wedding bubble

It has been so long since I've even thought about writing a blog post. In my last couple of posts I wrote about being inspired and ready to start writing again, but clearly I was just trying to convince myself of something I knew wasn't true. Truth be told, I've been desperately trying to limit my time in front of the computer.

I decided I needed to just live a little and not worry about documenting everything.
It has been wonderful.

Now that I've established some balance in my life, I've decided I want to update everyone on the latest happenings. Oh and for anyone who hasn't seen them on facebook, I've posted a few of our engagement photos at the end of this post. I hope everyone loves them as much as I do. It was such a fun shoot and I am obsessed with the way they turned out!

Anyway, we have only five short months before the big day! It's so strange how one day can consume so much of your life. Besides school and taking care of Monk (and Joel, let's be honest), my whole life is about this wedding. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love planning it and I'm having so much fun but I can't help but feel like I'm in some sort of weird bubble. What will my friends and family talk to me about once the wedding is over? :)

Luckily, I haven't been too stressed out about anything so far. That's mostly because I have an amazing fiance who has been so involved with the planning process and an amazing team of bridesmaids who are kicking ass and going above and beyond to help. Love you, gals. #dreamteam

Xo

Now, here are those pictures I promised. Check out my facebook page for all of them.

dirty dozen vs. clean fifteen

As we all know, buying organic foods can still be relatively expensive. Not everyone has the extra cash to pay for an organic label. It can also be frustrating. Knowing which foods are more harmful and contain more pesticides (when they aren't organic) is essential. Luckily, it isn't necessary to purchase every fruit and vegetable in organic form. I'm hoping these two lists clear things up for some of you and make it easier for you to navigate the world of organic foods!

Weekend Recap + Five Foods Nutritionists Won't Eat

Happy Monday, sugs.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

For us, this weekend was all about relaxing, catching up with friends who were in town, and enjoying a few good movies. The 4th of July was a rough day/night in our house. Turns out Monk absolutely hates fireworks and goes absolutely ballistic every time one goes off. We did our best to comfort him, keep the TV turned up ridiculously loud in hopes of drowning out the constant BOOMS, and continuously promise him that everything was going to be okay ... but our efforts were all for not. He was not having it. Honestly, I'm just glad it's over.

Now that the holiday weekend is over and it's back to the grind of reality, I'm all about getting a meal plan for the week worked out and getting back into a normal (healthy) routine. My favorite part of every weekend is sitting down on Sunday, researching a couple new recipes to try for the week, and making my grocery list. Seriously, it's like weekly therapy for me. Love it!

As I was making my list this week I stumbled upon a very interesting article from Healthy Bitch Daily. The article, titled "5 Foods Nutritionist Won't Eat", talks about just that ... 5 foods nutritionists won't eat. I thought it was pretty interesting and definitely worth sharing. 

The list includes the following 5 foods:

1. Canned Tomatoes: for those of you who don't know, canned tomatoes are the absolute worst food to buy in a can. Tomatoes contain very high levels of acidity and most cans contain BPA (a very harmful chemical). The acidity from the tomatoes causes the BPA to leach from the lining of the can. To avoid this, be sure to purchase your tomatoes and tomato sauces in glass jars. 

2. Microwave Popcorn: I won't lie. This one surprised me. I had never really thought about microwave popcorn being harmful to my health. Boy was I wrong. According to Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for Environmental Working Group, "chemicals in the lining of microwave popcorn bags, which include perfluorooctanoic (PFOA), are linked to infertility and possibly even certain cancers. When you pop the kernels in the microwave these chemicals are released and end up in the food." Yikes. 

*According to the article, the proposed year for removal of these chemicals is 2015. Until then, avoid this stuff like the plague and/or pop your popcorn the old fashioned way.

3. Non-Organic Potatoes: I don't eat a whole-lotta potatoes, but after reading this, when I do eat my next tater you better believe it will be of the organic variety. Here's what the article had to say ... 

"Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board, confirms that potatoes get their nutrients directly through the skin – they’re roots, after all. This makes them prime targets for soaking up any and all toxic chemicals that come down their food and water pipeline.

Moyer, who is also Farm Director at Rodale Institute (publishers of Prevention magazine) goes on to say, 'I’ve talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals.'"

4. Farm Raised Salmon: farm raised salmon are confined to extremely small, crowded spaces and fed a bunch of crap they would never normally eat. This disgusting list includes: chicken poop, soy, and hydrolyzed feather. GAG. BARF. YUCK. The article also touches on the fact that not only are they high in mercury but farm raised salmon also contain high levels of PCBs, brominated flame retardants, carcinogens and pesticides like dioxin and DDT. Unfortunately, the majority of salmon sold in restaurants is this very kind. 

My advice? Make sure you are buying wild caught salmon from a reputable source. 

*“You can only safely eat one of these salmon dinners every five months without increasing your risk of cancer,” says David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany.*

5. Conventional Apples: apparently, out of all of the fall fruits, apples are the most pesticide-laden (by far). According to the article, this is because they have a much harder time naturally resisting pests. Because they are so heavily saturated in pesticides, it's a really good idea to pay a little extra for organic.

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I believe it's vital to know and understand where your food is coming from and what it might contain. I hope this list shed some light on a few foods you may not have had on your radar. I know it did for me!

Enjoy the rest of your Monday!
xo

*for the entire article - click here!

a rant about the weather.

Summertime in the desert is awful.

While the rest of the country is celebrating the arrival of summer, having picnics in the park, and doing whatever they can to be outside as much as possible; we are shutting our blinds, overworking our air conditioners and doing whatever we can to AVOID going outside. 

However, in the spirit of keeping a positive attitude, the upside to living in the desert is the privilege of enjoying beautiful weather for most of the other nine months of the year. 

But whatever, this post is about Summer in the desert and Summertime in the desert is AWFUL. Especially this week. Triple digit temps are nothing new to Las Vegas, but 116?! 117?! 

That's ridonkulous.

Besides having to go to class tomorrow and Friday, I am going to do everything in my power to not leave the house very much this weekend. I have serious nightmares about breaking down on the side of the road in this kind of heat!

If you need me I will be hanging out with my ac and eating lots of popsicles. :)

Continuing on this Adventure

Hi guys!
So obviously I haven't blogged in a while. It became very clear to me a few months ago that my blog was suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. I wasn't feeling inspired at all and every time I would sit down to write I would just end up frustrated. 
Because of this, I decided that it was time to take a little break. 
Luckily, my little break worked and I'm finally feeling inspired and excited about writing again! 

Now for the quick update portion of this post:
Joel and I have been extremely busy lately, but in a really good way!
 We've been tackling a few big home projects, Joel's parents were just in town, I recently spent a weekend in Lake Chelan celebrating my best friend's bachelorette weekend, my summer class is in full swing, and we are finally making some progress with our wedding plans! 
Life is really, really good. 

Two. More. Weeks.

^I know ... this is such a great picture of Joel. <3^

Hi all! I'm back! Er ... Kinda.

Next week is finals week so I'm super stressed and have been ripping out what's left of my hair. However, I've missed my little blogging world so I've decided that on top of all of the other crap I have to do, I will be squeezing in a few posts. Feel free to pop open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate, because I sure can't. #stupidcollege

Anyway, I've been a bit of a mess lately. Seriously.

I've gained 5 pounds, haven't worked out at all, become a raging iced coffee addict, and my house looks like something out of a hoarders episode. 

This semester has clearly gotten the best of me. :)

The good news? It's almost over. 

On a more positive note, Joel and I had a lovely little weekend!

I chugged about 4 margaritas on my night off to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, rented and finally watched Silver Linings Playbook (absolutely loved it), spent a couple of hours touring model homes before church on Sunday morning (just for fun, although we found a few homes we would love to move right into!), and then spent an hour at church pleading with God to give me the motivation needed to get through the next couple of weeks with passing grades! 

Not too shabby. 

Okay well I have to get back to studying now.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday!

xox