It is Confession day!!! Time to sack up and spill all your secrets with Kathy and I!!!
–I hate dealing with adult things like calling insurance companies, setting up service to be done, asking for people to do their damn jobs basically. I usually am too nice and let people walk all over me. I got so angry this week over a situation that I let someone have it on the phone. It. Felt. Awesome. No more Ms Nice Nadine. #dontfuckwithmeandmymoney
–Football fans do weird shit. During the 4th quarter of the championship game I was running in place to get some steps in when we scored a touchdown therefore every time we got in the red zone or had a big play I would start running in place. It worked, we kicked ass 4th quarter and pulled out the W!!! #dontjinxit
–Speaking of game day traditions, I have to have “Roll Tide Roll” as my Facebook status during a game. I might not post anything for a month on Facebook besides that but the minute I see we are doing poorly I am like…oh shit, is my status up there??? #rituals #itsnotweirdifitworks
–There is an apartment complex being built near my office. Every day when they start banging on what sounds like metal on metal…I want to blow my brains out. It is the most horrid of distracting noises and we are going on a week of nonstop insanity with it. #pleasestop #imtryingtowork
–When I get upset, mad or angry I clean. #burnoffnerves
–Do you ever sit and wonder where on earth some people’s money comes from? This goes for real life and blogging. How do fashion bloggers have on a different $200+ outfit every single day? Where are they getting their money to pay for all this expensive shit they are constantly sharing? #butreally
–I may or may not have already decided what I am doing with all the money when I win the lottery. #believeitachieveit
–I went to pick up my rental car last night while mine is being fixed and I literally laughed when they pulled it up. Its a bright red VW bug. The guy got out and was like you like? I was like no really, where’s my rental?!?! Sure enough joke was on me. #punchbug #feelslikedrivingaclowncar
Confessions in ecard
This is my life…
CONFESS BITCHES
Link up with Kathy and I and get some confessions of your chest!
First things first, can I get a ROLL TIDE ROLL BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man oh man oh man what a game last night!!! I stood the entire forth quarter running in place in my living room I had so much balled up nervous energy. The team really came together and proved they deserved to be there. I haven’t seen a team so unified in a long time and I couldn’t be more proud of my boys. Even if I did yell at Coker a few times in the first half and basically woke up without a voice this morning. I am pretty sure all of Alabama yelled Roll Tide last night!!!
Another Moriarty win for me! This time she gets me to question what I would do if I fell in love with someone who has a stalker. I found this book very interesting, not only for the actual story line but also to get a glimpse in to hypnotherapy and the view through a stalker’s eyes. This book was a little different than some of Moriarty’s other books that seem to have a three person pattern which Lauren pointed out to me. This one follows Ellen (the hypnotist) and Saskia (the stalker.)
Bottom Line: There isn’t a Moriarty book that I haven’t loved so far. This was a great read.
I have talked about wanting to start a garden and I am hoping 2016 is the year to make this happen! This book has great tips and goes into much detail on some very important aspects of gardening. Learn how to map out your garden, soiling, how to keep up with it, etc. There are useful charts that you can reference back to throughout the life of your garden.
Bottom Line: If you are looking to get in to gardening, then this is for you! I highly recommend getting a hard copy of this book. E-books are not the best for flipping back and forth!
*I was provided a copy of High-Yield Vegetable Gardening by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
This happens to be book 2 in the Take the Fall series, but I found that I didn’t need the first book to enjoy this one. This is your typical good girl falls for the bad boy love story. The bad boy of course is trying to get his life back together and tries to distance himself from the good girl, but will he give in and allow himself to be loved? I enjoyed the tattoo parlor scenes and the social work thrown in to the mix. It made for some interesting reading.
Bottom Line: This was a quick and easy read for me. I enjoyed the characters and story. It was your basic good girl bad boy formula. Nothing mind blowing, but it passed the time just fine and I would recommend it.
*I was provided a copy of When We Fall by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
When I read the description of this book, I thought hmmmm what would I do if I won the lottery??? (Which funny enough is such a relevant topic today with that huge pot up for grabs!!!) Holly is a single mom working a minimum wage job and down on her luck. When her co-worker Ray suggests that they split a lottery ticket, she just hands over her $1 bill and doesn’t think much of it. Their luck changes when they realize they have the winning ticket!!! Things start to spark up between them, but then there are lawyers and media and exes trying to get in the way.
Bottom Line: I really enjoyed this book because it is a different plot line. I liked how raw Ray is in this book. I like that it isn’t just rainbows and butterflies because they won the lottery. It shows the full picture of how it can change your life. I would recommend it.
*I was provided a copy of Rolling in the Deep by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
This book was suggested to me because I like Janet Evanovich. I can totally see why after reading it. You have the frustrating love triangle between the leading lady (Juliet) and her two men…the guy she has know for awhile, the “safe choice” (Pete) and the mysterious bad ass that she knows is wrong but desires anyway (Seth.) Juliet moves back to Nashville to help manage Pete’s coffee shop after learning that her fiance is a lying asshole who took off with all of her money. On her first day, she find’s her new employee Dave’s body in a dumpster. She is the only suspect the police have so she needs to find other suspects to take the heat off her.
Bottom Line: This was a fun read and I recommend it if you like the Stephanie Plum series!
*I was provided a copy of Death Before Decaf by the publisher and author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Normally on Mondays you come to my blog preparing yourself for food porn. Well not this Monday my friends. You see, this weekend I continued on with my Whole 30 journey and I managed to not hate life. Imagine that!
So you might be asking yourself, why Whole 30? The obvious answer is because it is healthy. Because it detoxes and resets your body. I might shed a few pounds. There is a chance I have a food allergy and this might shine light on that. All of those answers are part of the reason. But I like to be real with you guys. The real reason why I am doing Whole 30 is to prove to myself that I can. To prove that food doesn’t control me.
I have a 40×40 list. You can see it up there below my title. It is still a project in the works as I have been adding on to it for the last year. Well, this weekend….I added Whole 30 to the list. You see, I wanted it on there last year when I started my list. It was the very first thing that came to mind (after Disney). The truth is, I didn’t have faith in myself that I could ever do it.
My mind has really started to change over the last year or so. Sure, I have been regularly waking up at 4:35 am five days a week for my workouts the past two and a half years. But working out was never really a problem for me. It has always been food. It probably will always be food. But something has changed in my mind.
I can be good Monday through Friday morning but then Friday at lunch I will go with friends. Friday night I will come home and snack on pizza or nachos. Saturday we hit up World of Beer where I have two or three beers then we are off to for a burger and fries. Sunday I am making cheesy pasta or chicken fingers and fries. It’s pretty much been that way since I came home from the beach this summer.
Everything is ok in moderation, right? The thing with moderation for me though, is that it is hard to walk the line. There is always that gray area. Say Tuesday I am really not wanting what I brought for lunch. I had a bad morning and I want to get out of the office so I go down to Jimmy Johns and have a sandwhich and chips. No big deal, it was just one meal. But then I get home that evening and while I am trying to cook our healthy dinner, I am starving and snack on chips and salsa. Wednesday morning while making Chris’s lunches, I play the one slice of cheese for his sandwich one slice of cheese for me to eat game. Thursday morning I am tired and swing by Starbucks for a grande nonfat caramel macchiato (my drink of choice.) Annnnnd I have already shared what Friday-Sunday typically look like.
All those little things add up. And for what? Did it make my week better? Did it bring me joy? No. Not really. That is why I need an all or nothing reset. Whole 30 doesn’t allow for those foods to even exist. You flat out can’t have them.
So my thoughts on Whole 30 after the first full week? I am alive and still positive about my experience. I haven’t intentionally tried to cheat. There was one day last week where I was unaware that I was consuming something that had an ingredient I wasn’t supposed to have.
On Wednesday I was a little more tired than usual. Some asshole left donuts and brownies in our break room and I wanted to go punch them in the face. So perhaps I was a bit cranky that day. On Thursday evening Chris ate chips and guac in front of me. I was wanting that chip so bad. I even jokingly asked him if it was cheating by just licking the chip. I didn’t do it…but that was how bad I wanted it.
Every day that passes by, I feel more and more confident in myself that I can do this. I can go 30 days without sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, and yes friends….I can even go without cheese.
I would like to give a shout out to Laura who is doing this with me. G-Chatting with her daily about wanting to lick tortilla chips and punch people in the face every time they open a diet coke has been quite helpful.
Amy and Laura are also great hosts on having the #breakupchallenge2016 and answering any questions I have. I wanted to link up with them tomorrow, but it’s book day so I am posting this a day early!
Oh, I lied. I did have a burger picture to share with you!!! My turkey burger, roasted potatoes and “ketchup” that I made with compliant ingredients. Boom bitches!!!
I probably wont link up every week to check in, but I will do a recap post on my thoughts and results at the end of the 30 days. You can follow along with me on Instagram to see some the #whole30 meals I eat! I hope you all have a great week!!!
Favorite Song: Another good one I found while watching The Vampire Diaries! Blossom by Noah Gundersen. It is a super chill song. Sort of reminds me of Matt Nathanson or The Fray, give it a listen.
Favorite Recipe: Laura shared some recipes that she is doing for Whole 30 in her post on Tuesday. I can’t wait to try this chili! Bonus points for being a crock pot recipe.
Favorite Workout: I have been switching it up like crazy this week and I stumbled across the 30 Day Fat Burn workouts. They are usually between 10-15 minutes so I pick a few each day for a well balanced sweat. This was my favorite. I work out my arms a lot, at least twice a week and damn did I feel the burn on this one!
Favorite Home Products: I have switched three of my main home product purchases for more natural options. These have all been repurchased now so I thought it would be a good time to share with you because they are totally worth it! They are all available at Target and the Meyer Clean Day products are 5% off with Cartwheel! (I am not being paid to say that, I just like to save money!)
Meyer’s Clean Day Dish Soap – I have the basil scent in this and I love it! Basil sounded a little weird to me, but trust me.
Meyer’s Dryer Sheets – I grabbed the lavender ones of these and OMG they smell amazing!!! You can walk past our laundry area and smell them just sitting in the box. Chris and I both have sensitive skin and this is the only scented thing I have found that hasn’t driven either of us crazy. Did you know that conventional dryer sheets are one of the most toxic things in your house?
The Honest Company Laundry Detergent – I have unscented and I think that is the only kind you can get? Either way, this stuff has been amazing and I will never go back to Tide. This is HE safe and great for sensitive skin and allergies.
Favorite Lust:I want to get a piece of furniture for our master bath to put my make up and jewelry on to stay more organized.I know that sometimes TJ Maxx and those types of stores have some cute ones for $200 or less so I might have to keep an eye out there as well. Which style do you like best? The first and last one really aren’t priced that terrible for a piece of furniture. The middle one would be too big, but I like the idea of all different colored drawers/doors.
Where have these been all my life??? There is nothing I hate more than banging around trying to get the right pan. Why is it never on top? That pin will take you to a whole collection of organizing hacks.
This weekend is hopefully going to be full of cleaning, organizing, purging and avoiding the shit out of all of the foods I would normally consume. Don’t expect to hate me for burger and beer porn on Monday, it wont be happening around here. I know you are shocked, pick that jaw up off the ground and go have yourself a fabulous weekend!!!
I am not really one to make New Years resolutions. In fact, I kind of hate them. They tend to be so general like lose weight, eat healthier or spend less time on social media. You know what the problem with these resolutions are? They aren’t really obtainable. Sure, you can lose 10 pounds this month or stay off Twitter for a week but the thing is, there is no end goal. How do you know if you are done?
When you do things in moderation, it is hard to draw the line. Sure, I can eat healthier this week but then next week I might have a cheat meal Tuesday because it is a friend’s birthday. Then Thursday night I might come home hangry and have chips and salsa. It is a slippery slope.
This is why I like to set specific goals for myself. Ones that I can cross off a list. Over the last two years, I had set quarterly seasonal goals for myself and while it worked pretty well most quarters, I want to do things differently this year.
I have so many ideas and dreams. Don’t we all? But I just feel like I am constantly floating around, not really doing anything to actually make these dreams a reality for myself.
For the month of January, my main focus is to plan and prep to set 2016 up for my most successful year yet!
I want to get a planner so I can actually set dates for things I want to have accomplished. I also plan to schedule the house chores in there to keep myself from literally doing everything on Saturdays. I hate wasting three hours every weekend cleaning when I could be doing little things daily for 15 minutes. Oh, and maybe do a little blog scheduling too. Crazy, I know.
As you know, I am participating in the Breakup Challenge this month by doing Whole 30. I haven’t decided exactly what foods I will re-introduce after the 30 days but allowing my body to detox and reset is huge for me.
I have my mind set this weekend to take down all of our Christmas decorations and start cleaning out one of our spare bedrooms. They tend to become a toss all over the holidays and I can’t stand messes for very long.
When the get my life together, organize and purge all the things hair grows up your ass, you run with it! What are you going to do this year to work towards your dreams?
