26 goals for age 26

I woke up this morning with good intentions. I felt great even though I had a few cocktails at last night's Charity Bash. I put on my slippers and tied back my hair, ready to conquer the task of packing up boxes to take to the storage unit. A project I've been working on for the past week but keep getting distracted from. I also planned to walk my dogs to our neighborhood market for lunch and attend the 5:30 Pure Bikram Yoga class downtown. I've never actually attended the class, but it's always on my to-do list for the day.

Guess what actually got accomplished? Nothing.

It is 6 pm on Sunday and the only reason I am getting out of my pajamas is because Ben is hungry. Of course he is, because he spent the last 5 hours riding his bike. I'm really not that hungry because I've stuffed my face with leftover pizza and girl scout cookies, but I'm going to eat sushi with Ben anyway.

This will be the last day I spend like this. In exactly 12 days I will turn 26. I live in a gorgeous house that is never clean. I say I'm going to work out every day but never actually do it. And my mind is in a constant state of cloudiness. I'm living in limbo. I've reached a fork in the road and it's time to make a decision on how I want to spend the rest of my life. I'm not going to bore you with the details, I'm just going to tell you that I finally feel motivated. 26 is going to be my year. A year of change. A year of personal growth. The year that I make myself physically, mentally, and spiritually happy.

Hence, the 26 goals of 26:

1. Host a party that raises money for charity.

2. Complete the full 21 days of the Clean Program.

3. Take my dogs for a walk every day.

4. Complete the Bikram 60 Day Challenge.

5. Read at least 1 book a month.

6. Break my Diet Coke addiction.

7. Be a better friend.  

8. Lose 15 pounds.

9. Create a moss lawn in my backyard.

10. Skydive.

11. Turn my basement into a studio.

12. Sell whatever I don’t need.

13. Try a new recipe each week.

14. Keep my car clean.

15. Run a half marathon.

16. Compete in a sprint triathlon.   

17. Plant a vegetable garden.

18. Make my bed every morning.

19. Stop pinning and start creating.

20. Have a date night with my husband every week.

21. Make my house a home.

22. Learn to be a better business woman.

23. Find a cause that I believe in.

24. Go the entire year without eating fast food.

25. Find a church that we enjoy.

26. Be significant. 

JuiceLand Cleanse: 7 day review

ONE WEEK!!! I went one whole week without solid foods... and I have 3 days to go until I am finished with the 10 day cleanse!

Let me tell ya, this weekend was hard. Really hard. Ben's brother, Dave, was in town. Which meant steaks at our house on Saturday (I helped prepare it, of course) and dinner out on Sunday at an Italian food restaurant that I LOVE. Not to mention, Ben and I went to Alamo Drafthouse on Thursday and I was sandwhiched between Ben attacking his buffalo chicken and a lady smacking on popcorn. But not to worry- I brought my juice! Ugh.

I will admit, I cheated just a tiny tiny bit. My stepdad, Mark, gave us some amazingly juicy red tomatoes and I just HAD to try one. That one small slice of tomato might have been the most satisfying thing I have ever tasted. Heavenly.

There are many pros to this juice cleanse which is why I have kept my self control for this long and will continue to for the entire 10 days. For example, I've lost 5 lbs so far. And this is not water weight. I also have a crazy amount of energy that I didn't have before. Levi has been the main benefactor of this advantage, considering we've either walked 4 miles or ran 3 each day this week. I can honestly only think of one con- and its the fact that I haven't had a solid meal in 7 days.

Here's to Levi! Stay tuned for my final JuiceLand review.

JuiceLand Cleanse: Day 2,3, & 4 Review

"KILL ME NOW"
This is Ben's favorite dramatic saying... I get the pleasure of hearing it every time he is stressed, we are bickering, or he is being moody. I wanted to scream it many times in the last 3 days.

Every review I read on juicing said that day 3 is the hardest. I'm assuming it's because on day 2 people are still enthusiastic about doing the cleanse, and hunger really starts to kick in on day 3. This was the opposite for me. On day 2 all I could think about was FOOD. I was miserable. However, I do think that my laziness was to blame. I basically sat on my butt all day watching people eat on TV feeling sorry for myself and counting down the hours until I could drink my next bottle of juice. And to make matters worse, I cooked spaghetti for Ben to eat for dinner. Torture.

Day 3 was much different. I woke up very early on my own and full of energy! So I went to pick up my juice and sipped on it while cooking breakfast for Ben. I had a lot of cleaning and unpacking to do after my crazy month of travel which kept me pretty busy and I actually forgot about the juice (for the first time). I even went to the gym and did a 2 hour workout!

It's Day 4 and I'm currently drinking my "Tree of Life" for dinner. Which is what I've had every night so far. It is the most filling of them all because of the carrots and beets, and I love the kick that the cayenne pepper gives! Day 4 has been a little touch and go. My mom was in town, so we walked our dogs the 4 miles to pick up my juice and I drank my breakfast. We then left to run some errands and what do you know, I FORGOT MY DANG JUICE!! So by the time we got home, I was STARVING. I drank some "XTRA HOLLA PAIN YO!" and was immediately cured. The day got much better and I even went to happy hour with my friend Amy... this time juice in hand :)

After tomorrow, I will be HALFWAY DONE!! Yippee! Keep posted for a review of all the juice flavors I've had, as well as my 5 day results.

PS- This post is dedicated to my future sister in law, Anne Yambor, who I'm pretty sure is the only person actually reading these posts!! haha

JuiceLand Cleanse: Day 1 Review

Day 1 juice flavors (in the order I drank them):

Unicorn Blood: Watermelon, Beet, Celery, Ginger, Spinach

Eh... It was okay. A little too sweet for me, but I read in another review to drink the sweet things first to get your carbs in the morning for energy. I suggest drinking it over ice, it makes it taste much better!

Ninja Bachelor Party: Pineapple, Jalepeno, Celery, Kale, Spinach, Parsley, Salt

This was sweet but had a kick to it. I was hoping for a bigger kick... but it was still good!

Cocolilly: Coconut Water, Cucumber, Celery, Kale, Parsley

This tasted SO GOOD and refreshing after my work out! I grabbed a large cup of ice from Food 4 Fitness (part of my gym) and took it with me into the sauna. It was perfect for an after work out pick me up!

Tree of Life: Carrot, Tumeric, Coconut, Ginger, Lime, Cayenne, Beet

I saved this one for dinner because I thought it would be the spiciest, and I'm SO glad I did! It was delicious, filling, and definitely my favorite!

All in all, day one was pretty okay. I was a little moody, lacking energy, and not satisfied, but I was able to handle it. I went to the gym around 3pm and ran a mile before doing an hour of strength training. I was really lacking energy after that and when 6pm rolled around, I was tired and annoyed. It's a weird feeling... I'm not hungry, but I really miss EATING. Which is hard because every time I get juice out of the fridge, I want to eat a pickle. And every time I walk by the pantry, I have to stop myself from snacking on almonds. I just want to put food into my mouth. 

1 day down.... 9 TO GO!!!!!!!

JuiceLand 10 Day Cleanse

The juicing craze has taken off full speed and I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Luckily, I live in a city that makes it easy to do. Not only do I not have the time or energy to juice a WHOLE GALLON of juice a day, but it can be very expensive and messy. I'd rather pay for convenience, and I've decided to do that through JuiceLand on Barton Springs in Austin.

I paid upfront online for a 10 day cleanse. When you do this, you save $50 and it is a commitment to do the full 10 days (which is what I need). I had difficulty deciding which one I wanted to do, so I went with the Captain's Choice where you get 4 different juices each day. My only request was that I get 2 spicy ones. For those of you who know me, I eat hot sauce on EVERYTHING so this was definitely a necessity :)

Most people eat raw for 3 or 4 days in advance to get their body prepared, but thanks to my cousin graduating from TCU this weekend- I went on a weekend binger of over eating and drinking instead. This also left my dog Levi very hyper from his lack of exercise he received this weekend, so I decided to walk the 2 miles there to go pick up my juice for the day. 

4 miles, a gallon of juice, and a very tired dog later- I started my juice cleanse. Stay tuned for my review of Day 1!

spEGGtacular TIE-dyed easter eggs!!!

It's no secret that I'm a craft lover. Ben refers to them as "projects" and claims that I spend all of my time on the internet searching for new projects to do. It doesn't take up ALL of my time, but it does consume a generous chunk of my day :)

I found this gem while surfing for DIY Easter decorations. It combines two things I absolutely love, thrift store shopping, and crafting. http://www.marthastewart.com/269788/silk-tie-easter-eggs

My little sister, Mallori, was in town this weekend which was great because I needed an extra set of hands for this one. I followed the directions from the website step by step except I decided to use blown eggs (which were the shells leftover from the massive amount of breakfast burritos I made last week). In theory, this was a great idea because we are still a couple of weeks away from easter, and I wanted to save the eggs for as long as possible. However, it made the boiling step quite difficult.

Here are pictures and thoughts from my EGGciting craft afternoon with Mallori!

These are the ties we used. I've been collecting them from local thrift stores around Austin. The cheapest I could find was $3 each, so please let me know if there is a place I can get them for less! As you can see from the final product, the dark blues and deep reds show up the best.

I should have done a better job at wrapping the eggs in the ties. There is a lot of white area on the eggs from the folds in the silk. I think next time I am going to try and wrap it like a tootsie roll so that the fabric is closer to the eggs.

Here is where the blown eggs caused a dilemma. Because they were hollow, the egg wouldn't sink in the pot. We had to put a salad plate on top of the eggs to hold them down under the lid. Not ideal. I'll have to think of a better way to do this, because it is really a shame to throw these pretty eggs away every year. Not to mention- boiled eggs smell terrible.

Finished product!! Don't they look great? Not too shabby for our first try. How cute would these be hanging by a ribbon on an Easter tree? Can't wait to try it again next year!

Proud Pullet Parents

Look at those tail feathers!!

Tonight is the first night our little chickadees have gone to roost on their own. They are growing up so fast!! I can't wait until they start laying eggs, hopefully in about a month or so. Maybe Ben will get an egg for his birthday!!