Home Sweet Home

I'm happy to announce that Kyle and I are buying a house!!!


Well, a future house. It will look similar to this one (same floor plan), except with a 3-car garage:

Closing is scheduled for June 9th, assuming construction is finished. It's located less than 2 miles from our current apartment in Johnston (even closer to work than I already am!). We are VERY excited, and already starting to go through our stuff and take unused things to the Goodwill that we don't want to put in our new house.

Sometime in the next couple weeks we will be going to the "design center" to pick out which carpet, light fixtures, granite, hard wood, etc. that we want. Oh the decisions ahead!!

Breakfast of Champions

No, not Wheaties. Much more exciting. I'm very much on the breakfast sandwich kick lately.

I toasted an english muffin.
Fried and egg white.
Topped it with a slice of 2% american cheese and a Morningstar sausage patty.

And when I'm feeling too lazy to make it myself.....

What a Bargain

I hardly ever buy anything regular price, but even I was impressed with myself for finding this deal!

I went shopping tonight, mainly out of boredom (I have been sick for 2 days and had to get out of the house). Since Kyle and I will be homeowners this summer and we will have a lot to buy for a new house, I didn't really plan on buying much, if anything. But then I went into The Limited and saw this shirt:
I immediately loved the color, but I would never pay the original price of $34.90 for it. It was on sale for $24.43. Plus I had a coupon they had mailed me for $15 off any purchase, so it came out to be $10! I was pretty excited. If you shop at The Limited and don't receive their coupon mailings, I highly suggest you sign up here.

The Perfect Shirt

I have recently come across the best workout shirt I have found, to date:

It's Nike's new "Legend" Tee. It is made of a Dri-fit material that wicks away moisture. It is also plenty long (I don't know about you but I hate short shirts!) And it is very reasonably priced at only $22. It comes in several nice colors, but of course, I got the green :) So far I have seen them at Sports Authority and Dick's Sporting Goods, but I'm sure they are sold at most sporting goods stores.

Vegetarian Taco Pizza

I found this recipe in this month’s edition of Fitness Magazine. Since my favorite protein source seems to be red meat, I try to find other (healthier) options, such as BEANS! This recipe features beans, avocado and tomatoes….you can’t go wrong!

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup thawed frozen corn kernels

4 roma tomatoes, chopped into ¼-inch pieces

½ cup chopped scallions (green onions)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 avocado, diced into ¼-inch pieces

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

16 ounces pizza dough, regular or whole wheat (I used a pre-made wheat pizza crust)

1 cup finely shredded reduced fat cheese (cheddar or Mexican blend)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 and place an empty baking sheet on the middle rack.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the black beans, corn, tomatoes, scallions, cumin, chili powder, avocado, salt and black pepper.

3. If using pizza dough, roll the pizza dough into a 13 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough (or pre-made crust) on warmed baking sheet. Crimp edges to form a lip at the edge of the crust. Top with bean mixture, sprinkle with cheese.

4. If using dough, back 20 minutes. If using pre-made crust, bake according to package directions.

5. Cut into 8 slices. Serve with fat free or light sour cream if desired.

Per serving (2 slices): 499 calories, 24 g protein, 73 g carbs, 16 g fat (4.7 g saturated), 12 g fiber

Another Movie Review

Saw Just Go With It last night with a friend. It really was really was laugh-out-loud hilarious. In my opinion, it was one of Adam Sandler's funniest films. As always, Jennifer Aniston was great, and it was a totally different role for Nicole Kidman. How can you go wrong with those 3 actors?

The King's Speech

If you haven't already seen it, I definitely recommend it!! The movie really gives the public a feeling for the emotions behind a person who stutters. As a speech pathologist, it was especially interesting to see a portrayal of my profession 60+ years ago. While many things in the area of fluency therapy have changed, there are several aspects of the story that still hold true today. A recent article in the ASHA Leader (a newspaper mailed out to members of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) outlines many of the techniques that are, and are not, credited in current practice.


Techniques/ideas shown in the movie that are credited in current practice:

• Recognizing that motivation is essential to achieving success in therapy
• Establishment of a supporting, reinforcing, encouraging, and equally-balanced relationship between client and therapist
• Fluency-enhancing techniques such as masking, singing, speaking loudly and cursing
• Desensitization of stuttering through continuous practice
• Involvement of family members (the queen)
• Relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing, and continuous phonation
• Pausing, bouncing, and light articulatory contacts
• Gliding into a word with a short prolongation or starting a word with a slight exhale
• Monitoring of rate of speech, and focusing on "forward moving" speech.
  

Techniques/ideas in the movie that are not credited in current practice:

• Marbles in the mouth
• Smoking to "relax the throat"
• Stuttering is caused by forcing a left-handed child to be right-handed or by a harsh upbringing
• Adult stuttering can be "cured"

For the full article, click here.