Tis the Wedding Season (for my sister)

Cathlin's bridesmaids threw her the sweetest wedding shower yesterday. I was blown away by the decorations and the spread of food. The shower was held at her childhood best friend's grandmother's home where they grew up together and added to their circle of friends. It was so nice to see all of her friends there in one place, as well as most of her friends' mothers. Lots of love to go around.

Kristin (childhood bestie) needs to quit her day job and go into party planning because every nook and cranny had the most perfect touch. Walking into the house felt like a great big 'Welcome!"

Some of my personal favorite touches were the table decorations. She had different kitchen bowls and gadgets on each table acting as vases, filled with spring flowers. I also loved that everyone got their own wooden spoon to take home as a party favor: Cathlin and Ryan are "a perfect mix!"

Can't forget the mimosa bar. I "tasted" a mimosa from each carafe of juice. Didn't want to leave anything out, you know? Grapefruit, Mango-Orange, and Orange. 

 I love some party food and it would've never crossed my mind to do a salmon salad bar for a shower, but it was delicious.  There were tons of other finger foods too. Since I cannot resist taking food pictures, here is the spread!

CHEERS!

21 Day Fix

I have to share my rekindled love for proper nutrition! I started doing the 21 Day Fix through Beachbody and I have been feeling like a human again. It has really given me more energy and made me realize how much sugar I was eating beforehand. I am good at pretending that my diet is fine because I don't eat fast food or drink sodas, but in reality, I can pig out on some granola, peanut butter, and secret stashes of chocolate in my desk at work.

 In a nutshell, the 21 day fix is an eating plan that advocates for the proper portions of WHOLE, REAL foods and 30 minutes of exercise daily. My favorite part is Shakeology.

When I wake up in the mornings, I crave my "milkshake." No lie, it feels like a treat that I should not be having. I've always been a sweets for breakfast kind of person and I would have a DQ Blizzard every morning if I could. I swear Shakeology is the next best thing. The three flavors I'm rotating between right now are Latte, Vanilla, and Chocolate. The  meal plan came with a whole array of recipe ideas for ShakeO combinations & I've been trying a different one daily. This morning I had a Vanilla Chai shake and it may as well have been from Starbucks. YUM. My favorite chocolate shake combination includes: frozen banana, almond milk, peanut butter, and spinach. Might as well add the dose of greens because you can't even taste them when it's all mixed in.

The best part is that I feel better in my clothes, I feel stronger from the workouts, and I have motivation to continue. Right now, my biggest challenge is eating away from home and controlling my portions/choosing the correct options when I have not been able to plan out the entire day's meals Let's face it, its not realistic to plan out every bite, every day, so I can only do the best I can do.

Goal: Lose 12 pounds

I have to stop this madness before it gets out of control. This spring, summer, and fall, I was really doing well & feeling good in my body. Sometime around November I allowed myself to think that I could eat whatever I wanted. I've never been able to eat whatever I want and not pay the consequences. For a month or so I didn't feel it in my clothes or see it in the mirror, but boy once it did catch up with me, I packed it on. I've been steadily gaining a pound a week for about 4 weeks now. It adds up. I've been moping around feeling depressed and knowing that I needed to get back on track but the motivation was lacking. I think that was the worst part...allowing myself to let myself go...(if that makes sense).

My work pants were so tight yesterday that I was practically spilling out of them. You know when you have that red indention line around your waist band? Yeah. Miserable. That was my final straw.

Goals: 1) Get in 10,000 steps everyday 2) Do strength training 2-3x week  3) Eat 1320 calories per day & count then on My Fitness Pal (app). Don't add in extra calories earned for exercising.

THIS IS MY FIGHT SONG!

Today was a good day. I feel hopeful and motivated again. I even made myself a visual on my school computer :) Anything to keep me accountable!

Middle School Dance

It's a hard lesson to learn. I'm sitting outside in the hallway with one of my 6th graders who was just reminded that he was, after all, not allowed to attend the middle school dance. I'm trying to imagine how he feels. I wonder if he's reflecting on his rude and disrespectful behavior which landed him in this predicament or if he is even able to weight consequences. Yes, he is. He has to be because he really turned himself around this week and put on his maturest twelve year old pants and tried to make good choices. But in the end- he did it to himself. If you do good things, you get good things. If you do bad things, you get bad things. That's how its explained in Kindergarten and its true all throughout life.

It has to be hard. At this age, the school Valentine's Dance is a really big deal in a twelve year old's life. Even at my age the Valentines Dance is a big deal and I'm only chaperoning. You can feel the energy in the room when they walk through the door. Its a mix of nerves, hope, curiosity, excitement, wonder, and awkwardness. Mostly awkwardness. I still get the "what do I do with my hands?" feeling when I am in there watching them. It makes me appreciate being an adult and the opportunity to partake in a beverage before and during such an affair. I guess you have to pay your dues in age before you earn the privilege of liquid courage.

Back to him... Poor guy, he was just getting to know the pretty new girl in our class and I know they have a little spark for one another. I bet this was going to be his opportunity to make his move. They were partners on the field trip earlier this week and I could tell he was feeling on top of the world. Most of the paragraphs he has to compose for me during our writing time have to do with how smooth he is with the ladies. The last one was entitled, "Fly Guy."

Tonight I'll be going to the dance and he won't. My hope is that he has learned that behaviors have consequences. And I hope he makes the next one and gets to experience all the magic.

Rainy Daydreaming

**DISCLAIMER: I FOUND THIS POST IN THE DRAFT SECTION OF MY BLOG: IT SHOULD'VE BEEN POSTED IN APRIL OF 2015!**

When I was little, I would go through the home section of the Belk and Sears catalogs and tear out pictures of different rooms and put them all together to make my "house." Now, with Pinterest, I do that same thing but with more categories besides just the house- its pretty much my online dream land.

For example:

I swoon over this girls hair color...and her hair in general. Mine is way to fine and thin to grow out into those luscious locks, so I just gaze at her picture. I'm also trying to hold off on hair color until its absolutely necessary. One day the gray will creep in....for now I can hold out.

Pinterest: Source Unknown

Welcome to my dream breakfast nook/eating area. Can you imagine what these white chairs would be covered with in real life? Probably cat hair and spaghetti sauce. 

Source:http://fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com

If you see these shoes anywhere...let me know. I'm all about that green.

Source: www.flickr.com/photos/borsmano/2449437109/in/pool-739406@N20/

Come on over...we'll grill out and have a glass of wine on my "patio"

Source: http://georgianadesign.tumblr.com/post/65047824282/thompson-custom-homes-houston

My favorite childhood cereal turned snack munch!! I bet its magically delicious. 

Welcome, 2016

I recently heard from a wise person: Writing is a discipline just like anything else. It really hit me because I feel it will have to be that way for me to continue blogging.  A discipline. As much joy as blogging brings me, I've been in a bit of a writing rut lately. Part of it is letting myself think too much about the audience. You just can't do that. When I started, the audience wasn't a factor and my writing flowed freely. I wrote about small things and didn't wait for more substantial and blog-worthy events to come along. I need to go back to what it was.

So far 2016 hasn't been as much of a success as I'd hoped. It started it off with Grama in the hospital with Pneumonia and A-Fib, among other things. I've been watching way too much TV. I've gained 3 pounds. And the best part is I don't have much motivation to change it right now! Welcome, 2016.

I found this quote yesterday and it will be my theme for the new year. This is what I need:

                                 

Rekindle

Time to rekindle my spirit. I saw an article on Facebook a while back that struck a chord with me. It deals with the time of Lent when many Christians give up something that they normally enjoy as a means of clearing away worldly distractions and to drawing closer to God. Unfortunately, as this article states, "these things often have little impact on our life and our walk with Christ." In the past I've given up things like...peanut butter...Facebook....sometimes nothing at all. Most times it has done nothing to enhance my faith. I'm sure my attitude in doing so was the main issue, but this year I would like to try something new. I realize it is nowhere near time for Lent, but I would like to use this article more as a goal for the new year.

There are 40 topics on which to focus, one for each day of Lent. In my case, one for each....week? day? month? Not sure how I want to direct my energy at this point, but I know that these are all areas that could use some refining in my life...and probably in yours as well. If you're human, I bet you struggle with most of these just like I do.

Here are some examples: Focus on giving up.....fear of failure, your comfort zone, feelings of unworthiness, impatience, people pleasing, comparison, etc. The list goes on. I will post link at the bottom  of this post if you want to join me in giving up some of these evils that keep us from having joy in our lives. Its going to take effort for sure, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I think I will start tomorrow.

Click HERE for the link.