Um Excuse Me!?

I'm travelling for work this week and I've chosen to waste my alone time on surfing Twitter, E! Online and Facebook....and when I saw this news story I'm about to share, I almost fell over off of my king sized bed here at the Hampton Inn!

So, my answer to this question: Uh, YES!

Not even just YES but ABSOLUTELY!

I mean, I knew I was indulging in some trashy content, but...that's a bit much. I don't even want to learn about that, "natural part of motherhood", as they call it, and I'm actually approaching my baby-makin' years! I'm going to go ahead and side with the critics because I think some things are better left to be discovered.

But then again, my sister and I had the baby doll that you were supposed potty train and we loved that doll.

Ya? Not the same? I know. But still weird that someone invented a doll that you potty train. Or breastfeed, for that matter.

Anywho! Now that I'm all caught up on the weird things happening in the world, I'm off to rest my poor, borderline abused brain so I can at least pretend to be intelligent during client meetings tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Soup's On!

Justin and I are big soup lovers and this soup (which happens to also be weight watchers friendly) has everything we love in it. Chicken - check! Avocado - check! Cilantro - check!

We made it last night and it gets 4 thumbs up from us. It's fresh AND it's filling, which is not always a likely pair. Here's the recipe and the link to the source (Stolen from Skinny Taste).

Chicken and Avocado Soup
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1 bowl • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 285.8 • Fat: 16.8 g • Carb: 14.4 g • Fiber: 7.5 g • Protein: 22.1 g

• 5 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups shredded chicken breast
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 cups scallions, chopped fine
• 2 ripe hass avocados, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped fine
• 4 lime wedges
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt + fresh pepper to taste
• pinch cumin
• pinch chipotle chile powder (optional)
  

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add 1 cup of scallions and garlic. Sautéabout 2 minutes then add tomatoes and sauté another minute, until soft. Add chicken stock, cumin and chile powder and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered on low for about 15-20 minutes.

In four bowls, fill each with 1/2 cup chicken, 1/2 avocado, remainder of the scallions, and cilantro. Ladle 1 cup chicken broth over the chicken and serve with a lime wedge

To save time, we used a rotisserie chicken from Kroger. And the only thing I'll add next time is crushed red pepper when you're cooking down the veggies with the olive oil (or use more of the chile powder). We love a little kick to our meals and so if you like some spice in your life, it wouldn't hurt. Oh! And I added a can of drained black beans to bulk it up a little bit!

Bon appetit!

The lesson I learned today...

Justin and I were talking last night and were talking about how hard it is to find time to work out with our schedules. If you know me, you know I journeyed through a huge weight loss "experience" a few years back and since I've started working in the "real world" it's been really hard to fit in a work out. We leave for work at 6:45 AM and we return after 6:30 PM or so...I hate to make excuses, but it's super hard to be motivated.

So to combat this issue, Justin and I decided to try working out together in the wee hours of the morning. We both kinda laughed when talking about it, because it's SO early...and we already get up really early as it is.

But we decided to do it.

We can do this.

The alarm's set.

Ready to go.

......until Justin remembers that he has some big presentation to prepare first thing at work and he decides that it's not the day to try working out in the morning.

"Well, I'm still going to try to go," I say with heavy hesitation.

Then my alarm goes off at 5 AM and...I, of course, decided not to go. However, FLETCHER hears my alarm and starts barking. And barking. And barking. Time to get up, MOM!

Insert valuable lesson here: When my alarm goes off at 5 AM and I decide to indefinitely postpone my work out, that's fine. I could go back to sleep. But guess who won't!? Fletcher Dearest. So now I know, if I plan on setting the alarm for 5 AM to work out, I can just assume that I am getting my butt up, because there is zero chance of going back to sleep. As a matter of fact, I should have gone today because this girl has been wide away since 5 AM, with no workout to show for it. And now I have to go tonight.

If you're the praying kind, pray for me to listen to God's little pushes to go work out and make wise eating decisions - instead of being a slave to my selfish desire to indulge and not pay the price for it. I don't want to back track on all the work I did and I want to be an active, healthy girl. Just need to find a creative way to work activity into my lifestyle.

Suggestions welcome!

Hope y'all have a good week.

Much love.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

A few weeks early....anyway.

But hey, exactly one year ago, we were in the throws of planning a lovely little farm wedding - and that's worth celebrating! Plus, I'm notorious for celebrating my birthday from August 29 (Justin's birthday) all the way until the actual date, September 21, and I don't see why we can't celebrate our marriage during March...all of March!

My friend Emily invited us to attend the Endymion Extravaganza in New Orleans, which is a black-tie event where the Endymion parade rolls through once it has rolled through the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

We had been talking about taking a trip to New Orleans to celebrate our anniversary so the timing was perfect. Since it was Justin's first time to go to Mardi Gras, we decided to make a big deal of it and stay all the way through Fat Tuesday. We spent the first half with Emily's family and then got a hotel room downtown by the French Quarter for the second half.

Here's some documentation of our trip for your viewing pleasure:

Before the ball...all dressed up!

All the girls

Me & Justin at the ball before the parade

Haha - Justin watching the parade - waiting for some beads

Our loot we collected from Endymion Parade

More Loot from parades on the street!

Okay I'm not big on the Charlie Sheen hype, but this was funny nonetheless.

Enjoying the wonderful weather at the Zulu festival

One of the dogs from Barkus, the dog parade!

We had a great time...if you can't tell. Emily's family was so gracious to host us (and so many other couples!) and we really enjoyed the time away together.

So here's to another year together! It's been the best year of my life and I look forward to celebrating all of March, each March, for the rest of our life together!

All the best to you and yours!

On the go......

I feel like this sums up my life for the last few weeks:

Except I've only actually gone on one flight....haha.

But I went to St. Louis for work to visit our lovely contractors and he weather was perfect - crisp & chilly. I always love travelling for work because it's a great way to break up the week - but I swear - I've been playing catch up ever since...

We also recently went to Austin to visit Justin's sister while she's doing her internship. It was so fun - we shopped, ate, saw live music - life was grand. And while we were there we also toured the Capitol, which I had never visited! Now I feel like a good ol' fashioned, bona fide Texan.

My Texas Boy

And, I learned how to play Texas Hold 'Em - which also boosts my status as a bona fide Texan, I might add. This was ACTUALLY one of my [winning] hands:

Everyone agreed that Justin better book us a ticket to Vegas while I'm hot!

But that's a little summary of our busy little life.

Thankfully, next week we're taking a few days off to celebrate our First Anniversary together in New Orleans! I won't give too much away about it so I can blog about it next week! All I'll say is there are evening gowns, tuxes and beads involved...

That's it from me - take care! Oh, and Les Bon Temps Rouilles!