I OBJECT!

Back in March, I turned 30. Among some really cool gifts from some fantastic people, I also got a jury summons the week of my birthday. Gee, thanks, Davidson County. You shouldn't have...no, really!

My summons was for last Monday, April 29th, and for the last six days I've been hanging out at the Birch Building in downtown Nashville. Apparently last Monday was one of the busiest trial days the courts had seen in a while, so everyone who showed up that day had a good chance of serving on a jury. Wonderful. I landed myself on a case that was supposed to only be "2-3 days", and ended up lasting 6. 

Our case in particular was pretty tricky, and involved really sensitive subject matter as it was a rape and sexual battery case. Neither party spoke English, so we also had to deal with Spanish and Chinese interpreters, which made things go a lot slower than they should have. Long story short, a lady went to see an acupuncturist for pain relief for her back and sciatic nerve, and he took advantage of her. While her husband was in the waiting room.

I can't imagine what it must be like to go to the doctor and be sexually abused. I also can't imagine what it must be like to live in a country where you don't speak the language very well and can't defend yourself or tell your story, and be afraid that people won't believe you. We found the defendent guilty of two counts of sexual battery, one count of sexual battery without consent, and one count of sexual battery by fraud. It was a really long, hard week. Made my old job look like a cake walk. Sheesh!

Here are some other thoughts to summarize my week:

• I met some really nice people on our jury. One girl even got engaged this weekend!
• Our court officer (aka jury babysitter) was Stephanie, and she was a hoot. Never a dull moment!
• If you have to show up for jury duty, don't try to be chatty. People around that place are generally not very pleasant.
• Get there early! It takes some time to get parked, to the building, through security, and checked in.
• One of the Assistant DA's on our case reminded us of a very famous country singer, so we affectionately referred to her as "Reba" all week. It would have been AMAZING if she had busted out with "Fancy" during her closing arguments.
• I can officially rule out any future in law enforcement or the legal system. No thanks.

I don't really have much planned for the rest of the week, other than working on my resume and applying to a few job openings I've found. I have a break from class until May 23rd, so I won't have to worry about homework for another week or so. I have a few photography projects I want to tackle and I might set up a sewing/craft station, but nothing much other than that!

Have a great week!

When life hands you lemons...

Or in my case, grapefruit...what do you do? Well, I made grapefruit sorbet!

Did I ever tell you that my husband brews beer? Yep, he does! It's something he's tinkered with since we moved into our house, I'd say about 5 years now. What does this have to do with grapefruit, you ask? I'm getting to that! This week, he decided to branch out and experiment with his beer flavors. Normally, he sticks with the traditional pale ale, Hefeweizen, Belgian ale, things like that. He asked me what type of beer we should try and I immediately said something citrus. We did a little research and eventually came up with the idea of Grapefruit and Honey Ale. Does that sound delicious or what?!

So, he had to get 5 grapefruits and peel them all so he could steep the beer with the peels. That left us with 5 whole grapefruits with no peels. Of course, the normal thing to do would be to eat them. However, I was craving something cold and sweet, so I decided to make grapefruit sorbet! The recipe is really simple:

Grapefruit Sorbet
2 cups simple syrup
1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice

For the simple syrup, add 2 cups sugar and 2 cups water to a saucepan and heat on medium-high heat until boiling. Lower heat until sugar is completely dissolved and let cool. 

For the grapefruit juice, I strained mine to make sure no pulp or little seeds got into my sorbet.

Then, you just mix your simple syrup and grapefruit juice together, pour into your ice cream maker, and let it do its thing!

Voila!

If you're in the market for an ice cream maker, I have the Cuisinart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker. I got mine at Costco a couple summers ago for about $35, and it has been really nice to make cold treats and know EXACTLY what goes into them. The machine also comes with a little recipe booklet to get you started. This particular recipe was a little on the sweet side for me, so next time I might not add the whole 2 cups of simple syrup and use more of a 1:1 syrup to juice ratio. I like my sorbet a little more tart!

Enjoy!

Hello again!

Hey, guys. I’m back! Last time I updated this thing, I had gotten into grad school and had recently started a new job. As for grad school, I’m a mere six months away from completing the requirements for my MBA. Wahoo! While it seems like I just started yesterday, I feel like I’ve been doing this FOREVER, even though it’s only been two years! I’m happy to report that up until now, I’ve made straight A’s (do we have to count that one A-?), which was a goal of mine as I entered the program. I’ve met some FANTASTIC people that I know I will keep in touch with long after the program ends.

As for the job I took…well, what a mess! I know there’s an old adage, probably from a Disney movie, that goes “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, so I’m going to stick to that. I did meet some incredible people there, and I’m extremely proud of the projects I managed, programs I developed, things I learned, and the relationships I fostered with my clients. My last day there was January 31^st of this year.

The last two-and-a-half months have been good. I took a bit of a hit to my confidence in my last position, and this time has been incredibly restorative for me. I’ve had the opportunity to do some soul searching and really try to define what it is that is meant for me in this life. I’ve discovered that I’m not quite so passionate about marketing, and that might not be where my strengths are. The more I reflect on the things I’ve learned during my MBA program, I have noticed that I am much stronger in project management and that’s where I’m trying to take my career at this point. While I’ve gotten a lot of experience in that up until now, getting a position in project management without formal experience has been a challenge. Let’s be honest, I’m pretty frustrated. I have applied, and applied, and applied to several positions every week, either to not hear anything, or to just get a flat out “NO”. Deflating, to say the least.

Where do I go from here? Do I keep applying? Part of me feels like I have to. I have been EXTREMELY lucky that we are able to survive on just my husband’s salary, and as I look back on this time, some pretty peculiar things have happened and just the right pieces have fallen into place so that I’m not really under any pressure to get a new job. Now, I could sit here and analyze, reanalyze, overanalyze what that means. Something in the back of my head is screaming at me “um, Megan? Wake up! Use this time! Figure it out!”

So, I’ll keep pushing my resume out there and trying to make contacts. In the background, I’m going to immerse myself with the things that I am passionate about and see if I can get some things happening on my own, however scary that may be. I don’t know what my dream is, but I figure if I can tap into the many things that I enjoy spending my time doing, I am bound to find my way. Hopefully you’ll stick around and we can figure it out together!

Image via Pinterest.

Stuff

Friends, I am such an awful blogger. I'm barely averaging once a month now. How pitiful. I've been a complete slug, otherwise, too. While I'm loving my new job, it's really kicking my butt. I work through lunch and stay late MOST days. And that is starting to take a toll on my fun time. I haven't baked anything. I haven't really taken any pictures. My book reading is suffering. Oh well, here is what has been going on lately...

1. I've lost 15 pounds! The Jillian Michaels program is definitely a winner for me. I love the recipes in her books, I love her workout DVDs. I love that I can work out and be done in 25 minutes. I also love that I can make dinner, and most of my meals for the next day, in about the same amount of time. We also got a spin bike and have been using that pretty frequently and I love it! That 15 pounds has me down a dress and pants size. Go me! Still have more to go, but at least I've made it this far.

2. I start grad school in about 3 weeks. I'm nervous but excited. And nervous. I hope I do well. Did I mention I'm nervous?

3. We're having a baby...doggy! Haha, almost got you! We recently started the process of adopting a puppy from the Middle Tennessee Golden Retriever Rescue organization. We've passed the application and home visit portions, now we just have to wait to see which pup we get! I've got my eye on a gorgeous little golden girl, but it depends on how many people are in line for a puppy. Hopefully good news on that soon!

4. We're going to paint the house. We noticed that the wood around our windows needs some TLC. Which then led to our porch, and the brick columns, and then the porch floor, and eventually the actual siding of the house. Now we just need some time and to actually do it. Big job.

........I thought I had more to update on than that. I guess not. You probably don't want to know that I have bronchitis and have been hacking up a lung for over 6 weeks (thanks, Bonnaroo) and annoying anyone within earshot of me--like my husband and work people (sorry!!).

Anyway, that's all for now. Until next month!

Out in the backyard

Hello strangers! Things have been busy around here lately. We've been tinkering around the house, working on little details and trying to get things cleaned up and decluttered. Part of this little operation included sprucing up the backyard a bit.

I knew I wanted more color out there and more lighting so I devised a little plan, and I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money.

Let me first say that I had THE best idea for a lighting solution in the history of the universe. I was so proud of what I had thought of, so we headed down to Home Depot to start picking up our supplies. We got some skinny wooden posts (2"x2", I think), some terra cotta pots, and those little bistro lights from Target.

My fabulous idea was to anchor the posts in the pots with pea gravel, then screw a small hook into the top of the post and hang my lights in perfect swoops across the patio...
This is where my idea went south. I had the posts in the pots and pots filled with the gravel. Everything seemed pretty secure. I placed my pots where I wanted them on the patio. We started to open the light packages and get ready to string the lights up. I get one in on one post and go to string the other end on the other post....and POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP! POP!

...the weight of the strand of lights was too much for the top-heavy pots. The pots tipped over. My lights broke. Cue sad trumpet sound.

So then, my brilliant hubs, Mr. Goat, suggests that we string the lights in the trees! We get to work on this by drilling small holes into 2 trees and in the boards on the two corners of the house and screwing the little hooks into the trees and boards. We string the lights (carefully!!) and secure them with cable ties. A quick 2nd trip to Target and Home Depot and a few trips up and down the ladder later, the lights were hung!

Ta-da!

All in all, my lighting solution (well, plan b) worked out really well. Since we no longer needed the pots for stringing the lights, we put tiki torches (that we already had!) in the pots. This means MORE light!

Now to infuse some more color back there. Green grass + green house = A LOT OF GREEN. I need some pink! Some red! Something! Other! Than! Green! So I found some pillows and some flowers...

Here is the lounge area on the right side of the patio with the new pillows...nice eh?

Care to lounge?

And of course, the hammock. This is actually a new hammock net because some hood-rat in our neighborhood decided to creep in our yard and steal our old one.

Oh well, this one is new and clean! And it needed a pillow, too...

To add more color, I decided to use every piece of real estate I could. I put some flowers and other plants in the top of my pots! These are Petunias, the tall grass is Mondo Grass, and the other plant is Sweet Potato Vine. I have no idea if it actually grows sweet potatoes. I think it turned out rather nice!

I love my lights!

I don't think the billy goat minds them one bit, either...

I think we created a really nice little outdoor space. We had our friends over for a Memorial Day cookout they all seemed to enjoy the fruits of our labor. It was really nice being able to SEE...the only light we used to have out there were 2 motion lights on our house and our neighbors house. Talk about being blinded by the light...and then 2 feet away you couldn't see your hand in front of your face! This was a definite upgrade. I would say the whole project cost us about $150--I'm not that great at keeping receipts and that was two weeks ago so I've totally forgotten everything other than the fact that we fixed up the patio.

Bye for now, and I hope to not have another whole month before my next post. Stay cool!

She Works Hard for the Money...

So hard for it, honey. She works hard for the money so you better treat her right!

And now that that's out of my system...

Wednesday marked the 1-month anniversary of being at my new job! I have to say, it is very challenging and very fulfilling. I definitely made the right choice in accepting that position. Everyone is great. Aside from all that and everything being great, we have been BUSY. So busy that I come home at least a few times a week and crawl straight into bed for a short nap. I's tired.

It's definitely been a transition, going from working at home to working in an office...8-5. It's a job in itself to get out the door and to work on time, but I'm making it work! I like being around people and it's nice to get out of the house.

HOWEVER...I must say that I can't help but feel behind in every other area of my life. I've been trying to do something to keep the house up at least every day, but like I said, I's tired. I'm so thankful to have a husband that keeps up with MORE than his share of the housework. I'm truly blessed, indeed. Also very behind in the blog world--reading and writing. But, as I check my Google Reader for what seems like the first time in weeks, I also notice that some of the blogs I subscribe to have only posted 1 or 2 times in my absence, so I try not to feel too bad. And then I decide I'll take a page out of my friend Jill's book and just subscribe to the belief that good enough is the new perfect. Fine with me!

One thing, however, that I'm happy to report that I'm NOT behind on is my health/fitness/weight-loss goal. I officially kicked Tony Horton out of my sandbox and invited Jillian Michaels over for a visit. And now we are BFF for real. I've been following the meal plan on her website and am on about a 1,250-calorie-a-day plan that was the result of a little quiz on the website. She breaks things down into different oxidizer groups (Slow, Fast, Balanced) and that determines what you eat and the breakdown of carbs, fats, and proteins of each meal. I was surprised to discover I was a Balanced Oxidizer and to find out what all that entailed since I was sure carbs would be banished from my life forever. I haven't really touched pasta or much bread since I started, but I eat a LOT of fruit. Fine with me, though. I'm always satisfied and the meals on this plan are GREAT! Most of them are 5-10 ingredients and take less than 30 minutes to make. We do our best to prepare at least breakfast, lunch, and our snack the night before so there is no guess-work the next day. I've discovered that, left to my own devices, I make horrible food choices. This plan has been great. I work out a couple times a week (JM 30-day Shred), follow this meal plan....and I've lost 8 pounds so far, and 2 inches off my hips! A steady 2-pound-per-week weight loss. Color me a happy camper. I have a ways to go, but I've finally found a program that I love and that works for me, so I'll be sticking with it.

BG is pretty much eating what I eat, not working out, and has lost about 15 pounds so far. What an a-hole.

The garden is going well--still waiting for some things to mature a little more since most everything is being raised from seed. Billy brought home some blackberry plants the other day, so I'm excited to see if those will work out. Blackberries are my faaaaaaaavorite. Some people I know are already harvesting squash and zucchini, but my zucchini plants are not quite there yet, so I'm just trying to be patient.

And finally, not sure if you've heard, but we are having an emergence of the 13-year cicada. A cicada is a gnarly-looking insect...kinda like a grasshopper that doesn't jump, with wings. They come out of the ground every 13 years, mate like crazy, lay eggs, and are LOUD. They are all over the place here and it is GROSS. There were two in our house tonight, which led to my drinking two extra glasses of wine just to calm my frazzled nerves. If they're not dead on our driveway, their shells have been shed and are everywhere, and they are all in the trees. I contemplated relocated myself temporarily for this 6-week period. Why Nashville, why must you do this to me??

Time for bed. I's tired.

Hodgepodge

So sorry to keep you waiting on pins and needles about the new job (ha). Turns out, just a day later, they extended an offer and...I accepted! I start this Monday. My mind is swirling with anxiety and excitement, not to mention worries of "what am I going to wear?!" and "I hope they like me!". Oy. New chapters are so exciting, but I can't help make myself sick with nervousness right before. I guarantee I will not sleep a wink on Sunday night. So very thankful, though, that I am able to jump right into a new position and not have the added fear of not being able to find a job in today's economy. Ack! That's just stress I'm so glad I don't have to deal with.

As for the clothes issue, since I can't really roll up to my new job wearing my trusty "work at home" uniform of yoga pants and Old Navy $5 t-shirts, I think a shopping trip is in order. I hate to shop. Especially while trying to lose weight and get fit and all that. Luckily, my BFF Kara LOVES to shop and personal shopping/styling is a service she provides to clients of her new business, she's throwing me a bone here and we're going shopping on Friday. I don't even want to think about the damage I'm going to do financially....I may have just given Dave Ramsey heartburn. I hope we find some good stuff.

Speaking of style, I was super lucky last night because I went to go see Tim Gunn lecture at the Langford Auditorium at Vanderbilt with Kara and our friend Jen. He is just delightful! He just has the greatest advice: be nice, never assume, always take the high road, etc. He mentions many other points like this in his new book Gunn's Golden Rules, which I plan on purchasing ASAP. Oh, and I smuggled my camera into the lecture and managed to take a picture of Mr. Gunn, even though I totally brought the wrong lens. Meet Tiny Tim...

In other uneventful news, I went to the dentist this morning and am proud to say I had great appointment and came out unscathed and un-cavitied. No cavities allowed!

And finally, a gripe...mainly to myself. I know a goal I set for myself this year was to do and FINISH Power90. Well, after some unplanned breaks in the workout program, I'm around day 60ish, and while I can feel a significant change in my body muscle-wise, I definitely cannot say that I've lost any weight. I weigh myself regularly and fluctuate a lot. I had a goal to lose 5 pounds by April 8, which is Friday. So depending on what my body plans on weighing that day, I may or may not have hit my goal. I'm just frustrated. I watch The Biggest Loser like it's gospel, and this people are amazing and lose SO MUCH WEIGHT, and I can't lose 20 pounds. REALLY. I know I need to cool it with the pasta. It is my #1 weakness. I've been out to eat twice since Saturday and got pasta both times, both time with a creamy sauce. I KNOW these are not good food choices. And today I was so hungry when I left the dentist that I picked up some McDonald's--which I rare. I'm sabotaging myself, I know.

So, I know I need to get real and just have some self-discipline. I know I need to make better food choices and maybe get to treat myself once a week (preferably not in a way that involves food...maybe a pedicure or new book?), and I think I'm going to switch up my workouts. I'm burnt out on the Power90 and P90X. I'm breaking up with you, Tony Horton. I'm taking my toys and going to play at Jillian Michaels' house. I plan on picking up her 30 Day Shred DVD today, and may even use her online weight-loss tool on her website. Enough is enough. I can do anything else...why can't I do this???

Sorry for the Debbie Downer moment, but I'm just in a rut and beating myself up about it.

I need to go take a chill pill.