Lent is a time for.... not eating meat.

So do to my Catholic upbringing, I am writing about LENT.  Yes ladies and gents, Lent starts tomorrow... My lovely boss talked me into giving up bread with her, and by bread she means, so pastas, no bread (obviously), bagels, sandwiches, pie crusts... basically anything flaky, AND starting tomorrow (you do it on Ash Wednesday too...) can't eat meat on Fridays or Ash Wednesday.  I had ice cream tonight because I'm going to try cutting out some sweets as well... we'll see how long this lasts...  won't be fun.  BUT! That's what its about! Doing something to change you into a better person, and doing something challenging.  So if you don't drink soda very often already DON'T GIVE UP SODA! give up something else, give up alcohol or something.

Anyway!  I've been scouring the internet trying to find different recipes for making lunches for work.  One can only eat salad so many times in a row.  I can make wraps using lettuce and various dip type foods (tuna or chicken salad with cucumbers and other vegetables, I haven't actually come up with any besides that yet...)  I see myself eating a large amount of fruit... and salad.  I am open to any suggestions!  I promised pictures last week., so thus I give you alot of pictures... Sorry.

To start:

My boss was going to throw out all these blue berries and strawberries or have the clients eat them... I in turn went, "can't we just blend them up?"  SO I DID!  We used blueberries, strawberries, 3 bananas and ice, and made 3 pitchers full of smoothie.  My clients love this stuff, I don't suggest making it ahead of time though unless you plan on making it like water ice or something because it gets jelled slightly if you leave it sitting out because the juice separates from the rest of it so...

 My sister and my mother are big into baking.  Below is the cupcake my big sister made me on Sunday, just because it was Sunday and she felt like making cupcakes...  Obviously she got creative...

This is the "Jelly Roll" my mother made for my dads birthday last week.  Its angel food cake (from a box...) home made whipped cream, and strawberries.  You can apparently make Angel food cake in a pan... or a muffin or cupcake tin... so my mother did it in a cookie sheet.  Then she coated it in powdered sugar, and it had to sit like that in a towel or something for awhile, THEN she filled the whole thing with the whipped cream and the strawberries, rolled it up covered it in powdered sugar again and wrapped it in a towel (coated in powdered sugar) and let it sit.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!  I don't know how many calories it was, but it was good...

I forget why my mother made this cupcake... but it was good as well.  I got dirty looks from my clients.  This was eaten awhile ago.

Whilst making my first batch of smoothies I found a raspberry that looked like a heart.  I loved it.

Time for smoothies!!

Chocolate Strawberry-raspberry smoothie.

1. 1 cup strawberries
2. 1 cup raspberries
3. 1 cup yogurt
4. 1 scoop protein powder
5. teaspoon of agave nectar

Makes like 3 smoothies at 1 cup each.  I usually put ice in them in the morning and shake it again.  Makes it foamy, I love it.  :)

THEN! I went to the grocery store with my other and got mixed frozen fruit (I LOVE THIS by itself, so in a smoothie? OMG)

Mixed Fruit Smoothie

1. 2 cups of Dole frozen mixed fruit.
2. 1 cup of greek yogurt (I use plain, but I say taste is taste, so whatever you want to eat is good, just check the calories and stuff first!)
3. teaspoon or Agave nectar

 Blend it all up, DRINK!  Again, makes like 3 (I only drink about a cup, cup and a half each morning)

This was my lunch last week.  Salad, cucumbers, carrots, cheese!  I love cheese...

Another lunch day.  Cherry tomatoes, in a salad with cucumbers (I also love cumbers, luckily, my fiance does not, So i can eat his.  YES!)  And half a pita pocket with turkey, lettuce and mayonnaise. 

I do everything now by measurements.  If it says a serving size is 1 tablespoon, I get out a teaspoon and measure out a teaspoon... my tupperware has measurement marks on it, so I can measure without dirtying more stuff too!!  

NOW I go to find more foods to eat seeing as I can't eat break Until the end of March... it doesn't seem like a long time, but I LOVE bread, and I love things with breading... hopefully it will change how I eat and my obvious bread addiction... and expand my ability to make various foods.  We shall see!

Happy Knitting! Happy Life!

taxikab

Smoothies!

So remember how I said that I was going to drag myself out of bed last Monday at 5am and go to the gym?  Yea, never happened...  It was really cold here in PA and crazy winds blowing, and bad weather, so like I said, never happened...   Monday I just went, "nope... not doing it" and went back to bed.  Tuesday I realized it was the first time I had gotten 8 hours of sleep in FOREVER, so I went back to bed to continue to 8 hours.  Wednesday I woke up, not by alarm, but by the crazy wind outside my house...  Went back to sleep, woke up to the alarm and when I saw it was 20mph winds outside my house, I went, "hell no!" and went back to bed.  When I went to leave for work 2 hours later, I had to wait for the wind to die down a bit because I couldn't get the door open!  It was crazy.

Anyway, Although I did not exercise like at all this week... I did go to PT and got my butt kicked because they upped all my weights and changed my exercises around.  I also was using the treadmill at work with my clients and lifting small weights when I could at work.  So I say I got some exercise... not the amount I would LIKE but still some.

Made smoothies (thus the title) last week.  And again today.  My one blender of smoothie mixture makes about 3 smoothies.  I could technically make more than 3, but I like to change up my breakfasts so...  On Tuesday I had a salad with my lunch and one of these smoothies for breakfast, and went, "shoot, I'm probably eating a billion calories in this smoothie and don't even realize it..."  So I checked the calorie count for the items that I put in the smoothie

1. 2 cups Strawberries
2. 2 cups raspberries
3. one whole banana
4. 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
5. 1 cup of plain greek yogurt.
6. ice
7. little bit of water to smooth it out

my mother had me put Hersheys chocolate in it, but that just made it more bitter (i tried a little in one smoothie, didn't like it..)  So I added a pinch of sugar to each smoothie as I ate them (so like, a teaspoon total of sugar...).  This helped ALOT.  The yogurt, protein and banana all have that blah bitter taste... so the sugar brought out the natural sugar in the banana.

THIS TIME around I didn't use banana or the sugar.  I added a little agave nectar, and it tastes really sweet.  Searching for different recipes to make, because one can only have so much strawberry chocolate smoothies with yogurt and raspberries...

We buy fruit at work for my clients, and my boss said to me, "Cut up that fruit, and just give it out, its going to go bad..." and I look at the browning strawberries, not bad yet... and the blue berries in the bowl with it and went, "Why don't I make sorbet like last time?"  My guys are more inclined to eat something they think is a treat, rather than something they think is just food... So when I make Sorbet, they see, fruity water ice and often ask for seconds.  Nice way to sneak fruits and veggies to unwilling children too...  (easy recipe, take strawberries, and ice, stick in blender, blend, done, my guys at work LOVE IT)  So I gave a 3 clients each a banana and asked them to slice them up, and then had another client help me with cutting the strawberries.  A 5 client operated the blender for me.  We made smoothies/sorbet for EVERYONE.  Some people didn't want it, but it was reported that it was good!

So I weighed myself today, lost another 4 pounds, WHAT!?  yes, yes I did.  Heading to the gym after writing this post.  I need to "Build Muscle" more so than lose weight... that's the instructions from my Physical Therapist... I was also encouraged to try a fitness class, and if I was going to do this, I should try Tai Chi.  Whereupon I went, I DO THAT! (I was very excited).  I then had to stop myself and goes, "well, once a month...we have a woman who comes and does it with the clients, but some of my guys won't go if I don't... so I go too"

Basically, they are going to discharge me from PT (yay!) and save some appointments incase I need them for later.  My PT is making me an at home regimen to do, and I have been instructed to build up my muscle, and then the hypermobility website says people with HMS should pumped up the protein intake to build muscle... So we'll see how everything goes.  Pictures soon!  I was going to post them TODAY but I said, "oh I'll update my phone while I type this... shouldn't take too long..." then "an error has occurred" and it had to restore my phone to factory settings, (thank God I backed it up first...) and then I had to restore it from the backup stuff, and I'm STILL waiting...  I had some good pictures too...  Oh well

Happy Knitting! Happy life

Taxikab

Ps.  I even ate pizza this week and lost 4 pounds... WHAT?!

I could have been a contortionist...

So cold weather is probably the biggest pain when it comes to exercise... when I get up in the morning, I just want to stay in my warm little bed and sleep rather than get up (an hour earlier...) and go to the gym.  Thus why I haven't done it yet...
Currently I go to Physical Therapy, as I was complaining to my doctor that I was getting leg pains, knee pains, etc, and she suggested that I go to Physical Therapy on top of going to my chiropractor.  Chiropractor is saying that my backs doing alot better, and Physical therapy is doing a lot better.  ANYWAY! While at therapy the other day, my awesome therapist asked me, "Did I have you look up 'Hypermobility Syndrome' yet? Because I really think you fall into the criteria for it..."
Me: uhm... no...
Therapist: OH! you'll like it, the information is crazy!
Me: uhm... ok...

So I went home and googled and am going to get my Doctor to look into this as well.  Lucky me, I have a 7/9 score for one of the criteria because my arms and legs and pinkies all hyper-extend and I can touch the floor with my knees straight... basically, I could have been a contortionist in the circus... or a gymnast.  I was a diver, so I assume this whole extra flexbileness helped...

Why am I telling you all this?  WELL! funny you should ask that!  Part of Hypermobility syndrome is recurrent injuries and dislocation of limbs, as well as early onset osteoarthritis.  I don't want ANY of that... and their suggestion, "be fit".  So starting Monday, I am going to drag myself out of bed at 5am... (God help me...) and get my butt to the gym!  All information I look up about this Syndrome states that people with need to be "more physically fit than the average person".  So basically my more than 50 pounds overweight self, needs to lose all those 50+ pounds... and build up my muscles AND take in more protein.

I am going to keep putting things on here about knitting as well, because its what I do.... but I am going to focus on health and my wedding...

Finally applied to this job I've been waiting to post.  Fingers crossed I get it because its WAY closer to home than my current job and I need a new job... love my caseload at work, not in love with my moody lazy coworkers... and I have to work on a team...

Finally sent my engagement ring to be re-sized as well!  So 2 weeks with no ring... my finger feels naked without it, and its not a fun feeling.  I may have to just wear a ring on my finger until I get mine back...

This was a boring update...  I apologize.  My fiance tends to be more entertaining than me... but he also likes to start fights on facebook by posting questions to cause people to really think about the things they support and believe in... and it usually ends with like 5 people mad at him, and others making unsupported statements...

I am contemplating posting links to other blogs and pinterest posts about foods and healthy stuff.  When I'm not so scatter brained maybe I will... we'll see!

Happy Knitting!  Happy life!
taxikab

Today is the first day of the rest of my life...

So my fiance told me that the way to keep a new years resolution, is to make it something you will do everything, not "I will get fit" but "I will exercise 2 a week so I will become fit"  Last year I tried to update this blog once a week, with stuff about knitting, but I never had time with trying to do projects and working and such.

I figured if I wrote about it and had someone or something to answer to I would keep it, but that didn't help with the last one... so yea.

Today, I decided that 2013 was going to be the year of change for me.  I am planning a wedding for 2014, trying to lose some weight while planning said wedding, trying to get a new job that will pay more and be closer to home, AND try to find a house, while not losing my mind...

So far I've lost about 4 pounds, eating healthy doesn't mean never eating what you like!  It means don't go to Panera every morning and get a breakfast sandwich and quit putting whipped cream on your latte!  I eat fruits, veggies, oatmeal, I'm exercising a minimum of 10 minutes a day whether its just walking around or actually getting on a treadmill for like 15 minutes.  If I'm at work I'm lifting the tiny weights to work my arm muscles, me exercising and keeping healthy and motivated keeps the people I work with motivated to do it too!  That's not a joke, it really does...

Here goes nothing!

knitting is for old ladies...

... is a common thing I hear from people who see me knitting.  BUT! I found an article today that shows that knitting is actually becoming VERY popular in the US, specifically New York, and it is now traveling to other countries in its popularity.  I found this article in a German newspaper (it was on a knitting group on my facebook... I don't randomly search international newspapers for knitting articles...) and was like, "wow... a whole article about how knitting is awesome!

In other news, I finished one of my socks... I don't think i'm getting 12 projects done, and I'm slightly upset at myself, BUT I WILL TRY FOR 12! I'm ALMOST there!  We'll see how it goes.  Updates later.  I just had to share this knitting article with you guys.  If anyone wants to read it, click below!

German Article about knitting!

Also! So happy that Google translated it for me... it was slightly hard to read in English because the DIRECT translation is a little different than actual English... but whatever!

Happy Knitting!
taxikab

Hurricanes and yarn

So due to the fact that I live on the east coast, I was one of those lovely people who got to experience the Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy.  Thankfully I live just outside a major city and not in New Jersey... so I was not hit bad, we never lost power and we only had a rain gutter fall, my dad called it a Down Spout... no idea what that is, but I'm sure after Dylan and I have our own home I'll find out...

The wind was CRAZY!  My mother, sister and I were sitting in our living room watching television to pass the time and keep from getting cabin fever.  This worked slightly as we watched just about 3 hours of Long Island Medium.  I was going to bake cookies, but then my whole family informed me there was a high chance I would not have work again TODAY (which I don't! thanks to PennDot closing every major roadway I could possible use to get to work...and Septa shutting down til like noon today....)  So I will bake cookies for work later today, because I have a funny feeling we will have work tomorrow (seeing as we almost didn't close Monday....) and I will have to have these pumpkins ready for my clients... still need icing and ziplock bags...  I'm trusting them to decorate their own "Pumpkin" cookies.  I've been dying for a reason to use my Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter lol.

Yarn! I spent all day knitting while watching television.  I worked on my sock, my blanket and a scarf I forgot I was working on.  The scarf keeps getting tangled and I'm slightly angry at it for doing this.  I will try to work on it when not baking today.  I KNOW I won't have the blanket done by December, no way.  I will have to work on that every day for the next 2 months to do it... not going to happen.  I tried tho!  I may just make something little for my nephew to be the 12th project.  I did make him two blankets... so I'm good on the blanket category, lol.  I did NOT make a sweater for myself, I hate making sweaters, they never turn out right for me... I think I'm going to start a sweater when the Blanket is done and just have that be my 2013 project... see if I can actually do it.  Just a big comfy sweater to wear around my house, maybe brown or black or something.  I'll figure it out.

Was browsing Etsy the other day (I don't do that enough now that I've found Pinterest...) and I found THIS!

ITS A BEAN BAG CHAIR!  Seriously the things people come up with...

Heres the link to buy it if you feel you want to

Bear Bean Bag chair  Seriously, so cool...

I think I'm going to start browsing Etsy again for Wedding stuff.  I'm in love with some of the things people put on there for head pieces and veils.  I really love it.

House hunting... biggest pain in the ass I have every experienced.  No joke.  HGTV lied to me... they make it look fun and interesting, its not... its really not.  My sister told me if we were taking our time finding a house (we=Dylan and Me) then it would be more fun.  I disagree... I really think its annoying looking at house after house and awkward to go in peoples houses... AND! Every freaking house we LIKE! we can't get because its a damn short sale (don't have the time for it with our Grant) or it gets sold... ugh...

In other awesomeness.  As we all know, I'm an Artist type person.  I can't do math... I hate it... I could never be a doctor because I like the awesome parts of science, not the facts part.  I fiance informed me that he believes I am a smart individual.  I was like, 'WELL THANK YOU!'  I know I'm creative... but intellectual not so much...  I was then informed that he enjoys having intellectual conversations with me and if I don't understand something hes talking about, I calmly inform him of this, I don't go, "UGH! DYLAN! I don't know what youre talking about, nor do I care..."  This is totally me tooting my own horn here... because my fiance is a fountain of useless knowledge and very smart, where as I'm next him going, "I knitted you a sweater!  Look, is blue!" (I know the grammar is incorrect, that's the joke...)  Its fun to know my finace loves me for a brain as well as my knitting skills, lol.

All for now knitters!  Happy knitting!

taxikab

long over due

HI EVERYONE!  Life has been CRAZY since my last post, thus the lack of posting... LET ME UPDATE YOU

First and most important I have 11 projects started, and 8 done!  I have to finish the gloves, the socks and the blanket.  I also have to start either a sweater, or another hat for my nephew.  He enjoys my hats they keep his little adorable head warm.  I made him 2, and the second one ALREADY is too small... so I have promised my sister another one for him.  She then complained he has hoodies to wear, but no sweater, and she wants a little jacket for him without a hood.  I may find a like 12-24 months pattern and make him a sweater so that he can keep wearing it through winter.  Hes only like 2 months old, but hes a big baby already.  He's tall and growing fast, hes not a fat baby though, that has to be specified because I think my sister would be upset if I was telling people she had an overweight child... hes tall, NOT fat lol, tho of course he has little chipmunk cheeks like me :)   So like I said, we will see.  I'll probably make the hat because I need to finish the other 3 and I've only got 2 months left!

Second!  I GOT ENGAGED!  My awesome wonderful and handsome man Dylan proposed to me on September 22 2012, ironically on my friend Bobs birthday so I won't forget!  Love my ring, love my fiance.  I had been waiting for this to happen, because I knew it was coming, lol.  I'll do a picture post to update on everything later because I don't have a picture on my computer of the ring, just my phone.

What else has happened... OH! Dylan and I are trying to buy a house, I'm trying to lose weight for this wedding, and we're also trying to save money to pay for said wedding... going to be an interesting and frugal year 2013...

Been going on Pinterest ALOT again... this has resulted in Dylan telling me I should make the foods I see on pinterest for him... I went, "yea and I'll make it a blog like my knitting blog" and was very sarcastic about it... and he went, 'DO IT! We'll make a video blog! I'll tape you cooking for me, then I'll eat the food" 'and then you'll get fat...'  We'll see what happens.

I have choir soon.  Sister is bringing the baby to church to see the organist, who I love dearly and have known for like 15 years now... and she taught my sister and me piano and she has seen COUNTLESS pictures of the baby, but no actual BABY, lol.  SO my sisters going to try and bring him today.  See how it goes.

Going to knit today!  I need to get my stuff done before the end of the year.

Happy Knitting!!
taxikab