Category Archives: photos

yummy curry salad

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Lunch Group is back in action after a three week hiatus. (Robyn, aren’t you excited?) So, here’s my latest. Dianne made it over the summer, but I loved it so much, I wanted it again. (I’m a little behind on postings, but I’ll catch up with the Weight Watchers update-not good-and running). In the meantime, enjoy a great salad. Oh, and the recipe is for two servings…what you see above is a triple batch.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (you can also a 6 oz can of chicken)
  • ½ cup celery, diced (I sliced it super thin…I’m not a huge celery fan, but I really like it in this salad)
  • ½ cup chopped green onion
  • ½ c diced green pepper (I went a little easier on the peppers…Dianne forgot to put them in hers and I loved it, so I didn’t want to over power the salad)
  • 4 T water chestnuts (I don’t love these either, but they are delicious in this salad)
  • 1 c red or green grapes (I chose red for color)
  • ½ tsp curry powder
  • 4 T fat-free mayonnaise
  • ½ c plain non-fat yogurt
  • 1 T lemon juice
  • 1 c cooked rice or shell pasta (I am a huge brown rice fan, so that’s what I used).
  • ½ t sweetener (I forgot this, but it was fine)

Other recommended seasonings, to taste (didn’t use any):

  • 1 t Nice N Spicy or Mrs. Dash
  • ½ t Lemon Pepper
  • ½ t salt
  • ¼ Dill

Mix all ingredients together and adjust seasonings to taste. Salad should be refrigerated 2-3 hours before serving to combine flavors.

Makes 2 servings.
5 points per serving

eight…

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Hannah tagged me, so here we go. Eight random facts about me…this might be a bit difficult since I feel like I share my random facts all the time.

  1. I love chocolate milk, but only when it’s Nesquik in powder form mixed with milk. It’s delicious. And it’s part of my favorite breakfast (okay…after Swedish pancakes) of a toasted English muffin (Thomas’…toasted under the broiler, not in the toaster) and two eggs over easy. I don’t know when that breakfast started being made in my family, but I love it. I purchased some Quick (the “no sugar added” version) last night and had some chocolate milk before bed. So good.
  2. I love scary movies. Not gruesome, gory movies. But the truly terrifying movies with so much suspense you have to cover your eyes in order to survive.
  3. Roller coasters that make my stomach drop and fear for my life at the same time are my favorite.
  4. I ran with the bulls in Spain (okay, way ahead of the bulls, but I did almost get mauled by one of the bulls while in the arena…I had never before and have never since hopped a fence so quickly in my entire life).
  5. I see words in my head. Every word I say goes through my mind like a ticker at the bottom of a t.v. screen. And, if I can’t see a word , as in I have no idea how to spell it and no guesses, I often can’t say it.
  6. I envy very odd things about people. I had this fantastic British secretary for a while who totally looked like she belonged in a band…it was mainly the way she dressed. I envy those girls who can pull off that style. I cannot. I will never look like I belong in a band. I will never be able to pull off skinny jeans with a cute t-shirt and flats…and it’s not a body issue, it’s a persona issue.
  7. I put ice in my milk almost without fail…unless it is very, very cold.
  8. When I was just a baby, I broke off a piece of my sister’s toy telephone and it got lodged in my throat and I had to have a tracheotomy in order for the doctors to a) find the piece of clear plastic and b) remove it. You can still see the scar very well (although not so much in pics). I scar easily and horribly.

14 miles that didn’t happen

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*Photos to come…I couldn’t take my camera, so I have to wait until Sarah posts some on her blog and steal them.

For the first time since beginning my path to the finish line, I skipped out on a long run. Having read my struggle with last week’s (that I did this week) long run, I hope you are able to grasp just how exhausted I must have been to miss out on a long run. I went to bed Friday night fully intending to run. I knew I was tired and it was a shorter run (you know, as compared to 18 or 20 miles) so I set my alarm for 7:30. It’s cooled off quite a bit, and my run was four miles longer on Monday, so I figured starting a bit later would be fine.

My alarm went off at 7:30 am. I grabbed the alarm (aka my cell phone) and turned it off. No snooze. No argument in my head. No voice with which to reckon. It was over before it began. And, do you know what? I slept until 11:00 am! I was so tired. Normally, I’m not one for sleeping in, even when I have the time. It creates what my brother Brad calls a “blah day”. I know you know what I’m talking about, and while sleeping in may not be the cause of a “blah day” in your world, it is in mine.

However, in this whole journey of running and weight loss I am really coming to know myself, my limitations and my strengths. And yesterday, my body just couldn’t do it. Between my crazy first week of the semester at work, beginning a class, diving into the grad school application process, a religion class, and various social engagements, sleep was just not on the priority list. I think part of the problem was also that, due to my lack of running during the week, I had a lot of built up stress. I’m amazed at how exercising really gives energy more than it takes it.

In any case, I was so tired yesterday that I couldn’t even stay awake long enough to argue my way into or out of running. In fact, I barely remember turning off the alarm. The good news is, due to a full social calendar yesterday (which included only one event, but took most of my day), I did not have a “blah day”. In fact, I’ve discovered that the only remedy for potential blahness is participation in a meaningful, useful, or somehow otherwise enriching activity.

Yesterday, it was the Jamboree Music Festival. I headed over to Sarah’s at about 1:00 pm. We weren’t sure exactly what time we wanted to get there, but we figured we had a little time to spare, so we headed to lunch and then to Barnes and Noble…where I purchased a book on resumes. We then headed to the festival.

It was fantastic. The first few bands that we heard were not bands that either of us were a) familiar with or b) super impressed by, but they provided for some great background music as I read through my book of MBA application essays (yes, I have a one-track-mind right now) and periodically looked up to people watch. I love people watching! And Sarah is one of my favorite people with whom to people watch. I could sit all day and just do that.

After a few mediocre, but full of potential, bands played (and I include Colbie Caillat in that bunch…she’s just not that good live), The Format finally took the stage and so my attention was turned completely to the stage (and gawking at the bad dancers who surrounded us). The Format is so good live. I was a fan before, but something about hearing a band you love playing live and doing it well, it’s just enough to make a girl swoon.

They were followed by Toad the Wet Sprocket who made jokes about the fact that many members of the audience would probably find their tunes vaguely familiar, as they probably heard them in the womb. Of course, I am not among that group and remember well the days when I would put “Walk on the Ocean” on repeat. Oh wait, not repeat. Repeat didn’t exist in my tape deck. When I would listen to it and then rewind the cassette, trying to master my timing so as to stop the rewind process at the beginning of the song. Those were the days.

Last, and most importantly, was Dashboard Confessional (and Justin, they played your new favorite…it was amazing). Sarah went over while Toad was still on and was standing about two feet from Chris Carrabba. As she’s the superfan, I stayed at the blanket to ensure we didn’t lose our spot or our stuff. What a show. I wish you all could have been there. Seriously incredible. Great musicians and great performers. And how glad was I that I hadn’t run, but chose to slept in so that I wasn’t completely miserable during the concert? Very, very glad.

And that is how my non-running left me happy and content. There will be no repeat of said non-running between now and the marathon, but it was a nice break. Tomorrow, the running is back in action, full force.

the thoughts in my head

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  1. I think fashion education should be part of basic education. Like, there are certain styles that don’t look good on certain body types. Everything in the photo above is wrong (I love that I found a reason to post this picture). Nylons (stockings, pantyhose, whatever you want to call them), should not be worn with sandals and socks should not be worn with pumps, and pumps should not be worn with sweat pants (especially cropped ones) and tube tops should not be worn with…anything. And knee highs always make a statement, and that statement is usually, “What the hell were you thinking?”

  2. I forgot how much I love that I speak French. And when I say love, I mean love. Seriously. I’m only taking one class this semester with all of the grad school applying that needs to be happening, and that class is French for Business. I started to get really nervous yesterday, before class. It’s been 6 years since I took any kind of French class. Sure, I have the occasion to speak/read/hear it now and then, but not for 75 minutes straight and not the parlance of business. So, while introducing myself and sharing my background made me really, really nervous, I was so pleased to discover that I understood my professor perfectly…jokes and all. I don’t know how many of you speak a foreign language, but there is something so amazing about getting jokes in another language. I love it. I love speaking French. I love that, because of my GMAT score, I might be able to go to a school that offers an exchange with a French school. I love that I might be able to go work in France for a few years. I’m just excited.

  3. The world is such a small place…especially when you’re taking an advanced language course at the university I’m at. There’s a girl in my class who went to Madagascar on a mission for my church. I was curious to know if she perhaps knew Cropstar, as that’s where she went on a mission, as well. Turns out she’s really good friends with her.

  4. I have a work crush. It makes my daily life much more enjoyable. And the best part is, he will never become a possibility because I’m not only not interested in him (I don’t know him well enough, nor will I, to ever be truly interested and I have no intention of sharing with anyone who it is because, well, that’s the only way to ensure that my work crush doesn’t turn into an awkward and uncomfortable situation…as they are wont to do when you tell someone), but I am also not interested in a relationship period, which brings me to number five.

  5. For the first time in my life (okay, not life, but the last, oh, 15 years), I am really not interested in dating. At all. It’s a strange feeling. I wish I could explain it. It’s peaceful, and happy, and calm. With this whole grad school thing, I have felt really strongly that that is where my focus should be. Period. And I’ve also felt that there won’t be any boys during the next three years of my life (and yes, I will always refer to them as boys…it’s a family trait…but I do mean “men”). Well, there will be boys, but not in that sense. I know that might sound weird and I know things can change, but for right now, that’s how I feel. I love it.

  6. I went to a religion class last night. It’s a bunch of single people from several different wards/congregations. It was fantastic. My former bishop is teaching it. He is amazing. My favorite thing about him is that he is real. There’s no sugar coating. There’s no pretending that life is always sunshine and roses. But he’s not a Debbie Downer, either. He’s just real. He was talking about reading the Old Testament from cover to cover tonight and basically said it was an excruciating experience. How could I not love a class taught by this man? I so value real.

  7. While I’m excited about my prospects in the school department, I’m also terrified. I’m scared of being a little fish in a big pond. I’m scared of failing. I’m scared of not getting into the school I want to go to, but I’m also scared of getting into it. Basically, I’m just scared. But fear has never stopped me, so onward I go.

  8. I was driving around yesterday thinking about how much I enjoy driving and then thinking about how much I will miss having a car if I move to New York or Chicago. While I have lived without one and I actually really enjoy public transportation (when it’s good and convenient), I love the solitude of driving. Then I thought about going to the Met and just sitting for hours in front of a painting. Perhaps I won’t miss driving as much as I think I will.

  9. I’m not going to WWs today. Not because I don’t want to. Sure, I’ve had a week full of crappy food consumption, but for the first time ever, I just don’t care. Not in an “I don’t care if I’m fat” way, but a “Yes, I am human and I am finally willing to admit it…for five minutes” way. I just have something to do that supersedes the WW. I do have some thoughts, though, so I’ll go ahead and share those during my regularly scheduled post.

  10. I’m going to be auntie…again. Which I already knew, but yesterday was the ultrasound and they found out that “it” is a “she”. I’m going to have a new niece. They have a name all picked out. I won’t be sharing it because it’s not mine to share, but it’s very cute.