Photography Challenge Week 5

Doesn't go with the assignment, but I LOVE this shot...makes me smile.

Hi friends!  I hope you had a great week.  We stay busy here at the Griffith household, even when we really don't have much going on.  This week I've been thinking so much about expectations.  I had very finite expectations of what I thought motherhood would be like, what my kids would be like and how we'd all behave as a family.  Well I've been a mother for almost 3 years now and I've realized that being that rigid in my expectations only sets me up for disappointment.  We've taken a few hits in the medical department.  Rylie has had 2 surgeries and Rowan had one at just 3 months old...I did not expect that.  Rylie is SO smart and unique in her own way, but she doesn't say much...I didn't expect that.  Having two little kids isn't twice as hard as having one, it's 10x harder....I didn't expect that.  I think I'm still learning to adjust my expectations and enjoy the wonderful and surprisingly beautiful parts of motherhood.  My children are SUCH tiny blessings to our family, unique and beautiful just the way God made them.  I can't wait to see all the many ways that they continue to surprise me and teach me more about life.  

With that I leave you with my two shots this week for my photography assignment.  This week it's to take a shot from a high angle.  I captured my babes in a rare moment of quiet playtime together.  

They put the color inside of my world.

It's hard to put into words the joy that this boy brings into our lives.

I'm linking up with the other bloggers doing the photography challenge HERE. Check them out and let me know you favorite ones!  Have a great weekend ya'll!

Photography Challenge Week 4

Hi friends!  How has your week been? We're still getting used to our new school-time schedule here.  Rylie is loving school much more.  Both drop off and pick ups this week have been full of smiles and good reports.  I'm still doing the Weight Watchers thing and I am losing weight!  Yay!  WW isn't something I'll do forever, but it's definitely helped me remember what proper portions look like, strive to get my fruit and veggies in and  I still love meetings.  Which leads me to this week's photo assignment: Dinner!

This week I cooked several Weight Watcher's friendly dinners and this was one of them, Pizza Puffs.  I got the recipe from Loser for Life.  Pizza Puffs are delicious dipped in marinara sauce with a big side salad.  It's a great way to get the taste of pizza without all the fat.  I'm thinking of making mini muffin sizes to put in Rylie's lunchbox next week. The original recipe can be found HERE.

I love to do all my prep for recipes before I even get started mixing! 

Delicious and healthy!

Ok, I'm linking up to the photography assignment HERE.  Click on over to get more ideas for dinner!  Have a great weekend friends.

Photography Challenge Weeks 2 & 3

Hi friends!  I'm back to the Photography Challenge this week with my submissions for the second and third assignments.  I combined this one to save time.  Don't you like how I'm cool like that ;)

This week I happened to capture both in these shots of Rylie on her first day of preschool for 2011.  When she smiles it makes ME smile, and the colors happened to be beautiful and bold!  My Mama got this beautiful handmade dress downtown at the Market Days from a vendor.  I wish that I could sew because I'd make a million of these little dresses!

My girl loves to smell flowers!  

As for school, it went ok.  I left her smiling and arrived to pick her up to her smiling but was informed that there were a fair amount of tears today.  She hasn't been to school in over 2 months, so I expected a report like this, but still never fun to hear.  I hope that Friday goes better, heaven knows she couldn't have looked cuter  =)  Any tips for making the transition back to school easier?

Linking up to this week's challenge HERE!  It's never too late to join the photography challenge with me!

What Motivates YOU?

Hi friends! I hope ya'll are having a good week.  We're winding down our summer routine here at the Griffith household because in less than a week Rylie will be back in school for the year.  Yes she's 2, but she goes to such a great preschool 2 days a week.  It's good though because on Wednesday's and Friday's I'll get 4 hours alone with my little man Rowan!  So, onto talking about our health!

The sunrise sky on my way out of the gym this morning!

This is definitely a perk of early workouts!

This week I've been doing some thinking on what motivates me.  I came up with the three main ways that I stay motivated to be healthy, workout and eat well.  I hope you'll give your thoughts on my motivators and share YOUR motivators.

1. Friends and Family

Two of my biggest motivators, Jason and Amy!

This one is SO important.  Jason is my biggest fan and helps me so much.  He makes sure I get to the gym 3 mornings a week, he's on board with anything healthy I want to cook, he agrees not to buy junky food and bring it in the house.  He pushes me when I need pushing and holds me up when I want to stop.  My sister is also a huge help.  Amy is my workout buddy.  We may not always workout together, but we're always asking about workouts and comparing.  Maybe it's twin competition?  Then there are my friends on Twitter who give me virtual pats on the back and high fives for busting my booty at the gym too.  Every little bit helps!  If you don't have a good support system in this area, create one!  Amy and I just joined Weight Watchers meetings this week to kick up our efforts and I had so much fun at the meeting.  It only took 40 minutes out of my day and I felt inspired, motivated and hopeful.  Who is your support system?

2. Blogs!

(source)

My Google Reader is full of healthy living blogs and I read them at any chance I get.  I have far too many to list them all but a few of my favorites are Healthy Tipping Point, Kath Eats Real Food, The Fitnessista, Carrots n Cake and Food Fitness Fashion.  All of these gals have such a healthy and real perspective on food and fitness.  I love reading the blogs to get ideas, feel motivated, set a new fitness goal or even identify with their struggles.  Check them out and I bet you'll feel motivate too.  Do you read any healthy blogs?  If so, what are they?

3. Inspiration Board

Inspiration Board on my fridge.

This is a new one to me and I just made this last week.  I've started going on Pinterest and printing motivational quotes and putting them on the fridge (or wherever I can find).  Jason really loves when I do this.  They aren't meant to guilt you into making a healthy choice or make you feel bad (so that's why I have no pictures of Jillian Michaels abs on there), they're meant to inspire and lift you up.  Try hanging up some inspiration and see if it helps.

Another motivational message on our fridge!

Now I'm off to get us ready to meet Rylie's teacher for this school year.  I finally found my camera battery charger too, so stay tuned for my (late) contribution to this week's photography challenge.  Better late than never, right?  Have a great Friday!