I'm a good influence.

A while back, I mentioned that I was working on a project for Luke. Well, today, that project came to life - he started a blog! Yes, that's right, I've influenced my boyfriend to write a blog. It's a good day. And while duck hunting may not necessarily be your thing, I still encourage you to take a look. And that little picture thingy used for the header? Yeah, I made that. So without further ado, here's the link: The Son of a Duck Hunter. Be sure to check it out.

A diet I can work with.

I just want to take a few minutes and share my new found love for Weight Watchers. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I'm on a diet. But what I haven't shared is that I'm using the Weight Watchers plan to do it. I love like it a lot. (Let's be real here; I'm never going to LOVE a diet.) But I feel so much better and have already lost 5 pounds since Sunday!

I think in the past, I've done well for days or weeks at a time, but then I manage to really screw things up one day and I get the mentality, "Well, I've already messed this up so I guess it really doesn't matter anymore." But that's one of the great things about Weight Watchers - with the flex points, I can still have a meal or two that's worth a few extra points and not shame myself to the point of quitting over it.

Exhibit A: I went out to dinner twice this week with friends. Now, I didn't go crazy and order the least healthy items on the menu but I'm sure the salads I ordered had a few more points than I had allotted for those meals. But still, I've managed to lose! It's a great feeling!

So between this plan and my new commitment to the gym, hopefully I'll be where I want to be weight-wise soon enough!

This & that..

Whew! I've been a traveling machine the past couple of days. I've visited 7 hospitals in just as many cities in the past 48 hours. But I've gotta say, my meetings have all been awesome. A big Heck Yes! for kicking butt at work!

Anyway, I snapped this shot while I was driving yesterday and thought it was really pretty. So I'm sharing it now.

Before heading home today, I ran into Bath & Body Works to grab a new lip gloss because I accidentally ruined mine this morning. Anyway, I'm happy to announce I have a new product to add to my favorites list: this lip balm. Seriously, it is SO good. You should get yourself to a Bath & Body Works stat and buy it all up.

Hope y'all are having a fabulous week!

You'll never guess who I met!

Guess who I ran into today while visiting a hospital for a work meeting. This guy:

For those of you who don't follow Kentucky basketball (and, well, if you don't, shame on you), this is DeAndre Liggins, a basketball player for UK. You'd think having gone to school there and seeing team members around campus, I'd not freak out. But I do.

MIA again.

So, I've been MIA for a few days again. I'm sorry about that. I'm including a list of all my excuses. Hopefully they count for something.

- I had to travel quite a bit for work and had a very early training meeting to facilitate.

- I was still getting over my cold. No worries though, I'm all better now.

- I spent some time in Tennessee with Luke while he was home on a break from duck hunting. I was very happy about that one.

- I have been spending more time in the gym.

- I started a new book on my nook and have been reading a lot more.

- I watched Kentucky beat South Carolina on Saturday. (Thank goodness!)

- I've been working on a little project for Lukas.

- And I mean, a girl's gotta get some rest every now and then, right?

But I'll do better. Promise. In the mean time, here are some nice things for you to look at:

From Better Homes and Gardens.

From House Beautiful.

From House Beautiful.

Random thoughts on a Tuesday night.

Tonight, I'm in a hotel for work. I've mentioned my love for hotels before (see #4 in this post) so it should come as no surprise that I'm actually enjoying my night's stay. However, I won't be enjoying it so much when I have to get up at 5 a.m. to make it to my 7 a.m. meeting. Waking up early is not one of my favorite things to do. Oh well, it's a pretty big meeting that I've been trying to get for some time so I'll take it when I can get it!

Tomorrow, I finally get to see this guy again. (I'm talking about the boyfriend, not the nephew.) Its been almost two full weeks since I've last seen him and that's just way too long. I can't wait.

And now, I'm off to watch some Kentucky basketball while I should be sleeping because of my early wake up call.



GO CATS!!!



The good and the bad.

Well, actually, let's start off with the bad so we can end this thing on a positive note.

You know what I don't like? Colds.

And I have one right now. I've asked it very nicely to please leave me alone, but so far, it has not obliged me. Maybe tomorrow...

On the other hand, something I do like is 3-day weekends. And that's exactly what I've got - no work for me tomorrow!

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

A few healthy recipes.

When I was at the store today, I picked up this magazine:

I've actually never read this magazine before in my life. But while I was waiting in line, I noticed a couple of recipes that caught my attention and decided to buy it. I thought I'd share a few here. All these recipes have 400 calories so they're great for the waistline!

Chicken, Grape & Walnut Salad:

Mix 3 oz. chopped grilled chicken breast (or use skinless rotisserie chicken to save time), 1/2 cup halved grapes, 3 Tbsp. plan low-fat yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over 3 cups romaine lettuce.

Tex-Mex Black Bean & Rice Bowl:

Combine 3/4 cup cooked brown rice, 1/2 cup canned black beans (rinsed and drained) and 1 cup jarred roasted red pepper strips, drained and chopped. In a skillet over medium-low heat, saute bean mixture until heated through, 3 to 5 minutes. Top with 1/4 avocado, chopped, and 4 Tbsp. homemade salas.

Pita Pizza:

Preheat broiler. Puree 1/2 cup jarred roasted red pepper, 2 tsp. olive oil and 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar; spread on 1 small whole-grain pita, split into 2 rounds. Top with 1/2 cup baby spinach and 2 oz. shredded part-skim mozzarella. Broil until cheese bubbles, about 8 minutes. Top with 2 Tbsp. chopped shredded basil.

Enjoy!

To-do list.

I'm a list maker. I start off nearly every work day by making a list of things I have to get accomplished by the end of the day. And today was no different. Here it is, folks:

And I'm happy to say, I got most of these accomplished. By the end of the day tomorrow, I should have this bad boy completely knocked out. And that's always a good feeling!

So, I'm most excited about the first two items on my list. I managed to get to the grocery today where I found plenty of things to stock the cabinets with. That includes foods I can cook that will still be healthy! (Remember this post from a couple of days ago?) I already whipped this up for dinner tonight and it was delish. Each serving has only about 220 calories and I have leftovers for tomorrow too.

I also picked these up for a snack and they are great. And they only have 60 calories! I recommend you pick some up for yourself the next time you're out.



Secondly, I joined the gym today. I really prefer to work out outdoors but the weather here isn't really cooperating with me on that. So joining a gym was the best option. I'm really excited about it and already feel better after my workout today.

Yay for marking things off to-do lists and feeling accomplished!

Because I haven't done this in a while.

I feel like it's been a few weeks since I posted some favorite finds from my online window shopping excursions. So I've decided to change that this evening. I'd be happy to add any or all of these pieces to my wardrobe.

These 3 pretty little things are all from anthro.

Love this whole look from Gap.

And I'll wrap things up with these pretties from Banana.

I'll take 'em all! ;)

Farm girl.

After work today, I headed down to my Dad's for a few hours. My Dad still lives in the house I grew up in. The house is located on a decent size farm and let me tell ya, it's pretty far out there and real country. I love it.

Here's the view just a few yards from the front door:

I actually went down to pick up a couple of trail cameras I helped Luke set out last week. We caught a lot of deer and a few turkeys over the past seven days. And some of the shots are beautiful. Here are a few:

I just love looking at these pictures!

After I picked up the cameras, I helped my Dad with some real physical work: splitting wood. Yes, that's right, I actually helped. Not by throwing around an axe but by loading the wood into the back of my Dad's truck. It was cold and it was hard and I expect to have some real arm muscles by tomorrow as a result.

Here's my Dad doing the real work!

I love getting back to the farm whenever I can. It was a great place to grow up and I consider myself lucky that I'm able to go back as much as I'd like.

Diet Time.

Like many people this time of year, I'm on a diet. (Doesn't the word diet just make you cringe? I know it does me.) I'm not doing a crazy fad diet or anything like that - just trying to eat healthier, eat less and exercise more. If only it were as easy as it sounds! I've been on diets before (who hasn't? and seriously, if you haven't, I kind of hate you) and have a pretty good sense of what works and what doesn't. But when I've dieted in the past, I've found myself eating the same foods over and over again and it got real old, real fast. So I'm looking to spice things up a bit - literally and figuratively!

This go around, I want to prepare a wider variety of foods - all healthy of course! In the past, I've often prepared meals that are simple and have few calories but just aren't that appetizing. I mean, really, how many fat-free turkey sandwiches can a girl eat before she never wants to see one again? So I plan on cooking some new, more appetizing, all-the-while-healthy meals to keep things interesting. For instance, my friend Brytne wrote about these muffins that look delicious and are healthy too. (She actually includes the nutrition facts for every recipe she posts - how great is that?!) These just seem way more appealing than the ones from a box at the grocery store.

A yummy muffin from The Kitchin Table.

I'm really going to be on the search for dishes that I can prepare and are waistline friendly as well. I love to cook but it seems that most recipes I have aren't too calorie conscious. Maybe it's a southern thing but it seems like butter and cheese are heaped onto everything, usually in mass amounts. And while those things certainly make foods taste delish, they also heap extra pounds onto your body. So I'm looking for the happy medium: good tasting food that doesn't add on the pounds.

Do you have any healthy recipes you love and would like to share? If so, feel free to send them my way! I'll be searching my cookbooks and looking online for some fun ones to try out in the mean time!

P.S. I'm already down two pounds since the beginning of the week so I've just gotta keep up the momentum!

A little cabin fever.

I wanna go somewhere or do something, but the weather isn't cooperating much. I'm not really snowed in but the white stuff doesn't allow for too many outdoor activities. And traveling long distances probably isn't the safest idea right now. So what's a girl to do? Boyfriend is in Arkansas. Best friend is in Seattle. I've already seen the only movie I want to watch playing here at our theater. I live in a very small town without a whole lot of options in the first place. There's always watching tv or a movie at home, but I really wanna get out of the house. I think that's gonna have to wait until another day though. At least I'm getting caught up on all my work things! (And getting caught up on reading all the blogs I follow!)

I guess it's just one of those days. Tomorrow will be better.

Movie Critic

You should go see Country Strong with Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw. Seriously. Loved it. And the soundtrack = equally amazing.

I'm gonna be obsessed with this movie and all its songs for a little while.

Birthday presents.

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been MIA this week because I've been busy with birthday stuff. What exactly does "birthday stuff" entail, you ask? Well, lots of things. But the one I'm going to focus on now is presents. And who doesn't love presents?

Most of my gifts came in the form of cash and I have absolutely no problem with that. I assure you, I can find a place to spend it without much problem. But I received a few presents as well and I thought I'd show off a few here.

Luke bought these outfits for me while we were in Lexington. I LOVE them!

I found this outfit at Gap. Actually, correction: I found this shirt at Gap. Luke found the blazer at Gap. Who knew he was such a fashionista? I absolutely love it. I've been looking for a blazer like this for a while and this one was on sale with an extra 40% off...double score!

Luke also got this outfit for me from Banana. I'm obsessed with the coral-colored cardigan. (Try to say that three times fast.) This ensemble is super comfy too - I can't wait to wear it again.

Luke = best gift giver ever, right?

I received this pretty little necklace from my best friend from college, Emily. I love the bows and it's long too. You know how I feel about long necklaces, or at least you should. They are my fave.

So a big THANK YOU to everyone for the presents, phone calls, texts and messages for my birthday. It really was a great one!

PS: I originally planned on taking pictures of my new clothes myself, not using copied images from the store sites. However, I wore one outfit to Bonefish last night for dinner with my friends (and cousins) Beth & Kyle. I am like a child in that I almost always wind up with some of my dinner on my clothes and that was the case last night. These clothes are already at the cleaners' as of this morning. :(

Excuse my absence. I was busy turning 28.

I know, I know. I've been MIA. And I'm sure you've all been worried sick. But it was my birthday after all. And what a wonderful birthday it was.

This is my birthday cake. I've been getting a "bunny cake" since my first birthday. My Ne-Na makes one every year. I get to pick the cake flavor as well as the frosting flavor and let me tell you, they are delish. Some might say I'm getting a little too old for a cake like this. And I say those people are just plain rude (and maybe a little right, but I'm not stopping any time soon).

On top of the wonderful cake, I've had a couple fantastic dinners, received some great gifts and spent time with fabulous people. It certainly has been a happy birthday!

Eye candy.

After filling my day with Real Housewives on Bravo and Sister Wives on TLC, I'm wrapping it up by looking at pretty rooms. Thought I'd share a few:

Photos courtesy of HGTV.

Aren't they gorge? I certainly think so.

My 2011 so far.

How have I spent the first few hours of the first day of the new year you ask? Well, watching trash TV of course. I'm now on my third episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Bravo is running a marathon and I've been sucked in.

Now, I realize I'm ridiculous for watching this show. But the ladies on this show are REALLY ridiculous. In the episode I just finished, one of the ladies spent $50,000 on her four year old's birthday party! I mean, really?! It seems these people have so much money they don't even know what to do with it all. It's crazy I say, just plain crazy. Of course, I'll keep watching, but I just had to vent.

Maybe I'll do something a bit more intelectually stimulating later on, but for now, it's back to the housewives.

Hope you're having a wonderful first day of the year, whatever you're doing!