Memorial Day Weekend

With a few appointments over the weekend keeping us from taking our originally planned 4-day trip to Chicago, we decided to take a short trip to Minneapolis instead. We left very early Sunday morning with Lola in tow. It was her first vacation with us and she was having the time of her life!


On the way, we stopped at a rest stop for a walk through the woods (even though it was a rest stop, it was beautiful nonetheless) and then on to a little shopping at an outlet mall. We did well and bought only a few things, including a baby onesie with a whale on the butt (we just couldn't resist!). Then we were off to our hotel. We stayed at Sofitel, a super nice French hotel that has a few locations here in the States. I would highly recommend it. It was a beautiful smoke-free hotel in a great location and they even allow pets to stay free of charge, which is super rare. Luckily our hotel room was ready super early, so we headed straight there for a comfy bed. Actually, it ended up being the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on! Lola loved it too.


We stayed awhile at the hotel for a little relaxation and play time. Doesn't the bed just look like heaven?? It was even better than a Marriott bed, which is hard to beat!

We did some exploring and shopping throughout the trip, and while IKEA is usually what I look forward to, we happened to stumble upon something even greater. I'm a huge organization nerd, and if I could afford all the great organization stuff then my pantry would definitely look like this:

Alas, my pantry definitely doesn't look like this. Actually, I don't even have a pantry, but a girl can dream. And dream I did when I entered the monstrosity that was The Container Store. An organization nerd's dream! Chris really had no interest in the place, but he was a good sport and spent my allotted 1/2 hour in the awesome store. I came out with some great ideas of how I'd like my yet-to-be-built master closet look.

We ended the trip with a picnic at Minnehaha Park and were home in time to relax a bit before bedtime. All in all, it was a fun and much-needed get away!

TMI?

So this might be a bit of an overshare, but I have no shame. I ran out of clean undies so I used some leggings as a substitute. Is this more acceptable than going commando? Would you throw the leggings away afterwards, or is it no different than undies if I were to wash them? Either way, I'm sure every time you see me in leggings now you won't be able to stop yourself from being grossed out. :)

Prenatal Exercise

I recently scored a handful of prenatal workout DVDs on Craigslist for $10. I still go to yoga once a week, but I wanted to do something more. I figured that I could shoot for one DVD workout (except for yoga nights) per night, knowing that every other night would probably be more realistic. So far I have tried two of the videos.

The first is Shiva Rea's Prenatal Yoga. It is rather long at 90 minutes (including the 30 minutes of relaxation at the end). I have a short attention span and a general distaste for non-sport oriented workouts, so this was definitely a little long for me. I found the balancing poses to be challenging and fun, it was the only thing that kept me going.



The second is Prenatal Pilates on the Ball. This one was definitely more up my alley. I can appreciate the focus, breathing and balancing learned in yoga, but pilates just seems like more of a workout. I own a set of non-prenatal pilates DVDs that I loved, but they were too ab-centric to be of much use to me at a time when it hurts to utilize my abs much. This DVD was a really great workout, and Chris even gave a go at one of the exercises and thought it was difficult. It says that you need a balance ball and exercise bands, so I picked up a cheap ball at Target and substituted dumbbells for the bands. I must say that it was rather tough with the dumbbells, but at least I could feel a burn which is much more motivating. I might even continue this DVD after the birth as it worked a lot of areas which often get overlooked in other workouts.

Now that I have the exercise ball, I actually find myself using it everyday. I had previously read some things about substituting the ball for a chair as it provides a small workout on your abs and improves posture. I'll take any chance of an ab workout at this point, so I've happily traded in my comfy spot on the sofa for a seat on this:

Maybe after the baby arrives then all I'll be left with is a hot six pack? A woman can dream...

P.S. - I've made the Baby Journal public for any family/friends that have even a slight interest, although I understand if you don't. :) It's http://bisforbrock.blogspot.com or you can just click the link on the right side of the posts on this page to take you there!

Chuck Norris

I recently stumbled upon the "Chuck Norris Fact Generator" for iGoogle. I was so excited to add this to my homepage, and even more so when I found that today's Fact of the Day was something nerdy that I could appreciate:




I know that some people aren't math nerds like myself, so to explain: division by zero is not possible....unless you're Chuck Norris, of course.

SUNDAY - Post #1

Yes, I realize that it's not Sunday, but as in with the underwear, these could be read any day of the week, so pretend that I wrote this on Sunday and you're reading it on Tuesday! This weekend was full of events and spring cleaning, so I didn't get around to starting on time. I began the spring cleaning festivities on Friday night and had so much fun deep cleaning (yes, I'm sure I'm in the minority with my love for cleaning) that I stayed up past midnight only to arise early Saturday morning to continue the good times. The cleaning only could have gone better had I found my mp3 player (I lost it in the move) so I could listen to some music.

Sunday was the big day. Our friends Ben and Smita and Chris and I threw a couple's shower for our good friends Dane and Jessie. Smita and I cooked all of the food and had fun doing so. We should have started a little earlier as we weren't quite done with the last appetizer by the time people began showing up. Everyone raved about the food though, so we were quite excited that it went over so well. Our menu was as follows:

Appetizers
Veggie tray with a homemade basil-yogurt dip
Potato chips for "the men" (per Chris' request)
Boursin and roasted red pepper crostinis

Dinner
Chris' secret-recipe grilled burgers
Pasta salad
Swiss and cashew salad with homemade poppy seed dressing

Dessert
Kylee & Nora's Fruit Pizza
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops*

Overall the party was great. The weather wasn't too cooperative, so we moved the party inside just in case it decided to rain as it had been doing off-and-on throughout the day. Thanks to our large great room, we were able to set up the two eight foot cafeteria tables and chairs and comfortably seat all 20 of us inside. It never did rain, but it was a little chilly, so everyone stayed indoors until after dinner. After dinner, the party really began. The girls took to the horseballs set (or ladderballs, or whatever else you call it) while the men got a pretty heated basketball game going. The night ended with the lowering of the hoop to kick off a slam-dunk competition. Some of the guys were pretty good, while some could use some work, and one only never had to leave the ground (he's 6'5").

We have a pretty nice set up in the backyard for basketball (about 1/3 of a court) which is perfect for a game of 3-on-3. Chris and I originally wanted to tear it out as it takes up a lot of our yard, but we've found ourselves getting a game of Horse or Around the World on nearly every night. For the record, I'm the current champion of Horse. I think Chris is jealous of my mad skill, or at least was until he started dominating me in Around the World.

*The Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops (what a long name!) actually never made it out to the guests. Smita and I neglected to notice that it needed to set for 8 hours in the fridge, topped by one hour in the freezer before being served. However, Chris and I ended up trying them last night (and by trying, I mean eating half the pan - whoops!). They were quite delicious, so I thought I'd share the recipe.


Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Cheesecake Pops
Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

Cheesecake:
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter (the original recipe calls for 1 3/4 cups, but I thought this was the perfect amount to save it from being overpowering)

Chocolate:
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Directions
Wooden pop sticks

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325F. Line an 8"x8" baking pan with foil letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spray foil with nonstick spray.
Break up the brown sugar to remove all lumps. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until very smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. Take care not to over beat the mixture; this incorporates too much air and causes the cheesecake to crack.
Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up the foil. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into
1 1/2-inch cubes. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, put the shortening and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. (Alternatively, put the chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt at 50 percent power in the microwave until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, and continue to heat until completely melted, about 1 minute more.)
Dip the pops into the chocolate mixture, and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. Serve cold (straight from the fridge), or freeze up to 2 weeks. Frozen pops make a cool summer treat, or can be allowed to temper for 10 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Upgrade: Coat the pops with chopped nuts or candies for a really decadent finish. To do this let the dipped pops drip over a bowl for 15 seconds before rolling them.

I forgot to line the pan with foil, so mine were very difficult to remove from the pan in neat squares. They came out pretty lumpy looking, hence the stock photo instead of one of my own. However ugly they may have been, they were still delicious to eat!

Confessions

Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been three days since my last shower. I secretly believed that it would be no big deal for me to continue this streak until after my last exam on Friday, but I do have to go into work today, so I thought it would be best to make time for a quick one this morning. Just in case the perfume is no longer covering my odors. I can barely find the time to eat during the day, let alone take the time for pampering such as cleanliness. I've been sans makeup and sporting a pony tail the whole week, which I'm sure gets some attention at the office, but they're all actuaries too, so they understand.

Yesterday I put in an impressive 12 hours of studying. I went to bed and started dreaming in math:

I guess that means I shouldn't have been sleeping after all. So, I got out of bed to study some more and topped out at a record-breaking 14 hours of studying for the day. If only that were enough. As it is, I've got less than 24 hours until the big hurrah, and I'm typing in between bites of oatmeal - then back to the books! I've realized that given my extended leave from the blogging world, that I have a lot to catch up on. Therefore, I declare next week to be Days of the Week Posts Week. You know, like the days of the week underwear. Sadly, my posts aren't reusable -- they're not that entertaining! But like the underwear, they can be used any day of the week, which therein defeats the purpose of the days being written on them. Who came up with that idea anyway? Ok, enough about underwear and back to studying!!

My Life Lately...

I have been killing myself studying like a mad woman as my actuarial exams are only one week away. EESH! Nine hours of studying per day is just not good for the body, or soul! I'm self-diagnosing myself as having carpal tunnel syndrome as well as a strong aversion to sunlight as I haven't seen any in quite some time.

There's so much that I want to post, so hopefully the weeks after my exams will be full of updates. Until then, enjoy the sunlight and beautiful weather without me!