Catching Up & Garage Sale Finds

Food journaling:

Frozen strawberries, light vanilla yogurt, almond milk, banana & Splenda...

mix it up in the Ninja...

...yummy healthy smoothie

Breakfast: omelette with egg beaters, spinach, feta & tomato plus sliced banana

Mexi salad: iceburg lettuce, black beans, mexican corn, grilled chicken, salsa & sour cream delish!

Wear to work this week:

This is my favorite find of the day...cute reddish cabinet for $7 & picture fame for $1. Goes with my decor already :)

This one was a bit of a bigger purchase. We weren't really looking to buy any furniture right now (my apartment is itty bitty and already full of stuff for our new house) BUT when I saw this cute hutch it had DIY project written all over it. At $40 for a 2-piece set it was too precious to pass up...

 ....and it came with this darling little collapsable buffet. 

We crammed the furniture into my dining room, as you can see, until we figure out what to do with it. I'm thinking a pottery barn- white finish on the part that is now yellowish and add decorative knobs. This will be so perfect to display my new wedding registry dishes!

Day 2 food journaling

Greek yogurt, berries, flax seed, & honey 

My new mason jar tumbler :) LOVE...you can get a similar one here.

Spinach, tomato, feta cheese omelette & banana

Mexican salad- black beans, mexican corn, salsa, grilled chicken & sour cream

snacks: dried cranberries

Today's work outfit

Motivation Monday + online food journaling

I think it's pretty common that Monday is the most motivating day of the week to start something new: a new diet plan, new workout routine, changing things at work, etc. Once again I find myself, excited to start a new week with big plans on Motivation Monday. Here's to hoping it becomes a habit :)

Here is the workout plan I'm following... the format came from a personal trainer a while back.

5 minute cardio warm-up (elliptical or treadmill)

Strength training circuit (alternating between legs, arms, and abs)

20- 30 minutes of cardio 

This is what I was told to do for lean muscle tone (not to "bulk up"). He said that women tend to think that lots of cardio is the recipe for fat loss, but all you really need is 20-30 minutes in addition to targeted strength training. This will actually help you lose weight/fat faster than overdoing it on cardio. Be sure to drink plenty of water in between circuits. 

To check out a good strength training sight click here.

ONLINE FOOD JOURNAL

In the past, I have started a food journal several times and been unsuccessful with sticking to it. I would conveniently leave out the junk food/snacks/fourth meal I had in between, forget to bring my journal to work, skip a day, whatever....but the end result was I never stuck to it and ended up in my old unhealthy habits. 

Over the weekend I thought to myself, what would be a motivating way to keep track of my eating and hold myself accountable, and came up with: online food journaling. It's simple:  snap a pic, and upload it with short description of what you ate.

Even if no one reads this, I will still feel accountable for watching what I eat, taking a picture, and posting daily. 

Day 1

Breakfast: egg beaters, strawberries & bananas

Lunch: spring mix salad w/ raspberry vinegarette dressing, fruit

Dinner: salad w/ ranch dressing & left-over crockpot pesto chicken (delicious recipe found here)

I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and cooked until the chicken kind of pulls apart (Blake described it as melting in your mouth!)

snacks: broccoli salad, grapes, handful of Starburst Jellybeans (oops)

So...while I was in the mood of holding myself accountable I decided my wardrobe could use a little motivation, too. If I take a pic of my outfit every morning before work, maybe I'll dress cuter ;)

Hitting the Bourbon Trail

Last weekend for a friend's birthday, we loaded up a bus and hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Being a native of this state, I had never even been to any of the distilleries on the trail. Our wedding reception is going to be in the distillery district, so we were inspired by all the bourbon barrel decor.

                                                         Blake and I at Wild Turkey

                                                                All the ladies at Four Roses

                                                       Whitney, the birthday girl

We had a great time and I look forward to filling out the rest of my passport! If you're ever in Kentucky, it is a must!

Happy Easter, Y'all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and uplifting Easter weekend. For me, it was a great time to enjoy family, good food, and remember the reason for the season. 

One thing I took away from church on Sunday was that it's easy to feel refreshed and renewed on Easter morning, but we should wake up like every day is Easter. 

Romans 6:4

…just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  

Our Easter table

 Saw it, pinned it, did it. I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago and had to try it. You boil the eggs, go ahead and peel them and cut them, and then you soak the halves in the dye. It took ours a little longer to change color completely, but I think they turned out really cute (Grandma was a little afraid to try them, but don't worry your mouth won't change colors)! 

We used one of those egg dying kits and added vinegar and a tablet to each cup. I would say it took at least 5 minutes for the color to be the way I wanted it once you put the egg in. 

My brothers and I , our annual photo op :)

We were a little upset this year to discover the Easter bunny had not come and hidden baskets of candy. Apparently, that stops at 25. 

What did you do to celebrate Easter?

Happy Spring!!! (finally)

One of the best great things about being a teacher is SPRING BREAK! This week, I've had a chance to spend time with family, do some wedding planning, and catch up with friends. Today, it finally felt like spring and I was able to get some much needed things done around the house. 

 First update: adorable rug from Target was a great addition outside the bathroom door. It ties in a lot of colors, so it's great in almost any space. Love it!

 Secondly, I'm really trying to get serious about getting in a little better shape for summer and for my wedding in the fall. I may have overindulged over the recent holiday (Easter bunny just keeps on giving). So, I started by going shopping for HEALTHY groceries. The plan is to eat as little packaged & processed food as possible. Details of meal plans will come in a later post. My healthy snacks for the week: broccoli salad & fruit salad- sprinkled w/ Splenda & drizzled w/ honey.


Broccoli Salad Recipe (adapted from my mom's to make it a little healthier)

• 2 heads broccoli, cut up
• 1/4 cup red onions, diced
• 1/4 cup bacon bits 
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds or slivered almonds
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup Splenda
• 2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1. Combine broccoli, onions, bacon bits, raisins, and sunflower seeds in a large bowl

2. In another bowl, mix mayonnaise, Splenda and vinegar until blended evenly

3. Pour both into a container with a lid, mix, then cover and shake until coated evenly. This recipe is best after being refrigerated for a day or so. Yumm! This was such a hit at Easter I had to make my own.

You may recognize this confetti cake batter dip from all over Pinterest. I do not in any way claim it as my own (only wish I were that brilliant). Even though it is pretty low-cal and fat, I was afraid of what might happen if I made more than one serving ;) It was a success with both me and my little animal cracker friend:

• 3 tablespoons confetti cake mix out of a box
• 2 tablespoons Fage 0% Greek Yogurt plain
• 1 tablespoon lite Cool Whip

Mix well and viola! I've tried it before with lite vanilla yogurt, but liked it much better with the Greek yogurt, it makes the dip thicker and not too sweet. 

Finally, my favorite thing about today: front porch makeover!!! The cushions are Vallerie Bertinelli from Marshalls (love that place) and the garden stool was purchased there as well (at a fraction of the price you can find them for online). I was very happy with my spontaneous trip to Marshalls!

Then, I painted an old terra cotta flower pot and covered the bottom with burlap. The flowers obviously haven't bloomed yet. I found a watering can at Wal-Mart for $5 and added the square of burlap, stamped with my initial, with a hot glue gun. This is something I had seen in a store for like $30. Can't wait for more warm weather to spend time in my new space :)