I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling...

26!!!! Yup, that's right everybody! I celebrated my 26th birthday on September 18th.  And boy has it been amazing, and yes I am still celebrating.
We tend to have birthday months. And I love it. Because of work and school, it's been hard to see everybody- so we've  broken it up into a couple weeks.
My actual birthday day/night was spent at school and then out to dinner with my amazing husband.
At school, everybody made my birthday so special! My friends got me a card, munchkins, cupcakes, and balloons. My mom stopped in with a cake, flowers, and a balloon. It was amazing :)

One of my best friends boyfriends birthdays is the same exact day so they ended up joining us for dinner. We had a great night with them and an amazing dinner.

Sir Dan gave me this gorgeous Swarovski crystal bracelet, along with these 30 beautiful red roses, and these two Alex&Ani bracelets.

I truly have the best husband, friends, and family a person could ask for.

What I Look Like Now

The last time all you fabulous readers saw me, I had extremely blond hair.
When I cut my hair off, I wanted to keep the top blond and bottom brown. But the more I thought about it, and the more I saw my hair getting damaged from the bleach, the more I wanted to part with my blond hair.
Bleach is the absolute worst thing for hair. It literally strips the hair of everything. Highlights, bleach blond hair, ombre, all of it is ssoo bad for your hair.
So... I dyed it.

Goodbye horrible forever roots, damaged and breaking hair... Hello gorgeous golden red brown hair.  You can't really see how warm it is, but in the light it shimmers and glows this beautiful golden red brown.
I have gotten so many compliments on my hair, how it brings out my eyes, how it makes my skin tone glow, it makes my hair look healthy.
So what do you all think?!? Blond or brown?
Need hair advice?! You know you can ask me- anytime :)

Ta ta for now <3

2 months later....

The last time I wrote a post was July 29th... that's over 2 months ago. Wow, time has flown by. I have been reading posts from time to time, but I haven't shown my face around these parts in quite some time. So I thought, why not?!
Between school full time, work basically full time, and life- I haven't had much time to write much. But that doesn't mean I haven't thought about you all.
First things first: I don't quite understand the need to post every day. I love to write and get my feelings out on here, share new ideas and recipes, but I don't have time to write a post every day  or know what to write actually. Every day is a variation of the last. So I've decided I'll post about 2-3 days a week, no weekends.
Now I know we have a ton of catching up to do, so I figured I'd start with the work part. To get some extra money under our belts, Sir Dan and I talked about me getting a part time  serving job at a local restaurant. Mid August- BAM! I'm a server at our local Ruby Tuesdays 4-5 nights a week, and doubles on Sundays/Mondays.
I really like the job and make good money on any given day. We have been living a little more easy knowing we have a little more money coming in. 
What have you all been up to?! I'd love to hear from you all :)
Ta ta for now <3

Feeling the Burn.

I forgot to share this super exciting news with you all last week!! I don't know how considering it's all over my twitter and instagram, but I'll share anyway.
 Monday, I was talking about Signing back up for the gym.  My amazing husband drove me there and Is paying for me to go!!!! He knows how important it is for me  So i am super excited about being able to go to the gym again. Theres a bunch in the areas I will be in, It is the perfect situation!!!
Over the course of the week, I went every day and changed my workouts every day. I started back up with Couch 2 5K which has an amazing app and I highly recommend for those couch potatoes who wanna run like me. I worked out my legs one day, arms the next, midsection the next. And then started back with legs.
Couch 2 5K is 3 times a week, every other day.  When I'm not training for that, I go onto the elliptical and do a couple miles on that in the cardio cinema.  Yes you heard me right- a cinema. It is a darkened room (like a theater) with all cardio equiptment in it.  They play a movie and you workout. It is amazing and the best idea ever. I don't even feel the sweat or like I'm working out. I do keep one ear bud in because I like the music, and because Couch 2 5K tells me when to walk/run.

Day 1

Getting back into the gym was slightly nerve racking, but more exciting than anything. And the first week I was definitely feeling the burn. I still am,  but I kept going. I love feeling the burn, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. I also can't beileve how out of shape I am. It was even hard to run for 1 minute, 1 freakin minute!!! 

Day 2- workin out the guns

But this is the start of something great! I healthier and stronger me. One that isn't embarassed by my stomach, arms that keep waving when I stop, thighs that rub together so much they can start a bonfire. I'm not giving up... EVER!

Didn't think I'd make it, but pushed through.

A 5 Star Meal in Less Than a Half Hour

Boy oh boy does it feel good to get back to why I started this blog. I love cooking and have been, but haven't been sharing. So sorry :(  Here's a delish recipe to make it up to you.
Wednesday night we had one of our favorite newlywed couples over for dinner. They were the beautiful couple who got  married this past May and we love to hang out with them. We all just get along so well and have so much fun together. It's surprising what we talk about, but hilarious and just like us all at the same time.
Anyway, because all 4 of us are watching what we eat and doing this whole clean eating and exercising shpeel, I was scouring pinterest for a delicious healthy meal that was quick and easy but looked like I spent hours prepping and cooking.
I finally found this delicious tilapia meal called Parmesan Broiled Tilapia. I'm not a huge fan of parmesan but the whole meal only had a few ingredients and sounded so stinkin easy. I couldn't say no.
Once I asked if everybody liked tilapia, the meal was a go. And today, I will share with you a delicious dinner that anybody can throw together. You know how I know that?! Because I always dry out fish! I don't know why,  but I always leave it in too long. And guess what?! That didn't happen this time, fool proof I tell ya.
What You'll Need: * 4 tilapia fillets (defrosted if frozen) * 1/4 Parm cheese * 1/8 or as we found out 2 tablespoons of butter * 1 1/2 tablespoons of Mayo * 1 tablespoon lemon juice * Fresh Dill for seasoning
The How To: 1. Turn broiler onto high and put the oven rack on top. 2. In a small bowl, mix everything but the fillets together. 3. Place fillets on a foil lined pan. 4. Broil for 3 minutes. 5. Take fish out, flip each one over and spoon/spread the mixture over  the uncooked side of the fillets. 6. Lightly cover with foil to prevent mixture from spitting on the burner. 7. Return to the oven and broil for 3-4 minutes. * I started at 3 minutes when I put them back in, checked the inside to see if they needed more time... best way to not over cook the fish.
That's it!! Most of the things you probably already have, we had dill and I have no idea. Thank you random wedding spice rack gift. I served the fish with Rice Pilaf, corn, and fresh salad.

And it was a hit!!! We all loved the meal! The fish didn't taste like fish, so if you wanna try fish- this is definitely the meal to do it with. Sir Dan and I loved it so much, that the 2 fillets we had leftover we had the next night for dinner.
Try it and let me know what you think!! Or if you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you!

Going Strong All Week Long

I feel so at ease knowing I am  not alone in the weight gain/loss journey. Thank you all for your constant support and uplifting to help me get back on the healthy train. I cannot do this without you all, trust me... I've tried.
Anyway, I've been dieting or clean eating now for a week and let me just tell you... I did it! Yes one week sounds ridiculous and rejoicing over the hills about it. But I made the weekend, and not by a little bit. By a lot! The weekends are definitely the hardest, you never know what you might encounter, food wise that is. This weekend I had an idea but still, ya never really know.
My sisters surprise engagement was at a German restaurant. I've never actually eaten German food, but I know it's a lot of schnitzle. I was nervous about eating out, like anxiously nervous because I want to do this. And when it came time to eat, I had very small portions and not a lot at all. They had vegetables and fruit, which I indulged in with nothing on them. I had absolutely no dessert and didn't even know if there was any offered. What I don't know won't tempt me.
Sunday I ate at my parents house to celebrate the engagement with a small piece of swordfish.
I also want to tell you all how great and energized I feel since being strict with my eating. I don't feel bloated anymore, which is huge cause it means I'm eating the right things. I feel so much more energized  and like I could run a ton of marathons in one day. It's definitely changing my life, and with the way I feel I don't want to go back to my bad habits.
Every morning I have two of these peanut butter balls:

One cup oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips. 2/3 of a cup of honey. Mix together, put in the fridge for at least a half hour, roll into balls, and store in the fridge. They keep you extremely full for a long time, that's what I love most about them.
Every afternoon for lunch I have a salad  loaded with veggies, some chickpeas, some fresh mozzerella and oil&vinegar:

I also pair up my salad with fresh fruit. Summer is the best time for fruit, why not indulge.
Dinners are the hardest, I've been really good about it, but you have to know and be diligent about portion sizes.
Here is a pointer for you all: * Make your lunches and breakfasts at the beginning of the week. We would buy the stuff but get lazy after shopping and never make them. Most stupid mistake for me at least. Now that everything is premade, I go in the fridge and grab what I need. Bam! No excuse to why I don't have it.
More good news in the weight loss area: I was talking to my mom who loves helping  and is the best woman ever... I told her I am not going to quit and that I wish I could go to the gym. I absolutely loved going to the gym when we lived in the apt before this one. And recently, a 24 hour gym opened by school. Since finances are super tight, I gave up trying to sign up at the gym. I told my amazing mother, she's going to help me with the membership so I can go :). I can't wait.
How is your clean eating, dieting, exercising going?!

The Transformation Station is Back!

Last week I shared with you all the fabulous Karla's new transformation  and how awesome it all came out! 
For a while,  well every since I started at school and realized how bland and out of date my hair has been, I wanted to do a drastic haircut... but kept putting it off.
After I cut Karla's hair and fell in love with the cut, I knew that would also suit my face and lifestyle.
So on Thursday, I cut off my hair and got a similar style as Karla. Same concept but a more drastic angle. And of course I have pictures of the transformation. One of my best friends at school cut it for me, and she did a beyond fabulous job.

Bye bye dead nasty hair

Obsessed... 

Can't ya tell!!

I am completely IN LOVE with my hair. I haven't gotten so many compliments on my hair... EVER! It came out amazing and it is SO easy to maintain. It takes less than 10 minutes to blow dry, and anybody can do it. Highly recommended for dull, thin, fine hair. It makes your hair look thick and gorgeous.
What do you all think?!