Friday Favorites

FRIDAAAAAY up in the house!

Favorite song: I know I'm a little late to the game but I've gotta go with T Swift's new one, Shake It Off! It's just so fun and I love the message!

Favorite Food: Greek yogurt with banana, cinnamon and chocolate chips! One of my favorite clean eating snacks, it's so yummy! I add two packets of stevia, a little cinnamon, banana slices, and about a tablespoon of chocolate chips. SO good!

Favorite Workout: 21 Day Fix Yoga! Still taking it easy on my back so Yoga it is! I'm a beginner Yogi so this DVD is perfect for me, just enough of a challenge but still really relaxing and the stretching is delicious!

Favorite Purchase: This Chai Tea Latte...OMG I haven't had a chai this good since college. Will definitely be back to this place!

 

Bold Bean Coffee- Jax Beach

Favorite Funnies:

 

It always starts out so well...

 

Tuna! Love him! I think there will be a Tuna picture every Friday because I can.

 

Mmmm....Taco yogurt...

 

 

 

Linking up with these awesome ladies today!

 

 

Currently...

Feeling: amazed that it's not Friday yet. This week has gone sooo slow for me.

Grateful For: my hubby, he has been working SO hard lately, putting in extra hours at work and I know he is so exhausted!

 

 

Drinking: Iced coffee- I'm totally addicted but I can stop anytime.

 

Planning:  Our anniversary trip this weekend (I know this is not news and I will shut up about this eventually, like once it's over and I have done the recap on Monday).

 

 

Jekyll Island, Driftwood Beach

 

Wondering: if I should jump back into exercise today or give my back more time to rest??

Wanting: to go back home and sleep. The coffee is delicious but it's decaf, what was I thinking?!

 

 

 

Listening to: the clickety-clack of keyboards all around me.

 

 

It's confession time!

So it's Wednesday, time to confess stuff!

•  I went to the chiropractor yesterday to get my back adjusted (Hallelu!), so I should be able to start working out normally again in a day or two. Part of me is genuinely like "Yay, I can work out again!" and the other part of me is like "Actually I was kind of enjoying taking it easy..."

• I've pretty much mentally checked out at work at this point because all I can think about is the 3-day weekend coming up and our anniversary trip!

•  I'm really excited about fall for many reasons- one of them is being able to wear pants, long dresses, and boots all the time, 'cause let's face it, shaving your legs everyday gets old real fast.

•  I have such a love/hate relationship with Facebook going on right now. I love being able to stay connected and keep up with family and friends, but if I'm on it too much I start to get irrationally angry at a lot of the posts because I'm like "Why does everyone have to express their opinion on everything?" Plus it's just a gigantic time vacuum.

•  I seriously have banned myself from WebMD and pretty much any googling of symptoms, sickness, etc. because I always manage to convince myself that I have some heinous disease.

• I won't be super sad if the really super skinny jeans go out of style because I have too much hips and butt for them and I straight up look like Tweedledee and Tweedledum when I try them on. Not cute. 

This is therapeutic! Thanks for listening! :)

Linking up with Fitness Blondie and Dateless in Dallas!

Enough already!

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."- Philippians 4:12

I have been thinking a lot about contentment lately. Probably because we are trying to actually stick to a budget these days and really watch where the money goes. It really does open your eyes up to how much frivolous spending goes on without your even realizing it. It's also made me think twice before purchasing something: I'll stop and think, do we really need this? Could we get by without it, or do we have something already at home we could use instead?

A silly example: lotion and body sprays from Bath and Body Works. I have SO much of that stuff, and they are all partially used bottles! Really?? So instead of being drawn in by the latest delicious scent (You know what you're doing, you evil BBW), I'm trying really hard to consider what I already have at home and focus on using that up before I buy more. I mean really, how many bottles of lotion does one girl need anyway?

Or clothes. Clothes are a BIG one for me. I love to just go look at all of the cute clothes, the latest styles and find great deals! But do I really need yet another pair of shorts or pants? Or another pair of heels? Or are the 6 pairs of shorts and who knows how many pairs of shoes I have at home just fine?

That's just a couple of examples, but thinking this way is really making me realize just how much STUFF we have, and how so much of it is unnecessary. So many people in this world survive on the true bare necessities of life, like food, water, shelter. And so many don't even have those.


Now I'm not at all saying that it's bad to have nice things and enjoy the blessings I have, because that's certainly not the case! There is nothing wrong with enjoying a shopping trip and indulging in a treat! But if I'm not careful, I can so easily slip into the mindset of "more stuff, I need MOAR" and feeling like all of these things are something I NEED rather than something that would be nice to have, but it is no way necessary to life, or even necessary to happiness.

In fact, the more I feel that drive to buy, buy, buy, the less true joy I feel. Because those things, while they may provide temporary happiness, don't in any way feed the need for true satisfaction and contentment. They just leave you wanting more.

It's so easy to look at what everyone else has, nicer car, nicer house, nicer clothes, and feel like your missing out on some crucial part of life. But then, are those really the things that make life worth living, the things that make us truly happy?

I'm learning that it comes down to the fact that when you have true peace and joy, you can be content in any situation. Whether you have lots of extra money to buy whatever you want or whether you have just enough to get by.

So instead of feeling frustrated when I want something and it's just not in the budget, I'm going to work on being thankful for the amazing blessings that I already have, both the material blessings and the infinitely more important blessings like love, grace, friendship, peace, and joy.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

But these aren't worth quite that much. Still, they pretty much sum up my weekend.

 

 

 

 

So I'm quite obviously still very new to all this blog stuff and have no idea what I'm doing. Over the weekend I looked into things a little more and determined that Blogger would be a better platform for me. Since I didn't have very much to switch over I figured it would be better to make the move now rather than wait and have a lot more posts to move. So here I am!

 

It is so a Monday, ugh. I would much rather be snuggling with my pups and reading a book with some of my new favorite coffee (Fresh Market Summer Blend). But at least we have dinner with friends tonight to look forward to! Have a fabulous Monday everyone!

 

 

Linking up with all of these lovely ladies!  

 

Friday Favorites

Oh, Friday, how I love thee...let me count the ways...

Favorite Song:

I found some old "mix tape" type CD's from college last weekend and have been listening to them all week, so it's hard to pick my favorite for the week, but I'm gonna go with Gettin' Jiggy Wit It- Will Smith- Yes, I'm a dork.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JcmQONgXJM

Favorite Food:

Total cheat, but it was sooo good!

Favorite Workout:

PiYo Define: Lower Body

PiYo has been a lifesaver this week since my back has been acting up and I couldn't do my usual HIIT routine! I have no idea what I have done to my back to make it so mad at me, but it has been so painful this week, and the only thing that has helped has been stretching and Yoga poses. I'm such an old lady. Does anyone else feel 100 years old sometimes??

Favorite Purchase:

Can I put something that I wish I could purchase? We're trying to do this whole "budget" thing (bo-ring) which cuts down on my shopping quite a bit.

These pants look divine! So cozy!

Favorite Funnies:

Linking up with Amanda @ Meet @ The Barre!

And Oh Hey Friday! with September Farm and The Farmer's Wife

 

Currently...

Feeling: so grateful for all of the connections and sweet comments I have had in just my first few days of blogging! I've read blogs for a long time and thought for a loooong time about starting my own. Why did I wait so long, this is great!

Checking: my site stats obsessively, and getting a little giddy every time there's a new comment or more views of my blog! I'm such a newb.

Dreaming: of the weekend because I have nothing planned and I. CAN'T. WAIT.

Drinking: Iced coffee with hazelnut syrup, YUMMM.

Stole this cup from my hubby and I'm not even sorry

Wearing: one of my favorite little sundresses because it's HOT outside so I might as well not have to wear pants.

Planning: our anniversary trip next weekend to Jekyll Island, we're staying here and I'm so excited!!!

Jekyll Island Club Hotel

Wondering: what I did to my back for it to be screaming in pain, YIKES! :(

Wanting: some new throw pillows for our couch and loveseat because our dogs love to snuggle up with ours and they are starting to look "well-loved".

Listening to: the Kari Jobe Pandora station, like ALL the time.

 

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Confessions

Having read many blogs and enjoyed all of the "Confessions" posts each Wednesday, I figured I would jump right in with the link-up! This and Friday Favorites are probably my favorite link-ups that I've read so far, so I'll be jumping on that bandwagon on Friday too. I'm so original, right? Don't answer that.

1. I only need to lose about 5 more pounds to reach my goal weight that I set when I started my weight loss/fitness journey. But they are the hardest 5 pounds EVAR and I honestly am having a hard time finding the motivation to buckle down on my nutrition and DO IT ALREADY. I'm pretty happy with where I am and I keep finding good reasons to eat ice cream and chips. I don't anticipate this getting any better as we enter the season of Pumpkin Spice and baked goods galore.

2. I read an article this morning on how to lose the last 10 pounds and the first suggestion was to drink water only and cut out all of the coffee drinks and I was like NOPE, got anything else??

3. We have a company wide meeting tomorrow at a local hotel and I'm actually really excited about it because it means we get to leave the office for a couple of hours. Plus we get food.

4. Are we noticing a pattern here? I like food. Hence I will never be a size 2. S'okay.

5. This is more of an embarrassing moment than a confession, but whatever: I was at Ross trying on clothes on Sunday and had just slipped into this darling black Calvin Klein dress when there was suddenly a horrid ear-splittingly-loud beeping noise. Yes, I had somehow set the alarm on the dress off. I got it off as quickly as I could and put my clothes back on so I could hand it to the fitting room attendant who had come back asking for the dress so she could turn off the alarm. After that I decided I was pretty much done trying clothes on since Ross puts those alarm things on everything and I was feeling paranoid.

6. I hate vanity sizing because it makes it really difficult to figure out what size I really am now, BUT I can totally see how it works for the store/brand because I will try on a size smaller than I usually wear and when it fits I'm all like "This dress is so cute, I need dis!" Clothing companies- 1, Me- 0

7. I think I'm officially old because even on the weekends with no alarm set, I'm consistently waking up by 8:30 and then by about 10:30 pm I'm getting sleepy and thinking about heading for bed. I know 8:30 is not that early but this is weird for me because I've always been a total night owl and I LOATHE mornings. Now I still loathe mornings but I'm actually kind of starting to enjoy waking up early on the weekends because it gives me more time to enjoy my days off.

I think that's all I've got! What are your confessions?