3 Day Challenge

Today the hubby and I started a diet plan we found over the weekend. It's a 3 day, scant yet balanced meal plan. blessedmommy here has all the details. Basically it's 3 specific meals for 3 days that are supposed to interact with each other to boost your metabolism, etc. More or less it kicks you body into high gear in a fat burning kind of a way. 8-10 pounds of weight loss in 3 days..... Here goes nothing :)

We have already survived the first two meals of Day 1, but hubby is a little concerned about not being able to snack lol. Breakfast and lunch were pretty small, but dinner sounds like a feast. 3 oz of meat (we bought salmon filets!!), 1 cup of green beans, 1 apple, 1/2 banana and  1 cup of ice cream. Yes! Ice cream! Definitely my kind of diet.

Exercise is encouraged, of course. Hubby's working on his truck build today and that's about as close as he's gonna get. I plan on hitting up the YMCA for the next couple of nights. Shouldn't be too big of a problem since I won't really be cooking dinner ;)

Pizza, Pizza!

This was an amazing BBQ chicken pizza the hubby and I made! All you do is mix barbeque sauce in with the tomato sauce. Then we topped with shredded chicken, mozzarella and pineapple. Delicious. I'm thinking next time we'll also sautee up some red onions and mushrooms.

Birthday Muffins <3

Yesterday the love of my life turned 25 :)

We had ourselves a nice lazy day of lounging around, watching TV and eating. Always lots of eating.

To start out our eating I got up and made my hubby his new favorite..... Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins!

They are super delicious and actually pretty simple. My hubby doesn't really like cakes and cookies and such so it makes me so excited to find recipes he really enjoys. These muffins are destined to be a part of our lives from now on.

Go Pokes!

I've discovered that there is a lack of orange in my closet. And seeing as how I live in Stillwater, that will never do. So I decided to try my hand at a tee shirt craft with an old large tee shirt I got for $0.25 at a resale shop. Here's what I came away with :)

Sisterly Love

My wonderful little sister recently celebrated a landmark birthday and I hosted a gathering in her honor. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted (my mother is known for making fantastic cakes for us on our birthdays and I wanted to follow that tradition) sister replied she wanted a white cake with white frosting. I said okay, but knew that wasn't gonna cut it. So I  looked up how to make a tie-dye cake :)

I had a lot of fun with this project and even more fun surprising her with it!
First you just make cake batter. I did my classic soda pop cake - cake mix and 12oz of diet soda = 1 WW point cake <3

Then you divide the cake batter into containers (one for every color you're gonna use) and add your food coloring. I did six different colors and used Eskimo Joe's cups.

I made this one as a two layered round cake so I took my two pans and got to work. The idea is that you layer each color on top of the next. So I started with red on the bottom, using most of the red batter, then poured the orange on top of that and so on and so forth. If you pour it in the center, it kind of pushes the previous batter to the edges and works itself out. And then the second pan was done in the opposite color pattern (starting with the purple).

Roll it, bake it and mark it with an M for Molly :)

Like I said, I wanted to surprise her so here's what she saw....

The big reveal!!

So there it is, I made my sister the most colorful white cake ever!
And I'm pretty sure I got addicted to making fun colored cakes in the process :)

Family Ties

I have some major catching up to do! So let's rewind a few weeks to a very special occasion. Austin's grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! And for the first time in years all of their children and grandchildren gathered in one place! And then all of their siblings joined in the fun! It was truely a special time <3

To try and capture the moment for this extraordinary couple, we tackled a rather involved photography craft. Hubby and I got those big wooden craft letters from Hobby Lobby spelling out the family name and painted them red. We prepped a long frame with a custom mat to fit 8 4X6 photos side by side. Then we headed off for the great event.

As the family started gathering, we would take people aside one couple or sibling set at a time and snap a pic of them with one of the wooden letters. (Of course my OCD self had it all planned out where the oldest child and his wife had the first letter and then his kids, etc  down the line.)

Once the pictures were taken I emailed them to my ever-amazing sister who did some quick edits to make the photos black and white while leaving the letters red. Then  we got the printed etc etc. And here is what we ended up with!

There's a couple of shots that could use a little more editing, but all-in-all it came togetherly beautifully! And they could not have been more pleased. Gram is one of those grandmothers that is all about her family pictures (there must be thousands all over her house) so this was right up her alley :)

Roadtrip!

Friday night the hubby and I took off on a little roadtrip to Fayetteville. We loaded up his show truck which he planned to trade off for a motorcycle. All didn't go exactly as planned and we ended up hauling the truck the 200 miles back to Stilly.

Fortunately, it wasn't all for not. We got to spend some quality time with an old friend. Helen not only allowed us to stay in her home but she fixed us an amazing quiche! We are so glad that we got to catch up with such a great friend. <3

Give a Little

Lately I've been trying to focus more energy on giving back. Not that I'm a taker by nature, but I feel like giving is the best way to express my love and support of all the people who love and support me and my family. Plus, giving can be so much fun!

My husband and I did some pretty cool giving this last weekend; we gave our home and hospitality to all the summer staff members at St. Crispin's. That's right! We had a big ole party! Complete with grilling, dancing and a sleepover!

All of our friends at St. C's mean the world to us and there is no way that we could ever repay them for the friendship they have given us. But we hope that can at least give back a little of that same kindness.

Livin the Good Life

If there's one thing I have learned from my wonderful animals, it's to take advantage of life's little pleasures. Let this pic serve as a reminder :)

Summer Lovin

We had a delicious summer meal tonight. 

Threw some brats on the grill and I made garlic butter that we toasted on the whole grain buns. The veggie packets had squash, zucchini, onions, green beans and asparagus sprinkled with olive oil and Nature's Seasoning. And of course we can't grill with out baked beans! Needless to say, it hit the spot :D

One Awesome Day

Yesterday was just wonderful from beginning to end!

The night before I went to stay with a friend down in the city so I could be close to my conference first thing in the morning. We hadn't seen each other in months so it was great to spend time together. What was even better was the breakfast she made me first thing in the morning before I had to go be all professional and such.

Here's my eggs with spinach, fresh fruit, honey wheat english muffin with peach pecan butter and Dunkin Donuts coffee with carmel machiatto creamer!

After nourishing myself and fixing my new SHORT haircut, I fought through traffic to get to the Cox Convention Center. I spent the day meeting new people and learning all kinds of new things! I'm so glad that I got to take advantage of this opportunity.

My Vera Bradley was taking over the bathroom LOL

And the day didn't end there. Since I was already in Bricktown, I had Amber meet me for a wine tasting at Put A Cork In It. Ah-Maz-Ing!!! They are a local winery with serveral different wines and we tried just about all of them. We absolutely loved the wine and the conversation we had with the owners; check them out if you ever get the chance!

Then we walked down to the botanical gardens where there was a huge art show. I wish I had all kinds of money; I would have bought sooooo much beautiful art. As dinner time approached we decided to head over to the Bricktown Brewery. Yes, another tasting. We both got the sample set so we could try all six brews. I can't wait to take my husband. And I can't wait to try more of their scrumptious menu.

With our adventure coming to an end, I headed home to spend sometime with the hubby before calling the day complete. All-in-all it was a fantastic day!!

It's All Gone!

That's right! I cut it all off!! I realized I had enough hair to donate to Locks of Love so I went and took off 10 inches. This is one of the most dramatic changes I've done recently so it was very exciting. Loving it!!

Hooray

After a wonderful 24 hours with my parents and sisters, Austin and I came home to spend time with our boys and a couple of friends. And then I made scrumpcious pancake cups filled with strawberry topping!!  They were so very wonderful!

And then tomorrow, I'm back to being good about what I eat and getting to the gym. :)

Balance

I seem to be struggling with finding balance in my life. I want to be relaxed and carefree and enjoy life. But letting things slide does not seem to be the answer to happiness....

Energy has alot to do with it. I frequently find myself wanting to be lazy. So then the housework slides for a couple of days and then my mom makes a not-so-surprise visit and I'm not at all prepared for her to be in my house.

Diet and exercise are always 'solutions' for such an energy issue. And just as common as the solution is the issue that the solution itself requires too much energy to implement. I just need to kick myself in the ass and make it happen.

This struggle is nothing new to my life. My husband has spent the last 6 years trying to help me even out my stress and chill. So I've gotten to where when I'm with him I don't want to do anything but spend that moment with him. This is great except for when I let myself get completely distracted from my responsibilities. I am absolutely not trying to lay any blame on him; he has no idea it's even happening. This is my struggle that I must resolve for myself.

I have to get back to writing my list and scheduling my time so that I have my much needed couch time with my hubby while remaining productive and effecient in my wifely duties.
Here goes nothing!

Wonder in the Waves

Something beautiful has recently entered our lives. We are now the proud owners of an originally piece of art by a local artist.

This painting was done in the 1960's by Kay Stewart. She is very prominent in Stillwater; she was formerly a professor at the University and the owner of HomeCall, a home health service. Ms. Stewart is currently working to establish the Oakcreek Cohousing Community.

Austin and I have always wanted to display original, local art in our home and while I absolutely love the pieces he has created for us, it is really nice to have another artist's contributions hanging on the wall. So thank you Ms. Stewart for sharing your enchanting perspective with us.

Epic Fail

Ok so I've completely failed. I've failed at this blog. I've failed at my Lenten resolution. I've failed myself. But that just means I need to try again. So prepare yourselves; I'm taking another shot at all this. Give me a couple of days to put myself back together and we will be back on track.

Fun Filled Time

This has been such an amazing weekend! And it's just getting started!!

Friday night a wonderful, beautiful friend came to see me. We had a great girls date complete with eating, drinking and telling stories about our boys :) We get to see each so infrequently, but it's always just like a moment hasn't passed.

Then came Saturday. Austin and I went on a fantastic date; which we hadn't done in such a long time. For years now he's tried to get us to go ice skating. So when the Groupon came up a couple of months ago, I didn't have a choice but to buy it and make time. We truly enjoyed our time together and neither of us fell!

Now we are sitting in Tulsa waiting for the highlight of it all! Before too long Austin's baby sister is gonna pop out our first nephew! We could not be more excited to meet this little guy :D Our family's been through some rough times lately and we're excited to have this little joy join in our lives.

40 Days

Lent. The time of year when we "good and righteous Christians" give something up in the name of Jesus and so on. I personally haven't participated in recent years because it just doesn't seem right when the purpose feels empty.

This is not a time to give up chocolate so you can bitch about how much you want to eat chocolate.
This is not a time to compete with others by giving up something really difficult.

This is a time to comtemplate how big 40 days really is and how much can be accomplished in that time.
This is a time to realize how much you can grow as a person when you commit to resisting tempation.
This is a humble time.


I am currently in the process of getting life sorted back out. With one whirlwind after another, I've let things slip into an unattractive mess (including myself). Steps I'm already making: 1) Cooking meals instead of all this yucky eating out 2) Following Weight Watchers guidelines (on my own, not with meetings and all) 3) Making regular trips to the YMCA 4) Organizing my work space at the office. Now I would like to take advantage of the tradition of Lent, not to give something up, but to add something to my daily life. For the next 40-ish days (go ahead, count up the days til Easter and see how many you come up with) I will be writing one thank-you card a day.

I will not let the tempation of stress, procrastination and self-pity bog me down.
I will recognize the blessings in my life and express my gratitude.

This does not feel empty.
This is what I am called to do.
This will be my way of coming back into myself.

Community of Love

St. Crispin's is this magically place where people come together and live in the glory of the Lord. We are a community of daily worship and prayer. Yesterday a bunch of us in the St. Crispin's family came together at St. John's in OKC to lead a Camp Sunday.

Sharing in the musical experience is one of the most incredible ways we express what happens out at camp. Something about everyone's voices coming into harmony with such joy and exultation makes it impossible not to feel the power of our Heavenly Father. It reminds me where my focus is supposed to be; and what we are all capable of when we keep that focus.

I am so blessed to have so many people in my life that can help me to straighten out my priorities and stay in the right frame of mind. Austin will be spending the entire summer out at St. Crispin's again and we couldn't be more excited. Every Friday after work I'll drive down just in time for the dance, share in worship Saturday morning and spend the rest of the weekend with my hubby and the other counselors. I may not get to live at camp all summer, but this community is a huge part of my life and has such influence on my heart and soul.

Girls Date!

Last night I expressed my womanliness in the best way I know how to.... Having a girlfriend over for wine and dessert! It was so fantastic :) 3 hours of cabernet sauvignon, chocolate and wonderful conversation!

For our chocolate, I found a new recipe from The Cake Mix Doctor. If you've never seen this book, you have to check it out. Ah-Maz-Ing stuff!

http://www.cakemixdoctor.com/

I made Chocolate Mocha Chewies and it was super simple. Just mix up a devil's food cake mix (Mom said Duncan Hines was my best choice), brewed coffee, butter, an egg, and chocolate chips. Then  you make drop globs onto the cookie sheet and bake for a few minutes.  My oven doesn't stay the right temp so my batches went from 9 minutes to 7 to 5. :)

Then I got everything all set up and ready to go. Being surrounded by boys the way that I am, I don't add a  womanly touch to things very often. It's nice to put a lil extra effort into things now and again.

As delicious as the chewies and cab were, the most rewarding part of the evening was the conversation. I don't get to spend nearly as much time as I would like to with my girlfriends, allowing me to truly appreciate the time I do have with them. Women form a bond completely differently than men do. Time spent together is a very important part of that bond. Sure there are people you can go months without seeing or talking to and pick up right where you left off when you get back together; however, those are few and far between. Either way, spending quality time with friends is something we should all try to do more often and none of us should take for granted.

My Boys

Apparently as payback for my dad living in a house full of girls, I am now surrounded by boys. But I happen to be surrounded by the most important boys in my life, which means everyone needs to know just how special they truely are!

Of course the hubby comes first :) He is the light of my life and my dream come true! We have been together basically for foever and I can't imagine my life without him.

Then there's my Rusty dog - He's the cutest, smartest, most amazing puppy dog ever! We got him as a tiny pup and raised him to be the wonderful lil guy that he is now.  

The latest and greatest addition to our lil family is Bartholomew. Or you can call him Bart. He's such a goofy boy, but super smart and a daddy's boy for sure!

Last, but not least - well maybe least ;) - is Booga bear. He may terrorize the house and the dogs and us.... but we still love him.

Well that's us - my cute little family. 

Other people may have pets but these three little ones are more than that to us. We love them and raise them as our own. And I wouldn't have it any other way. <3

A Wonderful Day to Start a Blog!

I had such a wonderful day today that I decided that I needed to start sharing my wonderful life through blogging. So here goes!

Family is so incredibly important. And not just the family you are born into. I spent all day with my sister-in-law and got to see my husband's grandma, great-aunt, and aunt. These women are so strong and beautiful and full of love - I am absoutely blessed to have each of them as role models.

So, Emily and I spent the day putting together baby furniture for her nusery! My nephew will be here any day now and we are all so excited to meet him. I have two amazing godsons and the most adorable goddaughter, but there's something about having a real-life nephew that is just incredible. I can't wait to watch him grow up and know that at somepoint we will give him cousins to play with. Life is so fantastic.