meal plan monday: oct 8.

this weekend was perfect. it was one of those weekends where everything aligns just-so and you are blessed with back-to-back days that are productive and fun and exciting and relaxing and just all around delightful.

baseball was watched. two weeks of laundry got done. projects were finished. laughter and silliness were plentiful. floors were tiled. dinner dates were gone on. musicals were attended! and i promise, there will be detailed posts about ALL of these things later in the week! (except for maybe the laundry, i think that ones pretty self explanatory)

self-portrait in the theater lobby

but all good things must come to an end, and here we are at the beginning of a brand new week. there is work to be done and meals to be planned and tons of potential for the awesomeness of the weekend to continue through the week!

Monday: zuchinni, black bean, and rice skillet.
Tuesday: turkey burgers.
Wednesday: grilled chicken on spinach salad.
Thursday: crock pot butternut squash soup. (recipe)
Friday: tilapia with a veggie.
Saturday: Amber's wedding!
Sunday: veggie omelets.

thing of the week.

last week, mark had to get the oil changed in his car, and he came home from the dealership with a new love. no, not a new car and not a new 'weekend girlfriend'... maybe you should just watch the video because i dont think i have any words to adequately describe this...

ok, so dont tell me we're the only people who think this is absolutely hilarious. Mark spent several HOURS watching this show in the dealership waiting room, and said it was so hard to sit there and stifle his laughter. so of course when he came home he found clips on youtube so he could share the funny with me and laugh as hard as he wanted.

animals. talking. in british accents. you're welcome.

two.

can you believe its been two whole years since i married this hunk?  

i hardly can. when i try to think about it, my brain usually follows one of two trains of thought: either 1) wow, two whole years! thats forever! can you even remember not being married?! or 2) well, we're still learning and trying to figure this all out. after all, we've only been married for two years. its like time has done that weird scrunching thing it does sometimes when an event can somehow seem forever ago but not that long ago all at the same time. does that make any sense at all?

i guess its like this: when i look back over the last two years, i am kind of amazed and impressed at where we were then, and how we have changed as we have navigated through adventures and projects and decisions and plans. but even so, there are some changes that i still have a little bit of trouble with. the most embarrasing? i am still not used to signing my new last name. am i even allowed to call it my "new" last name at this point?

i had my old signature down to a science. it was the perfect blend of speed, aesthetics, and illegibility. i spent years perfecting that capital H followed by the non-descript scribble that upon closer inspection  miraculously incorporated all the right bumps to represent all the right letters.

but getting married changed all that. my "new" last name broke up the smooth flow of my signature, forcing me to slow down and think hard about the mechanics of forming these foreign, tall letters, leaving me frustrated with the elementary, non-cohesive look of the final product. and when i didnt take that time to slow down, that pesky new last name got even worse: it wound up looking less like the last name of my husband, which i willingly and lovingly assumed as my own, and more like a four-letter expletive. awesome.

i've gotten used to a number of things in the past two years of being married (living with a boy, fighting fair, cooking for two, etc) so why can i not get a handle on something as simple, not to mention important, as my own last name?

happy SECOND anniversary, Mark. i love you and i love sharing your last name (and maybe eventually i'll get used to signing it as my own) (hows that for romance?)

operation knock-down drag-out: week 5.

three alternate titles for this week's bathroom update, in order of descreasing levels of restraint:

- DIY: two steps forward, one step back.
- its so pretty, i'm gonna DIE!
- squeeeeeeeeeeilovepaintsomuchaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!

so. i dont know if  you were able to figure it out in the midst of all the squealing, but the big news for this week is that there's paint on the walls!

Mark finished up the last little bit of prep on friday night - sanding all the spackle spots on the walls. he likes to sand with one hand and hold the shop vac with the other hand, to cut down on the amount of dust flying freely through the air. it really does keep the dust pretty well contained, which is nice considering there's currently not a door on the room to keep the rest of the house dust-free.

and then: paint! Mark had time to get a coat of white on the trim around the door, and one coat of color cut in around the ceiling and corners of the room before bedtime on friday.

looks white in the can...

looks AWESOME on the walls!

i kept sneaking back into the bathroom while mark was painting, just to sit on the edge of the tub, watch the paint go up on the walls, and involuntarily squeal every now and then. this picture pretty much shows how my face looked the whole time: crazy and excited.

on Saturday, the plan was for Mark to put a second coat on the trim, finish cutting in all the corners and around the door, and then spend the afternoon/evening at the O's game, and he would trust me to roll on the first coat of color.

but plans changed, the cutting in didnt take as long as we thought it might, and Mark got to do the rolling too before the game, which is probably a good thing, since i probably would have made quite a mess jumping up and down with a roller full of paint.

once the first coat of blue was on the wall, we noticed that there were a few spots that were in need of some spackle touch-ups. womp womp. so now we have to go BACK to the spackle-and-sand step before we can put a second coat of paint on the walls and then move onto the floors. but even with some fresh spackle over the paint, the bathroom is SO MUCH BRIGHTER now than it was before, and i love it so hard. 

but dont you think that mark was the only one working on the bathroom around here this weekend, because i started a new project on sunday afternoon (instead of finishing the three others i have going already...i'm starting to think i have some serious project ADD...) i used four different power tools, turned into a saw-dusty mess, and made some good progress on building some shelves for the bathroom, all while wearing a dress!

Mark offered to help me at one point, but i am determined that this will be my project from start to finish, so i politely declined. (ok maybe it was more like "NO. this is MY project. i'mma do it MYSELF" but thats pretty much the same, right?) if all goes as planned, the shelves are going to look pretty much like this when they are done:

source

i think this bathroom has potential to be our most satisfying house project to date. i can't wait to see it all put together.

trips to Home Depot: this week - 0. total - 8.
trips to Ace: this week - 0. total - 2.
trips to Lowes: this week - 0. total - 2.

times Amanda has cried over this project: this week - 0. total - 1.
times Amanda has cried in Home Depot: this week - 0. total - 0.

days until Thanksgiving: 58.

meal plan monday: oct 1.

its october, and part of me is still mourning the passing of summer. and yet, i'm excited about october and all it brings: my anniversary, the hubs' birthday, halloween costumes, pumpkin flavored everything, and surprisingly this year i'm even excited about post-season baseball. here's hoping it lives up to the hype.

source via Pinterest

Monday: veggie omeletes.
Tuesday: crock pot beef burgundy. (recipe)
Wednesday: tilapia with corn.
Thursday: crock pot chicken noodle soup. (recipe)
Friday: turkey burgers.
Saturday: zuchinni, black bean, rice skillet. (recipe)
Sunday: leftovers.

dear universe, take 2.

ok, so i was totally kidding about that whole 'we are fighting' thing yesterday, and i take it all back. you are a much more worthy adversary than i could have ever imagined, with access to weapons more subtle than lightning, and methods more devious than simple birthday parties to play with my emotions, break me down, and make me desperately crave chocolate. touche, universe. touche indeed. you win. no more fighting, mmk?

love always, Mando.

note to self: save yourself some stress, embarrasment, and tears - always check ALL your mirrors when backing out of the driveway.  you, your husband, and both your cars will appreciate it.

*note:  Mark's car is actually fine, even though i did hit it.  Sophie unfortunately picked up a dented fender and some extra silver paint, but 'tis merely a flesh wound. no people were hurt in the making of this blog post. just my feelings.

dear universe.

you knew that mark and i were starting a certain-dvd-based-excercise-program-that-shall-remain-nameless-because-i-said-i-wouldnt-mention-it-for-a-while and its coordinating meal plan. some may even go so far as to call it a diet. you knew that this meant that i was swearing off the sweet stuff for a while. you knew that this would be hard for me, the girl who has been known to snack indiscriminately on anything from skittles to oreos to jellybeans to nutella-covered-marshmallows and anything inbetween.

i decided this would be good for me. i told myself i could do it.

but seriously universe?! what gives? i decide to stop eating sugar and sweets and treats, and you go and reward my health-conscious choices with not one, but FOUR parties in a week!??  thats just cruel. do you even know the pain it has caused me to turn down ice cream cake, toffee bars, bridal shower cake, chocolate chip cookies (twice!), brownie cookies, chocolate chunk brownies, pumpkin roll, AND ultimate chocolate birthday cake? all in the past 5 days!!?!

we are fighting. (but not really please dont strike me dead with lightning)

love always, Mando