Winning

Everybody loves a Friday!

I've had a great week but I am ready to deep clean my house (did I just say that?) and celebrate my hunk-a-burnin'-love's BIRTHDAY! We're going to dinner with a bunch of RevvNRG friends. I'll have to try to hold myself back from eating the entire basket of rolls and my entire dinner. Then again, maybe not!

Currently I'm struggling over what to get my darling piece of man candy. He's the hardest person to shop for. Anything he wants, he gets himself. And he really only wants expensive car parts...that I would probably end up buying wrong. Any ideas would be rewarded with a giant hug... I take that back. I'm not a hugger. How about a PB Snickers?

So this week I inherited something I've wanted for years. When we lived in KY, there was a place my mom worked out at called Power Moves. I basically lived in the daycare cause my mama was an aerobic hottie! My sisters all babysat in the daycare and all that so they got Power Moves gear. Namely sweatpants.

After fighting  calmly and rationally explaining to my mother that I will actually wear them instead of them sitting in a closet, she gifted them to me. Yeeeee! I feel like a cool cat. Combine that with my new Mac and I'm basically unstoppable...

Okay I'll stop rambling.

Some day I'll have real life friends that I'd share this nonsense with instead of all you...(read: no one) but that day is not TOday.

Apple Newbie

This girl got a BRAND NEW MacBook Pro. I'm excited. But I've been a PC girl since birth so... I'm learning. 

Annnaways... I'd like to update you on our cute little life. Cause you care, right?:)

He loves me I promise. 

Two Saturdays ago, I picked up my first Bountiful Basket. You can learn about it here. I've heard great things about it so I contributed! It's definitely a game of luck as to what you get. I've used some of the bananas, asparagus, squash, a few oranges, and some apples. I think for just us two, we'd need to share with someone. All in all- good experience. (Plus the pick up location is in my parking lot... makes 8 am a little less painful.)

Some changes happened in the Arbuckle home! We both started new jobs! We are loving them! It's much better for us financially and for our relationship to not be working together.

First day of school! First day of school! I mean job...

My food has been kind of lame lately... I haven't done a good grocery shop in decades and my creativity is dwindling with our PB rations. Ian doesn't seem to mind... he could live on peanut butter and bread. That little gem is on refrigerator suspension. He left a half gallon of milk out all day. Fired, I tell you, fired.

Shredded cabbage with romaine, carrots, cucumber, and the most heavenly ranch. Strawberries. Toasted wheat bread with garden vegetable cream cheese and turkey. It was yum!

And... slushy RevvNRG Focus with lemonade. Basically frosty liquid magic. 

I've been having Ian train me at the gym so I'll do an update on that some day. But for this day, good night!

It's Friday Friday... {I know you're singing the song!}

Yipee! It's Friday and I don't work till 1:00. Dreams! And my man was extra kissy today! We're talking Disney (in the '90's) rated peeps. AND it was adorable. I luh him. Then he left for work and I made a really yummy breakfast! Ready?

Egg Whites
Vanilla Almond Milk
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Great Grains Wheat Bread ** Utah friends! This is at Walmart for like $1.88 and it is sooo good! Super soft and you can read all the ingredients!

Mix everything in a shallow dish and dip the bread on both sides.
Cook on medium heat in a skillet till golden brown and a little crispy.

Meanwhile, mix a teaspoon of Almond butter and a teaspoon of honey, then spread it on top!

I drizzled some sugar free syrup on top, too.

Hopefully this will be good fuel for my gym session in a little bit!

Alright folks. I want to be more homemakerish/crafty/thrifty. How do I make this happen? Mainly the thrifty part. I'm a gal that loves to spend some $$$! Just ask Ian! Any tips for saving money?  Can't wait to hear what works for you!

Hey......

How are you all?! My life has been boring lately translating into nothing to write about! 

Last week (I think?), my best friend Jordan came over to my lovely little abode and we chatted for hours. We talked about weight, husband/love interests, food, family, and church. We probably talked about weight and food for two-three hours solid. Then the conversation shifted to church. 

We both admitted to feeling like something was missing from our lives,  that things were out of balance. 

We committed to reading scriptures and praying every day. 

Guys. This has made a WORLD of difference! I know what you're thinking.  Um, duh? 

I thought about it for a long time. How can I be so shallow to only work on my outward appearance. That is not the reason we're here. So, I am working on ALL aspects of my life. Spiritual being number 1. 

I probably won't share too much about my spiritual progress on here, just because I think that's a pretty personal thing. 

Moving on!

 

I've had a great week! Money is getting better! Body is getting better! Life is getting better! Yipee!

On Tuesday, I made turkey burgers and roasted vegetables for dinner. Yum. You want the recipe? Okay, I'll give it to you.

Turkey Burgers

Ground turkey - however much you want for the amount of peeps you want to feed
Ranch dressing powder mix- eyeball it
Ranch dressing- teaspoon maybe? I like ranch.
Italian blend cheese- 1/4 cup

Mix it allllll up. Cook it till there's no pink.

Ian got his on a whole wheat bagel thin with extra ranch and bacon bits. I ate mine by itself!

Vegetables

1 large sweet potato
1/2 rutabaga
1 zucchini
Some cauliflower
Salt and Pepper
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Oregano
A weeee little bit of brown sugar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the veggies to whatever size you so desire. Sprinkle everything and mix it up with your hands. Cook till everything is soft and caramelized!

*My rutabagas were still a little bit hard.. maybe throw them in on their own first for a bit?

For lunch the next day, I had all the leftover veggies with a Greek yogurt. Not combined, ya nasties...

Another Dani Special (side note- I used to make "Dani Specials" all the time and my family would make fun of me hard core for it! I wanted to be a Food Network chef people!! )

Baked spaghetti squash
Spaghetti sauce
Some cream cheese

Some day, once I go to the grocery store, I'll put some chicken sausage or ground turkey with it.

This is fun. I like to talk about food. Can I share my breakfast smoothie recipe?

Ice
Milk
Sweetened Coconut milk (go halvesies on these two)
Banana
Peanut Butter (tomorrow I'm going to try almond butter)
Spinach
Maybe half a scoop of chocolate protein powder (till I get my RevvLean Boosters)
2 scoops of RevvLean 

Blend it all up. The spinach looks frightening, but it's really good and filling. I drank it today at 8:30 and was satisfied till 12. That's huge. I typically eat something around 10, but these shakes are super filling so I don't need it!


I really could talk about food for hours... if any of you would like some more recipes or if you'd like a SAMPLE of RevvLean, I'd be more then happy to share!

 

Too Late For a Post Title

I am writing this post with my first laptop!! Yeeee!! I'm excited. I'm also very tired. I should have been in bed 3 hours ago. But... Ian's Halo game is much to loud to accommodate sleeping... I've been too busy browsing the web! I'm trying to plan a fun hotel/ day activities for our 6 month anniversary/ Valentine's day! Any ideas of relatively cheap hotels/spa packages/ fun activities?? Send them my way!

Ever have those days when you vent to your parents for 2 hours because you were so upset about stuff that happened at work then drive home from your moms and your husband asks if his friend can come over and you like this friend but you wanted to work out and if he comes over you can't so you tell Ian your spouse do whatever you want and he says no it's whatever you want and you just want him to be sweet and loving and attentive and then you realize that you could potentially cry at any given moment??? (read in one breath like you are whining to your BFF Becky) Me neither. 

The most depressing part about that? I don't even have a BFF Becky. 

Also, if anyone would like to be my In-Home chef, I'm available for tasting applications every day around dinner time. 

Becky... if you're out there? He didn't bring the friend over. He's learning. :)

Working Out Working Out Barbie Yeah!

It's January!! We all have weight loss and change on our minds! I'm no exception! But this year I'm thinking about from a different perspective.

I've seen family members struggle with weight and body image my whole life. I have 4 sisters. Do you have ANY idea how that is??? "I want to hang out with you and your friends!" "You're 8. You can't hang out with high school kids." "I want to wear lipstick and heels- your heels!" "YOU'RE EIGHT!!!!" "Ugh, I"m having a fat day." I just want a chips and a coke." "I'm going to walk on my toes all day so I have good calf muscles."

The point of that is, from a very young age I have, as many of you, have had mixed messages about bodies, weight, and healthy eating.

I remember being somewhere between 2nd and 4th grade, talking to a friend outside my house. I told her I was going to walk up and down my hill 30 times a day to get rid of my belly. No kid should have that on their minds!

Each year in junior high and high school, about a month before school started I would start exercising. I would work out in our basement, walk up the hills in the neighborhood, and jump on the elliptical.

Yet I've never gotten to where I ultimatley want to be. I always wonder what I'd look like with a six pack. Is that strange? Seriously for years now! So why haven't I made it happen? Um... a mix between not wanting it enough, not being consistant, and sheer laziness.

My real big push was once I graduated. I worked for a company that gave me a free gym pass (dang straight!!) so I started going more religiously. Last December, my mom and I bought the Pink Method. It's another workout program with a diet plan. All the same really. Hated the workouts. They had what was called the "Reset" though. For 7-10 days you'd eat a fruit smoothie in the morning, a salad/veggies and a lean protein for lunch, the same for dinner, and as many veggies as you wanted throughout the day. Day 1 I hated life. Gimme cheetos! Gimme garlic bread! (what?) Gimme pizza! But after that, I didn't really crave those things- as much! I ended up only doing it for 4 days but lost 4 pounds. It was the push I needed. It changed my thinking. I started being more conscious. I stayed the same till I discovered Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred.

I started that in July I believe. I was super dedicated to it! I knew Ian and I were going to Vegas in August (didn't know about the wedding part) and I wanted to wear a bikini. Judge me if you will! I woke up at 6:15 every morning and would do it before I went to work. I did it for about two and a half weeks and seriously... I've never seen results so quick! I felt fantastic! I wanted to keep it up! Not to mention, I was dressing so much cuter then because I felt so good about my body. I wore skirts and heels nearly every day. Then we decided to get married- after a Big Time Rush concert, romantic right??- and it kinda went to crap... Then we got married, came back home and my routine was shattered. I didn't want to leave my charming new roommate! I would work out probably....eh....well..... maybe once a week... sometimes fewer. I noticed I started dressing different. Boring really. Ian would bring home Ben and Jerry's Half Baked and I would eagerly grab a spoon! Lots of pizza, dinners out, ice cream, oreos, and holiday food later... I've decided enough!!

I read fitness blogs and weight loss blogs like they're going out of style! I have an addiction I think... I love before and after pictures. I love meal plans. I love recipes. I love writing down exercise circuits I will never actually do.

I read so much about no carb, low carb, clean eating, etc. Theoretically, I'd like to eat clean but let's not kid our selves, I love me some (everything)!! Today I did no carb. Kind of intentionally, kind of not. Breakfast was some egg muffin/cup business (eggs, tiny bit of cheese, ham, and spinached baked in muffin tins), lunch was a greek yogurt and Luna bar, another Luna protein bar around 2:30, some carrots and brocolli around 4, and a salad with chicken and caesar dressing for dinner. Can I just say THIS GIRL IS HANGRY!!!!!!!! This will not be an everyday occurance. Honestly, I've decided to be more food aware, as much clean eating as doable, but not beat my self up if I eat something not so great. I know if I tell myself no every time, I'll do a binge. So I'll be careful.

I also did 30 Day Shred for the first time since August. Shoot dang. It was rough. About 5 minutes in I had resolved to quit on account of being waaay too out of shape. Then that woman starts yelling at me..."Don't phone this in! You can work hard! Your body is stronger then you think!" Okay, okay! I'll keep going. This routine happen about every 5 minutes. It's a 26 minute video. Wahoo. So I finished and I felt really good about it.

This has been kind of a rambling post for me. I feel uncomfortable writing about weight and all of this. I feel like you either come off as braggy or a pity/attention party. I'm going for neither of those. This is what is on my mind and I think if you write about something, it becomes more clear.

P.S. I SCRAPED my salad dish clean. Like every minisucle of lettuce. Bless it. I'd lick a shoe for some steak fries.

Womp Womp....

Jillian and I didn't get together last night.
I was much too distracted by my heartbroken husband. His car is in the shop. They were replacing an ACU and now the keys won't turn the car on (condensed Dani version). While it was in the shop, someone backed in to it. There's a dent and a scratch or two, but the boy is crushed. You'd think I got hit!

Now back to my real post.

Today at lunch, the girls and I were talking about being scared. I was DEATHLY affraid of being kidnapped as a wee chum. Of everything really. I don't remember having nightmares until one specific story on the news. I don't remember what it was, but immediately after hearing it my nightmares started. Shortly after that, Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped and everyone got scared. My older sister started sleeping on my floor, practically under my bed. She would wake up and say she could hear someone cutting the screen. Extreme, I know. If ever I was out in the front yard and a car would drive up, I would run up to the porch, if not inside.  I was a SPAZ!!!

Am I still? ....To a degree. I run into my apartment at night, I lock my doors instantly, and I hold my phone in my hands any time I'm walking- usually with someone's number ready to call. Alright, I'm still scared.

Don't you worry though, I still watch my Criminal Minds. Usually, with one hand over all but a corner of my eye and one ear plugged. It's fine.

What were you scared of as a kid? What are you scared of now? Did you ever get over your fear?

The real reason we watch Criminal Minds... Lovely man.

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