Sun Flowers and Burlap

This past weekend I attended my nephews wedding. It was a cute little wedding out in the country on lovely Lin-Way Farms. These two kids are some of the sweetest, and most down to earth people I know. They are also as southern as you can get and will have you rolling in stitches laughing when your around them. They have known each other from church since they were little and grew into best friends that will last them a life time.


Being an outdoor wedding there was always the fear of rain. We have not had rain for weeks but today, it rained. However, It didn't affect the wedding at all except for a slight delay while they redressed the tables for the reception. The little bit of rain that came down gave us a break from the hundred degree weather we were about to endure as we all sat anxiously in a field waiting on the wedding to start.

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As the wedding began, the bride came in on a horse and carriage. She was just beautiful. When the Father gave the bride away, there was not a dry eye around. It was so sweet. 

Once the marriage was complete they rode off on a John Deer Tractor. It was so funny how they put it all together to surprise the guest as they jump on and rode off while the song "She Thinks My Tractors Sexy" played in the air. 
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The farm was made up beautiful, yet simple just like the bride and groom. They did a lot of the decorating using their own ideas. Just check out this bouteneer the grooms and groomsmen wore. A bullet tied with a burlap. The bride made these herself.


The isles were decorated with mason jars on shepherd hooks filled with wild flowers.

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The tables were simply decorated with the wedding colors. The center pieces were made up of sliced wood rounds cut by the father of the bride.

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I'm sure that a lot of family and friends had part in all the decorations. It was perfect. Look how they did the guest cake table. That was unique.


In the barn, we enjoyed visiting the horses while we visited the guest table and suggestion table.


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And the food?? Oh man, the food was delicious complete with venison stew, BBQ, slaw, potato salad, a chocolate fountain and more. It was all so nice and Lin-Way Farms fit this couple perfect, and the owners were the sweetest couple and did everything to make sure the day went smooth.


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After a trip to Tennessee, The couple will continue living happily ever after the way God has planned..

Ice Creamless Banana Split

 

Who says you cant break rules and enjoy a banana split without the ice cream?
Ok all of you out there wanting to eat healthy and still have a sweet treat without the guilt. Your going to love this.

I created a banana split using all good stuff. I can call it a banana split because I DID split the bananas right?


Here is simply all you do:
  • Get a banana and split it in half long ways.
  • Drizzle a teaspoon of melted peanut butter onto it.
  • Add a mixture of fresh fruit such as strawberries, apples, blueberries, pineapple, etc....
  • Add a scoop of sugar free cool whip on top of that and sprinkles with nuts or almonds.
  • Now enjoy!
Perfectly healthy and the peanut butter adds protein. You can even add your favorite yogurt in there somewhere.


This is a great way to enjoy a snack without the fat and calories of Ice cream. Not saying its better, but that its better for you if your on a diet. My favorite part is the sugar free cool whip ( not "fat free" its just nasty).You will never know the sugar is not in there. I love that stuff.
 
If you are on the Nutrisystem Diet like I am, this would count as one Smart Carb, one Power fuel plus an Extra.
 

DIY Earphone Case

I'm bad at keeping up with wires, chargers, cords , etc. So I found this really cool little do-it-yourself earphone case using a mint box. It was an Ice Breakers mint container to be exact. I didn't get a picture before I peeled off the label because I'm inpatient like that.


Here are the supplies you will need:

  • Empty mint box with the label removed.
  • Printed scrapbook or printed paper.
  • Sissors
  • Cylinder to trace a round pattern.( I actually used the bottom of a lysol can).
  • Glue
  • Mod Podge (to seal). 

Find a place to punch two holes for a key ring. I did this on the side I did not want to open since the container opens in two places.


Once you have your circles traced, carefully cut them out and glue them on your container. Do this any way that is easiest for you.


Mine was a little big so I cut out the opening seam and had edges but you can make the print to only fit the opening part if you wish.


Glue the 2nd circle to the bottom. Now you have two printed sides. Using Modge Podge, paint a coat on the entire printed area to seal the print on.


Once its dry, Its ready to use.

Have fun. Customize yours to fit your personality. You can paint them or even leave them plain. Add a clip on the ring and clip to a bag or belt. You can also use it to hold change and other small items. Great project to do with your kids.

Nutrisystem- Food Ideas

Well this is my fifth month on Nutrisystem and I have continued to loose weight. It has slowed down almost to a halt but I'm still loosing a couple ounces a week and that's better than gaining. I think I'm reaching a plateau. I'm was told that I need to eat more or exercise less. I could be working off more than I'm taking in which makes your body slow down on weight loss, thinking your starving yourself. Isn't it weird how our bodies will do that? I also am aware that I need to drink more water.

So this next month I'm going to change up a few things. I'm going to drink more water, moderate my exercise, and I'm also going to switch up my meals and eat dinner for lunch and lunch for dinner. I've read on the Nutrisystem site that often that will work to get you out of a plateau because it tricks your body into thinking your doing something different. We'll see.

I never know each month if I want to continue with this diet but then I always end up telling myself "one more month". Next month my order will be designed for "weekends on my own" I'm wanting to venture out and learn to eat healthy my way.

Everyone asks me what the foods look like and how they tastes. I still like how they tastes and I'm making them look better. I have taken a few more pictures of my some of my meals to share with you.

Nutrisystem Pizza with an added cup of spinach
Nutrisystem Chocolate cake with added sugar free Cool Whip
Nutrisystem Tuna Salad with added cup of lettuce on wheat round and 1/2 cup of  V8

Nutrisytem Mashed potatoes with added crab meat, onions and Old Bay seasoning then fried in olive oil into patties.
Nutrisystem Water Bottle with added water, cucumber and mint
Nutrisystem Rice Pilaf added into a steamed bell pepper and topped with no fat cheese.

This month I will be attending my Nephews wedding and will be tempted to eat more than I've been eating but in moderation, I think I will be fine. I have survived a couple cookouts and several birthdays, so I can handle this. And yes, I will have cake.

Beginning weight- 168 lbs.
Today I weigh-138.2
I've gone from a size 12 to a size 8.

Birthday Beach Weekend

Just got in from a wonderful weekend at the beach. I also had a birthday while I as there. No party, No presents, No caked Just me and my Husband enjoy time together at our camper by the sea. I could not ask for anything else I'd rather have.

It was so nice. The weather was perfect. It was a short trip. I only had Friday off so we left early that morning. We want to get in every bit of sunshine and sand that we can in the short time we have. We didn't go out far on the highway while were there because it was Bike Week at the beach this weekend and honestly, all those motorcycles scare the crap out of me. Im always afraid they will get hurt. I become a nervous wreck. The traffic was terrible at times with rumbling motorcycles as far as you can see, so we stayed close to the camp site.

We spent Friday afternoon relaxing on the beach and a nice little dinner that night. Saturday morning we were up with the sunrise, ate a small breakfast and had coffee. After we had our coffee we ventured out for a morning walk around the campground.


As we walked further into the permanent home neighborhoods, we could see families having breakfast together and smell bacon in the air. Everyone we passed would give us a friendly smile and a "good morning" wave. We ended up walking four miles before we headed back to the camper, slipped our shoes off and took another walk down the beach for another two miles or so.


The beach walk was more relaxing as we skimmed the beaches and tide pools for sand dollars and sea life.
 
 
I learned that most of the l the pretty shells, no matter how small, have renters in them. Some of the tiniest shells had little crabs curled up inside. We found sea urchins and even an eel. Yes, I learned that just because it looks like a stick, does not mean it is. My husband spotted it first. About three inches of it was sticking out of the sand and water in the tide pool. He said, " This thing is breathing and moving".  I couldn't get to my camera fast enough before it shot back into its hole under the sand.

There are also so many creatures that look like the sand and you will never see them until they move. The beach was full of sea life that morning. I also found several big shells and sand dollars. I love finding sand dollars. They just lay on the sand like rare flower or gem.


After lunch we grabbed our chairs and headed out to the beach to catch some sun shine. It was so warm and beautiful but cool enough that we didn't have to put up the umbrella.


After I packed up to go home, I walked over to the open air shelter to the Sunday church service while my husband finished with unhooking the camper and making sure everything was complete. The ride home was nice and my daughter came over that afternoon with me a birthday surprise of a new pair of shoes and an angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream. That's my favorite and goes light on my diet. 

Now its back to the office. I hate going back to work after getting spoiled by the beach life.  I just need to hang on a few more weeks and we will be going back to the beach for the third time this year so far. Meanwhile , I plan to make some little sail boat crafts with the small pieces of driftwood I found.

Happy May

I bet you all wonder where I am. Well, I'm here, I'm on here every day reading other blogs. The only thing is, I just cant seem to find anything to blog about myself, so my blog has been sorta stagnant. I could blog about world things but we see and hear enough about that. Plus it would just be controversial.  I have written a few blogs on my feelings but I end up deleting those after I vent to the computer screen. I just like happy post and even though I'm happy as can be, I still have sad days and mad days that go away and aren't worth writing about.

But Its May, so maybe I will have more to talk about since May is full of things for me to share. For starters, today is my a 21st wedding anniversary. I love being being married and it seems that our love for each other grows stronger every day. I woke up this morning to a lovely gift from my husband. It was another bangle to add to my Alex & Ani collection. That's not all, I came home for lunch and he had me another one!


Tonight we will have dinner and probably take a walk. We like to walk and talk about our day. Just enjoying each other. We don't need to do anything special for today. We make everyday special.

May is also my birthday month. My Mom has a dinner planned for the family. Because.....
I have two siblings and my Dad all with birthdays in May and three out of four of us are within three days apart. So, she just throws one big dinner for us all. Yes, and four cakes.

We will also take a weekend trip to the beach again in a few weeks. There are also friends and family that will be graduating this Month and I'm sure we will be celebrating that too.
Not to forget, there is Mothers Day and we have a family reunion I should attend at the end of the month.

Wheeeew!

With all that being said, I am also gonna have to be strong as far as not to over eat since I'm still on a diet. Wish me luck. I hope to start blogging regularly again soon!

Nutrisystem- Slowing Down

Just finished my 16th week on Nutrisystem. I feel great! Its been a fun journey and I've lost several pounds and inches now.

The weight is now coming off slowly. Its only about a pound a week. I guess that is better than a pound gained but I wish to loose more. I'm just 15lbs away from reaching my goal. Hopefully the pounds will start dropping faster soon. They suggest I make sure to get all my foods in for the day. Other than NS foods, I'm suppose to have recommended snacks in between. I'm suppose to eat something every 3 hours, 6 times a day and 4 servings of veggies. Seems like a lot of food huh? Well not really because the snacks are things like a tablespoon of almonds, a slice of bread, cheese, or yogurt, etc. Small healthy things.

Nutrisystem- Ravioli
I'm still loving the foods and its gotten a lot easier to say no to other foods I shouldn't be eating.
I went on a beach trip the other weekend and was able to turn down the good smelling foods that were tempted everywhere we went. I did however, eat a dozen oysters one night and Mexican food the next . I also snacked on pop corn, carrots and almonds while laying on the beach all day. I over ate on those snacks but Its was all good. It didn't cause me to gain any weight. I didn't loose any either but no gain was a blessing.


Despite all the rain we have had these past couple weeks I have been able to get in my walks. One day we walked in the rain. Its was rather nice.

           

 

Here I am after that long wet walk, showing off my Dancing With The Stars, "Raise The Barre" tank that Nutrisystem sent me. What a surprise it was for me.

Its been a slow journey lately with my weight loss but I have thought about it and I plan to keep going on this diet. Its so easy to follow. With the discounts I have been collecting, It's gotten to a reasonable cost for me. I still have a few more pounds to shed to be ready for my August Vacation. I hope the pounds start dropping more and more.

Beginning weight- 168 lbs.
Weight after 16 weeks- 142 lbs.
That's 26 lbs. lost!