I'll ride my tractor if I want to

Today was such a special day for me. I headed out of town to go to my nephews birthday party and was so excited to be with all of my family (except for my sister who lives way down South, believe me she was there in spirit). Now this nephew is very special to me because he is my first nephew. Tomorrow  he will turn two and I have to say this little youngster brings me back to my childhood like no one else. My older brother and I are 14 months apart and every time I look at Carter I see my brother. Although I have to say many things that he did today reminded me so much of his mother who is basically one of the coolest :) people I know.

 

 

Now back to the parrtay.

 

The theme was John Deere ( I mean we are in the South, duh) and the cake was basically perfect. (Made by my sister-in-laws aunt, I swear she should start a business. Her cakes are amazing.  

 

 

 

After we all got there, we gave out our hugs and hellos and as we were doing so his Grandma walked in with the pizza. At this time the birthday boy was only interested in eating his pizza. This is how I know we are related. I tell ya we love our pizza. (Although I stuck to my 21 day challenge so no pizza for me)

 

But I have to say one of the funniest things that the birthday boy did all day is what he calls my dad.

PaPAAAA. It is like he is doing a magic show. Now when he talks to my mom he calls her Mimi and just looks like the sweetest little boy ever.

 

It is just so wonderful seeing my parents with their (right now) only grandkid because they just love him so much.

 

 

After we filled our bellies it was of course family picture time,

(minus my hubby, Abbie & her soon to be hubby Josh) (We will get to that on a another post...SO EXCITED)

 

 

The main family picture, they are just perfect.

 

 

Best picture of the day!!!

 

"JUST GIVE ME SOME CAKE PEOPLE"

 

 

Afterwards it was present time. This is always my favorite time at a birthday party. 

Especially a little one's birthday!!

 

The hubby and I got him a John Deere tractor of course.

My aunt- in- law works for John Deere so she helped us find the perfect one. Thanks again Aunt "Frosty"

 

He clearly wanted to ride it.

 

 "What, you want to play with your toys instead of take pictures with you Aunt?"

 

 

Now the end of the party was probably my favorite part. Because my little buddy said...

 

Good Bye Aunt Mel. Hearing him say Aunt Mel just melts my heart.

 

 

Happy Birthday little man.

 

 

21 Day Challenge: Let's get rid of being tired & frumpy

As I was sitting at my desk at work today I just felt tired and frumpy. If you didn't know I have an office job and sit at a desk for 8 hours a day. Some of you might think... I can NOT picture you sitting at a desk or anywhere for 8 hours but hey I do and I actually really love my job. Also to add to this madness I work in IT. Yes this is true I sit at a desk for 8 hours and I work in the IT industry. If you would have asked me 10 years ago what I wanted to do I would have said " I will live in a big city and be a journalist." Oh how the tables have turned. But I have to say I like the side of the table that I ended up on. I truly love the quite life where you can live in the country and basically just live life and not worry about all of the frivolous things in life that I would probably worry about if I lived in the city. But now let me get to the point of this post before I go on and on about something else.

 

Back to feeling tired and frumpy.....

 

This time last year I was in the best shape I have ever been in. I worked out at least 4 days week and my diet was on point. I have to say I had more energy and woke up every morning feeling like a million bucks. I continued doing this up until probably 5 months ago. I had so much going on with the wedding that my workouts just got pushed to the side. Then after we said our "I Do's" let's just say my workouts were pushed to the side again. Then other things in life happened that just pushed workouts and healthy eating out the door completely. But as I was sitting at my desk today I truly thought to myself I can't just keep putting my workouts to the side, I can't just eat junk because all of this in the end makes me feel "tired and frumpy" .

 

So now that I have started up my blog again (this makes me do my happy dance) I am ready to give myself a challenge. So starting tomorrow I am beginning the "21 Day Challenge". How did I come up with the 21 day challenge? Well Thanksgiving is in 22 days and I'm sorry I will not miss out on my daddy's

stuffing and my "Aunt Kay's" squash casserole. 

 

So what is this 21 day challenge going to consist of. Well I am going all in.....

I am going to be cooking more like I used to. This means no more starches, sugar, and fatty meat. Basically getting back to as veggielious as possible.

 



 

Getting back to that sweaty stuff.

 

 

 

Getting more protein. Even though it is getting cold, morning smoothies are coming back.

 

More green juices instead of fatty afternoon snacks at work.

 

Salads not wraps and quesadillas for lunch

 

More fruit and veggies EVERY DAY.

 

More SQUATS. This girl needs a little lift :)

 

Morning workouts. It might stink to wake up super early but lets be serious do you hate it after you have a good morning workout? I didn't think so.

 

Healthy snacks is key for me. Remember I work in an office it is ALWAYS someone's birthday. Say goodbye to cake and hello to hummus ha :)

 

Starting tomorrow I will be tracking everything I eat and all my workouts so feel free to join or ask questions. We can do it together. Remember "Healthy is the new black"

 

See you beautiful bloggers tomorrow :)