Time to bite the bullet...

..and the dreaded day has arrived...

I have come to that daily fight with the scale where I don't want to admit the sad truth that it is telling me.... Not that I need the scale to tell me what my ill-fitting (or non-fitting) pants have already let me know...

Something needs to change....

I don't like to say I'm going to diet...and being in medical school I know that dieting isn't the solution...Lifestyle change to a healthier way is what needs to happen.. More veggies, more fish, less red meat, less Coke Zero ( I know how will i EVER survive?!?!?!) and more (GASP) exercising!!!  This isn't just about the weight, however, my weight isn't even that bad...just more than I am used to... What is more important is that we have been learning about the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle...and its not a bright future I have currently.. changing things now will lead to a better future.

Now the food changes will be hard, but since my husband perfers to eat healthy..I know he will be helpful. The harder part is going to be the exercising...It's not that I don't like to exercise (which I don't), but I really have a hard time finding the time!

My day:
Wake up...Dog has to be to daycare at 7 (No earlier)..class starts at 8:15...class ends around noon...and then I study/ have afternoon class till I pick the dog up..Come home cook, clean, study...   I just need to find a place in my routine for the exercise (and maybe a pedicure...haha)

Any Advice??

My New Motto!!! (Found at Pintrest)

Here's to fitting in my "skinny" Jeans
<3 A

Getting back to it....with food

So..I know its been a while..and I promise to do better but being a newly wed and a second year medical student has been a bit overwhelming....

I have been trying to hard to learn diseases, drugs, immune system function, and ethics while still providing the husband with food and clean laundry. He too has been busy with school...learning the teeth and ...well whatever else he is learning to be a dentist!! (lol...Don't tell him I said that!)...

Life has taken over ...but I think we finally have gotten a routine down...

Dinner- switch every night who cooks it... (yes ladies..I hooked a man who can cook and isn't afraid to), Laundry is mine, trash is his, I deal with kitty litter, he feeds the animals in the morning....Dishes is our only point of contention because we both hate them.  But all in all it works well...

Anywho I want to share with you a reciepe that I cooked the other night that was totally fabulous and totally easy (i.e. I had a lot of studying to do!) The husband loved it and I hope you do too!

Veal Parm

What you need:

Veal Cutlets (thin sliced or flatten with a meat mallet)

eggs

breadcrumbs

a tomato based sauce

cheese (mozzarella or your choice..white cheese is best)

salt 

pepper

basil

onion powder

garlic powder

pasta (like angel hair pasta)

What to do:

Take your cutlets and dip them in your egg (make sure the egg yolks are broken and that there is an even consistancy).. then cover them in the breadcrumbs (this is best if you have the breadcrumbs on a plate and dip them in them...use your hands to make sure they are completely covered...the more breadcrumbs you get on there the crispier your veal will be).

Add salt and pepper to your cutlets to your liking

fry in a skillet on medium heat (in oil..preferentially olive oil).. for approximentally 4 minutes per side.

In a baking dish that is greased add your sauce, salt, pepper, basil, onion powder, and garlic powder to taste... when the cutlets are done frying add those to this mixture...make sure to spread them evenly throughout the pan. 

Add cheese on top of the cutlets and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes (or until cheese is completely melted)

serve with pasta of your choice!

Hope you enjoy!

Here's to the busy life!
<3 A

The Wedding of the Century...well at least from my Point of View!!

I married my best friend on June 4th! 

      It was the most wonderful day, I couldn't have asked for anything to go better than it did! The weather was perfect, the ceremony went flawlessly (well except for my dad stepping on my train..but that was actually pretty funny)...and the reception was a blast. It was great to see friends I had not seen for a while, and of course amazing to get married!

I wish I could share this day with everyone...but the best I can do is share some of the photos...These photos show some of the finished products of the DIY projects I have blogged about before as well as some pictures from the wedding!! I was also lucky enough to have a photographer friend....and she did a trash the dress session for me..FREE of Charge!!..and It turned out AWESOME!!

My wedding was truly the happiest day of my life! I hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Cake Description Chalkboard I Painted

The Test Tube wedding Favors

Quilt Table for my "wishes quilt"

One of the squares from my quilt!!

Bouquet Charm I ordered off ETSY..the husband had a matching one on his boutonniere!

the wedding!!

the Ring pillow my mother made!!

Ribbon Wands!

Personalized Embroidered Koozies my mother made!! -I painted the boxes!1

Pinwheels for the kids

the Pinwheel garden displays!

Birdcage card holder I painted and decorated (banner from ETSY)

Trash the Dress Session!!

My Happily Ever After!!

So here's to my together-forever kinda love!
<3 A

Summer approaches...planning begins!

Right now, as I start this blog, it is officially less than 3 days till my summer vacation begins....

Summer.

Image from we <3 it

SUMMER...such a wonderful word!! such a wonderful time!!

    This will be my last summer... One last Ho-Rah before adulthood officially starts and summer becomes just another season where I'm in school or work... that is until little ones come along (Far, Far in the future)..at which time it becomes a time where you pay someone/have family entertain your child why you are still working...and maybe a trip or two throughout the season...for the kids of course...

But for now...Summer is freedom! Summer is sun! Summer is friends! Summer is....ahhhh!!  

ME! (A few summers ago....)

     My fiance' is in school this summer though, getting his anatomy on....(he gets next summer off while I have the boards and start rounds)...so I am trying to determine my summer plans... the Wedding is of course summer plan number one... but post wedding (with no honeymoon in sight because of said summer school for the future dentist....) its going to be my little adventure...

   Disney with the girlfriends is on the list!! I love Disney, I love roller-coasters, I love everything about amusement parks.....well except the prices..but hey...its my LAST SUMMER.. Oh..and we are making a stop at Harry Potter World... We grew up with Harry Potter, showing my age here..but I was eight when I started reading Harry Potter...and as a twenty three year old...I still love it!! Driving with my girls, crashing in cheap hotels, eating food that's bad for you... What a dream! (The only bad thing is now...thanks to medical school, every time I eat anything bad for me I think about the path its taking and what reactions are going on in my body to turn this delicious morsel into more fat stored in those ever so lovely spots my body has chosen......)

But...back to the plan...

   The beach, regularly, is on the agenda as well....probably with my girlfriends!!! Going out dancing, reading books, drinking margaritas, sleeping in, trips to the dog park with Tungsten, o the things I will do!! 

  Visiting my family.... and his....playing with our niece...who is absolutely adorable. I feel like I have missed soo much with her this year because I have been stuck in the library my head in a book ... O the things I will do!!

   But alas, summer is not all for fun... I will spend the better part of the weekdays of July (after the fourth of course)..working in a rural health clinic..further my education and bettering my resume for residency....not to mention helping people.....

 But hey I still get most of May, all of June, some of July, and most of August FREE...so I am NOT complaining...

Here's to SUMMER,

to the salt in your hair, the sand on your feet,  the drink in your hand, and the sun on your skin.....

<3 A

Unique Wedding Favors...My Style!__ Another DIY project

  What does every bride want...

• A beautiful dress
• The perfect groom
• Great food
• To have a good time

and the list could go on... but if you look to the root of it all..

Every bride wants their day to be special, and to reflect the relationship they share with their betrothed

So, this brings me to my upcoming wedding. I, like every other bride, looked for cute options to make my day SPECIAL! I have talked about various things before that I have done to accomplish this; such as wedding wands, a card cage, and a pinwheel garden.

But this idea was actually the first one I thought of only weeks after we were engaged...so about 18 months ago...

Now backstory... I am a first year medical student and graduated from college last year with a degree in biology. My fiance' is starting dental school in June (2 days AFTER the wedding), and also graduated from college last year with a degree in biology (yeah...that's how we met!!)....
point being....we are big science nerds...but the cool kind!?!?!

So.. My FANTABULOUS wedding favor idea..... TEST TUBES!!!

I know what you thinking...how can test tubes fit into any wedding...unless you are having it in a laboratory... and though I do LOVE SCIENCE...I am not having my wedding in a lab...

So My Idea....
Order Test Tubes
Order Cork Stoppers
Order NERDS (the candy....because test tubes are nerdy...and we are too...cheesy I know!!!!!)
Order custom labels that are the wedding color with our names, date, and location of wedding.
and Get bows to put on top of cork somehow....

and that's what we did...

We Got the Nerds

We got 500 test tubes (I would go with plastic...the glass ones kept breaking when putting together..._)

We found bows to go on the top!

We started on em...

and they started coming together.....

My mother and her friends may have put the nerds in them....while drinking wine of course!!

I found baskets and of course put the "Wedding Ribbon" on them

And Chris' best friend help me design these labels!!

 

 

 

Test Tube project complete!!

I am beyond happy with my wedding favors, and I know my guests will say ... "That's soo Chris and Alex"..... Well that and the coozies they are getting!! Anywho..I am just glad that I am able to bring some personality into my wedding and just CANNOT wait!!

27 days and counting!

Here's to being yourself!!
<3 A