One week until vacation!

Jon and I will be heading down to California, to beautiful Palm Desert. I can't wait for the sunshine, relaxation, and tons of reading!

To visit the original post, go here. 

Almost two years ago, I wrote a post about my "vacation diet," all the foods I avoid eating on a regular basis but enjoy without guilt while on vacation. Looking at it now, I'm a little sad to realize most of my favorite vacation foods are now on my "do not eat" list since they are full of dairy.

Here's the list from my post...

• Diet Coke
• White Cheddar Cheez-Its
• Churros
• York Peppermint Patties
• My Aunt Lori's Fudge
• French Fries
• Carrots with Ranch Dip
• Buffalo Blue Kettle Chips
• Coffee Cake
• Caramel Corn
• Chocolate Milk
• Doughnuts, especially ones with the sour cream glaze.

Of that whole list... the only things I can still eat are diet coke, churros, and french fries. And carrots minus the ranch dips.

Since I'm leaving for vacation again in 19 days... I started thinking about what would be on my new and improved list of favorite vacation food. So for all of you dying to know :) Here it is!

• Diet Coke
• Kettle Corn (Jolly Time brand)
• Trader Joes semi-sweet chocolate chips
• BBQ Kettle Chips
• Chicken strips and French fries 
• Haribo gummy frogs or gummy bears
• Mighty-O Doughnuts (ok, not really vacation food since they're only located in Seattle and it would be impractical to travel with a box of doughnuts on the plane)

Can't wait!

I'm leaving for Palm Desert in 19 days. Whoop whoop.

Oh also... I got back from Disneyland and our trip was AWESOME.

Also, I have now been married for 3 years. Which is pretty awesome as well.

Jon and I are on vacation this week.
Sadly, I've spent a lot of it doing homework.

Right now, Jon is at home, probably playing video games and eating Coco Puffs.
I'm stuck at Starbucks writing a research paper on sexual orientation change efforts and how utterly bogus they are. At least the APA agrees with me.

Only 4 days until Christmas Vacation!

I can't wait to relax, wear sweatpants all day, and see family!

Only 7.5 days of work left until Christmas Vacation! Woo hoo!

I took the day off so I would have time to prepare for the big day tomorrow.

Jon left for work at 5am. I forgot to turn my alarm from yesterday off, so I ended up getting up at 6:30am.

Amazingly, I was done cleaning the whole house by 10am. Done with food prep by 11am. And showered by 11:30am. I have no idea how I was so productive, but woo! It's only 2:15 and I've already gone to Costco, had lunch, got a pedicure, went out to coffee, and went for a drive through Snohomish (on top of finishing all of my chores around the house.)

Overall, it's been a pretty good day.

Jon should be home from work any minute, and then we're heading down to Kirkland to hang out with Jenny and Samuel for the afternoon.

Okay, okay. I'm back from vacation. Work has been super busy, and I've been getting nasty headaches, so my desire to blog has been pretty minimal.

Fall is coming in full swing, and I LOVE it. This weekend I cleaned, organized, painted, etc in preparation for the new school year. It's pretty cool to be in a profession where back to school still matters :)

It's our last night in Lincoln City. To celebrate/mourn the last night of vacation, we're watching Jaws.

Welp, I'm off for my last vacation of the summer.

Back on Sept 8th!

Blog update fail.

I'm not quite ready to write about the changes happening at work. For sure I will update about them by Sept 14th.

Next week Jon and I will be in Lincoln City, enjoying yet another week off. Sadly, it will be my last vacation until Christmas - but I can't complain, I've been pretty spoiled this summer.

This week will be a little crazy, trying to prep for a week off right before the busiest time of the whole school year, so forgive me ahead of time for the light blogging.

Foods I Can Never Say No To:

• Diet Coke
• White Cheddar Cheez-Its
• Churros
  
• York Peppermint Patties
• My Aunt Lori's Fudge
• French Fries
  
• Carrots with Ranch Dip
• Buffalo Blue Kettle Chips
  
• Coffee Cake
  
• Caramel Corn
• Chocolate Milk
• Doughnuts, especially ones with the sour cream glaze.

Why I am writing this list? Well, starting TODAY I am on a vacation diet.

What is a vacation diet you ask? It means I can eat ANYTHING on that list without a hint of guilt. Cheez-its and diet coke, check! Will I gain weight while on vacation? Probably. But the beauty of eating well during my real life means I can splurge while on vacation and lose the few pounds I put on quickly. Yum yum yum.

Jon and I are leaving on Saturday for 8 blissful days of vacation.

We both need it. Work has been draining. Life has been draining. It's nice to know that every once in a while we can step away from it all and just enjoy a simpler version of our life.

In less than 24 hours Jon and I will be in Phoenix, enjoying beautiful weather and no responsibilities. And also some In-N-Out Burger.

In the meantime, I'm working my buns off trying to get all my paperwork done before I leave work tonight.

Jon and I are leaving for Arizona in exactly two weeks.

I can't wait to pull out my "summer" clothes to pack for the trip! I haven't even seen my flip-flops/skirts/shorts/swimsuit since September.

As I mentioned earlier, Jon and I had been contemplating skipping Easter with the families and heading off on a mini-vacation. We haven't taken a trip with just the two of us since last July, and we were only gone for two nights. So, after much discussion, we just booked a flight to Phoenix for the weekend of Easter! We'll be gone April 9th-12th, and will be spending every waking moment enjoying the glorious sun. The average high for Phoenix in April is 84 degrees (Seattle is 54 if that gives you any perspective), and I cannot even express how excited I am to pack skirts, shorts, swimsuits, tank-tops and flip flops...things I have not even see in the last 7 months.

We still haven't decided on a hotel, so we'll work on that part tonight. I feel so relieved to have a vacation to look forward to. Jon and I get to spend a lot of time together, but the uninterrupted quality time and relaxation of vacation is a unique experience and something we both really value.

I am seriously contemplating skipping Easter with my family in order to take a mini-vacation in Arizona. Is that wrong?

Portland

Jon and I are heading down to Portland this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving and his birthday with my family. We'll be feasting, getting the Christmas tree, drinking plenty of coffee, watching movies, and generally enjoying our time with my FOO (family of origin.)

And the best part is, I'm only working a half day today, so our trip to Portland will commence in approximately 1.5 hours. Boo yah!

Weekend Update

I spent Wednesday-Sunday in Chicago with my dear friends Sarah and Leana.

The city was freezing cold and really windy, but absolutely beautiful. It was perfect fall weather.

This trip made me realize how much I miss my friends.