My New Babies

This Christmas Season has brought 2 new babies into my life.

The first is my new niece 

BRIELLE KATELYN ADAMS

 She is already a month old and so precious

The second baby belongs to Jess and I

it will arrive in 4-5 weeks

and we couldn't be happier :)

We ordered it from the great Cortate Furniture 

Its a feather down couch, aka a cloud :)

Merry Christmas to us

I'm Thankful For...

Thanksgiving Break!

Yes indeed I am so thankful for this magnificent break from work.
Jess and I have had a busy but fantastic weekend. Thursday we started the holiday morning off with 20 minutes of P90X plyometrics... hoping it would help us feel better about eating ALOT in the upcoming hours. The video is an hour long but we always last about 20 minutes.
We enjoyed a delicious meal at my parents house and hung out there for a few hours. Later we scoped out all the black friday deals wondering if there was anything REALLY worth losing sleep over.
We found an ad for a couch at JCPenny for like $3,500 OFF a couch. Really? is that possible? We decided to check it out. We woke up at 3:30 A.M. and went down to check it out. It was a nice couch but we have a feeling that stores lie about the "original" prices so that the "sale" prices seem amazing and therefore making everyone feel they NEED to buy it!
So we didn't get the couch and went back home to sleep.
Friday we spent the day buying Christmas lights and putting them up.
I was the official light holder and hook holder
Jess did all the dirty work and put them all up, including a few scary moments on the roof.The final product!
Today I told Jess he HAD to go shopping with me since Christmas is in a few weeks and his birthday is the DAY after Christmas...
So he was such a trooper and last 2.5 hours and we got lots of great stuff for smokin deals.
Oh and we also went back to look at the couch and it said the original price was now $1,500 less than it was yesterday... LIARS!

We also found stools at JCPenney for our island in the kitchen.
3 for $80 plus we got $15 off for spending 75 or more.
I love Thanksgiving Weekend
Thanks Jess for putting the stools together!

Vegan... One Whole Week!!!

Well Jess and I have successfully survived week #1. As usual he is doing much better than i am, I gave in on Friday and had ranch on my salad, but justified it because i got a SALAD instead of a philly cheese steak which is what I really wanted to get. Amongst the recipe FAILURES this week I did have a few victories.

I found the recipe for cafe rio/costa vida's lime cilantro rice. Thank you Sis. Romney for posting this in 2008, took me FOREVER to find it.

cafe rio{ish} rice
4 cups water
2 cups rice (not instant)
4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
4 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 bunch cilantro
1/2 onion
1 can green chilis (or equivalent of fresh)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
juice of two limes
finely mince the cilantro, onion & green chilis. bring water to a boil & add all ingredients. simmer covered for 30 minutes. 

of course i made a few adjustments to fit our specific diet but it turned out yummy. 

i decided to try whole grain's whole wheat tortillas. they were GROSS.
I also made some delicious Pico to go on the burritos

Ingredients

• 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 red onion, minced
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/2 lime, juiced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Stir the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, garlic, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.

 Today has been a GREAT day because for the first time since we got married I finally weigh one pound LESS than when we got married. 

Hurray for little victories.

Hurray for diets that work :)

Vegan... Day 4

Well, we've made it to day 4. Jess is doing much better than I am, I guess he has more motivation than I do :) After the success of my spanish rice recipe I found on allrecipes.com I got a little too excited and tried another adventurous meal I found on there. It was called Vegan Bean Taco Filling. The reviews were good and it seemed pretty basic but I HATED it. Jess was nice and said he liked it. I think it was the combo of cumin, paprika,cayenne pepper, and chili powder. Way too many spices and I even 1/2ed what recipe called for. After making that I've been a little bummed that I can't think of anything good to make. Obviously I could wrap stuff in a white tortilla or eat white bread but that would defeat the purpose of being healthy :) So tonight I made whole wheat spaghetti and put Trader Joe's Basil Marinara Sauce on top. It was yummy. Tried making a salad but have no salad dressings that don't have any dairy in them so it was gross. blah... 

And I feel bad packing Jess's lunch with gross dinner leftovers but he is such a trooper and is fine with anything. Tomorrow he is taking a tomato and vegan mayo sandwich on homemade wheat bread (Thanks Kristen!), spinach almond salad and some fruit! This boy has already LOST 10 pounds since being married (so not fair) and now he is going to wither away! 

On a semi happier note, we watched a mind blowing documentary called FOOD MATTERS the other night. amazing information to know and for anyone who cares about their health and well being should take the time to watch it. Very interesting. 

That's all for now.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving so I can eat delicious food that I didn't have to cook myself. 

Vegan WHAT!

For health reasons, Jess has decided he would like to go on a vegan diet for two weeks. Being a vegetarian for any length of time always sounded impossible to me but being VEGAN (no meat, milk, eggs, butter, etc)

sounded straight up insane. But to support him I decided to try and eat the same as well. Since I am the one in charge of grocery shopping, packing his lunches, and cooking dinner, this sudden change was slightly stressful to me. I ran to the grocery store and bought as many vegetables as i could find. We just started yesterday and so it was a pretty miserable day.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with fruit (i HATE oatmeal)

Lunch: Red mashed potatoes with no butter or cheese... sniff sniff,

spinach almond apple salad w/ raspberry vinaigrette.

Dinner: Brown rice and broccoli with teryaki sauce.

Today was fast sunday so we fasted and surprisingly we didn't get very hungry till around 2:30. usually we are dying by 11:00. On Sundays we go to my parents for dinner and usually indulge in delicious meat and potatoes etc. but to save us the grief we decided to eat before we go. I decided to make spanish rice which is new for me. I found a good recipe and I must share because it tasted amazing! To you it will probably just taste like normal rice, but when you eat tasteless vegetables for a day and then fast all morning it was pretty much HEAVEN! 

SPANISH RICE

Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 30 Min

 Ingredients:

1.   Tablespoon canola oil

2.   1 cup uncooked white rice

3.   1 onion, chopped

4.   1 clove garlic (minced)

5.   1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

6.   2 cups chicken broth (I bought the vegetarian broth powder from SHAR'S)

7.   1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles

8.   2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste

9.   1 teaspoon salt

 Directions:

1.        1. Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic and bell pepper until onions are tender.

2.        2. Add the uncooked rice and let it brown for a few minutes.  

            3.Stir in chicken broth and tomatoes. Season with chili powder and salt. Cover, and simmer for 30  minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed. 

 It was amazing. Really. I'm in love. I also made some bean dip and we ate it with Trader Joe's "Reduced Guilt" tortilla chips. Also a must have, they are so good.

I must say it was easier today than it was yesterday and I'm having less sugar cravings strangely. I feel like i have a little more energy and of course i feel skinnier, but the scale says nothing yet :)

Welp, that's my only update for now. I'll be posting our meals and if the diet is helping Jess have more energy and help him with his headaches. 

I sure hope so :)

This Week's Goodness

This week was back to reality after the wonderful and relaxing October break. 

By the end of the week I was exhausted as usual and very excited to work a half day on Friday since I have been covering for people the past 4 fridays in a row! But then on Thursday I found out I had to work all day, 7AM-6PM, on Friday because my boss was going to be gone and we needed extra help. 

I was a little bummed but the extra money is always an incentive.  To say the least it was a hard day for a number of reasons and I just wanted to be home playing with Jess cuz he got a half day that day. Once I got off work I warned Jess that I was not the happiest but would try not to be cranky when i got home.

When I walked in the door the kitchen and living room were SPOTLESS, and there was a big bouquet of red roses and pink gerbera daisies on the counter. 

Any crankiness I had immediately went away and I, of course, shed a tear because it was just a long day :)

I feel so blessed in my life right now. 

I could go on and on about how blessed I feel but most of all this week I am so thankful for Jess.

He brings so much joy and laughter to my life and he amazes me with how hard he works at his job and school and around our house. Thank you Jess for the "No Reason At All" Flowers.

Those are the best kind :)

I also had the fun opportunity to do my little sister Kourtney's hair and makeup for Homecoming on Saturday. She is growing up too fast and amazes me how beautiful and smart she is.

Also on Saturday night, Jess's brother Joel had an awesome halloween get together. It's so fun to hang out with family. After the halloween bash, we went to Jesters with Jheri, Megan, and their husbands. After Jesters we enjoyed some delicious yogurtland! It was such a fun and busy Saturday!

October Break

October Break = BRILLIANT IDEA!

Thank you whoever you are for making october break a whole week long. This week I had no dance classes to teach and I can not believe how much free time that gave me. With 7 classes, driving time, and time spent choreographing at home, I feel like I'm dancing non-stop all week. 

So this week I finally got around to decorating my house a little. "One thing at a time" is what I have to keep telling myself but my house seems so bare and boring without anything on the walls!

My sister Kristen made an adorable WELCOME sign for her house using

 this "House of 3" Welcome Banner Printable Kit

I saw it and HAD to make one myself

Jess has been a serious handyman lately and he has been ordering and installing blinds in our house. We had the oh so ugly vertical blinds that looked all beat up. I can't believe how much the new blinds make a difference. Feels so much cleaner! I love them! 

 new Pretty Blinds!!!

 can't tell much difference from the pictures but they are truly a big improvement.

Also on my to-do-list this week was plant a small garden. My dad has become quite the little gardener and got me excited about it. So he was kind enough to build me my own garden box and I went and bought some herbs and veggies and soil that smelt HORRIBLY of manure. Jess, again, was kind enough to pour the soil in and help me plant!

I'm so excited for our garden! I really hope they don't all die.. I'll feel like a failure. 

My last fun thing I did this week was make my own halloween decoration. I'm really on a Do It Yourself streak and found THIS cute project and decided to try it out. 

 It's a homemade candy jar made from terra pots and a glass bowl. Super simple. Super cheap. And you can change the content and the ribbon for each holiday and season! Love it. I made Kristen one and her excitement level when she saw it was so intense she turned it upside down and shattered the lid. So funny. Gotta make a new one :)

I also got to visit with my long lost friend AFTON for about 3 hours this week! She came over and we had fun catching up. Amongst our random conversations she informed me that her doctor said the reason you gain weight when you get married is that your psyche knows you have found the person you are supposed to be with and your metabolism slows down....

I was APPALLED!

Hey Psyche, Just because I don't have to worry about being in tip top shape to find a spouse doesn't mean I can get fat now. 

NOT... COOL... :(