Locavore sisters

This morning, my sisters and I woke up early and headed to the DSM Downtown Farmers' Market. There they are, looking all cute, as always.
The earlier you go, the better. The crowds are sparse, and the vendors are stacked with the best, freshest produce. We also got to enjoy some bluegrass bands and talked to plenty of local farmers who were just super-friendly. I love Iowa.
Of course, my sisters and I cannot pass up ANY crêpe stand...ever. Here we had some Nutella Banana Crêpes. Yum! So rich and delicious, calories be damned.
And here is my loot of the day - small, tangy Harrison apples, farm fresh eggs, farm grown zucchini, heirloom tomatoes (a nice variety of different kinds) and a selection of oyster mushrooms.
We are going to have some good, nutritious meals this weekend.

Yummy!

My BFF came over on Thursday night for some lemon-pepper salmon, whole wheat angel hair pasta with a garlic/olive oil/parsley sauce, and our home-grown tomato and basil salad drizzled with olive oil and garlic. It was delicious. Oh, and we had sparkling water for drinks.Here, I tried to have them pose as if they liked each other. Turned out overly cheesy and insincere. Pathetic.

Oh, how I like being able to eat solid food. Surprisingly, my teeth are doing very well.

And last, but not least, I had to show you a chocolate that my dear cousin brought me from his vacation in Switzerland. Nobody makes chocolate like the Swiss. Nobody... And my cousin is awesome.And if you haven't noticed, this is only the wrapper that I tried to fold so it looked like the chocolate was still in there. The actual content is long gone.

Out with the old, in with the new

This is our old heating/cooling unit (well, at least a part of it). It's as old as I am, and it's broke.
Today, it's been replaced by a super shiny new heating/cooling unit that is also crazy efficient, and henceforth, good for the environment and our wallet.
The old A/C unit was barely hanging in there. Poor thing.
The new, modern lean machine.
Big investment, but so worth it in the long-term.

Surprise! And happy birthday, C!

Despite my throbbing jaw pain from all that dental work, I decided to go to C's surprise birthday party that his awesome wife organized for him. C is my former boss and he and his wife are now good friends of ours. C is the primary reason I became an Apple snob.

There he is, eating the yummy ice cream cake, next to J, also a former boss.
It was nice seeing some old friends and making some new ones.
There s C's wife B, being a gracious hostess. By the way - I love their house and their kitchen. They even have a farmer's market right in their backyard! I am envious.
We were all huddled in the bright, sunny kitchen throughout the entire time. It was pretty crowded.
And I can't believe how big their kids have gotten. H (the little blond sunshine boy on the left), and Br (cutie on the far right) have grown unusually quick. What are they feeding those kids? They were sweet as ever.
It was a nice evening and I am really glad I stopped by, despite my toothaches. We promised we would get together soon and won't let years pass before our next get-together.

5 root canals!!!

5 root canals and 2.5 hours on the dentist chair (and a HUGE bill) - 'nuff said!

I got lots of medicines to numb the pain, and I am taking tomorrow off. I was trying to be a champion about it all, but my dentist said "you don't know what you're in for". Apparently, the pain is incredible after the numbness wears off.

I guess I'll keep you posted.

I must be crazy

What I am about to do takes some guts, so please be gentle. :)
I've been struggling with weight for a while now, and this year is the first year that I have been making progress through diet and exercise. At the beginning of this year, I weighed in at 183 lbs. This has gone down, but I still have a while to go to be in the normal BMI range. Plus, I got to work on my cholesterol and other health issues.

Inspired by this season's Biggest Loser TV show, I decided to share my struggle via this blog. I hope it will keep me motivated and maybe inspire someone else out there. So, starting this Tuesday night at 11:00pm, I will post my weight on a weekly basis. It will be every Tuesday night at the same time, in the same clothes in the same exact spot in my bathroom.

These updates are really for my family and my awesome fitness buddy, who have been the greatest support through all this. They are always interested in how I am doing, and they always cheer me on. Oh, and they really keep me accountable.
So here it is... 167.2 lbs. Woohoo!

Soccer!

I've been sick all week, so haven't had the energy to do anything exciting. Now I have also infected my poor hubby, so now we are moping around the house together. Last night, we actually spent the evening napping on the couch to the background noise of the Public Television channel.

We did, however, get three things done yesterday. We emptied our closets and donated the clothes to Goodwill (63 whole items!). Lots of my clothes were things I no longer can wear since I lost weight. Yay!

I also attended the soccer game my hubby coaches for his nephew. Below is our niece with her little friend at the game. Cute!Hubby and his sister getting the lineup ready before the game.My hubby, the coach. :) It was nice seeing my quiet, soft-spoken husband in action and in charge.It was a good game, even though we lost by one goal. Afterward, we visited my parents who were in good spirits. I got to eat my favorite Bosnian dish, "grah" with my mother's fresh "kruh". Yummy!