“Accomplishments”

HAPPY MONDAY. (Because Mondays can be happy too).

Can you believe how close we are to Christmas time?! I just love it- family, food, free time, football, falling asleep whenever, feeling un-stressed… okay that’s all the Fs I got. 😀

Today I am telling you all my accomplishments from last week, but I must ask one thing of you. Let’s consider “accomplishment” in the broadest of ways. Thanks Meghan, for the link-up!

I went to two Christmas parties this past weekend and managed to make an old outfit a full-on Santa get up.

The first party was with my awesome youth group. Can you find me? I am the adult that fits in with all the teens.

The second party was with my grad school friends. I am so grateful for the girlfriends I’ve made. Since high school, making girlfriends has kind of been a hard thing for me, but grad school has been different.

I should have taken a picture pre-digging in, but the party food was realllly good. Someone made a beet dip that stole the show for me and I kind of just wanted to eat it with my hands it was so good.

I made the chocolate cake featured in my last post, and boy did it NOT disappoint. The chocolate was so DEEP and rich. I was really proud of myself for making the cake and icing from scratch. It was my first layer cake, so I patted myself on the back a couple of times.

I also made hummus from chickpeas that I cooked from dried. It was my first time not using canned, and while the canned are a good bit easier, I think the dried tasted better. As I was making it, the hummus wasn’t getting creamy and I was getting a little nervous, but then I added some hot water and it began to break down beautifully. Phew!

Worth mentioning is this brie I brought along (mostly for myself…)

I also managed to make it to the gym more than once this week. There is no denying that working out has not been on the top of my list lately, but it felt great to get back in there and sweat. I am going to do my best to go more consistently now that school is out. I need the routine I lost!

Also, thank you GOD for this beautiful weather. No need for a White Christmas!

 

For monies I proctored 25+ hours of exams (completed 2 crossword puzzles and a small amount of studying while doing so). Is there a better (nerdy) feeling than completing a crossword puzzle?

I managed to tag team a healthy dinner with Terry. I asked him what he wanted for dinner and he said “hot dog, french fries, and baked beans.” We sophisticated that dinner up a little by using chicken sausages, whole wheat buns, carrots fries, and homemade baked beans.

I SLEPT IN. And it felt SO good. Terry must have gotten the cooking fever, because he got up and made me breakfast while I slumbered. He’s the bomb.

I felt stylish with my highly coordinated outfit. The dress is from my stylish friend, so I guess I can’t take full credit.

Lastly, I made this amazing double chocolate Greek yogurt banana bread by Amanda. It’s my new fav. I made a few modifications- reg. yogurt instead of Greek, baking stevia instead of brown sugar, and only 3 tbsp liquid sweetener. I also found 1/4 cup chocolate chips to be sufficient.

Notice there wasn’t much mention of studying… Studying is the hardest thing for me right now. I can’t concentrate on it for more than like 5 minutes. As I am in my 2nd year of grad school, I think my brain is fried. I wish I was just given a paper to write. Oh well- it will be over Tuesday!!!

What’s something you feel like you’ve “accomplished” this past week?