Happy Easter a day late!

Happy Easter everyone! How was the day? did you enjoy some family time and time with God? I know I did!  My Dad was still here so we got to spend Easter with him as well as my hubbo's family which was nice.  

We went to church where I promptly cried thinking of all Jesus has done for us! Does anyone else have this problem?  I'm not a crier, in fact I hardly ever cry but around Easter I cry all the time thinking of what Jesus did for us all.  Well, I guess I cry for a lot of church services, one day I had to get up and leave the service because I was crying so hard for all the people who don't know Christ or know how wonderful it is having Him in your life.  Okay that's enough of the gush....onto dinner! Philip's parents made raviolis and meatballs and sausage yummy!  Which we followed up with lots of talking and easter egg hunting....oh the chocolate!

Then it was dessert time. I made cupcakes, my favorite Easter dessert! Yellow cupcakes with lemon buttercream (recipe to come) and chocolate with my new favorite peanut butter buttercream.  There was also, brownies, strawberry cake, pineapple upside cake (sooo good), brownies with peanut butter fudge and oreos on top that my sister in lawmade, lemon cake, and chocolate of course!

Then around 7:30pm I had to take my Dad to the airport, we are all sad to see him go. I got home around 9:30 grabbed one more cupcake, read luke 24 again, cried a little,  and passed out!

Lemon buttercream

• 1 stick or 8 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temp)
• 2 cups of confectioners sugar
• 1-2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp milk
• dash of salt
• 1 tsp fresh lemon zest

1. Blend all together with mixer for about 5 minutes until smooth.

And the cake was a box mix that I bought because it was $1 and was like ooo $1 I'll buy that....yeah it's been in there for almost a year.  Oh well still tasted good!

Hope you all enjoy your Monday!

What did you do for Easter?  Do you like baking with box mixes or making your own? 

the push week recap

So it has been a week since I put the diet in full gear to get a 1200-1400 calorie days (most days were 1400 seriously I don't know how someone can live on 1200 calories)  and an extra workout in the afternoon.....and did I lose any weight drumroll please....... a picture of yogurt parfait to distract you

YES down one pound which is not a lot for a whole lot of work but I am finally under my hump and hopefully it will keep going down.

But I am going back to 1500-1800 calories a day.....I have a basic idea about how much I eat but I don't normally count calories....normally I do it one day a month just to make sure I'm still about 1500-1800.....last week though I did almost everyday and I HATE it! I hate eating unhealthy things because I'm trying to keep my calorie count down....or snacking non-stop because I'm insanely hungry.  Or craving a piece of chocolate and never being satisfied because all I want is chocolate but it doesn't fit in the diet. But I pushed through the week and am happy to be down the one pound.  But its nice to remember why I don't count calories!

Anyways my dad, brother and future sister-in-law are here so I'm off to visit, have a easter egg hunt, possibly go to the lake, and make some whole wheat bread and strawberry ice cream (mmm).  Enjoy this beautiful spring day everyone!

Have you ever had a hump you needed to get over? How did you do it? 
Do you like counting calories? 

One running car and Enzo's first bike ride

merry Friday everyone! How is everyone's day going so far? Mine has been great so far.  My husband sold his car yesterday! YEAH! We have been trying to sell that thing for about a year.  Now we are down to one car mine, but that's ok hopefully our vanagon will be running soon! 

Anyways that meant I had to get up early and run at home.....with people eating breakfast and playing with me while I ran.  Good or bad?  I can't decide its nice to have the little ones around but at the same time super distracting I have no idea how I did this all the time before.

Anyways despite all the distractions I got 2.56 miles in 30 minutes yeah for me!!!  I was surprised I good run this fast, ok so its not super fast but its the fastest I've ever gone.  Iwas quite happy with this....although my foot went numb half way through I kept pushing through. Does anyone else have this problem?  I hope it doesn't mean anything bad!

Well I'm off to make an egg and some oatmeal. Cleaning and more cleaning after that because my Dad, brother, and his girlfriend are coming in tomorrow.  I can't wait.

here are some pictures of Enzo's first "real" bike ride( we went about 1.2 miles) 

and Cooper's first pull ride

We stopped to take a ride down the fireman pole

It was soo beautiful that day and the ride was pretty flat. The boys had tons of fun, I can't wait to go back and do this with a running stroller for Cooper, and jog along beside Enzo!

Do you remember your first bike ride? Have you ever run with a lot of distraction? did you like it or not?

my first spin and award winning strawberry jam

Hello blogging world! How is your Thursday going? Mine, busy....it seems I am never ending busy lately but its all good busy! 

This morning I did my first spin class. This is my first class at my gym, I have been there four months, I was just a little frightened of the class. Who knows why, I just was. My original plan was to take a power/weight class first but for some reason couldn't make myself do it.  So I decided to take a step back and try something a little more familiar before jumping into the complete unknown.  I've seen the spin classes while I was jogging on the treadmill and I kinda of understood them...so it seemed like a good fit. And it was, I had a pretty good time, it took me awhile to get use to it. And the first time I stood up on the bike I was like oh this is gonna be rough but as I got into it, it was not so bad and was surprised when it was over, it seemed so short. I was quite pleased with myself. Next time I'll definitely have to up the volume if you know what I mean!  Needless to say I'm excited to take the class again and a power class.

Anyways onto strawberry jam! Oh strawberry jam!  The story behind the jam When I was about 3 we lived in California and had a small garden with lots and lots of strawberries. I use to go out and lay in the strawberries just eating as many as I wanted....oh the good old days

My Mom use to make strawberry jam and take it farmer's markets and festivals to sell....she always won first prize for the best jam..no joke!  She uses the sure jell recipe, no different...I use a little less sugar because I like a thinner jam.

I started making it about a year ago because my boys eat pb&j almost everyday and who wants all that sugar in them. Plus its kinda fun to share old traditions with them.  And seriously it is sooo easy and cheap!

Strawberry Jam

• 1 box sure-jell low sugar or no sugar
• 7 quarts of fresh strawberries makes about 6 cups of purred strawberries
• 2-3 cups of sugar (follow directions on sure jell if you want thick jam)
• 1 tbsp butter (real butter)
• 7 8oz jars with new lids and seals
• 2 big pots, a canning kit is extremely helpful, I don't have a canning pot though

1. Put your jars in a pot and fill with water....take your jars out and put water on to boil
2. Take all the tops off your strawberries and put them in the other big pot
3. Puree your strawberries, or mash with potato masher
4. follow sure jell insturctions and add your sure jell, butter to strawberries, put it on the stove to boil
5. Your water should be boiling, so carefully put your jars and lids in and sanitize for 12 minutes, then drain
6. Once your strawberries are at a full boil add in your sugar--bring back to a boil and let boil for 1-2 minutes
7. Immediately put your jam in the sanitized jar, leaving a little space....
8. Take a hand towel and hold the jar, then put your lid on and screw as tight as you can.
9. Put your full jars back in the boiling water for 10-12 minutes
10. Take out, all your jars should pop and be sealed
11. I have no idea how long these last, I would say awhile, mine is always gone pretty fast between us and sharing with friends and family

Overall it takes about an hour to make....which I think is worth it. The jam is soooo much better than anything I can get at the store...and since everything is reusable its really really cheap.

Anyways I'm off to finish my busy day! Wish me luck!

What fun things did you do with your Mom when you were little?  

Garden update

Note: I am a beginning gardener and by no means an expert. This is my fourth year growing in Atlanta, Georgia and I have slowly learned, by trial and error mostly, how to keep my plants alive and producing good fruit. I hope you enjoy my little garden and our escapades! 

Let's start with how the spring garden is doing. 

Snap Peas....time to put a fence in the middle for them to grow up....I probably should of done this about a week ago I've been procrastinating

More peas and more peas....we are going to have lots of peas and snap peas this year.....as you can see I need to consider some drainage for next year

Broccoli....its growing slowly but surely....I hope it makes it, in the last couple of years it has died off right before the broccoli came in....I have been babying them like a mama hen.

Romaine...also moving slowly but surely...I can't wait to see how it comes together!

Arugula....don't they look beautiful! We have gotten a lot of rain this spring and the other plants I think have suffered a little because of it....but not the arugula it seems to love all the water! 

Some random flower pictures....I love these bushes! Can you guess what it is called?

Onto the summer garden which is in prep mode

First we tilled this with some lime and organic compost (homemade).

Then it sat for about a month before I could get to it.

So I had to weed some but not too awful.....except for some added areas. Gardens seem to be the hardest to weed the first year, after that the ground seems to get use to being bare. If you get rid of the first layer of soil, I hear it helps but I have yet to try. 

Then I raked all the weeds and rocks away....and tilled it up a little by hand. 

then I measure out my areas and added in my wooden thingys (I have yet to name them since they are a new addition this year.  I'm excited to see how much they help especially with the weeding.  we already have a few frogs living under them in the spring garden which is great to keep down bugs) each bed has its own plant (yeah I'm lucky)! that big area is for tomatoes and basil!!!! 

Today I will make some mounds for my cucumbers, squash, and melons....and plant all my baby plants. 

Then I will put up the fence (we use a wire fence) and mulch around because for some reason we never weed whack and the grass around the fence can get really tall!

Then water, watch, and pull weeds. I spend about an hour a week in each garden after this pulling weeds and checking the plants and of course getting the beautiful produce! 

Baby tomatoes and basil...this was after their first night out(side) they look a little worn out! 

The first produce of the season....green onion I think....this and several more were randomly growing in the summer garden. I planted onions about two years ago and every year we get them. I also have chives all over the yard (I guess they are good at spreading) and the neighbors, oh yeah they love me, oooppss! I also have strawberries all over the yard which I planted one year....they only produce baby strawberries and the squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits eat them before I can get them....but I guess those are good at spreading as well. 

Workouts and goals

Just had a great workout! I got in 3 miles in under 44 minutes! WOO for me!  I'm ready to start running 3 x 1 its taken me awhile to get there I know....but we all have our own paces mine is slow and steady.  I can do 30 seconds planks at night, NOT after a workout that just hurts!  I can bike 10 miles in 45 minutes with hills.  50 knee sit ups (I don't know what they are called)  10 "real" pushups, 50 lunges in a day

I'm excited to say that my weights have increased 20 lbs at least per machine or barbell.  I know this may bulk me up but let's just admit it I'm bulky and I like the fact that I can lift 50 lbs 18 times.

Still eating healthy and trying new healthy foods. I went two weeks without a hamburger or pizza or "bad" food, that is really good for me.  I normally eat some sort of sweet thing once a day, whether its  a yogurt, or a piece of brownie depends on the day but its normally pretty small.

I try not to think about my weight but when it won't budge I know I need to do something.  And since I've been at 208 and the same if not higher measurements for two months now  I'm going to up the anty. So down to 1200/1400 calories a day for a week and see how I feel.  I normally eat between 1500-1800 so hopefully this will give my body the push it needs to get over the hump.  I'm also going to add an additional 20 minute cardio in the afternoon to see if that keeps my heart rate up some. Hopefully at the end of the week, I'll be over the hump. I'm seriously going to be excited if I ever get under 200!

	13-Jan	31-Jan	18-Feb	18-Mar	11-Apr
Bicep	13	12.5	12	12	12
Tricep	10	9	9.5	9	9
neck	13	14	13.5	13.5	13.5
bust	47	44.5	43	43.5	43
under bust	42	39	38	38	39
waist	43	41.5	41.5	41.5	41.5
hips	48	48	47	47	47.5
butt	46	46	45.5	45.5	45.5
thigh	26	24	22.5	22.5	23
calf	17	16.5	17	16	16.5
wrist		6 1/2	6.5	6.5	6.5
weight	220	214.5	213	208	208

My next goals are to

1. Do yoga/pilates once a week
2. Get 4 miles under 55 minutes
3. 45 second planks OW
4. 75 lunges in a day
5. 100 knee sit ups
6. 20 push ups
7. make 2 vegetarian dinners a week
8. go a whole month without fast food (going to be b/c family is coming in)