Our last bbq of the season

Sunday we had family over for a BBQ. Our families are pretty large on both sides so we always need to do things separately! So this weekend we had my family over for the last BBQ of the season. My next house must have a very large basement to fit our whole families together :) because all these dinner parties are a lot of work!

We had lots of food! I was cooking all morning! I also made Stuffed Peppers in the slow cooker. Slow cookers rock!


My husband was a good sport BBQing in the cold and it started to snow yesterday morning...
This morning we woke up to this!
A winter wonderland!
Love the snow!

Happy Monday!

Snowflake Sunday

Let's talk synchronicities...

Today I went out grocery shopping and made sure to buy a lot of fruits and veggies. I've been low in Vitamin B before and been feeling a little sluggish lately so I must make sure I'm getting those much needed nutrients!

I also bought persimmons. I haven't had these since I was a kid! I was reminded of them lately.... What do you think of these synchronicities.

2 weeks ago while grocery shopping I got the feeling and the taste in my mouth of a persimmon. (weird right!). It reminded me of my grandfather. He use to eat them all the time but I couldn't remember at all what this fruit was called or even what it looked like at the time but I could taste it! So I just forgot about it and left it at that.

Then this week at my mom's house, my sisters fiance was eating this different looking fruit (soo weird that he brought that fruit from home to begin with!)... he asked if I wanted some... I said what is that!? And then he told me it's a persimmon! My memory went straight back to 2 weeks ago and how I was strangely tasting that fruit. So I had some to be sure, and sure enough it was that fruit!

I know our souls live on and I know our loved ones always send us signs.

I didn't even connect this all until yesterday. I was driving to work and I thought of the whole situation and just knewwwww it was my grandfather saying hello! and possibly telling me to eat more fruit Ha! I was getting a little emotional about it and then it got more interesting....

My SIL sent me a email yesterday morning. She said she was talking to a cousin of mine that was always close to my dad. He was telling her about things my dad would say about me. He told her that my dad would tell him that anything I do in life, I would succeed. That I'm eager and luck is on my side. (I started to cry when I read it)

This was so random and so strange that I had just put together the persimmon fruit situation. So I took a longer lunch and went to the cemetery to visit my grandparents and my Dad. I miss them all so much! My grandmother was such a sweet kind hearted lady and she loved my dad so much, he was her little baby. They are all together and I KNOW the 3 of them are our angels. If I ever have a little girl she will be named after my grandma. :)

Pretty cool huh!

Hope you all have a Happy Weekend! I am having my family over tomorrow to celebrate being chosen for little M's Godparents. We are excited. I love my family!

Oh and I added some more Christmas decor. Our Stockings! For me, husband and Zoe. Lets see how long they last. Last year Zoe would play with them until they fell off haha!
Sorry for the longer than usual post Ha! But I had to tell this story!

Only Wednesday?

Burr, it's getting cold here! (eyes are closed in my pic as usual! haha!) But I bought a new hat! I love it. My mom and sister loved it too, so yesterday my sister and I went to get a black one for my mom and my sister bought a purple one.

Yesterday sister and I took the day off work to hang out and shop. We went wedding dress shopping and my sister tried on some beautiful dresses! The sales lady was using me as her assistant, I didn't mind one bit!
Today I decided to add 5mins of the trampoline, I'll be doing this every morning in addition to my 4 workouts. It's quick and gives me some extra energy in the morning before work.

It's the time of the month (tmi i know) but I was one grumpy gal today. I was annoyed and emotional and felt like my world was falling apart. At work I held on to my rock and repeated, GOD is not trying to destroy me (lol) so dramatic but I was serious ha! But! I'm ok and in a much better mood tonight :) Whew!!!

Hurry Weekend!

Adding Extra Workouts This Month.

These pics have nothing to do with my weekly goals but I had to show my little niece. We went to my moms house tonight to visit.
Mom had surgery on her hand. She is doing well just in a little pain, but was happy that we were all over tonight.
Oh I just can't get enough of her cuteness!

So today after stepping on the scale and not seeing ANY change I decided that it's time to pick it up a notch. For the next 4 weeks I'll be doing 4 workouts a week.

This weeks Goals:
*Oatmeal for Breakfasts (It's so cold, I like a warm BF!)
*Only 1 coffee a day (going well!)
*1500 Calories/day
*Veggie filled Salad for lunch
*Drink lots of water everyday! I really need to increase my water intake!
* 3 bite rule on sweets or no sweets at all!
* 4 workouts a week.
* Weigh myself weekly.

I read in a magazine something that I always enforce with myself... Snacking! Having little snacks throughout the day so you don't over indulge at meals. I find this very important for my drive home. I usually have a banana on my way home so while I cook dinner I'm not falling over! Ha!

Time to finally lose these nagging 10lbs!

My Weekend Fun!

This weekend was so fun. Friday night my family and bff came over for a little get together. We bought sooo much food! and Wine! We had all different types of foods Colombian, Mexican, Portuguese, Italian.. and wayyy too many desserts!
Bff is pregnant and my SIL was over with the kids. So we had a lot of baby talk! She was giving us all lots of pointers. She is also very pro breast feeding so she was educating us all. We had some funny stories which may have scared the younger cousins just a little ahahah!
I can't get enough of my little niece! She is just so so cute!
Saturday night the MIL turned 50! So they had a little party. We stayed at their house until 3am!
We slept in today which was totally needed and went to Lowes this afternoon for our Christmas tree! I love Lowes! they cut the bottom of the tree for us so all we had to do is put it in the stand when we got home! So easy! It smells great!
Fingers crossed Zoe stays away from it....
As for my weekly goals... lets just say another weekend of not following my goals has happened again! All in the name of fun!

Some great buys at HomeSense

Both yesterday and today I left work late :(... As drive home I always think"I really rather eat out!" Yesterday we almost ate out, but I repeated in my head that I only need to cook 3 days this week Mon-Wed. So far I have Monday and Tuesday down ahah! Yesterday was shrimp stirfry and today I made chicken with tomato sauce and chickpeas with mushrooms and peppers, yum! One more day to go ha!

When I plan my meals I do really well with staying within the calories I want for the day. It's when I eat out I lose track! So planning meals is key!

After dinner I went to Homesense to buy picture frames to put pictures of my adorable nieces!

But there was so many great deals going on! I couldn't resist!
I bought this cute ceramic Santa House that lights up to add to my Christmas Decor, it's so cute! And Christmas Cards too.
I also bought a new tea mug with a lid, a new wine opener and a spoon for the stove to hold cooking utensils. I was always meaning to get one of these! So finallyyy I have one!

I also bought some gifts for my Kris Kringle's :) couldn't post those here but let me assure you they are cute!!!

Holiday decorating!!

We are almost done with our holiday decorating!

All we need is our Christmas tree!

Yesterday we put up all the lights outdoors. My Husband did a great job! (let me add that yesterday was sooo cold here too!)



I love love the Christmas Holiday's!! And love to give back. Every year my sister and I sponsor a family at our church, we are so excited to give back and make a family happy with wonderful gifts.

I received a gift yesterday from my cousin, she is so sweet and saw this inspirational rock and thought of me. This quote and the serenity prayer helped me a lot when I had my Miscarriage.
Jeremiah 29:11 " I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring out the future you hope for" I trust God :)

I'll be carrying it around in my purse!



Hope your holiday plans are coming together!!

A Friends Wedding.

A good friend of mine got married yesterday!
(I bought my dress at H & M and it was soo comfy! I didn't end up wearing the shoes, they were killing just standing there)

My friend and I worked together years ago and when we met we just clicked! She is such a nice fun girl and I'm soo happy for her.

Her wedding was beautiful and so much fun.


It was a Portuguese wedding and the food was sooo good! Lets just say there was NO watching what you eat because they had dish after dish and then a midnight seafood and dessert table that was to die for!
And I won the beautiful center piece!!
Today is a errand running, home cleaning, Christmas decorating and working on the side biz kinda Sunday ahah! It's cold and snowy today!

Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday!

A evening of shopping and TGIF!

Oh I am happy the weekend is almost here!

What a week! It's been soo busy at work! I have new coordinating responsibilities and it's been a challenge but I'm doing well, just exhausted. I'm also making sure to fit in working on my side biz's after work and that's going really well :) I really want to be doing what I want full time.... one day one day...

I only cooked at home twice this week but I had homemade breakfast and lunches with healthy snacks all week!

After work today I went to the mall to shop for a dress for a friends wedding on Saturday. I bought 2 dresses a pink one and a black one... I love them both! And now I don't know which one to choose!

I also bought a new face wash and loofah. I love using loofahs to help with circulation and polishing up my skin.

I was tempted to buy more Christmas decor but decided to wait and do that shopping with the husband. We both love Christmas! I can't wait to get our tree and decorate it, and put all the decor outdoors. Christmas has always been a happy time for me and I just get so excited just talking about it.

Slowly I started taking out some decor, I'll do more this weekend :)


Hope you all have an awesome Friday!!!