Doing the Happy Dance!

Whew!! What a week! To say my mind has been all over the place this week is a huge understatement! With work being crazy, being a new Beach Body coach, starting the Les Mills Pump work out program, being a mom, keeping the house somewhat presentable.....I am pooped! But you know what, I don't mind the craziness that was this week because I enjoy it so much! I am totally one of those that gets more stuff done when I am crazy busy versus when I have all the time in the world. It's really the only time I can kick my procrastination to the curb. Basically, I am a procrastinator that works great under pressure. Probably why I could write all my papers in college the night before they were due, even if it meant pulling an all-nighter, and still get a good grade. Anyway, I went off track there a bit...

There is a link-up I have done in the past called "5 on Friday" that I am totally going to participate in today. The link-up asks that you list 5 things, anything you want, from the week. Here is my Friday's 5: 

~One~

I started the Les Mills Pump program on Monday which is a strength training work out and meal plan. I was totally scared about the meal plan, because food is my biggest weakness. I am a junk food junkie. I can totally get myself to work out no problem, but what I normally struggle with is working out along with eating clean. It's either one or the other for me. Oh, and I love wine. This week, surprisingly, has been different. I don't know if it's because the number on the scale dropped right off the bat, or if I finally found my motivation, but so far I have been on point with both working out and eating clean. Can I get an Amen!!??

 

Since Monday I have dropped 6 pounds. I am in shock. Also, I finally fit into a pair of jeans that I literally would hang in front of the treadmill and stare at as I ran for motivation. Yes, the first few pounds were water weight but the other few, that is a freaking miracle! I have been gaining and losing the same 5 pounds for months....like 10 months. FINALLY, I broke that vicious cycle. I know it has all to do with my eating this week, but also I think it's because I switched up my normal work outs. Normally, I would run for miles, daily, to get my exercise in and the scale would not budge. This week, following Les Mills, I have done 2 strength training work outs and 1 cardio work out. That's it. For a total of 1 1/2 hours all week. I think that is pretty sweet, especially since this week was so crazy for me. So what did I learn?? Basically what everyone and their brother knows, "you can't out-run a bad diet." Truth. I know the scale isn't everything, but dammit I still love seeing that number go down. Loving Les Mills so far. I am excited to see what next week brings and if I can get to my initial goal weight that I have been thinking about since I gave birth to KB. I am literally 3 pounds away. Pinch me. 

~Two~

Kamden has been chatting it up non-stop! Most of his chatter is gibberish, but I am noticing more and more each day that some of that chatter is him saying actual words. We have really been trying to teach him "please" and "thank you" lately and last night during dinner he said "peeeease" after every bite of dinner because he wanted more. I wish I would have recorded him saying it because it's so cute. I love his little voice and am looking forward to the conversations I will have with him in the future. Also, his new thing lately is shaking his head no at everything. He doesn't quite get what that means yet since I will offer him a bite of dinner, he will shake his head "no," and then take a bite anyway. :) 

~Three~

One more Kamden story. :) He is obsessed with wearing shoes. He loves to put on his daddy's shoes and walk around our house, but lately he wants to wear his own shoes. We bought him some really cute Nike's for Christmas that I pulled out recently and he loves them. He gets really excited when we  put them on him, so when we were getting ready for his 18-month check up earlier this week I got him ready and put those shoes on him. Well, we get to the appointment and he had to get weighed right away. I took the shoes off and it was an all out, melt-down. He bawled. For 5 minutes straight. The nurse was so confused why he was so upset and looked at me like, "WTF?" He calmed down after a bit, but I knew the tears would be back because he was also getting a shot at that appointment. Every shot he has gotten in the past, we lay him on the table, I hold his arms down and stand by his head, while he looks directly into my eyes with a terrified look that breaks my heart, and the nurse holds his legs and gives him the shot. I dread it. I was expecting an all-out bawl sesh with the shot, but he only cried for about 5 seconds. That is awesome but seriously? He cried 10 millions times harder when I took off his shoes versus getting a shot in the thigh. I guess he's got his priorities straight. :)

~Four~

My grandparents are coming to visit this weekend! They are actually on their way here right now from MN. I am hoping the roads are okay since Mother Nature took another crap on us last night and into today. I am really excited to see them since it's been a while and I miss them!! I am also excited for them to see KB because he has changed so much since they saw him last....which I think was last December around Christmas. I hope they are ready for a little spit-fire that likes to climb TV stands, shake lamps, and poke people's eyes out! 

~Five~

Warning: I am about to get a little deep here.......

A spark has been lit. I don't know how, or why it happened now, but I feel like I am finally on a path to something really big. I can feel it. I can't explain it, but it's there. Up top when I was talking about me finding motivation, well, that has to do with the spark. I have always had dreams and goals but never really knew how I would get there. I feel like I have a vision now and can finally see the steps to get to where I want to be. When I became a mother my life was suddenly not all about me anymore. It wasn't about my husband anymore. It was about our family as a whole. What can I do to better our family? To take care of our family? I think it starts with me. I need to feel accomplished and that what I am doing has meaning. I want to have passion so that I can lead by example. I need to feel good about myself to be a better wife, mother, daughter and friend. I am working on that and I know with each day if I give it my all, I will do just that. When you think about someone that you look up to, or aspire to be like, or whatever it may be, just think this: how are they any different than you? They were just an everyday person at one point that decided they want something more. Well, I decided that too, and I am going to get it.

What motivates you? What is your goal?

Happy Friday bizzos! :) Now I need to get back to work so I can enjoy the weekend and cheer on the Badgers in the FINAL FOUR BABY!!!!! GO BUCKY!!!!!!

~Devon

I did something….

…..that is totally out of my norm, but I am SOOOOOOOO excited to be doing it. Last Friday I decided that I wanted to make my life more chaotic by becoming a Beachbody coach. What does that mean, you ask? Well, it means a lot of things. It means that I can use my passion for health and fitness to support and motivate others who want to make that a priority in their lives. It means that I have something to keep me motivated and accountable to eat healthy and work out, because that is what will motivate the people who want my support. It means I can help people reach the goals they have set for themselves while providing guidance, motivation, support, and the push they need - along with some humor, because I am Devon after all. It means that I can do something that I love to hopefully create positive results in my life as well as others.

I am excited. I am nervous. I am overwhelmed. I am anxious. I am determined. I am doing this.

Stay tuned. 

Little Friday

When I get to work I like to ease into my day. Unless I am forced to do any actual work immediately, I usually make my way to the break room for some coffee creamer with a dash of coffee, chit chat with a few co-workers on my way back to my desk, say hello to my friend Dupa over IM since we both work at the same company, and then I check the news, blogs, etc. I don’t feel guilty about easing into my day because I always work through lunch. So basically I am taking my lunch break immediately, whatev. Anyway, where I was trying to go with this lengthy explanation is that this morning I came across a link-up called “Little Friday” where basically you just write about whatever tickles your fancy. It’s hosted by Ashley at The Grits Blog. I honestly have never visited her blog before today and found out about this link-up through Holly’s blog; which, is kind of cool because that’s the point of link-ups: to find new blogs. Holy punctuation Batman!! As if I already don’t have enough that I read, I will now be reading Ashley’s too. J

So, in all my randomness, here is a story about the worst thing ever: SPIDERS.

The Day I Turned into Spider-Woman aka My Worst Nightmare

A couple weeks ago I made myself look like a big ole baby by posting a picture on Facebook of a spider bite on my arm.

Normally I would have thought nothing of a spider bite, but this one got really red and swollen and there was a ring around it. I immediately thought I was going to be saying “good bye” to my arm which would have been awful because it’s my right arm, and I am right-handed. My left arm is really there for looks, to even things out, because it is not coordinated at all. Picture a baby deer walking for the first time and that is basically how my left arm acts when it’s rolling solo.

Or, if you have seen the "Scary Movie" movies with the guy that’s like “take my strong hand” and it’s basically a mangled hand no one wants to come in contact with: that is my left arm.

Anyway, after asking FB if I was going to die or not, the general consensus was to go get it checked out by a doctor. I googled “spider bite with a ring around it” and that basically lead me to believe I had been bitten by a brown recluse spider. (FYI - never google this unless you never want to sleep again) So off to the doctor I went. Of course when I get there, the ring around the bite had gone away and most of the swelling had gone down. The doctor gave me the side eye and looked at me as if I was a complete moron.

Which, in most cases I certainly am. He told me if it turns black or blue over the next couple days to come back, otherwise it should be fine. Great. So I went about my business and watched that bite over the following days and it was getting better. THANK GOD!

A few more days pass and I am walking through Target, alone, which really never happens, and my left arm starts to itch like crazy. I mean, I probably looked like a scatter-brained meth head by the way I was itching my arm. I couldn’t help but think it was karma’s way of getting me back for dissing my left arm so much. I got home and was able to take a look at my arm and there were 4, count ‘em, FOUR new bites!!! Is this damn spider living on me!!? WTF!!? So I didn’t freak out and go to the doctor again like the last time, but I did clean our bedroom from top to bottom, Bud washed all our bedding, thinking this would do the trick. I was wrong. A couple more days go by and my face starts itching. You have got to be shitting me. And what to you know, I have 2 bites on my face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not my face!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Gross. I immediately thought the spider had laid eggs in my face and that they were going to hatch and swarm my body while I was at work or something just like my childhood story read. That story has never left my mind and now it probably never will.

I read that bites can show up 48 hours later so I am assuming it happened in my sleep, which leads me to believe I ate the spider since the bites are right next to my mouth. This doesn’t even terrify me like it normally would because if I did eat the spider in my sleep that bastard is out of my life. I told Bud that I think the spider lives in my ear and comes out to bite me when I am sleeping. I paint a glorious picture to think about every night as I am going to sleep. Fun times.

And today I am thankful for make-up

Happy almost Friday!!!!!!

FOOD....nom nom nom

Bud and I like to try new recipes from time to time and last night we tried a couple that turned out DELISH. They are healthier than most of the recipes we typically try out and were very easy to make….even on a week night….when KB was running around like a mad man….taking every utensil out of the kitchen drawers….along with every piece of Tupperware…..and banging his juice cup on our glass table…..and shaking lamps….I digress. I found them both on Pinterest, my go-to for new recipes. The recipes are a cheesy zucchini bake and creamy mushroom chicken. Here is how my evening went down….

First, I got my ingredients ready for the cheesy zucchini bake. Here is the list of the ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized zucchinis
• 2 medium-sized yellow squash (side note: I typically don’t like squash)
• 2-4 TBSP of fresh basil (our grocery store is bush-league so they didn’t have any fresh basil. I just used a crap ton of dried basil that we had at home and it was still good)
• 2 TBSP of thinly sliced green onion
• 1/2 tsp of dried thyme (I’ve got too much thyme on my hands….no, you don’t like?)
• 3/4 tsp of garlic powder (to ward off vampires)
• 1 cup of mozzarella/romano/white cheese (I used a blend of white cheeses)
• 1/2 cup of coarsely grated parmesan cheese (I used the stuff you put on pizza instead)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Now, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 inch pan with some Pam (did you say your name is Pan?). Wash the zucchini and yellow squash (not with soap Amelia Bedelia) and cut them into 1 inch, half-moon pieces. If you have fresh basil, wash that up and cut it.

Combine the squash, zucchini, basil (if you have dried basil instead of fresh basil just sprinkle as much as you like in the mixture…I think I put in about 3 TBSPish), thyme, garlic powder, 1/2 cup of the white cheese, and parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly until everything is evenly distributed. Add the mixture to the baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Open your oven and stand back for a few so you don’t burn your eyelashes and eyebrows off. Put that baby in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until squash and zucchini are tender.

Add the rest of the white cheese over the top and put it back into the oven for an additional 15 minutes or until its golden brown on top. YUMMO!

In the midst of making this dish, as if I wasn't already multi-tasking enough, I started the creamy mushroom chickens. The chickens took about 15-20 minutes total to make, so time it out accordingly if you want everything to be ready at the same time. For the chicken dish you will need:

• 2 chicken breasts, about 5 oz each (I had 3 chicken breasts that were probably a bit bigger than 5 oz and it was still good)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp of canola oil
• 1 shallot, chopped (since we have a bush-league grocery store, I couldn’t find shallots and substituted with a small yellow onion)
• 1 cup of shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (mine were pre-sliced and felt I could have added more than a cup)
• 2 TBSP of white, dry wine (I bought some pinot grigio and pretended I didn’t only need 2 TBSP and got the jumbo bottle….booyah)
• 2 TBSP of heavy cream
• 1/4 cup of chicken broth
• 2 TBSP of thinly sliced green onion

Cut off the gross fat from the chickens and season both sides with salt and pepper (SHOOP!!). Heat the canola oil on medium in a frying pan and add the chickens. Cook for 12-14 minutes, only flipping the birds one time. Transfer the chickens to a plate and cover so they don’t get chilly. Add the shallot/yellow onion to the pan and heat for about a minute. Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 2-4 minutes. Add white wine and stir until reduced and scrape up those brown bits in the pan, adds to the flavor. Pour in the chicken broth and reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Add the green onion and heavy cream and return the pan to a simmer. Add the chickens back to the pan and coat with mushroom mixture until everything is heated up and ready to shove down your hatch.

And there is our dinner from last night. Add a glass of wine and the meal with be complete! :)

If you want to read a recipe that is not written by an immature adult, click here for the chickens and here for the zucchini bake.

Bud and I both liked this meal and I even took some leftovers for lunch today. Still delish.

Welp, that should do it for today.

PEACE OUT!

La Update

We’ll we’ll we’ll…look what we have here. Damn autocorrect!!!! (I totally stole that from some meme I saw on FB or IG or Pinterest or…I am crazy. Probably the last one.) Anyhoo, I am just popping in for an update since I have finally been spared some free time at work.  HALLELUJIAH!

In my last post I told the internet that I was going to put myself through 14 days of hell. I made it through those 14 days and worked out 12 of them.  I was pretty proud that I consistently worked out and only skipped a couple days; however, my weight didn’t budge at all!! Annoying.





After those 14 days were up I took a mini break from working out mostly because we were busy, but also because I was just over it. After my week hiatus, I decided I needed to do something to bust through this damn plateau I have been stuck in so I coaxed my family into a diet bet.  Muahahahahahahahahaha. I honestly think that is exactly what I needed.  Friendly competition and fresh doll hairs dangling in the distance. We are mirroring the actual website with our bet (dietbetter.com) and are all competing to lose 4% of our bodyweight in a month.  We decided that the person who loses the highest percentage will get 25% of the pot, and those who reach a 4% loss will split the remaining 75%. We started our bet on February 12^th and will end on March 12^th.  Within the first 4 days I miraculously lost 5 pounds by saying “no” to chips, treats, grease (all the delicious stuff) and saying “yes” to fruits and lots of water. Pee City. That put me at 1.2 pounds away from reaching a 4% loss.  Since then, I have gone up a couple pounds and lost them again (damn female cycle), but am still sitting a couple pounds lower than my pre-pregnancy weight. BOOYAH! Honestly, I haven’t worked out as much as I planned, but I am eating a gazillion times better than I normally do, and have cut way back on the vino intake. Sad times.

All in all, I haven’t made any huge changes, but I really think my little swaps are making a difference and are helping me break through my plateau. I definitely need to pick it up in the work out department though, so I can coast into victory at the end of our bet. J I am sure I will do another update in a week or so with some more progress (hopefully).

In other news, my son is still a huge daddy’s boy and while that’s cute in all, it kind of hurts my beat maker. I mean, I BIRTHED HIM, after all. Hoping it’s just a phase (for my sake and sanity) and that he will want to cuddle with his mama again soon.

Dear Winter aka Polar Vortex aka Hell on Earth,

            Are you serious? 40 degrees BELOW zero? It’s almost MARCH!!!! WTF!!??? I would love to blame Canada for this one, but I am sure they are pissed off too. You suck! Go away and don’t bother showing your face again……EVER!!!!!!

Not Sincerely,

Disgruntled Wisconsin Resident

This last weekend our family decided to take the kiddos to Monkey Joe’s in Appleton and they all loved it! If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically a cross between Chuckie Cheese and Discovery Zone. It’s a place full of inflatable slides and bounce houses. I was really looking forward to getting KB out of the house since we have been pretty much on lockdown all winter long with this DAMN COLD WEATHER!!! (See above) He did really well on all the slides - even the big ones! This kid has no fear so far and I am glad he is just up for anything. I look forward to taking him back when he is a little older so he can run around like the big boys. J

 

On the way home

Speaking of kiddos, Kamden is starting to get a little naughty streak and I find it kind of funny. I know I will be “that parent” that laughs when I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it! He doesn’t really understand that what he is doing is wrong yet, so in the meantime I will be giggling under my breath.  Like for instance, we have this tall floor lamp right by our couch. We (my husband) are constantly doing laundry so our hampers are in our living room about 99% of time because that’s where we (my husband) fold it. Well, our wicker hamper usually also serves as a side table right by the floor lamp at the end of our couch since we haven’t purchased an actual table to put there yet. Don’t judge. Kamden is obsessed with shaking the floor lamp and it scares the bejesus out of me every time because I don’t want him to knock it over and have it fall on him. Well, yesterday he was also all about getting into the back room where the elliptical and treadmill are, but we have a little barricade we made out of a little cubby, a plastic slide, and some pillows, that has previously kept him out. Real classy up in this B. KB figured out how to crawl over our very high-tech barricade so all day yesterday we were chasing him from crawling over it. Once KB was tired of us pulling him away from the barricade he somehow came up with a diversion. I am sitting in the living room, playing with KB, until I notice him starting to slowly back-up towards the hamper and floor lamp. He waits for me to notice him, makes eye contact, gets a little grin on his face, and then whips around to knock over the hamper. Then he starts scurrying towards the lamp as if he is going to start shaking it, but his hand barely grazes it before he bolts in the other direction down the hall and towards the barricade. It was as if he was trying to slow me down from catching him before he made it to the back room. This went on a few more rounds until we could distract him with snacks and cartoons. Yikes. 

And because my post is all over today, here is an interval treadmill work out that I will be doing to switch things up a bit. I did this yesterday and was sweating buckets (nothing new). So if you are like me and like running (psychos), but need to switch things up a bit, give this a try: 

I found this on Pinterest but modified it a bit. A lot of times with running routines I go as fast and as long as I can that day. It doesn’t mean I follow the routine to a “T” but I try to.  Some days I do more, some days I do less, and some days I just do it la du it. J

And now I am cutting myself off from rambling even more.

PEACE OUT BIZZOS!  

14 Days of Hell

January so far has been pretty good for me when it comes to working out.  I have exercised about 4-5 days per week, and am feeling pretty good in that area of my life.  Eating, well that’s a whole other story.  Eating is always my downfall because I love food, and think I can eat like a 17 year old boy and not gain weight.  WRONG!!  I cannot do that.  Maybe I could at one point in my life (not really) but I can’t anymore.  I need to figure it out.  Some days I am great, and others are a downward spiral of chicken wings and cheese dip.  Not together, but now that I think of it that sounds delish….mind out of the gutter in 3…2….1….

I don’t eat straight crap all the time, and when I do it’s not like I am shoveling it down my hatch, but still.  I need to chill out.  Case and point à Reese’s peanut butter cookies.

*drool

I made those bad boys last night and they were sooooo good.  Why did I make them?  No freaking reason.  Just because they looked good.  STOP IT!!!

Those cookies lying around, looking all good and stuff, are not going to help my cause at all.  So, I am really going to try and make some better choices food-wise, and I am kicking it up a notch and introducing 14 days of hell to my life.  I totally made that up, but it’s what I am calling the plan below.  I found it on Pinterest.  I would link it but my work computer won’t let me, and my phone might blow up if I try to do it on there. (iPhone 3 probs - don’t act like you’re not impressed)   According to the pin, you can lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks by doing this routine every day.  The pin could be a complete liar, but I know that if I do this plan for 14 days it will be a good thing, either way.  I have been running on the treadmill this month for my work-outs, which I love to do (I know, punch me in the face), but I know that I need to start adding in some strength training, says EVERYONE these days.  I guess I will listen and see what happens.  Here’s to hopefully looking a little leaner in 2 weeks, and for getting a little closer to my ultimate goal (before getting knocked up again…)

14 Days of Hell aka the Drop 10 Workout

100 Crunches

90 Jumping Jacks

80 Lunges

70 Squats

60 seconds - Run in place

50-second plank

40 Jumping Jacks

30 Squats

20 High Knees

10 Push-Ups

That right there is what I am going to add to my work out, every day, for 14 days.  Currently, I run for 50-60 minutes (5-6 miles) on the treadmill, 4-5 days a week.  I am weird and like running on the treadmill, so I could keep this up for the winter, but I need to do something to keep my body guessing.  As of now I am going to drop my cardio down to 3 miles-ish along with the routine above.  I think it will be very challenging, but I also think I can tough it out for 14 days.  I should probably track my measurements before and after instead of relying on the scale (since that bizz can be a filthy, lying, pirate hooker), but I probably won’t.  I don’t have a tape measure (one that can be used for this kind of thing) and I am going to bank on the fact that I will forget to pick one up at the store tonight.  #aintnoshameinmombrain

I am also going to really try and eat healthier not just during the week, but on the weekends too.  I know I am not alone when I say weekends are the hardest.  It’s just so fun to have adult beverages and veg out after a long work week!  I will probably still do that, but when it comes to “vegging out” I might actually just eat veggies!!??? I dunno -  I will just take that part of it day by day. 

Anyone else feel like today just kept dragging along? BOOF!!!  Let’s get this work day over with so I can cuddle buddy boy, do that damn routine above, and try to convince the hubs that I need a back massage ASAP. J

Word

Updates and I suck at blogging

Wow, I am really slacking on this whole blogging thing lately.  It’s not like I have been sitting in an empty, dark room with nothing going on in my life.  It’s not like I am so crazy-busy that I don’t have time.  I am just not doing it.  So because I have been slacking as of late, I am just going to piece together some thoughts and call it a blog post.  Pretty much what I do every time I post something, so nothing new here. J

First, I am going to do a little update on Kamden.  He is really the main reason I started to blog in the first place.  I just want to make sure I am documenting his milestones and little things he does so I can look back and remember just how little, cute, and fun he is.  That won’t change right??......RIGHT!!!??  Just kidding, I am totally aware he will turn into a big, smelly boy at some point.  Anyway, here is Kamden right now, just about 16 months….

·         Opens every door and shuts it about a million times a day

·         Says “this” repeatedly, all day long

·         Can say juice, dada, mama, fish, this, no, yes, beep beep….and a bunch of gibberish

·         Loves dogs

·         Throws his hands in the air when he is done eating

·         Loves fruit and grilled cheese

·         Just tried chocolate milk and loves it

·         Sleeps great still (thank God)

·         Is getting 3 molars at once at this very moment (drool city)

·         Loves trucks and cars

·         Gave his daddy a hug last night and it melted my face off

·         Has been walking backwards a lot lately

·         Loves cartoons - Little Einstein’s, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates…pretty much any cartoon

·         Has an obsession with climbing on the couch so he can mess with the thermostat.  The temp was set at 50 degrees the other day….

·         Loves to be outside

  

·         Loves the snow.  I was walking with him outside and he bent over to eat snow right off the ground

·         Thinks he can walk up and down stairs like a big boy (he cannot)

·         Puts all his food in his hair every time he eats

·         Can feed himself with a spoon

·         Blows kisses J

·         Licks my face when I ask him for a kiss

  

·         Starting to only take 1 nap a day

·         Knows where his eyes, nose, and mouth are

·         Loves dry cereal and goldfish crackers

·         Won’t eat vegetables unless they are pureed

·         Likes when people talk to him on the phone

·         Grabs his pacifier and blanket when he is tired

I could list out a million more things but these are what popped into my head.  Can he please just stay this age forever??

In other news, I was asked to be in a wedding!  Our friends, Tim and Amy are getting hitched in May of 2015! I am pumped!  With that said, I am kind of in a baby-making dilemma.  We are going to try for #2 at some point here in the next 6 months, hopefully.  I do not want to be pregnant or about to give birth during the wedding, but that means I would have to get knocked up by no later than June/July.  Initially, I wanted to “plan” it out so I would have maternity leave over next summer, but now I am not so sure what to do.  The hubs is freaked out that we are talking baby #2 and I have been secretly calming the baby fever for a few months.  So stay tuned….



Am I really ready for this again??



My friend Erin is expecting #2 and found out she is having a GIRL!!  I see lots of pretty dresses and bows in her future. J  So excited!

My mom got a new job and loves it!!  I am so, so, so, SOOOOOO happy for her!  She definitely deserves it!

My brother is competing in the district spelling bee on the 24^th!  Last year he made it all the way to state and placed 9^th.  That is just incredible to me because he was in 4^th grade and competing against 8^th graders.  He is smart as a whip and I can’t wait to hear how he does in a couple weeks!

I didn’t really make any new year’s resolutions this year, other than to be healthier.  I usually try to do a 180 and eat clean, workout every day, etc. but realistically, I just set myself up for failure every time.  So, I am just taking it day by day and trying to make better choices, one decision at a time.  Like for example, to balance out my red wine addiction I had a salad for lunch today. J #winning ß that’s douchey 

Random, but I found this funny:



'Tis the season!



Congratulations!!!  You made it through the rambling!! Welp, I am off to make it look like I am doing some work around here.  TGIF!