Blessings & Lessons in 2011

I was reminiscing about 2011, all of our travels, events, celebrations, learning opportunities, emotions, etc. And it was a really great year. Despite polls saying that 70% of people are ready to put 2011 behind them as a terrible year that's to be forgotten, I choose to see the good that happened this past year.

Blessings:
I have my husband, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my church, friends and family, job, gym, shoes, dresses and the list goes on of everything and everyone that I'm thankful for over the past year. We've made new friends that have been God-sent, built a beautiful home, witnessed many lives changed forever at our local church, made awesome business relationships, celebrated events with friends and family... the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

Our Home.

This year I've seen a side of my mother-in-law that I've never seen before. Who knew that she'd be using the grandkids' lucha libre mask to fight my brother??? I laughed until tears streamed down my face and my stomach hurt :)

I got my first designer watch for Christmas. Dear Michael Kors, I hope I do not become addicted! I have never worn watches before, but with this- I'm in LOVE!

Michael Kors Two-Toned Crystal Watch

Lessons:

I learned that you never know what people may be facing in life, so not to pass judgement or ask personal questions. Some topics are not meant to be discussed with acquaintances or friends, but kept within the confines of the marriage, i.e. "When are you having kids?" Some topics create unnecessary pressure, i.e. "Who are you dating?" or "Haven't you found anyone yet?" or "Why haven't you found a job?" And some questions are rude, i.e. "What are you feeding your husband? He's gained weight!"

(Either I've witnessed these questions and seen the impact on others, or experienced them for myself).

My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for just over a year. I found out that I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and have been trying to get my body to where it needs to be in order to be able to conceive. The "So, when are you guys having kids?" question has gotten VERY old, and I didn't feel like it was really anyone's business. The decision as to when my husband and I plan on having children and the timing is between a husband and a wife, not between in-laws, grandparents, parents, aunts, friends etc. I really didn't want to announce to everyone that we're trying to overcome these issues to make conceiving possible. I've learned that once I tell someone that I'm overcoming PCOS and we're trying, they never ask again- so that's nice. But sometimes I feel that I shouldn't have to go there to begin with. On the other hand, because I have to decided to share the issues that we're going through, I've received advice and prayers that otherwise I wouldn't have had. I am working with  my holistic doctor and have chosen not to intoxicate my body with unnecessary chemicals that I've been told that I need to take that may provide a 50/50 chance of helping me. I'm relying on God to get us through these challenges- His timing is perfect.

I've taken a lot of supplements and herbs over the past several months. I've continued to workout daily and eat healthy. However, I've gained weight, lost it, leveled out, gained it... Hormones can make your body uncontrollable. I will never look at a "chubby" person the same way. You never know why someone's body looks the way that it does. I was working out, eating right, and gaining weight because my hormones were all over the place and there's nothing that I could do to control it. Talk about feeling powerless.

Goals for 2012:

I have two goals for the upcoming year that God is constantly trying to teach me:

1. Patience- I only have it when shopping, and need it in all areas of my life.
2. Compassion- I only have compassion for animals, and need to have it for people and the situations that they might be going through.

How has 2011 impacted your life? 

Mr. Bill

Mr. Bill is a very faithful patron at Starbucks. We know he's there when we see the purple Indy Pace Corvette parked next to the Bank of America ATM lane (apparently he's VIP). He sits in the corner chair and reads books every morning from about 6:30am to 9am. A few months back, someone was sitting in Mr. Bill's chair so he had to go to his old Starbucks, then the employees were "too loud" so he continued to go to his old Starbucks. Mr. Bill's old Starbucks is actually our old Starbucks.

Yesterday I picked up my friend very early to take her to the airport. She lives across the street from our old Starbucks. I had to get a Starbucks of course- it was early! I pull into our old Starbucks and low and behold, the purple corvette was there. I walk in, the corner chair in the old Starbucks was filled by Mr. Bill himself, reading a book. I was talking to the manager, Casey, about how "it looks like Mr. Bill is in his favorite spot." Casey's response- "anyone that drives a purple car is a weirdo!" Haha! Casey wishes that Mr. Bill would go back to his other Starbucks... You never know the drama that happens early in the morning at good ol' Starbuckies :)

So, I was walking out with my Peppermint Americano in hand (gotta keep up with the Christmas spirit with peppermint, and think of it like this- you can drink coffee and have good breath :) Smart thinkin') and Mr. Bill says "Wow! I like your PiNK! It says PiNK and actually is PiNK. I don't understand the people that wear clothes that say PiNK and aren't PiNK..." I was wearing my Victoria's Secret PiNK outfit that I got for my Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Watching Party.

Mr. Bill cracks me up. He's very observant. This is my fave PiNK outfit that was priced "decent" at VS:

Top & Bottom's @VS

Looks like the top is no longer available, but the pants are on a massive sale!

The Sales are great today folks! Go SHOPPiNG!!!!!!

Skinny Snooki

Our favorite little Jersey Shore meatball is no longer a meatball! I am so impressed with Snooki to say the least. Yes, I know that she's not a moral role model for teenage girls, but that's never been her goal. She became famous for being herself, and how awesome is that?! She didn't have to be 5'9" and 110lbs for people to love her, she never acts pretentious and she always stands up for what she believes in regardless of what others around her think. Snooki has made a name for herself, built an empire and is a successful business woman. Who can argue with that?

Recently Snooki decided to get back to her goal weight of 98lbs, which some would think is way too skinny, but she's like 4'10". 98lbs on that teeny little frame is perfect and she looks HOTT! She's not a meatball anymore! What do we call her now? Skinny Minny Chicken Nugget? :) Check her out.

Before:

After:

A perfect example of what hard work, dedication and healthy eating can do for you. Snooki did it, why can't you? I love the quote: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" and I bet she'll never go back. Congrats girl! <3

By the time Thursdays come around, I really need Jersey Shore. I need a good laugh. Can't wait until January 5th!!! YAY!!! The trailer looks great!



Drama as usual- Ha!

Mr. Drill Sargent, Week 3

Because of work, traveling and the holidays, I haven't been able to attend my Nike Training class in quite some time. But I went this week- and Oh Emm Gee! Wow! I literally struggled walking yesterday. I dropped something on the floor and could not pick it up. My legs hurt SO bad, are SO sore and I think that they are full of knots as well. UGH!

Pain means gain folks. Even though I complain, I know that my body is benefiting from my discipline. This is what we did for an hour (it was terrible and I hated every minute of it): Burpees, drop squats, jump squats, plank arm raises with weights, burpees with a shoulder press and football run with the teacher yelling "down" every 1.5 seconds, which made it pretty much burpees. So yeah, we did some version of burpees for approximately 60 minutes and it hurt like HeLL-O! Teacher didn't yell at me, or even look at me :) He must have remembered our conversation about respect, NiCE- Good memory Mr. Drill Sargent!

By the end of this week, this is what my week in workouts will have looked like-

• Monday- 60 min Athletic Training, 15 min Abs
• Tuesday- 60 min Nike Training
• Christmas Party- and thank God, bc Boxing Bootcamp would have literally killed me!
• Thursday- 15 min Abs, 60 min Danceaton (high energy cardio dance class)
• Friday- 60 min Danceaton
• Saturday- 60 min Turbo Kickboxing
• Sunday- Cooking and Cleaning for Christmas

I wish I had the time to workout more! Seriously.

A quick and healthy meal that I thought to make tonight while driving home from the gym- Chicken Stir-Fry Hibachi-Style. I was driving home thinking about how there's really not a whole lot of food in my house, but I do have zucchini, squash, onion, rice and chicken. Immediately, I just thought hibachi. I started up cooking the brown rice (it takes forever the longest to cook). I diced up the raw chicken, zucchini, squash and onion, and threw that in a pan that was heated with extra virgin olive oil to sear, simmer and cook. When the rice was done, and I put that in the pan with the chicken, and added fresh spinach, soy sauce and voila! My husband loved it! Easy Peasy!

On a random note- I think I'm allergic to red peppers,

Has anyone ever heard of this???

Buenos Días por la Mañana

Apparently it's not a very good idea to stand over your sleeping husband with this on in the morning...

Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!! Nach-OOOOOO!

B.Flo's response: "Wow- that's Mean!"

DIY Outdoor Christmas Trees

 An idea sparked in my head while watching HGTV last week. Several designers were doing holiday decorations for families, and one of the designers had taken a tomato cage, turned it upside down, wrapped the three prongs at the top with wire and then wrapped the whole thing in Christmas lights. When I saw this, a little light bulb went on over my head (normally I keep it simple and leave all light bulbs over my head off over the wkends,... this had to be very special- ha!)

So off I went to find tomato plant cages, and well, I don't know if you realize it, but it's not exactly tomato plant season right now... Luckily I found them at the second Lowes that I went to, $1.47 a piece, which I told them I thought was not a very good price considering they're out of season. They didn't care and offered no extra discounts. I pouted.

Next, I went to Dollar Tree and got 3 bundles of their 15ft garland (takes a tad more that one bundle per tree). I wove the garland around the bottom and then went up one side, wrapped around the 3 prongs, and then back down the other side, around, etc. I also was at Target (next door to Dollar Tree) and purchased 2 glittery stars for $1 a piece and 2 boxes of Hot PiNK christmas lights for $5 a piece.

I wrapped white lights that I already had around the tree first and then PiNK last.

Only white are shown here.

I put the trees out front on both sides of our front door, and voila!

This whole project cost me $8.47 for each tree. You can customize them however you'd like. They survived high winds, rain and hail last night, so I'd say they're pretty darn durable and definitely worth the price :)

Do you have any good holiday DIY projects to share?

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Victoria's Secret Fashion Show Watching Party

It seemed to me like the VS Fashion Show was earlier than ever this year! I had to scramble back home after Thanksgiving as fast as I could because I had literally one day to decorate! Every year I host a VS Fashion Show Watching Party where I make PiNK drinks, desserts and enjoy time with girlfriends! This year we had a great time together. :)

Drinks (PiNK Champagne is hidden):

The Spread:

My famous PiNK Cookies, recipe here.

Peppermint Bark made in silicone mini-muffin pan

My Aunt's famous Cherry Mash (secret recipe)

Peppermint Popcorn- Pic and Recipe HERE.

My favorite outfits:

Review:

VS makes this show more and more "produced" every year. I'm left wanting to be able to see the actual fashion show, not the behind the scenes footage, mess-ups, Nicki Minaj's 2 different shoes due to careless editing, etc. It's a beautiful show, and I really just want to see it for the show aspect. If they want to show bloopers, then they can make a separate time for that to air... I guess the only way I will ever see the show for what it really is, will be to attend in person. Who's got the hook-up for next year???

Thank you to all of my Beautiful Friends!