Wednesday, October 5, 2011

In my previous posts I talked about the anniversary weekend I had with Carlton. Well, I now have time to share what exactly happened! Friday consisted of him driving to Athens, we ate dinner, bought groceries...boring stuff! Sunday was church and laying around until he had to drive home. SATURDAY was the absolute best day ever. We planned it perfectly and I couldn't have asked for anything better. (Well, maybe nix the super cold wind gusts.)

I woke up earlier than him because I really wanted to bake him breakfast. I'm telling you, our tastes in food are completely different so I tried to accomodate. :)
I decided to make blueberry muffins and used this recipe. They smelled amazing and looked even better.

 mmmm...so moist blueberry..ish?
I wanted to balance his love for blueberry muffins with my love for healthy breakfasts. The immediate product was pretty good. I liked the texture the applesauce lent to the muffin and it was perfect when warm. I even put a dollop of greek yogurt on top and THAT really took it over the edge. :) They really aren't the best the next day so I recommend fixing them for a large crowd (or a couple of hungry people). Don't worry, you can have a couple - they're good for you. ;)

The next part of our day would be spent in Atlanta! We decided to go to the Georgia Aquarium because Carlton loves anything in water (he's a certified diver, loves to fish, and would be at the beach for the rest of his life if he could) and I have never been. We were both really excited and even though it was kind of cold, we took our time going into the aquarium. After eating lunch, I got some coffee (always) and we sat in the Olympic Centennial Park. It was SUCH a beautiful day and I could not believe how picturesque it was. Little boys were having races running down hills, other couples were lying in the grass, and colorful kites were everywhere. I wish I had a picture to do it justice, but we were too busy taking fun pictures of ourselves. ;)






I apologize for the story in pictures but it was hard to even narrow it down to these. haha Hopefully whoever sees these will enjoy!

After we played around in the park we realized we needed to get on in that aquarium!

Warning: I am about to get very excited.

OH. MY. GOSH. The Georgia Aquarium must be some kind of mandatory item on the bucket list of the WORLD. It was so cool, entertaining, educational, and uhmazing!

I took way too many pictures and acted way too much like a kid but that was the norm in this place. I saw dragonfish, seahorses, whale sharks, beluga whales, sea otters, manta rays, DORY! It was fantastic and it was so great to enjoy it with Carlton who loved it with just as much enthusiasm.

This was the first part we saw....so breaktaking.

All Carlton would talk about last week was the Jewfish. So, I had to let him take a picture with one.

This was the the Coral Reef section. I loved how colorful it was!

The beluga whale! I almost got a stuffed animal version because I love how sweet and angelic they look (albiet HUGE).

I swear I was one foot away from this albino alligator...one foot of glass ;)

I honestly think this part of the aquarium was made to look like Finding Nemo, but Carlton informed me that was because Finding Nemo used the creatures that are often found together...meh.

I had never heard/seen this before but it's a Dragonfish! So funny!


Introverted penguin and extroverted penguin

If you look closely you can see the seahorses!

Cutest things ever! How can you not love a sleepy sea otter?
Needless to say, Carlton and I had so much fun!

By the time we got back to my apartment, we were prettyyyy hungry. I decided previously we should make pizza so we could customize ours to meet our taste.


As you can see, we have very different opinions on what makes a good pizza. ;) His had unbelievable amounts of mozzerella cheese (some of which never made it to the pizza), pepperoni, and I couldn't believe it but..green peppers! So proud. Mine had cheese, spinach, green, red, and yellow peppers, and sun dried tomatoes.
We used Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza crust and for some reason, it just didn't work for us. I don't think our pan or our amount of toppings was best for the rather dense crust. The edges, which crisped up, we both loved but the pizza as a whole was kind of ho-hum. Thankfully, we laughed it off and were more excited about our gifts we had to give each other! (3 years baby, show the love!)

We also had salad but that was boring :)

We got each other the perfect gifts, including...THE PRINCESS BRIDE! One of my fave movies and he searched high and low for it. We watched it later that night after we made dessert.

Here. We. Go. Our shining moment as a couple...
Nutella Lava Cakes with Pumpkin Ice Cream
SHUT UP.

This was definitely an indulgence but sooo worth it.

Carlton's photography of ME making the dessert. I think I may have gotten him to crack an egg??

The secret ingredient...HELLO.


I'm very glad we made four of these before our first two were disasters...but this baby? Beautiful!
It was actually Carlton's idea to decorate them so prettily. :) He did a great job...I just melted some nutella with a little bit of vegetable oil and...a perfect sauce for our little love cakes. Voila!
I told Carlton these looked like little steaks with mashed potatoes. He wasn't amused after his decorating efforts ;)

Jack Johnson on the iPod player, pumpkin pie candle, and the best dessert ever

We were both sooo excited!
Carlton, unlike me, doesn't have the biggest sweet tooth. So when he said, "This is the best dessert I have ever had." I knew we had a winner. :) It was a great choice and you MUST try it! So easy and unmatchable. DON'T FORGET THE PUMPKIN ICE CREAM! I'm telling you.

For real. :)

Okay, this post is wayyy long but I couldn't help but share all the details! Have a great Wednesday!



Sunday, October 2, 2011

2 Weeks Feels Like Forever

So, I know I said I would post about my anniversary weekend but I want to do it justice and I just do NOT have time...

I have an accounting test Tuesday and must start studying or I just won't do well. My teacher is notorious for being a tricky tester, even saying to us the first day: "I teach like an elementary school teacher but test like a graduate level professor". Oh. Okay. THAT makes sense.

Anywho, I just wanted to make a quick note of an accomplishment I made today! For the past two weeks my hip has really been giving me problems and I haven't been able to run. I have gone through major withdrawals (CAN'T believe I'm saying that) and exercising on the elliptical just wasn't giving me the same high I get from running.

That isn't to say I don't like the elliptical. It is a great way to knock out your cardio, especially if you have old people joints like me. :) I plan to incorporate the treadmill into my workout routine but it is SO nice to not have to rely on it.

Tonight, however, I thought back on the last couple of days and realized my hip hadn't been giving me trouble. I immediately (well, after watching some lazy sunday shows) put on my tennies and headed to the gym. I got on the treadmill and planned to do 3 or so miles just to warm back up. But once I started I just couldn't get enough! It was probably a combination of not having ran in awhile and my adrenaline being so high. I ran faster than I ever have but my distance wasn't super long. I knew I didn't need to push myself too hard considering it has been two weeks.

The two weeks may have felt like forever but the 9.51 mile run for 60 minutes was worth the wait! 6.64 is a nice number :)