Friday Confessional, 2.21.14

My Confessions...

-What was I thinking about fostering a pup? Chance has a forever with us - tomorrow we will officially adopt him. I mean, really, how could we break up these two best buds:

-I am more excited than usual for the weekend - it has been a crazy, weird, hectic week at work. And I was to spend time with my wonderful family, naturally & partake in fun weekend plans - a birthday celebration, going-away dinner, and a jewelry party. Not much time to relax!

-I need to go clothes shopping badly. I don't think I've gone shopping (like real shopping and not just picking up a shirt or two) for at least two years.

-I cannot believe that it's almost our one year anniversary. Where has the time gone?!

-When I go on my walks with the pups, I have decided to give audiobooks a chance. I just bought The Shack...I've heard great things & so far, I'm enjoying it.

-I've felt SO good lately. I've been really sticking to going to the gym faithfully the past two months now. I feel great & I feel like you can see a difference. And even if you can't - I feel good & that's what matters.

-I am ready for a vacation. Or at least a long weekend.

Fostering A Puppy!!

We've had Chewy over a year now...my, my, has the year flew by! He's grown up so much.

We went to Petsmart over the weekend to get him some more toys. Besides a toy, what do we come back with? A PUPPY!

One of the local rescue groups had a ton of puppies. V came across a 4 month old black lab/shepard mix. His mom, brother & him were found in the Everglades less than a month ago. He's a little beat up - dandruff, horrible cough, lost hair, etc. There was a sign on his crate that said they were looking for foster homes for him and his family. (Ironically, V & I were talking about fostering earlier in the day.)

So...we are fostering a cutie patootie! The name the shelter gave him was "Carl" - but - we're not fond of that name...it's my uncle's name, so it's strange!

I think we are going to keep him. Chewy & him are getting along so well. V has already started calling him "Chance." We have until Saturday to decide...but...my heart says yes, Chewy's heart says yes & V says yes. We are all so in love. Chewy's being a great big brother!

And I know, Mom..."enough about the puppies - where are the grandkids?" :-P

Cami's Guinness Chili

Lately, a staple in my house has been the crockpot! During the cold months, chili is one of my favorite meals to make. (And one of the most requested, too - my turkey chili in particular!)

I decided to change things up this go-around and make some Guinness chili! I guess my taste buds of changed - Guinness isn't half bad. I remember when I first tried it - I was repulsed by it. Now, not only is it pretty tasty but it makes a delicious chili, too!!

I've made it in a "chili cook-off" with a friend and a unanimous decision was made - mine won. ;)


Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb ground turkey/chicken
• 1 bottle of Guinness beer
• 1 small onion
• 1 can red kidney beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 can white kidney beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 large can of diced tomoatoes
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon (at least) of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• a couple dashes of salt & pepper
• a dash of hot sauce

Directions:

1. Brown your ground turkey/chicken, diced onions, and garlic cloves together.

2. Once the ground meat is cooked and onion is translucent, drain the excess "juice" from your meat/onion/garlic mixture. Put the drained mixture into your crockpot.

3. Add the rest of your ingredients together - add the Guinness and hot sauce last.

 

4. Cook on high 4-6 hours or on low 8-10. (I opt for 8-10 - the longer, the better, I've found!)

 

5. Serve with cheese or sour cream on top - whatever you prefer! Most of all - enjoy!!

Is chili a staple in your house? If so, what's your favorite recipe? I always love trying new ones.

My Erin Condren Life Planner

After much internal debate, research, and encouragement from friends, I did it. I snagged an Erin Condren Life Planner.

It's expensive but for my Type-A personality, it's WELL worth it. The colors are great...the font is appealing...the graphic design makes my heart happy...I can't explain it. It just wants me to keep planning things.

It even comes in an adorably decorated box!

There's great inspirational quotes throughout the planner, as well.

My planner!

Everything is organized SO well - it has a view of the month and then a weekly view, too.
It has a space for birthdays & anniversaries. Because of it, I'm going to start getting all of the cards I need the first of the month - it's going to save me a lot of time!

There's lots of goodies it comes with, too...stickers with "birthday," "anniversary," etc. on it. There's also a folder and zip-lock container to save important things in. There's a place for notes.

I highly recommend splurging a bit and going Erin Condren. The way I look at it...for a year, it's an investment of about five bucks a month...you can't beat that! For your sanity...for your organizational skills...for your need for something pretty. ;)

Do you have one? If so, whatcha think?

Painting With a Twist: Castillo de San Marco Love

For Christmas, I decided to get my mom a gift certificate to Painting with a Twist in St. Augustine. I thought it would be a fun way for us to spend time together and something new and different that neither of us had done before.

I am happy to say - she LOVED it! We all (my sister joined us, too) can't wait to do it again!

If you're unfamiliar with this - it is basically a painting class. Everyone paints the same painting but the teacher goes step by step with how to do it AND she is there to help and support you throughout.

Our teacher was great - Jackie Rock. When we take another class, I definitely want her to be our teacher! She is not only very talented, but also very supportive and helpful throughout the whole process.

You can also bring any food and drinks (even wine!) you might want. You do not need to bring any glasses, plates, etc. - they have it all there for you! Genius concept!!

I will reveal to you how the painting was done. (I'm not sure if that is cheating and revealing secrets but I thought you might be interested to see the progress!) The title of our painting was "Castillo de San Marco Love" - the Castillo de San Marco is the local fort in St. Augustine. If you've been to St. Augustine, you've seen the fort.

And here...we...go...

Anxiously waiting to start!

My blank canvas!

Step 1 - YELLOW!

Step 2- orange & some shading

Step 3 - an orange/red mixture and more shading

Step 4 - night sky & some outlining

Step 5 - some palm trees, addition to the fort, windows, & more outlining

Step 6 - stars, the love birds, and initials

My masterpiece! ;) You can see in the back what it is "suppose" to look like.

All of our paintings!

I absolutely love that we are all painting the same thing and all of our paintings are slightly different. It makes your painting truly special and unique.

Like I said - I cannot wait to go again!!

You Want To Start a Movie THIS Late??!

Am I the only one who this is applicable to???!

I remember when V & I first started dating he was always SO confused why I'd fall asleep when it was "only" 9pm and we were watching a movie.

Now, he's pretty accustomed to it. He doesn't particularly like it - he wants to watch a movie WITH me awake...not fast asleep in his arms. Haha.

Please tell me someone else is an "oldie" like me. ;)

"The Exercise Cure" Book Review

Jordan D. Metzl, MD, who has participated in 30 marathons and 11 Ironmans, along with Andrew Heffernan, CSCS have written a book called The Exercise Cure: A Doctor's All-Natural, No-Pill Prescription for Better Health & Longer Life.

Dr. Metzl believes that exercise can potentially avoid disease and increase a person's life expectancy, with exercise being beneficial against all kinds of medical conditions.

How the book is laid out is AWESOME! First, it talks about exercise in general. Then, it goes through a number of medical problems. For example, memory loss and cognition problems, chronic stress, cardiovascular disease, etc. It goes through the symptoms of each medical problem, what happens in your body, and how exercise can help. It also gives you examples of exercises to help you cope with the particular medical problem. For some of the examples, there are example exercises laid out with detailed instructions, along with photographs as to how the exercise is done.

The book then contains a number of workout programs and more examples with photographs! There are also some caveats if you are working out for the first time that is included.

Nutrition and eating is lightly touched in the book. Since the book is primarily about exercise, it makes sense!

Even if you are fairly seasoned and educated on exercise, this book is very interesting and helpful. It gives you a lot of information that you might not have been familiar with - for example, the important of foam rolling. Hubby has a foam roller I just never used it because I didn't realize the importance of it - now I do!

ESPECIALLY if you are an exercise beginner, I recommend this book. It will help you a great deal with getting into your head why exercising is so important and where to start. Some people simply do not know where to start!


The sponsor of my review was Orthovisc, who wanted to share some important information with you:
More than ten million people suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee. Many people wait too long to see a doctor about it and deal with their pain with over the counter medication or just live with the pain and limited mobility. Many people are turning to hyaluronic acid knee injections if they are not receiving enough relief from their pain medication. Dr. Metzl would like you to visit his Orthovisc website if you suffer form this or at least see your doctor.



Disclaimer: I was provided the bookt to review and not compensated in any other way. All opinions are 100% my own and I stand behind my review.

January 18th Weekend Recap!

Weekends are, obviously, always my favorite. And that's because I get to spend a ton of time with my family and friends, too.

This weekend was full of a couple special occasions - a bridal shower & baptism!

First thing's first...the bridal shower was at a gorgeous beach house that the CEO of the company the bride works for owns. And I mean gorgeous - right on the beach! It was a nice gathering of friends & co-workers.

SUPER cute, right??! I've seen this before & absolutely adore it.

Our "wedding dress" won! Check out that garter ;)

The baptism was for V's god-daughter's brother. There was also a very nice MLK service at the church.

So handsome & so loved!

Can't believe we'll almost be married a year!

Sunday night ended in watching a great movie...if it's past 10pm, though...it usually means bed time for Chewy & I...unfortunately, it doesn't matter how good the movie is or how much I want to see it...

Snuggle time is my favorite! Look at his little tongue!

OH and I was asked to be in the bridal party of my cousin's wedding. Tis the season for weddings! I'm excited to play apart of her big day, as she was in my bridal party as well. I'm off to get the dress sized some time this week. She did a great job on choosing the dress!

How was YOUR weekend?


Linking up with Molly today!

Winner in my eyes!

My beautiful & wonderful momma won employee of the year for her department in our local school district.

I'm incredibly proud & happy for her!

The awards show gala was nice - all candidates even came out and did a little dance, which was fun. Now I have some black mail ;-)

Congratulations, ma! xoxox 

Good Riddance 2013...

Ok, so that might be a little harsh because 2013 wasn't ALL bad. After all, we got married and we got our little love bug Chewy.

Sadly, there were a lot of deaths of people incredibly close to us. Because of that, it made 2013 rough.

On December 30, our friend's two year old son tragically and unexpectedly passed away. (Please pray for their family that they are comforted as much as they can be and have some sort of peace.) So, unfortunately bringing in the new year was also tough. 

BUT...the past is behind us.

Instead of staying in the past and being sad- I proclaim that 2014 will bring a great deal of blessings and much happiness.

I know life won't be perfect and situations will occur that we wish hadn't, but I am going to try my hardest to not let it get me down. I'm a very emotional person who wears my feelings on my sleeves. That's not the best way to cope with unexpected life occurrences so I am going to try very hard to fight against that...to put all of my faith in God that all will be well in the long run and everything is according to His plan. -Because it IS!!

If you are dealing with trying times in your life, I encourage you to not let it get you down. There is a purpose for it - learn from it and grow. The devil would want you to crawl up into a ball and not move past it - so don't do it!

May 2014 be your best year yet! A year full of new beginnings...smiles...laughter...family...friends...love...success! Proclaim it will be your best year and make it happen!