This week we celebrated our one year anniversary of closing on our house here in Florida.
Hard to believe it’s been a year since moving in!
Work was fairly uneventful which is a good thing.
I got two tough runs in. One solo.
And one with our neighborhood run club. We’ve missed previous weeks due to our daughter’s voice lessons being on Fridays so it was a blast to be able to go!
We had another quiet weekend at home. We incurred some much unwanted debt with our move and our doggy vet bills over this year so we’re trying to get caught back up. We did enjoy another weekend of fun and sun at our neighborhood pool.
Speaking of dogs-can you get any cuter than this?
He’s worth every penny.
❤️🐾❤️🐾
We are on point with Keto eating. We’ve wrapped up our 6th week and I’m down almost 6 pounds and the hubby is rounding out at an 18 lbs weight loss! Our goal is to continue with this lifestyle once we hit our goal weight, but allowing ourselves a cheat day every now and then. Here are some of my easy, go-to meals.
Hey everyone!! Last week was a bit of a blur and all for me, you know with the CUBS WINNING THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, sorry…I was just so excited to see our Cubbies bring it home. Sammy enjoyed the series as well. 🙂
Overall my week was pretty good. I did my best to stick with my winter goals and felt pretty successful in my first week.
Highlights were my five mile run on Sunday after a very long weekend at work and the Cubbies winning! Even better, my hubby texted me during the game. He and his guys woke up at 2:30 am to watch!!
Lowlights were my mini fell and hit got a pretty good sized goose egg. Thankfully the swelling has gone down and she’s feeling much better.
Also, I’m still planking daily. I haven’t missed a day since May 1st. This week’s longest was 7 minutes, for the 7th game of the series, naturally…LOL
I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for the Weekly wrap! Please head over and check out these awesome ladies!
What was your highlight/lowlight last week? Did you watch the World Series?
Last week was a busy week but a good week overall. Today I am linking with Holly from hohoruns.blogspot.com and Tricia from misssippipiddlin.com for the weekly wrap up. I love this linkup, and the wonderful women behind it. Even if I don’t have much to report, I love visiting their linkup. Please check it out if you can.
I am proud to say I am still planking every day since my husband arrived in country. Tomorrow marks the 32nd week since he’s been gone, and I’ve planked daily since May 1st which is when he arrived in country. I also made myself run last week, TWICE. YAY. While I still struggle with just a couple miles, I am happy to at least be doing more exercise. My mental health has really been tested these last 7-8 months, and I just need to find time for me.
Here are the highlights from my week:
I finished staining my deck on Monday. It doesn’t look perfect, but with the harsh winter we’re due to have it’s at least protected.
Tuesday I celebrated my 2 year anniversary of trying out for MasterChef. One of my proudest memories.
Wednesday we had some crazy storms but I caught this beautiful double rainbow from our administrative office window.
Thursday we were feeling pretty stressed. This pic of my daughter says it all:
Yup…hiding under the desk. I joined her for a bit. LOL
Friday night I babysat my neighbor’s 3 month old baby boy. Let me just tell you what an honor it was to give back to a family that has done so much for us while my husband has been deployed. They’ve plowed my driveway last winter and mowed my 1.5 acre lot the entire time he’s been gone and at NO charge. Like, who does that?!?! These people…so when she asked if I could babysit I jumped at the chance. This family not only said they’d be there for us over this last year, but they’ve shown it and it made my heart happy to snuggle with this little cutie for a few hours to show my appreciation so they could get out and have some adult time.
Saturday I was invited to a corn maze (Richardson’s corn maze) up in northern IL by my neighbor’s friends. What a blast. We all brought food and cooked over a campfire, and then headed in to the maze. It was dark…and I had a couple glasses of wine, but man was it fun!! The kids had a blast too.
Sunday was my lazy day where I catch up on laundry, do some cooking for the week but mainly just relax. I had missed my goal of running 3 times last week (to be fair I made that goal mid-week, LOL) so last night I threw dinner in the oven and hopped on the treadmill for a couple miles. #winning
What were the highlights of your week? Do you have any good casserole or cook ahead for the week type recipes you’d like to share? How many times per week do you try to exercise?
I’ve talked several times about the fact that I have been in the same career since I first joined the Air Force at the young age of 18. Just three weeks after graduating high school I boarded a Grey hound bus and headed off to basic training. My job was chosen for me, as I joined “Open General” in hopes of getting a flight line job, but alas.
Here I sit in a hospital laboratory, just doin’ my thing 25 years later. And while this isn’t my career of choice, it’s a good job, that pays decently and provides for my family. So while I keep talking of taking chances and making changes, I know I need to be smart too. I’ve got one kid going off to college in less than two years and I don’t want her to have to carry the burden of huge student loans like I have to (still a LONG ways to go to pay for my MBA) in my life. I’ve got a little saved and will continue to save for her, but we all know they make college nearly impossible to afford in this day and age.
What’s my point? I’m never too old to learn!
Well, those that know me well know of my love of the beach. I loved the coast of Texas, and love the coast of Florida. Heck, any beach will do, really! I’ve made it abundantly clear to my husband that if he is going to continue his pursuits in furthering his Army career, my butt would be hunkered down on a beach somewhere while I continue to raise our youngest solo (once my oldest heads to college of course). So six months ago I applied for my Florida licensure, and finally have finished studying and taking my exam!!! Who got an 92%?!?!? This girl!! All I have to do is send in the paperwork and the check for my license. WOOT!!
South Beach, Miami-One of my favorite pics from our trip last yearSo while this job may not be my dream job, it DOES provide a nice life for my family. Does that mean I am giving up on my dreams of being in the food industry? Heck no…that just means I am doing what’s best for my family first. It’s good to have dreams and goals, but those safety nets sure come in handy!
photocred: memegenerator.netAre you a believer in having a “Plan B?” as a back up?
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Who’s with me on starting over and getting back to working out this week, regularly?!?
Linking up with Holly @Hohoruns.blogpost.com and Tricia @misssippipiddlin.com for the weekly wrap!!!! Please check out their blogs and the other awesome inspiring bloggers!
I haven’t had a lot of time to write, but really wanted to highlight this past weekend . If you read my last post, you read that I am still keeping the faith in regards to my career progression. While nothing has changed since my last post, my faith still remains strong. #Godhasaplan
This past weekend was my youngest daughter’s 10th birthday. The big 1-0, double digits baby. She was more than thrilled to say she is finally TEN YEARS OLD, so I planned a wonderful weekend in the city not only to celebrate her birthday, but to give my daughters and I time to recharge our batteries.
I took Friday off from work, and we headed down to the city at around 10 a.m. After getting slightly lost once arriving to Chicago, we finally found our hotel. We stayed at the Wit hotel in Chicago, and I highly recommend it for any future visits. They treated us like loyalty, and we are just good ‘ole normal middle class folks. #winning We spent the weekend eating great food at places like Sienna Tavern and Bottlefork, went on an awesome architecture tour via boat, and shopping ’til we dropped almost literally.
So here’s our weekend wrap, mostly in pictures. I wish I had words to describe this amazing weekend, but there really aren’t any. Sure, we bickered some as of course to be expected with 3 woman with each other non-stop for 72 hours, but mostly we bonded, laughed, joked, and there were even a few tears from me as we sang Happy Birthday to my youngest, knowing her Dad would be sad having to miss this day. My heart broke a little, but my daughters helped me find my smile again.
First day at lunch at a place called O’Tooles“Cocktails” at the roof top bar at the WitUs at dinner at the Sienna TavernCheers!A signed copy of Fabio Vivani’s cookbook!!Wouldn’t be a birthday without Dylan’s candy storeDay 2 at Navy PierViews from our tourMore gorgeous viewsUs on the way to Bottlefork for dinnerShopping at the MAC store, hehe!Never too old for fun!Fireworks show at Navy PierWorn out after a long weekend, LOL
While there wasn’t much working out for me last week other than my daily plank, we logged over 12 miles of walking this weekend so I’ll take it. I’m wrapping up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly wrap since these ladies rock, and I’ve missed linking with them. Please head over and check them out! ❤
How was your weekend? Do you explore the city you live in? What is your favorite touristy thing to do?
Last week was pretty uneventful to be honest. We had a blast on 4th of July, I’ve started cooking again, and I am holding strong on my planking every day for the remainder of my hubby’s deployment. I was in a funk last week, and decided I need to try and figure out a way to get outside and run. The treadmill and basement workouts are a great alternative, I simply NEED to run. So my youngest will either accompany me on her scooter/bike (we need to get her a new one as she’s grown SOOOO much), or I’ll work around my oldest daughter’s social schedule, which can be challenging, LOL!
Here is my week in review in pictures. I’d have to say the highlight of my week was having my coworkers over for the Outlander season finale. I forgot how much I love entertaining, and of course I went way overboard with food and wine, LOL! The lowlight of my week was my youngest getting sick yesterday. We think it was something she ate at a birthday party Saturday, because within 24 hours she was feeling better. Goals for this upcoming week are to workout more consistently, and stay on track with my eats.
4h of July fun!4th of July selfieMy new record straight plank!Puppy planksAMEN!Leftovers and planksLOLParty planning and planksLove that my planks are consistently in the 4-5 minute range now!best nurse maid, ever!
I’m wrapping up with Holly @https://hohoruns.blogspot.com/and Tricia http://www.misssippipiddlin.com/ for the weekly wrap! Please make sure to check them out!!! (Sorry, I can’t seem to put links in anymore)
How was your week? What are you goals for the upcoming week! Do you like to plank?
It’s been a while since I’ve done a weekly wrap up with Tricia at http://www.misssippipiddlin.com/ and Holly at https://hohoruns.blogspot.com/ so I thought, why not?! Although I haven’t been running consistently, I have been very busy! We’re narrowing in on 17 weeks into this deployment, and there’s never a dull moment. The blog is a fun way to journal what I’ve been up to, so here goes.
Fitness: I worked 6 days last week, so to say I am tired is an understatement. There are no breaks for a single Mom, and some days I feel it more than others. But…we are keeping busy and doing our best to keep our chins up. I’ve been consistently planking every day for 2 months now, and achieved over 5 minutes last night. I did 2 minutes of straight plank, 30 seconds each side planks, and another 2+ minutes of straight planking. YAY!
I also did Hard Corp 22 twice last week, weight training twice, and did quite a bit of walking so it’s all good! I do miss running, but spending time with my daughters is more important.
Food: Gosh, I have been terrible about cooking anything worth posting about. We do pretty easy meals during the week, and often time have simple things like chicken sausage with sweet potatoes or quinoa and a veggie. On the weekends we splurge and this past weekend I took my youngest to a place called “The Patton house” in Geneva. We had amazing outdoor seating on the deck, and my youngest and I shared Oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer. They were simply amazing. I love the fact that my 9 year old chose these as an appetizer, LOL! I’ve created a foodie for sure! LOL!
She then proceeded to order the 16 ounce Rib eye steak. yup. She ate nearly all of this food minus the cheesy potatoes.
I opted for a lighter dinner, and had a blackened creole shrimp salad. And a few bites of her steak LOL!
Facts: Big news everyone!!! My daughter got her license on Wednesday. Because of my crazy work schedule it was a battle trying to get her to the DMV, so my awesome friend and neighbor took her on Wednesday because she’s off during the summer. I loved getting the play by play text messages, and when I saw this picture I cheered!! While it’s a whole new level of anxiety, it’s nice that she can get out and about without me having to taxi her everywhere after working all day.
We’ve also started tackling updating the girls bathroom. My daughter did the painting again, and I plan to start redoing the cabinets this week! So far it’s looking great and I am super proud of how well my daughter did painting!!!
Before….
…After!!!
Speaking of my daughter, I was also extremely thrilled when Deb from Deb Runs – http://debruns.com/ asked to feature my daughter’s poem she wrote a couple months ago titled, Pride. Please run over and check it out.
*the blog isn’t letting me add links, so I apologize for that!
Do your kids like to try new foods? Do your kids drive yet? What type of projects are you up to?
I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July, and a great week!!
While I didn’t get a whole lot of running in due to tweaking my knee early in the week, I am happy to report I managed to maintain my plank-a-day challenge, and finished up strong with a 4 minute plank tonight. YAY!!!
I was supposed to be running a marathon today, if you remember I signed up for a full last fall before we knew my husband was deploying. It stung just a touch seeing everyone post up their pictures today, but I had to remind myself that my time will come and that right now I am doing my best with my situation.
So here’s my week in pictures, with 2 very amazing friends, and lots of planking, LOL!
My friend Janel and I at dinner Monday night. Love the fact that she won’t let me hole up in my house!Tuesday’s workout left me with a wonky knee for several days so decided to rest for a few days!One of my favorite pics. Ever.Wednesday was arms and planks!Thursday didn’t have a lot of time, but managed to get my plank done!Friday night before going out with my friend Andrea (from the poster above)This amazing woman has texted me daily for the last 11 weeks, even if it’s just NNT (night night termite, LOL)Got a selfie from the husband Saturday! SOOO nice to see his face!Saturday we had a beautiful day so I planked outside, notice my photo bomber?LOVE having fun with my kids!Sunday’s plank and yummy “taco salad” after a wonderful day in the sun!
My last load of laundry is in the dryer, and I am ready to retire on the couch. I am linking up with Tricia and Holly for the weekly wrap!
How was your week? Are you still planking with us? Here’s to almost 3 months of my husband’s deployment under our belts, and to a new week. Tomorrow I will be honored to see my daughter perform her poem about deployment and military families. Be sure to check it out if you missed it the other day!!
It’s time for the weekly wrap!!! My week was busy as per usual, but overall a really good week. We are 16 days in to our monthly plank-a-day challenge and my longest has been just over 4 minutes! It’s fun seeing so many pages doing fun challenges!
Here’s my run down…
Monday Ran 2.5 miles, planked 3:01
Tuesday Ran 2.25 miles, planked 3:13 and did my killer arm workout.
Wednesday planked 4:22
Thursday ran 1.1 miles, planked 2:02
Friday planked 3:11 and did my killer arm workout
Saturday planked 3:06 with my mine, and this was even AFTER her amazing dance recital!
Sunday planked 3:14 and did my killer arm workout
LOVE this workout.
Thursday we had band open house (she’s decided on the saxophone, YAY!) for my little one, who isn’t so little anymore. I just finished registering her for 5th grade. This will be the last year I have an elementary school student. Cry. Did I mention my oldest will be taking her driver’s test within the next couple weeks? Double cry! LOL
too much cuteness here.
Friday was dress rehearsal for her, so it was a mad rush to get home on time, get changed and her in full costume but we made it!
Saturday we had her recital, and she all of the girls were just amazing. She was sad her Daddy couldn’t make it, but he was with us in spirit.
So while my workouts aren’t the best in regards to length, I AM pleased I am really getting into a groove with my schedule. Tomorrow is the 10 week mark of my husband’s deployment, and I can happily say we’re a 5th of the way done! ❤
Linking up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly wrap up! Please check ‘em out!!!!
Well I swore I’d keep posting at least once a week, and even though I really contemplated posting that I’d be taking a break from the blog I decided to slap myself in the face and at least write SOMETHING.
Last week, I worked out….ONCE. Yup. Just once. Did I mention I have a half marathon (of which I originally signed up for the full) coming up in three weeks? #allthesuck
I just had too much on my plate. My work days equate to nearly 10 hours with my commute. Rushing home to pick up kids, go to my dental appt. Tuesday, my kids dental appts. Wednesday and getting my youngest to dance class on Thursday completely consumed the evening of last week, which is usually when I work out. The little bit of free time I had was spent cleaning, doing laundry, making lunches, paying bills and trying not to go nuts all in one breath. So Friday we went out for dinner to start our weekend right. I did however spend the rest of my evening cleaning, but hey, what can you do?
My beauties
I did decide to cut myself some slack and just have a FUN day with my girls on Saturday. My youngest and I ran errands and took the dog to the groomers while my oldest took her time getting ready (Seriously, HOW does it take TWO hours to shower and get ready??? LOL!!!!).
So handsome!
We picked her up, and headed out to see the movies. We saw The Jungle Book, and it was REALLY good. I was highly impressed with the special effects, and have been told the only “real” thing in the movie was the little boy. WOW! We then ate at one of our new favorite places in Geneva, Hache’. Our food was good, but sadly our service wasn’t on point. We chalked it up to “everyone has a bad day” and will definitely return. My youngest daughter came down before going to bed, and presented me with this. Yes, we had a good cry…#allthefeels
Sunday I decided May is a new month, and I will be holding myself accountable by planking every day. No matter if it’s a minute or five minutes I will do my best each day. I’ll be posting my planks on my FB, so feel free to join in.
My youngest and I finished our puzzle, and we spent the most of Sunday relaxing and doing laundry.
I did bake some yummy trout!!! I simply seasoned with salt and pepper and a little extra virgin olive oil, and added shallots, garlic and lemons and dried basil. Wrap it up in parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.
Sunday evening we got our last call for a bit. It was an emotional call, and seeing my husband tear up nearly broke my heart. He has been so strong through all of this, and I suppose a part of me secretly needed to see that he missed us too. Two months down, 10 to go!!!
How was your week? Do you find it difficult to juggle all the things?
I’m linking up with Holly and Tricia for the weekly wrap! Please make sure to head on over and give these amazing ladies some love!
"I have enough time to rest, but I don't have a minute to waste". Come and catch me with your wise words and we will have some fun with our words of wisdom.
Movin' it with Michelle 