7 Super Shots: Travel Edition

Saw this tag on another blog, and wanted to give it a try.  Now I haven't traveled very much since the kidlets joined my life, so I may be going back a few years with some of these.
Also, blogger hates me today and is only letting me center certain pictures, format certain text and not others, and I am beyond aggravated right now.  Sorry, it does not look pretty.

1st: A photo that takes my breath away.

On our honeymoon in Maui.  I love seeing ocean straight to the horizon.

2nd: A photo that makes me think.

Goblin Valley.  Every time we take a trip to Moab we stop here, and it always makes me think how on earth did those rocks make such crazy formations?  And yes, it was windy!

3rd: A photo that makes me dream.

My daughter and her dad up in Park City. I just love this photo, and can't believe how fast time has flown.

4th: A photo that makes me laugh.  There's a tie for this one.

Look at us.  The day after we got married, on our flight to Maui.  And I laugh at this only because we didn't know what was ahead of us.  We fell asleep our first day at the beach (prior to applying sunscreen) and basically deep fried our poor bodies.  My hubby's was the worst--as in puss dripping down his back at night while he lay in bed.   I got cold sores on my face.  Blisters.  Puss.  Not ideal for a honeymoon.  Believe it or not, we did manage to have a great time.

On a little road trip with my girlfriends, I got pulled over for speeding in Nebraska.  I was going 10 OVER THE SPEED LIMIT.  Where I come from if you don't go 10 over the speed limit you get run off the road.  I guess they take their speed limit seriously in Nebraska.  It gave us a good laugh. :)

5th: A photo that makes my mouth water.

Not really travel related.  But this Cheesecake Factory dessert does make my mouth water.

6th: A picture that tells a story.  

I could have picked soooo many different things for this one but decided on this picture.  My parents took all 9 of us to San Diego.  We rented 2 cars but when going to places like Sea World, only wanted to pay to park 1 car.  We crammed 7 adults and two baby girls in one minivan.  It was hilarious.  You can see my brother Jason's hand coming from up off the floor.  This photo just makes me laugh.  Fun times.

7th: A picture I'm most proud of.

Ok, I'm not really most proud of this picture, although it is nice (somewhere in the mountains near Marysvale, Ut), what this promt made me realize is that I haven't traveled since I bought my Nikon.  As in over 2 years ago.  Sad!  And even more reason to plan some trips this summer.

Motivating Monday: Blah Edition

I am feeling so blah this week.  Did not weigh in for that very reason.  I was not ready to face the consequence of eating like crap all week.  I'm thinking that one "free" day made me feel so constricted that I already rebelled.  It's so utterly ridiculous.  I can either not eat junk AT ALL, or go to the completely opposite side of that spectrum.  Why can't I just be normal for once?  Feeling pathetic.  Feeling upset.   That's all for now.  (Sorry, Debbie Downer much?)

Also, it's my 7 year anniversary today (I guess that would be our anniversary). We're keeping it low key and going out to dinner tonight without the kiddos.  Yay for not cooking on a Monday.  Also, we're thinking of going on a little trip.  Let's hope it happens.

Pinterest Test Kitchen Part 3

How on earth did I ever plan meals without Pinterest?  It is now the first place I go when planning our weekly meals and all I have to say is hallelujah!  We're finally having something different for a change.  Here's just a small dent in the 132 recipes that I've pinned.  (Yowza!)

Fluffy whole wheat biscuits.  This is a standard biscuit recipe (not sure how fluffy they were though) but we will be making them again!

Source: allrecipes.com via Amber on Pinterest

Veggie Sweet Potato Burgers.  I have to admit I felt like a total foodie making this and when the hubs got home he was like, "WHAT is this?"  It's a burger honey.  Made out of sweet potatoes.  And although it was not his favorite, I quite liked it and so did our kids.  Thanks for humoring me babe!

Source: kblog.lunchboxbunch.com via Amber on Pinterest

Shepard's Pie.  I'm wondering if this is a regular meal at homes across America, but I'd never made it before. It was good....and a lot of work.  So I'll keep it around but I don't think I'll make it unless I feel super adventurous.  Also I feel like it's more of a fall or winter recipe.

Source: theshadyporch.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Crispy fries.  This recipe is the only one in the bunch that was kind of a bust for me.  I think soaking the fries works well in keeping them crispy, however, there was just SO much seasoning on there that it was a little too much.  Not my favorite, but I can see how some out there might love it.  I'm going to keep searching for the perfect homemade fry recipe because we do love them.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Amber on Pinterest

Stuffed Peppers.  This was more a favorite of my husband's and mine, rather than the kids, but only because it's a little hard to eat that pepper when you can't cut your own food.  Delicious, nonetheless.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Amber on Pinterest

Honey roasted almonds.  You know that smell at the mall during Christmas time when you walk by the almond vendor and want to die it's so good?  You can have that in your house.  So yeah, make this right now!

Source: alihenrie.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Hawaiian haystacks.  I know this is probably another pretty common dinner for most people, but we've never had it at our house!  Not anymore, as we will be making this one again and again.  Our kids totally devoured their plates and wanted seconds.  I think one of the reason's my 3 year old loved it is because she got to "build" her own haystack.  That makes this recipe a keeper in my book!

Source: melskitchencafe.com via Amber on Pinterest

Summer vegetable tian.  This was delicious.  And so pretty.  Such a nice parting from our usual broccoli or cauliflower veggie.  I will definitely make this again (we omitted the onions on the bottom and I just put a few flakes in there).

Source: budgetbytes.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Homemade french bread.  The only bad thing I have to say about this is that it didn't exactly taste like french bread to us.  At all.  But it was good nonetheless, and we used it for a few meals so it was great.

Source: dealstomeals.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

The taco ring.  Sounds a a little shady, I know, but this one we really liked.  The kids absolutely loved it.  So much in fact that I am already going to be making this one again.  And I had enough leftover beef (from just a 1 pound package) that we used it for burritos the entire weekend.  Yum.

Source: jandafarns.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Next up, homemade tortillas.  I made tortillas from scratch!  They were so good too.  If I had the time, I would always do this because they were pretty easy and so yummy!  I did use half wheat bread/half all purpose and they still turned out well.

Source: theurbanspork.com via Amber on Pinterest

What did I make with those homemade tortillas?  These chicken enchiladas.  It's a pretty standard enchilada recipe but we loved it.  Delicious!

Source: melskitchencafe.com via Amber on Pinterest

Motivating Monday

Lost another pound this week...of course I weighed in before the candy sugar binge that was Easter Sunday.  All I have to do is watch this and it makes me want to work my butt off.

Motivating Monday

I'm 2 weeks into the "I am so done" weight loss effort and I am feeling really great.  Yay for no more junk food bloat!! (although don't ask me how much candy I consumed on that little friends get together)  The first week I lost 3.5 pounds but I never really count that first week because you're basically just losing the bloat that your body has been enduring up until that point, right?  This week I lost just 1 but it's enough to keep me going strong.  Hopefully by next week I'll feel a difference in my clothes.
I have to say it hasn't been all that difficult for me--I mean, I am the poster child for yo-yo dieting after all so I've been here before.  More times than I care to count.   And I know overeating gets me nowhere.  I cut out all snacking and work out 5 days a week.  Sure, some nights I am dying to mindlessly eat a bag of Doritos or make homemade chocolate chip cookies.  But again, I know it won't help me reach my goal, and it just makes me feel like crap physically and emotionally. That doesn't mean I don't look forward to my free day each week. :)
Lots of Easter candy and goodies are coming my way and hopefully I can handle it without downing an entire bag of mini Cadbury eggs.  Talk about bloat...and can I say bloat one more time?  That'd make a total of 4 bloats in one post (that makes 5!).  Yes!

One of my favorite workouts is the Banish Fat Boost Metabolism by Jillian Michaels.

If you're in the market for a new workout vid I highly recommend it.  I've been doing it almost a year and it's still hard for me.   You'll definitely have sweat beads dripping down your forehead after this one.  The music isn't the greatest and sometimes Jillian gets on my nerves, but I'm telling you, the moves work!  And it's only like $9 at Walmart or Amazon. (It is pretty high impact so if you have joint problems I'd try something else.)

Another thing that I do is track calories using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPod (there is also an online version).

If you're serious about losing weight I recommend it.  This really helped me to shed some pounds last summer.  I don't track as much as I should now but I feel a lot more aware about what is high calorie so I know how to eat.  The hard part is actually doing it.

One more recommendation: the Couch to 10k app.  I used this app last summer and I cannot wait to start up again this year.

It's a walk/run program that starts out with mostly walking, and eventually you are running a 10k distance.  Running has so many benefits, but overall it makes me feel soooo good (as long as no injuries) and I know it changes my body for the better.  You can sync this with your iTunes playlists and run to your own songs.  I have 12 running playlists because I like to change it up every time and they are really motivating.  One of my playlists is below if you need some ideas (I have to listen to up tempo music so don't make fun!):

The Naked and Famous: Young Blood
Benny Benassi Presents The Biz: Satisfaction
Ke$ha: Blow
Wolfmother: Pleased to Meet You
Britney Spears: I Wanna Go
Taio Cruz & Ludacris: Break Your Heart
Florence and the Machine:  Dogs Days Are Over
Usher: DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love
Hole: Celebrity Skin
Katy Perry: A Part of Me
Rihanna: We Found Love
Karmin: Brokenhearted
Flo Ride: Good Feeling

Cooldown:
Gotye: Somebody That I Used to Know
Mindy Gledhill: All About Your Heart

I also have a couple of "Run to Cadences" from the US Army/Air Force.  They are only 1-2 minutes but are SO motivating to me...maybe because I come from a military family.  My dad and brother are both currently in Afghanistan.  So I guess I feel like I am bringing them on my run with me. :)