What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday to ya!  I hope you are having a wonderful week so far.  Don't forget it's humpday, we're over halfway to the weekend!

Linking up with Jamie at This Kind of Love, to all share what's making us smile today!

- I'm loving that we're about to have two visits from family in the next two weeks. Hurray!  Baron's Dad is coming up early next week on a stop to another trip he's going on.  I'm trying to think of something delicious to whip up and impress my father-in-law.  Fred, any ideas?! ;)   Then in about two weeks my parents are flying up to spend the weekend with us.  I'm so excited to show them our new house.  Well, the pile of dirt where our house will one day be!  Trying to think of exciting things to do and show them while they're visiting.  Do any of you locals have any good ideas?

- I'm loving that I lost three pounds this week at my weigh-in!  Say whaaaaa?!  So I'm not entirely sure why that happened because I didn't really do anything different than normal, but I guess if you are persistent sometimes you may be in for a little happy surprise!

- I'm loving all the weird dreams I've been having lately.  Last night I dreamt that I was asleep and woke up (are you following?) to find my husband at our dining room table furiously flipping through magazines.  I walked up and saw that they were all home decorating magazines, think Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living, etc.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Brekke, what's wrong with you! We've got to start thinking about decorating our house! I've got a few idea boards for you..." and then he pulled up several posters of all of his ideas that he ripped out of the magazines. Haha, I don't think he could care any less about the decor for our new house, but tonight I'm gonna ask him if he's seen my copy of Better Homes and Gardens to see if his ears perk up, ha!

- I'm loving that it's almost Friday, which means that it'll be two weeks since we went to the design center for our house, which means supposedly construction will be started!  They said two weeks, which I took as at least a month because nothing has gone according to schedule lately.  Baron and I placed bets on when our closing date for our house would be.  I said June 28th and Baron's guess was "right around the time we need it to be done", never one for a commitment, that boy!  We need it to be done at the beginning of June because our lease for our apartment runs until June 13th.  I just can't see them starting construction, finishing the build, doing our walk throughs, fixing anything found in the walk throughs, scheduling closing, getting all of our necessary paperwork for closing, and actually closing before the first of June, but we shall see.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! xoxo

He's Home :)

Good Monday morning to ya!  I'd love to tell you all about the exciting things that I did this weekend, but I got nothin'!  Baron was gone on a business trip to Gainesville, Florida for a few days and got back around lunchtime yesterday.  I was so happy to have a small snippet of the weekend left to enjoy with him.

Baron was asked to go on a recruiting trip for his company to Gainesville and he was happy to go back to his old stomping grounds for a few days.  Baron hasn't been back to Florida since we moved in June of last year, so I was excited for him.  After he was finished with the business part, he was able to drive to his parents' house about an hour away and spend the rest of the weekend with them.  I'll admit, I was a little sad about him being in Florida without me! But I have been back to Florida twice, just last month and in September, and no, he didn't complain at all. 

I did find time in my busy weekend (ha!) to paint my nails a cute little pink and grey combo:



When Baron got home on Sunday we went and grabbed some lunch at Subway, one of the easiest places to eat on Weight Watchers.  Then decided to go check out a place in our town that we had heard about but never seen before.

This is a 17,000 square foot mansion that was built in 1886 and now is occupied by two women that are supposedly very serious about their safety and neighborhood watch program!  We've heard stories of people driving by to take photos and being sprayed with a water hose and screamed at.  Also, lots of accounts of the resident blinding people who drive by with a huge flood light from inside her window. This mansion does not belong in the neighborhood that it's in.  It's surrounded by really old, tiny houses so it sticks out like a sore thumb!  It kind of reminds me of the Scooby Doo mansion.

We drove by fairly quickly and I managed to snap just one picture before I started squealing and telling Baron to drive away.  I just knew she was going to pop out of the bushes and start throwing rocks at our car.  We're thinking this is going to be a new place that we take our visitors :)

We got some good snuggle time in after driving past that old mansion and watched several episodes of Campus PD. It's just like Cops, but you feel a little less sorry for the miserable people they feature on the show because most likely they're just drunk college kids trying to figure things out for themselves.  Campus PD is our guilty pleasure show that we aren't proud of watching!  After a few episodes of Campus PD and a short cat nap I whipped up a delicious dinner if I do say so myself.  And I do say so.



SkinnyTaste- Chicken & Broccoli Noodle Casserole



Click the link above and make this soon! You won't be sorry!  It was 6 points for a serving, which was pretty big.  I used skim milk instead of 1% and No-Yolk noodles and it turned out great.  It must sound like the blogger behind SkinnyTaste is paying me, but I assure you, she is just that good!

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Has anyone seen my 20lbs?

I seem to have lost it!  And I have no intention of finding it again.  I have maintained my weight loss for about 2 months now.  And let me clarify my use of the word "maintained".  More like I gain two pounds, I lose to pounds, and repeat.  It's not necessarily intentional, but it's certainly better than the scale consistently moving up.  I am now in an acceptable, healthy weight range for my height, but I'd prefer to lose a few more pounds in order to feel even better.

This is screenshot of the weight tracker on my phone,  of course some of the important numbers have been cropped.  A lady never tells, and you get the idea anyway.  Look at that quick progress at the beginning of my journey...then it kind of becomes a bumpy road towards the end.  It has taken me a very long time, but the good news is that it's been totally do-able and I rarely feel like I'm missing out. 

I'd like to share some of the things that have helped me:

- My husband- Bless his heart, he's been eating all the creations I'm making and is a constant cheerleader, support system, and shoulder to lean on.  He's a perfect mix of drill sergeant and person who lets me cheat occasionally. 

- Skinny Taste Blog- Seriously y'all, this gal's blog has been a huge part of my journey.  I make about three of her recipes each week and haven't had any that have been a flop.  I talk about some of my favorites in this post.  Sometimes diets and weight loss plans can get boring because I feel like I have to eat a meat and a vegetable, separately, with no sauce.  But that's not true! Check out the SkinnyTaste blog and get some inspiration!

- LaCroix Sparkling Water- I don't like plain water.  There, I said it.  I'm really trying and I have noticed that I feel better when I'm drinking more, but I just don't like it.  I discovered these flavored seltzer waters at Kroger when they were on sale.  I've had the coconut, lemon, and grapefruit flavors and loved them all.  I drink 1-2 of these per day.  Throw in a bottle of water or two and and a Diet Cherry Coke and I've almost had all my liquids for the day!

- Going to Weight Watcher Meetings- I am a person who just can't do this on my own.  Do I have all the tools and knowledge? Yes!  I just need that extra accountability of stripping down to my bottom layer and removing my shoes & belt just like at airport security checks.  The topics discussed at meetings are never too deep and people can participate as much or as little as they like. 

- Cheat Day-  I am a firm believer in cheat day.  It may not work for some people but it does for me.  I usually do my weigh in on Tuesday morning, and after my weigh in I take the rest of the day off.  I don't track anything and usually I even put my food journal out of sight.  I eat whatever I want and usually Baron and I go out for dinner and dessert.  It's a day to feel normal, I suppose.  This works for me because I can make better choices during the week knowing that on Tuesday I can have whatever I want.  This is all mental for me and I have to figure out how to trick myself :)

Here are the best I can do for before and after pictures:

Like I said before, I have a few more pounds I'd like to lose and I know I'm capable of it.  I know things might slow down even more, but I'm okay with that, I just want to make sure the scale's moving in the right direction, however slowly that may be.

"It's Ok" Thursday

Hello friends!  Writer's block = Link up time!  Today I'm linking up with Neely to just say, "It's ok!!"

- It's okay that I've already had 2 cups of coffee today and it's only 9:00!

- It's okay to be totally off "housewife duties" whenever Baron goes out of town.  My bed is not made, the dishes are not done, nothing is actually cooked, the dog's toys aren't cleaned up.

- It's okay to have a mad-dash of a clean up happen about an hour before my hubby gets home from his work trips.

- It's okay that my weight loss success has a lot to do with whether or not we've been watching The Biggest Loser, ha!

- It's okay that we picked out all of the lighting for our house this weekend and I really shouldn't have been given that authority.  I hope we did okay!  One of the fixtures we chose:

- It's okay that our dog, Max is the craziest dog at his obedience class and everyone always acts shocked when he performs well.  Rude!  He's a quick learner and can show up most of the dogs in his class, it just takes him a few minutes to calm down.



Hi friends!!



- It's okay to be ridiculously excited about even the slightest amount of forward progress on our house.  The other day I drove by our lot and noticed something new!  At least they're anticipating the need to hang up some permits soon!



Yay! An empty permit box, haha!



- It's okay to scour the internet to find a recipe for this "Strawberry Jello Salad" that we had recently at a cute little restaurant near our house. Yum!

Happy Birthday Macey!

Happy Monday y'all!  Another week is upon us and Valentine's Day is tomorrow!  Tomorrow is another very special day in our family.  Macey turns 4 years old!  Both our pups were born on minor holidays (Max was born on Cinco de Mayo!) which we think is kinda neat.  There respective holidays match their demeanor perfectly.  Macey is a calm, loving, sweetheart of a dog that most everyone loves when they meet her.  Max, on the other hand, is a non stop "fiesta" and brings the party/chaos wherever he goes.

Macey likes to remind Baron that she was here first.  Like when she's sitting next to me on the couch and Baron wants to sit down I can practically hear her saying, "Move along, bud! It was just me and Mommy before you ever came along."  I'm thankful, though, that Baron loves Macey as much as I do :)

Just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of Macey, if you don't like cute Boston Terriers, you should probably stop reading now ;)



May 21, 2008- The day I brought Macey home @ 11 weeks old (I got married exactly three years later on this day!)



Such a little diva :)



Macey's 1st Birthday, my best friend and I had a party for both our 'girls' who were born 2 weeks apart

Doesn't everybody have a party for their pups?! Ha!

My mother in law did a fabulous photo shoot with Macey for Christmas one year- My all time favorite photo of her :)



Macey on our trip to FL in September, I think she was happy to be back in the Sunshine State!

 Some people just aren't dog people so they'd never understand how much joy a sweet puppy can bring to your life.  Although the vet bills, late night walks, additional dirt in the house, and waking up early to go outside hasn't always been fun...I wouldn't trade her for the world.  For a while, it was just Macey and me.  She got me through so hard times and has been around for the best ones too.  I just love my sweet girl.  Happy 4th Birthday, Macey!

Can I get a "Thank God, Hallelujah?!"

Love that song! Anyway....

This morning Baron and I went to the design center for our new house and picked out everything.  I won't bore you to death with all the little details but y'all, we had to choose grout colors for four different places in our house: bathroom tile, grout between the outdoor brick, fireplace tile grout, and for the kitchen back splash.  And there were about twenty five different "neutral" colors of grout to choose from.  Ack!

Baron and I had a pretty good idea of what we wanted in the big picture but I guess we forgot to think about the little details like what color grout we wanted and which of the twenty choices of doors we would like in our bedroom :)

Some other things we decided on:
Brick Color- They had our first choice available!
Front Door- A very dark brown
Outside Trim/Window- Beige
Shingles- Very dark grey/ almost black
Indoor Trim- White
Hardwoods- The wood is oak in a color called "Pecan" (pics below)
Hardware- Brushed Stainless Steel

There were countless other decisions to be made, but these were the big ones!  We picked a carpet that we like and has a variety of colors in it to be neutral and hide stains! Hey, I'm realistic.  And we successfully picked paint colors that we both agreed on. Yay!



Our cabinets (with our granite and backsplash selections)



These colors are all a bit warmer in person

Our hardwoods with a better shot of our granite and really dark portrayal of the cabinets

And did you notice the little heart on my thumb?

Happy Valentine's Day! <3