The last few days have been a bit challenging, fun, memorable, and sad. I spent the last few days with my family remembering my grandmother who passed away a few days ago. I didn’t take many pictures of the food since that really was not the main event, but I did take lots of pictures of family. Here are some highlights from the last few days with lots of relatives, friends, and loved ones. The gatherings started on Sunday when all my dad’s side of the family got together at my Aunts house. We talked, drank, ate, and had fun catching up.
If you couldn’t tell, there were a LOT of us there. For dinner we did simple lunch meat sandwiches, potato salad, tomato and cucumber salad, macaroni and cheese, chips, and cookies. There were so many people from out of town that we just needed to do something simple.
I had a little bit of everything plus some veggies and hummus, pretzels and fruit for lunch.
I really enjoyed getting to know all my grandmothers brothers and sisters and my dads cousins. I also REALLY enjoyed playing with my cousins daughter, Natalia Isabella. She might be the cutest little girl I have ever seen. She is so much fun to be around!
The next day I woke up early to get a nice workout in at my parents gym. I did 45 minutes of intense upper body strength exercises. I did a series of exercises for arms, core, and upper legs, and then repeated the cycle 3 times increasing the reps. It was fun and because there were so many exercises, it never got boring. After a nice sweat I headed upstairs for a healthy breakfast. My mom had a huge fruit platter made up.
To that I added a spelt English muffin (a new favorite of mine) and a piece of quiche that she had made. I absolutely love these spelt English muffins. They are a lot heartier than your normal English Muffin and to me, taste a lot better. I knew we had a big day ahead of us so I wanted to make sure I was well fueled. I also had a mug of hot green tea on the side. I’m starting to enjoy tea instead of coffee with breakfast. It makes me feel more hydrated by the time I’m done instead of dehydrated like coffee makes me feel.
We didn’t really have a lunch planned so I ate one of Angela’s Glo Bars and then some almonds and half an apple a little later. This Glo Bar was the Present Glo Bar and was right up my alley. I am seriously (yes, I used that word again) addicted to Angela’s Glo Bars. They make me feel good once I’ve finished eating them and always fill me up unlike other bars. Even though I love all her bars, this one stood out to me in particular. I loved the combination of flavors with this bar; cinnamon, pumpkin, and cranberry. It made me feel like Christmas day. Something about it was so comforting. I really enjoyed it.
We had a full day and had dinner out at a local restaurant. I enjoyed a huge salad of ice berg lettuce (bllahhh) tomatoes, cheese and tortilla strips with honey mustard and a side single crab cake. It was a decent dinner but not the healthiest by any means. Again I enjoyed hanging out with Natalia.
Isn’t she gorgeous? Did you notice that little contraption she was standing on in that one picture? That is my new roll-a-bout. It is what I use instead of crutches, and I rest my knee on the padded part. It has made my life so much easier, and I go everywhere with it. The best thing I have ever found! We didn’t get home until really late at night and had to wake up super early (for me) around 6am. We woke up in time to see the sunrise which was nice.
As you know I’m not much of a morning person so this was incredibly hard for me and definitely did NOT work out. However, I did have time to make another GREAT breakfast. I made a little egg puff with 2 egg whites and a little fat free milk in the microwave and put it on top of another spelt Enlgish muffin. I topped the other side with some blackberry preserves and had some fruit on the side. Another day where we were not planning on having lunch until much later so I needed a big breakfast to keep me full. This was a good one.
In between meals I munched on some Trader Joe’s light popcorn. That stuff is addicting! We had a huge lunch at a restaurant called the Olive Grove. We had bread sticks, salad, crab balls, lasagna, veggies, rice and steak and chicken. Sounds like a lot of food right? Well it was. And right now I am munching on some Trader Joe’s pita bites, cheese, and enjoying a glass of wine before I head home. It was a lovely time with my family and it was bittersweet seeing everyone. I appreciate everyone coming out to visit-it means so much to me. It was a few days to remember my grandmother who was an incredible daughter, mother, sister, wife, grandmother, aunt, and great grandmother. Mom Mom-I love you so much and will remember you and love you always. XXOO
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I am so sorry to hear about your grandmother! But it looks like you guys celebrated her life well, by spending some time together. Hope your week gets better!