*Bucket List for 2011*

Hopefully 2011 will be as good to us as 2010 was. Derek and I both made healthy lifestyle changes...this has made us both more confident, happier, and has sure spiced up our marriage! I also have learned to appreciate my life more. I have taken so many things for granted for WAY too long. I'm learning to stop and appreciate my wonderful husband, beautiful healthy child, and my loving family a lot more now. Let this continue in 2011. Derek will be turning the BIG 3-0 in 2011 and I plan to do something pretty special for him...not sure what just yet, but something bigger than usual anyways. Here are some other things I plan on accomplishing in 2011:

• Be Debt Free. This one should be fairly easy...We have been working on it for a while.



• Lose 25 pounds. I've gained a little food baby through the Holidays that I would like to abort, plus a few more pounds to get under my "ideal" weight.



• Take a Dance Class. I've always wanted to do this.



• Integrate a new form of exercise into my routine. Just some sort of physical activity/sport that doesn't involve going to the gym (i.e. Tennis, dance, softball, etc.) I just need a little change in my work out routine. Actually, last night a friend of mine asked me to play on his co-ed softball team this summer, so we'll see if that pans out!



• Take an amazing long awaited family vacation. Since Lexi was born we haven't had a chance to go on a "real" vacation. It's time for one!! We would like to take Lexi on a fun kid friendly vacation! If any of you have some good ideas...please share :)

• Spend more time with Family. Between work and the gym it's hard to get a lot of family time in. So I'm making it a goal to cram as much family time in at night and on the weekends as possible.

• Self-Improvement. Be more positive. Reduce stress. Find the happiness in the small things. In general just enjoy life more. I don't think this is neccessarily a "New Years Resolution". I think everyone should strive for continuous self-improvement.

• GET.LEXI.POTTY.TRAINED. Enuff said!

~Laci

Christmas Mania & Grown Up Stuff *Wah*

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was baking goodies with my mom. I want to carry on this tradition with Alexis. So I took off work Thursday and Friday so I could spend time with her baking goodies and getting prepared for the Christmas madness. We started baking Wednesday night when I got off work...

Momma's Lil Helper

Then we invited cousin "S" over to help us. We were up past midnight baking.

Then the girls got me up bright and early the next day to bake some more. It was exhausting but lots of fun. We baked 8 different things...Chocolate chip cookies, oreo truffles, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter crackers, snowballs, s'more bars, white chocolate oatmeal caramel bars, and english toffee. Here's the finished products.

The Holidays are absolutely chaotic for us. Christmas Eve we always go up to Derek's grandparents house for dinner and presents, then that night we go to the Derek's mom & dad's for presents, then Christmas morning we open presents at home, then head back to Derek's mom & dads for Christmas dinner, and finally to my mom & dad's for dinner and presents. It's completely exhausting, fun, and miserable (must.eat.lots.of.food.ZOMG!) all in one. We literally go nonstop for two days straight...go to one place, open presents, eat copious amounts of food, come home throw the new presents in the house, grab some more presents from under the tree and rush to the next stop, and repeat...FOUR times! It's chaotic and oh my poor house...by the end of it all my poor poor house looks like a tornado hit it.

Lexi ready to open some presents!

(Enough with the pictures already Mom!! Let's get this party started!!!)

All her presents and her new chair from gma & gpa

She's getting into the baby/barbie/motherly stage...*tear*.

I got Derek The Michael Jackson Experience Wii game. And let me tell you...this game couldn't have been more fitting for him. If you know my husband you know his love for MJ...like ZOMG!

Derek in action...And yes he's got "the glove" on :)

The girls playing :)

And for a complete change of subject... I bought this snowman cardholder this year...

...and I LOVE it!! I always get tons of cards and they usually just sit on my counter and pile up. Now I can display them beautifully :) And boy did I get some pretty cards this year...I especially love the picture cards. I just wish I had a creative way to save them, because I hate just throwing them out...

On another note...A LOT of grown up things happened this weekend...and it makes me kind of sad :( Lexi got a new table and chair set to eat on so we got rid of her highchair *tear* and also she moved out of her crib and into her big girl bed *tear*.

Now, one grown up thing that I wouldn't mind happening would be getting her POTTY TRAINED!!! ZOMG! Potty.training.will.be.the.death.of.me. Mark my words.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!

~Laci

:) Wordless Wednesday :)

A Few of my faves...

Parkey Butter Spray

These only have 2.5 g. fat and 140 calories per serving (2 waffles). I use Fat free Spray butter and honey instead of syrup. Honey is sugary, but it also has a lot of health benefits. Sometimes I'll put a little peanut butter on mine too...and yes peanut butter is fattening, but it also has good nutritional value.

Schwann's No Sugar Added Fat Free Vanilla Ice Cream

It doesn't sound too appetizing, but trust me, it is! It reminds me of homemade snow ice cream. It's only 70 calories and 5 g. sugar per 1/2 cup serving. They have chocolate too, but I don't like it. Stick to vanilla on this one!

This is a much better alternative to Mayo than light mayo is. It's about the same fat and calories as light mayo, but it doesn't have that yicky light taste.

I've lived on Lean Cuisines for a while now. This is currently my favey.

Nom!

.Pivotal Moment.

I don't mean to bore you to death with talk about my diet but I had a request to share what made me finally come to the decision to make the change. Ok the title is a little misleading...there really wasn't one pivotal moment in particular, but instead several factors combined. Here they are in order of importance:

#1) My daughter (The most pivotal moment)

Alexis was getting to the age that she was starting to eat table food...or food that we ate. I distinctly remember her sitting in her high chair after we had picked up a burger and fries from the local fast food joint (a meal we frequently got)...just stuffing french fries in her mouth. It was like I was in a daze...I just sat and steered at her and thought to myself, what are you doing?!

Growing up as a chubby kid myself, I knew how hard it was. I H.A.T.E.D. IT!! Life is hard enough as it is, so why am I helping to create just one more obstacle for my child? That's probably the moment I decided that I HAVE to make a lifestyle change or I'm going to pass my nasty habits on to her. Also, I was always so tired and it was getting physically hard for me to do vigorous activity. I wanted to be able to run and play with HER and not just have to sit there and watch.

#2) My brother - RIP

I lost my brother at the young age of 27, a year before my decision. The loss was/is extremely difficult, but one of the only positive (for lack of a better term) things that may have come out of it was the greater appreciation it gave me for life. For years, I had become a hermit. I no longer did things that I loved (swim, go to the lake, go out with friends, dance, etc.) because I was too embarrassed and ashamed of my body. I realized I wasn't really "living" anymore and I was ready to get my life back and start doing things that I enjoyed and that filled my life with happiness.

#3) The Biggest Loser

I know this sounds silly, but this show has been a huge inspiration and motivation for me. There's nothing more inspiring than seeing people who are 2, 3, 400+ lbs. make HUGE transformations and not only losing an enormous amount of weight but also running marathons and doing CRAZY physical activities that really push them to their limits. I started thinking, if these people that are hundreds of pounds heavier than me can do it than surely I can do it. A new episode starts in 3 weeks on NBC...I urge you to watch it!

Motivating Factors...

#4) My Father-In-Law

Within weeks of me deciding I wanted to change my life my FIL was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. The doctor put him on a strict diet and ordered him to get regular exercise. So he and my MIL went and signed up at the gym...it wasn't much more to add the whole family so they did. Now, I've signed up for a gym membership before, used it for about a month, then basically threw money away for the following 11 months. I promised myself I wouldn't do that again. So I got into a nice routine that worked for me (a good routine is key) and MADE myself stick with it. Another thing that made it a lot easier was...

#5) The support of my husband...

In years past when I tried to diet and exercise he wasn't on the same page with me. He didn't like the diet I was on or he didn't have time to workout, etc. This time he decided he needed to make some changes and get healthy too. He took advantage of the gym and ate what I did. And let me tell you that made a WORLD of difference! For 1, I didn't have to make two seperate dinners and for 2 it was harder to skip the gym when I knew he'd be going too.

So besides just eventually getting tired of being overweight and unhealthy those are some of the factors that played a role in my decision to make a major life change.

This month has been the absolute hardest. There is an abundance of food everywhere around me because of the Holidays...you would be amazed at the nice customers that bring us cookies, candy, chocolate, etc. Then there's the 1,598,275 Christmas parties/dinners that I have/had to attend...speaking of, a customer is taking my entire department to lunch today. AND my gym membership ran out last month. I had been running outside, but now it's just absolutely too cold...so my workouts have been nearly obsolete. I was waiting to get my bonus to renew my membership and I got it but the people at the gym are only there from 8-5 so it makes it difficult to sign up. But I will be signed up within a week if it kills me! I'm scared to death that I will regress back into my old ways, because I know how easy that can happen, so all this bad food and no exercise is causing me some major anxiety! I can't wait to get through the Holidays and get back into my routine!


Merry Christmas Everyone!!


~Laci~

**Chaotic December**

I have neglected my blog for a few weeks now. I have been SOOOOO busy and I'm only getting busier. Feels like I have done nothing but shop for the past month straight and now I have parties coming out the wazoo! Last night I had to sit down and write out my Christmas party/dinner schedule because I can't keep them all straight. It's nutts!! I have 4 possibly 5 Company Christmas Parties and 4 Family Christmas Dinners in about a one week period. It's gonna be complete chaos!! Luckily I have most of my Christmas shopping done, wrapped, and under the tree. The real task is going to be finding new outfits for all these parties...

Here's an easy meal idea for you all...

For the first year of my "lifestyle change" when I wasn't eating a "lovely" lean cuisine I was eating one of these:

This is super quick and easy to make and it's one of my favorite things to eat. After working all day and sweating it out in the gym after a long day of work the last thing I want to do is come home and slave over a hot stove, so the easy part is almost as important to me as the healthy part. This is just a twist on the classic bacon, egg, and cheese muffin. I toast a whole wheat english muffin and spray it with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. Scramble egg beaters or one egg and the white of another egg. Use turkey bacon and Kraft's 2% Reduced Fat swiss cheese. And might I add that cheese is one of the best reduced fat cheeses I have found...I don't use complete fat free b/c it has absolutely no flavor to me and you have to like what you eat at least a little :) Although this is normally meant for breakfast, I eat it for dinner all the time. It's about 290 calories, 7 g. fat, and 25 g. protein when you use the egg beaters. If you use eggs it's about 315 calories and 11 g. fat. Although using eggs is a little more fattening than Eggbeaters I recommend it. I think it tastes better, not that Eggbeaters taste bad, they're actually better than I thought they'd be. The yolk of the egg is of course the fattening part, however it has a lot of good nutrients your body needs, just not too much of it and also it's not processed. Speaking of processed...if I ever find time in my schedule to go organic I would like too give it a try. I eat entirely too much processed stuff for the sake of convenience.

Oh and BTW Alexis still hates Santa :( I took her to get her pictures with him on Sunday (or so I thought) and she clinched onto me so tight I couldn't even get her out of my arms...hhhmmm...maybe next year...

Happy Holiday Shopping!!

~Laci

Our BUSY Weekend!

What an EXHAUSTING weekend!!!! I don't think we stopped for a minute!
Saturday Derek, Lexi, and I went shopping for a Christmas tree. We found one and a train to go around it. Lexi LOVES trains, so we just had to get it. We got home kind of late, but Lexi wanted to get that train out of the box, so we decided to put the tree up so we could put the train around it. Derek and I ended up staying up till about 1:00 in the morning decorating lol...but Lexi LOVED the train and didn't want to stop playing with it.

Sorry this isn't a very good picture of it. The camera on my phone is crap. I really should start using my camera, but I'm lazy and my phone is more convenient.

Sunday was even busier...we finished decorating the Christmas tree and set up the nativity scene and a few other decorations. Me and the dogs jogged 6 miles...BTW the weather has been SO nice for running and I'm dreading going back to the gym when Winter finally hits :/ I don't want to be stuck inside. Then Lex and I got ready, picked up her cousin, and headed to Springdale for Ashur Bug's Birthday party! And what a fun party it was! It was at a gymnastics center. I never was in gymnastics as a child so I didn't really know what to expect, but the kids had a lot of fun! They jumped on the trampoline, played in the foam pit (which is pretty awesome BTW), flipped around on the bars, etc. Even the adults had a blast...it was a great idea for a B-day party!

Toy Story cake from Sweet Boutique - YUM!!

The Gym (After the party)

Playing in the Foam PitThe Birthday Boy opening his presents

I'm ready for a relaxing weekend sometime SOON!!! But it looks like we have another very busy weekend ahead. Hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving!!

~Laci

I Hate This Day...

Two years ago today I lost my brother. Someone who I had never known life without. He was 2 years older than me, we shared just about every childhood memory together. We fought like cats and dogs when we were kids. He beat the crap out of me lol NO he didn't have any mercy on his little sis. Without him I wouldn't be who I am today. He taught me to be tough, to not let people walk all over me, and to never give up.

He was a free spirit and wasn't scared of anything life had to offer. He definately lived on the edge, which scared the hell out of most of us, but he didn't live life with fear. I honestly don't think he was scared of anything...which is a scary characteristics for anyone to have. He used to wear those "No Fear" brand of clothes when we were younger and how fitting that was. Good or bad he lived life to the fullest and didn't hold back for a minute. Some may say it was wild and wreckless and quite frankly he worried the hell out of us, but it was his life and that's the way he chose to live it. Eric Church's song "Young & Wild" reminds me so much of him.

Boy he loved this girl! So sad she will never meet him on this Earth.

It's been 2 years and it still feels like it's not real. It's crazy to grow up with someone your whole life and then BAM! they're gone. It's weird to think I'll never see, hug, smell, or hear him again in this lifetime...it's too heartbreaking to think of really. He will be missed more than any words could ever express and as long as I live, there will always be an empty place in my heart for him. Our family was forever changed when he left this Earth and will never feel complete again. Love and miss you "Butter" <3

*Shopping & Sunday Funday*

I hope every one had a great weekend. Ours was great, but seemed to FLY by with the days being so much shorter. Derek was in the woods all day Saturday, so Lexi and I went shopping :) This seems to be a theme this year. Hunting season is getting puuuurdy spensive! We had some birthdays to shop for...BTW OMG we have 6 birthdays to celebrate this month!! I felt like I was Christmas shopping, but nope it was Birthday shopping. We shopped ALLLLL day...seems like shopping takes FOREVER with a 2 y/o. Even though it can be stressful at times, it's fun for just the 2 of us to spend the day together...we always stop once or twice and play at a play place and she loves that! And Daddy got a deer, so it ended up being a good day for all of us!!

Sunday I went grocery shopping as soon as I woke up...I love going early Sunday morning that way I miss the crowds lol...crowds tend to make me cranky. Then I went for a 5 mile jog. It was SSSOOO beautiful Sunday and the dogs were loving our run, so I just didn't want to stop. Then Lexi's buddy A came over to play! She LOVESSSSS A!

(Intently watching Toy Story 3! Their Favorite!!)

Last Sunday my sister and I took the girls for a play day! We had SSSOOO much fun! First we went to the Monkey House...it's an indoor play place that has tons of those blow up bounce arounds and slides...Lexi wasn't having it though...too many kids and the bouncy things just kind of freaked her out, but she was just fine when mommy did them with her, so needless to say I was WORE out by the end of it! Then we had lunch at La Huerta!! YUM YUM! Our favorite! It was absolutely gorgeous that day so we went to the park...the girls had a blast! Then to top off a perfect day, we took them for ice cream :)

Being silly...a little too much sugar at this point :)Lexi gets SSSOOOO excited when she gets to see her cousins/friends. So I'm going to try and make it a point to have a cousin/friend over or out for a play date at least 3 Sundays a month.

(Then I cooked this for dinner)

...along with mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. This is a healthy spin on fried chicken fingers. They were pretty good, kind of dry though. We put them on hamburger buns, with olive oil mayo, reduced fat swiss cheese, and salt & paper...it was pretty tasty that way. I got the idea from http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1065 It's 1/2 c. Fiber One cereal smashed mixed with 1/4 tsp. garlic salt, pepper to taste, and I add a little creole seasoning to give it a lil' kick. You dip the chicken in egg beaters then dip into the breading...lightly spray strips with PAM then bake them in the oven at 375 for 10 mins, turn them over give them a little spray and cook for another 10 mins. They're only 240 calories and 3.25 grams of fat for 5 strips, so you can't beat that!

Today I'm meeting a couple of friends for sushi to celebrate another birthday! Can't wait to see them and YUM YUM I LOVE sushi!! Does anyone else love sushi, if so what's your favorite kind? I love trying new ones! A. Pat no negative comments please :P

~ABC's and an Easy Dinner~

I got the day off yesterday for Veteran's day!! I spent the entire day with my baby girl! It was F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C.!! It makes me wish I could work a little less. The day was simple, relaxing, and we got to share a lot of laughs...so much better than my usual days during the week when I come home after working all day and an hour and 1/2 at the gym and I'm just exhausted tired and have a million and one things to do before going to bed. It's nice to get a break from that every now and then to get to slow down and enjoy my little sweet heart. OH!! And something HUGE happened yesterday!! I'm standing in the kitchen making us some breakfast and Lexi is playing with her ABC magnets on the fridge (yeah I always said I'd never have that "junk" on my fridge, but it happens muh friends, it happens lol) when all of a sudden she just starts saying the alphabet...THE ENTIRE ALPHABET!!!!! So I start freaking out! OMGOMGOMG!!! She thought I was crazy! We've been working with her on it and she'll say bits and pieces of it, but never the whole thing. So it was kind of crazy to hear her just start saying it out of no where.

Wednesday night I cooked this for dinner

(That picture doesn't look to appetizing lol but I promise it's good)

I am not one to cook out of a box. I've never really liked anything from a box, but these Macaroni Grill dinners are DELICIOUS!! The Creamy Basil one is my favorite...

Normally I don't get home till about 6:30 or 7:00, so quick dinners are key these days! This is super fast and easy, so it works great for me! One serving (1 cup prepared, which fills me up) is 300 calories and 11 grams of fat. It calls for butter and milk, so I replace real butter with Parkay no calorie butter spray and I use about half skim milk and half whole milk. I've tried using just skim milk, but the sauce is too thin. So once you substitute those ingredients, the calorie count is even lower and it tastes great! The hubs loves it and even Lex gobbles it down...and for those of you with kids...I'm sure you know how picky a 2 y/o can be! Try it! I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

I was thinking about starting a new workout routine in the morning instead of after work, so I have more time to spend with my family and get things done. I woke up around 5:30 this morning and me and Rambo went for a jog. Rambo LOVED it, but I'm fixing to fall asleep right now and my body is pretty sore...so I don't know how this is going to work out... :/

~Laci

Welcome to the 21st Century

Okay I finally bit the bullet and created a blog...the new age of journaling to the E.N.T.I.R.E. world...yeah it kind of scares the h*ll outta me.

I don't even know what I'm doing or where to start. I'm not a very entertaining writer, so if I bore you, please feel free to move onto to the next blog...no hard feelings. I'm basically creating this blog because I suck at keeping up with a scrapbook of memories for my daughter, so I figure maybe I will have more success with a blog of memories...psshhh we'll see. And also because I read a lot of other people's blogs on a daily basis and am starting to feel a little stalker-ish, so now this way I can start leaving comments as myself and not as the creepy anonymous commenter :)

I have no clue what I will be writing about, but I figure it will probably be mostly about what makes my lil' world go round...Little Miss Alexis and my hubs...oh and maybe food...maybe a healthy recipes blog or healthy food "ideas" I should say...because I don't get much time to cook big meals, so simple, easy, healthy meals are more my style these days. We'll see. I know I have tried a countless number of healthy recipes and they normally taste like dog crap...not necessarily because I can't cook, but because you have to omit all the good stuff (butter, sugar, cheese, etc.). So if I find a yummy healthy recipe, I would be thrilled to share! I've recently lost a bit of weight and I have people ask me all the time "How did you do it?" Like I'm going to have this big secret or something. Sorry I've tried for years to find that next big secret, miracle drug, fad diet, etc...and I finally came to the conclusion that good ole' fashion diet and exercise is the best medicine muh friend. What my mother has been telling me my whole life *rolling my eyes* juuuuust kidding mom, I wuv you :) So anyways if sharing a healthy recipe from time to time will help someone become a healthier person, I would love to!

My blog will probably be under construction for a while as it may take me a while to figure out all these little gadgets and gizmos on here, so bear with me :)

~Laci~