Trending with Julie

Do you tend to get hooked on things, almost to the exclusions of other things?

I certainly do. I've had a pysch eval, before my lapband surgery, and OCD was ruled out, so I know it's most likely a normal tendancy that most people have to varying degrees. Luckily, my degree is Economics.

And Accounting.

Anyhoo, this post is dedicated to the Trends in my life right now. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy these things.

1. Chocolate Chip Cookies. I've always enjoyed a good cookie, regardless of the flavor. This Spring, needing something sweet to eat, not wanting to go buy anything and not having a lot of ingredients, I made peanut butter cookies - the only recipe for which I had all the ingredients. I really enjoyed baking and eating them, so I decided to buy some chocolate chips and try baking them. Well, I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies practically every week (or every other week, depending on how long a batch lasted) this Summer. On our cruise to Alaska, I fell in love with these little, crunchy chocolate chip cookies and ate a few dozen probably. Now that I'm working full time and going to school, I don't bake cookies as much as I did, but I still make them sometimes and I certainly eat them whenever I can.

2. Salad. I liked salad before my lap band surgery but didn't really eat it that often. After my surgery, though, lettuce was a big problem for me. It got stuck and created a horrible blockage that usually ended in an unpleasant scenario. So, I stopped eating lettuce. I'd pick it off hamburgers and sandwiches, would let Steve eat my house salads at restaurants, and we never bought lettuce. I'm not sure when I started taking a few bites of salad before turning it over to Steve, but it started happening more frequently. Recently, I've been on a real big salad kick. We've started buying heads of lettuce and lots of veggies/cheese/ham to put in the salad. I like mine with ranch, Steve likes noncreamy dressings. I'm eating a salad right now. It's delish. After my tummy tuck, I had my band almost completely emptied due to complications. I've had it filled again, but it's a lot looser than it was pre-tummy tuck, so as long as I eat slowly and carefully, I don't have any unpleasant endings.

3. Belts. Pre-tummy tuck, I never used a belt. They got in the way and were sometimes quite uncomfortable. Now, however, most of my pants, including those I have bought since losing my tummy, are too loose and fall down too low if I'm belt-less. So, I hardly ever go without a belt. I only have a couple, so I'm itching to go shopping to buy some new ones!

4. Yellow. I paint my toe nails, and sometimes my finger nails, yellow and love it! It's such a fun, friendly color. I also painted our sitting room yellow and it really makes me happy to sit in there with a good book or puzzle or just to take a nap. I'm hoping to paint more rooms in our house different shades of yellow. For years, I've been looking for a yellow necklace. It would give a burst of color to an outfit, but I haven't found one I like yet...there's not a lot out there, unfortunately. At work, we have door signs that we put outside our doors to say why we're aren't in our office (Lunch, Meeting, Errands, Sick, Vacation, etc.). Mine are yellow. I chose them. They are cute.

5. Puzzles. I haven't done one since I started working, but my fingers are itching to start a new one. I'd only be able to work on it on Sundays - my self-imposed day off from homework (unless I was unable to do homework on Saturday due to plans that couldn't be scheduled for another time). Puzzles are fun. They make my mind work but in a relaxing way. And, when you're finished, you have something pretty to look at that you "created".

6. Pinterest. I am a huge recipe collector. I have magazines and books full of recipes, some that I'll never make but that look yummy or interesting. I like Pinterest because I can peruse tons of recipes and not spend a dime. I've made many recipes that I found on Pinterest, and also discovered a food blog that I really like, Chef-in-Training. Her recipes aren't complex or time-consuming, and Steve and I have enjoyed almost every one. So far, my favorites of hers are the Greek Chicken Gyros and the Chicken Fajita soup. Oh! And the Chinese Chicken Salad! I could have eaten it every meal for a week, it was soooo good!!

7. Glasses. Eye glasses to be precise. For the last couple months, I've worn glasses instead of contacts because of a contacts prescription that I didn't like. It was the brand of contacts; they made my eyes hurt. The store wouldn't substitute the brand I normally buy because it wasn't on the doctor's prescription. I didn't have time to go back to the doctor, so I returned the contacts and am just wearing my glasses. Luckily, I like my glasses. My eyes feel better than they have in a long time - the doctor told me I've been wearing contacts too long every day and he could see a slight indention in my eye ball because of it! The things I dislike about wearing glasses is 1) smudges - I get them all the time, b) inclement weather - I either take them off and can't see or wear them and still can't see, c) they get in the way when snuggling with Steve, and 4) I can't wear sunglasses while wearing my glasses. Still, it's fun to have a new look.

8. Milk in the A.M. Lately, I take a glass of milk with me to work every morning. I've always liked milk but rarely drank it pure, usually I prefer it with chocolate syrup mixed up with it. I'm not sure why I started drinking milk with my breakfast, but I started running behind while getting ready, so I started taking my glass to go. And, it isn't just any glass out of my cupboard. It has to be one of the three red glasses from my grandmother's kitchen or one of the three red, plastic, cheap glasses we bought for when small children come over for dinner. These are my milk glasses. I don't take even a little sip of the milk until I'm seated at my desk. Sometimes I will have eaten breakfast, other times (most frequent) I eat breakfast at my desk as well. Milk. It does a body good.

9. Gym Time. Speaking of something that does a body good, I've been going to the gym 2-3 times a week. Weber State allows employees 3 hours of release time to do wellness-type activities. These 3 hours are paid for and don't need to be made up by skipping lunch or staying late. I had chosen to do yoga 3 hours a week, but it didn't work out. My stomach hurt too much and the room was so hot I almost fainted the first day. So, now I go to the gym and walk/sometimes jog around the track and do a little weight training. It's a nice break in the day and is especially nice since 2 of the three gym days are days I have class in the evening and so can't go for our nightly walks with Sadie. I've noticed the weight creeping up on me (see number 1 on this list!) so this time at the gym could prove to be very useful in keeping it where I want it to be.

That's a good enough list for now, I think. Now you know what I've been liking nowadays. What's been trending with YOU?