June Wrap-Up

I don't know about where you're at, but it's been super rainy over the past few weeks in south central Texas. That's not a complaint — it means we haven't officially hit 100 degree temps yet, and THAT is something to celebrate! Matt and I have been going on lots of walks in the evenings while it's still reasonably cool outside. It's our favorite time to talk.

Challenge: Sample Every Flavor of Blue Bell Ice Cream
At the very beginning of the month, I bought a half-gallon of Triple Chocolate Blue Bell. It was a flavor that had been on my list for a long time but hadn't been on store shelves in like a year, so it was a no-brainer to scoop it up. But at the same time, I was feeling a little guilty about all the ice cream we've been consuming for this challenge; a lot of the flavors don't come in pint sizes, so we've been snarfing a lot of half-gallons. So what did I do? I bought the ice cream. And then I buried it in the freezer behind all the frozen veggies so it wouldn't be readily visible. And I managed a) to hide it from Matt, and b) to not to think about it for two or three days, but then I had a really terrible horrible no good very bad day, and that was that.

At first bite, it was WAY too chocolate-y, but it grew on me. Matt liked it a lot.

I also found a new flavor — and in pint-size! — called Magic Cookie Bar, and that was pretty good too. The ice cream base was condensed-milk flavor, so it was very sweet. Which is probably good, because it caused me to eat less of it in one sitting than I normally would.

Completed: 64 out of 77 flavors

Challenge: Cook All The Way Through a Cookbook
I'm cooking through the "Bride and Groom First and Forever" Cookbook.

Summer Garden Gazpacho  /  Roasted Asparagus

After a business trip two weeks ago, Matt insisted that we only eat healthy things when he returned home. So cold veggie soup with more veggies on the side made it onto the list.

The asparagus was basically the same as any other roasted-veggie recipe. The book suggested adding lemon juice, but I only had lime juice. It ended up being quite tasty anyway.

The gazpacho, though, was really good. It was verrrry tomato-y, and had a bit of a bite from the vinegar (I subbed in white wine vinegar instead of red). I also didn't chill it for as long as it said — 4 hours to overnight! — but that might have ended up being a good thing, since Matt doesn't normally like gazpachos as much on day two. I thought it kept very well, though you do have to stir the leftovers since olive oil tends to congeal in the fridge.

Completed: 39 of 150 recipes

Healthy Living: "De-Stressing"

Adding a new/old category back to these wrap-ups. I heard a really great piece of advice a few weeks ago, which was: if you hate the idea of "working out" or "exercising," why don't you give it a new name? I super hate exercising, but you know what I love? Dancing. Moving. The relaxed, peaceful feeling I get after I do some intense sweating. So I decided that I want to spend more time "de-stressing." And I made a big list of activities in my phone that I can maybe do to help de-stress. Things like biking, or going swimming, or asking Matt if he wants to go play some kind of sport that I'll probably be horrible at.

Because I decided to add this category super last-minute, I can only thing of five "de-stressing" sessions I completed this month (not including our evening walks). Four of them were while Matt was at his work conference. A friend also invited me to go to Zumba with her, but so far we haven't found a day that works for both of us. So in an attempt to not be hideously embarrassing and out of shape when we finally get to go, I've been trying the free videos her gym offers.

Other Adventures
I admitted that I'm still not doing great with this whole big life-change thing. We went on a virtual coffee date. I paid off my second-to-last student loan! I chatted with some Better In Real Life friends about Margaret Atwood books and I also reviewed The Circle. I shared our experience in Mexico. And I told you about the coolest things I got to do in my Citizen's Fire Academy classes!

Did you have a good month? What are your goals for this summer?