Can't there be a coffee and candy cleanse??

it's all i can think about. i'm on day 2 of the advocare herbal cleanse. and i want chocolate. and caffeine. and refined sugar. uggghhh..

yes, please!

so, basically...you're supposed to eat clean. limit caffeine, refined sugar, dairy and carbs. whole grain carbs are ok. doesn't sound very difficult...but it's going to be a long 10 days.

there is a fiber drink in the morning of the first and last couple of days. i read lots online about how horrible it tastes. i don't think the taste is that bad. the texture on the other hand- WOOF! i just choke it down and move on with my day. There are also pills to take in the evening. they're huge. 

Three parts of the cleanse and when to take them.

i hate big pills. hate.

i miss my coffee in the morning. and of course, because i can't have junk, i want it. 

Day 1: pretty uneventful. i spent most of the day trying to get my head in the game. also, Avery and i went grocery shopping. it was torture. never go grocery shopping when you can't have most of what's in the store. ps. i also miss cheese. i weighed myself in the morning on day 1. forget to measure- i'll do that tomorrow. 

Day 1 meals: 

oatmeal with 1 tbsp pb

carrots and a small apple

big ass salad with chicken

pumpkin seeds & spark

taco salad (no shell)

Day 2: going well until this evening...i'm not feeling that hot this evening. not sure if it's related or not. i will admit, there's plenty to eat. it's more a mind over matter thing at this point. i get so accustomed to my habits..certain meals, etc. so now that my routine is changed up a bit, i'm out of whack. 

Day 2 meals:

oatmeal with 1 tbsp pb and 1 tbsp flax seed

3/4 banana

chicken (2 servings) & tomato slices

animal crackers *rule breaker, whoops* & spark

turkey burger (no bun), broccoli & homemade baked sweet potato fries

i did invest in spark, advocare's energy drink. i bought the mango strawberry flavor and man is it delicious! it's probably something that i'll continue to drink once this is over. 

wish me luck- i'll keep you updated.

Tomorrow never comes...

This post was supposed to be tomorrow's post a few days ago. whoops!

anyway, been busy with the baby and other obligations. so, i know you'll all dying to know how February's workout plan is going!

well, lets just say, not as well as i had hoped :-/

the good news is, i've been getting to the gym 4-5 days a week which is excellent but falling a little short of my goals. The first week i blame on weather. snow caused me to miss a day and miss my once a week kickboxing goal. oh well, some things you can't control.

This week i'm on track: kickboxing tomorrow morning with will make my 5th day at the gym and today i managed my longest run in awhile, 3.5 miles. not exactly where i want to be...but better than lately so i'll take it. hubby is working tomorrow so i secured pop-pop to babysit A. She loves to say "pop-pop". lol.

anyway, back at you in a couple days will a full recap of feb...and details on the cleanse coming up in my future! :-0

WET NOODLE.

i feel like a wet noodle. i could slide right off this chair.

i just had a hot stone massage. bliss. heaven on earth. i could have kissed the women when she was finished. I got a gift card for the spa TWO Christmases ago. yes, that's right. I finally decided to make the appointment...what better time than my staycation? my mil volunteered to watch the baby while i go which was awesome. my husband took her out this morning so i spent the morning getting everything ready for my Stampin' Up class this week, hit the gym then showered and headed to my massage. 

don't you feel relaxed just looking at this?? :)

yes, i love crafts. yes, i'm a Stampin' Up demonstrator. i love it but these days it gets put on the back burner more than i'd like. Funny the things that happen when your craft room turns into a nursery. lol. 

anyway, this past weekend my husband and i spent the day out. 

my outfit: skinny jeans for tj maxx ($17), boots and top from kohls

scarf from kikilarue <3

We saw Identity Thief? Theft? i don't even know what the name of the movie was. can you tell that i was more excited about the popcorn?? haha. i didn't even feel guilty about it. i kicked ass at kickboxing that morning and ate my little heart out. i go to the movies like twice a year. i'm.eating.the.popcorn. movie was ok. 

after that we did a little produce shopping at aldi's & bought curtains for my bedroom which we renovated almost 2 years ago. yup. dropped the ball on that one. 

$74 and i got A LOT of produce.

last, we went to Lornhorn Steakhouse for dinner. my husband got a huge steak. i got chicken which was delish. 

it was so nice to have a day baby free...even though i talked about how much i missed her like a million times. 

tomorrow: update on my February workout plan!

Happy Valentines Day...and my reality.

Happy Valentines Day! Hope everyone is having a wonderful day. I'm spending the day with my sweet love, Avery Della Rose. This morning we attempted to make heart shaped cinnamon rolls...a special, not so healthy breakfast for a special day. Later, we'll be reading "Happy Valentines Day, Little Critter."

yes, that's what i look like at 6:30 am. Ben should have told me that i had hair sticking out. lol.

yes, please.

As far as the hub goes, we're waiting until saturday to celebreate. my in-laws are graciously watching Avery for the day so my husband and i can get out for the day. This will be the third time in over a year...and yes, i'm counting. i can't wait. We're probably going to do a little shopping, hit a movie (i don't even know what's playing these days) and dinner. Ben requested Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner.. fine by me.

i think i'm mostly excited about getting to wear some of my new clothes. let's face it. this is my reality...

most days, i'm in sweats or pajamas. getting a shower is out of the question unless i waste precious nap time...and i usually go to the gym when my husband gets home from work. who needs to shower to go to the gym? not this girl. especially when that time could be used to go to the bathroom in peace. :)

but on occasaion, i do my hair. and wear real clothes....

first time using my curling wand!

new levi's from kohls & clearance top from target

yay! can't wait for saturday! :)

coming up soon:

what's currently perplexing me about working out

my thoughts on brady bands & flipbelts

My life is over.

Well, that's what I thought yesterday when I realized that by updating my iPhone, I had somehow lost all of my contacts and my entire calendar.

At first, I wasn't sure which was a bigger deal. Then slowly, the answer became clear. The calendar!!

Sure, it sucks that my contacts are gone but anyone who I really need to get in touch with, I can.

Losing my calendar is as shitty as losing my right hand. Seriously.

I first decided on getting a calendar app cause lets face it, the iPhone one doesn't cut it for those as anal as i. i need things to be color coded and be able to take one glance at and see exactly what I'm doing. After I committed to the new app, it was seriously 6 months before I purged my paper calendar. Weird, I know. But I just couldn't do it...and now I'm kicking myself.

I have a list if people to call and find out when my obligations/appointments etc are... And everytime I think im going to freak out, I tell myself "you're not going to die over your calendar being lost." Lmao.

Dear apple,
Next time, take my right hand.

Xoxo.

Recipe for bad blogging & Pity party for one

i feel like i've already been slacking on the blog front. It's just been the perfect recipe for disaster lately and for that i apologize....to my 2 readers. 

anyway, my schedule has been crappy, i've been so busy and haven't been feeling well. The days that i'm off, i'm home with my 1 year old...going on 15. keeping her occupied enough to write a post is impossible. i can't even keep her occupied long enough to go to the bathroom in peace. plus, the second she sees that you're at the computer, she automatically wants to get on your lap and pound on the keys like wack-a-mole. so that's out. 

then there's nap time. i've had so much to catch up on during nap time that i go nonstop for the 30-45 minutes that she's down...assuming that actually happens. a little husband help would solve this problem but no way that's going to happen during ice fishing season. 

that brings us to bedtime. by this time, usually 7pm, i'm so flipping exhausted that all i want to do is take a shower and go to bed...assuming that i still don't have to make dinner. mehhh. 

i wish i could blog in the shower. i get some really awesome ideas in the shower.

but don't worry, i've been jotting down ideas of things to  blog...when i find the time. 

as for right now? have to address the thank you notes that have been sitting on my desk for 2 weeks. whoops!

What's in a name?

first link-up! w00t! Head over to Amanda's blog to catch up with everyone else.

This link-up is all about our babies (fur babies included) and how they got their names.

My daughters name is Avery Della Rose. Here's the story...

My husband and i never...i mean NEVER EVER...agree on anything. i swear, he'd tell me that the sky is purple just to be a pain in the ass. so when it came to naming our child, i figured it would be world war 3.

in true type A fashion, i had to make a list:

Emma

Hannah

Avery

Mackenzie

Sawyer

Bella 

Reagan

we showed the list to my parents...my dad's only comment was how trendy all the names were. What did he expect us to name her? Ethel? Delores? 

anyway, to my surprise, we actually came to an agreement on Avery. 

that was the easy part. 

we kept the name a secret that way there was some sort of surprise when she was born...but we could not..i mean, could not...even come up with a list of possible middle names. we wanted cute and meaningful. 

we tossed around Rose. My Poppy had flower beds full of different types of roses...so obscure but meaningful to me. ...but we weren't sold. 

close to the 9 month mark, i was filling our Avery's family tree and my husband was calling around to find out his grandparent's full names. His grandmother's middle name was Della. Her grandmother's middle name was Della. now, we liked Della. 

Avery Rose...Avery Della. hmmm...ok, but not perfect. 

I'm sure that she'll hate us later for this but we decided to go with both. Avery Della Rose. Perfect :)

I'm never going to be a tall drink of water.

ok. lets face it. i'm 5'1 and have big bone structure. i'm never going to be a tall drink of water.

i think throughout my life and even now that's some of my issue. my expectation for what i would like to see in the mirror is unrealistic.

sure, as women, we have a thing with body image. i'm not sure there are many women out there that aren't extra critical of themselves...even the most perfect looking people see things about themselves that they don't like.

we have crazy expectations throughout life: We grow up thinking that we're going to have tons of money. We get married expecting "The Notebook".

We have kids expecting our houses to stay cleaned.

as far as getting healthy is concerned, i think that this is a major cause of stress and ultimately failure. "i'm going to work out and eat healthy so that i can look like Heidi Klum!" guess what? ain't.going.to.happen.

take a good look at yourself in the mirror. point out the things that you like. start to accept your body the way that it is. We all have imperfections. Learn to love it- it's a part of who you are.

maybe getting healthy won't make you look like Heidi Klum...but it will make you look like the best version of you. :)

Living the dream...and playing catch up.

The past few days have been the same old routine. work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat....rinse, repeat. i'd have to say that this is the one major downfall to 12 hour shifts. it really leaves little to no time for other things unless you're willing to compromise sleep.

i've worked the past 3 nights so nothing has gotten done around here in days. Avery just went down for her nap so now is my time to play catch up! on the list of to-do's are: pay bills, address the thank you cards that have been sitting on my desk for a week, update the blog :), and order Avery's one year pictures.

seriously. we have the best photographer. her ability to catch the perfect image is amazing...plus, she's fun to work with and so cute and stylish. obvious criteria for someone who's documenting your life :)

check her out here

here are some of my favs...

next on my list, scheduling a massage. have had the giftcard for over a year...keeping myself toward the top of the list :0

**update: kid didn't sleep. didn't get anything done besides this post. such is life. i'll try again tomorrow. off to the gym then taco night!**