This morning I woke up and checked my e-mail.
Then I did this:
And then afterwards, I did this:
And then for the rest of the day, I felt like this:
Funnily enough, after work, what did I do?
I went to the gym gosh darn it!
I kind of felt like I owed it to them in a way.
It ended up being a fab, FAB workout too. I ran sprints and hills (alas – on the treadmill), squatted until my thighs were about to give out, and then did enough push-ups and pull-ups to never want to partake in another one until the end of time (or, as it more likely, for the next two or three days.)
Then I came home and got my cooking groove on with the ever lovely Mr. M.
We decided it was high time to make some homemade spaghetti sauce along with some sweet mini bowtie pasta.
We lined up our veggies and got to work:
There is something so calming about working in the kitchen with someone you love.
It also helps if you have similar taste in radio programmes. The CBC has been absolutely killing it with their 20 year anniversary coverage of the Seige of Sarajevo.
I’ve been brought to tears many, many times listening to their coverage. Seriously, their interviews are just outstanding in the extreme.
As we listened we chopped, woked, and boiled.
M was kind enough to capture much of the action.
We also decided to cook up some spicy shrimp for good measure.
For a final outcome of this:
As an end note, I would like to send a massive thank you to everyone who has dropped by this here blogspot, left a note, liked a post, or subscribed to updates, whether it be today, or the day I started up Rant and Roll.
Your support means more to me than you know.
So to all of you, a toast!
I couldn’t do it without you.
Rant and Roll 
Well, congrats to you! That must be quite the feeling, so much so that even the camera couldn’t capture it :P That pasta looks absolutely delicious by the way.
Nobody outruns the flash. Nobody!
Thanks! The pasta was super tasty. Plus we made so much I get to eat it for lunch tomorrow :)
Ok, I read it through. I did like it and will do something similar to dinner someday next week. But I loved your closing. Such a passionate one! Such a feeling. Can’t use it yet, but I’ll somehow quote it soon or later!
Cheers!
It’s super tasty, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. :)
Thanks for the note, and live your passion!
great! congrats to you!
Thanks Ms. Intuitiveone!
Definitely a day to celebrate!! And your evening looks fabulous! Shrimp, tons of veggies… can I come over next time? ;) A toast to you, my friend!!
Thanks beautiful! You are more than invited for our next shrimp feast, and bring the BF too!
Out of curiosity, whatcha squatting lb-wise?
Beautiful meal, btw. :D Pasta + shrimp = letting the good times roll.
(Also, congrats on the mad amount of comments/likes. 287 comments and counting, schweet!)
I don’t do too much squatting with weights, but more jump squats/wall sits/side to side one leggers. I’m working way way up to the good stuff!
Thanks for the kind note Ms. Books! It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, but a very fun ride. :)
Nice! What are you training for specifically or is it a “just-for-kicks” type situation?
Well, I’m glad that post was on the front page, so I could check out your blog. I don’t work out in a gym anymore if I can help it (my boyfriend has a sweet home-garage setup) so we can be as loud, obnoxious, and grunty as we want.
So it is also for the safety of other’s sanity that we don’t gym in public anymore, haha.
I’m training for Tough Mudder (which is at the end of June) and my first marathon (beginning of October.) I’m really looking forward to both! How about you? Anything on your horizon?
I would love me a home gym setup! That sounds awesome. And I like that you guys aren’t afraid to give ‘er!
DUDE you are doing Tough Mudder!! That is so incredible. I am quite jealous. Ever since I heard of it, that’s been on the bucket list for me. Closest I’ll ever get to a military-style boot/death camp experience. I’m so proud that you’re going for it!
Well, probably what I’m training for is just more functional strength (which sounds kind of lame typing it out, actually) but I’m also going to start a training program for a half marathon. My beux is doing our local marthon at the end of this month, so I’ve been going running with him some (not enough, sadly). Most of my life, I was never particularly athletic, so honestly I’m kind of gauging how hard I can push myself now. I guess that’s my real goal–to see how far I can go. :D
The gym setup (squat rack, bench, pull up cage) he got on craigslist for $100, which is frankly a steal. I almost paid that much buying our last shipment of protein powder, which I don’t know if that’s sad or laughable. Probably both.
THANKS!! Ahhh, I am really excited and a tiny bit nervous. The only part of the course that scares the pants off of me is the live wire section. Why would anyone EVER want to do that!? Eeep.
That’s really fab about the half-marathon! Let me know if I can help in any way.
And re: the home gym cost – that’s neither sad nor laughable I think – just the world’s weird way of balancing itself out :)
The electricity man. That is the one that scares me too. I’ve read that people can get really super disoriented on that part.
Yeah, totally. I’m really wanting to get good at some kind of traditional cardio activity. I figured since I’ve always wanted to be a runner, why not? Especially since I’m cutting right now, seems like a good time.
Well, I think it will balance out quite nicely so we don’t have to buy whey for a LONG time. It’s 10 lbs. It was a complete steal. (I also got some beta alanine too, so that increased the cost.)
May I recommend supplement warehouse to you? I’ve gotten some crazy good deals from there.
Yeah, it may or may not be the activity I skip out on. Except that it’s right at the end so I feel if i don’t do it I’ll feel totally bummed. We shall have to see.
Good luck with the training! Let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’m really shite when it comes to my overall training nutrition.
I’m currently doing a supplement stack (a lot of what I take is mostly recommendations from by boyfriend). Mostly though, its a lot of vitamins, beta alanine, and creatine. That in addition to whey protein, o’course. I think the best rule of thumb for overall nutrition is you need a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (i.e. 125 lbs = 125 g protein) per day. That’s for muscle maintenance to make sure that if you lose weight, your body isn’t just cannibalizing good muscle. When I was in the throws of the worst of my ed, that’s what happened a lot of the time.
Congrats! Your meal looks awesome and I bet it tasted great,too.
Thank you very much Newfoundland Traveler! I can attest that it tasted really lovely :)
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and have a great weekend!
Just reading you write about your work-out make me feel like a blob, my treadmill kind of died but that’s not excuse since some genius invented sit-ups. Your pasta looks really tasty, hehe :) Congrats on being FP, may there be many more to come ;)
Did I happen to mention that your blog title pretty much encompasses my two favorite things in the entire world? And combined? Heaven!
The pasta turned out really swell. I can pass along the recipe if you’d like, it’s way easy :) Thanks again for your lovely words Devina, and I look forward to reading more of your blog!
Yeppers, heaven perfectly describes the combination and I’m so so happy you liked my blog, I like yours too! The recipe, really? It would be very much appreciated! You’re very welcome and I’ll be coming by more often for my daily dose of smiles:)
Cheers!
That looks tasty and healthy, a just reward for kicking your own ass! ( :
It was a really great way to end the day. And to fill up and empty stomach!
The words and images covey the joy. Congrats again.
Thank you! <3
You had a great day! Good on you.
Thanks! Overall, it was pretty darn fab.
Just so you know, you had me at ‘glass-blower’s arse’. Just sayin…
Haha, thanks Imelda! It’s one of my favourites, now and forever… :)
Another shout-out for ‘glass-blower’s arse’. Funniest thing I’ve read all year.
And thanks, I love toast…. even if I can’t eat it right now ‘cos I’m low-carbing…
Yay! Man, I’m so stoked that people are diggin that term! It’s one of my all time favorites.
A low-carb toast equivalent to you!
Also – Freshly Pressed! Deeply Jealous!