Weekending XIV

Hello Monday…

I hope you all were able to enjoy your long holiday weekend with friends, family and outdoors. It was a gorgeous weekend here in Chicagoland and a 3 day weekend could not have come at a better time. Last week was a bit hectic and stressful with work so having 3 days to relax, enjoy & unwind was exactly what I needed.

So lets get right into this weeks weekending extravaganza! Linking up with Katie today & every Monday.

Friday Brent & I got up and headed straight to the DMV. After a successful trip at the social security office on Thursday I was equipped to head to the DMV to get a new ID, change the information on my title & registration. We waited for 20-30minutes before getting called up to get my license changed. After filing through that line we headed to a second line where I could change my title & registration. All parts were pretty easy, a little waiting but overall we were prepared with my whole life in documents so it didn’t take too long. When we went to pay for the title/registration I gave her my credit card, she asked for my ID so I gave her my new ID and she told me she couldnt accept my payment because my name was different on both documents. WHAT!!! I just changed my name that was the whole reason for us coming to the DMV!!! I freaked out for a minute but then said “I have my marriage license??” which she took and processed my payment with.

the line at the social security office on Thursday

Brent & I joked that I need to carry a copy of my marriage license in my wallet until all my credit cards change. That’s the next big bridge to cross!

After the DMV we headed to the gym for a quick chest lifting session. I have been doing barbell lifts with Brent then doing some different lifts when he goes to dumbbells as I was feeling pretty stagnant in my lifting routine. After doing incline & flat bench I did dumbbell presses & flyes on a stability ball to engage my core then some push up variations. It was a good burn workout and definitely felt good to start the day with a workout.

boat, beer, sun & friends… the perfect combination!

We then headed up to Wisconsin for a day with our friends Brian & Gina on the lake. Brian’s parents own a condo on the lake and have a pontoon boat so we cruised around the lake, chatted & enjoyed way to many delicious snacks along with a few drinks before stopping and jumping in for a quick swim. The boys braved the water first and after about an hour they got warm again and talked Gina & I in the lake. I was not super excited about the 74deg water temperature but once I got in the water really did feel good and super refreshing! After a while we headed back to the cottage and grilled up some dinner. It was the perfect day to relax and enjoy friends on the lake. Pure-perfection!

Saturday we got up and hit the gym for a Fourth of July back burn out workout. I love back days, its one of my favorite days in the gym and Saturday did not disappoint! After our sweat session we hit the showers and got ready for a fun Fourth of July day with some of rents friends from High School. Once showered we hit the road towards Brent’s home town.

AND a belated happy birthday to my girl Kasey!

Once we got to Chris’s house we relaxed a bit & chatted before Ryan & Kaley along with their 1year old Tinley made it to the house. We all chatted and caught up, it was nice to see the 3 of them again as they were all at our wedding! Brent & I had not met the babe so it was also great to get some baby time and play with their sweet girl. We then headed to Chris’s families 4th party where we relaxed, ate BBQ and played a few games of Cornhole.

picnic food at its finest!

Before long the sun had set and Chris’s family started to load up the trucks for their “famous” firework show. Chris, his dad & uncle all set off a pretty impressive display of fireworks in the back property of their country house. It was awesome to have watched such a personal firework show and while probably not as many fireworks as downtown Chicago it was an impressive display and nice to be right under them!

Have you guys tried this stuff? It tastes just like root beer. A fun twist during a hot summer day!

Sunday was a pretty typical recovery day… we drove back & hit the grocery store and grabbed lunch before doing our shopping. When we got home it was nap time then food prep, laundry & getting started on our wedding thank you cards. We had quite the loot of leftover beer from the weekend so Brent went to work on reorganizing the fridge to fit all the beer, organized by type, for easy access. I’m pretty sure we have enough beer for the rest of the summer so if anyone wants to come over and have a few the beer is on me!

Organization perfection!

Phew!! This week I am meeting up with a friend from college who is coming to the city for a conference and then we are heading to Michigan for the weekend & are doing a fun run with my family on Saturday.

Keep Calm & Love Monday

Oh Monday, why do you come so fast? I don’t know about you but I often find myself dreading Mondays.

Today I decided to focus on the good and rather than dreading going to work I wanted to share a story that made my day last week. It also made going to work a little more exciting the rest of the week.

Tuesday of last week my patient walked into the clinic looking a little blue. She said she was just very tired and had little energy or motivation. We worked through her exercises and took on new challenges and at the end of the treatment session I was doing my hands-on stretching/mobilization and exercises.

During this time my patients and I generally talk about anything and everything. From what they will be having for dinner, family events, life, and often exercise. Many of my patients tell me that they want to get back into a fitness routine and ask me where I workout and how.

Exercise was the topic of conversation on Tuesday. She asked me what I do and how I do it, along with my fitness journey. I started from the beginning {you can read this here} and then talked about how I now have found my path in fitness. I told her about some recent training goals {TBA} and after she asked I shared some recent progress pictures.

During my time talking to her I saw her facial expression change and her body become more energetic and joyful. We continued to talk about wedding plans, fitness goals, and life in general for a good 10-15 minutes after her treatment session had ended.

When she left the clinic she told my coworkers how much better she felt, how happy she was and how motivated she was to do something more. After she left my coworker turned to me and said “I don’t know what you did but she went from being really down and blue to being so incredibly happy… what a great job Allison!”

Days like this and moments like this are what make me love my job. I am able to work with truly inspiring people who are going through some of the hardest times of their lives, but through conversation, sharing and giving them a bit of myself I am able to help them feel better.

So instead of being bummed that it is no longer the weekend, I am going to be HAPPY that I can go to work and help someone feel better each and every day.

Happy Monday Friends, Go out there and be great!

What fitness goals do you have?
How do you make Monday a bit better?

Trial Tuesday!

This week may just be labeled Link Up Week…

Today, I am joining Jen today for Trial Tuesdays…

 

But first I wanted to recap my monday that truly fit my MiMM post! Back in high school our principal would end every days announcements with Make It a Great Day or Not, the Choice is Yours… I remember often laughing at how “dumb” this quote seemed because I was the smartest high schooler ever so obviously I knew that I had the choice to make each day great… but did I really live this?? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Often times now I remember hearing that saying each and every day and think “I have the power to make today the best day I can, and my attitude is what will make that happen!” 

Today was one of those days! I went to work with a great attitude and GUESS WHAT great things seemed to happen all day.

My first patient greeted me with a coffee!!! Ahhh just what I was craving but didn’t have time to make! &&& to make it better it was EXACTLY what I would’ve ordered from Starbucks!!! Such a sweet start to my day!!!

8am on a Monday morning & being brought coffee in my regular order from a wonderful patient!!! its going to be a great week! #grateful

Then Brent visited when he was on his way to study & we got to eat lunch together! It was a nice surprise to see him in the middle of my day & a nice break from work when we were chatting at lunch! He was really studying & I was really writing patient notes but still it was an hour out of the clinic that was fantastic!

THEN my new patient at the end of the day told me that I looked like a model and was beautiful! After trying not to laugh & say “aw thanks, but I’m not” I blushed and said thank you!!! **I really need to work on my taking of complements** regardless it was such a sweet thing to hear from someone who was a complete stranger 30 minutes prior. & completely made my day AGAIN! ((Have I mentioned I love my job!!)) I also was able to help brighten a patients day who was not having such a marvelous monday, which is really the best thing ever!

OK OK enough with my gushing about my marvelous monday! ON to Trial Tuesdays!!

As I mentioned yesterday I made Forks Over Knives Mac & Cheese on Friday. & as I mentioned yesterday I loved it, but even better Brent loved it! SCORE!!!

Forks Over Knives Mac & Cheese for the serious WIN!

I picked up the Forks Over Knives cookbook about a month ago and have had plans to make a recipe from it for a while but haven’t got around to it until last week. Better late than never right?

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:25]

I prepared the sauce and noodles the night before and then had Brent pop it in the oven after work on Friday. It tasted great & was a delicious comfort meal to end our week!

I know a lot of you will read “Vegan Mac & Cheese” and think GROSS but seriously y’all give it a chance and I promise you’ll like it. It does not taste just like mac & cheese because DUH the sauce is not made from milk butter & cheese but it does have really good flavor and a cheesy undertone from the nutritional yeast!

&& For those of you who are vegan/vegetarian have you ever tried this recipe before?? What is your favorite way to use nutritional yeast?

Ok off to the gym to kick-start my Tuesday with some GPP madness!

 

 

 

I’d Love To Know ~~ Have you tried any new recipes lately? What are some other favorite Mac & Cheese variations? 

Motivation Monday #4

Hey Wellnessland!

Hope you all enjoyed my weekend recap, I am so glad we decided to get back to town early yesterday and recover from the long days of the weekend. I could still use one more day… So this morning when I woke up I knew I needed to have the best attitude toward today or it could quickly become a bad day.

Brent also often has a hard time on Mondays, the end of the weekend and the start of the work week doesn’t mesh well with him. So we had talked about staying CALM & being positive in the morning. THEN I saw this quote on pinterest, & thought how fitting for our #motivationmonday!

I truly believe that having a positive thought or attitude toward the morning can & will impact your whole day. If you wake up angry or negative your day will reflect.

Brent & I also decided to do a week 4 REWIND. Last week we were really busy and honestly our workouts were OFF and our nutrition followed suit this weekend. SO rather than moving forward in our 6 week shred to week 5 we decided to REWIND and do week 4 over again. Since our shred is for us & us alone we want to make the most out of it & redoing week 4 is the perfect idea!

I will keep you all up to date on our week 4 rewind!

I’d Love To Know~~ how do you stay positive on Mondays? What’s your motivation Monday quote of the week?