I am, for the most part, a very happy person. I love (in no particular order) life, my family, God, my friends, a good party, a good treat and all things pretty, attention to detail, singing, dancing, laughing, quiet moments with a book and a blanket, hot cocoa on a wintery day and BIG windows for a lightning storm just over the lake. There is so much in this life that is worth loving and learning about. I cannot TELL you how many emails I received after asking you if you would mind me sharing other aspects of life on here with you. Thank you! Thank you for being so supportive, kind and for responding =). As one of you pointed out, it’s basically all girly anyway (the topics I wanted to share) and I quite agree! My hubby is already working hard on a revamp for the look of the blog and I couldn’t be more pleased and excited! In keeping with the theme of a multi themed blog I wanted to share some triumphs with you =). I officially hit 126 lbs today!!!!!!! This may seem like not that much if you have been following the weight loss but it IS when connecting it to the fact that I have been trying to lose inches and body fat rather than lbs. I was just so tickled to see a lower number since I hadn’t in a while {giggle}. I was SUCH a silly girl and didn’t measure myself at the VERY beginning of this journey (6 weeks ago) and only started (better late than never) 2 weeks ago. Within that time frame of 2 weeks, I have lost 2 inches from my thighs & waist and an inch from my J-Lo, which is saying something! I have also taken my body fat down considerable and have been feeling a HUGE difference in my clothing. I feel…the best way to put it is “clean”.
I feel light and clean on the inside as I have taken out a lot of the toxins and unnecessary things we have in our foods. I like buying fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, natural applesauce and peanut butter, brown rice (cooked with coconut oil is to DIE for!) and wheat pasta. My kids love it, I love it and I cheat like there is NO tomorrow on Saturdays LOL. This really is a win win and I have been SO impressed with the community on Facebook for Revolt. They are all there to encourage, advise, and uplift. Nichole Huntsman has been such a positive influence in making me want to be stronger & healthier {look for an interview with Nichole herself here on the blog soon!}. If you have been looking for a change, a way to start being more healthy then this really is the program for you! It was very easy for me to slip into it since I felt someone was “holding my hand”as I started the diet & the workouts. It was clear & easy to start. It for sure took willpower on my part but I. Was. Ready!!!!! I think that I pushed myself to really follow clean eating but I think I can push myself in the workouts a little more. This was the last week for the 6 week challenge but I am going to keep going! I am on my way & am NOT going to stop now!!! If you want to start at the beginning & come on this journey with me, then Revolt Fitness’ site {here}. Right now they are doing a FREE 3 day preview & you can see why I love it so much! What are your goals to be healthy a little bit every day? What inspires you & makes you happy? What is your “why” for wanting to either change or maintain your lifestyle? I would love to know more about YOU!!! Leave some comments to get us all thinking =). Love you guys!!!
After opening up my Ipsy bag for the month of March I had this urge to use the colors in there from Yabby Cosmetics. They so PERfectly matched my outfit and so I decided to do a very last second tutorial. Somehow it turned into “deep thinking” and reflections…hope you don’t mind ; ). I have just been thinking a lot about life lately, friends, family and creative outlets. This is definitely an outlet for me and I am super appreciative of you guys for watching, commenting and learning with me. I feel like I am branching out in all areas of my life and was wondering how you guys would feel about me posting about them from time to time. I throw parties for people, I would love to share what I do and the ideas I’ve come up with. I’m on this whole weight loss kick and would love to share recipes. I adORE decorating (love me some Pinterest) and am actually in the process of doing two homes in the area and would love to share crafty crafty things along with decor. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments and if we want to keep to strictly makeup I can create other blogs no problem and keep this one free of those things =). Thanks for all of your feedback! Love you guys!!!
Got my bag from Ipsy{dot}com for the month of March and just got around to videoing the opening of said bag. I am SUPER in love with the bag this month since I am a fan of all things Nautical ; ). Not a ton in this bag but it’s the first time that I was stoked about 90% of it! The eyeshadow pictured is a touch different than the colors I received. Mine was a fanTAStic teal and a caramel color. I am excited to put the hydrating mist in my kit (and to maybe use on myself) and the mirror is super cute and pink (which believe it or not, I am not always a fan of). Have you signed up for Ipsy or another beauty of the month club? What did YOU get this month? What are you excited to try?
My good friend Joelle over at the Party Starters Events is having a HUGE Spring giveaway!!!! There are crafty things, party items, makeup goodies (provided by yours truly) and lots of fabulous prizes from various vendors. I am SUCH a fan of throwing parties and personalizing everything that goes along with a perfect theme. What was YOUR most fabulous party triumph? Do you love it as much as I do? =) Click here to check it out and good luck!!! Be sure to tell a friend and comment back here if you entered =).
I told you that I would let all of you know the next time Shabby Apple had a HUGE sale that you could actually walk into and save like crazy! Well here it is!!! Will you come? Will I be seeing you there??? =)
Hi there makeup lovers!!!!! I am excited to be back and doing such a dramatic, fun, smokey eyes for you today. The BEST part of this whole thing is that MOST everything comes from the drugstore!!! Not everything though, and for the items that aren’t I made sure to use VERY inexpensive products that are just a click away on Amazon =). I wanted to kick off this warmer weather with a sultry sharp eye and have been so taken away with this pic that I want to lighten my hair for the first time in 12 years!!! What do you think? Should I take the plunge???
I have been SO busy with the school play that I have barely had time to put makeup on mySELF so I am sorry for another post without it. I was the assistant director for Seussical Jr and it was just wonderful! I am so proud of all the kids, especially my own ; ). The play was last weekend so it is officially DONE and we had our last cast party on Tuesday….whew! My hubby will be happy to hear that I have more time for everything non play related!
I got an email in regard to my healthier eating habits and they asked about what I make for my children while on this “diet”. I look at it as a lifestyle change to clean eating instead of a diet. It’s true, our kids don’t need to diet but they do need our help in forming the building blocks for healthy eating. There is a HUGE variety of things to choose from and I just wasn’t choosing the right things. We love rice, but now I buy brown rice and cook it in coconut oil in the rice cooker mmmmmmm. We love pasta, but now I buy wheat pasta and make my own sauce or read my labels enough to use natural things. We love meat but now portions are smaller and we choose different meats all the time instead of always having ground beef. I’ve lessened our cheese, our dairy but have NOT taken it out. I’m a believer in moderation in all things and the only thing I would be okay with completely cutting out is sugar. We eat more salads and I let the boys choose their toppings (like tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, dried fruit, cucumbers, onions, olives) they love that. They get a green smoothie everyday packed with protein (but to them it tastes like a chocolate smoothie lol sneaky sneaky). Some of the dinners I eat include: almond crusted chicken, coconut curry chicken, steak with asparagus, fish tacos, soy sauce marinated chicken. They are loving it! They are needing to get used to the different looking foods we eat but if you make them fun, it just works! =)
Was it easy? HECK no! Is it worth it? YES!!!!!! I have helped women all over the country with healthy sleeping habits for babies and if any mother thinks it’s not going to take effort then that’s not reality. We look for the easiest route sometimes with making money, losing weight, parenting…EvErYtHiNg!!! We want to pop a pill and see instant results, do next to nothing and make a lot of money, have one night with a screaming child and call it quits with training them to sleep on their own. It doesn’t work that way nor will any of the shortcuts provide lasting results. Boy and IIIII learning that with this whole weight loss thing. I soooooo was one of those people that wanted to pop a pill! I kept thinking,”Just get me quickly there and I’ll maintain it! I will want it so badly that I’ll work to keep it!” Nothing short of me doing the work and sweating will keep me motivated to keep the body I make for myself. I digress…my oldest is a SuPeR picky eater. He used to gag, throw fits, not eat, throw up, you name it. I read somewhere (very early in his life) that picky eaters are made, not born. I ran with that idea but still wanted to be a nice mom. As he got older he realized our rules were sound and they would not change. Breakfast and lunch are “safe meals” where he, within reason, can choose what he wants. Mostly he loves grilled cheese sandwiches, dino nuggets from Costco, buttered noodles, PB&J etc. But dinner is exploration time. He has to take “thank you bites”. Thank you Mom for making this meal, I am going to try it. He may have gaged a bit the first few times he tried some “out there” things but now I am happy to say that he eats things like Jambalaya, Borsh, salmon, steak, SUSHI!!!!, various casseroles, cream of pumpkin soup…SO many things that if I would have given up at the 6th tantrum he wouldn’t be eating. Now that I am changing our diet a little he, and my youngest named the “garbage disposal” since he’ll eat anything, are more prone to try out these new foods. I may add a touch more salt to their items. I use dressing on their salad that I know they’ll like but slowly we are making the switch and that has made us a healthier, happier family =). P.S. I love our runs on Saturday mornings LOL. They get so pumped to “work their bodies” they say ; D.
Do you ever see something or someone and think thoughts like,”Oh I am so glad that’s not me, that poor thing. I am so glad I don’t fit into that category. How can that person live with such a difficult task? I’m glad I don’t have that problem, that I’m not that way.” Any of those thoughts ever cross your mind at one time or another? Looking over them they sound arrogant, prideful and maybe a little naive. Ladies, I have had an aha moment in regard to myself and food. When I would hear women that were swayed so heavily by food I felt terrible for them. My heart would break for them and I would just want them to be happy outside of food. On the other hand I was grateful that I didn’t have that problem and that I could focus on other areas in my life that needed attention. BOY was I in for a rude awakening today!!! Let’s back up jus a touch however to the fitness plan that I told you about.
The Revolt Fitness Challenge was introduced to me about a month ago and after getting all my ducks in a row, so to speak, I started full speed into the unknown in early March and am now on week 3. The whole concept is to “revolt” against the before pictures. To walk away from them and make them a thing of the past. I was ALL over that. If you read my last post you’ll see why I was so motivated for change. I truly felt that here was not only a plan that was easy for me to follow, it was something that I could do for the rest of my life!!! I love everything that we eat (or at least found a way to like the plain non fat yogurt) and I feel like I have more energy than ever!
The first week was a detox where we cut sugar and upped the protein like mad. Not a problem for me because I am NOT a sweet eater. I am bad in that I love cooking with butter, mayo, salt, creams etc. The second week our fitness guru Nichole said that we would gain since we would be introducing certain things back into our diet…I still lost! I went from 137 on March 4th to 126 today (March 17th). Because we took out quite a bit of carbs, my body didn’t retain as much water weight so most of it was that but I am also losing inches! I have been diligent in working out (took a class this last Saturday that almost killed me LOL) and have enjoyed feeling my clothes become a little more loose. NOW onto the aha moment.
I love food. I enjoy savoring every bite but I don’t over analyse it and I for SURE felt that if I wanted something badly enough I could dismiss a few items from my diet. Then the voice in my head started arguing with me. “You always talk about how badly you want to be fit and wear the clothes you want. Sooooooo you obviously don’t want it badly enough to dimiss those things that you eat on a consistent basis.” That voice was right! I have NeVeR reached my true potential and I WANT to!!! I had my cheat day on Saturday and went STRAIGHT to the tater tots (after my killer workout that morning). I had a very healthy lunch & splurged on Cafe Rio that night by splitting their amazing sweet pork burrito with my hubby…YUUUUUM!!!!!! All in all, a good cheat day =). Of course the next day was St. Patricks Day which I love since we send the boys off on a leprechaun hunt every year. They wake up to a clue that takes them to various places in the house till they find the pot of gold at the end. We had one of my very best friends and her family staying with us so it made this year’s hunt extra special!
the clues they had to follow
They found the pot of “gold”
The spoils of the hunt
Fun hats made by Dad
Look at this handsome guy all ready for church. He makes my heart melt =). After church we headed over to my sister-in-law’s house where she had an island FULL of green!
I have to say that mashed potatoes and guacamole are two of my FAV foods (especially when my hubs makes the mashed potatoes which he DID). Ladies, I realized I AM one of those women that I felt badly for when it came to food. I honestly looked at all of this food with such longing after already having my cheat day and just wanted to cry. I never realized what an emotional attachment I had to food! I had sat there with a protein shake and a cucumber and wanted to dive into the mashed potatoes head first. It altered my mood and I couldn’t help but watch people enjoy their food and laugh during their conversations. I was miserable! Is this what dieting is? What it has to be? What my life was going to be like from now on? NO!!!!! What Nichole has taught me is to be kind to my body. Give it the best fuel you can to have a better quality of life. Then to also give yourself a break every week. I have LoVeD all of the food she has for our meals and the options seem endless considering it’s a “diet”. I have always believed in moderation in all things and I still do. I went up to that “island of food” and took ONE spoonful of mashed potatoes, a dollop of guacamole, three chips for said guac and sat down to enjoy. It was a holiday and I didn’t go overboard the day before so I let myself have that moment. Without having learned from Nichole I would have had a MoUnD of potatoes, a heaping helpful of the guac, tons of chips (in all their varieties), at least two of the roast beef sandwiches and some of the veggies as well. I would have had to have been rolled out of there! Armed with this knowledge about myself I came to the realization that I was just as happy with my smaller servings of these beloved items as I would have been dishing them up the “old way”. I was for SURE a lot happier afterward =). I will not cheat this week because I know what’s in store on Saturday. A killer workout, seeing my weight on the scale and having a few things I’ve put aside until then. I’ve found that I can put ANYthing aside knowing I can have some at the end of the week. I don’t feel guilty for my small sidetrack on Sunday. On the contrary, it made me more excited for the following week! I have also started incorporating the kids into my clean eating and I am so happy that they are liking the brown rice and wheat pasta. They are liking the salads and all the different healthy toppings they can put on. It makes me feel good knowing that I am making a difference in my life as well as theirs that can affect generations. I feel good and I can’t wait to keep moving toward my potential!
Wanted to start trying to carry a makeup bag around with me again. Here’s hoping it sticks this time. Especially because THIS time I was SO glad I had it when I did!!!! I always get very “honest” remarks from youngsters at school so I though NOT TODAY KIDS!!!! LOL I even had a lady after I was done volunteering and checking out say, “You always look so put together and lovely.” Boy was THAT a compliment considering I thought I looked pretty mediocre. What do you have in YOUR makeup bag? What can’t you live without? Comment below!
