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

Weekend Wrap-Up 6/29-7/1

How is it July already!?

I guess it's time I start buckling down and writing my curriculum/year plans for this year. Ah! It's so real now!

But before all the serious stuff ensues, let's recap this weekend. I went home to mooch off the parents cable and internet spend some time with the fam. And, let me tell you, it was a fun-filled-family-fiesta!

Friday night:

 Yep, this happened. After dinner with the 'rents, my bro's GF and I saw Magic Mike. On opening day. In a theater full of screaming and whistling women, teenagers to post-menopausals, all oogling. How was it? Well, I already have plans to see it again later this week. It was Awesome! (by awesome I mean fun. This is by no means a work of film-making genius)


Saturday:

 Spent A Day in Pompeii at the Cincinnati Museum center with my dad. I think it had been maybe 10 years since the  last time I was there, and it was so fun! The exhibit was so interesting, and it was a great way to spend some time with the Pops. Here are some higlights:

 Sunday was a lazy day with both parental units. Starting with breakfast. Two courses of course:

Tofu scramble with zucchini, tomatoes, and basil.

Oats with cinnamon and come blueberries.

 After some hardware store shopping (more on that later), lunch at the adorable little coffee shop in my adorable little hometown. I started out with a salad that was covered in goat cheese, which I didn't even think to ask to have removed. This was passed to Pops. I also had lentil soup, which was traded for Mom's gazpacho after about 3 bites because she couldn't handle the heat of hers. I was so happy with the trade. Love me some fresh, zesty gazpacho. I think I might have to try this one at home.

 After getting my fill of cable before I went back to my cable-less abode chillin at home for a while, I headed back to my apartment. It was a great family weekend. Probably one of the best parts of my new location (apartment, job, etc) is that I am such good distance from home and it's ease- but not too easy- to hang out with the fam. Over the past several months, I have realized just how important they are in my life, and I plan on keeping a firm hold on those relationships. I am so lucky that they are so strong.

Until next time, here's to creating our own hapiness.
~Rach

Weekend Wrap Up 6/15-6/17

The funny thing about summer weekends is how they don't really feel like weekends at all. I go from having no schedule during the week to having no schedule on the weekend. Life's tough for a teacher on Summer Break!

The one difference is, now that I'm home with my parents for a few weeks, is that they are home. For my family, this is mostly great. Mostly.

Saturday was spent shopping for my first apartment (moving in 5 days!!!). I spent an obscene amount of money, and broke into tears twice. Luckily, my parents were there to put things into perspective for me. I will be fine. And when my job starts and the paychecks start rolling in August, I'll be more than fine.

Yea that was the total at Costco. Only the first stop. I think I had a conniption when the clerk said that. Biggest and Most exciting purchase: New TV. Look at that Baby! 

Saturday night, I tagged along with my parents as the went out to dinner with one of their couple friends- who just so happen to be my best friend's mom and her boyfriend. We hit up Aladinn's Eatery, which is actually a chain mediterranean restaurant. Fresh-made hummus and babaganoush? Talk about this vegan girl's dream.

We started with a bottle of whatever red wine was on special that night to split.  It was fine. I don't discriminate when it comes to wine. Especially when Mom and Dad are paying.

Next, we shared the vegetarian appetizer platter. Served with pita, and naturally, I requested hot sauce, which they make in house. Delicious. (not my photo)

Since I ate my body weight in pita, hummus, and baba, I opted for the spinach salad (minus the feta) as my entree. The dressing was a delightful lemon-herby vinaigrette. It was the perfect hot-as-hell summer meal.

Sunday, Father's Day, I was up at 5:30 for no reason, so I hit the gym before we headed out for a family breakfast. We kept with out every-holiday-that-involves-parents-including-their-birthdays tradition. My parents, broski, and his gf (who is family as far as we are concerned) met up at out favorite breakfast/brunch spot, First Watch. Not kidding, we go here for every occasion. So, we knew to get their early to beat the Dad's Day rush.

I got my usual: bowl of plain oatmeal to which I added half a scoop of vanilla Sun Warrior (more on my love affair with this stuff later) and some of their perfect coffee, and a bowl of fruit. The bro was the beneficiary of the entire banana that came on top of the oatmeal due to my banana- induced digestive issues.

All dad wanted to do on Father's Day was chill at home. By his definition "chill" means wash cars, do yard work, putz around in the basement. He is really incredible. For dinner, he had a simple request. Grill out. We grilled some delicious veggies, tilapia, and a beef skewer (the latter 2 for the 'rents). I whipped up a salad to go along with. All devoured on the back deck.

My plate: all the grilled veggies on top of the salad, hit with some hot sauce and balsamic (x2)

Dad's surn-n-turf plate. He was a happy camper.

I spent the rest of the evening curled up on the deck with Mr. Christian Grey. I am almost 200 pages into it, and I am still waiting to figure out all the hype. It's all a bit to "weird" for me, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, it was a pretty great, last weekend at my parents. The next one will be jam-packed with moving. Oy vey, not again.

Here we go!
~ Rach

One Great Weekend

After my amazing first week of student teaching, I couldn't have asked for a better, more relaxing weekend full of all of my favorite things.

Saturday morning, I treated myself to my first cup of coffee all week. I know, right!? I'm the 3-or-4-cups-a-day kind of girl usually. But, I can't do that during the week because I can only go to the bathroom during specific periods. Coffee runs right through me, and I can't be leaving the classroom every 40 min to hit the lou. Sorry for the TMI.

The Nectar of the Gods

 After my coffee and a leisurely oatmeal breakfast, my roommate and a couple other friends and I went grocery shopping. This is an all morning event. First, we hit up the amazing Athens Farmer's Market. It's the biggest one in Southeastern Ohio, and we always spend a good chunk of time there.

Here's a shot from the summer. Always a highlight of the weekend.

I picked up some kale, spinach, Gold Rush apples, and parsnips- a new to me veggie that I can't wait to try!. Then we headed to a couple other grocery stores to get the rest of the goodies we needed for the week. Grocery shopping always turns into an all-morning trip, but I'm not complaining. It's one of my favorite activities!

This is what the fridge looked like after we arranged our loot. Four girls share this fridge, but somehow we always manage to make everything fit. I have the bottom right drawer/ shelf. I know my stuff takes up the most room, but we seem to have figured out a system where everyone has enough space.

 I used up what salad stuff I had left from the week, and opened up some much-needed space in the fridge. The result was a delicious lunch.

Romaine (thy were out of spinach last week), carrots, celery, tomatoes, cukes, avocado, black beans. Topped with balsamic and italian seasoning. Always accompanied by some kosher dills and my Tervis Tumbler (new! and totally obsessed) full of agua.

And because even lunch needs desert, an apple with PB.

 I did some much-needed cleaning and headed to the gym for a great sweat sesh. It was one of those days where I zone out and all of a sudden 45 min are gone and I'm a sweaty mess! It was fantastic.

45 on the eliptical (the clock is counting down, so I actually took this near the beginning of my workout), 20 of core, and a good amount of stretching. Perfect gym day.

 One of my best friends, Val, was celebrating her 21st Saturday night, and I knew it was going to be a crazy one. So, I made sure to get a good dinner in before.

Plate of roasties- onions, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, asparagus, and tofu- this much x2. I followed it up with some PB oats for dessert.

 It was a great night that included these chocolate-covered strawberry jello shots. I didn't partake in the jello, but I may have picked the chocolate off of a few to nibble on.

It was a great, fun night. Sometimes nothing is better than a night on the town with great girlfriends! Today, I am looking forward to doing a little shopping uptown- need some new OU gear now that we made it to the sweet 16!- and going to my friend's Zumba class tonight. A perfect Sunday.

Next week, since I get a second Spring Break, will be spent writing lesson plans and experimenting in the kitchen. This quarter is shaping up to be a great one!

Here's to keeping the positive momentum going!
~ Rach

Weekend Wrap Up (2/4-2/5)

This weekend was kind of fantastic. Like really great. After the mediocrity that was this week, it was the perfect thing to pull me out of my midterm-week/time-of-the-month/senioritis-I-don't-want-to-do-any-school-work-at-all slump. That might have been TMI. Sorry I'm not sorry. You know exactly the feeling I'm talking about.

Cue the highlight reel:

After a movie night in with my roommate, Allie, Saturday morning started off perfectly with some oats with blackberries in an almost empty jar of PB. Mmmmm Mmmm!

My friend, Taylor and I hit up the Athens Farmers Market and luckily, the weather was pretty nice, so there was a pretty good showing. It was also great to hang out with Taylor again because we hadn't had time to catch in a while.

Delicious Gold Rush apples. Have you ever tried these? They are tart and sour and perfect. And some spicy chipotle salsa.

 Saturday afternoons my friend Brittany teaches Zumba at the rec, so I definitely hit that up this week. Then did 5 sweaty, delightful miles on the elliptical and was ready to go out with my girls for the night.

We went on a little roomie date to one of the coolest bar/restaurants in Athens, Casa Nueva. Always a fave. I'm sure I will be writing more about it soon to come. I indulged in some delicious brews. They always have good stuff on draft. Then, to accompany my beans, rice, 2salsas and lettuce bowl, I had to go with their house margarita. On the rocks, no salt. As always. Seriously, the perfect combo.

Extra spicy with their chipotle-hot salsa and salsa verde. Pairs perfectly with tequila. Just sayin'.

And now, Super Bowl Sunday!!! Yea, too bad I couldn't care less about the football game. But, my friends are all getting together at one house to watch the game and eat snacks and hang out, and I am all about that. My contribution: Boyer Beer Bread. Recipe courtesy of my ex's amazing mother. This lady knows her baked goods. 

Hot out of the oven. Disappointing picture. NOT disappointing bread.

 Boyer Beer Bread

• 3 cups self-rising flour (or 3 cups flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp salt) I used whole wheat because that is what I had
• 1/3 c sugar
• 12 oz. beer I used a can of Budweiser
• 3 tbs melted butter I used soy free Earth Balance

Mix everything but the butter in a bowl. Dump it in a greased loaf pan and top with melted butter. Bake at 350 for about 50 min. Doesn't get easier than that. And damn, it's good.
 

Even better with more melty Earth Balance

Even though I am not looking forward to all of the studying I have to do after the game tonight, I am so ready to start fresh this week. Bring it on! And LET'S GO.... wait. Who's even in this game tonight? Eh, who cares.

Happy Sunday!
- Rach

Daddy's Little Girl

After a busy week, an icy night, and a gray morning, I had the best pick me up on Saturday. This weekend was Dad's Weekend at my college, and my amazing Dad came to spend the day and night with me.

My university won the ranking of #1 Party School in the country this year (Google it. We are simultaneously proud and embarrassed by the ranking here), and the various parents' weekends throughout the year are no different. People go crazy, and there are wasted middle aged men wandering around all weekend.

Don't get me wrong, it's great fun, and it's really heartwarming to see everyone with their families. But, my family does things a little differently. My dad doesn't drink. At all. And my mom is far too small to drink more than one glass of wine before she is ready for bed. Bar-hopping isn't their scene, and I love when they visit because I get to do things around the town that I normally wouldn't. Plus, we get some great time in together after not seeing each other for a few weeks.

So, on Saturday, my dad got into town around noon. We had talked about driving bout an hour out of town to go hiking in the Hocking Hills, but Friday night we had a huge ice storm, and the whole area was coated in about half an inch of solid ice.

You think I'm kidding? No literally ice on everything!

For most people, this would have game-changing. Hiking in an ice storm? Understandably not for most people. Well, not for this girl and her dad. We bundled up and headed out for some slippery hiking at Old Man's Cave. The ice only made it more beautiful.

The falls behind me and Dad. You know you're jealous of my hat.

My Dad even decided it would be a good idea to take an extra mile of trails that were roped off due to "danger caused by falling ice". Yea that is my family. But it was awesome!

We got back into town and relaxed before heading to dinner at one of my favorite local spots, Lui Lui. It was totally packed! So, we were lucky that I called ahead and made reservations. Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of the food, but everything was lip-smacking. I had Hunan Tofu and Veggies with extra hot sauce on the side. Mmmmm.

Later, my friend, Chris did stand-up at open mic night at a local coffee shop. It was a blast, but there is something a little too uncomfortable about listening to raunchy college-guy jokes while sitting next to your father. Only more to laugh about, I guess!

The funny-man, himself. You can't tell, but his tshirt has sea turtles all over it. He was great!

Breaking from the OU parents' weekend traditions again, we didn't sleep in late, nursing hangovers. My dad and I were up at 7 to hit up some grocery shopping. He shares my love for food, and one of our favorite weekly activities when I am home is grocery shopping on Sunday mornings. We made sure to get that in while he was here for the weekend. Thanks, Dad, for feeding me for the next week!

We ended his visit with breakfast at his favorite local place. My treat.

Village Bakery and Café. I love their whole philosophy and their food is beyond delicious.

Again, I forgot to get a pic of the food, but I did manage to remember to snap a shot of our damage. Dad: smoked trout frittata with Parmesan polenta. Me: wheat toast and a side of fruit.

This Dad's weekend couldn't have been more perfect. I am definitely a Daddy's girl, and he is one of the few people in my life that I can say really gets me. It's so sad to think that this will be the last real Dad's weekend before I graduate! But, I guess once I am settled, we can have our own Dad's weekend any time we want.

Wishing you all a Happy Sunday, and a great start to the week!
Rach