Finding my rhythm.

Speaking of days off, the husband and I are planning to take a vacay in mid to late September. We're leaning toward Chicago. He's never been and I'd love to rent a car and check out Milwaukee and Madison. I also thought it would be cool to visit friends in North Carolina, but that's a longer flight and I just learned last night they're moving to Germany soon, so now we get to plan a trip abroad sometime in the near future!

Not much else to report. We've both been exhausted lately and it seems like we spend most Saturday mornings and afternoons cleaning and organizing the apartment. I think because we live in a smaller space, we have to keep on top of the cleaning and clutter more than we used to. I miss having a basement that was essentially a large laundry room and gym. I would literally throw my dirty laundry down the stairs and not care where it landed. Now our laundry is in the bedroom and I hate it. I'm looking for a couple of pretty baskets to use as hampers so I can at least have something pretty to look at.

I'm slowly getting back into the rhythm of working full-time. The transition has been easier this time around and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I'm not working downtown anymore (and that I have friends at work and look forward to seeing them!). I've shaved about an hour off my commute time each day and I'm not forced to deal with the sucky parts of being in an urban core, like avoiding being run over by busses or stepping over passed out people or trying not to make eye contact with crazy screaming people. It's a much more pleasant environment. And, on each floor of our building we have fully equipped kitchens, so I can actually bring in groceries and make lunch on the fly instead of having to prepare ahead of time. We also have a break room with exercise equipment and things like hula hoops, which is nice when you want to move around and it's too gross outside to take a walk.

I'm still not as productive as I'd like to be in the evenings. I'd love to take cooking classes or go to lectures or happy hours, but I also like coming home and just sitting in the quiet until Andrew gets home. I keep telling myself I'll sign up for one class a month, or I'll buy tickets to one show a month to get us downtown during the week, but I haven't yet.

One thing I did do, last night in fact, was purchase a 6-week meal program online. Basically, it's a healthy meal plan that is dairy and gluten free, where you are given a weekly shopping list and a menu of included recipes. You just purchase your groceries and spend a few hours doing meal prep so that during the week, the majority of your meals are either ready to eat or are ready to quickly throw together. I'm excited about it because it will automate my eating for a while, hopefully freeing up some of my time and taking the stress out of deciding on what's for dinner. 

Here's a sample menu:

I hope to stick to the plan for at least a month, but I will probably choose one day on the weekend as a free day to eat whatever I want and drink alcohol. My goal is to get into the habit of prepping meals ahead of time, and also to eat healthier, not necessarily to lose weight (although that would be a nice bonus).

Will let you know how it's going.