Playing Catch-Up

So....it's been a while.  A long while actually.

So much has happened over the last 1.5 years I don't even know where to start. I moved to an adorable 2 bedroom condo in Golden Valley at the end of 2013.  Somehow Bren and I have managed to work out a custody agreement without having to deal with going to court.  The last thing I want to do is have to have an official document laying out our custody/visitation/child support rules.  There were so many things going on between me and Bren that I couldn't stay with him any more.  I'm not going to get into it all now, but it was a very trying and difficult time in my life, especially with the boys.

My babies...I can't believe Ashton is going to be 4 next month and Clayton will be going to "real school" as he calls it this fall.  They've gotten so big, and I love them with all of my heart.  They go to the New Horizon here at work 3 days a week and love it.  They've made a bunch of new friends and are always so excited to tell me what they've learned.  It's been good kindergarten prep to for them to be separated during the day, although Clayton would disagree.  He's not to keen on being away from Ashton.

We're all ready for summer....swimming, farmer's markets, bike rides, the beach and being in the sun.  The only problem is that the later sunset times means the boys argue it's not bedtime  because it's not dark out at 7pm anymore.  

My mom is planning on going down to TX next month to see Adam and Co. and asked me if I wanted to go  with her.  I would love to, but really don't want to take a week off of work and lose out on the OT.  I'm most likely going in Aug for Marissa's birthday bash again.  My gift to myself: another trip to Epic Tattoo.  I'm sure mom will have fun.  She's going to drive down, then her best friend is flying down a few days later to drive back with her.  She misses Adam so much, we all do.  I think it's compounded now too because Ian is leaving to move to CA in 2 weeks.  She's having a really hard time with that.  Just another place for her to go visit...plus I don't think Ian will be there forever.  We'll see though, I could be wrong.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I'm sure there will be  some fun and exciting stories now that summer is here!!!

xoxo

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Protein Pancakes

I spent a good while trying to find a protein pancake recipe that I could actually eat and that would taste good. I found a million and a half different versions on Pinterest (where else) and didn't find one that looked particularly good. They either called for yogurt (that I can't have right now) or a ton of ingredients. So I made a variation and came up with this. 

1 cup liquid egg whites

1 cup oats

1 cup cottage cheese

3 scoops protein powder

Mix everything in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. 

Spray pan with non-stick spray. 

Place small amount (maybe 1/4 cup) on pan and cook on both sides until done. 

I top mine with Walden Farms pancake syrup or strawberry sauce. Amazing and so good. I eat 3 for my 2nd meal. Don't ask me about macros or nutrition info per pancake because I don't know. I just know they taste good and keep me full until my next meal. 

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My Lost addiction

I know I'm a little late to the game (about 9 years late to be exact) but I LOVE Lost. My mom was re-watching it on Netflix a little while ago, and I got hooked. I can't figure out why I never watched it when it was actually on tv. 

We don't have wifi at home, so there's no way I could watch it on my Nook, so I had to buy all the seasons....which are no longer sold in stores apparently. Thank God for Amazon!!!! I got a crazy deal on all the seasons. The hard part? Trying to watch it when the kids are awake. They're terrible when I'm trying to watch anything....suddenly the noise level skyrockets and they both feel the need to ask me 8349201 questions. Clayton would ask if I was going to watch the "bad robot" show whenever he would see the DVD remote in my hand. 

I got through it in a decent amount of time, all things considered. In fact, it was all I could think about when I was at work, at the gym or in the car. I don't think there was any storyline that I didn't like, but really wanted Kate and Jack to be together forever. I wish their final goodbye on the island had been more than a quick kiss and "I love you". They were my favorite couple, and I might have to admit that I've fallen in love with Matthew Fox. *swoon*

Locke (not smoke monster Locke) was my second (third?) favorite character. There's just something about him that I found likeable. 

I'm definitely going to watch it again because I know there are a million things that I missed the first time. After reading a lot of different articles online about the show, I can't wait to go back and see if I can catch certain things, and understand it a little better. 

Who wouldn't love a show with a cast that's this good looking?

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My Own Swarovski Phone Case

My friend Katie has always been a Swarovski crystal inspiration to me, and this new project is no different.  We were emailing one day and she had mentioned that she blinged out her own phone case.  Of course, I got jealous and "HAD to have one too". She pointed me in the right direction of where i needed to get my supplies, and I was off!

Amazon is an amazing site.  I got the phone case and flatback crystals on there, and the glue at Michael's.  The toothpicks were in my cupboard.

Here was my shopping list:
144 20mm
144 16mm
144 12mm
144 9mm
E6000 Glue
Toothpicks
Clear phone case

I did the outside border of the case in the 16mm stones, then ran out shortly after I got to this point:

Lame. So I ordered another 144, and also got 75 6mm's to fill in some of the smaller spaces I found.  It's also nice that I have extra just in case I need to replace any.

Here's how I did it: I squirted some glue onto a piece of cardboard and used a toothpick to smear it on the case. My plan was to place at least 5 stones on at a time before having to add more glue...that didn't happen.  My glue dried SUPER quick and I could only get 2 on before I had to add more.  There are special wax tip tools you can buy to help place your stones, but I just used my free fingernails to pick them up.  The amount of glue you use is important too....try not to put on so much that it pushes up the sides of the stones, but enough that it holds them on.  I finished this a month ago (on 4/24) and I've only lost 1 stone that I still haven't glued back on (I'm lazy).

Let's be honest, this project sucked.  It took me around 5 hours to complete, and a very sore back from being bent over my kitchen counter.  I know I could've gotten it done quicker if I hadn't been dealing with small children stealing my stones, running between my legs and pulling on me constantly.  My mom called it theraputic...I called it a pain in the ass.

Do I love my case?  Yes.  I put a lot of time and effort into it!!  Will I ever make another one?  You better believe it.  I want to try one with all small stones, and probably a lighter color.  I love the purple, but it's qretty dark and doesn't sparkle as much as I wish it did. 

Before I took on this endevor, I did price out the ones for sale on Etsy and Amazon.....I would say start to finish, my case cost me about $70 to make, and I was finding them online for $75++.  The super fancy ones run like $350!!  Maybe someday.....

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Mother's Day.

First and foremost, Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there! I tend to think that everyday is Mother's Day, because I'm on mom patrol 365 days a year. Anyway, that's beside the point.

My children are my reason to celebrate. They are my life. My heartbeat. My reason for living. 

The first thing Clayton said to me this morning was "Happy Mother's Day mudder" and gave me a big hug, followed by a request for some juice. Guess the demands never end!!

Today wore on as any other Sunday, except for the part where I had a slight emotional moment. Clayton came up to me to give me a hug and I started crying. I love my children so much, and no matter how many times a day I tell them, I feel it's not enough sometimes. He looked at me and felt concerned that I was crying all over his head, and asked why I was sad. I tried to explain that I was crying happy years, but it's hard for a 3.5 year old to process. 

Clayton and Ashton drive me crazy, make me laugh, cry, shake my head, make the cutest pouty faces and are my little blonde bombshells. I love them to the moon bad back, and every night when I look at their sweet sleeping faces, I'm thankful that I was chosen to be their mom. I may not always do everything right, and I do make mistakes, but my boys are loved, healthy and happy. That's all that matters to me. 

 

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Contest Prep Update

161....that's how many days until my figure show. That may seem like a lot, but I have so much work to do time is flying by. I have a ton of muscle I need to build and fat to lose (which will come later on). I'm just hoping that when I send my coach my progress pictures next weekend he sees an improvement and thinks I can be ready in time. Otherwise I'll have to wait until next year.

Prep diet sucks. All I've supposed to have eaten the last 3 weeks is this:

Meal 1: 1/2c oatmeal w/1 scoop protein powder
Meal 2: 4oz chicken with 4oz sweet potato
Meal 3: 4oz chicken or turkey with 4oz brown rice
Meal 4: 6oz fish with small salad and vinaigrette
Meal 5: 6 egg whites

Do you have any idea how hard it is to eat 5 meals a day? My schedule is so crazy during the week that I've only managed to do 4. Usually it's the egg whited that gets missed. I've discovered that I'm an emotional eater too. If I'm having a bad morning at work, all I want to do is go to the cafeteria and get a big greasy burger or something deep fried. Gah....I've had some cheat meals too. It's all a head game.

The gym is going well....I meet with my personal trainer Daryl every Monday and we set up a game plan for the week. I've been doing his torture plan 3 days a week and getting cardio in 5 days a week. The treadmill has become my best friend. I've been making it a little more tolerable by watching Lost on Netflix during my walking. An episode is roughly 40min, and that's how long I need to be walking. It's a perfect combo! There will come a day when I'll probably need to do the stair mill, but that's not now. My heart rate goes up just thinking about climbing on that thing.

I think that's it for now....next week I'll post my progress pictures....day 1 to current day. Please try not to laugh.

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Shepard's Pie for St. Paddy's Day!!

The boys and I are up at my mom's right now, all in a food coma.  With St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, my mom decided to make Shepard's Pie today since we were up.  My brother, mom and I all had 2 servings.  Ashton had a few bites and Clayton took a look at it and said "It's not my favorite" and walked away.

Here's how she made it:

1lb ground beef
1lb stew meat
1/2 large onion (sliced)
1 package mushrooms (sliced)
garlic
1/2 package frozen mixed veggies
1 1/2c frozen corn
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can milk (use the soup can after it's dumped out)
8-10 potatoes
seasonings
shredded cheddar

Preheat the oven to 350*

Quarter the potatoes and boil until done, them mash.
Brown the meats in a large skillet, drain when done.

In same skillet, cook the onions and mushrooms until softened.  Add garlic and any other seasonings you want.  Mom added seasoning salt.
Add meat, can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of milk.  Stir over med heat until hot.

In a saucepan, bring mixed veggies and corn to hot, drain.

Pour meat mixture into 9x13 pan.
Layer the veggies on top.
Spoon mashed potatoes over the top, smooth out to cover the veggies.

Bake  at 350* for 20 min, then sprinkle shredded cheese on top.  Bake for another 10 min.
Broil for an additional 5, or until chesse is browned to your liking.

DONE!!!! 

 



 



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