For the Love of Whole 30! (Day 1)

Sratch this whole post.  I made it two days... then I failed.  I won't even bother adding my menu from yesterday.  A stressful day without carbs is pure hell. I don't recommend it. ;)  So... Weight Watchers? #isuckatdieting

Soooo I could start this blog by explaining my constant battle with my weight that began when I was a wee one, but I am going to save you the gory details... for now.  Basically you need to know that I have had a weight problem for a very long time.  I have lost 100 pounds only to find 50 of it again.  From August until now, I have put on 10 pounds.  My school year is already tough, tough, tough!  This weight gain topping off my pile of other extra pounds is discouraging, frustrating, and only adds to the stress.   The new year is upon us, and I of course have resolutions.  Getting healthy is at the TOP of the list.  Stay tuned for more of my resolutions.  Anyways, part of getting healthy is eating right.  I have decided to follow the Whole 30 plan for the month of January.  Read more about the plan here.  To sum up the plan, you can't have dairy, grains, or sugars.  Your goal is to cut out processed foods.  As a carb craving, dessert devouring, cheese choosing kind of gal... this diet is a nightmare of epic proportions.  You may be asking, why do it then?  STOP TAUNTING ME!!! I would, of course, love to NOT be doing the diet, but I NEED to do the diet.  I need to jump start my weight loss.  I need to develop some good habits.  So here I am telling the world (or my very few readers) about my goal.  I thought I would keep up a short series of blogs about my Whole 30 journey and some of the recipes I use.  Let's face it, it is really hard to develop a whole new menu for the month.  Most of my go-to recipes are a "no go" since they are full of rice, noodles, cheese, and other contraband.   All that being said, here is how Day 1 went:

Breakfast-  I didn't have much in the cupboard for breakfast.  So today I had a handful of nuts, cashews to be exact.


Lunch-  We still hadn't gotten groceries, so we used our Jimmy John's gift card we scored for Christmas.  I think they will be my go-to lunch for this diet.  Their "unwhich" is basically a sandwich with lettuce instead of bread, more like a wrap.  I had a turkey with cucumbers, onions, and avocado spread.

Snack- You really aren't supposed to snack on this diet, but it was my first day, and I was hungry!  I ate some mixed nuts for my snack (we made it to Hyvee by this point).  I probably ate way too many nuts today, but I'm going to be OK with that.  Tomorrow I hope to decrease my snacking and nut intake.  I think today was hard because my breakfast was lacking.

Dinner-  My in-laws invited us over for dinner.  My mother-in-law made me a hamburger patty with onions (I added some guac).  She also made some broccoli.  I knew I wouldn't be able to have any of the other sides, so I made some baked sweet potatoes.  Yum! Oh, my mother-in-law meant well, but she failed to mention the butter in my broccoli.  Fooey!

Dessert- Everyone else was having cherry pie, ice cream, or cheesecake.  Oh.my.goodness! I was dying inside as I had to sit it out. I got crafty and  decided to make me some cinnamon bananas.

Potatoes: Slice up a sweet potato.   Put the potato slices, a little bit of olive oil, and some seasoning in a Ziploc bag.  I seasoned mine with red pepper flakes, garlic pepper, and sea salt.  Shake it all up.  Then place the seasoned potatoes in a piece of tin foil. Fold the foil to make a packet.  I will have to take a picture of this sometime.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, or until the taters are tender.  Yummo!





Cinnamon Bananas- Slice a banana, and put the slices in a small pan with spray oil (canola).  I then topped them off with cinnamon.  I put the pan on medium heat and just moved them around in the pan until I thought they were warm enough. Delish! I do suggest using fairly the ripe bananas to keep it sweet!

Only 29 days to go! **Fingers Crossed** I hope I can keep up with this. :) :) :)

For the Love of the Jones Family (Who are they even?)

I have a confession.  A terrible one, actually.  I have a tendency to be materialistic.  The "keeping up with the Jones" mentality always creeps up on me when I least expect it.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not so terrible that I love things more than people.  You can bet your bottom dollar that if it came down to my family and friends or my things, I would choose people every time. However, my nature can be a bit competitive.  If I am in a competition that I care about, I want to win.  I don't care if I win the dodge ball game or a race.  Those aren't things that matter to me.  Now if the competition were to involve baking or Disney trivia, I'm all over it.  Somehow I tend to place myself in competition when it comes to possessions.  I want the best ring, wedding, car, house, decorations, and so on.  My heart is sinking a little bit as I try to imagine how terrible I sound right now.  I can't help it! I like pretty things.
This evening my husband and I had some time to kill. We decided to drive through some neighborhoods we saw as a potential dwelling place in our near future (3-5 years).  We found ourselves looking at homes that were triple the price of our current cozy abode.  I was immediately smitten by their glam and the prospect of soon owning one.  They were stunning.
Later I began my nightly routine of browsing the web.  Of course as I searched my news sites for the latest and greatest gossip, my screen was mostly cluttered with Syria talk.  I hadn't done much research on the events that have transpired over the past few weeks, but I had definitely formed opinions.   I have been criticizing our government for being foolish enough to even consider the thought of starting another war.  How dare they!?! Didn't they see what happened in Iraq? My browsing session led me to several articles, one of which contained a photo album.  Curious, I decided to check it out.  It was way more than I expected to see. Dead bodies of men, women, and children laid peacefully asleep across my computer screen.  These pictures made my stomach turn.  I began to wonder what it was like to have your own government turn on you  and instill such fear.  For once in the past 48 hours I might have understood why we could consider a strike on Syria.  Don't get me wrong, I am still not condoning this action, but I get it.  Suddenly all these pictures of beautiful homes and things seemed so irrelevant to the moment I was living.  I am writing this blog extremely humbled. Tomorrow I will probably wake-up with an urge to go to TJ Maxx.  I just hope that I can remind myself that things are nothing and people are everything.  My heart is broken.  I pray that our officials can make an educated and responsible decision as the lead our nation.

For the Love of Pinterest?!?!

Ok! I must admit I have an addiction to Pinterest.  When I first learned about Pinterest, I thought it was a very creative concept.  I was one of the first of my friends to join.  The wait for my coveted invitation gave me a sense of belonging.  I have been invited... I have been accepted... I rock! Maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, but you get the idea.  The creators knew what they were doing when they developed the site to be invitation only.
My first experiences with Pinterest were good.  I would get on find a few neat things, make them, and move on with my life.  As Pinterest grew, so did my love for it.  More and more people began to await their personal invitation to the online pin board.  The more people who joined this not-so-exclusive network, the more ideas that I found and the more projects I had. Soon my feed was filled with perfect parties, recipes, porches, showers, outfits, hair, and this list goes on (infinitely). As a do-it-yourself kind of gal, I pinned, pinned, and pinned some more.  I started out with three boards.This number has since grown to 35 in about a year and a half.  With over 1,100 pins, I have the best ideas for the perfect classroom, kitchen, and vacation.  What's not to love about a site offering this much potential?
Well I have done a lot of pondering about my life in the past few weeks.  I have decided that I don't like what Pinterest has done to me.  I have always been a bit of a perfectionist.  So when I am taunted daily by extreme perfection, I become overwhelmed and a bit envious.  Before Pinterest, I was for the most part satisfied with my home, but Pinterest came along and nothing was quite good enough anymore.  My life turned into a constant quest to make things grand... just like all my pins.
I began to compare myself as a wife, teacher, decorator, cook, housekeeper, organizer, and so on to all the lovely pins on my pinboard.  The standards I had for myself now made life seem impossible.  This was so hard for me to put into words, as Pinterest seemed full of practical, efficient ideas done by everyday people, but somehow I couldn't keep up with all my projects.
Yes, Pinterests boasts practical ideas, efficient ideas, and everyday people, but rarely are they all together. The more I reflected on my Pinterest addiction, the more I realized that everyone has different resources (time, money, space, and etc.).  Some of my pins are a bit out of my budget, but most of my pins require much more time than I have available.  How can I keep up with all this perfection without such resources?  I can't.
I give up.  Pinterest, I am no match for you and your awesomeness.  I am admitting defeat.  All you ladies with your perfect blogs and your perfect homes and your perfect hair... I retreat! The white flag is up.  My mind has returned to its practical state, and I now realize (not just realize, but also comprehend) that most of these "bloggers" (who provide all this nonsense)  are getting paid to do what they do.  Especially the ones that are always posting perfection. Then I noticed that some bloggers, like me, might only post perfection once in a while when they can muster up enough resources.   Pinterest provides an inaccurate representation of what a home, marriage, wedding, and etc.  look like.   A perfect home has nothing to do with hand towels and everything to do with love and kindness.  A perfect wedding has nothing to do with dresses and has everything to do with happiness.  A perfect life is a life lived...  I spend too much time on my butt perusing my "could be" life on Pinterest and Facebook (another topic for another day) and too little time striving for true perfection, perfection  beyond what I can see--the perfection that I feel.
A new school year is beginning.  I am going to start limiting my social media incoming and outgoing.   I am going to continue my quest for perfection but find a new map.

Pinterest's Laundry (perfect idea, no doubt)

My Laundry (it works perfect for me) 

For the Love of All Things Disney

My first trip to Disney World was twenty years ago.  For a person who has a sincere love for all things Disney, this was simply unacceptable.  I decided to change that.   I began to plan a trip for my husband and I, but something else was completely unacceptable.  My little sisters who are 11 and 13 have never ever experienced Disney.  It is so important to me that a person experiences Disney at an age where it is still magical.  So my husband and I asked my sisters to join us.  I am so happy we did! They loved it.  I thought I would share some of our highlights and tips of our trip.  Our trip was so successful due to others sharing their own tips and tricks. With all of my tips, please keep in mind that we went in mid-June, and the parks were exceptionally busy.

10. If your time at Disney is limited, decide what is most important.  If you have small children, seeing characters might take up the bulk of your time.  If your kids are more interested in rides, you might have to skip the characters. Either way you are going to be spending time in lines.  We only waited to see three characters.  The rest of our waiting was for rides.  Unfortunately you don't just "encounter" characters anymore (at least while we were there).  You had to find specially marked spots on your map and seek the characters out. The maps don't tell you which characters will be there, so you have no idea if the trek to that location is worth it.

9. Snacks! Ok, so theme park food is expensive. Really expensive.  I have read all kinds of things about bringing your own snacks and drinks to avoid these expenses.  We tried. We failed. In temperatures upwards of 90 degrees, drinks don't stay cool and your snack options are limited (when you take into account melting, smashing, etc).  Since we didn't have young children, we had no stroller; therefore, a cooler to keep things cool wasn't an option. Who wants to lug that around?  So, if you have this brilliant money saving plan in your head, make sure to consider the heat and the weight of the items your toting.  However, if you are using a stroller, this might change everything. 

8. Timing is everything.  Get to the parks when they open.  Trust me! There was a noticeable difference on the two days that we did compared to the day that we didn't. Our late arrival was 9:45 instead of 9:00 like the other days.  It made a huge difference.  Be there by 9:00 am.  You'll thank me later. 

7. Be Our Guest- Ahh! Magic Kingdom is building up Fantasyland with a whole area dedicated to Beauty and the Beast.  This is my all time favorite Disney movie.  So, when I read about the "Be Our Guest" diner, I HAD to go.  The diner takes you inside the Beast's Castle.  You can eat in the ballroom, dining room, or West Wing.  If this sounds like something that strikes your fancy, make reservations NOW!!! I tried for two months before our trip, but there were no openings.  So reserve in advanced.  If you don't get reservations, no worries.  You can still go, but there will be a wait. We waited for about 30 minutes in the hot sun with no shade.  Luckily, if there is one thing I know about Disney, they are prepared! Staff brought around umbrellas to provide some comfort.  I promise this place is worth the wait.  The food is fantastic.  Might I suggest the chocolate creme puff! To make reservations, click here. 

6. Fast Pass- Use them and abuse them! Ok, so if you find a way to abuse them, you are probably breaking the rules (not suggested).  Seriously though, use the hell out of those suckers.  We only rode rides with a 30 minute or less wait.  We got Fast Passes for everything else.  We would get a pass for a ride, then we would go find other things to do (watch shows, ride other rides, etc.). Sometimes our passes couldn't be used for up to four hours later, but luckily you don't have to wait the full four hours before you can get a pass. Be sure to check the time at the bottom of the Fast Pass to know when you can grab another.  You can potentially have more than one pass out at a time.  Also, if there is a ride you don't want to ride, but your kiddos do-- still get all the Fast Passes you can.  My sisters were able to ride some rides twice, because they would use mine and my husband's passes. For more information about Fast Passes, read here. 

5. Backpack, Backpack! A few months before our trip, my husband and I encountered the most adorable Disney backpacks at the Disney Store.  We had decided that the girls were old enough to carry their own belongings through the parks, and these bags would be the perfect way to do it.  We didn't tell them about the bags, but we began to fill them with all things Disney; Disney insulated water bottle, Disney tissues, Disney wet wipes (highly reccommended), Disney bandages, ponchos, autograph books and pens and etc.  Most of these things were found at the Disney Store or dollar stores.  They loved their bags and were always prepared--rain or shine. 

4. Split your day.  You don't have to stay at Disney World all day long.  We would go from about 9 am to 2 pm.  Then the heat of the day started to wear on us.  We would leave for a few hours and come back around 5 or 6 pm.  We were now refreshed and ready to experience all the night time activities. Remember you must have special tickets to park hop. We actually had free tickets, so ours didn't allow us to hop between parks throughout the day.  On our first day we went to Animal Kingdom until about 2 pm, and then we relaxed and went to Epcot from 5 pm until about 9 pm.  Since we switched parks, we had to use all new tickets. If we would have went back to Animal Kingdom, we could have used the same tickets.  Just double check your tickets before you leave the park. :)

3. The Disney Magic happens at night.  This is one of my best pieces of advice.  If you can make it to the parks at dusk and beyond, you will love it.  The nights were cooler, less crowded, and altogether much more enjoyable.  We watched the fireworks at Epcot and Magic kingdom.  AAAAMAZING! I recommend them both, but I think Magic Kingdom was a little more...well... magical.  The electric parade was beautiful, and their fireworks were simply stunning. 

2. Souvenirs are outrageous- not a surprise to us! I was very curious about something I had read about--pin trading. Basically, the concept of this novelty is to trade (shirt) pins with other park goers and employees.  I debated on doing it, but then  opted to try it. I am so glad that I did.  Pin trading can get a bit expensive if you start it out at the parks.  A lanyard costs about $10, each pin is from $8-$15.  Since I didn't know if we would enjoy this, I decided to look on ebay.  I purchased four lanyards and 50 pins for about $40. This gave us each over 10 pins to start our collection.   We only ever traded with employees. Just ask the person if you can look at their pins.  Employees have to trade with you.  If you see something you like, ask them to trade.  We always kept our pins separated-ones we were willing to trade and ones that we weren't. Most of our down time was spent searching for new pins.  I found my sisters ignoring all souvenirs at the stands and going straight to the workers for pins.  We got out of the parks spending less that $100 on souvenirs for all four of us.  WOW!!! Read more about pin trading here. If you want to order pins online, be sure it is a reputable seller.  It is very frowned upon to have a faux pin.  Some ebay sellers don't sell original pins. We had no trouble with any from our purchase.  Here is a link to the ebay store. 

1. Have a great attitude! Seriously, the happier you are to be there, the happier your kids are that you're there.  Please don't be one of those obnoxious parents screaming at the top of their lungs at their children throughout the parks. You don't want to get lost in all the magic either.  It is easy forget that you are their parent/ responsible adult.  Other park goers will be very grateful to you for attempting to manage tantrums or reprimanding extreme misbehavior.   Enjoy yourself.  Disney is magical.

For the Love of PB

Ok, I have a confession--I'm a peanut butter addict.  Phew! Glad that's off my chest.  Now let me be clear here.  I don't care for that regular PB at the store (Jif, PeterPan, etc.). Those are all great for baking, but for a nice PB and J sandwich or just to eat by the spoonful-- they basically suck (in my most humble opinion).  I have always preferred Smucker's natural PB to the rest.  It's pretty tasty, and it's natural.  However, I have discovered that I can make my own that tastes even better, AND I know EXACTLY what goes into it. All you need is peanuts, a food processor, and a glass jar. It's seriously that simple.

Ingredients:
Peanuts

Equipment:
Food Processor
Glass Jar

Take a 16 oz jar of peanuts (I get unsalted) and place them into the processor.  Turn the processor on high and let it go.  Initially, this will be quite loud.  Once the peanuts start to chop they will get a grainy consistency,

 but it will basically look like chopped peanuts. You might occasionally have to stop the processor to scrape the sides. Then let it go.  The peanuts will start to ball up.  You're still not done yet!  Once the peanuts start making their way out of the ball you will notice a paste forming.  Keep watching it until you get a slightly grainy, but pasty consistency. You now have the yummiest PB. Place it in a cute glass jar with an adorable label, and you're done!  The best part is... you made it! I think I'm going to go and have a spoonful now.

For the Love of Feet?

This blog and its entirety somehow managed to be devoted to feet.  Most of what has happened to me this weekend has involved my feet. But first...Let me momentarily pause this blog for a tribute to the master of writing about feet, Dr. Seuss   Here is an excerpt from his book, The Foot Book:
Left foot, left foot, right foot, right
Feet in the morning
Feet at night
Left foot, left foot, left foot, right
Wet foot, dry foot
Low foot, high foot
Front feet, back feet
Red feet, black feet
Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, feet
I couldn't help myself. Alright, back to my ever-so interesting blog post devoted to feet.  It all began Thursday morning. I woke up exceptionally tired as it was my first day back to school after a 12 hour field trip (which involved  nearly six hours of driving). Not at all interested in my appearance, I just threw on some clothes.  I also grabbed sandals, as it was going to be a warm day.  Once I arrive at school, I was much more alert and now completely mortified.  To my dismay, my sandals were obnoxiously displaying my unmanicured feet complete with chipped polish. I tried to hide my feet, but it is pretty hard to walk and hide your feet at the same time.  Not wanting a repeat of the day's events, that evening, after school, I recruited my friend Andrea and ventured out for pedicures.  This was my first time trying Shellac polish.  I'm in love.  :) No painting my toes for an entire month.  I've heard it can be quite difficult to remove, but as far as I can tell it has to be worth it.  Even though my feet were looking awesome, they were feeling lousy.  I have self-diagnosed myself with Plantar Fasciitis.  Anyone who has dealt with this issue knows it is terrible.  It started in January once I began running.  At first I thought the pain was coming from new running shoes.  Now I realize it was probably a combination of ill-fitting shoes and constant walking on wood and tile floors.  It is now May, and the pain continues.  I have tried to wear Dr. Scholl's inserts as often as I can, but if I want to wear sandals the inserts aren't an option.  Somehow I misplaced my inserts over after the field trip on Wednesday.  My feet have since been in incredible pain.  Once school is out of session, I am going to the doctor.  This is silly. Now probably my favorite part of the weekend.  Dustin took me to Five Pound Apparel and purchased me a pair of Ssekos.  I am now busy perfecting the different ties to make them extra fashionable.  These shoes are absolutely adorable and wonderfully comfy.  If you don't know much about the company, it is devoted to empowering women in Uganda.  You should really check out their story. These shoes are so unique because you purchase one base or sandal.  You then purchase a variety of "straps"  to complete the look.  I only have one set so far, but I can't wait to improve my collection. You can change the straps out as often or as little as you want. The straps can be wrapped/ tied in several different ways.  One platform and two sets of straps has the potential of making over 20 different styles of shoes.  Super cool!  Oh, the possibilities. One more thought.  At first I thought it was a bit odd to devote an entire blog post to feet.  Then I thought about how Seuss wrote an entire book about feet. So in all actuality I am not odd, just a creative genius. ;)
This seems completely doable... I've got this. :)

For the Love of Baby Bucket Lists

My cousin welcomed her adorable baby girl on Sunday (yes, Mother's Day). Baby Girl now joins her equally adorable brother in the Botts' clan.  This cousin of mine is a whole year younger than me, but she now has two kids, and I have none.  Inevitably talk of babies gets my entire family inquiring about my own plans for children.  I have mixed feelings about kids.  Some days I see parents with their kids, and I want one.  When I want one... I REALLY want one.  Baby fever kicks into high gear. Then other days I am completely selfish and want to continue to live selfishly.  Normally when I am questioned about having children I give a vague answer such as "we want to wait a few years" or "once student loans are paid off."  The truth is I have absolutely NO idea when I want to have children.  I just know that I have some things in life I would like to experience first.  I also want to be in the best financial situation possible.  There is no designated day, month, or year. I kind of like it that way.  It will happen when it happens.  Family planning can be difficult and stressful.  This seems so unnecessary to me. I've decided to take a laid back approach.  I have concocted a list of things that must be accomplished before children.  Then we can get busy... :) No time frame, no pressure, just goals.
Baby Bucket List:
-Pay over half of student loans
-Travel out of the United States at least two times
-Go on a zip line
-Lose 50 pounds
-Go white water rafting
-Find a job I love (take risks)
-Spend an entire day watching movies with Dustin (maybe even a work day :)
-Spend at least a month in NYC
-Black Tie Dinner
-Rewatch every episode of friends
-Find a church to attend
-Try karaoke once
-Take a cooking class
-Write one children's book AND send to a publishing company
-Visit Vegas and hit the slots
-Learn to love myself

This seems completely doable... I've got this. :)