Getting Rolling

It's been a week since I last post. Granted, I am not the most regular blogger. But, still, a week is a long time.

I have a good excuse, though. I have not stopped moving. In a week.

It's been exhausting, exciting, and emotional. Full of fun stuff, work stuff, and school stuff. Wow, things are really starting to get rolling for the school year!

Here are some highlights. Sorry for the photo dump. Yea, not really:

Val came to visit!!! My biffle from college. 

We went to dinner where I did something I never do. Ordered pasta. Major fear food there, but it was delicious! Then, I got made fun of for being vegan. Enter butter face with sausage eyes. Thanks, friends.

I ran 7 miles!!! I know, right!? Incredible. I totally surprised myself, but I had 7 in my head, and I did it. felt awesome.

Val and I hit up some of our fave food spots. Starbucks for breakfast after my run (brought my own protein oats), Panera for lunch, and, of course, Mexican for dinner.

Then, a little too much fun with some black light putt-putt.

Saturday, I took a quick trip to Athens for one last hoorah before the school year begins. It was a crazy night, but totally worth the pain the next day. Good times with good food and meeting up with some old friends. Couldn't ask for a better night.

I made some "I'm Too Poor to go Grocery Shopping, Clean Out the Fridge" vegetable soup. I'll put up a lesson plan for that one in a few days. It was a life save this week!

After all of that, most excitingly, staff meetings and professional development has started for the year!
Starting on Monday with meetings, then a staff retreat at the beautiful park below, and culminating in new teacher orientation on Thursday and Friday.

So far, I have to say I am completely in love with my school district. The people are one big amazing family who are all so happy to be working there. I am so excited and feel so blessed to be part of this team, and I can't wait for school to actually start!

Here's to the beginning of something great!
~ Rach

Mini Vacay

This weekend past Wednesday and Thursday, I took my first mini-trip of the summer. Big elaborate vacations are a thing of the past, and I am stretching my money this summer by taking 2 little trips to see friends from college.

This first was to the exciting city of Cleveland. I know, very exotic.

It was a blast, though!

Wednesday... CEDAR POINT!!

hearty breakfast and road sustenance

There it is! I hadn't been there for maybe 10 years!

Ash (our host) and Erin

excuse the super shiny, in line shot. the crew: Erin, me, Allie, and Ash

dinner was at Applebee's. Yes, that is Chipotle, which I brought in to Applebee's. Classy. Note to self, Applebee's is about as vegan-friendly as a hog roast.

 Thursday... Great Lakes Brewery!!! This one had been on my list for a while.

Allie and Ash ready for some amazing brews!

So glad Val could join us!!!

 Naturally, we started out with a flight. Had to sample all the offerings, and they were all mighty tasty.

 We split an order of the pretzels...

 And I ordered their vegan burger (yes, that's what it was called on the menu), minus the bun, add pub fries and extra pickle. Heaven on a plate.

Cheers! I went with "rye of the tiger". Delicious!

Overall, it was an amazing couple of days, and pretty cost effective since we were staying at Ashley's house. I am so glad I could not only knock a couple Ohio sites off my bucket list, but see some ladies that I hadn't seen since graduation. I can only hope that we do this kind of thing pretty regularly. Gotta stay connected!!

Here's to enjoying the summer... while it's still around!
~ Rach

WIAW Spring Break!

It's that time again, folks! Everyone's favorite blog party!

Thanks again to Jenn for hosting! I don't know what my Wednesdays would be like without her!

Last week, I was in Hilton Head with my besties. Although they did mostly communal meals, I decided to pack/take care of my own food so that they wouldn't have to make any alterations or special efforts for me. As I explained, it was harder than I expected. Still, I managed to get in some pretty good, veggie-filled, micro-cooked meals. Here's what I managed to document.

 Breakfasts look like this. Obviously, I toted my entire stash of oats withe me. Enjoyed in the morning sun on the back deck.

 Beach snacks/lunches look mostly like this: fruit, carrots, luna bars (they got all gooey and melty on the beach. even better). And tons of peanut butter sandwiches. Too many. I may be PB'ed out. Yea, right.

 Dinners were of the steamed veggie variety. With a frozen veggie burger. Mixed into black bean soup. On top of a sweet potato (it's under there, I promise).

 We had to hit up the classic Salty Dog, and it was here that I had the absolute best meal of the trip. Their homemade black bean burger (smothered in hot sauce and mustard, obviously) with a side of fruit and extra pickles. So satisfying. MMmmmm.

 The one coffee I had over the whole week. It was heaven.

And, of course, afternoon cocktails from the Frosty Frog shared with my roomie-love Allie.

Quick post, but I'm exhausted. I had my first day of Student Teaching today! Recap to come later.

Here's to getting in those greens!
~ Rach

Back to Reality

Well, Senior-year Spring Break has come to a close. I have done the 10 hour car ride to Hilton Head, lived it up for 8 amazing days, and just got home after the 10 hours back to Athens. 

By some miracle, this trip went amazingly smoothly. With 10 kids, all with strong personalities, all packed into the same house, we were all able to work together, compromise, and basically keep everyone happy. It was a blast!

As with all group trips, there were some minor bumps in the road, but we moved past them. It ended up being a fantastic time, and I am so happy to say that I have grown closer to some already great friends!

Cue the recap! We'll start with the highlights:

Maj-oh beach time!

I'm not generally a beach lover (too much mess for me), but I really enjoyed hanging out with all my friends. I got some good tan time, and I even braved the water... for a few minutes.

 Great Food!

Among other places, we went to the Salty Dog Cafe where I had the best meal of the trip. I'll do an entirely food-dedicated post later.

Hunger Games!

The four of us who had read the books went to the midnight showing. I'm not going to lie, I didn't love the movie, but it was a great time.

Along with the highlights, there are always low points. 

For me personally, it wasn't even about the little bouts of drama that came up. I can easily let that stuff roll off my shoulders and get over it. My biggest struggle was the lack of control I felt the whole week. I was out of my normal environment and schedule, eating differently than I like to, and not exercising. I tried really hard to not let my disordered thoughts take over too much. I wanted to really enjoy this trip since I knew it would be one of the last times all of my friends would have the opportunity to do this together.

But, the disordered thoughts were there to rear their ugly heads. There were definitely times where I was disappointed in myself for my lack of self-control and all of the over indulgence. Believe me, there was a lot of indulgence. From food to booze. My confidence in my bathing suit was on a steady decline throughout the whole trip, and this morning when I woke up, I hated the way I looked in the mirror. I definitely gained a few lbs this week. I know it's not just in my head this time because my jean shorts don't really fit me after this week, and with the bloating and digestive issues I have been dealing with all day, my body is obviously unhappy with me.

I also know that just one week of being back on my regular work out schedule, staying away from the alcohol, and eating clean, I'll be back to where I was. I am trying to focus on that, and not think about punishing myself for this week of craziness.

It's incredibly hard, though. I really am disappointed in myself for allowing myself to do all of this (I know I shouldn't be, but I just can't really seem to help that.). At the same time, too, I am envious of my girlfriends who seem to be able to eat whatever, run around in their bikinis, drink anything, and not stay up at night panicking about the damage they don't feel that they are doing to their bodies. 

There is always a silver lining, or a rainbow after a storm (a good omen, as my crazy host mom would say). This is an opportunity to learn from myself. Learn how to bounce back after this and get back to feeling my best- without punishing myself with over-restriction. That is the goal this week as I begin my adventure into student teaching: get back to feeling like myself again- the happy me who isn't consumed with regret for my consumption.

Here's to moving on in a healthy way.
~ Rach

Doing it Right

As I mentioned, yesterday was insanely busy.

But, I managed to get through it, and even have a little fun.

I think I went about things the right way. There was no way I was squeezing in a workout, and that's ok. Going to see my professor was way more beneficial and necessary. I also made sure that I ate well. Like really well. I created 3 scrumptious meals and had several snacks, too! I feel like I am finally starting to learn my body and listen to what it is asking for, and obviously, that all makes a difference on how I felt physically all day (and even today), improved my focus on that bogus math project, and kept me going. All day -and night- long.

Here's a look at it all:

You already saw my breakfast... on top of the infamous math project.

 Lunch was some microwave cooking at it's finest:

In the green mix: rainbow slaw and tofu steamed in the microondas, quinoa, spinach (mixed in to the hot stuff so it got a all wilty), avocado. All topped with some amazing chipotle salsa I got at the farmer's market a while back.

 A mid-afternoon snack:

A granny smith (I love sour apples!) sprinkled with cinnamon, accompanied by some almond butter. Picture taken halfway through, naturally, because who remembers to take pictures of something this delicious?

  And dinner:

Quinoa next to a stir fry that included cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, tofu, Bragg's liquid aminos, and lots of sriracha. I promise, the green stuff was in there, but I ate that first- before the pic- I always pick through and eat the green stuff first. Wish I knew why...

After my final meeting, dessert was in order:

Again, chocolate oats but better this time: 1/4 c oats cooked with 1/4 c vanilla soy milk and 1/4 water, two squares of uber dark chocolate swirled it. Mmmmm sooooo goooood!

 Because I had been so productive all day long, I had time to go grab a "chill beer" with my roommate at one of our favorite spots, Casa Nueva.

This beer was mighty tasty! So good, in fact that I had a couple. It's from Rivertown Brewery Company, a company from my hometown, and it was the perfect mix of flavorful while still being refreshing and light.  Casa Nueva is just the perfect atmosphere to hang out with my favorite girl, enjoy a good brew, and just chat.

 I think I deserve a pat on the back for Thursday. Productivity? Check. Good food? Done. Quality girl time? Finito. I need to make more days like this for myself!

This pic is actually from today, but I thought it just needed to be shared:

Yep, I actually wore that color combination to the gym. Like some sort of heinous, fluorescent rainbow vomited all over me. Sorry, I'm not sorry. I loved it! Definitely got a few comments from my friends at the gym, and my math professor told me I looked like springtime! Hey, I'll take it.

Here's to choosing to make everyday as great as yesterday was!
~ Rach