Tyler and I didn’t wake up until about 9:45, so breakfast was late. I wasn’t in the mood to cook anything for myself, so I ate a White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Clif Bar with a Clementine and a glass of soymilk.

After lazing around a bit Tyler got into gear, while he shoveled ice from the driveway I vacuumed 90% of the house – I’m calling that my workout for the day. I was definitely sweating.

After we both finished our “chore” of sorts, we packed up and drove to Tyler’s parents house. I had a lunch/snack of a Clif Kid Twisted Fruit, half a bag of Cocoa Roasted Almonds, and Cheez It’s.

We chatted with Tyler’s parents and watched football for most of the afternoon. Then at 5:30 Tyler and I drove to a local YMCA for his basketball league. It was a lot of fun to watch Tyler play basketball. He’s pretty good, I must say, and he really enjoys playing, so he’s fun to watch.

After basketball, we headed back to his parent’s house for dinner. Tyler’s Mom had put together a combination of healthy choices. I had a side salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, with lite Honey Mustard dressing, and croutons.

The rest of my dinner was a piece of marinated grilled salmon, rice pilaf, some macaroni and cheese, steamed broccoli, and a roll.

Tyler’s Mom makes some awesome homemade macaroni and cheese that I cannot say no to. I guess it’s ok since I only eat it every once in awhile, and I didn’t have a huge portion of it (although I definitely wanted to haha).

Dessert was a low fat version of key lime pie made with lite cool whip, lime jello, key lime yogurt, and lime juice, with a graham cracker crust.

It was delish! I love key lime anything!

I’ve also snacked on a few mini chocolates throughout the course of the evening – they avoided the camera.

Tomorrow I’m heading into Grand Rapids with Tyler when he goes to work, then one of my parents is picking me up and taking me back out to the lakeshore so that I can make my 1pm appointment with the potential caterer.

I hope you had a relaxing weekend. I’m still winding down from all the holiday hub bub. I still have a few more days in Michigan before I head back to warm California. I hate to leave Tyler, but it will be nice to be in 50° temps again and able to run outside.

Do you still have more holiday time left, or do you have to head back to work/school tomorrow?

Have a great Monday either way!

Friday my sister, my mom and I all got our nails done. 

Around 3pm my parents and I drove to St. Louis to shop, pick up my brother from the airport, and get some dinner.

On the way I introduced my parents to some of my favorite foods. My dad tried a Clif Kid Twisted Fruit and my mom tried a Peanut Butter Luna Cookie!

We went to Plaza Frontenac, an upscale shopping mall, and picked up a gift for my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s bridal shower, and some dresses for my mom and I. Ann Taylor had some great sales and I came home with two dresses that are very cute and will be perfect for the different weddings/showers/etc. that I have this summer. I can’t wait to wear them!

After shopping we picked up my brother and then headed to this pizza place in Clayton called Il Vicino!

Il Vicino!

The Wood Fire Oven and Pizza Chef (I had to beg him to be in the photo)

My parents and I shared a bottle of wine.

My glass of Pinot Grigio

Between the 4 of us we ordered 3 pizzas.

Pizza Angeli

Pizza Rustica

Pizza Fino

I had 3 pieces of the Pizza Fino and 1 piece of the Pizza Rustica!

My mom also ordered a Caesar Salad which I helped her eat.

After dinner we drove back home.

Saturday

Saturday I went for a 4.25 mile run on the same trail as Friday. After my run I had some breakfast and then went with my mom and sister to Ethanie (my soon-to-be sister-in-law’s bridal shower). There were some delicious brunch foods, an amazing cake, and mimosas! I didn’t take any pictures sorry!

We had a family dinner before we went to Diana’s graduation ceremony at 8pm.

My mom made some salmon with wilted spinach, and we picked up some artisan bread.

My plate (I love my mom's Fiestaware)

Dessert: Fresh strawberries and Triple Lemon Frozen Yogurt

After dinner I drove with Brad and Ethanie to the graduation ceremony at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. We also drove by the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum where Brad and Ethanie are getting married in August!

The graduation ceremony was pretty short, one student gave a really great speech, and another student who was paralyzed after falling out of a tree was able to walk up to get her diploma using a walker. She received a huge round of applause!

Afterwards we took some pictures with Diana before she ran off to celebrate with friends.

From the Right: Brad, Diana, Don (Dad), Me

Don (Dad), Diana, Barb (Mom)

We’re all super proud of Diana and excited for her to start college at Mizzou!

Sunday

I started off the day with another run of 4 miles. After I showered, had breakfast, packed, and then started the drive to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with my dad. I helped out and drove the first 4 of 9 hours.

For lunch I had an apple and this Clif Mojo Peanut Butter Pretzel Bar that my mom bought for me to try! I was really impressed with this bar and would definitely buy it again!

We drove for awhile and decided to stop around dinner time at a cheese and wine shop. My dad had been telling me about these shops that are all along the highway and interstate in Wisconsin (we drove through Wisconsin to get up to the UP), so we decided to stop and check one out.

Seguins Cheese and Wine Shop

This store had tons of different cheese, jams, salsas, wine, ice cream, crackers, and souvenirs. The best part was you could sample things before you bought them. We had some samples as an appetizer, some garlic cheddar, monterey veggie, spicy mustard, strawberry rhubarb jam, cherry jam, and triple berry jam. They were all delicous. We bought some monterey veggie and a local beer to take back to Tyler so that he knew we were thinking of him.

A little while later we stopped in Menominee, MI at Schloegel’s Bay View Restaurant for dinner.

Check out the awesome view out the window at our booth!

My dad and I did the usual. We each ordered a sandwich and then split them. I gave him most of the fries and chips : )

Chicken Panini Sandwich on Ciabatta with Peppers and a Chipotle Sauce

Italian Panini Wrap (Can't remember what was in it sorry!)

Dad loved his wrap!

We also had some of their awesome pie for dessert. My dad got the raspberry pie, I got the key lime!

Raspberry Pie

Key Lime Pie (my fave!)

After dinner we finished the drive to the beach house on Lake Michigan near Manistique, MI. When we got there my dad gave me the official tour (it’s my first time being there!). The mosquitoes were really bad so we didn’t walk out to the beach, but I got a nice view of the water. It’s a really secluded area and absolutely great for a relaxing house on the beach!

We each had a Mike’s, I had Raspberry Lemonade, my dad had Berry, then we went to bed.

Monday

I started the day with a wet run. I did 3.5 miles down the road and back. The road is not very busy, I only saw 1 car my entire run, so its great for walking and running on!

When I got back, I showered and had some coffee and Kashi Strawberry Field’s cereal with soymilk. While my dad showered I cleaned up the dead bugs that had collected near the windows and doors.

Here’s a view from the look out on the top floor of the house!

It was raining all morning so I didn’t get to see our actual beach front but I can only imagine from what my dad has told me that it is awesome and very quiet!

We headed out since it was raining.

It was still raining when  we drove over the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge hours later.

We stopped in Mackinaw City for lunch. We decided on pasties.

For those of you who have never heard of pasties (which is probably most if not all of you) here is some interesting history and information on pasties from the Mackinaw Pastie & Cookie Co. where my dad and I ate.

“Made originally as a meal for the miners of Cornwall, England, Pasties date back about 800 years. Wives would bake meat and vegetables in a crust and wrap it in many layers of linens or newspapers for their husband’s lunch. It provided a warm and filling meal in the cold, damp mines. Pasties arrived in Michigan over 150 years ago with immigrants who came to work in the iron and copper mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Pastie provided a hot and nutritious meal that had good holding capacity and could be eaten anywhere. This full-bodied flavor soon became a favorite with locals and visitors alike. A trip to Northern Michigan is not complete without a Pastie. “ (Mackinaw Pastie and Cookie Co. )

My dad and I both ordered a Chicken Pastie for lunch. It had diced potatoes, onions, chicken, and carrots in it, and was filling and pretty good! Pasties are no gourmet food, but they are fun to eat on occasion, and hey then you can say you’ve tried a pastie!

YUM!

When lunch was over we drove the rest of the way back to Holland. I finally got to see my Tyler after 4 days!

Unfortunately I came home to a clogged sink : (

Tyler had put some celery down the disposal and it somehow managed to form a clog in our pipes, which required Tyler to take on a new position, PLUMBER!

We finally unclogged the drain after a trip to Menards for an inexpensive auger and some drain de-clogger stuff. Needless to say we will be more careful from now on about what we put in the disposal!

All the plumbering made us tired so we went to bed shortly after!

I didn’t get to mention it earlier but I’m officially starting to feel some of the more awesome perks of blogging. I came home to my loft before I left to find this assortment of goodies from Matt, my secret blog food swapper at Run Live and Enjoy!

Some awesome bars that I've actually never tired, some protein smoothie mix, and The Runner's Cookbook!

I really liked this KIND Bar, it was basically a conglomeration of nuts and dried fruits with something sweet to bind it all together. I liked the big pieces and I think it would be a very satisfying snack. I wasn’t too satisfied because I only ate half the bar, because I let Tyler have the other half, but I think with the whole thing I would have been good for a couple of hours.

At the mall we went straight to Banana Republic. We ended up each getting three shirts. I tried to get some colorful clothing, and left with a bright orange top, and two t shirts, one green and one blue. Aren’t they cute and summery! We got them all for a great price because we had a bunch of coupons and such!

We stopped at an auto parts store to get an adapter for our hitch. We purposely got a different size bike rack than the hitch we have, because we wanted to be able to use it in the future when we buy a bigger vehicle and possibly need to buy an add on for an extra 2 bikes. We think ahead like that haha.

After that we stopped at Target to return a wireless router we bought but didn’t need when we switched cable providers. Then it was time to head home for a late dinner. Tyler’s brother Trent came over shortly after we got home, so he ate some dinner with us.

We ate leftovers, I had a 3.5 oz piece of salmon, some sauteed peppers, and 1 serving of Corn Tortilla Chips with 1/2 oz of shredded cheese. We also ate the last 1/4 of the watermelon we have been gnawing on.

After dinner we opened the mini keg we bought yesterday. Oberon is a local beer from Bell’s Brewery.

I’m not a huge beer fan, but this is a pretty good summer seasonal. It’s an american wheat beer. Tyler poured me about 12oz, that I’ve been sipping on since he poured it.

I’m having some Dove Dark Chocolate for dessert in a little bit.

Tomorrow we’re going kayaking with my dad. I’m so excited, expect lots of pictures!

Lunch today was delicious! I had a salad with cucumber, 1/2 serving of turkey pepperonis, 1 oz of pepper jack cheese, honey lemon vinaigrette, orange bell pepper, and 1 serving of Triscuits.

Before and after I cleaned house, I had some snacks

A Clif Kid Twisted Fruit Strawberry! This thing was awesome, I’ll definitely be buying this flavor again!

Then I had a yogurt bowl with 1/2 cup non fat plain yogurt, 1 serving canned pineapple, and 1/2 serving Flavor One Original Bran cereal.

Dinner was late, but worth the wait and was very similar in color all around. I had 4 oz salmon seasoned with lemon pepper and salt and baked, 2 oz (dry) of whole wheat rotini with butter spray and parmesan, and some sauteed orange bell pepper!

This was my first time having whole wheat pasta (at least that I can consciously recall) and I must say I am really impressed. I’d heard it had a nutty flavor, but I didn’t notice any and I thought it tasted much like regular pasta, but more filling. I’m sold, it’s whole wheat pasta for this household from now on!

Update

I threw together a dessert-y mess. I used 1 serving of cinnamon graham sticks, 1 bar of milk chocolate, and 1 Tbs. of caramel. I microwaved it for about 20 seconds and it was all warm and melty and I used the graham sticks for dipping. It was messy kind of like a mixture of a s’more and a chocolate caramel bar. Definitely drool worthy!

I’ve got some fun plans for tomorrow and for the weekend! Tyler, my dad, and I are going kayaking on Sunday! We’re meeting my dad for lunch (possibly church too, I’ll see if I can convince Tyler or not), then driving an hour to the White River to kayak from about 1pm to 6pm. Then we’ll do dinner afterwards in Montague, MI. I’m super excited. We used to take family canoe trips when I was little on the Current River in MO, and I always loved them. I never minding tipping in the canoe, at least not when I got older. I have tons of canoeing memories with my family, and I can’t wait to make some with Tyler! Let’s hope the weather is good Sunday!

And tomorrow, I may be going for a bike ride with my dad! Sometimes its really nice not having a full time job, might as well enjoy it while I can right!

Check out some more fun giveaways:

Danica’s got some GNU Bars to share!

She Wears a Red Sox Cap is giving away some Trader Joes!

Alright, I’m outta here! Tomorrow’s Friday!