Changes..for the Better!

There have been several changes in our lives since I last blogged. I know, I know! Of course there has been, you say, It's been almost 8 months! For this I apologize. As any of you that have moved homes is aware, busy doesn't begin to describe our lives lately. There are still boxes to unpack. It's amazing how much you can fit into a 1200ish square foot home. We will get around to organizing our attic space eventually, I hope!

Ok, now the good stuff! Our new home!


We are beyond excited about our new home! It still didn't feel like it was actually ours until this past summer. We love our neighborhood and neighbors and look forward to someday raising children here  and this being our forever home.

Soon to Be Homeowners!

DH and I will be homeowners soon....by the end of the week to be exact!

WOW

We had planned on waiting until next summer to seriously look at buying a home but, when you know you've found "The One", timelines don't seem all that important anymore. It has been such a whirlwind the last month and it still doesn't seem real that we are going to have our own home within a few days!

Timeline:
January 7- 1st viewing of home
January 11- 2nd viewing...put in an offer that evening
January 12- Received counter offer and made another counter
January 13- Our offer was accepted and contract was signed!
January 19- Home inspection completed
February 10- Closing!

We plan on painting all weekend with lots of help from our sweet family! I can't wait to be able to have this house as our own home and begin on all the projects I've been dreaming of completing for the past few weeks!

Let's Play Catch Up!

Over 6 months....that's how long it's been since I've blogged. Ohmigoodness. Seems like a great time to play catch up, right?

Let's see...things that have changed since my last post:

1. I graduated!!! Finally!
2. After 2 licensure exams and over 1 month of waiting for my fingerprints to clear, I'm...wait for it...officially a pharmacist! Double hooray!
3. After over 8 months of seriously stressing over finding a full-time job postgrad, I was blessed with finding a job within driving distance of my home. God seriously knows what He's doing and I never pictured things working out as great as they have.

So, as you can see, I have been seriously busy trying to adjust to "life as a grown up" in "the real world" as a full-time employee. I'm sorry I've taken my blog for granted. In all honesty, I've been trying to remember the web address for the last week and finally took time to go back a bajillion pages on FB to finally locate it. I know, I never do things the easy way :-)

I'm currently working on a mantle (post to follow) for our house. When we sat down and really examined our long term goals, we decided that we are probably going to stay in our small rental home for another year or so. Hoping to pay down some student debt and save up for a house. Our current place is plenty big for just the 2 of us and our wild puppy (our "baby") so, we're in no hurry to upgrade!

And, as always, I've got several craft projects going on for Blissful Creations by Sarah. Trying to get ready for Fall decor!

Look forward to blogging again SOON!

Eat Clean...Be Lean!

I was so excited to find a UPS box waiting at my door when I got home this evening! My Eat-Clean Diet book and Best of Clean Eating cookbook came in!

I didn't feel very good this morning so didn't make it to the gym. Still felt yucky this evening so, needless to say, won't be going to gym at all today. I have promised myself to go in the morning....no excuses!!!

Eating wise....well, I didn't eat very wisely today. I came prepared to work with my 2 snacks and healthy lunch additions but was so busy that I forgot to eat lunch and didn't get to eat my 2nd snack. I've got to do better on this!

Here's a summary of today's meals:
- Breakfast @ 7 am- Wheat toast (1 slice) and bacon (4 slices) - 105 calories
- Snack @ 9:30 am- Apple (1/2) and almonds (14) - 135 calories

I was doing so good! Then....

- Lunch- Small bag of chips- 200 calories
- No snack because got too busy to make it back to pharmacy to eat
- Supper @ 8 pm- Taco Ring- Didn't even track calories because I have waaaaay too many left in the day!

So, not proud of myself today at all with the diet/exercise, or lack thereof. Will have a much better report next time!

It's Been Way Too Long!

August. I haven't posted since August.

Sorry guys! Life gets in the way more than we'd like sometimes. BUT, I'm back! For real this time!

I promise to do my best in posting at least once weekly, but I'll shoot for several times a week. I think blogging often will really help me to reach personal goals I've set for myself. Goal #1, I will be cleaning out my pantry tommorow afternoon in preparation of beginning a "clean eating" lifestyle. I've ordered the books and should have them by Tuesday (yay!). I think this should help D and I achieve our weight loss goals as well as help us feel more energetic and overall healthy. You know those morning you wake up and just feel "yucky"? Yeah, those. I've been having them a lot lately and I know I would have them a lot less if I only ate less junk and made healthier food choices. I'm hoping reporting to you guys will help me stay on track. :-)

I'll check in with you soon!

Lucky Charm Marshmallow FAIL

It's been a BUSY week and when I have cooked, like last night, I've forgotten to get around to posting...so sorry! I'll try to be better this weekend when we grill out!

Tonight I attempted to make dehydrated marshmallows, like in Lucky Charms. Major fail. Major.

A website I found said all you had to do is microwave until they've "puffed up" then stick in the freezer. So, I proceeded to do as this website suggested:

And what did I get after freezing? A sticky mess....

Needless to say, I won't be trying that again. Guess I have to go figure out how to get this off of my plate now...grrrr. I'll leave you with a pic of Mr. Curious that stared at me the whole time I was making this mess.

I have a serious problem....

I'm addicted to Lucky Charm marshmallows.

I agree; they are oh so magically delicious! When I was younger, I remember going through a Lucky Charm phase. Grandma would buy a box for me. I would then proceed to pour the cereal out into a large mixing bowl and pick marshmallows out one by one. The marshmallows were transferred to a coffee mug. After I had collected enough to fill the cup up, I would mash them down and pull out one big, delicious, heavenly ball of sugary goodness. Such great memories! Seriously, try it sometime! I did this same thing with Oreos....scraping the cream filling out and tossing the cookies :-)

So, I have recently developed this obsession again. Not good. Yet soooo very good. And another thing to add to the addiction, they now make chocolate Lucky Charms. Yum.

In desperate attempt to find more marshmallows, since I have just finished off all of them from my most recent Lucky Charm purchase, I googled dehydrated marshmallows. Apparently I'm not alone! People have found a website where you can puchase 1 lb bags of dehydrated marshmallows (http://www.dottysbulkfoodstore.com/servlet/the-460/Dehydrated-Marshmallow-Bits%2C-Assorted/Detail). And check out this website, entitled Cereal Marshmallows (http://www.cerealmarshmallows.com/ordernow.aspx). If I had money to waste, I would seriously puchase the largest amount available. But, as I believe in DIY everything, I tried to find a way to make my own. Someone posted that all you have to do is heat marshmallows in the microwave until they've become much larger than their original size then freeze overnight. Worth a try! Pics to come!