A quiet morning.

I want to be a better writer.  To "have a way with words."  This is one talent I definitely wasn't awarded which is unfortunate for someone attempting to blog.  Sigh.  Even though my words aren't flawless nor poetic, I will probably still put them down on paper or run my fingers over my keyboard from time to time.  Why?  Because I can!   

The day is Saturday.  Evan's "Friday."  He is very ecstatic about this as he worked 6 a.m.-8 p.m. last night and must do the same today.  So tomorrow morning when I am waking at 4:30 to get ready for work he will get up and make breakfast with me and then fall back into slumberland.  I'm always jealous of the mornings he gets to close his eyes and get cozy under the covers whilst I am walking out the door.  My off days are right after his.  I wish they were the same.  

I got to sleep in till about 7:30 (when our cat Humphrey decided to meow till I woke) and have been relaxing, sipping on some green tea.  I got up with Evan to have breakfast this morning which was two beef sausage patties with salsa and avocado and a large serving of mixed veggies.  YUM.

I'm working the late shift today (10:30-7) and it's looking dreary out there again.  Suppose I'll be wearing my SeaWorld issued banana yellow rain jacket for another day :)

It has been a while since I've typed and several special days have come and gone so I do have lots of photos to share.  There was Evan's birthday/Valentine's Day AND our two year anniversary was just yesterday!  Lucky lucky me :D 

We are the cutest.

One week.

Japanese Bantam Roosters

Good morning :)

Those are roosters we have at SeaWorld in one of our aviaries.  Cute little guys aren't they?  

Here we are at day 7.  Pat on the back to the both of us.  Yes, I still feel like time is moving at a snail's pace but all in all it's been a not-so-difficult week. There have been very few temptations and I'm still refraining from the caffeine so I'm pretty proud of that.  

We did attend a SuperBowl party on Sunday with LOADS of anti-paleo foods but we did not partake.  There was sampling of some plain burgers and some sweet potatoes fries that we brought ourselves.  AND we only drank water!  People probably thought we were strange but of course we didn't mind.

The busy weekend is over and now that Tuesday is here, I'm off work!  I do have a dentist appointment here in a bit though and today is grocery shopping day!  We haven't planned out a menu for the week just yet but I'll be sure and fill you in on our purchases at Whole Foods.  Too bad we don't have another gift card...

Time is creeping

Day 4 is coming to an end.  Lucky for me there hasn't been any headaches today so perhaps I'm over the worst of my caffeine withdrawal.  Hopefully...  

I feel like time is creeping by.  It's only day 4?  Really??  Evan is at work right now at the dive shop and he said a girl ordered a large hawaiian pizza (his favorite) and it's sitting by the microwave as he warms up his paleo meal.  Poor guy.  Temptations are so tough at this stage.  SO easy to give in!

Today's meals:

Another massive breakfast of turkey sausage, poached egg, avocado and veggie mound.

Lunch, well, I forgot to take a picture of lunch (I devoured it very quickly) but it was delicious!  Sort of a paleo chinese meal taken from Make it Paleo's cookbook.  Beef and broccoli. Mmmmm

And tonight's dinner was from Paleo Comfort Foods' cookbook.

Country Captain Chicken

and a side of baked carrots!

And of course there has been the occasional spoonfuls of shredded coconut here and there.  I just can't help myself.  It has to be one of my favorite foods and I just don't care if it's full of fat!

There's a flag football game tonight that Evan is playing in and he desperately wants me to join but I have no desire.  I have no knowledge of the game and no skill, this I am certain.  I think I'll curl up in bed with a book and call it a day.  Another early morning tomorrow... with Eggs Paleo for breakfast!  

G'night!

Mega breakfast mega early

Rise and shine!  Or stay in bed if you'd prefer.  I should still be in bed as I don't have to work until 10:30 this morning but I am up and at 'em.  Evan and I make breakfast together every morning no matter what time the other person has to work.  He had to be in at 6 so we were both awake around 5 to concoct a mega breakfast.  Yes, I took pictures.  We made turkey sausage patties using a recipe from Make It Paleo's cookbook (the recipe called for pork but Whole Foods didn't have any this week), split an avocado, cut up loads of veggies (onion, broccoli, zucchini, jalepenos, bell peppers, mushrooms) and each had a poached egg.  It was SO filling!  

And now I sit here at my computer longing to sip on a coffee but alas, I will have to pull out a caffeine free herbal tea bag instead.  Sigh.  Day three is upon us.  I have had a headache (I'm guessing from the no caffeine) since yesterday early afternoon.  Hopefully it will subside soon.  Obviously I am addicted to the stuff so I think I'm doing the right thing and quitting for a while.  

Weekly shopping

Grocery shopping for the week is complete and I must give a huge thank you to Evan's friends for the $100 gift card to Whole Foods that they so generously gave to us recently.  So very helpful!  

We have our week of meals all planned out and will do most of the cooking today as we both have the majority of the day off.  We purchased some raw shrimp, ground beef, ground turkey, chicken breasts, stew beef, bacon, eggs and several veggies.  

Avocados were on sale!  

After we came home from shopping last night we were eager to get some food in us so we cooked up some turnip greens with bacon fat/grease that we had saved and then reheated the beef chili we made the previous night. Tasty dish!

We definitely struggled with our desire to snack last night.  Evan was craving mixed nuts (which could be healthy but not the way we consume them) and I was craving popcorn to go along with the movie we were planning to watch.  We stayed strong and sipped on some lemon water while eating a few bites of *unsweetened, shredded coconut.  


*I just learned this morning (about 5 minutes ago) how fatty this stuff is!  I've been eating it by the bowl full just to find out there are 100 calories in 3 Tbsp and 90 of those are from fat.  Yikes!  Guess I should probably cut back on the gluttonous consumption of coconut.  Bummer.

Coffee has got me on a string.

I just finished a shift at my second job (Banana Republic Factory Store) and I swear that just about every other person that walked through those doors had a Starbucks or McCafe or some other delicious coffee beverage in hand.  And every time one of them walked my way or passed by I would catch a scent through the air and nearly drool on myself.  Day one without coffee.    

No I have not given in.  

Now that I'm back home I have prepared myself a mug of Tazo Ginger tea and added some lemon just because.  Paleo diet plus no coffee is mega challenging.  But challenging is the way it goes with Whole 30.  Not that they say you can't have coffee but in my instance I think it beneficial to cut back for sure.

As for now, it's time for our weekly shopping at Whole Foods!  

Happy day before Groundhog's Day!

Good morning and happy February 1st!  I decided just this morning that I need to attempt to back away from the coffee for a while.  I rarely just have a cup in the morning and say goodbye until the next day.  I drink two cups in the morning and two cups at lunch and sometimes another two cups when I get home from work around 2:30.  Yeah... too much I'd say.  The substitute for my black coffee this morning is hot lemon water.  I long for that coffee!

Evan and I made a trip to the library yesterday and I got a few new animal books for reading.  

I started the morning with Owls Aren't Wise & Bats Aren't Blind.  It's basically a naturalist disproving common animal myths.  This morning I'm learning about beavers and muskrats :)