Does this blog make me look fat?

"What you do today is going to set the tone for the rest of your workout plan...," said my unbelievably supportive but sometimes too upbeat about the gym fiance.

I have a love-hate, mostly hate, relationship with working out, and it could be described as a bi-polar one as well. Through some research, and talking to other women my age, I realize that I am not alone in this predicament. I go through diet to diet, fitness plan to fitness plan..probably 10+ routines or attempts at a routine throughout the year. I always have one goal in mind, to feel good in my skin. 

I can't really think if the last time I felt super comfortable with my body and the way I look; maybe about 3 years ago, right when I met Matt. Please don't read into this the wrong way, there are many MANY things that I absolutely love about myself, but I know that I can be much healthier person and would like to think that being a much healthier person would lead to a healthier state of mind about my self image.

The problem is, I have such a hard time sticking to something (diet, workout plan, whatever) because my will-power is in the toilet. As far as workouts go, I'd like to chalk it up to the fact that I haven't really found anything that I enjoy doing. I did the running thing, ran two half marathons in a few months, then just got tired of running. I did the Zumba/aerobics thing, but quite frankly I couldn't shake the feeling that I looked like an idiot while shaking my hips to some club hip-hop. I did the yoga thing, and did enjoy the yoga thing until I tried to complete a 30 day challenge and had a complete mental breakdown on day 19 because of the pressure to get all my classes in (if you were following my posts about that..thanks for all the inspiration, sorry I let ya' down!).

So now I'm back at square one, which sometimes feels like a very sad, dark, and lonely square....where I am haunted with images of wedding dresses I have yet to go shopping for because I want to lose 5 pounds first. When I stop to think though, I'm really not alone on my square one. Although sometimes my overly-sensitive self misconstrues his support and motivation as nagging, I realize my wonderful partner in crime will be there with me every step of the way. He'll go to the gym with me even if it's not a workout day for him, he'll go grocery shopping for the healthy foods and then prepare them for meals, he'll be my spotter, he won't even get mad when I go buy new workout clothes that I don't really need (but don't let him see the new dress, sandals and makeup that I also found on that shopping excursion).

So this morning, Matt gave me reasons to go to the gym even though it's the last thing I wanted to do (...you'll feel good for the rest of the day, it'll take a lot of stress off you to get it done early so it's not looming over you, you've been doing so good all week, tough days like this set the tone for your workout routine...) I feel like I owe it to him (even though owing it to myself should be enough!) to lace up my Nikes and get going.

Just FYI, I am working with a personal trainer and also following LiveFit by Jamie Eason which can be found here.

Color Cheney CRIMSON!

Last night I got the opportunity to relive my birthday (which was 2 months ago)! Megan (sister-in-law to-be) had purchased me 4 tickets to the "Color Cheney Crimson" game that the Tacoma Rainiers were hosting specially for Washington State University students, alumni (whoop whoop!), and fans. Now, if you don't know, the Tacoma Rainiers are a AAA affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and Matt and I absolutely LOVE going to their games for several reasons:
1. Tickets don't cost an Arm and a Leg!
2. Food is delicious and not AS expensive (the same goes for beer!)
3. The stadium is 1/2 a mile from our house.
4. We love the Rainier Community.
5. Parking is only $5 (the best you can find at the Mariners is $15 or $20!).

Anyway, last night was a blast because we were able to bring Megan and a couple friends. We chowed down on burgers, nachos, hotdogs, and fries and enjoyed a few Pyramid Curveballs. The Rainiers lost (I swear they really are a good team, just had an off night!) but I loved to be around all the cougar pride, because I don't get too much of that on this side of the mountains! After the game we headed out for some frozen yogurt then home to bed. Can't wait to go to the next Tacoma game!

Go COUGS!!

Hastily done crimson and grey nails for the game.

Brooke & Matt

I have a good excuse....

....for not blogging. Well, I don't know if the excuse is good or not, but I just didn't have time. That's actually a bit of a fib too, because there are definitely moments throughout a normal week where I DO have time to do something of my choice; but that something is usually watching Netflix, Hulu, or napping. I recently started a class for my masters program that is all about web use and technology in the classroom, and a part of that is blogging. I figured what better time than ever to dust off my blogging shoes and get to it!

There is one super big update in our life.....we bought a house!

Matt and I had decided long ago that when we got married, we wanted it to be a small, intimate, and personal (and CHEAP) event shared with our closest loved ones. We new a way to get that feel would be to host our wedding in our own home/yard. Now, don't get me wrong, this was not the ONLY reason we decided to purchase a house (because if that were the case, then that would be a very expensive wedding). However, we were recently engaged, our lease was ending, and the market was just calling our names with amazing home prices and interest rates. We ended up going down to Tacoma (where we knew we wanted to buy) with our awesome realtor Olivia and after a few duds found the absolute perfect home. The more we walked through it, the more we loved it, flaws and all. The buying process was pretty smooth, not nearly as stressful as people say and so far there have been no major issues with the 107 year old house (*knock on wood*). Below are some pictures from before we moved in.

1245 S Adams St.

The Entry Way

In dining room. Guest room to the right, kitchen straight forward.

Living Room

Backyard

Master Bedroom

Entry Way from the Living Room







 

Happy New Year!

Whoops. Where did the last 6 months go??

I swear every project/hobby I have ever started has an excellent beginning, and then I veer so far off track that it is rarely heard of again. Proof of this: the guitar collecting dust in the corner of my room, the huge pile of blank canvases from when I thought I was an artist, and I believe there are some errant 8-year-old balls of yarn from my crocheting exploits. Blogging has proven to be no exception.

A lot has happened since last summer! The biggest news? We got engaged! Matt proposed on Christmas with just us and the meow meow. It's funny because I knew he and I would get married at some point, and we had talked about our future wedding, house, children, etc...but I really had no idea when he was going to propose and was stereotypically shocked and bawling when it happened.

  

 "When are you going to get married!?" is what we're hearing these days. Well, to tell you the truth, our dream is to have a small intimate wedding in our own home.....and we are taking the first steps toward that goal this winter/spring. We want to tackle the beast that is home ownership, and tie the knot next spring. June 28, 2014 is the goal as of now!

 Our lives are busy with work, family, friends, and school (Matt is getting his Web Development degree and I am working on my Masters of Ed.) and we wouldn't have it any other way. My hope is to keep current with the blog (however that's not a New Years Resolution, because then I'm destined to fail!), stay sane through the process of purchasing a home and planning a wedding, and continue to be thankful that life is smiling on me! 

Here are some big moments from the last half of 2012. Happy New Year!

2-year anniversary  September 7, 2012.

Matt's 25th Birthday   December 1, 2012

Leavenworth, Wa visit   December 2012

King...What!?

It has been an exciting week because Matt's mom and aunt are in town for a visit. A Seattle vacation filled with shopping, sightseeing, and family time. We thought it would be fun to go see the King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center and we were all excited to go see the king "on display for the last time in America!!" Check it out here!

I'm a sucker for a historical monument, artifact, or basically anything else scholastic or nerdy, so I was pretty thrilled to go see THE King Tut in all his glory in person. For $34 a ticket, you better be excited! Anyway, the exhibit started out with several different dimly-lit rooms filled with lots of amazing Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Everything from statues to jewelry, even a toilet seat...all  3000+ years old! Here are some pictures of just SOME of the amazing things we saw:

A cat sarcophagus - we'll have to get one for BA.

Just a 3500 year old statue- no big deal.

A torch holder on the left- and other trinkets found in the tombs.

This was WAY cool- the gold finger and toe coverings that were placed on King Tut- and his golden sandals. I think I saw ones just like that at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

Most of the beaded necklaces still had their original string.

Hey, even Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's had to take care of business- here is an Egyptian toilet seat.

A game board and pieces found in a tomb.

I want a golden wine glass.

Big ass Egyptian statue.

These were from some of the later Egyptian dynasties- you can tell by how they're more intricate and have finer details.

A chair.

The bed Tut laid on- they said it could have even been used in his palace as well.

Egyptian mask.

This was a sarcophagus from a Pharaoh's wife- it was made of cedar.

Apparently these guys hang out in the tomb with the dead Pharaoh. 

So we passed from room to room reading about and looking at all these amazing treasures that have been found over the years. Not all of them are from King Tut's tomb, but from the tombs of pharaoh's throughout Ancient Egyptian history.

We were starting to get really excited toward the end of the exhibit, because we knew the big show was coming up. The last leg is set up like King Tut's actual tomb. There's an annex, the treasury, and finally the burial room. Megan (Matt's sister) grabbed our hands and said, "let's all go in together!" so we headed in to meet the "Boy King", the center of all the hype.....aaaand he wasn't there.

But, there was a lovely gift shop. That's right, it turns out the ACTUAL King Tut doesn't get to travel, so basically we just paid $34 to see all of the contents of his hoarder-like tomb. Okay, I'm being unreasonable...it really was FASCINATING and I learned a TON of interesting facts, but we all felt pretty misled about the whole thing. Maybe it was our misunderstanding, but we (and most everybody I've spoken to, AND most of the people at the end of the exhibit today) thought King Tut himself, was going to be there. So needless to say, we were a tad disappointed.

After giving it some thought, I do recommend seeing this exhibit. How often do you get to be 2 inches away from a statue, necklace, or canopic jar (look that up here) that was created by people...humans like you and me...that lived 4000 years ago?? It's mind boggling to even think about, and quite frankly I can't quite wrap my head around it. Just keep in mind, the amazing "Boy King", the one and only Tutankhamun, will not be making a guest appearance!

Happy Happy Hour!

Matt and I enjoy the finer things in life. However, our incomes don't quite agree with our preferred lifestyle. We are BIG into trying new restaurants, especially ones that we find online or in food magazines that boast excellent reviews. The problem is....their prices are usually as high as their popularity, and frankly, we don't have a huge budget for fine dining.

Our solution: Happy Hour. I know it sounds funny. Isn't happy hour usually for a post-work drink with friends? Well, here in Seattle (and surrounding cities), we've realized that happy hour is a great time to try reallllly nice restaurants for cheap!

This weekend we decided to check out a place in downtown Seattle. It's a fancy restaurant right on the water called Cutters Crabhouse (check it out here) We have seen it a bazillion times because it is right at the end of Pikes Place and across from another favorite eatery of ours, Etta's. Matt ran across it when looking at a list of Saturday happy hours that he found online, so I put on a cute little dress, and we headed out!

At Cutters Crabhouse

The grass overlooking the sound- the new ferris wheel in the background.

  

As you can see in the happy hour menu above, they have a great selection of some of their fresh seafood, raw bar, and kitchen treats. I really liked the variety of drinks as well. Often, happy hours will have great beer or wine specials, but cocktails will still be pretty expensive. We ordered the following: Steamed Fresh Manila Clams, California Roll, Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon Roll, Cranberry Mojito, Basil Gimlet, Kentucky Sour, and Sycamore Lane Chardonnay.

The clams were TO DIE FOR! I am a sucker for a bowl of steamed clams. The california roll was good, but not much more amazing than our favorite sushi joint (California Monster Sushi in Kent). The smoked wild alaskan salmon roll really blew my mind. The salmon was so creamy and fresh, and I was impressed that you get 8 pieces with the happy hour item. My cranberry mojito was delicious, but light on alcohol. Matt said both his kentucky sour and basil gimlet were quite tasty (warning: basil gimlet is pretty girly looking lol).

Cranberry Mojito and Kentucky Sour

Moral of the story, if you like fancy restaurants but can't afford to attend them often, hit up happy hour! Other places we've been to recently for happy hour and highly recommend are: Seastar, Sazerac, Koral, Pogacha, Palimino, and The Dillar Room. Be sure to either use a happy hour app like Seattle Weekly Happy Hours, or search online. Also, we ALWAYS check out the restaurant's happy hour menus online before going, to ensure their prices and selections are worth it! Happy happy hour-ing!

Summer Hike...On 10 Feet of Snow

Matt loves to hike. He loves the outdoors, nature, taking pictures; and could do it all day, every day.

Brooke loves relaxing. She loves the couch, naps, reality television; and could watch it all day, every day.

Ok, so that is extreme. I do like being outside, especially when the weather is nice. I like to explore Matt's hobbies with him, just as he as done for me (he watched the Bachelorette with me yesterday!) However, I am 100% OK with Matt taking a guys day to go hiking, kayaking, or whatever it is he would like to do that maybe I am not exactly thrilled to put aside my relaxing weekend time to do. Matt asked me earlier in the week if I would want to do a hike that he found in one of his outdoor magazines. The weather was forcasted to be great, I hadn't hiked with him since February (when we went out looking to try our new snowshoes but didn't find any snow), and I had never been to Mt. Rainier National Park, where he was wanting to go...so I agreed.

We set out yesterday morning around 9:00, because it takes a couple hours to get down there. I half entertained the idea of bringing our previously mentioned snow shoes, however it's July, so what are the chances that we would need them?! Boy was I wrong! When we got to the trail head we were quite confused. Basically, we couldn't see a trail head. We knew we were in the right spot, we knew there was a picnic area and a small lake that signified the beginning of the 4 mi hike....but we couldn't see said picnic area or lake.....because of the 15 feet of snow that covered everything!!

We found the lake! Or what was left of it.

And evidence of the picnic area.

We didn't realize that in July, the hike would still be completely covered with what looked like 5-15ft of snow. My initial thought was, "oh well! Let's head home!"....but we had come all this way, and despite the snow it was so warm and sunny, so we decided to do what we could and make the best of it. After all, this hike boasted amazing views of Mt. Rainier, something that we are both fascinated with.

Matt is excited, I'm thinking, "30 minutes max."

Honestly, it turned out to be one of the coolest hikes we've been on. It's funny how we joked about bringing snow shoes, and this would have been the perfect place. Now we know where to get our snowshoe fix in the summer months. We hiked for a couple hours, and it was quite the workout trampling through the snow! We even got a little sunburned :)

Our amazing Rainier views; just as the hike promised.

This picture gives a good idea as to how much snow there was.

At one point in the hike we knew there was a bridge, we were very excited to find it!

Right before this picture, I knocked a bunch of snow off trying to get on the bridge; subsequently soaking my entire backside :(

Matt's Photography

Matt's Photography

Moral of the story: we each have hobbies, interests, and free-time preferences. I could have easily let Matt have a guy day, and not taken him up on his offer to hike this weekend. However, this adventure reminded me that sometimes you just have to get out there and do it and you will be reminded of how fun memories often come when you least expect them!