Talk About an Amazing Day

Today was the first day of the new term. Yesterday we received an inch or so of snow, followed up with some melting, an afternoon and night of freezing rain, and a night/morning of freezing temperatures. When this happens in Oregon (west of the Cascades), we cancel classes & offices and we stay home. Ironically, a handful of days ago I had posted something on social media requesting a snow day for today (Monday). At that time snow was not in the forecast....but here we are...and I'm not going to lie, today has been absolutely amazing.

I spent yesterday going to church, running errands, and eating lunch at my aunt's so I could visit with my cousins. In the afternoon the dogs and I headed out for a snowy jog which soon included freezing rain, and ironically it was a MUCH better feeling run than compared to the two days prior. I spent the evening finishing up a home project and then finalizing prep for the courses I was to teach today. As of when I went to bed last night, we were projected to only have a two hour late start this morning....

....so I got up as if I was going to go to work & also have time to make copies prior to teaching. Since I'm trying to get better about eating out less, I got up early with enough time to make a solid breakfast and also make a real meal to take to work with me. Thirty minutes into the morning, I got the email that the campus would be closed today, so then I started cooking....literally :)

I decided it'd be a good idea to spend part of today preparing food that I could eat throughout the week. (When Reg D was here we prepared a lot of food that fed us for multiple days.) I need to get in a better habit of trying to meal plan, shop for the plan, and then cook in excess so I can eat multiples throughout the week. I know I'd save time, stress, and money if I would do this, but I have yet to ever actually get in the habit. Thus, this morning I threw a couple extra salmon fillets and another sweet potato into the oven, and later this afternoon I peeled a huge pan full of different root vegetables that I had on hand and roasted those as well. Yesterday I'd picked up the remaining ingredients I needed to make a Shrimp & Chicken Gumbo recipe I'd found on pinterest, and at least an hour of this morning went to making it. I also fixed an extra large batch of couscous to serve it over throughout the week. -And I have to tell you, the Gumbo is amazing--so tasty!

For this week I have:
--Spinach, red cabbage, cilantro, broccoli, sunflower seed, & dried cranberry salad
--Salmon fillets & baked sweet potatoes
--Gumbo & Couscous
--Roasted root veggies
--Chopped up veggies & hummus and dried fruits/nuts for snacks
Pretty stoked to not have to think of what to eat for a few days, minus breakfast, which I prefer variety for anyway.

This morning I also emailed my grad students and assigned work for them to complete prior to next week. We should still be in good shape and hopefully ready to role for the second week of the term.

The rest of the day was also equally rewarding. In the afternoon I finally uploaded all the travel and fall photos off my phone onto the computer, did a yoga session & some other exercises, used the foam roller to loosen up the muscles and fascia around my core and quads, picked up the house, relished a hot shower, and now I'm settled in front of the fire with a glass of wine. This evening I plan on reading for fun/work and maybe watching a documentary on Netflix.

While it probably would have been better to have had today as our official start to the term, I've thoroughly enjoyed what the day has allowed! So happy!