High Fives for Long Weekends! {week 8}

Friday High Fives! (linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk)

{one}

I conquered my fear of eBay this week and bought myself a Minnie Mouse watch.  I've been eyeing this one over at Disneystore.com....with a price tag of $34.50. 

Not horrible, but not a necessity right now.  So I happened to be on eBay one day browsing around and found this watch.  With shipping and everything, it cost me $9.02.  I'll take it. 

{two} 

Next week is this HUGE Consignment Sale in the town I live in.  It's a three day event that I look forward to every year.  But this year, I've decided to get rid of a few things and be a seller instead of just a buyer.  That means I get in a day earlier than the general public to shop my little heart out.  I. Cannot. Wait.

{three}

Aunt Kristen is not allowed to change Avery's diapers anymore.  Disaster in the making.

{four}

I made a Facebook and Twitter page this week for my blog!  Hop on over and like my page or follow me on Twitter!

{five}

I'm SUPER excited about this one.  My sister and I are tackling a pretty big project starting tomorrow.  So be sure to come back to my blog TOMORROW and check out the details.  Are you adding it right now to your list of things to do this weekend??  Good.

Happy LOOOOONG Labor Day weekend friends!



Big Chicken.

I'm not a trendy person.  I don't see the point in following fads and spending the money to buy acid washed denim jackets if they're going to be out of style in 5 months.  I'm a classic kind of gal.  Black and white, classic cuts and silhouettes is where I live.  Nothing crazy.  Lately, however, I've been itching to try something a little different.  Sometimes, I wish I lived somewhere a little more fashion-forward so I wouldn't be looked at like a wackadoodle if I decided to try some trends on for size.  Or maybe people wouldn't think anything about it and I'm just wayyyyy too self-conscious.  Either way, I'm scared.  But I've definitely been eyeing a couple of fashion trends lately.

Colored jeans.
I want a pair of Kentucky blue colored skinny jeans SO. BAD.  Some of the colored jeans are a little out there.  I wouldn't want to flaunt a pair of mustard colored jeans anywhere.  But UK blue, teal, even red, I could see myself in.  As long as I stay at home.  With the blinds closed.  *sigh*

Red lipstick

I love red lipstick.  I think it's bold.  It's sassy.  It's feminine.  I even own a tube of it.  But I cannot wear it.  I've even applied it several times on my way to an event and end up rubbing it off before I get there.  I don't know what I'm afraid of.  Being too bold?  Standing out too much?  Who knows.  But I definitely have red lipstick phobia. 

Statement jewelry

Bib necklaces.  Colorful baubles.  Dangly earrings.  Giant rings.  I want them all. 

I guess this goes right back to the red lipstick and not wanting to stand out too much, but I'm afraid to wear them.  I'm nervous someone will look at me funny and say "Does she really think that looks good on HER?"  I guess I can drool over some pictures....

Basically, I just learned from this blog that I'm a big chicken. 

What do you think?

Would I look like a nerd?  Or should I put my big girl panties on and wear what I want because I only live once and it's about time that I become an independent woman?  Yeah, I'm leaning towards the first one too.... ;-)



Blog Follow How-to

Several of you have mentioned to me that you've tried to follow my blog and can't.  I'm hoping it's not a serious network issue being the reason you can't follow me.  So I'm going to do some step-by-steps to show you how to follow my blog and hopefully clear up any confusion.  Please let me know if this process STILL doesn't work for you and I'll be contacting Blogger to get it fixed (in my most authoritative, professional tone).

Alright.  First things first.  When you come to my home page, you should see a side bar on the RIGHT HAND side of my blog.  Scroll down until you see "It's okay to be a follower!"

When you click on the blue "Join this site" button, it'll take you to a screen that looks like this:

From here, you should be able to join by signing into your Google, Twitter or Yahoo accounts.  If you don't have any of these, you can create a new Google account.  You can create an account and not use it as your primary email.  I know people that created a Google account just for following their favorite blogs.  If that doesn't make you comfortable, you can always follow my blog by email.  You'll receive an email straight to your inbox every time I post a new update. 
Same as before, scroll down the bar on the right hand side until you see "Receive updates by email"  shown here:

Enter your email address and press "Submit."  Easy peasy.

If you don't want to do either one of those, there's one final option.  You can follow me on Bloglovin'.  It's a website where you can keep up with all your favorite blogs in one place.  Instead of getting a ton of emails from all of your favorite blogs individually, you can follow a bunch of them on Bloglovin' and get one email with weekly updates.  It's great.  You can read it all at once in one place.  So, if you wanna go that route, you can click here:

Now, go try it!  My goal is to get 50 followers.  Let me know if this doesn't work!

Hot Mama-ing it up!

Week 7 people!  It's hard to believe that I've been doing this for almost two whole months!

Original weight:  142.5
Last week's weight:  135.0
This week:

Weight lost from last week:  0.8 lbs

Overall weight lost:  8.3 lbs

Yipee!!

Biggest challenges this week:  The Kentucky State Fair.  On Thursday, I went up to the State Fair with my family and I told myself before I went that I was giving myself a day off from my diet.  What's the point of living if you deprive yourself of every single thing you want?  So I had a corn dog.  And cheese fries.  And my parents took us to Olive Garden afterwards.  And I loved every minute of it.  The State Fair wasn't the problem...it was the days afterwards.  I had allowed myself whatever I wanted on Thursday, so it was hard to get back into super-discipline mode and eating healthy again. 

What I think worked:

{1} Even though I ate whatever I wanted at the fair, I also walked my butt off in the process.  Hours of walking around looking at crafts, vendors and animals.  I also walked a ton on Saturday at the Heartland Festival.  Had to contribute a little to my weight loss. 

{2}  I've been sick.  For 3 weeks, I've had a cough and what I thought was allergies.  This weekend, it all came to a head and I literally didn't feel like moving.  Nothing was important enough to get up off the couch...not even food.  Sunday morning, I was in the process of making oatmeal and fresh strawberries and I cut myself pretty deeply while slicing the strawberries.  Needless to say, I had no breakfast.  Then the rest of the day was spent drinking water and snacking on very small things.  No, it was not the healthiest way to lose weight.  Contrary to popular belief, if you starve yourself, your body's metabolism shuts down and it becomes harder to lose.  So don't do it.  I plan on making up for my food-less weekend. 

Here's the best part though.  Yes, I've lost 8 pounds.  And it feels great.  But I am finally starting to LOOK skinnier.  You may have noticed that I haven't put up another "flab" picture of myself.  That's because I wasn't noticing much difference in that department.  Until this morning! 

Remember the before?



After!

It's a very slight change.  I still have flab.  I still have my "pregnancy pooch."  But it's getting firmer.  And smaller.  And that's all I can ask for.  Wahooooo!!!!  Finally leaning towards being a Hot Mama instead of a Hot Mess!!

Closet Nightmares No Longer

Tonight, I declared war on my closet. 
I'm tired of being depressed every single time I pick out an outfit to wear in the mornings.  I'm tired of wishing I had different clothes that make me feel good about myself.  I'm tired of having to use brute force anytime I want to put laundry away because my hangers are jam packed full of clothes--probably over half of which I never even wear.  No, I'm not at my goal weight or size.  But does that mean I shouldn't get to wear clothes that I feel amazing in?  Why should every morning because a struggle between "That doesn't fit anymore" and "I still feel kind of pregnant in that."??  Too many times, I've fought my closet, and it won.  Tonight, I'd had enough.  I tossed and purged and weeded and threw.  And this was the result:

Helping Hand and/or Goodwill is going to be getting a visit from me tomorrow.  It was more than a little ridiculous how many clothes I had that were rarely worn.  Some probably never saw the light of day after I added them to my closet.  I'm a sucker for sales and clearance racks.  If I see a shirt that's even halfway presentable, I'll talk myself into buying it.  You know the dialog: "If I put this shirt with just the right pair of shoes, it'll look really cute." or "If I find a tan cardigan to wear with this dress, it'll hide the sleeves and it'll be adorable."  Problem was, I never had the right pair of shoes or found a tan cardigan.  So those pieces lived in my closet, never to come back out.  Ridiculous.

The second pile is clothes that make me feel terrible about myself right now.  The ones that I remember wearing in my skinner lifetime and want to be able to wear again and cannot bring myself to throw away.  The ones that were torturing me.  I may never be able to wear them again, and that's okay.  I'm just not ready to part with them just yet.

The third pile, I'm a little embarrassed about.  Okay, really embarrassed about.  I'm guilty of keeping (and still wearing) a lot of my maternity tops in my closet.  When I lost a lot of weight when I was still nursing Avery, I put a lot of my maternity clothes away for my next pregnancy.  For some reason or another, I still held onto a choice few of my shirts that I really liked or thought I could pull of as looking non-maternity.  Truth is, I couldn't.  Truth is, I was probably hanging onto them as a type of security blanket to slip back into in case I ever had a "fat day."  No more of that.  They're safe and sound in a tote with the rest of my maternity clothes.

There's nothing like a good-old closet purge.  I highly recommend one.  Now, I'm going to (very slowly) build it back up with clothes of quality that I feel really good about.  Great pieces that make me feel just as great.  Tonight, I fought the closet.....and I won. 

High Five for Friday {week 7}

Despite my current state of sickness and attempting to hack up a lung, this week has been pretty darn great.  So let's get to it, shall we?  (linking up with Lauren, as usual!)

one!
I discovered Fruit and Maple oatmeal at McDonald's this week.  Since starting my weight loss journey, I've become painfully aware of how many calories were in my favorite foods.  As a result, McDonald's breakfasts have been pretty much off-limits.  If I ran out of time in the morning and was forced to make a stop at the Golden Arches, I would order a Sausage McMuffin.  Tired of that, I wanted to try something different.  Enter the creamy, warm goodness of the Fruit and Maple oatmeal.  *sigh*  I'm craving it right now.  And it's 1 in the afternoon. So yummy.

two!  

We went to the Kentucky State Fair yesterday and spent all day sampling the fried foods, enjoying the handmade entries, checking out the animals (Avery made sure to "moo" at every cow we passed).  But my favorite part was a little petting zoo for children tucked back in the corner.  They had the standard donkey and baby calf for kids to ooooh and ahhh over....and then there were the ducklings.   In the middle of the floor, a large galvanized tub had been filled full of water and baby ducks.  In the midst of the water was a slide-like contraption for the ducks to play on.  They would climb up one end and try to reach some food located at the top of the slide.  To try to get the food, the ducklings would have to jump up to get it--which, in turn, caused them to fall down the slide.  It was HILARIOUS.  My mom and I were probably laughing harder than any child around us.  I could have stayed for hours watching them....and my little Avery, who was in utter fascination of the sliding ducks.
three!
Speaking of Avery, I didn't realize I had such a diva on my hands.  My mom has a plastic crown at her house and my little princess loves to wear it any chance she gets.  Future beauty queen?

four!
I made homemade pizza the other night.  Flatten out some biscuit dough and top it with whatever your little heart desires.  I chose green peppers, spinach, banana peppers and tomatoes.  Amazingly easy, fast and yummy.

five!
My Disney-doodled planner never fails to put me in a good mood.  This week's doodle:  Up. :)

Here's to Fridays and hoping that I can kick whatever sickness I have that's decided to be cool and linger on for almost 3 weeks now!

Minnie Mouse canvas bags how-to

It's supposed to be an "Organize One Thing Wednesday" kind of day, but  I still have that specific project on my mind and I STILL can't find the materials I need.  Maybe this is the universe telling me that I need to learn how to sew so I can just make the idea myself.  harrumph.

Instead, I'm going to be posting one of MANY tutorials from Avery's Minnie Mouse themed 1st birthday!

This week:  Minnie Mouse canvas tote favor bags!
I knew I wanted to do something a little different than the plastic-favor-bag-picked-up-at-WalMart route for Avery's little friends.  I had a couple of canvas tote bags laying around...and the idea was born! 

Materials Needed:

• Canvas tote
• Black, red and white fabric paint (I prefer Tulip brand)
• Round sponge brush
• Medium sized paint brush
• Pencil
• Cereal bowl
• Small drinking glass

{step 1}
Find two rounded items to use for Minnie's head and ears to trace around.  I chose a cereal bowl and an orange juice glass.

{step 2}
Trace around items with pencil.

{step 3}

Using your medium sized paintbrush and black fabric paint, trace around each edge of the circles.  To make it easier, I squirted the paint out onto a paper plate for easier dipping.

{step 4} 

Fill in each square with the rounded sponge brush.  You could also use the regular paint brush to finish the entire Minnie head, but I found the sponge to be easier. 





{step 5} 
Add the details.  I free handed a big red Minnie Mouse bow and wrote each little girl's name on each of the bags with the white fabric paint.  But this is your bag....get creative!
Inside each bag, I added the standard party favors:  cheap, but fabulous sunglasses, Minnie Mouse bubbles, Minnie ears and a container of Puffs (for the babies).  They were a hit!  Of course, these don't have to just be for parties.  Make one for your little girl to carry to school or to use as a purse.  Or, if you're a grown-up Disney freak like me, make one for yourself!  Use it as a work bag, a diaper bag, a reusable grocery bag....the options are endless!!

Stay tuned for more Minnie Mouse party themed decorations and tutorials!!

Most Versatile Blogger Award!

You guys.  My whole week has just been made.  Disney Girl has awarded me the Most Versatile Blogger Award!  This is real.  When I saw the comment, I was a little skeptical, but I did some snooping and it's legit!  I feel almost speechless with gratitude.  This award couldn't have come at a better time....I was really beginning to wonder if I had any really faithful followers.  I know some people glance at my blog when I post an update on Facebook, but my follower count really doesn't show it.  I worry that I don't have a blog of any substance or importance.  Do people just read my blog posts and never come back to visit?  If so, what's the point of trying so hard?  And then this award happens.  Coming from a total stranger who just likes my blog for what it is.  Suddenly, it's worth it again.  Please go to her blog and check her out. 

Now, it's my turn to pass on the Versatile Blogger Award love.  Gotta have some rules first:

Here are the rules for the Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the person who presented it to you.
3. List seven random facts about yourself.
4. List the rules.
5. Pass the award onto seven other bloggers.
6. Inform each blogger they have won by posting a comment on their blog.

     

Here's 7 random facts about me:

 

1.  My favorite color is cerulean blue.  Not plain ole, regular blue.  Cerulean.  Now go find a Crayola box and color everything you can with it. 

 

2.  My life goal is to work at Disney World.  I may be old, lonely and retired, but I WILL work at the Disney Store on Mainstreet, USA.  Come check me out in 50 years.

 

3.  Much to my husband's dismay, I will watch Harry Potter anytime it's on TV.  It doesn't matter if it's the first movie or the eighth.  It doesn't matter if I just saw it the day before.  It doesn't matter if there's another movie on that I've never seen and been waiting to watch forever.  If Harry's on, I'm watching.     

 

4.  I love to paint.  I never get to do it anymore because I'm slowly developing arthritic fingers (yes, I'm only 26) and after my kid is in bed, I'm either a.) catching up on my mountainous piles of laundry or b.) sleeping myself.  But I love to do it.  I wish I could have one day a week to be completely by myself and do nothing but paint.  It's the ultimate stress reliever for me.

 

5.  I am a Etsy addict.  I rarely buy anything, but I could spend all day browsing through people's creativity come to life.  I hope to own a piece of art from Etsy one day.  Painted by someone other than me.

 

6.  My favorite food is my mom's lasagna.  I hate lasagna from anywhere else.  It's like my mom perfected it and everyone else is just an impostor.  Thanks for playing, Olive Garden lasagna.  You're not even close.

 

7.  I want to learn how to be a skilled sewer.  I took an introductory class with my local extension office and failed miserably.  Threading the machine intimidated the crap out of me and I asked more questions that the other 5 women in the room combined.  But I'm keeping it on my bucket list. 

 

Now, it's my turn to pass on the love.  My 7 picks for the Most Versatile Bloggers are.....*drumroll*......

1.  The Snugly Duckling

2.  Our Family of Three

3.  Domestic Imperfection

4.  Sugar Pie Farmhouse

5.  The Purple Chaise Girl

6.  From Paris With Love

7.  A Wedding Story

 

Seriously though.  Week. Made.

Hot Mess Monday {week 6}

It's Monday, so you know what that means....Hot Mess time! 

Original weight:  142.5
Last week's weight:  136.2
This week:

Weight lost from last week:  1.2 lbs

Total weight lost:  7.5 lbs. 

My 120 lb goal seems completely attainable.  It's not just a faraway number I once set for myself.  This is real.  And it could happen.

Biggest challenges this week:  Still feeling okay about myself.  Even though I've lost 7 1/2 pounds, I've felt kind of blah most days this week.  Like my clothes don't fit, like I look completely bloated in everything I wear and like I don't want to go try on any clothes EVER because I'm afraid I'll get depressed and quit the whole weight loss journey all together.  The 7 1/2 pounds I've lost is completely awesome.  I'm so proud of myself.  I feel great most days.  But there's the doubt that creeps up into my head and makes me say "You don't look any different" whenever I look in the mirror.  Listen, I'm not stupid.  I know that this journey wasn't going to happen overnight.  I knew that once I started losing, my pregnancy fat wouldn't just fall off magically.  But I had hoped to feel a little bit skinnier by now.  I'd hoped to be able to put those size 6 jeans on and not have to suck it in a little whenever it was time to button them up.  But this is a marathon, not a sprint.  Slow and steady wins the race.  And one day, God willing, I will feel completely rocking in those skinny jeans.

What I think worked:
{1}  My Fitness Pal.  I've downloaded it, I've tracked my progress for over 20 days, I've talked about it on here.  Seriously people.  Down. Load. It.

{2}  Healthier snacking and lunches.  I've become OBSESSED with the Undressed Skeleton blog.  She's a girl that lived a heavier life in high school and college and decided one day that she needed a change.  She has some great, unconventional foods for breakfasts, lunches and snacks that I never thought about before.....multi grain bagel with bananas and cinnamon, anyone?  Or how about healthier homemade PopTarts?  After taking quite a few ideas from her website, I went on a grocery shopping spree and stocked up on fruits, veggies and multi-grain items that are going to fit in nicely with my new diet.

{3}  Being more active.  This week, we painted at work.  And I mean, really, hard-core painted.  Painting a room burns 288 calories an HOUR.  I feel like I need to go home and paint my entire house.  I was sweating, I was burning calories and it was awesome.  Probably a big contributor to my weight loss this week.

Keep on keeping on, my hot messes.  It's not an easy journey.  You are making an incredible lifestyle change.  This is for your spouse, for your kids....but it's mostly for YOU.  We spend our days wiping butts, rewinding the DVR, cleaning spit-up, don't we deserve to feel awesome too?  Til next Hot Mess Monday all.....

Put your hands up! H54F {week 6}

It's Friday...it's time for my High Fives!  But.....are you ready for this?  Put up BOTH hands, because I'm giving you a high TEN!  Seriously.  This week has r.o.c.k.e.d. 

{one}

Saw this in my Real Simple magazine.  Kids were polled and asked to finish some well-known sayings.  This one made me laugh. 

{two}

Saturday was Cecilia Days.  During the "Almost Talent Show," my dad had to go on stage for a marshmallow stuffing contest.  The first one to stuff 20 jumbo marshmallows in their mouth won.  I always knew he had a big mouth. :)

{three}

 Marty and I went to the grocery for the first time in over a month.  I won't even talk about the total cost of our trip, but I will say that I got a TON of healthy lunches and snacks to help me on my "Hot Mess" journey. 

{four}

Found this on Pinterest and I'm OBSESSED.  I will be making a version for myself soon.  I miss Lexington/college/UK.

{five}

My kid is seriously obsessed with Mickey and Minnie.  This makes the "Disney-lover" side of me very, very happy.  I'm afraid we have an addiction on our hands.  Our current Minnie/Mickey related items are: 5 Minnie dolls, 2 Mickey dolls, one Minnie pillow, one Minnie cell phone, one Mickey cell phone and numerous clothing items. 

{six}

This has been my view for the week.  Our office flooded and my boss (aka dad) took it as an opportunity to rip out our carpets and let us remodel.  We've been painting...and yesterday, they were putting brand new desks together when I left!  The before and afters are gonna amaze you.

{seven}

As a blogger, I try to support other bloggers as much as possible.  If I like your blog, I'm going to become a follower.  I know how depressing it is to blog your little heart out, dream about blog posts, join link parties and still only have 26 followers. *sigh*  Anyways.  I've found a new blog/Tumblr account that I'm in LOVE with.  Check out http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com.  She's a girl that has a passion for baking and eating healthy.  I've gotten a ton of ideas for lunches, snacks and healthier living.  Not to mention this fabulous recipe for homemade and healthier PopTarts that I WILL be trying soon!

{eight}

Since starting my weight loss journey, I try not to obsess about my weight.  It's just a number, right?  But this morning, I was feeling so good, I wanted to weigh myself and see if I'd made a difference this week.  Down another .4 pounds!  Overall loss:  6.7 lbs!  Woot woot!

{nine}

Avery rode with us in the Cecilia Days parade.  She was waving with both hands, blowing kisses to the crowd and yelling "hi!"  Apparently, Marty and I have a future politician on our hands. 

{ten}

Avery's one year pictures are done!!  I can't wait to see the entire slideshow, but here's a little sneak peek. :)  Hard to believe our petite little girl is ONE!

High TEN for Friday everyone!!

OOTW tackles the bathroom...

It's been a craaaaaaazy Wednesday (I feel like I'm saying that a lot!) but there's still organizing to be done! 
Last week, I took a break from organizing and promised to return with a project that would knock your socks off.  Well, it hasn't happened yet.  You know when you have an idea in your head but you can't find exactly what you're looking for?  That's my life right now.  I have this brilliant idea.  But no one else seems to support my idea because I have a particular item in mind that I cannot find.  Anywhere. 
So in the meantime, I'll show you a little organizing tip from my very own bathroom.  I love this idea because it's not only organized and functional, but it's pretty too.  We live in a pretty little house...ideal for a starter home...but it lacks MAJORLY in space.  Little cabinet space, little storage space, little counterspace.  Our master bathroom is no exception.  When we moved in, I literally had all of my crap strewn all over our countertop.  But with such little space, I couldn't figure out how to organize everything.  Until one day when I was at my parent's house.  And my mom was talking about having my Peepaw's old toolbox that he made in Ag Shop in high school.  It was like a light bulb going off.  And this idea was born:

No, my toolbox isn't my Peepaw's, unfortunately...but when I told my mom of my idea, she was on the hunt for me.  This beauty was found in my dad's shop.  I swiped it borrowed it and brought it straight home.  With a few old Mason jars, I have my very own, unique bathroom countertop storage.

The jars are perfect for holding our cotton balls, q-tips and toothbrushes.  There's another slot for my hand soap. 



I love organizing!  And finding a new home for old things!  Hope your Wednesdays are getting a little more organized! 

Feeling a little less "Hot Messy"

This Hot Mess Monday is so special, it's happening on a Tuesday!  I fully intended to post yesterday, but my wonderful husband surprised me with tickets to see Easton Corbin.  God bless that man.  So, here's my Hot Mess post, one day delayed.

Original weight: 142.5
Last week:  136.6
This week:

Weight lost:  .4 lbs. 
Not ideal, but as my co-worker put it....I lost!  I didn't gain, I didn't maintain, I lost!  Who cares if it wasn't a whole pound.  I LOST.  No flab picture because it looks the same in that shirt.  But I. Feel.  Awesome.  Seriously guys.  My flab picture looks the same, but I feel skinner.  I've been eating healthier and been making a conscious effort to be more active and I feel great.  I have more energy and I actually look forward to sweating.  Amazing what a few lost pounds will do to you.

Biggest challenges this week:  Snacking.  I have got to figure out a way to have smart and healthy snacks for myself.  If I'm not careful, I could sit in front of the TV, watch an episode of  Bunheads and finish off a half a bag of chips.  I've pinned a couple of snack ideas on Pinterest that I'm going to have to try.  I just don't love "healthy" food....hummus, granola, nuts, that kind of stuff.  But I DO love these:

Only 100 calories and it fills me up for breakfast.  Also, it makes 5 year old me very, VERY happy.

What I think worked:
{1}  Last week, I talked about the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone.  I seriously love it.  It's great to be able to see how many calories are being consumed and burned every day.  But this week, I discovered something new, thanks to my friend Hope.  She asked what my "username" on the app was and she added me as a friend.  I can see every day that she lost "x" amount of weight or that, on Tuesday, she came in under her calorie goal.  Knowing that she can see the same for me has been incredible motivation.  I think "Put that bag of chips down because Hope can see that you went over your calorie goal today."  It's so much better when you have a friend along on this journey.
{2}  Because of this app, I have been able to learn what I can and can't have.  I know my expected calories and what kinds of foods I should stay away from.  I can check an entree before going out with my family and know what I can have for dinner and what amount.  Seriously y'all.  If you're dieting, download this app (I sound like a commercial, don't I?). 
{3}  Trying not to be so hard on myself.  If I give into temptation and get myself a Sausage McMuffin, I don't obsess about it all day.  I realize that I've made a mistake and make up for it by eating healthier for lunch or dinner.  When I think about how much I still have to lose, I think about how far I've come so far.  "You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time."  Baby steps.  I'm not going to lose 20 pounds overnight.  It takes work and it takes patience.

If you're not feeling good about yourself and you're looking for a change, start today.  I'll be your friend and support you every step of the way.  We can do this together!! 
Till next Hot Messy Monday!

High Fives, it's finally Friday!! {week 5}

Virtual high fives.....it's Friday y'all!  Let's get to it:

{one}  Avery's Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash was this past weekend!  I will be sharing a post later this week complete with decorations and tutorials on how to make your very own Minnie Mouse party.  I can't believe I'm the mother of a one year old. 

{two}  We're getting an office remodel at work!!!  I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about this.  Probably because our current set up is no desks at all....picture a kitchen countertop bolted into the wall and held up by file cabinets.  So you can see why I'm excited about getting a physical desk of my very own. 

{three}  This week, Dominos is offering a 50% off special when you order online.  Since they actually have a really good gluten free pizza, I was pumped when I saw this offer.  It's so nice to finally find a gluten free pizza that doesn't taste like a stale cardboard cracker.

{four}  Like almost everyone I know, I've been addicted to the Olympics.  I've cried watching gymnastics, drooled over Ryan Lochte and been terrified of synchronized swimming.  Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself when they're over on Sunday.  *sigh*

{five}  Today and tomorrow are Cecilia Days--one of my most favorite days of the year.  Now, for you out-of-towners, Cecilia is my hometown.  And every year in August, they have a two day community festival with food, craft booths and the parade.  My favorite part is the "Almost Talent Show."  It's a skit that the locals put on and it's hilarious.  Last year, the theme was Hee Haw.  And yes, that's my daddy in overalls in the above picture.  This year's theme is a tribute to Andy Griffith.  I cannot wait. 

Enjoy your weekend!

Organize One Thing...Interrupted.

I interrupt this regularly scheduled "Organize One Thing Wednesday" to bring you.......my kitchen. 

Holy party throw-up Batman.  Avery's 1st birthday party was this weekend and, as you can see, I'm still recovering.  Am I the only one that gets an after-huge-event hangover?  Not the alcohol kind, but the "I planned my rear off for months and spent the week of hot-gluing and decorating and obsessing over every single detail so now I feel like doing absolutely nothing but sit on my couch and watch the Olympics" kind.  I literally have done nothing domestically related since Saturday.  Well, that's a lie--I unloaded and reloaded my dishwasher....once.  And that was only because Avery needed clean bottles.  After her party, I told Marty to just dump everything in the kitchen one night and I would pick it up the next day.  Well, here it is, Wednesday already, and I've done nothing.  But my kitchen is starting to smell and Avery wants to rip up every bag that's laying in the floor.  Not to mention the fact that I want to have a panic attack every time I come into my home.  So, as much as I would love to share my organizing tip for the week, I've got to do a little personal home organizing of my own.  I promise though, next week's project is going to rock your socks off. :)

Hot Mess {week 4}

Hot Mess Monday!  And I've felt every bit of the "hot mess" part this weekend....but that story is to come later....

Starting weight:  142.5
Last week:  136.6
What I saw on the scale this morning:

I edited out my feet this time.  You're welcome.

Well pooh. 

I didn't take a picture of myself this week because my flab is the same.  Exactly the same.  Grrr.

Biggest challenges this week:  Being away from home and eating healthy.  Thanks to a new app (more on that in a second), I've been tracking my calories and I know what's good for me when I'm eating dinner at home and when I'm packing my lunch for work.  Eating at a restaurant is a little more challenging.  For example, what do you eat at a Mexican restaurant when you always order a beef chimichanga and you have NO idea what the calorie count is?  Working on that.

What I think worked: 

{1}  Well, I didn't lose anything this week, obviously, but I do feel like I'm eating healthier thanks to a new app that I downloaded.  It's called "My Fitness Pal."  When I first added it to my apps, it asked me my current weight, goal weight, my job activity level (sedentary, dang it) and how much I wanted to lose (a pound a week) and then set a daily calorie consumption.  I'm allowed 1,500 calories a day.  It sounds easy, but I'm here to tell you people, it isn't.  AT. ALL.  When you're used to grabbing the occasional breakfast at McDonald's or a bag of frosted animal crackers when that 3 pm hunger pain hits, you don't realize how many calories you're actually eating during the day.  This app has made me aware of everything I'm putting in my mouth, how many calories it contains and how many I'm leaving myself for the rest of the day.  Also helpful when I know I'm going out for dinner that night because I can allot myself more calories for dinner by eating a smaller and healthier breakfast.  It's been ridiculously helpful and I feel like more weight is going to fall off because of it.

{2}  Remember my goal to "break-up" with the McDonald's drive-thru?  Currently, our relationship is very much on the rocks.  I've been there once this week and that was to get a Dr. Pepper this morning.  He can cry all he wants to, but I'm definitely not missing that jerk.

Goals this week:

-->Start exercising.  I've set a exercise schedule for the week.  It goes a little something like this:

Monday--Walk the neighborhood with Avery....possibly join a local yoga class

Tuesday--Just Dance or Wii Fit and Couch to 5K workout at the parentals

Wednesday--Arm flab workout

Thursday--Repeat of Tuesday

Friday--Cardio DVD

Saturday--Couch to 5K workout

Sunday--Rest

-->Research healthy breakfasts.  Make ahead options are always a winner in my book.



Til next week my hot messes!