Full

So about a month ago I went home for the weekend to help my mom with a dinner they've been doing at church called By Reservation Only.  Before I left for home, I went out to lunch with Mike to try Vietnamese for the first time at Pho Hoa, which is randomly tucked in a couple blocks from my place.  This is what I had!

The big bowl is a steak bowl, which was really awesome.  They had herbs and sprouts to add, and some sauces and sriracha for a little kick.  I really liked it, and it's pretty healthy.  Then above it are some spring rolls we shared, and a peanut dipping sauce.  I found out i definitely like vietnamese food.  yay!

Then I went home and spent a couple days working in the kitchen at church with my mom and some other church ladies.  They started doing these dinner in conjunction with the community theater's performances so that people have a place to go for a nice dinner before going to the play.  This was the third one, and mom was in charge of the food, so she figured out the menu and everything that went along with getting things ready.  For the appetizer we made a roasted red pepper dip, and had an assortment of crackers and pita chips.  Then they had a spinach salad with strawberries, croutons, and raspberry vinaigrette.  For dinner they chose between lasagna and green beans or golden mushroom chicken with garlic smashed potatoes and green beans.  I tried both and they were both delicious.  Then for dessert they chose from raspberry sorbet, blueberry bread pudding, and a toffee brownie sundae.  Everything was really good, and I actually really enjoyed helping out in the kitchen to get everything put together and get it plated up and ready for the servers.  It was also really cool to see our fellowship hall transformed into a beautiful space to serve church and community members. 

Here's mom and I in the kitchen!

Catching Up

Hey guys!  I've totally been taking pictures to put on here, but then haven't put them up, so you'll just get a bunch of posts in a row. woo!

A month ago I went out of town for the weekend.  I went to Columbia for a night and Mike and I went to see Matt Nathanson at the Blue Note.  It was awesome!  I had never been to the Blue Note before, which is terrible since I grew up so close to Columbia.  It is a really cool venue.  I like that it's not very big, so you can never be too far from the stage.  We got there about ten minutes before the show and were still able to walk in and find a good spot pretty close to the stage.  A couple of Mike's law school friends were there, and they were really fun, and super into dancing, which I always like.  Matt Nathanson is really good live.  You can tell he is loving it while he's up there, and he tells a lot of jokes and has funny little dance moves.  Best of all, he sounds great. 

Here is a not so great picture of him playing:

I stayed at Mike's that night, and after some awesome mongolian for lunch, I got on the road up to Kirksville for the rest of the weekend.  The night I got there was girl's/ guy's night, so I ended up helping set up for the girl's luau night.  I hung things from the ceiling, while Jessica made a photo booth area with blue streamers on the wall, a sheet on the floor, and some shells.  We had food and played bunco, but the best part were the pics.  Jessica had a whole box of props: grass skirts, leis, hats, shell necklaces, Hawaiian shirts, etc.  She took a ton of pics, which I can't wait to see.  The rest of the weekend, I spent a bunch of time at the house, and got to know some of the freshman a bit.  Sara and I went to brunch at Rosie's, and Heather and I went to feed the ducks at Thousand Hills.  Overall, it was a pretty awesome weekend, and it was definitely good to see everyone!

Make Goal, Get Reward

So I told you guys a little while ago that I had decided to get serious about losing weight, and I'm happy to report I made my first goal!  I was supposed to lose 15 pounds by today.  I did and got my reward of a new Camelback water bottle!  I know it's a kind of lame reward, but I've wanted one for a while. So far things have been going pretty well.  There are definitely some days that I don't really think about staying within my ranges, but it's mostly nights when we all get together and go out for pizza and ice cream or something like that.  I can also start to see little changes in my body.  I haven't lost a whole size yet, but my jeans are a little looser than they were.  I could see it most when I put on my pencil skirt the other day.  When I got it it was pretty tight, but now there's extra room in the waist and it doesn't cling to my butt and thighs like it did.  Its not much yet, but its a start and it feels pretty good to be seeing results and know that I actually made a goal that I set for myself.  I'm pumped to lose 15 more, get some new running shoes, and see more stones move into the 'lost' jar.  :)

Possibilities

So this weekend started off a little rough as the head cold I've been getting seemed to fully settle in Friday morning, but it cleared up enough to not damper any of the awesome activities that Friday and Saturday held.  Friday afternoon was lifted with a delightful little experience at the City Market Coffeehouse.  I went in for my vanilla latte and in the process talked to the barista guy, also an artist, about some art stores and shows and how I do fiber art.  He told me about a great arts and crafts supply store that actually has some fiber art stuff: screen- printing ink, fabric, etc.  I will definitely be checking it out this week.  He also told me about a group show that will be happening next Saturday, and  when he wrote down the show info also gave me his number so I can give him some pictures of my work to possibly get into on of the shows sometime. I just thought it was so cool how open and supportive he was about passing along shop info, getting a card if I had one, and opening up a possibility to show my work here in KC.  I guess I should really start making some new stuff now. :)

Friday night only increased the awesomeness when Mike, Abby, Jason, Sarah and I went downtown to The Majestic for some live jazz.  The Majestic is a pretty nice restaurant, and downstairs is the underground jazz club.  You can still get dinner down there, but there is also a separate bar and little cocktail tables for those just there for the music.  It was pretty full when we got there, so we ended up crammed together directly in front of the stage.  Though it was tight, I enjoyed being so close to the musicians.  They were pretty good, and all had funny little quirks.  The piano player kind of curled  up his lip when he played, especially on solos, and the bass player made a lot of little faces and made the sounds with his mouth that he was playing.  It was like when jack black does air guitar only he was actually playing the bass too.  The trumpet player was the most reactive to the crowd, and stared down anyone who was talking too loudly while he played...Sarah at one point.  It was a pretty lovely evening, and I definitely plan to go back. 

Voice

So I really like 'The Voice'.  I love that the first part of the show is the blind auditions, and that the contestants are judged first by their voice alone.  I mean really, it is the music industry, so the first impression should be the music, not the look.  Every time I watch the show I find myself thinking about what it would be like to be a contestant.  Would I be able to steady my nerves and keep it together.  I think it would be a really surreal experience, and that I would be shocked if anyone actually turned their chair around and said they wanted me.  I cannot even imagine what it would be like to have super successful musicians like Blake Shelton or Adam Levine turn around and fight to have me on their team.  Let's be honest, I would probably cry and say things like crazypants.  :)

Slow and Steady

So I've decided to finally get serious about losing weight and getting healthier and more in shape.  I know I've said this a million times before, but this time I really want to do it.  A few weeks ago I started using this website, sparkpeople.com, which is kind of like weight watchers only free.  When I signed up it got all my info and calculated how many calories I should be eating per day (a range), as well as carbs, fat, and protein.  I enter what I eat and drink and it tells me the nutrition facts and how much I have left to eat to be within the range for the day.  There is also a fitness tracker to keep track of my cardio and strength stuff each day, and a weight tracker.  I weigh myself every wednesday and take measurements once a month.  I've been using spark people and working out for 3 weeks now, and really like it.  And I've already seen results!!  I have learned that I definitely need something like this to help me keep on track of things.  It has been really helpful to be able to really see how much everything is worth, and how much I can really eat in a way.  This has made me more conscious of what I'm eating, and want to not miss workouts. 

I also stole the jar idea off pinterest, so I have two little mason jars with stones in them, one for the pounds to go and one for pounds lost.  It's really nice to have another visual, and it feels good to get to move stones over.  Also, Craig and I figured out what would be rewards for every 15 pounds I lose, and when I should get there by.  I wrote those down and posted them on one of my corkboards so I can see them and look forward to the rewards!  I really want to do this the healthy way, so my goal is to lose 2 pounds per week.  Slow and steady wins the race.  :)