meals & moves is six months old. and a giveaway.

hi! so, a little mishap happened monday morning. i left for work from marshall’s house which is about 25 minutes from my office.. i have a 7 AM monday morning meeting every week and it is very important that i don’t miss it. i was about halfway to my office when i got a call from marshall asking me if i had his keys in my car. i look around and sure enough, there were his keys on my passenger seat! he left them in there on sunday. ughhh. so the choice was to either turn around and miss the meeting (not okay) or to figure something else out. well as most of you know, marshall and i work together. i was hoping his job was up near his house so his partner could just take his keys to him and i wouldn’t have to make the 35 mile journey to deliver his keys after the meeting. as luck would have it, his job was just a bit past his house so i gave his partner the keys and all is well that ends well.. right? wrong. when i was gathering up all my bags to leave marshall’s house for work i realized i couldn’t carry it all. i had FOUR bags, plus my purse.. oy vey! i guess that is what happens when you need work clothes, gym clothes, hang out clothes, wedding clothes, sleeping clothes.. you get the picture. anyway, the reason for my bag rambling is to tell you that i couldn’t carry my laptop bag. i asked marshall to grab it and bring it to work with him. well.. after the whole key debacle i realized that there was no way i would be getting my laptop since marshall was not coming into the office! drat. no blogging on monday night para mi.

to make a long story even longer.. i am typing up this special post monday afternoon at work and will just have it post at midnight on tuesday! crisis averted.. meals & moves will live on, despite the lack of a laptop :)
so! as of today, tuesday, october 20.. i have been writing meals & moves for six whole months! it honestly does not seem like that long at all. the older i get, the faster time flies. not cool, time.. not cool. i thought i would take a time out from my usual blog steeze and have a bit of a reminiscent post followed by a giveaway!

be prepared for a lot of words.. and no photos.. but they are good words, promise!

first up: how i stumbled upon the food blogging world.
one day i was looking online to find a photo of an omelet pan i had purchased at bed, bath & beyond. in march of 2009 i wanted to show the pan to my mom because it was really hard to describe over the phone. i eventually found a photo of the pan on this blog. and then i got to reading that blog.. and then i looked at the side bar titled “food blogs”… hmmm, food blogs? i read recipe blogs and cooking blogs but had never heard of a food blog! i started clicking the links. some of the blogs listed were GC’s, jenn’s and kristie’s. holler! i started perusing the food blog scene, totally unaware that my life was going to be changed for the better real, real soon. and that all of those ladies i listed would in fact become blog/facebook friends! random.
for the month of march i checked out the huge web of interlinking food blogs whenever i had some spare time. i had a trip to mexico coming up on april 1st and i had already decided to start a new body for life challenge when i returned home and i was into this whole food blogging thing.. i liked what i saw. i already had a blog about my day to day life.. exciting events.. all that (right here) and a blog about body for life.. which is now retired (get at me if you want to see it) but it was not as in depth as these food blogs i was reading. i decided this was totally for me. i was going to start a food blog!

next up: the name.
i had no idea what to call my blog. while in mexico i pondered several different names but i kept coming back to two: “meals & moves” because this was the name of our accountability posts that my online BFL team used.. and “vanilla bean & everything in between” because well.. vanilla bean is my fave! since i did want to incorporate my workouts into the blog, i decided “meals & moves” was more appropriate, but i tacked on the “and everything in between” to my header because this blog is not JUST about food and exercise.. obv.. i am a rambler! not a rambler like the style of house, mind you. sooo.. i signed up for wordpress and created the domain and was ready to post!

my first post: ridiculously lame
you can check out the incredibly whack post i did on april 20th HERE. i didn’t have photos to post right away but i wanted to get a post out there.. claim my space in internet land! so i typed up a post about the importance of drinking water. and raved about my contigo water bottles. which i am drinking out of right this very second *pauses to take a drink* so i guess not much has changed in the past 6 months regarding my views on water. i know i don’t mention it daily but i do drink one gallon of water each and every day! i think this is really important and i feel lethargic if i don’t get my water in every day.

my second post: equally as lame, but with food photos!
my first post that actually included food photos can be found HERE. please don’t laugh at the poor quality of photos.. it is a tad disgraceful! i remember that we went out as a family to celebrate my sister in law’s birthday and i told everyone about my new blog.. and they all thought i was a tad absurd (and maybe i am).. and i had a really crappy quality camera and no clue regarding food photography. but my witty commentary was in full force from day one ;) you will notice that my first day of food blogging eats were similar to what i eat to this day: protein oats, greek yogurt, protein shakes, cottage cheese, eggs, veggies, hummus. typical. see, i was a food blog food lover before i even knew about food blogs! it was meant to be blogged about! ha.

my third post: just the moves.
this post, found HERE, was just about my workouts. the HIIT and lower body workout look similar to the workouts i do today.. not a lot has changed there. come to think of it, maybe i SHOULD change things in that department?

wow.. people actually are reading this? and commenting??
i started writing my blog for ME. i didn’t actually think other people would honestly read what i had to say. but eventually i did gain some readership. the first comment i ever got on my blog that was NOT from my mom ;) was on this post and i actually had TWO unique comments! wooohoooo.. one was from a friend from the body for life forums and the other was the oh-so-fabulous hayley!! she had a different blog back then but i was so happy to “meet” her as we both were interested in body for life. i was so happy about the comments.. i didn’t expect them and so it was a real surprise. i posted a few more times and then received a comment from danica! she and i have been super good friends since and it all started with a mutual love for ice cream ;) eventually more and more people started to read my blog. to this day i am overwhelmed with joy that sooo many people take the time out of their day to read my ramblings. this community is the best. ever.

some events worth mentioning.

things that i have learned from the blogs.

things that haven’t changed in the past six months

i have always been obsessed with national food holidays
my workouts are basically the same, alternating cardio and weight days as well as alternating upper and lower body workouts
i am obsessed with eating wraps
vanilla bean ice cream is my favorite thing to eat. ever.
acronym and palindrome obsessssed!
i am still not a morning person.. will i ever be?
i still balance my proteins/carbs and eat mainly body for life style

things that have changed in the past six months

i use dishes that are reusable instead of paper plates/bowls/cups/etc.. i am way more eco-friendly!
my photos are waaaay better. way better. they still have room for improvement but compared to the first week? night and day!
i cook my protein oats TOTALLY different now. i used to think they were tasty.. but looking back, they looked disgusting. hooray for the stovetop method!
i no longer post my meals and moves as separate posts. instead, i combine them.
i have more of a set schedule.. i try to post once a day, at night, recapping the day’s meals & moves. having order is nice!
i am not as strict with myself.. and i am happier

blogging is fun. it is rad. i love it. i love being able to look back at the past 6 months of my life in great detail.. sure, i may not care about what i ate on august 5, 2009 in about 6 years from now.. but i may wonder what i was doing.. and now i have it documented. hmmm sidenote: i bet it would be a good idea to back up all these posts somehow.. what if one day wordpress just decides to up and delete everyone’s blogs? it could happen, you know. and the best thing i have gained in these past six months? the most spectacular friends ever. last april i would have never thought i would have about a hundred new long distance friendships come october. seriously. but i do. and i am stoked! i love you guys!

i love you guys so much that i decided a giveaway is in order!

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the folks at csn stores recently contacted me to let me know about their fabulous products and also asked me to host a giveaway for them.. how generous!! i spent hours checking out their fantastic websites.. especially cookware.com, what can i say, i am a sucker for kitchen gadgets! all of their items are reasonably priced and they have a HUGE selection.. if you are in the market for anything kitchen.. cookware.com is the place to be!

i had a hard time deciding what to give away. i was really into the cheese gadgets and the egg gadgets, but then i realized that those were not really gadgets for the masses (hello vegan friends!).. so for my 6 month giveaway i decided to give away something that everyone can use.. a mini food processor!!

this is a cuisinart mini food processor and the information on this handy kitchen gadget can be found here. and you might say, “well i already HAVE a food processor!” sure.. maybe you do, but do you have a mini food processor? you all know how much i LOVE little things. plus, if you are like me, you hate the big production that comes with getting the food processor out (if it is not already on your counter.. i am not that lucky).. putting it together.. using it.. taking it apart.. cleaning it.. blah blah blah. unfortunately my food processor gets neglected for this very reason.. i am lazy! but this mini guy is not only super cute.. but also super convenient! plus, the parts are dishwasher safe. big thumbs up!

to enter:

leave a comment stating what the first thing you would make with your new kitchen gadget would be if you won!
for one extra entry link back to this post in your blog saying, “meals & moves is 6 months old and is hosting a giveaway! check out cookware.com for your favorite brands like cuisineart, emile henry, rachael ray cookware and more! giveaway ends 10/23!”

this giveaway will end friday, october 23rd at midnight.. good luck!

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well.. needless to say since i don’t have a computer my google reader will be up past 300 again in the morning. such is life! hope you are all doing well and had a fabulous monday and an even better tuesday.. just think, tomorrow we are already halfway to the weekend.. hooray!

1. i will make this easy.. number 1 answer can be your giveaway entry ;) let’s hear it! i would probably make hummus if i was the winner!

2. how did you first discover food blogs? my story is so random and i would love to hear yours!!

xo. janetha b.

meals & moves is six months old. and a giveaway.

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