Gotta get down on Friday...

You're welcome for getting that Rebecca Black song stuck in your head.

I'm so glad this week is over! I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to a whole week off of work!

Favorite Song:
I heard this on the radio yesterday and it just really resonated with me. I've heard it before but sometimes songs just hit you in a certain way that they haven't before. I love what it says about how powerful words are, they can tear down or they can build up. They can make someone feel loved and important, or they can make them feel worthless. And how important it is to speak life and truth, to point people towards God and His love for them in everything I say and do. I know I don't always do that, but it truly is my desire.

Favorite Food:
Pumpkin oatmeal cookies! These were so good, I think they might be my new favorite pumpkin cookie. A lot of the pumpkin cookies I have made are more of a cakey texture, which I like pretty well, but sometimes you just want a chewier cookie texture, and these deliver! And the maple glaze just take them to the next level! Recipe here.

Favorite Workout:
Upper Fix- I felt really strong on upper body this week, which is big for me because upper body is probably my weakest area. I still can't do very many real push-ups, but I'm getting there! And my planks feel really strong, as well as my chest presses and hammer curls.

Sun's out, Guns out

Favorite "purchase":
I got it for (practically) free, so I don't know if it counts as a purchase, but I got to try a Julep Maven box this week and I LOVE the colors they sent! More on that in another post, but suffice it to say it was a great little mid-week pick me up to get this in the mail!

Favorite Funnies:

Children of the 80's and 90's will get this:

You know this is totally what this cat was thinking: 

You know you've been there, don't lie:

I totally saw fried chicken: 

Everybody have a fantabulous weekend!! 

Link it up with us! 

 

 

What I'm wearing to Disney World

I love going on vacation but I hate to pack because it's overwhelming to me to try to figure out what I want to wear days in advance. I'm more of a spur of the moment outfit decision maker, but that doesn't work so well for traveling! So I thought I would try to plan out some things I definitely want to take to make my life a little easier when I'm packing for our Disney trip! Here goes:

I must have a cute, classic Disney tank top like this one, and I figure I can pair it with my light denim shorts, comfy converse, and sunnies. And of course no Disney trip is complete without Minnie ears!

Of course I'll need more than one outfit for the parks, but this is a good start!

Some other essentials for walking around the park- phone, camera (I would love to bring our DSLR, but I know it's not practical, so CoolPix it is!), sunblock for my very pale skin, and EOS lip balm! And a cute little cross body to keep it all in. ;) 

I want my makeup to be pretty minimal (ok, my makeup's always pretty minimal) so I'm sticking with the basics- blush, neutral shadows, eyeliner, and waterproof mascara. I also want to paint my nails and toenails Minnie Mouse red! And my Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF 15 is a must to protect my skin! 

We will have one night in Downtown Disney and we have reservations at Planet Hollywood. It's by no means a fancy place, so I could wear jeans or shorts if I wanted, but I like to have one night when I wear a cute, casual dress to dinner. This little strapless dress and wedge sandals are perfect! (My dress and shoes are these exact ones, except the dress is pink and the shoes have aqua blue straps instead of pink, so use your imagination!) Add some dainty silver jewelry and Starbucks from their Downtown Disney store and it's a great night! 

Do you enjoy planning your vacation outfits? What kinds of things do you like to wear to amusement parks? 

Linking up with Home of Malones and East Coast Chic!

  And Treasure Tromp!  

Confessions

It's that time again!

Time to get some things off my chest:

1. You guys, I have done HORRIBLY this month on my fitness goals. Like, it's not even funny. I haven't been sticking to my nutrition, I've done ok with working out but definitely not been consistent, and my water drinking SUCKS. But somehow I have at least maintained my weight and even saw the scale move down a tiny bit last week. So I'm calling that a win.

2. I just started doing Swagbucks last week (I know, I'm just a little late to the party) and I think I have a problem. I'm on it constantly trying to win more bucks, more, more! But I want a $25 gift card, dang it! (It is probably a very very good thing I don't gamble)

3. We just got our dryer vent cleaned for the first time like, ever yesterday (I'm pretty sure you're supposed to get it cleaned regularly). But I'm super excited because that should mean that I won't have to run my dryer 12 times in order to get one load of clothes dry! Yay!

4. I figured out our food and incidentals budget for Disney the other day and it's a little bit obscene how much money we are going to be spending on food. Just food. And we aren't talking about eating at the really expensive places either!

5. Adam doesn't think I should bring any kind of purse or bag into Disney because it's so much easier to just carry your ID and stuff in your pockets and not have to worry about a bag on rides and such. And he's right, but dang it, I need my stuff! My purse is like my security blanket! Boys just don't understand how terrifying it is to think of having dry lips and no lip balm. NO LIP BALM, the HORROR.

 

6. I heard that "All About That Bass" song on Pandora the other day and it is stuck in my head. It's not my favorite song ever, but it's alright and I don't hate it. Except now I kind of do because it's playing on a loop in my head and it won't go away!

8. I put my blog URL on my Twitter bio. This is a big step for me. I'm still kind of weirded out by people I know IRL reading my blog. Maybe I'll eventually start posting links to my blog or something crazy like that. Baby steps. (Shameless plug: if you want to follow me on Twitter, I would love it and you may do so here! I would of course follow you back! Just don't laugh at my pitiful amount of followers, I just started Twitter about a month ago because I'm not as hip and cool as you are.)

I think I'm done spilling my guts! (Eeew) Link it up!

 

How do you Do More?

So I had the craziest day last Tuesday. It was non-stop from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. Work was crazy, I had to go grocery shopping after work (worst time ever to go to the grocery store, by the way), then I had to cook dinner when I got home. I'm actually kind of impressed with myself that I still cooked dinner. Usually after a grocery trip after work I'm starving and I just want to eat, so we grab fast food. Budget and nutrition win!

Next I had to go by a friend's house to get their mail and water their plants, and go by Target to pick up a few things there. Then when I got home I still had to do my workout and get a blog post written. Phew!

And it seemed like the more I tried to hurry through everything I needed to do, the more I was slowed down by silly little things. Like I stopped to get gas and had to go to 3 different pumps until I got one that worked. Really??

Also it's still approximately 99 degrees here during the day, so you start not to feel so fresh after a whole day of running around like a crazy person. Enter new Degree with MotionSense with 48-hour protection. I got the opportunity to try this new antiperspirant for the first time last week, so I tried it on the day that wouldn't end. It has a nice clean scent (I got to try the Fresh Energy scent), not too overpowering, which is always nice!

Degree claims that you can DoMore with MotionSense because the more you move, the better it protects. Let's see about that!

So I get to the end of this crazy day, and it's time for my workout. This was definitely one of my more intense workouts, Total Body Cardio. It's 30 minutes of nonstop cardio with weights, which makes for quite a sweat session. Even after being punished for 30 minutes by Autumn Calabrese, I smelled good! It's a miracle!

After workout pic- excuse the gross hair

I wasn't quite committed enough to test it for 48 hours (which would have required no shower after that workout, eew), but it definitely lasted me all day and stayed strong.

So I'm putting my stamp of approval on this stuff, it totally works!

What keeps you going on crazy days?

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary from Influenster to test and review, but all opinions are my own.

Monday, Monday...

Happy Monday! Or something. At least this Monday doesn't feel so bad to me since this time next week I will be at Disney World! That makes a full week of work a little easier to manage.

This weekend was pretty chill. I did some baking, cleaning, and planning/budgeting for our trip. Watched some football (It's rough being a Gator and Jaguar fan right now, woof!) and read some books. Also ate my weight in carbs. That about sums it up.

Yes, those are nutella filled crescent rolls. Yum. 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with Maple Glaze I made for some friends. I may have eaten some too. For safety. 

Church

Lunch on Sunday while watching the second half of the Jags game, in which they did slightly better than the first half. 

Sunday afternoon ritual- Coffee and magazines

Oh, this is excellent news. Since I sit at a desk approximately 7 hours a day. 

How was your weekend? 

Linking up with B Loved Boston, Champagne and Suburbs, Dateless in Dallas, and Join the Gossip! 

 

 

 

Friday Favorites

Well, here we are again, we have survived the week! I was actually pleasantly surprised by how quick it went for me. Here are the things that made me smile this week:

Favorite song:
Not a new one, but I came across this one on Pandora this week and was reminded how much I love this song! It's a great one to belt out in the car and pretend you sound as good as Carrie does.

Favorite Food:

Definitely these tacos! We had them for dinner Wednesday and then I had delicious leftovers for lunch the next day! I would give you a recipe, but it consists of buy taco shells and other assorted taco fixins, brown meat with seasonings, heat up some refried beans and cut up some tomatoes and lettuce. You're welcome.

They were SO good though (I guess I was craving tacos and didn't realize it?) which is good because I bought three boxes of taco shells on sale with a coupon and I am NOT letting them get stale so that I have throw them away! I hope Adam is cool with tacos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next couple of weeks.

Favorite purchase:

Target

PLAID FLANNEL SHIRT! Ahem. Sorry, got excited there. And I felt a tiny hint of fall in the air tonight, so at this rate I will be able to wear this shirt 3 weeks from now! 

Favorite workout:

Lower fix

I have a love/hate relationship with this workout. As in, I love how I feel when it's over and I got through it, and I love the results (toned quads and calves FTW!), but I hate how I feel like my legs are going to fall off and I'm going to die in the middle of squats. 

Favorite funnies:

Have a fabulous weekend, lovelies!

Link it up!

 

 

 

 

Dear High School Julie,

If I could travel back in time and have a little chat with my high school self it would be kinda weird this is what I would say...

• I know you feel super awkward and unsure of yourself sometimes, but guess what? Everyone else does too! Some are just better at hiding it than others. 

• YOU ARE NOT FAT so stop it already with the negative self-talk. One day you will look at these pictures and think "Why in the heck did I think I was fat??"

• Don't worry about not being part of the "popular" crowd. Just enjoy the amazing friends you have and realize that being "popular" isn't all it's cracked up to be. 

• Being an introvert is not a bad thing, though it may seem like it right now. It's who you are and that's ok because that's how God made you. As such, you are a great listener and extremely sensitive to other's feelings. 

• These are great times, but they're not the best times of your life. It's not all downhill from here. You have many, many more exciting, joyful, and surprising times ahead. 

• Stop investing so much emotional energy into boys who don't reciprocate your feelings. God's going to bring an AMAZING man into your life in just a few years, and you will be so very glad that you didn't waste your time and emotions on anyone who isn't enthralled with you the way he will be. 

• Though I know you already do, appreciate and treasure the time you have with your daddy. He won't be here on this earth for as long as you think he will (though he will be there to walk you down the aisle at your wedding!) 

• Keep being true to yourself and your beliefs. It will be 100% worth it, promise. 

Linking up with Home of Malones and East Coast Chic for Thoughts for Thursday!