Snow!!

Brrrrrrr!!! It is freezing here in Nashville! We were down to about 10 degrees last night... Sigh... how much longer until spring arrives?!

Yesterday, we woke up to this:

Nashville got 4-5 inches of snow! We hardly ever get this much snow. Usually, if there is even a threat of flurries, everyone is running to the grocery store and buying every single loaf of bread, gallon of milk and cartons of eggs they can fit into their basket in case we're "snowed in". But wow... this was a shock to see!

I am not much of a snow girl! I don't mind looking at it... as long as I don't have to go out in it! It's fun to watch Maddie play in it, though. She loves it! I don't know, for me, maybe it was growing up in Florida that makes me not like the cold so much?

Anyway... some pics of Miss Maddie and the dogs playing in the snow....

The fort above was built solely out of sheets of ICE that was layered on top of the snow! Crazy!

And one last picture... this seemed to be what Maddie did more than anything else... EAT the snow! LOL Don't worry, she's been warned to stay far from anything close to yellow snow ;)

The roads are now completely frozen here from the cold last night and they're not expecting it to start melting until tomorrow afternoon. We had a snow day from work on Friday - I'm not sure they'll do that again tomorrow. I'm TERRIFIED of driving on the snow. We'll see!

I did get a great quick work out in yesterday! I was pleasantly surprised, too! Thanks to my awesome Mother-in-Law I was spoiled with a ton of new work out videos for Christmas. Since I have been in my "funk" and haven't been working out, I thought it was time to first of all, start working out again and to try my new stuff out!

I put in this Michelle Dozois DVD. It's called "The Ultimate Workout". It can be broken down to 30 minute cardio or 30 minute sculpting. I decided to go for the cardio yesterday...and WOW... it killed me! It was a great sweat! There are options to up the intensity... which considering how out of shape I am at the moment, I chose not to! But even without, my heart rate was up there!
Definitely check this one out! I followed it up with the 15 minute bonus stretch/yoga that was great. You can see a preview of it here: Michelle Dozois: The Ultimate Workout.

That's it for me today! I will be back soon to share some new recipes I have tried out and loved... being snowed in puts me in the mood to bake! :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Hello out there! If there's still anyone there, actually!

It's been awhile!

Where have I been, you ask?

Right here... haven't gone anywhere! It's been pretty busy for us the past few months I've been "away". Long story as short as possible... I was pretty ashamed of where I was heading food/weight/work out wise. I have let some things take over me and control me... since I can't seem to control them. That has caused some pretty out of character eating patterns for me and leading just plain not caring whether I work out or not. Absolutely NOT like me at all. I won't get into all the details... I may touch on a few things later if I keep blogging.

Needless to say, I have gained quite a bit of weight. I went from being 129 pounds a year ago to 153 pounds as of yesterday. Not that 153 pounds is horrible - it's how I'm treating my body that's sad. I'm definitely paying for it! I haven't been this out of shape in years! And I'm pumping my body full of sugar and unhealthy carbs. It's almost putting me in a bad depression... I don't want to see anyone. I don't want them to see me! Here I was, the "weight loss girl"... and was proud of my body! I worked hard for it! And just like that, I let it go.

I'd like to say that this post is all about a "change". Really, I think it's more about getting all of this off of my chest.

And my time off from blogging hasn't all been horrible... I have had some great times with friends and family! And of course, Maddie always keeps me smiling! She just turned 4 on January 17th... I can't believe my little baby is growing up! We had a big My Little Pony party :) It's like living my childhood all over again! I was obsessed with My Little Ponies when I was 3 & 4! Crazy how that all comes back around. Some recent pics of the kiddo....

I hate that I did not keep up with blogging. I really do enjoy it! I am going to try to pick it back up again...I do have some limitations with some food right now (that would be a whole other way too TMI post!) but we'll see what the future brings!

We are COVERED in snow and ice today here in Nashville... how's it looking where you are?

Already a snafu....

I am not feeling so hot today! I was sent home from work with a fever! :( I am so disappointed... I was looking forward to going to Zumba with Amanda! I know it's not my fault that I'm sick but hate that I had to cancel. :(

Thank you for all of your welcome back's :) It's good to know I was missed!

Going to go hang out on the couch some more...I guess the only good thing is I will be home for the Biggest Loser tonight! I am kind of obsessed with it! My only wish is that the weigh ins wouldn't take an hour! Whew...

Anyone else watch Biggest Loser? I'm also excited that Grey's Anatomy is starting NEXT
week!!!!

By the way, check out the giveaway on Megan's Munchie's blog for some sweet potato scones!!! Perfect for the upcoming fall weather!

Night all!

Are you there, Blog? It's me, Mandy

Remember me?? JR is SO going to kill me for posting this picture... haha!!! Paybacks, honey.. paybacks!! More on that later ;)

Okay to redeem myself and not get into TOO much trouble... we have much cuter pictures...
I'm done, I swear :)

I can NOT believe it has been almost two weeks since I have blogged! I definitely did not intend for it to be that long. It's been busy (but at the same time, pretty uneventful!

I have also been trying to keep up with everyone's blogs... I'm so behind!

Since I haven't been so great with taking pictures of all of my meals (sorry about that!), I thought I would share with you some food, quotes, pictures or whatever else I've loved the past couple of weeks :)

On the food front...I have tried a couple of new products! Now, when I say "new"... I mean, these are new to me but I'm pretty sure have been around for awhile... and as always, I'm behind in the times :)

I have always loved my Kashi waffles (always will!)... but this week, I thought I'd try out something different. I have seen Van's waffles everywhere... and thought I'd give them a go! I'm really glad I did!

These babies kept me SO full! I have been eating them as a PB&B sandwich... and I LOVE them. But SOMEONE (and by SOMEONE I mean the waffle stealing man who I call my husband) ate my LAST two waffles without asking... so now I have to wait until next week to have them again...sniff, sniff...

And having such a taco craving lately, I picked up these shells from Garden of Eatin'... and paired them with this great recipe from Eating Well's website. I used the recipe to season our ground turkey... we both LOVED the recipe!

That's it for food today! :) More discoveries later this week!

Other things I have loved during my break...

Maddie dressing up in Mommy & Daddy's clothes..

Speaking of Maddie, thank you all so much for your advice on her eating habits! I am mostly trying to stay patient with her as of now. I hope things change soon! I am trying to cut back on how much milk & juice she drinks during the day to see if that's a start! We'll go from there!

On the music front... I have been completely OBSESSED with Colbie Caillat's new album. If you liked her first one... Definitely go check this one out!

What else... hmmm... OH yes! Last week, I found myself with a (rare) hour of free time... and knew that local blogger Amanda worked pretty close to where I was at. We sent a few text messages - and met up at a fav coffee shop... Fido! We got to chat for about an hour... and I had a blast. She's such a sweet girl and so much fun to talk to! We are going to take a Zumba class together tomorrow night (her first class ever!) and do dinner Thursday night, too! How awesome is it that as bloggers we have the opportunity to make new friends we may have somehow never met otherwise?

I love, love, LOVE the Zumba class we are going to. The class is a bit of a drive for me... but SO worth it! The teacher is amazing and so motivating! Her website is here.... you can check out some pictures and videos to see what her class is like :) If you are in town and want to meet up for a class...let me know!

I am going to end this monster of a post here.... but leave you with a cool quote from Chalene Johnson... creator of Turbo Jam videos and Chalene Extreme..."Your weight does not define you. Your character defines you. Good health is essential, not a number on a scale".

Something I have been trying to remind myself of every.single.day!

By the way - is this font color better? Erica, thanks for the suggestion! I actually agreed with you and needed to work on it! Let me know if this is better for everyone :)

Wednesday Woes....and a contest for you AND for me! :)

Ever have one of those days where ALL you want to do is complain?? From the second I woke up, that's me today! I am going to do my best to not be whining this whole post :) We'll see what happens, though... haha

First of all, How did the first day of September treat ya? I swear I feel like it was just last week that I was saying I couldn't believe it was August already... heck, it seems like just yesterday, it was April... I was in VEGAS with JR having an awesome time on my birthday... and now, here we are in September already! But with that comes cooler temperatures...I hope the weather has been as gorgeous for you all as it has been here in Nashville this week!

You guys absolutely made my day yesterday with all of your awesome comments! Thank you so much! It felt good to brag on myself a little bit since I never seem to give myself that kind of credit! :)

And I'm so glad you are all enjoying Lisa's recaps... I am SO, SO proud of her. I thought what better way to start of September than with some motivation from my girl here on the blog!!! Thank you all for your continued support on her journey :)

Okay here we go! "Woe-is-me" numbero uno: I am S-O-R-E from my workouts this week! I mean to sit down, is painful! Although, this I should not be complaining about! I should be thankful I'm working out again!

Workouts this week:

Monday, JR and I did The Firm's Ultimate Fat Burning work out. I consider it more of a cardio work out... but it does have some 4-limb sections... we used 5 lbs weights for these.

Tuesday, we did The Firm's Supercharged Sculpting... which is an all weight lifting video. Man, I forgot how tough those darn dips and tall box climbs can be! We both used a big range of weights depending on the exercise... I used anywhere from 5-12 lbs... below what my old weights used to be but I am determined to get back there!!

Today is a rest day :)

Eating has been much better so far this week (knock on wood!!!) My meals haven't been anything special... but here are a few goodies...

As for the review of the recipe I talked about on Sunday... I made this recipe from Cooking Light. Normally, I love all of my Cooking Light recipes. Unfortunately, this one was not one of their best. Basically, you cook the peppers in a "sauce" that turned out to be VERY bland. I ended up draining the peppers out of the sauce... cooking up some pasta, placing the meatballs and drained peppers over it with some marinara sauce. That turned out great! I LOVED the meatballs, though! I added some parmesan cheese and some dried basil to the mixture and they were awesome! We made some "garlic toast" out of Ezekiel bread, some smart balance and garlic powder.
Now for "woe-is-me" numero dos... My daughter's eating habits! I'm really torn on this right now. Maddie used to eat anything and everything you put in front of her. She loved it all... fruits, veggies, whole grain pasta, meat, etc...I was so excited that I had a little one who had no objections when it came to food!

When she got to about 2 1/2 years old, all of a sudden - tomato sauce was not a good thing! She didn't want pizza (which is a total crime in our household!) because it had sauce on it... she didn't want spaghetti because it has sauce on it. She didn't like chicken - unless it was chicken nuggets, fruit was seldom... unless it was the apples from McDonald's or Subway... turkey burgers, etc, etc, etc...

Now, her typical diet is... begging her to eat some kind of cereal in the morning, PB&J for lunch (i at least make sure it's on whole wheat and some kind of reduced sugar jelly since she refueses to eat preserves at this point), maybe some carrots and strawberries if we're lucky! Usually with some Annie's organic bunny crackers... and her dinner is normally some cheese sticks, kashi tlc crackers, sliced ham, maybe an organic yogurt... or some of Annie's organic mac n cheese. Never what JR and I are having... which is aggravating.

That's a typical day for her at home on the weekends with JR and I.... she has dinner with us every night, though. What she eats at her grandparents house for breakfast and lunch during the week varies a lot.

Everything I have read says not to push kids to eat what's on their plate. I've been doing that for almost a year now... but Maddie seems to be eating less and less of things! But as of last week, we have tried establishing a rule of - try one bite of everything on your plate before you can get up from the table. I am hoping this will make her try some foods she hasn't in a long time or hasn't before and see if she will realize that she does like more than chicken nuggets!

Anyone have any kind of experience with this? Is there any advice you can offer? I would so appreciate it!

I do my best when it comes to the limited options she will eat! But I'm over fixing two or three different meals!

Okay... now for a contest - for you AND for me!

Holey Donuts has a great contest for us all! But I need your help for us both to possibly win!!

This is the email I got from Holey Donuts....

Enter September 1st -30th 2009 to Win 3 boxes of Holey Donuts! Low Fat Gourmet Donuts! and maybe it will be you that finds the $1,000.00 inside this time!

5 Lucky winners will be selected to win 3 boxes each of Holey Donuts! Ultra Low Fat Gourmet Donuts! But wait! One winner will be the luckiest when they open their winning box of donuts with an ENVELOPE inside the box containing $1,000.00 Cash!

Great tasting, Low Fat Gourmet Donuts and a chance to win $1,000.00 Cash! It doesn'tcan't get much better than that!

How Can I Enter? - Just visit www.holeydonuts.net then send Holey Donuts! an email to info@holeydonuts.net with the name of my blog - Mmmm...Meals, Mommyhood, Makeup & More in the subject line and your name and that's it you're entered!

Winners will be randomly chosen by Holey Donuts! and will be announced the week after September 30, 2009.

*The $1,000.00 will be in the form of a corporate check made out to the winner. All 5 lucky winners will be notified via email but no-one will be told which lucky winner is getting the $1,000.00 until their shipment arrives and they see the SPECIAL ENVELOPE with a $1,000.00 check inside their shipment!! How exciting is that??

Winners will be announced September 30, 2009!

Lets make this even better and give you a coupon code!

Your special offer will be buy 2 and get the 3rd box of 6 for $1.99! It will be added to their cart at full price but when they enter this code in the coupon code box ,then hit recalculate it will only charge them $1.99 . The code is SKINNY1 Making a purchase will automatically enter them into for Septembers $1,000 giveaway as well!

Sorry for the LONG post everyone! Have a great night!

Transformation Tuesday!

You all are too sweet!! Thank you for your comments on our dress up pics with Ms. Maddie ;) She's the best :)

And thank you all for your support with my recent eating habits and stress... I'm definitely taking it one day at a time! I think that's the best thing for me to do right now!

Did everyone survive their Monday? Mine actually went very well... not the norm... I'll take it! I am getting ready to start my work out here (if the hubby will ever get up and get down stairs!)... I slept HORRIBLY last night, so we'll see how this goes!

Now on to Transformation Tuesday!

Lisa's back! She's kickin' some tail and takin' names people!! Showing Jillian what she's made of :)

If you are new to the blog...One of my very best friends, Lisa, started a challenge to take on Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred! She has been keeping us updated on her progress with each level. I can't even tell you all how amazing the change in her has been... emotionally and physically so far! Actually, I won't even try... I'll let her tell you :) Check out her Level 1 recap if you missed it! Hi y'all! First, let me thank everyone for all the encouraging feedback on my Level 1 experience. If you've battled your weight as much as I have (or at all), you know that encouragement and support is key...so I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Level 2 proved to be a killer for me and you'll find I'm not as wordy this time around. I, honestly, felt as if it were a reminder that, while I finished Level 1 strong, I'm not the bad ass I'd started to think I was, hahaha! (I heard you loud and clear Jillian!)

Lisa vs Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 2

I didn't journal my thoughts on each day like I did with Level 1 so I guess this will be more of a summary than a day by day; I hope that's cool. Truthfully, I feel like I struggled so much through this level that a day by day would prove to be really repetitive. Hopefully, for y'all, it means this one will be shorter than my last novel...er, I mean, guest blog.

I was so excited to start Level 2. I woke up eager to prove to this level that I was strong and I could do it. Yeah, about 2 minutes in, it laughed in my face. Loud. I was cussing Jillian again, hating her with a passion, swearing that if she told me one more time "not to phone this in," I'd rip her face off. I'm embarrassed to say, I meant every word. :) I am stronger, more capable than I've been my entire life...but Day 1, Level 2 made me feel like I was back at the very begining...or worse. I was elated when I completed it. I don't know if that was from being proud or just the fact that I was still breathing. It was insanely hard. Day 2, holy hell! I hurt in places I didn't know existed. My shoulders stung, even when they weren't moving, my abs were screaming and my legs felt like noodles. There are these V - Squat things...I think the devil gave her the idea. Nothing has ever hurt so bad. Ever. I struggled all the way though. I tried to cuss less and pray more over days 3, 4, 5 and 6...lucky for me, God is good. I can't say that it really ever felt like it became easier...but He always gave me the strength to endure. I cried a lot through this level, where -in level 1- the crying was minimal, and on several occasions, I seriously wanted to quit. I'm telling you, there were more days than not, on this level, that I had to ask "who are you kidding?" I kept waiting for that breakthrough I had on level 1 but I can still say that it never really came.

Day 7 set me off. It was my weigh in day for Weight Watchers and was also the second week, in a row, where I didn't lose a single pound. In spite of promising myself, and several very informed people, that I'd focus on the changes in my body and the way my clothes fit, rather than the scale (as muscle weighs more than fat)...it was heartbreaking and I found myself very bitter and angry. I felt like I'd been killing myself for 3 weeks...all for nothing. Logically, I knew there were changes taking place but it hurt so much to get on that scale and not see it go down. Especially when I have so far to go to achieve my goal. Everyone says "once you start working out and gaining muscle, the weight seems like it's melting off so, three weeks in, I'm screaming inside...okay, and out...wondering when the "melting" begins. I didn't think it would be a massive amount of weight...but I expected SOMETHING. This day was bad...BAD...BAD! I was ticked all day long, negative all day long, and thought I'd throw in the towel all. day. long. I thought stupidly "seriously? I lost more weight when I wasn't killing myself every day! What the hell is the point of this?" Somehow, I was able to stay on track with my food...which is quite the big deal when you're the emotional eater I can be. And the next morning, I got up...and I did it all again. I was cussing again, not praying, but I was doing it. I cried the entire way through, for my heartbreak of no loss, for my muscles that were screaming...either way it was because I was in pain. But I did it...and then day 9 was better. Hard as hell, still. But better. Then day 10...I thought I deserved a party! I didn't let my emotions get the best of me and I didn't give up. A year ago...I honestly think I would have.

So this was me vs Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 2. Lisa: 2 - Jillian: 0. Hell to the yeah! I'm winning...and I'm never, ever, going back.


Mandy here again...I thought we'd keep going with the Transformation Tuesday and brag a little on myself... which honestly, I never do! That's quite a hard thing for me to do at times! I never give myself enough credit... so while I am feeling like I should, I'm gonna go with it!

If you have ever checked out the links I give you for the workout videos I do, I almost always link to my favorite workout dvd website, CollageVideo.com. Their website is always up to date with the latest new workout dvd's... and even better, you can always find a clip with a preview of any dvd - so helpful!

I sent in my "story" to Collage's website... and got a request from them to send more pictures to use in the monthly catalog that they send out every month! I was so excited! It came in the mail today... they put me on two different pages!! Okay, same picture on each page... but I'm okay with that! Here are the pictures :)
I'm so excited! This is the first time I have had anything printed in a magazine :) I am in an informercial for the Firm... JR (my husband) and I were their first "couple" ever to be featured in their infomercials! My co-worker still to this day won't leave my husband alone with what they quoted him saying... "I literally watched her butt lift"...LOL! Oh the joys of editing! If you are interested in seeing this, we are all throughout the infomercial... gotta watch for us! :)

Firm Wave Infomercial Part One

Firm Wave Infomercial Part Two

Firm Wave Infomercial Part Three

Whew... that's enough for one day, I think :)

See you soon!

Such a great weekend....

The things we as parents do for our kiddos....Maddie decided to play "dress up" with mommy and daddy... I thankfully got the cute pink bunny ears ;)And then Maddie pulled out her head bands... and thought mommy needed two... or three in her hair...How was your weekend? Friday night, Lisa came over! If you did not catch her guest post a few weeks ago, check out it here!! I had not seen her in a couple of weeks... and let me tell you, the girl is shrinking right before my eyes. She looks incredible! :) I was so glad to see her... I missed my Lisa time! Lisa will be back on Tuesday with another guest blog to recap her experience with Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred! Be sure to check back for that and cheer her on!

Saturday, we spent the day lounging around doing a little bit of laundry and dishes. JR and I watched Spider Man 2 while Maddie napped... it's so nice to sit and relax with my hubby! We don't seem to have that opportunity often anymore so I really took advantage of some cuddle time with him!

As for today, I got to sleep in thanks to my amazing hubby... did a TON of coupon clipping (anyone else a coupon clipper?!), a quick run to Publix for a yummy turkey and swiss sub... and now I'm sitting here watching "The Notebook"... can I just say, I LOVE this movie?! I kind of have a girl crush on Rachel McAdams... and a TOTAL crush on Ryan Gosling AND James Marsden... Ca-Ching!!!

James Marsden's wife has family not too far from where we live... a friend of ours would see him at Panera almost every day... and JR and I saw him and his son at Kroger some time earlier this year, too!

Anyways! Food has not been great this week at all. Since returning home from Florida, there has been nothing but drama that my family has been dealing with. I don't usually get caught up in it all... I learned the hard way that they have to take care of themselves. But this time, it was almost hard not to be a part of it. How did I deal with it? Instead of some great work outs, yoga or long baths... I binged. Worse than I have in years. I won't fully go into details obviously... but it's been pretty scary. I have tried not to beat myself up over any of it... which gets hard at times.

Normally, my work outs help keep me sane...in Florida, it was impossible to get a work out in... and since coming home, I was so exhausted from our trip, I said I would give myself a few days to sleep and de-stress before getting back into it. I kept delaying it, though! I kept saying... tomorrow I'll work out... tomorrow I'll eat better... and thanks to my good Firm infomercial buddies, Lindsey and Tammy P...they inspired me to get off my tail and do SOMETHING. So I did I did a yoga video from Crunch... with Sara Ivanhoe. I really like her videos... her voice is very soothing and she's easy to follow! Great instructions on this DVD if you are a beginner, too. This video is two videos in one... one is called the "Joy of Yoga" and the other is "Fat Burning Yoga". I did "Joy of Yoga"... nice and relaxing. I felt 200% better after only 35 minutes!

I have my work out routine now mapped out for the week! Lisa is finishing up her last week of Level 3 with Jillian... and then we are going to start a new Firm rotation together! I'm so excited to start another challenge with her!

So what did everyone do this weekend? I need to catch up on blogs to see how everyone is doing and check out all of your yummy eats! Anyone have a favorite meal of the week? I did... mine was my "oats in a jar"... allll filled with some yummy dark chocolate PB!!! Chocolately-goodness in EVERY bite!!!!
I am heading off to get Maddie up from her nap and get dinner going. I am making this recipe from Cooking Light that sounds yummy... it's Meatballs and Peppers. I hope it's good! I'll report in tomorrow with the review!