Friday, June 29, 2012

Five Favs Friday

I want to take a moment to gush about the five things that I am loving right now. 


1. Summer fruit
…because it is so readily available, so fresh, and it’s all of my favorites, in season at the same time!  Strawberries, cantaloupe, mangos, pineapple, honeydew, watermelon.  I am obsessed with these right now and keep a constant supply of them in my kitchen.  I also incorporate them into every meal and snack.  My favorite breakfast right now:

Fruity Summer Breakfast

1 cup cottage cheese (or greek yogurt)
½ c diced strawberries
½ c diced pineapple
handful of blueberries
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
drizzle of honey

**to kick the nutrition aspect up a notch (and make it even more heart-healthy), sometimes I sprinkle Chia seeds or ground up flax seed on it**

Talk about DELISH!!  And what makes it even better is that it’s healthy and filling!


2. Blogs
…because I love to read them and even have a list of them that I blog-stalk (read) every day.  Starting a blog was something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while and finally got up the courage to start one!  There were so many reasons why I wanted to start a blog…as well as reasons why I just hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet.  There was the issue of time, I couldn’t find the right name for it, and didn’t know where or how to get started.  I finally took the plunge and am happy that my blog will turn two weeks old tomorrow!  I enjoy writing my posts, and have found that my favorite part is that I get to keep a written (and visual) account of my crazy, eclectic life.  As a bonus: it’s therapeutic.  Instead of retail therapy, this is my blog therapy. J


3. My RUNstreak
…because it is forcing me to find at least 25-30 minutes a day to work out.  The truth is, that we are never too busy to work out, although we often come up with a ton of excuses.  My philosophy is that in life there is always time for what we MAKE time for.  There are 1,440 minutes in a day; it’s not impossible to find 30 of them to exercise.  Do something…anything!  Run, bike ride, walk around the neighborhood.  The more active we get, the better!  In my family, we make it a family affair so we can get our daughter involved too because I think it’s important to teach her healthy habits and making exercise a daily activity is one of them!  It’s good for the body and good for the mind! Endorphins rock! J

With my run last night I completed Day 27, and June’s almost over which means one month down, two to go.  And so Leti’s Summer RUNstreak continues…


4. Free time – and sleep (sometimes)
…because I actually have time to DO SOME STUFF!!!  Being a teacher, I look forward to this time of the year because it’s my time to rest, relax, and (most importantly) rejuvenate.  In the summer everything is better simply because I have more time to DISFRUTAR (Spanish for ENJOY…although I don’t think the English word captures it quite like the Spanish word does).  During the summer I’m not in such a rush to get home and grade papers or work on lesson plans so I have more time to enjoy the places we go, the food we eat (and the restaurants we eat at), and the family activities we love to do.   I get to stay up late, which is great for me because I’m a night owl, and I even have time to go have coffee and go on dinner dates with the hubs occasionally! 

Everyone always talks about how “lucky” us teachers are to have so much time off and how good we have it to get three months off for the summer.  Let me be frank for a moment, if I may, and I think most teachers I know would agree with me when I say this: Trust me, by the time May rolls around, IT IS TIME.  The children are tired, we are tired, and we have all had enough together time to last us a good while.  We NEED that time off!  If it weren’t for the summer, I’m not sure we would be as effective…or sane!  Trust me, it’s better for everyone involved for us to have that time off.  Otherwise, as one of my crazy teacher friends so hillariously put it, “someone somewhere would probably get hurt.”

As of yesterday at 3:15pm, I am officially off for the summer.  With that being said, I’m the kind of person that has to stay busy.  Therefore, being the good nerd with OCD (or CDO - have you seen that pin on Pinterest?) tendencies that I am, I have created a “Summer Projects” list.  Lucky for me, as soon as I scratch one thing off I usually add one or two new ones.  I can’t wait to get started!  But first I think I’ll take the weekend off (and start my projects on Monday) because I have my big Mexico City Girls reunion this weekend in Austin!


5. June 30 – July 1
…because I get to see MY GIRLS!!!!  This weekend I get to spend time with Rachel, Cristina, Ashley, Dianne, and Jenny (we'll miss you Rosie)!  You know those movies/shows/books where the main character has a group of friends that she meets, bonds, and fall in love with…and then reunites with once a year for the rest of their lives?  Well that’s us!!!  I met this beautiful group of girls when we all did an International Public Relations Study Abroad in Mexico City, México in the summer of 2000.  We hung out, worked in International PR internships, and traveled all over México that summer.  We came back to the states, graduated (from Texas A&M University – WHOOP!!!) and have remained friends with each other, and the friends we met there, ever since.

In about 24 hours from now we are going to meet in Austin to hang out, eat some good food, drink a little vino, relax, and catch up…and I CANNOT WAIT!!!


I’m off to do some laundry, a little shopping, and to pack.  Get ready, Austin, because here we come!!! J


5 ?’s for you:
1. What things are you loving right now?
2. What are some of your favorite blogs that I absolutely have to check out?
3.  What are your favorite fruits and how do you incorporate them into your meals?
4.  How often do you work out?
5. Do you have a “girlfriends” group? How often do you get together and what kinds of activities do you do when you see each other?

No comments:

Post a Comment