close-to 4)

 

Rainy Weekend

Stephen and I took what would have been a crappy rainy weekend inside and made it less crappy by incorporating porch-side margaritas and going to the pool when it wasn't raining that badly. We only included the boys in one of those activities; don't guess which and show your opinion of me ;) While we took the easy road for Saturday night dinner ("hello, Papa John's - yeah, it's us. again.") we did whip up a fantastic version of last weekend's Thai coconut curry shrimp dish.

The original link: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/thai-coconut-curry-shrimp-10000001835298/

The flavor was admirable but the shrimp was giant in comparison to its roommates in the pan. This time we boiled chicken, shredded it, added new veggies - based on a dish Stephen had a few days prior - snow peas, red bell pepper, and asparagus. I also tossed in some mushrooms and we omitted the fish sauce. The shredded chicken was on-point in regards to not dwarfing the other ingredients. Next time we're tossing in pineapple and red pepper flakes.

I managed to sneak in 30 minutes of cycling on Sunday. Nothing strenuous, just 4 miles. I was pretty indifferent about the ride altogether - my ass hurt but I felt better about myself for actually going. Also, I picked up the new issue of Self magazine - new love! - and it mentioned HIIT training, or running or something like that. It's High Interval something Training where basically you sprint for a minute, then walk for a minute. Repeat until you feel like you're about to die. or 8x. or until your shoe rubs the skin off your Achilles tendon. whichever comes first. Mine were the first and 3rd options combined. But I felt great and was a little sad that it was wiser to stop than to continue to punish my lungs (and feet) for merely existing.

Only the boys went to the pool on Sunday, I went grocery shopping for the aforementioned curry dish for dinner. 

Russ in his new shark bike helmet.

Josh