21May / 2013

What I like about my blog…

Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives

It’s still a work in progress. A hobby I enjoy

http://melissadishes.com/2013/03/21/things-i-like-thursday-homebrewed-kombucha/

One of my favorite dishes from WAY back to childhood

http://melissadishes.com/2012/05/15/comfort-food-at-its-finest/

Great moment when 2 special people in my life met.

http://melissadishes.com/2011/04/07/things-i-like-thursday-friends-food-and-fitness/

This was the day I remembered not feeling well, like when the switch flipped and I never felt normal after that. I had a great time, but it was a turning point in my health

http://melissadishes.com/2011/09/04/race-report-zilker-relay/

First family only event in FOREVER.

http://melissadishes.com/2012/09/11/vacation-over/

Missy and Chanel are special to me.

http://melissadishes.com/2011/08/18/things-i-like-thursday-pre-owned-pets/

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20May / 2013

Reality

Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you’re struggling with right now.

Where do I even start with this one?

I’ve been keeping my head above water but it seems like every aspect of my life has been a struggle lately.

Work has been eating me alive. It isn’t so much the working all of the time and being on call. Alot of it is personnel issues. Complicated and it doesn’t have any business here.

My health. I’ve been feeling somewhat better, but I have my days. I am closer to feeling normal again I hope.

Working out. It’s been hard to start over with everything. I never stopped some activities, but restarting things like running have been incredibly challenging.

My weight. I’ve not had issues maintaining my weight since I made goal in June 2007. Now all of a sudden it’s a struggle. When my activity decreased, I also decreased my food intake. I am still hopeful this was due to estrogen dominance and it will go away. It’s not a lot but it’s a lot for my little frame.

Well there is my open book. Everyone is a work in progress, right?

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19May / 2013

Blog lover

Day 19! Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them.

It’s hard to chose only five! I actually only have about 10 in my reader, the rest (which is a ton) I follow on Facebook and read as I see a post that catches my eye.

Where’s the Beach? Heather is real, honest, and fun. She blogs about everything. Food, fitness, running, fashion, pets, etc!

Meals and Moves Janetha says what she thinks about everything under the sun and I love it. She reminds me alot of Heather.

Cotter Crunch Lindsay is an Austin girl. She’s active, fun, gluten free, and honest.

Mark’s Daily Apple I’m a dork and I like the science. I also like the recipes and the success stories.

Clothes make the Girl Melissa is another Austin girl. Gluten free, paleo, has thyroid issues. I can relate to her.

Things they all have in common are that I can relate to them and they are REAL. Real food, real life. Intriguing.

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18May / 2013

Hugs for grandma

Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.

When I was little, my aunts and uncles took turns taking my widowed paternal grandmother to church. Well, the ones that lived in Texas did. It was a deal where if you couldn’t go, you had to find a sub. My grandmother had 9 children, 8 of which were in Texas. Somehow my dad ended up going every 6 weeks. We’d often go as a family or just with my dad for the weekend. Grandma’s farm was about 2 hours away, in the country, where my dad grew up.

For some reason, when we’d go to leave, I was scared to hug my grandmother. I have no idea why. She was tall, skinny, and somewhat frail, all 13 years I knew her. But up until about age 10, my dad had to practically force my sister and I to go hug her. Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t afraid of her, we’d help her cook, do things in the garden, go feed the goldfish and cows for her, etc.

Later on in life, especially after she passed on, I was ashamed of how I acted as a child. She was a wonderful woman and I admired her as early as I can even remember. She was a very devout Catholic, an awesome cook, still kept an amazing 2 acre garden with flowers and veggies up until the day she died. In fact, after her funeral, there are photos of the family standing in a sea of poppies that were in the garden that Easter.

I do know that Easter Sunday in 1993, before we left to go home, I gave her a good long hug. The last hug I ever gave her. I still remember that hug to this day.

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17May / 2013

Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why

This is the first photo that comes to mind. This is from October 2012 Cap 2 Coast relay. My teammate Jose snapped this from the car. It’s honestly one of the only good photos of me running. Ever.

I do know this was the first leg on the first day, it was my only leg of the race that was in daylight and it was at noon and SUPER hot. I am not sure what point this was on that leg, because I don’t really remember many chain link fences. For the most part it was barbed wire fences on a very windy and hilly Niederwald Farm to Market Road.

I like this photo because while I was having medical issues, I look strong. Oh and this was 6 days after I got hit by the car on my right side. I ran strong and maybe a little too hard here, but I felt fine doing it. This is the last photo I have before I lost much of my visible muscle tone.

I hope that soon I can look and run like this again. But this time, i’d like the rest of my body to play along

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16May / 2013

Difficulties

Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your “lot in life” and how you’re working to overcome it…

I had to think long and hard on this one. I general I am happy with my life. I mean, there is always room for improvement.

One area where I need to grow in my career. I am complacent right now. I like what I do on most days and I am happy when I am left to do what I am supposed to do. I don’t make a lot of money and no, my benefits are ok. They aren’t stellar like everyone likes to think they are.

There have been many changes in the last year. I refused to apply for a management position which earned me some negative words. Sorry, I don’t wish to be management in my current area.

Recently I was contacted to consider a change. I am still considering. I’d be doing something I know NOTHING about, working for “the other side” in the same place I work now. I had a friend cross over to work there earlier this year and she loves it, but then again, she knows exactly what they do over there.

So I am considering growing improving on my career, as uncomfortable as that feels. I did it a few years back, I should consider it again…

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16May / 2013

Day in photos

Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day)

Because it was storming this morning, I resorted to being indoors.

It rained, thank goodness! I wish it would rain for days!

A good reminder, because I don’t practice this most of the time. We almost never eat at the table, it’s usually in front of the tv and at work, usually in front of the computer. I am getting better about it at work, at least for lunch. Breakfast I often eat standing and on the computer.

I had a conference call most of the afternoon. It was a huge time suck and not very applicable to me. While I stand 90% of every day, I don’t stand for conference calls. If I do, I stand hunched over or on one leg, and really, that defeats the purpose. That stack by my feet, those are bills. 12 more days of session. I swear my office is really clean, despite what this angle looks like! I treated myself to a plain tea from Bill Millers because I needed more food for lunch, to stretch my bbq from home, so I bought a large salad and saved the ham on it for part of my snack.

I had wanted to go see Uncle Lucius and Jason Boland after work, but I really didn’t want to drive all of the way to Buda alone. Dan is in Canada. I don’t do well with driving at night, I get tired really easily. It’s much easier if someone is with me. I had friends going, but they all leave really far south.

So instead I opted to finally go get a new pedicure. I only ever want to go on Sundays and they aren’t open Sunday. Got a red-orange color. It’s pretty but I am not sure it really goes with my skin tone. Yes I know I need to take my fish rug home and wash it. Which reminds me, I haven’t been to IKEA in over a year!

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14May / 2013

Happiness

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

Vacations
Being active
Food. This was the mother’s day grub. Roast turkey, spicy bbq beans, grilled brats, roasted chicken, grilled corn, cabbage, onions. Oh and salad. If you’ve never had grilled cabbage, try it! It’s seriously underrated!