Our Thanksgiving Day

We had such a memorable Thanksgiving this year. I spent 29 years of my life single and went from that to being a wife and part time mom. I've never been this happy and have so much to be grateful for.
My day was busy and started at 5:30 am. I went to the gym with 2 of my friends. We worked out hard for 2 hours. It was an amazing work out. I felt like I was on happy pills because I was so excited for the day and was proud of myself for waking up so early to work out. I hurried home, showered and Justin and I were off to the airport. We helped deliver pies to crew members who had to work that day. Justin got such a special treat after that. He got to tour a plane and even sit in the captain seat and 'pretend' to turn on the plane. He had such a great time and was a bit overwhelmed with excitement. He turned to me after about 10 minutes and asked if we could go. He talked about it the whole way home and wanted to call Alan's mom and his mom. It was a pretty fun morning.

That afternoon we went to my sisters house for the day. It was one of my favorite Thanksgiving yet. We sat around, ate, joked and talked about the things we were grateful for this year.

Carlton was a sport. He tried to eat as much as he could but got sick from it. He laid on the couch and although he felt sick he still interacted with us and had a good time.

It's official, my sister is a dork! What is up with these glasses?! Love ya sis! ;)


Here is where the kids ate. Isn't Justin so dang cute?! I think it's funny how different kids are than adults. It's such a chore for them to eat. Justin kept asking me "how many more bits to I have to eat?" You never hear an adult asking that.

I love this picture. This was after we ate. We were sitting around talking about what we were grateful for. I just had to take a picture. Awe!

If you haven't spent time with my family you don't know how crazy we can be. I don't know how my parents raised 7 kids who are all hyper. As we were cleaning the kitchen Annalisa put some Cold Play on and we danced around.

This one is my favorite! I just love my dad. He's so funny!

Annalisa had us write what we were grateful for and put in on this

wreath.

What I'm grateful for this year:

1- Being married to Alan. He really is such a wonderful husband. He is perfect for me. He loves me for me and encourages me to do the things I want to do. He overlooks my faults and is always complimenting me on the things he loves about me. I am lucky!

2- Justin. He has been such a great sport with his situation. He had such a hard time with his dad being married at first but little by little our relationship is growing. He was so sweet this week. We got to see him from Wednesday through Saturday night. We bonded so well. He has such a big heart and is really a great kid. He's setting the bar high for the kids Alan and I have.

3- Carlton. I am so grateful that Carlton will make a full recovery. I am also grateful that he was in a car accident months ago. I know it was the Lords way of blessing him. If that car accident hadn't happened, his tumor wouldn't have been found and who knows what would have happened. I am grateful he is going through this trial because we have seen such a change in him for the better. This boy is not emotional at all and for the first time in a long time he cried on Thanksgiving. He told us how grateful he was for us. It was such a touching moment to see him so humble and so grateful. We feel so blessed for technology these days to cure him.

4- My family. I LOVE my family more than anything. They mean so much to me. We are so close and would do anything for each other. I am grateful for all of them.

5- Knowing the Lord has blessed me with all I have right now. I have felt his hand in my life blessing me and guiding me.

6- I feel grateful for a beautiful home, car and so many other things despite the way the economy has been.

I could go on and on and keep being cheesy but I'll stop here. I love this time of year and have much to be grateful for. I am now getting really excited for Christmas! Now if I could only get Alan to get our tree up! :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! -Tips to help you not gain weight this holiday

I love Thanksgiving! It is one of my absolute favorite Holidays. It's so fun to sit around and eat delicious food, hang out and just be together with family. Plus it gets me so excited for Christmas. I just love holidays and traditions.
I also love to eat and eat on this day. Haha! I'm sure most of us do! So I wanted to post a few tricks I have that help with this problem.
1- Work out that day. Get it in some how even if you are super busy that day. It's really important to do it this day above any other day since we eat too much. Don't just do Cardio either. Lift! Cardio is good but you only burn calories for at most 4 hours after. Lifting will burn calories up to 4 days after! I either like to lift legs that day or full body. Do a circuit train and burn tons of calories!
2- Eat smaller portions more often. The good thing about this is you can eat your favorite foods a couple of times that day. Not stuff it all in in one meal and be sick!
3- Don't eat your pie alone. It will spike your blood sugar levels. You don't want that. Eat your meal. 3 hours later have some pie with a little protein. Have a little turkey and then eat some pie.
4- Don't skip breakfast because you are 'saving your calories'. What this does is make you store every last calorie of Thanksgiving dinner as fat because your body will think you are starving yourself. Get up, eat breakfast and eat every 3 hours. :)

Summary: Burn some calories by lifting that day and eat every 3 hours.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and happy eating!

What's for dinner?

I've been eating this dinner this week and it's really good! I know you'll love it too and it is really easy to make. Even for you 'none cookers' out there.

HEALTHY SPAGHETTI:

1 lb. Ground Turkey
Cook this like you would meet in a pan and season with taco seasoning

2-3 zucchini's and 1 onion (or more) slice veggies up and cook in a pan. I do this with Pam spray and a little garlic. I also cook the onions for a bit before adding the zucchini- I use a whole zucchini just for one serving so add as many as you want. Don't skip out. Great way to get your veggies in. ;)

Whole wheat pasta. I use the Healthy Harvest Ronzoni all natural whole grain pasta (extra wide noodle style) Cook as directed

1/2- 1 jar pasta sauce. I use the Silver Palate Home style Marinara Sauce.

(side note: When looking for a healthy pasta sauce look at the ingredients. That goes with anything you buy. The less ingredients, the better. Look for ones that don't have a ton of added junk to it. This is natural and is the best natural sauce I've tasted. I get it at Harmon's.)

Cook everything separate and add together. It is really good! I hope you love it as much as I do.

*For those of you who are watching your starches at night, do it without the pasta. It's still really good! Enjoy!

Now I'm off to watch last nights Biggest Loser. I love this show! Love it! But don't love so much Heba and Vicki. Really I don't! ;)

Whats the best recipe for pain? Chocolate chip cookies!

Alan had double knee surgery done on Friday. Yes double knee! Poor guy. He had a lateral release done on one knee with a little bone shave since he hardly has cartilage in his knees. He had the same thing done on his other knee last February and it's been infected so the doctor cleaned that one up. He's been in a lot of pain and he has a very high pain tolerance. He stopped taking his pain killers because they make him really sick. So he's been laying around all weekend in a lot of pain. I took this picture to put it on my blog and he quickly covered his face. I guess he doesn't feel too pretty today. ;)
I decided to make him some cookies. A little comfort food ;) He loves these cookies. We love them so much I thought I'd posted them because I know you will too. Just don't eat too many. Haha!

BIG FAT CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:

2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
1-Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2-Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3-In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4-Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

2nd Rule of Nutrition

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted nutrition facts. The second rule of nutrition (and I'm not doing these in any particular order) is to drink your water. You already know this but do you do it? Drinking water is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to taking care of your body.
Drinking water actually boosts up your metabolism. How cool is that? When you first wake up drink 2 glasses. You have dehydrated your body all night so you are hydrating yourself and it'll boost your metabolism. Also, it can wake up a lazy stool. Another great reason to drink water is because it's pulling toxins out of your body. The more water you drink= the more toxins your body gets rid of. The more toxins you have in your body, the harder it is to be healthy. Which makes it hard to maintain a healthy weight. When you have too many toxins in your system it doesn't allow your body to get the oxygen it needs. The more oxygen you get= the more you lose weight, less stressed you are and the happier you'll be. :)
When you don't drink enough water you are creating so much havoc on your system. It will cause headaches, create more toxins, cause your organs to overwork (especially your kidneys) slow your metabolism, etc....The best way to tell if you are drinking enough is by checking your urine. What color is it? If its darker than the color of lemonade, you are dehydrated.
So how much water should you drink? AT LEAST 8 glasses a day. I don't really like that number because that is the minimum you should drink just to get by. I say closer to a gallon. I drink a gallon a day and it makes such a difference. If you aren't drinking even 8, work up to a gallon. It's hard a first but your body adjusts to it.
A question I get a lot is if any liquid is ok. Some people hate water. What is wrong with you?! ;) Water is the best way to go. Juice has a lot of sugar in it, soda makes you more dehydrated. Water is the best way to go. Try putting lemon in it. And none of this flavored water stuff. It has ingredients that are not good for you. Such as fake sugar. Did you know when you consume fake sugar your body creates more fat around your organs to protect them. It also makes you crave more sugar. Not good! So stick to water to hydrate yourself. Suck it up people! Suck it up! ;)
Hope this motivates you to drink more water! Good luck!

Salad Recipe

Lately I've been getting sick of salads and getting bored with vegetables in general. I came up with this salad last week to get my veggies in and actually enjoy them. I thought I would post it because it's my new favorite salad. I'm sure you will love it too. I just kind of put whatever together. Add or take out what sounds good to you.

For 1 Serving:
- 3 oz.Ground turkey cooked with onions and taco seasoning.
3-4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 plum tomato chopped
chopped red, yellow, and green peppers
about 1 tbsp or so of avocado
sliced cucumbers
mix in a bowl and put salsa on it. Sometimes I drizzle a little low fat ranch too but it's great just with the salsa.
I haven't done this but would also be good with some corn and black beans. Alan and I love this salad. I hope you do to.

Count your blessing...

I keep singing the hymn 'count your blessing' today. I was watching the news last night and the thought that came to mind was, count your blessings. Your trials can always be worse. The Lord doesn't give you anything you can't handle. When you focus on your blessings, you start to realize all you have and how blessed you really are.
Carlton is doing well. He had a biopsy yesterday. Which means, they went in his brain for a tissue sample. It takes 72 hours to get the results but the doctors are pretty sure it's the same type of cancer as testicular cancer. They seemed hopeful that they can cure him through radiation. It'll be a long road ahead for him but there is light at the end of the tunnel. He will be able to go home tomorrow and start radiation later. He's feeling good and even told me he doesn't feel sick anymore. I think it's because he's eating well, getting proper nutrition and it never hurts to have cute nurses your age waiting on you hand and foot. ;) Why would anyone want to go home?
We are so lucky he got in that car accident months ago. Otherwise, who knows what could have happened to him or how long it would have taken to catch the cancer.
There is the update. Thank you all for your support. The emails, the calls. All of it. Just asking has meant the world to us. We are blessed! We all are! Count your blessing. We have a lot more than we
realize.

AFTER SURGERY YESTERDAY

Faith...

Faith is something greater than ourselves that enables us to do what we have said we will do, to press forward when we are tired or hurt or afraid, to keep going when the challenge seems overwhelming and the course is uncertain.

- Gordon B. Hinckley

My sister Crystalyn took this picture last night and it makes me cry every time I see it now. I love it! Thank you Crystalyn for taking this. It's so perfect!

Elizabeth Smart's aunt is my parents neighbor. She has really been a support to my parents right now. She gave my mom the quote that is above. We all cried when we read it. It really does bring comfort to us. The Lord works miracles and we can only live by faith right now.

We love you Carlton! Hang in there buddy!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, ALAN!!!!

THEN.....

... AND NOW

Today is Alan and my 1 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe a whole year has gone by. The first picture is from our first date. Awe! Ok, our first official date. We went on a group date to Market Street Grill. Little did I know that night I was going to married him. The second picture is from last night. Alan was being obnoxious because he didn't want to take a picture. Hence, the face. I feel so lucky to be married to Alan. He is so perfect for me in every way. I never expected marriage to be this great. I always heard when I was dating that I should only marry my best friend. I had never dated anyone that was my best friend before Alan. I really didn't know that I could. I really did marry my best friend. I'm so comfortable around him. I tell him everything. Even the things you think but would never tell anyone. We have been through a lot together and it keeps getting better.

Since today is Sunday we celebrated yesterday. It started when I got home from the gym yesterday. He handed me a CD that said "Happy Anniversary Baby. Love, Alan." I watched it and cried. Alan is not the most sentimental person. I don't mean that mean. He knows he's not. :) That's why it meant the world to me that he did this for me. He really put a lot of thought into it. He told me how he felt about me in it and he put together a bunch of pictures of us. I want to upload it but am still working on how to do it that.

After that, we went to an early movie then dinner. Pretty low key. It' been a stressful few months getting his business up and running that we thought it'd be great just do relax. It was perfect.

I love you so much Alan. You are so good to me and continue to make my life better and better. Thank you for your hard work and for loving me no matter what. Here's to many more years!

P.s. Last night we went to see my brother. I cried all night last night because it broke my heart. He's so skinny! He has no energy and just lays on the couch. The couch has become his bed since he doesn't even have the energy to go upstairs to his bed. He's been such a good sport about all this. Didn't complain once. It also meant the world to me that Alan sat with him and watch TV with him. Joking around and just giving Carlton some company. My dad called me this morning. The doctor has ruled out Sarcosis which most likely means a tumor. They are admitting him in the hospital tomorrow for observation and to keep an IV in him since he is not getting any nutrition. We are going to my parents tonight to be with him and have a family prayer. Please keep him in your prayers for us. We are really worried for him. I will keep you updated. Thank you all of you for your support.