Hello, July!
I have a feeling this month is going to be a good one. Between the Fourth of July, my friend Leah’s wedding, finally MOVING OUT of our mouse-ridden apartment and my mom’s birthday, there is a lot to look forward to!
I always love looking back at the past month when a new month arrives, so let’s do a quick recap of June 2011:
Favorite June Recipes:
Favorite June Workouts:
- Total-Body Weights 30-Second Rest Workout
- Interval 0.2 Workout (HARD!)
- 35-Minute Run/Walk Incline Workout
- Outdoor Interval Workout
- 20 Minute Interval Workout
- No Nonsense Circuit Workout
Holy link overload! 
(Note to bloggers: Doing a recap at the beginning or end of each month really helps me with personal organization. I love it because I can simply click on the first or last day of a month later on and find some of my more pivotal posts very easily. Plus, it’s fun to look back!)
Workout
My first workout of July was only so-so. For some reason I woke up in a bit of a funk and had a hard time shaking that feeling at the gym. I walked to the gym with Ryan and began my workout with 20 minutes on the elliptical, followed by this total-body weights workout:
| Exercise | Weight | Reps | Sets |
| Bicep curls | 15 lbs. | 15 | 4 |
| Deadlifts | 25 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Leg extensions | 35 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Tricep dips | Bodyweight | 15 | 3 |
| Ryan’s shoulder move | 10 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Hamstring ball curls | Bodyweight | 20 | 3 |
| Front shoulder raises | 10 lbs. | 15 | 3 |
| Resistance band bicep curls | Band resistance | 15 | 3 |
| Exercise ball squats | Bodyweight | 20 | 3 |
| Exercise ball crunches | None | 30 | 3 |
When I type it out, this workout looks pretty decent, but when I was doing it I felt lethargic and just not into it. Can’t win ‘em all!
After my workout, I was wasting time waiting for Ryan to finish his workout and made up this totally awkward move with the resistance band that had me walking around like a penguin. When Ryan walked into the loft to find me looking like an arctic bird, he started laughing pretty hard, so I made sure to give him a little tutorial and he helped me adapt it to make it a little less waddly.
It’s a winner, fo’ sho’. 
Walk
After our workout, Ryan joined me and Sadie on our morning walk around the lake near our apartment. I told him all about the different breeds of baby birds we’ve been seeing lately and had him pumped to see some of the little guys.
Of course they were all feeling shy and elusive today, so we only saw a few of the teenage swans, but they were still cute!
On our walk we started talking about pigeons and how neither of us have ever seen a baby pigeon. Have any of you? I’m convinced they hide in the haus male pigeon’s necks until they’re full grown.
Breakfast
Once our avian walk was over, we came home and I immediately opened the fridge to grab breakfast.
Last night I prepared a batch of chocolate chia seed pudding with about a third of a cup of oats stirred in.
This morning I added frozen banana slices and a chopped fresh nectarine to the mix and dug in.
Loved this meal!
Time to get crack-a-lackin’ on lots of fun blog stuff this morning. I’m in the process of working with an awesome web guy (Tim – tparkin@gmail.com, just in case any of you are looking for someone!) to get some drop down menus on the ol’ blog. Let me know if there’s a specific page you’d like to see created and I’ll be sure to look into it!
Happy Friday!
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Love the tip about organizing for us fellow bloggers- great idea!
PS- where are you and Ryan moving to next month?
there’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on right now, but we should know by the end of today WHERE we’ll be moving and then we can finally start looking for a place!
What an exciting day, then!! Good luck with figuring out the details 🙂
ur bfast is so colorful!! and i love th total body weights workout!.. what a fab june for u!!! esp changing ur name- thats a biggie 🙂
You’re so right, it’s better than sleeping in! 🙂
Thanks for the organizing tip! I feel ya on the lethargic workout- sometimes a good one just doesn’t happen. But hey, at least you’re doing something right? 🙂
Your breakfast is so summery Julie! What a perfect start to a July! Have a great 4th of July weekend!
Good idea about the monthly recaps. I hate searching for stuff already and I only have 2 months worth of posts!
i knowwwww. searching your own blog is the BIGGEST pain – especially when you post so often.
It’s so nice going through old posts especially when I forget about writing them! Looks like June was quite the month for u 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a haus male pigeon before or a baby pigeon. Your speculation is probably correct. 😉 Happy Friday!
I tried overnight oats for the first time and didn’t love it so maybe I’ll give your chocolate chia seed pudding a try – it certainly looks delicious!
And awww, those pigeons are so cute! Even though they’re so dirty I can’t help but find them adorable 🙂
Good tip! I feel so unorganized recently, especially when it comes to blogging. I need some organization tips to keep myself on track and getting things done!
Now that I think about it, there are so many animals I never see. I’ve never come across a baby squirrel!
i’ve seen a young squirrel but never a teeny baby!
I’ve seen baby pigeons! There was a pigeon nest inside the awning of the bus stop I used to wait at when I was in high school. They pretty much look like any other baby bird.
I like the idea of monthly recaps. Sometimes I forget what I actually did each month. It would be so much easier to see it posted as a recap 🙂
So excited to see the new and improved changes to the blog when they go live…yay! 🙂
The waddling penguin move sounds hilarious – I can kind of picture in my head what that might look like…did you tie it around your legs and try to walk sideways? Although perhaps that would be more of a crab move?! I don’t know, lol! 😛
Some days you do just feel blah, I wrote about that recently because I felt exactly the same on Monday – no energy and no oomph. C’est la vie, no biggie! 🙂 Your workout still looked great! Are you not going to body pump anymore, or just mixing things up by doing your own circuits?
Hope you have an fun and productive day! 🙂 xyx
my gym doesn’t offer BP on fridays, so i do my own thing then. 🙂 and you basically guessed the penguin move completely correct! i used a resistance band and waddled around like a fool. 🙂
lol! 😀 too funny. my sister’s a physio and gave me that exercise to do – aside from the penguin-ness, it’s really effective! 🙂 xyx
I HAVE to try chia pudding – thank you for the timely reminder!
Wow! June really was a big month for you, didn’t even realize at the time.
I think that the baby pigeons are probably too hideous to come outta daddy’s neck, definitely, if they look like tiny fuzzy versions of mama and daddy. Poor pigeons… no one likes them.
Love the tip. I may just begin doing monthly recap posts!
Can’t wait to find out wher eyou and Ryan will be headed!
I love your idea of recapping posts as a means of looking back and getting organized. I’ve only had my blog for a little over a month, and I can already see how this could be VERY helpful!
Happy July!
How exciting to be moving soon!
That is true about baby pigeons — you just don’t see them, but I also don’t see baby birds either (unless I look in a nest!). I love seeing baby ducks — so cute!!!
Sounds like a stinking wonderful workout….. And I have YOU to thank for these tried and hurting muscles of mine. I did your no nonces circuit workout. OWWWW.
Also, your rep and sets are pretty darn awesome! Pat yourself on the back, Julie! 🙂 Happy Friday!
It seems like June was really great for you…and July may be even better! Gotta love that. 🙂
Thanks for the gym motivation…I’m off to go now and it was nice to see that!
That picture is totally of the pigeon mating dance (or so we call it). I lived in Italy for a semester and saw many many many of those dances. I suppose there may be baby pigeons sooner rather than later, keep an eye out. 🙂
Enjoy all of your fun upcoming events!
I woke up in kind of a funk, too. At least you already got your workout in…I’m still working up to mine! 🙂
Haha I just wrote a blog post about baby pigeons on our porch(more of a tragedy). They aren’t cute-actually really creepy
Looks like you have a lot planned for this month! Looking forward to all your great posts! =)
The link thing is a good idea. I could use that to help when finding important posts. Although I can usually remember the exact title of every post I’ve written and what it was about. I’m a creep like that.
Our lunch was without a doubt one of my highlights too! Only 7 more weeks til we have LOTS of time together.
Happy July! I made your sweet potato meatloaf for dinner last night and it was a hit. 😀
so glad to hear that!
I wish I was organized like you!! I just can’t keep it together over here!!
Have a great holiday weekend!
Hi Julie, I’m looking to subscribe to a good health magazine and was wondering which ones you subscribe to and out of those, which magazine you like the best. I’m looking for one with good tips, interesting content and layout, and a good balance of food, exercise, and overall healthy living. Thank you! 🙂
i love health magazine, oxygen, clean eating and self a lot! i really don’t discriminate!
Thank you so much!
You had a fabulous june! Hope your July is full of fun too! Happy 4th of July weekend!!
That’s so funny and true about pigeons! I love baby ducks and geese though. They were all over the parks this spring and now they’re officially out of their awkward teenage years. I can’t even tell who the parents are and who the kids are!
What a great month you had! 🙂 July is SURE to be an awesome one for me as well!!
The recap is a nice touch. A blog like yours is such a nice way of keeping track of your life. When you have kids, it will be sooo cool for them to go back and read it!
This is the first time I saw that you had quit your full time job. Congratulations on following your dreams! 🙂
Where is the fabulous yellow sundress from? I love!
You and Ryan are definetely the real life Ken and Barbie wow! good looking couple!
third and last, every time I comment on a blog a 5 yr old picture of me 30 pounds heavier shows up. How do I change this?
it’s from victoria’s secret!
Thanks VS has the BEST clothes- I wish they’d sell at the stores too.
I do not see the fat picture of me but I do see it on some other blogs so I must get to the bottom of that 🙂
ohkay so i totally just googles pictures of baby pigeons >.<
LOOKIE!
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thewildlifelodge.co.uk/photos/Baby%2520Pigeon%2520080308.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thewildlifelodge.co.uk/latestnews08.html&usg=__6dV3RbrxwdlqJMHHKpWNeMOFn4E=&h=853&w=1280&sz=265&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=9XH6xduWlw1CLM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=182&ei=fuQNTqfCMab20gHVw7W1Dg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bpigeons%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1250%26bih%3D617%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=174&vpy=133&dur=2019&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=118&ty=104&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
WOW, what a busy month! I’m so excited for you to move into your new place – no more mice!
Hi Julie..What website did you use to make this blog? 🙂 thanks
wordpress!
As a nomadic new yorker, I wish you the very best on your move, and would also like to add that strict labeling is a must. If you mark the box with the name of the room and attach an envelope to the box with an inventory of what’s inside.
Julie! I made your oatmeal banana flax muffins a few days ago and they are DELISH. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
oh my lord that oatmeal look sso so so good! nectarines are the best!!!
ps you were the first blog i have ever started following…and totally encouraged me to start my own!
thanks!! 🙂
I just started doing monthly recaps and it definitely helps with organization, I agree! It’s funny how we see tons of some baby animals but none of others…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby pigeon, nor squirrels, but deer and bunnies are everywhere up here!
No way! Too crazy!! I did a double take when I saw you blog title.
I totally thought about the same thing on my morning run. I saw a tiny baby bunny on the track and then saw a huge pigeon and wondered why I have never ever seen a baby pigeon. I was even thinking about googling it to see what the heck they look like. Too funny.
i’d say june was good to u but july will be even better! umm, i how can it not be when u won’t be living amount vermin?!?! haha.
but seriously, thanks for highlighting all those great posts, it’s always helpful to us in case we missed one the first time up!
yummy breakfast, but what??!! no smoothie today as yet?! 😉
I’m really glad I just Googled images of baby pigeons…
So adorably awkward.
Ah, my comments are such failures today.
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2176907170057018041AERKNK
finally made the peanut butter granola! so easy and yummy. this will definitely be made every week with a variation of nuts, raisins, and maybe chocolate chips!! hope you get great news today!!
Hilarious. I never thought about it but even in Hawaii where pigeons are eve.ry.where–but all full grown.
Also, I had to share with you that we apparently have mice in my office building! When the vice president sent out an e-mail saying she had mouse poop on her desk (that mouse picked the wrong desk, lol) and that we can expect to see an Orkin man until he catches it, everyone squealed. I cracked up laughing and thought of you and Ryan. BTW, it’s been four days and they have caught nothing! Sneaky little field mice = also elusive.
That sounds like a solid workout, and the breakfast looks great. I’m so glad it’s nectarine season!
Great tip for the organizational aspect of doing a monthly recap! I have always not wanted to do them, but now I feel like I’m going to!
I got so excited when I read todays post title! I thought you had found and captured a photo of some baby pigeons (since you found teenage swans!). I guess they remain a mystery..I really have to try those overnight oats! I’ve never considered mixing anything chocolate with nectarines before..love them both separately, I MUST love them together? Two rights can’t go wrong? 🙂
So funny bc there’s actually a pigeon nest on the ledge outside my co workers office! 2 hatched yesterday!