Hodge Podge

I feel like I have so much on my plate, but I tend to do it to myself so I am to blame. I take on quite a bit at school with my kiddos but it is worth it to see them having fun learning. Of course I recently decided to get back to being healthy and I am trying to cut out yeast! Now not completely because I do love my corona light after a football game or on a Saturday afternoon. But I have been doing pretty good! I have  had spaghetti squash with turkey meatball, lettuce wraps with turkey and veggies. Egg whites for breakfast and I have lost weight already in just a couple days! Hopefully I can keep it up. I know on the weekend will be the hardest as we eat out or hang with friends to have some drinks! I am going to try to just work out more so it will compensate for those couple drinks! Jeff hasn't been all to thrilled about the food I have been making lately. It is a lot of work to prepare my lunches and breakfast as I normally just grabbed a fiber one bar and a lean cuisine and called it a day. I now have to cook my meal and make something Jeff will eat as well! Being healthy is way to much work if you ask me, but worth it when you see some results I suppose.

So on top of that I am also in the midst of planning Jeff's beer olympics party which is not going to be to detailed and it is almost a month away yikes!! We are finalizing the menu with On the Fly food truck which Jeff just raves about! Deposit is paid and that is booked!

All I really need to do is decide on all the games, get some kegs, cups, and a cake. I didn't want it to be to detailed. I just finished doing the invitations with Laura who I have used for previous invitations. She is so quick and great to work with. I told her exactly what I wanted and in a day it was in my inbox. Here's a little sneak peak of the picture on the top of it.....

All of the lots have sold around our house! Three across the street are about to go up and then one right next door. I will be happy once all the building is done! But we have been wanting to make our backyard which is on a down slope into a patio with brick pavers and put a little fire pit out there in the corner, but just keep pushing it off. When we saw that SOLD sign the other day we said we better get to it. We figured it will be way easier for them to bring in all the dirt to level off our back yard and build it without tearing up our side yard and grass. So I have been contacting multiple companies and have lots of appointments set up to get some estimates. Fingers crossed this doesn't cost an arm and a leg! I know Jeff all to well and if it is more than the number he has in his head it will not be happening! 

I really like this back patio! I don't think we need a retaining wall all the way around but maybe a small one around the fire pit for sitting! We will have to wait and see what these guys have to say. 

I am obsessed with pergolas and it is even on my 30 for 30 to get one! What would be better for parties and to hang stuff. I tried to talk Jeff into getting one as well but he said yea right I have to wait a little while to get one! I bet my brother in law honestly could make one he is like Bob Villa, but I will be patient. 

We are getting our gutters put in next week before spring and those rain shower comes! It has already done a toll on our grass in the backyard not having them so we just picked out colors! I just feel busy as all get out but in a good way! 

Ski Trip Recap

Breckenridge was absolutely beautiful! Definitely amazing to see as I have never been out to Colorado before! It was beyond freezing and I am thankful for my friend Leslie who had all the ski essentials! It definitely isn't about what you look like it is about staying warm! Skiing took a lot of muscle and was hard work, but we seemed to get a hang of it pretty quickly! I only fell once which was on purpose because I was flying down the mountain and knew I probably couldn't stop myself going that fast so I turned and fell. My sister had been before and I sort of stayed with her as she walked me through it. The most terrifying part was getting off the lift to me. The people would get off the lift and then just stand there. I'm like seriously get out of the way or I will be running into you!  There were 14 of us and 9 of us got sick for one day so that wasn't the best we think due to the altitude and being extremely dehydrated, but we were blessed enough to have a HUGE house to accommodate all of us being sick. The house was absolutely amazing. It was three stories with an amazing basement! Jeff and I lucked out and got a room downstairs right by the theatre room, game room, and bar! =) I could definitely get use to living there! It just so happened the house is on the market currently for 2.1 million. We will get right on buying that! HA!. Jeff and I learned that we are more beach people and rather be by the water with a tropical drink in hand. But it was a great experience and good time and memories with our family. Here are a bunch of pictures to recap our trip! =)

most delicious fresh margaritas! definitely had one to many possibly resulting in me getting extra dehydrated! 

Happiest Baby in the world!

holding Uncle Babe's finger on the way to the airport 

Baby Shower Time!

So my friend Leslie and I are in charge of throwing our lovely friend Kerry a baby shower! She is on baby 3, but baby three wasn't planned completely and she got rid of all of her baby stuff a few years ago. So she really is in need of getting all of the basics back! She is going to have a sweet little girl! We are still waiting to hear the name! (which I'm hounding her about for monogram purposes for shower details) She is due in June so we have a few months to get the ball rolling on her shower. But due to my planning and OCD you know I have already started my lists of thing to do. She has decided on the nursery colors which are going to be white, grey, and yellow with a touch of owls here or there so my mind has started working and here is my inspiration thus far! I can't show everything as I am sure she will read my blog, so the good ideas are not going up! 

Going to the Chapel

When you say the word wedding I jump. Nothing gets me more excited than weddings, decorations and fun times with friends. Ashley and Carlton were planned to get married in November but had a small mishap with their reception venue going bankrupt so they pushed it back to February which just so happened to be my brothers birthday! Happy Birthday Tony!

It was a beautiful day and at a beautiful venue the Cummer Art museum. A little chilly out on the river but we couldn't be happier for them. It is always fun when one of our friends gets married because it is like a small high school reunion. We drank, ate, and danced the night away! Here are the few pictures that I took of the wedding...

We crammed so many people in George's truck as we only had a two minutes drive. it was hysterical to see all these huge men sitting on each others lap in the front. The pictures just don't do it justice. 

 
This is how the night ended!

We all stayed at a hotel downtown and we shared a room with Allie and B. I didn't get much sleep so two naps and going to bed at 9:30 were exactly what happened for me yesterday! My to do list is miles long as we are heading to Breckenridge on Thursday. So laundry is my top priority so we have plenty of warm clothes for this freezing weather that we are about to step into!

I have to say I am looking forward to going! There will be 15 of us all staying in one big mansion so it should be pretty fun! I am more excited to see the house than anything! Fingers crossed no broken bones. But I will make sure to take lots of pictures to share when we get back! I'm off to do laundry and cook chicken pot pie for Jeffrey!

Family Matters

It sure if a good thing I love my family and Jeff's as much as I do! Of course I have been teaching at the same school at my mom for a couple of years now! I have to admit it is nice to go into her small little fridge and always have a diet coke for me when I need it! We don't see each other to much since Im with little 2nd graders and she is 5th so our schedules don't really overlap. But to make it a little bit more family style at our school they just hired my mother-in-law to work as an aide there. They moved back from Lake City and I had her come start subbing at my school while she was looking for a job. They kept her busy and an aide job opened up so she took it! So now I work with both of my moms =) Only downfall when I have kids of my own my babysitters are with me at work! Also my sister comes up to our school a couple days in the afternoon to tutor some of our students so everyone knows Jamie and Delainey as well! It is a big family party at our school! Can't complain to much as it is nice to be with my family all the time!

Workout Wednesday!

Jeff and I have been on the work out kick! I normally go to the gym and go 30 min-1hr cardio after school but once Jeff got home last night he said want to work out and I said what the heck. He started showing me the exercises he did in college for football! Holy moly was it hard! He would get on the treadmill and run on a straight up incline for two minutes while I did the push ups, squats, lunges whatever he told me to and then we would switch and I would run and he would do the next set. It doesn't sound very challenging but we were both sweating like crazy after an hour of doing this! And both of our legs are sore. Nothing like blasting loud music when you work out so I am sure our neighbors weren't to thrilled with it blaring at 8:45 at night. It finally has come time to replace my tennis shoes i have been needing to for so long but every time I work out my feet killed so I went and picked up a pair today! 

I also scooped up some cute and comfy work out clothes the other day! Lululemon is amazing and so comfortable yet cute!

There are so many more things on my wish list! maybe for valentines I can snag a few more things because they are so comfortable.  I am off to football practice for the Mama's!

Juicing my way to being healthy

I have heard so much about juicers lately and to be honest I think I want to try it. Not sure how it will go, but I have been looking for a reasonable one. who knew there were so many different types that range from 50 bucks to 300. I don't want to waste a bunch of money but it is so good for you to get all the nutrients and it helps your skin. I am starting to panic about not taking good enough care of my skin while I'm young because it is fine and then what it will be like when im 40. So I'm starting to try to be healthier and take better care of it. I read that  by eating fruits and veggies, we absorb 30% of the nutrients and by juicing we absorb 90%. Here are the few I was looking at that are under 100 bucks so it isn't to bad. I am sure if I hate it I can always give it to my sister and she will find a use for it for Delainey.

Target

Bed Bath and Beyond

Jeff has bet me to try not to shop for the entire month of February. I asked for a little bit of clarification but he said clothing or things we don't need! He thinks I have an issue and I won't be able to do it, but I will prove him wrong I have self control. He said the only exception is when we go to Colorado we can shop so I agreed.  I am guessing the juicer will be apart of not being a necessity, so I better find some time to go scoop this baby up before Friday! 

This is the first recipe I will be trying. Sounds delish!

• 1 Kiwi - Peeled
• 6 Strawberries - Medium
• 1 Orange or 2 Clementines - Peeled
• 1/2 Mango - Peeled and Sliced
• 1 cup Pineapple Chunks - Fresh
• 1/2 cup Coconut Water - Fresh or Canned

I was reading an article the other day listing some veggies you should use for weight loss. here is the list. I may be in trouble because they all sound disgusting to me!

Cruciferous Vegetables List To Use When Juicing For Weight Loss: Cauliflower (white or purple) Broccoli (green or purple) Brussels sprouts Kale (green or purple) Bok choy (chinese cabbage or pak choi) Cabbage (green, red or purple) Collards greens Watercress Radish Broccoli sprouts Arugula (rocket) Kohlrabi (white or purple) Mustard greens Turnip Broccoflower Daikon It won't hurt to try so I will let you know how it goes!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend went by in a flash! We had a bye week in football which worked well because we went over to Ashley and Carlton's house for our monthly supper club! We took a month off due to all the holidays so it was nice to all get together! We had delicious food and bottles of wine ending the night with competitive games! 

Saturday it was a beautiful day so Jeff and I hit up the town center for lunch and some shopping. I had a few things on the list but I am starting to panic that I do not have enough warm clothes for our ski trip in a couple of weeks!  I have been trying to go get a few things here and there so I do not freeze my butt off out there. My friend just got back from Colorado and said it was the coldest she has ever been and she goes skiing quite a bit. 

Luckily I was over at her house on Saturday to celebrate Kerry's birthday I tried on some of her ski gear which fit perfectly! I didn't really want to go buy new ski stuff since I doubt this is where Jeff and I will be going on our trips. We are more warm island type of people, but you never know we may just love it!

I will for sure be ready for a little vacation after this week at school. It is Catholic Schools Week which means just lots of crazy events and activities for the kids to celebrate catholic schools. It started today with wacky tacky day, 100th day of school, and pancake breakfast for all the kids! My favorite is field day which is on friday because it is a competition and I am positive my class will win!! I have some awesome athletes who I have been giving pep talks to already! Then the teachers play the 8th grade in kick ball! Last year wasn't so good, but we have a younger crew this year so I think we will have a chance! The whole week is mere Chaos and craziness! Then we ended our day today with our fire alarm going off during the middle of dismissal and fire trucks coming! It is never dull being a teacher. Here is our 100th day worm we made today out of 100 sugar cookies and icing. 

I'm off to watch some bachelor and go to bed early!

Making Moves!

It is hard to believe January has almost come and gone! Jeff and I have been talking quite a bit lately about our plans for the next few years and what we want! Well I do most of the talking and he nods. So I sort of went back to see what my 30 for 30 list was to see if we could cross anything off or what else I might want to add. There were a few things I could cross off or I am working to crossing off. So here goes nothing....

We can cross off number 9 as Jeff and I did a few things this year to help some families in need for Christmas.

# 14 working out- I am currently back to finding time to do this and hopefully that will lead to me crossing off #22 about loosing some weight. I dread going to the gym because this is sad but true the thought of having to do my hair completely over again is dreadful that is what happens when you are blessed with out of control frizz hair! But after I feel so good so I am sucking it up!

We started # 21 with our trip to Nashville and watching the Jags! Hopefully they are better this year so it is a little more exciting! the most exciting part this year to Allie and I was what drink or food the boys would bring back to us in between possessions.

I am really working on # 19. about being a better listener.  My father one year gave my sister and I both a letter with a book. The book is called the Love Dare. I have always just put it in the bottom drawer of my desk and never really did much with it. (sorry Dad if you are reading this) But I was on a cleaning rampage the other day of all the closets and came across it. I decided I am going to take the dare! It is all about being a better wife. Each day there is a dare to do things or say nice things for your husband without wanting something in return. I am on day 3 and so far so good! Hopefully this will help out with my listening skills because so far they have been not saying anything negative. So even when I want to say "are you kidding" I hold it in =)

# 28- Annual Girls Weekend Trip- We are working on it. there are a few of us that keep saying lets do it but no plans have been made. I think we decided we wanted to go to Charleston but it is finding a time when it works for everyone! I won't cross it off since it isn't booked!

#15- Throw Jeff a party is in the works! I have wanted to host a Beer Olympics with teams and games with prizes so we will see how busy we get but I am thinking about doing it for his birthday this year in April!

Now for one that I am excited about!  Jeff and I have been doing a lot of talking and we all know what I love to do is plan PARTIES! I could think of any reason to throw a party just because I want to have something to do and plan! My poor husband doesn't appreciate the amount of money and time I put into every party but hey who doesn't love a good one! People remember the little things! I've always said I wanted to plan, but where we live isn't' the best place for it. Well I decided it is time to get the ball rolling anyway. Whether I don't do anything with it or I open up my own little business I have to go back to school to get certified as a party planner! So Jeff said go for it and this summer I am going to take a class to become a certified wedding planner. I don't really want to only do weddings but birthday parties, anniversaries you name it! We will see where God wants me to go with it but honestly I buy so much stuff it will be nice to write some of it off once I start a little business! So yay!
So I am crossing off # 10!

That is it for now! I will continue to try to work on crossing some more off!

1. Buy a House (Accomplished and have been living In our house for 2 months now happy as ever).
 2. Get pregnant at some point
 3.Visit Napa Valley and go to all the vineyards (think this would be a great girls trip)
 4. Zip Lining in Costa Rica
 5. Get a nice camera/video camera and take more pictures
 6. Go to Ellen Show
 7. Visit Italy and parts of Europe (this will be a difficult one because Jeff has no desire to go)
 8. Run Disney Half Marathon (maybe walk some too)
 9. Give a family in need Christmas
 10. Start party planning on the side
 11. Spend Christmas in NYC (jeff has never been)
 12. Attend a bible study regularly
 13. become a better cook/take a cooking class
 14. work out 3-5 times a week
15. throw Jeff a big birthday party
 16. Host a formal dinner party at our house with a chef
 17. Learn how to play golf so I can play with jeff
18. Start a supper club with friends and family
 19. Become a better listener and less stubborn
20. Read more books
21. Go to a road football trip every year (obviously Jeff's input)
22. Loose 10-15 more pounds
 23. learn how to make homemade meatballs like my Bumpa and Jeff's Pop Pop
24. Still be teaching
25. Take salsa dancing class
 26. start up volleyball program at my school 
27. Finish Decorating our house (will this ever happen? probably not)
28. Have an annual girls weekend trip
 29. Build a pergola in my backyard
30. Have a big 30th birthday party!!

Savannah

We are back from Savannah and had a great time! Jeff and I absolutely love it there I would move there if I didn't have to leave my family, we both agreed if we found a reasonable place and had money we would buy a little condo there. We go so much we probably spend more money in hotels then we would in a little one or two bedroom that us and our friends could stay in. Maybe down the road that is something we could do! When we got there we went and ate at this delicious restaurant called Soho. It was very eclectic and a small little art gallery up front, but the food was amazing. It was like in an old warehouse looking place with chairs and tables it looked like they found on the side of the road.  I wish I would have taken a picture of my food, but I had the organic grilled chicken panini with pasta salad which was heaven and Jeff has the roast beef panini which was delicious at well. We will for sure be going back there for lunch because there were so many things I wanted to try. 

After lunch we walked around the area which we haven't been to before. I found a cute little boutique and we went and did a little shopping. Then we walked in and out of some antique furniture stores. Then I came upon a small little store called La Paperie. I loved it. You could get little gifts, wrapping paper and all sorts of stationery. 

One of Jeff's co workers was there with his girlfriend so we went and had a few drinks with them went and listened to some live music in city market. Then we went to my favorite roof top bar to watch the sunset! We have great drinks and a few appetizers and then went to get freshened up for dinner. We went to Alligator Soul, which we went to a few years ago. It was good but not like I remember. It wasn't my favorite meal but it could have been my appetite wasn't very big since we had a big lunch and an appetizer already! I do like the atmosphere of it being underground with old brick walls. 

After dinner we were stuffed and exhausted so we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. It was nice just to spend the day with Jeff! We came back home to reality of cleaning and loads of laundry my favorite thing!!