Month: September 2023

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Happy Anniversary To Us: Love letter to my husband.

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Happy Anniversary to us! 

Twenty-six years ago today, I took the greatest chance of my life, followed my heart, and exchanged vows with the love of my life, Bryan. Then, the next day, I moved from everything I had known from Chicago, Il to Austin, Texas. 

I was young, albeit mature. I was already striving to be a better version of myself every day, but you inspired me to be even better. I wasn't 100% sure at 24 years old, but look at us. 

This is no fairy tale or romance novel. It's REAL, pure, unadulterated LOVE.

We've been on this roller coaster ride of life together for 26 years, and despite any and every thing that has come our way, we've stuck together. 

LIFE-ING is not easy. Marriage is not easy, but we are intertwined so intricately, nothing else makes sense without you and me. Together, we are a beautiful force.

You've done nothing but love and devote yourself to me for 26 years.  I've respected, loved, and devoted myself to you. I thank God for blessing us with each other. 

Cheers to 26 years, and here's to forever!🥂

Our wedding invitation is still so cute!

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Food Chronicles: Snacks

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This is an interesting time in my life. I’ve reintroduced some dairy back into my meals. I avoided dairy for almost 2 years. Here’s the thing: I’m in post menopause and am navigating living with multiple sclerosis. After my hysterectomy in January 2022, I steadily gained weight to the tune of about 16 pounds. It finally seemed to stabilize a year later (January 2023), and now I’m back to losing real pounds.

I’m paying attention to my body’s needs….fueling myself with a variety of foods and protein is my focus. I’ve also been seeing a nutritionist since May. I still do eat lots of plants and some meat.

For dairy, I reintroduced a specific kind of yogurt (greek or skyr) and dare I say it…COTTAGE CHEESE. These are the only two dairy options I eat, except for the occasional paremesen cheese. I never liked cottage cheese, but this is the most of it I’ve eaten in my life. It’s growing on me. My main motivation is the high protein content.

With that, here are some photos of snacks I’ve prepared (some I’ve eaten as meals). Most of these are parfaits, and I love them because they’re filling and taste like a special treat.

Plain skyr yogurt, fresh strawberries, peanuts, cinnamon, and a small drizzle of maple syrup
I blended the cottage cheese with some banana so the texture could be more palatable. And topped with cinnamon, banana slices, pecans, and a sprinkle of maple syrup
Sauteed glazed peaches with pecans atop yogurt.
Blended cottage cheese with bananas, hemp seeds, cinnamon, spicy peanuts, and a drizzle of maple syrup
Preparing my cottage cheese parfait. It’s taken me about 3 months to get used to the texture as is (without having to blend it).
My pantry is stocked with a variety of nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, peanuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, and pecans.
Grapes, strawberries, boiled egg
Homemade herbalicious hummus with pita bread
Homemade mango chia pudding. YUMMY!

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Food Chronicles: Breakfast

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted my delectable creations, so this is the post to break my dry spell. My focus since hitting menopause and navigating multiple sclerosis is to focus on nutrition, increase protein, and eat within a small calorie deficit.

If you peruse my blog on the “Food” menu, you’ll notice that I post many plant based and even vegan meals. I love vegan cooking, but it’s not sustainable for me considering my nutritional needs at this point in my life. I do still eat lots of plants.

Working from home, I love that I can quickly prepare a meal. I also love variety and tend to have a well stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer. It feels indulgent to prepare what I want and make it look pretty. Eating and preparing nutritious meals is me taking care of myself.

Here are some recent photos of the BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS I’ve enjoyed recently. I’m getting hungry just looking at these.

I hope this inspires you to prepare something special and nutritious for yourself on a regular basis.

Scrambled egg, pan-fried potatoes, avocado, and tomato
Egg scramble with broccoli and other veggies with a slice of my homemade banana bread.
Egg muffins with lots of veggies.
These egg muffins are a great meal prep idea for Sunday to take you through the week.
My husband, Bryan, made me this beautiful breakfast of bacon, eggs, and a hashbrown with broccoli sprouts. I added the avocado and black grapes.
Egg scramble with lots of veggies and bacon. I use whatever veggies I have on hand.
Breakfast sausages, boiled egg, baked sweet potato, and avocado
2 easy over eggs and tomatoes, 1 with a hashbrown. Yes, everything gets seasoned!
Bacon with egg in a hole. So so good!
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Daily Prompt V.50 – Life lessons

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Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.

There are so many lessons I wish I would have learned earlier in life. As I look at my fourth grade self in the cover photo, I feel nothing but compassion. Fast forward to my late teens and early twenties, and I wish I had known that I was enough and worthy, as is. It would have spared me years of self-doubt.

With all I’ve been through, I’ve demonstrated immense resilience. I appreciate all the lessons, though some were painful and left me with bruises. Every now and then, the bruises remind me of how far I’ve come.

Who’s ever thought about how fearless they would be with fifty plus year old wisdom at twenty years old?

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Daily Prompt V.49 – Welcome to my home

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What does your ideal home look like?

Fortunately, I’m living in my ideal home and have been for about two and a half years. It’s been a while since I provided a home update since moving to our small town outside of Austin, Texas.

It was important for this home to be a place of retreat, beautiful, comfortable, and easy to maintain as we transition to the next phase of our lives…empty nesters.

I’ve blogged about the experience of building (not us but the builders) and being in the home in posts such as Home stretch of our new construction build, Good bones: The kitchen, and Bloganuary Day 20: What irritates me about my home?

Here are some very recent photos of some of my favorite spaces. I’ll need to post a Part Deux and Trois because there is more.

My home is my sanctuary. It reflects me with my love for plants, artwork, and countless photos of loved ones taken by me.

Open concept kitchen, single story. View from living room. My love of plants is apparent.
View from hallway to the living room. Those couches in this photo and on the cover are blue leather.
View of kitchen from the back door. It’s a little cluttered and that’s ok.
View from dining area & peek into the main bedroom. A little clutter means we’re living well in our home.
Back door: My sister bought me the lovely wooden floral plaque from Hawaii. My brother painted the joyful men dancing. And I had to give a nod to our little kitty, Cannoli, with a cat doing yoga on the painting. You can see on the door frame where Cannoli has been stratching it up.
I managed to surround myself with plants in the office.
View from doorway. My plants have grown so much. I love them.
Panoramic office view. There are 3 large bay windows I love not all seen.
Back patio. The yard is huge…couldn’t get it all in.
Front yard decorated for my daughter’s graduation in May.

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Daily Prompt V.48 – Why blog?

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Why do you blog?

I blog because I want to outwardly express the inner work I’m going through to be the best version of myself. Blogging is my outlet for fulfilling a multitude of purposes: to help, to inspire, to share, to care for myself, to process, to think, to engage, and to create….and to maintain a bit of privacy in the process.

That’s it!

LPC 9/3/2023