Weigh In Wednesday

Monday I start the Biggest Loser competition at my gym again.

I did the two month holiday sprint from October-December and lost 28 pounds. The upcoming challenge is three months and my goal is to lose an additional 40 pounds.

I am working with a new trainer, who I have heard is excellent and am going into this journey with determination, motivation and a heart that is in the right place. This time around I want to push myself mentally and physically to new extremes. I am going to start swimming again and even plan on running (I am going my first 5k this Spring).. big things are in my future!

I have a whole closet FULL of pretty dresses that I need to wear this summer.

And, I am going to a wedding with a lot of my old college friends I haven't seen since college.

I also in one of my best friends weddings.

My cousin is getting married, and all out of town family will be there.

AND

I am going to a friend from high school's wedding with old high school friends.

Point is, I want/need to LOOK and FEEL good.

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Tuesday, Tuesday!

First off, I finally shared this little blog space with my Mom! Welcome Mama Cindy to this sweet space of mine! My Mom is basically the world to me, the most wonderful and influential person in my life - my best friend! Welcome, welcome!

My weekend was relaxing - it has been raining like crazy lately and I had some amazing, much needed down time to sit around with a good book! Ladies, this book is a must read! I read the whole book over the weekend and was so sad when I finished it..

Also, Happy Tuesday Topics!

I am linking up with Tiffany and Lauren today to share "Six Memories"..

This was a really easy one for me - I am a memory freak - I love pictures, journals, invitations, home videos and every bit of reminiscing of the past to remember special moments..

Obviously my wedding was a incredibly special memory that I will always hold close to me and keep high on my list of the happiest days of my life. 

In 2009 my family went on a cruise to Mexico. Our boat was the first ship out to sea after the huge Swine Flu outbreak - after a few to many drinks my brother and I thought the safety masks (that my dad packed for us) were the funniest things around!  This trip was one of the best vacations my family had been on together. 

When I was in high school and college I went to Tijuana, Mexico every summer to build houses. These mission trips were life changing and helped make me the person I am today.

My family is pretty freaking amazing. I am blessed to have the family that I do have. EVERY memory I have with them is memorable and puts a smile on my face!

High school was one of the most fun times of my life. I had the BEST high school experience and would go back and do it again in a heartbeat. Some amazing memories were when I was the mascot (so much fun!!!) senior year and swimming on the swim team all four years!

And another fun one to mention is college. So many random and crazy memories! An experience of a lifetime for sure..

Also linking up with:

Co-Hosting - GFC Blog Hop

Welcome to another week of the I Love My Online Friends 'GFC' Blog Hop.  If you are interested in learning more about the hop and guest hosting, please read HERE. Well, are you ready? Let's go hopping! 

RULES FOR THE HOP

1. Please follow your host and the fab five on Google Friend Connect (GFC). They are Numbers 1 through 6 on the linky.

2. Link up your homepage and start hopping around. Remember, this is a blog hop, you've gotta do some hopping in order for it to truly be worth your time. When you get a new follower it's always nice to return the favour. Visit their blogs, leave them a comment and/or return the follow.

3. You are not required to, but it would be great if you could tweet/like/pin/share this post and/or grab the button and share it on your blog. The more people that see this hop, the more blogs for us to visit and the more followers we gain.

Thanks and Happy Hopping!  

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Skinny Girl - Recipe Recap

I had the best Friday night.

 

I spent it with two of my besties and seriously spent hours laughing.

 

I was hungover from laughter come Saturday. It was an absolute joy.

 

Friday was also the night I came out to my girlfriends about this blog of mine.

 

I don't know what the deal is with me keeping this blog a secret. I take pride in my writing, in the relationships I have developed and the fun I have blogging - but telling friends and family of mine about this secret space has made me nervous. However, my girls J and M are new readers of SBT and I welcome them to this little piece of me.

 

Has anyone felt the same way about sharing your blog with friends and family?

 

Now back to Friday night.

 

My girl J picked a fabulous recipe to try out for dinner. It was off the one and only Bethenny Frankel's website and was Skinny Girl all the way. Her Pesto Stuffed Mustard Chicken was amazing and this is coming from someone who is a avid hater of mustard - couldn't even taste it! The chicken had so much flavor and I cannot wait to have this again. It was healthy, flavorful and extremely filling. Paired off with a yummy salad (mixed with some feta and poppyseed dressing) and some sourdough bread, we were happy ladies!
 

Ingredients

• 2 cups of Dijon mustard
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups of packaged pesto
• 1 cup of part skim ricotta
• 2 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1. Mix the marinade by combining the garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon, salt and pepper in a large bowl or resealable plastic bag.
2. Poke chicken breasts with a fork and let sit in the marinade overnight, or at minimum 4 hours, in the refrigerator.
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Combine the ricotta and pesto together.
5. Cut a pocket lengthwise into the side of the chicken breast and stuff with the ricotta-pesto mixture.
6. Using a nonstick pan, over medium-high heat, brown both sides of the chicken with olive oil.
7. Place in a baking dish and cook covered for 25-30 minutes, depending on your oven.
8. The last 5-10 minutes of baking can be done uncovered for a crispier chicken. Serve immediately.

recipe and photograph via



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It is no secret that I love, love, love Kelle Hampton from Enjoying the Small Things.

 

Well, we have some family friends that own a vacation house in Naples, Florida and when I saw that Kelle had a book signing there I contacted our friend to see if she would go see her for me! Saturday morning I received this woderful text with a picture of Kelle - kind of stalkerish - but I was so excited!

 

Please remember to take a minute to remember why today is a holiday and to honor the wisdom, integrity and difference Martin Luther King madein the world.

 

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Happies/Crappies

Happy Friday Pretty Ladies!

I am so glad the week has come to an end - I get a girls night tonight. Can't wait for the giggles & gossip.

I am SO happy I came across this blog hop - Happies and Crappies! Love, love, love this! I love being able to brag and smile about the happy but also take a minute to be somewhat of a negative nancy and boo hoo about the crappy! Perfect way to end my week!

Happies:  It makes me so happy to know that a Britney Spears show in Las Vegas is so close to being a reality. This will complete me. I also love that Justin Timberlake will have a new album released this year too! As always, Britney and Justin news go hand in hand. Love them always!

Happies: The husband and I just celebrated our 5 year dating anniversary. Since we have been married we do not do anything to celebrate this day, but the fact that my sweet J boy came home with a single red rose and was sweeter then sweet made me - it such a happy girl. Happy wife, hapy life anyone????

Happies: Netflix and full seasons of TV shows. Ah, it is just he best thing in the world. Minus the fact that it wastes a lot of my time when there is a show I become hooked on. The latest and greatest is Army Wives. Holy geeze the show is addicting. I just finished Season One and it is so delightful knowing that there are still 5 more seasons just waiting for me to watch. I cry and cry every single episode - but ladies it is so addicting.

Happies/Crappies: House hunting! This one definitely falls in both categories. We thought we had found "the one" but it did not work out. So our search continues. House hunting honestly is exhausting.. it started off as so much fun and now it has become kind of blah and discouraging. However, we know the right house is out there we just ended to be patient and keep looking.

Crappies: My car got egged this morning. Frick. I was so mad. I was running late for work and got in my car (which was frozen and took FOREVER to defrost) and looked at my window and saw egg guts all over. Since J and I are living with my parents at the moment the tends to happen occasionally, as my Mom is a junior high school teacher and we live a few blocks away from the school she teaches at. Once the students find out where Mrs. K lives, we become an instant target.

Little Black Dress

Happy Hump Day!

Lot's of wonderful motivation is surrounding me and it feels oh so good.

What is my motivation you ask? 

My little black dress.  My LBD is hanging beautifully next to my treadmill because I want to wear that baby come summer. I love one shoulder dresses and have many but my confidence level/body is not quite where it should be to rock this look. With wedding/summer season approaching I have A LOT of dresses that I want to wear while I am at weddings, bridal showers, bachelorette parties so now is the time to keep those events in mind and work hard.

 

Pictures from Summer 2011: This was my wedding summer and I worked my ass off (literally) to get my weight under control and to a point where I felt beautiful and confident. I let myself go in 2012 and I know this year is my year to feel good, look good and honestly feel youthful. I am 25 and I want to feel sexy and young - the way a 25 year old should be feeling.

 

Future Baby "E": Although I am not preggers at the moment - I do have baby on the brain. I need to prepare this body of mine to be safe home for my future babes.

 

My Husband: He deserves to have a confident, sexy, happy wife.

 

While a lot of my reasons may sound superficial - which they are - they all revolve around the same feeling for me which is confidence.

 

Things that I feel are working for me right now:

 

- Taking baby steps as I get back in to the work out world.

- I am keeping track of EVERYTHING on myfitnesspal.com, which has been a great (free) site!

- Making weekly goals for myself.

 

The weekly goals have been a big help for me. Usually I make my goals unrelastic and so long term that I am unable to keep them. One of my resolutions this year was to make one health related goal a week, stick to it for the week and then I can move on to my next goal. This week I have eliminated ALL frozen meals - which had become a easy go to lunch and dinner option for me and my busy schedule. I have been concentrating on measuring out portions of food, eating non-labeled foods and have really just been focusing on eating cleaner instead of the processed frozen crap and zap I put in my body.  Obviously, there will be times when that is the most realistic meal (my husband hates the word meal, it makes me laugh when I write it) option for me.. but I am trying to learn new habits and eat better we a whole.

 

Make sure you link up with Erin & Alex today for Weigh In Wednesday. As you can see I did not weigh in but I wanted to share my life happenings with you today!

Yup

January is always my month to be in a funk.

I am grumpy because I am often tired of being cold.

I am back at work from my holiday break.

I am tired and lack patience because I am working out.

And have often eliminated junk food from my diet.

Basically this ball of sunshine is just not pleasant to be around during January.
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We got some snow last week, it was just a dusting but it looked so pretty in our yard and on the trees. I hate driving in the snow and just don't do it so I was very happy this snow didn't stick around.

I really liked this owl. No one understands. But I love him. Don't judge.

I love when my husband tells me he found something that reminded him of me/us. I have seen this quote many times, but the fact that he saw it and came home to show me made me smile.

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 Despite the freezing cold weather we have been having.. we somehow have had completely rain free weather which is uncommon this time of year. Usually we are fifty shades of grey all winter but I have seen the sun most of January so far!

I am running out of time tonight but wanted to link up with Lauren and Tiffany for Tuesday Topics!   Sorry I did not post any cute pictures to go with this part of my post but here are some shows that I am loving right NOW. There are so many more I can list from my past that I still obsess about (Full House anyone) but I will just stick to the too many shows I am watching these days!

1. Real Housewives ANYTHING!

2. The Biggest Loser

3. The Bachelor

4. Army Wives

5. Gossip Girl

6. How I Met Your Mother

7. Guliana and Bill

Again, sorry this post was all over the place! I have started this post over and over for a solid week now and just have not had a moment to finish it.  

Blog Lift

New Year - New Blog Design!

Thank you Hubby Jack for the wonderful blog lift you gave my page - I LOVE IT! 

Now off to watch The Bachelor!

Smiling

Genuine happy moments make life so special.

 

I love going through old pictures and coming across ones that makes me feel the happiness I was feeling in that very moment.

 

When the smile is real, not just a "1, 2, 3, say cheese" kind of smile. 

 

When the smile tells a story and expresses a feeling.

 

A feeling of excitement, joy and love.

 

A smile that silently whispers "I Love You".

 

There is no better feeling.

 

And no where else I would rather be.

Getting Started

Life is back to normal today.

Back to work after eleven glorious days off. 

Yesterday was one of those last supper kind of days.  The holiday junk food is out of the house FINALLY and my mind is in motivated, ready and excited to be back on track.  It feels good. 

I am taking baby steps to success for the remaining part of the work week. My first goal is get through the next three days with clean eating.  This will be shock enough for my body (I have lived off of carbs, sugar and alcohol for the last month) and I do not want to over do it.  I obviously will continue after the big three days of clean eating but sometimes its easier for me to break long term goals up in to realistic small goals - that way I feel successful more often.

I made my grocery list for the week, prepped all of my food for the week and here I am starting today - feeling fresh and ready! Feeling prepared really helps me feel in control, especially on work days.  I cut and weighed chicken breasts in the correct portion size (4 oz is 130 calories), cut up lettuce, tomatoes, measured my salad dressing (Safeway Asian Sesame is 54 calories for 3tbsp)  and packed up my food for work. I am feeling great about having a positive day!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Happy 2013

New Year.

Fresh Start.

For the past 5 years J and I have celebrated the New Year by going to Downtown Seattle to watch the firework show at the Space Needle.  We have celebrated in years past with fancy dinners and nice hotel rooms with views of the firework show.  This year we both were not feeling in the mood to deal with the crowds, spend the money and both agreed a low key night was what we needed.

We tried to book reservations at our favorite Italian Restaurant but they were already booked so we settled with The Spaghetti Factory (I really wanted pasta - as it will be cut out of my New Years diet). As always, the food was delicious and put me in a carb coma the rest of the evening!

We came home and enjoyed some drinks and played a few games of Yahtzee with my family. It was fun, relaxing and I was able to be in my sweats as comfy as can be!

I cannot believe another year has gone by.  

While John and I were at dinner last night we discussed New Years Resolutions.  He said that he had thought about it and thought it was best to have three resolutions - a resolution for your marriage, resolution for yourself and a resolution for yourself professionally. I loved this.

My resolution for my marriage: To work out more together.  To buy a house. We communicate well but I always think I can work on being a better listener - I tend to interrupt often.

My resolution for myself: This is the year for me to work on me.  I want to continue to loose weight and build my confidence while doing so.  I also want to start swimming again. 

My resolution for myself professionally: Finish school.  I have been working at getting my paralegal degree for quite some time now and I just need to get myself motivated and finish it!

As always I wish for good health for myself and my family, the safety of my loved one and happiness for all. Happy New Years!!

Make sure you link up with Tiffany and Lauren!