So the burger recipe never came because when I made it I forgot to snap photos!  I make it on average of once per week so I will definitely get it in the next week.

I have to say something… it has been nagging at me and I can’t help myself.  Would someone please explain to me why the royal wedding is such a big deal?  I can understand that people want to watch it and people like to be nosey but what I can’t wrap my head around is people who have no idea who this family is breaking down in tears and talking about this whole thing as if it is their best friend’s wedding.  Seriously it baffles me.  I was baffled when the pope died and people went into bouts of depression and they didn’t know him either.  I mean, it is the equivalent of Jensen Ackles dying or getting married and me having my heart broken about it. The guy is smoking hot but is it really that serious?

 

In other news, Turbo Jam arrived on my doorstep yesterday and I had a chance to look it over and get the gist of it.  I think it is going to be really great for me.  I need to take before pictures before I get started with it so that I will have something for a comparison.  I plan on doing picture updates once a month to show my progress.  I think Monday I will start the workouts- that will give me plenty of time to take my measurements and pictures.  I am super stoked about it all. 

Here is a fun video to close out this post!  Hope you enjoy!

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I left off yesterday at our second house about to explain the car chases and knocks at 3 AM.  Apparently we had picked a not so nice version of suburbia to park ourselves in.  Aaron went out to fill the car up with gas late one night and ended up being chased at 90 miles per hour through our subdivision for no reason.  I am guessing maybe the people thought he was someone else.  He was able to pull into a random driveway and hideout.  Not so long after that we were startled awake by someone knocking on the door at 3 AM.  Now I don’t know about you but there is no way I am coming to the door at that hour and I am sure that 9 times out of 10 the person doing the knocking is up to no good- right?  I think our dogs barking scared whoever it was off because nothing happened after that.  Needless to say after that we were ready to move again.  The problem was we were buying this house and so we were tied up in it.  Then we got the bright idea to turn it into a rental property and just move on.  Too bad no one told us we should let a company manage it for us instead of trying to pull that off ourselves.

We found another house we wanted to buy and we found renters for our current house.  The day we were supposed to go sign papers on our new house, the accountant fell through and everything just messed up. Being the bright individuals we were, we had already said the renters could move in that week.  We worked it out to where until the new house could be purchased we would rent it from the sellers.  Little did we know that they would not be using our payments toward the house we were living in, thus causing the house to foreclose before we could finish the process.  We had a week to move before we would be left out in the street.  Meanwhile the renters we had in our old house were not paying rent either.  We could not pay for us to rent and the house payment for the old house both.  Our house with the renters in it foreclosed.

We moved very quickly to our next house which was in Huntersville.  It was huge, a 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath house in another subdivision.  We were renting and we were in over our heads.  We were in such a hurry to get out of the last house we took the first thing we saw not even thinking about bills. 

 

We were forced to move from there because we were sinking fast and couldn’t pay the bills.  Bills in a 3200 sq. ft. home are astronomical- especially when there is a gas bill involved.  We searched and finally found a place that we called home for 3 years in Davidson.  It was 3 bedrooms/2 baths and it was in an older neighborhood.  We had great neighbors and it was a wonderful place to live while we got back on our feet financially.

Recently Aaron got a promotion at work and we decided it was time to move once again but this time to a place we really wanted but was still within our means.  We found an awesome apartment in Mooresville- finally out of Mecklenburg County.  It is 2 bedroom/2 bath and we love it very much! 

We plan to stay here until we have a need to upgrade to a 3 bedroom (when the twins get older). 

I am so happy we made all of our mistakes young.  It feels so good to know that we know what we are doing now for the most part and will not be making any of the same mistakes over. We are where we have always wanted to be and happy. 

On another topic, I just ordered Turbo Jam from Beachbody.  I hope going the DVD route will help me out in the weight loss department.  I want to get my workouts done in the morning so I don’t have to deal with them later on in the day.  I will update you after they get here and I do my first workout! 

I will be back tomorrow with a burger recipe! Stay tuned!

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I have been married 5 years. In that 5 years we have moved 6 times.  Yes, that’s right, six.  For some reason we just never seem to last very long in places before we move on.  I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane.  I don’t have pictures for all of the places but I have plenty of things to talk about.

Our first move was when we got married- January 2006.  We moved into a triplex on the college campus (Wingate University).

 

It was an old, run down 2 bedroom place and we were just stoked to be able to afford it.  We moved there in the winter and everything was great.  Around May that year I was scared out of my kitchen forever by a spider the size of my hand.  That is no exaggeration, if I hadn’t been so petrified I would have taken a picture.  It was a man-eater.  Shortly thereafter we found out he had a family living outside near the front steps, and they were all as big as he was.  Around the same time in our bedroom water started magically appearing on the floor at the foot of our bed.  I don’t know what the deal was with that, but I knew it was time to get out of there when I started having migraines on a daily basis.

We answered a rent ad on Craigslist and went the next day to see the house.  By this point we no longer needed to live next to the college, so off to Charlotte we went.  Upon looking at the house initially I didn’t like it at all.  But beggars can’t be choosers and we needed to move. We signed a lease and moved in about a month later.  We had upgraded from our 2 bedroom/ 1 bath rundown triplex to a 3 bedroom/2 bath three year old house in a subdivision.  We were excited to be there and felt like life was moving forward for us.

 

Then the late night car chases and people banging on our door at 3 am began.

To Be Continued…

 

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Tonight in the tub I had a revelation.  It is time to be real.

I had a post typed out ready to publish when I realized that I wasn’t being real with myself or anyone else.  It talked about all the reasons I have been MIA lately, the main one being that we moved.  It was all nice and pretty with pictures of our new apartment.  While there is nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t what really needed to be talked about right now.  Right now I need to talk about my weight loss- or lack thereof.

I wish I could say I have been steadily losing weight these past 4 months, but that would be a lie.  I have in fact put back on 13 pounds.  I realize that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for me it is.  I am 200 pounds currently- I have a long way to go.  I do not want to be on the weight roller coaster anymore…ever.  Because of that, I need to be real.  I worked hard to lose the weight I did and it really sucks to see it come back.  I made this blog with the intention of helping keep myself accountable and I haven’t been utilizing it at all.  So while there has been a lot going on in my life, the real reason for the hiatus was just that I wasn’t being real about my situation and wasn’t ready to face it.  Now that this is all in the open, I am back and ready to go. 

Onto lighter things… breakfast (or snacks).  I have been looking around for some new things to try for breakfast and snacks.  I am really trying to eat real foods- as close to whole, natural foods as possible.  An out with the nutrigrain bar, in with the oatmeal type of thing.  I read a lot of health food blogs and see a lot of yummy looking foods as a result.  The other day I stumbled across the Dough Boy Smoothie on Kath Eats.  It was amazing!!  I modified it a bit by leaving out the chia seeds (didn’t have any) and adding 1/2 scoop of chocolate protein powder.  It was insane.  I will be having another one tomorrow. It is the same concept of overnight oats but much better in my opinion.  I have trouble eating my oats cold but when I blended them it was magic.  Seriously, give it a try!  I added some peanut butter on top of mine- delish. 

So now that I have outed myself and am being real I can tell you that I am over gaining weight and am back on the weight loss train!

That is, after my 5 guys burger tonight! (You know they are too good to resist- don’t judge!) 

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I am so ready for the warmer weather.  I was happy when the time changed because even though it sucks in the beginning from losing an hour of sleep it is more than worth it to have longer days- more sunlight for me please! 

To kick the season off, I took the babies on a stroll to the park next to my house.  Well, I actually walked a total of 3 miles but the park was the highlight of the trip.  All of the trees were so pretty and the ducks were out and about. 

   

 

 

As you can see it was gorgeous out there.  I am hoping the warmth will be here to stay soon.  I like being outside and feel like this winter has been so long.

Spring means the return of sandals/ flip-flops.  I bought my first pair of rainbow flip-flops (at the top of the page) at the mall after hearing so many great things about them.  I am currently breaking them in so hopefully they will be as great as people say they are. 

Until next time…

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Having 21 month old twins around all day everyday day provides me with endless entertainment. They have their own little personalities and you honestly never know what you are going to get. In this case I wedged a water bottle in one of their playpen holes just to see what would happen:

Carly notices right away and tries to get the bottle out. Of course Cameron is right there on her trying to take her hand off of it.



Here he is just concentrating on the task at hand. Note: Would you look at Carly's eyelashes? Good grief, think she'll share some of that wealth?



Okay so the concentration isn't helping... let me just take a big juicy bite out of the arm attached to the bottle.



This is the face of someone who just got the bottle loose.


Cameron immediately stages an attempt to take it from her...


It looks like he is going to be successful



I guess he thinks by sitting down the bottle will remain in his possession...



He was wrong.



He has accusation written all over his face



But my son is no quitter...



Carly is no pushover though...


And while Cameron isn't a quitter, he is definitely a whiner.



He finally figures out that it's just a lame, empty water bottle so it can't be that great right?



But Carly thinks she's just one a million bucks



Carly: I'm smiling because I won.
Cameron: I'm smiling because the water bottle is empty and she doesn't realize it yet :)

Labels: Fun, kids

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Hi guys! Just thought I would drop in and chat for a minute. I wanted to let everyone know that this blog is getting its life back as of now. I recently went through some rough patches in life and had to deal with all of that before I could deal with this. I am excited to be back and cannot wait to post a real topic! The flow of the blog will be the exact same but honestly I am more full of life and wanting to soak every bit of it up now and so it may be even better. You will see my eats have changed quite a bit as I now clean eat- this is more natural and unprocessed if you were wondering but other than that it is still the same. Be on the lookout for my next post to be up at least by Friday- I have really missed this :)

Labels: life

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I have recently seen this floating through the blogoshpere and thought it might be fun! My hiatus will be ending soon I promise, still sorting out this Clean Eating buisness!

Here are the ABC's of Me:

A. Age: 23

B. Bed size: Queen

C. Chore you dislike: All of them lol :) I probably hate dishes the most.

D. Dogs: Lassie (Chow/Collie mix) and Moses (Border Collie/Springer Spaniel mix)

E. Essential start to your day: I have to get out of bed at my own pace... I like to wake up and just lie still for 5 minutes and get my head straight.

F. Favorite color: Pink or lime green

G. Gold or silver: silver

H. Height: 5'5''

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano, limited

J. Job title: Stay-at-home mom

K. Kids: Carly and Cameron (20 month old twins)

L. Live: Davidson, NC

M. Mom’s name: Paula

N. Nicknames: White Girl (Aaron's pet name for me), Cole

O. Overnight hospital stays: Pregnancy and Anemia scare

P. Pet peeves: crazy drivers that shouldn't have a license, bad service at a restaurant, this list could go on and on.... rude people

Q. Quote from a movie: "King Kong ain't got $&*% on me"

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: I have one but no longer consider her my sibling so we'll move on

T. Time you wake up: 11am

U. Underwear: What does this question mean? Yes? Where I buy them? Victoria’s Secret and Target

V. Vegetables you dont’ like: Acorn Squash- the texture kills me, Eggplant- the flavor is gross to me

W. What makes you run late: Aaron

X. X-rays you’ve had: Toe- in 7th grade a horse stepped on it

Y. Yummy food you make: Gigi's Carrot Cake- foodnetwork.com and search for it, it is Emeril's recipe, so good

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Giraffes , Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Tigers

Labels: Fun

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I am in the process right now of making some changes in my life. As many of you know, I was on the Weight Watchers program and lost about 30 pounds while on it. In November they changed the plan completely around and I gave it a chance. I stuck with the new plan until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to stop because I determined the plan no longer worked for me and I simply didn't like it. That has left me hanging in the balance about what to do next.

I knew I wanted an eating plan that I could sustain. I am not really into crash dieting and I like life style changes verses lose a quick 10 pounds and gain 20 back just for your trouble. I have ignored my basic instincts about the food I eat for years and I have decided that it is time to stop. I know the best way of eating for me is clean eating. Clean eating is eating foods in their most natural form- what nature intended for it to be. It is about cutting out processed crap and eating the real deal. I have always wanted to eat this way and I know it is 100% right for me but I have continually pushed it away for whatever reason.

Clean eating will mean no more calorie counting or tracking points and I am down like four flat tires with that. I have about 50 more pounds to lose but I am at a point now where I am more concerned with the examples I set for my kids and finding a way of eating that is forever- counting points and calories is not my idea of a fun life every time I sit down to eat.

This will be a challenge for me because currently my taste-buds are set on grease, sugar, and fat. Vegetables are not my favorite things because I don't have a taste for them- salads at home make me nauseous. I think this is going to be one huge adventure and that is why I plan to share it with you every step of the way. I am currently waiting on the books I need to arrive at the library (total cheapskate here) and when I start you will be the first to know.

For so long my way of eating has been about weight loss and I am so excited that it will finally be about normalcy. No more fat-free tasteless junk. I am most excited to get to a point where my body functions like it should and where I have the energy I need. I also love that my kids will never have to ask me why am I counting out every morsel of food I eat- trust me it can get rather obsessive. I really want to convey to them what a healthy relationship with food looks like so that they will always know; the best way to do that is by example and so here we are.

If anyone still reads this blog after my short abandonment period then feel free to weigh in (no pun intended) and let me know what you think- heads up comments don't work but I have a tagboard in the right sidebar. Check back soon for my first day of real eating :)

Labels: clean eating

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Sorry about the super long hiatus I have taken from posting but life has been a little crazy over here. Between filing taxes, the Superbowl, and Aaron getting fired from his job we have just been a little bit side tracked lately. Never fear, we are now back on track and ready for life to throw something else at us whenever it pleases.

I won't get into details about Aaron losing his job but suffice it to say it was ridiculous in about a million ways. Aaron was upset at first but I viewed it as a good thing from the start. I have been unhappy about the place he was working for quite a while and felt the only way to go was up- and as usual I was right :)

Aaron went to interview at 2 places and after some heavy debate he chose one that we feel much better about and he is excited to get started. I will tell you that fired never felt so good. Aaron is fortunate to be in a line of work where if you are good at what you do there are always jobs available. This time around God really blessed us and we are excited for everything to come.

To celebrate his firing and hiring we went out to dinner at a place I had been wanting to try for a long time, 131 Main. It was really cozy on the inside and it smelled like a hickory fire when you first walked in. The food was exceptional and I honestly cannot wait to go again.

To start we split 2 appetizers. First up was cornbread:



It kind of had a hint of jalapeno in it and they served it with honey you could drizzle over it. One word: Yum!



Then we had to try the deviled eggs- such an uncommon appetizer and this is honestly the first time I have ever even seen these on a restaurant menu and I was stoked!



They were almost as good as the ones my aunt makes. We split the main course which was Mahi Mahi topped with Jumbo Lump Crabmeat and Lemon Butter Sauce with Garlic Mashed Potatoes on the side...



The most important part of the meal came next... Any guesses what that would be?
Banana Cream Pie!


Tell me that isn't to die for. I would go back to this place just for the dessert, it was incredible.

I promise this blog won't turn into eating out adventures only it has just been a whirlwind here. Later this week I will be posting my Pasta Fagioli recipe so stay tuned!!

Oh and Carly says hi :)

Labels: restaurants

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Sometimes you just need comfort. For me comfort comes in the form of dining out. We live in an area surrounded by plenty of restaurants but tonight we just needed an old favorite that was out of our way. The long drive gave us extra time to talk and just relax with each other. It was a good night and I thought I would share it with you...

We went to Bonefish Grill, a place we love but don't get to make it to very often, maybe once a year if we are lucky. It is an old favorite and a place that offers true comfort to me. Let's face it, after my 10 minute run the other day, I can use all the comfort I can get- I am still waddling around like a duck and my legs hate me. When we got there we started out with the bread they bring out with oil and herbs.


Followed shortly by the Bang Bang Shrimp. All I can say is yum...


Aaron ordered the tilapia (we usually both go with this but I was feeling adventurous tonight)


And I had the Baja Fish Tacos (they were incredible)


Of course we couldn't leave without dessert so out came the chocolate creme brulee- yes you are allowed to be very jealous :)


There were tons of foodgasms happening...


The creme brulee didn't stand a chance.


I got the comfort I was looking for and hopefully it won't be another year before we get back there again. Goodbye for now Bonefish, you will be missed.

Labels: restaurants

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