Workouts From Last Week

Sunday morning I stepped on the scale and did a little squeal!! I was down another pound putting me at a weight I haven't seen since 2009. Think that's about 57 pounds gone now since having my baby boy! Just 14 pounds away from my goal weight.

I'm going to start sharing my workouts on my blog. I think it will be nice to look back and see all that I've accomplished.

Monday- 3 min warm up walk, 24 min run, 3 min walk. I ran all the way to my parent's house this day! I have no idea how far it was...it's only a 3-4 min drive. It felt awesome to do that!

Tuesday- rest

Wednesday- 12 min walk & 18 min run

Thursday- 25 min walk pushing the jogging stroller
3 sets of 20 situps
3 sets of 12 push ups
2 sets of 10 tricep push downs

Friday- 8 min walk & 7 min run. It was freezing outside that day and I wanted to go home as soon as I walked out the front door. I also had a cold & sore throat. It was one of those days but glad I got out and ran for a little while.

Saturday- We took a little road trip to Ikea. I started feeling terrible and could barely talk my throat hurt so bad. Did not work out.

Sunday- church & lunch with my family. Then we ate dinner at my mom-in-law's. Busy weekend!

I'm ready to get some great work-out's in this week! I signed up for a 5k that is coming up next month. I'm hoping to run the whole thing.

How have your work-out's been?

Chicken Marsala with Crispy Roast Potatoes

I love Olive Garden's Chicken Marsala with potatoes & peppers! But at 16 dollars a plate I'd rather make it at home. I recently made this version & it was delicious. Wish I had remembered to add bell pepper. Maybe next time. We really felt like we were eating at a restaurant!

Click over to Taste of Home for the recipe! I pounded my chicken breast flat before seasoning. Cut down the oil to 2 T., used less chicken and cheese. Making the calorie count 330 a serving. You can eat good food & still lose weight! (Lost another pound this morning btw!)

You can find the delicious potato recipe over at Serious Eats. These were the best oven roasted potatoes I've ever had! Crisp around the edges & full of flavor. I made mine with 4 medium sized Yukon Gold potatoes & 2 T. melted Crisco instead of 1/4cup of duck fat. Making 1 serving 170 calories.

What is your favorite dish from Olive Garden? Have you tried to make it at home?

Canceled my Birchbox

After 3 months of being a member I decided to call it quits. Here's my post that explains more about birchbox with a picture of my first box.

I was disappointed in the tiny products I received. I could not justify spending ten dollars on that every month. When joining ten dollars didn't seem like a big deal but now thirty dollars later and all I have are misplaced tiny samples...seems like a waste! I'm going to keep doing my makeup shopping with Sephora. I love shopping with them online! You get to pick out the samples you want when you place an order.

Last week I went shopping with my sisters and purchased the Too Faced Natural eye shadow collection. I'm really enjoying the shades and will do a post on it soon!

Have you tried Birchbox yet? I was really excited about it.

Princess Picture

Isn't this sweet?

I pinned it on pinterest a while back knowing it would look adorable in Violet's room. Have you seen her pink room? It's the only finished room in our new house. The printable is from Hannah over at Lily & Thistle. You should visit her blog and print one out for yourself!

The frame is from walmart. It was originally silver. I sprayed it white and then sanded down the details. Then I painted the mat a soft, ocean blue. I added a small "v" sticker to personalize it a little bit. I like how it looks in the reading corner of her room!

Linking up with these great parties!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Last week I was craving pizza but I did not want to get take away! Too many slices and too many calories. So, I made a bbq chicken pizza using what sounded good. I cut it to make 8 large slices at 248 calories a slice. It was delicious and very filling! 1.5 slices and a salad makes a great lunch.

Healthy BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 box of Jiffy pizza crust mix (follow box directions)
1 package of John Soules fully cooked grilled chicken strips
Sweet Baby Ray's Original BBQ Sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella & parmesan blend
1 cup shredded monterey jack
1/4 cup sliced red onions
1 tsp. olive oil

First prepare your pizza crust.
Then saute the red onions in the olive oil on medium high heat. Then add the chicken and cook for a few more minutes.
Pre-bake your crust for a few minutes. Then spread 4 T. of BBQ sauce on the crust. Then add cheese, chicken & onions. Sprinkle a few more tablespoons of sauce on top. Then bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. I added some sea salt & pepper before serving.

Hope you try it sometime!

New Running Shoes

My new kicks! Since my husband was out of town for VDay I decided to treat myself with new pink running shoes. Today was my first day to run in them. The goal today was to run for at least 20 minutes without walking. Since I did that last saturday I wanted to go even longer than that if I could. So, I warmed up with a 3 minute walk and then ran 2 miles in 22 minutes! I must admit that was challenging for me. But I'm so happy I did it. Then I walked a half mile before heading home. I'm going to try to fit in another run this weekend and attempt to do 25 minutes without walking. Woo Hoo! I'm gonna do it :D

Weight Loss Update

My baby boy is almost 15 months old and I'm still losing weight! I gained over 50 pounds with both of my pregnancies. And hopefully I don't do that with my third! If God should bless me with another one :)

It really does get harder to lose the weight with each pregnancy and getting older. Or maybe you just get more tired because you have more things to do! Not sure! So, you can choose to spend your precious "me" time eating a Snickers bar and watching Teen Mom reruns or do something nice for yourself. Like go to the store & buy healthy foods or workout. You'll feel so much better if you choose to workout! This is something I tell myself often.

I've surpassed my prepregnancy weight by 6 pounds this time. I think I've lost around 56 pounds since the day I had Zander. I'm not sure what I weighed on delivery day, didn't look!

This progress photo shows a 42 pound difference. The picture on the left was taken on Christmas and one month after baby. This picture made me sad at the time but now I realize most people still look pregnant one month after having a baby.

I decided to take some pictures after my run yesterday because I was feeling fabulous! Yes, I really did try to flex for a picture. Trying to get those arms thinner!

When we moved into our new house I stopped working out for a while and then the holidays came. I gained a few pounds. But since the New Year I've been back at it and have lost 4 pounds in the past month. I'm now running over 20 minutes without stopping to walk! That's amazing to me. Running does not come easy for me. I pretty much force myself to like it. I like that it gives me fast results in a short amount of time. But really I'm a class girl at heart. I love Zumba, Turbo kick & Step! I'm ready to join the gym in our new area. Because once it gets hot I won't want to run as much.

My goal is to lose another 15 by summer. I'd love that!

I'm linking up with these linky parties...

Feature Friday over at Five Days..5 Ways

Happy Love Day

They are just too adorable! We are having a great Valentine's Day and hope you are too! Go here to see how much bigger Zander has gotten since last V-day.

6 years together & Our Story

Then-2006
I was so tiny! I'm about 3 months pregnant with Violet here.

Now-2012, Wedding, 2 kids & a house later!

I'm so glad that I joined myspace and my husband sent me a message about our shared interest of Michael Buble! So funny to think that's how it all started. We were both myspace newbies and this was when myspace was cool. I never thought I'd meet my husband on there.

I had joined for fun because my sisters & friends were on there. Oh, and we found out we share the same birthday. I remember saying "july 19 and he said me too!" I thought he was joking with me. My husband is 6 years to the day older than me. Then we wrote each other for a couple weeks almost every day. We decided to meet each other with a group of friends at The Pour House in downtown Fort Worth. The rest is history! Very happy that God had this plan for me and we have this wonderful life.

Just curious. Did you meet your husband or boyfriend online? I think a lot of people do nowadays!

Violet's New Room

This is the first room that looks almost done in the new house. I love how it turned out! It's sweet & perfect for my pink obsessed 4 year old. I say almost done because we would like to add crown molding, maybe a chandelier & I have fabric waiting to be turned into throw pillows. But I think it looks great the way it is for now. Have a look around! I took plenty of pictures.








Here's a source for those that are curious like me :

Floral Rug- Kohls
Large lamp by bed- 15.00 from HomeGoods
Nightstand & Dresser- Bassett brand found on craigslist for 60.00
Plastic Butterflies- Target, 20.00

Pink Upholstered Headboard- Made by my parents. Dad did all the wood work and mom did the upholstery. Turned out so beautiful! Fabric-30.00, Buttons- 12.00, Batting-10.00, Foam- 12.00 and not sure how much the wood cost. But less than 100 dollars and something similar would cost over 300.

White Quilt- HomeGoods
Pink Dust Ruffle- made by my mom. fabric from JoAnn's
heart shelf- found at Goodwill. It was green. Sprayed it pink.
Watercolor Flowers- sister Jordan painted for me
Mirror above dresser- from Kirkland's for 20.00. It was Gold. Sprayed it white.

Antique Birdcage- my mom repainted it for Violet. It's over 60 years old! One of my favorite things in her room.

Frames- most I had on hand. The tiny ones were from the dollar section at Michael's. Then decorated with stickers & ribbon.

Green bin for books- 10.00 from HomeGoods
Button Butterfly- mom sewed the buttons to canvas and then placed in a frame. Another favorite!

curtains- Target basic white embellished with butterfly & polka dot fabric. I wish I could photograph the fabric better. It is a light yellow in person.

Paint Color is Glidden Sweet Baby Girl

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you.

Linking up with these great blogs!

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/


http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/

http://www.fivedaysfiveways.com/