Kicking My Own Butt

Has it really been a year since my last post?  You would have thought I forgot I had a blog!  Confession - I actually did forget I had a blog.  Well, not forget, per se, just got a little lazy in blogging.  Well, I'm here to say that I've officially starting kicking my own butt into gear!

And, of course, when I say "I am kicking my own butt" it really means my doctor has 'highly' suggested I go on a strict diet of no sugar and no carbohydrates for the next three months.  Literally.  Oh jooooooooy.....

Well I can't say that I'm surprised by this, as he has been trying to get me on the road to sugar-free eating for awhile, and the procrastinator inside of me has finally put down the bag of mini powdered donuts, gotten off the couch and is paying attention.  (Took her long enough!)

So, here's to the next three months (or however long it takes me to lose 40 lbs) of healthy eating, and to sharing my experience out loud.

How To Get Fat

When my doc kindly said to me two months ago, "Kari, please cut out ALL carbohydrates in your diet. Thank you,"  I walked away with jaw-dropping certainty that I was going to fail... like instantly.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I immediately started craving Little Debbie fancy cakes, which is what tends to happen when I get stressed.  Which is also what got me into this mess in the first place.  

Before I begin, I'd like to share with you a brief history of me and diets over the past 10 years or so.  I've tried them all, and they have all failed.  Miserably.  Never have I been able to stick to a diet (or workout routine) that has successfully worked in kicking those extra pounds to the curb and leaving them there for good.  Seriously... mention a diet to me and I promise you I have tried it.  I even tried being a Vegetarian.  Guess how long that lasted?  Two days.  

So, as I walked out of that doctor's visit I was pretty clueless as to how I was going to succeed in this adventure.  And then I realized that the best place to start would be to identify all my bad habits.  I figured if I took all these bad habits and started doing the exact opposite of them, I was bound to succeed, right?  Unfortunately, I tend to be a little blind when it comes to my bad eating habits, so I had to ask the one person who knows me best to help identify these habits - my husband.  Which he was more than happy to do considering some of these habits have been driving him crazy for years!!  

So, here are all the ways in which you can (and some of us did!) get fat:  

1. Never exercise.  Especially if you have a job where you sit at a desk for 8 hours each day.  This will ensure that you never lose that lovely 'spare tire' around your midsection that you constantly complain about.  
2. Never eat your veggies.  Vegetables are jam-packed with essential vitamins and minerals your body needs in order to work properly.  Plus they give you a great (and natural!) energy boost.  But why go to all the trouble of peeling a carrot when you can chug a Mountain Dew and have all the energy you need for the next 30 minutes?!  Which brings me to my next point...
3. Drink lots of calorie-filled beverages instead of water.  This is one of the best ways to ensure you'll surpass your targeted daily calorie intake each and every day.  Plus, think of all the extra weight your hanging on to because you can't produce a decent bm?  (Ew, gross.  I know.)  
4. Eat really late at night.  This one drove my hubby crazy.
5. Eat as much pasta and candy as you wish!  (This is my biggest downfall right here.)  Nothing gets you fuller quicker than a giant plate of spaghetti, but since it takes your brain at least 10 minutes to register that your stomach is full, you will have totally accomplished eating at least twice as much as you should have.  

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my tutorial on how to get fat and stay that way!!  Please don't take my advice (and previous behaviors) and get your booty up and moving!  :)  I'm so glad I did!

Movies, Movies, Movies

Has it really been 7 months since my last post?!  Whoops!!  Apparently time flies when you're having fun!  Wait... did I say fun?  I really meant to say starting a full-time job.  Which, may be, in my opinion, the exact opposite of fun.


Nevertheless, Summer is upon us and I hope to share a lot more fun-filled adventures with you over the next several months!


One of the things I love most about Summer's arrival, is that it brings TONS of movie releases with it!  And anyone that knows my husband and I at all, knows that we love our movies!  We have recently discovered that we have the ability to rent movies via iTunes, and this has come in handy lately with Redbox being the only option to rent movies here in our hometown.  (Where's a Family Video when you need one?!)


Side note:  When renting from iTunes, we have discovered that it's best to wait until the entire movie has downloading before beginning to watch.  We made the mistake of trying to watch a movie "instantly" and ended up paying for it twice!  Boo...


Below are a few of my thoughts on movies I have watched lately. Keep in mind that my husband was gone for about 2 weeks in June so I tend to get a little bored when he's away.  In other words... no judging the amount of movies I've wasted time watching.  :)  

Immortals = D
I don't mind a little blood and guts in movies, and I've never been one to get sick over seeing blood everywhere.  The one thing I can't stand, however, is seeing people tortured or burned.  This movie was full of scenes of human torture and pain, and therefore I rated it rather low.  The only good part was the fact that there was plenty of "eye candy" for us woman!  (Did anyone else notice that Theseus was that cute little teenager from The Count of Monte Cristo?!  Um... he grew up nicely...)  Don't watch if you get sick easily.  

The Grey = C
Liam Neeson is the BOMB!!  I knew that this movie was a total "guy" movie, but I wanted to watch it just to see him kick some butt.... which he did.  Until the end....  :(  This is another movie that you shouldn't watch if you get sick easily.  However, it may be a great one to watch if you are planning a trip to the icy forests of Alaska. 

One for the Money = B
I usually don't watch book-based movies without first reading the novel, but I did here.  A little cheesy at times, but it kept my interest.  I'm a huge fan of Jason O'Mara (Joe Morelli), and Katherine Heigel did a great job with her Brooklyn-style attitude!  This was a very light-hearted film with plenty of entertainment.  

This Means War = A
A great "date night" movie!  I loved all the action and humor that this film had to offer.  Chris Pine and Tom Hardy did a great job playing off one another (not to mention that both are extremely good looking!)  This will probably be one that I'll have to purchase soon.  










I'm sure there will be more movie reviews to come!  But until then, let me know what your favorite summer movie releases have been!  

DIY Rock Candy

My recent Pinterest.com searching led me to a fun website called, ScienceBob.com, one afternoon where I found this awesome recipe for homemade rock candy.  And since we are avid sugar-lovers in this house... I just had to try it out!  


First I started with a few ingredients:

• A wooden skewer
• A clothespin
• 1 cup water
• 2-3 cups of sugar 
• A tall narrow glass or jar

Clip the clothespin onto the wooden skewer so that the skewer hangs down inside the glass about 1 inch from the bottom.  

Remove skewer from jar and set aside for now.  

Pour water into the pan and bring to a boil!  While water is still boiling, start pouring sugar into the water, 1/4 cup at a time.  

I wanted to make more than one skewer of rock candy  so I used 3 cups of water.  However, I  quickly realized that it was going to take about 12 cups of sugar to make my candy and had to run to the grocery store for more sugar!!

Upon returning from the grocery store, armed with enough sugar to feed a small army, I was back on track. I continued to add sugar to the boiling water until no more sugar would dissolve.  This takes several minutes, and the sugar will take longer to dissolve once you have a certain amount in the water already.  So, take your time and don't stop adding sugar too early or your rock candy will not turn out!  

At this point, I've added about 12 cups of sugar and a few drops of food coloring so that you can see exactly how THICK the water has become!  

Once no more sugar will dissolve, remove from heat and let cool for about 20 minutes.  Then, carefully pour the sugar water into your glass or jar almost to the top and insert your wooden skewers.  

Make sure you put the jars where they will not be disturbed for several days.  

Than WAIT!  And wait....... and wait!  Oh, and continue waiting.......  Your rock candy will slowly start to form over the next 3 -7 days.  

I waited 7 days.....

I had a fun time experimenting with this recipe, and I hope you will too!  

Trash to Treasure: How To Use Old CD's

Since the invention of itunes, I have noticed that I have old CD's laying around EVERYWHERE that I will never do anything with ever again.  One day, as I was browsing through www.Pinterest.com (my new favorite website, by the way) I saw a brilliant idea on how I could reuse those worn CD's and turn them into something I could use again!  So, in my first edition of Trash To Treasure, I'll show you how to reuse those old CD's to make a super cute wall hanging.  

The one I made (pictured below) is a sign I am using as part of my friend's "cowboy themed" baby shower.   (Um, I hope she's okay with me telling the world her son's name! Haha!) 

In order to make this wall hanging featuring the baby's name, I had to use 5 CD's.   I started by cutting 5 circles out with scrap-booking paper.  Simply trace and cut!  

Next, glue the paper onto each CD.  

For the letters, I used my Cricut's Stone Script template, but you can use any pre-cut lettering you find, or if you're super experienced with the scissors you can cut your own letters out!  

Once the paper and letters are glued onto each CD, hot glue ribbon (smaller in width) around the edge of each CD.  

Using ribbon (at least 1" in width)...

glue your letters (in the appropriate order, of course!) onto the ribbon.  I had extra ribbon leftover, so I glued small bows in-between each letter to give the sign a more "finished" look.  

There you have it!  A perfect addition for any wall that needs a personal touch, AND a great way to recycle used CD's!  Since I have many CD's still to use, I was thinking about making a few signs for my own home. The great thing about this project is that it's so versatile, the possibilities are endless!  I can't wait to start on my "Christmas" sign, and Hey!  That's 9 CD's I'll be able to recycle!  :)  

Total Money Makeover

In the spirit of "paying it forward" I'd like to share a personal story of me and my husband's journey through our Total Money Makeover with Dave Ramsey.  

A little over 2 years ago I was talking to a close girlfriend of mine when she mentioned Dave Ramsey.  My husband, Luke, and I had never heard of him before, nor did we know what he did for a living.  My friend mentioned his book, Total Money Makeover, and thought that my husband and I might benefit from reading through it together.  Come to find out, he's the author of several personal finance books, including Financial Peace University and EntreLeadership, his most recent publication.  

It only took us about a week to read through TMM (Total Money Makeover), and let me tell you something... I am not exaggerating when I say that it literally changed our lives!  Everything we knew about how to handle our personal finances was challenged and called into question.  This was not an easy 'pill' for us to swallow as we have always considered ourselves to be very responsible people when it comes to our money.  We quickly learned that we were, in fact, not.  

Dave takes you through his 6-step program to get you out of debt and living credit card free in TMM.  Currently, Luke and I are on step #2 - Debt Snowball, or pay off your debt (not including your mortgage, which is step #6).  Before I go any further, I want to stop here and let you know that I'm about ready to tell you JUST how in debt Luke and I were, and how much we've been able to pay off.  I want this to be an inspiration for anyone that may read this and a testimony to just how amazing this program really is.  What I am NOT trying to do is brag about our success or rub this in anyone's face about how 'awesome' we are (because trust me - we still have a long way to go!).  My sole purpose is to inspire someone who may be struggling financially to start taking control of their life!  

When Luke and I first started this program the current sum of our combined debt was over $50,000!!  YIKES!  In percentages, a whopping 77% belonged to student loans; 16% in car loans, 1% in credit card debt, and 6% in miscellaneous loans.  In 2.5 short years we have been able to pay off over $24,000 worth of debt!  This is over 43% of our total debt!!  

This is crazy considering Luke is a youth minister and I work 2 part-time jobs, but nevertheless, I truly believe that anyone can do this if they take Dave's advice and spend within their means, a concept that today's society knows nothing about.  If you don't have the cash to purchase those things considered "non-essential" then DON'T BUY THEM!  Hard work can get your farther than you ever thought it could, and trust me... it's worth it!  

Homemade Buffalo Chicken Panini's

Apparently I've been a busy person, because I haven't been able to post for awhile!  :(  This makes me sad.  So, to reward my 5 followers I'd like to share with you a new recipe that I created tonight.  I'm calling them my Homemade Buffalo Chicken Panini's.

I start with 2 slices of bread.  For these sandwiches I used english toasting bread, but I think next time I'll use Sourdough, which I have found to crisp nicely for panini's.

Next, I grilled some chicken breasts, and then mixed the buffalo sauce together using miracle whip, ranch dressing, hot sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, chipolte seasoning, and chili powder.

Set your oven to broil or pre-heat your panini maker.  In the meantime, assemble your sandwiches by buttering one side of each bread slice  (sorry, all you health nuts, but butter is the perfect ingredient when toasting!).  Place one slice butter side down on a baking stone or panini maker, top with grilled chicken, one slice pepperjack cheese, and one tablespoon of your buffalo sauce.  Place another slice of bread butter side up on top and cook for 3-5 minutes until golden brown.

Add lettuce for a cold crunch to your sandwich.

Or if you don't have chicken, you can always use some beef slices and cheddar cheese.

Hope you've enjoyed my latest food creation!  I will definitely be making these again!