Guess Who's Birthday is Coming Up?

Yours truly! Well, in 3 days, it'll be exactly 1 month away, but it's still coming up, aint that right Honey Boo Boo's? So I thought I'd start making a list for things Im lusting after...I have provided links incase anyone *cough, Nick, cough* needs ideas on what to get me. 

I love everythaaaang about this outfit, especially the boots and off the shoulder top!

Im loving this look of the 2 different denim colors. Nick has a thing for the 70's look, so pretty sure he'd be about this too

 Hooded Cardigan found here I actually found something super similar sans hood at Ross yesterday that would blow your mind with how soft it was. 

I LOVE LOVE this top. The backless is very sexy and adds some fun to a sweater. Found here 

Now the "grown up" present Im lusting after. Nick and I need an exterior door for our basement. It's sorta step #1 with getting the ball rolling on our basement aka expanding the house, aka wife a lot happier, aka we will actually have storage closets in the house when the basement is done. Since it's dark down in that ol' basement, we want to let as much natural light in as possible & an all glass door would do exactly that. 

And last, but certainly not least, a massage. Im talking 60 minutes - 90 minutes. I don't know how people can only get 30 minutes. Once you hop on that bed and finally relax, its over. I think massages should come in the whole "mom deal". Happy wife, happy life. Just sayin.

How Pinteresting

Hey there sister friends! So there will be a day, where Troy will need his big boy room. I am dead set on not taking off those rails on his crib until he starts climbing out. I am beyond nervous for the challenges that lie ahead with keeping him in a bed w/out rails. Seriously, how do you make them stay in there?!

Anywhooot, I've been trying to think of a theme for the little dude and here are some ideas Im thinking of:

Bunk beds would be fun, but his crib already converts to a toddler/full size bed

Obviously with the toddler size bed. My boy loves him some fire trucks

If I could find someone to do this mural, it'd be pretty badass

Simple, but still total boy

Denver, GORGEOUS! Ahh, the Sunshine State"

Im back loves! Y'all can breathe easy now :)

So as you all know, my MIL got married this past weekend (congrats to the 2 lovebirds!) and Nick and I flew with Troy over to good ol' Denver, Colorado to help celebrate that day. Lemme fill y'all in on how it all went. 

As you all may remember, I had a terrible experience flying with Troy (15 months old at the time) to visit good ol' North Cackalacky back in May. So I was still traumatized and dreading this (short) 2 hour flight to Denver. The result? Not too shabby! Im not sure if we just caught Troy on a good day, or he's a much wiser 18 month old and he's learned to chill in the past 3 months or what. But Nick and I had a pretty easy time with him. Of COURSE the flights were full, but we still managed to keep Troy happy with coloring on my arms in his coloring books, watching some Blues Clues or Fresh Beat Band or playing with his apps. He was even content looking out the window for 5 minutes at a time which is HUGE considering this kid doesn't sit still for nothin. The flight home was easy peasy after we knocked him out. And by knocking him out I mean putting him in a straight jacket hold against his will and singing "Amazing Grace" in his ear while he is fighting me tooth and nail. So he slept the entire 4 hour flight back home which included a stop in Burbank. Next flight is in October to Mexico, which is a longer flight, so I will be drinking at the airport to prepare for the flight praying for a month straight that all goes well. 

Denver is seriously breath taking! And that's not just cause of the altitude change. If I didn't have roots in California, I would seriously consider living in Colorado (or Texas, just cause I miss Southern hospitality). Everywhere you look, you see the Rockies in the background. The weather was perfect for a wedding/visit. It got to be about high 80's/low 90's with a nice cool breeze & at night it'd cool on down to where I could have worn a sweat shirt. 

With all this wedding stuff happening, Nick and I were talking about how  much fun it'd be to do a vow renewal for our 10 year (2.5 years away) anniversary. Which got ME excited, cause we totally skipped the white wedding, and headed to the San Diego County Clerk office on Valentines day 2005, and made it official. I don't feel like I missed out on blowing my parents retirement fund the whole big wedding. My parents threw us a fun reception and I've been happy ever since. BUUUUT, that doesn't mean we wouldn't love to have a small ceremony to reaffirm our love in front of family and friends. Nothing huge or even expensive, but I WILL be wearing a white dress. Obviously, not a wedding dress, but there will be a white lacy dress on this body and I will be white lily's. Not that I have anything planned or anything. Also, since we never had a honeymoon (unless you count Nick being a fantastic model of a US citizen and going to Iraq for our 1st year of marriage), so immediately after the renewal party (duh! Theres gotta be a little party afterwards), we want to be whisked away to somewhere tropical. Hawaii has been the destination we've talked about since neither of us have been & hear nothing but great things. Also hear it's expensive, so we shall be saving for that ASAP. 

And now for a picture dump, WHOOP WHOOP! These pics uploaded all kinds of backwards, but here we go:

My sweet love on the "EEE EEEE". Thats the sound the horsey makes, and thats what he refers to them as. 

 Warming up to the dance floor

This cake was AWESOME and tasted so light although my thighs will tell you different. White chocolate cake, lemon and raspberry filling.

After the ceremony and trying to take group pictures, but someone just doesn't want to sit still

The Bride and Groom

Nicky poo was impressed by my sock bun, so he had to take a pic. He said it looked like it was swirled the way I did it....thats just cause I was in a hurry, my love. Its not supposed to be like that :)

 Rehearsal dinner/drinking fun

 Stoping to smell the roses at a garden/park

These lilly pads were so cool...and giant!

 This move is called "The Troy": wide stance, head down, squat, and throw your arms behind you

On the dance floor with mommy

Dancing with the Bride (aka Grandma)

Running away from his biggest fan momma

He was mesmerized by the drums

Inspire Me: Healthy

Hey girls, hey! It has seriously been a cray cray week. I have been either cleaning all day, doing laundry, running to the grocery store, organizing shizzz in the house, making time to workout, etc. We leave for Denver tomorrow early for MIL's wedding so Im on packing mode. Then tonight I have an Encore Stella & Dot show from my launch show last Friday.

Just cause Im busy, doesn't mean I would pass on Kristen & Raven's link up. My goals I set for myself last week were to up my water intake and workout Saturday, Sunday, Monday and 30 day shred 1 other day. 

America has voted and The results are in: 

Water: NAILED it! I actually went and bought a gallon jug of water to give myself that visual of how much I need to drink. I've drank a gallon of water everyday thus far. I tell you what ladies, I have seen a difference just in how my skin looks and I feel fuller longer. I am able to chug a bunch of water during my meals and it fills me up and keeps me full more so than if I just had a glass of water with the meal. It might all be in my head, but I also notice how I don't bloat and I see more definition when Im drowning myself drinking that much water.

Workouts: I went to the gym Saturday, Monday. I know it's just an excuse, but I was too tired on Sunday. Not a valid reason IMO. I did 30 day shred once (goal met!) and I did this at home workout 4 times. I intended to take a picture after I shredded, but was too eager to shower. Sorry ladies, no peep show this week :)

Goals this week

Workouts: Monday do a Pinterest workout at home & Tuesday-Friday at the gym. Nicks schedule this next week will allow me to go to the gym before he leaves, whoop whoop! 

Water/food intake: Keep on keeping on with my 1 gallon/day water. Keep food clean all week with the exception of 1 cheat MEAL. Track calories this week and don't go above 1300 calories. Only 1 adult bevy 2-3 nights a week. That shouldn't be hard at all since I haven't been craving my normal 1 BLL or glass of wine. 

Broccoli = Fiber

Hey there puddin' cups! So am I the only one who Pins recipes left and right on Pinterest, but rarely gets around to making them? You have all the intentions of the world to make these amazing mouth watering dishes, yet you just never do. Well, the other day, I pinned this broccoli muffin type thing that I was for sure going to try. I already had all the ingredients and I have been trying to get rid of my bags of broccoli that steam in the bag when you microwave them.  Since I am on a 2 month crack down mission before we go to Mexico, I thought this would be a perfect thing to snack on.

Broccoli Cheese Bites

16 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained of liquid (I used fresh steamed broccoli)
1 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 cup of seasoned Italian breadcrumbs

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.With your hands, form small patties and lay on a parchment lined baking sheet. * Side note* I accidentally bought WAX paper and tried to bake these bites on the wax paper. About 2 minutes in the oven, smoke was coming from the oven, & I took them off the wax paper and just plopped them on the actual cookie sheet and they turned out just fine*

Mine Pre Oven

Bake at 375F for 25 minutes, turning the patties after the first 15 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

The verdict? Pretty good. I added some onion powder and pepper just because it sounded like it'd be a bit bland, but do whatever blows your skirt up! 

Happy Friday!! Today is my big Stella & Dot Launch show, whoop whoop! Pink Champagne, Caprese salad on skewers, artichoke dip, jewelry? Im there! If any of you dolls are wanting to join in on the fun, grab a glass of your favorite adult bevy and click my link here. It will direct you right to my Trunk Show. You'll be amazed how most of the line is $50 and under. Think about how close Christmas is, ladies! There is something for everyone! 

XOXO

Inspire Me: Healthy

Another week, another Inspire Me post, Honey Boo Boo's. This week, I wasn't as strict as I'd like to be. So you see, with Mexico being 2 months away, I told myself I was going to have rules: 2 CLEAN meals a day, 2 CLEAN snacks a day and dinner being healthy (clean not a necessity). 1 time a week, not 1 day, I can devour anything I want for 1 meal. I don't mean I can order the entire dollar menu at Micky D's (like I'd ever go there anyways, yuck!), but if I have pizza? I can eat 3-4 pieces, but no more. Just so I could feel all wild and crazy and throw inhibitions to the wind. A girls gotta get a little wild every now and then, am I right? Also, I'd being giving it my all at the gym 4-5 days a week. I wanted to workout so hard, that I'd have to wash my hair from all that stanky sweat. 

Wellllllll some of that happened. Since I last updated y'all, my workouts looked like this: 

Thursday: Murdered my legs and did 30 minutes of HIIT @ gym

Friday: OFF

Saturday: Ran/walked the Color Run (distance: 3.1 miles)

Sunday: OFF

Monday: Leg day & 30 minutes of HIIT @ the gym

Tuesday: Upper body lifting & 20 minutes of HITT @ gym

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: OFF

Sundays are a given that I give myself an off day, but I see 4 off days in there - no bueno. Nicks schedule has changed so now I'll be changing my workouts to Saturday, Sundays (before church), Monday & hopefully my mamacita can take Troy so I can make it to the gym 1 other day. With Nicks new schedule, I'd have to be at the gym at like 3:30 AM to even get a decent workout in - I.dont.think.so! I was crazy waking up at 3:45, but to BE at the gym at 3:30 is not happening. I really don't like working out at home, but I think to give myself something extra, Im going to add in 30 Day Shred or something like that just to drive home the point to my body, that Im not playin. 

Eating has been not so great this week. Sunday we had the 1st preseason game of the NFL season, so we got a pizza. I was good and only had 1.5 pieces, but then on Tuesday we had leftovers of the pizza. Im embarrassed to say what happened, but lets just say it wasn't okay considering I had already had my splurge day of the week. But I'd be lying if I said it was so delicious once it touched my lips. Over..and over... ha! 

So, this week Im setting myself a couple goals:

1. Sticking to the eating plan I had set out for myself in the first place

2. For workouts: 30 day shred today and the gym: Saturday, Sunday, Monday. 

I also need to up my water intake. Goal for water will be 100 ounces a day.

Hope you ladies kept it in check this past week - lets all raise a glass of our favorite adult bevie water for our goals next week - CHEERS!

The Color Run

I had seen The Color Run on Pinterest for about a year now and it always looked so much fun. So imagine my excitement when I saw that it was coming to Sacramento! 

Pros of this run: 

1. If you're looking just to participate in a fun "run" with the family (strollers included), this is for you

2. If you've never ran a 5K, but just want to get an idea of how a course would go, this is for you

3. It was so much fun! It was seriously like a party in the streets. Every 1/2 mile you reached, you'd get sprayed with this powder. The goal was to get a ton of color everywhere. People dressed up in all white and some girls had on tutu's, funky hair, sunglasses, etc. 

Cons of this run: 

1. Not for you if you want to get your own personal record. They don't even time the race because people just do it to get sprayed with colored chalk

Seriously 1 con, ladies! This race was so much fun, and next year I want to do it with my whole family. Of course just walking it would be the plan, since we'd have a wagon with T Money in it.

Picture dump in 3....2....1....

This was at the end of the race. They give you your own packet of chalk to throw

Walking back to the car with my beezy Jenni

 BOOM! Like we rolled in Skittle dust

 After the blue area. Check out that cloud of blue behind us

Pre race (which is why Im still white), doing my signature "Tebow"

Pre race game faces

Jenni bought us these glasses to run in. They stayed on the top of our heads for most of the run. Could not see out of them. How do those rappers do it?

Weekend Update, Yo!

Top of the morning to ya ladies! I hope y'all had a fun weekend and it went by nice and slow. Can you believe we are already in August?! If you weren't aware, that means here in Northern Cali, we have about 2 more months of heat and we are into Fall, baby! Last night I got a taste of Fall with the 1st Preseason NFL game. I like me SOME hot Summer days, but THIS?

I know you Texas ladies, this is nothing. This is like night time temperatures for y'all. Nickmeister is home today, so we're taking T Money to the park that has water features. Cause lets be completely honest - it's way too hot to be dry in the heat today. 

Now, here was my weekend: 

1. The Color Run. You've all seen it on Pinterest & saw how fun it looked. I was stoked I was able to run it.  Well...more like walked and skipped through it. This run deserves a post for itself so more to come on that either tomorrow or the next day. 

2. Football was back last night! Some women either love football season or hate it. I for one...LOVE IT! I get very invested in the games where I actually care about team. I love the food on Sunday night football, the cute jersey I slip on, and all the excitement. Obvi I am a Denver Broncos fan and with Peyton Manning this year? I cannot freaking wait! I will still be catching the Jets game whenever I can cause Mr. Tebow got the shaft was traded to the NY Jets. Speaking of Timmy T...

3. THIS my dear sweet readers, is something I will forever remember. So when I ran the color run, my bestie Jenni, asked if I wanted her to snap a picture of me Tebowing since I did it for the half marathon too. So down on 1 knee I went, I posted it on Instagram & Twitter, not thinking anything of it. I went back later to check my updates, and I about died. I was like a 12 year old little girl, doing a screeching talk to Nick about how Tim Tebow "liked" my picture! I am just ecstatic Tim Tebow knows I even exist! So now its safe to say we're BFF's, ha!

4. The star of my weekend - the hubbinator. It had been forever since we had a date night just us. We've been going on group dates a lot. Sometimes you just want to be with your man. Can I get an Amen? We were so excited to see The Dark Knight Rises because #1, we love all the Batman movies and #2, we heard so much hype about how great it was and how it was "The BEST one in the Batman franchise". My review? It was okay. Not the best one in my opinion. But that's because I LOVED The Dark Night (the one with Mr. Heath Ledger). Seriously girls, who doesn't agree that Heath Ledger made that movie? It's my favorite out of the all the Batmans. Although, it was nice seeing Mr. Tom Hardy even if you couldn't see most of his face. 

Get Healthy Link Up

Here I am now (as in 5 minutes ago) - Day 1 week 1

Growing up was so not easy on my self esteem. I can remember when I was 10 and already had fully developed and was bigger than all the other girls.  I was teased in Junior High (the worst most awkward years of my life!) and from a certain brother of mine on my weight, which added to my low self esteem. By the time I was in high school, I was a 5'7 and topped the scale at 185. I would come home and eat straight out of boredom. I would finish off a whole bag of tator tots all before my mom was home from work and then eat the dinner she prepared. 

This cycle continued until I got married at 18 and started to feel that I needed to take control of my health. With my husband being in the Marines and seeing how disciplined he was, I wanted to give him the wife/future mother of our children, I knew he deserved.I did what I knew: I fell into the streo type that cardio is the only way to lose the weight and that if I did 1 hour on the treadmill, that milkshake on the way home wouldn't matter. I never once thought about doing weights because I didn't know to "bulk".

It wasn't until I was 22 when I picked up Oxygen magazine on the shelf at the grocery store, that something clicked. I wanted to lose weight, and be like those girls I saw in the magazine. So I kicked processed food out (for the most part haha!) and started counting my calories and worked it in the gym. 

Fast forward a few years, I had dropped 35lb's since I first started, I was in kick as shape, Nick and I had moved back to California & I got pregnant. I was determined to keep my workouts up. No way would I screw myself and go buck wild with food and not exercise and fall back on the "Pregnancy Card". On my lunch breaks at work, I'd go to the gym & do 20-30 minutes of cardio, then when I'd get off work, would go back and do some weights & a little more cardio. I gained 30lbs when I was pregnant, splurged every now and again, and was happy & healthy by the time T Money made his appearance into this world. 

After 3 months we decided that my breastfeeding/pumping just wasn't for me, so it was on like Donkey Kong in the diet/workout department. I didn't have to worry about getting enough calories to keep milk supply up or if some supplements I wanted to take would effect Troy. 

Troy is 1.5 and I've lost the baby weight and then some, and feel more dedicated than ever. By joining in on this link up, I want to help keep myself in check. I can get sorta 'lax on the food department. Sneaking a few bites of Troys Mac N Cheese, eating some crust from his grilled cheese, having a handful of his veggie chips. Those babies add up. Other than that, Im pretty good on eating. Also, workouts can be dropped and Im not ok with it. Nick's schedule is always changing, and at the moment my only practical option is to go to the gym at 4AM. Yes, 4 AY-EMMMM! Its as fun as it sounds to get out of bed at that time. So as you can imagine, it's easy to talk myself out of a workout at that time. My goal is that I want to get to the gym AT LEAST 4 times a week & only splurge on the processed food 1 time a week. So maybe on date night, but keep strict the rest of the week. Also, Im going to Mexico at the end of October, so I want to be able to feel comfortable to take pictures even in a bikini. Thank you Kristen and Raven for creating this!

E.L.F makes me want to watch Elf

Totally random header, I know, but let me explain - I am taking all your girls reviews of E.L.F cosmetics to heart, and got myself some. When I saw the E.L.F sign at Target however, I said (in my head of course) "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?" Yeah I know, Im random. 

I knew I wanted to try this brand. After seeing a ton of y'all talking about how you love the price & the product, I was sold. We are a 1 income family, so money saving is sorta my thang. I needed 2 things - bronzer and a concealer brush. Believe it or not, I have never owned a concealer brush, and since I was sick of having concealer on my fingers, I thought why not? 

Now that you know what I NEEDED, here is what I walked away with:

Elf Bronzer, Elf High Definition Powder, Elf Concealer Brush

Being the GIRL that I am, I had plans on trying these bad boys out that day. As in, right when Troy when down for a nap. So after T Pain was down, I laid out in the sun a bit, showered, and then was ready to do my face. Now, I've only used these products once, but I am liking them so far. The bronzer goes on SUPER evenly, which was a problem I've had before. Sometimes my previous bronzer would go on heavier in some areas of my face than others and I ended up looking like someone pimp handed me with a handful of dirt. *Note: Now that I right this, it reminds me, I also purchased the full face ELF brush. Soft has kitten fur and I felt like it was the helping hand in applying everything evenly* I have been known to break out with certain bronzers & have been using Physicians Formula for a few years now, so I hope this stuff doesn't make me break out. The HD powder is something I've been hearing about for-ev-eeerrrr. I REALLY like this stuff. At $3 a pop, I was very happy. It gives this sorta glow to your face that I think will majorly compliment smokey eyes on date nights (one of my favorite looks). Im going to have to play around with it more *thats what she said*, and put it on a couple areas of my face and not just  my cheek bones. Lastly, the concealer brush. Since I've never owned one of these before, I have nothing to compare it to. It did the job, but I think I need to learn exactly how much concealer I need to start out with. Cause I just eyeballed it and put some on the brush, and it ended up to be way too much and I wasted some of the concealer. But it did the job, and I found I was able to get under my eyes much better than when I was using my finger.

I definitely want to go get some more stuff, but I will slowly build my supply up on an as needed bases. I've only ever used liquid eyeliner on my top lids, but I've seen people rave about their eye liner pots that comes with an angled brush, so I might have to try that out, but that's gonna have to take a steady hand and a sober self ;)

***This post was not sponsored by ELF nor was I given free products (but I'll take them!). This was my own trial of ELF******