FFF Featured Blogger: The Active Eggplant – I had to give Theresa a special shout out since she shares birthdays with little M! 😀 Plus, she kicks butt at training and workouts. Check out her post today for a good recap of her awesomeness.

Makenzie says thank you for all her birthday wishes. 🙂 I still cannot believe it has been two years! Time really does fly. Did you know that today also marks 9 months since I have been blogging? In some ways, it feels like it has been longer than that…and in other ways it also went by in the blink of an eye. The 21st remains a popular date for me, since my official due date falls on my one year blog birthday – January 21st! Exactly three months from today.

I really hope I don’t go the full three months, however. That date is based off my first ultrasound and is actually about a week off when I know I ovulated and when the midwives believe I could deliver. I’m all for having only around 2.5 months left! Especially if things continue looking well.

I had my 7 month check-up today. What a fun one. The 7 month appointment includes the blood glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. That entails a fasting period and a nasty sugar beverage to down before my appointment. This morning, I had a typical bowl of oats for breakfast and then followed it up with a Turbo Jam workout since I knew I would have no energy for it when starved later.

I also wanted to try to work up an appetite since I had to be sure to eat a small, balanced meal right at 11 am as my last meal before the appointment. I typically don’t eat until 12:30 after breakfast and didn’t really crave anything. I figured the best option for that time was a breakfast sandwich.

It satisfied…then somehow left me STARVING an hour later, but I could do nothing. I had to wait until after my 3:30 appointment to eat again. I did have the option command to drink this delectable orange sugar beverage 30 minutes before my appointment though. Yummy! Not.

At least my appointment went well. Yet again the doctors can’t keep their mouths shut about my weight. No surprise there, though. Although this time it was because I somehow managed to lose a couple pounds. I’ve kind of given up on the “I don’t want to know” thing. I simply ignore the weight aspect because I still believe it doesn’t show anything and I don’t care.

My body does its own thing, what can I say? Gain 9 one month, lose 2 the next without changing a single thing related to how I eat or workout. All that concerns me is that everything checks out well. My stomach still grew and measures right on track. Baby B is no longer in breached position. My blood pressure is perfect and I trust my blood work to come back normal as well. Now if only I could do something about the achy hips and back, the sciatic pain, the crazy hormones, and my general readiness to feel more myself again. Somehow, I think those 3 months won’t pass as quickly as the past 2 years seem to have passed. 😉

• What scenarios leave you feeling like time drags or flies? Not being able to eat when hungry kind of makes time drag for me. 😉
• How long have you either been blogging or reading blogs?
• Don't forget to ASK ME ANYTHING for the Q + A series in Nov! I've gotten some really good ones so far. Thanks!

FFF Featured Blogger (from your comments): Sarah’s Scrumptious Samplings – Sarah talks about body image, her life, and great recipes!

Hello all! I hope this Tuesday finds you well. I slept in until M woke up again this morning and feel great now. Still a tiny bit of a sore throat, but that is it. I tried to rest as much as possible yesterday to ensure I would feel good enough for spin today. I missed the gym! It felt amazing to get my spin on. I’m ready for the new music to come out, but that won’t be for another two weeks at our gym. 🙁

Have you all ever heard of something and immediately thought “that sounds like a blogger thing”? Last night, on the way home from tutoring, I heard an advertisement on the radio for Trader Joes seaweed snacks and immediately thought blogger. I could so see these becoming a big hit amongst the blog world, as they sound similar to kale chips but in seaweed form. Who knows? Maybe they already are a hit and I’m just out of the loop.

Do you ever notice sometimes how something becomes popular among blogs and then so many give it a try? I know I have fallen into that trap. Although its not really a trap. Many times things come out GREAT and I am forever thankful for finding out about it through blogs. Dinner last night shows a prime example. We had Gina’s Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili and I loved it!

I also have blogs to thank for my affection for green monsters, kale chips, meatless sloppy joes, various dessert treats I have made, parsnip fries, new squash varieties, yogurt in oats, and more. Also for not making me feel crazy for hating on cottage cheese and loving Greek yogurt. I have tried some things that do not agree with me though – quinoa or Amazing Grass products for example, both of whose textures greatly bothered me.

Now, I really hesitate to jump on the bandwagon and try things out. I question if it honestly sounds appealing to me before giving it a shot. I know I will never try things like maca powder, tempeh, or chia seeds because I am such a huge texture eater and the texture of all of those makes me gag a little to even think about. I also refuse to try things that aren’t easily accessible or too expensive for a sampling.

Plus, I know my taste buds can have a mind of their own, as demonstrated in this morning’s breakfast. The TJs commercial last night got me thinking about how I miss shopping there more. Then, I remembered some apple chicken sausages I had in the freezer. Not TJs variety but a similar sub in found in the “healthy” section of a local grocer. Publix I think? I knew I needed to incorporate them into breakfast.

When I woke up, the wheels started turning. A sweet diner breakfast! An apple “crepe” with an apple sausage! This is when my taste buds started getting a little nutty. First, I microwave “baked” an apple with cinnamon, while cooking up my “crepe”. For the record, that would be one egg lightly beaten and cooked in a skillet like a flat omelet. Nothing really “crepe”-y about it.

I wanted a nutbutter in the crepe with my “baked” apples. My taste buds wanted Nutella more specifically. What the heck?  So I spread a bit of Nutella on one half and added some of the apples to the other.

Then, rolled it up and topped it with the remaining apples and cinnamon, served with the apple sausage on the side.

It tasted good to me. Although not quite what it could have been. Something about Nutella and apples just doesn’t fit as nicely as Maple Almond Butter and apples. And I can’t complain that the crepe was too thick and eggy, because hello? It was just an egg! I would still make it again though! I like sweet eggs and anything that’s easy after all.

• What are some things you have tried that were inspired by reading blogs? Good and bad.
• Don’t forget to Ask Me Anything for a Q + A series I hope to do in November. I only have a few so far.