C-h-i-c-a-g-o

I'm so glad that my dad is spontaneous like I am.  I had been talking for months about how I wanted to see "Chicago at Christmas time".  Well Friday night dad and I decided that we were going to go, we took ourselves and some clothes in case we stayed, we had no reservations or plan really.  We arrived in Chicago for quite the day, it started with Chipotle for lunch! YUM

And not very far down the road we came across a corner bakery cafe, and I have heard lots of things about this place, and 100 ft of walking is cause for taking a snack break, right?  Well, the good thing is that we didn't do this every 100 ft.  It would be expensive, and a lot of food, although I would love to eat my way through the city!

Christkindlmarket 

After Corner Bakery, where we had a delicious Maple Pecan Bar and Snickerdoodle cookie, was when full tourist mode stepped in! I was snapping pictures like I had never been to the big city before, and I didn't care! I think it's fun to take picture and even more fun when you are in the city that you have wanted to see at Christmas. So dad and I tromped and tromped and tromped through the city, all of Michigan Ave (where I did do some shopping it wasn't all about the tourist attractions! :) ), all of State St., Macy's and to Daley Plaza for the Christkindlmarket that was going on. That was really interesting it was this German outdoor market, where they have everything German. Dad and I walked around and I bought some toasted Almonds! MMMM so good and worth every penny! We were exhausted after Daley, but we walked more to Giordano's for some pizza, where I hate to admit but we killed a pizza, we were starving and hadn't eaten since Corner Bakery. On the way to getting Pizza, I thought we had missed our chance at Garrett's because we didn't get to the one of Michigan Ave., nope we happen to stumble across one on Madison St. I was so excited, because everyone talks about it and I wanted to see what the hype was! So I bought my Chicago Mix, and wasn't in the least disappointed! :) 

You can't come to Chicago and NOT get Pizza!

After dinner we decided that we were too exhausted to drive home, well I was too exhausted since I was driving, and that we would crash with our nephew/cousin Bob. He was so gracious to let us come and stay there and had great accommodations. Dad had a full size bed, and I had a mattress on the floor, it was very comfy and so wonderful of him and his roommate to let us stay!

I told Bobby we need a picture because he was all part of our Journey!

Sunday, I wanted to get home for Bethlehem Blues Cafe, but I also wanted to stop at a few places in Vernon Hills area too, so we did that and I got my Kiehl's that was so excited about, even though dad thinks I should go and buy a bottle of Vaseline and call it good! (Men, what do they know?! :)) BBC started at 6 and we rolled in the parking lot of the church at 5:49 pm. Just on time! We had a great trip and made some good memories. I guess Dad had never been downtown and so he was like a little kid in a candy store, he is still talking about it, and loves to tell people “When we were in Chicago...” I'm hoping I can make this a yearly thing, and hope to bring more of my family members, and if not then that's cool too! It's just so fun and no far away at all, it's the next best thing to NYC, I have been to NYC, but Chicago is so pretty with the lake, and just an all around fun time!!! 


Now I leave you with some of the pictures I took throughout the day! 

At the bean, a tourist must do!

The very first person we see when we exit the parking garage is Rachel Kiely, how crazy!

Inside Macy's, dad and I both went...WOW!

YUM YUM YUM

The Biggest Loser

I love the show The Biggest Loser.  I am a faithful watcher of the show and L.O.V.E. to watch the transformation that each player goes through.  I love to watch Bob and Jillian beat the crap out of the contestants.  I love to watch the weigh-ins and see how they do, and to see how far they have come.   I picture myself being one of the contestants on the show.  Something that I would love to do, and may still continue that dream...but...

Along with the watching the show comes some guilt.  I feel bad because I haven't been working out like I should.  I haven't been eating like I should.  I've been doing a lot of what I want to and not what I should be doing.  I get down on myself for not doing what I know needs to be done, which leads me to only digger myself deeper into where I shouldn't be.  Instead of doing something I dwell on the "should of been's, or could of been's".  I can't do that, I get to depressed about how I have failed over and over.  I know that I am a strong person, and can conquer this, it's just that not everything is clicking in my head.  This is just not a physical thing, but a complete mental thing too.  And it's hard, extremely hard.  I'm human and am not perfect.  There are so many things in my life that I want to do, but at the same time I feel like my weight is holding me back.  I don't let it hold me back from doing things (i.e. I don't hide myself in my basement from everyone), but I know what with the weight gone my confidence would soar I would feel like I could conquer the world. To be there someday is my dream.  I can write and talk about it all that I want, but actually acting on what I'm saying is hard.

I don't talk about this much, and in fact tend to bottle all of my emotions up inside, which doesn't help at all. This is hard, and I feel like I am letting so many people down.  I do know that the one factor that I need to include in all of this is God, he's really the only one that can help all of my connections link together and be successful at this.  It's not like I'm no young chicken anymore, and if I want to get married and have kids, I have to do that, for my future husband and family if nothing else.  I want nothing more to be truly happy on the inside and outside and find that person that God has for me in my life, that I can spend forever with.  I need prayers and support, and somedays I get so down that I don't know where to turn.  I will overcome this and I will be successful, I just have to take one.day.at.a.time.

Starbucks deal...

I came across this deal from Starbucks.  If you are a fan, like free things, or want that awesome holiday drink you have to take part in this. From tomorrow until November 21st, between 2-5pm at your local Starbucks you can get a buy 1 get 1 free from a list of delicious holiday drinks!!!!! buy 1 GET 1 FREEEEEEEEEEE!  And they have some yummy choices..Caramel Brulee Latte, Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha, Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino, Peppermint Hot Chocolate and others.

Visit this website and click on "twice as nice" in the bottom right corner to either find your local store, and/or see the whole list of drinks.  I'm not sure if you need to print out the screen, from what it looks like to me they are just holding this at all Starbucks between 2-5, if you want to be safe either call your Starbucks or print the page and bring it in!!! Let me know what you got and how it was!! Enjoy!

Purple

i.love.that purple is the in color this season!  I recently wandered into a ULTA.  I had been in one before, but never really looked at what it had to offer.  This time I perused the whole store and found some wonderful things!

Now I'm a complete girly girl who loves to wear makeup, do my hair, experiment with new things/styles (see Exhibit A (facebook profile picture of new haircut :)) and thinking about the next fun thing I could do (yes, I'm already looking at different haircuts that I might like to try out next time).  I'm pretty sure I was a cosmetologist in a past life.  anyways, moving on.  I have dark brown eyes that I can luckily wear almost any color, and have been wanting to update my makeup collection.  One of my favorite colors to wear is purple, and I found the best eyeliner...ULTA Smokey Eyes Black-Plum Now putting those two colors together was genius and would love to thank the person that did! I love.LOVE. this eye-liner!

Along with this, I picked up a eyeshadow quad, because the makeup happened to be buy 1, get 1 free and this girl loves a good deal!!! I really like the eyeshadow quad too...and imagine this, I bought it with the name "girly girl"...:)

And I have had this product for a while, but I love Maybelline's Pulse Perfection Mascara, now I have always been a Cover Girl (mostly) and Rimmel (every once in a while) mascara person, but thisMaybelline is W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L.  I thought it was a stupid concept and unnecessary. was i EVER wrong.  Just the little bit of vibration really helps to separate the lashes and put an even coat on!


Also, I got this rockin' purse at Younkers this weekend!  I haven't carried a "big" purse in a while and have missed it, I love having everything but my front door in one bag! I know it's not the best for your back or shoulder, but I can keep everything in there!!!  Right now if you were to go through my purse you wouldn't find a ton, but give me another week and everything will be packed in!

About a month ago, I was looking/thinking about selling mark. cosmetics.  What better way for me to constantly swap out my makeup bag, but also get it at a discounted rate, AND make extra cash!?!?  Even if it is just enough to put gas in my car each month!  I like that you don't have to have parties or anything like that you can just do catalog sales and even order online and have it shipped to your house!  Plus I would love to sell to other women to help satisfy their inner "girly girl!"

I DID IT!

Well, I am a little excited!  I did not have such a good month with watching what I was eating, and working out...which always makes me so mad, when I do bad, but even though I thought I could blow away the 27lbs,  by my birthday, I was able to be right there with it.  So as my facebook says 27.27.27, I guess it should say 27lb 27th 27th, decipher that (trust me it's not that hard)!

I also had another little accomplishment this morning.  I went to the gym and swam a whole mile non-stop, well except for three quick drinks of water! And, by doing that non-stop, my workout just felt so good this morning!

How can I not be happy today, has anyone looked outside....it's GORGEOUS, and besides the little, ok heavy winds, I can deal with it!

One year ago today we picked our our precious (now she-devil ;)) puppy Autumn, even though she drives us crazy some days, and she knows she cute and uses that to her advantage, we would not want to live with out her.  She loves every EVERY single one of us unconditionally and makes sure to greet us all in the morning when we wake up, how you can you not love that!

Oh, did I mention it's my Golden Birthday! :) I'm a meager 27 years young! It's kind of weird...

It's never to late to take charge of your life...

I am loving the Biggest Loser Calendar that I found, it just has a lot of good tips for different things to do.  So this post is some motivational things, some tips, and just some things that if you are struggling at all to remember.

But first, my newest and latest obsession...

This gum, is amazing! It comes in Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry Shortcake, and Key Lime Pie.  The flavor lasts, and it chews pretty well.  AND I can taste the chocolate in the Mint Chocolate Chip, and the Graham Cracker in the Key Lime Pie. I just love them, and they help when I want something sweet! :)




So with that, remember
It's important to accept where you are today.  If you appreciate each point in your journey, you'll harness the positive energy it takes to achieve your goal weight.

Schedule your three small meals plus two or three small snacks each day.  Skipping meals leads to excess hunger, extreme eating, and extra calories.

At least half of your servings should be from vegetables; the other half from fruits.  Don't have more fruit servings than vegetable servings.

For all of you dark chocolate lovers, listen to this:

Dark Chocolate contains the same good-for-you compounds found in many fruits and vegetables.  Ounce for ounce, dark chocolate has five times as many antioxidants as blueberries.




What has been in our lives has absolutely nothing to do with what can be.  It's time to let go of those old ideas and philosophies of "I can't" and shift your focus to "I can."  Like The Biggest Loser contestants, you too have the strength inside to stare down and overcome any obstacle and live the life that you choose and deserve.

Next time I will talk about Ice Cream, and Ice Cold Water!!

once again

I am once again trying to cut back/out diet coke from my life.  Why am I doing this?  Well I have yet to find the answer to that question.  I know that it is not good for me, and that I feel more bloated when I do drink it.  I know that going cold turkey will be a little hard for me, so I'm going to try at first to cut it down to like 3 or 4 glasses a week...(I know for all my fellow DC addicts that is like why even drink it if that is all you are going to have a week!)  My biggest downfall is going to be fountain Diet Coke.   

Nothing and I mean NOTHING tastes better than a Wesco Fountain Diet Coke with crushed ice.  That can quench any thirst, at any time! It's not just one thing that I love, its a combination of all things, that make this beverage taste absolutely wonderful!!!  

This isn't going to be easy, especially when it's a "0 point" drink, aka, I'm not drinking any calories, this will be a difficult one for me.  I know that I don't drink  nearly as much as I did over a year ago, and I do tend to waver back and forth with the thought of do I give it up or don't I give it up.  It's a daily battle and one I have to choose to fight, to do what is right for me, at this moment.

struggle bus...

I've been on the struggle bus lately, with a lot of things. Some physical, but a lot of emotional struggles. Learning to deal with things, and how to move on. It's not an easy task at all, and one that some days I wish I didn't have to deal with. I do know that me dealing with these, I will come out such a strong person, but it's hard.

One physical/emotional struggle lately has been with my work outs...I haven't wanted to do them. No excuse, no reason. I just am not motivated and all that I want to do is eat. I know what I need to do, and what I want (in my head) to do...So instead of making excuses, I'm just acting and doing what needs to be done. I know that I will feel great after doing it, and it will only benefit me in the long run. I just need to keep my focus on what my goals are. Right now, my goal is 27.27.27. If you see that as my facebook/twitter status one day then you will know that I am a happy girl!

I know that I can do it, I just need to mentally and spirtually prepare myself, I need to pray for God's help through this.
Live for the day:
As I was cleaning my room tonight, I went through my old Biggest Loser calendar from 2009 and found this information on december 1, 2009, and it is helping me..."Stay with your fitness program, one workout at a time, and make devoting yourself to it a top priority. If you can do that, the dedication you put forth will help you change not only your body, but your life, too. You'll discover that you can do anything successfully as long as you put your heart and mind into it."

Laughter for the day:


Diane and I, having a little harmless fun at the bridal shower today!!! :)

Tomorrow is October...

Where in the world did September go? Tomorrow is the first of October, and before I know it, I'm going to be writing the blog that says "Merry Christmas."

With October comes lots of things! First, it's my absolute favorite month of the year. It's, for the most part always in the 50's and 60's and that puts a smile on my face. We have our fall banquet for the mission, which is a great time! There is apple cider, hay rides, bonfires. There is also Halloween, in which I am planning on spending with my cousin and her beautiful baby boy, I can't wait to see him dressed up. OH and of course, October is my birthday month...I'm celebrating my...27th birthday this year, and it is also my "golden" birthday, as my birthday is on the 27th.

Also with October it starts our holiday season officially, I really feel like we are in full swing after the banquet and we can take a breath about the middle of January.

I've been looking through lots of different magazines and cookbooks for some new ideas on food to make. I'm really in a cooking mood lately, and just love it! I wish that we had food network, although if we had that I would be in front of the t.v. with all of my spare time!

I'm very excited to be part of the Women's Ministries Board at church, and I feel that after the short time I have been on, that there are some good changes coming Women's Ministries way! :)

Tomorrow is a night out with the girls at the Rockford/Muskegon game (go big reds) and I am really looking forward to it! Tomorrow is also Friday and that makes me really happy!

Have a good friday everyone!

27

I'm turning 27 this year, on the 27th of October...It's my golden birthday! I never thought this day would come, it's not like I think I'm old.  Its just that when I was a little girl I was so jealous all of my friends that had 1-10 dates for their birthday were able to celebrate something special, and I couldn't wait for mine.  I always thought that is FOREVER away and it will take so long, I'm pretty sure I just said that a few months ago.  That's how fast time is blinking before my eyes.

So with that "27 by my 27th on my 27th" that's my goal! :) (and if I surpass I am A-OK with that!)

Some days

Some days, I take for granted my job.  I get up, I get ready, I work 8:30-4:30 (or around there, most days longer) and I just do the normal routine.  Today as I was opening mail, one of my daily tasks, something just hit me.  We have a program where I work that women (and men, at the men's building) go through to change their lives, find Jesus (if that haven't or go back to him) and it was one of those things that I just assumed worked.

One of the ladies was down in the front office today, said hello to me and asked me if I was looking forward to fall.  When I first met this lady she was out in far left field and I could hardly hold a conversation without her dazing off on me.  After she left the front office area, I realized that she had initiated a conversation and was engaging. I got chills inside thinking of the visible change I have seen in her.  That made me realize that I shouldn't take my job for granted and just go on with the day to day.  No, I don't make the most money, and I "donate" a lot of my time, but what I am doing is helping to run an organization that is changing lives.  This isn't just a job, it is a ministry. And that is enough for me today.  It was definitely food for the soul.

The next time that you are getting down about your job and everything that goes on.  Stop, look around and see whose life you might be impacting in some way.  When you realize that you are in fact impacting some one's life, your view will change.

I'm grateful for the job I have and what it is teaching me, especially in my walk with the Lord.

Me, Myself and I

I decided that since I missed my 530 am swim this morning ( and if I don't get to bed soon, I'm going to miss tomorrow's too!) that I would make up for it and walk around some of Lake Michigan tonight.  So I drove down to Beachwood Park and there is this path that goes through the woods that I always wondered where it lead to.  I put my Ipod in and away I went, it was so peaceful and calm, not many people on the trail.  Just me, my thoughts and God's beauty around me.  It was a perfect night for a walk, overcast so the sun wasn't beating down on you, and a nice breeze so you didn't come out look like you had sat in a sauna all day.  I was able to see a Momma doe and her two fawns while walking, and was just able to think and pray with God.  I need to take more alone time opportunities with him and talk with him.  He has helped me tremendously in my life and I need to cry out to him more.  Even when there isn't a gorgeous sunset to be had over Lake Michigan, I still find it beautiful.  It is beautiful in its own way, every day, no matter what the sky looks like.  I am so blessed to be able to drive 5 minutes to the lake and have a path where I can walk.  I'm very excited to swim tomorrow morning, and then go to the dr. and see what my results of my hard work have been! I'm sensing tomorrow is going to be a great day, and I'm hoping that I am not disappointed! :)

Typekit

All I want to do is put a cool font or "real" font as Typekit likes to label them.  Well, I can get them on there but it is the size of pepper and have to zoom in my page to like 200 percent, to get to be able to read it.  So I googled how to change the font size and followed the directions and nothing! :( Of course I am running into this problem, because I don't want to pay for any of this, but why do they offer fonts that when put on the website are so tiny?!  Help?! Anyone?! How can I get the font size bigger without zooming in on my screen or paying for the site?

Yum Yum

I absolutely love Sundays! They are my favorite day of the week. I get to see my church family, who I adore, and it's a relatively relaxed day. After church, lunch, and the Bridal Shower for Kate, I decided I was again going to do some baking/cooking! :) It's a passion of mine. Coincidentally, Jan gave me a recipe I had been waiting on for a while and was able to make "Taco Dip" tonight, and it was YUMMY! Then I went on to make "Crisscross Apple Crowns" for desert....They went from these unbaked goodies...
to....these delicious things! Don't worry they were just as yummy as they looked, only being they were a little tough, and will cook them for a few minutes less next time!

In other news, I LOVE my new shoes. I wore them all day and my feet did not swell hardly at all, and I was on my feet a lot of the day today! That makes me very happy, and hopeful that if I invest the proper money into shoes, that I won't be as miserable as before.

I know this makes me sound as if I sit around and watch TV all the time, but so not the case. I am just really excited for premiere week of all the TV Shows, I'm VERY excited for the Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars, COMMUNITY, The Office, and Amazing Race!! I'm also going to check Outsourced and see what that is about, last year I did that with Community and fell in love. There are other random shows that I might try and catch, but with the lack of DVR, I can only watch so many at a time! :)

I'm off to get some sleep before my 5:30 am swim! Then the work week begins. I'm going to try at least one new recipe this week, we will see there's always a possibility for more!

How was your Sunday?

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Rainy Saturday

Today was a rainy Saturday, but a good one.

All the men in the family have ventured to the Northern Country, so that left Mom, the dog and I at home.

So we started out at Sam's then to Drummonds to get some meet. Then we went on up to Kooistra's to pick apples...
Apple Picking is one of my favorite fall activities to do. It's just so much fun and trying to reach for the biggest, best apple at the top of the tree is the best. (Although my family tends to take advantage of me and my height for this!) Of course one of my favorite reasons for apple picking is, it doesn't take long to fill up the basket, unlike blueberries...:)

After the orchard we venture on to Fremont, where I was able to find, not 1 but 2 PAIRS of shoes! Finding shoes are soo hard and when I find them I get really excited and I LOVE both pairs that I got! :)

We finally made it home where mom put some chicken in the oven and I made yummy potato wedges, courtesy of Rachael Ray, three ingredients, potatoes, olive oil and grill seasoning! And they were made with homegrown michigan red potatoes (from grandpa's garden! :))

And I'm not a state fan, but that call at the end of the game was a great call! I know that East Lansing is going C-R-A-Z-Y right now!

Broccoli Pesto Pasta, not so perfecto...

Thursday night. I had nothing going on, I decided to try this recipe that I found in Good Housekeeping. It was for "Broccoli Pesto Pasta", when I read the recipe, it sounded great! I was really excited because I LOVE pesto and this was a healthier version. Well, the recipe called for Mint Leaves and this made me nervous from the get-go, but decided I would try it just as writted and see what I got. So I had my ingredients all lined up, Broccoli, Pasta, lemon, Mint Leaves, Olive Oil, Water, Parmesan Cheese, Salt and Pepper. I followed the recipe as directed and got this
Looks good, right? Well it didn't taste good at all!! The Mint was so overwhelming that, and the Broccoli was a weird texture (the mint and broccoli were mixed in a food processor) that I could hardly choke it down. My dad was brave and tried it, took the first bite and he said, "that's gross." My dog was the only one who ate, and that isn't saying much because this is the dog that eats raw onions, any vegetables and fruit.

So my attempt on this certain recipe failed. That's ok, I've got a lot more to try. And continue to look for good healthy recipes...I'm going to be a very frequent visitor to foodnetwork.com :)

Thursday night. I had nothing going on, I decided to try this recipe that I found in Good Housekeeping. It was for "Broccoli Pesto Pasta", when I read the recipe, it sounded great! I was really excited because I LOVE pesto and this was a healthier version. Well, the recipe called for Mint Leaves and this made me nervous from the get-go, but decided I would try it just as writted and see what I got. So I had my ingredients all lined up, Broccoli, Pasta, lemon, Mint Leaves, Olive Oil, Water, Parmesan Cheese, Salt and Pepper. I followed the recipe as directed and got this
Looks good, right? Well it didn't taste good at all!! The Mint was so overwhelming that, and the Broccoli was a weird texture (the mint and broccoli were mixed in a food processor) that I could hardly choke it down. My dad was brave and tried it, took the first bite and he said, "that's gross." My dog was the only one who ate, and that isn't saying much because this is the dog that eats raw onions, any vegetables and fruit.

So my attempt on this certain recipe failed. That's ok, I've got a lot more to try. And continue to look for good healthy recipes...I'm going to be a very frequent visitor to foodnetwork.com :)

Welcome

I'm just a girl, going through the daily motions! Mainly, I want a place to put my thoughts, dreams, creations, and anything else that comes to mind. I don't know how well this will be maintained, my hope is a daily glimpse in my life. I'll be sharing my recipes, coupon savings, "journals", things I'm learning, or possibly struggling with. Since I'm in Muskegon, I'm on a mission to try and explore this city to its best potential, there's alot here that I know I'm missing out on, because I take the straight and narrow and do what's comfortable and what I know!

So I hope that you enjoy reading my life as I go, feel free to comment, to ask questions, or to just enjoy what I'm writing. There will be grammatical errors, and there will be run on sentences, but you know what, it is what it is!