veggie soup

Zach's homemade Vegetable Soup!

Carrots, tomatoes, green beans, mushrooms, cabbage, onions, celery, kale and organic chicken stock!

Absolutely Delicious!

*yum yum yum*

My breakfast this morning!!!!

So, so, soooo GOOD!

surprise

This group of people are so AWESOME!!!!

They threw me the best surprise party EVER!

Tomorrow is my birthday. The BIG 2-7!

Whoo-Hoo!

At work, every month that has a holiday or birthday we party!

We love to party! We all bring food. Decorate. And just stuff our faces ALL.DAY.LONG! I usually get the parties together but always have help from my co-workers.

Since its October, my birthday and Halloween (yes, we celebrate Halloween, costumes and all). I just assumed it would be just one party day and I would share my party with Halloween.

Well... I was WRONG!!

Zach asked me last week if I wanted to go eat at Keifer's for my birthday.

Heck yes, I would love Keifer's!!!

We originally picked Saturday night and then all of a sudden he wanted to go on Sunday. I'm so glad we switched it!!!

My great work family got in contact with Zach and started planning me a SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

TOTALLY.MAD.MY.DAY!!!!

Here are some pics from last night...

Not only did they go out of their way and throw me this party but I also got showered with gifts!

Zach and little Ms Brooklee!

Enjoying the awesome cupcakes Brandi made.

CANDY CORN CUPCAKES!

I LOVE CANDY CORN!!!

My wonderful Healthplex Crew!

I love this man!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

You all are awesome and I appreciate everything you all did!!!

Thank you!!!!

training with video!

Training for the week is over! Time to rest for the next two days. I have really been busting my behind in the gym and I have gotten 3 of my 4 main lifts in the triple digits!!! Whoo-hoo!! Here is this weeks training...

Monday:

Bench/Squats

Bench Press

65lbx5 warm-up

105x 2 sets of 3

105x 3 sets of 1

Squats

65lbx5 warm up

115x 4 sets of 3

115x 1 set of 4

(I was aiming for 5 on this last set but couldn't get that last one. Thankfully, Zach was there to spot me because I went straight to the ground. Must.Try.Again! I will win!

Kettlebell Swings

35lb KB

10 on the min

I did ten kb swings right on the min and then rested the rest of the minute. First few were fine but then it quickly started to kick my butt!

DB Bent Over Rows

(1 arm)

25lb

5x10

Tuesday

Cardio

45 min Spin Class

Wednesday

30 min Circuit Class

Thursday

45 min Spin Class

Friday

Deadlift/Military Press

Deadlift

45x5 warm-up

95x 5

135x3

165x 3 sets of 5

165x 2 sets of 4

Here is a video of my first set of 5.

165 lbs!!!!

Military Press

45x5 warm up

60 x 2 sets of 5

60x 3 sets 3

Front Squats

45x 3 sets of 10

Seated Rows

40x 3 sets of 10

Have a great weekend!

from the last year...

My friend Callie over at The Good Life Blog passed on this blogging world game. She picked 5 other blogs to play and I was one of them! YIPEE!! So, of course I have to play.

What's the dealy-yo? There are 7 categories, you pick a blog entry of yours from the past year that best fits that category!!

I know that I only have 20 followers but I know way more people read it... Only because they tell me if they have read it and which post they enjoyed.

So, here it goes... Hope you enjoy it!

1) Most Beautiful
I would have to say the "Where I came from" blog. I love my life and am so proud of where I came from. The delta is Beautiful, my family is Beautiful and LIFE is BEAUTIFUL!

2) Most Popular
I Think my most popular blog is "Who says girls can't lift weights.." I got lots of remarks on this! I am also very proud to say that I have gotten my Deadlift up to 155lbs, my Bench to 105lbs and my Squats to 115lbs! I have been working really hard on all my lifts. Military press still has a long was to go to be in the triple digits but maybe one day I will get there.

3) Most Controversial
I don't think I have had any controversial blogs... I must be pretty boring :(

4) Most Helpful
I would like to say that some of the recipes and my workout blogs have been helpful. Working out is definitely VERY important to me and I like to share them with whoever will listen... or read!

5) Post whose success surprised you
I would have to agree with Callie on this one. They all have surprised me. I still can't believe I have a blog sometimes and when people ask me when will I post something new.

6) Post that didn't get enough attention

Not sure on this one.

7) Post you are most proud of

I would say that I am pretty proud of all my post. This is my life and I am proud of what I have accomplished and everyone I have shared these moments with!!!

Now to pass this little game on to 5 more bloggers!!!

Katie @ Walkers in Grace

Lauren @ Surviving the Hills

Paige @ HealthyandQuickMeals

Jen @ A 'peace' of Jen

Chastity @ The Journey to a New Me

vaca recap

Another vacation has come and gone.

We had a wonderful time.

Weather was perfect.

Cabin was awesome!

Enjoyed Dollywood and the Aquarium.

Took an afternoon ride through Cade's Cove.

Ate delicious food.

Our cabin came with a pet... We named him Puglie.

We shopped and then shopped a little more.

Ben and Jerry's store in the outlet mall... enough said!

Anyways... here are a few pics!!!

Em and Brooklee at the Aquarium.

Waiting to get into the aquarium.

Riding her first ride. She loved it!

Enjoying the train ride at Dollywood!

Brave girl riding with NO HANDS!

Cheesin' away!

Oh and we did a little mountain climbing obstacle course!

Britt was saying..

There was more than 1 LOOP ON THAT ROLLER COASTER!!!

Him and Shorty got tricked... there was 3 LOOPS!

hahahahaha

So sweet!

Ice cream... yummm!

So being tourist at the Apple Barn.

Me and my two favorite people!

Love my family!

Love family vacations!

happy birthday, zach

Today is Zach's birthday!!! I love birthdays! Saturday on our trip we had to make a quick run through Wal-Mart. While we were there I decided to pick up a little pre-made cake for Zach's birthday. A few minutes later I passed the Halloween section and decided to pick up so sprinkles to add some color to the cake.

Brooklee did all the decorating. She was so serious about it. If it were up to her we would have used the entire bottle of sprinkles. She was having so much fun! Here are a few pics...

Showing off her work!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to Zach,

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!

Zach and I were both off work today and enjoyed spending his big day together. Did a little shopping, he helped with my training and just lounged around the house. Perfect way to recover from a vacation!!!

words can not express

This place is just beautiful!

Looking at the scenery never gets old!

good morning blogging world

Source: bitsotruth.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

training/vacation prep

IT'S VACATION WEEK!!!

WHOO-HOO!!!!

I can't believe it is finally here. Another trip to the great Smokey Mountains! My vacation starts tomorrow at 1130am! I'm packed (for the most part) and READY to go! Since, we will not be working out while we are away I went ahead and crammed my training in back to back. I usually spread them out with a couple of days but I just had to push through and get them done.

Yesterday, I woke up super early... What's new?!?!? I immediately got up and started cleaning, doing laundry and all those other not-so-fun chores that has to be done. Zach woke up shortly after me and immediately got to work too. I have this thing about having to make sure that everything is clean and done before a vacation... Thanks, MOM!!! I love coming back to a house that is clean and nothing has to be done but unload all of the luggage.

After a hour or two of cleaning, Zach and I started cooking. We did this back in June when we went to the mountains and it worked out fine so, for about 5 hours or so we cooked, weighed out portions, bagged it up and stuck in the freezer. Yes, we will take our on food with us. It's a lot of work in the beginning but at least we won't have to worry with any cooking on the trip.

During all of this, I started thinking about my training sessions. I definitely didn't want to miss one so I took a break from all the prep work and hit the Z&M Powerhouse Gym a.k.a. our garage. I have really been pushing hard on all my heavy lifts. Over the last 3 weeks all my lifts have gone up 2o pounds!!! Pretty pumped about this!

I did my second training today on my lunch break.

So, here is what I did....

Sunday Training:

Bench Press/ Military Press

Bench Press

75lbs 1x5 (warm-up)

95lbs 5x5

Military Press

45lbs 1x5 (warm-up)

55lbs 5x5

Dbell Bench

25lbs 3x10

Band Fly

3x10

Lateral Raises/Frontal Raises

5lb 3x10 (each)

Monday Training:

Deadlift/Squat

Deadlift

115lbs 1x5(warm-up)

155lbs 5x5

Squats

95lbs 1x5

105lbs 5x5

Incline Leg Press

90lbs 3x10

Barbell Bent Over Rows

45lbs 3x10

Pretty proud of myself! Now I can go on vacation and relax... or at least I hope! Can not wait until tomorrow at 1130am! SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!

Happy Monday Everyone!!!

breakfast of champions

GOOD SUNDAY MORNING!

I am still trying to figure out ways to get all my veggies in with all my meals. I wanted to share what I came up with this morning.

Scrambled egg stuffed bell peppers with sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms.

Looks delicious, right?!?!?

Well... it was!

All I did was cut big pepper rings and chopped the rest up to be sauteed with the mushrooms and onions. Then I mixed 5 egg whites and 2 Omega 3 eggs together and poured it into my pepper rings. I got a really tiny wisk and scrambled the eggs.

How easy???

Macros:

Calories: 323

Fat: 15

Protein: 31

Carbs: 17

Yes, I am suppose to have green veggies along with my meal but we do not have any cooked right now. I will make up for the ones I missed later.

Have a great Sunday!

VACATION IN 3 DAYS!!!!!

it's finally here

I'm so excited that today is October 1st!!!

It is the most wonderful time of the year. My favorite month.

Yes, October is my favorite month. Don't get me wrong, I love all the other holidays. But there is just something about October that I LOVE and here are the reasons why...

(Special thanks to pinterest.com for helping me find my pis.)

1. Pumpkins

Source: tumblr.com via Trisha on Pinterest

2. Candy Corn

Source: realsimple.com via Cookin' Cowgirl on Pinterest

3. Fall Colors

Source: beautiful-portals.tumblr.com via Kat on Pinterest

4. Family Vacation

(Smokey Mountains in 4 days!)

5. Pumpkin Man

(he has to live in the attic all year)

6. Birthdays

(Zach's is the 10th and mine is the 18th)

Source: google.com via Casey on Pinteres

7. Halloween

Last but not least...

8. Our Anniversary!!!

2 years down and a lifetime to go =)

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!!