have you ever...

1) ...gotten a spray tan?

I got my first one this weekend! And just to put your worries to rest, we're definitely not talking the likes of any oompa loompa or Jersey Shore member. Thanks to Stevie and her own personal spray tan machine, I left Dallas a little less translucent than I arrived. It was a fun experience and I was actually pleasantly surprised/impressed with the evenness and tone of the tan. And, I must admit, I've already looked into the purchase of my own spray tan machine, but, alas, my budget has no room for that currently.

2) ...cooked with quinoa?

This week's trip to the grocery store included a couple of new items, one being a big bag of quinoa, an easy-to-cook grain that packs protein and nutty flavor in the little bubbly morsels. Funny story--I'd wanted to try quinoa for a while now, but wasn't quite brave enough to venture out of my usual and didn't really want to spend $5 for a box of stuff I wasn't sure I'd like. So, I hit up the self-serve machines in the organic section at Price Cutter, thinking I'd save a buck or two and start off small. Welp, so much for that. The plastic container housing the quinoa was over my head and I couldn't see what I was doing as I helped myself to an overly generous portion. (I don't know how I didn't spill it at the store, because when I got home, I swear a third of the bag ended up on my counter, floor, and the lip of my dishwasher.) I have no concept of weight or estimating distances and that sort of thing, so I had no idea what to expect when I went to weigh my bag and print the label, but $12.04 was NOT at all what I had in mind. Boy did I feel sheepish. $5 for a box didn't sound so bad at that point. Sheesh.

Anyway, last night I cooked up a batch for the first time. (My sister said it smelled awful, but I liked the nutty blend.) I did a little research and found this site that offers several quinoa recipes; however, I decided to keep it simple and just spiced it up with some black pepper after it was on my plate. This morning, though, I used quinoa in place of my usual oatmeal and was pretty pleased with the results.

I used this recipe, but modified it slightly with my own ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa, 1/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup mixed berries, 1 drizzle maple syrup, 1 TBS brown sugar, topped with 1/4 cup vanilla Activia.

Ok, since this isn't a food blog, I'll move off of this topic...soon. But first, can I just say how empowering it is to try something new in the kitchen and actually have it somewhat succeed?! Honestly, I hope to be a domestic diva one day, but in the mean time, it's baby steps.

3) ...had neuroma?

I have it. Traumatic neuroma, to be exact.

Yesterday I went to the podiatrist again. I've been having significant pain in my foot...still/again. So my mom and aunt finally convinced me that I should call, and when I did, the nurse said I definitely needed to come in and get checked out. Ugh. I was NOT looking forward to the potential outcome: cast, crutches, MRI, bone scan, surgery...I had no idea what to expect. Well, let me just tell you how good God is. He is SO good. Honestly. The x-rays showed that my bones have healed great from the fracture, so the pain I've been experiencing is due to traumatic neuroma, or a swelling of the nerves caused by aggravation. (She used the term tumor, of the benign sort, which is still a pretty scary word any way you turn it. I'll stick with swelling, thank you very much.) Bottom line: The nerves are freaking out from the trauma of the fracture and I need to wear wider shoes and avoid activities that irritate the nerves, such as bending at the toes. AKA, no running, jumping, lunging, stair-stepping for a while. But, I can walk and squat and bike and WALK. I was so super excited to hear that it's only temporary and should be gone in 6-8 weeks. And I WALKED out of her office. Praise the Lord. He really never gives us more than we can handle!

In an effort to give my toes the wiggle room they need, I laid down a pretty penny (several pretty pennies, actually) on Zappos.com last night. I would be fighting buyer's remorse pretty heavily if it weren't for the fact that my doctor mandated wider shoes. That means she'll cover the debt of my purchases, right? Ha.

So, any other fakely tanned, quinoa cooking, neuroma sufferers out there? I'd recommend staying away from the latter, although the first two could make for some fun experimenting!

Happy Tuesday, all! My lunch break is wrapping up so I better do the same.