Patio Dining & Sunshine: Reasons I Love Florida

I'm feeling a little tiny bit creative today, coupled with a feeling of just really loving where I live. So I've decided I want to come up with a list of the reasons why I love living in Florida. It won't be anything fancy, but ya know, it'll do :) So the following is a quick list of some of my favorite things about Florida.

+ It's nickname is "The Sunshine State," and that right there is enough reason for me to love it. I mean seriously, it's sunny here about 89% of the time (I totally made up that statistic on my own, so don't quote me or anything), and I'm a girl who loves my sunshine. I mean even during the months of November through February when the majority of the country is drowning in rain, snow, sleet and hail, we can still have gorgeous blue skies and a bright shining sun. I love the sunshine.

+ Hand-in-hand with the glorious sunshine, are the gorgeous beaches that surround 89% of the state (that's a made up statistic too, in case you hadn't already assumed that). I mean, did y'all see that picture above? That's not taken on some remote, Caribbean island. That was taken on the Gulf Coast, at St. George Island last year. Beautiful. Am I right, or am I right?

+ Florida State football is perhaps the greatest in all the land of college football. Don't even try to argue with me on this one, or I'm pretty sure we can't be friends anymore. The Florida State Seminoles are my absolute favorite. And plus, I look pretty good in garnet and gold.

+ We have some of the most amazing entertainment places within just a few hours' drive of anywhere in the state. I mean hello? Orlando is like the top tourist spot in the country or something, right? (I guess I could have actually done some research to give y'all real stats, but I'm not all about that today...) Orlando alone is home to Disney World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Harry Potter world, Epcot, Sea World, Wet-n-Wild, and about 15 other amazing amusement parks.

+ Just about every restaurant has a patio for outdoor seating, and you can sit there almost the entire year. There's just something a little bit special about eating at a restaurant, but still getting to sit outside. Do y'all agree with me on this one? Especially the places at the beach where you can just walk up off the sand, and plop down right in your bathing suit and still get service. Those are the best.

+ And for more entertainment, there are of course zoo's and aquarium's, and there are even some pretty neat museums too. (Nerd alert over here for this girl!) But more importantly, you can take airboat rides in the Everglades. Which is pretty stinking awesome. And they even let you hold baby alligators.

+ I can wear flip-flops and dresses basically year-round. Yeah, people will sometimes be all like, "Hey crazy girl! Aren't your feet freezing?" And yes, sometimes they are. But sometimes I just don't care. And I hate having my feet all confined in restrictive shoes, so I'd rather just brave the "cold" and wear my flip-flops in December. And I know all you Northern girls love your Hunter boots, but I barely even know what those are. (Never heard of them before this past winter in fact.) And I'm glad I don't have to wear them just to make it to my car to prevent my feet sinking down in the snow and having frostbite start setting in before I even make it to work. No. thank. you.

There really so many other reasons I love living in Florida, but I think it's time to wrap this up for now. Maybe I'll do a Part II to follow this up sometime in order to rub it in your face how awesome Florida is fully detail why I love my state.

If YOU live in Florida, what are some of your favorite things about living in this sunny state of ours? Let me know, and I might include it in my next list. :) But if you don't live in Florida, I want to hear why you love the state you live in! I guess some of the others out there are pretty cool, so let me know about that too! In fact, we may even make it a one-time link-up, but I don't know yet. I just threw that out there as my brain thought of it, so let me marinate on that a bit more. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, and I'll let y'all know later if it'll actually be a link-up or not!

Much Love,
Halie

Pool-Crashers & Water-Splashers

Good morning lovely ladies! Hopefully your Monday's are off to a decent start. Mine seems to be good so far. I'm in quite a nice mood, and I don't really even know why. But you certainly don't hear me complaining about it! I think it might be because I got more sleep last night than I have in the past like 10 days - so that's definitely a good thing. And it was necessary for sure after the fun and busy weekend I had! Wanna hear about my weekend shenanigans? Well,

This Weekend I....

Friday
+ Went to dinner with my parents at Applebee's, and even though we had a good time together, we weren't impressed with our meals or our server, so we probably won't be back for quite some time.
+ Then I met up with Jeff and the boys for a quick trip to Publix, to grab groceries for Saturday
+ Rented "The Rise of the Guardians" from Redbox, and watched the first half before the boys fell asleep
+ Then Jeff and I finished our week-long game of rummy, and clearly I blew him out of the water
+ Oh, and I made some delicious "redneck" caprese to take as part of my lunch on Saturday. I called it redneck because I forgot to buy fresh mozzarella, so I just cut up some string cheese sticks :) And it was soooo good. I'll be buying more tomatoes and cheese tonight to make this again, ASAP.

Saturday
+ Woke up early-ish and headed back to Jeff's house to get packed for the day, then we met my friend Lacey and her daughter, and we all headed down to swim at Wakulla Springs for a while! Since it's a natural spring, the water is always 72 degrees, and even though that doesn't sound particularly cold, it actually feels freezing. So the "big kids" didn't really do too much swimming, and instead just supervised the little ones in their floaties.

+ Then Jeff had to run the sound booth at his church for a wedding, so Lacey and I took the kids to a local apartment complex, and crashed their pool. There's no security guard or code or gate or anything, so we just walked right in. It was a great find, and we'll definitely be visiting many more times this summer!

+ After the wedding, Jeff came to meet us finally, so we got groceries, and cooked dinner for everyone at Lacey's house that night, and the kids all watched "The Rise of the Guardians," twice. And luckily I got to see the end of it the second time around. And it's such a good movie! For real, so good people.

Sunday
+ Went to Sunday school and church with my parents, and then met my sister, brother-in-law and step-brother for Father's Day lunch at Beef O'Brady's
+ Saw "Man of Steel" for Father's Day, and it was so good!
+ Cleaned out under my bed, and even though it's not completely done (still a DVD player and some other random things under there), it's about 95% done, so I'm crossing it off my list
+ Took the boys to swim at one of their church-friends' house for a couple of hours. And we spent a good amount of time working with them on learning how to swim more (they got so close last summer), and I think they've just about got it now!
+ Came back to Jeff's house and got some good snuggle time before heading home

Lots of activities, lots of sun, lots of water - lots of fun! (I love when I accidentally rhyme...) We had such a great time this weekend, and I realized how blessed we are to have such great friends for us, and for the boys, that we can hang out with all the time. I also had a great time celebrating Father's Day with my dad and siblings. And of course, just like everyone else on just about every Monday morning, I only wish it could have lasted a little bit longer! But we do have a couple fun things planned for during the week, and we definitely have fun things planned for next weekend as well!

How were y'all's weekends? Hopefully you enjoyed it, no matter how busy or relaxing your weekend was.

Much love,
Halie

Pudding Mix, Games & Randomness

And thankfully, another Friday rolls around again to grace us with it's presence. This week has been fun, but exhausting, and that makes me so glad it's the weekend, where I can rest and play and recharge myself a little bit. And since this week has been a bit crazy, I have no specific topic for today's post, so I'm just gonna wing it. But these random thoughts posts always end up being really popular for me, so I guess wingin' it is A-OK with me!

First of all, let me tell y'all about my breakfast. I mentioned in my weigh-in post from Wednesday that I'm drinking ViSalus shakes every day for breakfast and lunch. This isn't my first time doing this (I did it for a while back in April), but it is the first time I've jazzed them up a bit with some fancy recipes. And y'all, this morning's was de-lish-us. It's called the Butterfinger shake, but even as much as I love me a Butterfinger, I was skeptical this would actually taste like one. I figured it would be good, but not actually match the flavor of the candy bar. But boy was I surprised when I took the first sip. It tasted exactly like you would expect a Butterfinger milkshake to taste like! Soooo yummy. I'll definitely repeat this one.

For those interested, the recipe is: 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 scoops of Vi-Shape mix, 1 tablespoon sugar-free Butterscotch pudding mix, 1 tablespoon PB2, 1 cup of ice cubes. Blend until smooth and creamy! And then enjoy your super yummy breakfast shake, for only 163 calories. Yup, 163.

A while back, I got super excited for my first ever 5K race. I pre-registered for the Run or Dye race here in Tally, and got super pumped about it. But that was back in April and then my excitement kind of fizzled out. But this past week, it's ramped back up again. First, I confirmed with my friend Jenni (who has already done like 4 marathons!) that she is planning to come up from Orlando to run the race with me. Second, because I actually figured out a "training schedule" of sorts for myself, that I'll start the first week in July. It's gonna be pretty rough (with it being about a bajillion degrees and all), but I'm pretty determined. And then third, my friend Lacey also pre-registered to do it with me as well!

Last night after dinner, Jeff and I and his mom took the boys to Nuberri for some frozen yogurt for dessert. Mmmm yummy. I was good though and only got a little, and only topped it with fresh fruit and a tiny bit of sliced almonds. Still so yum. And those boys are just so dang cute :)

Sunday I'll be seeing my sister for the first time in two weeks, and I'm really excited! It's still so strange adjusting to not living with her, and I miss that girl. So glad that we get to all have lunch together for Father's Day, so that forces us to have some time together.

I just started reading "The Hobbit," and even though I'm only about 20 pages in so far, it's still really good already. It probably helps that I've seen the movie a couple of times, so I'm picturing that as I read, but I'm still really into it so far. Hopefully I can find the time to read some more, so I can add another book to my read list for the year!

Since Sunday night, Jeff and I have been playing a running game of Rummy after the boys go to sleep every night. Normally, we would be watching a movie or catching up on some of our favorite TV sitcoms, but it's been really nice to have some time to just be together and talk and laugh. Last night, the boys actually went to sleep super early, so we sat next to each on the couch and just read our own books for a while, and that was really nice too. I just love spending time with this man, no matter what we're doing :) But back to the card game - I'm whooping his tail...

And now for a little preview of the weekend: tonight I'm having dinner with my parents, because I haven't seen them since Sunday basically; tomorrow we're going with some of our friends and taking the kids to go swimming at Wakulla Springs; Sunday is family lunch and Father's Day and fun time; and hopefully I'll be able to find some time to straighten up my room a bit and do a load or two of laundry. Gonna be a good weekend! I'll get a good mix of family time, sunshine, time with Jeff and the boys, friends, cleaning and rest. Love those weekends. 

What are your weekend plans? Will you be doing anything crazy fun, or are you keeping it low-key and just relaxing? Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it! Happy Friday, friends!

Pinnacle Moment for a Bride-To-Be

Although I'm (obviously) not going to share a picture of the wedding dress I've chosen before the big day, I do at least want to write a little story about the process of finding it! I think that making the decision on my wedding dress was the one thing that really made me feel like a bride. Creating a Pinterest board or looking at pretty wedding cakes we want is super exciting and fun. But every girl can do that. But what every girl can't do, is pick out her wedding dress. That's a tradition that's reserved solely for after he pops the question and slips the bling on your left hand. The beautiful ring on my finger feels amazing, but actually picking out the dress I'll wear when I say, "I do," feels like something completely different. It feels like the Pinnacle Moment for a Bride-To-Be. Picking out my dress made everything seem so surreal and crazy and exciting. But let's back up and talk about the process of actually finding "the one!"

As I've shared before, we're trying to have a small-ish wedding, on a pretty tight budget. So that meant I wasn't going to be spending a couple thousand dollars on just the dress alone. (Side note - on 'Say Yes to the Dress' yesterday, I watched a girl pay $10,000 for a dress. Insane! Our entire wedding won't even cost that much...) So even though I had a certain vision in mind for what I wanted, I wasn't willing to spend a fortune to get it.

So the first place we headed was to David's Bridal. And it was not so great. We had been there for my sister's wedding to look at bridesmaid dresses and the flower girl dress, and both experiences were pretty rough. The staff wasn't friendly or helpful, and God forbid if you didn't make an appointment. But I wanted to give them a chance, because I had seen some of their dresses online and liked both their style and their price. But once there, my "consultant" didn't really provide me with what I was looking for. I felt like she didn't listen to a word I said about what I wanted, and a couple of the ones she brought were the exact opposite of what I was looking for. Pretty, but not the style I was going for. We did end up finding one there that even though it wasn't the style I thought I wanted, I did actually like it. Just not enough to buy it...

So then a couple of weeks later, my mom and I headed up to The New Image in Thomasville, Georgia. She was looking for a Mother-of-the-Bride dress for Megan's wedding, and I got to try on some wedding dresses for myself as well! (They have a huge variety of bridal, prom and MoB stuff.) I tried on about four or five, and really liked a couple of them. Then that last one I tried one, Mama and I both loved it. Mom immediately said, "That's the one. That's your wedding dress." And although I think I agreed then, I still wasn't quite ready to commit to it. And plus, I really wanted my sister to be able to see it first too.

Then on June 1, I made an appointment at a local place here in town, Vocelles. (This is actually where Megan found her dress last summer!) This in a cute little boutique bridal shop with a pretty atmosphere and super helpful staff. There were about three here that I really liked a lot, and one that I was in love with. (The one I loved the most was pretty similar to the one I liked at The New Image.) The train was longer than I wanted, but that's about the only thing I didn't like. Well, that, and the price of it! Because that's the thing with Vocelles - it's all gorgeous, but it's all a little pricey, and definitely over what I wanted to spend. In fact, it was about $600 more than the other one at The New Image, for basically the same thing. So as much as I loved the one from there, I felt conflicted about how much it was.

Aunt Suzanne, me and my sister Megan.

So we left there, and headed back up to The New Image again. I had them pull the one that I loved from my last appointment, and then we pulled about four or five more again, just to try. And I did end up liking a couple of the new ones too, but then once I put back on the one from the first trip, we knew that was THE One! Mama, Megan and my Aunt Suzanne all loooved it, and so did I. It's exactly what I was picturing in my head, and just what I wanted/needed for an outdoor wedding. It's simple, yet beautiful, and I think it's just so me. (And it makes me look so good and so skinny!)

I am so so so incredibly happy with the dress I've chosen and I can't wait to get my actual dress in so that I can get a better feel for it! The one I tried on was about three sizes too small, so I'm just kinda stuffed in it, and things are all tightened up to get the right effect. Like, so tightened up I couldn't breathe very well. So I definitely can't wait to try it on in my actual size! I think it's going to be perfect on my wedding day, and I'm so glad I found exactly what I had pictured myself getting married in. Hurry up, October 5th!

Much Love,
Halie

Pie for Breakfast

Yesterday afternoon, I posted this as my status on Facebook, "I'm hoping for an awesome weigh-in tomorrow, so I'm planning to kill it tonight at Zumba!" And that's just what I did folks. My friend Lacey met me there early, and we did our usual mile. We walked a little bit too much and so I didn't set a new PR or anything, but we still did good. And then at Zumba, we continued to push ourselves hard, and it seems like it was worth it for today's weigh-in...

Highest Weight = 227

January Starting Weight = 217

Last Week, June 5 = 187.4

Today, June 12 = 185.4

And that brings me to 31.6 pounds lost since the beginning of the year, and 41.6 pounds lost total. And I am so proud of myself! A while back, I set a goal weight for my wedding day of 170 pounds. Last week, I realized if I was going to make it to that, I'd have to lose four pounds every month for the next four months. So I made the decision to look for my motivation and determination again, and miraculously, I found it pretty quickly. Monday I started eating healthy again and making great food choices, and I'm getting back to my exercise routine. 

Mainly though, I want to share how/what I'm eating for at least the next few weeks. First of all, I'm drinking a ViSalus shake every day for breakfast and lunch. Normally, I don't have great luck with things like this (I've tried lots of other products that I won't mention, in order not to bash them - but none of them worked like this stuff.) Jeff and I first tried ViSalus because his co-worker sells it, and she got him a tester to try out. And then he ended up ordering a few bags of the shake mix, and so I tried it out for much of April, with good results. And now I'm back at it and doing it again for two meals a day. This time around though, I'm trying out new recipes and jazzing it up a bit, rather than just drinking it plain, with no yummy add-ins. This morning I had an Apple Pie Vi Shake. So basically, it was like I had Pie for Breakfast. And it was awesome.

Only 185 calories for a sweet, yummy and super filling breakfast shake. That's my kinda meal.

My snacks are all fruits, veggies, hummus and some fat free yogurt occasionally. And then for dinner, I'm eating as low/no-carb as possible. I'm avoiding all bread, pasta, snacky-junk foods, fried food, potatoes and the like. For dinner Monday night, I had a chicken breast, with broccoli and green beans. Every Tuesday, we go out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant with our group of friends for Taco Tuesday - but instead of tacos, I got chicken fajitas. But I only ate the chicken and veggies with a tiny bit of guacamole, and didn't eat the tortilla, rice and beans. Maybe not super healthy, but I did what I could...

Also, I'm drinking Ms. Jillian Michaels' detox water drink every day for the next seven days. Today is day two, and so far so good. It's really simple, tastes pretty plain, and isn't much different than drinking regular water. If you want to try it, it's 60 ounces of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar free cranberry juice, and 1 dandelion root tea bag. (I couldn't find this exact thing at Publix, but I did find a box of tea labeled "detox" with a special herb blend - dandelion was one of them, so that's what I'm using.) Leave in the fridge over night, and then drink the whole thing the next day. 

And my favorite dessert obsession right now is fresh strawberries cut up, with a glob of fat free cool whip. This stuff is sooo delicious, and only has 20 calories in 2 tablespoons. Definitely a great option for a healthier dessert. I've had it two nights in a row now (shared with Jeff last night while we played some cards), and I'm pretty positive I'll have it again tonight as well!

Oh, and I'm back to counting calories and logging everything into MyFitnessPal. So if you want to come over and find me on there, that would be just swell ;)  My user name is HalieRenee, so feel free to add me. So - that was a lot of stuff to share today, but I'm glad I did. I want to be completely open and honest about my weight loss journey and efforts, no matter what. So to recap, two Vi-shakes a day, no/low carb for snacks and dinner, and getting back into my exercise routine. I've lost two pounds so far this month, and now I just need to lose two more to stay on track to get to 170 by October 5th. I know I can do this!!!