Day before Cleanse

Starting tomorrow, I will be given up breads, chips, and sweets, not because I'm crazy (despite what you think!) but to be able to re-start my body in the right direction.  Today, I met with my mom, Aunt, sister-in-law, and a friend at Sprouts and we got all the essentials to begin our cleanse.  We purchased unique items to me called chia seeds, mangos, kale, and other great produce that God created.  I chose this cleanse over others because it truly is just eating things that God made natural to be healthy for our bodies.  If you take those suppliments, it's just not natural.  I plan to blog about this cleanse to help keep me accountable but I will also keep a food journal.  I will be weighing in the morning and hopefully will see some sort of change by the end of the 5 day cleanse. 

When I first wake up I will heat up my lemon water and drink first.  For breakfast, I have sprouted bread in which I will toast 1 slice and add organic almond butter. Mid morning snack; almonds and fruit, Lunch; Ezekiel tortilla, avocado spread on tortilla, spinach, cucumber, sprouts and tomato with kale chips.  Afternoon snack; hummus with veggies (carrots, cucumbers, and green bell pepper) and for dinner Quinoa with a salad.  Of course, with a lot of water. 

My 2 key bible verses I plan to meditate on this week are:

"There the child grew up healthy and stong. He (she) was filled with wisom, and God's favor was on him (her)." Luke 2:40

and

"Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God." 2 Corinthians 7:1

Cody's 7th Birthday Pictures

First, I want to thank my sister-in-law, Becky from Mamarazzi Photography, for taking time out of her day to spend it taking some really amazing shots of my oldest son.  Here are just a few of my favorites, enjoy!

This little boy holds a very special place in my heart!  I love you, Cody.

Eating CLEAN and getting FIT!

Since before January 1st, 2011, I told myself I am WORTH getting my health and fit back.  Since the birth of my 3rd son (who is now 4), I have been at a plateau at 175 lbs. for the longest time.  I decided that I would be very commited to going to zumba class twice a week, run, do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, Boot camp on fridays, and softball 3 times a week.  I am now down to 168.5 lbs.  I am putting myself out there so that I can be reliable for myself and rely on others to help me on my journey. 

Starting this Monday, me and a bunch of ladies are inspired to do a 5-7 day Cleanse (thanks to The Vitality Empire for the resources) and jump start our plateaus and getting our minds re-focused on getting healthy and fit. I will post during the Cleanse and show what I'm eating and how it's all going.  I can use all the encouragement I can get.  Thank you!

5k - Jarrell Rock Solid Spring Fest - Girl's Night Out

April 9th, 2011, I scratched off one of my many items listed on my bucket list.  I ran a 5k.  I told you in one of my posts that eventually I would like to run a marathon.  Well, I just began my journey to that bucket list item.  Woohoo!  I ran with my sister-in-law, Danielle.  She's very fit and is a long distance runner.  Me, not a long distance runner and working towards getting fit.  With her encouragement and zumba music we completed the 5k WITHOUT STOPPING! I even came 4th in my division with a time of 35.03:13. 

After our race, I ran walked, to my sons baseball games.  They did so good.  I am just overly proud of them.  While the game was going at the Jarrell Community Center, they were having their annual Rock Solid Spring Fest with all the goodies such as; bounce house, face painting, food, crafts, etc.  The main thing the boys wanted to do was the Bubble Ball. 

We had been planning on a Girl's night out for the longest time and even after our 5k run and long day out in the sun we managed to get all dolled up and go to Hardtails Bar and Grill. I was so worn out that after dinner and 1 adult beverage, I called my husband to come pick me up (I rode with my sis-in-law there).  It was a great day! 

  

Artwork

Here is a few pictures of the boys recent art work. Cody colored and made an origami bird.  Mason made a painting of 'Mason's World'.  Hayden made a grass head out of panty hose, dirt, and grass seeds.  Very proud of my little artists.

Domestic Goddess - Food Edition

I LOVE to cook (I HATE doing dishes! <----sorry, had to throw that in there to make a statement! ).  I am now a HUGE fan of making homemade tortillas. Here are the lovely stack of 16 I made last night.  We had deer sausage wraps with these yummy tortillas and they were a hit with the family.  I could make (and eat) these everyday!

Today, I was in the mood for Fire Crackers Saltines.  My mother-in-law makes the BEST Fire Crackers, but today, I am using a slightly different recipe.  Trying to tone it down for my boys.  I used a whole box of Zest crackers, 1-1/2 cup 100% Pure Olive Oil, Ranch Packet, and 1 teaspoon Crushed red peppers. 

ingredients

mix oil, ranch packet, and crushed red peppers

add whole box of crackers into a zip lock bag and pour liquid over crackers.  Every 20 minutes turn bag over.  The crackers will eventually absorb all the liquid and taste AMAZING! Enjoy.

Date with Cody - Learning how to treat a girl!

Outside the movie

We are HUGE fans of the book series by Jeff Kinney, 'Diary of a Wimpy kid'.  We saw the first movie as a family and laughed out loud throughout the whole movie and couldn't wait to go see 'Diary of a Wimpy kid: Rodrick Rules'.  Cody had asked me to take him since he saw the first commercial for the new movie.  I told him while the other boys were playing outside one day that when it comes out I would let him take me on a date to the movies! 

A week ago I had told him I would let him take me on that date this friday.  Well, of course I had to let him down easy because I had worked at my moms house getting her all moved in and ran out of time to be able to take him.  So, I told him if we had enough time after my all day tournament I would take him then OR take him Sunday after church.  He was ok with that.  Saturday rolled around and we didn't get done until after 8 and I just really wanted to get home because I was tired, dirty and just plain worn out and so I reminded him that FOR SURE we would go after church on Sunday.  This morning I woke up and was very excited.  Called Cody into my room while the other 2 were watching cartoons and told him how excited I was about today!!! 

It was perfectly planned because the movie started at 1:20pm and so we dropped Jacob and the other 2 off at Jacob's batting practice at 1pm.  Before we got to the drive-thru at Wendy's for a quick lunch, I gave Cody (7 years old)  $20 and explained to him that when he does take girls out he would need to pay for their meal and for their movie ticket because that's the respectable thing to do.  After going through the drive-thru the lady told us the total and Cody handed me the $20 and paid for the meal.  Cody got a kid's meal and I got a small salad because we only had 10 minutes before the movie started.  We parked at the movie theatre and ate quickly.  Another respectable thing I wanted to teach Cody about dates was it's COOL to open doors for the girls, so he opened the car door (and shut it) and opened the Movie theatre door for me!  He told the ticketmaster that he wanted 2 tickets to Diary of a Wimpy kid: Rodrick Rules and handed the guy the money from his pocket.  There were 2 older ladies behind us that thought it was the cutest seeing Cody being so sweet to his mommy!  Cody also ordered from the snack bar: "medium popcorn, bottled water and 2 free ice cups please!". 

We laughed through the whole movie and after the movie we went and picked up Jacob and the other boys. All in all, I'd have to say, Cody is going to make one girl very happy!  Lastly, we ended the day with his Aunt Becky taking his 7 year old birthday pictures. Posting pictures when I get them!

This is taken by my cell phone as a sneek peak!

I really love Cody so much and really enjoy our one-on-one time!  I'm going to do it more often because it really is going to strengthen our bond and his ability to be able to treat a girl like they should be treated.