Losing the last five years

We’re out of bread in my house.

No rolls. No wraps. No whole wheat slices of carby goodness. No fun.

What we do have are vegetables. Tons and tons of vegetables. A plethora of zucchini, broccoli, carrots, green beans, spinach, etc filled to the brim in my produce drawer. I guess I got a little overzealous with wanting to introduce as many vegetables as possible back into my diet after the delicious indulgence fest that was Vegas while grocery shopping on Tuesday.

aww… Vegas. I miss you already.

The insane amount of veggies in the fridge made them impossible to ignore when I was making my lunch today. What started as a platter plate turned into a salad when I got a little crazy with the chopping.

In the bowl:

• spinach
• broccoli
• carrot
• green beans
• black beans
• hummus
• shredded cheese
• peppercorn dressing

I also got a little crazy with the bulk of fiber in this meal and could only eat 3/4 of the salad before my stomach felt like it had expanded to its breaking point and couldn’t eat anymore. Maybe a whole stalk of broccoli was a bit too much?

No worries, no food went to waste. I learned today that if you cover veggies with enough cheese/dressing/beans that Maddie will eat just about anything. Baby girl licked the bowl clean when I was done.

The Vow

The other week I saw a preview for the movie The Vow that really stuck with me.

First I was obsessed because I’m a huge Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams fan (love them). Then I noticed that the delicious Scott Speedman (aka Ben, the love of Felicity’s life) plays a rather important supporting role as the main character’s former fiance. Finally, any sappy love story always catches my attention (I’m a hopeless romantic).

All of those things made me smile, but it wasn’t until I went home and looked the preview up again on YouTube, that the actual storyline really got me thinking.

The Vow is very loosely based on the story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter, who were in a horrific car accident in the early 90s. When Krickett woke up, the last five years had been erased from her memory. That would be like waking up today and still believing it’s 2006. She woke up not recognizing her husband, not knowing where she lived, or even remembering all of the great accomplishments she had achieved in the last five years. Crazy.

Can you imagine how different your state of mind would be if you woke up and weren’t able to recall the last five years of ups and downs, triumphs and defeats, and love and lost that made you who you are today?

What Kim and Krickett struggled with the most was that Krickett woke up the same person she was five years ago, but not necessarily the same person she was right before the accident. Five years may not seem like much to some, but if you think about how much you’ve grown or how much you’ve learned since 2006, it can start to feel like a lifetime ago.

I know if I think back to where I was five years ago my life was totally different.

In 2006:

• I was a senior in college
• I had never run more than a mile in my life
• I ate a diet that was vastly different than how I eat today
• I lived in Tallahassee with three roommates that I was very close with
• Derek and I had just officially ended things a couple of months before (we casually dated in college for a year)
• I had just started dating my ex (and went on to date him for 2 years)
• I still had no clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.  

In truth, I was a totally different person than I am today. If I lost all of my memories I wouldn’t be able to recall:

• why my ex and I didn’t workout
• how Derek and I were able to reconnect and make it work so many years later
• how I ended up in Tampa
• why I started running or all of my big running accomplishments
• what twitter is, how to blog, or even how to operate a smartphone
• I would also be really confused that my sister and Anthony were engaged, considering how different both of them were back then (if you told me 5 yrs ago that they would end up together, chances are I wouldn’t have believed you. now I couldn’t imagine them not being together)

Think back to where you were five years ago and how that differs from where you are today. All of the accomplishments you would have missed out on – marriages, children, or even running a marathon – all gone. The last five years have been the best years of my life, I’m not sure who I would be if I lost them.

Sorry about that. I sort of when off on a tangent there. For some reason the preview really stuck with me and the idea of what it would be like to lose five years has just been heavy on my mind. I really can’t wait to see the movie and plan to read The Vow as soon as they release it on paperback in February (original editions of the book are a little $$ on Amazon).