Currently: The Life Update Edition

I haven't updated on regular life around here in a looooong time, so I figured a 'currently....' would be a fun little way to let you guys know what's been going on with us lately.

Currently....

......I am tying to figure out what to do with my life.. lol.. but seriously. I haven't talked much about my background and such here, but I'm struggling with which direction to take next in my life. Myles should be starting TK (transitional kindergarten) next year so he will be in school from 8:30-2:30 mostly everyday. For me, that means taking a bigger step back into the real world. I have been going back and forth between two options. Up until yesterday, I had decided to take the back to school route. Right now I have my bachelor's degree in history with my secondary teacher certification. After my extremely intense and overwhelming first full year of teaching (stories for another day), I wasn't sure I wanted to stay on that path. Since then we have moved to California and I have mostly stayed home with Myles. Within that first year of teaching, I knew in the back of my mind that if I were ever to get my master's it would be in school guidance counseling. So about a few weeks ago, I decided on a school and started the application process..... then yesterday a surprise student loan came back into my life (I did NOT miss you!) which made me completely reevaluate my decision. So here I am again trying to transfer my Illinois teacher certification over to California... please pray for me that I don't lose my mind and just give up half way through the process like last time!

.... I just prepped ~200 items for my first JBF sale (http://jbfsale.com/home.jsp). I have gone to every one since moving here, but for some reason never thought to ever actually consign myself. Every couple of months, I go through all of Myles' things (clothes, books, toys, etc.) and add what he doesn't need/want to our sell bins. When I got the email about this upcoming sale, I thought 'what the hell?' I figure it's worth it to see what sells and then donate whatever I get back. Any money I get from selling Myles' old stuff I use to buy the next size up in clothes (almost exclusively thrift or consigned), so we never really spent any new money. They are very picky with inspecting everything at these sales so they are really great place to buy used, but great condition kids clothes. Until he starts wearing clothes for longer than 6-12 months at a time, I am a-ok with buying used for him! I will give my thoughts on the whole process of consigning with JBF when the sale is over and I know how much I actually made. Then I can tell you if it's worth it or not!

..... we are recovering from a trip back home to Illinois. It was an amazing six days filled with tons of quality time with family and friends and FOOD! I don't know what it is, but nothing compares to Rockford food. My parents know our struggle is REAL, so they had a pizza waiting in the trunk when they picked us up from the bus! Talk about a parent's love. Here is just a little sampling of what we ate:

 Beef-A-Roo
An amazing local fast food chain

 My favorite dish from my favorite Mexican restaurant

~$85 worth of sushi and other delicious goodness
Bento box with chicken for Myles

My favorite pizza from a local market. The Baja: a little spice rub on the dough topped with chicken, pesto, cheese, and avocado!

..... I am trying meal prepping and planning for the first time. I figured no better time than right after I ate my way through my hometown. I have also added some pounds that are not wanting to come off. Every year older makes it that much harder to keep myself together! I'm pretty positive my metabolism is like zero or possibly even negative (lol), so I am trying anything I can to get back on track. 

Okay, okay.... so old habits die hard, but I am a chip addict.... ADDICT people. I have never been a big sweets person. I can go without chocolate or candy with no problem, but chips are my weakness! But I am proud to say that I have been very good with my first week of meal planning and haven't had any chips since Sunday! I know that I can't stay away forever, but I will be limiting my chip intake to a couple times a week instead of everyday.

I have also been loving mornings when I have off work when I can make an egg with veggie scramble with some turkey bacon (LOVE) on the side. 
I am totally new to all of this meal plan/prep business so any tips/advice/hacks would greatly be appreciated! What works well for you? I need to know!

What have you been up to currently?