What a Monday...

Today has to be one of the longest days I've had in a while. It started by getting up at 3 a.m. and doing my paper route. Then to the gym. Then to work. Now, I'm at James since he had to borrow my car and I refuse to drive his jeep all the way to my house in Goshen. I'm thinking sleep sounds pretty good right about now. Especially since I have to do it all over again tomorrow.

I did very well on my diet today also...plus an hour at the gym! Yay for me...I've got to hit the gym harder tomorrow though. No playing around...the clock is ticking. 194 days now...haha. Soon it'll be 5 months till...still hasn't really sunk in all the way though. Right now I'm just trying to make it day by day paying for all this wedding stuff and getting into shape. As this point there's nothing more I can do but trust God to provide for everything. Thankfully, He's blessed me and James with full time jobs and 2 part time jobs...soon to be 3 part time jobs. I've also been making little girl dresses for a little extra cash. I made some for Melissa one of my managers at JB. Wait till you see her girls in them!!! Super cute!!! Anyways, as you can see me and James are very busy with work right now. I'll be glad when all this wedding stuff is over with. Don't get me wrong...I love this part of my life...and I LOVE planning this wedding!

Anywho, my invitation paper and supplies will be coming in a few days and I can't wait!!! Knowing me I'll start immediately on getting them done...haha. I'm such a planner and way ahead of the game. However, if you can believe this...I'm so far ahead of schedule but one thing I'm kinda behind on...I haven't gotten my dress or EVEN went dress shopping!!! I know the dress I want but I haven't even tried it on and might not even like it once I try it on. I think the main reason for this is because I want to lose some weight before shopping. But I must force myself to get my dress by May. So I don't have much longer to get that done eek!

Well I can't wait to show ya'll my invitations!!! I think I might be more excited about the invitations then the dress...haha! I'll be posting in a few days with them so stay tuned! :)

Snowing???

Wow I cannot believe its almost April but I sit here watching a blizzard outside. I'm so ready for nice warm weather too! I've had enough time stuck inside doing nothing to last me for a while. Me and James have been so bored ALL day. Eating and watching tv....haha! Poor James...he got hurt on his paper route and we think he broke his foot/ankle. Its so swollen and bruised all the way down his foot. Unfortunately, we haven't gone to the Doctor because we are waiting on his insurance to come through so we can go and have it x-rayed without having to foot the bill...ugh. Pray though that its not broken! I did his paper route this morning in the rain...not fun let me tell you. It makes me appreciate him 20 times more for all he does every day. So ya not looking forward to snow and cold in the morning...or the BIG huge newspapers I have to deliver.

Anyways, enough complaining! I am happy to say that James had a great sells week and he's doing so great at his evening part time job. So so proud of him!!! I also got all my invitation supplies ordered and finished today. Now I can't wait till they come in!!! Woo Woo!!! I'm actually pretty anxious to get started. Everyone keeps telling me that I might have taken on more then I can chew...but I think I can handle it ;) !!! I know I got the DIY bride in me!!!

Well happy snow day to everyone!!! Gotta get to bed so I can wake up at 2 a.m. for this paper route!!! Woo Woo can't wait to get out in the cold wet snow in the early morning!!!

Why is everything so exspensive???

Seriously...with the economy the way it is why is everything so expensive??? This has to be the WORST time to be getting married. I'm doing everything possible to be the DIY bride and I've cut costs in so many ways already and still I find it hard to have the money for all the small things. So this week my hang up is INVITATIONS!!! OK an outsider would think...invitations...paper...inexpensive part of a wedding...HAHAHAHAH...YOU think wrong!!!! I freaking just found invitations that would cost me $3500 for 100...yes thats right THREE THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS! Thats highway robbery!!!! Soooo anyways...I thought to myself...I can make my own invitations. Now, I'm uber picky about everything and when it comes to details I'm even worse. I can't just have a normal one sheet invitation...no no no...Princess Mar Mar wants a pocket fold invitation. After much looking online I FINALLY found someone who put step by step instructions on how to make them. THANK YOU GOD!!! So I thought hard part done...oh how wrong I was. I just went to Sign Sealed and Delivered to buy supplies...they had NOTHING...and what they did have it was freaking ridiculously expensive. Then I went to Hobby Lobby and woo woo they had a lot of what I needed and 50% off...how lovely!!! Unfortunately, I will have to order my paper online since its a custom size. That is the most expensive part...but not too bad. The cost of the invitations if I was to buy them would be $10 per each invitation. To make them it costs just over $1.

Oh and I'm not done yet with the invitation rant. Ok so aside from me having to wait on all the paper products to be delivered I can't make one to see how long it'll take. However, the blogger girl that made them and put them up on her blog she "says" it took her about 20 minutes to do each invite. Your wondering why it takes that long??? Well lets just say there is folding, cutting, printing, embossing, stamping, and ironing (yes, ironing) all involved. Don't worry I'll post pictures and step by step instructions on here to show ya'll. Believe me though...the end product will be FAB-U-LOUS!!! I have a feeling though it'll take me a good 3-4 months to finish them...haha. My goal right now is to just get all the materials and at least start the process. I'll be glad when they're done.

Anywho, as you all can see I'm terrably lazy and slacking on posting my calories and what I've ate every day. I just haven't had the time but I will tell you I'm keeping on my diet and doing well. I'll be making a yummy dinner for my sweetie pie tomorrow and it's of course a healthy recipe so I'll post it :)

Monday Monday...ready for Friday!!!!! :)

Total Calories: 1110

*** Being totally lazy and not putting exactly what I ate but I did keep track and here's the amount of calories I had.

Sorry I haven't been posting the last few days!!!

Friday

Breakfast

Sunflower SeedsPeaches
Calories: 270

Lunch

SmartOne
Calories: 240

Dinner
Subway
Calories: 690

Total Calories: 1200

Saturday

Oven Fried Chicken

from Food Network Kitchens

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups rice-corn crispy cereal

2 1/4 cups broken melba toast

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

4 bone-in, skinless chicken pieces (about 6 ounces each)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Set a rack on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray the rack generously with cooking spray.

Finely grind the cereal and toasts together in a food processor. Transfer crumbs to a large gallon size plastic bag. Add the oil, salt, cayenne, paprika, and ground pepper and toss to mix thoroughly. Whisk the light mayonnaise and Dijon mustard together in a medium shallow bowl. Add chicken to mayonnaise and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Drop the chicken into the plastic bag, seal and shake until each piece is evenly coated. Place coated pieces on the prepared rack. Spray the chicken pieces evenly with cooking spray, and bake until the coating crisp and browns and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the pieces registers 160 degrees F, 35-40 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 434

Total Fat: 18g

Saturated Fat: 2.7g

Carbohydrates: 25g

Protein: 42g

Fiber: 1.7g

Sodium: 1550mg

Banana Cream Pie

courtesy of Ellie Krieger

Prep Time: 35min

Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients

Cooking spray

12 graham cracker squares (6 full sheets)

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin

3 tablespoons boiling water

1/2 cup, plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups 1 percent low fat milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups sliced banana (3 medium bananas)

1/4 cup whipping cream (fat-free or low-fat)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a food processor, process graham crackers until finely ground. Add butter and 1 tablespoons of water, and process until the crumb clumps together. Press crumb mixture into bottom of pie plate and about 1/2-inch up the sides. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then let cool.

In the meantime, making the filling. Put the gelatin in a small bowl; add 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1/3 cup of sugar and the flour. In a medium bowl lightly beat the milk and eggs together. Add the egg and milk mixture to the saucepan and whisk so the flour and sugar dissolve. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes, until mixture comes to a boil and has thickened. Stir in the vanilla extract and gelatin. Set aside to cool slightly.

Arrange the sliced bananas on the graham cracker crust and pour the pudding on top. Place in the refrigerator until the pudding has set, about 3 hours.

Whip the cream with an electric beater. When it is about halfway done, add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, then continue whipping until fully whipped. Put the whipped cream in a plastic bag, concentrating it in 1 corner of the bag. Snip that corner off the bag and squeeze the whipped cream out of the bag in a decorative pattern around the pie.

Ok, I've been terribly bad at keeping track of my calories this weekend. However, I did make a healthy meal on Saturday. Oven baked chicken and banana creme pie :) yummo!

I've had a really good weekend so far. Yesterday, me and James went and played gator golf with my good friend Ashley and her husband Adam. Today, we went to church and now I'm at home enjoying this awesome weather and James is out golfing with his friends. I hope ya'll have had a good weekend also!!!

Starting tomorrow I'll be adding exercise into my whole diet thing and I'll post what I do daily and everything.

It's hard to be honest some times...

Ok, wow what a bad bad day on my eating habits. I set my self for failure today. I didn't take the time to make breakfast at home. Then, I figured I already made one mistake I guess the rest of the day is ruined. However, I'm going to be honest with myself and YOU guys and tell you what I ate today and how many calories.


Breakfast
(McDonald's)
Sausage Biscuit w/egg
Hashbrown
Calories: 660

Lunch
SmartOne Lasagna
Calories:400

Dinner
(Sonic)
Bacon Toaster Sandwich
Tator tots
Calories: 776

Total Calories: 1836

See people that's what happens with you eat out and eat fast food. Thankfully, I did eat my smartone at lunch...haha. ONE good thing I did do. I have to tell myself though when I make a mistake not to make the rest of the day a mistake. That only leads to you feeling like a failure and wanting to ruin the whole week and you tell yourself you'll start over on Monday...and well it never happens...believe me...it never happens! Tomorrow is a new day and its going to be great! No cheating and NO fast food!

***I know James your going to give me hell after you read this...

Chicken Pot Pie on the Menu Tonight!!!!

Breakfast

Kashi Granola Bar

Calories: 120

Lunch

South Beach Living Turkey & Backon Club
Calories: 240

Snack

V-8 Low Sodium

Dinner

Chicken and Biscuit Pot Pie
Calories: 400

Chicken and Biscuit Pot Pie Recipe

*courtesy of Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

For the Filling:

• cooking spray
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, diced and already boiled
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups of lowfat milk
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

For the biscuit crust:

• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk
  

Directions


To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a large shallow casserole dish, or 6 individual ramekins.

Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer the chicken with its juices to a bowl.

Add 2 more teaspoons of oil to the same pan and heat it over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the potatoes, garlic and remaining salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the milk. Stir the flour into the broth until it is completely dissolved and add to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes more. Return the chicken with its juices back to the pan. Add the thyme and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish or ramekins.

To make crust: Put the whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a food processor and pulse for a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse about 12 times, or until pebble sized pieces are formed.

Add the buttermilk then oil to the food processor and pulsa until moistened. Do not over mix. Drop the batter out slightly. Bake until filling is bubbling and the biscuit topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Prep Time: 25 min
Inactive Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Serves 6

Nutritional analysis per serving

Calories 400
Total Fat 14g
Sat Fat 5.7g
Mono Fat 7.7g
Poly Fat 2.7g
Protein 31g
Carb 31g
Fiber 5g
Cholesterol 82mg
Sodium 600mg


This recipe is fairly easy to put together and its a great way to show you that you really can eat anything you want on a diet BUT with a few changes. Using lowfat, low sodium, fat-free, and sugar-free can really cut the calories for you.





***Oh Anna your mom would love me to teach you this healthy chicken pot pie recipe :)

DAY 2 and feeling a lot better =)

Breakfast

Kashi Granola Bar

Calories: 120

Lunch
Smart Ones Meal

Calories: 260

Snack
V-8 Low Sodium Juice

Calories: 70

Dinner
Subway Club
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Calories: 850

Total Calories: 1300

Ok, so I didn't do so good at Subway tonight...haha...the cookie did me in...but I couldn't help myself...especially when it comes to chocolate chip...eek...and this is why I have a problem...ugh! Anyways, that's it for today...sleepy sleepy after work and my bible study tonight.

Sick but still going to start... (WARNING PICTURE OVERLOAD)

Oh I know you've been in anticipation waiting to see what I'm starting today!!! Well its going to be very personal and very real. I'm starting an online diet and I'll put weekly pictures up of myself. I'll post what I've ate that day and what I did for exercise. This is my last resort to getting in wedding day shape. I'm on the LGN (LOOK GOOD NAKED) diet as our marriage counselor calls it...haha! No, but seriously I have to order my dress in May so I'm hoping that I can lose at least a size by the end of May. My goal is to be a size 10/12 by my wedding. I'm not really so worried about actual weight number as I am in size number lol. So I'm starting at size 18/16...lately more so 18 :/ eek! So they say you have to lose 25 pounds to lose a size. Which means I need to lose 75-100 pounds to be at my goal size.


Now, I've been sick all weekend and still sick today...which I'm pretty mad about because I missed work today AND I won't be able to exercise today. I probably won't feel like exercising tomorrow either. However, I'm not letting that stop me from starting my diet today. The diet I'm doing is more of calorie restricting rather then being on the no carb diet or any other kind of diet. I am going to stick with eating less then 1200 calories a day for now.


I'm hoping that this blog will help others also in wanting to lose weight. I'll be posting healthy recipes on here as well and showing everyone that healthy doesn't mean depriving yourself of the things you like. I have all the knowledge in the world on calories and nutrition from my trainer and gym and I've been practicing cooking healthy dinners for months but now I'm actually going to stick to it and put all that knowledge to work! So starting today...here's my before picture and what I've ate today.

WEEK 1

BEFORE
(putting these pictures up was NOT easy)

Breakfast
2 eggs
1 piece of toast w/ butter and jelly
Total calories: 310

Lunch
Peaches Fruit Cup
Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers: Ziti & Meat Sauce
Total Calories: 390

Dinner
Baked Catfish
Green Beans
Total Calories: 120

OK, there you have it...what I ate today and my week 1 pictures. I never want to look at those pictures again btw...ugh! Anyways, enough of that!

I got an email from McKenna one of my bridesmaids and her dress came in today and she sent me a picture and look how super cute she is and the dress is :)


Also here are some pictures of Dannielle's Bridal Shower that I went to on Saturday...

The bakeware set I got her :)
You can tell how sick I was that day...I was so pale looking...

Well, that's all for tonight...till tomorrow...

Sorry

Wow I can't believe I've went so long without updating my blog. Sorry Sorry...but I'm sure ya'll are sooo eager to read about my life...haha.

Anyways...I've been busy with work and life but at the same time nothing really new to say. I will though be blogging DAILY starting MONDAY...and thats because I'm going to start something new. It'll be a surprise till then though :) ...and who doesn't love surprises??? hehehe...

Well I probably won't blog till then since the next few days are pretty packed with dinner dates, bible studies, and a bridal shower!

Good mail day!!!

Yippie skippie!!!!! So today I got home and I got a wonderful BIG box with my name on it and then a letter from my "Anna Banana" haha...I'll always call her that...even we we are 40 with a million kids...ha! Anyways, what was in the box you ask??? Well it was my bridesmaids dress for my friend Danni's wedding! To my relief it fit PERFECTLY...I had this bad feeling I was going to be too fat to fit a leg in it...haha.

So tomorrow I got like 2 birthday presents to shop for and a shower gift....and I want to clean my car...and help my mom finish painting the kitchen...and ect ect...lots of "to do's"....that mostly won't happen :). Well thats its for tonight...too tired to blog any more...have a great weekend ya'll!!!!!!

One of those weeks...

This week has been one of those...where your whole world can fall apart before you know it. I continue to thank God for all I have but He definitely threw me and James a curve ball earlier this week. We're handling it though and trying to keep positive and do whatever we can to make it better. It just makes us draw closer to each other and God.

So I have a bridal shower next Saturday and I'm trying to figure out what to get them from their registry. Well I know what I want to give them BUT I'm telling myself I should find something cheaper...haha! I always take pride on getting the best gift...and going all out.

I'm sad that some of my wedding plans have changed today. We ended up moving the time to 11am and having the reception at noon. It's gonna be a EARLY bird wedding...haha
Thankfully, I got all those details squared away and got our catering contract done today.
Also finalized the date of our first shower which will be on Saturday, June 27th. I'm so glad I have so much of the big things booked and planned. I've found out though that you have to plan some things a year in advance to just get the best location, caterer, and photographer...

Well I'm off to bed....yay for tomorrow being FRIDAY!!!!!!!

Acts 3:19-20

I'm turning to God! Now I'm waiting on Him to give me fresh strength.

To be continued....

Ups and Downs

What a weekend...there was a lot of ups and downs. Let me just say that I was furious on Thursday night went I posted that last post...so ya obviously you can see I took it off. I hate being angry and I definitely hate when I let myself get so upset over something I can't change. Thankfully, I let it go and moved on!!! Anyways, I so did not take any pictures this weekend...it was kind of busy busy...and lots of driving more then anything.

Saturday James mom Jenny and her sister Julie and their mom (AMPS) all went shopping and to go see a movie. It was a lot of fun...we got up super early and Jenny cooked all the family breakfast. Then we headed to Texarkana to go shopping. Jenny was so nice she bought me these things...

Martha Stewart Eyelet Gift Card Box

(I love the Martha Stewart Wedding stuff at WalMart)

Better Homes Bridal Edition Cook Book

(OMG! Right when I saw this I knew I had to have it...mainly because I have 3 editions of this book and also because I love love love cook books and I'm getting quite a collection)

So after we went shopping we went to see...

This movie was super funny!!!

After the movie we all went back to Nashville where the boys had been cooking us dinner all day. OMGosh let me tell you I had the best food that night...ya...ummm...its a good thing we don't live there because I swear I'll put on the weight down there...haha. James probably had the best weekend though...his paw paw gave him his old red truck!!!!!! He was so excited! So ya...now we have a truck :)

Not only did James get a truck but one of my moms friends who is a wedding planner asked my mom who I was using to plan the BIG DAY...and my mom told her that I was doing it myself...and she was shocked and insisted that she would do be our wedding planner for FREE!!!

So your probably wondering what was the down this weekend??? Well lets just say last week was pretty hard...I'm so grateful for the true friends I do have but I'm not going to allow people who walk all over me in my life any longer. I just reached my limit last week with people being selfish and unthoughtful...and its just NOT right to hurt someone feelings for any reason and definitely not right for someone to back out of a commitment for ANY reason because your word now means NOTHING to me. As for the whole facebook thing...well I'm about done with facebook...yes I did defriend some people that I cannot allow in my life any longer....and well that's all I have to say about that. Also, I finally had to be honest with some other things in my life that was going on and couldn't be embarrassed about it any longer.

Anyways, right now I'm trying to have a better week and I'm surrounding myself with positive thinking and people!!! My good friend Rachel and I are starting a weekly bible study this week and I'm so excited to see what God has planned to teach us. We're doing a Beth Moore study called...

So now I'll be doing TWO Beth Moore studies a week...but I don't think I could get enough of her :) !!! Me and James still haven't found a Wednesday night bible class. However, with Tuesday and Thursday bible studies I don't think I'll have time to do anything else...plus James is so busy with his THREE jobs...poor boy!

I have some HUGE prayer requests this week...

We had another lay off in my department and some really good friends of mine were affected by it and it makes me worry when and if I'll be next. I pray that these people will find jobs and soon. Also, my mom has been unemployed since October and its getting harder and harder for her every month. So many people are without jobs and it's times like these that as Christians we need to help each other out and come together. Even if you can't help financially there are so many other ways to help people out. Sometimes prayer can be the best thing!

I'm so thankful for mine and James jobs we have and that we are able to pay for our wedding and to pay for our bills PERIOD! We are so blessed! I thank the Lord every day for I do have.