What I Did This Summer

I had nobel plans of blogging on a regular basis this summer but the reality of blogging without a reliable internet connection is a few posts a month. The Blogging Elite is hosting an August Adventures link up today, which is the perfect chance for me to share a sort of summer recap. 

What I read this summer...

I didn't read as many books as I would have liked, it averages out to a book a month, which is pretty disappointing. Especially considering Grace's Guide was a really easy read and I skipped one or two of the chapters because they really didn't appeal to me or apply to my lifestyle.  The Poisonwood Bible was a re-read. It's one of my favourite books and I like to re-read it every few years because there's always new details I pick up on and as I age I find myself relating differently to the characters. I finally got to read Wonder and came away with a lot of mixed feelings. There were parts of it that were wonderfully written and other parts that really made me cringe. Similarly, Say What You Will (not pictured) which I was totally in love with for 80% of the book but didn't care much for the eventual plot twist. The best book I read this summer was Call the Midwife I am eager to get my hands on the other two books in the trilogy after reading the first one. I loved that it was really easy to read a chapter or two at a time and the stories were a great mix of joyful and sad.

What I ate this summer...

I've never been a big breakfast person but this summer some of my favourite memories revolve around shared breakfasts. N. and I spent a lot of time at her cottage during break and cooking breakfast each morning while we watched Canada AM and got caught up on the outside world became a ritual. Breakfast always involved bacon, hash browns and coffee. When we didn't make our own breakfast we ventured into town and ate at the local breakfast/lunch spot. When we were in the city one break I had the most delicious Pink Lemonade drink on a patio. I love how many new restaurants I tried this summer! And when there's no restaurant in sight pizza and pop at the picnic table can make for a delightful dining experience. 

What I saw this summer...

I saw countless amazing sunsets and blue skies. I spent days sitting in the sand and being surrounded by water. I hung out with adorable duckings at the near by park and watched a guinea pig family at the zoo. I watched campfire flames and roasted marshmallows with friends. 

How I felt this summer...

This summer ran the full gauntlet of human emotions. I was challenged by difficult situations and felt scared, worried, frustrated, angry, sad, relieved and happy. Taking a step back from it all I am grateful. The challenges taught me a lot about how to deal with professional/work related issues and improved my problem solving speed. I got to spend two months with my best friends. I worked with some fantastic human beings. I won't say I loved every minute of my summer but I can say that I found something to appreciate during every moment of the chaos. 

Land of Vanilla Coke & Home of Chick-Fil-A

So I skipped yesterday's post because when I sat down to write I quickly realized that I've been doing a terrible job at making myself uncomfortable and being Brave in 2014. So I'm going to work on that but the summarized version of my bravery is that I've spent a lot of nights at home in my sweat pants binge watching documentaries about society.

Moving on to today's prompt about America….

I've lived in Canada all my life and have never crossed the border into 'Merica. Up until recently this wasn't something that really bothered me. I'm happy here. There are ketchup chips here and poutine what more could a gal ask for? 

Then I found out Vanilla Coke is readily available and easily accessible down there. 

And then I started blogging and learned all about the magic of Chick-Fil-A, In-And-Out Burger, Sonic and Chipotle. And Panera and P.F. Changs...

Basically I've developed an interest in visiting the states just so I can experience a whole lot of fast food restaurants. 

I'm clicking publish on this now because I need to get back to work and not blogging. But I'm counting it as a win anyway because a post is a post. 

Happy 4th of July Americans! Drink some Vanilla Coke in my honour! 

Confess (And Be Healed?)

Airing all my dirty laundry last week for Humpday Confessions was just so much fun that I'm going to do it again this week!

Speaking of dirty laundry…my underwear dictates when I do laundry. Down to the last pair of clean undies? = Laundry Day!

Last week I went (at least) 48 Hours only drinking coffee & coke.

I have eaten cookies for supper at least once in the last six months.

I was going to do yoga tonight but then my roomies asked if I wanted to go out for frozen yogurt…so I'm going to do that instead.

I haven't finished emotionally processing the How I Met Your Mother finale. 

I lack the will-power to ignore/delay responding when certain people message me, even if it's after 11 p.m. and I'm almost asleep.

I'm going for frozen yogurt in less than an hour but I'm still trying to justify eating a handful of chocolate covered almonds between now and then.

I finally met a coffee k-cup that I don't like. Unfortunately I paid $7 for the box of 12 and my budget conscious self won't let me buy new ones. It's going to be a long 2(ish) weeks of terrible coffee.

As per usual when I got home from work today I immediately changed into jogging pants & a hoodie. I'm now trying to figure out how I can make myself presentable enough to go out in public (i.e. frozen yogurt) with the least amount of effort.

Seven Days, Five Goals

I stumbled upon this link up this morning while reading through my Bloglovin' Feed and knew I had to participate. I used to be really good about writing monthly goals but I'm totally out of the habit. And honestly right now it's hard to make monthly goals when my work schedule is all over the place and the weather is beyond unpredictable. Plus, with weekly goals there's a lot less time to make excuses and procrastinate.

Here's what I'm going to accomplish this week:

1. Half hour of yoga 3x this week.
2. Blog 4 times this week
3. Register for Camp NaNoWriMo
4. Read for 30 minutes every day.
5. Cross off at least one item off on "Long Term To-Do List" at work

They all sound like pretty simple tasks but I know if I don't make myself accountable for getting them all done this week it won't happen. I might read a few chapters of a book and blog for the sake of participating in a link up but defining things as goals and being specific will motivate me to get things done!

What are your goals for the week? Head over to The Sticky Note Addict and link up!

Food Friends

One of the things I want to do before I'm 25 is try 10 new foods. This may not sound like a huge feat so some of you but like I've said before I'm a "picky" eater. So trying new foods can be a source of anxiety for me I've been doing really good though! I wish I'd been keeping better track of it but in the past few months I've tried (and even embraced) four new foods.

Zucchini 

Pinterest

I didn't have any strong feelings against zucchini, but I just couldn't imagine it tasting any good. It doesn't have a delicious smell and people seem to spend an awful lot of time "hiding" it in recipes. I was at a friend's house for supper though and she made pasta with roasted zucchini so I bravely tried some and was pleasantly surprised! Since then I've had it roasted a few more times and as a topping on greek pizza!

Black Olives

Pinterest

Again, a food I just assumed I didn't like. And they haven't made in on any favourites lists but I've had them on pizza a couple of times and in small quantities (i.e. Greek pizza) I can tolerate them. I think I could also eat a few in a salad but I haven't actually done that yet. 

(Roasted) Red Peppers

Pinterest

I hate green peppers. They are the worst. And up until recently red peppers were just as bad. The thing is though I love all things chipotle and the manufactures and recipe makers of dips, sauces ect. have decided that roasted red peppers and chipotle need to be together. So I've learned to tolerate it. I still don't think I "like" red peppers (especially in stir fry or as a raw veggie) but I can handle the taste of it if it happens to be paired with something I really like eating. 

Tomatoes

Pinterest

I've never had a problem with ketchup or tomato sauce and even salsa was on the eat list.

What new foods have you tried lately? Any recommendations?

The 365 Day Challenge

With 2014 only a few days old BlogLand is full of bloggers making resolutions and setting goals (myself included). There are also a lot of articles like this flying around the internet. Tales of men and women committing themselves to doing one thing for an entire year. Some of them are fascinating to read others just confuse me, because...why? These types of challenges aren't new. (One of my favourite books is The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs.) It got me thinking about what I'd be willing to commit to for a year and I came up with some options that if I was awarded a nice little book deal or cash incentive or was just really bored with life I could totally commit to for 365 days.

Wear Only Tie-Dye

Thanks to years of camp I already have one full "outfit" (pants, underwear, t-shirt, sweatshirt, headband, shoes) plus a ridiculous amount of "spare" t-shirts. If some sort of semi-formal occasion occurred I would be more than happy to put my tie-dye skills to use turning my white sundress into a colourful ode to hippies everywhere. 

Drink Only Coffee Based Beverages

I almost said "only drinking pop" but then I thought about how nice a hot cup of coffee feels in my hands on a cold day and changed my mind. Coffee Based Beverages on the other hand can be hot or iced, perfect for all seasons. Plus, I'd be so hopped up on caffeine that I'd have tons of energy to go for runs and get stuff done. 

Speak Only In Rhyme

Just Kidding. That would be funny for an hour tops. 

Follow The 100 Mile Diet

This one that I legit want to do, it's on my 25x25 list to follow the diet for a least a week. I would definitely need somebody to do it with me, or being living on my own because it would just be too much to tackle alone in a house with other people who weren't doing the challenge. And things would be pretty rough in the winter, but it's still something I think about often.

Try All of The Pioneer Woman's Recipes
We all know about Julie & Julia  but what about Donna & Ree? I could spend a year of my life mastering her famous cinnamon rolls and perfecting pot roasts (I actually don't like pot roasts but whatever). The more I think about this plan the better it sounds. Would I get bonus points if I figured out a way to make all her recipes using 100 Mile ingredients??

Sleep Outside
This would get dicey come December-March (especially in my current locale), but it's totally doable. I have a pretty high quality sleeping bag already, I would invest in a small winter tent and with enough layers I'd be nice and toasty! The questions that would arise from the neighbours would be interesting. My warm sleeping bag and winter tent would only do so much when there is 200 cm of snow down and winds are gusting 120 km/hr. Maybe this is a challenge better suited to someone in a warmer climate.

I just realized most of my challenges involve food. This is probably a sign I need to go eat something. I'll leave you with the question: What ridiculous thing would you be willing to do for 365 days? 

Menu Meltdown

The topic for today's Every Day in May is What makes you uncomfortable? I won't lie a lot of things make me uncomfortable but I'm going to focus on the thing that both annoys me, angers me and makes me uncomfortable! Food. Specifically people judging others for what they eat.

I'm what people consider a 'picky eater', which is fine, I'll be the first to tell you that I am in fact a 'picky eater'. The problem is that when most people hear 'picky eater' they automatically assume I eat nothing but french fries and chicken nuggets. Which is totally false. I do like chicken nuggets, but I also know that they're not the healthiest things going and I don't even eat them once a week, never mind once a day. 

One of my favourite meals is salad made with baby spinach, feta cheese, red onion, sunflower seeds and balsamic vinaigrette and it never fails that when somebody sees me eating something like that they feel the need to comment "Oh, I thought you were a picky eater.".  Its as if the minute I mention something about being picky suddenly everyone watches my eating habits with a magnifying glass and it makes me so uncomfortable. 

Just because there are lots of things I don't like (green peppers, sandwiches, deli meats, casseroles...) there are still lots of things that I do like and I would really rather not discuss everyone of my food choices with you. I don't inquire about your protein needs as a vegetarian/vegan or make fun of you for asking about gluten-free options in a restaurant so I would appreciate if you didn't ask me where I get my vitamins or mock me when I ask for my meal with green peppers.