I’m still here friends!
I’ve just been busy getting married…
Going on my honeymoon…
Starting a new job…
And living life!
Be back soon with regularly scheduled programming and more pictures. 🙂
So, remember how excited I was about the Labor Day long weekend? Well, I spoke too soon. Saturday morning started out just as I imagined. Jord and I took a ride through the mountain biking trails and then got in the car to meet up with some friends for breakfast. I got in the car and set my right hand on the side of the window…enjoying a nice breeze. I immediately pulled my hand back in the car when I felt a sharp pain in my pinky. I thought the hot metal on the car door burned me, but then I saw a bee flying away.
I must have set my hand right on top of a bee and the little guy got me right inside of my pinky finger. I started laughing and then crying a little because it hurt SO badly!! I have never been stung before and had no idea the amount of pain the little black and yellow buzzer could give. We met up with friends for breakfast and we were all laughing at how my swollen finger resembled the sausage links that were served. Well, the bee had the last laugh because soon my whole hand was swollen.
I was freaking out a little, but everyone told me swelling was normal, so I popped some Benadryl and we were off to the lake.
The Benadryl zapped all of my energy and I pretty much sat on the boat and smiled for most of the afternoon, trying not to fall asleep. I had a lot of fun watching my friends wake surf and jump off the boat.
I am usually all about swimming and water sports, but I stayed dry for most of the afternoon and chatted with my girlfriends while we cruised across the lake. Later on, I felt alive enough to go for a quick paddleboard adventure.
It was hilarious trying to get 3 girls on one paddleboard. At this point, my hand was so swollen that I could barely use it. The paddleboard trip below was about 30 seconds out and back.
Later on I felt well enough to try wake surfing for the first time and I’m so glad I did! We ended the night on the lake by wake surfing, swimming and wakeboarding.
My hand was still pretty swollen on Sunday, so I slept for most of the day and was ZERO fun when we went to see Jordan’s family at their lake house. It was a little fun to see people’s reactions when I would show them my huge hand. The swelling still hadn’t gone down since Saturday morning.
When I woke up Monday morning, I had had enough. After sleeping and eating Benadryl for two days, my bee sting had turned into a nuisance and I needed to do something about it. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and steroids for the sting and five hours later I went from this….
To this…
Hallelujah! Aside from some itchiness, my bee sting has healed and I now have a normal hand. It was definitely a scary experience to see my body react to something like that and I am so grateful for doctors who know what they’re doing and prescriptions that actually work. Phew!
I wouldn’t say my Labor Day weekend was a flop, but it wasn’t exactly what I had planned for my last few days of summer fun.
Have you ever been stung by a bee? Tell me about it!
What did you do for the holiday weekend?
Good morning! It’s Tuesday already? I didn’t post yesterday because, honestly, Mondays kind of depress me. Even if I have something sweet to do on a Monday, I still don’t like them. Negative Nancy in the room. 😦 But hey! It’s Tuesday now, so let’s move on to talk about food.
I’ve had some yummy snacks and meals lately that I want to share with you. These are all super simple, can usually be prepped in 15 minutes or less, and have minimal ingredients. Perfect for summer nights when you don’t feel like cooking or light snacks before heading out to the pool for the day.
ZICO Dark chocolate Coconut Water: It has a ton of electrolytes in it and hydrates your body after a sweat fest. Regular coconut water is great too, but I like the taste of this one the best. 🙂 I usually take 3 big gulps as soon as I get inside from running. It is gluten, dairy and lactose free so it doesn’t upset my sensitive stomach. Winner winner!
Clean Tuna Salad: I’ve had this for lunch a couple of times and love it! Super easy to prepare and it’s a “clean tuna salad” because it doesn’t have any mayonnaise or a cream base to it. Steamed egg whites, tomatoes and tuna top spinach with rice vinegar and balsamic vinegar as the dressing.
Garlic Quinoa Stir Fry: You’ll see the words “stir fry” quite a bit on this blog. It’s easy, fast, and you can pretty much throw anything in a pan and I’ll eat it. My soon to be sister-in-law gave me some zucchinni and tomatoes straight from the garden so I had to use them right away! I love quinoa because it is packed with protein and a great substitute for rice. Some people can’t get over the texture of quinoa–ahem, Jord–but I try to use it as a mixture in my meals instead of the the base. I cooked the quinoa with minced garlic, sautéed zucchini and onions and added cold tomatoes at the end.
Jord’s brother has a huge peach tree in his backyard. The peaches are so ripe that they fall right into your hand with just a touch of the branch. I plucked several to take home with me.
Cheesy Peach Toast: I cut up a juicy peach, nuked some brie cheese and placed it on top of toasted Ezekiel bread. Yum! This was an awesome snack. And you know how I like my sweet and savory concoctions. 🙂
Those are some fun additions to my eats that I’ve been enjoying lately. I get bored with things pretty easily so switching up food is one way to make sure I stay on track with my healthy eating. I also like to switch up my workouts often since our bodies are intelligent and when they get used to a certain routine, they stop changing and stay stagnant. One way to switch up your workout? Compete in an obstacle course race!
Jord and I ran in a mud run this weekend called the Warrior Dash. It was our first one and we had a blast!
I’ve run 5k’s, 10k’s and a half marathon, but mud runs have an entirely different atmosphere. It wasn’t so serious, everyone was just there to have fun! This was the first race in my life that I didn’t care about my time, or competing with everyone else. About 17 obstacles covered the 3.4 mile course and almost every one of them was covered in mud.
The first obstacle we went through was a 3 foot deep trench with barbed wire over the top, so you had to crawl on your hands and knees to get to the other side.
I had to hold my breath so that I wouldn’t gag in the muddy water…I know, I’m such a girl. I quickly learned that a little trench was the least of my worries.
We were constantly going over bridges, walking on wooden planks, and climbing up walls. It reminded me of playing the “lava game” when I was a kid where you had to jump to different obstacles without touching the ground, except this time, the fire on the ground was real. 
Even if we wanted to go for time, we couldn’t have since our heat was so crowded, we often had to wait in line for obstacles. Waiting in line wasn’t as bed as you would think. We got to meet people, catch our breath and watch how other warriors attempted the upcoming obstacle.
One of my favorites was the “Warrior Wall.” We had to wait in line for this one but it was exciting to cheer for people that made it over and a little scary because some people would get to the top and fall straight down to the ground. Eeek!
We came away with a couple of bloody knees, a fun “Warrior Medal” and lots of memories.
AFTER
Have you ever run in an obstacle course or mud run?
Did you use to play the lava game when you were a kid?
I am not a good cook, nor do I really enjoy cooking. My Pinterest board of Food would have you thinking otherwise, but that’s because most of those recipes were pinned while I was hungry…or hangry.
My board is called “YUM” and it is basically food porn, so don’t look at it if you are trying to stay away from carbs, sugar and anything else delicious. Hello, my name is Anna and I am a Pinaholic that has yet to actually cook a Pin-spired recipe.
I know, I know, I KNOW! I’m a downright embarrassment to the Pinterest world and should probably get kicked off. My excuse for not cooking is that I currently have about one pan, one pot and 2 spatulas to my name…and until one month ago, before I won an oven mitt at a bridal shower, I was using dish towels to get things out of the oven. 🙂 Hey! I’m resourceful! Oh and I do have some lemon garlic salt I like to season everything with. I haven’t wanted to buy spices and fancy cooking utensils because I’m getting married in 2 months and we registered for a lot of these things.
I know that I probably won’t cook much after we get married, (sorry Jord) so I have come up with some tasty dinners that involve minimal effort and time. Last night, I made a veggie-tuna fry that got a thumbs up from the fiance!
Mine is on the left –adding tomatoes at the end is optional. Fiance’s is on the right. Also, if you don’t care for tuna, chicken would be a great substitute.
Veggie Tuna Fry Ingredients:
1 Medium white onion
1 Medium red onion
1 green bell pepper
1 tbsp of minced garlic
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup of brown rice
12 oz. of Starkist Tuna
The best part about this dish is the lime. HANDS DOWN. Don’t forget the lime!
Step 1: Get out your trusty Wal-Mart knife and start chopping!
Step 2: Mix tuna, bell peppers, onions, garlic together and start cooking rice in a separate pot.
Step 3: Throw tuna mixture on skillet and heat for approximately 15 minutes. Squirt juice of half a lime, or if you are fancy–get out your little grater and zest that lime.
Step 4: Mix rice and stir fry together. Enjoy!
Jordan loved it and I loved that it took no skill to prepare and practically no time at all.
Do you like to cook?
If you do enjoy cooking, what is your favorite part about it?
Striding Out 