In 2014...

In 2014 I want to...

Let the little things go

Love on my husband more

Play on the floor more with my kids

Treat food as fuel

Run my heart out

Trust the process

Save more money

Pay off some debit

Organize our assets

Go on more dates with my husband

Have girls night

Clean out the clutter, in my house and my life. 

Finish my thesis

Disconnect more

Read more

Control less

Remember more birthdays without Facebook

Pay it forward 

Make it the best year I can.

Thanks for following along this year! Next year is going to be amazing!!

Yay For A Short Week

I did not weigh in this weekend 

I don't feel bad 

I enjoyed the holiday and we had other things to do! 

I promise I will weigh in this Saturday though!

Especially since this will be my first week eating totally Paleo

I'm excited to see how I feel after the first 10 days.

This weekend I had dreams of our Children sledding and building snowmen outside for hours then coming inside to warm hot chocolate and sitting by the fire.

Too bad New England doesn't understand how to keep the nice snow only how to turn it into sheets of ice or piles of mud. 

So instead I did some sewing 

We watched the game, and by we I mean my husband and by watched the game I mean we played while he watched 

I got my ass up early to hit the gym and did my own version of Val's hat at the gym 

I tried a new leg circuit and follow it up with week four of Couch 2 5k. 

Yikes I will not be able to move soon. 

Does anybody have any big New Years Eve plans that I can live vicariously through? 

An Alternate World that You Can Only Reach at 2 AM.

While my husband and I are a lot a like, there are subtle differences between us
He's a man
I'm a woman
He's tall
I'm short.
You know the usual.
The biggest difference, that cause the most side eye responses from me, is that he likes to fall asleep with the TV on.
I hate that shit.
Like HATE. IT.

But I'm in love so I let the mangy fool have his way. What makes it even worse it that he's one of those guys that falls asleep hugging the remote so I can't change the channel or turn off the TV.
On the rare occasion he does let me sneak the remote and turn off the TV
He wakes up three minutes later and turns it back on acting like he has no idea how it turned off.

UGH.

So I'll just learn to live with it.

If your husband or sleeping partner (or laying in bed partner?!) is anything like this, then there's no chance you have been able to escape that alternate world.

The world of Infomercials.

So I bring you

5 Infomercials where I found one hand on the phone and the other on my debit card. 

1. Shake weight.
 While I will admit this thing looks so stupid. I bet it works. Granted you look like you are practing for something other than an arm wrestling contest, that motion is not easy. I have since seen them in stores and even tried them while no one is looking. I hold my ground... if you are brave enough they probably work. Unless you are a guy, because you do that motion enough already.

2. Any Beachbody commercial ever.
Yes I want a new body
Yes I want to feel better than ever before
YES I have 30 min a day!
No I don't want to spend $180 on a workout DVD.... Thanks though.

3. Stem-Tap the Flavor
Why wouldn't this work? This is pure genius! Oh right... slamming a spray bottle top into a lime does not make it magically fill with enough juice to spray all my delicious avacados.

4. Air Curler
I love cotton candy
I love my hair
So I would love putting my hair in a cotton candy machine right?
Something tells me no...

5. Margaritaville Blender.
It's no secret I love margaritas.
I even used to work at a restaurant called Margaritas.
They had the best. The best of the best. I have never been able to reproduce them at home.
UNTIL NOW!

oh wait.... It's $280 dollars... ON SALE. Thanks but no thanks. I'll take my $5 marg.



Has anyone ever tried the Shake Weight? Or any of these other products? Do you ever get sucked into infomercials?

Santa Hangover

I had an amazing Christmas but let me be the first to say

I am glad that shit is over. 

We got all our wrapping done Monday night and with the help of a few frosty beverages I didn't even freak out when the hubs starting using pieces of different wrapping paper. 

I also saved this for last because seriously. 

How the hell do people wrap these things. 

We had a little fun with the name tags because our kids can't read and we hand out the presents anyway. 

Everything went off with out a hitch kinda. 

I almost had a break down when we decided to stop by my MIL's house for a bit on Christmas Eve and all the kids there were watching Despicable Me 2

...the movie I put in our Christmas Eve package that I had been planning for weeks

I seriously almost cried. 

Tony assured me the kids would not care and they would be excited we were actually going to let them watch a movie twice. 

He was right..... YOU HEAR THAT BABE !

Mabel loved the whole package. 

She was so pumped she had her own coffee mug and that we all had new pajamas. 

I made Lasagna for dinner with my own homemade sauce and it came out amazing. 

I also made this over night french toast casserole for breakfast. 

Word to the wise. 

Let it cool down before you eat it. 

Our kids went to bed in record time. 

Then the hubs and I enjoyed some nice together time while watching Jerry Springer to remind us of how awesome we are. 

He was telling his stripper gf that he slept with her stripper sister. Then they had a stripping contest to see who would win him. Ah Christmas.

Christmas morning we had to wake the kids up. Btw neither one of us could sleep. I didn't fall asleep until midnight and Tony was up at 3. 

All that wrapping and stressing was totally worth it. 

Then we went over to my MIL's house again to spend the day with the whole family. 

There is a million of us so for the kids we do a gift exchange and the adults have a Yankee swap a few weeks after. 

Mabel got a Doc McStuffins costume and started calling Chip "Donnie"

Chip forced anyone and everyone to read to him. 

and I ate way too much. 

All in all it was amazing, and I can't wait til next year. 

Speaking of next year, it's right around the corner.
I want to start the new year off right so in January I will be doing 30 days Paleo.
I also declared that 2014 is the year to get our finances in order since 2015 we will probably have another expense wink wink.
I talked my husband into doing this with me

We are going to do it backward though. Starting with putting $52 each into savings and working our way down.
The end of the year is always tight on money so it will be easier to stick with it if we are only doing a few dollars.
My math crazy hubs figured out if we both do this for five years we would have $13,780 in savings!
Just by putting a little in savings every month! 

T minus (insert number of hours here)

It's Christmas Eve Suckas!

We have everything wrapped, booze is stocked
let the celebrating commence.

It's time for our very last This or That link up... waaa. Its been super fun, and the bunch of ladies that link up are amazing.

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Since it's our last one I'm going to do a shameless plug.
If you are linking up, or have linked up in the past make sure you follow our lovely hosts.

Candra @ Camo and Lipstick
Jodi @ Love and Crayons
Kristin @ Living Barefoot and Crazy
and
Katie @ Big Apple Girl, Windy City Guy, & Two Spoiled Boxers

Here's This weeks questions

Holiday Style

Halloween or Thanksgiving

Def Thanksgiving, it's my favorite meal of the year and I could eat it every day all day.

Christmas or Your Birthday

My birthday is in August and growing up it was around the first week of school so it was never that awesome. Now I have two kids and my birthday is just another day so I will pick Christmas
YA HEAR THAT CHRISTMAS YOU BETTER BE BAD ASS

Visitning Relatives or Your Relatives Visiting

Seeing as how a good majority of my relatives live in the exact same town as me, this is pretty much the same. My mom lives driving distance away and I would rather visit her.
That way I don't have to clean.

Valentines Day or St.Patrick's Day

Booze or chocolate is the real question here... and I pick booze.
Are you surprised.

Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Personally I like to shop naked or near naked and NOT get arrested so I pick Cyber Monday.

Lost and Found

I lost two pounds this week!!

Don't worry I'm sure I will also find them this week. 

Hopefully I will be able to refrain from putting all the food in my mouth. 

I also picked up a new workout DVD from that bish Jillian

This got me thinking.

She has so many great ones, and how to they compare. 

Well my gym in closed for three days so I decided that I will be doing some at home work outs and I'm going to compare three of hers. 

I'll see how many calories I burn using each and let ya know on Friday! 

I had a workout buddy at the gym this morning and we may no longer be friends after. (Hi Joni!)

I'm working today and then it's finally Xmas. 

I'm ALL DONE with my sewing so I'm ready. 

Oh wait we haven't wrapped anything. 

Womp womp. 

I'm most excited about my Xmas eve package, but I also bought the hubs tickets to a show that we've been to before, and he loved. 

GAH I'm so excited. 

It helps there is a big candy bar in the tree just waiting for me to devour it.

Also seeing as how this lovely holiday tends to put me in the poor house I'm taking part in Steph's
No Spend January.

I'll probably do pretty good cause I'm broke....

Is there something you just can't wait to give someone this year? Are you all ready for Xmas or do you still need to do shopping/wrapping??

Queso Spanish for Hell

Since I've started eating clean, and working on getting my diet in line I have discovered a few things.

Broccoli makes my farts smell worse than my sons diapers 

I never get tired of chicken with salsa

A little seasoning makes a big difference

Protein shakes aren't that bad

Food is fuel

and most importantly cheese is the worst thing in the world. 

I used to love cheese, and by used to I mean I still do. 

I love that shit. 

In all forms, but especially on pizza. 

Or over vegetables,

or on crackers

or spreadable....

When I first started getting really serious I did the Advocare 10 day cleanse, which means no dairy for 10 days. 

Then with most of my meal plans there just wasn't any dairy, or at least no cheese. 

Then came my first planned cheat meal. 

I wanted pizza. 

So I limited myself and only had one slice. 

Then I was laying in bed for the rest of the night with stomach pains. 

Since then I have stayed away from dairy, (again mostly cheese), but that fucking pizza taunts me. 

My husband bowls on Wednesdays and he brings the kids, so after work I meet them and bring the kids home while he finishes. When he gets there he orders a pizza for them all for dinner. 

When I get there I sit and stare at it, and steal smells when no one is looking. 

The pizza at the bowling alley is seriously the best pizza in the world. 

I even lived in Italy for 5 months and it doesn't even come close. 

For movie nights we used to get broccoli , buffalo chicken pizza. 

HEAVEN. 

I made some small goals for myself this week, and one of them was no dairy. 

Well that I failed, last night I ate Mac and Cheese directly out of the pot I made for my kids and now I'm crying. 

I have been in pain all morning and we are supposed to have our office holiday lunch today. 

Womp womp. 

Has this happened to anyone else?? Is it all in my head?? Please say yes I miss my queso!

I'm linking up with some lovely ladies today so go check them all out! 

Jamie, Lindsey, Sarah, and Jenni 

I'm Ready to Break Up... I'm Moving on

Dear 2013,

It's been real, it's been fun
but lets be honest it hasn't been real fun.

While we both know there was an inevitable end to our time together it's bittersweet to say the least.

You brought me times of joy like

Miley Cyrus and literally everything she did

Birthdays

Anniversaries

Making goals, and blowing them out of the water

New Friends, and times with old friends who are equally important

You brought me sorrow

My dad's cancer diagnosis

Chips multiple trips to every doctor in NH and our cute little stay at Mass General PICU

Mabel's previews of her defiant teenage years

Too many lives taken too short all over the world.

Don't worry I understand the need for balance, but from where I was sitting it looked a little lopsided.
Before we go any further I should probably tell you that your replacement promises to be a whole hell of a lot better.

Healthier, stronger (physically and mentally) as well as more compassionate and family oriented

There are even talks of more money, and I can't even tell you how many times I've told you that I like my dolla dolla bills.

I'm ready for new, and done with the old. Besides I like even numbers better... I should have told you that from the beginning.

I'm sure I will miss you when you are gone.
For the first few months I will probably find myself writing your name instead of the one I should be.

Rest assured. I want this.
Thanks for everything, and thanks for nothing.

PEACE OUT SUCKA

It's so close I can taste it

Christmas that is.

I am so excited for Christmas this year.

Mae is going to lose her shit over her presents this year 

We didn't get a lot but we got her things she really wanted 

I'm not sure if chip is going to get it but he will be pumped he has new trucks to play with 

I'm still working on our Christmas Eve package and their TV blankets 

When I finish everything I will be sure to post pictures 

So this weeks link up is Christmas themed duh

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Celebrity Christmas carols or Chipmunk Christmas carols 

NEVER CHIPMUNKS  those voices are nails on a chalkboard to me, besides random celebrities making Christmas CD's never gets old.

okay maybe it does...

Gift cards or Gift Baskets 

Gift baskets for sure. I love putting these together with different themes. The possibilities are seriously endless and it like a million present in one

Naughty or nice 

I'm a prude so nice. Maybe nicely naughty haha is that possible

Getting everything on your wish list or giving someone everything on their wish list 

So this year my husband asked me for a list of things I wanted and he asked me to be specific like really specific like exact color size store and aisle if possible then he tells me he's not getting things on the list he's getting things he thinks I would have put on my list if I thought of them.....

....um ok 

Regardless I would rather fulfill someone else's list giving is better than receiving unless it's under the sheets than that logic does not apply

Presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning 

It used to be Xmas Eve when I didn't believe in Santa now that I have kids I am so pumped to see her eyes when our tree is magically covered in presents

I'm excited to read about everyone's Christmas!! 

I'm not a loser... for this week at least

I skipped the weigh in this week for two reasons

after last week I was afraid I would punch the lady in the face (explanation here) 

and we were out of town anyway. 

On Friday night we loaded up the kids, put on the portable DVD players and started the 3 hour drive to my mom's house. 

One hour in Chip decided he hated life and wanted to scream and kick the back of my seat for the next hour. 

Two hours in Mabel was passed out and Chip was laughing at the "scary" part in the Little Mermaid where Ursula grows big.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh along or call and schedule to get my tubes tied. 

I have had baby fever for awhile now, but it's just not in the cards for us... yet. 

I'm okay with that as I'm working on me right now. 

To tie me over I have been obsessing over baby names. 

We, and by we I mean I, love older names. 

We also do two first names for each of our kids. You know cause we're hillbilly rednecks...

Mabel Joan was named after both of my grandmothers

Chip Douglas was named after both of our fathers.

While we love all the other people in our lives, we don't love their names. 

Is that wrong? 

Some names I have in the front running (which my husband doesn't love any of them) are

Girl                                                      Boy

Merritt                                            Leo

Betsy                                             Calvin

Ethel                                              

Hattie 

Boys names are so much harder. 

Thankfully we have some time. 

So as far as the weekend goes, the weather was freezing, the company was good, the break was well needed. 

Don't forget to join our This or That link up tomorrow, there's only a few left!! 

The questions for tomorrow are 

Celebrity Christmas Carol's or Chipmunk Christmas Carols

Gift Cards or Gift Baskets

Naughty or Nice

Getting Everything on your wishlist, or Giving Someone Everything on Their Wishlist

Presents on Christmas Eve, or Presents Christmas Morning.