Hi there!

First off, thank you all so much for your wonderful and supportive comments on my last two posts regarding transferring and my new long distance relationship. Having so many awesome ladies who I know have gone through or are currently going through the same situation is so unbelievably encouraging!! I can use all of the pointers I can get, so keep them coming! Thanks again, friends!

WELLLL the second week of school has begun and I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I am so busy already! Professors aren’t taking their time with assigning homework…I am already swamped with assignments, quizzes, essays, and projects. Seriously?!

Anyways, since my life if quite chaotic, I regret to inform you that I have no recent adventure/exercise/foodie pictures for you today (oh, and also I can’t find my camera battery charger. awesome) so I was thrilled when I learned that adorable Lindsay tagged me in her Blissful Blogger award.

I may or may not have jumped up and down with excitement in the middle of my kitchen.

(Definitely did.)

She’s so great!

So here are 7 facts about me…

7 Jordanisms, if you will.

1. I have not grown (height wise, anyways) since I was about 12.

Thus, I have never made it into an R rated movie without being asked for my ID.

On the plus side, I have clothes that still fit me from 7th grade.

2. Before I really gave any thought to what I put into my body, I was a frequent consumer of Chipotle and Qdoba, where I was sure to demolish an entire burrito in one sitting.

attractive, right?

Rice, black beans, chicken, pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and LOTS of green tobasco. Sometimes accompanied by a side of chips and queso.

I think that just about covers all of the food groups, don’t you?

3. I went through a phase where I was pretty much…well…a hippy.

Showers were few and far between, I recycled everything I touched, I was obsessed with peace signs and I burned incense like it was going out of style. Even though it was already way out of style.

I even had this bumper sticker plastered on my little hatchback VW…

Wow. I don’t even know.

4. Every year, my sister and I try to go on a hike when she visits during the summer. Our favorite trailhead is called The Twin Sisters.

We get asked if we’re twins a lot.

We’re definitely equally crazy.

5. Food basically dictates my every thought and the majority of my conversations.

While I’m eating one meal, I am almost always thinking about or planning my next.

My brother-in-law named my “inner fat kid” Hank.

You can see him pictured above with his beloved burrito.

6. Any extended period of time that passes without my consumption of food results in a very cranky and zombie-like Jordan.

Enough said.

7. Last but not least…

Me and this ^ hot guy have our 2 year anniversary coming up in September.

Longest relationship for both of us!

He’s a keeper

And nowww, I want to tag the following 7 amazing bloggers:

Bailey at Life as a Coastie Wife

Allison at Allison’s Delicious Life

Brooke at FreeBird Runner

Brittany at GOtheXtraMile

Kristi at Her Sweet Cheeks

Karla at My High On Life

Beth at The Body by Beth

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit of randomness about me!

Please share an “ism” about yourself with me!!

If you guys have any requests for posts anytime soon please let me know what you’d like to read about! I hope to be back with some pictures of food and good stories soon. Have a blessed week!

p.s. I am so happy with all of the new readers that have been stopping by lately! You all are so wonderful and I am loving getting acquainted with you and your blogs!

Hi guys!

Sorry I’ve been absent since Friday…

Classes started Monday!

So I officially have 3 days of my junior year of college under my belt.

I’m not gonna lie…the past 3 days have been super overwhelming. I transferred from a university of about 1,500 undergraduates to a university of about 25,000 undergraduates.

Ummm…it’s been a bit of an adjustment, to say the least!! Between trying to find my way around campus, figuring out where to purchase textbooks and trying to get a handle on my schedule, I feel so stressed out.

In fact, when my mom walked in the door last night and asked me how my day was, I immediately burst into tears. I wonder if I’m ever going to grow out of having childish meltdowns?

Luckily, I’ve had a few awesome mood boosters that have helped me adjust my attitude and turn my week around. After pep talk from my wonderful parents and a Skype date with my sweet boyfriend, I was soon feeling much better.

Last night’s dinner also helped boost my mood…

Tacos!

Two crunchy ground beef soft tacos with lettuce, tomato, homemade guac, cheese, and hot sauce alongside some refried beans. Tacos used to be like my all-time favorite meal. Seriously. Whenever my mom asked for dinner suggestions when I was growing up, I’d say tacos. We haven’t had them in ages. They definitely hit the spot!

For dessert, I ate one of these gigantic peaches that my mom bought the other day:

They are from Palisade, Colorado and they are absolutely the best peaches I have EVER eaten. Mood booster? Yes.

Please notice that most of my mood boosters have to do with food. Like how I recently discovered and fell in love with this cereal…

It’s not sweet at all, but with almond milk and fresh fruit it is absolutely amazingggg.

Another mood booster of the week was that I don’t begin class until 10:00AM everyday, so I’ve gotten a couple of great workouts in the past few mornings!

Monday morning I did one of my favorite Firm video workouts.

Yesterday morning, my mom and I took my dog on a little run/walk – we walked the first mile-ish and then ran the last 2. When I got home, I did a little interval elliptical workout that looked similar to this, but I shortened it up a bit.

This morning, I headed to the gym around 6:30 and did my own thing on a spin bike while I rocked out to an awesome playlist for about an hour. I missed spinning sooo much when my knee was acting up. It felt good to be pedaling away again! Being able to run and bike without pain is definitely a mood booster.

Last mood booster of the day? Stopping at my favorite coffee shop for a blended latte.

Yes, please.

By the way, thank you so much to all of you who gave me some advice on long-distance relationships! I already miss Ryan so much! So feel free to keep the tips comin!

I hope you’re having a great week!

Have you ever transferred schools? What was the hardest thing to adjust to?

Best workout of the week?

What’s one of your guaranteed mood boosters?

Friday often ends up being my day of excuses and/or indulgences.

At the end of a long week, it somehow feels okay to do, wear, or eat whatever I want.

That’s what Fridays are for, right? This Friday was made for lots of awesome events. Like…

The return of the latte!

I didn’t have a latte for 2 weeks while I was in Chicago.

During my workout, I had only one thing on my mind….

Ah…you were missed dearly, my friend.

Almond milk, a splash of skim milk, a shot of espresso and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Perfection.

Awesome discoveries

Silk dark chocolate almond milk

Did anyone else know this existed?! I love chocolate soy milk, but I’ve been wishing for chocolate almond milk lately and haven’t been able to find it until today! I was in Denver and found this is Safeway.

I’m saving it for a post-run treat tomorrow morning. Can’t waaaiiit.

Take-out Chinese Food

We never do this.

Seriously! I don’t remember the last time I had take-out Chinese.

Sooo worth it.

Lemongrass chicken, mongolian beef, sesame chicken and brown rice.

Don’t worry…I went back for seconds.

It’s best enjoyed while…

Wearing your boyfriend’s basketball shorts and some fuzzy leopard slippers

Enough said.

Cherry on top of a great friday?

A sleepover with a 5-year old

she missed the cue to smile

We picked up my cousin Hayley today to stay for the weekend.

She’s a handful.

But she brought this with her…

I was skeptical…but this kid’s pretty adorable. And talented. I’m a fan.

We attempted to do the Justin Bieber hand heart thing…

Hayley’s didn’t look much like a heart.

And I just looked creepy.

Ohhhhh Justin Bieber.

Do you ever feel like you deserve an indulgence [or 10] on a Friday?

What was the best part of your day?

Hi friends!!

After two wonderful weeks away in Chicago, I arrived home to a very hot a sunny Colorado. My trip was so amazing. Between the wedding and a ton of other random adventures, we had an incredible time. Here a few more random pictures from the trip:

Ry reading the paper with little Lyric

he's too cute for his own good

 I seriously can’t say enough times how much fun this trip was. Leaving Ryan on Monday was so hard!!

For those of you who may be new readers [hi! ], Ryan and I met at a university in Chicago where I attended school for two years (you can read more about us on my Ryan + Jordan page). This year, I will be transferring back to go to school near my home in Colorado.

It’s going to be so weird not seeing him everyday, since I’ve been so used to that for the past two years. We both agree that long-distance is going to be really hard, but really worth it! I know that a lot of you are in or have been in long distance relationships before…

Any pointers?! I’d love to hear some of your tips to make it a success!

Anyways, being back home means that it’s time to be back to real life and everything that comes with it.  I am finally all registered for classes (transferring is a pain in the BUTT) and even though they are not exactly what I wanted, I am just glad to have a full schedule. I can’t believe the summer is over! It flew.

One definite welcomed normalcy about being back to real life is the return of normal meals. While I was in Chicago, I ate just about whatever I wanted. (Ummm…homemade peanut butter ice cream every night? YES PLEASE!)

But after two weeks of eating lots of food and slacking [a little] on my workouts, it feels so good to be back to a routine of eating well and working out hard. My body is rewarding me already.

Speaking of normal eats, many of you commented on my abs post saying that you’d like to see what a typical day of eating might look like for me. So here’s what I ate today!

Breakfast

fruit, cereal and yogurt combo

1 cup Kashi Go Lean (my FAVORITE cereal! tons of protein)

1 Raspberry Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt (comparable to Greek yogurt as far as protein goes…it’s just lots cheaper!)

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup sliced strawberries

Coffee with a splash of half-and-half and skim milk

I promise the cereal was buried in there!

Did you notice I ate it with my favorite spoon?

Mid-Morning Snack

Kashi TLC Bar

 Plus an unpictured granny smith apple.

Kashi TLC bars are one of my favorite snacks. I think I like the trail mix kind the best.

Lunch

Lunch was MUCH later than I planned [usually I eat anywhere from 12-1PM] but I got caught up at work, so I rushed home at 2 absolutely famished!

Upon opening our refrigerator, I realized that the quickest and easiest option was a huge protein shake.

cold, creamy deliciousness

This shake was pretty close to one of my favorite shake recipes, but I added a few things to bulk it up, since I was feeling super hungry.

1 scoop EAS chocolate whey protein

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 heaping spoonful reduced fat Jif PB

Lately, I’ve been really feeling fruity smoothies, but this rich and chocolatey shake really hit the spot! And it filled me up fast. Clutch.

Afternoon Snack

I snagged a few necessary snacks from TJ’s while I was in Chicago since I’m going to miss them so much!

Of course, these staple items included Ginger Cat Cookies and this stuff…

Wasabi Wow trail mix

source

This stuff is addicting.

I ate about 2 handfuls while doing some chores around the house.

Dinner

The following picture does not look at all appealing, but please don’t doubt how delicious this meal was.

tomatillo tilapia and pine-nut salad

On the menu was tilapia with a tomatillo salsa and a salad that included pine nuts, avocado, Parmesan cheese and a simple dijon dressing. So good. If anyone is interested in recipes, let me know!

After dinner, my mom and I watched Master Chef and I dug into a serving of my beloved Ginger Cat Cookies. I’m trying to ration them out…but it’s not working very well. I’m gonna have to have Ryan mail me packages of TJ’s goodies!

I know this post is verging on too long, but just a quick update on my injuries, I saw my PT a few days ago and she said I can start increasing my mileage about 1 mile per week!! I’m sooo excited. I ran 3 miles the other day and am planning a 3.5 mile run for this weekend. I also took a spin class yesterday with NO pain. I have another PT appointment in 2 weeks, but if I’m still doing well by then I have permission to cancel it and run to my hearts content [wisely, of course ] and start training for another half-marathon.

WELL anyways, expect LOTS more frequent posts now that I am home and back on a normal schedule. I can’t wait to read and hear more about what you guys have been up to.

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten this week?

Do you have any long-distance relationship tips to share?!

Oh my goodness I miss you guys SOOO much!!

I haven’t been doing much blog reading [and obviously no blogging] since I’ve been in Chicago so I did a little bit of catch up this morning on Ryan’s parents’ computer. I love reading about what you all have been up to!

Here are some pictures of Ryan’s sister’s amazing wedding…

amazing ceremony

me and my hot date

beautiful and delicous wedding cake

Ry and I with the bride and groom

It was such a fun night!!! One of the best weddings I’ve ever been to.

Other than wedding festivities, we’ve just been hanging out, eating TONS of good food (think homemade ice cream, pasta, delicious salads…), and enjoying our last few days together before we begin our long distance adventure…

Despite our indulgence in great food (hey, it’s still technically vacation! we have still been sticking to a fairly regular workout routine. I started running again this week and guess what?! NO PAIN!!! I haven’t pushed it too much and I’ve found that running at a slight incline feels best, but so far so good! I’ll keep ya updated.

I may not post again until Monday when I get home, but prepare for lots more pictures from the rest of my trip Can’t wait to hear about what you’ve been doing!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!!! xoxo

Hi there!

Sorry I’ve been totally MIA since the abs post…

Currently, I’m in Chicago with this guy

for two weeks for his sister’s wedding! So up until August 15th, the posts will probably be few and far between. I’m taking TONS of pictures of my trip and hopefully will post a few times while I’m here, but I’ll probably do a bit recap once I’m home.

Please check out my guest post on Alexa’s blog on August 4th! Have a great week, friends!