21 Days

*** As a quick disclaimer, I love the BeachBody products, but I absolutely hate how sneaky they are. You buy one thing and then they automatically sign you up for all sorts of non-sense that you didn't ask for, but they expect you to pay for it. Luckily, I read all the fine print and had to spend a half hour trying to cancel everything before they had a chance to charge me, but still... so dumb***
So after having carried around 20 extra pounds of baby weight for the past 6 months, I decided to do something drastic!

I've been working out pretty regularly since Hallie was about 3 months, and I've gotten better at cutting out a lot of fat and sugar out of our meals... but that darn scale has just not budged. Literally... I've been the same weight since Hallie was 2.5 months old.

I'm not super self-conscious of it or anything, and if the scale didn't tell me I was 20 lbs heavier... I probably wouldn't believe it. 10 lbs... easy, but 20?!

So a couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a 5 day clean eating challenge. Just 5 days of no processed foods, no sugar etc. Straight up "clean" foods only.

And I loved it! I realized that as a family, we really do eat clean most of the time. We aren't big into boxed/canned food and we hardly ever get fast food (except our newly acquired tradition of getting a family size papa murphy Cowboy pizza every other weekend... whoops.)

Anyways... I really liked that clean eating group because it kept me accountable for the foods I was eating and it gave me a ton of great healthy recipes! It also made me down water, which is something that I'm terrible at. It was during that time that I realized, yes I was eating good foods... but I was eating waaay too much of them.

I so needed to get my portions under control. And thus, the 21-day fix appeared into my life. One of the ladies of the clean eating group posted about a discounted price for the 21-day-fix program. I usually automatically tune out when it comes to diets, especially diets that cost money, but this was one that I just couldn't get out of my head.

It's 21 days of clean eating, but it's portion controlled. Just what I needed. It helps you to know how much of each type of food to eat everyday and when to eat them. It also comes with a 21 day workout program that has 30 minute work outs for everyday.

I'm only on day two... but so far I love it! I love again, that I am accountable (to the group and to Eric who was very reluctant to let me spend that money :) But I think the fact that it did cost me money, makes me that much more dedicated to working super hard and not giving in to temptation.

Anyways, I never post anything like this on here, but I'm hoping that these 21 days are a turning point and get me back on track with healthy eating and exercising habits. I'm not expecting to lose a ton (or any weight for that matter) by the end of this, I'm just hoping to try and train my body to make smarter choices and eat smaller portions.

Roasted sweet potatoes, fried egg, avacado and salsa. One of my all time favorite meals thanks to Aunt JoJo

C

Crockpot Quinoa/Chicken/salsa/blackbeans/corn/chilis over a bed of Romaine, topped with fat free plain greek yogurn

Roasted Veggies, Clean curry chicken salad (greek yogurt instead of Mayo) and Whole Wheat Toast

Fruit and Almond Milk Smoothie

Steel cut oats, raspberries and almond milk

24

I can't believe I didn't blog about my 24th birthday!! It was one of my favorite birthdays to date!

I love celebrating my birthday. As vain as it sounds, I love that I get a day all to myself where everything gets to be about me :)

So here's what we did:

We drove down to Bountiful the evening before and stayed at Daniel and Emily's house. My parents had also come up, so they were there too!

I woke up to a delicious breakfast of stuffed french toast and my dad's specialty omelets. Oooh it was all so delicious!

Eric and I then got ready, kissed Hallie goodbye and went ice skating! It was kind of scary at first...we both had been before, but were clearly out of practice. It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it, but we were cruisin' around in no time. We had a great time and no one even got hurt!

24!

23!

After ice skating, we went back to Daniel and Emily's and I took a nap while my dad prepared theee most amazing dinner! Seriously so good. 

It was broiled salmon with a yummy mustard glaze or something, topped with lemon, herbs and pomegranates, served over a side of garlic red potatoes and a size mixed greens topped with pomegranate vinaigrette and parmesan cheese. 

It was hands down, the best meal I've ever had in my entire life!

After Dinner, Eric and I headed off to temple square to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir + the Muppets Christmas Concert!

Back before Eric and I even started dating, he took me to the MOTAB Christmas Concert as a friend and it turned out to be one of the best days of my entire life!

December 12th, 2012

 2 years later, we went again... but this time as husband and wife :)

December 13th, 2014

It was a great concert (not quite as great as the one we went to two years ago... that one had Alfie Boe) But great none-the-less. Afterwards we went over to the Cheesecake Factory to try and get some dessert (we had a gift card that had been sitting in my wallet for 5 years!) But there was a huge line and tons of people, so we went to the food court and got some overpriced Greek food. My Gyro was great, but Eric got a "chicken platter" that consisted of yellow rice and 3 pieces of bland chicken. Back at Dan and Em's I was delighted to find a sleeping baby and ROUND 2 of that delicious dinner! My dad prepared it all over again because Emily wasn't able to eat it with us the first time (she and Daniel are apart of the Orchestra at temple square, and she was in the concert that night). And oh man, it was just as delicious the second time.

As you can see, it was an amazing birthday! I was so happy to be with the ones I love!

She Likes to Move it, Move it

Ahhh I can't believe Hallie is a little crawling machine.

Um, actually... yes I can.

Eric's been giving her crawling lessons since she was 3 months old. It's about time she took off.
Proud father would be an understatement.




Now that she's got crawling and sitting up mastered, you can bet your bottom dollar that he's starting her on the hoop.

They'll be doing 2-a-day practices before you know it.  He's also in the market for a little baby tennis racket.... but those practices apparently don't start until she can stand by herself.

Good thing Hallie's a good sport!

Bahah didn't even mean for that pun to happen.

Hallie's First Trip to the Park... and the ER :)

Last Friday, we decided that Hallie was about old enough to enjoy the wonders of Porter Park. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we packed up a picnic and the three of us and Holly walked down to the park. 

While we ate our picnic on the grass, Hallie loooved watching all the little kids running around on the playground. She was smiling and squawking like crazy! However,  Hallie had been feeling under the weather for the past week or so and was still a little congested. The doctor told us that some fresh cold air might be good for her ... hence the park.

Well Eric had just spent the entire day studying whooping cough. He'd watched several videos on it that day and knew exactly what the signs and symptoms were. Somehow, while we were sitting eating our lunch, Eric began to get worried that Hallie might have whooping cough!

So he called the doctor...while Holly, Hallie and I went to play on the slides!

Hallie loved the slides! Mostly she liked being up high an able to see so many things.

She wasn't a super fan of the swings... so we went back to the slide

Well Eric got hold of the doctor right as they were closing up for the day, so they told us to have her checked out at the ER. So off we went!

Hallie was a champ for most of it! Every single person who came into her room, took one look at her and said "Oh my gosh! You are gorgeous!" She was quite a hit!

Her room was so colorful and bright! She loved it!

No broken bones, just an oxygen monitor wrapped up on her little foot.

Dr. Prince checked her out and determined that she was just stuck with a nasty cold. No RSV, no whooping cough.  So it was a really chill trip to the ER, more fun than not actually. But it gave Eric and I peace of mind... especially when we found out that our insurance covers 6 ER visits a year, woot woot! Better safe than sorry!

6 Month Appointment

 At her 6 month appointment, Hallie weighed 15.5lbs (34%) was 26.2 inches long (57% and had an absolute fit when they tried to listen to her heart/look in her ears and eyes etc. Usually she's awesome during her appointments, but she seemed to have a random fit of stranger danger and just sobbed when the PA tried to check her out! (We secretly think it was because he was bald)

She also is quite awful at receiving her oral vaccine. Of the 3 or so times that she's had to take it, she's probably swallowed... oh 10% of it total! She seals her little mouth completely shut and does not budge for anything! The nurse puffed her cheeks, blew in her face etc... and Hallie began to cry... but Hallie cries with her mouth completely sealed! She doesn't wail or scream, it's a mouth closed sob. So it's pretty impossible to get her to eat anything that she doesn't want to...

Speaking of which.. we cannot get this girl to eat any solids! We've tried rice cereal, pureed fruits and vegetables, yogurt melts, cereal puffs. She won't have it!  All in due time I suppose. She's so headstrong and loves to do everything by herself. We love her all the same and think that she is the cutest little ragamuffin ever!

Ode to LeeAnn

Today is LeeAnn's birthday! I have spent the last 20 minutes reminiscing back to the good ol' days of 2010 and 2011, when I first met LeeAnn.

LeeAnn and I were obviously meant to be friends. Our meeting/fast budding friendship had way too many "coincidences". It was just meant to be! Seriously, I don't know if I have "our story" written down somewhere, if not, it needs to be. It's a story of broken hearts, crazy crushes, blueberry pancakes and spirit week all rolled into one day! Definitely one for the books!


That day was the start of a whole bunch of "somethings" beautiful:

Spirit Week 2010 with "Jeff Mo-Rain"

Chocolate Chip pancake with sprinkles for my 20th birthday!

Countless Homestead visits, specially to see our Miss Ila 

LeeAnn's 20th!

Service project at the homeless cat shelter

The David and David concert

The most delicious buckeyes

Lightsabers at the Dunes

Double Dates

Halloween with Ila

Sledding!

Temple to Temple!

I have loved looking back and reminiscing on my adventures with LeeAnn. She is one of those girls who you would absolutely hate if you didn't stinking love her so much!

Example:

She is one of the most gorgeous people I have ever met. I have see her hair in tons of different colors, cuts and styles. There is not a single one that she doesn't look absolutely beautiful in.
She has an angelic singing voice, can play the guitar and is a dancer.
She bakes the yummiest treats. Death by Chocolate anyone??
She has a deep love for the gospel.
She is adventurous and willing to try new things.
She is so athletic!
She is smart and charismatic.

But most of all, LeeAnn is kind and loving. She is easy to talk to and an amazing listener. She always had a shoulder to cry on and always knew what I needed to hear.

I remember calling my mom up and talking to her about school/boys/life and she said, "I am so grateful that you have LeeAnn. It sounds like she knows exactly how to be a good friend."

It is so true. LeeAnn is an amazing friend. Someone who I have learned countless lessons from, and someone who I have striven to be more like.

I am so glad that I had the chance to be considered as one of LeeAnn's friends. She is exactly what I needed at that time in my life, and I will be forever grateful for her example to me.

Love you LeeAnnikan!