Wordless Wednesday- cats

Graze Box- A Preview Review

Last week I was visiting the blog of The Lady Okie where she was talking all about Graze box and all the tasty snacks you get. She was giving out codes so I asked for one and checked out the site. It is a pretty good deal I think. First and Fifth box are free and all other boxes are $6. You can choose to receive your box every 2, 3, or 4 weeks and you also get to rate what you get in case you love/hate something.

I was so excited on Monday when my first box arrived. Of course I did not read the box and opened it upside down, but I flipped it and looked at all the goodies! Inside my box was Jalapeno Fiesta Mix, Hot Cross Yum, My Thai crips, and a fruit and seed flapjack. I was excited as I have heard such good things about the flapjacks.

I was also very excited it included a card with all the nutrition facts. Another bonus is when I did eat my one snack, I scanned it into My Fitness Pal and it recognized my food, score! To be honest I at the Jalapeno Fiesta first because I did not think I would like it. Not a jalapeno fan here. Well I sure was wrong! I slip the package up to enjoy over two snack periods, well good thing I did because it was so good I would have eaten the whole thing!!

I still have 3 more snacks to go, but will blog about the rest of the snacks when I try them. Please let me know if you want a code to try Graze box.

2013 in Review, Looking Forward to 2014

 

Well the Christmas stuff is packed up and put away, we got a new tree so out with the old and in with the new. 2013 was quite a busy year! I am hoping 2014 is just as good if not better. Here are some of my highlights from 2013:

 

- Lost 12 pounds, worked out more, and ate better

- Started running again and went farther then I ever had before and completed my first 10k. Ran at least 1 race a month from May through September

- Became a mom to a 16 month old for a week and now to a sweet 5 year old girl (2 months in)

- Went on a nice relaxing vacation to the Dells 

- Went to two Brewers games this year, ran the Sausage 5k and the Brewers mini marathon

- Had a great year with Justin and Tobi and Guido

- Blogged more

 

Looking forward to 2014 I am not going to set a new years resolution but instead try and set goals for myself to achieve:

 

- Become a better mom, learn from experiences, and share mine

- Run my first half marathon- set for June in Milwaukee

- Run 1 race a month from May-Sept- including more half marathons

- Book our 2015 trip to Mexico this May

- Continue eating healthy, tracking my food, working out, and lose 15 more pounds

- Blog more :)

- Work hard and play harder- Brewers games, vacation, fun kids stuff

- Keep up with my crafting- knitting and scrapbooking

 

Do you have any goals you are hoping to achieve for the new year?

 

 



Happy Holidays- Part 2

Monday the 23rd we packed up the car to the tippy top with stuff to bring down to central Il. We had some much to bring we barely had room for the 3 of us. We took P to gymnastics and then stopped quick at McDonald's for dinner before putting her in her PJs and in the car. Thankfully it was an easy drive with almost no traffic. Once we got to Deer Creek, P woke up and met Justin's Parents. I let her stay up a bit before heading to bed.

 

Tuesday the 24th we went to our friend's Sarah and Joel's to see them and exchange gifts. Beforehand we went to Sonic because I had a hankering for hot dogs and a slushee. Just a note, the East Peoria Sonic has to be the SLOWEST one I have ever been to! We had a great time seeing Sarah, Joel, Sarah's mom, sister, and boyfriend. We wished we could stay longer but were glad we got to see them even a little bit! Afterwards we got pizza from our favorite place down there, Monical's and sat and talked to Justin's Uncle Bug and Uncle Al.

Sweet Dandy Cat

Justin and his uncle

Shadow Dog

Shadow dog was quite popular with P this week, I think she was missing the kitties. We put P to bed around 8pm so she could get in bed for Santa to come. We stayed up and Justin played the WWE 2K14 and I knitted my scarf.

Christmas morning P slept until 8:30, I am not even sure she remembered it was Christmas! We went downstairs and she saw Santa had left her a doll she asked for, she was so excited. Around noon our nieces showed up and the girls colored. Justin's sister can shortly after and Uncle Al came back to enjoy Christmas dinner with us. We had quite the feast!

Oh I bought myself an early Christmas Present for Thanksgiving, a D3200 DSLR camera and took over 300 pictures on Christmas. I love the camera and I am so glad I got it!



 

 This year almost everyone got hand made scarves by me. Justin and I got his dad a Nook, which he loved. The girls all got Stuffees and P got a LeapPad2 which she loved! I think Christmas was good to everyone this year! After opening gifts the kids played with their toys, they had fun feeding and changing the Baby Alive. P got to stay up until 8:30 then she headed to bed, we did not want to stray too far from her schedule. I soaked in the hot tub and watched tv (the hot tub is in the garage) and Justin played a little WWE then headed up to bed too.

 

Thursday we had some family come over to visit and hang out prior to us packing the car and heading home. It was a busy but fun 3 days, but as always we were glad to be home and see the boys. P survived her first trip to Peoria and had a good time.

 

 

 

 

 



Happy Holidays Everyone- Part 1

 

Here is hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season. This year was quite the Christmas for us, especially since we now have a child in the house. We involved her in every bit of Christmas decorating. She helped me put up and decorate the tree, we got her a stocking, and let her pick out an ornament for the tree. She even made some ornaments at school and day care.

 

Friday the 20th Justin and I kept up our tradition of giving our gifts to each other separately from the family. After the princess, "P", went to bed, we opened gifts and watched Friday Night Smack down. Justin got me a froggie Pandora charm that he had "P" pick out for me, too cute!

JBL and Cole

Tobi and Guido playing

Justin got a Jacob's Clap Trap

I got a Brodus Clay!

Tobi has to wait for tomorrow for his gifts

 

Sat the 21st we celebrated Christmas and my mom's birthday with my parents. They came over and I made stuffed shells for dinner. Justin made some great Italian sausage on the Foreman.

Titan Santa as the centerpiece

After we got dinner going we sat down and watched Despicable Me 2 and opened presents. Everyone got lots of great things! I got a Coach purse and Pandora charm (Gingerbread Man) from mom and dad, Justin got a Sonicare tooth brush, and "P" got more toys that she knew what to do with, including the Easy Bake Oven she calls the baker I got for $5 at Goodwill.

Justin and dad talking sports

Lots of gifts!

Someone got pants!

Gap sweaters, so soft!



New Coach purse

I made mom that scarf

Tobi loves his toy!

Guido and his Star Wars Tie

After presents we had dinner and Tiramisu to celebrate mom's birthday. Everyone had a wonderful day and I think P truly enjoyed her Christmas with my family.

 

Stay tined for our trip to Peoria for round 2