ACEd it & Hungry Harvest

There are a number of reasons why I decided to pursue a personal training certification. However, none of those reasons seemed good enough when I found myself with two weeks to go before the test, having not yet taken a practice test, and sure I would fail and be faced with paying another $200 dollars to retake the test. In my defense, I had not planned on starting a new job right after purchasing my study materials last summer, but there never really seemed to be a great time to hunker down and study after that. I also wasn't super motivated to study because I had no clue when I would ever apply any of the knowledge. If I could barely find time to study while working full-time, how was I going to find time to practice personal training while working full-time? So I still haven't figured out the answer to that questions, but here's the good news: I passed the test! And I actually passed by quite a bit, so I feel pretty validated in my new skillset!

It turns out I'm still pretty good at cramming, especially when it comes to multiple choice, long testing periods, and using information I have some background on. I took the ACE personal training certification test and I even have a fancy certificate and card that arrived in the mail. I'm indebted to Mike and my coworkers who put up with all of my "No, but I'm actually going to fail this test" talk. They probably now all think I was completely overreacting, but I actually did fail the practice test  and I just had to study my butt off after that! Mike also helped a lot with cooking dinner and picking me up from work when I studied late. He also didn't shame me when I watched all the Netflix instead of studying.

I mostly took the test so that I have a certification in my back pocket if I ever want to train on the side or if we end up moving somewhere, and I can't immediately find a job. Also, personal training overlaps a lot with coaching and counseling, and I love working with people one-on-one. While I don't think I'll be training actual clients anytime soon due to lack of time, I am going to try to shadow some personal trainers in the area, and I am going to try to get Mike to be my first client;)

Studying at Captain Cookie one night after work. Will study for cookies.

We celebrated me passing my test with a new sushi/ramen spot in Shirlington!

Mike and I recently signed up for this thing called Hungry Harvest. If you live in the DMV metro area, you MUST check them out!! I know I'm easily excited about things, but I'm honestly obsessed with Hungry Harvest. My co-worker actually introduced it to me after she saw them on an episode of Shark Tank (which they won on). Basically it's a business that gives produce that would otherwise be literally thrown out because it's not the right size or shape (yes, this is a thing) a new home and for every box of "recovered" food they sell, they donate a meal to a family in need. Even if you don't live in the DMV area, you should read all about their story here: http://www.hungryharvest.net/ A young 2014 UMD grad started the company, which makes me love it even more.

Here are the things I love most about our harvest boxes:

• We get a 1/2 recovered harvest box ($15) every week (we can always pause a week if we're going out of town) and we find out what we're getting on Friday by email so I can meal plan! They also offer recipe ideas with the fruits and veggies they are giving you.
• Not only has it definitely increased our fruit and veggies intake, but we have gotten to try lots of fruits and veggies I would never buy on my own. In the box below, there's a rutabaga and acorn squash which I can't ever remember having. I had to learn to cook them, and they were delicious! It's so fun learning to experiment with new foods every week, and they also try to give you foods that are in season.
• They text you when they are about to deliver AND after they deliver the box. Plus you can exchange your old box when they deliver so that they can reuse it. I've never had something wrong with my box, and sometimes I have something extra thrown in. I can't believe I've never had any issues with all the growing they've done in the past month or so.

One of our Hungry Harvest boxes! Look how pretty!

My new Fitbit!

I don't know how much we've talked about our budget on the blog, but I'm sure you can guess that because Mike is in charge of it, it's pretty complex and intense. I have a love/hate/mostlylove relationship with it. We have a bazillion different "funding categories" and I hate tracking everything I spend, but sometimes it's super sweet to be saving money for random purchases in advance, the most recent example being my new Fitbit. Over the weekend at Kelly's wedding, I saw a Fitbit that tracks your heart rate and, since I know about heart rates and health and fitness now, I instantly wanted one! Unfortunately, I'm not known for having a lot of personal fund leftovers, but I realized that this counts as technology (another fund), and we were able to get it! It tracks my steps, heart rate, tells me the time, how many flights of stairs I've climbed, wakes me up, and tells me how long I slept! Mike told me he was going to wait to decide if he wanted one after seeing if it was useful for me, but I think he's basically already decided to get one:)

And finally, this is my treat to everyone who waited so patiently for this blog post....

Has there ever been a better face ever? No, there hasn't. You're all welcome.

-Kelsey

Wetting down, Macbeth, Valentines, Food

Kelsey's top priority for the past week has been reminding me to write this post. My great achievement has been forgetting to do so. Well, tonight she is at a work event the dentist (the work event was last night when I ALMOST finished this post) and so I remembered.

First, some more pictures from my promotion ceremony:

Kelsey pinned on my bars...

They let me talk for a few minutes...

And we all shook hands and hugged.

That Thursday, we went to go see GGSS's production of Macbeth. Emily Goo was in town, so it was a true GGSS reunion.

Getting some food before the show.

The next day was my "wetting down." This is a tradition that I believe exists because everyone in my office told me it exists, and it involves me buying all of them drinks for several hours. 

Since that wasn't starting until 7PM and I finished with work around 3PM, I took the opportunity to go tour some museums. Since Kelsey wasn't with me, I got to go to the insect exhibit in the Natural History Museum. 

And then I sent her this picture. I named him Shuffles.

Then I headed on over to the bar that Dan and I had rented out (Dan promoted as well). The night was bittersweet because it was also a farewell to my first boss, Andrew. He was a big part of what made my trial rotation something I looked forward to almost every day. In court I would hand him notes - sometimes with useful things to say on them, and sometimes with quotes from movies. He would read off of both. 

Current and former Blue Team members gathered to commemorate the occasion.

Alex, Kelly, and Absi also came out!

We stayed until midnight, which is officially the latest that Kelsey and I have been at a bar in D.C. since the night we met. We are not late-night partiers and have difficulty pretending to be so.

Of course, we couldn't stop celebrating because it was also Valentine's Day weekend. So...

Brunch at Tazza Kitchen the next day.

Part of our Valentine's Day meal. We made this: http://www.eatout.co.za/recipe/jamie-olivers-skinny-carbonara-smoky-bacon-peas-almonds-basil-2/

The card I gave to Kelsey. She cries at every card so at this point I've just started getting cards that I enjoy.

For Valentine lunch we went to Daikaya. 

If you have lived your life, as I have, assuming that ramen only comes in dry packs and should be eaten only as an indicator that you can not afford anything else, then I highly recommend finding a Japanese restaurant that makes real ramen. Then order a dozen or so extra eggs, because the best part of real ramen is the soy-poached egg that sits inside it and tastes like a savory custard. 

For after-Valentines meals (I mean, we still had to eat, right?) I roasted a giant lamb something. Leg? It might have been leg. It lasted for an entire week of lunches alongside the pictured roasted potatoes that Kelsey made.

So that catches us up to mid-February. More to follow from Kelsey.