Thankful

Thanksgiving is TOMORROW! I know gosh where did this year go? Tomorrow begins another holiday season to gather with our families, drink some spirits, eat till we bust (and than have dessert) and my favorite annoy the crap out of each other. Oh and drinking did I mention drinking?!

This year I decided to wear elastic pants on Thanksgiving. And no not sweatpants I'm still a lady and YES leggings are my step up from sweatpants (haters).

This is also the time to reflect on what we are grateful for this year. Here is my shout out of some of the wonderful things that I'm giving thanks to. Show some love for.....


1. My Kite

This guy is my best friend, my other half, and my rock. We are basically the live version of the Odd Couple. We couldn't be anymore different and yet so very much alike in so many weird ways. He's the most fun, easy going guy you'll ever meet and I'm lucky he's by my side on all our adventures.

From New Camera

From 2011-09-05

From 2011-11-21

2. Family

Words can't describe where I'd be without everyone. I love these crazy people.

3. Crossfit

Finding crossfit changed my life. It's more than a workout. It's definitely a challenge of mind, body, soul. I've experienced some amazing challenges that I wouldn't have done in a billion years. Best of all I've made some great friends that help me get through some of the toughest workouts. My favorite part is I start my day off with laughing. It sets my day off feeling great. The feeling of accomplishment (and lots of complaining).

4. My fellas

This guys make me smile every single day. I can't get enough of their cuteness, even when I'm beating kissing them.

From Max's 1st birthday

From 2011-09-23

These are just a handful of things I'm thankful today. What are you thankful for?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble means keep it Paleo! God bless! ♥

Apples and Boobs

Happy November Everyone!

Last weekend we had a great time in Champaign. Our first stop was to check out the Monticello Railway's Haunted Train ride. Which we have been meaning to do for the past few years and haven't. I have to say it was cute and totally worth it if you're under 10. I've seen scarier on the EL (Just sayin'). It's tradition for my kite's family to visit Curtis Orchard every year. Curtis Orchard is known for their apple cider, apple cider slushes, apples, and my non apple favorite kettle corn. This year was my 5th year going, so it's sorta my tradition now. And this girl is ALL for traditions that offer kettle corn. Even though it was a small group this year, we still had a great time. We even rode the hay ride that lasted all of 8 minutes (the kettle corn didn't last as long).

Warning the pictures you're about to witness are NOT Paleo approved. Also, I don't care. It's tradition and you don't mess with tradition or my chance to eat kettle corn. Enjoy.

From 2011-10-24

From 2011-10-24

From 2011-10-24

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From 2011-10-24

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From 2011-10-24

From 2011-10-24

Before we headed down to Champaign I tackled Grace for Barbells for Boobs. Grace is 30 Clean and Jerks for time. The event was great! I love seeing everyone get together and "enjoy" a workout for a good cause. The box was decked out in pink thanks to Major and everyone came in their finest pink outfit. Yes, men look better in pink OR shirtless (same thing in my book). I upped my weight from last year from 55 pounds to 75 pounds this year. Not too bad, my goal was under 8 minutes and I did it at 7m 54s. I'm very proud of everyone and can't wait to RX it next year. Here's some pics from the event.

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-23

Last weeks eats were definitely Paleo. I had some making up to do for being all bad over that weekend. I started the week with making sausage patties, I made the roast that I prepped in my last post, some pumpkin spiced/apple chicken with apples that we brought home from Curtis, Broiled Steak and asparagus, a couple of Cornish hens that were cooked in the crockpot and of course my go-to salads and avocado as sides.

One special night last week my sisters and my nephew came to visit me while my kite was out of town and I decided to Greek it up that day with Greek chicken, Greek green beans(fasolakia), and a Greek Salad. ALL PALEO. It was delicious! Here's some pics of all the eats for the week.

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-23

From 2011-10-24

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From 2011-10-28

From 2011-10-28

From 2011-10-28

What did you have for dinner this week?


I'll leave you with a cute picture of my nephew and my puppies. I dare you not to AWWWW!

From 2011-10-28

All About Max...

Well it's finished. My leaf project turned into a painting that I was working on daily for over a week. It's not exactly how I wanted it to look. But I'm very proud of it, because it's my very first painting. I learned a lot during this process. Like don't paint on the bed and a little (paint) goes a long way. It was totally a fun project and I hope with some more practice I can add painting to my fun hobbies list.

Here it is making it's grand debut. Sorry everyone! This one of a kind masterpiece from the 'Mary Rocks Your Socks Collection' is not for sale.

From 2011-10-19

Yesterday was my puppy Max's 1st birthday. To celebrate I took him to get a fresh haircut on Saturday and I ordered a cake from Happy Dog Bakery. Which is a cute dog bakery in Downers Grove that offers fun treats and fun activities. I highly recommend you check it out, well only if you love your dog. They even offer grain-free cakes and cookies. A cave dog's dream. While we were picking up the cake, I found a few other cute dog treats there. One was a package of dried sweet potatoes chips. Paleo score!

Here's a few fun pictures of us celebrating Max's Birthday. You're not allowed to laugh! I know I know, I've turned into THAT girl. You know the girl who walks around with wallet sized pictures of her dogs. Yes, the same girl who in conversation people mistake my talk about my dogs as me talking about my children. And yes, I *gulp*...dress them up. Sue me!

From Max's 1st birthday

From Max's 1st birthday

From Max's 1st birthday

From Max's 1st birthday

From Max's 1st birthday

This weeks Paleo eats were some of the basics changed ever so slightly to make new dishes.
I actually got a lot of much needed shopping done. The #1 find of the week was I found a 10 LB London Broil on sale that I had to get. This sucker was huge. I ended up cutting it up into 9 steaks and a small roast. I felt like quite the cave girl cutting up my own meat. Watch out people!

I also tried my hand at making another round of egg/ham cups. I made the crockpot pulled pulled pork that I prepped in my last post. There were lots of burgers grilled. Grilled lamb and crockpot lamb for lunches. London Broil steak. Along with all the meat there were lots of quick salads made for the sides. And my favorite of the week Homemade Chicken soup(noodles on the side for my kite). Lastly I rubbed down a roast to maranade for tonight's dinner. With the cold creeping up on us, these week's eats were right up my alley.

From 2011-10-19

From 2011-10-19

From 2011-10-19

From 2011-10-19

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From 2011-10-19

From 2011-10-19

From 2011-10-19

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From 2011-10-19

I really should blog more. Mainly so I sneak in a recipe or two. That chicken soup recipe was ridiculously easy and fast. I did half the work in my crockpot (probably the best invention in the entire world, next to my iPhone).


Yesterday, I also joined the 5:45am class at BDCF for the workout. Which was...
Strength - BS
3 x 70% + 3 x bj
3 x 80% + 3 x bj
3+ x 90% + 3 x bj

M/C - For time:
10 x DL (bw)
50 x sq
25 x k2e
20 x wb. 20/14
250m row

Good thing I lost some weight before this workout, so I could do 125# for the dead lifts. Hahaha, just kidding. Good excuse huh?! Not bad, my time 8m 22sec. Felt good.

Afterward I practiced some Clean & Jerks with 75#'s on the bar. It's the weight I'm going to use for this Saturday's Barbell's for Boobs tribute for Breast Cancer Awareness. I'm a blur in the picture, hope I move this fast on Saturday.

On a another workout note, here's an update on my stair climb challenge. I haven't been climbing the stairs as often, but this week my time only slowed down by 4 seconds. Time to work harder.

This weekend is not only Barbell's for Boobs, but we're also headed down to the Champaign area for some pumpkin patch fun and possibly a haunted train ride. October is about to get a little better. So stay tuned.