Life's Teachable Moments

Happy Wacky Wednesday Friends!!

In my last post I talked about wanting to be more involved in being a better mother this year. I've started this by using B's questions about life as teachable moments. I've been doing a lot of reading lately about how children who have open relationships with their parents and good communcation prosper the most.

In just over 2 weeks we have had some pretty weird exciting teachable moments.....come along on our journey.

This week alone Brea has been very interested in all problems women face with that time of the month. At least once a day we have had in depth conversations about it. I figure it will happen to her one day too so why not start answering questions and preparing her now.

We have also had an in depth talk regarding birth control and why women use it. That one was really eye opening for her and almost led to the "Where do babies come from?" chat.

I've noticed in just the two short weeks I have been open and honest in answering any of these life questions that our communcation has improved. What a wonderful thing!!

Sorry to those of you who see my child on a regular basis and have children of your own.....she may have shared the love and knowledge. :)

New Year's Resolutions

Happy Friday friends!! I hope you all have had wonderful weeks and even better NYEve's and Days. I was thinking the other day about New Year's Resolutions and what not. I've decided this year not to so much make a New Year's Resolution that I will most likely not keep but instead set some goals for myself this year that I hope to accomplish. I figure if I put these in writing and publish them out into the world then I'm bound to them.

So without further ado here are my Top 5 goals to accomplish this year:

1. Be a better mother - As I've said before I'm a single mother and it takes a village to raise a child but I'm definitely going to put more effort into lifting up my child and teaching life lessons this year.

2. Be a healthier me - I've slipped somewhere over the past year into old habits and as I get older my body does just not bounce back as fast as it used to. With that being said, I am making an effort to exercise at minimum 3 times a week for no less than 20 minutes and also to eat better and cook more homemade meals.

3. Travel more - The last half of 2012 and most of 2013 were pretty much travel lacking which makes me very sad. I used to be one traveling fool and I miss going on trips and visiting new places. My self fulfilling goal this year is to visit one new place, that should be easily attainable.

4. Relax - If anyone knows me on a personal level they know that I can tend to be a bit high strung in all aspects of my life. This year I am focusing on chilling out more and things just flow the way they are supposed to be. I have no problem admitting that I am somewhat of a control freak and I'm going to try to let go a little more this year.

5. Run a half marathon - I am not a good runner whatsoever so completing this task will be one amazing accomplishment. I'm thinking late summer early fall is when I will try to complete my first half. I'm going to start training for it as soon as the weather is nicer outside and not so cold!

What are you New Year's Goals?

Hustle and Bustle of Christmas

 

 

Happy Monday all my friends! Today on my lunch break I finished all of my Christmas shopping thank goodness!! Let me just tell you traffic and the stores were crazy, lines everywhere you looked.

 

My favorite snag of today was that most of the DVDs at Target were $4.50! I was so excited to see some of my favorite movies there on sale. I snagged a few - one of my personal favorites Love and Other Drugs with Jake Gyllenhall and Anne Hathaway.

 

One of the extremely hard to find items for Miss B this year was a personal fan for her room. In the dead cold of winter!! I went to Wal-Mart and asked for a fan and was greeted with a weird look by every employee I came into contact with. Thanks Miss B I'm that weirdo trying to find a fan in December. Luckily today at good ol' Target I found a perfect fan that will sit on her bedside table and keep her freezing the night away! Woohoo!! I also picked her up a handheld fan for her stocking, so she can take that with her when we go on our Disney trip in March. (Sooooo excited!!)

 

Now that I am finished completely I have to say it feels good. I cut it close every year running around and budgeting for Christmas. This year there were more people to buy for as well with our lovely Ryan and his family coming into our lives. It feels good to give and I hope everyone enjoys their little happy I've gotten them.

 

It's sometimes easy to get into bad spirits with all the running around and financial stress. I know I haven't been in the best spirits the past few weeks. I've had to stop though this past week and take a look at the bigger picture. I'm feeling much better now and thinking the rest of this year will be a great time.

 

Merry Christmas friends if I don't write again!!! 

Just How Sore Am I?

UPDATE:

After yesterday's workout I knew I would be somewhat sore today seeing as how I have not worked out in a few weeks.

I can tell you that the workout I posted yesterday absolutely gave me a full body workout. The areas that were most affected based on my soreness are:

Shoulders
Lower Back
Glutes
Thighs (entire area)


Based on those factors alone I would say that this workout should achieve some results after two weeks. I'll certainly let ya know!!

Getting Back On My Fitness

Happy Monday friends. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I got some much needed rest and an added snow day on Friday, yippee!!! 

Now that I'm feeling rested and well I decided over the weekend that I have slacked in the fitness department as of late. The scale is reflecting my slacker attitude as well. What did I do? Oh I took to my wonderful Pinterest Page and started pinning all kinds of new workouts that I think I can tackle. 

The Challenge:
I am committing to taking on one new workout every two weeks that I have pinned to my Pinterest Page. I am committing to working out no less than two times a week for the two weeks. If I like the workout I will keep it in my normal fitness routine. If I don't like the workout I will of course throw it out. I will also be blogging here to let you know what works and doesn't work, for me of course! 

So join in on the challenge if you want to and we can all get lean and fit together!! 

Monday December 9th, 2013

Today's workout I chose a tabata interval workout. It was intense let me just tell you and I am sure I will be feeling the workout tomorrow. Take a look below and see if this is a good workout for you. I am doing this workout for the next two weeks and will post results when I'm done. I picked this workout because it can be done in less than 20 minutes and it torches calories. Tabata Interval workouts are the best at getting your heart rate up and also targeting your trouble zones that we all experience. 

Super Mommies To The Rescue!!

 

This week is rather busy in our and everyone else's household that I've spoken to this week. So I feel like I really have to have my Super Mom cape on this week, I might even dress as Super Mom on Thursday just because I feel like the part is so fitting this week.

 

Allow yourselves to walk in my shoes for just a quick little second. This week we have the following:

 

Let me just mention that I am essentially doing two full time jobs this week as one of my co-workers is out of town on vacation.

 

Today was field trip day with my little one at the Botanic Gardens here in Memphis. We had a fun time.

 

Tomorrow is the big Saint Parade at my little one's school. This is one of their big projects that they do this year. They pick a Saint and make a doll, write a report, and dress up as the Saint to parade around school. It will be fun for sure! B picked Saint Scholastica as her Saint.

 

Thursday of course is Halloween and this is the day that I had to bow out of all school activities. B has a Halloween party in class, reading awards, and we are going to a party for Halloween that evening too.

 

Friday she is spending the day with my Mom as she is out of school. She is also going over to spend the night at my Dad and Stepmother's house for a big photo session on Saturday. Meanwhile, Mommy is going out with R for some much needed relaxation with the best 80's bands in Memphis.

 

Thank goodness for all those that help us out! It certainly takes a village for sure!!

 

What about everyone else? What does your work/life week look like? What do you do to calm down your life when it seems to get out of control?

Quick Fix Dinners: Parmesean Crusted Tilapia with Creamy Garlic Pasta

Happy Monday friends!! I fixed the most delicious dinner last night and after a few requests via Facebook this morning I'm going to share it with you here so you'll always have a link reference to the recipe. First let's start with the Parmesan Crusted Tilapia.... What You Will Need: 4 Tilapia Filets (Defrosted) 1/4 Cup of Parmesan Cheese 1/8 Cup of Butter 2 Tblspoons of Mayo 1 Tablespoon of Fresh Lemon Juice 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of dill Salt and Pepper to taste How to Cook: Turn broiler on high - place tilapia filets in a foil lined pan While broiler is heating mix all the ingredients above except tilapia together in a small bowl - set aside Place tilapia filets in oven for 3 minutes Take tilapia filets out of oven, flip over, and pour mixture on the un-cooked side Place back in over for 3-4 more minutes Done!! Now for the Creamy Garlic Pasta Ingredients: 4 clove garlic, minced 2 Tbsp butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 3 c chicken stock 1/2 lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta, uncooked 1 c parmesan cheese, grated 3/4 c heavy cream How to Cook: In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted. Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil. Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box’s directions indicate. Reduce the stove to medium heat and mix in the parmesan until completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Serve immediately. Enjoy and let me know how it turned out for you!! :)