Today is a perfect day for a Wordless Wednesday post. We just got back from an awesome three days in Palm Springs with our great friends and their children and I’m exhausted from all the fun we had. It was our second time staying at the Rancho Palmas Resort and we will definitely make this a yearly trip! Morning breakfasts overlooking the golf course, days spent in the pool and lazy river, evenings having picnic dinners outside our rooms with all the kids. Nathan asked if we could stay there forever and ever…I like the way he thinks! Hope you all are having a great week so far and had a great Father’s Day weekend as well!
This week just flew by! It’s the first time in awhile I can say that Friday just snuck up on us, where usually I feel like I’m counting down until the weekend. I thought I would try something new to end this week and link up with Darci from www.the-good-life-blog.com to share my “5 on Friday”.
{one}
Father’s Day is just around the corner and we are having fun putting together some surprises for Daddy. The boys made their own superhero masks the other day, so I thought it would be fun to use them as photo props in a Father’s Day photoshoot. As usual they didn’t sit still for more than 2 minutes and Shane kept tearing off his mask but I came up with these two. Not sure which I’m going to frame yet but I thought they were both cute!
{two}
My kiddo can ride a bike without his training wheels! Nathan’s been asking to take them off this whole week and we thought we would give it a try on Wednesday night since he was so adamant about it. We have a lot of neighborhood kids that are older and Nathan really looks up to them, so I think he’s been wanting to keep up. We didn’t let go of him and ran back and forth a few times in our driveway. I started to think we were trying a little too early but then Greg had the idea to drop his seat since he loves his balance bike. We moved his seat down on his regular bike, and with just one push off he went! A day later and he’s off on his own, turning, speeding down the street and ringing his bell! Please hit the STOP button now, I want my little baby back! He’s awesome though and we couldn’t be more proud!
{three}
It’s a big week for Nathan when it comes to growing up. He had his last day of school yesterday so Summer has officially begun for us. I’m really excited to have both boys home the next few months. I feel like if I blink, I miss something new! They are both just changing before my eyes and I’m ready to just slow down and really appreciate our special time together. I mean really would you look at this photo…evidence of how fast these babies grow.
{four}
I got my first Stride Box delivered to me! Their motto is “stuff runners want”, and I couldn’t agree more. What a cool monthly subscription box. I’ll do a more thorough review on the products that were included once I have a chance to test them all, but so far I am super impressed for what $15 (that includes shipping!) a month gets me. The lace locks and foot massage ball alone retails for $15, so that’s a win in my book. Can’t wait to test some of these products out.
{five}
See this lazy river? I plan on spending Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on it. A kid on my lap and a drink in my hand…I can’t wait! We are leaving for a little Father’s Day getaway with two of our couple friends and their four kids. It’s going to be an awesome time with the fam, and I’m really looking forward to some fun in the sun!
On that note, Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend! xo
Side note: if by chance you are finding my blog for the first time via www.the-good-life-blog.com please leave a link to your site in comments. I am still newer to blogging and I am always looking for new people to add to my reader! Thanks!
Good morning!! Looking for a quick, delicious, HEALTHY, and clean treat for breakfast {or any time of day at that}? Look no further….I’m kind of in love with chia seed pudding! I have seen a few ways to make this online, but I just stuck with what I had at home. Here is the recipe I used for my tasty breakfast this morning!
Chia Seed PuddingRecipe
Ingredients:
1 part chia seeds {for my individual morning serving I used 1/4 cup}
2 parts almond milk {1/2 cup in this case}
dash of vanilla extract
sprinkle of cinnamon
Put all ingredients into a bowl and stir. Put right into the refridgerator. Let refridgerate {make the kids their breakfast in this time} then go back and stir. Let sit for another 10 minutes in the refridgerator {clean up after the kids} and stir some more. You can of course make a large batch ahead of time and keep chilled overnight too. Serve with sliced fruit and ENJOY!
You guys…I had PIZZA on Saturday after the race. Like real, cheesy, sausage and pepperoni pizza. I’m not going to lie, while I have grown accustomed to clean eating and love the foods we eat, that pizza tasted like a little slice of heaven. I was totally famished after the mud run that I probably could have eaten an entire large pie by myself, but I refrained. It really is all about moderation, the occasional indulgence, and not feeling deprived of some of your favorite treats. Of course my stomach was pissed at me the next day, but that’s ok we are just going to fill it up with lots of healthy things this week to make it happy again.
Here is what we have lined up for this week’s clean eating meal plan:
Monday- Curry chicken & veggie kabobs on the grill with a tomato & olive salad.
Tuesday- Pesto chicken sausage with sauteed peppers & onions
Wednesday- Shredded zucchini turkey burgers with sweet potato wedges {I follow the listed recipe only I grate a small zucchini into the meal to sneak some veggies in for the kids and keep the burgers from being dry}
Thursday- Artichoke, garbanzo bean and veggie Greek salads with oregano, EVOO, and lemon juice dressing
Friday- Balsamic, basil and roma tomato chicken bake over brown rice pasta
Saturday- Shredded chicken taco salads
Sunday- VACATION!! (going away to Palm Springs for a 2 night family getaway) And just because we are going away doesn’t mean we can’t eat healthy. My friend Samantha just wrote a great post on how she did traveling while on the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. She’s already down 7lbs and has a week left. I couldn’t be more proud of her!!
As for lunch this week my friend Liz e-mailed me this morning and asked if I wanted to do the 14 day green smoothie challenge . While I don’t think I can commit to it this week with our mini trip coming up, she did inspire me to go green this whole week for lunch. I stocked up on tons of fruits, almond milk, Chia seeds, and kale and will be blending up something fun for lunch every day this week. Join me if you can….you just replace one meal with a green smoothie and that’s it!
Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday! Have a happy & healthy week! xo
The day was here, the day I had been training for for the last 6 months. The commitment that ultimately lead to my weight loss journey and my new found love for running. June 8th, 2013….the Camp Pendleton World Famous 10k Mud Run…it’s been staring me down on my calendar since January 1st.
6 miles, dirt trails, hills, hills and more hills, fire hoses, cargo nets, 5 foot walls, tunnel and net crawls, sand traps, hay bail obstacles, and mud…more mud than I could have ever prepared for. Mud so thick your shoes would get stuck, and mud so deep the only recognizable part left on me was my face…barely. Ask me what I thought of this all 6 months ago and I would have told you only insane people do things like that. Ask me what I thought after Saturday? When can I do it again?!!! It was the ultimate adrenaline rush and I am so proud of myself and my teammates for working so hard.
I got up at 5:00am Saturday morning, got into our team “Meet My Mudder” gear, had some breakfast and drank my Spark! I was ready to go. My teammates and I hit the road at 6:00am, and got on base and parked by 7:30. The event was so organized from the parking trams, to bib packet pick up, to bag check….I was very impressed. We had so much extra time I was almost tempted to grab an ice-cold Shocktop from the huge Beer Garden, but realized this probably wouldn’t be the best idea before the race. Instead I held onto that thought, and used it as extra motivation to get me through the course.
We spent the rest of the time talking, stretching, taking pictures, and people watching. There were some great team outfits and costumes out there! It was go time…and I was surprisingly calm. I just knew we were ready for this, and I was determined to have a great time.
We were part of the second heat (I think there were 5 total) which was great because we got to cheer on the first heat at the start line. There was so much energy complete with blaring music and military cavalry. People were sprinting right off the gate which was a very smart move if you were concerned with time. There are thousands of people that participate in this race and a lot of the obstacles get backed up if you aren’t one of the first ones to get there. This wasn’t our approach, but maybe we will remember this for next year.
We were all corralled in for the second wave and I don’t even remember them saying go! I just knew the crowd was moving so off we went. It was kind of anticlimactic, but I almost preferred that because it didn’t give me any time to think….we were off and running.
The beginning of the race was fairly flat, very dusty and within the first 5 minutes we were blasted by a fire hose. I was drenched and my shoes were already soaking wet. At this point I wasn’t sure how it would be possible to run 6 miles being so uncomfortable. This thought was quickly diminished once we hit our first huge mud pit then had to trudge through sandy terrain. My feet were now concrete blocks and I realized we were in for a treat….the fire hose was now the least of my worries. We powered on and never stopped running. The next 2-3 miles were a series of steep hills. Like the kind of hills where your legs are moving but you don’t feel like you are making progress. Surprisingly I still felt fantastic and we were passing people left and right who had started to walk. I didn’t know when the hills would end, but I knew I wasn’t going to walk…this is what we had trained for, and it felt good to feel good!
We were actually given a break once we hit the cargo net obstacle. This was a new event they added this year and I will be curious if they continue with it. It was SO backed up. I would say we waited a good 10-15 minutes before it was our turn to climb. Most people were complaining about their times, some people enjoyed the break, and I was somewhere in between. I wasn’t upset about catching my breath but I really wanted to keep going. We were actually close to going around it to keep running, but then I felt like we couldn’t say we completed the course if we skipped an obstacle. So we caught up as a team, took photos, and hauled our butts up and over that net and went right back to running. MORE HILLS.
The rest of the course was a muddy blur. We hit obstacle after obstacle, were slipping and sliding everywhere, and were covered head to toe in thick, black, mud. It was awesome and felt really empowering. It was also such a bonding experience. We encouraged one another, pulled each other up slippery slopes, and held hands for balance during the rocky steep descend. We never stopped pushing ourselves, we never stopped running, and I personally think our team kicked some mud run butt! Our time may not reflect it with all the obstacle waiting we did, but I know how hard we worked!
Before I knew it we were at mile 6, and in a way I didn’t want it to be over. I did have that beer still on my mind though, and I was ready to celebrate with my teammates. We all waited for one another near the finish line and once we were together, we linked arms and laughed our way through that last muddy obstacle and crossed the finish line as a team. My favorite part was approaching the end and having a Marine yell to the guys team behind us…”Look at that ..that’s a team of girls beating you.”
One of my teammates was smart enough to bring a disposable camera. It was covered in mud by the end, but we surprisingly still got some decent shots.
We rinsed off in the cold communal showers (that was interesting) and then got dressed in the communal changing room (that was even more interesting). We then headed over to meet up with the guys’ team we were there with and they had a tray of beers waiting for us to celebrate. See that dog tag? See that beer? I EARNED THEM! And I’m already counting down to when I get to do it all over again next year! Ooh-rah!
It’s been awhile since I have done a Workout Wednesday post. I am happy to report that although I’ve been slacking on posting about my workouts, I’ve been doing great at actually getting them done.
As of late I’ve been getting in 1-2 good runs during the week, 2 Turbo Kick boxing classes, and 1-2 days at the gym doing cardio and weight training. I had to cut back on running because my left hip has been driving me nuts and I took it as a sign that I needed to change things up. I am also preparing myself because this Saturday is the much anticipated 10k Camp Pendelton Mud Run. I’m already fearful enough as it is, so having a bunk hip would literally add insult to injury. Stay tuned for my thoughts on this crazy race and of course some photos of me and my teammates caked in mud.
I actually think I am going to see a doctor about my hip after this weekend. Something needs to be done soon because I SIGNED UP FOR MY FIRST HALF MARATHON! My friend Ryann told me about it and it sounded like the perfect first half for us to do. It’s in Long Beach in mid October and has been describe as a flat, fast course with all ocean views. This picture actually gets me excited just thinking about it. I’m not setting my expectations too high for my first race…I just want to enjoy it, and finish it! I’ll be getting serious about training soon, and I’m really hoping this pain I’ve been feeling is temporary and not any kind of injury that requires long term rest. I’ll do whatever it takes though to make it go away!
I still can’t believe I have willingly signed up to run 13 miles. Did you all have the timed one mile run while in middle school? Did you know that day made me sick to my stomach every year, and every year I would try to play sick to get out of going to school? It was 4 laps around our school track. I hobbled through the first lap and would walk the last three….always coming in dead last. Overweight, out of shape, exhausted and embarrassed. This is this feeling I have always associated with running, so to have come this far isn’t just about the exercise and getting in shape, it really has meant so much more to me.
Speaking of coming so far in the last few months, I wanted to share some of Greg’s progress because I am just so proud of him. He has not only supported me and our new way of eating, but has embraced it 110% and enjoys it which has made these changes so much easier for our whole family. He is 1 lb away from weighting in his 180s. He has NEVER weighed in his 180s since I have known him. He’s lost over 40 lbs since January! We don’t have that many photos of us together as a couple these days so I was shocked to see the difference in one of our last photos together compared to us from this past weekend. There are almost 70 lbs missing in the photo on the right!
And since it’s Workout Wednesday I’m linking up again today with Megan over at www.skinnymeg.com. Today she is sharing great tips on how to lift weights, which something I am working on doing more of. The changes in her body since lifting have been dramatic so head on over to see what she’s been doing. That’s all for today….Hope you’re having a great week!
Want to see how we have lost a combined 70 lbs? Check out my previous posts:
I’m not even sure there are enough words to describe the amazing wedding we went to this past weekend. It was gorgeous, romantic, elegant, unique, magical, inspiring…I really could go on and on. I knew my friend Anne was pouring every ounce of her creativity and heart into planning this day, but I was truly blown away.
Our weekend started early Friday morning when we packed up the car and took a 3 hour road trip up the coast with my mom and the boys. We arrived in Solvang, CA during the late afternoon and I instantly fell in love with this charming little town. Known as California’s Copenhagen, this quaint Danish-style town has been a tourist attraction to young and old alike since 1947. The traditional German-style architecture, authentic restaurants, and shopkeepers dressed in traditional attire make visitors forget that they’re in California. It definitely sent me right back to the Summer that I lived in Denmark, only here there were wineries…lots and lots of wineries!
We checked into our hotel, got ready, and went right to Marc and Anne’s rehearsal dinner. It was a fun, laid back, barbecue complete with local wines, a s’more bar, and corn hole! They made it totally kid friendly and the boys had such a great time too. So much fun that they passed out as soon as we got back to the room with Mima, and Greg and I went out with some friends for the night.
The next morning we were all up nice and early and decided to go explore Solvang before we got ready for the wedding. We walked the cute streets, visited some bakeries, had a delicious breakfast and of course found ourselves inside a toy store. I’m really looking forward to going back some day and spending some more time exploring the town.
Next up we decided to head over to the miniature horse farm, the miniature donkey farm, and to Ostrichland to go feed some giant birds! Shane napped in the car during it all, but Nathan got such a kick out of it. He may have been a little terrified of the ostriches at first, but we were too…they were completely insane.
You would think after such a full day we would just get to head back to the room to relax. but nope… it was wedding time! Greg and I got ready and Mima was planning out even more adventures with the boys while we were out for the night. She took them on a horse and buggy ride, out for ice cream (before dinner because that’s what Mima’s do), did crafts, watched a movie and got them to sleep so Mommy and Daddy could have some fun!
If any of you follow me on Instagram you have already seen which dress I ended up going with from Rent the Runway. I’m so happy I followed some of your advice from my Fashion Friday post because I was totally in love with the dress. It was really difficult to mail it back yesterday!
We took a shuttle out into the middle of no where only to be greeted by an oasis of their beautiful wedding, perfectly set up on Anne’s family ranch. I felt like I was floating around in a Pinterest Dream Wedding folder. There were so many thoughtful and handmade details, gorgeous flowers, twinkling lights, food that was to die for, amazing signature drinks, an ornate chandelier suspended from the trees above the dance floor, awesome music, a dessert bar, a coffee bar, lounge seating around the dance floor, cozy blankets, a basket of pashminas for the ladies, a charming and playful area for the children….and most important a beautiful couple that shared a heartfelt ceremony surrounded by friends and family from all over the country. It was a night to remember that’s for sure. Congratulations again Anne & Marc we couldn’t be happier for you guys!
I asked…you answered…I listened. Thanks to your Fashion Friday advice I finally sat down to an entire afternoon at the hair salon, and put in some subtle ombre coloring {my hair stylist says they call it “sombre”}. Thanks to my friend Courtney for referring me to a new hair salon, I loved it! For any of you local ladies I highly recommend seeing Christina Albera at Salon Diva. She’s young, current, quick and gets right in there and knows exactly what she is doing. The best part is she often runs a Groupon for 45% off and actually has one happening right now. Summer is right around the corner so I’m really excited to have some lighter locks….thanks again for your input! Speaking of your input, my dress from Rent the Runway is being delivered today. I listened to you all again and went with one that many of you suggested. Fingers and toes crossed that it fits ok, otherwise you’ll find me at the mall this afternoon in a dress shopping frenzy. We are taking off early tomorrow morning for the wedding, so I’m wishing you all a wonderful weekend a little early! Thanks again for all your fashion advice…I couldn’t get dressed without you!
Isn’t there something out in the blog world called Wordless Wednesday? Where you just post a ton of photos and let them speak for themselves? I’m about to throw down my first Wordless Wednesday card today because, quite frankly, thinking as far back as Friday seems like a distant memory to me.
While not completely wordless let me sum up the past 4 days in one, long, run-on sentence because I’m really good at doing that {case in point}. There were play dates, driveway drinks, water balloon fights, neighborhood parties, bounce houses, bike parades, BBQs, BBQs and more BBQs, campfires, s’mores, movies in the park, shopping, haircuts, workouts, runs, birthday parties, Shane throwing up {the only negative event of the weekend}, hillside picnics overlooking the ocean, beach time, and maybe, just maybe an hour somewhere in there to just relax. Although it was jam packed, every second was spent together as a family which made all the chaos enjoyable!
Mima also flew into town Saturday evening and will be here through the weekend. The weather is going to be perfect while she is here so we are going to do our best to make it a So Cal Summery visit for her. This includes a three hour trip up north to Santa Ynez Valley wine country for the much anticipated wedding of our friends Marc & Anne. Might as well keep this fun-filled month rolling!
I think I broke the rules of Wordless Wednesday so without further adieu….some photos!
{this last photo is of Nathan eating the first ripe-ish tomato from our garden…yay!}
Shane, Shaney, Big Chubby, That Baby, Turkey, Baby Brother….you are a year and a half old today and we just couldn’t love you anymore if we tried. Don’t be sad that your baby book is barely written in, that I don’t have a photograph of your every move, a book outlining your every little milestone and date of each tooth you popped. Just know it’s because we are too busy enjoying you, loving on you, KNOWING better what we are doing this time around and giving you the best parenting we’ve got because we CAN.
You are truly a blessing to our family, and you have made your presence known since the day you got here. You run without fear into our arms, you laugh with every inch of your being, you take abuse from your brother like a total champ, you are sensitive like your mama and aren’t afraid to show it, you dance with all you’ve got {and to the beat at that}, you show your emotions with power, determination and force {to your head unfortunately}, you eat like the world is coming to an end, you sleep like….well you don’t sleep, and most importantly you love in a way that can’t be taught. I don’t know what it is about you kiddo…but you’re going places and I’m so proud to be the mommy that gets to say “that’s my son”. I apologize for smothering you in kisses every second of the day, but I just can’t help myself. YOU.ARE.SO.LOVED! xo
And just so you don’t think I’m not keeping track, here are your 18 month stats: 24 lbs 9 oz and 32.5″L . 50th percentile on the dot!
I'm a So Cal Mommy of 2 boys, and wifey to one handsome fella! Interior Designer by trade, but SAHM by choice. I spend my days loving my family, getting crafty, cooking clean, exercising, snapping photos and sharing it all with you.
`
![Today we said goodbye to Nathan\](http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/029ba0d2d44f11e2a2f822000a9e0707_7.jpg "Today we said goodbye to Nathan\")
