RAGRBAI recap Y'ALL!!!

I would first like to say a HUGE thank you to my hubs for being the mommy and daddy while I was gone for the whole week last week for RAGBRAI.  It was very hard on me being gone y'all but at the same time it was a lot of fun!  Now don't get me wrong, being up at 2:30 AM some mornings was FAR FROM fun but the whole experience was great!

I would like to thank the Christensen family for asking me to go and help them.  If y'all have not stopped at their stand either on RABGRAI or at Downtown Farmer's Market you are really missing out!  They serve some of the best breakfast around and it is always with a smile! The crew we had this year was a blast and I got to know most of them pretty well! 

We started out the week by working market on Saturday first and then meeting up to get everything loaded for the week.  We left Des Moines Saturday afternoon around 3:00.  This was very hard for me y'all!  I worked market, got home around 1, finished packing for the week and got to spend about an hour with Big B before leaving him for a WEEK!!!  To make things a little easier on mommy, Big B and I had a little "date" the night before with pizza and a movie!  We took him to his first theater movie and he did GREAT!  Anyway back to my week y'all!

B and mommy date night!

We left town and headed west to pick up the rest of the crew.  We met up with the other truck and trailer as well as the refrigerator truck and the remaining crew members to make the long trek up north to "God's Country!"  Wow y'all it is a LONG and BORING drive up there, I am telling you!  Plus we all followed each other of course so it wasn't like we were going very fast. 

We FINALLY made it to Le Mars where we were spending the first night around 9 I think after a few stops here and there.  I was in the ice cream capital of the world and didn't even get to enjoy it! :(  Oh well, there will be other chances I am sure.

Day 1  Sunday morning not so bright and early we were up and at um to set up camp for the first time.  I think the alarm went off at 3:00 AM that morning because we had to pack up and leave the hotel that morning also.  We headed to Hull to serve some great breakfast.  I am tell'n y'all there are some little ass towns in Iowa that I have NEVER heard of!!  But they have the nicest people in them!!

This wasn't my first taste of RABGRAI but I haven't seen it in about 15 years so to see the wide variety of riders was amazing to me!  I can't believe how many little kids go with their parents and wide for the whole week!  That was pretty cool to me. 

Day 2 we head to Terrill.  The whole time we were talking about RAGBRAI in the weeks before I thought everyone was saying Carroll.  Um, not even close and this town was little y'all but I have said for years, there is something to be said about small towns!! They really are the best!  I should know, I am from one!! :)  Terrill had midget wresting, a slip and slide and LOTS of beer (for a breakfast town) because there was LOTS of drunk bike riders "trying" to ride their bikes out of town around 1 when we were heading out. 

This is what is amazing to me y'all, how do you ride a bike when you are drunk?!  It is hard enough to ride one when you are sober........but drunk!??!!?

Day 3 was the long hall to Bancroft.  Some of the hotels we stayed at we could be in for two nights if they were close enough to where we were going to be.  This one was like that except it was about an hour and 20 min drive for us to get there!!  So I think the alarm went off at 2:30 that morning y'all! 

This was my favorite day y'all because I got to see a celebrity! Dallas Clarke stopped at the booth for breakfast not once but twice that morning!!  He was nice enough to take a picture with us too!!

Morgan, Dallas, and I at Bancroft.

After we all went back to the hotel to rest and relax a little bit and get some dinner we decided to head into Northwood and do a little bowling and play some pool.  It was nice to just get to know each other a little bit and have some fun.  I felt like the mom of the group since I was "ALOT" older than most of them but it was still a lot of fun!

Day 4 and the crew is really working well together.  We are in Clear Lake and the weather couldn't be more beautiful!!  The bikers are really enjoying their rides which makes everyone's mood better when they are in better moods!!  This was the day we had some entertainment beside us as far as other vendors go!  They were quite the site to watch is all I can say!!  I am sure the rest of the crew knows exactly who I am talking about on this day!! :)

Day 5 and things are running like a well oiled machine! Thank goodness because we were set up and serving food in about 40 minutes this morning in Nora Springs!  What a cute little town this was too!  They had a mechanical surf board here and there were quite a few bikers enjoying the board!  Looked fun but not for this mom y'all!! 

We headed to Waterloo to the hotel this night.  First thing on the agenda was for us girls to find a Starbucks!!  I love small towns y'all but this mama needs her coffee!!!!  Later that night I got to enjoy some adult drinks with some of the older guys and get to know them a little better!!  What a great crew we had with us on RAGBRAI this year!!  I am so happy I got to go and I hope I get to go next year too!

Day 6, the FINAL day!!!  I must say this was NOT my favorite day.  I know this is shocking to y'all but it didn't start out very well at all!  We were heading to Tripoli to set up and it was about 3:45 and raining pretty good.  I was driving the last car of the caravan because it was an SUV and everything was a truck.  Out of no where we were rear-ended.  All I can say is everyone was on and the SUV was still drivable.  It wasn't a good experience and I hope it never happens again!  I was just glad no one was hurt!  We eventually made it into Tripoli and set up shop.  Well y'all the day just got worse in a hurry!!  It stared raining and the wind picked up and it was lightening really bad.  It just went from bad to worse in a hurry!!!  Lets just say it was not a great day y'all! 

All in all, the week was AMAZING!!!  I had a blast and my boys back home did great without me!  There wasn't a better feeling however, than the ones of Big B's little arms around my neck on Friday afternoon when they came to pick me up!  He just kept laughing and saying Mommy!!!  It was the cutest thing in the world!! 

Next year I will get more pictures of the riders and our crew for y'all!  The next big thing is the State Fair stuff.  I will keep y'all posted on how projects are going and things go at the fair. 

Thanks for reading y'all!

Feeling Great!

Things are going well around our house y'all!  We have been working on not eating out except once on the weekend and the rest of the time we cook at home and take our lunches.  This has been going very well and saves us A LOT of money y'all!  We are eating a lot of fruits and more veggies.  This goes for Big B too! He is turning into quite the fruit lover!  I am VERY happy to report I am 6 1/2 months SODA FREE!!!!!!!  That is HUGE for me and I hope to keep it up for a long time!!! 

We have officially listed our house with a realtor so if y'all could send all the good vibes you can our way to get this house sold and help us find a bigger place that would be wonderful!!!!!!!!!

We took Big B to his first rodeo on Saturday night and he LOVED it!  It was the Dallas County Fair Rodeo and I wasn't sure what to expect for B's first time.  It is a long time for a 2 year old to sit there.  Some things at a rodeo are very exciting and then other things aren't so much for a little boy. 

The first thing they did was have the bucking horses and B loved it!  If you know our son, you know he is a very concerned little boy!  He is always worried about someone getting hurt.  So when the first cowboy got bucked off the horse, he yells "Careful horsey, careful cowboy!"  Then he cheers his little heart out!  It was the cutest thing every y'all!

He sat there most of the night really well and watched all the horses and bulls.  He got a little restless at times but that is to be expected.  It was a little warm there too but he didn't complain one bit! Our little guy LOVES to be outside so he was in heaven!

He will be in for a real treat in a couple weeks when we take him to the Dallas County Fair and he gets to see all the animals and they have an Extreme Bull Riding night.  I can't wait for him to get to watch that too!  Speaking of  The Dallas County Fair y'all, if you enjoy taking pictures or quilting and want to show off your work, you should take your hard work to the fair! It is all free and fun for all ages!  I am going to be taking some photography this year.  As soon as we get our house sold and I have more room to work on my quilt, I will be taking on that!  If you are interested in taking any projects to the open classes at the fair please email Sherry James at franknsherry@msn.com

I have decided to try my hand at some of the food classes at the Iowa State Fair this year.  I have never done anything like this before and I am SUPER excited about it this year.  I am going to take some of the salsa we canned last summer, some chocolate chip & cocoanut banana bread and my Grandma's "World Famous" Potato Salad! The hubs is excited because I will be working on perfecting these recipes over the next month or so and that means he will be the official taste tester!  I am not expecting anything but to enter and have fun learning more for next year.  I am trying to get in a class called the Mystery Sack.  From what I can tell it is like the show Chopped on the Food Network.  You pick three seasonings you want to take with you and the rest is provided for you to cook with!  Sounds exciting y'all! They only allow 6 people in and I am on the waiting list as of right now!  Fingers crossed...................

I can't believe how fast the summer is going already!  It won't be long and I will be leaving my boys for a full week to go on RAGBRAI. Oh don't remind me...........that is a LONG time to be away but I can do it.........RIGHT!?!?!?!?

Don't forget to stop by Breakfast Delights and get some great food if you are riding this year by the way!!  Or as always, we are at the end of Court Ave every Saturday for Downtown Farmer's Market! 

Thanks for reading y'all!

Filling you in!

Since I was on a hiatus for a little bit I thought I would fill y'all in on some of things we did while I was away!

We took Big B to see Sesame Street Live and he was SO excited to see Elmo!  As y'all know he LOVES Elmo! He almost made it through the whole thing before he fell asleep. I thought the whole thing was very cute and I can't wait to take him to more things like this!

We also decided to try a restaurant here in town called Twin Peaks. If you have never been to this place before, you should know a little bit of information ahead of time.

Now, I for one am not offended at all by restaurants like this!  I used to love to eat at Hooters when it was open in our area.  It has closed in the last year and I am not totally sad as I think BWW has better wings.  But, I feel that if you have a nice body and you are comfortable in the way you look, than by all means please flaunt it!   But Twin Peaks, I feel, pushes this to the VERY limits. 

So back to the eating experience.  We decided that we were going to go there because I wanted to try the food and lets be honest the hubs wasn't going to object y'all!  I am always up for new things and we all know I am a foody!  We walk in the door and I thought we just walked into the Bunny Ranch!  Now to be fair it was Easter weekend so they might have just had rabbit ears on for that purpose.  But, there wasn't much for clothing on and I am sure my face had to tell them that! They had on a bra, underwear, and some thigh highs and that is about it y'all! The hostess did have on a cover over here bra so she was overdressed!  I DO NOT JUDGE so we go on in for our lunch!  Of course y'all know we have the cutest little boy ever (ok so I might be just a little byes) and all the scantly clad ladies come running over to my little boy like he is Vin Diesel on the set of Fast and Furious or something!

We get sat down and I look at the Hubs like I am not really sure I thought this through!  Should I really have brought my 2 year old son here to eat!!!  I am frantically looking around to see if there are any other kids under the age of 15 in this place! I see one and that was it! Please don't judge me y'all...............it really is a nice place to eat and those girls couldn't have taken better care of us!!!

The food was AMAZBALLS!!  We both got the Phillie Steak sandwich a fries and Big B got some very good mac and cheese.

The funniest part of the meal was about half way through as we are enjoying our meal Big B looks at me and says "Look mommy underwears!"  He was pointing at the girls walking by in their bra and underwear (uniform) and I just about lost it!!!  He is the cutest thing ever y'all!!! 

As we get ready to walk out the girl at the hostess stand ask Big B if she can have her picture taken with him because he is so cute!!  Well of course!!!  What 2 year old little boy wouldn't want his picture taken with a scantly clad hot chic!!!

The Hubs took Big B to see the firetruck and helicopter one Saturday while I was working at market.  They have them down at market for EMS week every year! I am telling y'all if our son isn't a firefighter or policeman someday I will be shocked! (And I will be scared to death)  He loves this stuff some much but I guess all little boys do!  Here are a few pictures of him on the helicopter and fire truck.  He still has to tell me almost everyday about how he drives the firetruck! 

Big B on the helicopter

Big B Driving the Fire Truck!

I guess that is all for now y'all!  I started the 30 day ab challenge last night that is going on on Facebook.  I am SO out of shape but we all have to start somewhere right!  I am not proud of the fact that I keep starting all these things and don't finish them but it only takes one to get me going, right!

Thanks for readying y'all and have a great day!~

I'm Back Y'All!!!

I haven't posted on here for over a month.  That has been for a personal reason but I have decided that I am living my own life and not worrying about anyone else except my husband, my son and my family ANYMORE!!!  Those are the most important people in my life. If you don't like the way I live my life or the things I post on here, please don't read my blog!

So I am BACK BITCHES!!!!! :)

Life has been crazy y'all since I last posted! 

Farmer's Marker is in FULL SWING!!!  Breakfast Delights has been SO busy and it is GREAT!! I love working down there almost every Saturday and I am so blessed to have been asked to help out down there!!  This year I get the privilege (I guess that is what it is!) of going on the road with them for RAGBRIA!!!  I am so excited but super sad to leave Big B at home for a whole week!!!  I have never had to leave him home for a whole week and not see him!!!  This is going to be VERY HARD for this Mama!!!!  The hubs might be making a mid week trip!!! LOL

If y'all have never been to the Downtown Farmer's Market you have to try it at least once.  Trust me, you will want to come back!! The food is amazballs, the produce is super fresh and the PEOPLE WATCHING is as good as the State Fair!!!!  Chances are I will be working so if you are ever there, stop by the last food booth at the end of Court Ave by the bridge and say HI!!

We had a great Memorial Weekend!  I know it is an excuse to have a three day weekend but it is also a day to thank our Brave men and women who have and continue to fight for our great country!! I would like to say Thank You to my Amazing Grandfather for serving for his country in the war and my brother in law who is active Army!

We spent the day Sunday with family and Big B had so much fun with his cousins!!!  He even got to ride a horse.  Well he was on there for about two minutes and that was it!!  I didn't take jeans to ride this year so I did the worse thing you can do...................I rode in shorts and flip flops!!!  Lets just say I didn't ride very long but my nephew wanted to ride and I told him I would ride with him.  So you do what yo have to for those you love!! :) 

Big B was excited to ride until it came time to actually get on the horse!  Then he wasn't so much.  But that is a long ways up there for a little guy y'all!

Big B on the teeter toter with his little cousins.  He is such a toad that it takes two of them to equal out the balance.  :)  To be fair T and L are only 1 so B should be bigger than them!

Monday was all about Big B.  We took him to the zoo and he had a great time.  It rained off and on but that didn't damper his day! He was a little scared at first but I think that was just because he didn't understand the animals couldn't come out of the glass.  Once he found that out he was fine!

 After the zoo we went and had some corn-dogs at BWW's.  Then it was home for what mommy thought would be a nice nap.............wrong!!!  Big B had other plans so that didn't work so good!  We decided to go get a new John Deere Tractor shirt because one can never have to many of those!  Daddy needed one too so they could match!  I will get a picture of my two guys in their matching shirts soon for y'all!

That was a quick recap of our super busy weekend y'all!  I hope you had a safe and fun weekend too! 

This week is shaping up to be super busy yet again! We have had a lot of traffic on the house so everyone please keep the good prayers coming on the house sale!

Holy batman does life EVER slow down?!!?!?

Thanks for reading y'all and have a GREAT day!

SORE!!!!!

Holy SHIT y'all being sore doesn't even describe the pain I am in!!!  I always told myself that once I started this working out stuff I wasn't ever going to quit because I didn't want to have to go through this pain of being sore again.......................well guess what?!! 

I did and I am and HOLY SHIT y'all it sucks!!!  Walking is by far the hardest thing I have to do except when I need to sit down, or get back up again for that fact! :(  And lets not even talk about going to the bathroom!  Lowering yourself down on the toilet is EXCRUCIATING!!! But then raising my arms in the shower just to shampoo my hair is like a pain I have never felt..........except for the last time I did this to myself!!!

I have some shoulder issues so I am a little bit limited on what I can with the weights but I am giving it all I can as far as that is concerned.  I am trying to go two to three times during the week so I can be home with Big B on the weekends.  Plus once Farmer's Market starts I will be limited on my Saturdays anyway so I might as well get used to a schedule. 

With all of that negative stuff being said y'all..............I couldn't be MORE EXCITED to be back at Kees Camp working out and getting back in shape!  I started last week but things have been insane around here and didn't get a chance to stop on here and tell y'all about it!

I started with Zumba last week and I must say for a fat white girl with NO moves I sure do love that class!  I DO NOT however, love the floor length mirrors she has in there that shows me EVERY inch of fatness I have and then some!!  You know you are fat but then when it is RIGHT UP IN YOUR FACE it is really hard to deal with.........................makes me NOT like myself a whole lot right now!

I went to pumptime on Monday and boy do I love the weights!  Boy does my body hate me y'all!!  Welcome to the soreness issue!!  But, it is a good thing because it won't always be this bad, right?  It has to get better, right! Please someone tell me it has to get better!?!!?!?

Tomorrow night is Zumba again and then next week I hope to through in a little kickboxing!  I sure do love that class............who wouldn't want to let out all their anger on a punching bag!?!?!?!

After class on Monday night y'all Jen asked if I wanted to do my measurements.  I wasn't excited about it but I knew it needed to be done.  I started Kees Camp back in March of 2010 and have went off and on ever since.  The sad part is, I would be one hot biotch by now if I would have just stuck with it and ate right this whole time.  But having a baby and life's stresses got in the way and here I am.  All my measurements are up and I am NOT happy about it at all! 

I have a lot of work to do y'all but I am headed in the right direction.  I am off the couch and hitting the gym!  Soreness and all, I am doing this bitches!

As always, I am trying to raise money for the kids at the Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City.  Here is a link for y'all to check out.  Please feel free to either donate right here on this link or contact me directly!!!  I appreciate anything you are able to donate!  It all goes to a great cause and it is all tax deductible! 

Thanks for reading y'all and have a great day!

Finally!

So I am FINALLY getting back into working out and I couldn't be more excited!!!  I was waiting for a couple things to come together before I got signed back up again and those things finally came together.  So starting this week I will be back at it!!

It is so strange to be excited about getting your ass kicked and being sore for the next week or so but I really am!!  I have been so depressed about the way my body looks lately it is really time for a change.  I am one of those people that can change the way I eat but it truly doesn't make a difference unless I am exercising also. 

I know I haven't been on here for a while and I am sorry about that.  I have been so overwhelmed with my new job and that is a totally GREAT thing!!!  I LOVE my new job and couldn't be more excited about the opportunity for what lies ahead!!

The last two weeks my house has been hit by the flu and colds.....................I am so sick of being sick and having sick people in my house!!!!!  The good thing is Big B hasn't really gotten it, it is just mainly the hubs and I.  The bad thing is, I am just sitting and waiting for the other shoe to fall for Big B to get it! :( 

Last weekend we took Big B to the Science Center.  We went with some good friend from high school and they all have little ones too.  It was a BLAST and Big B did pretty good for only being 2.  We all went and ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings after wards and then he went home and took a 3 hour nap y'all!!  He was one warn out little boy!!!

On Friday night we went out for the Hubs birthday.  His birthday was during the week but he had bronchitis so bad we didn't really do much during the week.  So he decided he wanted to go to Buzzard Billy's for dinner on Friday night.  It actually wasn't that busy and we got right in!!  Big B did AMAZBALLS and sat there and ate his grilled cheese and fries like he was 10!!  I tried a shrimp Po'Boy for the first time and LOVED IT!!!!  I can't believe I have waited this long to have one!!!  FOR SURE will be having another one of those in the future!!

Today to start the nice weather off I treated myself to a mani/pedi day since the Hubs took Big b to his parents for the day.  It was so nice to just have a day to myself but I have to admit, it is so quiet around the house when Big B is gone!!!  I get in the car to take him to school and the first thing I hear is, "Seatbelt Mommy!"  I didn't hear that today to go to my "spa day" and it felt very strange!!  It is nice to have a break now and then, however.

Ok, here is my first of many requests to help me out..........I am starting to raise money for the kids at the Iowa Children's Hospital in Iowa City.  Here is a link for y'all to check out.  Please feel free to either donate right here on this link or contact me directly!!!  I appreciate anything you are able to donate!  It all goes to a great cause and it is all tax deductible! 

Well I better get off here and start something for supper y'all!  My boys will be home soon.  Look for updates on my new workout at Kees camp and my sore muscles!! LOL

Thanks for reading y'all!!

Refreshed!

Wow y'all.................The sun is out here and it is actually feeling like SPRING!!!!!!!!!!  Dare I say it might be starting to NOT BE WINTER?!?!?!?!? 

I did hear the four letter word this morning while watching the news with B (SNOW) but lets all say a prayer that it IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN and the nice weather is here to stay!!!

By the way can I just say that I LOVE my morning snuggle and news time with B!!!!  I truly don't think it gets much better than that!!  I do complain sometimes that it is earlier than I would like but it still is pretty special!

The Hubs and I went to a wonderful marriage retreat over the weekend!  We went last year too but this year really meant a lot to both of us!  If you have never been to Weekend to Remember or even heard of it I would strongly suggest looking into it.  This isn't just something to go to if your marriage is in trouble y'all!!  This is for marriages of ALL KINDS!!!!  It is just a way to reconnect with the LOVE OF YOUR LIFE and have a nice weekend away!  I would be more than happy to talk to anyone about our experience there if you have any questions.

Last week I told y'all B hasn't been feeling very well.  He is actually over his cold but he has done something to his arm.  We really aren't sure what happened.  It just started hurting him last Monday night and he just quit using it. 

He won't pick up his toys with it, play with toys, eat food, or touch anything with it.  He cries if he bumps it on anything or if he moves it just right.  We have been to the doctor several times and they are telling us he has inflammation in the joint.  They have done x-rays of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist and there isn't anything showing up as broken. 

It just breaks my heart as his mommy to see my little boys hurting and there isn't a damn thing I can to do fix it y'all!!  The doctors tell me to just give him Motrin and only time can help it................I am not good with this explanation at this point!!! 

To watch my two year old son hold his arm and pick it up on the table like he has had a stroke is NOT OK for me as his mom!!!  SO we are going BACK to the doctor yet again tomorrow y'all and this mama isn't getting nicer.  I know some people say you can attract more bees with honey than with vinegar but I aint never been accused of being SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will keep y'all posted on how things go for B.............if y'all are the praying kind we could use an extra prayer!!  I think B is getting really tired of being at the hospital and frankly so is this mama!!!

Thanks for reading y'all!

New Beginnings!

Sorry for the long time in between post y'all!  Things have been sort of crazy around the Nellie house hold as usual!!

B has been sick the last couple of days.  Being a mom is really hard but when your little one doesn't feel good and there really isn't anything you can do about it..............THAT SUCKS y'all!! He has been very fussy and whiny and clingy and just not a happy boy at all.

Last week a very good friend of mine lost her husband very suddenly so that was a very sad week for me.  It really makes you think about all the things you have in your life.  The little things that used to really piss you off just don't seem so important anymore.  Times like this really make you kiss the ones you love a little bit more than usual!! 

It sounds terrible but the Hubs and I have been talking about our "after life" plans.  No one likes to talk about these things y'all but it is really important to have these things discussed at least a little bit.  Especially if you have kids............then shit gets really real!!

So, enough about sad stuff y'all.......................I have some very exciting news!!!

First and foremost in my professional life: I have accepted a promotion at work! I am so excited y'all I can't stand it!!  It is with the same department just a different division within that department.  I am going to miss the agents I am used to working with all the time but I am excited for all the new things to come! I will be starting my new position March 14th!!

Next in my personal life: With my new job comes new work hours!!  So with that being said............I AM RETURNING TO KEES CAMP!!!  I never thought I would be one of those people EXCITED to be going to the gym, but when you get the motivation like you do at Kees.................enough said!!!  I won't be going every night but I am going to try to get at least three classes in a week. 

I know it isn't much y'all but I am down 8 pounds with my change in eating habits.  I fall off the wagon more than I would like to admit but I am trying and that is all I can ask for at this point.  Now that I am going to be heading back to the gym, better eating and working out are bound to do the trick!!! 

The Hubs and I are planning a trip to Vegas the end of April so I have a month and a half to look decent by the pool.  I said decent y'all not good.....................I am not a miracle worker here!!!

I am working on my webpage for the Iowa Ladies Football Academy that I will be participating in again this June. It is a HUGE fund raiser for the Children's Hospital in Iowa City and A GREAT CAUSE!  I will be posting my blog about that as SOON as I get it finished!!!!  I hope everyone can help me out this year!!!  I have HIGH HOPES for my fund raising!!  If you are interested in donating PLEASE let me know!

Thanks for reading y'all!

Healthy Eating

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while y'all.  I am really a boring person and I I haven't had much to write about lately.

I have not been able to do the C25K due to my back hurting so badly.  This is my never ending cycle.  I need to lose weight and I know I need to work out but my back is ALWAYS the issue for me!

So new plan y'all!  I have started really watching what I eat and counting calories among other things.  I write everything down that I eat (which is a HUGE pain in the ass but really helpful too!) I am SHOCKED at how many calories some things have in them!!

On the other hand I am shocked at how expensive things are just because they are good for you!  Fresh fruit and veggies are OUTRAGEOUS compared to what I can spend at a fast food restaurant but not as good for your!  

I have found though that I do love eating fresh fruit alot!!  Grapes, apples and strawberries make a wonderful snack! Don't get me wrong y'all................I AM DYING for a HUGE piece of chocolate but I am really trying here!! 

I am eating a lot of protein and then the veggies and fruit.  But I have to tell ya.  I can only eat so much chicken..................then I am DONE!!  I do love steak though so I am trying to mix it up a little.  I cooked up some shrimp in some garlic today to take to work tomorrow in my salad just for something different. 

I am a HUGE Meat and potatoes girl as y'all know so this is all new for me.  I have never in my life cooked shrimp.  I just sprayed a little cooking spray in the pan and put some garlic in there and in went the frozen shrimp.  I don't mean to brag y'all but DAMN they smelled good!!!

Yesterday I tried to roasting some brussel sprouts and egg plant.  I cubed up the eggplant and halved the brussel sprouts.  Then I put then in the oven with some cooking spray on them and some Ms. Dash seasoning on them.  I was pleasantly surprised!!  The Hubs even ate it all y'all!

I just have to say, that I am a huge believer that I still should be able to eat things I enjoy!  I LOVE food y'all and I should be able to live my life eating things I enjoy eating.  If the only way I can be skinny is if I eat things that I don't really like......................Well I am not sure I want to be skinny!!  I know what I should and shouldn't eat.  And I know how much I should and shouldn't eat.  But sometimes it is nice to just eat what tastes good!!

There aren't any magic pills out there that are going to make you skinny and if you think there are, you aren't being healthy!  I have always said it takes hard work to be skinny.  I have never been skinny so I don't know but I know when I was younger I was a lot more active so it was easier to eat whatever I wanted. 

All I know now y'all is I have an ADORABLE 2 year old that needs his mommy around for a VERY long time so I am trying to do what I can to make that happen.  So, if that means I eat as healthy as I can MOST of the time and slip up now and then...........so be it!

I am who I am.............take it or leave it!!  I just hope you take it!! :)

Thanks for reading y'all and I promise I will try harder on posting more often! :)

Cold Day!!

Well today is a "cold day" (it is so cold outside that the schools think it is too cold for the kids to be outside going to school) for Big B at school which means it is a mommy Big B day!!

We started the day with some crying............Big B didn't want daddy to go to work today.  He thought it should be family day, not a mommy day!  But once he got to turn the T.V. on and watch his news he was fine.  Yes y'all, my son is weird like that!

Next we got to have his FAVORITE breakfast............PANCAKES!!!  I have found the BEST thing ever y'all if your little one likes pancakes and you hate make them, like I do!!  They are made by Pillsbury and they are Mini Pancakes.  The kind we have are Maple Burst.  I don't know if they come in different flavors but we got them at Sam's Club and they are a HUGE hit at our house!!!  You cook them in the microwave for 45 seconds in the individual baggies they come in and you are ready to eat them!!!  I put a little bit of syrup on them for Big B and he eats them up!!

Next we decided to make some veggie beef soup for supper for daddy!  Big B LOVES helping me in the kitchen especially if it includes the microwave.  So we got everything mixed up and put in the crock pot.  Then we moved onto getting some laundry started.  I LOVE that B likes to help with "chores" around the house. 

It was time for lunch and what gourmet meal does this mommy cook for her little one you ask?!  We had mac n cheese and hot dogs of course!!  I think B would eat hot dogs every meal if he could.  It was quick and I didn't really feel like making a huge meal........sorry y'all, I am not mom of the year for a reason!

Now here I am doing this blog instead of folding the laundry.  I know y'all I will get there.  B just went down for a nap and I just wanted a little time to myself.  I will say this, I LOVE my son more than anything in this world but I COULD NEVER be a stay at home mom!!!  I love that my son goes to school every day and plays with his friends and learns so much!  I have HUGE PROPS to all you stay at home moms y'all..................YOU ARE AMAZBALLS in my eyes!!!  You put my full time job to shame!

Finally, I am happy to report I am on day 23 of no pop y'all! SUPER excited!!!  This is huge for me y'all because I have always heard that it takes 22 days to break a habit.  So, this might mean that I have broke that pop habit.........or so I can hope!!  I do find myself drinking a lot more water during the day and I know that is not at all bad!

I found out some VERY GOOD news today so there will be some great changes coming for me this year!! It is going to be a lot of work, but SO WORTH IT!!!  When you have a member of your own family, tell you that you look like a pig every day, you know it is time to make a change!!  I am not doing it because of that person............I am doing it for myself and my family.  But it will feel REALLY good to tell all those people to KISS MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!

More to come y'all!!!

Have a great day and stay warm y'all!!

Pinterest...........Interest!

Well no pop still y'all!!!  Going strong..................C25K starts Today.  Last week has some hiccups in it (I know No excuses) but I am starting today for sure!!

So lets talk about Pinterest........................

Are you one of the people that just goes there and pins things but never really does anything after that?

Are you one of those people that makes fun of those people that tries everything on there?

Are you the mom that does EVERYTHING on there?

Well y'all I am one of those people that likes to pin the SHIT out of stuff on there and then just does a little bit of things here and there.

I have a Quote book at my office.  Yes I know I am a GIANT nerd, but who cares!!  I have a little note book that I write quotes in that give me motivations or inspiration whichever.  I find most of them on the Pinterest Quote page.  There are some pretty good ones on there y'all!!

Next, I LOVE to find quick and easy recipes on there that I can try at home.  I am a "closet" want to be Rachael Ray y'all!!!!  When B was little I used to pretend I had my own cooking show and he was my audience!!  I am not very good at cooking but I like to pretend I am!! 

I have actually tried quite a few VERY GOOD recipes off pinterest!!  Someday, when I get this blog shit figured out I will have some recipes and pictures on here for y'all!

I also LOVE how they have great DIY ideas!!  I actually made a Christmas gift this year from an idea I found on Pinterest.  This baseball shelf is what I made (with the help of my daddy) and it actually turned out pretty cool.

The Hubs and I are doing the 52 week money savings challenge this year. We started it last year but didn't make it very far.  So we took the little amount we had last year and started it January 1st this year.  I hope we get to use the money to go back to Hawaii or maybe to Cancun! 

During the holidays that is my go to place for the treats B takes to school.  I made a nice cookie mix in a jar for his teachers that I found on Pinterest.  It turned out very cute!

There are some excellent tattoo ideas on Pinterest too!  I have been having dreams about getting a new one y'all so I think that is my mind telling me it is time for a new one!!  I have so many ideas I just need to figure out what I REALLY want to get.

Pinterest has so many other things I like to pin but never really will do much with.  If we ever get our house sold I might do some of the house decorating ideas but other than that, it is pretty much limited to the food items and some odds and ends along the way. 

Do y'all have anything you actually do from Pinterest?  I would love to hear about it!!

Thanks for reading y'all!!

Kees Camp!

Stripper Poles..................at least 12 of them y'all through out the whole studio!

I thought to myself, what in the hell did you get yourself into!!  And can you get out of it?!?!!?

I had heard great things about this place and I knew I just needed a kick in the ass to get myself back into shape so this might just be the place to do it! 

Going to a gym and doing things on my own clearly hadn't worked in the past.  I need motivation,  I need guidance, I need FUN, I need a JEN KEES!!

There isn't alot of "gym equipment" everywhere.  Just a big open space and always music playing in the background.  If you go in for the early morning class there might be some feathers on the floor from the night before, as there are usually some kind fun pole classes that go late into the night.

From the moment I walked into the studio and talked to Jen Kees for the first time, I felt like I had found a new best friend!  She made me feel like I could do anything I wanted to do as long as I put my mind to! She is AMAZBALLS y'all and the people she has working with her are just as great!!

I am telling y'all, I used to be in pretty good shape when I was in high school (a LONG time ago) but after completing one day of work outs at this place I KNEW I was in for a RUDE awaking!!!

This isn't for sissy's y'all................this place is hard core!  Don't let the stripper poles fool ya!  Jen Kees knows what she is doing and she is doing it WELL!  She takes everyday things and puts them to great use to help you tone up and lose the inches.  I ran my first 5K after only working out there a few short months!  I am telling y'all her motivation is AMAZING!

She has so many classes to chose from.  Pumptime was always a favorite of mine but kickboxing was a close second.  I know she has new ones now since I haven't been there in a while too.  I always loved it when the weather turned nice and we could head outside to try something new! 

Trust me y'all I was always the first to complain about something but inside I was smiling with excitement because I knew it was going to make my body look SO MUCH BETTER!

I have never gotten the strength to do a pole class yet but someday!  Oh don't be judging y'all!  Just give it a try............it takes some MASSIVE upper body strength to pull yourself up a stripper pole and do ANY kind of a trick!  You might think the girls that work those poles are beneath you, but I am here to tell you, they can kick your ass in a fight!  

There are ladies and gents that work out here but I didn't feel intimidated one bit.  I felt like I could go in there and be myself and no one would judge me for the way I looked or how I was doing the workout.
 
Does anyone look their best when they workout?  I for one sweat my ass off when I work out and that is what you should do, right?  Well when I am in a gym doing my thing, the last thing I want to be worrying about is what other people are thinking about me when I am trying to do a dead lift with 150 pound weights!  I didn't feel that way ONCE at Kees!

I got to know one of the other trainers there, Cari, pretty well also and she was just as sweet as Jen.  These ladies made me feel like I could go out and move a mountain if I wanted to!

I can honestly say that going to Kees camp was not only great for me physically but it was therapeutic too!  It was a chance for me to go let my stress out from the Hubs being sick and just the day to day stress of things.  And in the process of it, I met these two AMAZING ladies that I am proud to call my friends! 

Jen Kees and Cari Jones saved my life!

They pushed me to be a better person not only health wise but just all around.  I have went backwards from where was I when I first went to Kees, and I pray everyday to get back there someday. Things will get back to how they should be in my life and everything happens for a reason. 

These two beautiful souls came into my life for a reason once and I know they will again.  I just have to keep pushing myself to get there! 

Sorry I got a little sappy there y'all but if you have never met Jen you should stop in and at least talk to her!  Just meeting her can change your life....................trust me...............she changed mine!

Kees Camp.....check it out today y'all!

C25K

Well I have decided to give C25K a try y'all.

I used to LOVE doing 5k runs and since having Big B I just haven't been in the mood to do much of anything.   Since this is a new year for a new me, I thought why not give it a try again!?

I am doing GREAT with the no pop!
Doing pretty good with the eating good..........I say pretty good because I have this OBSESSION with Swiss Cakes Rolls Y'all!!!!!!!!!!!  If you have never tried them, you are missing out!! And if yo have never put them in the freezer and eaten that that way............OH MY GOODNESS!!!  My mouth is watering right now y'all!!!! 

Sorry squirrel!

Other than some Swiss Cake Rolls here and there I haven't been doing too bad on watching what I eat!  I am really trying to watch my portion sizes more than anything!

So here is the best part of the post y'all.........I am going to start working on the C25K this week.  I have never done it before but have heard GREAT things about it.

Back when I was working out all the time (post Hubs getting sick) I worked out at Kees Camp.  Now if y'all have never heard of this place it is AMAZBALLS and if I can ever get my schedule back to where I can go there again I will!!!  I have talked about it before very briefly but I am going to try to get a post up someday about how this place HONESTLY changed my life!!  Anyway, I figure if I am ever going to get back there I have to do some stuff on my own, right?!?!!?

This is where C25K comes in.  Here at my office we have a work out room.  Yep, y'all heard that correctly!  For the last 2 years that I have just been getting FATTER, I have had FULL ACCESS to F R E E equipment and I don't use it!!!  I know, I know, I am LAZY!!!!

But remember, I am creating a new me this year!!  So I am going to be bringing my tennis shoes and using the treadmill three times a week as it tells me to do in the C25K workout.  I have it downloaded on my phone so it tells me exactly what to do when (dummy proof) and ready to go!

Wish me luck y'all!!  I am not only doing this for me! Big B isn't slowing down anytime soon and I wouldn't want it any other way!!!

FOOD FIGHT!

Y'all know I L O V E the Iowa State Fair!!! 

I am 32 years old and I have been to 32 Iowa State Fair's.

Anything you need to know about the fair, I am your girl!  Can't find a place you are looking for?  Just ask! :) I go just about every day if not every day to the fair every year and LOVE every second of it!

It truly is a family affair for me!  My parents, grandparents, two aunts, and one uncle camp up there every year!  I am actually sending in the letter this year to get on the TEN YEAR waiting list for a spot in the campground!  Yes y'all, TEN YEARS!!!!!  (Well that WAS the plan!)

I can remember going and staying in the Youth Inn with my mom so we could go to the fair as a family and show livestock.  One year my BFF Sarah stayed with us and it was a BLAST!!!

If y'all don't know what the Youth Inn is, it is a HUGE brick building with old metal bunk beds in it and VERY thin mattress on them that people can stay at while participating at the fair.  It has two sides:  Men on one side, women on the other.  There is a "guard" at the door and you have to have a card to get in.  They have a curfew at night and if you are staying there without your parents they will call them to let them know you have missed curfew.  Yes, y'all they do bed checks! 

It is mainly used to house the FFA Ushers to help out at the free stages and Grandstand evens throughout the fair. They are up there the week before the fair starts and then the whole 11 days so they have A LOT of stuff! 

So here is the real reason I am posting today's blog y'all! I am not sure if y'all are aware of this or not but the ISF board has decided to go cashless at the 2014 fair.

Here is a little back ground on how being a vendor works at the ISF.  You have to pay for your "spot" to have your booth.  Then you have to pay for the electricity to be ran into your booth, if you need water in your booth, you have to pay for that.  Now lets talk about the items you sell in your stand.  You have to use ISF products for the most part.  Their bottled water, pop cups, lids, straws, you get where I am going, right?

Then there is a certain percentage you have to give the ISF at the end of each day from your gross amount of sales.  Yes y'all, you have to give them money you make after you pay them all that other stuff too! 

NOW, they want to start selling these tickets!?!?!?!?!?!

Here is my stance on the idea..............................I am going to be thinking VERY LONG AND HARD about going to the fair every day and every year if this is how it is going to be ISF!

I am NOT going to stand in line to get ALL THESE tickets (at 50 cents a peace I am going to have to get alot for all the food I like to enjoy at the fair!) to turn around and stand in line for the actual food I am going to buy!

You are STEELING money from HARD working people that spend every waking minute at YOUR FAIR! You make them pay to get in every day to sell items at YOUR fair and now you are going to do THIS to them?!?!?! 

I say SHAME on you!!!!  You say it is to cut down on robberies but I say you are the ones robbing people!  Look how much money you are costing by paying all these booths to have people at them to take the money for the tickets! And now you are saying your staff is more trust worthy than the vendors because who is going to be manning the booths selling YOUR tickets?!?!?!  YOUR people I would guess!!!! 

SHAME ON YOU ISF!!!!!!  Iowan's work hard for their money and you are making it hard for them to come and enjoy the fair I fell in love with as a child!!!!  It is bad enough you raise the ticket prices and food prices and now I have to pay to get into the horse arena to watch my cousin in the cowgirl contest!!!!

Y'all know I am country girl that now lives in the city. This doesn't make me an expert on anything and this is just my opinion on the situation but as you might be able to see, I am VERY upset by it!  I will be letting the ISF board know my concerns as well today!  I know my little amount of money I spend at the fair isn't going to mean that much but I still want them to know my opinion!

Thanks y'all for listening and I hope if you feel the same way as I do that you voice your opinion!

Hell YA!!!!

Just a quick check in to let y'all know how things are going. 

I am on day 8 of no pop and going STRONG!!!  I have really not missed it too bad to be honest with ya.  Okay that is a BIG F'ING LIE!!!!  I would stab a brother for a Diet Dr. Pepper right now!!!!!

Okay, got that out of my system for the time being!  Eating has been going pretty well!

Date night last weekend I got to have some AMAZBALL salmon at Jethro's in Ankeny.  Yes I had a side of mashed potatoes too but it was a small side damn it!  I did get a side salad too!

We saw the movie Grudge Match and it was VERY GOOD in my opinion!  I am not a movie critic by any means but if a movie makes me laugh I like it! Enough said, right?

Since it was FREEZE YOUR ASS COLD out this past weekend (Like NORTH POLE COLD y'all) I decided to go to the grocery store on Saturday and stock up for a weeks worth of meals.  I know this is what you should always do but I am not the best at doing this.

I got stuff to make vegetable beef soup (one of my faves!) and chili since it was so cold!  Then I hit the jack pot with whole wheat pasta being on sale so I got some of that too!  Boneless skinless chicken breasts where on sale too so there was a double bonus! (I know, I am weird, I get excited about finding good deals at the grocery store!)

We did order Casey's pizza (my favorite kind of pizza y'all) Sunday night even though I just went to the store and bought all that stuff! I know, that is the dumbest thing ever!  But I was in the mood for it and we had enough box sides for a free one!!  (It's the little things people!)

Good news is I only had three small pieces of pizza and NO POP!!  This is a HUGE SUCCESS for me y'all!!!  I could eat half a large Casey's Pizza and nothing goes better with that than a BIG POP!!  But I restrained and I am still alive to talk about it!!

Monday was a "cold day" for Big B at school so he got to stay home with mom in the morning and dad in the afternoon.  I made vegetable beef soup and cooked it in the crock-pot all day.  DAMN that stuff was good for supper that night!!!

I had it for lunch the next day and it was even better the second time around!!

I am doing better about taking my lunch to work and making sure I have snacks too.  I am NOT doing good about eating breakfast.  I am just not a breakfast person!  Unless it is BACON and hash browns.  I can eat the SHIT out of some bacon y'all!!!!  That might be why the Hubs bought us tickets to Baconfest this year!!  More on that to come FOR SURE!!

I made some whole wheat spaghetti for dinner tonight and Big B LOVES that stuff!!  I for one would prefer to have the whole wheat over regular anyway, so that is good!

I believe we are having chicken tomorrow night, what are some good ways to "jazz" up chicken breasts?  I am known to just throw a bunch of stuff in a zip lock baggie along with the chicken and let is marinade for a while then back it in the oven for a while.  Garlic, mustard, honey, vinegar, whatever is in the front of the fridge!?

Sorry, so much for being short!!  If y'all having noticed I like to go on, and on about stuff!

Well the good news is things are still going as planned!  I haven't had a pop in 8 days, and I am still ALIVE so that is a plus!! :)


Let's Do This Y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Far So Good!

Well y'all I am on day 3 of the no pop thing and going strong!!  I do still drink coffee so I am getting some caffeine but I am not drinking all that sugar that I was before! 

Now I am going to work on my eating healthier.  I would love to say I am going to try to eat "clean" but I just don't know if I can do that.  I LOVE food y'all!!  I mean L O V E food!!! 

But I supposed that is why I weigh as much as I do!! :(

So this is what I am thinking...........if I can work really hard on not eating fast food and "Junk" during the week while I am at work then I should be good! RIGHT?!?!

The Hubs and I have a date night tonight so Big B has a play date with one of his favorite baby sitters!!  I love that we have such great friends that are willing to watch him for us so we can have some time alone once in a while!

So while we are out for dinner tonight, the plan is to get some good food to eat but also healthy at the same time.

I didn't use to like fish until we went to Hawaii and that is where I fell in love with it!! So now any chance I get to have some good Salmon or Tilapia I try to get it. Of course it is not NEAR as good as it is fresh in Hawaii but beggars can't be choosers! 

Sorry about that "squirrel" there y'all!  Anyway, I am thinking I might get a nice piece of fish and a veggie tonight!

After dinner I believe we are going to check out a movie! It has been a very long time since we have been to one of those! :)

Sorry this isn't very interesting today!!  I am thinking about doing some pictures for my before and afters!

Let's Do This Y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!

2013 Recap!

Well 2013 has come to an end y'all and I for one can't believe how fast the year went!!!

Let me back up just a scosh for y'all and recap my Christmas with my side of the fam for ya!  We always go to my parents house and spend the night so we can play games and EAT A TON of food!!

This year was no different!  We went out on Saturday and spend the night.  We each have a stocking at my parents house.  Yes I know what y'all are thinking..............You are a grown ass adult you don't need a stocking anymore. Well this is where I have to DISAGREE with y'all!  My parents LOVE Christmas and stockings are a part of that!!  We get great stuff in our stockings!!

This year I got a punch card to the Iowa State Fair (who wouldn't want that I ask you!) some peanut M&M's, the movie Pitch Perfect, some socks, and some soap.  These are the kinds of things we get every year and it is one of my favorite parts of Christmas!! :)

Next we get to open ALL our presents!  We don't wait until the next day or only open one.......we go balls to the wall when we open presents y'all!!!

Every year my parents say they are going to cut back and every year it is the same thing!  They always go over board and the KIDS love it!! 

Big B got his big boy bedding (cars) and he was SO excited!!  Of course he got tons of toys too and his cousins got toys he thought he should be playing with as well!!! 

This was the first year Big B was really EXCITED about opening presents so he thought he should open EVERYONE'S!!  His older cousins were great about letting him "help" them out!!

I got a Keurig, jewelry armor, Nashville the series, and one of my favorite things was a necklace that is just like this one only with Big B's name on it!  I LOVE it so much!!!  I got alot of other things too but I can't remember them all right now!

As y'all know I personally went through alot during the year 2013!  Separating from my husband was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  We have both been through so much in the 5 years we have been married.  Y'all know I talk about alot on here but I won't be talking about that.  I will tell y'all this...............we are back together and looking forward to a WONDERFUL 2014 as a family! 

Okay, now here is your part to help me out y'all!!  I have made two New Years Resolutions! I did this one year and said no more chocolate and I actually did it for a WHOLE YEAR! I know I am just as shocked as y'all!

Number 1.....................NO MORE POP!  I was drinking WAY more than I should by the end of the year and I need to get back to drinking water again!  So I am one day in and doing great!  I just need your help to keep me going!!  I will keep y'all posted on how I am doing too!

Number 2...........I am going to lose 5 pounds.  Now y'all know as well as I do that I need to lose W A Y more than 5 pounds, but I have been reading alot about obtaining your goals.  If you set realistic ones, you will reach them alot better.  So,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I am going to say 5 pounds, then when I reach that I will say another 5 pounds.........see where I am going with this?!?!  I will be letting y'all know how this goes. 

I know most people just say they are going to do a resolution and then don't stick with it but I am really going to do this y'all!  I am just suborn enough to get it done!

Here's to a NEW and BETTER me!!!