WIAW: Night Schedule

   

What I Ate Wednesday!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting.

I'm on nights in the NICU for the past couple weeks so my meals are really weird right now. Not only do I typically eat a little less healthy, but I eat at totally weird times. When I'm at work for the night, it's pretzels, chips and hummus for dinner. In the morning it's 2 different kinds of fried potatoes. 

Yesterday was a day (night?) off so instead of the cafeteria food these are the things I made at home. 

Breakfast (5:30 AM, after being up all night): Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

These are from the More Peas, Thank You cookbook. They're ok though I think they lose something with the altitude baking, just not quite perfect. With some icing though, they're very good.

I ate these with my husband before he left for work and then fell asleep around 6:30.

I woke up about 1 because I needed to go to the post office while they were still open for passport applications. I'm travelling in a few months and my passport's the last thing I never changed over from my maiden name. 

I had to drive to another town because all the post offices here in Albuquerque require appointments for passport applications, so I took Luna with me and we stopped at a new dog park on the way back. It had a separate section for little dogs and she seemed to like it. 

Lunch I guess?: Tempeh bacon wraps. Around 6 it was John's dinner time and I guess it would be my lunch. We made tempeh bacon wraps: pita, melted Daiya mozzarella, tempeh bacon, spinach and tomato. I also had some leftover pasta. 

Dinner: Cinnamon rolls. Before falling asleep I ate a couple more of the cinnamon rolls from this morning. I'll spare you a second identical picture.  

Also tea and orange water. 

Like I said, weird food day. Way healthier than the potatoes I'd been eating from the cafeteria though - at least there was some whole wheat flour and something green.

I hope you have a great day.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

2015 New Year's Resolutions

It's a misleading title for this post - I'm not really making New Year's Resolutions. In  the close to 4 years I've been blogging, I've never written New Year's resolutions. I stopped making them in general because, to directly quote myself from 2012:
     "They have a lot of potential. I love the feeling of a fresh start, but never in my life have I successfully changed my life with a resolution. Too often they've made me discount my successes and blessings because I didn't succeed in some arbitrary guideline I thought I wanted from my year."

My planner. Journal J 2015.

In 2012 I wrote this post about things to look forward to instead, and in the following two years I never really wrote a New Years post at all.

I think this year I'd like to continue with setting just a couple specific monthly goals, so later I'm hoping to write a "January Goals" post.

However the main purpose of this post is to mention my New Years Resolution alternative: 28 by 28.

I made a pretty fair run at 25 by 25 several years ago, but never really continued it despite my best intentions in the subsequent years.

Since my birthday is towards the end of the year, I have almost a whole year to try to accomplish the 28 things on the list. I'll be applying the same guidelines I did before - this is meant to get me to try new things, but not be a point of stress. Things I don't get done will roll over into the following year and I'll be updating as it goes along.

There is nothing work or medical related on this list, and that is intentional. There is quite enough pressure in residency without putting it on a list like this that is designed to exercise other parts of my brain.

There is now a 28 by 28 page along the top tabs where I'll be keeping a record, and so here it is:

28 By 28

1. Read 4 books (for fun).

2. Update my "In Case I Die" letters. I wrote them in 2008.

3. Develop old disposable cameras.
4. Make another video for the blog.
5. Go to Machu Picchu.
6. Do a primarily strength-based workout for at least 2 months.
7. Do a 1000 piece puzzle.
8. Go to Yosemite.
9. Spend a whole day without any non-essential media (i.e. work email ok, cell phone games not).
10. Eat 1 raw meal a day for a week.
11. Change my gym membership to save some $.
12. Try a vegetable that's new to me.

13. Bike to Nob Hill.
14. Take Luna to a new dog park.
15. Learn to play a new song on the keyboard.
16. Try a new type of art.
17. Take the Railrunner to Santa Fe for the day just for fun.
18. Try a new type of tea.
19. Do 20 full pushups in a row.
20. Volunteer doing something that isn't medical.
21. Make a meal plan for dinners and stick to it for a week.
22. Watch at least 50% of the films nominated for a 2015 Best Picture Oscar.
23. Go to White Sands National Monument.
24. Take a non-medical class or workshop - online or in person.
25. Go to Carlsbad Caverns.
26. Grow something.
27. Try every Thai restaurant in Albuquerque [3 star or higher on Yelp]
28. Go camping.

I'm sure I'll be looking to you all for help and troubleshooting as I go along.

I hope you have a great year and fill it up with new adventures too.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

WIAW: The End of 2014

                                     

What I Ate Wednesday!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting.

It's the final WIAW of the year. Whether you're planning to stay up and party for midnight or working like me or planning to be asleep by 9 PM, I hope you're having a great day and end of the year.

I've been having very snacky/small meals lately because I'm about half switched over to night shift schedule, but not completely. I'm never really hungry for a meal, but I'm kind of hungry more often. The first few nights my stomach is always upset if I eat in the middle of the night anyway so its a balance. 

Breakfast: Toast. One with Peanut Butter and one with Earth Balance. I forgot to take a picture but we have this good bread that was on sale. 

Lunch: Tomatoes, almonds, leftover pasta. Really this was spread out over a couple hours of eating a little bit at a time, but we'll just call it lunch. Also the second pic is recycled from a previous week. Technically this week's pasta shape is penne, but everything else is the same. 

Snack: Clif Bar

Dinner: Banana Pancakes. It just felt like a breakfast for dinner kind of night. I don't think anyone needs a reason to have breakfast for dinner - it's always a good idea. I used this recipe but mashed the banana, used brown sugar and left out the flax. I forgot to take a picture until I was packing up the leftovers, but they turned out pretty as pancakes go.

Hydration: This isn't a usual section on my WIAW but it is kind of important. I'm always underhydrated - I do have a hard time making it a priority. I started setting up infused water again and that has helped. I just throw a couple orange slices in a 32 oz. mason jar of water overnight and it makes it that much easier to drink because its something I look forward to doing. 

I hope you have a happy, healthy New Year's Eve.

Thanks for reading, see you soon [in 2015!]

2014 in Review

It's almost the New Year. I hope you're still having a good holiday season. Last year around this time I wrote this post about the most significant moments in 2013.

I was getting ready to write a post for this year and rereading the one from a year ago and I was surprised at what I ended up thinking: that I had significantly fewer big moments in 2014 compared to the year before.

In 2013 I had all these major events: We moved to New Mexico, I got my M.D., I started residency, we adopted a dog.

This year I think the significant things must be smaller, because although there was loss and travel and plenty of new experiences, in the way of big life changes, 2014 was a relatively steady year.

So with that said

10 Significant Moments of 2014

1. A trip to Hawaii to see family and friends. At the end of January we went to Oahu. It was primarily vacation and we got to see both some friends and some of my family. It was a nice break.

2. Intern Retreat in Taos. In February all the interns get a few days off to go to Taos and regroup. It was a nice time with just a little official residency business and a fair amount of time in the snow. 

3. A visit from Emma and Nicola. On their Spring Break my two younger sisters drove here all the way from Chicago for a visit. It was really nice to have them here.

4. A visit to Ohio. In March I spent a week in Ohio with my sister Shannon. We visited the Air Force Museum and spent a lot of quality time just being sisters. And with her cute puppies.

5. Our summer house guest. Our summer was made infinitely better by the arrival of John's sister Kellie and her boyfriend Jason. They lived here in Albuquerque for the summer, and it was so nice to have more family around. Kellie also saved my skin several times with things around the house when I was stuck working. They're in Seattle now and we do miss them. 

6. California Trip and Tiffany's Wedding. My dear friend Tiffany got married this summer and we had a wonderful trip to California, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. 

7. Grandfather's Memorial Service. My Grandfather had a long battle with cancer and passed away this summer. He was born in 1926, was in the Navy, and he and my Grandmother were married for 64 years. It was really nice to hear all the stories and memories from everyone at his memorial.

8. La Luz Trail Hike. On labor day we took a hike with a group from our church up the La Luz trail.

9. Colorado Trip and Evan's Wedding. Our friend Evan got married in Colorado in September. We went up for the week to spend it with friends and I also fit in the final step of my USMLE boards - Step 3. It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time. And I passed my test - all in all a successful adventure.

10. Christmas in Oregon. Just a couple days ago we got back from our Christmas trip to Oregon. We spent a night at the coast, and then at my parents' house. It was a quick trip, but so great to see family and we had all our usual traditions.

And that brings us to today. There are just 36 hours left of 2014. I'll be working at midnight tomorrow for the New Year transition, and in the meantime I'm trying to appreciate some quieter moments. 

I hope you get a chance to reflect on the significant moments of your year as well.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.

Merry Christmas!

This week we took a hiatus from Friday Faves as I'm spending all my time with entirely too many favorites to count - both people and traditions - in honor of Christmas.

We'll resume regular programming next week and in the mean time, Merry Christmas and I hope you're having the kind of end of the year that makes you feel whole and loved and ready for 2015.

WIAW: Christmas Travels

What I Ate Wednesday!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting.

Guess where I am?! I'll give you 2 hints.'

1.

2.

Ok that may not be enough information. I was hoping to highlight the gloomy skies and the now somewhat famous #pdxcarpet. It's Oregon!

After doing this on Monday night: 

I'm off for a break from work and John and I are home with my family for Christmas.  

So here's What I Ate Wednesday, a travel day.

Breakfast: An orange, Multigrain Cheerios, coffee. We were really on the remnants of food supplies, but the orange was still really good.

After breakfast we scraped the ice off the car and got on our way to the airport. 

Snack/Second Breakfast: Keva Juice. Knowing we'd be landing after lunch time, I got this Keva juice. I replace the sherbet with fresh banana. This one is guava.

Lunch: Pho Thein Vietnamese, Vegetable Pho. On our way out of Portland we stopped at a Pho place on Glisan, and got salad rolls and veggie Pho. Very good. 

Dinner: Family style Thai - salad rolls, Tom Kha soup, Tasty Mango Tofu, Mussaman Vegetable Curry. The best Thai food ever? I haven't been to Thailand yet so of course I can't say that, but this place in Newport, OR where we're hanging out at the beach is some of the best Thai I've ever had. 

And I also had some unpictured vegan Muddy Buddies (the chex mix with the peanut butter chocolate and powdered sugar) that my sister had made. Very good.

It was an awesome day of food.

And if anyone ever tries to tell you that you shouldn't have salad rolls twice in consecutive meals, well you just hit them with a salad roll and chastise them for their ignorance.

Today we'll be spending the morning at the coast and then heading back to my parent's house for the Christmas. My presents for my family are only half wrapped because I had to bring them in a suitcase, but at least they were all purchased a while ago. Here are all my sisters last night piled on the couch. It's good to be all together again.

I hope you have an excellent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day whether you celebrate it or not.

Thanks for reading, see you soon.