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I came home to a very pleasant surprise – the Hus had scrubbed the entire house from the top to the bottom while I was in Detroit for work!

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That man knows the way to worm his way into  my heart.  Trust me, it’s not through the stomach (that’s my modus operandi!).  It’s definitely though shiny hardwoods and clean windows.  What can I say – I’m easily pleased.

 

We stayed up way too late catching up on recorded TV shows.  But it was worth it.  So much drama on Grey’s Anatomy and Boardwalk Empire

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And even though I was up late, I woke early for a great breakfast on the porch.  I feel like I’m grasping at straws – you can tell this chilly but sunny weather won’t last long in Charlotte.  Soon it will be COLD.  This Miami native cannot handle any sort of cold, so I’m going to soak it up while it lasts.

 

A wonderful bowl of Irish steel cut oats + teff:

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Last time I made Irish steel cut oats, everyone commented that I didn’t cook them long enough (10 minutes as opposed to 30).  So this morning, I filled the pot with coconut milk and oats and let it simmer way.  The result?  Much, much better!

 

In the bowl:

 

1/4 cup Irish steel cut oats

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/ cup teff

1 banana

Cashews

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PS – The winner of the Toronto Running Date giveaway is Russell!

 

Thought of the Day:

 

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint on the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things go wrong that you mustn’t quit.

—Unknown

{ 51 comments }

 

  • Kate (What Kate is Cooking) October 3, 2011, 10:03 am

    I love chilly mornings! I’m going to Chicago on Wednesday and I was looking forward to colder weather, but it’s supposed to be warmer there than it is in California!

  • Adrienne October 3, 2011, 10:04 am

    What a great quote Caitlin!

  • Aine @ Something to Chew Over October 3, 2011, 10:04 am

    Yum breakfast looks great! Your husband is clearly a keeper 🙂

  • Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat October 3, 2011, 10:04 am

    Yikes, 10 mins for steel cut oats – that must have been a tough chew! Have a great day Caitlin! 🙂

  • Heather @ Side of Sneakers October 3, 2011, 10:09 am

    That quote is beautiful, and exactly what I needed to hear today! 🙂

  • Marisa E October 3, 2011, 10:12 am

    Awesome quote!!!

  • Alett October 3, 2011, 10:16 am

    Yay congrats to Russell!

    Love the quote – I’m going to post it on my Sbux board : )

    enjoy the day.
    a.

    • CaitlinHTP October 3, 2011, 2:37 pm

      🙂 Thanks Alett!

  • Paige @ Running Around Normal October 3, 2011, 10:24 am

    I was just wondering what happened to Greys and if it was even still on! I boycotted it once Dr. Burke was kicked off. He was my fave…

  • Khushboo October 3, 2011, 10:32 am

    I used to love Greys but I think it’s become too repetitive now: same story, different characters!

  • Leslie October 3, 2011, 10:39 am

    Long time reader, first time commenting. Just wanted you to know that I enjoy what you do here each day. I look forward to your post and find them helpful to me as I try to create a tipping point toward health for myself. The thing I like best about your blog is that you allow us to see that you are a work in progress just as we all are. Thanks for your inspiration. Have a great week.

    • CaitlinHTP October 3, 2011, 2:37 pm

      Thank you so much Leslie. I really appreciate this a lot. xoxox

  • Gina @ Running to the Kitchen October 3, 2011, 10:42 am

    Coming home to a clean house is seriously amazing. I cleaned (not as good as the hubs doing it obviously) before we left for the weekend and it was so nice to not have to worry about that last night when walking in the door.

  • Liz October 3, 2011, 10:44 am

    What a great husband! 😀 I am not looking forward to cold weather… I’m in northwestern Ohio & soon the snow/ice/freezing temps will be here & I’ll be wishing for another year that I’d moved somewhere warm! 😉

  • Tricia October 3, 2011, 11:07 am

    thanks for the quote. having an ucky day and its helping me keep going.

    • CaitlinHTP October 3, 2011, 2:38 pm

      Keep your chin up!

  • Sarah October 3, 2011, 11:07 am

    I just caught up on all three of this season’s Grey’s episodes last night and then we need to catch up on last week’s Boardwalk Empire tonight. yay for coming home to a clean house!

  • Rachel October 3, 2011, 11:09 am

    I love that quote; it’s just what I needed today. I’m in my first year teaching middle school English. It’s really tough, and my fellow teachers have told me that October is universally the roughest month of the year. I just need to remind myself to never give up! 🙂

  • Mary October 3, 2011, 11:10 am

    I’m excited I ran in shorts and long sleeves today! except… the cold chafe I got on my legs this morning was not so exciting…

  • Sana October 3, 2011, 11:24 am

    Brrrr, it is nippy (hehe) here in MD too!

  • Nena October 3, 2011, 11:46 am

    Love the quote.

  • Deva @ Deva by Definition October 3, 2011, 11:48 am

    It has been chilly overnight and in the mornings here, too. We have our lightweight flannel sheets on the bed, which are toasty warm!

  • Ellie@fitforthesoul October 3, 2011, 11:55 am

    ahhh so sweet of your husband!! 😀 And steel cuts are delicious, but they do take long. Have a great day Caitlin!

  • Stellina October 3, 2011, 12:00 pm

    Very moving quote! A clean house is a happy house! Which also = a happy couple! Have a great day, I read your blog on a daily basis and love your take on life!

  • Shari October 3, 2011, 12:05 pm

    Ah, I LOVE that quote!! 🙂

  • sarah@spinach and spice October 3, 2011, 12:11 pm

    What an inspirational quote! And you lucky girl you, a man who cooks annd cleans 😉

  • kathleen @ the daily crumb October 3, 2011, 12:17 pm

    i love that quote. needed that for sure on this insane monday morning — one on which EVERYthing seemed to go wrong 🙂 you have such great perspective, caitlin.

    yummy breakfast!

  • Lindsay October 3, 2011, 12:29 pm

    You can also get quick cook steel cut oats at Trader Joes and other stores, I think. They take 5-7 minutes on the stove top and turn out perfectly.

  • Courtney @ The Petite AthlEAT October 3, 2011, 12:29 pm

    Oh my gosh, how do I get my husband to clean? If I’m lucky, he unloads the dishwasher without having to be asked. Oh well, at least I get that! Off to wash my windows …

  • greenbean October 3, 2011, 12:41 pm

    my mom is considering a move or visit to charlotte. do you have a post about what you love about the city on this blog? or a link suggestion? i keep telling her i have “friends” that live there 🙂 thanks!

  • Marissa C October 3, 2011, 12:45 pm

    I’m loving baked steel cut oats lately…so easy!

  • Rosa - Fitness, Food, Fulfilled October 3, 2011, 12:55 pm

    Your husband sounds awesome! Love coming home to a clean house. He’s definitely a keeper.

    I like it when the weather gets a little cooler so I can wear boots and scarves, but being from CA, I could never stand the really cold weather. Too spoiled!

  • Amy October 3, 2011, 1:13 pm

    Love the thought of the day — printed it to look at on a regular basis!!

  • Amber K October 3, 2011, 1:14 pm

    Yay for clean houses! I’d love to be surprised like that. And, what an awesome quote. I love the inspiration your blog provides every day. 🙂

  • ste October 3, 2011, 1:15 pm

    I make steel cut oats in the slow cooker. Put them in around 10 PM and they’re good to go at 6 am and then I don’t have to make them for a few more days. Also, I have a friend who puts them in a double boiler at the night, gets them boiling and then turns it off. By the morning, it is good to go.

  • lauren October 3, 2011, 1:18 pm

    There is nothing like coming home to a clean house. We always try to do a good cleaning before we go away so that we can come home to it…doesn’t always work out though, sometimes the packing monster gets the best of us.
    I love, love, love the thought of the day. I am printing that out to reference on a regular basis. Thanks!

  • Annette @ EnjoyYourHealthyLife October 3, 2011, 1:23 pm

    I love that quote!

    And I love that your husband did that for you, SO cute. I love when my husband does small things like that that matter to me 🙂

  • Angela @ MyPinkyToes October 3, 2011, 1:35 pm

    What a great husband! I am always SO pleasantly surprised when my hubs surprises me by cleaning!!!

  • Tracy @ Tracy's Treats October 3, 2011, 1:50 pm

    Great Thought of the Day!

  • katie @ KatieDid October 3, 2011, 1:58 pm

    That’s so thoughtful of your husband. I know coming back from a trip or even a vacation to a messy house is so tough because you just want to sit down and relax in your home, not think about cleaning it. I’m soaking in these last days of “warmth” also up here in Vermont. It won’t be long before we’re buried 🙁

  • Kat October 3, 2011, 2:09 pm

    hurray for a clean house! I agree that cleaning = love 🙂

  • Katie @ Peace Love and Oats October 3, 2011, 2:49 pm

    If I came home from a trip and my whole apartment was cleaned, I think I’d die from happiness.

  • Mary @ Bites and Bliss October 3, 2011, 2:57 pm

    Michael does that all the time (I’m actually the messy one!) It’s such a pleasant surprise every time, too. How nice of your husband!

  • Sophie @ threetimesf October 3, 2011, 2:58 pm

    Love that quote 🙂

  • Rachel October 3, 2011, 4:24 pm

    Like other commenters I also had a pretty rough day – that quote meant something special to me. Thank you!

  • Brooke @ Tales of a Bride-To-Be October 3, 2011, 4:42 pm

    I love it when Zach (my hubs to me in 5 days!) does our laundry by surprise. Its truly the best thing in the world.

  • Michelle @ Turning Over a New Leaf October 3, 2011, 6:32 pm

    I’m pretty sure there’s not much I wouldn’t be willing to do for my husband if I came home and discovered he had cleaned the house from top to bottom without me asking! You got yourself a keeper! 😉

  • Jeannette October 3, 2011, 6:47 pm

    I’ve been a long time reader, and I just have to say that my dad, as a child had the “Don’t Quit” quote hung above his bed. He then gave it to me when I was young.

    It’s so meaningful to me, I’m happy someone else values it as much as I do.

  • Chelsea @ One Healthy Munchkin October 3, 2011, 7:11 pm

    Want to send your husband over here to clean my apartment? I’ll pay him in cookies! 😉

  • Maya October 4, 2011, 5:58 pm

    Thank-you for posting the “Thought of the Day”. I’m presently going for a difficult period in various sectors of my life and it’s easy to get into a vicious cycle of negative thinking and believe that things aren’t ever going to get better. This was just the thing I needed to remind me that you never know when the end is in sight and sometimes you just need to keep trudging through the difficult parts in order to get to the brighter side of life.

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