Make it through the whole month of November and only post once?!  I suck!!  Chris and I moved on Nov. 7, and life has been a blur since then.  Where has the time gone?  I’m totally reeling that today is December 1st. 

You’ll have to bear with me… I don’t have my camera cord at work, nor can I plug the card into the CPU, so all you get it text, people!  I’ve taken some great pics of food here and there, but for the most part I haven’t eaten well and haven’t exercised in like forever.  I’m having some issues with body image b/c of how the bod is looking these days, and the fact that I now have like 10 large mirrors around the house.  Handy for getting dressed, not handy for freaky critical ladies like me to evaluate the bod!

On a great note, Chris, Lily, and I love the new house   Our move sucked b/c of the torrential rain that day, but the process went just fine (and we managed to avoid killing each other )  We hosted Thanksgiving at our house, and when all was said and done we were quite proud to invite our families into our home and serve them a wonderful holiday meal.  I was in charge of the following dishes:

• turkey
• mushroom dressing (vegan)
• mushroom gravy (vegan)
• mashed potatoes (vegetarian)
• root vegetable gratin (vegetarian)
• green bean casserole (vegetarian)
• pumpkin pie

Leading up to Thanksgiving I was torn over whether or not to eat turkey/non-veg items.  Poultry is my veg weakness it seems, and that bird was talking to me all afternoon while I roasted it.   I had a small piece of white meat, but otherwise my meal was vegetarian.  I should have just made mashed or roasted sweet potatoes, as my gratin just wasn’t quite right.  Okay, but odd–garlic and nutmeg in the same dish?  Okay, Gourmet, I trusted you but am not convinced. 

I was such a proud little domestic goddess in the week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I planned the menu meticulously, created a Turkey Day Timeline for prep and cooking, and then went and got the flu   Gah!  Thankfully I had picked up the turkey the Friday before T-Day, but I was illin’ when I intended to do my fresh food shopping on Tuesday.  By the time I got to the store Wednesday there were no green beans, no Brussels sprouts, hardly any parsnips, no white, cremini, or dried porcini mushrooms, and like 10 sweet potatoes to choose from.  Gah!  I ended up nixing my Brussels sprout dish (boo!!), went with frozen green beans, subbed in mini mushrooms and mixed dried, and all turned out okay. 

After Thanksgiving Chris and I enjoyed a nice relaxing weekend at home.  Our new neighborhood has lots of walking paths, and butts up to two schools.  We take Lily for walks, and play ball with her at the school, and so far she’s loving the new neighborhood, too   I wish it weren’t getting dark so early so we could walk more after work…summer, where did you go!?!

It has been so beautiful here in Portland this fall–lots of sun, and not much rain (but for that week we moved!!).  The tree outside my office has lost its leaves, so now my office gets more light and I have a bigger view.  I love the crisp fall days, the remaining colorful leaves, and the beautiful sunsets.  I’m totally in need of getting my holiday baking on!!!  I almost make cookies this weekend…. I’ve got a leaf-shaped cookie cutter begging to be used

As you may have noticed I’ve all but abandoned the blogosphere   Not intentionally, but because I’ve had so many things distracting me, I’ve not had internet access at home (and probably won’t), and I’ve honestly felt a little guilty.  Because I don’t eat as well, am not working out, etc., I feel bad in a way.  Since I can’t share my triumphs and glories of fitness and food I’m not as jazzed about blogging.  I kind of feel like I’ve let y’all down a little cuz I’m not as inspirational as I was   Nameen?

Oh, dude, I almost forgot…. I hit my one year blogiversary in early November!  I think it was the 7th…  Can’t believe it has been one year, and that I’ve made so much progress in that timeframe.  I know, I know,  was just ranting about letting you (me?) down, but in reality I do feel proud that I shed nearly 30 lbs. and got my ass in better shape by working hard, eating well, and using the blogging community for support, inspiration, and resources. 

Enough of this novel!  Words without pics are boring, no?  Thanks for reading, bloggies!  I’ve missed you and hope to reconnect more soon!  Hope you all had a fabu Thanksgiving and are excited for the holidays!!!!!!!!!!!

Check this out! More bad news about BPA:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33836605/ns/health-mens_health/

Check out the new goods at the house!

That’s right, new thrones!  Toto Aquia III dual flush, to be exact.  But that heinous toilet seat has got to go.  The plumber used an off brand seat, and as you can see it hangs over the edge and isn’t quite the same white.  I’m so picky about toilet seats, not even joking.  It should look like this:

My pimp throne

Bet you love the fact that we kept the heinous vinyl underneath the throne.  The budget blew up, we threw the idea of new vinyl out, and ended up going over budget anyway   Boo.

Here’s the living room.  Yes, that’s a vintage Oreck upright in there.  Thing is a sucking beast!!!  We inherited that, and a big Eureka (behind it).  I think I may keep the Oreck.  We moved all that stuff today so the carpet can go in tomorrow. 

And the kitchen….not quite finished, but almost there.  LOVE LOVE LOVE the new stuff—sink, faucet, instant hot/cold, cooktop, and counters.

A few weeks ago I finally took my giant stash of non-curbside recyclable plastics to a local depot, Far West Fibers.  So easy to drop it off!!  They only request that you separate plastic film from rigid plastics.  Done and done!  BTW, the backseat was also crammed full.  Now I just need to take in the styrofoam…  I collect these items from our personal use and from our office; this stash had been piling since almost the beginning of the year.  Hooray for diverting crap from the landfill and recycling instead!

The other day Chris and I saw this while driving. Rope holding the license plate holding the bumper up with bungee cords.  Why didn’t I think of that?

Today we picked up a sweet new treat at Costco.  Jordan knows what I’m talking ’bout.  We’ll share next week once the place is set up.  Tomorrow we start seriously packing.  Like, get more than 8 boxes packed.  In fact, I kind of hope we only have like 8 boxes left to pack after all is said and done.  Wish me luck!

As far as food goes, here were the day’s eats:

Breakfast—Kashi Go Lean mixed with crack (Pumpkin Flax granola), raisins, cinnamon, and almond milk. 

Lunch—leftover pizza from last night: kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, parm.

Snacks—cheese samples at Costco: Bandon cheddar, Jarlsberg Swiss, Kerrygold Irish cheddar, and cambozola of some sort. 

Dinner—Grilled cheese with fries (!) 

Quite a cheesy, carby day.  Um, I guess there was a semblance of veggies in there somewhere