V day: Round 7

It was pretty crazy when I realized this was mine and Caleb's SEVENTH Valentines Day together! We, as usual, kept it pretty low key. No fancy evening was planned, and not a lot of money was spent...which is truly the way we like it.

Let me back up, our entire weekend was "just how we liked it". I mean, it couldn't have been more perfect. Not ONE thing we had to do at a certain time, no one we had to meet, it was just awesome. Whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Typically most weekends that are free still have a few (even small) obligations. This one? Different story. We were thrilled!

We started the night off after work on Friday by ordering a pizza...and that was totally unplanned. If you know me, you know I love my pizza. So when Caleb was upstairs and we hadn't yet figured out dinner plans, you could say I was pretty happy to receive this smooth text while sitting on the couch...

Saturday we got ready early and headed to our local libraries used book sale. We scored quite a few awesome deals and even ran into Erin & Jared! We decided to meet back up later for games! Before that, we scored our free chipotle (and when we got there, ended up scoring 3 more free coupons...heck yes) and had ourselves a little day date.

Hilton Head-opoly!

Caleb and I decided on no gifts this year, but of course, my man didn't listen. His gift made me cry...so darn sweet. He framed a couple of his favorite wedding photos of us in an adorable frame with a bible verse about love. He is the best!!!

Sunday Caleb took me to a couple flea markets and we found some old vintage cameras (enter all the heart eye emojis). We had a gift card for dinner so we headed there and yes, we made it through the snow storm! We honestly had no idea it was going to be that bad out, so we're thankful we made it home safely. We passed a huge accident about every 5 minutes!

Once we got home, I decided to make some Red Velvet puppy chow and it. was. delicious!!!

I plan to post the recipe at some point, it was so tasty! The ingredients I bought could've probably tripled the recipe, but I'm thankful I didn't because I seriously would've finished it off! ;)

This weekend was seriously perfect. No real plans, but so much stinkin fun with my man! I hope everyone had a great weekend, too!

Dear things...

Dear Friday, I'm so thankful you're here. Caleb and I have lots of fun planned for this weekend! Possibly a used book sale, a cheap matinee and a fun lunch date?! Yes please!!

Dear hair, I think I'm finally learning to curl you the right way?!

Dear Caleb, I hope you feel better soon. Poor guy, he's been sick all week. Pass on some good vibes so he feels better soon and we can enjoy our free weekend to the fullest!

Dear meal planning, you're making me feel accomplished. I'm really getting used to cooking and enjoying it a lot! My favorite thing is hearing Caleb tell me how amazing dinner is - yay!

Dear Blake Lively, why aren't we best friends?! Come on...

Dear bible study, you're really challenging me! You're making me pick apart verses and unpack them for what they really are and learning to apply them to my life! This is different than any "devotional" that I've done in the past. The context is more educational-style, but I'm loving it! For those of you interested, I'm reading this!

Dear Chipotle, thanks for your #raincheck promotion this week. Since they shut down on Monday during regular business hours, you could text them and they'd send a free meal coupon! I was afraid it was a scam, but I'm glad I took the chance! So we know where we'll be tomorrow!!

Dear donuts in the break room, go away. I'm trying to be good.

Dear lunch packing, you've been fun. I'm loving my nighttime routine now. Sure, it takes me 10+ minutes sometimes, but if I don't take the time to prep, I realize I will fail in the healthy eating department.

Dear friends, enjoy your fun weekend! Caleb and I have V-day evening plans to stay in, and I'm pretty pumped about it!

Contemplating another race...

Oh how proud I am of these few numbers on this little piece of paper!

Flash back to May, 2013. Erin picked me up and we headed Downtown to go see our husbands finish their first half marathon. Erin and I still laugh when we think about how rough we were looking that morning, but it really didn't matter, we were going to see our men cross that finish line and celebrate! That's what mattered!

We kind of got a little emotional watching them accomplish this huge victory and crossing that finish line! It was then that I decided that I wanted to have a moment like that one day. So the next year, we all geared up and decided to do it together. It.was.freaking.brutal.y'all!! BUT it's one of my favorite memories with our foursome and we loved it (even if I was slower than a group of turtles running through peanut butter)...

...it was slow, it was painful, but this beautiful medal and my sense of accomplishment made it ALL worth it!!

I had never experienced pain like I did those 72 hours after that first race It was really bad that entire evening following, so I basically grabbed everything from our freezer and covered my legs with them. In that moment I pretty much decided I'd never run again....

...so what's the only logical thing to do? Convince yourself it was worth it and run it again the next year! ;) I even cut over an hour off my time!

But the recovery from my second half was much worse, as I didn't train properly. My body just wasn't ready to go from practically nothing to running uphill for 7 miles straight. It was brutal and I could hardly walk for 3 weeks. So much so that I thought maybe I tore something. Luckily, it all felt normal again soon...but I convinced myself there was no way I'd ever run that particular race again. I even questioned if running was "for me". Since then, I haven't gotten as into running as I used to be. I think I started putting too much stress on myself that the thought of running just kind of annoyed me. The comparison game was another issue "I'm not fast enough", blah blah blah.

BUT!

I was so silly to think like that.

Running is for ANYONE who can get off the couch and make themselves endure it. Running is for anyone who puts one foot in front of the other, no matter how slow!

So...now I think I want to run the race again. 

I'm all over the place, I know. I think i'm going to take this week and really pray about the decision. I think it would be fun to run my third half marathon alongside my husband, again! I think it would be a fun challenge to beat my last race time and set a few goals for myself throughout the training process. PLUS it would be a fun excuse to whip out my favorite workout pants! ;)

What about you guys? Any fun exercise goals this year? Any races on your calendars?!

Mostly productive weekend!

Friday evening was the perfect date-night in. I made spaghetti and meatballs and then we popped a ton of popcorn for all the movies we were about to watch!

Saturday, we woke up earlier and I got a tough workout in (I also finished with a 90's video called "8 minute abs" - ouch). Caleb had to leave to help his Dad with some things, so I took it upon myself to basically finish all of our laundry (seriously, it never ends) and organize our bedroom. For a few days there, you could hardly see the floor. It was giving me serious anxiety (and a few stubbed toes).

After a few hours of cleaning (I also scrubbed that kitchen - woo!), I cleaned up and we got ready for one of our favorite little girls birthday parties! If you recall, last month, she was in the hospital with pneumonia, so her original party got cancelled...so this was finally her day to celebrate! She makes me so darn happy I can't stand it!

Sunday we heard an INCREDIBLE message from our pastor at church. Then went over to Erin and Jared's for a day full of Disney games (#nevergrowup), KFC, and football. To be honest? My favorite part of that Superbowl was Bruno Mars. I love that man, and am reminded how badly I want to see him in concert! The game as a whole was kind of sloppy, and hard to watch! But overall, I'm ready for a break from football. My who-dey heart is still a little broken!

Did I mention the 4 of us nearly finished this bowl of "crack dip"?!! 

All in all it was an awesome weekend. Caleb and I are definitely NOT taking this free time for granted. This coming weekend we've also got NO obligations and are so looking forward to it! I hope everyone found some fun to get into! :)

Happy Weekend!!

I'm so thankful that its Friday. Caleb and I finally get to enjoy a weekend doing whatever the heck we want. It may sound crazy, but for us, those just don't come around that often. I'm so excited to get home tonight and figure out what the heck we'll do. Probably get crazy and begin a new Disney puzzle.... ;)

Obviously, Friday is reason enough to be happy. However, I also got the chance to go to Ruby Tuesdays with our receptionist. She's the sweetest...always so positive, optimistic, and genuine. So I grabbed her for lunch one day and realized how much she needed it. Her Dad was recently diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer and they've given him less than 6 months to live. I hate that she's going through this, but I'd like to think that for even a few moments, she wasn't thinking about all the darkness in her world.

I've been utilizing the other perks of Amazon Prime, other than just the free shipping! If you don't have the Amazon Prime music app - you need it NOW! I came across a ton of Colbie Caillat and I forgot how much I used to love her. I've got a pretty killer playlist going!

My sweet Greta also picked me up with HER OWN CAR this week. She's like a little sister to me, and I'm thankful to be able to make these fun memories with her. She offered to take me to Starbucks one night, so of course, I obliged.

Last night I spent an hour watching another free webinar. I'm pretty much in love with Katelyn James and every image she's ever taken, so gaining insight for FREE from her is an opportunity I can't pass up. I really can't get enough!

We also took a stab at cauliflower pizza last night and totally transformed a Pinterest recipe from pepperoni to buffalo chicken! We really did love it. I have to be honest, it didn't satisfy that "pizza" craving, but it DID taste amazing. But man, I miss carbs. 

Hope everyone has a lot of fun for the weekend planned, or a lot of relaxing, which is just as awesome in my book. Happy Friday!!

Feeling refreshed + some goals

I'm finally feeling like myself again. This week, I've really started watching the foods I put into my body, I've been focused more on exercise and getting my daily steps in, and I've been cooking nearly every night. Oh, and I cut off 4 inches of hair last night (which I haven't done in years)!

I call this the Claire Dunphey

Something just kind of hit me over the weekend, that all the things I say "would make me happier", I could actually be doing. The only person stopping me, was me.

For instance, I claim to love reading, yet never make the time for it. Caleb and I cannot say no to our local used book sales, and we end up leaving with about 20 new books every time. We physically have no more room on our bookshelves, so they are flowing over into our bedroom nightstands and desk. Yet, what's the point in continuing to buy them if they just sit there?! SO, I'm challenging myself to start/finish a new book this month. I'd ask you all for recommendations but I already have too many to think straight :)

So here are my goals for the month of February:
Curl my hair a few times. I love the way it looks curled yet I never make time for it. So here's to waking up a couple times to practice more!

Exercise. Whether that means waking up before the sun to get in an hour of cardio, walking on my lunch break, running at night, etc., I'm not going to be too selective! Just want to be as active as possible, every day.

Order a new photo book. Well, my FIRST photo book. I really want to make our wedding album. I know, 2.5 years later... blah blah blah. Now that I finally have free time, there's NO excuse.

Cook some new recipes. Pinterest has literally been my BFF this week, and with guests coming over on Monday, I want to step up my game :)

Date the heck out of Caleb. We have so much free time this month and I don't want to let it slip away before its gone. We don't have a wedding until March, and then starting in April it gets a little crazy again. So, I want to soak up every evening/day/etc. that I get with my man!!

Do our taxes. We are so much more prepared than we were last year and I'm ready to pay these silly taxes so we can get on with our debt snowball! We are praying to be out of debt by mid-Spring!

Organize and clean our bedroom. Somehow our bedroom turned into more of a catch-all for all of our laundry, books, etc.! I want our bedroom to feel more relaxing... not stress inducing! ;)

I hope everyone has a great Thursday. SMILE! The weekend is almost here!!

Romeo, oh Romeo.

After a going away party for my boss on Friday, I finally made it home for a night in with Caleb! We hung out and watched some movies but tried to get a good amount of sleep before our fun little mini-trip to Columbus to see some friends, and their precious dog Romeo!!!

We got there around lunchtime and promptly went to BJ's Brewhouse for food- omg! I haven't been in years and forgot how delicious it was. We ordered everything, even apps + zerts (haaaay to anyone thinking about parks and rec right now)!!

Megan scored some random free OSU hockey tickets for that evening so after some much needed quality time catching up,  we headed to Campus!

The Bucks won 3-2 and it was super fun! I'm not a big hockey follower in general, but its a fun experience to be there in person! We got take out for dinner and went back to their place to play euchre, and I finally feel like I get it! WOO! We also started a fire and yes, it was magical. I long for a fireplace one day :)

We stayed up way too late, but still managed to make it to church with them the next morning. We headed home shortly after, but of course, stopped for brunch first. We're so thankful for the (short) time we got to spend with them! It's great having friends both near and far!

Caleb and I saw "The Intern" Sunday night once we got back home and wow!! It's  definitely one of my new favorite movies. Of all time... I feel like it had "all the feels", and I actually learned some things from it. You really need to see it!!

Hoping to get back on my blogging game this/next week. I needed a couple days off to just relax. Hope you all had a fun weekend, and are making it through your work week!!