Tag: happy life

What’s been going on over here

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, school/studying, training, travel

I have been on a serious sweet tooth kick over here. Made my coffee a mocha.

Always fun to study something that no one knows what it does

Salad and something with cheese has been a big lunch time ritual for me lately.

pork roast with veggies and rice. I love using the slow cooker

Artemis and I enjoyed the eclipse by going for a run. It was pretty eerie. People looking at the sun with glasses while it got dark then as a group would turn and look at us run by, very pod people-esque. I kept waiting for zombies to jump out at us.

Smoothies are still a big thing over here.

More salad and cheese.

Mmmmm breakfast sandwich from the coffee shop near work.

Life has been food, running, work and starting to freak out about Europe hahaha. Talk to you soon!!!!!

Ariana’s travel tips

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle, training, travel

 

  1. plan, plan, plan- I know some people like to fly by the seat of their pants and that is great but in some cases you need to plan. If you are not on a budget then you might have a little more room to play with this but if you are on a budget, as I always am, planning is your best friend. Also if you only have a limited amount of time planning ahead can save you hours of wasted time standing in line.
  2. research- Groupon is international if you didn’t know. For most places if you do a little research you can find inexpensive skip the line passes, semi-guided tours, activities and so much more at reduced costs and it definitely saves you on those hours in line.
    1. planning and research also help you squeeze in as much as possible in a short time period. For example we are packing Venice into a day and a half then on our last day in Venice which would have been a 3/4 day anyways we are instead taking the train and spending a few hours each in Verona, Florence and Pisa before laying our heads down in our AirBnB accommodations in Rome.
  3. Think outside the box when it comes to lodging- you don’t have to stay in a nice hotel to feel luxurious when traveling. If you once again research you can find nice places for a lot less expensive. I have stayed in some seriously nice hostels and and used AirBnB several times when I have travelled. If you are traveling with friends AirBnB is a great choice. We have accommodations in the heart of Venice, Rome and Barcelona through AirBnB that are less than $150/night,  whole apartment in each place, split the cost between everyone and you are looking at $20-30/night for each person in a nice place. and having and entire apartment means you have a kitchen so you can hit the market and make a few meals to save some money. You are still eating locally!!!
  4. Do a few things that aren’t overrun by tourists- on my first morning in Venice after some coffee and a pastry I plan on walking the opposite direction of the crowds and will continue to do this. That is how I will explore Venice, going the opposite direction of the crowds (obviously do a little research on places you should avoid and use common sense, if you turn down a street and it feels sketchy, backtrack quickly).
  5. Safety!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- Be safe, research the places you are going, know the areas to avoid, know the laws and customs. Pay attention to the dress code. If something or someone doesn’t feel right get out of that situation and place ASAP. Think before you act. If you are alone, don’t get so drunk that you are impaired. That movie TAKEN with Liam Neeson is a fun thriller but it is also real, people are kidnapped and murdered every day, enjoy your vacation but be smart and be aware.
  6. common sense should see you through-if you wouldn’t do it at home don’t do it abroad. Again take 10 minutes and learn about the place that your are going, I would sunbath topless in Ibiza, I would cover all tattoos and most skin in the middle east, different place different experience.
  7. Check in. Give someone at least a vague itinerary of where you will be and when you will be there and when you will be home so someone will know if you don’t arrive. Try and check in at least ever 72 hours (I tend to check in at least once every 24 hours) you can find a free or very cheap internet café almost anywhere. And most cell phones have international coverage if you check. It will cost me $.55 every day to send 1 text message to my mom and get one back from her both acknowledging we know I am alive. $.55/day is not much to ensure piece of mind.
  8. Be a dork. Take selfies and make stupid faces and journal and take videos. Who cares what the people around you think, in 5, 10, 15 years you are going to be so glad you can look back on those memories.
  9. Be respectful. It may not be your culture, religion or favorite food but it is theirs. You wouldn’t want someone to bad mouth your way of life so don’t do that to anyone else. You don’t have to believe in it or even accept it but don’t be mean about it. Step to the side, quietly leave the church, discreetly bow out of the ceremony, say thank you and try the tiniest bite you can manage.
  10. lastly HAVE FUN!!!!! You may never be back, you may never experience something like this again so drink it all in. Take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and truly live this experience.

Day on the farm!

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle

Brandon and I headed out to his grandparents small farm in northern Oregon to hang out for half a day and had such a great time! It was so relaxing and wonderful.

From the moment we got there Brandon was in front of the blueberry bushes snacking away while we talked to his grandfather. Artemis enjoyed the flavor of the pigs trough water hahahaha. This is the only pig they have left and it is much more of a pet than something intended for a meal. It is getting old and grumpy though. It likes having its belly rubbed hahahaha!!!!! It was a little wary of Artemis but surprisingly she was not afraid of it!

I spent some time talking to his grandfather about their Israel trip which sounded amazing. Then we all went out to lunch and a teriyaki burger hit the spot.

When we got back from lunch Brandon, Artemis, the grandparents dog and I all set off to explore the property. 1/4 of their property is basically a little forest area that is super beautiful, the cows graze down there in the heat and there are blackberry bushes going wild. We wandered down there and explored and snacked on blackberries hahaha. Definitely getting our fruit quota for the day. Have you ever had a yellow raspberry? Now I have! they are pretty amazing right off the vine and according to his grandfather that is how you have to eat them because by the time you have them in the house they are starting to go bad.



At this point we were both super hot as it was the hottest part of the day so we headed back instead to talk some more and look at pictures and cool down.

Around 5:30-6 as the sun was starting to move toward the horizon and a lovely breeze started we headed out to feed the cows!! Got some hay from the barn and some treats for the cows and they slowly wandered over. We fed them some treats as well, their tounge feels like sandpaper like a cat! Again it took a minute but Artemis wasn’t afraid! Though they were a little wary of her hahaha.




Once the cows were chomping away happily we headed back down to the wood area and spent about an hour picking blackberries! 



We went home with probably a good 8lbs of blackberries! I am so making a blackberry balsamic reduction to freeze to put on some amazing stuff this winter (that post to come). At that point the temperature was perfect, I could have stayed out there for hours, and the space and joy of the country was just everything. It was such a great peaceful day. I can’t wait to go back!

In a month or 2 their trees will be hanging low with Apples!!! Can’t wait to make some apple desserts and some great slow cooker meals with apples!

Huckleberry half**Race Review

by Ariana Peters, posted in healthy lifestyle, training

This last Saturday my boyfriend and I ran our first race together. We didn’t have high hopes going in since neither of us had trained enough and there were going to be some hills.

We are not fans of getting up early.

What can I say about this race except that it was small which was nice and off the main road so we didn’t worry too much about cars. Their fuel stations were just ok in my opinion but I am used to bigger races with bigger sponsors so in the future I would just need to plan better.

The race was on sort of back mountain roads so trail running shoes would have been better because the roads were all chewed up from snow. I got blisters on my blisters.

The course was beautiful and shaded which made all the difference.

Our pace was ok, not great but not horrible for a hilly run for me.

As you can see I started off strong and really faded toward the end hahaha

Oh the hills!!!!!!! The entire race was a series of ups and downs. There was no flat, this race just wiped me out.

Fun wood carved medals, though Brandon is disappointed we didn’t get t-shirts, he likes those more than the medals.

Overall it was fun and I am glad we did it but I wanted to cry the last 3 miles because I was so tired and my body hurt so bad.

We know to train better for the next one!

Oh and if you are a slow runner and don’t like being at the back of the pack don’t run this race, We crossed the finish line with only 4 people behind us….yes only 4. This was a small race of fast runners hahaha.

Day 13-15 of 28 day cleanse

by Ariana Peters, posted in Uncategorized

Day 13 was pretty normal and chill

Day 14 i woke up to the worst muscle cramp in my right leg. Cramps usually come from an imbalance of sodium, potassium and water so i added some stuff into my diet for the 14th and 15th

I got free leftover pizza from the pizza place next to work and i wasn’t turning down free food. 

I immediately regreted the pizza, i felt horrible. The maple bar on day 14 pretty much totally fine, the pizza, nope. So excited for a yummy, healthy smoothie in the AM. 

I’ve increased my sodium intake and my fluids and so far the cramps have gone away. 

Its been 2 weeks and i am down about 5lbs. I am feeling better overall I’m craving better food. I am loving smoothies/juice in the AM and a big salad as part of a late lunch then eating a real dinner. And as you’ve seen i can have off day or throw in extra good food if i am going to workout. 

I think this may go from a cleanse to a lifestyle change. 

Though now I’m reconsidering my cheap pizza after the half marathon…….hmmm what else would i want???? 

I’ll keep you updated!

Day 5 of 28 day cleanse

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle

Today wasn’t so cleansy hahahaha. It wasn’t bad, i didn’t eat out or anything and everything was very simple but it wasn’t as healthy as it could have been….. but I’m ok with that.  

Breakfast was good, a smoothie

Lunch wasn’t terrible,  it was a salad with a simple quesadilla i made, but the diet coke was bad. 

Dinner was pasta with sun dried tomato pesto to which we added garlic and chopped up tomatos, store bought garlic bread and a glass of wine. It was simple and delicious and I don’t regret it one bit!

The bf and i watched the movie ‘the way’ while we ate and then cuddled on the couch. It was a wonderful night.  

Day 4 of 28 day cleanse

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle

I get food!!!!!! Actually today wasn’t that different. I had a smoothie for breakfast

Then i made smashed potatoes from red potatoes with earth balance butter,  cheese and green onions. I had about 3/4 of a cup of the potatoes for lunch then around 4:30 i had a salad

Dinner around 7:30pm was the smashed potatoes but i was hungry and forgot to take a picture. 

I was starving when i got home so i made a quick, easy and simple quesadilla 

And now its bed time. Food is sooooo good!!!!!. 

So far stomach is doing better, bloating was noticeably less today and so far im down 1.6lbs. So now i just need to not let myself get carried away until i go back to juice on Sunday.  

I’ll keep you posted.  

Day 2 of 28 day cleanse

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle

Hi!!! Thought I’d start the morning with a quick video

Juice after lemon water

Midafternoon check-in

Who knew salad and soup could taste so amazing!!!


I feel like my stomach might be shrinking too. I am getting full faster which is nice. Leads to less over eating. 

See you tomorrow!!!!

Pre-juice cleanse

by Ariana Peters, posted in food, healthy lifestyle

Howdy! Here is a check-in for my pre-juicing.

Here is what i ate:

I did half good food and half prepackaged food lol. Weird polar opposites.

Lately my stomach has been hurting anytime i eat. I’ve been eating too much crap lately. 

Doing day 1 of my pre cleanse: my stomach still hurt most of the day. But my intestines did start cleaning out a bit hahaha. We’ll see what day 2 pre-cleanse holds!!!

I want to be a wino

by Ariana Peters, posted in food

Hi everyone!!!!!! 

Generally the only wine I have ever like was sweet wine, like the sweet stuff that males normal wine drinkers gag, total dessert wines. I probably get this from my mom because that is all she drinks. I’ve done a few wine tastings but without real guidance or good food pairings I’ve never found anything else I liked. 

A few weeks ago I saw a post by Monica on her blog RER about Weekly Tasting. I was intreged and I checked it out. I liked the premise of it and signed up. I really liked that I don’t have to slip anything or worry about forgetting to opt out, I have to deliberately go on the website or app and choose to buy that week. 

With your weekly tasting purchase you get your 750ml bottles of wine, a recipe card for a food pairing for each wine as well as a 10 min video by the sommelier who picked the wine and their pairings. And of course you get the expertise of the sommelier who is picking the wines and their pairings. 

I will say there is no way I can or would order the wine pack every week. Firstly it is a little rich for my blood and secondly I could never drink 4 bottles of wine in a week. I am not doing this to get drunk, I want to get better at some pairing so I would have at most 1 glass with a meal. Therefore it will take me about 2 months to get through each 4 pack hahahaha. I will tell you guys about 1 wine at a time probably every other week. 

This is the 1st wine I tried:

Let me tell you I have never said yum about a red wine in my life. 

I listened to the part of the video about this wine while I did my initial tasting.

I poured 1-2 is for a taste test as well as made a piece of sourdough with a little bit of pasta sauce on it because this pairs well with red sauces . 

I smelled it and sniffed for what the video talked about

I could smell most of it, but not everything, need to refine my nose more. It was very fruity actually, not sweet fruity just pleasant. 

Next I looked at the wine and the color (I did these two out of order)

I have no idea what I’m looking for hahahaha, maybe I will figure this part out as I continue 

Then came the taste!

I could actually taste most of what they said in the video and…….i like it!!!! I was pretty surprised that i liked this red wine even to the point of enjoying just sipping on it. 

After tasting it by itself I tried it with the pasta sauce on bread and it was good. 

That is my initial tasting! Now for the pairings. 

I made a spaghetti Bolognese with beef and bell peppers 

Delicious!!!

Stone fires pizza and salad.

It had the red sauce and the char that the sommelier talked about. Once again super delicious! Totally had this for lunch on a Friday. Day drinking!!!!! Hahahaha