Playing Catch Up: Memorial Day Weekend!

Whew! 

As it does for many people, Memorial Day weekend kicked off lots of fun stuff but the level of activity just never seemed to drop until this moment! 

The last two weeks has been full of lots of fun with my hubby & friends as well as lots of successful new creations in the kitchen (whoo hoo)! 

Last Saturday we attended the wedding of one of our great ministry friends- it was an outdoor/country/rustic type themed wedding and it was decorated with the theme to a tee. How unique is this guest book idea? 

Here's how  my hubby signed it for us; fyi: I am convinced more and more every day that I could never out love him- love simply pours out of him. 

I can't lie, now that I'm not afraid to literally show every part of my body other than my face, I actually enjoy opportunities to get all fancied up and wear dresses! I will say that I don't ever foresee myself feeling comfortable wearing a dress any shorter than just above the knee but other than that, losing weight has opened up a whole new world of clothes to me (I'll share more about this in a post soon to come). Check out me and the hubby in our fancy clothes :) 

Yep- in case you didn't know, I'm taller than him. I had always told myself (and him actually) that I would never date anyone under 6 foot; I'm sure that always gave God a good laugh. 

For Memorial Day D planned a bike trip for us! PA has plenty of amazing bike trails and biking is pretty much the one form of exercise that he and I both enjoy as he tends to lean more towards trying to enjoy exercise at a somewhat leisurely pace while I prefer to work my bum off with lots of intensity and get it over with. We ended up riding a total of 28 miles and stopped for lunch in between- it was a beautiful route and I'm so glad we went; however, our differences in exercising definitely still present somewhat of an issue as apparently I like to ride much faster than he does but I'm sure with a little bit of compromise, we'll be able to come up with something that's suitable for us both :) And while I may be the more intense rider, I'm definitely the lazy one when it comes to getting the bikes ready & loaded, hence me taking this picture from inside the truck resting haha- oh he's a patient man! 

As I mentioned earlier, I've also been experimenting with lots of new pinterest recipes and all but 1 have been a success! 

We might as well start with the failure: 

Almond Crusted Salmon w/ Roasted Asparagus

I should first say that the asparagus was DELICIOUS actually. D and I LOVE asparagus and eat it a lot and this was the first time we had thought to add some red onion and mushrooms to it (not to mention our regular fixins- lots of garlic, garlic powder, lemon juice & pepper). So while that was yummy, the salmon...not so much. I think the recipe had potential, it's just that I overcooked it and didn't add enough seasoning. Anyone have another salmon recipe I should try? I'm really trying to branch out from my usual meats (chicken & shrimp) and try something new and I've had and liked salmon before, but I'm okay with saying my first attempt, wasn't a winner. 

However, I've discovered lots of other good lunch options lately! 

Lunch Winner #1: Grilled Chicken Caprese Salad

This yumminess consisted of: baby romaine lettuce, tomatoes on the vine, Trader Joe's pre grilled balsamic chicken (sometimes I just don't feel like grilling it myself), sliced mozzarella & Ken's light balsamic dress)= 370 calories. This was flavorful and oh so delicious. Honestly I probably had more mozzarella on there then I needed to so you could easily cut the calories down a bit if you wanted. 

Lunch Winner #2: 

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps 

I followed this recipe that I saw on Pinterest. I ended up getting 6 servings out of this recipe of 3 lettuce wraps each. They were super flavorful and definitely satisfied my ever-occurring buffalo chicken craving! I decided to top these with some diced tomato and fat free feta cheese (which helped tame some of the spice!) I would definitely recommend trying these out! 

Lunch Winner #3: Shrimp Fiesta Bean Salad 

While this picture may be crap-tastic, this may have been the top winner (I am aware that title makes no sense). I used this recipe and let me tell you, the combination of cumin and lime juice...shut.the.front.door! I added some shrimp and scooped it up with a serving size (10) of Food Should Taste Good's Multi-Grain tortilla chips (which I love btw!) and this was one of the most delicious lunches ever- something I will definitely be making again and soon! This meal was approx 480 calories. 

But lunch wasn't the only winner last week, I even had a dinner winner (which seem to be a bit fewer and far between! lol) and while this may not have been the most creative or difficult culinary feat, it was a winner with me and D nonetheless: 

Dinner Winner: Brown Rice Mediterranean Pizza! 

This was literally SO freaking good! I sprayed a brown rice tortilla with pam, threw it in the oven (420 degrees) for 5 minutes, took it out and topped it with some marinara from TJ's, sauteed up some spinach and mushrooms, sliced some thin tomato and topped it with some fat free feta. This beauty of a dinner came in at 330 calories and while I could obviously tell the difference between this and real pizza, this more than satisfied my pizza craving and honestly, we prefer thin/crispy crust and this was exactly that! 

We finished out our crazy busy weekend with a beautiful day at the ballpark with D's parents and I fully enjoyed finally getting some sun!

 FYI- it's still randomly cold here in Pittsburgh (like in the 60's with a windchill of the 50's) and being that I'm constantly cold now that I've lost weight & am originally from the land of 100 degree temperatures, I'm ready for it to be summer for real! 

I think I've officially caught ya'll up on most of the life happenings over the past two weeks. I will say that I've really been facing some new and very tough challenges when it comes to this weight loss journey as of late and I'm still currently working through them and letting God teach me what He wants to through it. I will definitely be sharing in due time. In the meantime, if you think of it- keep me and this journey in your prayers. 

Oh and one last thing...

Quest bars are gross. Yes, that is $8 worth of protein bars in my trash can. Bleck!!!