Leilah and Frye

Hello Everyone! 

We've got some exciting news! 

We adopted another kitty! Her name is Leilah and she is 9 weeks old.  We've been feeling bad lately for leaving Frye home alone all the time and thought it might be a good idea to get another kitten to keep him company and so far things seem to be going pretty good.

It has been so much fun to watch them get adjusted to each other and to see her "fight" with him.  She weighs all of one pound and is not afraid to get all up on Frye's face.  It is definitely one of the most amusing things I have seen.

If you're wondering why we picked the name Leilah, it is also a credit to Futurama.  If you don't know what that is, it is an adult cartoon show that Justin and I have been watching for a few years.  We ended up picking the name Frye for our orange kitty because the main character, Fry, has orange hair.

The name Leilah came from the other main character, Leela.  

Our kitty clearly does not look like the character, but there were only two girl names to choose from and Amy just was not an option.  However, I will say from what I can tell, our little Leilah has a similar personality type as Leela from the show.

So excited to see where things go from here!

Question of the Day:

Is your pet named after a t.v. show character? 

What is your favorite name for a cat?

So Much to Share - Text Heavy

Happy Tuesday Everyone! 

I am SO unbelievably sorry for my lack of posts for the last week.  Unfortunately, I have been under the weather and it has been really dragging me down.

On Monday of last week, Janna and I headed to the gym to start the last round of Tina's Best Body Bootcamp.  I was super excited to start this one because it looked like the most challenging of them all and I was certain that I could do it.  Unfortunately, my body had other ideas.  About half way through the workout, I started feeling very sick and faint.  So I ended up going home and not finishing the workout.

Unfortunately, after that incident I had difficulty breathing and felt very short of breath.  Because of this, I did not workout any more the rest of the week.  Fortunately, I had a doctor appointment on Friday already scheduled for a physical so I would have the chance to talk to my doctor about it then.

According to my doctor, there were two possibly reasons I would have this type of chest pain: Pneumonia or  Costochondrisis.  So she ordered a chest x-ray to make sure there was nothing in my lungs and they were alllll clear! So I just have to wait until the pain goes away and have no clue when that will be.

I have to be honest that I am starting to feel very defeated in this whole exercising process.  If I don't have shin splints, then I have a three day long charlie horse.  Once I get those fixed, I experience the Costochondrisis.  They do say bad things come in threes, so maybe I will see the end of my workout woes.

At the very least, I had a pretty darn good weekend!

Question of the Day:
How do you pick yourself up from disappointing things?
What ailments have you faced in the gym?

Relaxing Saturday & Sunday

This weekend shaped up to be rather relaxing for Justin and I.  Considering we normally are busy almost every day of the week, it was nice to take it slow and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Saturday morning I got myself up around 9:00 to head to the gym for Zumba.  Out of all of the workouts that I do, Zumba is by far my favorite workout.  However, this week I was not feeling the class.  There is nothing more frustrating than not having enough room to move while you're working out.  I even went so far as to politely ask the ladies in front of me to move forward, but they did not seem to care.  So half way through the class, I left.  

Because of how busy we've been the past few weeks and me feeling under the weather, I've "missed" quite a few workouts, so I took advantage of leaving Zumba early and made up one round of Tina's Best Body Boot Camp and half of one of the runs that I missed.  

The Boot Camp workout focused mainly on arms and definitely was a killer.  I was shocked at how much stronger my arms are than when I started six weeks ago.  I am sad to say that we are on the fourth and final round of Boot Camp.  Luckily, there will be more and Janna and I can continue working hard!

Saturday evening, Justin and I headed out to dinner with my cousin, Liz, and her boyfriend, Richie.  We haven't seen them since Christmas, so it was very nice to catch up and get some time with them.  They're so goofy!

Justin was being camera shy that day and would only let me get one of the side of his face.  Grumpy pants.

Sunday we had planned on going out shopping in the morning, but we got lazy and decided to relax at home.  We started catching up on The Game of Thrones because we have not finished the first season yet.  

I spent the entire day working on a baby blanket for my friend's baby shower next weekend! I finished the first one, but still need to work on the second.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite T.V. show?

Do you watch them live or after the fact?

Friday Night Hibachi

Who loves Hibachi? This girl! 

On Friday night we went to Miyako Japanese Steakhouse on a last minute dinner date with a few of my girls and their significant others.

I was pretty excited because I absolutely love hibachi restaurants.  There is something so exciting about having someone cook the food right in front of you, AND the food is always delicious.

I had the Sirloin and Shrimp platter with fried rice, but because I was so excited to eat, I forgot yo grab a picture of the food! Oopsy! 

After Miyako, Sarah and Karl came over to watch "The Watch" with us since Justin and I had rented it through Redbox. 

The movie wasn't too terrible, but it is not something I will be watching again.  It never hurts to try watching a movie because often I am pleasantly surprised by movies.

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite restaurant?

What restaurant have you been wanting to try?

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Happy Friday Everyone! I trust you had a great Valentine's Day?

Justin and I did not have any plans for Valentine's Day, so we ended up staying in for the evening.  On our way home from work, we stopped by our local grocery store to pick up some steak and potatoes so we could cook a nice dinner at home.  We ended up with steak, mashed potatoes with sauteed mushrooms and broccoli.  It was super delicious!

While out, we also stopped by the Redbox and grabbed a movie to watch.  We had originally planned to go see a movie in the theaters, but due to a rather sleepless night, we decided it would be better to stay in.  We ended up with "Here Comes the Boom" as our movie choice. 

I did not have high expectations for the movie, but I can honestly say that I laughed and cried on more than one occasion while watching this movie.  If you have time and a few dollars, I would definitely suggest this movie for your viewing pleasure.

It was not anything super special, but it was nice to spend some one-on-one time with Justin.

Question of the Day:

What did you do for Valentine's Day?

Do you have any traditions?

I Survived Fat Tuesday

Hello Everyone! Did you survive Fat Tuesday? I did!

In Michigan, and possibly a few other states, Fat Tuesday is celebrated with a pączki   What's a pączki you ask? "A pączki is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling", according to Wikipedia.  In other words, a pączki is a jelly filled doughnut but SO much more delicious.  Luckily for me, no one brought any into work, so I was not faced with the temptation.

Monday evening, I spent some time cleaning and organizing our closet (which was super rewarding by the way) and I came across this sweater that still had the tags on it.  I'm not quite sure where it came from, but I was excited that it fit and managed to create an entire outfit from it!

In the evening, Janna and I headed to the gym to make up our Tina's Best Body Boot Camp workout from Monday and to get our 2.5 mile run in for the day! The run was not all that pleasant for me but I was able to finish it without too much angst and in a pretty decent time.

After that, we did the weight training workout from Boot Camp and stretched for 20 or so minutes.  Overall, it was a pretty awesome workout and I'm glad I went (even though I really was not feeling it).  

Did you notice something weird abut the treadmill picture? I got a pretty good laugh that the treadmill said I was at -0.5 incline.  I did not think that it was even possible! 

Question of the Day:

What is the weirdest thing you've seen a machine do at the gym?

Chocolate and Coffee

Hello Everyone!

Monday night, my mom and I headed out to her church for an evening of Coffee and Chocolate with the ladies.  I was not super excited to go because I wanted to just go to bed, but it ended up being a fun evening and I am glad I went.

The evening was filled with D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. desserts and coffee.  Each of the desserts were hand made by the ladies hosting the event (except the m&ms and Hershey's of course).  I allowed myself to have three things and ended up with a cup of Puppy Chow, a small piece of Nutella Peanut Butter Fudge and one of the small cups of m&ms.  That was plenty chocolate for me!

During the event we played some pretty fun games and had a wonderful speaker.  She talked about what Real Love is and how when we let God pour his love on us, then we can freely and openly love others; a thought I had never given any consideration before.

After Coffee and Chocolate I headed home and went basically straight to bed!

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite dessert?

Un, Deux, Trois

Happy Monday Morning Everyone! I trust you had a relaxing weekend and spent some time getting everything done that you needed to.

I'd like to start today's post with this:

Three cats are competing in a race.  There's an American cat names, "One Two Three", a German cat named "Ein Zwei Drei" and a French cat names "Un Deux Trois".  The cats all swim across a lake.  The American cat finishes first, the German cat finished second, but the French cat is no where to be found.  

Why?

Because "Un Deux Trois" Quatre Cinq

I laughed pretty hard at that joke and I hope it gave you a smile too.  Plus the picture always brings me a few giggles.

Sunday Justin and I spent some much needed time relaxing and hanging out around our house while doing some laundry.  I was able to work on a baby blanket for my friend, Kelly's, baby shower coming up in a few weeks and I am proud to say it is almost done!

Yesterday, Janna and I were supposed to run a 5k race, but due to the cold weather, we decided it would be better to just run it at the gym on the treadmill.  With ice everywhere, it did not seem wise to be running outside.  I am proud to announce that I finished the race in 32:13.  That is a full four minutes faster than the 5k I ran on my birthday last year! I am so excited.

The weather in Michigan has been crazy the last few days.  On Friday we were hit with about six inches of snow, but this morning we are seeing 45° weather and the snow is melting away.  It sure makes for some weird headaches and multiple layers of clothing.  Today I cannot seem to get warm even though it is a full twenty degrees warmer today than yesterday.

I hope your day is wonderful!

Question of the Day:

What is your clothing of choice when working out in cold weather?

My Father-in-Law's Shepherd's Pie

What You Need:

• 1 lb Lean Ground Beef
• 1 T Oil
• 1 Small Onion
• 1 Can Condensed Tomato Soup
• 1 Can Peas (drained)
• 1 Can Corn (drained)
• 5-6 Potatoes (skinned and cut)
• 1/4 Cup Milk
• 2 T Butter
• Salt
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese

How to Make the Shepherd's Pie

Preheat the over to 350°.  In a pan, heat oil.  Cut up the onion and place in the pan.  Saute the onion until light brown.  Add your ground beef and brown completely.  

If necessary, drain the excess fat from your pan.  Mix in the the tomato soup and let simmer for five minutes. Mix in the peas and corn and simmer for another five minutes.

While the ground beef is cooking, skin and chop your potatoes.  Being water to a boil in a pot and add the potatoes.  Boil until the potatoes are soft, drain the water from the pot.  Begin making the mashed potatoes by adding 1/4 cup of milk, 2T of butter and a dash of salt.  Mix until the potatoes are of a smooth consistency.  If necessary, add extra butter or milk to make the potatoes softer or taste better.  

Place the meat and veggie mixture into the bottom of your baking dish.  Cover the meat mixture with the mashed potatoes.  Using a fork, create "mountains" in the mashed potatoes.  Cover the entire thing with some cheddar cheese (whatever amount you feel is good) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is nice and melted.

Serve and enjoy!

P.S. This can be served with gravy if that appeals to you! We use it every so often.  

Relaxing Saturday!

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Today I spent the day relaxing and hanging out with my best friend, Danielle.  We started out the day by heading up to the YMCA and doing a workout.  The original plan was to go try a Total Body Workout class, but since Danielle's car was frozen shut, we missed the class by ten minutes! Oh well.

After the gym, we ran out to meet a friend so Danielle could pick up her order of Girl Scout Cookies! Did you know that yesterday was National Girl Scout Cookie Day?

I missed my date to order my cookies, but Justin has us covered since he ordered some through a coworker and I will order a few more boxes from my friend, Gina's, daughter.

After picking up the cookies, we ran to the store to get supplies for the recipes planned for the day.  Danielle wanted to try a few pins from Pinterest (one of which I already shared with you) and both recipes were cake oriented.  In total, we ended up making three different cake recipes: Watermelon Cake Pops, Funfetti Cake and Healthy Chocolate Dr. Oz Cake.  

I was very excited we made the Funfetti cake, because I wanted to see if it could turn out better this time than the last time and it did! The sprinkles did not bleed into the cake.  The only thing I wish is that there was no brown sprinkles in the mix, they are not so pretty.

I have to admit that I am rather messy when I am baking.  I ended up getting a rather large amount of powdered sugar on the front of me when I was cleaning up the kitchen and Danielle and I got a pretty good laugh out of it.

After Danielle left, I made Justin and I another batch of Shepherd's Pie because it sounded so delicious for dinner.  I made sure to grab pictures this time, so I can share the recipe with you all.

The plan for the rest of the evening is to just relax and spend some time cuddling with my cutie, Frye.  Have a wonderful evening! 

Attempted Watermelon Cake Pop

Danielle and I tried making cake pops today and they did not turn out all that pretty, but they sure were delicious! We originally saw the idea here and they were supposed to look something like this: 

I figured I would still share the tutorial just in case anyone wanted to try making these on their own.

What You Need:

• Box of Cake Mix (we used vanilla cake)
• Vanilla Frosting
• Mini Chocolate Chips
• White Chocolate for melting
• Green food coloring 
• Cake Pop Sticks

How to Make the Pops

Bake the cake according to the box instructions.  Let the cake cool completely.  Once the cake has cooled, take a fork and crumble the cake.

Add the entire tub of frosting and 1 cup of mini chocolate chips to the cake and mix in well (It is best to use your hands).  Once the frosting has been completely mix in with the cake, roll your dough into 1" balls (they can be bigger if you'd like).  Begin melting your chocolate by your preferred method.  Once the chocolate is melted, mix in green food coloring until it is your desired shade of green.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip a cake pop stick into the chocolate and insert the stick into the rolled cake ball.  Once all of the sticks have been put into the cake balls, put in the freezer to let the chocolate and cake harden.

After about 30 minutes, remove the cake pops from the freezer.  If necessary, remelt your chocolate.  Dip each pop into the melted chocolate until each pop is thoroughly covered.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy!

As you can tell, ours did not turn out as pretty as the original option.  If you are looking for a more perfect looking cake pop, you will need to spend a great deal of time molding the chocolate as it hardens.  Either way, the cake pops were pretty darn delicious! 

Winter Storm Nemo?

It's Thursday already? Where HAS this week gone?

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you just cannot figure out why things are so weird and off kilt? This has been one of those weeks.  Everything has just seemed completely off balance and I have not been able to figure out why.

Janna and I had planned on working out every day this week, but I have yet to set foot in the gym.  Luckily, I have all of the basic necessities at home, so I was able to do a workout Tuesday evening while I watched The Bachelor.  It was rather relaxing to workout at home and I think it may be something I will need to continue to do. 

Do you watch The Bachelor?

  

I have to admit, this is one of my more guilty pleasures and this season is proving to be very entertaining with Tierra creating all varieties of drama with the girls.  I will be interested to see who Sean picks at the end of the show.

Have you heard of the big winter storm that is about to hit the East Coast? Apparently, it has been determined that the appropriate name for this storm is Nemo.  Does anyone else find this name a bit ironic, since it is a snow storm? I had to giggle a little bit.

The plan for tonight is to have my cousin and her fiance over for dinner and we are having Shepherd's Pie! Yummy! I will make sure to share a recipe with you all once everything is done. 

Question of the Day:

What would you name a winter storm if it was your choice?

Birthday and the Super Bowl™!

Did you watch the Super Bowl™? I did, sorta.  

The Super Bowl™ is not a big deal in our house unless there is a team that we are really rooting for.  This year just so happens to be one of those years where we are indifferent to who wins.  But congratulations to the Ravens for their Big Win!

Sunday started out with Janna and I heading to the gym to do our fit test and workout for Tina's Best Body Boot Camp.  At the beginning of Boot Camp, we were supposed to do a fitness test that gives you a general starting point for your physical ability.  You are also supposed to take some basic measurements to see if there are any changes.

I am proud to report that I have lost 2" in my waist at the belly button, lost 1" in my hip area and have gained 1/2" in my bicep and 1/2" in my thigh.  I also shaved 20 seconds off of my mile run and am able to hold a wall sit and plank for about 20 seconds longer than before.  It is so rewarding to know that I have tangible progress! 

After my much needed workout with Janna, Justin and I headed up to his sister's house to celebrate Little Man's 3rd Birthday.

He was so excited to open his gifts and eat his cake.  I love spending time with both J.P. and McKenna because they both bring me so much joy.  It is amazing to watch them grow and change.  Plus, there are always great hugs to be had when we see them.

After J.P.'s party, we headed home to relax and watch the Super Bowl™.  I say watch because we did not watch the entire game but caught bits and pieces of it.  Reggie stopped by to hang out and catch up since we had not hung out in a few weeks.  When Reggie got there, he found a comfy seat on the couch, which just so happened to be where Frye was sleeping.  I would say Frye was not too happy about it.

Honestly, Frye is just yawning and I just had really good timing, but it seriously looks like Frye is yelling at him.  Too funny!

Question of the Day:

Who were you rooting for?

What is your favorite Super Bowl™ snack?

Gun Range Adventures

Can I just point out how cold it is right now? It is 18° here right now and it feels much colder than that.  Luckily, the snow is falling and the ground is pretty and white so that makes up for the awfully cold weather.

Who here likes to read? I know I do! I have been in the market for a good read for a little while, but have not had the time to actually pick up a book and read.  Last week, I put in a Hold request at my local library to get a copy of The Happiness Project.

I've read about two chapters of the book and so far am really enjoying reading it! Once I get it finished, I will make sure to share my review with you all.

Saturday, Justin and I joined Da Jones' to celebrate Kelsey's birthday.  Justin and Kelsey are about 2 weeks apart and it's always fun to see them hang out.  Kelsey's choice of birthday celebration was to head out to the gun range and test out his new gun.  Of course Justin and I were super excited when Sarah invited us along on the adventure.  Especially since Justin could bring his gun along and I could fire it for the first time.

Everyone got to shoot a few different guns since Justin, Kelsey and Mr. Jones all brought guns with them to shoot.  We also were able to shoot moving targets with a Glock.  I am not a fan of the Glock because the higher caliber makes the gun "kick" back more.  I tend to favor a .22 caliber because it is not so rough on the hands.

After we went to the gun range, we headed out to The Sardine Room in Plymouth, MI.  I had never heard about this restaurant before, so I was excited for a new adventure at a new restaurant.

The food was so good I forgot to take pictures! We tried fish off the bone, wagyu sirloin, sweet potato pancake with curried rabbit, house made gnocci, and the braised lamb leg.  I can honestly say that I tried a wider variety of food at this restaurant than I have in probably a year, maybe two.  It is always exciting to try something different at a new restaurant! If you're ever in the area and are looking for a good restaurant, I would definitely check this place out!

Question of the Day:

What is one food you've tried that you never imagined you would like?

Mine? Rabbit.  It was pretty tasty.

Warm Bodies

Good Morning Everyone! I trust that you had a wonderful weekend and were able to everything you had planned!

Our weekend was filled with fun times and lots of adventures.  Friday evening Justin and I headed out to run a few errands and grab a bite to eat.  We decided last month that we will plan at least one date night a month where we go out just the two of us.  Our date night was actually a few weeks back, but we decided it would be fun to grab a bite to eat together while we were out and about.

Our Friday evening plans consisted of a movie night with a group of our friends.  Have you heard about the movie, Warm Bodies? If not, I've attached the trailer for you to watch when you have a minute! 

Justin and I saw the previews for this movie and instantly knew it was something we would want to go see.  So we picked a time and gathered a group of people to go! Sarah was not quite expecting her picture to be taken, haha.

I was a bit nervous that all of the funny parts of the movie would be in the trailer, but I am excited to say, they were not! All six of us laughed throughout the entire movie and it received positive reviews from each person.  It is not all that often we ALL like the movie.  If you are looking for a lighthearted, funny, suspenseful movie, then this should be your next pick!