Friday, September 30, 2011

Photo Friday! First Smiles!

Well we have hit milestone #1!
Max is giving REAL smiles!

And while I might not be SUPER MOM I did manage to snag these shots of my boy smiling the other day!




I just love the feeling when he looks up and smiles his gummy little smile, and coos at me... 
It's like Momma crack... and I'm hooked!

Hope your smiling this weekend too!
Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Tell The Truth Thursday! I Love to Work Out!

I may have mentioned before that I went to school to become and then worked as a Personal Trainer. 
I'm certainly not this lady....

But I did my share to help a few fab ladies get back in shape, stick with their workouts and reach their goals, and because it was my job and my passion I worked out quite frequently. Its something that I find centers me and makes me focus on nothing but me and making myself better. I instantly feel better, less stressed and ready to face the rest of the week, day or some times even just the next hour... 

Its sometimes sick how much I crave a workout. Not even the workout its self (the results yes, who wouldn't want those, especially if you didn't need to do the work to get them...) but the high you get from the workout. The I can do anything feeling, the I did good by me feeling, the my butt will be a little smaller feeling... 

Personally I love weight training and cardio and I could go on forever doing just that everyday....  I get the high from doing that,  I get the focus from doing that, and who wouldn't want to have that a little everyday... but I acknowledge that everyone gets their workout high somewhere else, my sister gets it from doing Yoga, others get it from doing group classes, lots get it from walking. Either way you slice it though that feeling, that high, its addictive.

Right now I am trying to lose the baby weight and feel more centered, but no matter the goal we all need a little inspiration, a little motivation. So with that in mind you may see more and more posts here on the blog that are workout related, or health related or even just a little motivation to keep me going. 

Are you working toward a goal? Are you just getting back on the workout wagon just like me? Do you need a little extra motivation? If you do leave me a comment or send me an Email and maybe we can help each other!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Made it My Own! Painted Sign!

I have been seeing so many great projects around the web and on Pinterest lately that I have decided to occasionally take that inspiration and... "Make it My Own" So here you have the first project that came from that idea!

For the last while I've wanted one of those signs that say your family name and the year that you were "established" you know like this one or even one like this... 
So being me I made one from scratch... 
To make my sign I got some reclaimed wood 
and I painted it in 3 layers yellow, dark blue and then light blue. 
Then I sanded it down (a lot) and painted our name on it. couldn't have been easier... and now I have a new and very pretty sign in our porch....
Now what to put with it to accent it and make that shelf pretty?

Have you made something with your name lately? Do you have any ideas for me to add to my shelf? Leave it in the comments!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Make it Monday! Family Sweet and Sour Sauce!

My Husbands family have always been fans of a sauce... (well as long as I have known them anyway) I however never ate much with sauces, plum, sweet and sour, honey garlic didn't matter I wouldn't eat it until I was preggo with Delaney. 
She did dome crazy stuff to my taste buds man....

So while preggo I tried all the sauces because for some reason I wanted them! 

No I needed them! 

I couldn't eat food without them! But only one sauce stuck with me.... Robyn's mom's sweet and sour sauce...

So here you are our Family Sweet and Sour Sauce

(note: I do not make this sauce... only Hubby does because when I make it it either comes out as one huge congealed mess or is as runny as plain water... so yes that is him in the picture making the sauce. Just wanted to let you know, because while I do kinda have man hands they aren't that manly)

Ingredients:
1/2 C Water
1/4 C Vinegar
2 Tbsp Ketchup
1/2 C Sugar
pinch of Salt
1 Tsp Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/4 C Water

Red food color

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water and add mixture slowly to the boiling mixture. Stir constantly to prevent sticking. Cool sauce until thick and serve!

We like this sauce on everything from meat balls to chicken and rice to stir-fry but you could put it on anything at all really!

This is such a fast sauce too so its easy to make on a moments notice! As well you can tweak it a bit... we usually add just a little less than 1/4 C of vinegar and it doesn't taste as sour...


Do you have any sauces that your family requests on a regular basis? Do you have a sauce or a recipe that has been handed down through your family? I'd love to hear all about your recipes! (and you never know you might just see it here on a future Make it Monday!)

(On another note after writing this post the word "Sour" looks very funny and has lost all meaning to me now....)