Monday, January 31, 2011

Weekly Weigh In

I usually don't do my weekly weigh in posts until later in the week even though my weigh in day is always on Monday mornings. This week though I knew I needed to post early so I can come back and look at it. I gained another 2 lbs this week!!!! And unlike last week when I gained a pound and had no idea why; this week I know exactly why. I'm actually surprised that 2 lbs is all that I gained. I'm not making excuses for myself but this week has been a horrible week for me. I've just had a lot of not so great things going on and food is a way for me to deal with things. I ate Mexican 3 times this week including 2 nights in a row. Horrible! I also had sushi and Japanese, turkey with all the trimmings (it was for my grandma's birthday party), Dairy Queen fruit smoothies twice (thanks to my friend that is also on WW, lol), and much more that I was not supposed to eat. Also, I only walked 5 miles this week; total. Last week there were several days that I walked 5 miles each day.

So here are my mini-goals for this week:

* exercise 5 out of 7 days this week
* have a loss when I weigh in next Monday (no matter how little it is, I am tired of typing a + sign)
* try at least one new Weight Watchers recipe
*continue to lift weights (I've only been doing arms so far)


I hope that everyone else is doing much better with their weight loss goals than I am. I would love to hear some of your motivations.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Journey Across the USA- Part 1

Now that I've spilled the beans about my summer road trip I want (and need) your input. I am going to be sharing the placess that we have marked as must sees. Most of these right now are just cities that we know we want to stop in. So I need for ya'll to tell me what to do and where to eat (priority #1) and where to stay while we're traveling.


I am a Carolina girl so we will literally be driving across the good ole USA. On the way out to California we will be driving through Tenneesse, Kentucky, Illionois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and finally arriving at our destination. Momma and I have went through and decided on some of the stops we will make a long the way. I thought it would be fun to have ya'll match the pictures below with the places that we are going to visit.


Stop #1 What city is this in?




Stop #2- Probably spending the first night in this city


Stop #3- this city is one of the places that I am most excited about seeing

Stop #4- this city will be the last place we stop before moving on to California



How many were you able to guess? Check back tomorrow for the answers!


Thursday, January 27, 2011

Week 4 Weigh In

I have finished week 4 of Weight Watchers and was less than thrilled with this weeks results. I gained 1.2 lbs.
(image taken from Google, sorry if this is your child)
I am so frustrated and I know that I shouldn't be. The part that bothers me is that I did so much better food and exercise wise this past week then I did the week before when I lost 3.6 lbs. What gives? So instead of making me work harder; its put me in a mini funk. I will get out of it soon. Between work aggravating me and some other issues I just haven't had the best week of my life. Everything will hopefully get better soon and I can get back to shedding the pounds. How is everyone else doing? I have walked 51 miles in my 100 miles by March 17 challenge so I am well on schedule of meeting that goal. I also have a hour massage scheduled for this afternoon (much needed) and I'm meeting some friends for Mexican food afterwards (not good for the diet but still my favorite). Both of these will definitely help relieve some stress.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Introducing My New Favorite Resteraunt...

Momma and I had a girls night out last Wednesday night. I was looking for a sweater at Forever 21 so we rode to Charlotte to see if I could find it. (Which I did, yay!) After leaving the mall we decided to have dinner at PF Changs since neither one of us had ever ate there. And boy are we glad we did. As you can tell from the title WE LOVED IT!!! We shared these bad boys...




the famous Chicken Lettuce Wraps and then split the pepper steak which was delicious also. They give you so much food that I took 2 bags home with me. I will certainly be going again soon. I can't wait to try some of their other dishes. (I also saw this weekend where Wal Mart sells PF Changs in the freezer section. I haven't tried any of them yet)


(images were taken from Google)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Just can't wait to be on the road again

This summer my mother and I will be loading our suitcases into the car (her car because I refuse to put 6000+ miles on mine) and traveling from North Carolina to California.

I have a cousin that lives in Sacramento and we will be visiting him. Of course we plan on making several stops a long the way and I will be posting much more about them later. After spending a few days in beautiful California we will get back in the car (this time my cousin will be joining us) and traveling too....


VEGAS!!!!

I have another cousin that lives in Las Vegas so we will be going to visit her and her husband and their brand new twin girls. We will be staying on the strip for a few days before heading home (a different way) and making more fun stops. Momma and I are both so excited about this trip that we have already started planning it down to the places we will stop and eat.

Check back soon for a list of destinations on the way out and the way back. I am really going to need ya'lls help on places to see and things to do!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Who Doesn't Love an Award

Annie @ Classic Annie, Ashley at Sweet Southern Prep, and Baily @ Picking Wildflowers have given me the Stylish Blogger Award. If you haven't checked out these blogs then what are you waiting for... hurry over. Thanks ladies!

The rules are to post 7 interesting facts about yourself and then pass it on to some of your own favorite blogs. I've done the 7 facts before so I will try to have different ones but I can't promise anything. Believe it or not I am not that interesting.

1) I hate to fly but if I ever get on another plane for a long period of time it will be because I'm going here

to Ireland. I think that this has to be the most beautiful place in the world. I doubt I will ever go but I'm sure it would be something to see.
2) I'm a gossip. It's a horrible trait I know but for some reason I love to talk about people. Please don't judge me. I can be very nice at times.
3) I change my hair color with the seasons. Yes, like the leaves. In the fall and winter I like my hair to be darker. I am naturally dark headed (as you can see from the eyebrows).


and in the spring and summer I go lighter. In case you didn't know that is me on the end with the white shirt. Which do you prefer? My momma swears my hair is going to fall out from changing it so much. So far so good but we know that momma's always end up being right.


4) I love sticky notes. My desk is covered in them. My favorite part is using the last one and getting to open another pack. Weird, yes.

5) I hope to live on the lake one day. I would love for this to be the view from my dock. To me a day on the lake is as close to perfection as we can get this side of Heaven.

6) I like chocolate milk much, much, much better than white milk. The only time that I like white milk is poured over my Frosted Flakes.

7) I hate birds! They gross me out.

See how interesting I am. I'm sure your all bored to tears. now here is the fun part. I get to share this award with some of my favorite blog ladies.

Its The World I Know

Atlanta Yankee Belle

Simple Little Joys

Southern Soul Mates

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Friday, January 21, 2011

5 Question Friday

Its been a while since I linked up with My Little Life's 5 Question Friday.




1. Where did you meet your spouse and did you instantly know it was love?

Hubs and I met in college. We actually met at his apartment. I went to a party there with a few of my sorority sisters (one of them dated one of his fraternity brothers). We were introduced that night and started hanging out together (most of the time in a large group). We started really dating a month later. And no I did not instantly know it was love (although it definitely turned out to be that). At first I (nor my momma) thought he was my type and I'm sure he didn't think I was his.


2. What is your favorite room in your house?

the bathroom. I love to take a hot bath each night and it would be impossible to do this without a bathroom.


3. Can you wiggle your ears?

no, I can cross my eyes. Is that good for anything?


4. What is your evening ritual?

long, hot bath (I've recently added a glass of wine to this ritual and its working out just perfectly). My favorite time to read is during my nightly bath time.


5. How many hours of sleep do you need to function?

I usually try to go to bed between 10 and 11. Since becoming addicted to The Real Housewives on Bravo I have been getting in bed a little later than I like. Priorities!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Somewhere With You

I have never been a huge music fan. Sure, I like to listen to my IPOD when I'm exercising or blare the radio on a summer day but I've never really been one to go to a lot of concerts or just love music. As Ive gotten a little older this is changing for me. No idea why though. Here is one of my current favorite songs:
~Somewhere With You by Kenny Chesney~
If you're going out with someone new
I'm going out with someone too
I won't feel sorry for me, I'm getting drunk
But I'd much rather be somewhere with you
Laughing loud on a carnival ride, yeah
Driving around on a Saturday night
You made fun of me for singing my song
Got a hotel room just to turn you on
You said pick me up at three a.m.
You're fighting with your mom again
And I'd go, I'd go, I'd go somewhere with you
I won't sit outside your house
And wait for the lights to go out
Call up an ex to rescue me, climb in their bed
When I'd much rather sleep somewhere with you
Like we did on the beach last summer
When the rain came down and we took cover
Down in your car, out by the pier
You laid me down, whispered in my ear
I hate my life, hold on to me
Ah, if you ever decide to leave
Then I'll go, I'll go, I'll go
I can go out every night of the week
Can go home with anybody I meet
But it's just a temporary high 'cause when I close my eyes
I'm somewhere with you, somewhere with you
If you see me out on the town
And it looks like I'm burning it down
You won't ask and I won't say
But in my heart I'm always somewhere with you
Laughing loud on a carnival ride, yeah
Driving around on a Saturday night
You made fun of me for singing my song
Got a hotel room just to turn you on
You said pick me up at three a.m.
You're fighting with your mom again
And I'd go, I'd go, I'd go
I can go out every night of the week
Can go home with anybody I meet
But it's just a temporary high 'cause when I close my eyes
I'm somewhere with you, somewhere with you
Somewhere with you
I'm somewhere with you
I'm somewhere with you
Somewhere with you
Somewhere with you

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Week 2: WW Recipe and Weigh In

Time for another weigh in! This week I lost 3.6 lbs! I am so excited about that number since we had 3 teacher workdays that meant lunches out including Mexican and Chinese and a birthday party on Saturday. I exercised a lot which really helped combat some of that extra eating. I told you last week that my goal was to walk 30 miles by Monday. Well, I made that plus 2 and after walking 5 miles yesterday I have already logged in 37 miles towards my goal of 100.

I also have another delicious recipe to share with ya'll. When I made this one for the first time a few weeks ago Hub's said it was the best WW recipe yet and I would have to agree with him.


Mexican Casserole

Ingredients:
1lb of lean ground beef (I used ground turkey instead)
1 onion
1 packet of taco seasoning
8oz of tomato sauce
16oz of fat free re fried beans
fat free shredded cheese (I use the Weight Watchers Mexican cheese mix)
2 cans of reduced fat crescent rolls



Directions:
spray your casserole dish
lay out 1 roll of crescent rolls in the bottom and smooth out
cook and drain meat and onion
add taco seasoning, tomato sauce and re fried beans to meat mixture and heat thoroughly
spread mixture onto crescent roll
sprinkle cheese across mixture
cover with 2nd roll of crescent rolls
bake at 375 until crescent rolls are golden

The hard part is trying to get the crescent rolls smooth on top. It may not look pretty but it sure tastes yummy. When cut into 8 servings (which are pretty big pieces) the Mexican casserole is only 5 points per serving. Hubs like to put hot sauce on his while my friend's husband added fat free sour cream and salsa to the top of his portion. Even left plain it is so yummy! I didn't serve mine with anything else but you could always add a veggie or salad.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Funny Friends and Sweet Babies

I have talked about my childhood friend, Michelle, on here before. She is a professional comdien and has been living in Florida for the past few years. She came home for a visit with her 2 beautiful children last week and called and we set up a dinner date.

My best friend Erin with her little boy Dax, me, and Michelle with her 2 children; McKinley and Gramm.

We had so much fun catching up and playing with the children. Dax had a good time too!


Look at those sweet rosey cheeks!


Future match? Probably not. Dax would reach over and grab her hand and she would get so excited that she would start squealing at him and it would scare him to death. He would poke out his lower lip and look up at me like he was about to start crying. Then they would do it all over again.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Celebrate Good Times, Come On

This weekend Hubs and I headed up the mountain for our niece, Lanie's, birthday party.

Our nephew, Eli, after Hubs fixed his hair. If the good Lord ever blesses me with a little boy he will definitely sport a mohawk.


Lanie chose to have a girly pirate party. Isn't this cake adorable? It tasted even better.


Lanie's table for her and all of her friends. When the girls came in they were all given a pirate bandanna to wear.


My brother-in-law planned lots of fun games for the kids.


The food table. Not a WW friendly thing on there.


Getting ready to light the candles.


Aren't their bandanna's so cute? I love that the little girl in the glasses is licking her lips and has her plate ready. She really wanted some cake.

It is so hard to believe that Lanie is already 8 years old. She has grown up so fast.


Of course I had to get Hubs to pose for a picture. And he ruined it.


So now its my turn to mess up one.


Lets mess up one more for good measure.

Friday, January 14, 2011

No longer a little girl

Our niece, Lanie, turned 8 years old last Saturday but because of the snow her party was postponed until this weekend. So tomorrow we will celebrate 8 years of this beautiful little girl. Hubs and I actually started dating when she was only 3 days old.
On another note, I haven't updated since early this week but we ended up missing school all week long. I went in for teacher workdays on Wed, Thurs, and Friday but I still have to make up time for 2 days. I am so ready for all the ice and snow to go away. How many days till spring?


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Week 1 Weigh In

Today is another snow day. My cabin fever got the best of me and I had to get out so I am braving the roads and making it in for a teacher workday. Which was much needed since I still have to create the final exam for my 4th period class. Joy!

I completed my first week of Weight Watchers and enjoyed every minute of it thanks to some wonderful new recipes and lots of help from great friends (real life and blog ones). So without further ado... I lost 2.6 lbs. Not as much as I was hoping for but after my bout with food poisoning and quickly dropping 4 lbs the week before I can't be too discouraged. I have also walked a total of 17 miles for my 100 miles by 3/17/11 challenge. I prefer to walk outside but with all the snow and freezing temperatures that has not been possible so I've been trekking it out on the treadmill.

My mini-goal for this coming week is to have walked 30 miles by Monday.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

I need my own cooking show!

Hubs and I have been busy in the kitchen this weekend. I love the WW online tools and I have been getting tons of recipes off it. And not just point friendly recipes but recipes that actually taste great too. Since the weather has been blah here I have been cooking up a (snow) storm... sorry for the bad joke. Btw, schools were closed again today and will most likely be closed tomorrow too. I have enjoyed the time off but I know I will get stir crazy soon.

Let me share some of the wonderful things I've made this weekend.

Sunday after church Hubs and I came home to crock pot chicken and stuffing which was a recipe that I shared with ya'll last week. It was so simple and very yummy. I paired it with green beans and corn.


I also decided to try a Spice Muffin recipe since I was pretty sure that we would be out of work for a few days. These muffins are 0 points on WW.

You start with a box of Spice cake mix, one egg, 1/2 cup of water, and 15oz can of pumpkin. Mix it all together like so...


fill your muffin pans 2/3 of the way full (it makes 24 muffins)



and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350


they come out looking great and tasting even better.

Hubs also wanted to get in on the culinary action so he made homemade salsa for the first time and it was the best I have ever tasted. And ya'll know I love my Mexican food so I consider myself to be a salsa expert. He even fancied it up for its picture since he knew I would share it on the blog. Salsa is 0 points and 15 baked tortilla chips are 3 points.


He's already made 2 batches since Sunday. I think I'm going to go eat some now.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Snow Day

No school for us today thanks to the winter storm that came through last night and left this...


and this...


I plan on enjoying my day off by catching up on blogging and some reading. Hubs went in to work this morning but hopefully he will come home early. I am thinking a lazy day on the couch is exactly what we both need.

While I love being out I know that I am going to hate having to make up these days later. The weather is supposed to stay very cold for the next few days so I doubt this is going anywhere anytime soon. I am betting we will be out of school most of this week. Which will be horrible later when we're having to go to school on beautiful spring days.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Color Mania

I love nail polish! I am the girl that keeps her toes painted all year long. In the summer I change the polish on my toes at least 3 times a week. I love my fingernails painted too.
Here are a few of my current favorites from OPI:
Red My Fortune Cookie



I'm Not Really A Waitress


Strawberry Margarita



Party In My Cabana




Dating A Royal






Bright Lights, Big Color






Need Sunglasses







Friday, January 7, 2011

Recipe Share and Challange

First off, HAPPY FRIDAY! Is everyone else as excited about it being the end of the work week as I am?

I've talked about Weight Watchers and my struggle to maintain a healthy weight on here before. Plenty of times.
This is me in December 2008 at my heaviest; 226 lbs.
My brother was getting married in June 2009 and I knew that I did not want to be a heavy matron of honor so I decided to start WW in January. I lost right at 40 lbs and managed to keep it off for a while.
summer 2010. the first summer that I've worn a bikini in 9 years.
After this summer I gradually started gaining and kept gaining. I finally reached 199 lbs and refused to go back to the 200's. So I am back on WW and determined to get down to my goal weight of 155 to 160.

me a couple of weeks ago (doesn't my face look chubbier?)

After getting food poisoning last week I lost 4 lbs very quickly so my starting weight this time was 195. I will weigh in on Monday's (last time I did WW I did a weekly weigh in and it really helped motivate me so I will be starting that back up). I have also started exercising again and am challenging myself to walk 100 miles by St. Patricks Day. Along with my weekly weigh ins I will keep a running total of miles walked. So far this week I have walked 10.5 miles.

One of the biggest downfalls to dieting and WW is that I feel like I eat the same foods all the time. This go-round I am determined to try my hand in the kitchen and put a little variety in my meals. Here is a recipe that I plan on trying this weekend:

Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing

4 chicken breasts (halved)

1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing mix

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 can of FF cream of mushroom soup

Directions: Spray crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken on bottom of crockpot. Pour broth over the chicken. Mix together the stuffing and soup. Place on top of chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours.

The weather man is calling for snow this weekend so I think this meal sounds warm and yummy. I will definitely review in once I've tasted it.