Happy New Year!!

I can't believe it's already New Year's Eve. I mean seriously how did we get from Thanksgiving, to Christmas, to NYE in what feels like the blink of an eye?! We had a wonderful Christmas and I'm excited to welcome a new year. I hope you are as well!

2014 was a great year, there were some hard times, but even more great times and tons of memories were made. I grew professionally and did my best to enjoy each moment as it happened. This year I finally finished by Bachelor's degree, traveled to tons of fun places with my work, met hundreds of awesome people and made new friends while kindling old friendships. Scott started a new career that was a scary move for our family but we haven't looked back since and he's doing so well. It's so much fun seeing your hubby successful. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Scott and I won't do much this evening, we've never been big NYE party animals, I get nervous being out so late on a dangerous evening, plus tonight it's suppose to be freezing so I know we're not missing much! Instead, we'll go over to my Aunt and Uncle's and ring in the new year with Baked Ziti, garlic bread, and family. My Aunt and Uncle are both now retired and are headed down to Yuma Arizona in a few days and will be gone for 3-4 months so we're sure going to miss them and want to soak up as much time as possible before they go.

I've started to notice that more people seem to be cheerful and happy on New Year's Eve vs. Christmas. Perhaps there is less stress and more time for self reflection that makes people more relaxed and excited? Whether you had your best year yet, one of your worst or one that's in between, it's exciting to start a clean slate and begin a new story. While I normally set New Years Resolutions, this year I'm not. Instead I'm setting goals that are obtainable and specific.

First thing on my list - purging. I'm ready to go through closets, my pantry, our garage and every other nook and cranny and get rid of stuff that we don't need or use. Almost two years of marriage has caused an excess of lots of stuff that we just don't need! I don't plan to do it all in one day, because that's what I usually plan and well that hasn't gotten me far! Instead I'm going to follow this #ClutterFree30 challenge in January --

Here's a list of other things I want to shoot for in 2015:

• Blog more
• Finally hang wedding pictures (oops)
• Continue nightly cleaning routines to make weekends more enjoyable
• Be present
• Continuously self improve
• Worry less
• Laugh more

What do you want to do in 2015? What are you most looking forward to?

Weight Loss: Tools & Resources

After my latest weight loss themed post I've gained a lot of new readers and a lot of people in similar positions reach out to me for tips, ideas and encouragement. It means more than y'all know to hear that I'm motivating you! Believe me, it's the other way around!!

So I don't have all the ideas because like you I'm still learning too, but here's a few of my favorite gadgets, gizmos, apps, and resources:

FitBit - This little bracelet is super helpful to track how active or in some cases not active you are during the day. You can follow friends and challenge each other to get up and move more which is extra fun if you're competitive like me! One thing to remember with this, if you're doing heavy lifting or a gym workout, you may not get nearly as many steps as your friend that's an avid runner. Don't let that get you down, any activity is good activity!

Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor -This is my FAVORITE work out tool. You wear the monitor just under your chest and the watch on your arm then get on with your workout. During your workout you can track your heart rate (perfect for those HIIT workouts or those that are focused more on weight training then cardio) and the best part is seeing how many calories your body burned at the end. I push myself so much harder with this little do-dad.

 
MyFitnessPal Site & App - Great resource for tracking your food and water intake, your activity and also to stay accountable. I follow and am followed by a few friends on here which makes me more inclined to track and less inclined to eat that doughnut I really want!

Map My Walk & Map My Run - Walk your pup often? Going on runs at night but want to track your distance? This free app is great for tracking distance, pace and time. My favorite feature is that every mile you go you get an update on your distance, time and pace.

Community - Don't try to go at this alone. Weight loss, fitness and changing your lifestyle is NOT easy. Find friends who are going after similar goals or maybe join a workout class at your gym and start connecting with people that way! I love the community I've built with this blog and it's always helpful to have someone to share recipes and ideas with!

Family Support - Get your spouse, family, close friends and those who you call "family" on board with your goals. It's much easier to make healthy decisions when you've expressed your goals and your family wants to help you get there. It's also easier to explain to your hubby why there aren't anymore chips or unhealthy snacks in the pantry! :)

Journal - Write stuff down. Share your thoughts and keep track of how you're feeling. I use my blog as a journal but you can go to Target and get a $3 notebook if that's more comfortable!

Food Scale - Find one of these bad boys on amazon and start weighing your food. Every wonder what 4 oz. of Chicken really is? Food scales speed up and take the guessing out of food prep.

Tupperwear - Going to prep your meals? You need good Tupperware that will hold up to lots of washes! I have 8-10 Tupperware style containers I use for food prep. It's nice to have enough that you can prep for a whole weak and still have some left over.

Egg Genie - You may notice you've been eating a lot of eggs, or perhaps you're like me and just love hard boiled eggs but hate boiling them. Enter Egg Genie. My mother-in-law got this handy gadget for me as a bridal shower gift a couple of years ago and I use it all the time! There is seriously no easier way to boil eggs!

Water Bottle - You should always be drinking LOTS of water and the best way to do that is to find and stick with a water bottle you love. Personally, I love the Starbucks drink tumblers with a straw. I seem to drink way more water with a straw than if I'm using a bottle. Invest in a great water bottle (or 6 if you're like me) and drink up!

Weight Loss: December Goals

 

Well it's officially my favorite month of the year and I've started my annual "days until Christmas" countdown. There's 24 if you're wondering, so you had better start shopping, wrapping and decorating!

With my favorite month comes weekends jam packed with holiday parties, baking days, trips to Zoolights and fun meals with friends and family. It's going to be a tough month to navigate with my new clean eating lifestyle, but thank goodness for 80/20 and allowing myself cheat days! I won't be perfect and I likely won't see the best results possible but it's important to enjoy holiday seasons. 

Here are my December goals: 

• Drink one gallon of water or more per day
• Work out at least three times per week
• Stay off the scale and only weigh weekly
• Keep indulgences down to a minimum and avoid excess sweets
• Lose 5lbs by New Years Eve
• Continue logging my meals in MyFitnessPal

You'll notice my workout goal is only set for three times a week. We're going to be having fun this month and will likely be tough to fit in a 5 day workout regimen. During the slower weeks I'll push for 4-5 but I want to set myself up for success not failure!

What are your goals for December? How are you going to stay on track despite parties, Christmas candy and oodles of baked goods? 

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm lucky enough to work for an awesome company that gives our team a long four day weekend for Thanksgiving! This weekend has been wonderful and just what we needed to kick off the busy month ahead. Scott and I have lots of fun plans in December but they'll keep us busy considering we won't have a free weekend until New Years! Although it will be a lot to juggle, I can't pretend to be anything but excited.

The weekend kicked off with a lunch day with my favorite guy - my Dad. He picked me up after I finished work up for the day an we headed to Tacoma. Along the way I got to by chance see the house Dad grew up in and hear about all of his childhood stories. So fun to hear him talk about life years ago and how different it was than what we know today. Dad and I had to get race packets for Thursday's Turkey Trot so we headed to Tacoma to grab them then  grabbed lunch at an old classic in Tacoma called The Hob Nob where Dad had the "best club sandwich he's ever had" and I had a super yummy chicken salad sandwich. Fun fact - my Grandmother (Dad's side) use to be a waitress many many moons ago! 

Wednesday night was filled with prepping, baking and organizing my dishes for Thanksgiving. I made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dip, and prepped my Harvest Slaw (recipe to come) but here's a sneak peak. This salad is beautiful when all put together and the family loved it!

We then headed over to my parents so I could learn the secret to my Mom's delicious stuffing so I can take a stab at it next year! It was an early to bed night since Scott had to get up early for the annual Turkey Bowl and I had to do the same for our first annual Turkey Trot!

This was my Mom and Aunt Teresa's first 5k and although I think Jenni and I suckered them into it, they ended up loving it and we'll likely make this a yearly tradition! We talked the whole way and shared fun stories and memories, it was time I will cherish. Plus even though the forecast called for rain, we ended up having a beautiful sunny morning for the entire 3.1 miles, winding through North End Tacoma and constantly reminding me why one day I would LOVE to live in that area.

 

About 20 of my family members spend that afternoon eating yummy food, laughing, scoping out the Black Friday ads and last but not least, watching the Seahawks beat the Niners! My Aunts and my Mom made a wonderful dinner like they do every year, but next year I'm excited to have our generation take on the prep and cooking on Thanksgiving. Remind me that I said that a year from now!

Gunnar getting ready to eat!

Our annual Turkey Day "selfie"

Scott and I headed home about 8pm and I tried my best to go to sleep early since my alarm was set for 3:50am. Yep you read that write, 3:50 IN THE MORNING. I usually can't go on the Black Friday adventure my Aunts embark on every year, but the last couple I've got to tag along since I'm way too old for Christmas presents now!

The alarm went off as soon as my eyes closed (or so it seemed), so I pulled myself out of bed, got dressed and made myself as presentable as that time of the day can be then headed to pick up my Mom. We met my Aunt Karen, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Bob then hit the road for coffee and our first stop-- Fred Meyer. Why you may ask? Because every single year we hit their half priced sock sale and now with so many littles in the family, you can't beat their toy sales! My Aunts hit Freddy's hard and we ended up having to go unload after just one stop!

We stayed out shopping until 4pm, it was a LONG day but I had a blast and most of the other shoppers were in the holiday mood! I love going Black Friday shopping mostly to people watch and occasionally snag a deal or two, but I will never go out on Thanksgiving night or camp out for the $200 Best Buy T.V. For example this guy, was lined up at Best Buy when my Dad and I stopped in on Wednesday afternoon. Why on earth would you want to miss Thanksgiving with your family for a T.V.?

Thankfully between my Amazon addiction and Black Friday finds, Scott and I are only two gifts away from finishing our holiday shopping. I still have quite a few things to finish making but I'm so excited to be almost done and able to truly enjoy the season.

Friday evening and Saturday called for decorating the house. It's my tradition to get our tree up and all of my decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and although our full day of shopping set me back a few hours I got it all done and the house cleaned early Sunday morning! I just love coming home to the decorations being out and we've already got presents under the tree!

Even Lucy loves all of our decorations!

My hubs helping me decorate the tree.

My Grandma LOVED Christmas and between her and my Mom I have grown to love it too! I still believe in "Santa" even if that just means I believe in the spirit of Christmas. Nearly 5 Christmases ago, before my Grandma passed away she wanted to make sure that her love of Christmas could live on through all of her Grandkids and their future children. She gave each of us an Elf on The Shelf and Santa's Magic Key. Finding those each year gives me a few second of sadness but even more cherished memories. I can't wait to make sure her spirit and love of the holidays continues!

Saturday night after finishing up a bit more shopping, we got to hang out with our nephew Gunnar for a few hours so we took him to Fantasy Lights. The three of us had a blast and Gunnar thought the lights were "super cool". He is talking so much lately and when you couple that plus his excitement over "Christmas lights" it makes for a pretty funny kid!

 

And these my friends are what happens when you get anxious waiting in line for the lights! The funny faces of TeeTee, Gunnar and Uncle Scott!

Checking out the tree!

Scott and I capped off the long weekend with his "famous hot cocoa" and enjoying the second installment of our Sunday Christmas Movie night by watching Love Actually. Love this new tradition of ours!

What did you do over the long weekend? Have you decorated yet? There's only 24 days left people!