I'm returning to my first love

I used to run everyday. If I missed a day, my legs hurt and I felt weird overall. Can you become addicted to running? I don't know, but I am one of those freaks who really enjoyed a good jog. I don't jog fast- don't confuse me with those people, and I don't wear cool running gear. But this 70 degree Mobile air has been beckoning me.

So two days ago, I did some intervals, and I was so sad about how I can't run far at all! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but any endurance I built up faded long ago. I have it in my head to get back to 3 miles a day. This will most likely NOT happen, but it sounds good. We shall see.

The other part of my plan was to use the time running to also pray. I listened to a really good sermon by John Piper when we were driving back from Spartanburg, and he uses an acronym called APTAT to help him through guided prayer. When I was jogging, I was trying to remember what APTAT stood for, but got stuck on the first T, so then my mind wandered onto types of people I hate (yikes! opposite of what I was intending to do!). Here's the list of people I hate that I came up with when I was trying to pray:

1. Girls who don't wear their hair in ponytails when exercising. I hate when girls wear their hair down! It makes my neck get sweaty just thinking about it.

2. Most Cajuns.

3. People who own snakes and wear one around their neck at public outdoor events. I hate snake owners in general. If they find out you are scared of snakes, they ALWAYS try to put one on you.

4. Teenagers in dating relationships. It's just gross. I hate teenage love.

That's all on my list for NOW! But don't cross me, bwah ha ha.

In other news of things that are beckoning me.....

 These are a light version of chocolate chip cookies from skinnytaste.com. I love this website, by the way. I made a batch last night and instantly figured out the secret to why these are considered "light."

LOOK HOW LITTLE BATTER IT MAKES!

You can't overeat if the recipe only yields 7 cookies!

In the end, I did a taste test with myself, our friend Alison, and the most judgmental judge of them all... Caleb. The boy does not like when I sneak in healthy alternatives. He always catches me.

The cookies were actually well-received by all of us. They are delicious! The recipe calls for apple sauce, and honestly, I think I will use this recipe forever... just quadruple it so that it yields a reasonable amount of cookies.

The recipe is on my pinterest if you want it. When you have some time, check out skinnytaste.com. I've tried several of her recipes and they are all delicious (and don't call for wacky ingredients you can't find in the store).

2nd Look and Mardi Gras

 Having an entire week off for Mardi Gras is pretty great! I'm doing a fantastic job of ignoring all the papers I need to grade. Even cleaning the house is preferable to grading that wad of papers.

Anywho, we left Sunday for Spartanburg for Caleb to do a "2nd Look" at the hospital there. He was able to scrub in on a surgery and work side by side with the doctors and residents to get a better idea of what it's really like to work there. That hospital is so nice, by the way. If anything ever happens to me, I think I want to be airlifted there.

Yesterday, for Fat Tuesday, Caleb and I headed downtown for the festivities. I knew it would be crowded, but I definitely underestimated. It was seriously packed with people for miles. The parades were so great though. At previous Mardi Gras' I was really competitive and would race small children for moon pies. I didn't really care this year- I was just there for the sights and sounds. We came home with about 6 strands of beads, 2 moon pies and a bag of gum. Pretty slim compared to the past few years, but it was still pretty fun.

I didn't take any pictures of Mardi Gras which I am so sad about! My new flash came in yesterday though, so I practiced on the Peej. She is the most beautiful model in the entire world, and I think everyone agrees.

Thrifting Woes and Cookie Hearts

 Everywhere we look, people are finding junk and then re-doing it and it looks awesome. We tried "thrifting" last weekend, and in this one store, the cheapest thing we saw was $3,500. Clearly, we are not in the right place. 

 We DO think this throne would look lovely in our rental home. Perhaps PJ Joey could lounge on this during the day whilst I educate America's youth. 

So thrifting was a huge bust, but Valentine's Day wasn't! For Love Day, I made two desserts. One for the both of us. I made heart-shaped rice krispie treats on Saturday, then we ate them all on Sunday. 

On Sunday evening, I made a humongo heart cookie cake. It really just looks like a blob, so I added sprinkles (because sprinkles take everything to a whole other level). 

 This is how much we ate Sunday night:

And here's what what was left by Monday evening:

Valentine's Day at school was interesting. The cool thing to give girlfriends this year was a 5 foot tall teddy bear, so I'm sure those girls had fun lugging that thing around school all day. Girls were giving guys cookie cakes from the mall, so I guess that makes us pretty trendy since we made one at home on Sunday night. 

And... if you're super bored, or just want a good laugh, click on this link. It will take you to my TV's class's Valentine's Day episode. It was hilarious. They asked teachers and students to give their best pick up lines. And know that it was my idea to use Back Street Boys as the opening music. Good stuff.

Brunch and Other Things

First of all, my hair hasn't looked this good in about three years.

Last Saturday the Saulters threw a Birthday (I like to say Birfday) Brunch for all the January birthday friends. You can see Caleb in the upper right corner. What a much needed friend event! I have missed all these people a lot as they have all been traveling to residency interviews. I can't even think about everyone moving away in a few months! 

In other news, here are some picture-less tidbits from our world (well, really just from my world, I guess):

*I was in the middle of shopping for bathing suits at Target when OF COURSE three of my students walked up right as I was holding up a bikini top into the light. It was particularly stringy, which we all know that means I would NEVER wear it, but it certainly made for an awkward encounter. 

"Seeing a teacher outside of school is like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs."  Thanks Janis Ian of Mean Girls

 

*I don't care what you think. I love the show The Voice. LOVE IT.

*In 1.5 weeks, I will get a week off work for Mardis Gras. Bah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Have fun working, haters! I'll be stuffing my face with moon pies.