Keep Your Chin Up!

Meet our bar:

This bar arrived a few weeks ago. Steve bought this for his own use but I saw it as a challenge and decided I should use it too. Although my upper body has always been a little stronger than my lower body, I would in no way say that I am especially strong. (See boot camp post!)

I often worry about getting slapped in the face from my grandma waddle on the bottom half of my arm when I wave. I have felt less of a wiggle as of late, which I think is from hanging onto the treadmill like my life depends on it every once in awhile during my run.  

My goal was to do at least one full chin-up by the end of summer. So, I made it a habit to try it every time I passed by it. The first time I did it, I could barely pull my body up. Even in a few days' time I was getting higher and higher with every pass by.  I was so dedicated to my challenge that there were days I would wait until I absolutely needed something in my room so that I wouldn't have to pass by it.

Well, last Sunday, first thing in the morning, I passed it by while Steve was working on something (it's in the door frame of his office) and didn't try it. He reminded me of my challenge and so, I gripped the sponge around the bar and took in a deep breath.  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it! And then I pulled up, gritting my teeth in a painful smile, and kept going, going, going. From his desk chair, Steve was cheerleading, "You can do it, keep going, keep...you're almost there...come on, you can do it!"

Suddenly, my chin was above the bar and I had done it! It is HARD. It really works your core and you arms.  Here is a picture of me doing another one right afterward. It's blurry, you can still see my flabby triceps, and I didn't get quite as high...but I did it.

And...We're Back!

My view early Monday morning on my way to workout before the day of workshopping began. With a quick 2-3 minute drive to work, I don't encounter too many people in the mornings. I was surprised and had forgotten how many people are out and about on the road at 5:30 in the morning.

I am often awake by this point in the morning, but haven't been out of the house this early since school ended, with the exception of needing to get to the airport for one of our trips. On my way to my parents for a treadmill session (the first time I ran for 20 minutes straight - I survived!), I was still shedding my early morning grogginess when I spotted this beautiful sunrise! I am not sure why, but it put a little extra pep in my step, a smile on my face, and woke me up.

It's hard to believe that the summer is almost over. I've been working on my thesis, wedding stuff, and meetings for school, and have not yet found myself able to sleep past 7! I am relishing these last few days in August that allow me to relax, blog, clean out old stuff, and fix up my office that is currently housing stacks of papers, books, and all things wedding!

Before I know it, I'll be greeting the sun every morning, bright and early!

New Tastes

Leeks waiting for the kale
*AMAZING!*

With another person in the house, our food stock is more diverse than it had been when it was just me alone. I have always been the pickiest of eaters in my own family. I'm not sure how or why. It could be just a long-term case of stubbornness or a true aversion to certain foods.

Here is my list of foods that were on my absolute no list:
Onions
Mushrooms
Seafood
Fish
Hot foods
Olives
Rough greens
Ribs or meat on the bone

I am happy to say that I have changed this to some degree! I am definitely a fan of onions if they are sauteed or chopped very small, if fresh. Steve makes a mean salsa and he always uses a lot of fresh onion and I LOVE it.  In another situation, Steve was sauteeing a bunch of veggies to go with our dinner and it smelled amazing. I asked him what he was cooking up and he had said all that was in the skillet was onion. I was salivating! It adds such a great flavor to dishes!

Mushrooms are still a hard one, but I'm trying! Olives are similar. If they are cut up really small and mixed in right, I'm fine with it!

Ribs was a struggle because I really despise eating meat on the bone. This is odd, especially because when I was little and my dad would grill chicken, I'd always snag the chicken wings. Now, it creeps me out. If I am a guest in someone's home, I usually try to just grin and bear it. There is just something about holding an animal bone and gnawing the meat off of it that puts a grisly image in my head.

Fish and Seafood are still written off for now. I tried some salmon en papillote in our cooking class, but that's about the extent of it. I don't know where this issue came, as the rest of my family loves it!

Hot foods were a change and I credit Steve for this. He puts Sriracha, Chalula, or Tabasco sauce on most foods. He loves hot and spicy food. In fact, he almost swallowed lava hot wings for a wing challenge, but thought better of it after a quick sample of the sauce.  To give you a point of reference, typical buffalo wing sauce is 1,440 Scoville units (Scoville units is the measurement of heat; as it increases so does the heat of the pepper or sauce).  The sauce that Steve and his friend considered eating on wings to get a t-shirt and their picture on the wall was 500,000 Scoville units! Holy crap. When the waiter brought a little dip cup of it, it just smelled like pain.

I'm hardly ready for anything too hot, but I've been handling it more than I ever had before.

Lastly, I have fallen in love with kale. It's so delicious sauteed with a little mist of olive oil and garlic. The other day, though, I was feeling adventurous. We always see leeks nestled in next to the kale at the store. It is such an interesting vegetable, so I wanted to try it. I mixed it in with the kale and let them almost get crisped and browned. It was DELICIOUS. I've been craving it, but haven't found any good looking kale in the last week or so.

I am so fortunate to have someone in my life who challenges me to try new things!  My food spectrum has grown incredibly because I'm testing out recipes to accommodate both my and Steve's tastes.