Introductions

It has been WAY too long since I used this blog (excluding last night's post obviously!) So I decided to do a little introduction to update everyone on who we are and what we love!

-Stuart turned 30 this year and we rang in his 30th in NYC!

-He works full time for the 246 Army Band in the Army National Guard and he honestly loves every minute of it! He gets to travel our great state with the band and play for some of the best people!

-He also plays in a New Orleans style brass band called Soda City Brass Band and they are awesome! 

-I work full time as a Toddlers Lead Teacher at a local private, Christian preschool and it is amazing! Who knew that I'd love to use sign language to communicate and change diapers all day?! 💖

-I am in school for an Associates in Early Care and Education and hope to pursue my Bachelors in Behavioral Health with emphasis in Childhood and Adolescent Disorders and do ABA therapy in the very near future!

-We just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and are loving life together!

-We recently got to see Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars in concert which was definitely on Stuart's bucket list and was a night to remember! 

We hope to keep sharing our lives with you and we hope you'll keep reading!

Season of Change

Back on Labor Day of this year, Stuart and I went with our realtor to look at potential houses for us. We found a house we loved and the price was just what we were comfortable with. So that week, we put in our offer and started packing up our rental in Forest Acres. On September 30, we moved out of our rental and into Stuart's parent's house for the short 3 weeks between our move out and our closing on the new house.

Long story short, we never closed on our house. In fact, this week we backed out of our contract and decided that that house was no longer in our future. I'd like to say that I was devastated but honestly, I wasn't. I was at peace with the whole thing before we even knew it wasn't going to happen. You see, we had been made to jump through hoops over the past 3 months that just made me TIRED. I would go to work every day and just be on edge waiting to hear the news on the house EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And let me tell you, that is no way to live.

So... where I would have normally decorated for Christmas at the beginning of November, I spent the first week of December finally moving into our "for now" home (AKA apartment that happens to be bigger than our rental house downtown 😳) and I can't help but struggle to get into the Christmas spirit. At almost 29 years old, I have learned through this process that sometimes God just says flat out NO. And we need to be okay with that. And let me tell you, I do not like to be told no. Just ask my husband! 😏

But here's what it taught me... No is okay. No is normal. No shows you what's truly important. No really just means "I've got something better for you!"

So here I am, laying next to my snoring husband in our apartment adjusting to our new normal. We are okay with it but I can't say that I don't still cry over what I thought my Christmas and life would be like in that house. We are just trusting that the Lord knows our needs better than we do and that He has the BEST for us in mind.

Recipes We Love

So today is the first Monday of the new year and I am so thankful to have one more day of winter break! Stuart went back to work today though and he started on Whole30 today so yesterday I took some time to prep a few things for him. These are staples in our house each week and they are super easy!

Whole30 Basic Vinaigrette (this makes 1 cup and only takes like 5 minutes. We easily double the recipe or I will make 1 or 5 jars at a time ;))
-1/4 cup white wine or apple cider vinegar
-3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper

This goes great over salads obviously but I also love to use it with my sliced bell peppers for snacks.

Whole30 Basic Mayonnaise (makes 1.5  cups)
-1 1/4 cups light olive oil (this is important. you must use light or you will remake this 5 times like I did my first time)
-1 large egg
-1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place 1/4 cup of olive oil, the egg, mustard powder, and salt in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly. While the food processor or blender is running (or while mixing in a bowl with an immersion blender), slowly drizzle in the remaining 1 cup of olive oil. After you've added all the oil and the mixture has emulsified, add the lemon juice, blending on slow or stirring to incorporate.

This mayo is a staple because you can use it like you would normally use mayo or if you're like me and don't do mayo, you can switch out the lemon juice for lime juice, throw in some cilantro, and it makes an awesome "sauce" over a steak.

I use this mayo to then make Stuart's chicken salad. He eats this by itself or over lettuce. I got this recipe from my aunt when she sent it to me she just said, "These are the ingredients. Add them and mix til it tastes right." (We get it honest. Mimi never measures. You always just add and mix til it "feels right")

Chicken Salad
-Shredded chicken breast
-Mayo (I use less because we like a dry chicken salad but that's up to you)
-celery, chopped to your liking (we like it a little more chunky)
-parsley flakes
-salt and pepper to taste

I just throw everything in my Ninja with the dough blade attachment and mix until it is all combined. It's that easy and extra yummy!

We keep eggs (fresh and hard boiled), clementines or mandarins, bell peppers, and bananas around all the time for "snacks"

As for an update of our weekend and how we've done with our plans. It was not a success but it was not a complete failure either. We walked 3.5 miles Saturday and Sunday which was nice. We did kinda okay with our eating but we did go to Sonic for ice cream last night ;( Stuart said it was our last blow out with sweets haha.

So what are some of y'all's favorite healthy recipes that you make each week? 

Here We Go!

So today is January 1st and as I said, today was SUPPOSED to be the start of a new lifestyle. But things do always work out the right way do they? We had meals at both of my grandparents houses today. One for lunch and one for dinner. Let me tell you, that is always some GOOD food but boy do I have self-control problems when we go there. Cornbread and sweet tea get me every time.

So tomorrow I will wake up to a new day and a new opportunity to put my plan into action. I don't start my AdvoCare All-In 24 Day Challenge until January 11 but I am going to start eating clean and exercising now to get ready. If you're interested in more info about the challenge or just about AdvoCare in general, check it out here or feel free to ask me! 

As far as meals this week, I am working on our menu and I'll be making chicken salad with Whole30 mayonnaise and a few other staples. This pork loin recipe is going in the crockpot tomorrow for our dinner and the leftovers will be for lunches this coming week. Tomorrow I'll post about the recipes we love to use each week and what we prep on the weekends to get ahead for the week.

New You Resolution

Y'all. First of all, it's been almost a year since I've written anything on this blog. Actually, I've written a lot but never finished anything to publish. I'm not really surprised. I wasn't a good "finisher" this year.

So for 2016, I'm going to do something about it. My "resolution" is to end 2016 better than I started it. Easy enough right? Not really. I have some specific health and wellness goals but I feel like putting them into words is setting myself up for failure. So this is what I've come up with... Bear with me because theis may get wordy. ;)

Long story short, after a little over 4 years of marriage, I've gained a substantial amount of weight. After taking into account that I was a little on the "too skinny" side before, I have set a weight loss goal for myself for this year. I'm not gonna get specific with numbers on here yet but just know that the ultimate goal is going to require a total change. A reinvention if you will.

So that leads me to the re-branding or reinvention of my blog. The Cupcake Intervention is going to be about my daily (read "hourly") struggle with sweets and all things not-so-good for me. I will share goals, stories, achievements, recipes, and ideas as I dig through the "healthy" stuff and find the "good AND good for me" stuff.

I will be blogging at least every other day but let's be honest... some days there won't be much to report. But other days there will be so much that y'all may just get tired of hearing from me ;)

Oh, and you'll hear about Hubs and his journey as well. His is different than mine but still the same on so many levels!

Now excuse me while I go drown in the sea of Christmas meals and homemade sweets! ;)

2015

2015 is just a few days away and we have been talking a lot about resolutions around here! Although we don't actually call them resolutions because we're more likely to succeed without the pressure of a new year's resolution ;)

I find that when you share your goals with people, you find common ground and in turn, find accountability. I'm not good a being vulnerable so here goes nothing...

1. This is a two part goal- the first part is to rock my bikini in the Bahamas over Spring Break. This means no feelings of needing to cover up or hide! Then I want six pack abs! I know, it's a little reaching but I'm willing to work on it. This will obviously be null and void if I get pregnant but a girl can dream right?!

2. Read a book a month. We actually are allowing ourselves to count the books we are reading right now so I'm hoping to add the first one to my list by the end of the week! Right now I'm reading "Yes Please" by Amy Poehler (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!) and "The Best Yes" by Lysa TerKuerst.

3. I am going to spend this year really digging into the Word. I plan on using podcasts and studies to dig deeper and to really learn more about the Bible. Thankfully I have a husband who has been doing this for years so I have a great resource to answer all the questions I may have and someone to encourage me to continue. If anyone wants to join me, let me know! I'd love to have some ladies studying along side of me! :)

Well... that's all we have so far. I like to give myself smaller goals that I can build on and grow in so we'll see how it goes. I will try to update the blog (easier said than done) on where I am with everything and I hope to hear your "resolutions" so that I can cheer you on as well!

"Housewife"

When I used to think about the word "housewife" I always saw June Clever. You know... Perfectly clean house and ALWAYS a freshly cooked meal on the table. I am not THAT housewife. Yet by definition, I am a housewife.

At 25, I am what I like to call a part-time housewife. I sometimes joke with Stuart that that means I only have to have part of the house clean. ;)

You see, I work at SVBC Preschool and since we are a morning program, I am done every day around 12:30. I used to work the other half of the day in an office but it got too much to handle when I took over as a Lead Teacher. So I come home to an empty house at lunch every day.

And guess what... I LOVE IT! Now I will admit, I have just now gotten into a routine that works for me and that actually gets some real work done every day but I am loving it.

I have always wanted to stay at home and do DIY projects all day and bake the day away. But real life will tell you that there are dishes and clothes that need washing and carpets that need cleaning. There's a dog who seems to always need to go out when you need to start dinner and there will eventually be children who need attention. I struggled for a long time with the fact that if I was staying home then it would be my job to "manage" our household. That meant getting a handle on our finances and knowing all the ins and outs of the bills and when they needed to be paid. I needed to learn to buy groceries to feed us but buy them with half the grocery budget that we had when I was working full time. That also means that I handle our Advocare business and my Initials Inc business all while juggling laundry and groceries!

I am so thankful that I am a part-time housewife. I feel that because we made this choice for me, it is my duty to make sure that Stuart, who works 12 hour days 5 days a week, is taken care of and that he is prepared each day for his job. Because that's MY job. And it is the "housewife" that I never thought I'd be. But that's what's great about God's plans. They are better than our own and way more rewarding!

I can't talk about housewife things without sharing what we're having for dessert tonight! This Salted Caramel Pear Crisp is going to be amazing!

Sorry for what is probably a rambling mess of words but I'm going to try to get back into this blogging thing!