Y’all, this was an AWESOME week. I was able to go on long walks, enjoy time with my family and new niece, catch up on blogging, apply to jobs, and scout out places to live when we move here. It was such a productive yet relaxing week, and I can’t wait to talk about it!
Monday
Kyle and I were up around 5AM to get him ready for his first day of school! We drank coffee and talked about all his feelings about starting school. He’s super nervous but also really excited. I’m just proud 🙂
After Kyle left, Chance and I headed out for a walk around 7AM. Their neighborhood is connected to a ton of other neighborhoods and is an awesome place to walk. We did 3 miles before we knew it 🙂 Every time I start going on long walks, I remember again how they’re my favorite form of exercise.
Once we got home, my sister and niece were still sleeping so I worked on my Start Today journal before heading back downstairs to hang out. Writing out my dreams and what I’m thankful for every day is such a mood shifter. I instantly go into the day knowing I can accomplish anything and with a positive mindset. Grab yours here!
I made my greens and had my verb bar for breakfast. We restarted The Office and just hung out for a few hours. It was so awesome. I got a ton of posts started for the blog and organized my planner for the month.
We ordered teryaki chicken from a hibachi place close to the house to be doordashed for lunch. IT WAS AMAZING! I need to start making meals like this at home again because I can load them with veggies and have leftovers. Especially with Kyle having all online classes this semester, he’s going to need lunches to get him through his studies.
My sister was so excited to show me this book that she just bought for meal planning, AND I AM OBSESSED. I talked about it a little bit in my Dreams for 2020 post, but I’ll explain it again because I am that excited. The author is a nutritionist who saw there was a lack of easy to prep meals for the week that people would actually enjoy and not get sick off so she made this book. It has a total of 27 weeks that include a grocery list, meal prep instructions, and recipes. Prepping all of the food you’ll need for three meals (plus 2 bonus meals each week if you want them) takes less than two hours. You don’t put all of the ingredients together until it’s time to eat the meal so it still tastes fresh. Plus the ingredients are healthy, inexpensive, and can be bought at any grocery store. I’ll be getting most of it at Aldi! We’ve already ordered it and are going to use it on weeks we don’t get a Hello Fresh box.
Cassie made us cappuccinos after we were done cooking. It hit the spot and was perfect for the afternoon. We are saving to buy ourselves the same cappuccino machine and milk frother that they have. We loved having it all week!
For dinner, we had one of the meals that we had prepped. It was zucchini noodles with ground beef, mushrooms, and onions on top and rice on the side. It doesn’t look like much, but the recipe made a ton and was sooooooo good. We ate at the table and talked to Kyle about his first day which went super well! We headed downstairs to watch more of The Office before heading to bed.
Tuesday
OMG. I woke up with one of the worst migraines I had had in a longggg time. Thankfully I had two of my shots with me so Kyle gave me one. I usually take the same medicine in pill form, but I couldn’t keep anything down. That’s why I save the shots for times like this. It worked super fast, and I drifted off to sleep for a little while longer. The shots make me more tired than the pills do for some reason. I felt so much better when I woke up, and Kyle was already off to school.
Chance stayed in our room with me the whole time like always. He seems to always know when I’m feeling bad and is a great therapy dog. Note the white comforter that is going to need a deep clean after we leave. 😀
It was a little later when we headed out today so the sun was bright, and it was above 50 degrees. We did another 3 mile walk through the neighborhoods.
Once we got home, I took a hot shower, used a face mask, and took my rebalance. I really do see a difference in my mood and energy when I take this! It especially helps balance me out during my period. You can find it here if you want to try it out. Rae has a ton of special supplements, and I ordered two others to try. I’ll let you know how they are!
Cassie and baby Joy headed to her parents for a few hours because her brother was in town as well. I made a cappuccino with almond milk before heading downstairs to watch Pretty Little Liars The Perfectionists and work on a few things.
I started my Dreams for 2020 post that went out on Thursday. This was super fun to write and makes me even more motivated to take this year head on. I ate my Verb bar while drinking my cappuccino.
I continued to work for a couple more hours and had my greens and pita chips with hummus for a snack. I am currently applying to work from home RN jobs to start before we move to Tennessee. I am ready for a change and have a great chance now to try something new! I haven’t heard much back from places yet, but I am still praying something works out!
I heated up my leftovers from yesterday for lunch. Still delicious!
Cassie ended up staying at her parents for a while, and Daniel headed there for dinner once he got off work. They invited us to come over when Kyle got home, but we decided to order food and just hang out for the evening. Kyle had a few things to work on before school the next day, and I just wanted to spend some time with him. (He is always down to do anything my family invites us to so I have to be observant to see if he has too much going on. He’ll never say no if he thinks I really want to go.)
We ordered food from Oscar’s Tacos and watched Jack Ryan. We got food from this place when we were here at Thanksgiving, and it was AMAZING. We were so excited to have it while we were here again. 🙂 We shared fajitas and chips and queso.
We snuggled up on the couch for the rest of the night.
Wednesday
Kyle and I were up early again. We had coffee and watched Jack Ryan before he had to leave. Then I switched to PLL when he left 🙂
Then Chance and I headed out for another 3 mile walk! Seriously has been a great way to start my day, and I am definitely going to incorporate more walks into my fitness routine at home.
I had another verb bar after I showered and settled on the couch. These were the perfect thing to pack and have while on vacation.
I worked for a couple hours and cuddled the baby before making a snack plate for lunch. Turkey sticks, pita chips, hummus, and carrots!
Cassie and Joy headed to her parents’ house for a couple of hours so I made a cappuccino and continued to work on my blog and apply to jobs. I loved having all this time off to catch up on some ideas.
I put on real clothes for the first time all week for us to go to dinner.. My mom bought me this little cropped, green sweater for Christmas, and I love it!
Daniel and Cassie’s car got hit in the parking garage when they were delivering their baby so they had a giant rental car this week. It was great for us to have so we could all ride together with all the baby stuff this week, but we are not used to such a huge car. I sat in the back and felt so far away from everybody else. 😀
Daniel and Cassie are always raving about Toot’s so that’s where we headed for dinner. The food was AMAZING!! We ordered fried pickles for an appetizer, and I had chicken fingers tossed in honey BBQ sauce, onion sticks, and a side salad. We were rolling out of there when we were finished.
Once we got home, we put our comfy clothes back on and watched The Office while playing with the baby. Best way to end every night in my opinion.
Thursday
Kyle’s last day of orientation!! We were up around 5AM to have coffee together before he headed out.
Chance and I went out for our 3 mile walk around 7. It is so crazy to me that we’re only 5 hours away from home, but it’s at least 30 degrees warmer.
After I got cleaned up, I got a bowl of pita chips and hummus as a snack. Then I worked on a blog about planning a wedding (coming next week!) and applying to jobs.
Cassie and I had our leftovers from Toot’s a few hours later before we headed out to do some shopping! It was just as good the second time around.
We picked up some iced coffees before heading to the store. Mine had three shots of espresso and coconut milk.
We shopped until we DROPPED. We first went to Bargain Hunt which was AWESOME! It was a huge store filled with discounted items that were overstocked or returned items from other stores. Cassie found a huge box of unopened diapers in the size/brand she uses for like half the price. Then I found a blender bottle for Kyle, a dress for one of the weddings we have this year, and two Columbia quarter zips. Then we headed to The Avenue, an outdoor shopping center. We went to Aerie, American Eagle, Altar’d State, and Palmetto Moon. We both found so many goodies and everywhere had awesome sales! It was a successful few hours of shopping. Joy slept the whole time and was the perfect baby.
Once we got home, I showed Kyle everything we bought (he is very patient) and cooked dinner! This was one of the meals from that meal prep book I was talking about earlier. It took us about 5 minutes to put all the ingredients together and then it baked for 30 minutes. This meal had chicken, corn, peppers, onions, cheese, and bacon. It was so delicious and filling!
We spent the rest of the evening watching The Office and planning out our day for tomorrow. Kyle and I are going to check out a few suburbs around Nashville for us to potentially move to this Spring. So crazy!
Friday
We slept in a little today, but I was still up around 7. I tried to let Kyle sleep, but he was up pretty soon after me as well. Our internal alarms are strong. I made a cappuccino and ate my verb bar. We were planning on leaving after 9 because someone was supposed to be dropping off Daniel and Cassie’s new treadmill. and we didn’t want her to be there alone. But this is the second time they didn’t show up! We already had to reschedule it because they didn’t come when they were supposed to yesterday. So frustrating!
Anyways, my brother rescheduled the delivery AGAIN for a different day so we headed out to grab coffee and drive around! I had the same thing as yesterday, an iced coffee with coconut milk and 3 shots of espresso.
Hahaha yes I still have the same cravings even in a different state full of new food options. We were starving by the time we got home- driving around and trying to find where you want to live for the next 3+ years is exhausting 😀
My other brother, sister in law, niece, and nephew came over since it was our last night in Tennessee, and we all spent the evening together. These are truly my favorite times, and I can’t WAIT for it to be our norm once we move. BIG NEWS- my oldest brother and sister in law are having a baby!! She is due in July, and they’re having a girl! They waited to tell all of us in person, and it was the best! I left my phone upstairs while they were over so I could just live in the moment and not miss a thing. We had tons of food from Oscar’s Tacos and had an awesome night.
Saturday
We can’t leave TN without going to Donut Country first. While Daniel, Cassie, and Joy were still sleeping, we snuck out to get donuts and sausage croissants for breakfast. SO GOOD.
We lose an hour on the way home so we headed out at 11 to go home. I was so sad to leave, but I love being able to say that the next time we go to TN, we’ll be moving!
We drove for about 2 hours before stopping to get some food and let Chance walk around. It was raining allllll day which was super relaxing to ride in the car to but not fun to walk around in. Thankfully it wasn’t stormy so it wasn’t too bad to drive in for Kyle.
We had about 2.5 hours left when we stopped for coffee! This time I got it with almondmilk instead of coconutmilk, and I liked it even more.
I am one of those people who have to unpack as soon as they get home so we did that, put a load of laundry in, and ordered Qdoba for dinner. We watched a movie called The Colony before heading to bed. It was another zombie movie, but I surprisingly didn’t hate it. (I’m not usually a fan of zombie stuff).
I miss my family, but I am glad to be home and to sleep in my own bed. 🙂
Sunday
For the past few nights, I have been having super vivid dreams and wake up feeling super unrested. I hate that! I tried to sleep in, but that was not happening. I finally got out of bed around 7 to work on this recap and go on a few errands.
I had my greens and verb bar while the coffee was brewing. I slacked on my greens this week so I’m getting back on track now! They seriously make such a difference in how I feel.
I picked up a nitro cold brew with almondmilk before I headed to give plasma. I like regular cold brew coffee better, but this was good too! I think I would like it better if there was ice in it.
It literally took me so long to donate plasma today. They lost my file, they couldn’t get my blood pressure (it was fine), and stuff like that just kept happening. But I finally got it done and then headed to my parents to pick up our mail that they collected for us while we were in Nashville.
I felt so blah today. I think it was just after traveling and trying to get back to my normal schedule that screwed me up. I took a long shower, folded some laundry, and we ordered pizza (square cut of course) for dinner. I kept working on a few other blog posts and job applications while Kyle worked on one of his classes. Then we headed to bed early!
I hope you all had an awesome weekend and are ready for the week. 🙂
Questions for you!
- What is one goal you have for 2020?
- Tell me one thing you’re excited for this week!
- What book did you just finish? I’m looking for a new one!
What a busy week, Miriam! Can you believe you will be moving soon? Did you find any great rentals? Any good finds? Any funny horror stories? I love that you are so down to earth and will eat fast food … I feel like so many bloggers act as if they NEVER eat fast food and I don’t think its realistic to believe that people don’t hit up wendy’s, mcdonalds, or dq on occassion! 😉
I can’t believe it at all! It doesn’t feel real yet, but I’m sure it’ll hit me soon! We found some great areas with multiple rental houses that seemed right up our alley. We’re going to start applying/reaching out in a few weeks. Thankfully my brothers are there so they can go tour them for us and make sure they’re as good in person as they are online! And thank you!! That means so much because my whole goal on here is to show my health journey in an honest and open way. I truly believe that as long as we fuel our bodies with what it needs, it’s truly okay to eat fast food, desserts, snack foods, etc. sometimes too!