Mother's Day Wishlist

So I keep this running list on my phone of things I want/need and when Tate is asking for gift ideas I can just grab a few off there and send it to him. It's a very specific list - like where to get it, color, size - so it's completely fool proof for him. He does great at picking things out off my list as well as things that aren't. Today I thought I'd share a few of those things plus some things I'll be getting my mom as well. Mother's Day is next Sunday so you better get to shopping! 

one // How cute would this pillow be on her chair or bed?

two //  If she's into reading one of these books would be perfect! Balancing in Heels just arrived at my house and I've heard great things about The Rumor, or just about any Elin Hilderbrand book
.

three //  The other day while in Ulta getting Tate some crew for his hair I browsed through the perfumes. This one smelled so good that I wanted to leave with it right then!

four // These converse have been on my list for a while now and with softball and 7 on 7 football coming up, they would be the perfect comfy yet cute shoe to wear!

five // The Rodan + Fields self tanner has quickly become my favorite! The color is fantastic and the price is super affordable.

six // How cute is this bag from Charming Charlies? I love this color and it is the perfect spring staple!

seven // A mini polaroid camera  - enough said! This little gadget would be so much fun! Brylee and I would probably spend way too much money on film from using it too much.

eight // I have wanted a Stella and Dot engraved necklace for quite some time now. Wearing 'Brylee' on my neck would always make me smile.

nine // I love my Kate Spade studs so much. In fact, I'm wearing the multi glitter today. I think the mini studs would be so cute and simple! And by the way, while browsing online at Charming Charlies, I found this cheaper version of the regular size Kate Spade studs. I mean, $5! What?

ten // I need want these sandals so bad! I've been eyeing them for so long and just haven't bought them yet. I hear they are super comfy and they come in a ton of colors!

Along with these, a mani/pedi (go with her!), massage or a gift card to her favorite place would be great gifts as well!

I hope you have a few ideas now. Happy Friday Eve! 

What's Up Wednesday | April

Good morning! Funny story - last night we were supposed to get a really bad hail storm so I pulled my car into the garage. I don't normally park in there because the garage is small and it's a tight fit for my Tahoe. Tate's truck doesn't fit so at least we would have one safe from hail. Anyways, because I never park in there I wasn't expecting it to be there at 4:30 AM when I went to get water from the garage fridge! Needless to say I scared myself and ran directly into it forgetting it was there. If I wasn't completely awake before then, I was after! Fast forward to 7:45 when we were leaving the house: got all our things and headed out the front door. Hello, Leah, it's not there! After getting B loaded and pulling out of the garage I realized I had no idea where the remote was so I had to run through the garage and hurry out of it to leave! Whew. Some morning!

Anywho, enough of my early morning blond moments, today is the last Wednesday of the month which means it's time for What's Up Wednesday! Today I'm linking up with some of my favorite gals to share what's been going on here lately.

Shay | Sheaffer | Mel

What we're eating this week...

Anything and everything Tone It Up approved. Think Quinoa bowls, salads, lettuce wraps and lots and lots of protein! Luckily for Tate and Brylee, they get other things also. For example, I had a chicken wrap last night and they had chicken quesadillas. Same chicken, two ways!

What I'm reminiscing about...

My cousins moved to Abilene many many years ago and it was always a tradition to go that my aunt would take us to the Abilene Zoo each time we went to visit. The zoo has had many changes since we started going, but it's been an every summer thing. Now we've started taking our kids there and I love it. The top was this past weekend and the bottom was last year!




Both pictures were taken at the same spots and we continue this tradition every year. I love it!

What I'm loving lately...

Larabars! I told y'all that I finally gave them a try and quickly became obsessed with the chocolate chip cookie dough one. My local grocery store only carries two kinds so I ordered the variety pack from Amazon so I could try more. Thoughts so far: Cashew cookie is not good but Blueberry muffin is delicious.

What we've been up to...

We went to the new Giraffe exhibit at the zoo this weekend. So much fun, but so many people! Other than that, softball, school and work - ya know, the usual.

What I'm dreading...

I don't really feel like there is anything I'm dreading.

What I'm working on...

Spring cleaning! I've been saying I was going to start it for about 2 months now and I finally have. Go me!

What I'm excited about...

Well, after writing my Operation Get Fit post a while back I was determined I was going to do just that - get fit! I've been working so hard but isn't working out so much easier with an accountability partner? After a few emails and some organization Ashley from Girl Talk, Sarah from Sarah Emily Blogs and I will be starting a new link up! Link up with us the first Tuesday of every month with all your fitness goals, workouts, healthy recipes, favorite workout gear, etc! Basically link up anything health/fitness related! We all need accountability and motivation and that's exactly what this is. I'm so excited about this - grab the button and join us!

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What I'm watching/reading...

Watching: The Voice (Which I so desperately need to catch up on), Dancing With The Stars (so many teams that are so good right now that it's hard to pick a favorite!), and Real Housewives of Dallas. I'm continuing to watch the show while I'm doing something but I just don't care for this group of ladies. I'm hoping we get introduced to some different housewives soon.

Reading: I just finished Everything She Forgot by Lisa Ballantyne and haven't started reading anything else. I have a ton on my list but I just haven't had time to start one yet.

What I'm listening to...

Currently, the sound of me clicking away on the computer - I'm the only one awake and I'm enjoying this peace and quiet. As far as music goes, have y'all heard Three Year Old by Eric Church? I heard it a while back and thought 'hey, good song' but I really listened to it the other night and I was ugly crying! It's so crazy the things you learn/forget you knew just having a conversation with a kid. Their innocence is so special. With Mother's Day coming up anything like this is pulling my heartstrings.

What I'm wearing...

Workout clothes because I'm about to do my Bikini Series Day 3 workout! These shorts are my absolute favorite!

What I'm doing this weekend...

The only thing on the schedule for the weekend is the Softball playoff game(s). It's a 3 game series so we're hoping to win Thursday and Saturday morning so they won't have a double header on Saturday. I've never had any interest in softball but that was because I only played soccer growing up. Now, I'm finding a new love for softball. It's exciting! With the girls luck!

What I'm looking forward to next month...

I'm hoping next month is full of warm weather and mother nature gets her mood swings in order. May has a pretty open calendar except for Memorial Day weekend at the lake! Oh, and for Jojo - can't forget about her! :)

What else is new...
I've mentioned before that my step-sister was adopting a little girl. They've had her for over a year now but today is Gotcha Day and I'm so excited! I wish I could be there with them to celebrate this moment. Prayers that it all goes smoothly!


What's your favorite thing to get for Mother's Day...
This Mother's Day I'm hoping for my new patio furniture, maybe some new flowers to plant (since our one is still alive!!) and a full day with my two favorite people.



Enjoy your Wednesday, friends! And don't forget to mark your calendars for the Sweat It Out link up on May 3rd!

Happy Friday!

I've given up on my sugar detox and therefore, quit my Whole 30 trial before I even started it. Tate came home with oreos the other night and he knows not to do that! They're my favorite cookie. Ever. Once I start I just can't stop. Then I decided to make chocolate chip cookies the other night. For no reason. Last night I made a cake. I do have a reason for that one though. My sister and nephew are coming down this weekend and we're having a late birthday celebration for her!! They were supposed to come a few weeks ago but life happens and our plans got switched up. To add to my sweets this week, the only time I worked out was Monday. Soo, there's that confession. 

Anyways, it's Friday and I'm so excited!



ONE //  Last Friday I placed a super random order on Amazon. These straws for my Yeti  (thanks to Andrea), a new phone case and a mouse. Right before I was about to click on my cart to pay I saw these shirts on the "recommendations for you" so I clicked on one and saw that it was the same brand of another shirt I bought off Zulily a while back but short sleeved and way cheaper! I ordered two - a Kimono sleeve and a cut out shoulder one and I love them both! I will be ordering more! I loved them so much they immediately went in the wash so I haven't got a picture yet! Just take my word for it.



TWO //  The Bikini Series starts Monday! Refer back up to my introduction, I need this! Haha! Y'all know my love for the Tone It Up girls and I'm super excited for my 2nd Bikini Series. I did this last year and had great results and loved it! Join in, let's be accountability partners!



THREE //  I said I made a cake last night. I made Shay's Cherry Limeade Cake and oh. my. word! It really does taste like a Sonic cherry limeade - I know this because I took a small piece out of the bottom before I flipped it over. :) I didn't want to make my sister just a plain old cake for her birthday so I searched Shay's 100 bundt cakes and this one spoke to me. Seriously, go make it! Excuse the overflow of icing, which is delicious as well!



FOUR //  I complained about the rain we've had this week but in all honestly, I've loved it and we so desperately needed it! I do enjoy my sunny sky's but it sure did good for this area.



FIVE //  The softball team made it to the playoffs! Yay! They still have one more regular season game to play but their win last night secured them a spot. Coaching girls has been totally different for Tate but he loves it just the same. He puts in the same heart and tough love as he does his football boys. This week he lost a bet to other coaches (about where each team would fall in line) and had to bleach his hair. Thankfully another favorite of mine is my purple shampoo because what should have been blonde was actually orange when he got home.



Other favorites:
My Ritz chicken recipe - it really is so good!
Brylee's first time at a Ranger's game.
Career Advice from LC's successful friends.
How to paint anything and everything - definitely need this in the near future!

 And I'll leave you with this. This is Layla all day, every day!

 

Happy Friday, friends. Have the best weekend!

Linking up with my favorite Friday gals.

Erika | Andrea | Narci

April | Christina | Natasha

Karli | Amy

Heather

Amanda

Books So Far | Part 1

I woke up at 4:15 to the loudest clap of thunder I've ever heard in my entire life! The area we live in now always gets bad storms during the spring. I've never really been in a bad storm and, to be quite honest, I don't want to be! Not that anybody does, but I'm a fair weather kind of girl. I like warm and sunny days. Immediately after being woken up I went and grabbed my phone to make sure we weren't in any type of tornado warning/watch. Nope, no tornado, just severe thunderstorms capable of producing nickel size hail. Thankfully it just rained. Hard. 

But because I was already awake and couldn't get myself to go back to sleep I finished one of the books I've read this month. It's a good one, y'all! I'll share that soon, but today is all about the books I've read during the 1st quarter (ha, thanks to being in finance I look at things as quarters)!

I made myself a goal to read 2 books a month and, while that didn't exactly happen, I've managed to read 5 so far. I now have a Goodreads account so if you do too, add me!  :)

 P.S I Love You by Cecelia Ahern

Okay so I've seen the movie, multiple times, and I love it! I had no idea it was based on a book and I have no idea how I even have the book! I had a serious love/hate relationship with this one. I loved the book and I loved the movie but they were both very different. Sure, they have the same plot and most of the same characters but there are some things that just didn't happen (in either the book or movie). I loved how the movie ended. I hated how the book ended. I got very emotional at times and some times was very confused. I'm glad I read the book years after the move because I'm not sure how I would have felt about it then. Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, it's just hard to compare a movie and a book when they were so different! I believe I rated this 4 stars.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

I had seen and heard many great things about this book so I finally picked it up. I read a couple pages and the whole 'Berlin Wall' reference really through me off but I kept on trucking (if you've read the book then you know what I'm talking about). Finally one day it all clicked and I could not put this book down! We were headed to Odessa for the weekend and I was so wrapped up in it that I was reading it to Tate. Both of us made guesses as to what was going to happen and he was right! I did leave with a ton of questions though, but all in all, a great book! 

The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

Oh Nicholas Sparks.You definitely have the ability to pull my heartstrings and make me cry, laugh and get angry all in the same book/movie! I read a few pages here and there but never really had the time to sit and really get into it. One day at work our internet went down and I didn't have anything do to so I started reading. I finished it that very next day - I got myself up earlier just to finish it. And then Tate and I had to have a talk.

Friends, this book is soooo soooo good! I got so emotionally invested in this book. I cannot wait to see the movie and this will probably be one I'll read again. Loved it!

For the Right Reasons by Sean Lowe

Fun fact: Sean is the only reason I ever started watching the Bachelor. I did not watch Emily's season but I had a few friends that did and they were all talking about Sean and how he would be a great bachelor. I had to google him and thought I'd give the show a shot. It was definitely a great season to start with for sure! I wasn't really sure what to expect from the book because I felt like I already knew how things turned out from watching the show and reading Shay's blog. I was wrong. So wrong. I loved seeing things from Sean's point of view and how the book wasn't all about being the Bachelor. He shared information on his past and real struggles he went through all to help him on his, I can't believe I'm using this word, journey! This one would make a great coffee table book!

The Glam Guide by Fleur De Force

 

I discovered her on Youtube when we lived in McAllen and loved some of her makeup tutorials. When I saw she had a book coming out I knew I wanted it. I didn't love this book but I didn't hate it either. It's a great reference book as she gave great advice about makeup, hair, fashion and the likes but I wish she would have dug a little bit deeper into who she is... I'm nosy like that. The book itself is pretty so I can definitely see it sitting on the desk or coffee table.

And those are the books I've read so far in 2016! I love this little goal of mine because I have missed reading. Happy almost Friday!

What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday || Recipes

Happy Wednesday! Other than a spat with a few fellow students in one of my classes, today has been a great day! Tell me if I'm wrong on this: We have had two weeks to sign up in a group for a group assignment. TWO WEEKS. The due date was yesterday and as of last Thursday I was still the only one in my group. I emailed the professor and he told me to wait a few more days and that the assignment was easy enough to complete on short notice. Sunday morning I got an email from a guy in class saying he joined the group - great! Since there were two days left to complete the assignment he and I split it 50/50. Along with the assignment we had to do a peer review over how each person helped. I was designated the group leader so once he got his part turned in to me I added it with mine and logged in to Blackboard (online classroom) to turn it in only to notice that 2 others had joined the group. It was due yesterday at 10 PM. Why would you join a group a few hours before the assignment is due? I, once again, emailed the professor to ask his advice and he tells me to give them part of the assignment (that is already complete) and he'll extend the due date a week. So not only is the assignment already due, but we already turned in our peer review for just the two of us. I don't feel it's my responsibility to make sure these two that waited so long get to participate. I just don't. Am I wrong? It's just annoying to me that I have to hold the slack of others due to more than likely laziness. Ahh.. End of rant - sorry for that!

Anyways, today I'm linking up with Jessi and Jenn for What's Hap-Pinning Wednesday! Since I shared our fun weekend with you and a day in the life post already, I thought I'd share with you a recipe (done two ways) that has been hap-pinning a lot over here. :) No, I did not get the recipe off pinterest, it's one I've been making for years, and the pictures are definitely not pinterest-worthy, but it's oh so good!





Original Ritz Chicken


What you'll need:
-chicken tenders (or breasts, I just prefer tenders)
- 10-20 Ritz crackers (depends on how much chicken)
-6 oz plain Greek yogurt
-Ranch dressing mix (dry)
-seasoned salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°
Coat baking dish with Pam and set aside

Crush up your crackers and put in shallow bowl (or plate).
In another, mix the yogurt and ranch seasoning.

Sprinkle seasoning over your chicken, dip it in the ranch mix, cover it completely with cracker crumbs and place in baking dish. If you happen to have any crumbs left over, sprinkle them over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes. I always make extra so I'll have plenty to top a salad with for lunches - so good!

The night of this picture, I was cutting up the zucchini and watching TV when a Red Robbin commercial came on and it got me thinking - This would be so good with something like their campfire sauce (y'all know what I'm talking about, right?)!

So that very next week you know what I did? I made it with my own kind of campfire sauce. Tate came in and made a face - you know the "what in the world are you doing" face - but the first words out of his mouth after he took a bite were "this is really good"! Well, thanks!

BBQ Ritz Chicken

What you'll need:
- Everything listed above +
 - 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Rays)

After mixing the ranch dip, add in the bbq sauce and make it the exact same way as above.  Sadly, I don't have a picture of these because I wasn't exactly sure that we would like it - thanks to Tate's face!

These are so good and really so simple! Now that I've switched it up once, I'm going to continue switching it up! Next: Honey Mustard Ritz Chicken. Because, duh! I'll let you know how that one turns out.

I hope you enjoy one of my Ritz Chicken recipes. Have the best day!

Show and Tell Tuesdays | Day in the Life

Day In the Life posts are some of my favorite - I'm borderline nosy (okay, I am) and I like getting a peek into what everybody else does during the day! I also like looking back on mine and seeing what days were like. Linking up today with Andrea for Show and Tell Tuesdays!

I did a Day in the Life a few weeks ago on a Saturday so it really wasn't a typical day. I had every intention of doing this on Friday because it was a game day but around lunch I stopped documenting my day. Oh well, today I bring you a (Mon)Day in the Life! :)

5:00 - Alarm goes off, rinse my face off, change into workout clothes and get my workout in.

5:53  - drinking my cranberry lemon water (more on this later) while making my coffee and breakfast. I love this almond butter and I'm such a cereal girl. Yum!

6-ish - Take my coffee and breakfast and have some 'me time'. This is when I ready my daily devotions, bible, check some emails and if I have time blog or read a book.

6:20 - I hear Tate in the shower so I make his coffee for him. He leaves around 6:30 so that's when I get in the shower and start getting ready. Today I didn't have to wash my hair so my shower was super quick.

6:45 - Time for makeup

7:00 Wake up miss B (which usually consists of me going in there 168 15 times) and start fixing my hair. Usually if she isn't awake by the time I start drying my hair, the hair dryer does it. :)

 

7:30 - Look who's up and ready. I usually give her some strawberry milk (must be strawberry) and then give her about 10-15 minutes to become sweet again and then I get her dressed while she watches some TV.

7:50 - We are ready and out the door. I talked about how much it rained here over the weekend and there was a chance of rain this day also so her rain boots and umbrella were a must according to her.

8:10 ish - At work. I've mentioned before that I work in the police department so Monday mornings are usually my busiest because I'm having to catch up on everything that happened over the weekend: Call sheets, citations, complaints - get everything sorted, filed, entered, copied, etc. 

10 - I'm finished with my morning things so I take a break. The restroom is upstairs so if I'm alone I like to do a few goes on the stairs for a little cardio break - this was one of those times.

10:15 - After my little break I have some time to do my homework, blog and read. I do these things in 30 minute 'sessions'. I've done this for as long as I can remember with everything I do - cleaning, homework, crafts - and I always change the time to what I feel I need to. I do this so I never get bored working on things.



12 - Time for lunch. It was supposed to warm up by noon today, but as you can see, that didn't happen!

1:02 - back at work. Because I had nothing to do at the moment, I went to San Angelo to get my new chair. It rained off and on the entire way.

3:30 - Back from Angelo with my new chair. I needed an ergonomical chair because sitting in a chair for 7+ hours that isn't made to sit in for that long will hurt your back! And hurt mine did! I am loving my new chair! Once we got that put together I started my 30 minute sessions again!



5 - Left for the day and went to pick up Brylee. Get home, get B a snack and let the dogs out. One decided she wanted to roll in the mud so she gets to hang out outside until I can get her cleaned up.



5:30 - I start on my school work while B colors and watches some TV. Judge if you may, but I keep the TV on so shes occupied with something so I can get my work done. I hate that she and I don't engage for long at this time, but this too shall pass!



7 - Tate is home just in time for dinner. He even helped clean up!

8 - Kitchen and dining room cleaned, I enjoy some cookies with my homework while Tate gives B her bath.



Squeaky clean girl showing me her squeaky clean teeth!



9 - Put B to bed and go wash my face. Yes, I know she goes to bed late for her age, but I'd rather she have a little bit of time with Tate than not see him at all!



10ish - I'm finished with my homework (finally) and finished up my Weekending post while watching Chrisley Knows Best!



10:45 - shut it down and went to bed!

And that was my (Mon)Day in the Life - April 18, 2016!