Challenges

Blah.  That's been my opinion on almost everything lately.  Parenting two small kids, blah.  Working out like mad and not losing a SINGLE pound, blah.  Crazy hot weather in the deep south, blah.  The biggest problem with feeling blah about everything is that it affects my little family, and that' NO good.  Yes, yes, I'm supposedly the "eternal optimist Mama" but lately I've been nothing like it and it's time for a change.  My hope is that by just putting it out there I'll be ready to change it. I feel blah about life even though life is pretty darn great right now.  Ahhh.  Just saying it makes me feel better.  Now it's time to flip my attitude.  Any suggestions on how??  The first step I'm taking is to start something new and go back to something I love, taking pictures.  I'm participating in a 20-Week Photography Challenge over at A Step in the Journey .

Week 1: Self Portrait

A little goofy but here it is.  I have misplaced my good camera battery, but will find it by next week for a better quality pic.

I think this sounds like SO much fun and I hope you'll join in!  If you decide to do week one you an link up HERE with everyone else participating.  When I take pictures I feel like ME (not the red-headed monster I can turn into sometimes).  What makes YOU feel like YOU?  

Health, Fitness and BBQ Chicken Pizza

Cutest. Picture. Ever.

Hi friends!  How was your weekend?  Ours flew by (as usual).  Sometimes I feel like all we do is clean this house.  It never looks like we do, but we do.  I heard someone once compare cleaning your house while you have kids to shoveling snow during a blizzard.  SO true.  Who is with me?

In my last post I mentioned writing a few healthy living post.  I love all things health and wellness related.  I'm no fitness model but I do love reading and learning about every aspect of healthy living.  Its hard when you have 2 small kids at home to not want to eat all of their goldfish crackers or put your feet up while they nap instead of spending time on the treadmill.  I have really enjoyed making an effort to workout lately though.  I do RPM (spin) class Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 6am and I LOVE it.  It's so intense but the music is fun and I feel so accomplished by 7am.  I also run 2 non-RPM days a week.  Despite working out 5 days a week and drinking tons of water I'm still not losing weight. I feel slimmer and more toned, but the scale isn't budging so I've returned to sparkpeople.com  Sparkpeople is a great website that helps you track what you're eating (and much more) for FREE.  I have a phone app too (also free) and it's SO simple to add up what I'm eating.  The only thing I can figure is that I just need to reign in the goldfish and weekends full of cupcakes and pies (I'm not kidding).  What do you do, besides working out, that helps you melt the pounds off?  I'm up for trying it!

Now I leave you with one of my favorite healthy recipes.  This is a recipe Amy and I adapted from a Cooking Light recipe years ago.  It's always a crowd pleaser and it's so much better for you than ordering Domino's.  I promise!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 small can tomato sauce
3/4 cup (or so) BBQ Sauce, I use Sweet Baby Ray's spicy flavor
salt, pepper, garlic powder
1-1.5 cups grilled, diced chicken breasts
cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese (we like Cabot's light cheese)
1 whole wheat pizza crust or fresh pizza dough (publix has them for less than $2)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix tomato sauce and bbq sauce in a small bowl.  Use whatever ratio you like.  We like more bbq sauce than tomato.  Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Top pizza crust with sauce, top with cheese, chicken, tomatoes and green onions.
Bake for 15-20 minutes (possibly longer if you're using dough instead of a ready made crust).
Enjoy!

Question of the day! What health food or fitness craze can you just NOT get into?  Mine is coconut water  I know it's supposed to be good and hydrating, but yuck!  I keep trying to like it and just do not.
Have a great day ya'll!

Long Overdue

Hi!  How has your summer been going?  Ours has been equal parts busy and lazy.  Rylie and I would love to be spending much more time outside but it's SO hot and the bugs are so bad around here.  To make up for it we've been going on play dates, painting and playing.  Around July 4th we had a jam packed schedule of parties to go to and last weekend it slowed down.  I hate to admit that I'm already longing for cool crisp air, fuzzy slippers and gingerbread lattes.  What can I say?  I'm cool weather girl (unless I'm at the beach).  I thought I'd catch you up on what we've been doing in pictures.  Thank the Lord for my iphone because it is the only reason that I take SO many pictures.

This is a typical day around here.  Breakfast with the kiddos and lots of time playing with these two.

This picture sums up another huge portion of my life lately.  Working out and trying to eat healthier.  My main focus has been working out 4-5 days a week doing either the 6am RPM class at the gym or running.  I can't tell you how good it feels to be back in the habit of working out again.  After working out consitently for over a month now, I actually feel SO much better and less stressed when I workout.  I haven't seen the scale move much but my body is definitely changing shape.  It's much harder for me to eat really well since most of my meals are shared with Rylie or eaten while I'm holding a little boy that grabs everything.  Any tips on getting more fresh foods around here (that are quick to prepare)??

I love summer nights when I can spend time with mi familia.  Sunday night we took the kids on a walk to the park near our house.  I was amazed because Rowan is so little but balances himself up so well in the wagon. Sadly our visit wasn't very long because the gnats were so bad...seriously...we've never had a bad gnat problem around here.  What gives summer?

I've also spent many summer mornings and a few evenings with these girls.  I can't tell you how blessed I feel to have friends like them in my life.  It's funny how you end up meeting some of your friends too. I met Kathlyn through her blog and twitter and I met Jessi because she used to work with Jason.  They're both great bloggers and Mama's and have been great friends to Amy and I.  Last night we went out to dinner and had to say goodbye to Kathlyn. Her sweet family is moving to Dothan, AL because of her husband's job (in the Army).  I'll miss the convenience of meeting her for a play date at the drop of a hat, but we're already starting to plan visits down there to see her.

Well, that sums up what we've been doing around here.  I really do hope to start blogging more.  I'm thinking about doing some healthy living blogs because I looooove all things health and fitness.  Would anyone be interested in those sorts of blogs?  I'm thinking favorite things lists, healthy recipes, workout pointers or anything else related fitness and health.  Have a great Tuesday ya'll.