Weekend Recap

I feel pretty stressed and so far behind.  I could not have been luckier with the snow-day’s I have had this year, but really I have worked 5 days since Dec. 18^th.  I’m hoping for a great February too ;-)

This weekend was pretty low key.  We didn’t have many plans.  Our house is FINALLY getting in order.  We had a guy doing some drywall repair work the past week and it was SO DUSTY in my house.  It took me about 2 full days to fully vacuum, dust, and clean every square inch!  (which I do because I am crazy and like my house to be clean and in order) Now that my house is clean and in order, I feel better about prepping my meals for the week, planning out my workouts, and organizing my calendar.  I really need to start making a to-do list though.  I tend to get forgetful after I put Allie down, now that we have a comfy couch to sit on and I have a show I am binge watching on Amazon Prime (Parenthood- check it out). 

On Saturday we went to the gym in the AM, got in a good burn, and then went to The Nest.  It is a cute little coffee shop, play area for kids, where parents can relax and eat while their kiddo gets some wiggles out.  However, Allie tried to jump off the 2^nd level of the tree house, and almost flipped off the super slippery slide (say that 10 times).  I convinced Scott to go with us, because they had a bagel and lox- his favorite.  Needless to say, they didn’t have it when we got there, and they were actually out of lox completely.  I ordered a molasses late- it tasted just like a vanilla late, and gluten-free monkey bread.  It was ok- bread was kind of dry, which I should have expected when she took it out of the warmer and said it was the last one they had.  I ordered Allie fruit skewers- fruit on a stick basically- and when it arrived it was a bunch of pineapple and a few grapes in a bowl, they were out of skewers, so Allie threw a fit.  UGH!  Then Scott’s French toast arrived and it was literally 3 slices of French bread (SMALL slices) with a little syrup, that cost $9.50! Next time were going to I-Hop and bringing the iPad for Allie to play with. 

Saturday night was pretty fun, we have a neighbor who babysits Allie now, and she came over while Scott and I went to a progressive dinner in our neighborhood.  We just moved here in October- so this was a fun way to meet other neighbors.  We were pretty much the youngest, and had the youngest kiddo (which is why we also left the earliest- momma can’t hang!).  We had appetizers and drinks at one house, main course at another, and finally desserts at a 3^rd house. All the houses are within walking distance from us- but we drove, causes we’re American’s.  I wish I could remember all my neighbors names, but maybe I will see them again once it warms up and we get outside more.  It’s fun to live in a neighborhood with a clubhouse, pool, and social events!

Sunday was another low key day.  We hung around the house and took Allie to the park.  Later my in-laws stopped by for a quick dinner, and to see Allie of course.  I got some cleaning done and an AWESOME Insanity workout.  I burned just over 600 calories doing Max cardio circuit.  I had just finished a brownie before I went to work out- cause that’s how I roll- and I knew that was a mistake from the second I started my warm up.

This week I am beginning my dairy free trial- (HELLO WHEAT! I missed you!) I also started drinking my Shakeology this morning, and I am limiting my caffeine.  I’m hoping to see some good results from eating better and working out this week!!

Until next time FRIENDS!

Photo Dump Friday

Princess Allie

I spent my birthday and Christmas $$$ on new Mizunos- seriously the color is AMAZING- as well as  T25 and vegan shakeology! Hopefully these will help me get out of a fitness funk. Although I'm up to using 45's for my chest presses!! Woot! Up next 50's.... Oh and Mama Laughlin sprints are my new favorite, 5% incline, 10 MPH, 20 sec sprints, jump off and rest 40 sec, repeat 10 or so times. Friends these really burn the calories! 

A funny just because... You know you laughed...

Allie had her first cake pop, and her teacher gave her a pony tail!! She wore that pony tail until she went to bed, but refuses to let me put another one in her hair. 

I soooo did not want to go to th gym today, so I put on a new tank (I seriously only own 2 tanks that I wear at the gym- I don't feel like I have the arms for them just yet). I got in a great workout, and another chick even commented on how it looked like I tore it up! Lift heavy folks!! Oh, and I wore jewelry to work on Wednesday- it was a New Years goal!! A necklace and a $1 double ring I scored from Old Navy earlier this week. 

Frisco Train store in Valley Park- it's my new favorite love. Free to play (there is a donation container at the front) and Allie LOVES it! Ok, and there is a drive through Starbucks that I pass between the gym and the train store. 

Until next time Friends! 

Veronica~

First week wheat/gluten free...

Friends, I am not doing this "diet" cause it is the new fad.  In fact if you don't know already pizza, beer, and chocolate chip cookies are my comfort foods. I seriously freaking love all of those.  But I have ALWAYS had such bad stomach issues, my stomach is always upset. Every single day, no doubt about it.  The only thing I didn't know was HOW upset is it going to be today.  FINALLY, at the ripe old age of 30, I gave up. I sought out medical advice and had blood work done.  I do not have Celiac disease, but it is pretty certain that I have a wheat intolerance.  (side note- my cholesterol is PERFECT!)

This past week I did pretty good for the first 3 days- then I wanted a doughnut, a sandwich, some pizza, and some freaking cheeze-its (I blame most of that on Gretta) , but I ate about 80% wheat free. Now lets also get something else straight- wheat free does not mean "healthy"...I can still have M&M's (and OH, did I have some this week) and many other foods that are high in fat and calories, just no wheat. I've changed around what I am eating, which is good to do occasionally anyway.  However, we went out to lunch yesterday and I was lost.  I had no idea what to order.  Luckily my husband spoke up for me and asked for a Gluten- Free menu, which they had, I was surprised! I ordered a chicken and avocado burger without the bun, and mashed potatoes (again- not healthy- just no wheat).  It was so yummy, and I didn't have an upset stomach!!!  Scott has noticed a change as well!  I am feeling better and my stomach is pretty "calm" most days/nights.  However- at a surprise birthday party last night my friend has a cookie cake- my favorite cake ever!! I thought about just licking off the icing, and throwing away the cookie, but I'm pretty sure that's a sin.  So, I ate the whole thing, and savored every single bite. YUM!  But...guess who is paying for it today :-(

Looks like I need to have a diet very low in wheat to enjoy life :-(....or if I REALLY think something is "worth" an upset stomach, I will just have to pay the price later.

Something I have come to find this week that is AWESOME!  Are gluten free noodles.  We used to only eat the whole wheat ones made with 100% whole wheat, but the gluten free ones are made with quinoa and corn flours.  They have exactly the same calories, fat, and sodium as the wheat, however wheat has a LOT more protein, which was surprising to me  But really they taste about 10000 times better than wheat noodles.  I made spaghetti last week for our "meatless" dinner, and already made a ziti for this week. Oh- and hard cider.  I mean I LOVE beer- dark, malty, yummy beer- but I also like cider.  I need to start looking into some dry cider's though, cause this sweet stuff will get old FAST! 

Something that is NOT AWESOME- gluten free cookies, and tortilla bread crumbs.  The cookies have a weird after taste, and beginning and middle taste too.  They look like a little Famous Amos cookie, but the taste is HORRIBLE!  Also, I made a meatloaf for this week with the tortilla bread crumbs.  It tastes like I crushed up a taco in my meatloaf.  Next time I will try gluten free oats and Italian seasonings.

Anyone have any tips to being wheat free?  I think I am really going to limit it again this week- and then play around with it the following week. 

Top 10 on Tuesday

Just a quick minute to let you all know my top 10 apps on my phone. I use these 10 daily.

1} Facebook

2} Instagram

3} Time Hop

4} My Fitness Pal 

5} Pinterest

6} Pandora

7} Snap Chat

8} Bloglovin

9} You Tube

10} My camera ;-) 

Weekend Recap- I'm 30...

I’m FREAKING 30!!!  Seriously!!  I am 30….let that sink in.  Ok, you don’t care as much as I do, but really….3-0….wow.

OK- now on to the fun stuff!!!  I celebrated my birthday this past Saturday in the Central West End.  Scott and I had a mini stay-cation at the Chase Park Plaza (because sometimes you need to sleep in someone else’s bed ::winkwink:: ) 

We dropped our mini off at my in-laws where she spent the night and we headed home to get ready.  I was feeling 29… and went for a 3 mile run in melting snow while Scott took a nap.  Then I got all glammed up and we went to check in at our hotel and had dinner, just the two of us, at Dressles Pub.  We shared 2 dishes- a lamb burger and fish and chips, they were both REALLY good.  We then walked around a little and stopped at Gamlin Whiskey House.  There I learned it was national Hot Toddy day- January 11th is always Hot Toddy day, and my birthday!  So I had one of those, and Scott had an Irish Whiskey. If someone ever offers you a Hot Toddy you better take it cause MAN that was a good drink; however I wanted to go right to sleep once I was finished.

We then went back to our hotel room to get ready for the “party”- which was conveniently located downstairs at Café Eau in our hotel (no driving for us!).  I had just bought a Little Black Dress earlier that day from Target ($15 my friends), and sassed it up with some black tights and heels.  Around 8pm my friends and family started to arrive.  There were about 20 of us drinking and dancing and having so much fun!  I am so lucky to have such good people in my life.  My drink of choice was Civil Life’s American Brown Ale- I’m a malty dark beer girl, not too many hops for me. We danced to a live band, and enjoyed the company of good friends all night.  

The next day wasn’t HORRIBLE, but I was a little spinney (I don’t think that’s really a word).  Scott and I checked out pretty early, and headed to Crepes Etc for breakfast.  I had an apple cinnamon crepe, and Scott had the peaches and cream- his was way better than mine, but it was so nice to have a meal just the 2 of us.

The rest of the recovery day, Sunday, was spent driving out to get our mini, cleaning, and prepping for this week.  It is my first week back to work since before Christmas, and it is my first full week of being as gluten free as possible. I’ll talk more about that a little later this week…after I’ve gnawed off my arm because I want a cookie and a sandwich.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I guess I’m part of the big kids club now!!!

Five on Friday

Another beautiful day here in St. Louis...after over a foot of snow this week we now have dreary rain.  I might be alone in this, but I loved the snow and snow days! It's so pretty, I don't think I've seen that much snow in years! But I could do without the dreary rain now  :-P

I'm not linking up because I'm on my iPad, but here is my random Five on Friday post for the week.

{ONE}
Allie started preschool this week! It's at a local church and I have been happy with it so far. I dropped her off and kind of snuck away the first 2 days when she was playing, however today it seemed like she finally understood what was going on and that I was going to be leaving, and she started to get sad and clung to me like a baby kangaroo. :-( I had the teacher take her so I could leave today. Each night  she has come home talking up a storm and playing all night long. She is so funny! I feel like she is learning so much already! This week she told us about meteor showers and drums. Yes folks she will be 2 1/2 on Sunday.

{TWO}

New year, new workout plan. I've been following many workout bloggers for a while, one of the very first ones I was introduced to was Mama Laughlin. She has since lost a ton of weight and is now working with a trainer to get buff. She posted her arm workout this past week and I tried it! I love it! And I love the sprints she posted for the "warm up" portion of the workout. Check it out in full here... http://www.mamalaughlin.com/2014/01/push-day-workout.html

I also did my final workout in my 20's! Yes I will be the big 3-0 tomorrow... Whew. I was feeling good! I did Mama L sprints, ran a mile, and lifted legs. I'm feeling pretty good these days! Working hard and working out most days.

{THREE}

We bought a new couch! It is so comfy! I love it! Allie was home 5 minutes and poured a cup of water on it...good thing it was a reasonable price.

{FOUR}

I had some blood work done this week and am trying my best to do a wheat free diet to help with some stomach issues I have always had. After only 1 day in, I'm thinking I have wheat and dairy intolerances...not just wheat. (And then I had a huge cookie from Bread Co. for lunch) :-). Here are some of the snacks I have found that I like. 

{FIVE}

I have not been to work since December 18... I hope I know what to do when I go back! Guess I should get to my to-do list since I only have a few days of break left ;-) 

6 days in!

I can not believe it is January 6th, 2014! It is currently -10 degrees, and we have a foot of snow outside. Today was my first snow day, and tomorrow my second! (Although I think it's numbers 4&5 for my school district) 

We have been having nothing but fun over here! We rang in the New Year by staying in eating fancy cheese, chocolate fondue, and drinking a beer that tasted like BBQ sauce...ewww... At Midnight we had the best fireworks in our new neighborhood! They were going off everywhere, and they were so loud! We were lucky Allie never woke up :-) and we were in bed by 12:30am.  

The following day we went out and bought a new sectional for our family room, it was a crazy cheap deal, and has a chaise lounge on one side so we can see into the family room better from the kitchen without having a tall chair in the way. It is set to arrive this Thursday. I can't wait!

As a New Years goal last year I wanted to go to the doctor, I had not been since May 2009.  Well it took me 4 months to get a well visit with a new doctor.  I went to meet her and get "checked out" on Friday. This is leading to me getting blood work, followed by 2 weeks of a gluten free diet, and then 2 weeks of a diary free diet...and then a follow up appointment.  Not to give TMI I have a lot of stomach issues, it is forever upset. I'm hoping I can get some things sorted out...and maybe this will help me clean up my eating to loose those last 15#. 

Saturday my mom came down to babysit Allie while Scott and I (and 8 other friends) enjoyed our yearly visit to Fast Eddies. They have the coldest beer- $2.50 Coors on draft, best shrimp, and cheapest yummiest burgers! Omg...It's a good thing we only go there 1 time a year. However there was the winter storm of the century on our door step, so we had to book it home so my mom could get home safely.  

And then...Sunday came...oh man. All day I kept saying, there is not going to be that much snow, the newscasters just don't have anything else good to talk about...it can't possibly get that cold, I've never seen temperatures that cold... The BAM! It REALLY started snowing, like multiple inches of snow in an hour.  And then at noon our electricity went out. It came back on 5 minutes later, but the fridge, bathrooms, family room, and furnace were not working.  We tried everything on our end as far as resetting the electric box. Nothing...we called Ameren and they said there is an outage we should have 1/2 power and they hope it will fully be back on by 6pm. Ok, no big deal,  we can handle space heaters until 6... Then it was delayed to 8:30... We had decided we could make it through one night with the space heaters since we had 1/2 of our electricity. And then BAM! At 8:00 we lost all power. The outside temp was falling fast, and I was basically on the verge of tears while we called some new neighbors (who had power) and packed our bags. I could tell Scott didn't even know what to do at this point, how would be get out and drive on unplowed side roads to get anywhere! We sat and stared out the window at the Ameren workers in silence for quite some time. Allie had gone to sleep right before we lost full electricity and we just kept watching the temperature in her room fall...good thing she was using 4 blankets! Our plan was to leave if it got down to 50 degrees inside. Luckily at 10:30 we got full power! We plugged the fridge back in, turned on the furnace, and went to bed. What a crazy day! 

Today was a snow day. Allie was supposed to start preschool today, but it was closed, Scott's work was closed, and obviously my work was closed. The temperature made it up to 2 today, and the wind-chills have been hovering around -25.  Since we have been snowed in I have organized the cabinets, pantry, linen closet, cleaning closet, my clothes closet, vacuumed, reorganized a little in the basement, and made wayyy too much food for a family of 3. I've been keeping up with my daily workouts, doing some Insanity the past few days, and drinking lots of coffee! (And eating wayyy too much food- idle hands) 

I still haven't decided if I want to venture out tomorrow...I'm not sure if I trust myself enough. Be careful if you go out! Dress warm and bring lots of blankets just in case! 

Now enjoy some of my pics from the past 6 days :-) 

New couch- Rothman Furniture 

New workout shirt- from Ruffles With Love 

Fast Eddies pics

Snow day fun!