Hot Soup for a Hot Summer

Is it weird that, even as the temperature is reaching the upper 80s and 90s, I'm still reaching for steaming hot bowls of soup? I know a lot of people associate hot soup with winter and couldn't imagine eating a bowl on a hot day, but I love it!

I wish it was only 5 cents!

My lunch today came from Soulful Soups, by far the best lunch spot in downtown Spokane if you ask me! A large steaming bowl of Tomato Bisque was just what the doctor ordered to wake me up after my long night yesterday. And I was delighted to see that I wasn't the only one craving a hot bowl of deliciousness on such a warm day - there were a few other patrons indulging themselves as well.

Soup - winter warmth, now also a summer delicacy!

New Fitness Journal

Ugh, I'm really dragging my feet this morning! I had a really nice dinner out last night (at C.I. Shenanigans on the river in downtown Spokane) with my mom and a family friend after spending two hours dress shopping. It was a long, tiring night, but it was also fun and I got a lot done!

So my mom is leaving to go hom this morning, and it's back to life as normal for me. Hooray! One of the things that I've been slacking on in the last few weeks as I've jet-setted back and forth from my various travels is food and exercise planning/tracking. I've gotten back into the Menu Plan Monday swing after a few weeks off, but I've yet to get back into my personal meal tracking. I wrote a few months ago about a notebook I'd been using to track things, but on a recent trip to Houston I found this gem in the airport bookstore:

It was on the clearance rack at the Houston Airport Borders, so it was less than $4!

There are two reasons that I bought this journal. First, I love how organized (yet detailed) it is. There's space for every meal and snack, with boxes for writing how many grams of fiber and calories there are. The exercise portions are divided into weights and cardio/other exercise, and it works well to get you motivated to fill up the space.

A sample exercise page from the weekly portion.

The second reason I love this journal is that it allows you to track yourself and make goals along various time frames. While most of the journal is taken up with pages for the weekly tracking, there are also pages and spaces for monthly tracking and making monthly goals. But it wants you take pictures of yourself... no thanks, exercise journal!

A monthly page from the journal.

So basically, I'm in love with this little book. It puts my own tracking notebook to shame! Unfortunately, it was so discounted at Borders because it was not going to be carried there anymore... I don't know what I'm going to do when I fill it up! I'll have to photocopy the pages or something and make my own.

Now I've got to catch up on The Bachelorette since I missed last night's episode! I'm curious to see what Jillian's going to be wearing... she's got a great sense of style!

Menu Plan Monday

A few people commented about the sweet potato chili from last week's menu plan -- and I have to tell you all, it was FANTASTIC. Matt even said I should make it again sometime! Big thumbs up on that one.

This week's a little crazy meal-wise because of my mom being in town and the 4th of July. How is it the 4th of July already? I've completely lost all sense of time, because I could have sworn it was just yesterday that I was complaining about winter never ending! Anyway, check out Org Junkie's website for more menu-planners!

Monday: Dinner out with my mom after dress shopping!(!!!!)

Tuesday: Santa Fe Casserole (recipe from Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point, found in Jenna's Team In Training Cookbook)

Wednesday: Lentil Sloppy Joes and some veggies on the side

Thursday: Soup and grilled cheese

Friday (Day off!): A little culinary experiment with Giada's Lasagna Rolls (minus the prosciutto of course!)

Saturday (4th of July!): It's kind of against nature not to barbeque on the 4th, isn't it? Burgers, veggies, and all the fixings!

Sunday: Leftovers, because no one wants to cook on Sunday!

Busy Weekend!

These past few days have been pretty hard on my psyche. Probably the biggest downer in my life that happened this week was my company's decision to cut a bunch of jobs and give the rest of us that are still (thankfully) employed a pay cut. The economy's tough, and my company is definitely feeling it. That, coupled with the celebrity deaths, and my mother's arrival in less than 36 hours, has made this NOT the most fun end of the week ever!

This weekend, I fully intend to keep myself busy busy busy to get my spirits back up! This morning Matt and I will be getting a delicious bagel breakfast, and then head here:

The Spokane Farmers Market

After all that, we'll be heading down to check out the action at Hoopfest! Despite the fact that I'm nearly 6'2", I'm not playing in it this year - I've been a volunteer referee in the past, but this year I'm ready to enjoy it as a spectator! Hopefully we'll see some friends play and meet up with other spectator-friends while there.

And then, it's back home to clean like crazy so my apartment will pass my mom's white-glove inspection! I'm not sure when she's arriving tomorrow, so it all has to be done tonight.

RIP Michael Jackson

I know this is a blog about organization and life style and all that, but I have to say that my heart is feeling pretty heavy today after learning about the sudden, pretty unexpected passing of Michael Jackson. I grew up with his music, watched Thriller and his other music videos all the time on the VHS tapes that my parents used to copy them off of the tv; I started dancing in part because of the sheer magnitude of his videos and performance energy. And let me tell you, I perfected the moon-walk! For someone with a pretty tumultuous life and career, it is impressive that he made the mark on the music world that he did. Goodbye, King of Pop.


And of course, who hasn't heard of the passing of Farrah Fawcett yet? I'm so glad that she's finally at peace after her epic battle, and hope that her family can find peace as well.

So many celebrity deaths this week; it's going to be a long few weeks of mourning.

Summer Swap

About a month ago, a summer blog swap was announced by Angela at Sweet Tea Diaries, and I was super excited to sign up! My assigned swap partner was Elizabeth of Precious and Pink, and I was really excited to put a package together for her. This morning, I received her wonderful package of goodies, and want to share with you how thoughtful Elizabeth is! Here's what was in the box:

A beautiful blue and white beach towel.

J.Crew flowered flip-flops in dark blue. To DIE for!

A silver shell-topped bottle stopper.

I'm so glad I signed up with this swap - it was a great opportunity to connect with another blogger on a different side of the country! Again, thanks to Angela at Sweet Tea Diaries for hosting the swap, and Elizabeth of Precious and Pink for being a great swap partner!

Wedding Wednesdays - Episode 8

So it's legitimately been a while since I posted about how our wedding plans are coming along. Sorry! The only real progress that I've made since last time is going dress shopping with my mom and sister - and I can't post about that because Matt reads the blog and the dress has to be a surprise! I want him to be totally shocked (in a good way) when I walk down the aisle, both by the dress AND me!

Anyway, so what HAVE we been doing to get ready for the wedding (which, PS, is only 311 days away!)? Well... we've gotten a TON of information from our church's wedding coordinator - she's there to help with the service and everything that happens within the ceremony itself. One of the primary things that we've been tasked with by her (among the MANY other things that need to get done soon) is deciding on readings for the ceremony!

To help us make our decision, the wedding coordinator sent us a booklet listing out a bunch of different readings from the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Gospels, as well as providing some commentary on them. We need one reading from each section for our nuptial mass.

The readings suggestions workbook.

She also sent us a bunch of programs from weddings that have been recently held at the church to show what readings others have used - but I'll be honest, I looked at them more for stationary and colors ideas! I really like the longer single-sheet idea as opposed to the booklet... but that's another post. :D

Sample programs.

So, blog world, what were the readings at your wedding, or what readings would YOU recommend? I've got a few in mind already, but I'm curious about what others have done.