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!!!