It's here!

So after I vented my frustration about not getting my cookbook, I got a call that it was received in the front office. Yay, but still took 3 weeks! So I looked through the whole thing and tried out a few recipes. There's a few pumpkin recipes and it only seemed fitting that I make something with pumpkin on the first day of fall.

 

The author/cook is half Japanese so there is a good part that's Asian influenced, but a lot that's some of our favorite American foods. She shows you how to make cook without using prepackaged, processed foods. And if you have a sweet tooth like me, there's a section just for desserts! With every recipe, she lists calories, fat, sugars, etc, so you know what your getting. And the majority is under 500 calories! I love how she gives tips on making your own sauces and marinades. And if you have a veggie picky husband like my own, she suggest mixing veggies in with your ground meat for hamburgers! She also keeps the meals budget friendly, so you can eat fancy without spending big bucks.

Spiced pumpkin cookies with a cinnamon pumpkin glaze.

Dill cucumber sandwiches.

My most favorite meal is in here to! Pad thai, yum.

The book is called Pretty Delicious written by Candice Kumai. I got it off Amazon for $6, it's originally $30, so you can get it for a good deal!

Waiting...

I'm soo frustrated right now that I have yet to receive my cookbook I ordered 3 weeks ago! I ordered it off Amazon, and was supposed to take 7-10 days. Every other day I'd look at the "track package" and it finally just was sent to Denver! So, I'm hoping with the next day or two I'll get it. And that review may not go so well. Kinda ridiculous.

So, the cleanse is over and it was soo hard. I didn't commit all the way. I had chicken on day 4, that night anyways I thought it was close enough to day five. I really hadn't felt full in 4 days after eating only fruit and veggies constantly through the day. But the point is to burn more calories than you take in while detoxing the body. The first couple days, I had a headache, but I think that was from a withdraw. I didn't have any coffee! But after that, I did feel more clear, and just felt good, except for being hungry for chicken! I couldn't wait until chicken day. And on day 7 I couldn't eat cabbage soup all day, so I had a little more chicken. Which is ok depending on which guide you go by. So, for the big reveal on how much weight I lost...7 lbs. About a pound a day. Although, since then i gained back a couple lbs. :( Joel lost 7 lbs as well, but was insistent on eating a cheeseburger afterward. So we did (don't recommend doing btw). We both felt soo sick afterward. Just don't cave in! And try to stick to the plan as much as possible for best results.

So that was about a week ago, and today we decided to go to a chili cook off at the fall festival. I love a good chili, and figured it was ok. Just a little bit every so often. But, I don't take spice very well so I didn't eat a whole lot of chili. But holy moly my lips burned for a couple hours afterward! So I just voted for the least spicy one, it had more flavor anyways.

And, I started my new job at US Bank. Which I love so far. The people are very nice, and that makes going to work more easier! It's only five hours a day so I can still spend enough time with Cora and get dinner ready by 6. Surprisingly for me, I missed working. I don't think I can be a stay-at-home mom forever! I love that I had the opportunity to stay home with Cora while she little little and would do it again for any other children we have. But, I feel like I need to accomplish something career-wise.

This is getting much lengthier than I intended, so until next time!

At the Fall festival, they had activities for kids, so Cora decorated a mask!

Haha! We got some frozen yogurt after eating spicy chili. And she had a mouth full of something saying, "CHEESE!"

It starts with a cleanse

This week will be a week of will power and discipline. We are doing a 7 day cleanse. I wish I could say that I'm enjoying it, but I'm not. My will power is at its best right now. And it's only day 2, vegetable day.

 I'm trying to eat healthier, less processed, less sugar, and less meat. I'm not going totally vegan, but only couple days a week with meat. Which surprises me that Joel, my meat eating, vegetable hating husband, is doing this with me! I must say that I'm surprised he's made it this far after fruit day. He only likes pineapple and oranges really. And that's ALL he ate yesterday! Now that's will power, and his support with me through this is amazing. At least he likes salads, cause that's what he gets to eat today.

So basically this diet is a week long, eating mostly fruits and veggies. There's a day with skim milk (we're using almond milk) and yogurt, two days with fowl (chicken, turkey, or even tofu), a lovely cabbage soup, and you can ONLY drink water. No morning coffee is the hardest part for me. The point of this is to cleanse the body of toxins from eating not so healthy stuff. And lose up to 10 lbs! Yeah, I thought that was a joke and if I lost any weight I thought I would just gain it back the next week. But I woke up this morning to weigh myself, and lost 4 lbs already! And you will gain the weight back if you continue to eat unhealthy and don't exercise. Which is why I ordered a new cook book with healthy recipes and ways to cook your favorites foods healthier. Can't wait to get it!  Pretty Delicious

What we're eating the next 7 days!

Here's a chart of the week and what we get to eat. And go to this website to find answers to questions you may have here. Beware this is not easy and consult your doctor if you have any health issues.

A Rocky Mountain Sunset

Today we were gonna take Cora swimming at the apartment complex pool, but it was locked! So we decided to go a this nature park in the middle of the city. It's a little closer than Garden of the Gods, but just a neat. It's got miles of trails on this little mountain in the middle of the city. You can hike, bike, jog, or even horse back ride. With having Cora with us, we just took a nice evening walk from the top of the mountain. Can't say enough how beautiful this place is!

So neat to see the sun rays on the city.

Great picture of my little girl, she loves our outdoor walks.

Garden of the Gods

We took a little trip to see some more of the awesome places in CO Springs today. Garden of the Gods is a nature park with lots of rugged, red rocks peeking from the ground. I've seen pictures, but it's even more amazing in person.

This will definitely be the place where we'll go walking while the weather is still nice. And...it's free, which is also awesome because lots of the touristy places cost money around here!

She is soo independent and prefers to walk alone anymore.

And, she is a climber. She climbs on everything, and she's pretty good at it.

Such a beautiful, mystic place.

The clean 15

 

So I was checking out some of my blogs and came across one that had this chart. It's a list of what you should by organic based on the number of pesticides found on them. The dirty dozen, of which is recommended to buy organic, and the clean 15, of which are ok to not buy organic. You may have noticed buying organic at the grocery store can get expensive so this is a great guide to help save some money. I like to go to try to go to the farmers market and buy locally. The market here in CO springs isn't nearly as big as KC and doesn't offer as much, but does have the basics. Peaches are huge out here! I still have a lot to learn when it comes to food and money, but this is definitely a great place to start.

Mommy's little helper

Yesterday we went to some friends house for dinner and cards. Really Joel's co-worker, his wife and daughter (almost the same age as Cora), but they are becoming fast friends for us out here! Anyways, I was to bring a dessert. Originally I was gonna brings some brownies, but I wanted to try something new. So I did a recipe search on my most favorable site, Pinterest. And I saw this recipe for Lemon Crinkle Cookies. (I have a thing lemon stuff). So with a little help from Cora, we made some awesome cookies. This recipe is sure to stick around. They were a big hit! The recipe can be found here.

She loves helping with cooking and baking.

I really need to find her a little apron, I just tied a tea towel around her little waist.

Crinkle on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

So good, and you have to use fresh lemon, not bottled lemon juice!

Where did summer go?!

So much has happened I don't even know where to begin! Since April, we've been sooo busy.

In April, my sister-in-law got married. It was a small yet elegant wedding is a small country chapel. Cora was the flower girl, and I, one of the bridesmaids. Our family is expanding quickly!

Jessy's bachelorette party. I don't have any wedding pictures!

In May, we took a little week-long vacation to Florida and had an amazing time. Cora was so much fun, since she actually enjoyed going to the beach this year. I know it's the end of summer, but I keep thinking about that week and how relaxing and fun it was. Seems like forever ago!

In June, I was babysitting a whole lot more. Close to full-time between two sets of siblings. It was nice keeping me busy, but almost too busy. Then we got word that Joel may end up going to Colorado for work. Originally just the summer, then fall, then 6-12 months, and now a couple years! We're in CO now, but more on that later. We also were planning on selling our house, even before the CO thing came up. But it was an excellent opportunity to go ahead and list it.

In July, we of course had the forth, our last get together before Joel left for CO. (I didn't go with him for the first six weeks. Getting things ready in KC, while he did in CO. Super hard and lonely.) We had another wedding with Cora being the flower girl, and 2 babies were born this month. I did take a weekend trip to visit Joel in CO for our 4th anniversary. It was very nice, but hard to leave for another 4 weeks. At the end of the month, my grandma came to visit for a few weeks. All during this time, I was cleaning, packing, painting, fixing, and organizing the house for listing, and babysitting all by myself. Busiest and most stressful month ever!

Thinking she was gonna come with me to visit Joel.

The Mountains from our apartment.

 In August, I had stopped babysitting. I was trying to concentrate on keeping the house together for showings and keeping my grandma entertained during her visit. That did take some stress off, but was still nervous about moving to another state and leaving our family and friends behind. There were also 3 more babies born this month, and lots of birthday parties. In the middle of the month, the time finally came for Joel to come home for a few days and help move everything out of the house into storage, or to move to CO. I was so happy to see him and hopefully will never have to be separated that long again! Thank God for Skype!

And now in September, we have been living together in CO for a couple weeks. We have been exploring the city and enjoying our time as a family in a new place. I have to say that it is gorgeous here in Colorado Springs and so much to do and see. Maybe enough to keep us here, but most likely not permanently. There are so many people back home we can't live too far away from. So they just need to move out here. :) The weather is perfect, hardly any bugs, the air and water are so much fresher, and the view is awesome. I might change my mind in the winter though. Lol. On another note, I'm starting a part-time job at a bank down the road, literally a two-minute drive. At least until the house sells. The cost of living is a little more expensive out here. Prays for the house to sell are appreciated!!

Joel and Cora on Pikes Peak.

At the summit of Pikes Peak. 14,110 ft in the sky. I didn't realize how vast the Rocky range was. It's huge, you can see for miles!

She's just too cute. And now says "Cheese!" every time I take my phone out.

Thanks to everyone who helped us out this summer and for words of encouragement when it was most needed.

P.S. I will try to update more often. :)