Accomplishments:Hopes:Goals:Dreams

I feel it is SO vitally important in life to have a "post" like this every once in a while. A time to reflect on the things you've accomplished as well as the things you hope for.

It's funny because I am 24 years old, but I seriously think I have been going through a bit of a quarter life crisis. It's such an odd thing to admit, but this past 6 months things have just kinda hit me: what the heck am I doing HERE?! What am I doing with my life?

I guess I don't want to dive into all the mental thoughts that those kind of questions have arisen in me, but being able to just write out exactly what I'm doing in my life helps me for some reason. I have concluded I am definitely some part A personality in that I really do love lists. Lists are my friend. The other part of me is so not "A"- I think that's kind of funny.

Anyway, enough of that rambling. Here it is!

Accomplishments in the last year (no matter how small!)

-Had conversation with my mother in which she asked me "if you could do anything with your life, what would it be?" my answer: "own my own photography business." Proceeded to file for a business license two months later. It's been quite the journey so far. (www.inspiredjoyphotography.com)

-Successfully baked delicious homemade bread

-Started and (so far) maintained a raised veggie garden

-Ventured down the cloth diaper road and found myself enjoying it!

-Replaced all chemical cleaners with homemade, environmentally and baby safe cleaners

-Started my photo hallway decor

-Finally started couponing again! (haven't done any since Haden was born)

Goals for the next year

-Continue couponing and build a significant stockpile in order to reduce our monthly grocery budget

-Run a couple 5k's

-Finish a half marathon (jogging/walking/crawling...just finish!)

-Harvest my vegetables and plant a fall crop

-Continue to build my photo business and define my unique style

-Lose 20lbs and get in shape!

-Pay off 17,500 in debt. Yes, I just said that. Lord help us!

Goals for the next 5 years

-Have another kiddo

-Rent our current home and find a home in a neighborhood that suits our needs (might take some convincing on kellen's part!)

-Run my own business as my main source of income

-Maybe do another half marathon....

-Stay in shape!

10 years

-Start to build our dream custom home

Ultimate Goal:

BE A SNOWBIRD, travel the world, and have some grandkids :)

*Crawls Out From Under Rock*

Oh, hello, bright and shiny world! It's me- Nicole- remember me? I was that one who was so desperately attempting to lose the baby weight six months ago? In case you hadn't noticed...I went into hibernation for winter. Only problem was, hibernation somehow included ceasing all exercising and also somehow consuming massive amount of calories. Thus, I wake up in Spring weighing just as much as I did when I re-started this journey back in summer.

Ah. Such is life I guess. A big, long, and somewhat unfair journey.

Here's to a re-start of the re-start, and probably not the last!!

It's May 1st and of course I have lots of fun goals in mind for this summer, which include laying on a beach in a bikini and running a half marathon (HA and HA).

A girl's gotta dream, right? ;)

More importantly, I am determined to be semi-prepared for when I actually will be tromping around in a bathing suit, come October, when my mumsy, baby boy, and I head to Maui. It's great motivation to start getting my butt in gear!

I've started running again! (and when I say running, just in the future assume I mean really extremely slow jogging, but I say running to sound more bad a** than I really am, FYI...). It's been a good week of easing back into it and I am happy to report I have not yet thought I was going to pop a lung. I'm trying to take it pretty slow as not to traumatize myself! Mission accomplished so far.

Eating has been a bit of a different story, but it's late and that I will have to save for a later post...

goodnight my friends...

Less.

I have been on this new "healthy eating" journey for three weeks now and I have come to a major favorite milestone of mine that happens whenever you start to downsize your portions. What is that you say? It's so simple but I love it: I get full faster.

I can't tell you how exciting it is that, after a pregnancy of eating for "two" and carrying on the tradition well into my non pregnant state, I finally have begun to feel satisfied on a normal size portion!

This is a big step my friends. It means this whole calorie thing will become much easier. Eating in moderation is a term I associate with long term weight loss. Yay!


This has absolutely nothing to do with this...but here's my baby with his daddy and across his friend Elijah!

Post Baby Weigh in Week 3: whoop whoop!

Hallelujah, thank ya Jesus, I saw a great number on that scale last night...a 4 pound loss!


I'm super excited. This brings my total weight loss down to around 9lbs! Nine pounds in three weeks is something to be proud of...really proud of!

I'm going camping this weekend so there may be some s'mores and possibly a bit of junk involved, but I'm hoping to be fairly good :)

Wrapping up another week!

Weigh in tonight! I'm stoked. I am not going to try to guess whether I will be up or down or how much, we will just have to see! I've had a farely good week. I may or may not have eaten a cookie AND chocolate ice cream last night...hmmm....but I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off yesterday and forgot to eat mostly. So I thought I'd make up those calories. Healthy right? Haha. Oh well.

Kellen and I watched thi documentary called "Fat, Sick, and nearly dead" this weekend. It's about two "large" guys who go on a mission to get healthy. They start by doing a juice only cleanse for 60 days (intense!) and use that as their detox as well as a kick off to a healthy lifestyle. Pretty eye opening! Kellen even enjoyed it and is now begging me to get a juicer...lol! My husband is the most paranoid skinny guy I know. He is self conscious and honestly has no reason to be. But I guess it's cool because he really embraces healthy eating and that makes it easy for me to make better choices.

I will leave you with a pic of little bubba. He is seriously the most animated, happy baby I know...but stick him in a car seat and this is what you get!

My little copycat!

You know what's great motivation to eat healthy? When you know your little one is eating what you eat. Somehow chowing down on cheetohs and pop tarts sounds much less appealing when you know it's going directly to a tiny human.

I think when you're pregnant it's hard to wrap your head around this concept. I know for me, being a first time mom, the thought that there was actually a human inside of me was weird and almost incomprehensible.

But when their born that all changes- oh my gosh! That was a human inside me that whole time!

As we approach solids for my little bubba, it's helped me to take a look at the kind of food he will be joining in on...soon! There is nothing more motivating to eat healthy than when I know there is a little guy watching everything that goes in my mouth...and wants to do what I do!

That's why as we ease into the world of solids my little guy is going to experience a wide selection of healthiness...right along side me!

Here he is, exploring some broccoli on Sunday evening:

Addict.

I have a new addiction. Frozen yogurt. Now there are definitely worse things to be addicted too, so I'm not getting to down on myself for making the trip out to the town over two days in a row last week to indulge! It's a place called Blu Berry. I think it may be some kind of franchise...not quite sure. But it is certainly the new fad around this crazy county I live in!

Luckily, I am not alone in my new addiction. My amazing friend Hollie is also quite obsessed. In fact it was she who joined me both days in a row there! :)

I hope to write a whole post on Hollie to, because she is in so many ways an inspiration to me. We had a chance to hang out Friday night. Hollies is also on her own journey to lose the baby weight. She had her little man Hudson in July, but before she was pregnant with him, she was running half marathons! She's so awesome.

On Friday we decided to cook a healthy dinner together. Our choice? Turkey avocado burgers with turkey bacon and sweet potato fries. OH MY GOODNESS we were in heaven!


We headed to fro yo for dessert. I could have made some better choices like getting a fruit flavor and topping it with all kind of fruitty goodness, but dulce de leche and red velvet cake was calling my name! It was worth every last calorie :)