Merry Christmas

Have a Merry Christmas!
Love,
Kyle and Amelia Hansen

My Busy December

It may seem like I have dropped off the planet, but no, I'm still here! Just caught up in tons of Christmas projects! Making a lot of your own Christmas gifts can be really fun, but it also is time consuming! Yesterday, I printed out pretty labels for each of the items I crafted. I also made gift tags with my own rendition of calligraphy. I am really pleased with how everything has turned out this year and am excited to give them! Some years I feel so ambitious to get gifts made and in the end I don't make nearly all I had planned... but this year has been quite successful. I am excited to share pictures later of the handmade items.

The reason for getting my gifts done early is because this weekend we have our first "Christmas" (out of many!) with Kyle's parents. We are looking forward to the trip up to Maine to share some time with our family and just relax. Tomorrow will be spent doing some baking, packing and last minute preparation before the trek North. And cleaning my house that is cluttered with gifts. Haha.

I also have very good news. My husband will finally be able to work a "normal" job!!! He got hired by W.B. Mason and will start driving on Monday. What a HUGE praise. We have been praying for a year and a half that God would provide something different for Kyle, and now here we are. The best part is that he will have better hours and will be around more often. And another plus is that I will have the car whenever I need it!! It's so rewarding after such a long time to finally have a prayer answered. :)

I'll have to catch up more at another time. I hope to get some photos of my house all decorated for the holiday, but at the rate, I'm not sure yet.

Hope you all are enjoying the most wonderful time of the year! ;)

Shelf Lining

As I was cleaning the other day before Thanksgiving, I spied some shelf liner in my cabinet that I bought quite a while ago to use. I had been ignoring the fact that I really needed to line my pantry with the pretty chevron pattern for quite some time... so finally I decided to be brave and just do it. ;)

I found the shelf liner at T.J Maxx for $5.99. Can't beat that!

This is the pantry before. SO sorry for the blurred picture. 

I didn't realize it until now, but you get the general idea of how blah it was.

The supplies needed: cleaner (for the shelves), measuring tape, scissors and shelf liner.

I measured the length of the shelf and then used the helpful grid on the back of the liner to cut a straight line. Adhering it to the shelf is easy once you get it all straight and lined up! The liner is sooo forgiving. I must have peeled it up at least 6 times the first round. Since it wasn't wide enough, I just cut extra pieces and tried to match up the pattern the best I could. 

I like the end result. It took time, but is so worth it. And now I will know the tricks for next time! :)

Check out your T.J Maxx for more pretty shelf liners. There are some gorgeous patterns!

Homemade Coffee Treat

This morning I had good news... I lost another pound. It really was thrilling and exciting to have reached the 15 pound mark! Although I don't believe I can make it to 20 by Thanksgiving, I am pretty happy that I have gotten this far!

So to celebrate, of course I had to make some coffee after my healthy breakfast of yogurt and an egg on toast. And my vitamins too! I have been dying to get an espresso maker so I can make my own lattes at home, but since that won't be happening soon, I'm on my own for crafting up a yummy coffee.

To make my coffee a little extra special, I brewed a strong pot (I normally do anyway) and added some plain soy creamer. I then topped it with Cabot whipped cream and drizzled some ice cream topping (caramel) on top. To finish, a pinch or two of pumpkin pie spice. Let me tell you, it is so good! And really, it isn't full of as many calories as you would think! I counted 95 calories. Of course if you would have only opted for way less caramel than I did (don't judge! ;) it would have been less. Pretty good for a special treat, I think.

So there's a little something for you to try on occasion... Maybe even today to help me celebrate! ;)

Happy Thursday.

Homemade Baguettes

My baguettes turned out pretty good. Not quite how I wanted, but they are crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Very yummy!

A Day of Homemade

Today is definitely one of those days where I am happy to be home. The weather has turned nasty, yet it just makes me want to bake and be all domestic. :)

I decided to try homemade bread again. Last time I made it, it turned out okay, but I have yet to bake a homemade bread that I absolutely loved! So the dough for my French bread is rising and I am anxiously waiting to see how it turns out.
Meanwhile, I am going to watch a couple movies from RedBox while I crochet Christmas gifts. All of this is definitely taking place with some strong, hot coffee and a cozy blanket. I'm really feeling the whole winter thing here today. Weird how the weather can put people into different moods. Hah!

There are many other things I can think of to accomplish today, but we will have to see how far I get. The list of Christmas "to-dos" is getting longer and longer, so I hope to kick a few items off while I have days like this! Now if only I could get to Jo-Ann's for more supplies. My sweet husband willingly offered to take me yesterday in the snow, but the highway was backed up and accidents were everywhere. So we ended up turning around.
Don't we all wish we had a Jo-Anns in our back yard? Hehe.

Guess I should get to my projects. The thing about not having internet connection or cable is that it makes it a lot easier to get projects and housework done without the distraction. There, I found one positive thing about it! ;)

Enjoy the first snowfall... Even if it is yucky. :)

I have seen people doing the Thanksgiving countdown since November 1st and really wish I had remembered to do it! They take each day until Thanksgiving to list something they are thankful for. Frankly, we all should be doing this every day of the year, but I think it is especially neat to be able to see people list the things they can praise God for. The list is endless once you sit and write it all down!

Today I am thankful for a God Who still loves me even when I am unlovable! I think of the many times I become so caught up in life and worrying over things, that I forget to remember Who is in control of it all. Yet God still loves me even when I get off track. How much better the world would be if we all tried to follow His example of unfailing love and forgiveness.

Today I spent some much needed time working on my house, laundry, etc. I also started making a Christmas List of gifts for people and worked on a budget for it all. I like to plan ahead, but feel like I am a little behind in all of this! December is sure to be a hectic month, so I am going to challenge myself to get a lot of the Christmas gifts done this month. I am making a lot of different items this year, mostly for the ladies in the family, which I am excited about. We came up with a plan for keeping track of spending this year, which is what I need because I always have a hard time remembering what I spent on who! The idea is to make an envelope for each person and put the amount of money (cash) we are going to spend in each one. Once we use up the money in each envelope, then we are done buying for them! :) Since I am making the majority of the gifts for the ladies, we will have less shopping to do. So I'm excited for it all, and am feeling more ready with everything planned out and organized.

With all that said, here is a recipe link to end this post. Lol. I made these tonight, and not only are they easy, but so stinkin' delicious! Get the recipe here for No-Knead Pumpkin Rolls with Brown Sugar Glaze. Mm-mmm.

A little laugh

I have had an extremely long day, but I won't take the time to write a book about it! Let's just say, almost everything that could go wrong DID.

Anyway, tonight I decided to go through some of my bins packed away to see if I could add anything to my mom's yard sale tomorrow. Yesterday I found my books and supplies from taking the GCNM nutrition course and decided to pull out Dr. Andrew Weil's CDs on optimum health. Tonight I found my notes from the whole course and went through them.

My note made me chuckle:

"Fat is not evil! The more people cut out fat from their diets, the fatter they get. Haha."

Very true statement. And that is my fun fact for the evening.
Enjoy your weekends, everyone! I know I plan to enjoy mine. :)

Forming New Habits

Feels like it has been quite a while since I have blogged anything about my health and fitness goals. It may seem like I have given up on it all, but that is not the case! I'm still working away on my challenge, just not so intently. ;) Things have picked up, and for some reason it just hasn't worked out to get to the gym with Kyle. He either isn't around with the car to take me when I'm available... or I'm not around to go with him when he has free time. It just hasn't worked, and is a complete bummer.

However, because of the months that I worked so hard at watching what I eat and trying out new ideas, I formed habits that have stayed with me and helped me to keep all of the weight off and lose more! I didn't even realize until recently that I am subconsciously keeping to my healthy lifestyle without even trying! I kept wondering why on earth I wasn't gaining my weight back, because I wasn't getting to the gym. And it's not like I am counting all of my calories...

It's really exciting to see the new habit formed. And it gives me great hope for the future when I get to my goal and want to keep healthy. If I can continue on with these new habits, I think it will be easier to stick with them later on.

I have been keeping pretty busy between my house cleaning jobs, recovering from the respiratory infection, being involved a lot in church events, etc. Time just seems to be getting used up more than I thought it would... for being a stay-at-home wife, I certainly have enough to keep busy with. I love the flexibility of being able to run a part time job on the side, be there for my husband with whatever he needs, be involved with things at church and positions that need to be filled, and also be a help to my parents and siblings whenever they are in need.

So with the schedule and sickness and not keeping to a strict diet and not getting to the gym... I still have managed to lose a total of 14 pounds! Woohoo! Soo excited and encouraged to keep going. I have yet to measure myself again, but I know I have lost over 12 inches since my last measuring about a month ago. So who knows... maybe more.

Also good news: I have a new cleaning job starting Friday! Credit due to Sarah Bowler, who told her friend about me, and is the reason for my other cleaning job as well... word of mouth works! Thanks, Sarah!

I have a few new recipes in the making that I want to post at another time. I am trying out new vegetables in my meal planning that I have never had before and am really wishing I had known about them earlier!

I better close this before it gets too long.

Goodnight all.

Fall Photography

My sister and I took a few scenic roads today to get some shots of the foliage. I have been fighting a bad respiratory infection the past few days and am still pretty sick, but I just needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air today. This seemed like my last chance to catch some color on the trees... it is already fading! :( It was a gorgeous day and perfect for catching some of the autumn beauty. 

Click on the images for a better view. Enjoy!

Apricot Chicken Thighs

Hey all. What a beautiful day, huh? This is what I'd call perfect fall weather! Chilly, a little breeze, sunshine... love it! Especially after all those cold, rainy, dreary days. I like an occasional rainy day, but after days of it I've had enough!

Meanwhile, I have been trying out new recipes while being cooped inside for the last few days. I personally am a fan of boneless chicken thighs. They are not only less expensive, but are more flavorful because they are a darker meat. We rarely buy chicken breasts in our house. The thighs and tenders are cheaper and come out far more tender. Anyway, I haven't been able to get to the grocery store this week, but had chicken thighs in my refrigerator that I really needed to use up. I then went to look for an onion so I could start chopping it up along with an apple to make my apple balsamic chicken and...

No onion. I contemplated making it without the onion, but that would just be wrong. Lol! So, I decided to try something new. I checked the fridge (which is running very low on items) and a thought suddenly hit me. I saw a jar of Apricot Jam and a new recipe started to form. Very simple, very quick.

Apricot Chicken Thighs

1 pkg. boneless chicken thighs

1 tsp. minced garlic

3 T apricot jam

olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat and add chicken thighs so they are flat against the pan. Sprinkle minced garlic and salt and pepper (to taste) on top. Cook the chicken for 2 minutes and flip. Add apricot jam and smear over each piece. Add a little extra to the pan so it can simmer into a nice glaze. If the pan seems dry you can add a little chicken broth or water. Continue cooking the chicken over medium heat until it is cooked through and slightly browned, flipping a couple more times if needed. 

And there you have it! Very easy. I don't like to let the brown bits in the pan go to waste, so you can either scrape them out and sprinkle on top of the chicken or de-glaze the pan and add a vegetable to saute with the yummy bits. We had our chicken with parmesan couscous and green beans. I had my husband guess what I used to make the chicken and he couldn't guess. The apricot is very subtle, but very delicious with the chicken. If it passes the husband test, it's certainly a keeper!

I have a couple more "husband approved" recipes in the making, and hope to share them soon!

Enjoy. :)

Apples

I am so happy I was able to get apples this year! We went to George Hill Orchard in Lancaster, MA. This was a little bit ago, but I wanted to post some pictures and share about the processing. I picked two bushels! They were actually drops, but I got 4 huge bags of beautiful apples. At first I wondered if the 4 bags would be enough for all I had planned to do with the apples... but then I got to peeling and coring them, and I knew that it was going to be a long road ahead.

My first project was applesauce. I peeled and cored and peeled and cored and cooked them all down to a yummy, slightly chunky applesauce. I did not use any sweetener, just spices. It was plenty sweet without anything else, and I kind of like the thought of eating applesauce and knowing it is 100% pure apple.

Next, on to apple butter. I don't have a picture of that, but once I get the jars decorated, I will get one up. The apple butter came out really sweet and yummy and is good on toast, biscuits, ice cream, and anything else you can think of! I bought burlap and plaid homespun fabric on sale that I'm going to use to doll up the jars.

Last, I really wanted to make an apple pie filling. I had a link sent to me of this great recipe for canning. I got all excited, because it was really simple and was going to make awesome Christmas gifts. But then I read that I needed this stuff called Ultra Gel to help thicken the sauce for the pie filling. Supposedly corn starch is not safe to use in things that you want to can, so they suggest Ultra Gel, which is a modified corn starch. Well, of course I was not able to find the Ultra Gel in any stores around here, and having it shipped in wasn't going to work since I needed to use up the apples. I ended up getting freezer bags and making a pie filling with corn starch.

The bags of pie filling flatten out and making storing in my tiny freezer manageable. I haven't tried baking with it yet, but we will see how it turns out. It looks, smells, and tastes fabulous, so I'm assuming there won't be any problems.

It took me days to use up all the apples, but it was worth all the time and effort. Canning takes a lot of time, but in the end it is great to look at all the jars of goods you have stocked in your pantry. :) The reason I got drops was because they are considerably cheaper. There's no way I was walking away from that orchard with 2 bushels of apples picked from the tree. I spent $18 on all the apples, and am content with the many ways I was able to use them!

By the way, salt water is the bomb. I'll tell you why. It keeps your sliced apples beautiful while you are peeling and coring. I always thought I needed to use lemon juice, but salt water is awesome for this. 

This is the recipe I used for the pie filling. http://www.howtobaker.com/recipes/pies-cobblers-recipes/freezer-apple-pie-filling/

Balsamic Apple Chicken

So, I am in love with food blogging. I am almost always looking for new recipes to test on my hubby. This has been his absolute favorite and we have it just about every week. Many people (including myself) are looking for quick, easy meals that are delicious and affordable. Here's my own recipe on a yummy, fall meal. 

Start off by chopping an onion and an apple. Both your preference as to what kinds you want to use.

Saute over medium heat in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Sauteed apples and onions send a wonderful smell throughout the kitchen. One of my favorites! :)

After a couple minutes, add chicken. Make sure it is flattened out on the pan (I love my cast iron!) so it can sear well. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Flip after 2-3 minutes. 

Drizzle with 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with a little brown sugar and let it simmer. After a few minutes, it will begin to coat the chicken with a yummy, sweet glaze. Flip the chicken and let the other side brown up. I like my chicken nice and golden because it makes it more flavorful, but you can cook it how ever long you want. Just don't overcook or it will be very dry. :-/

I love polenta. I make creamy, cheesy polenta by following the directions on the back and then adding a bit of milk and grated cheese. Make sure you salt the water - else, it will be rather bland.

Choose whatever vegetable side you like. We chose fresh spinach that I cooked down in the same pan I cooked the chicken in. The brown bits in the pan gave the spinach lots of yummy flavor. 

Serve chicken over polenta and don't forget all the caramelized apples and onions to top!

Balsamic Apple Chicken

1 pkg. boneless chicken thighs

1 apple

1/2 of large onion

1 T olive oil

2-3 T balsamic vinegar

1 T brown sugar

salt and pepper for seasoning

Chop onion and apple. Saute over medium heat in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. After a couple minutes, add chicken thighs so they are flat against the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Sear 2-3 minutes and flip. Add balsamic vinegar and brown sugar and simmer down until it makes a glaze. Make sure both sides of the chicken have been coated and are golden brown. Serve over creamy polenta and enjoy!

It's Friday!

I made it through the week! Yay! It has been busy, busy. Today I am recovering a bit and trying to keep my allergies under control as they threaten to take over my day! The change in weather is so awesome, but it give me allergies, and I don't like that. Who does?

My week has been full, and yesterday was quite tiring... and exciting at the same time. :) My sister, Aly, came over for the day to help me finalize some vacuuming and mopping at the house. At 6:30pm the ladies from the church arrived and filled the apartment! It was a bit of a squeeze to get everyone seated for our time of hearing adoption stories from two women, but we did it! It was wonderful to hear how God had blessed the ladies who adopted their children even though they weren't able to have their own babies. It is something to be thinking and praying about if Kyle and I aren't able to have children. My heart goes out to the many children without parents and in foster care that need a family to love them. We think it's worse in other countries, but the statistics for America are just as shocking.

Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and were able to roam around during our time of tea and snacking. Everyone left around 9:45pm.

Kyle came home early last night at about 10:30! That was exciting. There aren't too many nights that he gets back earlier than 11:30pm. He was a wonderful hubby and heated up some rice packs for my back that was aching and I dozed off after taking some antihistamine.

This morning I reluctantly got out of bed so I could have Kyle drop me off at my parent's. I decided to weigh in, wondering what the scale would tell me. I haven't gone to the gym in a while, and am so upset about that. There's not much I can do, though, when Kyle's schedule is so crazy to take me and mine has been busy as well. I think all of my house cleaning has paid off - both the jobs and my own home. I lost TWO MORE pounds! :D So that's 12 pounds total. I have found the secret, and it's this. Don't starve yourself. And if you are going to have a more active day, make sure you eat enough so your body can function. Otherwise it's going to be a battle. In the beginning of my whole determination to get thin again, I was eating very little and being very picky over what I ate. That was good in a way, because it got me into a habit of knowing how many calories were in just about every item I ate. But at the same time, I think my body was in shock from eating so little. Now I don't worry so much about it. I have an occasional ice cream on the weekends, or a sweet from the party. But it's all about what you do in moderation. If I were at the gym 3-4 times a week, I'm sure the weight would fall off at an even faster rate. I'm still happy with 12 pounds gone though. I feel so good, and am really determined to get to the 20 pound mark by November!

Well, I better get some things done now. I'm collecting a bunch of things for my sister-in-law's sweet sixteen party tomorrow. Oh, my busy week is not done yet. ;) I'm excited for it - we have lots planned!

Have a good one,

A Busy September

Things have really picked up around here. Our September schedule has been and is packed! I have added two new things to my weekly schedule, which are JOY Club and another house cleaning job. Those seem to fill in the gaps some on top of quite a bit of things going on during the weekends.

A few weeks ago we were able go up to Maine for the weekend and stay at the family "camp" for a night. It was good to cross over the Maine border again and experience the slower life for a couple days. It was very peaceful and quiet at camp, which was what we needed.

Last weekend we went on a family outing with my parents to a corn maze. That was a lot of fun! I had never been through a corn maze, so that was a new experience. After that we went to Kimball Farm in Lancaster, MA for some ice cream. We heard it was awesome ice cream, but we never expected our servings to be as big as they were. My brothers and Kyle had a hard time with the large serving and none of them were able to finish it in one sitting. It was so good.

This weekend we are going away again. This time it is to NH for my sister-in-law's 16th birthday party. My sisters and I are helping coordinate the decorating. I enjoy party planning and am excited about this Saturday when we can put it all together!

So we have been quite busy and in the midst of it all, it has been very hard to get exercising in. Of course that's the problem for many... But I have been watching what I eat and have been getting exercise in many other ways, like both house cleaning jobs, outings, etc. It really isn't the exercise that targets burning a lot of fat, but it has seemed to get me by. I am at the ten pound mark now! That is very exciting and motivating. This week is pretty hectic for me, but I hope to get to the gym tomorrow.

I have JOY club tomorrow, house cleaning for 4 hours then prayer meeting on Wednesday, a ladies' meeting here at my home on Thursday night (which is taking a bit of work to get ready for) and traveling to NH on Saturday morning. Friday will be spent packing, taking a breather, and preparing last minute things for the bday party.

I am glad to be keeping busy, though my body does not seem to want to keep up. Allergies have hit me again with the weather change and I am feeling pretty tired all day.

I'm excited for the rest of this fall season, and can't wait to do more canning and different projects around the house!

There's a lot more that I could go on about, but I'm afraid that would take too long. Hah, shame on me for not keeping up with the blog. It's been almost a year that I have been without internet here at the house, but I am hoping that we will be able to afford it soon. :)

One more note - I am looking to expand my house cleaning. If anyone is interested or knows anyone that would be, please let me know! I would like for friends to refer me to people that they know, so that I will know if the situation is safe or not. If that makes sense…?

Enjoy the evening. I love cool, autumn nights!

<3

A Busy September

Things have really picked up around here. Our September schedule has been and is packed! I have added two new things to my weekly schedule, which are JOY Club and another house cleaning job. Those seem to fill in the gaps some on top of quite a bit of things going on during the weekends.

A few weeks ago we were able go up to Maine for the weekend and stay at the family "camp" for a night. It was good to cross over the Maine border again and experience the slower life for a couple days. It was very peaceful and quiet at camp, which was what we needed.

Last weekend we went on a family outing with my parents to a corn maze. That was a lot of fun! I had never been through a corn maze, so that was a new experience. After that we went to Kimball Farm in Lancaster, MA for some ice cream. We heard it was awesome ice cream, but we never expected our servings to be as big as they were. My brothers and Kyle had a hard time with the large serving and none of them were able to finish it in one sitting. It was so good.

This weekend we are going away again. This time it is to NH for my sister-in-law's 16th birthday party. My sisters and I are helping coordinate the decorating. I enjoy party planning and am excited about this Saturday when we can put it all together!

So we have been quite busy and in the midst of it all, it has been very hard to get exercising in. Of course that's the problem for many... But I have been watching what I eat and have been getting exercise in many other ways, like both house cleaning jobs, outings, etc. It really isn't the exercise that targets burning a lot of fat, but it has seemed to get me by. I am at the ten pound mark now! That is very exciting and motivating. This week is pretty hectic for me, but I hope to get to the gym tomorrow.

I have JOY club tomorrow, house cleaning for 4 hours then prayer meeting on Wednesday, a ladies' meeting here at my home on Thursday night (which is taking a bit of work to get ready for) and traveling to NH on Saturday morning. Friday will be spent packing, taking a breather, and preparing last minute things for the bday party.

I am glad to be keeping busy, though my body does not seem to want to keep up. Allergies have hit me again with the weather change and I am feeling pretty tired all day.

I'm excited for the rest of this fall season, and can't wait to do more canning and different projects around the house!

There's a lot more that I could go on about, but I'm afraid that would take too long. Hah, shame on me for not keeping up with the blog. It's been almost a year that I have been without internet here at the house, but I am hoping that we will be able to afford it soon. :)

One more note - I am looking to expand my house cleaning. If anyone is interested or knows anyone that would be, please let me know! I would like for friends to refer me to people that they know, so that I will know if the situation is safe or not. If that makes sense…?

Enjoy the evening. I love cool, autumn nights!

<3

A Long Weekend

So this week was quite a busy week, and it flew by quickly! This weekend was full of a couple different events at church, and of course there was lots of food. There always is, and it is always good food! Anyway, I tried to stay away from anything really bad for me, but I will admit that I didn't do my best. I went off the record for the weekend and that alone scared me... I had a feeling that when I weighed myself this morning I would have gained.

But, I did not. :) I actually lost a pound. Not the 3 that I had wanted, but still awesome for all the extra food I had this weekend. Plus, I shrunk another 1 1/2 inches total! I feel great, and I think my body is finally reacting to my new routine.

--

Kyle had an interview at W.B Mason last week, which all happened so quickly! He called one day, they called back the next, and the third day he had an interview! We are waiting to hear back and are praying that he will get the driving position... we really need a new job and this would be perfect. Kyle's brother works at W.B Mason and has recommended him to the company several times, so he has a good chance of getting in. The waiting is always the hardest part...

So excited about fall just around the corner. Yesterday after church, we met up with my family in Shrewsbury to shop at Christmas Tree Shop. I picked up a few things to decorate for fall. It's always fun to find deals there. Then we headed to Northborough Crossing to shop at a few places there. We enjoyed being out as a family. Shopping is also a lot of fun when you come away with really good deals! :)

Easy Weeknight Meal

Below is a picture of our dinner tonight. This meal is super duper quick and one of our favorite weekday meals. It's so simple, yet my husband comments on it every time saying it is one of his favorites! It's basically our "burger" night, without all the carbs and calories. Here's how I make it:

- Turkey or chicken burgers (no bun)

- small slice of low-fat cheese

-Asian coleslaw

 (slaw mix, good seasons italian dressing, soy sauce, sugar, dried cranberries)

-Cape Cod low-fat chips 

I season the turkey burgers with an applewood rub and just fry them in a little olive oil in a pan. They stay really moist! The slaw is just a bagged coleslaw mix with Good Seasons Italian salad dressing, low sodium soy sauce, sprinkle of sugar and dried cranberries. It is sooo good! Kyle likes me to make his slaw the good old fashion way, which I really love too. The asian style is just so good though! The Cape Cod chips are kettle cooked and really aren't nearly as bad for you as many other brands. I had one serving of reduced fat, because what is a burger without chips or fries? Haha. All in all, this is a really yummy meal and just as satisfying as something with twice the calories. If you wanted to be even healthier, you could leave off the cheese and substitute the chips for something else.

Might I add, this is really inexpensive too! :) A package of Turkey or Chicken Burgers can vary in price depending on the store, but I bought a Shady Brook pack of four today for $2.29!

Anyway, just wanted to share! I love to cook and come up with new twists on things. My husband appreciates it too! ;)

Enjoy your evening,

One Month Mark

It's been exactly one month since I first measured myself and began working toward my new goal. Seems like I just started! Last week could have gone better, but life happens and there's not much you can do about that! So I was only able to make it to the gym a couple times last week, but I did make up for it a bit with getting exercise in other ways.

Come Saturday morning I started getting blurry vision and a headache. If anyone has had that before you know what's coming next: a migraine. Only, I seem to get really weird things with it like numbness on one side of my body. All of a sudden my hand and arm got numb and tingling and it began to work its way up to my face and ended with my tongue. Scary. But this type of thing has happened to me before, so I knew all I needed to do was take pain relief and sleep it all off. Talk about a crappy way to spend a Saturday! I didn't stick well to my diet that day, sadly. Kyle took me to work with him that night so I didn't have to be alone, and we kinda got a few treats. ;) I slept through Sunday morning, which was weird not going to church… But I needed rest.

All this to say… Even though I had a crummy weekend and didn't stick to my diet, I lost two more pounds! Last week I only dropped 1. After measuring myself today, I have lost 6 1/2 inches total and 7 pounds! I wanted to lose 10 pounds in a month, but I'll take 7. ;) I'm almost there though, so that's exciting!

This week is going to be better. I hope to drop those last three pounds… A big goal for one week, but it's possible. I just have to make sure I keep eating… And work out harder.

That's it for now! I'll blog again soon. Have an awesome week and enjoy this gorgeous weather!

Life

Thought I would switch it up a bit and write about something more than just health and fitness. Lol. Our life has been a little bit of a rollercoaster ride over the last year... I'm grateful for it all though, because I really believe that trials can make us stronger if we are willing to have the right attitude and outlook through it all. Granted, I am not at all perfect in any way, and I very often find myself reacting rather than acting, but it has definitely grown me! When we look back on our lives, we often have that light bulb moment where we suddenly realize WHY it all happened... I love those moments. Anyway...

My husband has always wanted to be a Trooper for the Maine State Police. Ever since I met him, I knew from the beginning his goal in life. It never changed once in all the time I have known him. And from what people have told me, since he was very young he had always said that's what he would do. Kyle has been working over the last 2 years to get into the state police. That required passing many tests and even going through a Law Enforcement Pre-Service program. He made it all the way to the Colonel's interview, which was such an amazing thing! He basically was just a step away from his dream when he missed the PT by 2 seconds on the timed  running... I'm not going to lie, that day was one of the hardest, most discouraging days. I was ready to move, we had invested a lot of time and money into the whole hiring process, we put our lives on hold to get to this point, etc. But God has a plan for all of it. We've gone on with our lives and are trying to make some changes to hold us over until we begin the process again. We have to wait six months to apply again, and it will take another 6 months go through the process again...

I don't say any of this to complain. I know that I only have a few followers on my blog that read my long-winded posts, but I thought it might be helpful to share what has gone on in the last little bit. It might make more sense as to why we are still living in MA.

Since Fall is right around the corner, I am filling my schedule so I can keep busy. I'll be teaching at JOY Club each week on a rotating schedule, and am also starting up another housecleaning job. I am really excited about the autumn season! It's my FAVORITE time of year and I can't wait for the cool weather, the changing leaves and apple picking, above all. :) I plan to do some canning, which I am looking forward to as well. I have many, many plans, but for now I will spare you all. Hehe.

I'm happy to share that I am doing pretty well with my calorie counting and gym visits. It is very hard to not become discouraged with it all, I'll admit. I have my complete "slump" days where I want to give up and eat a whole entire pint of Ben & Jerry's and binge on whole bag of Cape Cod chips. Haha. But I haven't. :) Pinterest is a good way every so often to re-motivate myself to keep going. I search under fitness and am ready to go. Sounds pretty silly, but it's true.

I'm interested to see what the scale says this weekend... and especially what my measurements are! Seems like I am losing many more inches than pounds. I tried a homemade General Tso's chicken this week, which came out amazing and is surprisingly low in calories. It was excellent on top of brown jasmine rice. I can share how I made it if you're interested.

I need to end this before I start needing to split this up into chapters. Ha!
Thanks for reading,

Good Foods

So I'm at my parent's right now, and am able to upload some photos... 

Half an apple, natural peanut butter and a ricecake. This is a yummy snack and sure to satisfy your sweet craving. I love the chocolate chip ricecakes because they have very little calories, so I can have my chocolate without overdoing it!

One of my breakfasts... whole grain toast with natural pb and sliced bananas, peach yogurt and coffee. I love that the yogurt has only 70 calories. It is sweetened with Stevia and is fat free. 

Where is my energy?!

It's only Tuesday, but... My energy has been nowhere in sight  and I feel exhausted. I'm really wondering why I am feeling this way when my diet and lifestyle hasn't changed. Maybe it is just the fact that I'm a woman and my body frequently feels the need to act up for no apparent reason . Anyway, I figured I would post a couple pictures of some good, healthy things I have come up with that seem to fill me up and not pile on the calories.
A breakfast that has a good amount of protein is: whole grain toast with Teddie's natural pb with flax, topped with sliced bananas. Yogurt on the side and a cup of coffee if I'm feeling the need. The grains and protein keep me full, and the yogurt is always Yummy and good for my tummy. :)
The other is a snack that I had today that was just what I needed to give me a boost. Right around midday I am feeling pretty rundown - the typical female thing. I peeled and sliced an Apple (today I used granny smith) and scooped out some pb to dip them in. I normally try to buy organic, but sometimes it is not always possible. So I peel my apples when they aren't organic because of the pesticides. I ate a chocolate chip ricecake with the apples, just because I felt like it. ;) It seemed to go.
I also went to the gym today after a long day of cleaning and organizing the house, laundry, etc. I was already tired after the cleaning, but I went to the gym anyway. I did 50 minutes of a mix of things and believe me, tonight I am ready to collapse! I feel like because I am so tired this week my whole health and weight loss challenge seems to be on the back burner. But hopefully I snap out of this. If anyone has any comments or suggestions for me, I am happy to hear them. I'm still working on good snack ideas, so let me know if you know of any new ones for me!
I know my pictures won't post like I want them to since I'm on my phone, but you get the idea. :)

Hoping to get some good rest,
Amelia Jean

OK. Forget the pictures in this post... I am not able to load my post with the pictures attached. Sorry!

Slow Going

Today being Saturday, I decided to weigh in this morning. Since I normally allow myself a little "cheat" day on Satudays, I figured it might be best to do it this morning instead of waiting until Monday. While doing lots of research, I have found that it is a necessity to have a cheat day... not really to feed my hormones with chocolate and fattening things, but so my body doesn't just shut down. I chose Saturdays to be my cheat days, but I'm sure this will change occasionally with the holidays coming in a few months. These days don't include binge eating, but I do treat myself to a little more than usual and give myself a little break of not being so hard on myself! That was a mouthful. Anyway, back to my weigh in.

I was sooo discouraged when I found my weight hadn't moved ONE BIT since Monday. I was like, how on earth could that be since I worked out almost all 5 days this week and ate so well?!?! I was about to get discouraged about it, when I decided to measure myself based on some measurements I took at the beginning of this whole thing. It boosted my spirits a little to find that I had lost 1/2inch in three different places and more than one inch in another!

It's a slow process, but slow and steady wins the race. I hope that by next weekend I can drop some weight, but we will see.

That's all for now. Hopefully more good news soon!

Success is Sweet

To continue off of my last post, I am going to just share how my first week (last week) went with my new health and fitness challenge. If I wait for a time to go somewhere where there is internet so I can use my laptop to post, it won't happen for a while. It's true. It won't! So please excuse any spelling errors that my phone thinks is correct that really is not... That I don't catch. :)
My first week in the challenge, I found a really awesome app on my phone called: myfitnesspal. It has a database with millions of different foods that you can search so you can find out how many calories is in that particular food. You can also scan barcodes on products! Way cool. I set up my weight and my goal and it gave me a calorie intake plan based on that. You can also add exercise to your "diary" so it adds more calories when that is necessary. It seems awful low, but it has me at 1,200 calories a day. I have even been under that amount, but believe me, I am eating and not starving! Proteins have been essential to keep me fueled, and a good higher calorie breakfast is really important!
I actually feel the best I have in a really long time. Part of that I know is because I am more focused and am seeing results. If you actually counted how many calories you ate before calorie counting, you would be totally shocked. I am completely full from what I am eating now, yet to imagine all the unnecessary calories I was eating before that I really didn't need... It's amazing. And not in a good way!
I'm also exercising. Kick butt exercising. Really. I want so bad to be slim and healthy again that when my legs burn or my lungs hurt, I keep pushing because I want to be better. And when I push myself, the burning stops soon after and I can walk away from that elliptical with a smile on my face! The gym is amazing. I love going with my husband and working beside him when he isn't weight lifting. A little of the stair stepper, a little of the bike, some elliptical, and I am drenched it sweat. It feels good! Mentally it is nice at the end of the day to say I have gotten good exercise. It does wonders for stress and improves your mood if you are having a hard day. Better than taking your stress out on someone you love!
So my first week wasn't drastic, but I dropped 3 pounds! This week I am working out more, so I hope to see more off when I weigh in on Monday. I love having this goal, and I am really driven this time to not quit after two weeks. My family is astounded and my husband is always encouraging.
I would recommend to anyone to start eating better. Whether for weight loss or not, you will feel soo much better. And exercise- I believe that is a huge reason why  I always felt so sluggish all the time.
So, just wanted to share a bit of success and glimmer of hope for a better lifestyle all around! More later. I hope to post some ideas that have been working for me later on once I get a good grasp on this. Goodnight, guys. :)

Beginning A New Challenge

With a lot going on in life, sometimes we just need something else to focus on to take our mind off of things. I am in that boat right now. For a while now I have wanted to get more fit and lose weight, but I have found it hard to do so at home. I think a lot of people feel the same way...
Kyle recently bought a gym membership where I can go with him, so I have decided to really take time to focus on it for the next few months. So many times we have these days where we feel motivated to get in shape, but then it never lasts until we are serious about it. I'm right there and I am ready to go. We already eat pretty healthy - mostly home-cooked meals, fruits, veggies, nothing processed, etc. I am going to try to work really super hard at cutting out all sugars.

My goal is just to keep faithful with going to the gym and getting exercise. I know how much weight I want to lose, but I don't want to set a huge goal and get discouraged that I don't make it.

The most important thing is that I am healthy. I'm excited to see where I can get, and it's also encouraging to be able to go to the gym with my husband. It makes me feel more comfortable and is also like a little date for us! Goals made with someone else is more motivating too.

So why am I blogging this? Well, I want to make sure I don't give up. :) I'm looking forward to being a happier, healthier, more beautiful person.

<3

Busy Bees!

Life has just been rushing right by for Kyle and me. Seems like just recently we were celebrating our anniversary... now it is the middle of July, and summer is halfway over. We have had a lot happening lately, between family, church, and the police hiring process. A lot of times these things happen all at once!

We are always staying busy and finding little time to spend with each other. Kyle is always so busy working double shifts five days a week... last week we hardly saw each other at all. As I said before, everything always seems to happen at once! I was teaching the 1st-3rd graders in VBS and had my hands full with 18-19 kids a day! During that week, Kyle had 2 different tests and meetings in Maine over three different days. Both of which I was not able to go with him to. He also had to pick up extra work for the time he took off, so that not only made for a long week, but a long weekend as well!

But, we managed to survive as always. The weekend before VBS, I found out I had cellulitis. It happened from a bee sting and managed to put me off my feet for quite a while. I was put on antibiotic for ten days and was told to elevate it. Of course that was almost impossible with VBS that very week, but by then the swelling had gone down immensely and I was able to get through the week! I am sooo thankful for that. :)

Good news is: Kyle has passed just about every step for the state police hiring process. Just about. He still is working toward the PT. That is the final step. If he can pass, he will get a call saying whether he has made it or not. And that's it!! He has come a very long way - some people only make it so far, some don't even make it to a meeting with the colonel... I'm so proud of him. He has always said this is his passion and what he wants to do with his life. Ever since I met him, I knew what he wanted to be. I think God will give him the desires of his heart... if not this time, maybe later on. But this time would be NICE. ;)

I am at the point right now where I really want to start packing the house, but I can't until I get the green light! It's a hard position to be in, especially since we can't make plans ahead of time with this process. The academy starts August 13th. Time crunch? I think maybe.

If this all goes through, there will be a lot of change in the Kyle Hansen household, that's for sure...

That's about all the stuff I can think of for now, besides the fact that it is extremely humid and hot right now. Lol! When and if we move to Maine within the next few weeks, we plan to get hooked up with internet FINALLY so I can blog and keep up with people. And post pictures of projects I have been wanting to do for so long!

Until I have more big news,