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Well well well….look who showed up for class today: SPRING! 

And then there is Kathy and all you northern bloggers:

LOL sorry bitches! We still love you 🙂

Let’s take a look at how I did on my winter goals. This was the first time I set up a goal list….and I think I did ok. Certainly room for improvements! I will post my spring goals next week. I can feel your excitement!

Mind

1. Complete Harry Potter Series – Finished 3-13-2014

2. Read at least one  non-Harry Potter book – I read 5 magazines this week, does that count?

3. Watch 3 new to me movies – Love Actually and Wanted. I am missing one!

Body

1. Complete all three months of Focus T25, working out 5 days per week. (allowing one week break for vacation trip that is already planned) I got sick and had to take 4 weeks off. I restarted the whole program and am half way through Beta.

2. Maintain 80/20 diet for clean/healthy eating. – Done

3. Make an eye doctor appointment to get prescription sunglasses. – Because I got sick I incurred extra medical bills and decided to put this off for a spring goal.

4. Make appointment for dental surgery. 12/20/2013 A few days after I started this post, I ended up needing to have emergency surgery for said problem. I love already having something crossed off this list!

Home

1. Organize master bedroom closet – Done!

2. Turn the dog room into more than just the dog room/storage room. Make it functional and organized. – This so did not happen. Oops. On the plus side, I finally came up with a few ideas that I would like to do!

3. Start a list of monthly goals to decorate the house. Room by room.

• I have created a list of things that we need to purchase for the house.
• I organized the kitchen cabinets and added a few pieces on top of the cabinets.
• I have one picture purchased for our master bedroom.

4. Get rid of clothes that I have not worn in over a year.

• I went through my closet, under the bed storage, and the two guest room closets and got rid of two HUGE bags full of clothes and two bags of shoes. I gave them to my sister to take to the girls that work at her daycare. So I felt good accomplishing that task and helping someone out!

5. Make a cleaning schedule so that I am not spending 3 hours every Saturday doing everything. – I still have been cleaning on the weekends, it’s just how it has worked out. I plan on trying this out for spring.

Food

1. Try a new to me restaurant.

• Which Which

2. Try 5 new recipes.

• BBQ Chicken Sweet Potatoes
• Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash
• Taco Salad
• Vidilia Onion Chicken
• Feta Cheese Eggs
• Turkey Mini Meatloafs

3. Make healthy breakfast muffins. I had plans on making them this week but it didn’t happen. This will move over to spring.

Money

1. Stay in more often than going out on the weekends. We did this for the most part.

2. Organize coupon holder.

• Have done once a month to get rid of expired ones.

3. Choose a month to try a spending freeze.

• Fail. It was to be January. Then I found myself in the ER with lots of medical bills. Then Chris accepted a new job and needed new work clothes. It all went out the window!

–I really love confession day! I feel like it is a great way of getting to know people…and realize that maybe you aren’t so weird after all. Wait, what? Oh, ok maybe we are.

–I don’t bite my nails, unless I have one that I chipped or snagged.

–I do bite around my nails. This has to be the worst habit ever. I would like to say I will stop this immediately. I won’t.

–I kind of like grocery shopping. I like looking at all the products out there, investigating labels, seeing different packaging and groupings, and getting inspired by different things. Plus..I love the produce section. It’s so pretty. I just hate standing in line to check out, loading it into my car, and unloading it all at home.

If you don’t get this, then you probably sit at the cool table and not the nerd table with me.

–I somehow managed to tear off half of my toe nail while doing laundry Sunday night. How in the actual hell do you rip off part of your toe nail on the washing machine I have no clue. I managed to find a way to do it though. Idiot or genius? Don’t answer that. It hurt like a bitch and now my perfectly sparkly toes are ruined. Oh, and working out isn’t much fun when your shoes press down on it, but it isn’t an excuse…I work through it.

How I see my washing machine now.

–A few months ago I started replacing sour cream with Greek yogurt. Chris never noticed, as I usually fix both of our plates while he is getting the TV ready. After about a month of using Greek yogurt, I told him casually that I had replaced it and it was “so much healthier.” Now he always reminds me that I should have never told him “because I notice now.” Whatever…no you don’t! Moral of the story ladies? Just do it and say nothing.

–Every time I go to get my hair done, I never know what I want. This is absolutely ridiculous and annoying. Another down side to my indecisive personality. I started coloring my hair about 6 or 7 years ago. It started out with just a few blonde highlights, then it went a lot of blonde highlights and everything in between. Then last year I decided I wanted to go dark. Darker than my natural color (medium brown with some lighter in it, I was born sort of blond then it turned auburn then it turned brown all by the time I was 2). I did that, but I kept some light highlights in it. Last time I went to get my hair done back in September? I went ALL dark. The color has faded now, as it always does and I have split ends that have split ends so it is time to see my girl Kerri again! The question is….what do I do?!?! This is where I need your help! What do you think I should do?

After I cut off about 6 inches of hair, with partial highlights:

A lot of light (and a friend I miss dearly and need to visit!!):

Low lights with my natural base and highlights (this was taken right after I left the salon):

A lot of highlights with my natural base after it has faded over time:

Dark with some highlights….and two beach trips that always turns my hair lighter:

What it looked like after I went all dark:

A few weeks ago after months of fading:

Ok…..so what color should I go for? I feel like some of my lighter days really washed out my skin color but I do plan on getting some tanning lotion to use to bring some color to my ghostly skin. Pasty is the new sexy, bitches! My current color is maybe a little too dark, as some of my hairs come back blonde and they almost look gray because of the contrast. As you can see, I have baby fine flat hair. I just blow dry and do a little straightening in the morning to smooth it out. Any cut suggestions other than just a trim? Do NOT say bangs. I hate bangs. I thought they would be a great idea a few years back and it took me 3 solid years to not look awkward anymore!

See..bangs are not good for people with thin hair. Neither is no eye liner. Woof.

These are some of the colors I like:

Not the purple but the other colors!

It looks like I am leaning toward staying dark with maybe some highlights, but I am open to anything!

Go link up with Kathy and confess!

Tuesday is Monday’s cousin. It isn’t even the middle of the week yet, Friday just seems so far away! You gotta find some way to make it fun! Insert: Taco Tuesdays! Or you know…if you like Tequila…it could be Tequila Tuesdays! Secret? I HATE tequila. Sorry. I do like frozen mango or strawberry margaritas and that is about where my tolerance for tequila ends.

Sometimes, I like to switch up our Mexican meals because there are just so many different ways to serve meat, beans and rice! I have shared my Mexican Skillet and my Salsa Chicken in the past. Today I wanted to give you an idea for an at home taco salad!

What you need:

meat – I prefer extra lean ground beef in my salad but you could use ground turkey or chicken
1 packet of taco seasoning
lettuce – I used a head of lettuce, chopped. Sometimes I buy the lettuce shreds if I am feeling lazy
1 can of black beans, drained

Toppings:

purple onion
tomato
jalapenos
guacamole
Greek yogurt
cheese
southwest chipotle ranch dressing

What you do:

Cook your meat like you would for tacos. After my meat is browned, and I am adding my taco seasoning…I go ahead and toss the black beans in to get the flavoring too!

Layer lettuce, purple onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos.

Add the meat and black beans.

Top with greek yogurt, guacamole and dressing. (Sometimes I use salsa instead of dressing.)

The salad is delicious and filling! This is an easy recipe….if you can even call it a recipe. It is more like tossing stuff in a bowl! I just like to get inspired by simple ideas of what people are doing and that is why I wanted to share this today! Sometimes we get so caught up with Pinterest and all these fancy dishes that the basics get lost. I like the basics.

Happy Friday! This morning I walked out onto our deck to check the level of the dogs outside water bowl, it was frozen! Frozen water mid-March in the south? Crazy talk! It’s ok, later today it will be in the mid 60’s. Kathy is probably calling me a bitch right about now…she wishes it were 30 in Canada.

1. St Patrick’s day celebrations kick off this weekend! I am Irish and would you believe I never really celebrated St Patrick’s day the true Irish way? Well tomorrow that will change! We are heading out with some friends to get our green beer drinking on.

2.Last weekend we celebrated my niece Berkley’s 11th birthday. I got to spend some time with my mom and my sister. We don’t get to see each other near as often as I would like and I hate that…but we sure do make the best of the time we do have!

3. Chris sent me an email this week with the subject: Look what we have. Disney Infinity for the Wii U! We have been eyeing this game ever since it game out! It just sounds so fun and interesting and who doesn’t love Disney? Besides, he got it at such a great deal at Bargain Hunt that it makes it an even bigger win! Hopefully we will have some time to try it out this weekend.

4. My friend told me yesterday that she got an email from Old Navy that their dresses were buy one get one half off. I asked her if they had anything cute and she said yeah!!! I investigated a little further. I need to get to Old Navy ASAP! Check these out! I think the buy get one half off sale was only for yesterday, but a lot of these dresses are on sale and there is 15% off adult styles online. Swoon.

5.  

And remember:

My little Gracie Lou had her 8th birthday on Monday!!! Where in the hell has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday I brought home the cutest puppy on the entire planet who was tripping over her own ears.

Gracie has some advice to share with you today. She is very wise, I would listen up!

Hello there blog land. First, I want to take the time to thank all of you for agreeing with me on Monday….daylight savings time is NOT my friend.

I have been around for 8 years. While that doesn’t seem like a long time to you humans….I am considered a “senior” in dog world. I deny the term senior. Pay no attention to the white fur around my face. That is just signs of wisdom, ok?! My mommy says all the time that I am very much a puppy at heart. Just not in the mornings.

This leads me to my first piece of advice. Sleepy time is very important. Make sure you are getting enough!

If you take away nothing else from me, remember this: Always be excited when you see your loved ones! Let them know they were missed! I spend 9 hours a day Monday-Friday waiting for my humans to come home. It is the highlight of my day when they walk in the house! I make sure I let them know too!

You can never have too many snuggles.

There is nothing quite like a clean basket of laundry to relax you.

Master the sad puppy face. It works every time.

Share with others.

This reminds me…I need to work on sharing with Mac. He hasn’t quite figured out how to yet. Exhibit A: A toy taken right out of my mouth. Rude!

If you want something, you have to ask!

Take time to understand the beauty in mother nature.

No matter how annoying your family might be, they are all you have. Watch after them. I love my little brother Mac. He might steal my toys and bully me around…but I always look out for him.

DVR it people, life is short and ain’t nobody got time for commercials!

If you see bunny ears coming to wards you, run! (Thanks for taking one for the team, Mac.)

Enjoy a beautiful, sunny day!

Make time for the things you enjoy. Me? I prefer to hunt and slay dinosaurs. It is a big job, but someone has to do it!

A hug will make anything better.

Just a few more things, scoot in close and listen up!

If you don’t like something, shit on it. Cover it up, and move on!

Be loyal. Always.

Learn new tricks.

Never pass up the opportunity for a fun car ride!

You don’t always have to bite, sometimes just a growl will do.

If you really want something and it is buried deep, just keep digging!

If you get really excited, it is ok to run around and shake your entire body!!! Just dance!

Now if you all would excuse me, I have some wet food to go wolf down! (get it?!) I love birthday week!