Check it out

Hey Reese Witherspoon, I'm glad I could set the trend for you. You obviously saw this on my Facebook page and wanted to copy me because I look so fetch (Mean Girls anyone?)

Me and the ex at prom, circa 2003.

Reese Witherspoon circa last night at the Oscars

Okay, so I obviously don't have her gorgeous body but I'm glad I can give her some fashion pointers. 

Did you watch the Oscars last night? Anyone else think that Anne Hathaway was trying just a bit too hard to be funny? And as sexy as James Franco's dimples are, he just seemed a little out of it.

Happy Monday y'all!!!

Fun Fridays and Vlog Friday...minus the vlog.

Happy Friday everyone! Not much going on in my neck of the woods this weekend, just some much needed rest. It seems like the last few weeks have just dragged. Why is that?

I think it's because everyone is anxious for Spring to get here! 

That being said, this weeks Vlog Friday topic was what are you excited to wear when the weather starts to warm up? Well, guess what? I don't have a vlog for you. This week was kind of crazy for me and the hubs so I didn't get a chance to record it. Don't be sad though, I'll make an extra special one for you next Friday.

Since I don't have a video, I decided to go through some of my spring and summer photos and I found one thing to be blindingly obvious: I like blue. A lot apparently.

Who the eff is Dan and why is his name on my arm?

Contrary to what my Facebook photos show, I do wear other colors than blue but my wardrobe doesn't really vary much from there to be completely honest with you. Lots of short sleeve tees in solid colors with either jeans or capris. Even at work, I tend to wear capri pants with short sleeve blouses or flowy tops for comfort since the thermostat in my office is constantly set at 80. (I'm not exaggerating either. I'm sweating at my desk right now and it's 40 degrees outside.)

Something else I couldn't live without would be my sandals. I must have fifty pairs of flip flops and countless pairs of wedges. My toes cannot wait to be free again.

What's your summer/spring wardrobe staple?!

Catch up with other Vlog Friday participants!

Kate at Marshmellow Goodness

Steph at forget me {not}

Cole at Adventures in Love and Happiness 

Erica at Of Food and Friends
Folly Life

Eat it. Work it. Blog it.

To join in and share your experiences in getting healthy, link up with Amber at The Survival Guide to the Fabulous and Newlywed!

{eat it}

As you can probably tell from my post yesterday, I cheated just a little bit this last week because of Valentine's day but I don't regret one little bite of that delicious chocolate cake! However, I should have stopped there. I have to be completely honest here and say that I indulged again on Friday and split some pasta primavera with my sister when we went out for my grandmother's birthday dinner. Other than those two cheats, I did pretty well the rest of the time.

{work it}

I'm not the picture of perfection here either, I only hit the gym three times last week and ran on Sunday while it was nice outside. I've been averaging four to five days a week at the gym but with such a hectic week, it was hard to make myself go. I never did pick up any DVD's to work out to at home but I really need to, having that extra push on the days I can't drive 25 minutes to my gym will help keep me on track.

As far as my C25K program goes, I've finished week three and hope to start week four today. Running is getting easier and easier for me as the weeks go by. I thought when I increased my running times, it would get harder but it seems to be the exact opposite. I feel much better and don't lose my breath like I used to but I know that I need to strengthen my legs if I plan to run a 5k by April. Shin splints aren't fun and have made an appearance once or twice.

{blog it}

When I weighed in yesterday morning, I felt like breaking down. It was seriously frustrating to not lose any this week. Letting myself indulge may have played a role in not losing but like I said, I don't regret anything, if I'm going to lose weight without losing my MIND first, I need my chocolate. At least every once in a while, but I need to make up for it in exercise if I have a cheat now and then.

Alright, enough excuses. I need to be real, and honestly, shows like The Biggest Loser and I Used To Be Fat are putting false goals in my head. Who loses 10 pounds in a week? Not me, so why would I even consider that a realistic goal? There's no possible way I can hit the gym for more than an hour a day even when I do have the time. I need to trust my body and trust that since I've gone down a pant size, that's good enough. Even though I yearn to see my weight drop quickly, I know that's not going to happen. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. I have to learn to be patient if I'm going to do this the right way for me. 

How have you done this week? Did you have any sweet treats last Monday?

You need to make this.

I'm pretty sure the title of my blog post says it all. 

Most of you probably read The Pioneer Woman and know about this recipe but it was too delicious not to share with you guys. For Valentine's day, I really wanted to make a special dessert for the hubs and I entertained the idea of making a chocolate souffle (for about 5 seconds) but figured, if I was making four other dishes from scratch, I'll take the easy way out on dessert, and easy it was.

The recipe calls for only 6 ingredients, unless you want to make homemade whipped cream, and it takes a mere 13 minutes to bake. See, told you it was easy. Go make it now. You can thank me later. I, on the other hand, have got to go to the gym since I will probably make these again this weekend.

 Yeah, that's a Styrofoam plate and yeah, I already took a bite.

Originally, this Molten Chocolate Lava Cake was posted by Brandielle on Tasty Kitchen and then was featured on The Pioneer Woman's blog shortly after.

Ingredients

4 squares (ounces) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate  

(My store was out of Baker's chocolate squares so I picked up a bag of semi-sweet chunks. Half the bag equaled about 4 ounces, or 6... whatever. It tasted GOOD.)
½ cups Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 whole Egg Yolks
6 Tablespoons Flour

Prep Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 4 custard cups really good with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Fun Fridays & Vlog Friday!

To link up with Fun Fridays, click below to head on over to Jen's blog!

 

Not much going on in my neck of the woods this weekend guys, unless you count my Grandmother's wild birthday party at the retirement community. Watch out now, we might get a little crazy!

Other than that, I wanted to join in Vlog Friday this week with the story of my first kiss:

Untitled from Jessica T on Vimeo.

So, to sum it up, my first kiss in middle school was to a huge nerd and my first kiss to my now husband gave him a fat lip. I got skills.

Other Vlog Friday participants:

Kate at Marshmellow Goodness

Steph at forget me {not}

Cole at Adventures in Love and Happiness 

Erica at Of Food and Friends
Folly Life

If you posted a vlog, let me know! I'll add your link.
Happy weekend everyone!!

I was tagged!

My girl Jennifer tagged me in a new handwriting meme and so I wanted to play along!! She tagged me like six years ago and I just finally got a chance to sit down and do it at work.

Basically, there are eight questions and instead of just typing your answers, you hand-write them so everyone can see how sloppy your handwriting is because if you're like me, you do nothing but type. Ever. So here goes, the questions are:

1. What's your name / blogger name?
2. What's your blog's URL?
3. Write "The quick fox jumps over the lazy dog."
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your favorite song?
6. Your favorite band / singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag 3 - 5 other people.

And here's my handwriting, which, I have to say, changes depending on the pen I'm using. If it's a Sharpie pen, it's less cursive but with my fave Pentel RSVP pens, which are legit, this is how I write.

As you can see, I had to use lined paper, I filled out the first three questions on computer paper first and all my words leaned to the right. Pssh. Whatevs.

You should play along so I'm not the only one showing off my crappy penmanship and obvious whited out errors. Oh, you didn't catch those? Nevermind.

Love you bye.

Eat it. Work it. Blog it.

To link up and share your successes or struggles while getting healthy, link up at Amber's blog, The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed. 

{eat it}

I am a creature of habit, with everything, especially food. Especially when trying to eat healthy. I've been drinking my smoothies for breakfast, a piece of fruit for a mid morning snack, a salad with chicken or turkey for lunch, crackers or fruit again for an afternoon snack and then supper. Usually, I'll make us a protein (fish, chicken, steak or pork) along with a vegetable and a starch for Kevin. 

Well guess what? I'm sick of it all. Every once in a while, I crave a hot lunch and these salads are just not cuttin it. Next week I really want to try some new, healthy recipes to broaden my menu beyond all the same stuff I've been eating day after day. Time to shake things up a bit.

{work it}

I like running. There. I said it. I've admitted it to you and to myself. 

I literally just took a giant deep breath because I normally despise working out, but, with my C25K workout, I look forward to running every day. Well, not every day, it's usually every other day. Let's not get crazy here.

My running gives me time to clear my head, to think about nothing and just...be. Beyond that, it's given me a goal to work towards. I've finished my second week of the program and will start the third week  tonight. Even though the first day of the week is always challenging, it's made me push myself further than I've ever pushed my body. My legs are getting stronger and I know I can do this. I'll be ready for this 5k in April. I will. I have to.

{blog it}

This week I'm down another 2 pounds. I'm still not impressed with these tiny numbers but a loss is a loss. No complaints there but like I said above, I would really like to overhaul my meals. Getting Kevin to eat more veg with his dinner would be a plus too so I'm thinking a great veggie lasagna should be in the works? Mmm...oh yeah.

Now that I'm running 3/4 times a week, I really want to look into purchasing some workout DVD's so I can concentrate on my core on the days I skip the gym. 

I've heard rave reviews about Jillian Michael's 6 week 6 pack, so that's an option:

{source}

If I have the slightest chance of having those abs, I'm sold.

How was your week? Did you indulge last night? I did. :)

Let's get it on

Cue Marvin Gaye.

The only bad thing about today is the fact that my Facebook feed is filled with snarky statuses about how much people hate today. Even if you don't have a significant other, spend today with a friend so they cheer you up.You just do your thing and I'll do mine. K?

Even when I didn't have a boyfriend, I was the kid in class who gave everyone a valentine and dressed in pink or red. It's fun, why not spread a little love? Everyone likes to get candy or a card, right?

So this Valentine's day, (not to be confused with VALENTIME'S, which, by the way, isn't a real word and just a reminder for next year, it's Happy New Year, not New Years. Sorry, I get carried away with that stuff. Back to the point...) send a little love note to your IT guy or your secretary because they'll enjoy it. Is that a big enough hint? I want CANDY. I need it to live. Diets don't count today.

Tonight I have a very low key night planned for the hubs and I. We'll be having a delicious dinner at home of steak with mushroom gravy, coconut shrimp, mashed potatoes and broccoli. All of my hubs favorite foods. Then, to top it all off, I was going to tackle chocolate souffle but if I may end up going the easy route with Pioneer Woman's molten chocolate lava cake that she featured on Tasty Kitchen. I haven't decided if I'm making the coconut shrimp from scratch yet though, anyone have a good recipe? I'm on the hunt otherwise it's gonna be Gorton's Fisherman. 

Along with cooking my Valentine a super special and delicious supper, I bought him two new blu-ray movies, 300 and Red. Which I got ID'd buying at WalMart because apparently I look seventeen.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

If someone you know is being a scrooge, pop them for me, k?
Or just plant a big ole kiss on 'em. Thanks.

Bye now, I have some canoodling to do with  my sweety.

Fun Fridays! Vlog Fridays and VOTMC

To link up with Fun Fridays and tell us about your fun weekend plans, click below to head over to Jen's blog!

\

Not much planned for this weekend except helping my parents paint and get ready to put their home on the market. My dad has accepted a job in North Carolina so they plan to move by the summer. Their house needs a lot of TLC so we hope to get a good chunk knocked out this weekend.

Other than that, I'm linking up with the Vlog of the Month Club as well as Vlog Fridays.

So here ya go, my awkard self, yet again!

Untitled from Jessica T on Vimeo.

Okay, Bodie's not fat, he's fluffy. And I would totally carry him if there were a fire! He's my furbaby!

If you want to check out some of the other ladies doing Vlog Fridays and Vlog of the Month Club, check them out, if I forgot you, let me know! I'll add your link.

Kelly, aka KJPugs

Anni at Lincoln Park on a Lark

Kate at Marshmellow Goodness

Steph at forget me {not}

Cole at Adventures in Love and Happiness

Layla at Wish Fulfillment Every Day
Erica at Of Food and Friends
Folly Life

Eat it. Work it. Blog it. Week 2

If you want to join in and share your weight loss or fitness goals and progress through "Eat It, Work It, Blog It",  link up with Amber here!

{eat it}

I'm not gonna lie to you, I cheated this weekend. Friday night was girls night and I drank several glasses of wine, making me giggly and thinking my new Harry Potter ring tone was the best ring tone in the universe. (I still think it's pretty awesome now that I'm sober though.) Then on Saturday night, along with busting my ass roller skating, creating a giant purply-red bruise on my knee,, I also ate two three slices of pizza. Since it was my nieces birthday party, I felt obligated to have a teensy tiny slice of cake too. I'm seriously kicking myself now but really, if I can't cheat once in a while, I'll go crazy. I need cheese. And cake apparently.

{work it}

My workouts, on the other hand, are something I can be proud of. I've stepped it up this week and did the second week of C25K and it was surprisingly easy! I went from running a minute, walking for a minute and a half to running a minute and a half and walking for two. It doesn't sound like much but when you HATE cardio, it's a small accomplishment.

I'm determined to run my first 5k this spring even if it kills me, which it might, but I'm going for it anyway. Do you need a little motivation? Read Marissa's blog. Her and her husband are so inspiring, her latest post brought me to tears. 

{blog it}

Our weekly weight loss contest at work is giving me a little kick in the ass this week. Weighing in on Mondays is tough, especially after the weekend I had. When I weighed myself Friday, I had lost another pound but come yesterday, it was back on. That equals a zero loss for this week and the same tiny girl won for the second week in a row. I'm taking this as a sign I really need to step things up. This means no more cake! I can't afford it. 

One thing I keep trying to tell myself is that my pants are looser and I'm feeling better.  That's the main reason I'm doing this right? The scale doesn't know that I've added reps to my weight training and that my muffin top is almost gone but I do. With that in the back of my mind, I'm forging ahead and trying not to get down on myself. (That's what she said)

What was your success/downfall this week?

 

I got invited to a birthday party and all I got was this bruise.

This weekend, Kevin took a boys trip to Pennsylvania for the annual Eastern and Outdoor Show. I know, I'm super sad I couldn't go, seeing hundreds of men drooling over artillery and ammo would have made for an epic weekend.

However, I chose to stay home with my puppy dog and do some of my favorite things. First on the list, ladies night. One of my best friends just purchased her first home so we decided to celebrate with a few glasses of wine. Okay, a few bottles. Then on Saturday, I slept in until about 12, for obvious reasons and then was invited to celebrate my nieces thirteenth birthday. At a skating rink. 

I'm pretty sure you can figure out what happened next.

I went from this:

To falling flat on my ass in front of 30 middle schoolers. Turns out, falling in front of a bunch of 13 year olds as a 24 year old is still just as embarrassing. I could feel them all laughing at me. I'm now scarred for life.

Mentally and physically.

No I haven't showered and yes those are my husbands pajama pants. 

They have fish on them and they're comfortable.

Needless to say, I won't be getting on skates any time soon.

I will now resume watching the Superbowl commercials. How cute was that Darth Vader VW one?! Ahh!
That's all I have to say about that.

Fun Fridays!

To join in on the fun, visit Jen's blog by clicking below!

I have to be honest with y'all, I'm boring this week as you can probably tell by my lack of posts. I'm being completely serious when I say I think I reached the end of the internet. I've read so many blogs and surfed so much, I had nothing left to do. 

See, I had nothing to do so I made you the internet monster. He protects the internet. Forget passwords. This guys your man.

However, I'll be making up for my lame-o status this weekend!

Tonight, I'll be heading over to my friend Michelle's new house. She recently purchased her first home so we'll be breaking it in with wine and pizza, you can't go wrong with that. However, I think this makes it official, we're grown-ups. As much as I hate to admit that, getting married, owning a home and paying our own bills forces us into adults. Doesn't mean we have to act like grown ups though. ;)

So proud of her! Now, if I could find a house and buy one, we'd be all set.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Eat it, work it, blog it!!

My friend Amber at The Survival Guide for the Young, Fabulous and Newlywed came up with an awesome idea recently to create a link up of bloggers who are trying to get healthy.

In her words:

"Each Tuesday post your "results" for the week (Tuesday - Monday).  Post your Eat It. (Diet choices throughout the week and share any new recipes or snack suggestions.)  Post your Work It. (Exercise routine throughout the week.) Post your Blog It. (How did you feel?  Did you experience any breakthroughs on your journey?  Did you find a new favorite exercise or learn something new?)"

Many of you may be linking up elsewhere with a similar  idea in mind, which I love, so I'm glad that Amber has decided to come up with one of her own. Read more about it over on her blog!

Being held accoutable is motivation for me and I'm one who needs a push every now and again. Whether it be my husband cheering me on for running 3 miles in 30 minutes (it's the small things people, I know that's not mind blowing) or my girls on Twitter giving me high fives over the four pounds I lost last week. This link up will hopefully give me a chance to show you all how I'm doing to improve my health and give you a chance to give me any tips or even a pat on the back or kick in the ass.

After we got married,  I started cooking dinner for Kevin daily and we settled into our cozy little life together. I kept telling myself "I don't have to fit into a dress! I can eat whatever I want!" fully knowing what I was doing to my body. It was like a vacation from salads. No more counting calories and no back breaking workouts but now, I only have four pairs of pants that fit and I'm not happy with what I see in the mirror. Every single picture of myself is taken from the neck up and a few weeks ago, as you know, I started back on the right track to getting healthy.

Now, onto my eat it, work it, blog it goals for this weeks link-up!

{eat it}
 I used to snack on Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs or peanut butter crackers in the afternoon but I realized that I don't eat nearly enough fruit throughout the day. Now, on top of my daily green monster smoothie, I grab two pieces of fruit, one for mid morning and one for in the afternoon then I usually have a granola bar right before the gym.

{work it}
I've been really intrigued by the success that several blog friends have had with the c25k program so I decided to give it a whirl. To make a long story short, this program is "designed to get just about anyone from the couch to running 5 kilometers or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks.Its secret is that it's a gentle introduction to getting the body moving, starting off alternating between walking and running small distances, and slowly building up until after 8 weeks, you're ready to run 5 kilometers or 30 minutes non stop"

I've only done the first three sessions of the program, alternating running a minute and walking a minute and a half, and can already tell a difference in my endurance. I'm excited for the challenge and to see how far I can go! I've made a deal with my brother in-law that if I can do it, he'll run a 5k with me this summer.

Eek! If that's not pressure, I don't know what is!!!

{blog it}
The scale told me I only lost 1 1/2 pounds this week and that means it's time to get serious. Go big or go home. No pain no gain.In it to win it. No excuses, play like a champion. (name that movie, you'll get 1 point)
I'm starting the second round of c25k tonight and will add to my weight lifting routine this week. Soon enough, I'll be blowing by all y'all at the marathons. Booya. Let's do this.