Christmas Time Favorites

I haven't blogged in a while and things have been crazy around here getting ready for the holidays and trying to keep up with the kids and my family! 
But it is the holidays and I just love Christmas and Christmas Traditions so why not chat about that!  Some traditions I have carried over from my growing up and some we have created as a new family together. Do you have traditions you have continued to do with your family and your kids? 

My favorite is getting a new ornament every year. I still love looking at the ornaments I got when I was my kids age up until I moved out on my own. Each one has a special memory that I know of when I hang it up on the tree and I can't wait for that to happen for my kids as well. Of the many traditions I am keeping up and I am especially proud to say that we as a family have started a new one and that is making a birthday cake for Jesus...after all he is the reason for the season right!!! Let's not forget that. When I was talking about Christmas with Vitto he was so excited that Santa was coming we make sure to remind him that it is Jesus' Birthday, well he said he is very important, we need to make him a birthday cake...so there you have it....a new tradition in our house!!!

I also love to watch all the Christmas movies on Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, ABC's 25 days of Christmas and the Gospel Movie Channel as well...they are so uplifting and honestly just so peaceful to watch, they just make me so happy!  I have been watching a lot of shows with the kids too Vitto is all about Mickey's Twice Upon A Christmas and we finally got to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Frosty this year! He actually stayed awake for the whole thing.

What are some of your favorite Christmas Movies and Favorite Movies for the Kids during the holidays?

Well that is all for now...I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

New blog series to come in January...you can follow me as I conquer my goals and my journey doing Body Combat starting January1st!!!!

 

Until Next Time!

Carrie

Taking on a new Role..

I haven't blogged in a while because so much has been going on.  I have decided to take a very important role and that is of being not only a mom but being a HEALTHY MOM! As I approached the final decision I talked with my husband and told him this has to be done, it's time to change. Without the full support of him and my kids I wouldn't be doing what I am doing now!  My little Vitto is cheering me on everyday while I workout during Ava's naps. He is a trooper but makes me laugh as he lays under me during pushups (really buddy ;-) ).

I started a 10 day challenge in August with my friend and now coach Karri! Boy did that open up a can of worms.  I fell in love with the product and jumped right in. 

I started drinking Shakeology and saw instant results and results that are continually going in the same direction....DOWN! So I signed up to be a beach body coach. My first goal was just to get the discount on the shakes but now it's not just for the discount it's to hopefully inspire others by what I am doing! 
What an awesome feeling!!!I have always loved coaching and I have been itching to get back to it. This certainly is one way of jumping back in...The group of people I am with are amazing and so inspiring it has made me feel like I am on TEAM again and I feel like I am help accountable for my actions!  If I don't work out that day everyone is going to know because you feel like you need to say something!  Have missed workouts happened .... Yes of course.... but not very often because everyone is so motivating you want to work out, you want to see results!

What workouts have i committed to?...INSANITY...what an amazing workout!  60 days of well, PURE INSANITY!!!Shaun T is so motivating when you want to give up he yells..YOU'VE GOT THIS...DIG DEEPER! How can you not? 

I recently did my first walking 5K in 10 years (last one was in college) and let me tell you I wasn't thinking! Who signs up for a 5k up a mountain for their first one! Yup that would be me :-) But I did it! I have to thank my sister in law for doing it with me and pushing me through the entire way, I wouldn't have finished as strong with out her pushing me!  I also heard Shaun T yelling in my head too DIG DEEPER CARRIE DIG DEEPER!!!!

I've created a 'like' page on Facebook in hopes that what I am doing will help someone else along the way as many pages like this have helped me...If you haven't seen it or even 'liked' it please do and share with your friends and family.

 https://www.facebook.com/TTMABAEUS

All these little accomplishments are so fullfilling and motiving leaving me with the thought...what is next?? When is the next race??? What is the next challenge?  Who else wants to inspire someone else? I can't wait to share more with you guys....I hope that I can inspire someone just like the people who are my life are inspiring me everyday!

Who in your life is inspiring you?  Are you ready to inspire someone else? 

You CAN, You WILL, You ARE!!!

 

 

 

 

Until next Time :-)

-Carrie

Chicken Taco Chili

It is that time of year again...fall is here and it's starting to get cooler which means it's time to get your crockpots out and start cooking!  One meal i make is usually a big hit! I just made this for my daughters 1st birthday party and well...there was not a bean left!  People asked for the recipe so here it is...

CHICKEN TACO CHILI!

 

1 Can Black Beans (drained and rinsed)

1 Can Kidney Beans (drained and rinsed)

1 Can Corn (Drained)

1 Large canTomato Sauce (14.8oz)

1 LARGE Can Diced Tomatoes (14.80z)

2 TBSP diced garlic

1 packet Old El Paso Mild Taco Seasoning

1 Large Onion

1 Large Red pepper

4-5 pieces THIN Chicken breasts

1/2 cup water

Add all ingredients other than chicken and mix together....place chicken on top and let cook on Low for 8 hrs or high for 4 hrs.  30 minutes before done take chicken out and shred. Put the chicken back and let it all cook together.

I do not put anything on it but I do know people who like to add some shredded to cheese to it or even sour cream!!!  I have also added this atop a nice garden salad.  Yummy!

 

**If you make this let me know how you like it**

I orginally got this from www.skinnytaste.com but i doctored it up a bit and made it my own.

Enjoy and until next time...Good night:-)

What's on your playlist?

I find myself listening to alot of music lately, how about you?  Music is one of those things that can either calm me down or pump me up!  I've noticed that I need more playlists because I like so many different kinds of music that I don't always want to listen to the same stuff over and over again.  Right now I have a workout playlist, County/Christian Playlist, kids playlist and that's it...but I need more.  How many do you have?  What's your favorite song right now?

Right now I'm totally into Carrie Underwood, Hunter Hayes, Toby Mac and Colton Dixon.  I find myself constantly playing and replaying those songs over and over.  I even have my kids dancing to them :-)

Me and my husband have noticed that when it feels pretty stressful in the house if we turn on some music it all seems to just blow away in the wind!  We have dance parties in this house a lot...it's pretty funny actually!  At times Nick even gets Nala dancing with him...pretty funny I'll have to take a picture next time. 

I'm in search of new music.... hit me up: what's your favorite songs to workout to? What's your favorite to clean to? What's your favorite to relax to?

Here are my Top 12 favorites right now, in no specific order:

 

 1. Colton Dixon : Never Gone

 2. Colton Dixon : Everything

 3. Hunter Hayes: Wanted

 4. Little Big Town: Pontoon

 5. Toby Mac : Me WithOut You

 6. Hunter Hayes: Everybody's Got Somebody But me

 7. Carrie Underwood: Good Girl
 8. Mercy Me: I Can Only Imagine
 9. Shane & Shane: LIberty

10. Carly Rae Jepsen: Call Me Maybe
11. Superchick: One More

12. Carrie Underwood: Blown Away

 

 

Time for me to workout so I'll leave you with this one....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iss5m5TMuIo&feature=youtube_gdata_player



Peaceful

There is something so peaceful about this picture! 

Most people who know me, know that I'm not the biggest fan of being outside...but in the FALL I'm loving it. The smell of the air, the sounds of the leaves blowing in the wind or crunching under your feet is my favorite time of year.  We went apple picking this weekend and I found myself just staring out at this scene. Everything was so calm, so quiet and just so PEACEFUL! So i had to take a picture.  I find myself during stressful times just imagining this image.  Ahhh I could have stayed there for ever yesterday. At least I have the picture to help me get back there!

That's all I have for today Enjoy these peacful pictures and have a fabulous day :-)

Simplicity of a Stir-fry

One of my favorite meals is a stir fry.  It is amazing what you can put in a stir fry and it always tastes so yummy.  They are quick, easy and simple to clean you only need one pan and the dishes to serve it on.  I have done many stir fries since I've been cooking for myself and the one I've done lately that I'll share with you tonight is by far my favorite and super healthy! NO SAUCES :-)

Today while Ava was sleeping and Vitto was eating lunch I started chopping, chopping all my veggies and my chicken and put them in a big Zip lock bag with a little EVOO, cracked pepper, sea salt and a little bit of celery salt (just a pinch). I let it sit in there till 6pm tonight when i was ready to cook it.  Every time i had to get someone a snack or milk I squished the bag around to mix it up.

Ingredients:
-1 Red Pepper
-1 Sweet Onion
-1/2 Large Zucchini
-1/2 Large Summer Squash
-Button Mushrooms
-Frozen Broccoli (1 Cup)
-Frozen Pineapple (1/2 cup)
-6 Baby Carrots (chopped finely, or grated)
-2 tbsp minced Garlic
-2 THIN Chicken Breasts cubed
-Sea Salt
-Cracked Pepper
-Celery Salt (just a pinch)
-Brown Rice OR SWEET POTATO (To be Cleaner)


Once I was ready to cook all I did was throw it all in my fry pan with a little EVOO, covered it and let it cook until the chicken was cooked and the veggies were cooked to my desire (i like a little crunch to the veggies).

 

 

I cooked up some brown rice to and poured my serving of the veggies and chicken over the rice and there you have it! My amazing and yummy dinner, chicken stir fry.

 

 

 

 Oh and the best part....I have left overs because I'm the only one in my family to eat it so I guess I'll wrap that up tomorrow night...Literally I'm thinking how amazing this would taste warmed up and wrapped in a Whole Wheat Tortilla Wrap!

Until Next Time...I hope you enjoy:-)

When the going gets tough...give 'em a hug

Today was one of those days that I had to take a step back and just take a deep breathe. I've been told many times it's okay to take a mommy timeout. I feel like I have needed those ALOT lately.

We have been going through some terrible 'terrible two's' lately. To the point where I am just mentally exhausted by the end of the day.  I end up feeling like a failed mom because all I've done is yell or put him in timeout or even just act like a two year old back, haha.
Something clicked tonight when I actually stopped and listened to him.  He was throwing a tantrum and all he kept saying was I need a hug, mama I need a hug.  This melted my heart because even though I was mad at him for something he was doing (probably not listening or doing what I asked) he just wanted a hug and for Vitto a hug usually fixes everything and he wants the attention I'm not giving him at the time.

Tonight before bed after tub time....I just sat with him on the floor with him in my arms and hugged him and told him how much I loved him. Even when we have rough days I love you so much. He said "to the moon and back and back and around and around" I said "YES... to the moon and back and back and around and around!" and he kissed me and went running off....

Ahhhh the special moments to make everything okay! What a feeling :-)

I know I am not the only mommy going through this and any suggestions would be great. Do your kids calm down with just a little hug?

So that's going to be the first step... call down, take a deep breathe and calm him down with a  little hug and a little attention. Second step...stop being lazy and get my housework done at night (they go to bed so early I have the time) so I can give the attention to my kids they need right now and FINALLY play with the kids and just HAVE FUN!  Those are the best days when we just stay busy and have fun!  Tomorrow's agenda = Go for a walk, dance party, dinosaur play, swing, play with toys and LAUGH!!!!

Sounds like the perfect day to me :-)

Until next time.....

Hot Veggie Wrap

Like I said in my intro I'll be sharing with you my favorite foods. Foods that I have come upon in other blogs i feel i need to share or that I created.
Well...today is one of those days. I like to be creative with food especially when I'm trying to be good and eat healthy! I need to grocery shopping so i had to figure out what to eat for lunch. I decided I would throw together a quick veggie wrap!  Was it good but it had a twist.....

I sauteed up some fresh broccoli, cauliflower, super chopped carrots, red onion and red peppers with frozen spinach. I added a little bit of EVOO minced garlic, salt and pepper....let that cook till everything was just tender See the picture below:

Then i was looking in my fridge I was going to put hummus on the wrap but then i remembered when i cooked up Apples in my crock pot for Ava I over cooked them and had some very mushy apples....So here's the twist ...I spread the mushy applesauce like apples on the whole wheat wrap. In the picture you'll see lettuce. I chose not to put it on last minute and I'm sure glad I did!

 

After everything was cooked I let it cool for just a minute added it all to the wrap and wrapped it up! I ate the left over veggies on the side (it can't hurt right?!).  Wow was that an amazing lunch I will most likely eat that tomorrow too :-) 

                                                                                                                                           

 

         

 

See what you can find if you just get creative! This is one of my favorite things to do sometimes things turn out great other times I'm not so lucky and it goes right in the trash! I'm glad this one didn't see the trash can :-)

 

Enjoy everyone share your favorites too!

 

Until next time....

Pushing Through The Excuses

I am sure I'm not the only one who has the days of not wanting to eat healthy or not wanting to exercise....right!?  Some days are harder than others but it is amazing how lately I have been able to push through all those excuses and keep going strong.

Why is that? Well I have finally started getting myself more involved again with other people and groups who have the same mindset as me, I've set goals for myself and made promises to my friends and family ESPECIALLY my kids, that I would reach those goals.

Today was one of those days, I was trying to get the kids ready to go for a walk with me and as I was getting Vitto dressed I felt like I pulled something in my back. Most days I would say "oh that hurts, I'll just stay home now and go tomorrow" NOT TODAY!  I took some Motrin, stretched and packed the kids up and got them out and I walked the fasted 1 1/2 miles I have done yet!  It felt great, I still feel great. just because I took a 25 minute walk, my good friend and basketball buddy for life told me not to long ago...just remember how you felt after that workout especially on those days you don't want to!  Thank you Donna for telling me that and I love that your voice popped in my head when i almost said no!


One of my favorite quotes from when i played basketball was you miss 100% of the shots you DON'T take" so guess what....I/we have a shot at taking a walk everyday and making good food choices everyday.... NO EXCUSES!

Loving what's right infront of me!

It's amazing how sometimes we can just keep going and going and not realize that what is in front of us is truly amazing and a blessing from God.

For a while I was just kind of well....going along with my day, playing with the kids, cooking everyones food, getting kids ready for bed, and doing the same thing the next day. It wasn't until not to long ago that a realization hit....I am taking for granted the life I have. I have just been going along with the day and not realizing what a blessing it is for me to be a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM).  For someone who alwasy has worked or been busy with my own life and likes, it was hard for me to realize how this opportunity is amazing. 

Now, after some praying and reading, I'm refreshed, revitalized and so proud to be home with my two little ones to teach them things, watch all of their developments everyday and well just be so blessed. I feel like this is exactly what God had planned for me and I can't wait to see what else he has in store for me and my family.

I'm so lucky to that I have an awesome family who constantly helps me out and things of me when opportunities arise. Just and example: my cousin Tim thought of me when it came to his business marketing. So it's giving me the opportunity to still keep my mind and skills intact at this time. I'm so happy and the best part it has to do with sports so that is even better!  You can check his company out at www.dreambats.com . He does awesome work and the business is just growing and growing I am so glad i can be apart of this.

Until next time....have a great day!

How I came up with my blog title

I guess I should explain how I came up with my blog title.  Well I have always told my son and daughter, very quietly, I love you to the moon and back and back and back since he was a baby. My son is only 2 but one day about 4 months ago I was saying that to him and said...."I love you to the moon and back and back and".....expecting him to say and back he said "and around and around" while moving his little finger in a circle. Well every since that day that is always what we say and I let him finish it every time!  He is so cute and every time I hear him say that i just smile and it just melts my heart. So I thought it would be fitting for my title.  

My blog is going to be about just about anything and everything. My kids, my weight loss, my dogs, recipes, photos, who knows anything that comes to my mind at the time. I hope you enjoy it!