It's My Life

My fitness tracker tells me I have been logging in for thirty days.  Thirty days? THIRTY DAYS!! I have followed my new years goals for thirty days. If I can for a moment to be very proud of myself. On one hand it seems like I have been doing this forever. But on the other hand, it has been only thirty days. Here is a brief summary into my first thirty days: 1. I have used the fitness tracker every single day. 2. I have only eaten out three times this past month. (Twice more than we aimed for but we did make a good choices...Subway). 3. We have been preparing meals at home on the weekend and eating them throughout the week. 4. Exercise. Yes I have been doing it. I was following the six days a week goal until last week. I am finding myself sacrificing the exercise in order to get ready for The Boy's party. 5. I have lost over 10 pounds. 6. I have lowered my BMI by two points. 7.My house has stayed relatively clean. You could drop by and I would not be embarrass...

Have I told you all how much I love the Oscars? Well.... I LOVE THEM! In the middle of all the birthday excitement this week, I almost forgot it was nomination day! Thankfully I have some good friends who reminded me! {You know who else forgot? My BFF!!} Let me give you some history: Way back in 1998 I remember watching The Academy Awards ceremony and for the first time ever, I had actually seen several of the movies nominated. So had my BFF. I remember us saying to each other that the show was not so boring to watch when you actually knew something about what they were talking about. An idea was born. Right then and there. We made a decision to see as many of nominated movies as we could each and every year.  Well, then we got confident and we started guessing out of all the movies out there, which ones did we think had a chance to be nominated. It changed our moving watching habits. {Well, mine anyways!} I had children and sneaking off to see a movie was like gold. So...

The little boy I have been driving all over is old enough to obtain a driver's permit . He is almost old enough to drive himself to practice, or to the game, or to the movies. Almost. But not quite yet. When I think of him actually driving a car, panic sets in! He might be ready, but I know I am not. We have not been eating out {yes, we have stuck with that goal} so our one eat out this month was to his choice. He had a lot of deciding where he wanted his birthday dinner to be. At first he selected Jimmy John's. I thought The Husband was going to explode! He had been anxiously awaiting his one meal out for the month and he absolutely did not want to waste it on Jimmy Johns! In the end, he selected our favorite Japanese Sushi/Steakhouse. From the moment we set down and the chef started his first "fire" The Short Chic was engaged in the process. It was the first time The Short Chic was introduced to chop sticks. She loved them. She got so much pleasure out of...

Today is one of my deadlines. Since today is the day of the AFC and NFC Championships, I have given myself the mental due date to which all crafts that are not team specific must be completed. I am making a goal post out of PVC pipe and I made these cute little treat pouches from paper. I am kicking around the idea of a banner made of paper footballs.  After today, I will be making decorations that are team specific. I woke up this morning and started making these cute little football treat pouches. These are super easy to make and a fun way of handing out a treat (mine are filled with M & M's). I started off with some postal wrapping paper ($5.00 from Target). Then I drew a football shape on the paper and cut it out. Then I used my sewing machine to sew up the edges. Be sure to leave a space to insert the goodies. After you stuff the pouch with treats, go back to the sewing machine and stitch up the space.  I promise these...

There are those people out there that are great at gift giving. I so wish I were one of them. But, sadly, I do not believe I am. My best friend on the other hand. She is unbelievable amazing at gift giving. In fact, one of her amazing gifts is so cool that it is blog worthy!  Let me introduce you to the Birchbox. What is Birchbox? Only one of the coolest thing in the planet. This little box comes delivered to my door every month in  a bright pink shipping box. Who can't stand a little pink in their life?  The box is full of pinkness! And samples. And more samples! Each month you get a new assortment of samples of beauty products. I have to say, they are really decent sized samples. My January Birchbox arrived last week. It came with a sample of CO Bigelow shampoo and conditioner. Anti-wrinkle cream. (I so wish I did not need this one! But since I do, YEAH ME!)  A sample of Juicy Couture perfume, a bottle of lavender Zoya fingernail polis...

Before Jamie Lee Curtis had Activia, there was ginger. No, not the character from Gilligan's Island. The spice. Ginger. You have probably seen it before. It is that root looking thing you pass over in the grocery store. When Miss Medical Student was here, she fixed me some Ginger Tea.  And I have to tell you, I did not appreciate it at first. I think we used way too much lime in it and it was a little startling. As she was making it, Miss Medical Student was rattling off the health benefits of ginger. It is an anti-inflammatory, it is good at relieving nausea, and it is good for the digestion. But, I gave it a second whirl. Decreased the amount of lime and I found it very enjoyable. Dare I actually say....good? I am a firm believer in the gastrointestinal benefits of ginger. Maybe more so than the yogurt. Next time you are at the store, pick up some ginger root. Make yourself some Ginger Tea. You might find it enjoyable too. Ginger Tea 4-6 THIN slices o...

My blogging has taken a back seat to my life these past few weeks. Or at least my soon-to-be new life. The Husband and I have made it our goal to get healthy this year. You know, eat better, exercise more, lose weight type stuff. Doing those things is time consuming. I use to spend my time doing creative things; baking, crafting, and blogging.  These days, I am on the treadmill. The realization that I have not baked in sixteen days hit me today. My coworker had  a birthday and I did not bake cupcakes (I did buy her a cupcakes scented candle).  My niece had a birthday and I did not make a cake (Kristin, can you believe I purchased one?).  Instead, I have been counting calories, planning healthy meals, breathing heavy and sweating. YES, me. I have been sweating. Yesterday, I was doing an endurance workout (aka one hour on the treadmill) while watching an old episode of The Biggest Loser. One of the contestants, an older man who was walking a marathon, said some...

I kept scratching my head on Saturday. Why were there NFL football games on television this past Saturday. Then my husband explained (in his how could you not know this voice), "it's the playoffs!" The playoffs!! That means Super Bowl is right around the corner. The Boy has called dibs on Super Bowl Sunday as his official birthday party. I have been making plans for his birthday party completely ignorant to how fast it is creeping up. So, I am wanting to hear from you. What do  you serve on Super Bowl Sunday? I have been surfing Pinterst and came up with these ideas. What do you think? I plan to make these to put outside to welcome our guest to the party. Just waiting to see who makes it the big game. The Husband might think I am crazy but I do kinda want to grow grass as centerpieces. I like this subway art. I think I might use this. And how about food? Bacon wrapped chicken breast Pepperoni Pizza Dip- looks cheesy and yummy! Or m...

When I decided to eat better, I started pouring through lots of old clippings I had of recipes that I would try if I ever decided to eat healthy. Next, I started looking through some of my favorite web sites.  Within an hour or so, I had a pile of maybe 15 dishes that looked good to me. But I am sure you Wives and Mommies out there know there is a huge difference between what looks good to us and what our husbands and kids will eat. Friday night I sat down with The Husband and had him look through my suggestions. I have to tell you all, for the first time ever, he is actually invested in this process, so he actually read through them and selected seven of them. We then created a shopping list and a menu for the upcoming week based on those seven recipes. What's for dinner? Well, at my house this week, here is what's up! Skinny Barbecue Sloppy Joe's {recipe from SkinnyKitchen.com} Mediterranean Fish Fillet Packets {Weight Watchers recipe} Pasta Fagioli Soup {SkinnyKi...

I do not perform well to pressure. So making new year's resolutions on New Year's Eve never works for me. I like a few days to mull it over. Think about it. Get it right. I have spent some time thinking about my goals in the past few days. Goal #1:  Better Eating Habits My family is famous for eating out. I am embarrassed to admit out loud how many times a week we (all of us or parts) will eat at a fast food restaurant. We go to the grocery store, purchase food, and then never make a plan for meals. Then we find ourselves rushed or hungry and there we are...right back at a restaurant. So my steps under Goal #1: 1. Plan a weekly menu. 2. Spend time on Saturday/Sunday preparing 7 meals to have in the freezer. That way we can just pull a completed meal out, reheat it, and eat at home. 3. Plan to eat out only ONCE a month. 4. Pack a lunch every day. 5. Learn and practice portion control. 6. If I can't wash it, I should not eat it. Which means I am going to have to...