.scheduled hiatus.

hello to whoever has stumbled into this blog!

I am taking a scheduled hiatus as we enter into the holiday season and I am entering into:

• my last month of work
• my last five weeks at home
• prepping for a cross-country move

I plan to relaunch weekly posts the second week of january to track the travels and move. 

until next time,

emily renee

.plant plant plant mother.

summer 2018, I didn't do anything major, didn't go away to any faraway places, didn't do anything too exciting. with everyone coming back to campus, I was so stressed for the "what did you do this summer?" question. 

until,

I adopted a bunch of plants. 

all in one go: spent two hours in a hardware story and then a couple hundred on eleven plants, ceramic pots, dirt, and soil treatment solutions. (well worth it.)

I did it for two reasons:

1. improve the space in my office. having plants means there's something pretty to look at; they create a nice, relaxing environment.

2. plants purify the air. the air in my office gets a bit stuffy from time to time.  usually entering into the fall, there's an increase in fires in my area, so there's lots of smoke and other particles polluting the air. 

after I did this, I became a plant mother to six english ivies, one fancy plant (think: mini palm tree), one aloe vera, one fairy washboard succulent (I call her verona) one golden pothos (I call him filo), and one mojito mint (rip, sweet baby). 

since then, I've adopted a spotted succulent (steven), inherited two succulents from a birthday bouquet, gifted a polka dot plant (hello dottie), and picked up a new fairy washboard succulent for at-home (theodora, or theo for short - thanks haunting at hill house). 

below is some of my accumulated plant knowledge, which has been requested by a couple of friends since becoming a plant mother. read on to learn a thing, if you so desire. 

---

PLANT KNOWLEDGE

so first - repotting. you’re gonna wanna get it out of the nursery pot - make sure the new pot has a hole for drainage and a plate to catch overflow / or keep it placed outside. as you're repotting, massage bottom of roots to break away soil & encourage growth in the new home. 

there will be a short period of time as the plant adjusts to its new home so some leaves might react - this is normal. 

then with watering: with most potting soil, you can water once a week to a week and a half. to check, you press your finger on the soil and there should be a good amount that sticks to the pad of your finger. 

be careful not to overwater because it can lead to root rot, which will hurt the plant worse than under-watering. if there’s a splatter pattern in the leaves, then it’s too much water, so the veins are bursting - just adjust by watering less. 

if leaves are withering and ultimately, just prune them off. keeping them dilutes the plant's energy too much and hurts new growth. 

there a few supplemental liquids you can dilute in water and then feed once a month to your plant. b1 vitamin concentrate helps plants adjust to new pots. seaweed extract helps plants generate new growth. 

with sun exposure / placement. go off of what’s indicated on the tag but experiment if you’re noticing it’s not thriving. most plants tolerate high sun exposure well. 

watch a Jenna Marbles video where she talks about her houseplants. she drops some major helpful tips too. 

 "a tour of my plants" by jenna marbles on youtube, published on mar 13, 2019

---

most of my information about plants comes from a mix of an enthusiastic dale hardware employee (thank u, joseph, u angel), a bit of google, and a bit of miscellaneous word of mouth.

if you want updates about the plants and which ones make the move, let me know!

until next time, 

emily renee

.intermittent fasting.

when I first heard about intermittent fasting, or if, a few years ago, my knee-jerk reaction was - "no way! I could never." having so many set hours of not eating just sounded way too restrictive

and now that I've had time to sit with it (and actually research it), it doesn't sound so bad. it sounds like a good way to keep eating in check, so not allowing for late night snacking.

wikipedia's definition:

Intermittent fasting is any eating diet plan that cycles between a period of fasting and non-fasting over a defined period. Intermittent fasting is under preliminary research to assess if it can produce weight loss comparable to long-term calorie restriction.

sure, I might be trying this out to see what weight loss might happen. (trying to get back on track to what makes me feel better long-term.)

and sure, there are some extreme ways to execute it, as you can do with literally any kind of eating. it depend on the approach, what the balance is. the way that seems to work for me is the 16/8 method (or, how I've been doing it - the 15/9 method, whiiiiich is recommended for women).

here's an easy full definition of the 16/8 method from the healthline article, "6 popular ways to do intermittent fasting" by kris gunnars on june 4, 2017:

The 16/8 Method involves fasting every day for 14-16 hours, and restricting your daily "eating window" to 8-10 hours.

Within the eating window, you can fit in 2, 3 or more meals.

This method is also known as the Leangains protocol, and was popularized by fitness expert Martin Berkhan.

Doing this method of fasting can actually be as simple as not eating anything after dinner, and skipping breakfast.

For example, if you finish your last meal at 8 pm and then don't eat until 12 noon the next day, then you are technically fasting for 16 hours between meals.

It is generally recommended that women only fast 14-15 hours, because they seem to do better with slightly shorter fasts.

For people who get hungry in the morning and like to eat breakfast, then this can be hard to get used to at first. However, many breakfast skippers actually instinctively eat this way.

You can drink water, coffee and other non-caloric beverages during the fast, and this can help reduce hunger levels.

for me, I'm focusing on eating all of my calories within an eating window that starts at 11 am and ends at 8 pm. I've actually started tracking my daily calories to see if I'm meeting, going under, or going over the amount  of calories I should be taking in.

in a future post, I'll go over my body image issues and how it's impacted my relationship with food, but it's actually positive that I've been able to see calories for what they are: data points. this is similar to how I was tracking my sleep routines. intake data, compare notes, determine what the impact is. 

back to if: I started tracking via the app, fooducate. I input my goals and starting information, and then began tracking both diet and exercise within the app. based on what I put in, fooducate determined that my recommended daily calories at 1710. I began tracking on september 16, 2019.

so with intermittent fasting, I need to eat 1710 calories per day within the 9 hour window, from 11 am to 8 pm.

I am allowing fluctuations to see what works well with my body and schedule, especially now that I've re-introduced gym sessions / heavy workout times for after work.

I plan to do an update by the end of the month to see how things have been going for the last few months of trying it out. measured in hunger levels and mood, not in inches or weight.

until next time,
emily renee

.october routine: closing thoughts.

see more on bedtime & morning routines

okay, so.

I had a much different vision for october posts. the plan was to do a quick blog post every night, many of which were forgotten about until way later and then tons of backtracking posts were made. the posts were rushed and missing content. additionally, I was noticing how my other posts were buried in all of the routine posts.

I made the decision to take down the individual posts and do one summary post.

for reference, this was the format I was following to track my routines.

night routine

was the routine followed: yes/no

how well did I sleep: scale of 1-10

hours slept: x hours

any additional notes:

morning routine

was the routine followed: yes/no

how did I feel throughout the day: scale of 1-10

did I get to work on time: yes/no

any additional notes:

here we go!

so in the original daily posts, I'd answered "no" I hadn't followed the routines - but for the most part, I actually had. the major thing I was counting was whether or not I'd done the stretching (most days I did not). but most days, I was still winding down early, going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, and getting to work on time more regularly. I also got a gym membership again, and just recently started going early in the morning as well as after work. 

there were days that I didn't sleep much (one night in particular where I really didn't sleep at all), some days I stayed in bed a little too long or went to sleep so late. 

overall, I think I did work on creating better habits, so I deem a success!

until next time, 

emily renee

.mikee💕 cookies - dark chocolate & mint.

happy birthday, mike!
(his birthday is really on the 27th, so prepare your bday wishes now.)

I made up this cookie recipe based off of your standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and then tweaked the heck out of it to create this masterpiece:

mikee💕 cookies.

a rich, 

dark chocolate, 

mint cookie

now, I know how this usually goes:

you find a recipe title that sounds really good, you click into it to find out it's a blog, and then the author writes foooooorever about all sorts of stories until it leaves you saying:

please just

give me 

the recipe!!!

fear not: I got you.
the only thing I want to say is that this recipe was inspired into existence because mike had mentioned how much he loved dark chocolate and then another time he mentioned how andes mints are one of his favorite candies so I wanted to surprise him with his own cookie to celebrate our first six months of dating. (aw, we're so precious.)

boom. done. now here are the ingredients, mix, and bake instructions.

---

MIKEE💕 COOKIES

::ingredients::
dry
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder, sifted

wet
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/5 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

garnish
2 cups chopped andes mints (about 2.5 boxes)
1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

::mix::

• first step: cut up those andes mints and place them off to the side. have them ready early!
• chop tips - I usually: 
• line up about five of these mints at a time on a cutting board 
• for about 3/4 of all mints - slice across four cuts (the end result will leave you with nice small squares)
• for about 1/4 of all mints - slice across three cuts (the end result will leave you with larger chunks)
• then, chop these slices each in half

• take those ingredients in the dry section and sift them together in a smaller bowl. gently stir (flour and powder will fly otherwise; please just trust me on this)

• beat the ingredients in the wet section until creamy smooth in a large bowl (the largest bowl you have, the better)

• gently stir in dry mix to the wet mix (again, if you do not follow this: it will fly around your whole kitchen, landing on the counter, your floor, the cabinets, you, the pets, the children -- everywhere. you've been warned.)
• mix tips - I usually:
• scoop in 1/4-1/2 cups of flour at a time
• start mixing with a wooden spoon and then once it gets thick, switch to mixing with hands (one hand on the bowl, one hand in the dough)

• fold in ingredients from the garnish section
• fold tips - I usually:
• dump half the amount of garnish into the dough and fold in
• add the rest of the pieces slowly. this is to ensure that the dough isn't stretched to thin to the point of your mints and/or walnuts falling out of your cookie (this might have happened to me before, okay?)

• scoop out dough and place on cookie sheet. roll with hands to create a smooth lump of cookie dough. (move on to bake instructions, or begin eating now*)

just scooped

hand rolled

(*PSA: it's not recommended to eat cookie dough because of both the raw egg & raw flour.)

::bake::
set oven to bake, 375° F
leave cookies in for ~9 minutes
cool on wire rack

fresh baked

---

viola! done.

enjoy your delicious cookies. share with your friends, family, coworkers. (or don't. let them perish in jealousy.)

let me know if you tried making these, if you ended up adjusting the recipe, and how they turned out!

more about the background to this cookie:
I decided to create this recipe early on (like a couple months prior to our six months), so I decided to lay some groundwork. I told mike about all the failed baking attempts I've had in the past (there are a number), but especially when it comes to basic chocolate chip cookies. I would mentioned this every couple of weeks, so it would really set in how I cannot bake.

a bit before our 6 months
st. augustine, fl

then when we were opening our care packages over facetime, he was surprised with a couple pounds of rich dark chocolate mint cookies. it was so much fun and then we've been adjusting the recipe ever since to make it the best it can be.

happy birthday again to the love of my life. 💕 muah.

until next time,
emily renee

.ldr.

being in a long-distance relationship was never in my plan.

I've considered the concept of ldr's in passing before, but not with any need to commit to one or taking it into serious consideration.

we entered into one without even meaning to.

our first date was supposed to be a one-time thing, just an easy hangout, especially since I wasn't looking to date anyone seriously with my impending washington move and he was recently out of a serious relationship and about to head back to the east coast. all it was supposed to be was fun conversation and a game of pool.

then we met.
then we talked.
then we clicked.
then we met up for dinner the next night. and the next.
...then he left california.

it wasn't supposed to turn into anything, but as I left the second date, I stopped myself from saying:

"bye, love you!"

🙈

I had no idea what to expect. 

we continued talking, texting, facetiming. became linked on facebook and instagram. 

two weeks after we'd met, we both realized on our own: we were in trouble. we liked the other person so much.

he came back to california in march, a little over a month since we'd gone on our first date. he was back for about three weeks. I wasn't sure if this is where things would end. 

things continued progressing and we discussed staying together and trying the long-distance thing for real. 

we've taken trips across the country over the summer to see each other. a week in florida. a weekend in florida. a weekend and a couple days in california. a trip to hawaii together. an upcoming trip to califonia in december. 

at the time of this post, we've been together eight and half months. I make the cross-country move two and half months. I've never been happier. 

michael is my best friend. he's my biggest supporter and comforter. he's got the kind of weird that melds with mine. his heart is so genuine. he knows how to make me smile and laugh (like, ugly laugh so hard). he's my life partner. he's the brightness in my life and encourages me to be the best version of myself just by being himself. he's the best thing that ever happened to me, the best gift from God that I've been blessed with.

(which is saying quite a lot, 

since I've been blessed enormously with 

long-time best friends, a great family, an amazing niece.)

long-distance isn't easy. 

every day, I wish I could hold his hand, have a hug, just look at him in-person. 

facetime and phone calls glitch often, freezing on funny faces, cutting out words or whole sentences, which can be frustrating, especially at the end of a long day. 

photos together help a little, until they don't, because all you want is to be next to your person again. 

time apart feels like years, dragging along.

it does make the time together sweeter. 

cherishing every moment together. 

a weekend can feel like two weeks with all the fun-packed days. 

reminding us why we choose each other, how we work well - even with almost 3,000 miles in between.

it makes the future feel so much brighter.

when we'll actually be together consistently. 

living life near each other and seeing how we are as actual people in our every day lives. 

planning for all the adventures we'll have, all the meals we'll make. 

a long-distance relationship wasn't in my plan, but the person on the other end makes it all so worth it. I'd choose this every time. I'd go through everything I've gone through before just to get to him again. I want to go anywhere, everywhere with him.

here's a couple tips to surviving an ldr:

• intentional conversations (what you looking for; what are you feeling now; how do you want to go about making this work; what do you want from this)
• scheduling time together (phone calls, facetime: dates, watching movies and shows, streaming and playing video games, and sleepovers)

mike & emily, est. february 3, 2019

only a few months until forever.

well, if that's enough mush for you, congratulations! you've made it to the end of the post. 

until next time, 

emily renee

.road trip across the country.

I'm moving!

this plan for moving has been slowly in motion for years. I set a deadline for myself last summer since I don't want to be stuck in my hometown forever. I enjoy my hometown and think it's great, but I need a change.

the original plan was to move up north on the west coast, only a short flight from home. deadline was summer 2020. (I apparently have a deep fear of born-living-dying all in one place. my therapist said to use it as a motivator instead of being frozen by anxiety.)

the plan shifted earlier this year. first the location changed from northwest to southeast. then the timeline was bumped up from summer 2020 to the beginning of the new year.

that's right folks: I'm moving to the east coast in january 2020!

why? you might ask. 

(if you're really asking, we really need to catch up.)

because I would like to date my partner in the same state.


for the whole of 2019, our relationship has been long-distance.

my favorite picture of us
san francisco, ca

facetime dates

the situation has had some silver linings, like we both get to be closer to our families, we get to know each other a bit better before one of us uproots our entire life, there's more time to evaluate a situation vs. having an immediate reaction, and we each have gotten a fair amount of travel time to see each other.

yosemite, ca

orlando, fl

monterey, ca

pahoa, hi

but I'm really looking forward to being in the same general area with my partner for a long-term time, versus only sharing the same space for a few days to perhaps a few weeks at a time.

I plan to track the move across the country here, so if you'd like to stay tuned, stick around.

this is the first time I'm moving since I was six (and that move was across town). if you're thinking about moving soon, or getting ready to move out to somewhere brand new, I might be able to share some insight to prepare you.

current route

if you've moved lots before, let me know! if you've done a cross-country roadtrip before, let me know! share your wisdom.

until next time,
emily renee