what would you do 4.0

it's the second wed of the month so kimberly and i are back for another round of 

WHAT WOULD YOU DO...

with a bag of carrots

we picked something healthy this time to change it up from some of the past themes. i really wanted to try a carrot cake, but in keeping with the healthy theme i did not.

1. pineapple curry

 yellow curry sauce, curry paste, olive oil, garlic powder, pineapple, veggies (peppers, carrots-2, onion, whatev), chicken

cook veggies and chicken separately (i don't know why this matters but it does) in olive oil and garlic powder. combine in stir fry pan. add about 1 T curry paste and 2-3 T curry sauce. i don't measure. i just put in. serve over rice or quinoa cooked in chicken broth with garlic powder and minced onion.

 2. quinoa with vegetables

 quinoa, chicken bullion or broth, broccoli, carrots-4(shred in food processor), celery (not pictured), shredded chicken, grated cheese 

cook quinoa per directions but use broth instead of water. add spices such as garlic powder, salt, and minced onion. add vegetables and simmer. add shredded cooked chicken. add some shredded cheese.

we made something similar over the holidays, but i wanted more vegetables and chicken. the measurements vary depending on what exactly you want.

 3. spaghetti sauce

Jes posted her recipe for flavor packed tomato sauce. i used her recipe as my starting point. i also added celery, mushrooms, and carrots-4. i chopped all the veggies in the food processor and cooked all together. i forgot to use the sweet potato she used. the store didn't have stewed tomatoes so i used all diced. although i altered the amounts and the cooking directions, i mostly followed her recipe.

 4. eat them with or without homemade ranch

ranch packet. follow directions on packet. if you want to lower the fat, use skim milk and western family (brand specific) light mayo. 

 i bought a 2 pound bag and had enough carrots to make one more thing, but i ran out of town. i used the remaining carrots for a mid day snack. it was so nice having them already cut up and ready to eat.

i can't wait to see what kimberly did with her bag of carrots.

come back next month for WHAT WOULD YOU DO...with a target cardigan?

WWYD 3.0 WWYD 2.0 WWYD 1.0

blogging the bach 18.1

i'm not much of a tv person, but i love the bachelor. i had plans to do a preview post, but i obviously never got around to it.

confession...i wasn't super excited for juan pablo to be the bachelor. i thought maybe i was the only one, but i've heard it from a few other people. after reading a few posts about the girls and seeing a few previews, i am pretty excited about this season. i think we will all be entertained.

some quick business before we get to the bachelor biz

1.after blogging last season with kimberly, we decided to do it again. ashley is also joining us. we love it so much, it's now a link up. make sure to link up if you blog the bach.

2. i abbreviate anything possible. for example, the bach. join us on social media with the hashtag #bloggingthebach

3. i don't read spoilers! i want to hear your thoughts, but please don't post spoilers. it ruins the fun.

4. my plans for the season include best dressed, not my fave, word tally, my pick for the rose

even though i love the bach, i can't believe we have sunday and monday nights this week. that's a lot of tv for a non tv watcher like me. i can't miss it though.

a quick little blurb about the countdown to juan pablo...

we heard the word love 25 times and journey only once.

the tribute to gia was really touching and made me super sad

ok. on with episode 1 (probably my least fave episode of the season)

sean and catherine are one of my faves so i was really happy to see sean. the convo was a little weird, and i predict per sean's advice that juan pablo is going to do a heckuva lot of making out. sean may also be replaced as the shirtless bachelor.

a few things about the girls that didn't stick around

lauren h...poor girl. i thought she might stay just for the sake of drama, but there were far too many tears. i think jenna from ben's season may have been replaced.

kylie...most awkward moment of the night at the rose ceremony. i just don't even know what to say about the poor girl. kat and kylie sound nothing alike to me. maybe it's just me.

and now for the girls that did stay. side note..it's a lot easier to keep track of the girls in the beginning based on dresses than dudes.

1. sharlene...i knew the rose was going to her. i'm pretty sure we were all afraid she was going to say no. she's not my fave, but it looks like from the previews she stay for a while.

2. clare...love the pink dress, really cute, hopefully not crazy, baby bump???

3. nikki the nurse...like her so far

4. renee...single mom is definitely sticking around for a while, does anyone else wish she would curl her hair?

5. andi-love the bio interview, love the dress, love the intro, love her

6. alli the nanny

7. chantel

8. lauren s-felt really sad for her when she messed up her music intro

9. kelly, dog lover=unemployed

10. cassandra-super awks the whole time

11. danielle-loved the top of her dress, unsure about the bottom

12. chelsie-cute, like her

13. kat

14. victoria

15. kristy-predicted problem child

16. lucy-free spirit, might also be the problem child

17. elise

18. amy l-weird hugger

for better or worse, some girls obviously stand out more than others.

best dressed...torn between andi and clare

not my fave...amy j the massage therapist in the shimmery olive gold dress

my first impression rose...andi

 i will re-evaluate in a couple of weeks, but my top 4 picks for now are 

andi-she's my top

clare

renee

nikki

and last, the word tally

journey...4

amazing...not yet

love...20

connection...3

fairytale...not yet

sexy...3

what did you think? who do you like? did he keep the right girls? are you blogging the bach? link up below and come back next week for another round of blogging the bach.

random rambling...thoughts on running part 4

i took a super long break (much longer than intended) from posting my running story. i'm back to mostly finish it up. if you missed the first 3 parts... part 3 part 2 part 1 i ran my first marathon and still thought maybe that would be it for me. even though it never really was on my bucket list, i was happy to check that off and move on. the thing is i couldn't move on. i loved it too much. i loved the people. i loved being outside. i loved it all. so , i kept doing it. the year after that first marathon, i ran a few relays and probably a half marathon or 2. then i started getting a little more serious. i ran ogden st george new york city ogden again and then something really bad happened... about a week after the ogden marathon i still couldn't walk. i was really sore, and my hip hurt. i had another marathon scheduled in a couple of weeks. i started feeling better so i ran utah valley it was one of the dumbest things (next to the wasatch back relay i ran the next weekend) that i have ever done. i was clearly injured but way too stubborn to stop. i got the worst time of my running career. i went to physical therapy...lots of physical therapy. my body usually recovers really well. a few days after a race i am usually totally fine. my physical therapist is an Ironman athlete so he knows all about pushing yourself, goals, training, etc. he never told me not to run the 2nd marathon or the relay so i did. months later he told me he should have been more stern. running those races didn't really make the injury worse, but it drew out the process of finding out the exact problem.  running was out of the question the rest of the summer. i could barely walk. there was no way i could run. for the first time in my life, i had to not do a race i signed up for. i still had hopes of running one more marathon that year, but that didn't happen either. i went to physical therapy 3x/week all summer and saw some improvement. by the end of the summer i hit a plateau and got really worried i might never run again. i have always been a really healthy person (knock on wood or something) so not having 100% health was really hard for me. my body didn't work the way it was supposed to, and it made me mad, sad, depressed, scared, and a lot of other emotions.  i finally went to a sports medicine doctor and started 3 weeks of swimming only (no other cardio and no weights). it was brutal but seemed to work so i had another 3 weeks of swimming only. 6 weeks later with a diagnosis of a labral tear and femoral acetabular impingement (basically a tear in the cartilage and pinching between the hip and leg), i saw a surgeon. by that point, i was ready for surgery. i was sick of not being able to do what i wanted to do. the only exercise i could do was swim, and as much as i like swimming, that doesn't cut it. surgery is scary no matter what, but things really worked out for me to have surgery at the end of the year. it was a huge blessing. at this point i hadn't been able to run for 6 months. i went from being in the best shape of my life to a whole lot less. everyone kept telling me i would run another marathon, but i wasn't totally convinced. the story is almost over i promise.  i'll be back next monday to wrap up. in other completely unrelated subjects, the bachelor is officially back. get excited for tomorrow's first round of blogging the bach.

churchy things {seeking the truth}

if you're new around here (or just need a little reminder), on the first sunday of the month i (along with a few other bloggers) devote this little space of the internet to churchy things. my original plan for today was to tell you more about why. i actually already did that here. go read the post and be sure to let me know if you want more info. on the subject of wanting more info, i happened onto a discussion on social media today about seeking truth and other specifics about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). it made me think. there are certain things about religion i feel like i have always known. for example, i have always know there is a God and a separate Jesus Christ along with a Holy Ghost. for me personally those are truths that i did not have to seek. for others, those might be questions. there are other truths i have had and continue to have to seek. being raised in a religious home, i do not have questions about big doctrines, the truth i seek is mostly in regards to application in my life or improving myself. we all seek different aspects of truth. last year i talked about faith and my attempts to understand faith. i was seeking truth on the doctrine of faith and how to have more of it in my life. so, how exactly do we go about seeking truth? from the book of James in the new testament  5 ^aIf any of you lack ^bwisdom, let him ask of God, that ^cgiveth to all men liberally, and ^dupbraideth not; and it shall be given him. when i wanted to know more about faith, this is exactly what i did. i asked God. my answer did not come in the form of a lightning bolt or some obvious sign from heaven. it came in the form of promptings to read and study specific scriptures and conference talks. it came in the form of church talks and lessons. it came in the form of discussion with family and friends. i definitely do not know all there is to know about faith or any other topic, but i do know that i followed the instruction in James and received more wisdom/truth. another important part of seeking truth is knowing how God speaks to you personally. i believe that God wants to give us the truth we seek, but He does not speak to everyone the same way. He speaks to us in the way we will best understand, but that means we have to seek to know that way and then listen. there are a lot of places to go for truth. some will be helpful and others more confusing, but i know if we ask God first, we will find the places that will help us in our quest for truth. one truth i know is the truth of The Book of Mormon. it is something i read on a daily basis. there is an instagram account for people all over to read this year. follow @bofm365 on instagram if you want to read along. if you want more information about seeking truth, The Book of Mormon, or other churchy things, feel free to email me aubreyzaruba at gmail dot com other churchy posts a kitchen mouse mormon mom of 6

January Hike

spending the holidays in southern california was a dream. i'll be back next week with a full recap of the trip. besides spending time with family (the obvious favorite part), my other favorite part was the weather. we all know i hate winter. something about the sunshine is just good for my soul. we spent a lot of time playing outside with the kids. it was great.

before i left to come back to snowy utah, we decided to go for a short hike. there is a trail a couple blocks from my sister's house so it was perfect. the sun was shining. the weather was perfect. i clearly didn't want to leave.

i'm already dreaming of summer which is kind of a problem. winter isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

i loved starting the new year with a family hike. with traveling, i still haven't really started all of my goals or really even figured out what they all are. i go back to work/reality on monday so things will really start then. in the meantime, i'll just think about the sun.

Don't Cry Over Spilled Polish

i'm pretty obsessed with nail polish. i barely ever have naked nails.

1. i feel weird

2. i have man hands and polish makes them more girls

i also really love blogger package swaps. i've always been really lucky with partners and made some of my best bloggy friends through swaps.

when i saw this swap for nail polish i was super excited.

the rules were pretty simple...buy at least 2 polishes worth a certain dollar amount and send. i once again got super lucky with my partner. i was paired with maria from agapelovedesigns. she totally hooked me up. 

i love a good mail day!

i was at dinner with some friends talking about how i need a decent gold polish. i came home to my polish package and about died. i am so obsessed with this gold.

thanks rebecca for hosting such a fun swap and 

thanks maria for all the fun polish.

if this sounds like fun, stay tuned for a blue polish swap in april for autism awareness month.

2014 goals

google image
i never used to pick a word for the year, but the past couple of years i really like having a theme word for the year. before we talk about 2014, here's a little rundown of 2013...FUN (i blogged about my plans for the year)

daily fun... i started out posting on twitter daily, but dropped off pretty early. i still had a lot of fun in 2013

document 12 runs...got started but need to keep working on this 

spend less...hit and miss/needs improvement

send birthday cards in the mail...mostly successful. probably my favorite goal of the year. plan to continue. make sure i know when your birthday is

write in my journal at least once a month...started and finished strong with a gap in the middle

monthly goals (1 per month all year)...no sugar january, month of hair, month of blue, 30x30, focus on blog, transfer to bloglovin, 30x30 again, write down money spent on food for month, 30x30 again...i did ok on monthly goals and need to do a little better in 2014

i made good progress on a lot of goals and had a lot of FUN

and now my word for 2014 is...

BALANCE

with all the fun and other things of 2013, my life was pretty out of balance. i want to continue to have fun and enjoy life, but i also need to take care of myself. i have a goal to spend reasonable amounts of time on things i want to do, things i need to do, and things in between. i'm pretty sure more balance will help me have a happier more fulfilling life.

i'm still trying to figure out exactly what BALANCE looks like for me, and i'm excited to spend 2014 getting there.

as well as my quest for BALANCE, i like the idea of setting monthly goals.

january...no unnecessary spending (no clothes, no makeup, no nail polish, etc.)

february...i'm considering month of hair again, but i'm not committing yet

march...maybe read a book or i might change to something else

april...something autism related for autism awareness month

may-december...still undecided

i obviously still have some thinking to do. i will continue to set goals throughout the year.

here's to a fun, healthy, productive, and BALANCEd 2014.

2103: Year in Review

i'm kind of dying that today is the last day of 2013. this has been such a great year. i'll be back tomorrow with a very short recap of my goals for 2013 and new goals for next year, but for now, here's how i spent 2013(with clickable links)... january...started the year staying up until 4:00am watching movies, hot tubbing, goal setting, eating, etc with friends at laurann's house

 went to lava hot springs for the first time. i got sick and mostly failed to document the weekend.

 february...#monthofhair...different hair style everyday

 trip to missouri to visit the fam

 march...celebrated easter at brynn's orphan dinner

also attended my first blogger roundtable hosted by bonnie and elizabeth where i met blogger friend april IRL and decided to get a little more serious about blogging

 april...stayed in town for spring break

got together with current and former co-workers

we laughed and talked and played with babies

and then i did a bouffant bun tutorial for them

 in support of autism awareness month, i wore blue everyday

 may...girls night with girls from work

 another blogger roundtable where i met more great girls including deidre (lovetheskinnys)

 i did my first 30x30 fashion challenge mostly to see if i could really do it. turns out i could, and i also made some really great blog friends.

 i spent the second half of the month in st kitts, st thomas, and california. the trip(s) was exactly what i needed. i have never relaxed so much in my life.

 june...30x30 was over, but kimberly and i still wanted to collaborate so we started blogging the bach(coming back starting next week) together. we finally met IRL at another roundtable.

andrew and michelle found out they were having a baby girl when i made a gender reveal cake for them

 i made a goal to run 100 miles in the summer (training for a marathon made that pretty easy but it made me run more during the week)

july...celebrated the 4th in california

 i also spent a lot of time at the pool (my summer fave)

august...another night with the girls from work. we didn't mean to match. it just happened.

 i did 30x30 again. i love the challenge of mixing things up in my closet.

 megan came to town, and i was introduced to the slurp and a lot of great bloggers

in a bit of a whirlwind, i moved.

went to my first favorite things party. it was so fun spending the evening with old and new blog friends.

i soaked up the last little bits of summer

september...ran my first post surgery full marathon

went to california to visit family

 october...got together with some girls from instagram for a craft night

 loved fall more than i ever have before. i especially loved running this fall.

the bach ended, and kimberly and i missed our collabs so we started WHAT WOULD YOU DO...?

attempted to see the witches at gardiner village, but there were so many people there

dressed up as the 3 little pigs for playgroup at work

 november...ran the snow canyon half marathon

 did another 30x30 challenge with quite a few other bloggers

 spent thanksgiving in sunny st george

 december...made a lot of things with peppermint for WHAT WOULD YOU DO...?

went to festival of trees and gardiner village to see the elves

tried xtendbarre and had a fun hot cocoa party with blog friends.

 spent the holidays in california

 2013 was a great year full of fun, family, and friends.