Twenty12 = {30}

" Twenty12 is the year of {thirty} & I decided to make it a year of figuring out me. While I build a relationship with God, I am focused on getting healthy inside & out, have gotten addicted to working out, and I am living a Paleo Lifestyle. " 

Since January 1st me & my husband have been eating/living Paleo.  Two months down tomorrow :) Now at first I thought there was no way I could do this, give up things {by things I mean food} I thought I loved {like pasta, bread, yogurt} for 30 days as a challenge to myself.  What am I thinking & why would I want to?    Well I felt blah a lot, no energy at all & we have three boys I need energy!!! Some things I would eat afterwards I just felt so horrible and in November I took my boys to a local sub place after church and enjoyed a nice lunch with them.  We went to the store afterwards to get a few things and 2 minutes after getting there we had to leave.  What I just ate was literally coming out of me and I couldn't help it.  A sandwich made me that sick so fast it was horrible, embarrassing and just nasty.  {can't believe I just shared that but it's the truth, it happens} Something was going on with me & just didn't know what.  Well I started Jan 1st and it was great to have my husband right next to me doing it to.  He had already done the 30 day challenge in 2010 so he knew what it was like & how great he felt soon after starting it.  The first week I literally felt like poo, like I was getting the flu. so tired, just blah but I read it was normal {all the bad junk was leaving your body, you have withdraws etc} by day 13 I was gaining energy and just feeling great.  I could wake up in the morning & not still be tired or yawning all day long.  I didn't feel blah or just gross inside.  I felt alive!! 

I had already been doing the Insanity Program before we changed our lifestyle to Paleo but I could tell after the switch I would workout harder and push myself more cause I could.  Bacon & eggs with veggies {like green onions, spinach, and red peppers} is my <3 for breakfast.  Well usually by the time I do some things around the house then workout it ends up being my brunch but I truly look fwd to it everyday.  Before Paleo I wouldn't really eat breakfast unless it was on the weekend & I cooked a big meal for everyone.  I have become addicted to almond butter {but it has to be the Harris Teeter brand or else it doesn't taste good for me lol} and mix that with a mash banana and some cinnamon it ROCKS.  Or cut up an apple and dip it or even celery.  Whenever I would make a salad at home it was just okay but since Paleo and buying good things salads have become amazing.  Spring mix with cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, celery, and cut up chicken or ham with a cut up avocado and EVOO/Balsamic vinegar is truly one of the best meals ever.  

Since Paleo real food taste ten times better then say 3 months ago.  Your taste buds end up changing and you do crave the good stuff.  Now I won't lie there are times I just want to eat a pizza full of cheese and we have {cheated} a few times after the first 30 days.  For the fact that we wanted to have something, at times afterwards we realized why we don't eat like that anymore. It has left me on the toilet for awhile but it makes me see that food I thought was amazing prior to this journey really wasn't that great for my body & this is the effect of it.  I'll wake up the next day just blah and sooo tired.  So really you test yourself, you eat something and see if there is an effect and you learn okay my body is fine with this or I don't think I will attempt that again. 

I've completed the insanity program once {9 weeks} and I was so proud of myself, each day I pushed myself more and after I was done just felt great for doing something for me to better me.  My next goal is to start running and one day complete a Warrior Dash race with my husband & a friend {she's a hardcore running who has inspired me to get fit} and then after that I have another goal but won't share until I actually get the guts to do it.  I restarted insanity last week while I'm on the hunt for a good jogger stroller so I can start running.  Not doing anything isn't an option anymore I used to do something and when I was done just stop and get back into laziness/out of shape mode.  But I didn't just spend the past 9 weeks getting in shape to just stop and let it all go to waste.  I will keep going and pushing myself to prove to myself I have what it takes.  I'm a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a cousin, a friend etc but there is ME and this journey is to make a better me so I can be a better person in all those areas.  Cause if your not happy with yourself inside and out you won't fully be a happy mother/wife etc for everyone else.  

The internet is amazing and finding information on a Paleo Lifestyle is literally right at your finger tips.  Also your local library to check out some books to see if this may be for you.  Robb Wolf is a really known name in the Paleo world and Everyday Paleo Blog or Paleo Parents Blog are great.  Pinterest is great for finding recipes or other blogs.  Here is a link to my paleo album on pinterest paleo-lifestyle 

Paleo Giveaway

which is like Christmas for whoever wins!! Me & my husband starting living a Paleo Lifestyle January 1st and it has been an amazing journey so far.  To feel great everyday, wake up with tons of energy, know what your eating is exactly what your body needs to be healthy is wonderful.  I'll blog more about it another time but wanted to share this giveaway.


1 Year Anniversary Giveaway $1800 Prize

'Jett' has landed

So this is the first year my boys are experiencing the magic of Elf on the Shelf and so far it is one of the best traditions we have every started with them.  They never heard of it so really they had no clue what in the world was going on.  When my middle son woke up Friday morning and saw there was stuff in the kitchen he came running in my room.   I totally acted like I had no clue what he was talking about.  Told my youngest to go check it out with him & two minutes later they both come running back and at that point I had my iPod set on video to record what they were saying.  During all this my oldest was still sleeping so I said go check to see if he was up which apparently mean go wake him up to a 5 yr old and a 3 yr old.  So once all three came running back and my oldest said it's an Elf on the Shelf, I said a what? and followed them to the kitchen acting all surprised.  They had Christmas place mats waiting along with Christmas Star Wars cups and some powdered donuts, a letter from Santa himself, the Elf on the Shelf book and of course the Elf.  They were beyond thrilled, so I read them the letter and then read the book {which to me is so adorable} and after five minutes they finally agreed on his name.  'Jett' our family Elf was written in the book by my 8 yr old son and since then the Magic has begun.

I am documenting each day to share with family & friend..

Day 2:  We just moved him to the mantel before it was decorated & I never got a picture with my camera my husband did with his phone but it's just not the same.

Day 3: Okay I thought this idea was brilliant, I put him where I thought my boys would notice him right away and it was the first day he was being mischievous. He had used tinker toys to help him hang upside down and written his name upside down on the mirror with a green crayon.  Well I had no clue at 645 in the morning he would totally scare my 5 yr old son to death.  I mean he was literally screaming at the top of his lungs & ran into his room.  Apparently in the dark when something is hanging from the hallway mirror it's very scary.  I felt horrible but after he said there was something on the mirror I couldn't stop laughing. 

Day 4:  He turned our milk green and bundled up to stay in the frig for the day, they loved having green milk to drink and with cereal but I think they loved him dressed up the most.

Day 5:  This morning they woke up to see he had taken their stockings off and hung up their underwear LOL and he also made a red/green paper chain.  I think he figured we needed more Christmas decorations.

Mini Apple Pies... Yumm

Thanks to the pinterest world once again {I'm sure that is getting old but really the things I find on there are ever so amazing} I came across a picture of mini apple pies which looked & sounded amazing.  It brought me to this blog little bit funky and I luckily I had everything I needed on hand.  So while the older two boys were at school me & my three year old partner in baking went to work.  I cut her recipe in half since I only have one muffin pan.

Peel & core 5 green apples, cut up into 1/2 inch pieces 

{I say 5 cause I shared about an apple with my son who kept saying how great they tasted lol}

Mix the apples with:

6 Tablespoons of flour

3/4 Cups of sugar

2 heaping teaspons of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg 

(I did half of 1/4 teaspoon but you can leave out if wanted)

Make sure you coat all the apples.

Next you will need one box of Pillsbury Pie crest {not frozen}

Unroll your first pie crest and cut out circles 

{a mason jar lid washed first of course works great}

Do the same with the second pie crust {save the scraps to use}

Line each muffin tin with the circle pie crest and pinch together sides so it fits nicely.

Next add the apples to each muffin tin & I found using an ice cream scooper for this part is perfect.

Add a small piece of butter to each pie then top with the left over scraps of 

pie crest {it doesn't have to be perfect}

My son loved doing this part.

 Brush with melted butter & bake at 400 for 18 to 22 minutes.  

{I started checking on them 15 minutes into baking, 

once the tops were a nice golden brown I took them out}

Enjoy & they taste really good the second day also.  I'm sure if you added 

some vanilla ice cream on top they would taste even more amazing!!!

Elf who?

We are starting a new tradition with the boys & to be honest I'm so excited about it.  Traditions are amazing and I feel what kids will never forget. Sometimes the traditions are even better then the actually holiday.  I still remember traditions my mom did with us as children & we are now doing those with our children.

I know Elf on The Shelf has been around for awhile and before this year we never really looked into it.  But a few friends said they do it with their children and seeing ideas of what "Elf" can do or get into while the kids are sleeping or not home on the pinterest just seemed perfect for our children.  He will make his appearance the day after Thanksgiving and I have a bunch of ideas lined up.  One Elf painted the children's noses red while sleeping and had a note by him saying go look in the mirror.  Sitting next time to him in a cup was a paint brush with some red paint on top of it.  The mom took a picture of all three kids on the couch with their noses red, it was so adorable.  Our friends said their Elf cleaned out their entire pantry last year lol.  Elf had changed the color of their milk, had a nerf gun fight with woody, a snow ball fight with buzz {marshmallows} baked something or just made a complete mess.  The possibilities are endless.  We both can't wait to see the boys reaction.  Here are some ideas to pass along that I have found.

http://blossombunkhouse.com/2011/11/08/101-elf-on-the-shelf-ideas-2/

http://raeoflight-photography.com/blog/2010/12/20/elfie-rojos-mischeif/

http://www.chubbycheekphotography.com/blog/?p=2564

CLUTTER

Clutter clutter everywhere Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! Not sure if it's the same situation in your house but I'll get the house all clean from top to bottom, everything is in it's location.  The weekend comes & goes and by Monday it's chaos all over again.  Or  last week it was four out of five of us sick for almost a week so everything really added up.  I guess it's not the everyday stuff driving me nuts today though {laundry, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms etc} more the clutter of stuff.  Like the piles of papers/mail etc that were on our dining room table but really we don't use it as a dining room table cause we eat in the kitchen so that table is like the office table {or better known as everything that doesn't have a home paper wise just piles up there.  Come on you're telling me you don't have a place like that in your house!!  Well yesterday I was sick of it and organized it all up, tossed half of it then moved the table to the wall & set it up more as a desk till we can sell that set to actually turn our dining room into an office area.  My husband started back to college :) so I was trying to make it more cozy & less craziness.  He said it looked awesome.   Also the junk drawer please tell me you have one or two of those in your house.  We have two smaller drawers in our kitchen one tends to be more the grown up one {with phone chargers, pens, sticky note paper etc} and one is the kids {pencils, erasers, tiny little trinkets, silly bands etc} well they were both a disaster yet again so earlier today I dug at them.  What is so amazing is once I was done and re-opened them up I felt ten times better, like two simple small drawers that once were chaotic are now nicely organized.... I could breathe again.  

It's nice to know something free, sometimes stressful, may or may not be time consuming like de cluttering areas in your house cause make you feel so wonder.  Who needs shopping & spending money after all!! Wait did I just say that, well yes shopping is awesome but then I have the quilt of spending the money.

Crazy what some paint & wall decor can do

We moved here {SEVEN} months ago & it's just crazy it's been that long already yet it feels like we have lived here forever.  Not sure how that makes sense but it does lol.  Buying a house is amazing & wonderful, stressful & frustrating but the positives totally out number the stress factors and such.  We had a lot of those in the beginning.  We are slowly making the house our home cause well money don't grow on trees and re-doing anything even just painting a room can add up.   I have personally {on my own yes just me} painted the three rooms in the house that have gotten a paint job and I just love the changed.  Our entire house is the same color {except both bathroom had wallpaper Yuck!!} granted it's better then staring at white walls all day but the brownish color can get to you after awhile. To me it's dark & makes the rooms look so much smaller.  Plus I like each room to have it's own personal character if possible. 

So the laundry room, the boys bathroom/guest bath, and my older boys room {they share} got a paint job.  Both bathrooms in the house had wallpaper which I truly disliked {my husband thought there was nothing wrong with it}, I first ripped off the wallpaper in the boys which was so simple & easy.  Thanks to the advice from a friend it was smooth sailing & I thought "why do people complain about removing wallpaper it was nothing".  Then a few months later while my husband was away for a few days with work I decided to do our bathroom which is much bigger & surprise him.  Definitely was not as simple & took me practically all day but now it sits wallpaper list waiting for us to pick a color & make it beautiful.  Yes I know I totally jinx myself with the comment of it's nothing to do.

Boys/Guest Bathroom Before & After



Apparently me thinking I took a picture of the bathroom before I ripped the wallpaper off was a bad assumption cause the only picture I have is when me & my husband came to look at houses {I promise you he is not peeing loll} the before picture is their stuff before we even got it.  They did leave the mirror which I spray painted black & we need to get a new light fixture or spray paint that also i dont like gold & there is a lot of that in the house.  The wall color looks white but it's more blue-ish in color and we got a new shower curtain & rod.  Since it's my boys bathroom but also our guest bathroom I didn't want it to scream kids .  Plus our oldest son & youngest are 5 years apart so while a cute-ish bathroom set may work for a 3 year old it's totally not as cool for an 8 year old.  For now it's just simple with some color, I made the splatter paint on a canvas for some color & when I find the right wall art for the room I'll know it.  I just wasn't sure what exactly I was looking for at the time & didn't want to waste money till I was.

 Bigger Boys Room Before & After