Monday-Getting Into Gear!!!

Hello everyone, Happy Monday! Hope you all had a blessed Easter! We really enjoyed the time with our family as well as seeing the Passion Drama at a new church we checked out! Lance & Adam really enjoyed the service and kept asking us questions. It's so nice to see them involved and wanting to learn about our Savior!

Anyways, today is a new day for me because I'm starting my running training for a run I'm doing in August. I have an injury that doesn't allow for me to run, but I received a new brace on Friday from the VA in hopes that I can run again! Started my training with the brace today and it felt good, so hoping that it works out for me!

Also, today starts my new weight loss challenge at Krave in Osakis, MN which focus's on Nutritional Health using Herbalife Products. The program goes 6 weeks, takes before and after measurements and helps you keep on track to meet your goal. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I succeed because I was not happy with the info I was given!!! It said I had a body of a 48 year old at age 30...YIKES! So needless to say, I'm going to do it, I'm going to stick to it, I'm going to embaress myself so I reach my goal and I'm sharing with whomever reads this blog so that I have more accountablitiy than just myself and my Herbalife gal...Keeping the fingers crossed that this is not in vain! LOL

So here are my before pictures and starting information:

Age: 30 Height: 5'2"

Starting Weight: 147.6 lbs

Body Fat: 36.7 {YIKES}

Metabolic Age: 48

Waiste: 32"

Hips: 39"

My goal is to get my body fat down to 27% and my metabolic age down to 30...hoping I get there at the end of my transformation process!!! Then I can brag about how healthy I am and how good I look! LOL...Wish me luck everyone!

Organization: Entry Unit

Hello everyone! Happy Thursday!

This past Sunday, I had pent up energy and went to cleaning. I am in the process of turning my spare room from a stamp catastrophe to a guest bedroom/craft room. I spaced taking a before picture {trust me when I say it was HORRIBLE!}...but did manage to take a picture about an hour into the cleaning process...Will post later in time to give the full effect...but for now, wanted to share my latest accomplishment for spring cleaning!

So Sunday, I was fed up with our PILE of coats, boots, shoes, mittens, hats, pants, sweatshirts, etc. in our entry room from the garage. The room is 26x26' and really isn't used for anything except kids toys and a pool table. No one sees this room except us. So for the past 5 years, we've been laying our stuff in one big pile. No rhyme or reason to the madness. And with 3 boys, it was getting very difficult to find matching shoes or mittens!!!

So I set off to organize the chaos that was the entry...Here is a midway through pictures, because again, I forgot to take the before because I was in such a flurry!!! And also, here is the after. I took an old metal shelving unit that was in my stamp room and moved it to be my new entryway organizer!!! Very frugal in my opinion because I'm reusing a system I didn't need anymore, also reused 3 wicker baskets! So total cost is $0! LOL...Organized 72 pair of shoes, sandals, boots and slippers; 12 hoodies; 14 winter jackets; 4 snowpants/suites; 11 hats, 4 scarves, 13 pairs of mittens, and a partridge in a pair tree! LOL...

Hope you find it useful...if not, thanks for letting me think you do! Woot woot!

Family Time: Spring Mini Vacation

Hello everyone! Happy Monday!

Wow, what a fun and busy weekend! Our weekend was 4 days long. Took a trip with the family to stay at a Hotel/Waterpark in Brainerd, MN. BEAUTIFUL Country up there. Only about an hour from here, but enough vacation when traveling with 3 young boys. We weren't able to get outside at all because it rained the entire time we were there, but we did enjoy lots of games and activities. We were comped 80 tokens to play in the arcade. Lance & I tried our best to win tickets for some small prizes to take home while Adam & Daddy didn't do anything but ride the Thomas ride! Needless to say, Adam was in "Heaven"!We spent a lot of time shopping and eating as well as a lot of time enjoying the waterpark itself. Out of the 3 Waterpark Hotels in the Brainerd/Baxter area, the Holiday Inn is by far the best when traveling with children. Especially children under 42". Lance was able to ride the slides with an adult, swim the canals and the big pool and run around on the children's park. This is also best for smaller children because it is 0" all around so you don't have to worry about not watching them in case of "accidents"...The slide is also perfect for smaller children and every 30 minutes, they have a bucket that dumps all over the waiting bystanders on the ground...

Adam after going down the slide with daddy!

Adam waiting for daddy & Lance to come down the waterslide!

Lance waiting for daddy & Adam to come down the waterslide!

GIANT water bucket that would spill onto the waiting crowd below every 30 minutes. A warning bell goes off for 5 minutes so you can stop whatever you are doing and make it over to the bucket dumping! So fun!

Lance after the dumping of the water!

Baby Jack does not enjoy water like his older brothers. He just hung out in the stroller, mostly trying not to get wet and trying to take a snooze...

Lance putting his swimming lessons to the test in the deap waters of the "big boy" pool! {On a side note, Lance past 6 levels of swim lessons in only 3 months! What a fabulous accomplishment! Mom & Dad are so proud!}

I'm not a walking spokesperson, I just really enjoy mini vacations with my family, and since we enjoy outdoors as well as waterparks, we most likely end up in Brainerd sooner or later so have come to favor the Holiday Inn.

But, by the time we got home, all the kiddos and adults needed to catch up on some sleep and get things put back in order. Good thing we came home Saturday so we had some time to recoup before back to the work week!

Anyways, hope you all have a wonderful day!

Feeling Blessed...God is good.

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! It is chilly, windy, cloudy and feels like spring outside. So even though I am not able to let the kiddos play outside, we are still enjoying the day.

I went on a date night with the Hubs last night. It was wonderful! We rarely get to go out and enjoy ourselves because we don't have many people able to watch our children when we do go. But last night, I was able to reel in my friend Kelly to come sit with the kids. She is a saint, and we are so grateful to have her in our lives! Not just for a baby sitter, but she is rapidly becoming a very close friend and we just met in October. So needless to say, her offering to watch the kids for FREE so Michael and I could go out was absolutely fantabulous! {However, I did sneak a Happy Easter & Spring card into her purse from the kids with a $20 in it...I knew she wouldn't take it otherwise! LOL}...

This picture was taken 4 years ago...I sadly realized when going through my pictures that Michael and I don't have any pictures together, AND we don't have pictures of each other seprately...needless to say, I'm making a resolution to change that...Here is my handsome Michael. Inside and out, this man is so amazing...can't believe God gave him to me! WOW...just in awe daily. In case you aren't jealous of me already, I'll just throw in there that he also does dishes, laundry, bathing of the kiddos, yard work, watches the kids, plays with the kids, dotes on me, AND finds time to shoot his bow and exercise daily...how he does it, I'll never know, but am so grateful for all he does for me and our family...I'm so in love with this man and can't express enough how blessed I am...

So on our date, Michael and I went to Taco Johns for Taco Tuesday! He had 3 hardshells, I had a fish taco, we split a potato ole and drank water. Total bill: $5.32...Then we went to the movie 21 Jump Street with Tatum Channing and Jonah Hill...Tuesday night is cheap night {$6.50 each ticket} and ordered a #1 which includes a large pop and a large popcorn and Michael had to get his Skittles, {Total Concession Bill: $10.00}...Spending time laughing till my sides hurt with the Hubs while not-so-secretly drooling over Tatum Channing...PRICELESS!!!

Even though I love spending time at home with my wonderful family, it feels good to get out on a date...but I did miss the kiddos while we were gone! Here are some reason's why!!!

I'm so thankful and so blessed to have a friend who loves children and doesn't mind looking after them every once in a while. I'm also so blessed to have such a wonderful husband that makes me smile throughout the day when I think of him, which is pretty often because I'm constantly calling him at his work and getting him into trouble just to tell him something new the kids did that afternoon!!! I'm so thankful and blessed that my children have a crush on my friend Kelly so that they are nice to her and listen when she tells them it is bedtime! LOL...Most of all, I'm just feeling blessed.

God is good and every day he is with me, is a day I feel blessed...

Domestic Tip: Soft Brown Sugar

Hello everyone! Happy Weekend to you all!!!

Want to quickly share with you all a pretty neat trick I discovered this past week while making my Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes!!! When I went to make these, I got all my ingredients out the night before. I noticed I had 3 half bags of brown sugar. Then I noticed why I had 3 half used bags! They were hard as a rock. And I was about to toss them and call hubby to stop at the store on his way home to pick up some more when it hit me...maybe there is a way out of this situation and I can use the left overs!

I went online, but for some reason, the words I was typing in didn't trigger any help from pinterest, yahoo or google. I remember growing up that someone would put all their brown sugar into a container and stick a bread slice or an apple slice to help keep it moist...Well, I've obviously never thought of this because my bags have a chip clip on top! LOL...

So after remembering these tricks of the trade, I thought maybe I could put those tips to the test and see if they can bring brown sugar bricks back to life. So I took 1 brick, broke it up {which was difficult to do and messy} and put it in a container. I stuck a bread slice on top and put a lid on it. Woke up the next morning to brown sugar that was like sand beneath the toes! {Not sure that analogy is accurate as I've never stood in a bag or box of brown sugar, but it's what I imagine it would feel like! LOL}...So now I know, and I hope you will find it useful as well! I wonder how many 1/2 full bags of brown sugar I've thrown away over the years? I know more than $20 worth, that's for sure! No more wasted money over brown sugar!!!

Enjoy your weekend!

Kitchen Test: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to pop in and quickly share with you some cupcakes I decided to give a try. I found them in an old cookbook I had around the house and decided to adapt them. I will say this, they don't look so pretty when not frosted as they look like they are literally topped with a cookie! to me, that looks pretty cause I like a good cookie, but for some, not so much. I was going to pip frosting onto the top to make more pretty, but I felt that would be too much frosting, plus the frosting wasn't as stiff as I like for piping, so I just used a spatula and frosted. I then topped with a bittersweet chocolate drizzle and some chocolate sprinkles and man-o-man were these things tastey!!! I love testing new recipes! Yum Yum! Anyways, I hope you find them as delicious as my kiddos and hubby did!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

Yield: 24 {fill liners 1/2 full}

1 cup Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

6 Tlb. Butter @ Room Temp

3/4 cup Peanut Butter

1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar

2 Eggs @ Room Temp

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Milk

2 cup Mini Chocolate Chip (or regular, doesn't matter)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, set aside.

2. Cream butter & sugars in a stand mixer. Add eggs, one at a time mixing well after each addition. Add Peanut Butter and mix for 1 minute. Add Vanilla.

3. Combine Flour, Baking Powder & Salt.
4. Alternately add Flour Mixture with Milk to batter, beginning and ending with Flour.

5. Using a spatula, fold in Chocolate Chips.

6. Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full with batter. Bake @ 350 degrees for 22 minutes.

7. Allow to cool completely before frosting!

Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup Butter @ Room Temp

1-1/4 cup Powder Sugar {more for thicker consistency}

1/2 tsp Salt

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Whole Milk

1. Cream Butter & Peanut Butter in a stand mixer.

2. Add Sugar & Salt.

3. Add Milk & Vanilla & Mix until smooth.

4. Frost Cupcakes. {For thinner or thicker cupcakes, add more Powder Sugar 1/4 cup at a time or 1 Tlb. Whole Milk at a time}

Chocolate Drizzle

1/2 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

2 Tlb. Whole Milk

1. Combine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Heat on high power for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat 30 more seconds. Repeat 1 more time if not smooth.

2. If not smooth, add more milk.

3. Drizzle over cupcakes.

Talapia Fish Cakes-Super Nummy!!!

Hello everyone!

I love fish. Especially seafood! I always buy Talapia, it seems the most versatile, and I make fish tacos for my lunches...{I'll have to remember to post my recipe!!!} But I was getting burnt out on my tacos. I saw an episode of Chopped on the Food Network where someone made a fish cake...So me being me, I thought, "Hey, I can do that"...I tried researching Talapia Fish Cakes, but I couldn't find any recipe using this fish, so what I did was took a few different recipes to fit my flavor profile and adapted it to fit the beautiful fish that is Talapia...lol...

Here's what I came up with! Hope you enjoy! Let me know if you adapt it or add changes to it so that I can maybe try them out sometime!

Talapia Fish Cakes
Makes 6-8 cakes

2 Talapia Fillets {dusted with S&P and fried in oil then flaked}

2 Tlb Oil {I use Olive Oil, just cause I love it!}

Salt & Pepper {To Taste, I also add some to the batter}

1 Onion {Chopped & Cooked for 1 minute}

1/4 c. Flour

1/4 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Cheyenne Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Egg {lightly beaten}

1. Fry and flake seasoned Talapia in oil {about 2 minutes on each side}

2. Fry onions for 1 minute. Set aside. Add 2 Tlb. oil to pan and heat.

3. Create your fish cakes by adding all ingredients to a bowl, mixing until just combined.

4. Spoon into smaller patties and place in hot oil. Fry on each side for about 2 minutes each.

5. Serve immediately with a dipping sauce of your choice. I used Chipotle Ranch Dressing sprinkled with Dill.

I was able to get a high rating out of my husband with this recipe. He doesn't like fish, so that was a huge accomplishment for me!!!