Resolutions!

First of all 60 more people read my "Announcement" post then almost any other post ever. That makes me laugh! Haha! Suckas! 

Resolution #1: I will have COMPASSION for all of the people I work with, and will work to understand their perspective. I will accept what I cannot control, and do my best to devise the best solution possible with the resources necessary.

Resolution #2: I will make the healthiest food choices in any situation. 

Resolution #3: I will not touch candy, chips, or soda (unless mixed with alcohol on occasion) for an entire year. I also will not order delivery for myself, by myself. (These are all things I can and should live without.)

Resolution #4: I will not make unplanned purchases and will not use my credit cards unless it is absolutely necessary. (This is the hardest one.)

Man, 2013 has been fantastic! I'm excited for 2014! Hope the rest of your year is fantastic! 

PS: I'm totes gonna be the loser who says "See you next year!" Lol

Announcement!

Well, I wasn't sure how to tell the world this... You can all judge me if you please... But I don't care... The fact of the matter is that in 27 Days I will... 

TURN 25!!!

Psh, what did you think I was going say?

Like 100 days ago I was going to write 5 things I was grateful everyday... Ummm... I did that for a while... then I lost my notebook. WHOMP WHOMP... 

BUT I will be counting down to my 25th Birthdays with daily pics starting January 1st! 25 days of pictures that represent my life at 25. 

The trick? There will be no captions or hashtags (I know, hold the phone!) other than the day of the pic. #Day1 for example. There may be one pic in the day or 20. I do what I want. I won't comment on the pics either. 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I feel like being a mysterious bitch. You're welcome. Put on your party pants! Only 2 days 'til this party gets started. 

PS: I hope I tricked you into reading things, because I like being a trickster! 

Stay-Cation + Resolution #1

Welp, my 10 day stay-cation is (almost) over... This is almost something to cry over, but I won't cry. Nope, nope!

It was a fantastic 10 days. I did not wear jeans or work pants one time! I'm pretty proud of myself. Haha.

I had a fantastic Christmas with a fantastic family, and got to have some fun times with great friends!

All year I've been looking back on my life a year ago, and it's INSANE to me that I'm the same person in the same place. I cannot tell you how miserable I was last year. I mean, I've told you, but words cannot truly explain how I felt.

I haven't told a lot of people this, but I actually was given a legitimate opportunity to move to Boise this past month. I could have been living in Boise by the end of January. It would have been a lateral move within my agency. I turned down this opportunity. It just didn't feel right. My house was a hurdle, but probably could have been easily overcome. The cost of living there opposed to here was a hurdle, but that also could have been dealt with. It was one of those things that just didn't feel right. Just didn't sit right. There were so many reasons to stay here! Living close to my family, my fantastic friends, CrossFit and the opportunities I have at my box, my office and the people I work with, and the list could go on forever. I knew it wasn't right, but still kind of wondered if I would regret it. Well, I think the last 10 days I've really realized how absolutely LUCKY I am to be here! That's right... I've moved from "This place isn't as bad as I thought" to being so, so LUCKY to be where I'm at. For the first time since probably my junior year in high school, I feel settled. Really settled. I don't feel the need to search for something or to look for something better. I don't feel like I'm lacking anything. That's not to say I'm stagnant. It's just my personality to be moving upward and onward (if you know my mom you'll get this), but it's not a frantic searching for something better. I truly am at peace with who I am, where I'm at, and where I'm going. I'm confident in my decisions, and am rarely concerned about what others think of my decisions. I've realized that I have to do what's best for me. Gah! I'm so great! JUST KIDDING... but for real. I'm a real catch. Tell your friends. Haha... I'm glad I'm not going anywhere for a while. Not to say I won't ever move, but it won't be in January!

That being said I'm still a little anxious to go back to work. As of this moment I have 94 e-mails to check. I'm terrified. It was not a "convenient" time to go on vacation. But it was scheduled and Lord knows I needed it. I think that one thing I need to work on at work is not getting so worked up about situations that stress me out. I'm a passionate person. And when you're working with people and their lives, sometimes it's hard not get your whole heart involved in things. There are a few things that reign true at my work though...
1. I have guidelines to follow. I cannot work outside of those guidelines, no matter how much I want to.
2. Though I work with professionals, many of them have flaws just like I have my flaws.
3. Many of the clients have a very different world view than I have had or will ever had. Their perception of the world is completely different than mine.

This leads me to my first New Year's Resolution...

Resolution #1: I will have COMPASSION for all of the people I work with, and will work to understand their perspective. I will accept what I cannot control, and do my best to devise the best solution possible with the resources necessary.

Cheers to the New Year!

(More Resolutions to Come)

Resolution Complete! + Some favy foods!

So, for the first time in my life I have successfully completed a New Years Resolution! Whoa!

WELL, actually it was a Birthday Resolution. For those of you who have never experienced a birthday with me, you should know I LOVE my birthday! I feel like this is OK, because I also LOVE other people's birthdays. Who doesn't love a good birthday? For those of you who haven't experienced a birthday with me, but know me even semi-well this will be no shock to you. :) 

Anywho, I decided last year that when I turned 25 I would have a better body then I did when I turned 24. 

MISSION FREAKIN' ACCOMPLISHED! 

Just in case you didn't see this... 

The first two were taken in 2012, the last one was December 10, 2013. 

Whoop Whoop! 

So I'm working on my game plan for 2014... BUT I thought I'd share my excitement with you. . 

I also thought I'd share some of my favorite things to eat in case you have resolutions of your own! (And because a friend asked for some ideas, so I decided to share it with the world. You can thank her later!)

These are in no particular order, but I like numbers SO they're numbered. I like numbers not math. If you want to hear about my math you can feel free to talk to Kristin and Becky about the time I decided that 70% of Becky's 1 Rep Max was about 2#. :) I really am smart. 

The Things I Like to Eat: 

1. These Cookies. Seriously, they are like God's gift to earth. If you don't follow PaleOMG on Pinterest, Blogger, Facebook, etc... You should! She makes tons of yummy things AND she's pretty funny. PLUS she CrossFits! You know that's a win in my book! 

2. Roasted veggies. Seriously, anything roasted. Lately I've been roasting cauliflower, broccoli, onions, sweet potatoes,  brussel sprouts, and carrots. They can be found individually or in any combination. I also chop up some bacon and roast it with them, if I'm feeling CRAZY!!! All you gotta do is chop your veggies into bite size pieces and coat your veggies in the oil of your choice. I usually choose olive oil. Then put them on a cookie sheet and cook them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Then pull 'em out, stir 'em around, and throw them back in for 15-20 minutes. They get all yummy and crunchy. Nom! (If you include bacon, just do the same and throw it in with the veggies raw. It'll cook up! You may want to pre-cook it a bit if you like super crispy bacon.)

3. Roasted cabbage. So, it's a little different then above. You slice your cabbage into inch slices. We'll call them "steaks". Then you put olive oil and garlic on one side, flip them over and put olive oil and garlic on the other side. It's OK if it kinda falls apart. All the pieces that are lone rangers get all crispy!!! Nom! You cook it on one side at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Then, take 'em out, flip 'em, and put 'em back in for another 15-20. Seriously, even my brother liked this goodness. 

4. I eat chicken thighs. Gah! I know, I know... I'm supposed to eat chicken breasts. Let me tell you something. I SUCK AT COOKING CHICKEN BREASTS. They are always dry. Freakin' dry! I can't do it. I can't eat it! I will starve rather than eat them. So, I just throw some boneless, skinless thighs on the ol' George Foreman and eat e'em up. 

5. I like to eat Salmon. I usually buy the frozen kind at Costco. Yup, I'm classy. Don't judge me. I'll punch you. 

6. I love soups! Seriously, when I first started eating Paleo it was really hard for me to eat veggies. REALLY HARD. I had really never eaten veggies on a regular basis before. So, I threw a bunch of veggies in the Crock Pot all day, and cooked the shit out of them! Usually I'd use tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, onions, spinach, garlic, and anything else that I had that I thought might work. When I got home I would throw them all in a blender and blend it up. I'd add some chicken and some chicken stalk. Soup it was! OR I wouldn't thin it out with chicken stalk, and use it as sauce on sketti squash. (AKA: Spaghetti Squash, but I'm a child.)

7. I love Sketti Squash! Here's how I make it. I put in the microwave for 3-5 minutes so it's easy to cut. Then put it in a glass cake pan with about a half of inch of water in it and cook it at 350 for about an hour or so. Then I scoop out the goodness and mix it with some yummy sauce and meat. It's super scrumptious. I even figured out how to set my oven, so I can get the squash ready, and my oven will turn on by itself! Then I come home to ready sketti squash! Nom!

8. I like to eat eggs. Seriously, I just love eggs with runny yolk. Nom! I like them with my roasted veggies especially! 

9. Fruit! Whenever I have a sweet tooth, I mix up those cookies mentioned above, OR I make a fruit salad. Yum! Also, I've found that if you make enough fruit salad, it makes for a nice smoothie in the morning! 

10. Smoothies! I love them! They're great cuz you can put some fats in them with flax or chia seeds. You can also add veggies like carrots or spinach. I usually use frozen fruit and a banana. For liquid I use water, almond milk, or green tea! There's no recipe. I just throw things together and drink up. 

11. The key to eating well is to always be prepared! ALWAYS! For this I love Lara Bars! I really like the cherry, apple, and lemon! Yum! 

12. I also like Stretch Island Fruit Leather for a quick snack! You can buy a BUNCH at Costco. I do have to limit my purchases of this, because I've been known to eat like all of them in a week. #NoShame

13. Cauliflower Mash! So this stuff is so good! First you chop the Cauliflower into bite size pieces and boil it. I usually boil it for like 20 minutes. Then throw it in a blender with some olive oil, garlic, and salt! I also throw some Ghee in there when I have it! (Ghee is clarified butter. It's considered Paleo, though I do know some people at actually butter.)

14. Ceviche! Seriously, this shit is the bomb.com. Simply chop up the following into itty bitty pieces... cucumbers, tomatoes, green onion, shrimp, avocado, peppers of any kind, and perhaps some jalapeno. (And anything else you find yummy and Mexican like.) Then drench it in limes. I use 4+. Depends on my mood. The more lime the better as far as I'm concerned. Add some salt, and eat up! Yummmmmmmm! It's making me want to eat some. If I'm feeling really crazy I put some in tomato juice, and call it shrimp cocktail. I've found that Campbell Tomato Juice isn't terrible for the occasional cocktail. 

15. Veggies and Bacon! When I first started eating veggies, I fried them with bacon! I still like to do this with bell peppers and green beans! Yum!!!

16. Rotisserie chicken is good for a quick dinner! Add it to something, or just eat it plain! 

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I'd like to note that in writing this I realized how boring my diet is! I know I eat other things... I'll let you know what they are when I think of them. Here's a start though! 

Happy New Years Resolutions to all of you! Maybe one of your Resolutions should be to keep your Resolutions, because it sure feels good when you actually do!!!

Oh, and if you need a jump start you should talk to me about an Advocare 24 Day Challenge. I do recommend it as a healthy eating jump start!!!

PS: I'm writing this in my "office"! I cleaned this sucker up so it's ready for my master's program! It's complete with doggy beds and tunes. It'll be fantastic. But I think I need a higher chair for my desk. Or a pillow... 

Dodgin' Bullets!

So it's not nice to laugh at others "misfortunes", AND it's probably wrong to find any kind of pleasure in them. Although, I vote that doesn't count if in this situation... 

That fella I was hangin' out with turned out to be douche. Is there a nicer way to say it??? NOPE!!! And I'm probably an idiot for ever being interested. Story of my life. I have a syndrome I'm going to name... Potential-itis. I tend to see people's potential, but not who they really are. That's so great of me, right? NOT! Cuz let's face it. Sometimes if it looks like a douche, acts like a douche, and talks like a douche, it's probably a douche and not a potential Prince Charming. I think I need to develop a screening team, so that any future dude I talk to has to talk to a series of my friends and family before their permitted to talk to me. (Now taking resumes for the screening team.)

Anyways... Back to the point. So this... lovely man... ended up standing me up. Straight up standing me up. Ass. Yup, no text, no call, no show, no apology. I know, I know, "Stefani that's his loss." Well, duh! But still it doesn't feel nice to be stood up, let alone by someone you'd been hanging out with. Talk about confidence bursting. &&& To get stood up my a douche bag at that!!! (PS: Fellas if you ever do that to a girl imma punch your face.) Obviously I've gotten over it, though there were a few tears. 

So that ended in like October, well yesterday I was informed that the dude had totally effed up things with his job and got the boot. Now, I won't rejoice in the pain he must be in or the fact that his life sucks... But I will say... DODGED THAT BULLET!!! I ain't got no time for that shit! Everything happens for a reason, am I'm kinda in a rockin' place right now. 

But I kinda really think I need a screening team, cuz I coulda been caught up in that mess!!! Takers? 

Also, I've kinda decided that arranged marriages may not be terrible. I'm pretty confident my parents wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect. It seems easier. Dating isn't as fun as it should be. It's kinda hard. It's kinda exhausting. &&&  The pickin' is slim around here. PLUS, then you factor in that I have to find someone who is willing to accept my children, and dating becomes impossible. Being a single chihuahua mom is hard. Especially, with the emotionally damaged one. Oy! 

Anywho, more to some soon on the Single life of Stefani. Maybe that should be what I call my blog. Ha!