Monday, October 31, 2011

Insanity!! I hope I am not crazy.

Tomorrow starts my first work out doing Insanity. My husband and I are going to do it together. I am a little anxious, but ready to get it going. Thought I would show you what we are going to do.


Sunday, October 30, 2011

New Season, New Blog

I felt like it was time for a change, and who knows it could change again before I decide I feel like it is done. With a change in weather and the colors around me I wanted new colors on my page, you could say lack of color compared to the last layout.

 I love that the fall brings cooler weather, warmer drinks, the change in colors and twinkle lights, whether it is for your home decorations or in the city. Most of us love this time of year. I just wish we were closer to home. 

Captured Beauty Photography photo sessions.

Saturday November the 19th I will be having 45 min sessions to take Fall pictures, at Euchee Creek Trail park in Grovetown. If you want your kids photographed or new family pictures just let me know we will start setting up times. The cost will be 30$ and you will get a CD with your edited pictures on them.

Another Family Funday in pictures, Our amazing Fall day

We went to our local Dairy, where they have tons of things for kids to play on and in. 
Many of these don't need explanation, Just my beauties having a ball in this amazing fall weather. ENJOY!!











Weston was trying to use his GPS to get us out of the corn maize. No luck!



Answering a question to find our way out.



We had a wonderful time out, even though it was Georgia's first below 60 degree temperature day. I am glad we got time to go out and spend time with each other. Here is to you and your family spending more time together and more holidays come our way. 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday Funday

This morning I wasn't much in the mood for anything. I had no motivation. Sadly my choices were go to gym, be lazy and stay at home, or stay at home and clean. Well my ending result was stay home, but I went for a walk with the kids then I cleaned the house. But this is how my walk went. It was a beautiful morning and we had an amazing time out together. 



Running down the street after me, sadly out of focus.



Erica eating her Eggo Waffle on our walk. 



Wearing the Converse. I bought them at different times, neat that they fit them at the same time.



Sibling love, this was the best part of our day, they were great with each other while we were outside.



My little Erica likes to pick up and collect rocks, not sure why, but I hate it when they end up in my house. 



A path made by one of the fork lifts.



He said to me "Can you smell it mom? I can smell the forest animals" 



E being E.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Are you Miss forgetful?

A few days ago Mrs T, Naturally wrote on her blog about something she knew about, being organized. Then this morning I saw a post from The Vanilla Tulip, she was showing some fabulous family organizers that you can design and buy that are normally around 50$,  but if you get them though Plum District you get them half off and if you are a new follower to Plum you get get an extra 5$ towards a purchase. That means under 20$, and let me tell you they are pretty awesome looking. But you have to act fast, this deal won't last long. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Braking rules and making some new ones.

So today is my husbands birthday, ( Happy Birthday Honey) I wanted to do something but hadn't planned anything, so this morning I decided that the Flank I thawed would be perfect. I looked in my Crock pot cook book and found a recipe that sounded easy to throw together before running out the door for the gym. But here is the thing, I didn't follow the direction to the T, I am not good at that with food. I like to explore and experiment. A guaranteed thing when I don't have all the ingredients it calls for. But here is what I did.

  

One Flank steak almost 2 lbs
One onion chopped in slices
One can of diced tomatoes with basil rosemary and olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Beef broth (progresso brand Tuscany Flavor)
Corn starch
and Flour

I added the onion to the bottom of the Crockpot.
I salted and peppers the meat, then quickly browned it in a pan on both sides,
 then laid the meat on top of the onions. 
the original recipe called for beef gravy, I didn't have any, that is why I used the broth. I put it in a pot, brought it to a boil then added some corn starch to thicken it. 
Added the can of tomatoes to my homemade gravy, stirred it a bit and then poured it over the beef. 
Put the lid on, turned it on high and ta da! Fab Dinner in 6 to 8 hours!

Oh yeah, the four is to make gravy with the juice after it's all ready. 

I will be adding mashed Potatoes and green beans to the plate for dinner. Yummy!



ENJOY!!!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Acne! At my age.

Not that I think I am to old to be getting acne, but I didn't think at my age I would be getting acne. I would say that thus far 90% of my life I have had clear nice skin with no acne problems. I had a short period when I was 17 when I had a cat that I broke out but only then. When we moved here to the south, about 9 months later is when I started seeing my face change. More often then not during the last two years I have had painful acne on the bottom third of my face. I know there are triggers as to why I get them, like leaning on my hand while at the desk or at the table. but I don't get why now. If anything we eat better and healthier.   


Why did I go from this,


to this? No lie, this zit has been there for almost 2 months. Getting bigger then smaller, but never leaving all together. 


I get what Doctors call Nodule and Cyst acne. This is what I learned so far about it:


Severe acne vulgaris is characterized by nodules and cysts:
Nodules: As opposed to the lesions mentioned above, nodular acne consists of acne spots which are much larger, can be quite painful, and can sometimes last for months.1 Nodules are large, hard bumps under the skin's surface.2 Scarring is common. Unresolved nodules can sometimes leave an impaction behind, which can flare again and again. Absolutely do not attempt to squeeze such a lesion. You may cause severe trauma to the skin and the lesion may last for months longer than it normally would. Dermatologists often have ways of lessening swelling and preventing scarring, such as injecting the lesion with cortisone.
cyst
Cysts: An acne cyst can appear similar to a nodule, but is pus-filled.2 They can be painful. Scarring is common with cystic acne. Squeezing an acne cyst may cause a deeper infection and more painful inflammation which will last much longer than if you had left it alone. Dermatologists often have ways of lessening swelling and preventing scarring, such as administering a cortisone shot.


I have been to the doctor before and asked for help, but all they do is give me the same stuff you can buy at the store, which just dries out my skin. I really hate my skin and hate how it make me feel. I am really blessed to not have severe acne, but still having it hurts, emotionally and physically.  


Have you dealt with acne? When I try to hide it it just makes it worse. Another reason I don't wear makeup. How do hide something that pops out at you. 


Friday, October 21, 2011

My funny thought of the day.

Do you ever go into the gym and silently compare yourself to the others around you? Possibly looking over at the Hottie McHottie in the corner, or the awesomely fit chica you wish you looked like? Well this morning while Weston Goodwin and I went to the tiny gym at the hotel I was doing just that. I looked over and and thought that the guy at the weights was looking pretty good looking, he looked up and I noticed in the mirror that it was my hubs!!! LOL good thing right!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

.... My body and the stress I put on it.



This has been on my mind a lot. During my husbands year long deployment my self esteem was tested. We joined the Family Y just a month before he left last summer. For a woman of my height I have never been over weight or fat, and when I first got married I was 15 lbs heavier then I am now!  I never had confidence issues then, or felt discouraged about the way I looked. My wedding day almost 7 years ago. <--  After having two kids, I have a harder time loving my body. I thank God so much for the wonderful DNA he has given me that I don't gain much weight during pregnancy and am able to lose it quickly after giving birth. But it is hard to love a body that doesn't make you happy. I know there isn't anything not to love and I have just been brain washed by the media. I was a model before I got married, which I think is another reason I have a time hard on my body. Even with all the changes they make on picture in different editing programs you still have to look perfect just to get a job. Something that no one in the real world looks like.  

 An ad from DOVE

Why can't we grow up getting images like this one, showing that woman are all different and we all look amazing.


While he was gone I missed out on hearing verbal affirmation of how I looked (one of my love languages) I missed hearing "Babe you look great in that" or "I have one sexy wife" yes I know that may sound corny and cheesy, but you try not hearing it for a year, it changed the way I felt about myself. I didn't feel good enough or sexy. I craved hearing complements. (writing that sounds very vain and selfish but it is true and how I felt)


This was taken at my best weight, after the Military Mud run in May 2011. I weighed 138. If I could keep this body I would be happy. But how many things in our lives as Moms change, and don't make it easy to have the body we want and desire. I knew after my husband returned home it would be tough, I gained 10 while he was on leave last month. I was able to eat whatever I wanted while we was gone. Also eat smaller portions more often during the day, I think that helped me stay fit. 

I wanted this!

 But felt more like this!


I don't want to teach my own daughter that what you see on TV is the way she should look in the mirror, these people have personal trainers lots of money and nanny's for there kids. I want her to look at me and see her mom that is healthy and fit and proud of her body. To teach her that we should spend time on our body keeping it in shape and healthy, but what really matters is what is inside, how we treat others, the world and how we give back. How do I do that if I am not there yet for myself? Day by day! 



Why do we always make it hard for ourselves then it needs to be?! Measuring and pinching different parts of our bodies. Why is it that we can't seem to be happy with the body God gave us and treat it well and feed it good food? I hope I can teach my daughter to be happy with her body no matter how she turns out to be, as long as she is healthy too! 

I don't feel like this is done, but this is what I have for now. 





What I really love to do. (Also my 100th post!)

Today is my 100th post. I was wondering if it should be special or fun, maybe inspirational, a look into the window of my soul? Well I decided to show you what makes me happy. My kids and taking pictures, then making them look even more amazing then they already are. 

We are at the beach this week with amazing weather....so far. 

 Glenn playing in the cold water, but loving every minute.

 Erica LOVES to play in the dirt and sand. (visions of myself as a kid come to mind)

 Weston and Glenn flying a kite 

 Erica playing in the water. I love this candid picture. 

 Erica and Papa holding hands at the beach. He is in love with his Granddaughter! 

 Finding sea shells. 

Glenn is watching the kite in the sky. 

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Our family Vacation Day1.

My in-laws have a time share. Normally they go to Hawaii once a year, but this year they decided to come out our way and spend time with our kids and us. We are so excited to have them out and that they invited us to spend this week with them out at Hilton Head Island, SC.

This morning we were able to relax and get ready slowly. So nice to be able to do that with our two kids. We took our time driving down each and every long country road it was just beautiful. This would be the one time I would openly volunteer to be the first person to get a chip planted in my brain, then I could take pictures with my eyes. That would make taking pictures while driving sooo much easier then trying to tell my husband "ooh ooh take a picture of that, oh oops we passed it!"

These aren't mine, I was driving, but this is what it looked like. 

Beautiful Right!! So Amazing! 


You wouldn't believe the odd trip we had though. About an hour from home we hit Jackson, SC we were coming to a fork in the road, low and behold our GPS quit on me about three minutes before, so I was stuck scrambling trying to figure out which way was the correct road, I would say that we were better late then never in deciding to go right or left. Thankfully no big deal, shortly after taking that road we came to another break in the road. Going right was an entrance to something we had no idea what, but it was fancy looking with big flags and guards and a large gate, to the left was a thin two lane road, much like the picture above. Just after taking the pretty road we noticed that there were electric fences and and dead end roads that went no where. But what was so odd to us was that we kept seeing signs that said "keep drive no stopping or standing, except for emergencies",  we kept driving and passed a few more highly guarded gates. Then went under a very large water pipe that went forever in either direction. Suddenly the one car behind us sped up and passed us before the upcoming hill, but he then got flashed by an on coming car. Our first thought was that there was an accident up ahead with cops and he was warning him, but then he did the same to us and we weren't speeding.  All of a sudden we see this...

(Not my picture but just like what we saw)

Both Weston and I started laughing we were just so surprised and was unexpected to see this site ahead of us. As we continued down this beautiful yet oddly secure two lane road my husband looks at me and says, "You don't know it, but this is really where they keep area 51, nobody expects it to be here so they don't look!" Thats my husband, cracking jokes at the most random times. Made me laugh though. 30 miles after entering this desolate two lane road we notice that things start to look a little bit more open and see a sign that says Savannah River site exit ahead. ?? What was that? We then realized what we had been driving through as we pass a HUGE sign that says Savannah River Site Energy. We had just passed through a 310 sq. mile Nuclear power plant!!! 
  

I can't describe the beautiful scenery that we saw on our way south to the beach, I was in the love with our drive. With the windows downs the warm sun shinning in and a nice cool crisp fall breeze blowing though, that was what I call a road trip. Ahhhh, Love. We passed through many tiny towns that were in the middle of nowhere. Many more miles ahead we saw a sign for a prison. 
"That must be a high security Prison to be in the middle of nowhere!" My husband mentions. 
"Well lets keep driving then!"

Three hours later we made it to to our wonderful destination, A beach Hotel with a view! 



Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Unread posts!

How many times do you my fellow Bloggers, write a post and then decide you don't like it or it didn't turn out like you wanted and then not post it? I am wondering cause I feel like I do it a lot. 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The frustration! And I know I can't be the only one. Please help!

My wonderful Erica is driving me nuts! She turned 3 last Sunday. My how it feels so unreal. not only because she just doesn't look 3, but looking back on her birth, it feels so much longer ago. I never knew what picky was until I had her, and it only seems to be getting worse! I get so frustrated and angry just thinking about it. ( You should see my husband! YIKES!) Because I refuse to feed her snack food when ever she wants or let her have sugary foods as she pleases she has a very limited source of food right now.  It is very... aggravating! She seems to have only gotten worse as time goes on. I think one reason for that might be that she gets sick of the same foods over and over, but yet she is unwilling to try new foods. She used to eat much more food. Sweet potatoes, Pesto with pasta, Mac n cheese, oatmeal.... She has never eaten meat until this last spring, she started eating chicken nuggets, still unsure on how I feel about that. Currently all I can get her to eat is yogurt, cheese, crackers, Chex cereal, chicken nuggets and maybe a few others I forgot about.

When we moved here a little over two years ago we were forced to make a decision that still angers me. Because of low weight and short stature, her Doctor asked us to start testing her to see if she had any genetic abnormalities or vitamin deficiencies. I still believe it is just DNA. After months of tests and Doctors Apts, they couldn't find anything wrong and she had gained about 3 Lbs, so they decided she just fine. My husband's family isn't all tall.

Last night I think my husband and I just had our last straw. We have usually just make her something she likes for dinner, (I know your not supposed to do that) so that she would eat and we would have to worry about her losing any weight. But recently she won't even eat foods she use to like or try them in new form, such as grilled cheese, or butter noodles.... and the list goes on.  Last night she wouldn't eat the meal I made the family, so after trying to force feeding our three year old she was made to go to bed. Last night Dad said she had to have it for breakfast, So showing that we were on the page that is what I had to do this morning. It isn't like we tried to make her eat the whole bowl, we just asked her to try one small sized bite. Then after doing so she could have grapes. But NO, she wouldn't have it. After about a half hour she  took a small bite of broccoli, (which she likes, but this had cream of celery on it)

I really don't want to be starving her between meals. she is also old enough to learn ways around it, like big breakfasts, lunch and snacks, then no dinner, I can see her doing that. Do you have any tips or helpful ideas. your prayers would also be nice thanks to all. 

Saturday, October 8, 2011

My homemade party dress!

Have you seen these skirts around? Well in a past post I mentioned that I loved a feather skirt that I saw on a actress. Read here if you want. Well for my birthday last month my husband took me out to a nice dinner out in town. I wanted to dress up, and he new I loved this dress, so we decided to see if it could be home made. let me tell you it wasn't easy.
My first toughie was trying to find a lace shirt I liked. Not easy to do. I searched the internet over and over, trying to one that I really liked. sadly no lace is inexpensive either, so I paid around 60$ bucks for this shirt alone! Yikes! I better wear it some more. I found it at this great sight, you might like it, here. later I had to figure out what I was going to do for the skirt part. I looked online and really only found 3 that where in my price range, under 60$. but I still didn't like them much. So I started to look at ebay and etsy. I tried for about a week to get one from a couple ladies from etsy, but they only made them in little girls sizes. found a couple I really liked on ebay but they were getting shipped here from China, so it would take to long to get here. So I told my super crafty Sister my problem to see if she could help me out. Telling her I might need to make one myself but no real idea where to start she gave me some pointers. 
Here is the first website we found. What to wear.  It was a very helpful start, but I could not continue because the site they give was all out of that style of feathers. Nice thing about the feather site they gave, one of the least expensive place's I found. So I kept looking, somehow I stumbled across this blog, LoveMaegan.com. This is how I finally decided to make my skirt. Check her out, she did an amazing job showing in detail what to do and what you need.  My skirt turned out much longer then the above on Emma but I still really love how it turned out. On her Blog she used smaller boas, which is another reason why mine is much larger and poofy-er. I also used my sewing machine instead of sewing by hand. This is where I bought my boas, partyfeathers.com. Beware you made shed a lot, looking like a dead bird is around. 
Let me know if you try to make yourself one. I would love to see how it turns out. 





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