Friday Night Photos

Wasn't it JUST Friday... like yesterday? How did this week go by so fast? Last week, I felt like I had a pitiful amount of photos for the week; but that's nothing compared to today! I stayed very busy all week, especially considering I added in 90 minutes of exercise every day, but I guess I just wasn't thinking of taking pictures. Most of my camera roll is just the 75 Hard progress photos I have to take daily.

Anyway, here are the few pictures I do have...

Jerry started installing the bathroom floor last weekend! We probably should have waited until after I paint, but since I still can't figure out what color to do, it might be a little while. It's nice to have (most of) the floor in there now. He still has to do the section around the toilet, but I think we'll wait until I actually do paint. It'll be a lot easier with the toilet removed. 

On Day 6 of 75 Hard, it was so tempting to just click "Oops, I did finish!" and pretend that I followed the rule of having at least one of my workouts be outdoors. It was a totally honest mistake, which made it even more tempting, but I like that the app recognized that I was showing integrity, haha.

My dad called me and asked if I wanted some peppers because he was getting the final harvest of the season from his garden. I love peppers, so I said sure. He said he has a lot of jalapeños, am I sure I want them? I said yes, I'll make vegan poppers or something. When I saw how many he gave me, I was stunned. What you see in the picture is only about 1/3 of them--what on earth can I do with this many jalapeños?! (I'll probably chop some and freeze them for later cooking.)

This looks completely gross, I know, and it certainly wouldn't entice people who are skeptical of tofu to try it, but... I made this recipe for Tofu Jerky and this is what it looked like before and after baking it. (You have to bake it at 200 F for 5 hours!)  I was very surprised at how good it was and how much it resembled jerky in the texture and taste. It looks burnt, but it's actually a chewy texture and not crunchy.

I am really enjoying running lately, and even though I don't care if I'm a slow runner or not, I kind of like seeing my pace improve so much. I've been focusing on breathing in a 4:3 ratio (inhale for four steps, exhale for three), which helps me know that I'm not pushing the pace *too* hard. When I start breathing 3:3 or 3:2 I know I'm probably at a hard tempo pace. And when I get to 2:2, it's more like race pace. These were my splits from my most recent 45-minute run. 

A few days ago, I was writing a blog post and Jerry was working on something at the dining table, being very quiet and focused. He asked me if we had any colorful Sharpies, and I told him where they were. A little while later, he showed me what he made--I love it! The kids (and Jerry, I'm sure) were getting sick of me always asking who has what going on and when. We have to figure out who needs the cars and when, because we have three cars for four drivers. Right now, Noah's car needs tires, so we're down to two cars until we get them (hopefully this weekend). Anyway, Jerry used Sharpies to draw the template, and then we can fill it in with dry-erase markers. 

And last but not least, this is what it's like trying to get anything at all done when Duck wants my attention. I was trying to write a meal plan for the week and I was looking through cookbooks this morning. It's like Duck senses when I am trying to focus on something and then he does everything he can to get my attention. He started chewing on the pages, swatting at the post-it tabs, sitting on the book, and playing with the drawstring on my hoodie. It drives me crazy, but it's endearing ;) 

And that's all the photos I've got this week. Have a great weekend! xo