the pits and peaks of this week

Friday, you haven't looked this good in a long time. Let's get it goin with a little jam sesh. I haven't got to #backthatazzup in 2 weeks with Whitney (I Wore Yoga Pants) Does anyone watch The Goldbergs? Yeah me either, but I saw previews that this weeks episode was going to be sort of a Goonies tribute. Hello, you have my attention now. And that's where this song came frame. It makes me happy.

I also found this link up and decided to take part! 

It's a chance to brag bout the ups and vent about downs of your week, aka the pits and peaks.

allie @ http://www.talesofatwentysomething.com/
jen @ http://thatiswhatsheread.blogspot.com/

I'll get the pits over with. there isn't much anyway and nobody likes a negative nancy.
pits
>> it's been cold all week. yes i live in the midwest and this is considered the norm, but some solid 40's would be great as we are making our way into mid march. >> our gas bill, which is combined with our water bill, was high this month, higher than last months high bill. so we've turned our thermostat down a few. and trying to make some other changes to save a penny. >> sickness. good ol fashion colds. you know, the runny noses that are never ending.  peaks
>> we paid off all of our credits cards! so now besides our house and cars, we are debt free. holla >> our hoa tried to charge us a late fee, but we got that waived. >> as mentioned on tuesday, eating clean is paying off. this is the highlight of my life right now. >> it's supposed to be 53 degrees today.i will celebrate by painting my nails pink and wearing my sperrys. i will celebrate by opening cracking the windows in my house. let's not get ahead of ourselves, 53 is still a wee bit chilly, but my house needs aired out from all the said sickness. i will celebrate by taking my dog for a walk and actually enjoy doing it. >> it's friday and we have a family fun night planned! bowling/dinner with our kiddos plus my husbands brother and his family.  >> i'm caught up on my dvr. this is a big deal guys. i watch a lot of educational stuff. and by educational, i really mean that i'm a bit obsessed with reality tv.  >> i'm featured on erin's sidebar (two thirds hazel) which excites my newborn blogger heart. she's one of my favorites! also, go register for that ipad air on her blog! i mean, why wouldn't you? >> i've stumbled upon so many new blogs this week and can't wait to continue to read.  >> my practically sister (friends since babies) is coming home from alaska next month for THREE WEEKS!! What were your pits & peaks? Hope you guys have a great weekend! 

100 things

I recently read that one of the first things you do when you first visit a blog is go straight for the about me page. Well sorry kids, I don't have one. I'm still learning/teaching myself how to design this thing and haven't made it that far.

Baby steps. 

So I decided to do 100 things about me.

I always love reading these when other bloggers do them.

Hey, that's an underlying request for you, yes you, to do one!

1. i'm 28 years old and i was born at a naval base hospital
2. i married my boss, he's 10 years older than me - age ain't nothin but a number - we've been together almost 8 years, married almost 6
3. i hate syrup and ketchup
4. i'm an only child, but grew up with some best friends that were basically my siblings
5. mushrooms freak me out
6. my favorite show is sex and the city, i've seen every episode eleventy hundred times
7. i've lived in indianapolis my whole life
8. i believe leopard print is a neutral
9. i love animals, mostly cats
10. my favorite color is pink
11. i really enjoy cooking & baking, but cooking more
12. tom petty is my favorite musician
13. i'm a picky eater, but i've gotten better with age
14. 90s music is everything
15. i love ghosts/paranormal activity
16. i have a strange obsession with cows that all began with a trip to a mall pet store, that's a story for another day
17. i'm a sunglass junkie, good thing i work for an eye wear company (check us out!)
18. i'm team iphone/apple for life, my husband is team android
19. fresh flowers make me happy, especially lilacs
20. i did gymnastics growing up and now i live vicariously through my daughter tumbling
21. chicago is my favorite place on earth
22. justin timberlake has been tearin' up my heart since the 90s
23. i've met justin timberlake, backstreet boys, jessica and ashlee simpson
24. i don't believe you can take too many photos
25. i love to read
28. i'm big on textures and have to touch everything when i'm shopping.
29. i was in a kenny chesney music video, technically
30. i share a mind with one of my best friends
31. i work from home
32. peyton manning is my favorite athlete
33. i almost moved to nashville, tn and then i met my now husband
34. i love to stay up late and i'm not a morning person. don't speak to me unless i've had my coffee
35. my name was going to be shawn if i was a boy which is my husbands name (spelled shon though)
36. my life literally would not be what it is today if i didn't start working at a pizza place when i was 17
37. i basically live in yoga pants
38. skinny jeans are the only kind of jean i'll wear
39. i'm a very protective mama bear with my kids
40. i love having seasons and i don't think i could live where it's warm year round
41. i hated high school, go wildcats
42. christmas is the most wonderful time of the year
43. i am a reality tv junkie
44. i love spicy food, the hotter the better
45. the two places i dream of going one day are hawaii and seattle
46. i've been out of the country one time and i really have no desire to again, the all inclusive part was awesome though
47. got married in las vegas
48. both my parents and my husbands parents are still together
49. blake shelton, enough said
50. i have a handbag obsession and couldn't live without my louis vuitton
51. i could eat chipotle/qdoba every.single.day
52. i have one tattoo and have two more in mind that i want to get
53. i love a good thunderstorm
54. i rarely nap, i just can't do it
55. movies like gladiator, troy, braveheart, 300, etc will guarantee that nap though
56. my favorite actor is leonardo dicaprio, my favorite actress reese witherspoon
57. i can't sleep with socks on, it freaks me out
58. i almost went to school for vet tech, then i worked somewhere for a year and my boss ruined it
59. i hope to one day go to nursing school
60. i can't stand when people say dr. pepper and cherry coke are the same
61. i prefer having the windows open vs the air condition when possible
62. i'm really indecisive and can't make decisions on my own
63."diamonds are a girls best friend" false. besides my wedding ring, i don't care much for them. handbags are my besties; see #50
64. i don't do politics, sorry i'm not sorry
65. i don't like cake and really don't like icing, give me a brownie or cookie
66. i can't drink milk out of anything but glass
67. i'm really ocd and love a clean house
68. i've never seen or read any of the harry potters, please lend me your collection right meow
69. after some back and forth discussions, my husband and i were pretty content with one child (plus his from a previous) because kids are expensive. then i got pregnant on birth control (took it at the same time every.single.day for months guys!) and that's how we knew we were supposed to have another and here we are today.
70. i've been to 19 states
71. i love the thought of living in the south, where life is simple, but two of the biggest cities have my heart, chicago & nyc
72. i would much rather be with my family than out on the town
73. i enjoy cheap wine, especially out of the box
74. black friday has been a tradition with my mom and i for 25 years
75. i swear by my erin condren planner
76. i love making lists and crossing things off them
77. i don't like being woke up by anything but my alarm
78. i wish i could knit, sew and crochet. one day i'll teach myself
79. i dislike sweet pickles
80. i don't eat hamburgers on a bun, never have
81. i will have a white kitchen one day
82. i don't like grape jelly
83. if i'm not sore after a workout i get mad
84. i don't know how i lived before my keurig
85. on that note, i believe coffee tastes better when it's in a cute mug
86. my favorite cartoon as a kid and still is scooby doo
87. my first car was a pontiac grand am and i called it my grand dayyyummm
88. i get scared really easily, like i can watch my husband go hide and he still manages to scare the bejeezus out of me
89. mark my words, i will never drive a van. even though their amenities these days are pretty sweet
90. both of my pregnancies were literally perfect, no sickness either
91. i want to be the mom that is fun, says yes to things and respected
92. i strive to be a good wife and take care of our home
93. i've never broken a bone, knock on wood
94. i'm obsessed with candles and my house smelling good
95. i believe beds should be made each morning
96. the first thing i do when i wake up is get on my phone
97. i love fairs, festivals & concerts in the summer
98. i'm a chapstick/lip gloss addict
99. my skin breaks out easily, adult acne is a serious thing y'all
100. i'm very nostalgic/sentimental and love when smells, songs or certain things remind me of something

I could probably go on, but I'll save that for another day!

Hope you still find me interesting and continue to stop by, if you don't then deuces.

fat tuesday

Happy National Pancake Day. It's also Fat Tuesday. Do I care? Sure don't.
What I DO care about though is this new link up I stumbled upon while blog hopping yesterday.

It's called Tough It Out Tuesday and you can read all about it here. It's a good way to be able to talk about the healthy changes going on without talking about it everyday. And no, I won't stop posting pictures of my food to Instagram.

As most of you know I began clean eating after the New Year. Yes, I have "cheat" days once a week (or 3 which was the case this week.) It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle. I'm sure you've heard that saying before, but that's what it is. The first week I slowly transitioned into it. I emphasize the slowly. Part of that means I gave up soda and sweet tea, cold turkey. Easy peasy.

Let's be honest, the only time I drank a coke was when it was mixed with rum.

I also gave up coffee... SIKE!!! Now that was funny. I did give up all my delicious creamers though. Just some almond milk, stevia and voila, my cup o' joe is healthy.

Monday, January 6th, rolled around and The Bachelor premiered. I insisted on a big bowl of pasta to eat during it and I did just that. So January 7th, is when it went full force. I decided it was time to step on the scale and power up my good friend, MyFitnessPal app. Such a great way to hold yourself accountable for what you eat and how much you exercise.

A few weeks into eating clean, I decided it was time to start working out. I got one good workout in and then I fell down the stairs. No lie. Stairs are hard guys. I was sore for a hot minute (like a two week hot minute) Better now, but still haven't begun working out again. I will probably start on Monday, you know because starting on any other day just isn't normal. Yep, there's my OCD again.

I can't believe I'm talking numbers with the world to read, but here we go.

I was about 115 before having kids and maintained about 125ish after both, because hello my body changed, if you know what I'm sayin, nudge nudge wink wink. Then my metabolism decided it was done and I put on a few lbs. Do I or did I think I was overweight? Absolutely not. I will be honest and say that when I started to see numbers in the 130's, and not being pregnant and then seeing 140's, I knew it was time for me to do something.

So lets get to the results. deep breath
On January 7th I weighed in at 141.8
As of today, I weigh 124.6.
That's a whopping 17.2 for those of you that can't do math, like myself. Big thanks to my fancy pants scale and MyFitnessPal for being a step ahead and calculating that for me.

That is all achieved with no working out. It really shows how much of a factor that eating right is.

Ok, I'm done preachin.

Did anyone watch The Bachelor: Women Tell All last night? They tore him up a bit. Love a good drama sesh. I'm not a fan of him by any means, but I do believe that editing is everything. I also think his intentions were good, but just were expressed in the completely wrong way. Of course, at the end, Chris Harrison says what he says at least once a season "something you've never seen before," about the finale.

That's all, folks.

oscar recap

Monday is here again. Time to recap the weekend. I had a whole blog post and link up typed on Friday and somehow it vanished and I was too lazy to start over. So much for the auto save that has been a life saver before. Anyway, my 1 cheat day pretty much turned into the whole weekend. Can't wait to get back to clean eating today, along with starting a 7 day detox (click here for recipe). Need to get all this crap, pun intended, out of my system. So besides eating like a maniac, our weekend was good. Our 8-14 inches of predicted snow turned into only a few with some ice. No complaints. Moving on.

Oscars, anyone? Bueller?

I'm not ashamed to say that I planted myself on the couch at 1:30 yesterday and watched E! Red Carpet all.day.long. Yep, just ask my husband and kids. Award shows make me happy, especially the Oscars. I was really pulling for Leo to win something, anything, but other than that fail and my tortured soul in result, I LOVED it. Ellen was hilarious and literally broke Twitter with her seventy billion RTs of this selfie:

I won't get into Pharrell and his shenanigans. First the bermuda suit shorts and then the return of Paddington Bears hat. Pinks performance of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' was surprisingly good and then there was Bette Midler. Hello ugly cry. And now I need to watch Beaches. And then Danny Zuko, I mean John Travolta, introced Idina Menzel as Adele Dazeem or something. Brad Pitt was lookin dapper last night but it pains me to say anything nice about him or Angelina. Sorry I'm not sorry. #TeamAniston

Let's talk fashion now.

I adore Giuliana Rancic and her dress, STUNNING.

I love some JLaw and was really hoping she'd be a knockout this year. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the dress, but she rocked it.

She also rocked the red carpet. By falling. Again.

Way to keep it an annual thing, girl!

And then Olivia Wilde had pregnant women or women in general everywhere feeling bad about themselves.

And just because..

We will call this velvet curtains Sometimes I try and picture these celebs trying on potential Oscar gowns and saying "That's the one!" or however they do it. Bribed? Held at gun point? I don't know. 

Romeo. I just watched that movie and now I refuse to delete it off my DVR. This man can do no wrong in my book. He is one of the best actors out there. And ridiculously good looking. Bonus! We won't go into how he walked away empty handed and The Wolf of Wallstreet won NOTHING. A moment of silent please.

 

Why Margot? W-H-Y?! This isn't about the dress, but the hair, the make up? Fingers crossed it's temporary, maybe for a movie? Get it together girlfriend.

Alright, alright, alright! Freakin' adorable. I really wish her dress matched his jacket or vise-versa, OCD party of 1. But they look great together and for once in a long time, Matthew looks healthy and not cracked out for a role. How about that acceptance speech? Or the moment he and Leo embraced each other? Love.

WORST DRESSED:

Pharrell

Speaking of cracked out. I have thought long and hard about what I would say about this and I still have nothing. I don't know what is going on with anything in this picture. 

BEST DRESSED:

Just so happens to be a tie and two of my favorite actresses. 

Kate Hudson

Sandra Bullock

 I need to see Gravity now since it won every Oscar last night. Kidding, but not really.
Oh and where was George Clooney? 

Who did you love and hate?? 

Over and out.

time to get naked

Qdoba/Chipotle. I mean are there really people out there who don't love it? I don't like fast food, so this is always my go to when eating out somewhere quick and love the healthy options! I decided to try and copycat it. And not to toot my own horn, but it was pretty delicious and husband approved.

Naked Burrito

The Chicken

• 1 lb chicken prepared however you'd like (rotisserie, grilled or crock pot) I used the crock pot
• 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (if using the crock pot)
• seasonings (cayenne, chili, cumin, paprika, garlic, onion powder) all to taste

Place chicken in crock pot, pour broth over and then sprinkle seasonings. Low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours or until your chicken is cooked through. Shred/chop up and let cook just a little longer to absorb juices.

The Rice

• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1/2 a lime
• fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• Pam butter spray

Cook rice according to instructions. Fluff the rice when done. This made about 1.5-2 cups for us. Spray with some Pam butter spray. Squeeze the juice from half a lime over the rice and mix in the finely chopped cilantro. 

The Pico

• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 a lime

Stir everything together in a bowl. Alter to taste if needed.

The Guac

• 1-2 avocados, mashed
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1/2 a bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, chopped

Mix everything together in a bowl. Alter to taste/consistency if needed.

Other Toppings

• 1 can black beans, no/low sodium (I'm not a fan of beans but I made these for Shon)
• 1/2 can corn, no sodium (I'm not a fan of corn either, unless it's on the cob, but like above, made for Shon)
• 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno, sliced
• lettuce, chopped

Cook the corn & beans according to instructions. Make sure you rinse the beans well. 

I took the 2 bell peppers and jalapenos, sprayed with Pam butter spray and sauteed til slightly tender. 

Build the Burrito

1. Rice
2. Chicken
3. Veggies
4. Pico
5. Guac

the plague

I feel like I'm turning back into one of those every now and then bloggers. I don't want that, but hear me out, my reasoning is legit. Too legit to quit. On Thursday morning, I woke up at 6:15 to get ready for my day. I'd be making my once a week 45 minute commute to true adult socialization; see: work, also see: office. As I begin my morning routine, I realize I have a headache. Who wakes up with one? Not me and not to mention I have had ZERO since I started eating clean. And this wasn't just your average headache, this was the holy mother f'n grail of headaches. Awesome. I'm standing in the bathroom after showering, which in most cases is a cure-all for waking up feeling like shit. Nope. This is the part where the toilet and I became close friends for a minute. The only thing worse than being sick is being sick when you still have to be a grown up and the only worse than that is being sick when you still have to be a grown up AND a parent. I forced myself to finish getting ready, even if it meant throwing my hair in a pony tail with some mascara and lip gloss. I got the kids up and ready and out of the house on time. I start downing water like it's my job. I get to work, feeling crappy but slowly better. Lunch time rolls around and I'm able to force some food down. I skipped dinner and this brings us to about 3 am Friday morning. Insert my 6 year old screaming at the top of her lungs. Awesome. She has a headache, something she hasn't ever dealt with before. We cuddle up on the couch together after some meds and go back to sleep. Then we both wake up feeling terrible. Here. We. Go. I failed to mention that Shon has been sick with a fever, chills, cough the whole week up to this. So now we are 3/4 down for the count in the household. Tay has a fever, cough and headache. I have no fever, but a headache and cough, with a side of nausea. I'm going to try and speed this up because, really, who wants to listen to how sick one family can be. Saturday morning rolls around and Tris wakes up sick. Puking and fever. S had to work til about lunch time and as shitty as I was feeling, I had to be strong for my babies. Up I go. Water, coffee, meds, shower. Check, check, check and check! We vegged out all day and we've been on the mend since. It's been terrible and THAT is why I haven't blogged. The struggle was real.

Luckily Wednesday, prior to all the nastiness, I had made a gargantuan pot of soup, which came in handy since I couldn't didn't want to cook.

Skinny Chicken Tortilla Soup

• chicken (honestly forgot to measure out how much I used, but I would say about 1.5 lb, MAYBE 2)
• chicken broth (the lowest sodium you can find) I did 5 or 6 cups and 1 cup of water, I can't remember
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes NO SODIUM
• 1-2 small onion, chopped
• 1-2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 can of corn NO SODIUM or frozen corn will work too
• about 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• seasonings (oregano, pepper, cumin, chili powder, cayenne)

optional: sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips

I sauteed the peppers, onions and garlic in a pan for just a minute or two, until soft. Then dumped it, along with everything else in a crock pot. Chicken can be raw or you can use cooked or rotisserie. As far as the seasonings, I did about 1 half a tbsp of oregano then did the other stuff to taste. You can also cut back on the broth if you want a thicker soup/stew. Cook on high for about 4 hrs or on low for 6-8.

ENJOY!!

GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS? IT'S HUMMMPPPPP DAYYYY. WOO HOO. 

Or #WCW, if you are into that sort of thing. 

i'm in a funk

I'm in a funk this week. You know, one of those "I don't know what to blog about" funks. But here I am, it's hump day and this blog and I are going to try and make it work. Let me start from where I left off, Friday and work up to the present. This will probably be all over the place. Consider yourself warned.

Valentines Day was spent at home due to mother nature. So I picked up a heart shaped pizza and some dessert and called that dinner. If you know me, you know pizza is my weakness. Guess what? I slapped that pizza with rejection. I made my normal go-to meal, Ezekiel tortilla, artichokes & avocados. Yep, simple as that! Let me explain.

These, my friends, are my favorite thing. Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas. I get mine at my grocery in the organic section, in the freezer. I literally could eat them everyday and I pretty much do. I'm one of those people, when I find something I like, I dive 110% into it. Like the time I discovered Thai food and ate there pretty much everyday for a week or two or three. Or the time I made a sandwich from stuff I had in the fridge (bread, pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomato & red onion) and was so in love that I ate is everyday until I ran out of one or all of the ingredients. Then there was the time I went through a bagel kick, an everything bagel to be specific, toasted in the oven with turkey, cheese and finished with lettuce and tomato. Yeah you get the point now. But these bad boys and I have been having a love affair for over a month and I don't see it ending anytime soon. I will tell you later on in this post what I normally have with mine. Then on Sunday, I decided that I wanted a BLT, which I was going to make on a slice of bread from the same brand, Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread. But decided to do my tortilla and make "BLT nachos." Let's just say, HEAVEN.

Since I got completely side tracked about Valentines Day, I'll continue with that. Shon tells me that my gift is a pair of those pretty little Hunter boots I've been obsessing over. I'm not one of those people that EXPECT a gift, I always tell him a card will do, because it's the thought that counts. Back to the boots. The kick? They are freakin back ordered. EVERYWHERE. (Nordstrom, Von Maur, Saks, Urban Outfitters, Zappos, Piperlime, just to name a few) They have since been ordered from the actual Hunter website and should be here this week or early next week. AKA not soon enough.

Yesterday started a big thaw in the Midwest. Sun, something we rarely see these days and above freezing temps causing our plethora of snow to start melting. Where am I going with this you ask? Slush, puddles and more slush. Which has resulted in my feet being soaked through through my socks. Case in point, I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY HUNTERS. I feel we are going to have a long and healthy relationship and I can't wait to get it started.

The rest of our weekend was pretty low key. Did big kid things like get our taxes done. We went to the mall and out to dinner. I ended up not cheating that bad, I didn't eat anything until dinner and 5 of us split cheese fries. I got fajitas and didn't use the tortillas. I was pretty proud of myself. I spent my Sunday doing the norm, cleaning, laundry, crying over the Kimye proposal. Like I said, the norm. Don't be too jealous or judgmental.

Then comes Monday. I get a message from Shon that morning saying he wants to start eating clean with me. I will say, he will eat whatever I make, but he wanted to do it right and not snack on the crappy stuff or half-ass it. He will have his cheat days like I do. He is in his work vehicle all day for work and doesn't eat lunch, so I made sure to pick up lots of veggies, fruits and a jug of water to keep in his car.

Last night we took the kids to their first Pacer game. They really enjoyed it. Didn't make it through the whole thing, so we left after half-time. Part of us leaving early was because Shon and I were hangry. Not hungry. HANGRY. We decided to pick up some Qdoba to take home since there are healthy options. I ran in and after having to wait behind about 10 cops to order, it was my turn. "Two naked burritos, brown rice" I say. "We are out of brown rice, it's currently cooking and has about 15 minutes left" says the lady. "I'll wait" I say. So I take a seat and let him know it's going to be a while since he's stuck in the car with two tired kids. Finally the rice is ready, I order our food and the manager, after apologizing over and over, tells me our food is free. I told her that wasn't necessary but she insisted and I accepted. Thank you Qdoba. If it's at all possible, it made it taste even better.

My "Nachos"

1 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortilla

Pam butter spray

seasonings (I used garlic powder & cayenne)

toppings, my fav is artichoke hearts (the ones in water, NOT oil!) & avocados. sometimes some onion, tomato, lettuce. just depends on my mood.

 

Preheat oven to 350. Spray tortilla on one side with the spray and sprinkle your seasonings on it. Bake for about 12 minutes or until tortilla is crispy. Break apart into "chips." I cut up 2-3 artichoke hearts and about half of an avocado. 

BLT "Nachos"

• 1 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortilla
• Pam butter spray
• seasonings (same as above)
• 2-3 pieces of turkey bacon
• lettuce chopped
• 2 roma tomatoes chopped
• 2 tbsp guacamole

That's all I've got today!