I love hanging with my family

The animals get super jealous of one another. If that cat is sitting with me and then gets up for a minute the dog is sure to jump right up in my lap. The cat sees this and then usually finds another spot near me just to bug the dog. I find them both very amusing.

 

This adorable young lady is my niece. She wanted to pose with a bear that we saw on our way to visit my grandparents. Then we went looking for her brother. I don't have kids of my own but I am super paranoid. I can take my niece the girl's room but my nephews have to go to the men's room all by themselves.
Stranger Danger!
So I have this 3 minute rule. If they don't come out in 3 minutes then I go looking for them. This particular day my nephew went over his 3 minutes. We were searching for him and finally found him crying in a panic. He got lost and thought we had left him behind. Kids are funny. Why on Earth would we leave him!? But I guess when you're a kid and you're kind of freaked out anyway in a huge novelty store you don't exactly think clearly.

 

The only purpose that Elmo in a highchair serves is that I thought it would be hilarious to put Elmo in a highchair. I think I'm the only one but I'm used to that. My grandparents have 6 kids, a zillion grandkids, and X amount of great-grandkids. Anyway! Their house has always been the best place to play! Toys, books, and for a while four wheelers. But they had to get rid of the four wheelers... they were more dangerous than the snakes. They live out in the country so there are snakes and other not-so-friendly creatures. And Elmo's big ball eyes hurt! They're heavy and hard so if you get hit in the head with them, they hurt! 

 

After we left that grandparent's house we went to see my other grandma on my mom's side. The two grandparents only live about 1 hour apart. Both grandpa's were farmers but this set of grandparent's lived in town rather than on the farm. They don't have so many kids running around everywhere so we bring our own toys. This is my nephew's ninja turtle. I was teaching it a new trick.

 

And today I am back and it is raining and half way snowing.

My friend is getting married tonight!!! I can't wait!! I love seeing a good friend start out their happy life. It gives me butterflies! :) 

This has been one crazy year.

I think.

It also seems like it flew away in the wind and I didn't get a chance to see it.

But I'm truly grateful for every moment.

Bad or good, sad or joyful

Every moment makes us who we are and

I cherish every single one of them!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

May we have yummy food and healthy bodies!!!

 

Oh... also.. it's the year of the snake.

It's my time to rule!

If I could have a wish for this year it would be that scientists find some new amazing truths in the vastness of the universe (I love science!) and that the people of this world will start respecting their planet and its wildlife.

 

 

Cheers! 



A Smelly Cat Birthday

Oh man!
I ate that junk food like no ones business over the holiday.
But it's okay.
I've already turned down cookies from the break room today.
Me: 1 Food: 0
I hope to keep up the good scoring.
I train with K tomorrow.
I'm pretty excited but also kind of nervous.
I guess I'm kind of a chicken.
But that's why I'm paying her... to push me.
To help make my body stronger and fit.
I missed working out on Sunday but I did get a workout in Friday, Saturday, and Monday. <<< Pretty Proud Of Myself
Especially for Saturday's workout.
I had went out of town to see my grandma and was out for most of the day but got back about 2 hours before the gym closed.
NORMALLY
I would've skipped
But for whatever reason I suited up and went... just went
I didn't think about it or try to talk myself out of it.
I just went.
And it felt AWESOME!


My precious Smelly Cat turned 13 Monday!! :))

<<< My mother in-law's super awesome dog! She was the sweetest dog I have ever met.

<<< My handsome hubby in his new hat.

Cuddlehund

Oscar loves to cuddle!!!

Who Wants To Wear Matching Socks Anyway

A tribute to my mom. She always bought decorative socks and never seemed to bother with matching them :)

12/21/12 Doomsday Randomness

 

I just learned how to cut out snowflakes!!

Addicting!!

 

New Sharpies for my collection!!!!!

They are oil based paint Sharpies

They rock my world :)

 

Santa cups for my Dad's Christmas party!!

All of the Goodies

One thing that is super hard to handle during the holiday season... the goodies. Especially the homemade goodies. I can resist the store bought stuff but when I know someone has slaved away in the kitchen I almost ALWAYS give in.

 Every year this is my battle.
.
But luckily I have been very good at getting to the gym. Sometimes getting to gym can be difficult during this time of year but for what ever reason I have been diligent. It's been hitting the spot for me. It just flat out makes me feel better.

Plus I am still high on the "new effect" of having a trainer. It was so much fun.  And I just feel so motivated.

For the Christmas celebration at my Dad's we are doing a "fiesta" theme. I'm pretty happy about it. "Fiesta" food is very easy to veganize. Or at best it can be made (easily) vegetarian.

 

Smelly Cat will be 13! on Monday. I can't believe she is already a teen. I still remember her feisty kitten days.

Time flies.

 

 

You know those things you take on when you get married because your partner refuses to part with it.

If not

Refer to the ugly yellow chair.

That's one of those things.

 

 

CHEERS!

 

 

An Awesome Twin Brother

 

 

I have this twin brother

He's a pretty cool dude

for lots of reasons

1. he's my twin which automatically makes him cool

2. he's really funny

3. he watches the walking dead with me

4. he got me that awesome t-shirt

5. he got me this awesome pin-up calendar

 

He's a cool dude.

 

I used to not see him very often because he had really weird hours. 11am-3pm then a break then 6pm-10pm like everyday almost

And I work at an office- your basic 8-5 and off on the weekends

BUT

He changed jobs and I have been seeing a lot more of him!!

It's been really nice.

As an older (twin) sister I tend to give him a hard time

but I hope he knows it's all in good fun

and sometimes I'm just trying to look out for him

and sometimes I step over my boundaries

I can't help it!

But I love him and I really hope he knows it.

 

 

So!

I had my first meeting with my trainer, K, last night.

She, K is a girl, is really super nice and outgoing

which is good because I tend to be shy at first

The first meeting was kind of a trial run

to see where I'm on the fitness scale

She said she was glad to work with someone who was already fit so that way she could push me more

in that moment I felt

1/2 flattered 1/2 terrified

But HEY

I didn't sign up to train so that I could be babied (sp) around

I need to be pushed!

To break out of my comfort zone!

Today I'm pretty sore.

All over

quads

tushy

abs

arms

shoulders

It was fun though

I liked it a lot and I know that her guidance will really help

Our schedule will be a little wonky at first

due to the holidays

you got

Christmas

&

New Years

Then hopefully it will be smooth sailing.

 

 

 

Cheers!

To trying something new

and challenging 

 

Potatoes

 

My dad has pounds upon pounds of russet potatoes and sweet potatoes.

He then happily (over)shared with me.

So basically I have potatoes galore

and not may potato recipes.

 

The potatoes in that first picture are a mix of russet and sweet with some chopped asparagus, green bell pepper, 1 ounce of grapseed oil, 2 teaspoons of dried rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme all mixed together and baked in the oven at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.

 

So good!

Even my picky eater husband loved it!!!

 

These potatoes are just classic mashed up with the hand mixer potatoes.

 

My friend Bridgett is getting married!!

So we celebrated her "last" night out on Saturday.

We had so much fun!!

Here she is cutting her cake.

Not sure why we made her cut her own cake.

I think it just happened that way.

Our table was super crowded but everyone wanted a pic with her and her cake

so

she just kind of went with it :)

She's awesome like that!

We had a lot of fun and I'm so happy for her!!

 

 

Cheers!!

 

 

Oh and I am meeting with my trainer for the first time tonight. I can't wait to report back! But right now I'm pretty nervous about it!!

The Color Family

MY NEWEST MEMBERS!!

Candy Bowl

Peppermint & Eggnog
 
Those seem the be the flavors of the season.. Oh and gingerbread. I've never cared for "holiday" spices but this year I'm all over it. The only thing that's kept me from making gingerbread is that I don't have any molasses and I'm not sure which stores here carry it.

Ill work on that.

I still need better workout music.

Ill work on that too!

Cheers!
Happy Thursday!

What Are You Smiling About

What are you smiling about?
Why are you so happy?
Whats so funny?

I get asked that... a lot. Always have. For as long as I can remember.

I don't know what expression I am wearing when I get asked these questions but maybe it's just a simple smirk like this one.



 

 

Maybe I was just born with a smile on my face.

 

 

I doubt it but either way it surely can't be a bad thing.

 

I think a lot of things in life can boiled down to attitude.

If you don't like it but you can't change it then change your attitude.

Rather that than be miserable about it.

Today is 12-12-12
I guess that is important
Seems like that's the day's catchphrase.

So here are 12 things I think are awesome.

1. Images from space

2. Vegan cookies         

3. Sharpies                    

4. Green Sharpies      

5. The Walking Dead    (duh)

6. Sarcastic Cats          

7. Breaking Bad           (I watch too much TV?)

8. This Book                

9. Star Wars               

10. Seth MacFarlane   (so hot!)

11. Good Workout Music

 

12. Pinterest. Which is where I got most of these photos.

The Munsters

Can. Not. Wait! To watch this!!! :)

Reminds me of my childhood.

The Walking Dead

I'm really late on this one.
Like 3 seasons late.
But I LOVE this show.
I had started watching it a couple of years ago but kind of forgot about it.
BUT now I am rewatching past season and getting back into it.
SO
FREAKING
AWESOME!

Walking the Walk

I read a quote book that has a quote for each day. I read one recently that stated the old cliche "Stop talking the talk and start walking the walk"- I needed to read that.

I really needed to read that.

I'm always like "yea I'm gonna do this or do that"
"tomorrow, yea, tomorrow"

Well it's about freaking time I stop talking and start doing.

Yesterday I was so close to skipping the gym
But with the quote still replaying over and over in my mind I went to the gym thinking... time to walk the walk.

Today will be the same thing.
I have to choose to walk the walk.
Of course there are a million excuses I could come up with
-I have to cook dinner
-I have to wash my hair
-I need to go Christmas shopping
-I need to get Dad's birthday present
-etc

But excuses aren't going to make me look good naked.
Excuses aren't going to keep me fit
Excuses aren't going to keep me healthy
The gym will (and a healthy diet)

Sometimes I say this to myself "Stop thinking about it and just do it."
That usually pumps me up.
In the mean time I need to
A. figure out how I want to prepare my asparagus (bake it?)
B. figure out how to make sweet potato butter (thanks Oprah)
C. try to find some new workout music

I am certainly open to suggestions.

Cheers!!



Oh and my workout tonight?? Speed work maybe. I'm trying to get back into running shape. This may sound weird, or not, but I feel like it is a really great ab workout and helps me keep my belly slim. 30 second sprints with 60 second recovery for.... 4 miles... maybe 5. We'll see. Thats my plan.

Weekend Snaps

<<< Blurry snapshop of Oscar baby & I

<<< Hubby spent hours on lights!

<<< Oscar is loving his mommy lately

<<< I alway love a good fortune!

Buy It Cheap

My snacks for the day!

Apple slices, Cucumber slices, Carrot slices, and Grapes (whole not sliced ;p)

 

Eating healthy on a budget is the topic of this post on KORA Organics. (I just found this blog and I am totally obsessed!)

But eating healthy on a budget really is difficult. Occasionally you can get lucky and find really awesome deals. Recently my local grocery store had tons and tons of russet potatoes and sweet potatoes for super cheap. But man there are only so many potatoes you can eat.

 

They made a good point that you should buy generic when it comes to staples like brown rice, old fashioned oats, and bags of beans. I totally agree with this. This is something I often do. And as odd as it sounds it’s something I decided to do after taking my first economics course a few years ago. In a perfectly competitive market, things like rice, oats, and corn are the closest examples of a perfectly competitive market; every brand out there sells almost the exact same product. Corn is corn no matter who sells it. So really the smartest thing to do here would be to buy the product at the lowest price per weight. Listen, as a college student, I know that price matters and for a lot of people who have children, price matters, but choosing healthy doesn’t mean breaking the bank.   

 

I am really trying to get back into that healthy, store perimeter zone, way of eating that I was in for so long. I felt better and knew that what I was eating was better for me. I always love reminders when I come across other blogs. They help keep me focused on what my goals are and ways to maintain or reach them. Plus it feels like I have team behind me. If other people are interested in perimeter store eating then I know I’m not a wacky extremist. I have often felt like a wacky extremist because a lot of the people around me don’t care that much about healthy diet and exercise, two things I have become fascinated with.

 

I get frustrated when I “mess up”, everyone does but I feel like we should get away from the “all or nothing” thinking. There is definitely a learning curve when it comes to choosing the right foods for your body and to top it off we are all different and will respond differently to different combinations of foods. And then you have to deal with conflicting info out there. ..like the sugar war… you hear it’s bad for you and then you see a whole bunch of info a few weeks later about “no eat real sugar but stay away from the substitutes”. Uh, wait, what? And then you pretty much just have to choose for yourself.

 

I’m also a firm believer in the 80/20 rule… this helps get away from the all-or-nothing thinking. If your normal diet is full of nutrients and vitamins then it is okay to have a not so clean meal or treat every once in a while. I think balance is the hardest part for me and probably for most people in general. I really need check and make sure I’m in the 80/20 zone not something more like 60/40. As they say- You can’t out exercise a bad diet.

 

 

 

Recap:

Buy cheap when appropriate

Perimeter eating

Do the research

Decide what works for you  

80/20

Exercise to be fit

Eat to be healthy

 

My next task: Trying to figure out a way to get my hubby more interested in healthy choices. He likes it fried and he likes it cheesy. A salad is only a salad if it contains iceberg lettuce and little chopped carrots and cucumbers and drowned in ranch. If it’s anything other than iceberg he deems it some sort of healthy food contraption that is way too green for him to be a part of.

 

 

 

Cheers!



Post Workout Cleaning

Post workout. Trying to clean the sweat off of my still healing piercing! Not sure if you have to rinse Bactine off the way you do peroxide. I should look into that.

Still waiting to see how well I did on my accounting test. Man oh man! I do NOT want to have to take that comprehensive final.

Alrighty... Off to the shower to clean the rest of my post workout self.


CHEERS!

T-Day

It's here. The big test day. My other tests haven't bothered me nearly as much as the accounting tests. Hopefully this will be my last test of the semester for accounting. If I do well enough today then I don't have to take the comprehensive final next week. I'm nervous. So nervous. I just need to focus. And get off of here and get back to studying.

Wish me luck!

Cheers!