I'm being such a bad blogger latley.  I just haven't been feeling it. I just haven't been in the mood to blog. PLUS I still can't find my camera with all of my PFM, Christmas, New Years and everything else on it. I'm pretty upset. Not so much about the camera, but the pictures. It has to be at my parents…but where at is the question!

I had the day off on Friday and was able to go to the gym in the morning. It was great. I wish I could go to the gym at 9am every morning.  It is much more fun than 5am or 4pm…its perfect timing.  I cleaned the house when I got back and did a little relaxing.

I've decided that I'm interested in loosing a few lbs and am currently working slowly to make it happen.  I don't want to revert back to my "OLD" habits or over doing my exercise or restricting my food intake, instead i'm shooting for moderation and consistency.  For the past six or seven months I have not focused much on weight loss. My main focus has been figuring myself out. Learning how to eat when I'm hungry and work on becoming stronger physically through exercise.  All I have ever done for what seems like my entire life is "try and loose weight" so when I started making healthy changes, I decided I'd put the goal of "losing weight" on hold until I learned more about my body, understood how it worked and was confident in my choices.  I feel I have reached that spot. I am in a really good place, and am ready towork towards loosing a few lbs.  I'm not in a hurry, I have no time constraint or ridiculous goals…Loosing a few lbs is just something I'd like to achieve and have set out to do. 

OK back to our weekend….

Dave and I went to eat at our favorite restaurant "Tonys". It was AMAZING…no..it was better than amazing. After we ate, we ran some errands and went shopping and then headed home to watch a movie and snuggle on the couch.

Saturday morning we headed to the gym again and got in a great workout.  Did I tell you we joined a new gym. I think I did. Although I don't LOVE the gym…I do love this new elliptical machine. I'm not sure what it's called but its great. I get a great workout and am able to really work my legs and arms at the same time…I really like it.

We went shopping the rest of the day and I got to exchange some of the scents of the lotions I got for Christmas. I now have enough lotion to last me a few years. I got a ton of different scents and am having SO MUCH FUN smelling really good everyday. Later that night we walked across the street (literally) and hung out with our new neighbors. I love them. They are so much fun!  We get along so great, it feels like we've been friends forever.  On Sunday we were asked to speak in Church, it was good to get that out of the way.  I introduced us since we are new and told a little about the two of us and how we met la dee da… Dave talked about his conversion story to the LDS church. I'll have to post it on here one time. Its such a powerful story and he always does such an amazing job sharing it.  I've heard it a million times but never get sick of it. He is so awesome…..i'm feel so lucky to have him. I'm having another one of those times….where I am really really in love with my husband… like a lot. Do you ever have those times? Not like you don't always love them…but sometimes its just different.

This week is looking pretty gloomy.  Dave's grandpa is in the hospital and his mom told us she doesn't know if he will make it through the week. He is 84 years old (although he seems so so young, mentally he is 100% WITH it which makes this so much harder) he has been fighting colon cancer for quite some time now and is not doing well. These types of things are so hard. Dave is heart broken which in turn breaks my heart.  Please keep Dave and his family in your prayers.

I don't have much to blog about…which is why i've been so horrible about posting.  Don't hate. I guess i'm a little burnt out.  But I still love you.

QA: Do you ever get burnt out on blogging?

I must have confused you yesterday with my big long bucket list. That was NOT my list of goals for 2010, it was just a fun little thing I found on my personal blog from a few years ago. I'm not crazy enough to set that many outrageous goals in one year, that's more like a life time of random goals in one list.  Just wanted to clear that up! 

GOOD NEWS
I just found out I don't have to work on Friday. YAY!!!!

BAD NEWS
Dave and I had family home evening last night, but we did not end up writing out our goals. I don't know how I forgot but I guess Dave doesn't like to set goals. At least not on paper.  After we got to talking last night, he reminded me that last year I "forced" him to write out goals with me, and this year he didn't really want to. He told me he'd be happy to hear about my goals and help me set them, but he doesn't like to put goals in writing. He just doesn't like it.  To each their own I guess. If he was not clearly able to achieve any goals, I might be a little bugged or concerned, but he always achieves the things he sets out for, whether they are in writing or not, so I didn't do any forcing this year.

GOOD NEWS
We didn't set any goals together last night…at least not on paper but we did verbally talk about some goals together, which really was better than nothing.

GOOD NEWS
We joined a new gym yesterday. I'm not in love with it, but it will due.  It is really close, only 4 minutes away, the price is good $20 a month and it has a basketball area that Dave is thrilled about.  I think it is going to end up working out pretty nice for both of us and here's why: Dave usually only likes to work out for 30 minutes or so and most days I want to go longer.  Yesterday we stayed at the gym for about 50 minutes.  He did 30 minutes of weights and then played basketball for the next 20 minutes while I finished up what I was doing.  It was perfect! This way I don't feel rushed and he doesn't get bored waiting around.  It's a perfect solution for both of us.

BAD NEWS
 On a not so happy note…ERRRRRRRRRRRRR. That is me being upset.   The workout as a whole was great. It was my back…that was not great.  It started bothering me a few hours after we got home from the gym. I don't get it.  Is it me? Is it the treadmill?  The past month I have ran quite a few times outside and have been just fine, no back pain at all.  Although my back pain today and last night is not super bad, the fact that it's there really bugs me.  I'm not sure if my form lags when I'm on a treadmill as apposed to outside or what the heck the problem is…all I know is I'm frustrated.  I don't even dare to run for the rest of the week because once it starts hurting it takes a while for it to go away and I don't want to make it worse than it already is.  I'm not really sure what I am going to do or how to figure it out.  Any ideas?

GOOD NEWS
 Last night we ate at our very own dinner table for the first time in our entire 2 1/2 year marriage! No joke! We have never owned a dinner table before and did not get chairs until just recently, so last night we ate together at the dinner table for the first time! It was really fun.  Check it out…

The table with the chairs

BAD NEWS
My mom called and told me my camera is not at their house. What!? Where is it then? I'm in trouble.

GOOD NEWS
I made a new dish which was awesome. We had almond chicken (SO GOOD), brown lemon rice and green beans.  MMMM MMMM GOOD. I'm such a nerd but I'm get so proud of myself when I cook something really yummy. I guess its because not everything I cook is really yummy.  I'm working on it though!! (Yes we both had a soda with our meal.  Dave was in charge of getting us drinks, and that is what he picked)
I ended up drinking water and saving my soda for afterwards.

 BAD NEWS
Although I love repeat LOVE watching the Bachelor….this season is the most awkward season I've ever seen so far.  The girls, Jake, everything about it makes me squirm in my seat.  And what's up with the freaky weird dramatic cry baby girl? Do you think she is crazy???? I do. I'm still super excited to keep watching though.

GOOD NEWS
Did you see Love On A Conveyor Belt last night.  Dave and I laughed our bums off!  Too Funny! I will be watching it again next week. Also, we are super excited for all our favorite TV shows to come back on.  We really truly heart our TV shows.

DOUBLE GOOD NEWS
Although we didn't put it in writing, we made a goal to eat at the dinner table every night and I love the idea!

QA:  Do you eat at the dinner table every night?
Do you physically write down your goals?

Fitness

By no choice of my own, I was sick for a lot of the break.  I was never deathly ill stuck to my bed, but I was not feeling good enough to run or work up any type of heart rate for a lot of the days.   I was kinda lazy for a few of the days after I started feeling better and didn't want to exert much energy. So all in all, I didn't work out as much as I would have liked, but its ok, I did what I could and now that I have taken adequate time to rest and am feeling 100% better, I'm seriously looking forward to this week and my workouts! For the last few months, I have been tracking my workouts almost every day in the Fitness tab on my page.  I have now archived that page and have begun a new 2010 fitness  page.  I'm not doing anything special on this page, just logging my workouts. I thought it would be fun to start from scratch for the new year.  I got a heart rate monitor for Christmas, but it didn't have a distance tracker, so we sent it back and today I am going to try and pick out a monitor that logs, distance, calories and heart rate, etc. 
(any suggestions for a good one around $175/180?) 
We're going to have to spend a bit more to add the distance tracker, but I'd really like to have it. My hopes are to incorporate more running into my workouts, if my body will allow.  So far I've done great and have had no pain, but I am a bit hesitant to get super excited about running since I've had problems in the past with my back.  I am going to take it slow and see how I feel and set goals based on my body and how It reacts. If possible I'd love to run a few races and build my distance.  Speaking of races, why do they cost so stinking much? There is a race called the "Ragnar" that Dave and I have been thinking about running, but it is $100 a person. Blah. Maybe if it was just me running it wouldn't seem so bad, but $200 for us to run a race….I just don't like the sound of that.  I think $25 or $50 a person is more like it.  There is a race in San Francisco called The 12k across the bay, which I'd love to do. We did it once a few years ago and it was so much fun! We met my parents in San Fran and shared a hotel room. We hit all the hot spots, ate at yummy restaurants and then ran the race on our last day there.  We had not trained at ALL and by the time we made it to the airport that night we were both limping, Dave so bad that he thought he broke his foot. I had to push him in a wheel chair around the airport.  After a few days we both ended up being just fine…but that's what we get for not training for a 12k run.  We hadn't even really even been exercising.  What were we thinking??
There is also another race i'd love to do. It's a 1/2 marathon in May. It starts in the canyon and the trail goes around a large damn and then down the canyon…it would be so beautiful. I guess I'll have to play it by ear and see how my body does. My tentative plan is to run 3x a week and strength train 2x a week. I plan on taking Friday's  and Sunday's off.  I think this schedule will keep me motivated, strong, and give me the rest in between that I need. It's just a tentative plan, but a plan it is.

Goals

 Tonight Dave and I are going to have Family Home Evening. Click on the link to learn what Family Home Evening is.
We are going to review our goals from last year and see how we've done. We have of course reviewed our goals throughout the year, but we still like to sit down and review them at the end/beginning of the year and see how we've done.  I'm excited to see what we have accomplished and excited to set some new challenging goals.  I love the new year.  Even though I'm really unhappy about being at work right now, I'm happy about today and about starting a new year. I'm excited for 2010 and everything that will happen.  Living in our new house, a new baby (not mine, sissys), lots of vacations, holidays, summer, new traditions……there is just so much to look forward to! I'm excited for a year full of healthy living, positive attitude and continued improvements.  I think 2010 will be my best year so far.  

Check out this bucket list I posted on my personal blog a few years ago. The highlighted items are all things I've done. This is not a personal list I created, just a random bucket list that was fun to do.  I've been able to add a few  highlighted items to this list since then.  I'll underline the one's I've done since originally posting this (there are 4 new ones).

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Slept on an overnight train
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol
Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted (drawn)
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling-
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published something
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Visited the White House
Had chickenpox
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Ocean
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee
Seen Mount Rushmore in person
Learned to play an instrument
Held a tarantula
Touched an iceberg
Changed a baby’s diaper
Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
Had a food fight
Had a snowball fight
Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
Ridden a roller coaster
Visited all 50 states
Taken a road-trip
Milked a cow
Been in a movie
Crashed a party
Made cookies from scratch
Gotten a tattoo
Rafted the Snake River
Performed on stage
Been to Las Vegas
Eaten shark
Bought a house
Been in a combat zone
Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
Touched a stingray
Broken a bone
Ridden a horse
Eaten sushi
Had your picture in the newspaper
Gone back to school
Eaten fried green tomatoes
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Dyed your hair
Caused a car accident
Saved someone’s life!

That was fun for me to read through all of them and remember each memory one by one.  There are still quite a few things on this list that I'd love to do. Here they are..

Bungee jumped
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Run a Marathon
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited Africa
Visited the Great Wall of China
Taken a martial arts class
Served at a soup kitchen
Gone sky diving
Stood in Times Square
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Had a baby
Visited all 50 states
Taken a road-trip
Saved someone’s life!

There are obviously many more things not shown on the list above that are on "My list of things to do", but I'll save that list  for another day.

Vacations

Every year over our anniversary Dave and I go on a tropical vacation to celebrate.  Around this time each year, I start making the arrangements. This year we aren't sure where we want to go. We've been to Maui twice and last year we did an all inclusive in Mexico. Since we just bought a new home, we need to try and find something a little less expensive this year.  We still want to go tropical, but have not yet decided exactly what to do or where to go. 
Any IDEAS???  We've thrown around the idea of a cruise…but to where? I've been A LOT of cruises and but Dave has only been on one, so this may be the right way for us to go this year…??? 
If you have any great cruise spots, or any vacation ideas, let me know!

I heard this song on the Radio this morning and it made me smile. Do you LOVE this cartoon? I love love love it!

I ran outside yesterday and loved it. It was pretty cold, but I was dressed warm and felt great. My ears got a bit cold, but other than that it was awesome. I'm starting to figure out that switching up my exercise every so often excites me and really motivates me. I haven't run for quite a while. I had to stop when I hurt my foot and I've only done it a few times since then. I am really loving it…and GUESS WHAT?!! My back doesn't hurt after wards! That's right. I've now run three times in the last week and have had zero back pain. This is exciting news for me! It means that maybe I can run pain free! I don't want to wear myself out, so I'm going to take it easy, but I'm excited to keep at it. Yesterday as I ran I felt so strong! It's like I could have gone forever. I love the cold crisp air and the quietness of the snow…its so peaceful! I pulled out my ipod for half of the run (I haven't used that thing in 7 or 8 months!). It was fun to run to the music, I'm pretty sure it made me pick up my speed quite a bit.

I used to hate running. Mostly because I couldn't do it and I thought it was boring. It's not an easy thing to get used to doing . I still suck at it, but I do love doing it. I'm not "a runner" nor do I plan on becoming one, I just like it when i'm in the mood to run and feel good doing it! We've been having so many parties and luncheons lately that it's been hard to not eat a lot of unnecessary things. I felt really great after yesterdays run, it gave me lots of motivation to continue tokeep active, especially durning the holidays when goodies and laziness are around every corner!! It's so easy to tell yourself "it's the holidays" or..I'll start exercising when January comes around.  Its so crazy to think about past Christmas's or holidays….it used to be a free for all. I'd eat crap all day long and never exercise.  I always ended up feeling guilty and plotting out my next "diet".  I"m so glad I don't burden myself with that kind of behavior anymore! I love feeling good, eating healthy and staying active, I love even more that I want to do these things because of how they make me feel today and everyday and not because of how I want to look or feel in the future.  It makes the holidays that much more enjoyable!

Today is my last day of work, until the 4th of January!! I hope the day goes by fast!! Dave's sicko and I'm crossing my fingers that he doesn't pass it off to me. I've been saving up my vacation time to take all of this time off during Christmas break. If I'm sick, I will not be too happy.

Ok, so ya know how I said yesterday we would be closing on our house? I lied. Not on purpose though. Today is the big day. Today at 3:30pm. Finally the wait will be over!

My nose is starting to act funny and runny. EEEERRRRRRR. Say a prayer for me.

QA:  What do you want for Christmas?  I want a heart rate monitor/milage counter/calorie counter/zone monitor

Yesterday (Tuesday) when I got home early from work I changed into my workout clothes and cuddled up on the couch while I waited for my workout buddy to get home.  After I gave Dave a hug he immediately said…"I don't feel like working out today"… my response…"me too!"  Problem is we didn't work out Monday either.  We tossed the idea around of not working out again around and decided that it would not be the end of the world if we skipped yet another day.  Dave had four wheeler plow on his mind and I wanted to relax and cook a good dinner.  So we both went our way doing our things.  I decided to make Tofu for the first time. I was pretty excited. I used Caitlin's recipe and was excited to see the outcome.  I cooked some brown rice and an artichoke to go with it. 

5 minutes into the cooking of the Tofu, Dave came in and told me he didn't have the tools necessary to put the plow together.  He really wanted to get the tool right then so, out of the oven came the tofu. I wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge. I'd finish cooking when we got back home.  3 stores and 2 hours later we were back at home with a bag of take out Taco Bell and a tool for the snow plow. Our appetite got the best of us and we caved. I got a grilled chicken gordita and Dave got some crunch soft taco thing.  We ate and then snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie.
 I might have accidentally mixed up a batch of these in between cuddling and the movie. 

Is it just me or do you eat more brownie/cookie, mix/dough than the actual brownie or cookie? By the time i've baked the stuff I can barley eat one piece. I love the batter!!

I haven't worked out for two days, I ate taco bell for dinner and then topped it off with brownies…when I got home from work, I had good intentions of working out and cooking us a healthy dinner, but then life happend. I guess sometimes good intentions will have to do!

I wrote this post yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it.  Yesterday afternoon Dave and I went for a run. We suited up and ran around the neighborhood for 45 minutes. It felt AMAZING. Not sure if it was the crisp air, or the fact that I haven't run in a while, or that it had been three days since I last worked out…but I was LOVING IT! When we got back home I went out for another 15 minutes because it felt so great!  Sometimes I feel so random with my workouts. I want to be disciplined and stick to something for a certain amount of time, but I guess I get sick of doing the same thing and I crave variety.  I'm beginning to realize that I need variety to stay motivated and excited about exercise.  Doing the same thing all the time is not my recipe for success.

How about you??

ps…the tofu was a BUST! I hated it. I tried to like it and eat it but each bite made me shiver. I even tried to cook it in a different spice, but guys…I just couldn't handle it. I threw it all out.  I don't think tofu is for me unless it looks like a noodle and is found in my Chinese hot and sour soup. Darn…I really wanted to like it.

(Summer 09 Bear Lake, Utah…no relevance to this post…just a for fun pic)

Before I get started, I just wanted to make sure that I clarified something. In my post yesterday I didn't mean to sound like I never have struggles or battles and that I am perfect. HEEEECCCCCCKKKKKKKK No! I struggle with things all the time! ALL THE TIME.  Everyone does. No one is perfect. I only meant to share that my problems with eating/exercise being positive that type of thing have improved and are no longer hanging over my head on a daily basis.  Do I have other battles, trials, upsets??….OF COURSE!  I am FAR FAR FAR from perfect, but I am happy with where I am and where I'm going.  Make sense? ….hope so!

Ok, moving on to Yoga talk.  K, can I just say that I completely with a capital C, SUCK at yoga. Its true. I hate to admit it, but I'm the worst yoga-er ever!  Dave and I did 45 minutes of Yoga yesterday and we were both struggling!  Dave is pretty flexible for a guy (minus his hamstrings) and I am the most unflexible girl in the world…or one of a few.  I could not do any of the things they were doing with out using a small tote as my "yoga block".  I couldn't believe how talented you have to be to do yoga. I guess if you are flexible it may come more natural, but let me tell you…this yoga workout was not natural. I was tight, uncomfortable and hurting.  I know it will get better as I become more flexible and yoga coordinated. I can't expect to be perfect at it when I've hardly ever done it. I will say however, that after the pain, my leg muscles felt much better (they are/were super sore).  It helped to get the lactic acid moving!  I am definitely going to keep doing yoga on a more regular basis. Hopefully in a little while I won't be so bad at it!

Today is Friday. YYYYYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY! I am only working until 1:30! We have big plans to start working on the spare bedrooms this weekend.  I can't believe its been 3 weeks and we still don't have them done. Believe it or not, there is just so much to do…that we haven't gotten to them.  We also are so tired at night after working out, cooking dinner, etc that putting together furniture, organizing and all that stuff doesn't sound too appealing. Instead we find ourselves wrapped up in a blanket watching tv…much more fun!  So this weekend we made a pact that we would get both bedrooms done!

Plan of Attack

Today
-Get home
-Exercise
-Start on Guest Bedroom
-Get Ready
-Go to Eat
-Go shopping for more furniture

Saturday
-Exercise
-Start on Computer Room
-Go Shopping

We decided that we wouldn't go shopping each day until the bedrooms are done!  So tonight, we have to finish the guest bedroom before we are "allowed" to leave. Its really the only way its going to happen!  Did I mention that we found furniture for the front room? Have I showed you pictures of the front room? I don't think so.  Well anyhow, it is a sitting room area, and we needed a couch and chair/s.  We looked and looked and we could not find both things with in our budget so we kinda gave up. Then last weekend after visiting IKEA we went to a sofa store that we saw across the street. We ended up finding both items and together were below budget! YIPPEE!!

Dave has been working on his "theatre room" aka the bonus room.  While at IKEA bought a tv stand for the massive tv he got on Black Friday. It is really starting to come together and look great up there.  He is so excited too, which is cute. Its "all he has ever wanted" he says….so I'm happy he is happy!!

 I'll post some pics of the front room and bonus room when we get everything together!

K friends…gotta get going. I'm still super busy here at doing my new thing here at work. It's making it hard to find time to blog, or write quality stuff. Please bare with me as I'm adjusting to not having 8 hours a day to blog.   Have a great weekend!!

QA:
Are you flexible?
Do you do yoga regularly?
Any suggestions???

It's fun being a house wife when you have your own house.  I don't so much mind cooking and cleaning.  I'm sure the cleaning will get old and I'll start to mind doing it, but for now I'm enjoying enjoying it. ha!  Yesterday Dave and I headed to the gym to sweat it out. And that we did. I was sweating like crazy and loved it! I did 30 minutes on the stair master (that baby is freaking hard) and then 10 minutes of abs.  Here I am doing my

Whittle

My

Middle

My arms get so tired and fatiuged by the end of this routine. I really have to focus on my abs so my arms don't do all the work!  hey…check out my sweat pits! YES! I just noticed them…those are SEXY!!

I had a dinner creation in mind, nothing special, but none the less I was excited about it. I got to work as soon as we got home.  Dave started working on the guest bedroom while I created a masterpiece very simple meal in the kitchen.  What was on the menu?

Cilantro Turkey burgers with hummus, sprouts, tomatos and lettuce with a side of sweet potato fries (MY FAV)

Not too shabby a picture considering I used the IPHONE.

I wish I had a really good picture, because they looked really pretty. I was proud of myself for cooking dinner and making it look pretty at the same time. I'm notorious for burning/ruining meals, so this was a success. I'm more proud of Dave though because guess what? I didn't modify his sandwich one bit!  He ate the hummus, tomato, sprouts, lettuce, sweet potato fries…all of it!  It was not his favorite, but he ate it anyhow. If you understood how HUGE this is you'd be jumping up and down with joy.  Dave HATES all veggies, every single one. He hates all beans, every single kind, along with quite a few other foods.  He flat out HATES them, as in they make him gag and feel sick.  The past month, he has been very open to try new things and make himself eat the foods he does not like. He is trying to get himself used to their tastes in hope that one day they won't bother him.  He is super interested in eating healthy and fueling his body properly, and realizes that he has not been fueling with the foods he needs.  I'm so happy he is SO willing to make changes and try to improve his diet.  Even Monday when he ordered rumbi he didn't ask them to hold the veggies. NEVER HAPPENDED BEFORE!  There was a point where he had to spit out a few bites into the napkin because "it tasted DISGUSTING" but for the most park, he choked the veggies down! WAY TO GO HONEY! 

Isn't it interesting/exciting how our food choices and knowledge of nutrition can help improve those around us? I never thought I'd see the day where Dave told me to make his dinner the EXACT same way as mine. ( I always make two seperate meals, or make his completely different than mine). I never thought I'd see him order a meal from a restaurant without asking them to hold the veggies. He has always tried to eat healthy and moderate the things that he knows are not good from him, but his problem is that he dose not get enough of the foods that are so incredibly important.  I am so thankful that through my journey to a healthy lifestyle, he has also been making healthy changes.  His willingness to make these changes makes me a happy, happy wife! Another thing that makes me super happy was talking to my sissy yesterday. First of all, she is pregnant..yay! And she is having cravings and all sorts of other stuff happen that is cracking me up. Anyhow, she told me that her and her husband tried Cous Cous the other night and loved it. She also proceeded to tell me about some other healthy food choices she has been making and the different types of foods she has tried in the past month! Way to go Jac! You rock sister! It is so exciting to see/hear about people making positive changes or improvements!!

Guess what?? I am only working for a few more hours today! YIPPEE!! I plan on going to they gym, working on the house, and possibly putting up our Christmas tree!  My parents bought us the most beautiful pre-decorated tree last year for Christmas, but since we didn't have a home last year, we haven't been able to use it yet. I can't wait to put it up!!

We still don't have internet (what is wrong with us) because we can't decide which provider to use, so I don't know that I'll get to blogging this weekend GASP! Hope you all have a wonderful safe holiday!  Eat lots of good food, play lots of fun games, watch lots of good movies and take lots of good pictures!!  xoxo
Love, Happy Housewife-

 QA:
Have your healthy choices produced positive outcome on those around you??

FYI: I added a Whittle My Middle (WMM) page to the top of the blog. Logging my WMM and fitness on the same page was getting messy looking, so I separated them. I know you could care less are dying to check it out, so here ya go: Whittle My Middle

I have some good new and bad news. Good news first! I made my very first granola bars yesterday! They were very very good! I was SUPER surprised how good they turned out.  Bad news… my camera batter died, and I don't know where the charger is….so, NO PICTURES. boo hoo! The entire time I was making the bars I thought about how great of a story I could tell with some pictures, but there was no camera available.  Here is a picture I took this morning with my crapy cell phone camera…this is the bar I am going to eat in just a minute!

I had such a blast making them…(yes I just said the word blast in the same sentance as cooking/baking). Cindy my go to gal, gave me some great tips and I put them to use. I changed the recipe up a bit (something I would usually be too AFRAID to do) I added raisins, chia seeds, more coconut, dark chocolate chips, whole almonds, a little agave, and some a hand full of other dried fruit I had on hand. If your interested in the recipe, you can check it out here.

Dave and I sampled the mixture before putting it in the oven and we LOVED it. I couldn't wait for it to come out. I kept checking on them every few minutes and finally when they looked golden brown I pulled them out.  You should have smelled our house….it smell AMAZING!  Dave immediately came in the kitchen and started to pick at it…I slapped is handasked him politely to wait until they cooled.  With anticipation we waited for them to cool and once they were ready, I cut them into 8 bars (I halved the recipe) and then wrapped them in saran wrap, minus the two bars Dave and I ate on the SPOT! THEY WERE SO GOOD! Seriously, I couldn't believe it. We both scarfed them down and loved every bite! I can't believe that I have been missing out on SO MANY amazing foods! Geeze. While eating a  million ideas of what I could do with this stuff ran through my head. SO exciting!!  Here is a pic of the bar all wrapped up and ready to go, doesn't it look cute? Or am I just proud of myself? lol

Yesterday we picked up some Nutri Grain bars for Dave (he usually has one for breakfast) and they were almost $4 a box. I couldn't believe they were so expensive. I believe they come with 8 bars, SO today, Dave and I are going to add up all the ingredients it takes to make the bars I made last night, and do a price comparison against the Nutri Grain Bars. Dave is a math wiz and can do all the measurements and conversions in a jiffy, so I'm going to send him the info he'll need and then presto, he'll send back the numbers and I can then do a price analysis.  Fun right?

I know there are THOUSANDS of recipes out there, which is exciting because I can just keep trying new ones!  I picked this recipe because I had all the ingredients, and it sounded super easy (which it was).  The only complaint I have is that they don't stick together as well as I'd like. Maybe I needed to add more honey or more of something? I don't really know, I'll have to mess with it. If you have any suggestions let me know.

Oh, I am SO happy its Friday! We have TONS to do this weekend, but when you don't have to add work into the mix of things, it's always better! Our goal it to get a couch for the bonus room, find some decorations to fill a bunch of the dead space, finish the laundry room, hang up the pictures/clocks…etc, oh and much much more! (Any design/decoration ideas for the side walls where our tv hangs? The sides are so bare. I have a giant picture I might hang to the left of the tv…take a look at the space  and if you have any ideas…please share!)

Exercise Note: We went to the gym again yesterday. It was wonderful. You can check out what I did here. I would have liked to stay at the gym longer, but Dave never wants to be there for longer than 30 minutes, so 45 was pushing it.  I got to thinking yesterday and now that the gym is 10-15 minutes from our house, I think I'd rather workout at home. Since I am no longer working out in the mornings, It kinda sucks to get home from work, change, go to the gym, and then have it be dark and late by the time we get home. I don't like that. If we worked out at home, we would save ourselves at least 30 minutes. I talked to Dave last night about starting/buying PX90 (I want him to do it with me), he said he'd think about it. He doesn't know ANYTHING about it and is worried that it might be more of a girl thing "like the shred" (his words, not mine) not that the shred isn't hard he said…but he wants something that will build muscle, not just tone. He is already toned, he wants to get bigger and stronger.  I JUST KNOW that PX90 would be enough, I just have to convince him of it. I plan on sending him a few testimonial/videos today. I think they will do the trick…..the first time I saw the infomercial I was a believer!! I think he'll come around.

Fridays are SLOW around here so I'm going to get to reading this baby!
(I talked to the nutrionist yestserday, and she recommended I read this book, what do you know!!)

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

PS..it's not too late to get people involved in PFM.  Have you asked anyone at work to get involved? If not…why not? Go over there right now and tell them all about it, ok? Ok, great…good job!
-loves to all-

QA:
Are you a Twilight fan?
Do you plan on seeing the movie this weekend?
Did you squirm/get butterflies/feel like an idiot teen girl on the first movie right before they kissed…or was that just me?

I went shopping yesterday and about 1/2 or more of the food I bought I have never bought or tried before in my life! It was exciting. I was a bit overwhelmed at the grocery store trying to find the right things and not pick the wrong things. I took deep breaths and realized I didn't have to get it perfect and that any changes I make are in the right direction. I was also really worried I was going to spend WAY too much money, I had a number in my head that I thought it would add up to and as I kept throwing things in the cart I began to get worried. When I finished checking out I was INCREDIBLY surprised to find that it was 1/2 as much as I thought it would be! I was thrilled!!
Here are some of the new foods I picked up!

Here is a list of all the foods I've never tried or purchased before:
Sprouted Bread
Cous Cous
White Beans
Black Eyed Peas
Long Grin Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Coconut
Barley
Avocado
Almond Milk
Raw Almonds
Whole Wheat Pitas
Red Pears
Rolled Oats
Whole Wheat Pasta
Greek Yogurt ( holy crap this stuff is AMAZING)

There may be much more, but that is all I can think of right now. I wasn't able to find ALOT of the things I was looking for at the local grocery store. I was a little bummed because I didn't want to make a special trip down town (30 min away). 

After shopping Dave and I both went to the gym and got in a sweaty workout. I can't tell you HOW GOOD I FELT. SO SO GOOD!  I took my Little Booky with me and read as I chugged away on the elliptical. I was pushing so hard and it felt SO great!  Here are my stats:

Elliptical: 35 Minutes (Dave didn't want to stay an an entire hour)
Abs (Whiddle Middle) :10 minutes
Arms: 2 sets of 12 triceps dips

My arms were burning by the end! The ab workout totally works your arms too, which is great…I love two in ones!!

After the gym we walked to the grocery store that is connected to the gym and we passed by a store that intrigued me. On the way out of the grocery store we decided to stop in the store.  It was a health store, with ALL THE FOODS I EVER NEEDED IN IT! It had every single thing on my list! I was SO SO SO HAPPY! I went to town. We spent a lot of money, but i got a lot of things that will last me a very long time.  I have never tried all most all of these things.
Take a look…

I asked so many questions while I was at the health food store. The lady really helped me a lot. Before I left I asked her if they ever do any informational classes. She told me the did not do any classes, but the owner of the store does free nutritional counseling! WHAT!! FREE? Yes that is right. I gave the lady my name and number and with in 30 minutes of leaving the sore, she called! I wasn't able to pick up the phone..(cus It was lost at the time), but I am going to give her a call this morning! HOW EXCITING!!

As soon as I got home, I opened all of my new products and gave each one a taste. I have been reading for months about all of these products, so you can imagine my excitement to try them!

Want a review? You're getting one!

Agave: This is so yummy. I love this stuff. I can't believe I never knew it existed! It is so much better than honey or any other sweetener for that matter!!

Brown Rice Syrup: This had an odd taste by itself. It was sweet but kinda weird. I can see this tasting really good when cooking or mixing it with something else.

Flax Seed: I had to get quite a few in my mouth to really taste them. Have you ever picked a piece of grass and bitten on the white at the bottom? That is what flax seeds taste like to me…I Like them!

Chia Seed: I don't think these really have a taste (which is great because you can add them to anything!)

Chunky Almond Butter: I never liked chunky peanut butter, but this rocks! I had a slice of bread with a bit of almond butter and a drizzle of agave…oh my it was so good!

Coconut Oil: I think this might be my favorite. It smells and even tastes so good! I rubbed in on my arms and dave rubbed it on his elbows (He has irritation on his elbows) we want to see if it helps! I can't wait to use this stuff!

Sunflower Seeds: I have had these before, and I love them. I am going to use them in my granola bars and many other things!

Rice Chips: Long ago when Dave and I first started dating he used to eat these. I remember how much I LOVED them, but have not had them since then. We tore these open as soon as we got home. Yum these are goooouuud!

Almond Milk: I didn't get to use the almond milk yet, but I'll let ya know what I think

Peppermint Oil: Dave picked up some peppermint oil. Someone at his works rubs a bit of this on their fan and it fills the room with peppermint smells.  He went to town on my car air vents and different places throughout the house. I LOVE the smell of peppermint…(but I do not like the taste!)

I was seriously so happy and excited last night. I LOVED all of my new purchases and I can't wait to use them all! I felt so great about what I had found and the HUGE change I had made to our grocery items!  I was also so excited because last night I made my first Cous Cous! It was tasty tasty! I even took a picture of it cus I was so proud of myself (not that its hard at all) but I was just super excited!!

Since I had never made it before I didn't really know what it would taste like or what to do with it. I grilled up some mushrooms and red peppers and then stuffed the pitas with the veggies, cous cous and then topped it off with some sauce.  It was great! I was seriously glowing because I was so proud of myself, just all together for trying. ha! Dave was laughing at me because I was basically skipping around the house because I was so excited!

Ok so now its time that I call on you for help.  I need YOUR recipes. You kinda have an idea of what I have on hand (I have a bunch of other stuff I didn't take pictures of too, so don't worry) I'll also be getting more this weekend. So from the bottom of my heart, I'm asking you to leave me a comment with your favorite (Easy…i'm just a beginner) recipe? I'd love to get your best of best recipe/s and give them a whirl! I am trying to get Dave on board with everything and he is being SO WONDERFUL, but I know if I keep giving him yummy food, he will start to enjoy foods that are better for him and as we change certain things, it will be easier for him. I need your help! I am going to look around today and try and find some recipes, but I think the best ones will come from you!  So, think about your favorite recipe, then leave me a comment with it! Thank you thank you! I can't wait to get them!!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!  Prescription for Dietary Wellness. Yippe! This was my first piece of mail at our new house…only fitting that it was a book I am super excited to read.  Cindy told me I HAD to get this book, so like a good little girl, I obeyed and ordered it right away!  I can't wait to get started. When I finish this post its scriptures and then dietary wellness time! I'm sure this book with be referenced in many posts to come!!

I STILL have not gone shopping, but am planning a run to the store this afternoon! I also have a few other thing up my sleeve for later today. Last night I declared to Dave that I WAS SICK OF NOT WORKING OUT…and I needed to get exercise, busy or not!  My plan is to head to the gym after work each day.  Since my foot is still bothering me I will do the ellipticalor the bike and then add on 15-20 minutes of strength.  I'm feeling super out of shape. I'm even noticing a difference in the way I look….boo hoo! I must admit my exercise has been MIA since my foot and getting ready to move. That combined with eating out WAY TOO MUCH is making me feel blah!!.  I may just be feeling this way because I've been less active (exercise wise), but whatever it is, I don't like the way I feel…so I'm going to change it. Simple as that.

When I used to feel like this in the past, I would make myself feel even worse by dwelling on the negative and all of my mistakes. I would end up eatting worse and avoid exercise all together. Makes no sense right? I know..but its just how I did it.

I CAN NOT TELL YOU how thankful I am that that has changed. Yesterday when I had a moment to breath and stop and think about how I have been feeling the past few days, it made me motivated to make myself feel better and get back on track. I want to feel stronger, healthier and in better shape, which also motivates me to eat better (no more fast food) and MAKE TIME for exercise. Now that we are moved in the BIG STRESS is behind us, so making time to exercise seems a lot more feasible and desirable!

So, today I brought my gym clothes with me and plan on hitting up the gym before I head home. 

Here is my plan:
45 min Elliptical
15 min upper body
6-10 min Widdle my middle

Yay!  I can't wait to sweat it out! I have totally missed sweating.  Of course moving was a lot of work and caused me to have sweat pits (ha), but that is not the kind of sweating I'm talking about. I'm talking about full on sweat dripping all over, wipe it off your face with your arm kind of sweat. The gross kind! I'm craving it big time! At 9:00pm last night I almost popped in a workout DVD because I was wanting to do something so bad. I realized that it was not the best time since we were getting ready for bed. I practiced "MODERATION" by realizing that it would be ok if I waited until tomorrow. FLASHBACK: (I remember times where I layed in my bed anticipating the next days workout and feeling guilty about something I did or didn't do that day. I would actually get out of bed and go down stairs and workout…at crazy hours)….I look back on that and think…oh you poor little thing. I also think… YOU WERE CRAZY! lol. But really MODERATION is important. I had already done my Whiddle My Middle exercises and since it was time for bed I declined my urge to workout at such a late hour!
(9pm…yes that is late for us who get up in the 4am hour)

Speaking of Moderation…dave said something to me a while back when we were doing Crossfit that I have to keep reminding myself of.  We had decided to take a day off and I was stressed about it because I had committed to 30 days and was planning on blogging about it that day and was also planning on the exercise.  He looked and me and said Nat, this is our life, this is not a fitness competition, nor your blog, it is ok if we take a day off.  Geeze Louise, I thought to myself!! He was so right. How silly it was that I was worried about taking the day off! It is not a competition, no one is judging, no one actually really cares what I do or don't do! I was so glad he reminded me that this is my life and living it in moderation is KEY to my happiness! I refer back to that statement often!

This post is pretty random. I'm just letting out some thoughts. Thanks for listening! Here is to moderation and a really sweaty workout!!

(Check out my fitness page…I am going to TRY and log my daily fitness!!)

Widdle My Middle Workout
Nov 17
Plank: 1:30
Side Plank: 1 min each side
Ball Roll Out: 20 Reps
Jack Knife Roll Out: 20 Reps
Side to Side Plank: 1:30
Total Min: 6 Min 30 Sec