Remembering Memorial Day

This is how I spent my holiday...

How did you spend your holiday?

Memorial Day

Hello Hello! I'm just stopping to wish everyone a wonderful last day to our long weekend. The positive side is although our weekend is coming to a close... we only have a 4 day workweek ahead of us!

I spent most of my day putting some of my plants outside along with some deck furniture. After doing that I decided to take the christmas lights down... yes, we still had them up. Apparently in Alaska you leave them up and on until the snow melts and the sun starts doing it's 24 hour thing. I was a bit put off by leaving them on until Memorial Day but our neighbors and other Alaskans reassured it's what you do up here. When in Rome...

I just wanted to write a quick check in and show you some recent snapshots..

last night's dinner: grilled organic cabbage + grilled organic white corn + black beans & water chestnuts

breakfast: Ezekiel toast + whites + avacado

bluebird sky

soaking in the rays

picnic lunch: organic romaine + organic carrots + chia seeds + edamame (next to the flowers a student gave me friday)

Well, I'm currently pressing tofu for tofu steaks tonight and trying to enjoy the holiday.

Some people have an actual TofuPress... I have a towel, pot, 4lbs of quinoa, and 5lbs of ww flour... you gotta work with what ya got.

**Some of you might have realized all of the comments have been deleted. I installed IntenseDebate to better facilitate commenting and discussions in the comment sections. **

What did you do this Memorial day? I hear the South if blazing right now with it's summer heat. My mom said it's almost getting unbearable. Remember to drink your water, ladies and gents and take breaks from the sun!

Summer Eats

Happy Saturday! Anyone else wake excited we still had another day to sleep in again this week?

Don't worry... I count sleeping in as 8a. I'm now to a point in my life that if I sleep passed 8a then it's wasting the day... even if I just end up drinking coffee on the couch and snuggling with the puppers all morning while the mister is at work.

how can you not love this face?

I'm hoping to go for a run today. It been slightly drizzling on and off the past 2 days but doesn't seem to want to commit to actually raining.

I've had some wonderful summer eats lately...

salads: organic spinach, organic tomatoes, organic carrots, white albacore tuna, sweet and spicy mustard

ice cold yogurt bowls: 0% Fage, crumbled PB Cookie Larabar, and cinnamon (I make it and then pop it in the freezer for 5 minutes to make it super cold and thick)

sandwiches: local wheat bread, havarti cheese, organic tomatoes, organic spinach

same sandwich as above... don't mess with perfection.

anything grilled: grilled organic eggplant, tuna, and grilled organic white corn (hers)

grilled organic white corn, grilled salmon patty sandwich (havarti cheese, organic avocado, mustard, mayo), and grilled organic eggplant (his)

green monsters at the radio station: mango, spinach, almond milk, soy protein powder, water, ice

Anyone else excited that grilling season is in full swing? You already know I am! Dinner is so easy when grilling!

What are you enjoying this summer where are? It's hitting the 60s out here and feels wonderful! I guess the mosquitoes think the same thing. Also the sun isn't setting until a around 11p and rising around 5a so it's always nice to have extra long days here.

Flashback Friday - Pillboxes Hike

Well, it's been 2 weeks since we've arrived back home from our little Hawaiian adventure and what better topic to make a "Flashback Friday" post?

We went to Oahu and stayed for 10 glorious days. We stayed at the Outrigger Reef on Waikiki Beach and decided to rent a car 8/10 days to get away from the touristy parts of the beach.

Outrigger Reef's Pool area

One of the trips in the car was to the area of Kailua Beach.. more specifically Lanikai Beach on Oahu's windward coast.

We took a couple of day trips to both beaches and decided to take a hike up to the Pillboxes. The Pillboxes are 2 cinder block structures that were built after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on top of two peaks in the Lanikai area. The strategic placement allowed for our armed forces to see any on coming vessels that might want to strike the coast again.

We set out for the hike and had no idea what views would be waiting for us.

The hike wasn't bad at all. It actually seemed more difficult to get down than climb up because of the steepness.

One of the steeper parts

Can you see me?

We arrived at the first and it was awesome. (windy but awesome.)

Sitting atop a Pillbox

There is an open entry way that you can climb down and actually go inside the Pillbox. Of course, we had to see what it was like inside.

The "entry way"

Apparently this was a great place for eating junk food and tagging.

Mokulua (The twin Islands) from inside one of the Pillboxes

When hiking, you realize how many trails there are in the area. We hung out at the first "Pillbox" for a few and decided to continue on to the other one.

The view of the first "Pillbox" from the second one.

It was so windy! Much harder than it looks.

After seeing both Pillboxes, we decided to wonder around some more trails.

Yeah, he's with me.

After a day of hiking and exploring I was ravenous...

This subway veggie didn't have a chance.

Random snapshot of the day:

Who the hell is buying a gallon of milk for $10.59?!?

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And that my friends, is my first installment of Flashback Friday! I'm itching for another travel adventure. The mister and I are looking into road trips around Alaska for the summer so it should be interesting.

What are the things you enjoy most about vacations?-- would you rather relax by the pool with a book or go hiking, kayaking, etc. (I'm both. I like long vacations so I have time to do both :) )

What is the most ridiculously overpriced item you've ever bought on vacation? (I honestly say I'm never paid more money for sunscreen until this trip... which all leftovers were quickly discarded by the TSA workers when we were flying home. ugh.)

Gotta work with what you got..

This week had been a bit tough... to say the least.

This week marks my preschoolers moving onto Kindergarten. It'll be bittersweet for sure.

I also had 2 interviews at 2 different schools for teaching positions next year. Happy thoughts!

Because of the craziness which is my current life, we were running a bit low in the groceries department. (Hints the earlier post for Easy Peasy Granola)

I came home and did not want to have to think about dinner especially with the lack of supplies. To my surprise I concocted a pretty delicious meal. A bit high in fat for my personal liking for everyday eats, it definitely did the trick and had leftovers for lunch.

Tuna Alfredo

~1-1.5 cups Peas (I bought mine at Costco frozen)

1 jar alfredo sauce (once again... costco. But I love Newman's Own)

2 cans tuna (I always use white albacore)

brown rice (I cook a lot and use for leftovers)

To Cook: Throw brown rice in rice cooker. Warm peas in a skillet. Once warm, add tuna and alfredo sauce and heat thoroughly.

Once your rice is cooked, top with alfredo sauce and enjoy!

I went back for seconds...

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Well, that was Monday and I desperately needed to go grocery shopping so Costco and Fred Myers was in the forecast for Tuesday.

Here is what I got...

Shared goods: bananas, ketchup (no hfcs), laughing cow, eggs, extra firm tofu, face moisturizer, toothpaste, kidney beans, peanut butter, toothbrushes, quinoa, tuna, spaghetti sauce, mustard

My goods: GoLean Crunch, Fage, Almond Breeze, Larabars, soy protein powder, Ezekiel bread, a brush (I left mine in Hawaii), and spinach

His Goods: wheat bread (That I just ate 2 slices of), mayo, harvarti cheese (ate that too), Chobani, whole milk, Cliff bars, Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Some recent eats...

Green Monster in the morning sun (next to our class hamster, Penelope-- she was given to our class already named.)

Whites, oats, and coffee w/ almond milk looking into the toddler room

blurry tofu, spaghetti sauce, and quinoa

An amazing summer dinner: wheat bread, mustard, tomatoes, spinach, harvarti cheese with cantaloupe chunks... flawless.

Anyone else on the job hunt? What is your go-to recipe when your lacking groceries? What's on your perfect sandwich?