You Know I Love You So {january thoughts}

I can’t believe January is over!  This selfie is actually from December, but in honor of NC Snowmageddon 2014, I decided to use it for this post since I’m rocking my snowflake sweater.

Today one of my friends called to ask about starting a blog.  It made me think about an afternoon last August where I contacted my friend Ginny over at Buttergirl Diaries about the same thing (be jealous of our fabulous 80s/90s throw back pics here!).  

Anyway, I just wanted to use this post to say…

{that Coldplay song has been stuck in my head and I found it fitting!}

I love all of you SO much!  Seeing new comments and emails make me feel like a kid on Christmas!  My goal with this blog is to help at least one person… Whether it be making someone laugh, sharing an idea, or just helping a fellow mama (or daddy) feel like they’re not alone.  Mommy wars are too common; I want HH2HT to be a place of positivity, giggles, and comradery.

In case you missed some posts, here are my top 3 entries for January according to YOU! 

Easy Baked Chicken & Rice {Make Ahead Meal}

foofoo dog + Britney = faceplant {My Training Diary: Week 3}

(this is one of my faves… it was just too funny!)

Toddler Problems!

I love responding to your emails, comments, tweets, and Instagram comments.  However, if you are a no reply commenter, I can’t reply to you!  Are you a no reply commenter?  Find out here.  I have received multiple emails/comments I wish I could respond to but can’t because they’re from “anonymous@no-reply.com”.  This makes me sad!

I can’t respond to any of these, but I want to! 🙁

And last, I have to give a little shout out to my baby brother… who turns TWENTY-ONE at midnight tonight!  Everyone say Happy Birthday, Joe!

Thank you so much for all of your love and support.  It means the world to me; I love y’all so much!

Toddler Problems!

Sometimes it’s rough being a toddler.  C faces numerous trials and tribulations each and every day… Occasionally they result in meltdowns.  Here are some of the toddler problems I’ve been able to catch on camera!

Mommy won’t hold me constantly!

Every time I climb onto the table, Mommy makes me come down!

I’m pulling the laundry basket and it won’t fit between the chair and baby jail!

My Mommy won’t let me climb up the dresser!

I really want to push my walker upside down, but it doesn’t go as fast this way!

I threw my sock in the toilet!

Daddy put these things on the cabinets and now I can’t open them!

I threw the pillows on the floor and I can’t walk through them!

I shopped till I dropped!

I can’t sit up and have my feet touch the ottoman at the same time!

My molars hurt and my milkshake is gone!

Does/did your child have toddler problems? 
What’s the funniest meltdown you’ve witnessed?

Lightened-Up Chicken Enchiladas {Make Ahead Meal}

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I love a good Make Ahead Meal!  A Make Ahead Meal is a meal where most of the prep work is done on one day (I usually do Mondays).  Later in the week you pull the meal out of the fridge and finish the last few steps for a delicious meal!

To read more about how I meal plan visit parts one, two, and three of my series Save Your Sanity: Meal Planning Made Easy.  If you missed my last Make Ahead Meal post, you can check it out here.  

Today I’m sharing another favorite recipe from Campbell’s Kitchen (view the original recipe here).  Once again, I changed the recipe just a bit to fit the Make Ahead Meal format.  This yummy meal has about 238 calories and 5 grams of fat.

Ingredients:

1 can of Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup

1 C picante sauce (I prefer chunky salsa instead)

1/2 C water

1/4 C sour cream (I used plain greek yogurt instead)

1 t chili powder

3 C shredded, cooked chicken breast

6 tortillas

1/4 C shredded cheese

1 tomato, diced

4 green onions, sliced

olive oil

Mrs. Dash seasoning

First cook and shred the chicken.  I used just a tad of olive oil and Mrs. Dash to season the chicken.

Stir the soup, picante sauce/salsa, water, sour cream/greek yogurt, and chili powder in a bowl.

Pour 1/2 of the mixture into a smaller bowl and set aside.  Add the chicken to the other half.  Campbell’s Kitchen says split this mixture 3/4 and 1/4, but I like it half and half!

Spoon about 1/2 C of the sauce and chicken mixture into a tortilla.  Check out Lucky’s photobomb… he was waiting for me to drop something!

Roll the tortilla and place in the baking dish.  Make sure the fold is facing down.  Continue with the rest of the chicken mixture and tortillas.

Top the tortillas with the remaining sauce and cheese. 

Cover the baking dish and stick it in the fridge!

When you’re ready to eat your Make Ahead Meal, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place your baking dish, uncovered, in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.

Top with tomato and green onion… and enjoy your stress-free Make Ahead Meal!

Have you tried any Make Ahead Meals?  Does this look like something you would enjoy?  I have a slow cooker, Make Ahead Meal I plan to post next week, so stay tuned! 🙂

foofoo dog + Britney = face plant {My Training Diary: Week 3}

I can’t believe it’s week 3 of my training plan!  This week was waaay better than last week… mostly because I didn’t spend the majority of the week watching Bubble Guppies and taking care of a sick child 🙂  It felt so good to get back into a routine with C.

This week I logged a total of 11 miles, hit the weights 4 times, made it to Zumba, and I am feeling it!  I am so sore– GOOD sore, but SO sore!

It was in the 60s on Monday, so I got to run outside.  About a mile and a half into my run I was jammin out to some old school Britney…

And all of a sudden, this little, white, foofoo dog –who kinda looked like my little, white, foofoo dogs– started chasing me.  I didn’t see anyone else around, so I figured there was an electric fence.  So just like Forrest, I kept on running…

Then OUCH!  I looked down and saw that little, white, foofoo dog nipping at my heel.  Before I knew it, BAM!  FACE PLANT!  I was laying on the ground.  The wind had been completely knocked out of me.  I hit the ground hard!  Thankfully I was able to get my hands out in front of me so I ended up with skinned palms instead of a skinned face.  In all the commotion the dog ran off (hopefully back to his home).

I got up, caught my breath, and sighed a HUGE sigh of relief that nobody was around to see my embarrassing spill!  Then I started to run.  The fall must have given me a second wind because I ended up running 4 miles total– which is longer than I’ve ever run before!  So I’m almost 1/3 of the way to a half-marathon 🙂

I’ve been kinda a slacker in the lifting department lately, so I decided to hit the weights hard this week.  With the help of a fabulously-fit friend, I developed a plan that focuses on 4 muscle groups (chest/back, hamstrings/calves, arms/shoulders, & quads/glutes).  I created lists for each muscle group with 6-8 exercises per group.  I lifted 4 days this week and each day I focused on a different muscle group.  I did 10-15 reps of each exercise 4 times (I hope that makes sense… that was a mouthful!).  My goal is to stick with this plan through February.  Hopefully by March I’ll see some results!

I debated with myself about posting this next picture… Partly because I’m embarrassed I’m in my PJs and the bed isn’t made (the boys were still snoozing and I didn’t want to wake them!).  The other part is I would hate for anyone to think I’m bragging or want to make others feel badly.  BUT… I decided when I started blogging I was going to be true to myself… and the truth is, this picture IS myself.  This picture was taken a few days ago.  The tape measure shows where my waist was last May.  In 8 months I’ve lost 8 inches in my waist.

I don’t think I’m perfect by any standard, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made.  Not necessarily because of inches or pounds, but because I think about the person was last May and I feel like I don’t even know her anymore.  That girl hated the way she looked and hated the way she felt.  She wasn’t sleeping well, had no energy, and was anything but confident.  The idea of running a 5K, much less a half-marathon was absolutely laughable.

Last May I chose to make a change (read about how I got started here) and I’m thankful every single day for that decision.  Since May I’ve challenged myself both physically and mentally.  Training for a half-marathon is something I never thought I’d do– not even in my wildest dreams.

Thanks for checking in on my training!  Have a great weekend! 🙂

What workouts did you get in this week?  What do you do for strength training?  How have you changed in the last year?  What’s something you’ve done you never thought you’d be able to do?

Dresser Turned Catch-All: DIY Distressed Furniture {Crafty Project}

Sunglasses, keys, gum, iPod… if you’re like me, these are just a few of the things you may grab when you’re on the way out the door.  We used to have a basket we kept things in, but the amount of stuff kept growing and we needed more space– more space that was organized!

My parents had this dresser they weren’t using so I decided to give it a makeover and turn it into a catch-all for my hallway.  Here’s what I did!

Materials:

Sander

Paper Towels

Screwdriver 

Painter’s Tape

Paint & Glaze (I used paint and glaze by General Finishes)

Paint Brushes

Polyacrylic Sealer

Rag

First I got my dresser and gave it a good sanding.  I wiped it down with paper towels and used a screwdriver to take off the hardware.  Then I used painter’s tape to line the mirror.  Oh, I also rocked out to some 90s boy bands! 🙂

Next I painted a coat of Linen.  It was streaky, but I didn’t care because it was just my first coat.

 

Then I did a few coats of Federal Blue.

When the paint was dry I used my sander to distress the corners and edges.

I covered the entire dresser in one coat of antique glaze.  I used Van Dyke Brown.  Then I did a few coats of polyacrylic sealer.

Next Adam put the hardware back on… and C decided the drawers were great for tractors!  Adam mounted a power strip in one of the drawers to make docking station.

 

Here’s the finished project!

Have you worked on any crafty projects lately?  Have you attempted to distress furniture?  How do you organize all those catch-all things?