Grocery List

Here's a fun grocery list I use that I wanted to share with all of you. I've been terrible at keeping ingredients on hand lately because I haven't been making a menu of any kind. I'm so lazy and even though it's a pain, I have discovered that planning a teensy bit ahead helps me stay calmer throughout the week because I'm not FREAKING OUT when there's nothing in the fridge to throw together for dinner. Even if you don't keep the assigned meals on the assigned days, at least you'll have all of your ingredients for that week.

I'm clueless when it comes to internet documents - but I think that if you click on this picture, it'll take you to Photobucket and you can hit the "download" tab. When you print it out, make sure you choose the "landscape" (wide) option. I've inquired with a computer genius on how to do this the right way - so maybe I'll have a better download later.

We've Got a Website!

Hi Ladies! Okay, so our friend Tamara and her hubby have gone OUT OF THEIR WAY to help us out with our Fitness Challenge. They've set up a website HERE for us to track our progress, communicate, and stay motivated. SO..

1.) Go to the website and sign up
2.) Check your email for verification
3.) Wait to be assigned a profile in order to log your progress. (or in my case...lack of progress...)

Once you have a profile, you can log in, log your stats, and use the message board. How AWESOME is this?! It's just what we needed and I'm so excited I could blow! Now you don't have to wait for me to check my huge email inbox - we can post right to the website!

A GIGANTICLY huge thanks to Tamara and her hubby Josh!!! You guys rock! (don't you just love it when you make friends with really smart, capable people?! How beneficial!)

I Cut my Hair!

No, seriously - I came home from the gym yesterday and felt a hair crisis coming on...so I grabbed some scissors! Ahhh!!! What an idiot! But I love my bangs - I'm not gonna lie. (um...and my roots are NOT that dark...I think Photoshop is messing with us.) I think I need a beautician fix 'em up a little bit - but otherwise I feel even more springy! Now I think I have more confidence to start up mine and Kadie's "Hot Moms Trackball League." Let's be honest - with cute hair, more people are willing to listen to what you have to say...

(**For those who know me, every Spring I do something seriously drastic with my hair. Last year I chopped it all off, this year I vowed not to do that because I want to grow it out. The only thing left to cut were bangs. Hair is grown to be cut, right?)

Cooking 101 - Summer Fresh & Easy

It's time to make dinner and I DON'T want to do it. If only I hadn't been so hasty in firing our chef....(and the maid...and the nanny....)

So here's something quick'n'easy for days like today. This dinner SERIOUSLY takes 15 minutes to make - and 30 minutes to cook. And it's pretty healthy, too.

Go get you some of this Weber BBQ rub - it's SO good. Pull some frozen chicken breasts out of the freezer, thaw for a few minutes in the microwave, and rub them down with this stuff, and maybe a little salt. Toss them on the grill on med-low heat for about 20-30 minutes, turning once, and in the meantime...




...You'll prepare your roasted veggies. Preheat the oven to 450-475 degrees. Cut up some potatoes, carrots, and onion (I used leeks), toss with some salt (sea salt is the best), pepper, dried thyme, and a generous helping of olive oil. Get your hands in there and toss those things. Roast until they turn golden brown all over and are fork tender, stirring at least once or twice.

If you use leeks, don't add them until half-way through. They're very thin and will burn easily. Onions should be fine, though.

And THEN...if you're lucky like me and have a smoothie maker, you can whip up a delishy, healthy smoothie to go with your fab dinner. (I need to do a smoothie post because they're my fave.)

Dinner is done and, once again, you come across as a goddess. Now, I'm just warning you...you're gonna be sitting there, while your chicken and veggies are cooking, and go, "What the?! That's it? Shouldn't I be working up a sweat or stressing?" but no, baby, dinner is taken care of and you can hide in the bathroom for a sec with that Anthropologie catalog that came in the mail and hope against all hope you win the lottery so you can afford the $800 dress you LOVE in there! (...and the $90 shoes and the $400 handbag...)

Fitness Challenge Stats

Hey Ladies! So....if there's one thing I'm learning from all of this, it's that you're apparently not supposed to eat chocolate chip cookies every day for four days straight. Geeze - what's that all about? (It's dumb if you ask me.) So...if you MUST know...I'm still at a big, fat ZERO. I do have the excuse of three weeks totally dedicated to 1 injured kid, 1 week of spring break, and then 2 ultra sick kids for a solid week. How's a girl supposed to go to the gym with that kind of junk going on?! Whateva - I'm re-dedicating myself RIGHT NOW. (after I have a Dove Dark)

Oh, but Kadie totally told me her trick. She's lost four pounds in a week because she has bronchitis. So that's something, eh? You just sit around, cough all day, and have no appetite. Kadie, I'm jealous of the killer abs you're going to have after all of this blows over...

K-so it looks like we've got some seriously motivated sisters out there (SMS's) and they're ON FIRE!!

In the lead: Jenna Z. - with 5.39% (holy crap, Jenna!)
In close 2nd: Joanna B. - witih 5%
Pulling up in 3rd: Tisha H. - 4.76%
Honorable mention: Wendy O. - 4.43%

So it's Jenna, Joanna, Tisha, and Wendy we've all got to try to beat! Let's go, girls! Work harder!!! (I'm right behind you...waaaayyyyy behind you!!!)

Flower Clips - May Enrichment

F.Y.I. - I've posted the flower clippy tute for those of you who are TOTALLY RAD and can't wait to make one. May your blossoms be bloomy.

Okay, so I'm in charge of Home, Family and Personal Enrichment for our ward and I'm always on the hunt for fun things to do with my ladies. For those of you who like to see what others are up to, or if you're in the same boat as I am, I'll share the scoop for our May activity.

To begin with, I wanted a specific theme called "Flourish, Flower, and Bear Good Fruit" based on this talk. We've got some gardening experts whom I'm going to tap into so they can share their pearls of knowledge with those of us (prob'ly just me) who are gardenally-challenged. Then, I'm going to have someone present some garden fresh recipes with samples for us to get some new, summery recipe ideas. (It's always the simplest thing that someone will come up with that will make my brain spark!) For our activity portion we're making these gorgeous flower adornments, and then we're having dirt cake for dessert! How fun is that?! I'm excited because, like I've said maybe a million times, I'M SICK OF WINTER AND GRAYNESS! Horray for May!

Flower Clips Tutorial

It's FLOWER CANDY! I could EAT it all! Power to the flower, girls. And just in time for May Day! (whatever May Day is...) But how fun to give one to each of your friends on May Day!

So apparently BIG FLOWER accessories are all the rage right now and I've seen these all over the place. Naturally, on account of my need to fit in at all costs, I had to make my own.

You can clip them in you hair, clip them on a purse, glue them on a skinny headband, or clip one on your shirt as a brooch - the possibilities are endless. UH-DOR-ABLE.

I have no more words.





















































Okay - so you'll need a few supplies. Flowers, buttons, sparklies, etc., and whichever clip you're going to use. I prefer the "aligator" clip - the top one - simply because they're SO versatile. I get mine at "Ribbons and Bows, Oh My!".

DON'T FORGET TO PLUG IN THE GLUE GUN!


















First I wanted to show you that if you're loving your purchased flower just the way it is and you don't want to take it apart, you can remove the middle, glue in something pretty there, and add your clip to the back and be done.



Just make sure you clip off the stem before you glue the clip on.


































Otherwise, take ALL of your flowers apart, throwing away all of the plastic pieces. You don't need 'em.





Now is where it gets really fun. You get to totally play!! Using the larger petals on the bottom, play with your colors, shapes, and designs until you get something you love.

Once you're satisfied, turn them upside-down and work from the bottom. Lay the bottom piece down, add a little glue around the middle, and stick the next piece on top of it. Keep going on this way until you've got your flower all glued down.










If your bottom petals are too floppy, add a drop of glue to them and press them to the middle petals.


Now you're ready to finish off with a middle sparkly.












If you choose a button with a back on it, I'd suggest cutting it off somehow. Otherwise, you can sew the button to your flower with a needle and thread *carefully* because you have dried glue to deal with. I will guarantee that you'll loose your sparkle button if you try to hot glue that knobby end to the middle of your flower - unless you use 5 glue sticks to make a giant mound of glue! (eww. don't do that.)

To make a covered button, you'll need this handy little kit from your craft store. Covered buttons are SO cool. I think you should get this kit just so you can make one and use it on something random!

The back of the packaging has good directions but I'll show you here, as well.





I wanted a specific part of my fabric scrap to be in the middle, so I held my button there while I cut around the fabric.






Then you put the fabric inside the little rubber mold thingie - and put the button piece in the middle of the fabric. Trim up the edges of your fabric a little bit to prevent bulging.





Press everything together with the tool and you have a custom-made button!!!







I tried using felt to secure my clip to the flower but I like using this method instead. (The felt was making my hair slip out of the clip!)

Using a small flower, put your clip right in the middle of one of the notched areas. You're going to put glue on the petals and the back of the clip, securing it to the big flower.

Make sure you're able to open the clip before the glue dries - sometimes the glue can leak and make everything stick together.

















Now it's totally secure and WON'T slip. (and it's a cute way to finish off.)









I'm crazy in love with this green and white one! I love green! And, apparently, everybody is going green nowadays, so I guess I am, too.










ENJOY your clippies!!!

LOVE this!

Can I just say that I LOVE cute little treats?! Thankfully this one isn't edible (heaven knows I don't need anything edible) but it's one of those simple treats that make you smile and feel giddy that you have amazing good taste. (or maybe it just affects me that way...)

I found this fun "Box of Questions" game on the Deseret Book website a few weeks ago when I was looking for Easter stuff - and I figgered "Why not?" It's so cute! I think I pretty much bought it for the adorable packaging...who cares what's inside?! (SEE, ladies - it's all in how you package something! It could be totally ugly and worthless but if the packaging is cute - that's what is really important. Never forget that.)

My family and I have had the most fun with this and I'm sure you could create something similar on your own if you're cheap like that - but why not splurge and get something cute in the mail?! (they should totally send me a free one now with that amazing plug...maybe I should tell them...) Anyway - what a fun gift for a friend when you take them dinner or something - because you should do that every now and then if you're a good friend. I'm not a very good friend - but if I were, I would do this. Instead I'm keeping this little treat for myself. Besides, I love watching my kids' eyes light up with the fun questions in here - they really come alive with some creative answers!

Quick Baby Shower Gift

How fun are little girls?! I needed a little somethin' to go with my gift card and I just LOVE this little set! The onesie is something I dyed with pink dye a long time ago, and the little booties are from Heather Bailey's site. I totally wish I was gestating a little girl right now because I'm in the mood for girl things! (I'll probably be glad tomorrow that I'm not gestating anything)

Anyway - I had to share.

Easter Treat - Key Lime Pie

So this is my latest craze - key lime pie. It is my quest, while trying to lose weight, to find the most amazing key lime pie recipe. And in order for me to do this, I need a good juicer if I'm going to ever try this again! These limey thingies are tiny!!! I needed chipmunk hands to juice these! All I needed was a cup of juice for crying out loud....ONE HOUR LATER and about a million key lime halves, I had my cup.

For Easter Sunday dinner I made this pie by Emeril and I wasn't crazy about it. I had to choose between Emeril or Paula and I KNOW, I KNOW - Paula is always no-fail but I didn't have all of her ingredients and I did have Emeril's. So up next is Paula's version. The hunt is on...pass your recipe on to me if it's fab. If it's not completely and amazingly fab, then maybe you should think about upgrading? I mean...really...life's too short...

Weight Loss WEEK 3!!!

Okay - so things are SLOWLY getting back to normal, this is our last day of Spring Break, and I've done HORRIBLE with my dieting and exercise! This week three has to be do-or-die for me!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you well-wishers and nice people out there! I've received so many comments and emails about my little guy's broken arm and it's been SO nice to know you care!

Regarding my lack of posting...I've got so much housework and kid-raising to do today, but I'm putting together a post of who is in the lead, where everyone is at, and all that stuff. Bear with me and KEEP GOIN'! I can't wait to see how far everyone gets!

Rough Weekend

Hi All! So I'd love to be emailing my fitness people and doing fun things with that, but this weekend was kinda busy. My little guy (3 1/2 year-old) broke his arm, had to have surgery, and stay the night at the hospital. So not only have my eating habits been HORRIBLE, but I haven't had sleep for days and let's just say that exercise and blogging is NOT on my priority list!

So when things settle down a bit, I'll re-focus and try to get emails out, blog links posted, and so on.

In the mean time...back to my little buddy....and he's doing fine - whatta trooper!

Cupcakes Are the Devil!

Okay, so here's how it all went down. First of all, I'm not eating sugar on account of our HUGE FITNESS THING. {Yay!} Anyway, Kadie calls me and is like, "Aahhh! My baby had a birthday and now I've got all these cupcakes...ahhhh! I'm totally bringing some over to your house for your kids..." and I'm like, "Oh, no PROBLEM. I'm TOTALLY in the zone and I won't even be interested." (and, honestly, cupcakes are NOT my fave but...well, read on...)

So Kadie brings over like a hundred cupcakes (okay, there were probably 8) and even though they were bright, happy, and totally scrumptious-looking, I was still so uninterested. (my kids ate all of their dinner, though - great bribe)

So the evening progresses...I take one kid to Scouts and the other two to Target because, well, what else is there to do? Whilst waiting for my daughter in the dressing room area, I was standing in front of floor-to-ceiling magnifying mirrors gagging at myself because...WHO IS THAT FRUMPY CHUB-GIRL?! I said to myself, "Thank goodness for our FITNESS CHALLENGE because....GEEZE." and then I thought to myself, "Gosh...I really worked it at the gym today - and I have been SO dilligent on eating very, very carefully...I better start seeing some of my hard work on my rear-end..." and so forth.

Fast Forward.....I get home, get the kiddies all tucked into bed, and head back downstairs to clean the disaster-zone kitchen. AND WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS STARING AT ME?! WITH BRIGHT BLUE AND GREEN FROSTING RICH WITH BUTTERY GOODNESS? ....cupcakes. "No, NO!" I fought myself but why? They're so little and harmless. I'll just have a little taste - after all, you're not supposed to completely deprive yourself of heavenly things because you'll never prevail! One bite later I was doubled over, moaning from sheer agony of the goodness and miraculous wonder of these buttery, moist, and ultimately evil cupcakes. "What the?" THESE THINGS ARE AMAZING... Nobody could hear my screams for help...

...So after I finished my cupcake, I wiped the frosting off of my face and out of my hair, gently and carefully wrapped the others in ten layers of saran wrap so difficult to get off that it might require a jackhammer, and put them up on top of the highest cupboard in my house.

Tomorrow is a new day...

I later found out that these cupcakes weren't just any ordinary cupcakes - they were enhanced.
So if you feel like you need the most amazing cupcake ever, here's Kadies recipe.