I did it! I bought a blender last Friday, along with all kinds of fruit, as well as light soy milk, coconut milk, and OJ concentrate so I could be fully equipped to make some yummy healthy breakfast smoothies! I'm so proud of myself because I've become a semi-professional. Meaning I cut up all my fruit and placed them in portion appropriate zip lock bags and then stored them in the freezer. I also bought a few jars of baby food, because the little jars with the lids were perfect for my left over coconut milk! (No, I didn't eat the baby food. I did consider it for a minute or two but then just decided to heck with it and scooped the food into the trash).
I was all geared up and so excited to make my first smoothie on Saturday morning. I asked Greg if he wanted one, but he opted for eggs, toast, and sausage instead. Typical male! So by the time I got finished preparing his meal I was literally about to bounce off the walls with all my excited anticipation about my blackberry-apple smoothie I was going to make. I followed the recipe to a "T" and then got a little thrill when I selected the "smoothie" option on the blender. After about thirty seconds, I was able to place my glass under the dispenser (yes, it has a little fountain style dispenser. I know you're jealous!), filled it up with the purple smoothie, took my first glorious sip, and thought, "Ewww".
Yup, my first smoothie was not the best. I drank it anyway and reminded myself that at least I got two servings of fruit plus a dairy into my diet. Luckily, I wasn't discouraged because I was armed with several smoothie recipe's. Sunday we had breakfast at a friends house so my next Smoothie was yesterday. And it was FABULOUS!! It was a yummy strawberry-banana smoothie that my friend Krissy emailed me. And today was just as good with a pineapple-coconut smoothie.
The great thing about these past three breakfasts are that they work so great with my WW diet. WW online has a section where I plug in everything I eat so I can keep track of my points throughout the day. They also have a box in the bottom corner with all the elements of the food pyramid that one is supposed to intake daily. Whereas pre-smoothie life I was lucky if I got 1 serving of fruit in a day, now I'm getting anywhere from 1-2 in the morning as well as a dairy, and a glass of liquid for the day! As an added bonus, I never drink the full smoothie in the morning so I have a small afternoon "smoothie snack"! I'm so glad I listened to what the universe was telling me and began making these amazing breakfasts!
PINEAPPLE COCONUT SMOOTHIE 3 WW Points
16 oz. canned pineapple, undrained (I used fresh pineapple along with some of the juice)
6 oz. frozen OJ concentrate (I used the Unsweetened kind)
1/2 cup light coconut milk (couldn't find "light" so oh well!)
1 cup ice (I used 4 large ice cubes)
STRAWBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE 4 WW Points
1 banana
1 cup strawberries
1 cup light soy milk
1/2 cup light non-fat yogurt (called for 6 oz. but I figured 4 was good enough!)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Want some free Scentsy?
If you haven't experienced Scentsy, now is your time to try it for FREE!!! Just click here for a chance to enter into a great Scentsy giveaway. Seriously though, Greg's step-sister sells Scentsy, and she gave us a plug in small warmer for Christmas. Not a day goes by that I don't use it. In fact, as I type, the yummy smell of "suger cookie" is filling our home! And the car candles rock! I love them!!!!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Wanted: Smoothie Recipe's
Apparently the universe thinks I need to A: have a blender and B: be drinking smoothies. Why do I think this?
A. My mom mailed me a blueberry smoothie recipe. I looked at it and thought it sounded good, but since I didn't bring a blender on the road with me, I just put it in my three-ring binder cookbook and called it good.
B. My friend Christina called me the other day and said, "Dude, you have to write this recipe down right now." It was a banana/peanut butter/ prune smoothie recipe.
C. An interesting recipe showed up at Curves a month ago. I'm not even going to say what it was because my husband looked like he may have vomited when I told him. But I'm brave and willing to try it. But, the recipe required a blender...
D. I'm starting to get tired of my egg white breakfasts paired with a glass of water.
E. I discovered another friend of mine blogs, and she had a whole post about her fruit juicer and the awesome breakfasts she and her husband have been having.
So you see, the universe really does want me to have a blender! So, even though I'm pretty sure I have not one, but two blenders already in storage in Oklahoma, I'm going to break down and buy yet another one to have in our house on wheels. Any delicious *healthy* smoothie recipes would be greatly appreciated!
A. My mom mailed me a blueberry smoothie recipe. I looked at it and thought it sounded good, but since I didn't bring a blender on the road with me, I just put it in my three-ring binder cookbook and called it good.
B. My friend Christina called me the other day and said, "Dude, you have to write this recipe down right now." It was a banana/peanut butter/ prune smoothie recipe.
C. An interesting recipe showed up at Curves a month ago. I'm not even going to say what it was because my husband looked like he may have vomited when I told him. But I'm brave and willing to try it. But, the recipe required a blender...
D. I'm starting to get tired of my egg white breakfasts paired with a glass of water.
E. I discovered another friend of mine blogs, and she had a whole post about her fruit juicer and the awesome breakfasts she and her husband have been having.
So you see, the universe really does want me to have a blender! So, even though I'm pretty sure I have not one, but two blenders already in storage in Oklahoma, I'm going to break down and buy yet another one to have in our house on wheels. Any delicious *healthy* smoothie recipes would be greatly appreciated!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Progress Report
Now that it's April I figured it would be a good time to let everyone know about the progress about the goals I set for myself this year. (Plus, this is a good way to keep me accountable!)
1. To put money into our online savings account at least once a week. I've actually been doing really well with this. But, I have to admit I got really frustrated with myself at first. You see, I always thought that in order to save I had to be saving a large lump sum at one time. There have been weeks that literally all I could put into savings was $25. If only I had this mind set two years ago, that adds up to $600 plus interest! Besides, doesn't the saying go, "A penny saved is a penny earned". Another thing that has helped me is that I've started a schedule for ourselves. My husband gets paid every week, so I've made a list of his pay days, and then I write what bills I have to pay that week, then I leave about $400 for our spending money/grocery shopping/gas for the week, then I put the rest into savings. It's really been helping!
2. To apply for our passports. I still haven't done this, but I did find the applications! That's a start, right?
3. To read all of Sophie Kinsella's books. I actually read the last one last week! But I also discovered that she also pens novels using a different name. So...maybe those will be on my list for next year!
4. To write at least the first section of my book. Nope...I haven't done this yet. To be frank, I haven't even wrote another word since I posted my goal list. Those puzzles I've been doing had me distracted!
5. To loose 25 pounds. I'm excited to say that today was my weigh in for Weight Watchers and I've lost 8.2 pounds since starting my weight loss journey! Yay! Only 16.8 to go. Ugh!
6. To finish the Harry Potter series. I plan on starting book five next week!
7. To pay off our Gordon's account. I did this! Well, actually, I kind of cheated and just took money out of savings to pay it. But, I'm pretty sure that's what Suze Orman would have told me to do!
8. To grow my hair out longer. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but just the past two weeks I really have been thinking that my hair seems longer! Since I started WW, I also began taking a multi-vitamin (Vitamin Code for Women). I'm kind of thinking that those may be helping! And now that we have our bike I really would like my hair to be long enough to braid again so it won't be so wind-blown while we're riding!
9. To deep clean the camper at least once a week. I have been so awesome about doing this! Thursday has been my designated "clean" day. And several people laughed at me when I tell them this and say, "Oh I bet that takes twenty minutes". I wish! Try two hours! This is what I do: Everyday I wash the dishes, make the bed and vacuum. But on Thursdays I also, clean the microwave, clean the oven, clean the kitchen and bathroom sinks, clean the toilet, dust, scrub the shower, mop, Windex the mirrors, and sometimes give Shady a bath!
10. To actually get the pictures that are taking up space on my laptop printed, labeled, and in a photo album. Okay, I actually just started this one on Monday. Oh. My. Gosh. This is an even bigger task than I imagined. I literally have pictures from way back in 2002. So far I have the pictures divided into years. Now I'm going through and trying to put them in chronological order. I've also ordered about 100 pictures that were on my camera yesterday. And I have also started going through my files on the laptop to see which pictures still need to be printed off. (I even came across a picture that was taken of me back in October. It's one that I'm not too proud of because it really shows how much weight I had gained. So if I'm brave enough, I may use it as a "before and after" pic when I reach my goal weight!) Then, once I get every single stinkin' picture printed and in order, I start the mundane task of putting them in an album and labeling them. The upside is that I found pics of Greg and I when we had just started dating! I was so skinny, my hair was super long and a lot curlier (don't know where my curls have disappeared to over the years), and it was when I died my hair darker and wore green contacts! Hmmmm....and Greg was so adorable! With his tan face and highlighted hair! It was so much fun walking down memory lane. We even found a pic of us with our old Honda Shadow!
So there you have it! I'll be sure and post more updates in a few months! Stay tuned!
1. To put money into our online savings account at least once a week. I've actually been doing really well with this. But, I have to admit I got really frustrated with myself at first. You see, I always thought that in order to save I had to be saving a large lump sum at one time. There have been weeks that literally all I could put into savings was $25. If only I had this mind set two years ago, that adds up to $600 plus interest! Besides, doesn't the saying go, "A penny saved is a penny earned". Another thing that has helped me is that I've started a schedule for ourselves. My husband gets paid every week, so I've made a list of his pay days, and then I write what bills I have to pay that week, then I leave about $400 for our spending money/grocery shopping/gas for the week, then I put the rest into savings. It's really been helping!
2. To apply for our passports. I still haven't done this, but I did find the applications! That's a start, right?
3. To read all of Sophie Kinsella's books. I actually read the last one last week! But I also discovered that she also pens novels using a different name. So...maybe those will be on my list for next year!
4. To write at least the first section of my book. Nope...I haven't done this yet. To be frank, I haven't even wrote another word since I posted my goal list. Those puzzles I've been doing had me distracted!
5. To loose 25 pounds. I'm excited to say that today was my weigh in for Weight Watchers and I've lost 8.2 pounds since starting my weight loss journey! Yay! Only 16.8 to go. Ugh!
6. To finish the Harry Potter series. I plan on starting book five next week!
7. To pay off our Gordon's account. I did this! Well, actually, I kind of cheated and just took money out of savings to pay it. But, I'm pretty sure that's what Suze Orman would have told me to do!
8. To grow my hair out longer. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but just the past two weeks I really have been thinking that my hair seems longer! Since I started WW, I also began taking a multi-vitamin (Vitamin Code for Women). I'm kind of thinking that those may be helping! And now that we have our bike I really would like my hair to be long enough to braid again so it won't be so wind-blown while we're riding!
9. To deep clean the camper at least once a week. I have been so awesome about doing this! Thursday has been my designated "clean" day. And several people laughed at me when I tell them this and say, "Oh I bet that takes twenty minutes". I wish! Try two hours! This is what I do: Everyday I wash the dishes, make the bed and vacuum. But on Thursdays I also, clean the microwave, clean the oven, clean the kitchen and bathroom sinks, clean the toilet, dust, scrub the shower, mop, Windex the mirrors, and sometimes give Shady a bath!
10. To actually get the pictures that are taking up space on my laptop printed, labeled, and in a photo album. Okay, I actually just started this one on Monday. Oh. My. Gosh. This is an even bigger task than I imagined. I literally have pictures from way back in 2002. So far I have the pictures divided into years. Now I'm going through and trying to put them in chronological order. I've also ordered about 100 pictures that were on my camera yesterday. And I have also started going through my files on the laptop to see which pictures still need to be printed off. (I even came across a picture that was taken of me back in October. It's one that I'm not too proud of because it really shows how much weight I had gained. So if I'm brave enough, I may use it as a "before and after" pic when I reach my goal weight!) Then, once I get every single stinkin' picture printed and in order, I start the mundane task of putting them in an album and labeling them. The upside is that I found pics of Greg and I when we had just started dating! I was so skinny, my hair was super long and a lot curlier (don't know where my curls have disappeared to over the years), and it was when I died my hair darker and wore green contacts! Hmmmm....and Greg was so adorable! With his tan face and highlighted hair! It was so much fun walking down memory lane. We even found a pic of us with our old Honda Shadow!
So there you have it! I'll be sure and post more updates in a few months! Stay tuned!
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
It only took four years
Way back in 2005 Greg and I had a motorcycle. It was a Honda Shadow that we bought off of a friend. From that moment on, my husband was bit by the Biker Bug. There was just one teeeny little problem. He didn't exactly have the bike he wanted. What he really wanted was a Harley Davidson. We would go to various bike nights that different bars and restaurants would have and he would practically drool all over the large assortment of Harleys that were always at said events. We lived less than ten minutes away from a Harley Davidson Dealership, so at least once every other week he would drag me there as well so he could continue dreaming and drooling over the gorgeous bikes.
After about a year he finally sold our Honda. There were many reasons why. One being that it was a distraction and he really needed to focus on remodeling our house. But the unspoken reason was because it wasn't a Harley. (For his thirtieth birthday a friend of his gave him a sign to hang up in the garage that read "Harley Parking ONLY". Maybe he felt a bit hypocritical!)
After we sold the bike, I didn't hear about Harley's for awhile. I thought we were in the clear, but apparently I underestimated my husbands obsession. He would drop hints at least once a month that he couldn't wait to one day own a Harley. Driving past a Harley dealership would cause his head to turn so fast it's a miracle he never received whip lash. I honestly cannot even begin to count the number of times that he has parked the car in a dealerships parking lot and practically ran to the front door as I'm bringing up the rear. Then I follow him around for at least an hour as he verrryyyy slllloooowwwwllllyyyyy makes the round, excitedly pointing out different features of this model versus that model as my eyes would eventually glaze over.
Yes, there have been several times when we have almost bought a Harley. But, we all know that they aren't exactly cheap. So the level-headed part of my husband would always prevail and he felt like we were always walking away empty-handed. And every time we would get back into the car, my husband would say, "We will have a Harley someday, you know that, right?" Yes, I did know. I knew that it was not a question of "if" it was always a question of "when".
Last Monday started off as any other Monday. Well, except for the fact that my husband was off work and we were spending a long weekend in Colorado Springs. We planned to visit the Pikes Peak Harley Davidson Dealership for the sole purpose of buying my husbands father a birthday present, since he actually owns a Harley. But of course, this is my husband we are talking about. We couldn't just walk in and go straight to the clothing. No. That would have been like laying a steak in front of a dog and telling the poor thing that he couldn't eat it. We were approached by a sales person and we told him we weren't buying and he didn't need to waste his time. But, of course, the sales person began to show Greg some of the different bikes. Since I knew that this was our usual trip to a Harley Dealership, I went ahead and wandered off to the apparel section of the store. By the time I had returned to my husbands side the damage had already been done.
As I was approaching Greg and Mark, the sales person, I could see the look on my husbands face. You have to know what I'm talking about. His eyes were the size of quarters. His face was a little red. He was shaking his head in disbelief. When I reached them, my husband proceeded to tell me all about the bells and whistles of this particular bike. It was a 2008 Screaming Eagle Dyna 105th Anniversary Edition with only 30 miles on it. Since it was an '08, and it was the last one, the price was drastically reduced so they could move it on out. I could tell by my husbands actions that he wanted it. But I was a little confused and figured he just appreciated the way the bike looked. Basically I was clueless. When I finally managed to drag him away to focus on the "real" task at hand (birthday present) he asked me what I thought. What I told him was that I was confused because all I have ever heard him talk about for the past four years was that he wanted a Road King. I have never heard him utter the word Dyna. That's when he informed me it was because he never thought we would be able to afford the particular bike he was looking at. What I also didn't know is that Screaming Eagle is a package that Harley can put on any bike. The package basically adds all the bells and whistles to a bike that usually Harley owners have to buy afterwards to deck their bike out. Basically it means a lot more chrome and a better paint job. (I'm pretty sure if my husband reads that last sentence I'll get a lecture that it's not just extra chrome and better paint, but you get the idea!)
Now, let me back up a little bit. Since we hadn't planned on buying a motorcycle when we left for our long weekend, we also didn't have means for getting it back to Lamar. Driving it was not an option because it was too cold. We were frantically trying to figure out if my car could have a receiver hitch added to it and if we could buy a trailer to haul it back on the next day. We did find out that my car is going to be able to pull it, but unfortunately we couldn't get it added to my car in time. A guy who also worked at the dealership had just happened to see a motorcycle trailer for sale in a residential area. He gave us directions and we drove there to check it out. It was perfect! Luckily, Greg happens to work with a guy who lives in Colorado Springs, so he agreed to switch us vehicles so we could borrow his truck to pull the bike back to Lamar. It's funny how everything seemed to line up for us and everything worked out. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Especially when I think about all the other times we were thisclose to buying a Harley before. Greg never had quite the twinkle in his eye as he does about this particular bike.
Obviously, we bought the bike! We weren't able to take it with us that night, so of course my husband was like a kid on Christmas Eve. He absolutely could not sleep because he was so excited to pick up the bike the following morning. The icing on the cake was that when we signed the paper work, it showed that the bike was worth way more than we are paying for it. Who would have thought one could buy a motorcycle and have instant equity! Now, I'm sure Suze Orman would not have "approved" us for such a purchase, but when the level headed part of my husband started to peer out from the shadows, he turned to me and said, "I'm leaving the decision up to you." He's done this many times before and I've said no. But I knew that if my husband passed this bike up he would regret it and remind me of it for who knows how long. He works so hard and has wanted one for so long. I knew that our "when" time had arrived.
After about a year he finally sold our Honda. There were many reasons why. One being that it was a distraction and he really needed to focus on remodeling our house. But the unspoken reason was because it wasn't a Harley. (For his thirtieth birthday a friend of his gave him a sign to hang up in the garage that read "Harley Parking ONLY". Maybe he felt a bit hypocritical!)
After we sold the bike, I didn't hear about Harley's for awhile. I thought we were in the clear, but apparently I underestimated my husbands obsession. He would drop hints at least once a month that he couldn't wait to one day own a Harley. Driving past a Harley dealership would cause his head to turn so fast it's a miracle he never received whip lash. I honestly cannot even begin to count the number of times that he has parked the car in a dealerships parking lot and practically ran to the front door as I'm bringing up the rear. Then I follow him around for at least an hour as he verrryyyy slllloooowwwwllllyyyyy makes the round, excitedly pointing out different features of this model versus that model as my eyes would eventually glaze over.
Yes, there have been several times when we have almost bought a Harley. But, we all know that they aren't exactly cheap. So the level-headed part of my husband would always prevail and he felt like we were always walking away empty-handed. And every time we would get back into the car, my husband would say, "We will have a Harley someday, you know that, right?" Yes, I did know. I knew that it was not a question of "if" it was always a question of "when".
Last Monday started off as any other Monday. Well, except for the fact that my husband was off work and we were spending a long weekend in Colorado Springs. We planned to visit the Pikes Peak Harley Davidson Dealership for the sole purpose of buying my husbands father a birthday present, since he actually owns a Harley. But of course, this is my husband we are talking about. We couldn't just walk in and go straight to the clothing. No. That would have been like laying a steak in front of a dog and telling the poor thing that he couldn't eat it. We were approached by a sales person and we told him we weren't buying and he didn't need to waste his time. But, of course, the sales person began to show Greg some of the different bikes. Since I knew that this was our usual trip to a Harley Dealership, I went ahead and wandered off to the apparel section of the store. By the time I had returned to my husbands side the damage had already been done.
As I was approaching Greg and Mark, the sales person, I could see the look on my husbands face. You have to know what I'm talking about. His eyes were the size of quarters. His face was a little red. He was shaking his head in disbelief. When I reached them, my husband proceeded to tell me all about the bells and whistles of this particular bike. It was a 2008 Screaming Eagle Dyna 105th Anniversary Edition with only 30 miles on it. Since it was an '08, and it was the last one, the price was drastically reduced so they could move it on out. I could tell by my husbands actions that he wanted it. But I was a little confused and figured he just appreciated the way the bike looked. Basically I was clueless. When I finally managed to drag him away to focus on the "real" task at hand (birthday present) he asked me what I thought. What I told him was that I was confused because all I have ever heard him talk about for the past four years was that he wanted a Road King. I have never heard him utter the word Dyna. That's when he informed me it was because he never thought we would be able to afford the particular bike he was looking at. What I also didn't know is that Screaming Eagle is a package that Harley can put on any bike. The package basically adds all the bells and whistles to a bike that usually Harley owners have to buy afterwards to deck their bike out. Basically it means a lot more chrome and a better paint job. (I'm pretty sure if my husband reads that last sentence I'll get a lecture that it's not just extra chrome and better paint, but you get the idea!)
Now, let me back up a little bit. Since we hadn't planned on buying a motorcycle when we left for our long weekend, we also didn't have means for getting it back to Lamar. Driving it was not an option because it was too cold. We were frantically trying to figure out if my car could have a receiver hitch added to it and if we could buy a trailer to haul it back on the next day. We did find out that my car is going to be able to pull it, but unfortunately we couldn't get it added to my car in time. A guy who also worked at the dealership had just happened to see a motorcycle trailer for sale in a residential area. He gave us directions and we drove there to check it out. It was perfect! Luckily, Greg happens to work with a guy who lives in Colorado Springs, so he agreed to switch us vehicles so we could borrow his truck to pull the bike back to Lamar. It's funny how everything seemed to line up for us and everything worked out. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Especially when I think about all the other times we were thisclose to buying a Harley before. Greg never had quite the twinkle in his eye as he does about this particular bike.
Obviously, we bought the bike! We weren't able to take it with us that night, so of course my husband was like a kid on Christmas Eve. He absolutely could not sleep because he was so excited to pick up the bike the following morning. The icing on the cake was that when we signed the paper work, it showed that the bike was worth way more than we are paying for it. Who would have thought one could buy a motorcycle and have instant equity! Now, I'm sure Suze Orman would not have "approved" us for such a purchase, but when the level headed part of my husband started to peer out from the shadows, he turned to me and said, "I'm leaving the decision up to you." He's done this many times before and I've said no. But I knew that if my husband passed this bike up he would regret it and remind me of it for who knows how long. He works so hard and has wanted one for so long. I knew that our "when" time had arrived.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
I am now an official computer nerd.
Why? Because I just posted my first auction on ebay!
For those of you who don't know, The Body Shop at Home is closing their doors on April 30th. Apparently this "tough economy" affected them which means no more job for me. Which is fine, I'm just really going to miss my discount on all of my favorite products. The morning I found out I texted my hubby with the news and he wrote back "Sweet". I was a little confused and asked him why he sounded excited and he wrote back, "we have enough stuff". *Sigh* Men! So, in an effort to please my hubby and give us some extra space, I went through all my products and sorted out items that I could live without. (I've also strategically spread products out in various places throughout the camper so hubby thinks I got rid of a lot of it. Shhh.)
So, without further ado, if you or anyone you know is interested in a big lot of both new and slightly used The Body Shop products, here's the little linky link.
I also have an exciting post for tomorrow (well, it's exciting to me anyway!) so stay tuned......
For those of you who don't know, The Body Shop at Home is closing their doors on April 30th. Apparently this "tough economy" affected them which means no more job for me. Which is fine, I'm just really going to miss my discount on all of my favorite products. The morning I found out I texted my hubby with the news and he wrote back "Sweet". I was a little confused and asked him why he sounded excited and he wrote back, "we have enough stuff". *Sigh* Men! So, in an effort to please my hubby and give us some extra space, I went through all my products and sorted out items that I could live without. (I've also strategically spread products out in various places throughout the camper so hubby thinks I got rid of a lot of it. Shhh.)
So, without further ado, if you or anyone you know is interested in a big lot of both new and slightly used The Body Shop products, here's the little linky link.
I also have an exciting post for tomorrow (well, it's exciting to me anyway!) so stay tuned......
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