Priorities play a big role in our everyday life. Today, I made it a priority to get to work on time, to walk my dog, to say I love you to Nicholas…the list could go on and on. And thinking of your own priorities, you could probably get very profound and serious or keep it on a lighter note and say you made it a priority do something like eat a bowl of yummy ice cream. 🙂

These thoughts come rushing into my mind tonight after I received an email from my Jazzercise center’s owner that one of my fellow instructor’s mother-in-laws passed away today. She concluded her email to our center’s owner (which was forwarded) saying that she would teach tomorrow morning at 5:40 AM and would teach her classes the rest of the week. She just wanted us to know what was going on. Talk about making Jazzercise a priority!

But the point of this is that we need to fill our lives with things that we love so much that we strive to make it a priority each and everyday. Yes, sometimes life makes it difficult to get to the gym or to eat a healthy dinner. It’s probably not going to be the easy route for Nancy to come teach her classes the rest of this week with this burden weighing on her family and husband. But she’s made a commitment to her students and is keeping her workout a priority even through tough times. And if you think about it, during hard times such as a death, a great workout will do a body a lot of good! Endorphins are our friends!

What are you going to make a priority tomorrow and the rest of week? I think I personally am going to make it a priority to keep a positive attitude during my workday and to eat as many veggies as possible at each meal!

So let’s back up through the day…

Lunch

Lunch was mildly disappointing, but I didn’t have time to waste!

My fresh cucumbers were yummm. And my Lean Cuisine? Was not so yum. It was steak tips and mushrooms. Not super awesome, but it did fill me up which was a win.

Dinner

Dinner was veggie filled and light! After my weekend of eating too much, I wanted to keep today light to set me back on track. Plus I had a fun and energetic Jazzercise class, which always seems to suppress my crazy appetite for a bit. These Green Giant veggies were absolutely amazing!

I ate the entire box (2 servings for 100 cal total) along with some tuna and mustard.

Yes, I’m a little weird and LOVE tuna. I could possibly eat it everyday. Plus it’s a great protein!

I hope you all have had a great day! Get some rest and we’ll see ya in the morning!

It’s been a great day here around the Harkey household! Any day that I get to break away from my normal schedule is all right by me.

Workout

This morning I slept in til 6:30 (it could’ve been worse!), and I quickly leashed up a sleepy Mac for a quick run. He was a trooper and the run was just long enough to get me nice and warm before I continued my morning’s workout at Jazzercise. Plus, it was actually cool outside while running this morning. I’ve been waiting for a nice morning, and today was it! I could’ve keep running for miles…at least I felt like I could have in the beautiful morning air. So invigorating!

We arrived home pretty quick though because my tummy was growling, and my coffeepot was a waitin’!  I ate and gave myself enough time to digest before heading to our special team-taught class.

On holidays, we often hold 1 Jazzercise class only and invite our students to bring their friends and family for free. This morning we had an almost-packed house, and I team taught with several of my fellow instructors. We tag team the stage, each teaching a few songs before handing off the mic. So fun! And one of the other instructors was nice enough to snap a few pics of me on stage…

Yup, that’s me in the yellow top and crazy pants! The class energy was great, and I was beyond sweaty after class.

Breakfast

Breakfast today was delicious and quick since I threw some overnight oats together last night before bed.

I combined…

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 TB chia seeds
• 1 6 oz. container light yogurt, Pumpkin Pie flavor!
• 1/2 cup Light vanilla soy milk
• a couple shakes of pumpkin pie spice

and I let that sit in a covered container in the fridge overnight for the oats to soak up all the milk and yogurty goodness.

It was very pumpkiny and fit the morning with the cooler weather. Yum! I also enjoyed some fresh blueberries on the side and lots of hot coffee. 🙂

Dinner

The rest of my day was spent grocery shopping and doing several loads of laundry (thrilling, I know). It was nice and relaxing though. So relaxing though that dinner kinda went by the wayside. I had a quick salad to tide me over while I baked a spaghetti squash!

My salad had lots of veggies, including some mushrooms I grabbed today while shopping. I have never been a mushroom lover, but I know they are healthy and great for you. So I thought I’d give them another go.

They were actually pretty tasty and filling! I think I’ll have to start keeping them on hand for my salads on a regular basis.

The spaghetti squash was delicious, and I paired my portion with marinara sauce to eat as my main meal. I had to forgo a photo though as it looked like puke on my plate. Not appetizing at all. But I swear it was good. 🙂

Happy Labor Day from Mac & No Cheese! Now get to bed early because we’ve gotta go back to work tomorrow bright and early. Enjoy your night!

It’s 24 to be exact. Or I guess I should say, how many days until it feels like Fall? It has been a scorcher (highs in the mid-90s) all week, and this chick is just about done with it. I just want it to be cool for a few hours in the morning and evenings! That’s all I ask.. Oh, Missouri, how I loathe you sometimes.

What’s made it even worse is that my beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte has already returned to Starbucks (I found out this morning), and I just can’t bring myself to go get one when it’s 92 degrees outside.

Maybe this weekend when it’s only 89 degrees outside, I’ll be more in the mood to give the Pumpkin Spice a go (*sigh*)… Although, if I can hold off, I can guarantee it will be 10x more amazing and delicious on a cool morning while wearing a sweater and boots! But ya know, this is Missouri. It could happen sooner than I’m thinking. Fingers crossed!

Lunch

Lunch today was a good one! I was super hungry before I left my office and cravin’ eggs! Breakfast for lunch sounded amazing, so I grabbed the carton of eggs out of the fridge right as I walked in the door and got a hot skillet sizzling.

I’m a big fan of the Pam Olive Oil spray for scrambling eggs, so a quick coating of that was all I used to cook my lunch today. Then I whipped 2 eggs with a splash of soymilk and some salt & pepper. While these started cooking, I found a can of mixed veggies in the pantry and decided to toss them into the mix. It was comprised of diced potatoes, carrots, celery, corn, and peas. I let these stay on the heat long enough to heat through and then topped the scramble mix with a touch more pepper.

Having a hot lunch was a great change of pace, and it was delicious! I had a whole wheat Bagelthin on the side with some apple butter smeared on top.

Mmmm APPPPPLE BUTTTER. Yes, I love the stuff! If it was socially acceptable, I would eat the stuff with a spoon out of the jar. Ok, I maybe snuck one spoonful…or two.

After lunch, the day flew by and I arrived home to a needy dog. So I leashed Mac up for his normal 1 mile post-work walk before I headed to Jazzercise.

I was so sweaty and hot from our walk, that it took me a good 5 minutes to get into these snug workout clothes. Which the struggle, in turn, made me hotter. So I was roasting today! But I was happy to be headed to my favorite place anyways.

Jazzercise

I love me some mid-week Jazzercise lovin’! My classes always put me in a great mood plus give me an awesome work out. Tonight’s class was fairly low-key with only 2 students. I think everyone else has started their Labor Day weekend early! One of my very devout students brought me some of her garden fresh veggies. I have some of the best students!

I’m so excited that tomorrow starts the long weekend, and I’ll have time to cook up these beautiful squash! The cucumbers will be made into a yummy salad and also just sliced up to eat on their own. I can’t get enough! And I’m definitely eating one right now along with my dinner. At least it’s a healthy addiction!

So any healthy recipe suggestions for the spaghetti squash? I typically bake it and then eat it with a little marinara sauce or by itself with some seasonings. I would love to try something new this time!

Time for a little more bridal shower crafting. Here’s the peek into what I have been doing. My fingers are slightly sore from tying so many tiny bows! Hint: The shower theme may or may not be a Bridal Tea Party!

See you all in the morning! Get excited for Friday!