Weekend Recap: Spring Forward Edition

Good monday to you all! First of all I am SO excited that I hit over 100 Bloglovin' followers over the weekend! I want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who have followed me, and welcome to all of the new readers! I am so very thankful to all of you!

If you're new around these parts and you want to know what I'm all about, check it out here.

Now on to the weekend fun! I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend, as it is the last one for a while where Adam and I will have lots of time at home to relax and enjoy our time together. The rest of this month and into April is jam packed with RC events for Adam, a wedding cupcake job, and getting the house all spruced up for a BBQ party in April!

So we took the opportunity to eat lots of yummy food, sleep late, get some things done around the house, and even got to spend some time outside enjoying the beautiful weather!

On Friday it was rainy and gloomy all day, so I had to grab a Tiramisu Latte on my lunch to power through the day:

Friday night was dinner out and doing some shopping, then relaxing at home with our shows. 

Saturday morning I grabbed Panera for breakfast (for me) and Chick-Fil-A (for Adam) and we watched He-Man (yes, He-Man) on Hulu. Then Adam started working on getting the garage organized, and I went out shopping. I got some things to make a new Spring wreath: 

Then I succumbed to temptation and we had lunch at our favorite burger spot: 

Saturday evening was spent at home, Adam worked on the garage some more and I made my wreath: 

Sunday morning we had brunch at Casa de Strong: 

Banana Chocolate Chip Waffles, and yes, that is REAL bacon. Not even sorry. 

And I cleaned up around the house. 

Then we headed out to Fort Caroline National Memorial.  It was a beautiful, sunny day after a week of rain and gloominess, so we were itching to get outside! 

Don't mind the pained expression, that would be from the sun in my eyes. 

And we had to indulge in some goodness on the way home: 

Sunday evening I did some meal prep for the week, hoping these will be a healthy and easy breakfast to grab this week! 

And I finally made some headway on planning our gallery wall! Hoping it all comes together like it is in my head. 

And that was our weekend! Kind of wish I could press rewind and start it all over, but I guess I'll settle for Monday instead. 

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Friday Faves

We have made it to Friday once again! And I can't get enough of these dancing gifs, so here you go:

Let's get right to the favs of the week, shall we? 

Favorite Song: 

Maroon 5- Sugar

I've been groovin' to a lot of Maroon 5 lately and loving this one this week! 

Favorite Workout: 

21 Day Fix Extreme Yoga

I really enjoyed the Yoga DVD this week, it's a little more advanced than what I've done before and it's fun to challenge myself! Although I literally LOL'd when we were doing the "Crow" position and the optional advanced version was to do a full handstand. Yeah, ok, I'll get right on that. 

Favorite Purchase(s):

All from Target (duh)- 

Placemats! I decided on two of the same and two other different, but coordinating ones. The blue ones were on clearance and I got them for 29 cents and 88 cents! 

LOVE this gold luminary I found in the Dollar Section! Total impulse buy but it was $3! So you know, it pretty much threw itself at me and I had no choice. 

Favorite Mail(s):

(Yes, I know mails is not a word. But it should be)

This was like, an epic mail week. First I got this free sample from BzzAgent: 

More about these later, but for now suffice it to say OM NOM NOM. It has taken all the will powers I have to not eat this whole package this week. 

Then I got this gorgeous necklace from Grayling Designs that I won in a giveaway from the lovely Jillian of Cornflake Dreams: 

Isn't it SO purty? I love how simple and classic it is! 

and THEN I got this box of goodies from Heather of My Little HEA: 

She sent them to all of her co-hosts for her birthday giveaway, isn't that the sweetest? It had so much fun stuff, including Oreos and Cake Batter Chapstick! I mean what's not to love? 

Favorite Funnies: 

You don't need that kind of negativity in your life. 

 Don't you just love when you can really be yourself?

Couch doesn't ask questions. Couch understands. 

Yeah, we gave up on this a long time ago: 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for $175 Paypal Cash! And have a terrific weekend, lovelies! 

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The Story of Us: Part 4 + $175 Paypal CASH Giveaway!!!

Well, well, well, we're finally to the last part of the story. Well, the last part of the story of how we met and started dating, anyway. One day maybe I will tell you our engagement story, but today is not that day.

Thank you all for sticking with me, I know I drew this story out way longer than I needed to, but I had fun with it, and that's all that matters right? Right.

If you missed the other parts of the story they are here, here, and here.

AND don't go without entering the giveaway at the bottom, because CASH! 

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So he asks me out and I go into panic mode and say we should just be friends for now. I had, quite literally, zero experience with dating at this point so I was totally over analyzing the whole situation and I was just plain scared. But being the wonderful fella Adam is, he said he understood. We chatted for a few minutes after that and then we said goodbye and I pretty much felt like the worst person ever.

I talked to Kevin after that and I was a little upset, and I guess word got back to Adam, so he calls back and says "Are you okay?" I told him I was and he said "Ok, well I just wanted to make sure you were okay, DO NOT feel bad okay? You didn't do anything wrong."

Well, color me impressed. I was really kind of floored that it was that important to him that I not feel guilty or upset.

OMGeeee I had SO MUCH HAIR!!

We ended up talking on the phone for hours later that night, and we were just really honest about our feelings. He told me what he felt like a dating relationship would entail, I admitted I was clueless and scared. By the end of that conversation a couple of things were clear: we really cared about each other and were still interested in seeing where this could go, whatever that meant. And we could have a really honest, no holds barred conversation. This guy is not afraid of communication. I think I've already mentioned this, but he's better at communicating than I am.

A couple of days later I had a choir concert, which he came to (if he will come to your boring choir concerts, especially if he will come to more than one, he may be a keeper ladies), and then afterwards we had planned to hang out, just the two of us (We were SO already dating at this point. Semantics). We really wanted to see if we could pick up where we left off and make sure there wasn't any weirdness or awkwardness. There wasn't of course. It's always been so natural and easy with us. We went to Starbucks and then to the park, and he played his guitar and we talked.

We ended up spending the next couple of evenings together, chatting at the coffee shop or the park, or we would just sit at the school and talk. We prayed together about where this was going, and I think at that point we both felt like this was headed somewhere pretty special. One evening we were sitting in his car talking, and he reached over and grabbed my hand. You guys, this was the first time we had held hands and I was on Cloud 9.

It had been less than a week since he asked me to go on a date, but through all of our talking and praying the fear was gone and my feelings were so much clearer to me now. As we were sitting there holding hands, all giddy like 13 year olds or something, he asked me if I would be his girlfriend.

And I just felt this...peace. This rightness about it. So, less than a week from the day I said "just friends," I said "Yes, I will be your girlfriend." And I'm pretty sure it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

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My Fitness Favorites

*This is not a sponsored post, I just love these products! I do receive a credit if you sign up under Fabletics with my link* 

I don't know about you, but getting in shape and staying in shape is HARD work for me! It certainly doesn't come naturally. I need all the help I can get to keep me motivated and determined! These are a few of my favorite fitness tools:

Nutrition Trackers

+  21 Day Fix containers and nutrition plan

These babies are GOLD I tell you. GOLD. Especially if you are struggling with knowing what kinds of foods to eat and the right portions. With the help of these and the workouts I lost 20 pounds last year, and not only that but they totally revolutionized the way I eat. Not that I don't still indulge in junk food (If you've read this blog for any amount of time you know I do!) but I know how to get back on track right away and it's helped me SO much with my view of food. After eating this way for a few weeks I had a much better grasp on portions and I realized how little protein, fruits, and veggies I was eating before. Game changer.

If you want to know more about this program, feel free to ask!

+ My Fitness Pal App

Pretty much a "duh" at this point, I know. Most people already know about this one. Even though I use the containers I do like to sometimes log my food choices in My Fitness Pal, just to make sure I am staying in the right calorie range. It makes it so easy to log calories!

+ Water Your Body App

I'm sure this isn't the only app like this, but this is the one I've been using and it had made a huge difference in the amount of water I'm drinking! I've always been horrible about drinking enough water, mainly because I just forget to drink it! And I prefer sweet tea and coffee. Oops. But this little guy will remind you throughout the day with a notification on your phone, and then you log how much water you drink throughout the day until you reach your goal.

Workout Gear

+ Fabletics

Another one most people know about I think, but in case you haven't heard, Fabletics is the active wear company owned by the lovely Kate Hudson, and they have really nice quality workout gear for really affordable prices! You sign up to be a VIP member and they charge your card $49.95 each month, which you can then spend on anything you want. Or you can skip the month and not be charged, as long as you do so by the 5th of the month. I definitely don't buy something every month, but whenever I need a new workout top or pants, they are a great resource! They have really cute, fun, brightly colored gear. And doesn't a cute outfit just make working out a little more fun??


+ Nike sports bras

So for those of us who are bigger up top, working out with a not so supportive sports bra can be both annoying and painful! I've tried different brands and so far my absolute favorite are the Nike Pro Victory Compression Bras. They're really affordable, come in great colors, and have great support. Plus they hold up really well! I've had two of them for about a year now and washed them who knows how many times, and they still look brand new! I do hang them to dry, which I think helps them keep their shape and elasticity better than tumble drying.

+ High Density Foam Roller

This thing is awesome! I was having some serious low back pain due to tightness in my muscles, and my chiropractor told me to get a high density foam roller to work on loosening the muscles in my lower back and hips. It's been a life saver. It's also great for working the arches of your feet if your doing a lot of jumping or running. It definitely doesn't feel great at first because it's really firm on your tight muscles, but once it starts to loosen them up you feel SO much better! 

There are a lot of little things that help me along the way, but these are among the most effective fitness and nutrition tools for me! What helps you stay on track? 

Weekend Recap + 2015 Goals: Where I'm At

Good Monday to you all! This weekend was wonderful for me but not too exciting to share. It pretty much consisted of a lot of planning, cleaning, binge-watching, working out, and eating. 

Friday night we had dinner with friends and then went to Target to look at placemats for the kitchen table. I'm wanting to do four different but coordinating patterns like I did for Christmas, so trying to decide which four patterns will work best together. Looking at ones like these, in blues and greys: 

I didn't get them yet, but hopefully soon. We also may have gotten some ice cream to eat while we binge-watched X-Files, because Friday night and we are party animals. 

Saturday morning we slept in, ran some errands and then had lunch at Al's Pizza. We spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and I did some planning for our trip in April to this gorgeous place: 

And worked on our budget. I also did double workouts on Saturday because I had missed Thursday night's workout, and this face is all I have to say about that: 

I can't remember a time when my muscles were more fatigued. Like, my muscles were shaking and by the end of the second workout I could barely get through the moves and I was pretty much yelling at the screen like "Burpees with a shuffle in between?? Are you NUTS??" 

Sunday morning Adam went out to the RC field and I cleaned the whole house which was glorious and then Adam came home and we found this on Hulu Plus: 

And binge-watched some more. Dinner was Cruiser's, where I was good and ate chicken instead of the cheeseburger and fries I wanted to eat, so that's something. 

I also did a little planning for my gallery wall. I'm trying to figure out how much I can use of what I already have and what I'm going to have to buy to complete it. 

And that was my weekend! Told you it was not too thrilling. But it totally accomplished the goal of relaxing, so works for me! 

And now for a review of how I did in January on my 2015 goals: 

1. Continue cultivating a healthy lifestyle of nutritious food, regular exercise, and good rest- I'm giving myself a solid C+ on this one this month. Once again I started out the month strong but struggled a little a couple weeks in. I did lose 3 pounds in the first week of the month (I know some of that was water weight though) but I hit a plateau after that. But then I just sat down and kind of reevaluated my plan and what I was doing and reworked a few things, and this last week or so I have felt a lot more confident in what I'm doing going forward and been a lot more consistent. 

2. Connect more with my family and friends OUTSIDE of social media- I did pretty well with this! Adam and I had our monthly day together on Valentine's Day, and we were able to get together with friends for dinner a few times. 

3. Send more snail mail- I sent my aunt a "Just thinking of you" card and she loved it! I also participated in the Valentine's Goodies Swap which was SO much fun! I want to work on sending more mail though, at least two or three things a month going forward. 

4. Grow my blog- My new design was launched this month, thanks to the lovely Sarah of Social and Chic! I also started utilizing Pinterest and pinning some of my posts that I felt were "pinnable," connecting with more bloggers, and looking more into advertising through sponsorship of other blogs. I have decided one of my goals is to have at least one post a week that I feel is "pinnable," something that is useful to others, like a recipe or sharing good products. 

5. Read at least 50 new (or new to me) books this year- I didn't read as many books this month as I did last month, but I did alright. I actually need to go back and count because I haven't been keeping track, but I think I only read about 3 books this month, much less than last month. Definitely going to try to pick up the pace in March. 

That's it for me! How was your weekend?