Pinterest Review - Green Smoothie

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170018527/

 

 

I have always wondered about green smoothies.  They look interesting but I have never tried one. Since we have a problem getting all our fruits and veggies in I thought this would be a good idea.  This smoothie calls for 1 cup yogurt, 1 apple, 1 banana, 2 handfuls of spinach, 5 strawberries and 1/2 and orange.  That is way more fruit and sometimes veggies then I EVER eat in one day.

 

 

I tried this on Sunday and split it with Brandon.  I thought it was really yummy but my blender didn't do a very good job mixing everything so the small bites of spinach in it weren't that great!

 

I made another one tonight and this time I used the blender on my Bosch and it worked way better.  I blended everything for about 2 minutes and it was smooth with no spinach pieces in it. :) 

 

 

I also decided to put my smoothie in the freezer for a little while so it was nice and chilled and it made it so much yummier!! 

 

I know on the pin it says if you drink these everyday that the weight will just fall off.  Since I just drank my first one 2 days ago I don't know if that part of the pin is true and that wasn't way I tried it in the first place but I can however say that this is a very yummy green smoothie that will help you get more fruit and veggies in each day.  I know there are several varieties to green smoothies that incorporate more veggies and I plan to find one of those and try it next.

 

LOVE IT!!!



Pinterest Review - Easy Baked Chicken Dinner

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170066377/

 

I know I have seen a ton of people pin this meal.  That is probably because it is easy and the whole meal is in one pan (or 2 if you have a larger family)

Well I have to say it is just as easy and yummy as each of you thought when you pinned it. 

 

My only complaint would be the butter.  The recipe calls for a whole stick of butter.  I personally thought that was way to much after I got done cooking it.  My veggies were swimming in butter.  Brandon didn't mind but I think it would of been just as good with maybe half the amount of butter. I will try that next time. 

 

But you literally just put everything in the pan, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and Viola!!  Dinner!!

The flavor was great and everyone loved it.  I also think it would be yummy with brussel sprouts instead of broccoli.  I might do that next time too!!

 

Another keeper for our family!!



Pinterest Review - Spaghetti with Shrimp in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

I love when I find reviews on Pinterest ideas.  It helps me know if something is good/bad or tips on what works and what doesn't.  So I decided maybe I could be one of those helpful people and post Pinterest reviews on the recipes and/ or crafts that I make.

 

Dish #1 - Spaghetti with Shrimp in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

 

This is what the post looks like.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170074414/

I was excited to try this recipe.  We love pasta and we love shrimp so it was the perfect combination.

 

The recipe calls for 6 tomotoes.  After I diced them all I thought it was way to many tomotoes.  In the notes on the website some suggested maybe they meant roma tomatoes.  But after I combined everything together I think the tomatoes were just fine.  I do however suggest making sure you drain any liquid from the tomatoes before you start putting in all the other ingredients.  I didn't do this and there was way to much liquid.  I ended up dumping some out which may of resulted in losing from flavor. Besides that I pretty much followed the recipe as it is written.  (Actually Wal-Mart was out of Medium Shrimp so I bought 2 bags of Small Shrimp, that is why it looks like there so so much shrimp in the pan)

 Once it was all cooked I mixed it all together and it was time to eat.  I was a little worried about how it would taste since the sauce was more runny then I think it should of been due to the extra tomato juice and we were fully prepared to get hamburgers from Taylor Freeze if needed.  But much to my surprise it was FANTASTIC!!  (My plating skills need help as my plate it splattered and this doesn't look that apptizing but it really was good) 

 

 

 

FYI - There is a little bite to it from the Red Pepper Flakes so adjust these according.  I thought it was perfect with what the recipe called for but Brandon said he would of done more.  But he still loved it and I loved it and Jordan loved it. 

 

This one is a keeper for our family!!

JMBR/Surgery/ER/Sickness Update

Some of you may be thinking that you haven't heard an update in awhile so that must mean that I gave up and didn't finish/continue with my Jillian Michaels workout.  Well although that may seem like the truth it is not!!  I absolutely love this program.  It is the perfect workout for me.  I got all the way through Week 6 of 13 when I had to go in for surgery.  Now although I knew I would have to have this surgery I didn't plan on it being right in the middle of my program.  But it was something I needed and had been waiting to get done for some time now.  I assumed I would be have to wait a week or two before I would be able to start working out again.  Well the 1st week went by and then the 2nd week went by and I decided I would put in my DVD and give it a try.  I made it through about 9 minutes before I had to shut it off.  :(  That was a little discouraging.  Now I am not one to push my limits.  I have seen way to may people try to get back in the saddle too soon just to hurt themselves and be worse off then they were beforehand.  So I decided I would give it another couple days and try again.  I knew there was a dirty run fundraiser coming up on Saturday and I thought that would be a good test to see if I was ready for physical activities.  It wasn't a hard run so it would be perfect.  I took the nieces and we went through the course twice.  It was so much fun and they had a blast.  One of the parts was a slip in slide.  I debated if I should go on it or not.  I am a little older and it hurts a little more these days to slip n slide.  But I decided to go ahead and do it.  When I stood up a pain just shot out from under my rib cage but I just ignored it and continued on.  We had so much fun and got completely covered in mud.  When we were leaving I realized that I was super thirty and couldn't wait to get home.  Once we were home I went and got in the shower and realized that I wasn't feeling very good.  I figured it was just cause I needed some more water and something to eat.  But then it just got worse and worse.  I went and got Jordan from Tabitha's and we came home and then the vomiting starting!  It was a horrible day!  I threw up 9 times in 9 hours.  I assumed I just had the bug that everyone else was getting but then I started getting intense lower back pain and lower abdominal pain.  Brandon was on shift so I was home alone and I kind of started freaking out.  Had I not just had surgery a little over 2 weeks ago I don't think I would of been so concerned but Brandon and I decided that I needed to go to the ER.  My dad took me in and Chris took Jordan.  I was sad that Brandon was at work and not with me but I was glad to at least have my dad there.  (Best part of the night.  I was laying in my bed and heard the back up alarm of what I knew was an ambulance.  I laid there just waiting and hoping to hear if I was right.  I waited and waited and waited and finally I hear the greatest voice ever and his laugh and I knew that Brandon was there!  A smile plastered my face and my heart raced as I waited for him to come into my room.  He has been at work for 3 days already and I missed him terribly and wanted him by my side so bad.  I was so glad that they had a transfer that night so he could spend a little bit of time with my in the ER before he had to return to quarters.)  Well after 8 hours in the ER, a urine sample, blood work, a CT scan, a pelvic exam, an internal ultrasound and an external ultrasound.  They decided that it may be something with my appendix.  The only problem was, they couldn't find my appendix so they didn't really know.  But my vomiting had stopped so that was a good sign.  I finally was able to fall asleep for a little over an hour before the Dr came in again.  I realized that when I sat up it didn't hurt my back and then he pushed all over my belly and I had no pain at all!!!  It was the weirdest thing!  and he was baffled but I was relieved.  So he decided to send me home with instructions to come back if the pain returns.  At this point it had been almost 24 hours since I had eaten and I was very weak.  My dad took me back to his house and i forced myself to eat a couple crackers and drink some water before I went to bed.  I slept for about 2 hours before my handsome husband finally got home.  We got up and Chris made breakfast but I just ate an apple.  Anyway, this ended up being way longer then I planned.  But Sunday started my recovery again.  It is now Thursday and I think I may finally be getting back to better.  I hope!!  It has just been a hard recovery since my surgery and I don't really like it.  So although I am not going to finish my 90 day JM program right on the day of the Neon Splash Dash, I will finish!!!  Now that I am almost 4 weeks behind I may have to start over to rebuild my strength but I will finish the program.  I will!!

Our 1st "Family" home evening!!

I rencently decided that we needed to be more diligent in having family home evening.  Brandon and I have tried doing it in the past but it is hard when there is only 2 of you.  We always felt a little silly but now that we have sweet Jordan we know that this is important.  And although she is only 7 months old and probably doesn't understand much of what we will talk about, I have faith that she will still be able to feel the spirit as we do our best to have this family time and to study our scriptures and do activities together. 

So tonight was our first go at it and I think it went great!!  For the month of March we will be learning about Our Earthly Bodies.  Tonights lesson was on Healthy Food and Exercise. 

The opening song was The Lord gave me a Temple from the Children's Songbook.  I was unfamiliar with this song but we had pictures to help us learn it.  We then talked about the gift that our bodies are and some of the healthy foods that we should put in them daily and the foods that we should eat in moderation. We had a Eatwell Plate picture to help us understand the different food group we should eat. Jordan played with toy foods from the food groups while we talked about them.   We then talked about exercise and how important it is to keep our bodies moving each day.

After that we each set some goals for ourself and then some for our family. 

Afterwards we did a Scriptire Health Match-up.  Jordan liked this part.  She just wanted the paper so bad!!

Then for a treat we made Rainbow Fruit Sticks.  Well I made a stick and Brandon just ate his out of the bowl with a stick and Jordan just enjoyed her Mango the whole time. 

It was a great 1st family home evening.  I know that our family will be blessed as we continue our efforts.  :)

JMBR Phase 1 complete!!!!

4 weeks down!!!  I can  hardle believe I have survived this long.  It had been good so far.  I missed a couple days last week do to unexpected overnight trips to Phoenix and birthdays but I did play catch up this weekend.  I couldn't let myself miss a day cause I knew it would be harder to move on to the next phase had I missed a day.  The scale has not moved since the 1st week which kind of stinks but my eating hasn't been right on so I need to work on that but my body is changing and I am getting stronger so I am happy to continue with the program. 
I ordered a heart monitor that will help keep me in my target zone and help track my calories so I know exactly how much I need to be eating each day and to make sure I am giving it all I can.

4 weeks down and 9 to go!!!!!!!!!

JMBR Week 3

Another week down!!  I am actually surprised at how fast the weeks are going.  I can remember trying to do Slim in 6 and I never made it past week 2 so I am feeling pretty good!!  Week 3 was interesting.  I moved on to workout 3 and 4 this week.  Monday was the first time I did workout 3 and Brandon decided he was going to sit on the couch and watch me.  I never mind people watching me cause  I think it pushes me to try harder but workout 3 was hard the first time and I felt like a fool.  Especially since he was watching me.  He probably was thinking that I had no idea what the heck I was doing!!  Some of the moves were tricky and since I had never done them  before I spent most of the time just trying to figure them out!  Workout 4 was also a little tricky but not as bad.  I am still on cardio 1 so there was no change there which was nice and then by the time I did 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday I was much more coordinated and felt better about myself.  Only 10 more weeks to go!!!!!

JMBR Week 2

I completed week 2 of Jillian Michaels Body Revolution!!!  It is amazing to see how much stronger I am just in the second week.  I was able to do way more push ups then I was able to in the beginning.  I still struggle through the cardio but I can go longer without stopping to take a break.  Hopefully before I move on to Cardio 2 I will be able to complete all of cardio 1 without stopping!
I didn't lose any weight this week but it wasn't discouraging at all.  I can see the difference in my body and the way my clothes are already fitting better and I can see it in my strength.  So even if the scale doesn't show a change, there is change happening!!

This week I move on to Workout 3 and 4.  Excited to see what she has in store for me now!!!!

11 more weeks!!

Day 7 - Kickstart Week Complete!

My 7 Day Kickstart Your Metabolism week is done!!  This was a very strict eating and workout week and I am glad it is done.  That means I can now go to 1 a day workouts and just do extra if I want to.  I was very happy with my results!!!

Here is the overview of my results after just 7 days on the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution.

Upper Chest -      -3/4"
Bust -                   -1 1/2"
Midriff -               -1/2"
Upper Arms -       +1/2"
Waist -                 -1 1/2"
Upper Hip -          -2"
Lower Hip -         -1"
Upper Thigh -      +1
Mid Thigh -          -1
Calf -                     0
Weight - 7 lbs

So in the first week I lost 7 lbs and 6 3/4"!!!!!!!
Can't complain about that.  Now on to week 2-13

I decided to only blog once a week unless I just really need to get something down!!!

JM Day 6

All I have to say is today sucked!!!  I am it was an okay day but I struggled through today.  I got up at about 8:30 and made my eggs and bacon.  This is probably my favorite breakfast in the kickstart program. I waited awhile for it to settle and then I was going to workout.  The baby woke up about this time so I got her up and realized how horrible her cough was so I called the Dr and they told me that she could come in at 11.  So that now gave me 2 hours to accomplish to much.  I needed to go through the Meal Plan book make a grocery list for the next week.  I was sad to realized that a lot of that food did not look that great to me and some of it had a ton of prep time. So i was able to pick out a couple and I made my grocery list. I surprised to see that it was 2 pages long for only 1 week of food.  I then got Jordan ready and the diaper bag packed and realized that we only had about 15 minutes before we had to leave and I didn't even do my work out yet.  :/  But we got loaded up and headed to the Dr. Jordan has upper respiratory issue, which I already knew cause you could hear it, and red ears and throat.  They prescribed her antibiotics.  Then we headed to Wal-Mart to go grocery shopping which when you are buying weird things like coconut oil, buckwheat flour and flaxseed, it takes a lot of time cause I don't know where these things even are in a grocery store.  We also had to wait for her prescription.  Finally at 1:00 we were done.  But I was almost in tears when I got to the register.  I spent $182!!!!  I did buy some diapers, wipes and toilet paper but that was a lot of money.  That was the moment I realized that I may not be able to stick to JM meals cause we are already stretched about as far as we can be and spending $600 a month on groceries isn't really in the budget.  Some may see this as an excuse but if the money isn't there, the money isn't there.  And not there is nothing we can change to free up money.  Like I said we are already stretched thin.  Paying off an adoption can do that to you.  Anyway, I will figure that out.
After we got home I had about 5 minutes to wrap the baby shower gift and get to the shower.  It was a great shower and I am so excited to Rheanna and Levi to have their sweet baby boy!!  We finally got home at about 3:30!  Now that the day was mostly over and I hadn't even gotten in my first workout or had lunch.  I already didn't feel good as it was and now I was hungry.  So I ate my snack and did the 1st cardio workout.  Then I waited about an hour and did it again.  I was determined to get both workouts in one way or another.  I had now planned to get dinner going since all I was running off of was breakfast and a snack.  Now I know this is a big no no but I couldn't really help it.  But Jordan has different plans.  She didn't really nap much today and she was so tired and was making sure I knew it.  So I decided that I would get her to bed first.  So I got her in her jammies and we face timed her Daddy and she cried the whole time it was so sad since she is normally so happy.  We hung up with him and I picked her up and kissed her forehead and noticed that she was really hot.  So I laid her back down and took her temp and it was 101.6.  I was like, whoa that can't be right so I took it again and it was 102.0.  I took it one more time for safe measures and it was 101.7 so obviously it wasn't a fluke.  I called Brandon back and told him and he called the ER and they said to bring her in.  :(  So I loaded her up and we headed to the ER.  I did grab an apple and a banana cause I was afraid I may pass out if I didn't get something in my system.  At this point I felt like I was totally sabotage my whole week of work but when it comes to my baby I don't really care and I just wanted to make sure that she was ok.  Luckily they said she was fine and gave her some Motrin and tested for the flu which was negative and we went home.  They just said to watch her and treat the fever as needed.  I was so relieved but I still wish Brandon was home.  So we got home at about 9:30 and that is way to late to eat dinner so I just ate the banana.  Hopefully that won't mess things up to much.  But that was pretty much how today went.

JM Day 5

Day 5 is complete!!!  It was so great to not have to get up so early to workout this morning. It was much better to eat first and then workout.
For breakfast I had Eggs, Bacon and Tomotoes again.  The bacon was perfect and it was so yummy.  I didn't have any avocados but it was still very yummy.
After breakfast settled I did my first workout.  It was Workout 2 today.

For lunch I had a Chef Salad

I missed my snack today since I slept in and all my meals were later then normal.  Probably not the best thing to do but it just happened. 

I spent my whole day at home trying to get our finances in order.  BLAH  but I did get my evening cardio done.  I was so proud of my self cause I did a whole set to fast feet without stopping!

For dinner I had Steak and salad and I am so glad I am another day down.  Not really looking forward to double cardio tomorrow but I will endure!!

JM Day 4

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  Day 4 is complete!  Today was busy but I was sure to still get my workouts in.  Everything I did today was a repeat of other days so I won't post any pictures of the food since you can just look back through the week to see them. 

The morning workout was Workout one again.
Breakfast was Eggs, Bacon, Avocados and Tomatoes.  Again a morning can't go wrong with bacon. :)

Lunch was a Grilled Salmon Citrus Salad

Snack was Hummus and Veggies

I had so many things to do after work.  And it all had to be done before 6 so I could go out for Valentine's day.  But I got it all done and got my Cardio workout in.  It was a good day overall. 

For dinner I had left over Turkey Burger with carrots and brussel sprouts.

Our ward put on a formal dance for Valentine's Day so we got all dressed up.  I didn't my hair fancy and we went to the dance.  I was very proud of myself.  There was lots of treats there.  There was meatballs that smelled very yummy but what was really tempting was the cheesecake with toppings and cream puffs!  Oh they looked soooo yummy and since you are not aloud to have any sugar this first week they were very tempting but I knew how mad I would of been at myself if I would of caved.  But I past the test and didn't give in.  It was a fun night with good company and I am 1 day closer to a healthier me!!!

JM Day 3

Another day down!!  Although today was hard I did it!  One thing I really hate is cardio.  It is so hard for me and lucky for me today was double cardio.  Cardio this morning right after I woke up was killer.  But it was followed by a yummy breakfast!  For breakfast I had Spinach LEO (Lox, eggs and onions)  I was a little leery while making it but I was so good!  Brandon even ate it and loved it.

My lunch today took a lot of prep and time so I actually made it last night so I didn't have to waste so much time during my lunch break.  For lunch I had poached chicken and vegetable soup.  The soup was good but I wasn't to fond of the poached chicken.  I ended up just cutting it up and adding it to my soup.

After work was my snack and it was Almond butter stuffed Celery.  It too was very yummy.  But then it was round 2 for cardio.  I was super tired and not looking forward to it but I knew it had to be done.  But I did find a way to help it go by quicker.  I was watching The Biggest Loser while I was eating my snack and that show always give me motivation to get up and move so I decided to keep watching it while I did my work out.  I just set the laptop up to play my video.  It totally helped.  I still can't do the whole thing without stopping but Brandon reminded me that this is only day 3. 

Then dinner.  For dinner I had a Southwest Turkey Burger with Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Carrots.  All of it was super yummy.  I think the brussel sprouts were my favorite.  Weird, right??

It feels good to have another day down!  87 to go!

JM Body Revolution Day 2

Day 2 is done!  88 to go!  Woke up at 6 to do my morning workout.  Let me tell you I will be glad once this week is over cause as I said before I hate working out in the morning. But today was a little better then yesterday.  I didn't get as light headed today which was great!  I am sure each day will be better. My work out consisted of Back, Biceps, Glutes, Hamstrings and Core.  It was a great workout and challenging. (And then silly me wore heels to work today.  Not a good idea after Jillians works your glutes!!!)  After my workout it was time to cook my breakfast.  I was excited for today's breakfast because it had BACON!!!!  Anyone who knows me knows that Jessie and Bacon enjoy each others company anytime with any food. :)  So for Breakfast I had Over Easy Eggs with Avocado, Bacon and Tomato.  It was fantastically delicious!!!

I was much more satisfied with today's breakfast then Day 1. And it kept me full.  I ate at about 7:15 and I didn't start getting hungry until after 12.

For lunch I had a Chef salad.  It was super yummy and it was huge!!!!!!!!  And only 378 Calories!

After work and after cub scouts it was time for my snack.  I wasn't really feeling that hungry but I knew that I need to stick to the diet the best I can and knowing that it would be awhile until dinner, I didn't want my body to go into starvation mode after awhile.  So for my snack I had Pecan Vanilla Yogurt Crunch.  I was not looking forward to eating the Greek Yogurt again but it said to put a dash of vanilla in it.  Well I may of done more like a swig but it made it taste so much better and thinned it out a little bit so it didn't taste so much like eating sour cream.

I then did my PM workout which was Cardio again.  The same one as yesterday.  It is hard!!!!  This may be TMI but I want to remember this the next time I try to use it as an excuse.  Because I have Endometriosis I have severe pain during certain times of the month.  Usually it is a couple days before my period and during my period but it is the worse when I am/around ovulating.  (Like I said TMI, sorry)  Well today appears to be that day and I was hurting sooo bad and of course a couple times the thought of, it just hurts to bad so it is okay if you don't do the workout tonight, did cross my mind.  But I kept pushing those thoughts out of my head and told myself that I could endure!!  And how pathetic would it be if I didn't even complete day 2?!?!?  Do I turned the DVD on and I did it!  I did endure and I made it through.  And even though for about the first 10 minutes I just wanted to cry and I know I wasn't giving it all I had cause it just hurt so bad I kept going.  Then I started to realized that the further I got into the workout the less I could feel the pain.  And after the workout and through the rest of the night I haven't had any pain!!!!  So that can no more be an excuse for me!!! :)

For dinner I had Rosemary Citrus Tilapia with a Spinach Salad.  This has Capers on it which I thought looked like rabbit poop but they actually were that bad.  (Brandon wouldn't taste them.  he he) 

After my dinner, I finished my vision board.  I thought it turnout good.  I have lots of encouraging quotes along with pictures from the last time I lost all the weight to remind me how good I felt then and of course pictures of my sweet girl and handsome husband cause they are my motivation to be healthy and strong so I can enjoy life with them and take care of them.

Well I can't figure out how to rotate it so you will just have to tilt your head to see it ;)

 

Day 2 was a success!!  On to Day 3!

Day 1 Update

Day 1 is complete!!!!!!  I plan to post at the end of each day cause I don't want to have 2 posts everyday like I did today.  Anyway, 1 day down and 89 to go. 

After my not so good breakfast I am happy to say the lunch and dinner made up for it. For lunch I had Grilled Salmon Citrus Salad.  It was easy to make and yummy!!

 

 

You also get a snack between lunch and dinner.  Todays snack was Hummus with Carrots and Bell peppers.  I had never had Hummus before and I was alittle scared. I will admit the first couple bites were a little weird but then it wasn't that bad.

 

After work it was time for the 2nd workout which was Cardio.  UGH!!!!!  Jillian's cardio is brutal.  I think this is where the hell kicked in.  26 minutes of it!!  You know when Jillian is on her knees, tired that it was one heck of a work out.  I am really scared for the other stages of cardio.  But I will endure!!  Now on all the other Jillian Michaels workouts I have done, I am never able to finish because I always get shin splints so I went into it prepared and I wrapped the crap out of my legs.  I usually end up wrapping them after the fact but hopefully it will keep those painful things away. Sexy, Right?!? ;)

 

 

For dinner I had Peppercorn Steak with a Wilted Spinach salad. It was also very yummy.  I am not a big onion person but the red onions were pretty good.

 

 

So in a nutshell, Day 1 was good!  Now I am now working on my Vision Board.  I am excited to get it done so I can hang it on the wall to motivate me during these work outs.  :)





JIllian Michaels 90 Day Body Revolution - Day 1

When I said HELL starts today and it is thanks to this lady!!  Today, February 11, 2013 I started the 90 Body Revolution Challenge.  Now I know some of you may be thinking, "oh I've heard this before"  Well you are right.  I have tried to start programs in the past and failed but at least I keep trying.  I pray that I will be able to complete this challenge.  It is only 90 days, I can do it!!  I know it is going to be hard and some days I am not going to like it and someday I will most likely cry and say some choice words but I just pray (literally) that I can endure it make it through.  I thought maybe if I blogged about it each day it would help me to stay motivated and dedicated.  So hopefully at least one person follows along to cheer me on through out this journey.   I also decided I would do a little overview of my diet and exercise and hopefully that will encourage others to get active and eat healthy.  I am going to do before and after pictures but I do not dare post the before pictures until I have nice after pictures to show with it. :)  I wouldn't want to embarrass myself or anyone else.

Week 1 Day 1 - 

The first week you have the option to do a Kickstart week.  This consists of twice daily workouts and a strict eating plan.  She has you do an AM workout and a PM workout.  The nice thing is that the works outs are only half an hour so you don't have to get up super early to do the morning one.  Now I have always had a hard time working out in the morning because you don't have any food in your system and I am weak.  But since I work unless I get up at 3 am to eat something and let it settle before I workout that is just something I have to deal with.  And again it is only for the first week so I guess I will make it through.  (If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this easier, let me know)  

I went to bed last night excited about starting this program.  I then laid there thinking about it forever and then all I dreamed about was doing it so by the time I woke up I felt like I should already  be done.  ha ha  but I got out of bed, got dressed, peeked on the baby, closed her door so she wouldn't wake up and got moving.  Surprising, it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.  Granted it is only the 1st work out but still Jillian is brutal so I was pleased.  The AM workout consisted on Shoulders, Triceps, Chest, Abs and Quads. It was a good workout but I was feeling the lack of nutrition in my belly.  Once I was done I went to make my breakfast which was 1 Cup of Plain Non Fat Greek Style yogurt, 1 tsp of cinnamon and 3 Tbsp of slivered almonds.   Now I like yogurt and cinnamon and almonds so I was thinking it would be that bad but boy was I wrong!!  Greek yogurt is disgusting!!! If anyone likes this stuff, PLEASE let me know if there is a certain brand I should buy because I seriously had to choke it down.  BLAH!!  But I ate it cause I want to stick strictly to the eating plan this first week for maximum results!

If you want to know what my end of the journey party is going to be, read the post below and join me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

End of the Journey Party!!!

I wanted to break Day 1 and this post into 2 in case you are person who can't handle reading long posts. :)  So I was flipping through Facebook last night and saw that one of my friends had posted a link for something called the Neon Splash Dash.  OK well that sounds like fun!  So I click on it and look through the website.  OK now it doesn't just sound like fun it sounds like a blast!!!!!!!!!  It takes place in Scottsdale and I knew that I wanted to do it.  So I clicked on the registration button to see when it was going to be and it said May 11.  I thought to myself, "Well that is going to be close to the end of my 90 day challenge so that would be perfect!"  Then I looked at the calendar and realized that not only was it close to the end but it was exactly day 90!!!!!  I think it is fate!!!  So here is the deal, for the end of my 90 day challenge we are going to do the Neon Splash Dash!!!!!  But I don't want to do it alone so I want people to join me!!!  Check out the website at http://www.neonsplashdash.com/ Registration is $40 but if we can get a group of 4 or more then you get $5 off.  I'm sure we can do that.  Please keep in mind, you do not have to be runner to do this.  It is a 5K but it is not timed and is not meant to be done quickly.  It is meant to be fun.  You don't have to run and you don't have to be fast.  You just have to know how to have a great time!!!  Here are a couple pictures if I haven't convinced you yet!!



There is huge party afterwards with all kind of entertainment.  If this does not look like fun to you then I don't know what will.  I am going to register as a team and then anyone who wants to participate with me can register into my team.  The team name will be Fortitude!!!  Fortitude means Courage in Pain or Adversity.  No one knows but this has been my key word for the last several years.  As I have overcome the pains of infertility and I now hope to overcome the pain and adversity that comes with a unhealthy lifestyle and not feeling comfortable in your own skin, I thought this would be appropriate.  I strive to have courage everyday to overcome any of my pains and sufferings. (Sorry if that is cheesy but that is what I want ;)

Anyway, hopefully several of my family and friends will join me on my journey over the next 90 days and if you don't really care about that at least hopefully you will join me on day 90 in Scottsdale for this awesome event!!  :)

January 23, 2013

I have skipped some days and will have to play catch up but I blame blogger for that since it wouldn't let me upload pictures.  Anyway I figure I would start with today and play catch up later.  So after all the nieces went home, Jordan got in bed and I finally ate some dinner, I was sitting on the couch watching the Biggest Loser and browsing Pinterest.  I saw a post about getting stains out of your carpet by using windex, a white rag and an iron.  After reading through it I was also reading the comments and several people said that they just use LA Totally Awesome for stains.  Well thanks to my sister Chelsea, I had some Awesome!  So I decided I would give it a shot so I went and got the Awesome cleaner and a white rag and I tried it on a spot.  It came up in about 2 seconds.  So I moved to the next spot and then the next and then the next, Etc.........  It was so crazy how easy this stuff got the stains out of the carpet.  I found myself spot cleaning the entire living room and I was quite disgusted by what my rag looked like when I was done.  We seriously need some new carpet now that our sweet baby is mobile.  But here is a look at my rags.

Gross, right?!?!?!  Let me let you in on a secret.  This totally "AWESOME" LA Totally Awesome cleaner is sold at Dollar Tree!!!!  Thats right!  a whole bottle of awesomeness for $1!!!!

January 14, 2013

Back to work!  But it is always a little better when you have someone this cute sharing your desk!!

I also got to go to lunch with Mary so that is always plus.  It was a good day!

January 13, 2013

Happy Sunday! 

I do love Sundays.  Especially this Sunday because Daddy comes home!!!!  Even if he was 3 hours late he still come home!!!!  We didn't do much  beside go to church but I did  make a yummy healthy lasagna for dinner.

The picture doesn't look that great but it was!!!!

January 12, 2013

Today we just worked at home and played.  We did take a break to go to Moriah's baby shower.  She was so stickin cute pregnant!!  Besides that nothing huge happened this day.  Just got to enjoy this cute face all day!!

I just don't think it gets any cuter then this!!!!

I also worked on getting her family pictures hung up in her room.   I was excited to finally get them up.  We hung up her picture that Grandma Peggy drew of her.  It turned out so good you can't even tell that it is a drawing.  My Grandma is talented.  We also hung up the pictures that Grammie Lori took of us and framed and then the picture of Jordan with her Momma Amber and Big Brother Logan.  I just love this wall.  We also have the adoption creed hanging above crib.  These 2 walls make me smile and remind of the miraculous way our family came to be!

January 11, 2013

Today is Lizzy's party!!  That means I have to get this cake done!  I worked on it until 12:30 last night and then I had to go to a meeting this morning so I lost a little bit of time but once I got home I worked hard and was able to get it done.  She gave me a very specific list of what she wanted her cake to have on it.  I think I got everything.  Here is the finished product.

 I loved it!! And I am pretty sure she will love it!!  Not to bad for a 10 year old's birthday cake. 

A random thing.  I went to get ice and this what I saw in the ice tray...

How the heck does that happen?!?!?!?

Finally it was time to deliver the cake and Lizzy Loved it!!!!!!  I was so happy.  Then it was time for the party to start.  Not sure who voluntarily goes to a party of 9 and 10 year olds but we did.  It was loud but they were having so much fun.  Emy was babysitting Hollan so they decided to come over for Pizza and cake.  Jordan just thought Hollan was the funniest thing ever!!

I love that big smile!!

Once it was Jordan's bedtime we decided to head home.  After I got her down I started on my freezer meals again.

Looks yummy!!!

 

January 10, 2013

I had to start on Lizzy's cake today which meant Jordan was going to have to entertain herself for awhile.  She usually does a great job at this because she is awesome like that!
I have wanted to try doing a cake with Marshmallow Fondant because it may taste a little better and would be way cheaper.  I have tried a couple different recipes and none ever worked.  So Amber gave me her recipe and I decided to try again and guess what?!?!  It finally worked!!!!  I was excited.  I covered my first cake with it and it turned out pretty good.  It is much more sticky then normal fondant but it wasn't too bad.

Beautiful, Right!?!  Once it was covered it was time to start coloring it.  I was so excited to use my airbrush machine again.  It is amazing how much time that can save not having to hand color all the fondant.  So I got all my paint ready, turned the compressor on and started painting.  I was concentrating so hard on getting the color even that I wasn't paying much attention to anything else.  Next thing I know my air hose rips out of my hand and my compressor is on the floor!!! :/  Not good!  Silly me forgot that you can't put the compressor on the counter cause it vibrates too much and sure enough it just vibrated right on to the floor.  :(  and it broke.  I wanted to cry!  Hoping Brandon can fix it but I don't know.  Lucky I was able to get the whole bottom colored since I already had the fondant on the cake.

After all this happened I went in to check on Jordan and this is what I found.

He He.  Looks like she found a friend!!  She was having a good time with the baby in the mirror.  It was so cute!!

January 9, 2013

So I really wasn't slacking on this already.  Brandon took the computer to work so I wasn't able to stay with it everyday.  I will try to do better.  :)

Daddy went back to work today so it is just us girls for the next couple days.  Jordan and I decided to go and see the Warns for a bit.  I was so excited to finally use Lizzy's karaoke machine.  So here is what our early evening looked like.

I loved listening to them sing.  It was a lot of fun!

Then I had dinner with my baby girl!!

She was much more interested in my Tuna then her rice cereal.  Ha Ha.  Some day baby!!

January 8, 2013

Happy Birthday Lizzy!!!!

Today is one of my sweet nieces birthday.  She is 10!!!  I can hardly believe that.  Although I think she is 10 going on 17!!

Today was a another good day.  Work went fast which is always nice and then it was home to do cub scouts.  I will be honest when I say that I was far from excited about this calling.  I know nothing about scouts and have never done anything like this.  I am grateful that me and Brandon are in it together.  There is no way I could do it without him.  But as we are slowly figuring it out it is actually kind of fun.  We only have 3 boys which is nice and I think we have done some fun projects.  Yesterday we were finishing up the craftsman badge.  They made picture frame, a cup coaster and a sprinkler.  The sprinkler is totally awesome and works better then any sprinkler we have every bought.

After scouts it was time to go see the Birthday girl!!  She was so cute with super curly hair and a big smile.  She invited us over to have dinner with them.  She wanted to have tacos so she could eat as much as she wants.  I think she topped out at 6 tacos!!  Way to go Liz!!!!  Then we sang Happy Birthday and had cake.  I gave her the present from me and Jack today since I will be bringing the cake to her party on Friday.  Then she will get something both days.  She has a rather lengthy list of what she wants on her cake so it was be a present in itself.  *I'll post pictures when I am done.

*Due to the fact that most of our events involved other people children, I will have no pictures today.  Sorry

January 7, 2013

I can't believe it is already the 7th.  I can tell this year is going to go just as fast as the last.    Today was the 1st day back to work after a 17 day break.  The alarm clock was a rude awakening.  But the day was good and went fast.  Lots of piles on my desk to work through but I am getting there.  When I got home we had to go back to town because Safeway was out of chicken when we were there on Saturday.  We had a couple other stops to make too so it took awhile.  But while we were in Home Depot it was me who was bored this time and so I got Jordan to start blowing raspberries again.  I did get a video this time.

I seriously could just watch her do that all day!!  It is just so funny!!

Anyway,  today we started our jump start diet.  It is just a 3 day diet to jump start healthy eating and to break down the toxins in your body.  Brandon struggled with it a little cause he said he was just so hungry but I didn't think it was that bad.  But he was anxious to get home and make dinner to fill his belly.  While he was making dinner I started to prep my first freezer meal.  I knew I didn't have a lot of time before bed so i decided to just get one done.  I hope it taste as good as it smell just mixing all the ingredients.  Here a picture of our first freezer meal.  Crossing our fingers that it is good.

Honey Sesame Chicken!!!! 

January 6, 2013

Church day!!  A new year means a new church time.  We are now on 1:00 church and I am so happy about that!  Cause we like to sleep in and now we can on Sundays.  It was fast Sunday so no yummy breakfast but it was nice to get up, listen to the sounds of Sunday and get ready for church.  We haven't been to our ward in a couple weeks so it was nice to be back.  And Jordan looked super cute in her new dress from the Heaps.  Payson picked it out.

Church was great as always and I really enjoyed Malia's lesson on goal setting.   After church it was time to go to Dad's for fast Sunday dinner.  Although it wasn't the normal Tacos it was still very yummy.  Chicken Alfredo with bacon, salad, rolls and dessert.  After fasting it quickly filled my belly.  We always enjoy going to dads.

Once we got home we did our official weigh in.  We both would like to lose some pounds and just get into shape.  So we weighed and measured and wrote down out goals.  Wish us luck!!

January 5, 2013

I seriously spent the entire day making a grocery list!!!  And it was long!!

I spent lots of time on pinterest trying to find healthy recipes and looking through all the recipes I had pinned.  It was hard and took me forever!!  But Brandon was working hard outside anyway so it was ok that it took me so long.  I did however finally come up with 15 recipes and got the grocery list completed.  Most of them can be froze so I plan to prepare those ones and get them in freezer for easy dinner making!  I am excited!

What I was even more excited about was when Brandon came in and told me that our entertainment center was done and he needed help moving into the house. He has worked so hard on this and he was glad to finally be done with it!!  When we moved into our house this old rickety thing was back in the shop and looked like a pile a junk but when I looked closely at it I decided with a little (or alot) of work it would be an awesome piece of furniture.  I am lucky enough to be married to an amazing man who can do projects like this.  Here is the before and after (He forgot to take a picture before he did anything to it so the before was after the sanding and stripping had already started)

Brandon took the after picture from the couch.  I will have to get a better one when I get home but isn't it beautiful!!  He did a great job and it adds so much to our living room.  I love it!!

After we got it in the house we finally set out on our grocery shopping journey.  I was glad when that was over.  But while we were in Safeway Brandon started blowing raspberries at Jordan.  She has been able to do this for awhile but just with her lips so Brandon was doing it to her but with his tongue sticking out.  So Jordan starting to try and copy and oh my heck it was the funniest thing ever!!  She was trying sooo hard to figure it out and making the funniest faces while doing it.  Im not sure why didn't think to take a picture or video but we didn't.  Finally after several attempts she figured it out.  And once she got it down she wouldn't stop doing it.  We and Brandon were rolling.  People in Safeway probably thought we were crazy!  Oh I just love that little girl to pieces!!!

January 4, 2013

Brandon finally came home today.  After being with him for 9 straight days, having him gone for 2 days seems like forever!!  But pretty much as soon as he got home his pager went off and he was back out on a call for Pima.  Ugh!  The life of a medic.   Jordan and I again slept in which was just fine with me.  Once Brandon got home he pretty much spent the whole day out in the shop working on our entertainment center.  We would go out and check on him every once in a while.   We again watch several episodes of Friday Night Lights.  Obviously I was having a hard time getting back into the routine of life but I think it is always good to just have a couple days of laziness.

One new thing I learned about Jordan today is that she sometimes sleeps with her eyes open.  I laid her down for a nap.  I had to put her on our bed because her bedding was  being washed.  When I laid her down she was a little restless so I laid next to her to rub her back.  I too had my eyes closed enjoying the snuggles.  Once I heard her breaths deepen and her soft snore start I knew she was asleep so I could get up.  When I opened my eyes I was surprised to see that her eyes were very much open.  It kind of startled me and my first thought was she was not asleep but I quickly realized that she was very much asleep and just had her eyes opened still.  I tried to stretch behind me to get my phone without moving her cause I wanted a picture.  She moved a little and kind of closed  her eyes but I was able to get one picture.

Totally asleep!  Amber let me know that Jordan's big brother Logan is also known to be found sleeping with his eyes open.  :)

Since she was sleeping I decided I should probably get something done.  So I started to task of cleaning out the fridge and freezer.  :/  When I was done I stepped back and took a look and this is what I saw.

Needless to say, I decided we would be eating out that night since there was NO food left in the fridge!  After 6 months of Mary meals I guess it is time to go shopping.  But we did enjoy some yummy Casa Manana because of the empty fridge.

January 3, 2013

Another day home!!  We slept in until 10:00 am today and it was awesome!  I love having a baby who loves to sleep.  But today we had to get dressed because Jordan had a Dr. appointment and this is how she felt about that.

He he.  I love her faces!! 

We were glad to finally get into the Dr. now that we were home.  Dr. Batty said that her lungs were still a little hoarse but that the RSV has seemed to pass.  Woo-hoo!!  I talked to him about my concern with her vomiting up all her bottles and he said that her tummy is about 3/4 full of mucus and that is why she can't keep down her bottle.  He suggested we buy from acidaphlus (I know that is spelled wrong) to go in her bottles and to feed her just small amounts at a time.  I kind of had to chuckle inside because he must not know my child if he thinks she is going to let me feed her only 1 oz at a time!  ha ha.  This girls likes her babas!!  We did back it down to 4 or 6 oz bottles and are slowly working our way back up to 8 oz.  Of course no one would ever know she was sick because she is always so happy!  While we waiting at the Dr. office she would just smile and talk to every single person who walked by her.  I think she probably made every person who walked out of the office during that half an hour happy and they all left the Dr. with a smile on their face!  Who couldn't be happy after seeing this cute face?!?!

January 2, 2013

Daddy went back to work today.  :(   Jordan and I had a semi-productive day.  I was supposed to go back to work today too but with Grace have the flu and Jordan getting over her RSV and puking I decided it would be best for me to just stay home with her instead of sending her to Tab's for the day.  And of course I was happy to have a couple more days off.  So in between episodes of Friday Night Lights we cleaned the house.  I was able to get everything done that we decided not to do yesterday.   The biggest task was folding what seemed like 50 loads of laundry.  But I did and I got them all put away.  I also began the task of organizing and throwing out garbage that didn't need to be cluttering my house any more. But the day mostly consisted of staying in our PJ's,  (Well Jordan had thrown up twice so she was in her 3rd outfit for the day by 8 AM) watching tv, taking naps, making funny faces and snuggling on the couch.  Who could ask for a better day!!