Updates!

I have been a horrible blogger recently and have not made a post in over a week! I have been working on a whole mess of things to share with you all. Some of these things include a meal planner, a life binder, a recipe binder, a workout binder, and a planner. I'm super excited about everything, but unfortunately I've been so busy I haven't been able to do much. I've been currently trying to figure out the best way to use my coupons and create a grocery shopping list. I am in the process of trying several different methods and when I find the best one I'll share it with you all!

I have also been on an emotional landslide with my my weight issues I've pretty much plateaued on the scale and it's making me super depressed. I cut out all white breads and soda and most sugars, I work out 4-5 times a week and it's not seeming to make a huge difference. Now that the summer heat is here being overweight is the last thing I want to be.

It has also been a very stressful time in my life trying to plan a wedding, save up for our first house, and lose 60lbs all in the next year. Why am I trying to do this all at once? I'm pretty sure I'm crazy. I'm going to try and be much better about posting in the future! So keep your eye out for these exciting things.

Product Review!

As I was brushing my fingers through my hair this morning and treasuring the silkiness I realized I hadn't done a product review on my blog in quite some time. Well I'm sure you all remember these old gems? Who could forget them and their amazing commercials? Well guys if you haven't heard they're back!

As soon as I heard they were re releasing them I rushed to the store and bought them. Oh my word people I don't know if I just didn't notice as a child, but I have never used shampoo that makes my hair feel so silky smooth. When I was younger I always had super soft hair, because I never put product in it, never dyed it, and only blow dried it a couple times a week. As I got older and started dying it blonde and curling it and so on my hair just has felt dry and unhealthy. Not anymore! This stuff is amazing I can't stop feeling my hair. Not only that, but it smells so darn good. My recommendation is to drop everything you are doing and go out and purchase them immediately. You won't regret it I promise.

Tone it up!

Okay guys I am so excited to share with you my personal Tone it up Plan. I am loving the 5 small meals a day plus two workouts, it has been amazing. PLUS I have found a new love for running. Since as long as I can remember I've hated running, I dreaded the mile run in school. I've started doing the intervals I talked about here everyday and I am addicted. I love all the beautiful views in my neighborhood it's like going on a scenic nature trail every morning. Today I even saw a porcupine run across the road in front of me.

 How can you not love this? I try and go a different route everyday to keep things new and interesting. It helps that I live in one of the most beautiful states in the country possibly the world.

One of the most important things I find about my runs is keeping upbeat music. I researched the best running music and downloaded the songs I liked. A lot of it is dance music, techno music, and old school rock n' roll. Make sure you have a lot so that you don't get bored with it.

So here is my weekly meal plan/workout plan. I know it's a little strange because I start from a Thursday, but I do all my grocery shopping on Friday mornings so it's easier this way.

I love it! I've had to basically readjust everything since moving back in with my parents, because now I'm shopping for 5 people instead of just 2, it makes things a lot more difficult. I also have a new grocery list set up that I started, because I noticed that I would plan our meals for the week, but have to go back to the grocery store 2 or 3 times because I'd run out of food so quick. Now I'm prepared and once I have it finalized I'll share it with you!

Wedding Binder

I had originally wanted to share with you my wedding spreadsheets today, but I don't have them printed out or organized yet so I decided to share with you my binder instead. I am head over heels in love with this thing and am having so much fun putting it together. It's not quite done yet I still need to get a couple more separators, but it's looking amazing.

Even with all the online planning and inspiration tools available these days I still wanted to create a binder, because I felt like it was easier to have everything in one place printed out. I didn't like the fact that my inspiration was on one page while my budget, checklists, and possible vendors were on others it was getting too confusing.  I searched online for a printable planner and found one on Etsy for $12. (here is the link for those who are interested Printable wedding planner) There are tons available online for different prices this is just the one I picked out.

As a heads up this is just a simple introduction to the binder. Each section is so detailed I will most likely do a separate entry for each. I have literally become obsessed with wedding planning and am thinking about turning it into a career.

I went to target and searched for a cute binder, however, all the ones I liked were not big enough in the slightest so I settled on a teal Avery one that's 11/2 inches thick I'm hoping this is big enough. Because I couldn't find a cute binder,  I decided to instead purchase some cute dividers. I fell in love with these ones the patterns and colors were just too adorable.

Only 5 came in a package so I purchased 2, but I'm going to have to go back and purchase 1 or 2 more. I wanted to have a lot of different sections so that I could focus on one small piece at a time There are just too many details going on in a wedding to try and look at it from the big picture. My categories are as follows:

1) Budget

2) Bridal Party; attire, gifts, etc.

3) Guest; invitations, escort cards, table numbers, favors

4) Food and Drinks

5) Cake

6) Flowers

7) Photography

8) Ceremony

9) Reception

10) Attire

11) Beauty

12) Schedule

13) Registry

14) Bachelorette Party

15) Honeymoon

In the very front of the binder I also have my timeline. I wanted to keep it up front so that it was easily accessible and I could make sure I was staying on track.

In each section I have inspiration pages of images that I have cut out of magazines and taped them onto blank paper. I also have note pages where I describe in detail exactly what I want in each section my "vision" for that topic.

I just also wanted to share with you this simple budget that describes what percentage of your budget should go to each part of your wedding. While this has helped me get an idea I definitely don't follow it to a T and neither should you as every bride is different and certain aspects of the wedding will be more important to you than others. For example I'd rather take money out of photography and cake and put it into the reception and dress where as others may want an amazing cake and don't care much about their dress.

I'm so excited not just for this wedding, but all the organization plans I have planning this wedding and I can't wait to share them all with you!

Getting in Wedding Day shape

Yesterday marked my very first day of my wedding day diet. I am both looking forward to it and dreading it as I am completely cutting out refined carbs and seriously cutting down on sugar; removing entirely sweets and sodas. I am also eliminating almost all processed foods from my diet and eating only fresh made from scratch foods. I'm leaving in products I don't know how to make on my own such as soy sauce, hoisin sauce, mustard, etc. Also a lovely blogger I follow, Kelly from Eat Yourself Skinny, introduced me to Karina and Katrina from Tone It Up who are two beautiful girls that have a wonderful diet plan and fun exercises. I haven't signed up for their program as it's $150, but I am planning on it in the future. Right now I'm simply following their meal plan which includes 5 small meals a day, a morning workout, and an evening workout.

To give you an example of what my typical day will look like, here is today's Plan:

Meal 1: Whole wheat toast with 1 tbls of cream cheese

Workout 1: 30 minute run - Started with 5 minutes of walking followed by 5 minutes of running then 4 min walking 4 min of running and I continue this pattern until I get down to 1.

Meal 2: 2 hard boiled eggs (I eat only the whites as I don't like the yolks when they are hardboiled)

Meal 3: Sandwich on 2 slices of whole wheat bread with roasted chicken, 1 tbls cream cheese, 1 slice of provolone, red peppers, cucumbers, spinach, onions, tomatoes, and sprouts.

Meal 4: Cucumbers and carrots dipped in my homemade hummus

Meal 5: Grilled balsamic bruchetta chicken with avocados (I'll post this recipe another day)

Workout 2: I chose a 30 minute at home workout from my pinterest board

I also want to point out that for every hour I work I spend 5 minutes exercising during the day. So while I'm at work instead of taking a break I just get up every hour and work out for 5 minutes this gives me another 40 minutes of working out and burns an extra 400 calories.

All my meals total to around 1500-1600 calories and I burn about 900 calories. I think it's a great start and I'm really looking forward to seeing the results.

Wedding Planning

I've realized I have a new calling in life, wedding planning. Ever since Jack and I got officially engaged I have not been able to stop it's like I'm addicted. I just have so many ideas and want to do so much, but with a budget that's smaller than the national average it's a little tough. I've also realized I am extremely picky when it comes to even the littlest details. I think I have browsed over 100 venues literally and have kicked ones out, because I don't like their chairs or the doorway or the carpet, it's bad people real bad. But Hey you only get married once so it should be perfect although I'm quite aware that if it doesn't end up absolutely perfect (which I know it won't) that I need to try and not let it bother me to the point where my special day is ruined. 

I haven't posted in over a week, I know, I'm sorry but truth be told I've been spending the past two weeks moving into my parents basement and creating wedding organization projects to share with you all! I'm really excited. So far I have created a guest list, a wedding binder, and bridesmaid "invitations". The guest list and wedding binder need some final touches and I haven't received or sent out the "invitations" so I can't show them to you yet. 

I also think I have chosen my wedding venue and could not be more excited, it's perfect, except for the carpet I could really go with a different carpet but what can you do. It's affordable, it has a beautiful ballroom and a beautiful view what more could you ask for?

I am still struggling with a theme/color palette. I do know that light pink/blush will be included along with peonies and roses. I am really looking forward to sharing all my wedding planning secrets with you all and can't wait for the blog entries to come!

The Engagement Story

Due to high demand I will post the story a day early! Jack apparently had the whole thing planned for awhile and kept it a huge secret (obviously). Without me knowing he invited several of my friends out on Friday night to celebrate my birthday dinner. I'll be honest I slightly suspected something since he was being so incredibly secretive and for the first time wasn't asking me what I wanted for my birthday. On Friday morning he had my mom take Miss Mariah for the night and told me to make sure I was ready to leave at 3pm. He told me he had rented a hotel for the evening. I texted my sister assuming I would be able to get her to spill the beans about what was going on that night, but to my surprise she had no idea. She said she was going to be painting all evening and that she hadn't heard of anything. She actually got pretty upset at the idea that he might propose and she wouldn't be there. I anxiously awaited for 3pm to arrive and when it did Jack picked me up and brought me to our hotel suite. I rushed into the room expecting there to be roses laid out and the ring to be on the bed, but to my surprise nothing. At this point I had kind of given up hope even more so when we were getting ready to leave and I filled his pockets with everything imaginable, there was no room for a ring in those pockets.

He had a Cadillac come pick us up and still didn't tell me where we were going. We got in the car and I was pretty nervous for some reason. He told the limo driver to take us to the Dry Dock in Portland. I knew that he wasn't going to propose because that restaurant had no special meaning to us. The car stopped and to my surprise my sister was standing outside a long with my good friend Abigail (who last said to me have fun tonight and see you on Monday) and my long time friend Kate Taber. The driver opened my door and I rushed out to meet my friends as I got onto the sidewalk Jack got out of the car grabbed my hand, turned me around, and got down on one knee. I lost my mind I'm not absolutely positive what he said, because I could hardly focus on what was happening, but I know it was something a long the lines of "I should have done this a long time ago" When he pulled out the ring I dropped to the ground.

The reason he chose the Dry Dock is because he apparently timed it so that we would arrive exactly on the dock at sunset and he could propose ocean side as the sun was setting. It was a little hazy out so we missed it, but it wouldn't have mattered I didn't see anything that was going on around me.

We walked into the restaurant and every one cheered for us. It was just what I wanted it to be. I also want to send out a special thanks to Abby, Kate, and my sister for being so good at keeping the surprise and being there for the big moment!