Some of my craziest blogging experiences….

Yesterday during my run I got a text that Brooke put her running clothes on and wanted to join me for the end of my run.  That was a very fabulous text to receive.

Of course I want Brooke to be my lifelong running partner but I do not want to force it in the slightest.  She knows she is always invited and that if she wants to come, it’s all her idea!

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Brooke was so happy to see in our shadows that she is getting closer to being as tall as me.

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Brooke wanted to start preschool with Skye yesterday and I gladly said yes to that…

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She even packed her a little lunch.

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This was my set-up for blogging… I eat a lot of cereal these days.

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And last night’s dinner was inspired by Bangs Friend (she ate something similar the other night and I had to copy her).

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It was absolutely amazing and next time we are going to add sautéed onions!  Look at me branching out and trying a new meal;)

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And then we got everything ready for Brooke’s first day of school.

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I hope that you eat something today that brings you as much joy as a spoonful of peanut butter brings Skye!

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I’ve been blogging for a total of 9 years and 10 months!  That’s a long time to be taking pictures of your running watch and talking about food and family online;). With every job comes some random experiences so I thought I would share just a few that first come to mind when I think about blogging!

*I think I’ve told you this one before but when I was doing work for Old Navy in California the makeup artist wanted to make some changes… He wasn’t an Old Navy employee but a makeup artist that they had hired for that day.  He didn’t like my fake eyelashes for the pictures so he decided he wanted to cut them off along with my real ones too.  I absolutely could have said something but it was my first time doing anything like this and I was just too scared to say a word, ha.  I just sat there wondering how in the world I had a complete stranger with scissors that close to my eyeballs and it definitely took some time to grow my eyelashes back!

*The fact that I’ve met some of my closest friends through blogging. There are girls that I met 9 years ago at blogging meetups and I still see and talk to them often!  My training partner (Emilee)… When she moved here from California a mutual friend told her that she should run with me but we never connected because we assumed we didn’t live close to each other.  She started following me on IG and then she recognized me when I was running the kids to school one day.  We realized we lived 5 houses away from each other and after that we pretty much ran every day together for the rest of the year and pretty much had the same pace/goals for every race/workout etc.  I definitely don’t think I would have hit the time we did last year in the marathon without her.

*One time I blogged about losing my car key while I was out on a trail run in the mountains and somebody read about it on my blog and found my car key while they were out running?!

*When I went to run the NYC Marathon in 2011, I didn’t really have the money to pay to stay somewhere and ended up staying at a blog reader’s house that I had never met before when she offered!  I look back and think… ‘wow, that was too crazy and I would never stay with someone by myself that I’ve never met” but at the time it seemed completely normal (and she turned out to be the coolest person ever).

*I am probably the least consistent person on the planet when it comes to hobbies (I’m sure you’ve noticed;) but somehow the only two hobbies that have stuck were running/blogging which makes me seem much more consistent than I actually am ha.

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I’d love to hear any weird/random/crazy experiences that have happened because of a job you have now or one in the past!

Those of you that have kids that run with you… tell me about how it works with you guys!

What is your goto cereal (these types of things are ESPECIALLY interesting to me lately because it is so important to me now)?

Question from Andrew> Ketchup or salsa on your eggs?  

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49 comments

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Oh my goodness your poor eyelashes!!!! I probably would have done the same thing but that’s so sad! You’ve had some amazing experiences and I know I’m glad do have spent the last 5-6 years following you! <3

ps. ketchup on eggs is meh. It's actually pretty good with salsa though.

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THANK YOU for following along the last 5-6 years and being my friend! I hope you get some eggs with amazing homemade salsa soon… that is making my mouth water. Have a great day Meagan!

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I like to switch up cereals, but always love Honey Nut Cheerios and Frosted Mini Wheats! Although I haven’t been eating as much cereal without my late night classes- when those start up in 2 weeks, I’ll be back on the cereal train with you haha.

Ketchup and hot sauce are good for scrambled eggs! Salsa only on breakfast tacos.

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Those two choices are complete classics… we always have them too! TWO WEEKS until classes start again, I’m excited for you and I’ll think about you when I’m eating cereal late at night:) I am going to agree with you on your selections for eggs and toppings. Have a great day Mariah!

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So recently I was talking to a recruiter who was new in my industry. He asked me what an acronym I mentioned was and when I answered a few more questions he was so polite and thanked me a ton! Apparently a lot of people don’t sound nice on the phone when recruiters call but I did?! That was probably the oddest because it seems weird to be mean to someone on the phone (unless they’re being a jerk then maybeeee it’s justified but still probably not).

Also the correct answer is hot sauce on eggs ;)

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Maureen, that is awesome… your voice alone brightens people’s day. That is incredible! And the way you answered Andrew’s question made me laugh so thanks for that. Have a great day!

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WOW – 9y10m – that’s a long time! Kudos for sticking with it and finding your niche. I pop in from time to time when I need a running shot in the arm – LOL – I almost always get it :) keep up the good work! (Nothing on eggs For me and both those things make me cringe even tho I know tons of people do it – including my son!) happy running!

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HEY CHRIS!! Thank you so much and I am happy to give you those running shots whenever you need. Thank you so much and I will never include a picture of eggs with anything on them for your benefit from here on out;) Have a great day!

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Salsa for my eggs- so yummy!! Pretty boring but my go to cereal is bran flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Usually with blueberries or strawberries thrown in.

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Hey Kimberly! That combo sounds good to me… fruit just takes a bowl of cereal to the next level. I hope you are having a great morning so far.

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Hi Janae!
I hope you are able to stay cool with the heat of summer and your third trimester!

One of the nicest work experiences was a family using their Triple A membership to have a locksmith come and unlock my car. I lock my keys in my car at least once a year, but this time I was over an hour from home doing my job!

My son started running maybe twice a year with me when he was in elementary school. This summer he ran with a running club so he could be conditioned for the start of Middle school xcountry this week. It makes me so happy he will have this lifelong hobby!

Salsa on everything usually! Lately I have been enjoying Raisin Bran and almond milk.
Have a really great start to school with your kids!

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Thank you so much Jenny… I am pretty sure I am going to stay inside for the rest of this week when the sun is up with some popsicles haha. What a kind family, I am so glad they were able to help you! I am so excited for your son and you have been such a great example to him. Keep me updated with his xcountry season. Thanks Jenny, you too!

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Oh my gosh the eyelash story!! I think we can all look back and say “what was I thinking” when reflecting on life haha.
Where did you get Brooks outfit from? My daughter would love it (she’s the same age). Good luck on her first day! We started Monday all online.

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Hahaha yes!! Oh I wish we could get our girls together. Here are the details for her outfit and I hope your day is a beautiful one. Good luck with school starting next week!

https://www.zara.com/us/en/oversized-pocket-t-shirt-p09007702.html?v1=60706252
Her jeans are from Cotton On Kids but I can’t find them online right now.
Her shoes are Converse and I got them at Famous Footwear but also couldn’t find them online.

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Honey Bunches of Oats will never get old. But if I am looking for more of a sugar rush – Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Side note: Peaches here (in Virginia) have been unreal this year! Have yours been as good?

And Andrew -> salsa

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Well, now I need to jump on an airplane and come eat peaches with you! Ours have been mostly good but I have gotten a few not so good batches. I hope your Wednesday is going well so far!

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Things that seem so normal can look really different in hindsight, LOL!
I worked with a woman who was a member of Screen Actors Guild, and she was always learning about work as an extra for TV shows or movies filming in/near DC. She called me one night and talked me into bringing my big dog to a movie shoot (True Lies) in DC. We didn’t make it into the movie, but I chatted with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Arnold at the wardrobe truck about my dog :)
Two of my three kiddos have wanted to run with me at times, but like you’re doing with Brooke, it’s worked out best to follow their lead–offer, but accept the answer they give and follow their goals separately from my own.
If I had to choose, salsa could go on eggs. I’m not much of a ketchup person besides on burgers.

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so cute how brooke helps skye! Also just realized that kids now are getting all the cute masks to match their back to school outfits, that’s kinda fun!
btw idk if anyone has mentioned this but the mobile version of your site has been giving me some issues lately (I just go directly to your blog on Safari on my iphone) – there’s been a bunch of ads blocking the center /sides of the page simultaneously, that prevent me from being able to click on new blog links or scroll down the page. it takes a bunch of reloading / clicking “x” like 5 times to get rid of ads, etc to make it through some of the posts. not a huge deal but just wanted to bring it up in case others are having this problem

love u all !!

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Thank you thank you thank you for telling me this! I will send it to my ad company right now to be fixed! You are just the best, thanks for your help and I hope you are having a great day Krista!

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When I lived in New Orleans I worked for a company that was a big supporter of the Saints. This happened to be the year after they won the Super Bowl. They somehow managed to get the Vince Lombardi trophy to display for an event, so somewhere I have a Polaroid of me standing in front of the Lombardi trophy!

My oldest son (almost 6) likes to run the last 1/2 mile or so with me sometimes. When he says he wants to, I’ll swing by the house toward the end of a run and do a loop or two around our neighborhood with him.

I’m more of an oatmeal fan vs. cold cereal, but Life cereal has always been my favorite.

SALSA on eggs 100%!

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I have loved Peanut Butter Chex ever since you mentioned it in one of your posts. Most of the time I eat it alone as a snack, mixed in with yogurt, or for breakfast with pistachios mixed in. My pantry is never, ever without it. As for Andrew’s question, I absolutely love ketchup but will never pair it up with eggs. No salsa either. Just cheese please!

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I love how Brooke loves to run with you! My kids know they are always welcome. I run before they get up, so I will ask in the afternoon if one of them wants to go. I have to take them one at at time. However, the past few nights, we have went to the track and that works awesome because they can run, do the long jump or we can walk and talk.

Not an odd story, but I rarely have to have an “official” interview for jobs. Because of my degree and high demand for substitute teachers, early childhood teachers and my flexibility (aka, I am a stay-at-home mom and most of my kids are in school), I usually get offered a job based on a meet-and-greet or they have no one else to take the job so I get it ;-) haha.

Ketchup-I put it on everything!

Enjoy your Wednesday Janae!!!

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When I moved a few years ago, I went to a HUGE event downtown the weekend before school started (I’m a teacher). While I was waiting in line, I got to chatting with the family behind me, and we discovered that not only were the parents from the same home state as me, they had moved to the area at the same time as me, AND their kids were starting at my school. Two days later, I had their daughter in my class! It was so cool and such a small world moment.

I love raisin bran crunch, golden grahams, and lately I’ve gotten really into cinnamon life. SO good.

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OMG that eyelash story!!! I’m so grateful we met through blogging, I miss our Brooks ambassador trip adventures and wish we didn’t live so far away! xoxo

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– My breakfast today was similar to yours – but my peaches were mixed with cottage cheese (although I first thought seriously about putting them on top of Honey Bunches of Oats).
– My hands down favorite cereal is probably Quaker Oat Squares. But they are rarely on sale and I usually don’t eat box cereal so I don’t have them very often.
– I am a ketchup fan but eggs require salsa!

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Similar to you…….if Hope offers, I run with her every time. Sometimes, she suggests it before my run and I love that because then it’s like doing my warm up mile or so with her. I secretly am bursting inside everytime we get to run together, but also realize this might not last forever and so I just appreciate this moment.

Katsup, salsa, hot sauce, wing sauce……..they all rotate through………tell Andrew it’s one of those things I am not consistent on. ;)

PS. Hope is back full time face to face in a couple of weeks, and my high school is hybrid model (Cohorts of kids every other day.)

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I’m so jealous that Brooke wants to run with you!! My girls used to do 5Ks with me all the time, but now that they are teenagers, they have decided they don’t like running anymore . Sigh.

I interviewed as a teaching assistant years ago…I thought the head teacher looked familiar, but couldn’t place her. Turns out she was the little sister of one of my best elementary and middle school friends – I hadn’t seen her in literally decades ! Such a small world. I’m an elementary school librarian now and had the amazing honor of meeting Andrew Clements shortly before he died – I tend to fan girl a little when I meet authors, especially such beloved ones .

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Honey Nut Cheerios, Greek Yogurt, & Blueberries

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Awww! Skye reminds me of when my, now almost 17 year old, was little and would ask for “peanut butter on a poons”! I miss the little voices! :)

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Hi Janae! Do you mix up cereals too? I like doing that since I usually have a base of unsweetened cereal and then if I want something sweet I add a bit of chocolate Chex. That eyelash story sounds horrifying. My job is pretty boring but the best part is that I met my now fiance almost seven years ago on my first day of work! I am definitely going to eat some peanut butter today, my favorite way to eat it is off of a spoon like Skye.

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When it comes back out – pumpkin Cheerios!!!!! But I love cinnamon chex right now!!

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I can’t wait for all of the pumpkin too… especially pumpkin Cheerios! I hope you have a big bowl of cinnamon chex today:). Enjoy your day Mary!

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I worked for a big accounting firm when I was first starting out and as a first year, I had to attend lots of inventory counts that had funny or strange circumstances (like the ginormous room with endless piles of purses for The Sak, or counting badges for the Boy Scouts, or going in the middle of the night to count bananas in the big ripening rooms for a grocery chain). I traveled a lot for that job and my best memory is when we were in Baltimore for a few weeks, and instead of flying home to the West coast on the weekend, my coworker and I took the train up to New York. We stayed at a hotel that was under construction (the only way we could afford to stay in the city) and it had an amazing view of the twin towers right outside our rooms. That was only a little bit before September 11th. I still get goosebumps thinking of that trip.

And ketchup goes on the hashbrowns, hot sauce for the eggs ;)

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Oh wow, you really do have some interesting circumstances from that firm! I would get goosebumps from thinking about that experience in NYC too.
I hope you are having a beautiful day and thanks for sharing Michelle!

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I was offered a job in Tucson and it feels CRAZY but I’m there moving next week (from Canada)! It will be quite an adventure and I am terrified but super excited! Your eyelash experience also sounds terrifying haha I’m so happy you recovered!
I’m really into Honey Bunches of Oats right now (the kind with extra almonds!). Also Shreddies! I forgot how delicious they are, especially with fresh peaches. And chocolate Frosted Flakes because obviously. I CANNOT do ketchup on eggs, or really anything except for french fries. But salsa and/or hot sauce is delicious and I can’t remember the last day I didn’t eat some kind of breakfast burrito. Have a great day and enjoy every one of those precious runs with your sweet daughter :)

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Rachel, I am SO so excited for you and congrats! Tucson is an awesome place! Please keep me updated with how it goes. HOW HAVE I NOT TRIED CHOCOLATE FROSTED FLAKES… I need those now. Breakfast burritos are heaven. Thank you so much and have a great day.

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Thank you so much!! Everyone keeps telling me how awesome Tucson is (I have never even visited!) so that makes me even more excited :) Thank you!! And YES please! I hope you get some TODAY!

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Random question – I was wondering if you could write a post on outdoor access in Utah. I’m considering moving there from California, but I’m concerned that some of the things I’m trying to get away from (congestion, wildfire risk) will be issues in Utah as well. Since you are outdoorsy and a skier and you’ve lived in both places, I thought maybe you’d be the perfect person to ask! I’d love to hear more about how easy or hard it is to get into the mountains and away from crowds for hiking, trail running, and skiing. Also, do you worry about the air quality much? Have a wonderful day!

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Hey Liz!! This makes me incredibly happy because I would love to go ski or hike with you:) I will absolutely write a post about this but for now I’ll give you some shorter answers! We live in Utah County so I can’t answer for SLC area (but I do know it is busier) but down here, access to the mountains is incredibly easy. We can get from our house to being ON a chair lift in 16 minutes. It’s amazing. There are definitely some crowded hikes but those are usually just the easier ones that families can do. There are SO many hikes here that you would rarely see anybody else. There is usually a few fires each summer but rarely are they huge… this summer I have been able to run outside every day because we haven’t had any fires effecting our air quality here. BUT in January/February there are always a few days with a lot of inversion which mean I’m on the treadmill…. BUT if you were to drive up the canyons or into the mountains you will definitely avoid that. I’m a big fan of our state and I hope if you come that you love it too. I feel very lucky that I was able to come back to Utah and Andrew and I will be here forever:)

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Thank you!! This is helpful and I’ll look forward to a longer post too :) That chair lift access sounds like an absolute dream!

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I am so thankful you’ve stuck to your two hobbies because I reeeally enjoy reading your blog about running!! :-)

My kids are too young to run with me but I force them into the double stroller 3 – 4 times a week and I think it will probably make them hate running! Some days are better than others of course but the bad days when I’m already sweating just from chasing them down and buckling them into the stroller….oh boy, those mornings are rough. It’s my only option right now with the pandemic so I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do! Hopefully one day they look back and think it was kinda fun and decide they want to be runners too :-)

Peanut butter cheerios (not actual Cheerio brand because my grocery store stopped carrying it so it’s just the grocery store brand) have been my go-to for awhile now! Always love my frosted mini wheats too!!

Ketchup or salsa on eggs! Or hot sauce! All delicious things. Eggs pair great with so many sauces/veggies/carbs/everything haha

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Oh thank you Torrie, that means a lot to me! You are AMAZING for running while pushing a DOUBLE stroller. I cannot even imagine. You are strong. I think that it will make them love running and all of that fresh air and things to see… so good good for their brains! Excellent choices for your cereal and eggs:). Have a great rest of your day!

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My son just turned 9 on Sunday and he enjoys running. He has done spring track the past few years and cross country last year. Together we have done a handful of 3k and 5k races and I absolutely love the experience with him. It’s always his choice and we go at his pace.

I go in phases with cereal (and most other things) and right now my goto cereals are Kelloggs Vanilla Almond, Chocolate Chex and Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. I also like to add a little spoonful of peanut butter :)

Salsa on eggs + melted cheddar cheese.

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Thank you for adding the melted cheddar cheese… that is necessary. HAPPY birthday to your son a few days ago and I love that he loves running and that you get to do it together too. Keep me updated on you both! How have I not been adding spoonfuls of pb? I’ll try that now. Have a great rest of your day Erika!

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Ketchup on eggs, and lately I’ve been loving Honey Nut Cheerios!
Not work, necessarily, but when I started nursing school in 2012, I made it a point to take a break from dating. I was burned out on the “scene” and just wanted to focus on my new career. Well low an behold, that was the year I met my husband! He sat behind me in classes and it was love at first sight :)
You’re looking fantastic, Janae! Home stretch!

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Oh I LOVED hearing this.. haha the same thing happened the year I met Andrew (I wasn’t in school but wanted a break from dating). Thank you friend. I hope you and your two little ones are doing well today!

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I’m 14 weeks pregnant and I also have a cereal obsession right now. Current favs are Cracklin Oat Bran and Berry Cheerios :)

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Brown sugar mini wheats or honeycomb cereal are our go to cereals lol. The kids like them dry too.

I love ketchup, hot sauce, salsa or cheese on my eggs. But ketchup is my go to! Mmm now I am wanting eggs lol.

Love the bump pictures!

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so I am on a cereal kick now, and realized I want to eat the kind I used to……I mix total or wheaties with raisins……raisin bran raisins are hard and sugary, so I basically make my own! I also love multi grain cheerios and frosted cheerios right now.

usually eggs are with breakfast foods, so I prefer a little jam or apple butter on them. But we’re doing breakfast tacos tonight, and that calls for salsa and sour cream on top!

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