All the productivity + all the meal prep + that one time I fell three times in a race…

Phew – yesterday was a whirlwind. I was supposed to have a 9 mile workout run, but I was feeling like a needed a whole day to get caught up to make the rest of my week run smoother, so I put my run off. It’s not very often that I’ll do that, but it was definitely the right choice yesterday. Mentally, I needed a day to get everything together. I slept in until about 7 (Jake left super early to go fishing with some guys for a belated birthday present, so he was gone most of the day). When I got up, I put together meals for the week and made a grocery list, then hit up the grocery store. I found these and couldn’t wait to try them! Spoiler alert – they’re delicious. I had one for lunch yesterday. I was so caught up with prepping and final edits that I didn’t eat anything until almost noon. That NEVER happens to me.
I worked on chapters 1 and 2 while I prepped. I made a huge pan of roasted veggies for my own lunches – beets, butternut squash, and cauliflower.
Jake is having chicken and steak burrito bowls this week. I cooked the rice and then added it to everything else. This is super simple and Jake loves it. It’s just rice, chicken, steak, jalapeños, diced tomatoes, onion, and garbanzo beans. Super healthy!
I mixed everything together and let it simmer for a little bit.
Here are my lunches – those veggie burgers I shared earlier and the roasted veggies. These prepped meals will save my life this week while I’m finishing my dissertation.
Around noon, I realized I hadn’t eaten. I wasn’t all that hungry, but I knew I needed to eat something. I had a veggie patty, dairy-free pepper Jack, crackers, and grapes.
Here are Jake’s lunches all portioned out. I froze the leftover. I topped each one with a little cheese and Sriracha. 
For breakfast this week we are having veggie sausage and veggie egg muffins. See below for the recipe! It made 24 muffins.
I worked all day on prep, dissertation stuff, and cleaning. Whenever I needed a brain break, I would prep something or clean. The good news – I am officially finished with Chapters 1 and 2, the article I’m co-authoring, meal prep, and cleaning the house! I started to work on Chapter 3, but it’s my longest (55 pages), and I just needed some down time. So, I’ll tackle it and Chapter 4 today! Jake finished mowing about the time I was ready to stop typing, so we decided to splurge and have some wings.
Ive been eating chicken every once and awhile and it hasn’t been bothering my stomach at all! These wings were delicious, but I still didn’t have that much of an appetite. Stress, maybe? We relaxed and watched some Gilmore Girls while we ate.
It was just what we needed after a busy weekend. And yes, Jake “relaxes” in real clothes. I don’t get it. 
Then it was time for some Lu cuddles before bed. She already needs another hair cut…I was missing Aspen a lot yesterday. I always miss her, but some days are definitely harder than others. I hope she’s running all the Heaven trails. 

I couldn’t sleep last night. I was worn out, but just couldn’t get my brain to stop. I started making lists on my phone and that seemed to help. I need to keep a notepad or something like that next to my bed so I can jot things down. I feel like this will be something that happens pretty often over the next month until I defend. 

This made me laugh – this was after Singletrack Mind last year. It was my first time falling in a race…and I fell three times. The second time I fell I somersaulted down a hill. It’s hard to see some of the bruises I had, but I was sore for weeks. I still have some scars from that race. Those spots on my hand had rocks and dirt stuck in them, so I had to pick it all out with a needle because my skin grew over it. It was not fun. I did come in first female overall and won some mulah, so I guess it was worth it! ; )
Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I got a little sad yesterday as I finished my chapters. (I know, I know – I’m crazy). It’s just that I have been working on my PhD since the summer of 2014 and my actual dissertation since last summer. It has been my life. And now it’s ending. Yes, I’ve complained about it, yes, it sucks sometimes, but at the end of the day, I am going to miss it. Don’t get me wrong, I am ecstatic to be finished, but I don’t know what’s next. I’ve never been good with going with the flow. I always have a plan. I literally have NO plan for after graduation. I don’t really even know what I want to do. I will take at least a week or two to read books for fun and binge some Netflix, but I won’t be able to do that for long. Oh well – I’ve got some time before I need to worry about that. For now, I can worry about finishing my dissertation, submitting everything, and then defending. Hey, if you hear of job ideas, let me know! I’m open to ANYTHING! 

​Off to run and work!

Happy Tuesday, friends!

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