Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!!!

As always, I'm behind on blogging!  But I couldn't let Thanksgiving come and go without a little recap :)

We've had such a glorious Holiday break!!  I cannot lie, I think I was most excited for a break from school, the fact that my husband would be home for 5 whole nights in a row, and some dang good food and family time.  So thankful for that!

Last weekend, we finally got Berkley groomed for the first time!  We figured the upcoming holidays called for a first hair cut for sure...and he looked so handsome afterwards!

He wore his reindeer bandana all day on Thursday :)

My parents were up from Georgia and my bro & SIL were hosting Thanksgiving up at their house in Concord.  {We're hosting Christmas this year!!}

We were up to Concord by about 11.  We didn't want to miss out on any fun!  B and I both assumed the positions - he on the couch to watch Football and me in the kitchen with my momma :)

I took breaks and joined B on the couch every so often!

And snacked on all the appetizers - sausage dip, spinach dip, and cheese ball & crackers.

Our day was very enjoyable!  We had 12 people, an infant, 5 dogs & entirely too much good food!!  Our menu consisted of turkey, ham, dressing, noodles, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pineapple casserole, green beans, fruit salad, and rolls.

Then for dessert, there was apple crisp and ice cream, pumpkin pie, key lime pie, pumpkin roll, berry bars, and chocolate peanut butter pie.  I chose apple crisp and key lime pie :)

I was STUFFED!!  Especially since I hadn't eaten that much grain and dairy in a while.  But this girl can't be Paleo on Holidays.  Sorry that I'm not sorry!  Haha, all in moderation!

Berkley was pooped from all the eating and the fun having!  He is all puppy still and his doggy "cousins" were just not into playing as much he was.  Lucky for him, my niece and nephews love to play! 

I've been trying to fight off a yucky cold and unfortunately, I think Thursday was the worst of it.  But it was a great day so I won't complain!!

B and I ended the night snuggled up with with the animals and watching {or sleeping through} a movie :)

As always, I have so, so much to be thankful for this year!  My awesome husband, our sweet fur babies, my amazing parents and siblings (in laws included!), niece & nephews (and the ones on the way!), our extended family, our health!!  I hope to never take these things for granted!

On a more trivial note, here are a few other things I'm thankful for...

-A steaming, turn your skin pink, scorching, hot shower.  Every day I walk into my hot shower I just want to shout out my thankfulness.  No lie, it's practically holy that's how good it is!  Amen.

-Target.  I love going there.  It never gets old!  I guess I wish I didn't give them as much money as I do, but I could seriously browse around there for hours and I pretty much always leave happy!

-When Berkley wakes up on non-alarm days and B tells me to "Just stay in bed, babe, I'll take him out."  SWOON!  Oh my goodness, my heart melts for that man at these words.

-Chocolate.  I am always thankful for chocolate!  Oh, and wine and a tall extra pump skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks.  All my vices!

Seriously, I hope you had a most wonderful Thanksgiving and that it was spent with those you love!  

I have big plans of actually blogging this week, so keep your fingers crossed for me?!  Just don't hold your breath ;)  Until next time.... xoxo

3 Day Weekend!

Weekends are the greatest!!  Especially 3 day weekends!

My favorites

A whole lotta this went on, which I will never, ever complain about :)

There were some good workouts, some good cleaning around the house, and some relaxing with good friends!

Yesterday, I was off from school to observe Veteran's Day!  I have several Veterans in my family, so yesterday (& everyday) I tried to be extra thankful for all the sacrifices our brave men & women in uniform, as well as their families, have made/make for our continued freedom.

via

Freedom isn't Free.

I, also, gladly welcomed a day off!!  It's the little things like watching the Today Show while I sip my smoothie with a white puppy snuggled in my lap, working out mid morning instead of in the evening, running errands with no schedule & dinner with a best friend....oh and a 4 day work week!  :)

Hope your weekend was splendid & that you thanked a Vet!!

And Merry, Happy, Almost Thanksgiving!  Can you believe it's next week!?

Lately

Welp, I've been quite the sporadic blogger lately, but better sporadic than not at all right!?!

Nothing too wild's been going on, just managing and surviving work and living a little in between.  I can't lie, it's definitely been a year so far - I've been challenged mentally, physically, and professionally.  But hey, I'm still here and still smiling, so I won't complain!!  :)

Here's what's been going on lately....

What I'm Loving: Thursday nights.  Thursdays bring my husband home to me and usually end with us on the couch watching Gray's or catching up on our DVR.  Thursday nights are practically the beginning of the weekend...and I'm a big fan of weekends!

  

Watching: Nashville!  I'm obsessed.

Looking forward to: The Holidays!!  I'm so excited for our anniversary, decorations, family time, Christmas cards, celebrating, gift giving, a stocking for Berkley, traveling to Michigan...the list goes on!  I recently downloaded these 2 printables & I can't wait to put them out!

Links on my Holiday Pinterest Board

Making me happy: Our new coffee table!!

We loved the oversized ottoman we bought with our new couch, but thanks to Benson's back claws and his jumping and skidding across the ottoman to escape an active puppy, it's pretty scratched up :(  We fell in love with this coffee table & bonus....it was 40% off!!

Celebrating: ALL THE BABIES!  My handsome nephew was born just over 3 weeks ago, I'm just itching to get back over and hold him.  My sweet friend, Rachel, had precious Maggie almost 2 weeks ago, hopefully I'll get to snuggle her this Friday for a minute!

My cousin is being induced with her baby girl tomorrow!  Brandon's sis & BIL are expecting a baby boy in February - we've been looking at all sorts of Christmas gifts for baby Weston, even though he won't even be here yet!  And another Acuff will be making their debut in May!!!  My brother & SIL, Rob & Gale are having a baby, too!!

Fanning: All these babies are just fanning and fueling the baby fever over here!  I even got an email today from Baby Gap.  What the heck!?  In due time, we haven't drank the water yet.

Memorizing:  This verse.

I've had a tough time staying true to Paleo lately (ahem - get outta my face Halloween candy!!) and I feel like I'm ruining all the progress I've made.  I made this verse the background on my phone and I've been trying to repeat it to myself when tempted to eat just whatever I have a craving for at the time.

So far, it's been helping!

Planning: Paleo meals so I won't cheat!  Ugh...it's so easy to stray, but when I've planned out my meals and have good options in the house, it really helps to eliminate the chances of my going awry.  :/

Enjoying: Weekends.  Seriously...there is nothing better.

I'm so thankful tomorrow's Thursday!  One day closer to the blessed weekend, we can wear jeans to school this week & it's a 3 day weekend my friends!!

Nerd Alert!

Here's what I'm currently doing....a little nerd multi-tasking at it's finest ;)

Writing progress reports (that go home Thursday.  Eeep!), watching the votes roll in, and snuggling my furry faced puppers!!  Think it's time for his first grooming!?

Paperwork lately is never ending.  Whoa!!  Thankful I can do a lot of it at home instead of having to do it at school.

Did you do your civic duty and vote!?!  I hope so!  We got our vote on this past Saturday!

Are you watching the results as they trickle in, too?  I'm glued to Fox News!

Since I always like to keep things friendly....

via

Haha, unless your candidate was my candidate ;)

Stay tuned, I hope to be back tomorrow to catch myself up on the past {gasp} week & a half since I last blogged - oh wait, I'm sure you're not surprised by this anymore!

For reals, though....I shall return!!

Happy Election Day!  And God Bless America!!!

Friday's Letters

Joyous of all days, it is finally Friday my friends :) Linking up with Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds today for a few letters....shall we?

Dear Halloween....I'm kind of over you this year, but I can't lie, I'm totally going to eat some candy and savor every bite!  Paleo might just have to get put on hold for a little bit of Halloween candy ;) Dear Paleo....I'm finding it hard to be as strict as I was the first few weeks.  Womp womp!  But keeping with your rules about 90% of the time is still pretty good, yeah!?  I think so.  I'll take it!  Dear This Week....You have won.  I handed you full victory as the tears freely flowed when leaving school on Wednesday.  I'm not sorry you're over.  Dear Friday....Seems like it took for.ev.er for you to get here this week.  You're killing me smalls!!  Dear Dining Room....We just might be headed to pick out your furniture this weekend!  I could squeal with the excitement, I can't wait to see my vision come to life!  Dear Weekend....I'm so excited you're bringing back the fall weather.  I can't wait to wear a sweater, some skinnies & boots.  Dear Husband....Thanks for being you.  And for never making me feel silly for crying on a Wednesday afternoon about not having time to fold laundry.  To the moon, baby!!

Pure Joy

So in the midst of the craziness that is this life, I like to just stop and count my blessings every now and then.  I have oh so many, many blessings in my life and I never, ever want to forget to be thankful for them!

So here are a few things that have been bringing me pure joy lately...

Folded laundry on my bed after getting home from work on Friday.  

Bliss!  Oh man, I saw that & knew for sure (not that I ever doubted!) that my husband loves me.  He performed a few little house husband tasks on Friday while working from home and it brought joy to this weary teacher after a loooong Friday!

A good, long run.

In my new kicks!

We skipped a workout Sunday and tailgated for the Panther's game (another loss - wahhhh) & I didn't have time to run or workout yesterday.  Sadly work and the grocery store got precedent.  I was so excited to go run my little heart out on the treadmill this afternoon...felt so good to get over 6 miles under my belt!

A vacuumed floor.

Can I get an amen!?  Oh, my pretty floors - they have been neglected due to our busy schedule & had gotten so dirty!  They were in desperate need of a good vacuuming!  I can only let it go so long before it will send me to the nutty house & tonight they got the cleaning they'd been needing!

Sweet fur babies.

These 2 make me so happy!  How can you not love it!?

Fall.

I love driving through the city and seeing trees looking like this...

...and pulling up to my house and seeing this on the front porch :)

So many little joys lately!  May I not forget to count them!

Paleo

So as promised, I'm finally blogging about Paleo.  When I started writing this post, I had no clue it would end up this long :)  So grab a cup of hot tea & a seat and hopefully I'll be able to answer a few questions you may have.... 

What is Paleo?  Why am I doing it?  How is it going?

First of all, I am no expert by any means, so I would suggest browsing these websites to get a general idea - Paleo wiki, this site, and this blog.

Now here is my simple, layman terms definition of what the Paleo lifestyle is: 

Simply eating like the humans ate during the Paleolithic era - eating whole foods following mostly a hunter & gatherer diet.

Lean meat, seafood, fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds, and healthy fats = GOOD.
Processed food, sugar, dairy, grain, legumes, starches and alcohol = BAD.

Restrictive?  Yes.  Very!
Scary?  Yes.
Worth it?  Absolutely!

I was super turned off by Paleo when I first heard about it!  I mean how could I ever give up carbs & diary!?!?  But as an avid worker outer (cause that's a word, right!?) I've felt so frustrated in the stalemate that my body has seemingly stayed in for the past few years & I knew deep down that I needed to try something different!

Several weeks ago, Jennifer at Life in the Green House blogged about her Paleo journey & why Paleo?  She pretty much summed up my thoughts exactly!

There's a bit of a background story concerning my weight - during my middle school and high school years, I was close to 20 pounds overweight.  Somewhere during my junior year of high school, I decided to do weight watchers and dropped most of that 20 pounds and kept it off until my first year of college!  Then, I gained the ever popular freshman 15 & was really upset with myself for putting that weight back on!

So second semester freshman year, I started avidly running and I really cut back my calories.  Once I lost that weight, I've successfully kept it off!  

But there was always that last 5 to 10 pounds that I could stand to lose.  I'm only 5'1, it would be totally appropriate and healthy for me to weigh 110 pounds, but I haven't seen that weight since I don't even know when!

I work out more than most girls I know - from running, to weights, workout classes and videos, P90X, Insanity....I've tried it all and I continue to work out a lot!  And I enjoy it!!  (Most of the time, that is!)

But it's not even about a number on the scale!  It's more about my body never changing.  I typically don't gain weight, but I don't lose any either!  I never seem to get more toned or stronger and my body just stays the same....despite all my my efforts.

So logically, the only thing I can really change and take control of is what I put in my mouth!

But I love food.  Like LOVE!  I always joke there's a fat girl living inside me that's trying to get out, except I'm only half joking.....because seriously, THERE IS A FAT GIRL LIVING INSIDE ME & sometimes SHE TRIES TO GET OUT!!!

Typically, I have strong willpower at the grocery store and tempting, unhealthy foods don't even come home with me.  But every now and then they do.

And at times, my love of food can get out of hand and I borderline binge.  Clearly, for the most part, I have control of this as I don't have an eating disorder or anything of that severity, but, for example, if I make a batch of cookies - I would totally eat 4 (or 5) if no one was watching!  (Thank goodness there is usually someone watching!)

If there are sweets or a temptation in the house, I'm typically of the mindset that I need to just finish off the temptation in the house - the rest of that chocolate bar, the rest of those cookies or rice krispy treats, etc - so the temptation is no longer there!

Also, I'm an emotional eater, and I know it!  I like to reward myself with food, treat myself for something I did well.  Or if I eat something unhealthy (snacks or candy), then I convince myself well today's already a wash, I might as well keep eating whatever I want for the rest of the day.

ALL OF THESE ARE TERRIBLE HABITS I'VE FORMED AND THE ONLY WAY I'VE FOUND TO CHANGE THEM THUS FAR HAS BEEN TO BE RADICALLY CHANGE MY EATING HABITS.

I must be restrictive!  Paleo restrictive!

I've been following Paleo for a little over 6 weeks now!  I'm down 5 pounds and truthfully feeling really, really good!  It may not be a lot of weight gone, but I can tell a huge difference in my body and the way my clothes fit.  And my workouts have been fantastic lately, I'm running faster and feel stronger.  And I think it has everything to do with what I've been eating.

For me, because Paleo's so restrictive, I'm not concentrating on the one thing I can't have!  For instance - oh I've given up desserts or no more carbs for me, etc. and then all you can think about is desserts or carbs!  I'm typically more focused on what I can eat and finding new ways to prepare it!

To be truthful, the past week and a half I haven't been as strict and I can tell that it's not good!  So I'm really trying to be serious about it again.  

The hardest times are when I go out to eat.  I can usually find something Paleo wherever I go {surely a garden salad just about anywhere is probably Paleo or very close!), but I am tempted by all the other things on the menu I shouldn't eat!  They just stare at me and scream EAT ME!

Haha, but thankfully, Brandon is very encouraging with me trying to follow Paleo!!  He's said he'll eat whatever I cook when he's home and he encourages me when we're out to eat to not deviate!  He can definitely tell a difference in how I look and he sees the confidence it's given me!

Because it's so restrictive, I obviously don't live by Paleo 24/7.  If I have a cheat meal or 2 a week, I'm not going to beat myself up about it!  If it's someone's birthday, you better believe I'm having a piece of cake!  And if we go out for Mexican, I guarentee you I'm having a least a few chips with my salsa!

But I really do want to follow Paleo the best I can for as many meals a week as I can!

Paleo really takes planning, I can definitely vouch for that!  So in the next week or so I hope to blog my meals for the week so I can prove to those Paleo doubters out there that it's not so hard and totally doable!!

Paleo has totally changed my mindset about food.  And for the better!  It truly is a lifestyle.  And while I know I'll eventually incorporate small portions of dairy and grain here and there in my diet, I really plan on keeping this up!  The feeling's just addictive!

If you're stuck, in a stalemate, wanting to lose weight or adopt a healthier diet - I dare you to try Paleo for a month and see if you choose to go back to your eating habits before!!

So, so worth it!