The Start of Something New

Hi peeps!

Don’t worry, I’m not talking about anything crazy here, just the start of the new semester. Since the summer is officially over (at least here in NC) I figure it’s about time to get on a semi regular posting schedule again. Ya know, in addition to organizing everything else and setting up for the upcoming year

So. Let’s see.

Last week I joined the ASSIST Center at Sourcing at MAGIC (not an actual magic show as in two sorcerers battling it out but a textiles and fashion expo) in Las Vegas!

Our research was being highlighted as the latest in wearable technology so we were front and center of the thing! Here’s a picture of me, taken with a potato, wearing our EKG shirt at a corner of our booth. I may look less than thrilled as this was the last day of the expo and we had just seen……

wpid-20150819_091206.jpg

BRITNEY SPEARS LAST NIGHT!! ❤

wpid-20150818_213418.jpg

Insert girly freak out here

wpid-20150818_210925.jpg

It was everything my 10 yr old self could have asked for and then some! I didn’t have much of a voice the day after due to all the loud singing and such 🙂

We also made a point to drink some obscene slushies every night (can you tell I’m really good at taking pictures with my potato??)

wpid-20150816_193928.jpg

Which eventually led to decisions like this….

wpid-20150819_191440.jpg

Apparently balloon hats are rather suspicious to airport security, although FYI they will let you on a plane with them.

Steve had a great time trying to herd two dogs (the puppy is pretty high energy) with a bad knee, but I’ll let him tell you about that experience.

Anyhoo,

Classes are back in action (I’m taking one class this semester) and it’s weird having to be responsible and make good decisions again…i.e. my half marathon training starts this week…..after not working out for….2 months??….it’s gonna be awesome…..

I’ll be back soon with more!

A New Addition

So it’s been pretty quiet over here on the blog but it definitely has been anything but quiet in real life! As of last Friday, we  are now a 12-legged family….

wpid-20150808_165644.jpg

 

This cutie is Luna! She’s about 11 weeks old right now and is a very exciting addition to the Steve/Amanda household. Indy has adjusted about as well as could be expected….

wpid-20150801_181751.jpg

 

Especially since she’s Luna’s new favorite chew toy, but overall they really get along well! Indy has taken on the role of “Mama Dog” and is intent on showing Luna what’s what in life. Indy has also taken on the role of treat thief and shameless beggar whenever Luna is around, so we gotta work on that a bit.

wpid-20150731_151629.jpg

In people news, Steve had reconstructive surgery on his ACL that he tore in Prague.  It’s been my job to dispense ice and narcotics at regular intervals for the last week or so.

Since Steve is out of commission (he’s just now starting to hobble around on crutches) puppy wrangling/herding has been my new 24/7 job in addition to my grad school job and my Steve’s caretaker/”responsible adult” job. It’s a lot to take on at once and I haven’t slept much, but every dog and Steve is worth it!

I’m just going to finish off this post with a bunch more pictures of Luna because the world needs more puppy pictures!

She has questionable sleeping techniques…

wpid-20150809_212620.jpg

 

wpid-20150731_182323.jpg

 

wpid-20150807_161657.jpg

 

But she sure is cute! And we can’t wait for her to get old enough to not annoy Indy 😉

wpid-20150731_150042.jpg

Dog Trauma

Who’s excited for Monday?!?

Anyone??

Yeah. Me neither.

We had a pretty fun weekend mostly spent traumatizing Indy (in the best way, I promise it’s good for her).

We forced her to socialize at the new Raleigh Beer Garden on Friday. They have 366 beers on tap! It’s pretty freakin sweet.

wpid-20150724_153516.jpg

On Saturday, I took her on a super long walk after I ran some hills outside which was a horrible idea in July.

But the best part was Sunday…

Steve and I drove out to Lake Wheeler to test out Indy’s new life jacket! It is totes adorbs. And by that I mean she hates it and it’s hilarious to watch her hate it.

wpid-20150726_120000.jpg

 

It even comes with handles so we can pick her up like this!wpid-20150726_120006.jpg

 

We got this for her, because she really likes to swim in the summer to cool off, but she tends to freak out if she can’t touch the bottom of the lake/stream/river. So, this gives her a little extra boost to feel more comfortable in the water.

As with most things though. Indy hated it and was terrified of it at first.

wpid-20150726_120550.jpg

She even ignored fresh salmon!

wpid-20150726_120541.jpg

Just look at that indignant face. That is total sass.

One box of smoked salmon later, she had her longest swim and didn’t need any encouragement to jump in and swim around! #success

To celebrate we hit up the SnoBall stand on the way home  😀

wpid-img_20150726_130654.jpg

 

Hope you guys had a great weekend too!

Friday Dance Time

It’s Friday…Friday…gotta get down on Friday (sings to self cause I’m a nerd like that)

Please tell me you guys have some awesome plans for the weekend, because my plans are unpacking and cleaning…ugh. Need to live vicariously through other people this weekend.

In random news, have you ever seen a pineapple plant?

wpid-screenshot_2015-07-10-11-51-08.png

Now you have! The weird part about this is that it is inside the Textiles Engineering building. Pineapple<–>textiles<–>confused Amanda?? Note to everyone in this building though, I TOTALLY CALL THAT PINEAPPLE WHEN IT’S RIPE ENOUGH TO EAT

Workout world wise (yes I’m smiling gleefully at that alliteration) I did a quick 35 min treadmill sesh because I don’t enjoy feeling like death and drowning in sweat while I run. At least my view isn’t bad

wpid-20150709_165536.jpg

I threw some intervals in there while rocking out to the newest Fall Out Boy album (fast pace was a 7:30 min/mile or 8mph and slow was about a 9 min/mile) and got in 3.8 miles

wpid-20150709_165543.jpg

Afterwards, because our gym has a ballet bar and I insist on using it and because stretching is important, I stretched it out in our aerobics room!

wpid-20150709_165839.jpg

Pointed feet are important even if you’re not a ballerina any more 🙂

I’m off to chase down some lunch….

Have a happy Friday!

 

Back in Business

Hi peeps!

How was your 4th of July? My brother stayed with us last week on his month-long break from living and teaching in Moscow (?!?!?!super cool right?) and then we had a rockin 72hrs in Guntersville, AL for the annual family reunion (for my fam). So this is our first ‘normal’ week since….early May? We have finally moved, traveled, met deadlines, visited family, traveled some more, and slept a lot.

wpid-img_20150703_114516.jpg

Here we are all piled into my car for the 9 hour drive.

-side note I need to remind Steve to finish recapping our Europe trip, but we’ll see how that goes 🙂 –

Now is as good a time as any to get back to blogging on a regular basis right?

First off, LOOK AT THIS GINORMOUS STRAWBERRY! That is all. one. strawberry. How do you even eat that?!? Never mind, I’ll figure out a way 🙂

wpid-img_20150707_091951.jpg

Summer is the best for awesome fruit and I have no shame about eating my weight in fruit, veggies, basil, and cilantro for the next couple of months. Fruit = happy Amanda!

In other exciting events I’ve had the energy and patience to start cooking again 🙂

Monday, I did up some pan-seared cod (seasoned with salt, pepper, and lemon juice) with some awesome strawberry salsa and cilantro lime rice….(insert heart-eyed emoji here for this crazy colorful dinner)

Capture

 

Hopefully, some new recipes will start coming your way soon! If nothing else, at least some food porn.

With this extra energy, I have also started working out again (for those not in the know, I kinda stopped working out for like, 2 solid months because ya know energy and busy and school and all). Since it’s 100000 degrees outside, running is not the best idea so I’ve been sticking to the indoor strength workouts for now.

Mainly, TRX -> check out Fitnessista for some great intros to TRX <-

wpid-20150625_180706.jpg

-yes I took this picture with a potato….why do you ask?-

Aaaaand yesterday we threw in some P90x Shoulders and Arms since Steve officially tore his ACL  in Prague and can’t do much with his legs. Sometimes its really nice to zone out and follow the energetic people on TV rather than trying to come up with your own routine.

I gotta head back to work now, but just wanted to check in with you guys to make sure you haven’t forgotten about our shenanigans!

Have a great Wednesday!