Juliana Moves

It’s the end of July?! What a long month. So much happened. Some good, some bad, some busy, some boring. We’re still missing Bear every day, but are also glad to love on Alaska a little extra. Patrick and I were walking this morning and discussing how rough of a month July was. We’re trying to make up for it by going to the pool as much as possible this week!

In fact, this past week was maybe one of the most normal for the month! Here’s what I’ve been…

…Reading: Still chugging along with Uncanny Valley and I just started Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie! I never saw the movie so I’m excited to read this. Hey, maybe I’ll watch it afterwards! Speaking of which, I finished Sunrise on the Reaping and I need to watch the Songbird and Snakes movie. Eventually…

…Eating: On Sunday we made Oklahoma burgers on our electric griddle and I thought they were very good! We also made a grasshopper ice cream pie for dessert. “Made” = put store bought ice cream into a store bought Oreo crust. On the menu this week, we’ve got a couple of the items from my summer cooking to do list! 

We made this BBQ Chicken Salad on Monday night. It had romaine, grilled chicken, grilled corn, pickled red onion, black beans, cheese, chives, and garden-fresh tomatoes. It was dressed with an unexpectedly delicious homemade honey mustard dressing!

Last night we made the chickpea and feta orzo salad. It was pretty simple, and I like that! I forgot how good pistachios are.

I randomly decided to make overnight oats and I thoroughly enjoyed them this. 🙂 

…Wearing: Nail polish! Last week we bought a pastel orange nail polish, and I finally got around to painting my toenails with it. I don’t always love having my fingernails painted because it drives me nuts when it starts to chip, but I do feel put together and summery with my orange dreamsicle toenails. 

…Listening to: Um, two very different songs. One is called Watch This by Cody Fry and it seems to be part of a score for a new movie. He is so insanely talented and I want to hear more of his music in movies. The other is Ragtime Interlude / I’m Really Hot by Missy Elliot because why not?! Excellent running music, in my opinion.

…Trying: To get my act together with hydration. It continues to be hot, and I’ve really slacked about staying hydrated. I’m barely drinking enough water, let alone electrolytes! On a run this weekend I carried a ton of fluid and used an ice bandana.

…Thinking About: Organizing my office. This has been on my to do list since we moved into this house but that room remains a mess. I think I may have to buy some stuff to organize it, which I really would rather not do and that’s been holding me up. Hopefully I’ll get to it soon! 

…Excited: To be running consistently again! Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been running all summer. However, as I’ve written/complained about already on this blog, it has felt miserable and hard and all over the place. I’ve been busy or exhausted or the weather has simply been too horrific to enjoy running. This past week was the first week in a while where I’ve felt good about my training! My long runs this weekend were both still pretty gnarly, and I’ve gotten really lazy about fueling during runs… but it still felt good to have a solid week of training done!

In other Juliana news, I have a pinched nerve or pulled muscle in my back that is making my life unnecessarily difficult. It tightens up my neck, gives me a headache, and generally is making me pretty uncomfortable. Cross your fingers that it resolves soon!

Love,

JN