Breakfast.

I, like most other people my age, grew up with the constant "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"... and like most people, I more or less ignored that advice. 

Can you blame me for valuing what precious little sleep I get over spending time cooking in the mornings? Most days as a teenager I'd be content to just grab a piece of fruit on my way out the door... or absurd amounts of coffee once I got to HUB at the U of A, occasionally with a scone for a bit of substance (so THAT's how I dropped fifteen pounds when I was at the U. I miss that body.) And to be totally honest, I'm still not 100% sold on breakfast, and will in all likelihood probably be living off of caffeine when I'm back in school at the end of August. 

But over the past few weeks, I've been making more of a conscious effort to force myself to eat in the mornings, whether I want to or not. Some days it's a losing battle, but some days (like today) I completely rock it. 

Any of my Card cousins who read this will laugh and nod knowingly, but... Well, Grandma and Aunt Marge and the aunties all had it right with the "make sure you have some protein!!"... I've found that the mornings where I have eggs for breakfast tend to be the days where I'm less in need of snacking during the day. Let's take today's breakfast for example! 

My grandma is actually the one who
introduced me to Peabutter, but I was
pleasantly surprised to find that Rory
eats it as well!

I've come to start with a basic framework (eggs and toast) and occasionally spice it up a little bit. 

Today, I put some NoNuts Golden Peabutter on my toast.Yep, I'm one of those poor unfortunate souls with a nut allergy. It hasn't really ever affected me much (aside from last December, when I had an allergic reaction and landed myself in the hospital in anaphylactic shock and the mother of all asthma attacks... That was minorly terrifying...), although it definitely has limited some of my food choices, especially since all the nuts that are really good for you are the ones that would kill me in a matter of minutes.

A lot of the nut-free peanut butter substitutes out there are heavily soy based, which is something that I do my best to avoid because I consider soy to be something best avoided.

Important things that everyone should remember.

found here

1. The universe really sucks sometimes. 
2. Some people are selfish jerks who care for nobody but themselves. These people aren't worth your time, your effort, or your tears.
3. With that in mind... there will ALWAYS be someone out there who loves you, who cares about your well-being and has your best interests in mind. 
4. If you're one of my friends and are struggling with yourself, your self-doubt... I am always, always here to lend an ear (or to sit in silence and just... be.) 
5. Sometimes you'll want to let it all out but will feel ridiculous about it. It's OKAY. Seriously. It's far better to express what you're feeling than internalize it until you're eating yourself alive from the inside out. 
6. It's also okay to cry. Even if you're a messy, ugly crier like me. (Seriously, I get the whole red face, snot everywhere, hyperventilating... not pretty at all.)... but crying can be very therapeutic.
7. There will always be beauty in the world. Sometimes it's hard to find, but it's there. The journey to find it is an important one (for me) and often leads to some revelations that can influence my life in some strange (but awesome) ways. 
8. You are never alone. It might not feel like it, but there will always be someone out there who has felt the same way you have, who fought those demons and defeated them. It's doable, I promise. 
9. It's okay to admit that you're struggling, that you need help. It doesn't make you weak... it means that you're stronger than you realize, for seeing your needs and acting on them. 
10. Don't give up. Don't let your demons win.

May Long.

I just knew that, in one way or another, the long weekend would help to make up for the ridiculousness and altogether total frustration that was last week.

Well, most parts of the weekend, anyways. There have been a couple sad/worrysome things happen (mostly yesterday)-- one of my friends is missing (deliberately on her part) and I'm incredibly worried about her, but am very limited in what I can do because I don't know her address. She has a history of depression and I think she may have taken matters into her own hands. Friends, please send some good thoughts into the universe for her. Sigh.  

next-day edity update: I got word last night that my friend who was AWOL is now safe and is being taken care of. I'm still a wee bit worried about her but I'm glad that she's getting the help that she needs. Continued prayers/good thoughts into the universe are always welcome, though!

Up until yesterday, my weekend had been pretty quiet. We went out for dinner with Rory's parents on Friday night (Sawmill, so good.) but other than that we've mostly been lounging around at home. Saturday morning we went to the City Centre Market since they're back in the outdoor market setting now. So nice to be back at the market on Saturdays (yep, I willingly get up at 8:30 or 9:00 AM on Saturdays to walk out there!), but since it's just mid-May, there isn't much in terms of produce yet... mostly apples and pears. Which is alright, but I'm still looking forward to the peak of BC fruit season... cherries and nectarines and peaches are the best part of summer for me, fruit-wise. Rainier cherries are my favourite-- not just for the flavour (so sweet but just tart enough that it's not overwhelming), but also because they don't stain your hands the way other varieties do.

(from The Produce Blog. This picture has me drooling.)

Since we didn't really have much cash on us, we didn't buy much... some cake bites, a container of my favourite Tzatziki, and a liter of borscht for Rory-- he just had a bowl of it and shared some with me, it's delicious but quite Americanized! I think that the next time I plan to go out there, I'll do a preorder for some bison smokies from Kathryn's parents-- I was hoping to buy some Saturday, but Dan hadn't brought any out with him.

Preorder means that I'll be able to get a good dozen or so for Rory, anyways. =)