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Hey people! Here's your regular old, slacker-of-a-blogger to update you on nothing.

Just kidding. Kinda. :)

I have been super busy lately with photo sessions (and editing), baby sitting, another 5k, running in general, and all sorts of other family functions. Needless to say, I haven't had the time to come up with something interesting to say, let alone write about it.

So, I'm here today to let you all know, I finally created a new Instagram account. A lot of you already followed my personal account, but I wanted one I could keep more/add more fitness related things to. Feel free to add me. It's "aglimpseofhope." If you follow my old account, I'm not deleting anyone from it, but if you want to unfollow it, I promise not to be offended. (Okay, I will be a little offended!) Just kidding!

Hope everyone has a freakin' awesome weekend!

Here's my latest progress pics. I'm getting a little more muscle. CRAZY!

Your Perfect Lazy Saturday Recipe

This recipe is probably too easy to even be considered a recipe, but it's so delicious (and mostly clean), I wanted to share it anyway. I made it yesterday and I don't even have a picture because we gobbled it up the minute it hit our plates!

Ingredients:
-2 frozen chicken breasts
-1/2 jar of your favorite salsa
-3/4 Cup frozen whole kernel corn
-1 Baggie of homemade fajita seasoning (recipe below)
-3 cups cooked quinoa
-4 tbsp sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
-10 tortilla chips

Directions:
Place frozen chicken breasts in crockpot on high for 1 hour.
Add baggie of fajita seasoning, salsa, and corn. Stir around to mix Ingredients, then turn your crockpot down to low. Cook for 4 hours or until chicken is tender. Pull apart with a fork.

Spoon mixture over 1 cup cooked quinoa then add a dollop of sour cream and 5 or 6 tortilla chips for crunch.

DELISH!

Fajita seasoning:
(Makes 3 baggies/servings- equivalent to 3 packages of store bought)
Mix together the following ingredients and divide into 3 servings.

-2 Tbsp. chili powder
-1 Tbsp. salt
-1 Tbsp. paprika
-1 Tbsp. sugar (I used Stevia)
-2-1/2 tsp. crushed chicken bouillon cube
-1-1/2 tsp. onion powder
-1/2 tsp. garlic powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/2 tsp. cumin

Enjoy!! 

WTF, SCALE?!

Fo real.

Erin's diet bet just ended on Wednesday and I won $37.08. Woot! I'll take that. Nevermind I already kinda spent it on a necklace the night before. (I estimated what I won.) I think I'll take my winnings and sign up for another one. If you're like me, and you don't HAVE money to lose...this Diet Bet thing works.

Back to my scale issues now. I had to lose 4% to win the diet bet...which I did. So why the EFF am I now up 2 POUNDS since Wednesday?! (Which might I add WAS 4 POUNDS yesterday!) WTF, SCALE?! 

I've been eating the way I should AND working out every day. I guess this is my first real encounter with a "plateau." I hate them. 

I literally sat pouting to my husband last night about it. I got 1 pound away from seeing the 130's on Wednesday and then my scale said... "SIKE!" Evil, I tell ya.

Speaking of first encounters, I'm also experiencing one with the "tummy bug." Mackenna woke up at 3:30 last night puking everywhere; in our bed. She puked every 30 minutes until 7:30 this morning and she's just plain pitiful today. I guess it's kinda like earning your runners wings. I feel as though I've finally earned my mommy wings. My first stomach virus. Cleaning real puke, (not the baby,  spit-up kind, but big kid, chunky, smelly kind) washing every darn sheet, blanket, and towel we own, and spraying Lysol like it's our only form of Oxygen in the house. Ahh. I must be a real mom, now.
On a serious note, I really do hope the worst is over. I hate colds and tummy bugs. I can't even give her anything to help. *sigh*

Having a blast. Happy and healthy about 5 hours before the madness began.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!


P.S. I only need 1 measly follower to REACH 100! COOL BLOGGER STATUS RIGHT HERE! Ha!

Purse Party Link Up

Since I haven't done a link up in a hot minute, I've apparently, forgotten how to copy a HTML, so my purse picture looks all fat and stretched. Whatever.

I'm linking up with Erin and Mel for a purse party today. Thank goodness someone hosts these awesome link ups, because otherwise bloggers people like me wouldn't have anything to talk about!

I'm pretty boring when it comes to purses. For some reason, that's one accessory I can pass up. Jewelry and shoes on the other hand... yikes. I don't even want to try to figure how much I've spent on those.

I'll buy one nice (to me) purse and carry it for at least a season. I've never owned a Coach. I have had a knock-off Louis Vuitton someone bought me off of the street in New York. That piece of crap lasted about 2 weeks!

This is my current purse. It's big. It's practical. It's neutral. It goes with everything. I got it from a friend (who IS a purse freak) at our yard sale last summer. It's a Big Buddha, hardly used, and I think I gave her $40 for it. This actually is only my purse IF I'm going somewhere without Mackenna or somewhere I don't need to carry the other 34598340583 things I usually do. I used to carry a purse AND a diaper bag. That got old...real quick.

That's where this bag comes in. It's a Thirty-One bag. I know I've told y'all how I'm a sucker for all things direct sells. Plus, it has 7 pockets and is monogrammed. We all know us southern women love our monograms.

I always stay strapped. With water and apple juice. I'm so hood.

Here we have the contents. So very boring, I know. Wallet, 2 things of wipes, a pull-up, lotion, shades, gum, a granola bar, fruit chews, tampons, lipstick, and hand sanitizer. Usually, I have a change of clothes in here too, for Mackenna. We're still newly potty trained.

And last but not least...these would be my "cosmetics." I've never been one to carry my makeup with me. Except for maybe some lip gloss or powder if I get sweaty, I put makeup on one time a day. If that ain't good enough, oh well.  Our neighbors got Mackenna her own Dora lip gloss. It's full of glitter, so needless to say, she's only put it on once. Honestly, I forgot we even had it until now.

Then, hand sanitizer. Where would I be with you? I am a totally germ-a-phobe. I've heard it's not good for kids to use, but I think I'll take my chances. After all, bacteria from touching a public toilet paper dispenser isn't good for kids either.

PS- I swear before I ever saw any blogs today, I decided to throw all the random papers and receipts in here away. The past few days my hubby has been referring to my purse as my "trash can." Perfect timing!




 
Okay, off to go see what kinda junk everyone else carries around!

My First 5k

Recap of my first 5k...almost 2 weeks later? Sure, why not!

In the middle of February, I finally gave in and decided I would try this thing called running. I downloaded the C25k app, got myself some running shoes, signed up for my 5k, and prayed I wouldn't kill myself trying to complete it. Before then, I didn't run. Like...at all. Okay, maybe I've been walking for a few months. But, other than that, my big ole booty could barely run a whole minute a time.

That's where the C25K app came in. It really does work, y'all. I thought there was no in hell I'd be able to run longer than 5 minutes at a time when I started. I did 7 weeks of the program in 3 weeks and I was ready as I could be before The Green Run 5k.

The night and morning before (the race started at 4pm..I know, strange!) I was SO nervous. I'm pretty sure I drove Darren crazy saying "I'm scared!"..over..and over. I really wasn't scared about the actual running part. I was more afraid I would pass out, puke, or just make a complete fool of myself. I also get crazy anxiety when I don't know what to expect of something. I've never even been to a race, so I had no idea how it worked.

So 4:00 finally came. My best friend, her son (Mackenna's BFF), Darren, and Mackenna all got in their places to cheer us on. My mom, stepdad, and I got in line for the race. I thought "Well..this is it!" And we were off!

There were no mile markers or anything, but I felt like a rockstar the first mile or so. I was passing people left and right, but at the same time, not using up all of my steam right off the bat. I got a little ahead of my mom. At that point, my stepdad was long gone ahead of us.

Probably half way through, I started to walk. There was a group of girls handing out cups of water so I grabbed a cup, chugged it down, and started running again. I had no idea how hilly the route would be. Ugh. Some of those hills were TOUGH. The route also had us going on the sidewalk along a pretty busy road. I thought it was kinda funny and motivating that people riding by would yell and cheer for us. That, God, and my "Pop, Lock, and Drop it" pandora station got me up those big hills!

When I started getting the sense that I should be almost done, I saw this crazy man running the wrong direction back towards me. He didn't have a bib on, so I thought "Does this idiot not realize he's running through a middle of a race?!" Well, wouldn't you know that would be my stepdad, Jason. He finished his race in like 20 minutes and was now showing off coming back to meet me and my mom. He stayed with me the last 2 or 3 blocks and ran up to the finish line with me. He rocks! My mama was only about 30 seconds behind me, which I thought was amazing. She doesn't run, but she works out hard in the gym with Jason.

I was SO excited when I crossed the finish line, all I could do was smile at Mackenna and Darren. I didn't even think/care to look up at the time when I crossed the finish line. After hugs and high fives, I realized I didn't even know my time. So, I started walking around like a crazy person trying to figure out where/when I could see it. Finally, I found out I finished in 32 minutes! I thought that was great! I was really wanting to be less than 35, so that time was perfectly acceptable for me.

After the 5k, they had a 1 mile fun run. It was for mostly kids and the children with disabilities that the race was put on for. It was really awesome to watch!

Then it was time for awards. I didn't expect to win anything..like at all. But guess what? I freaking won for my age group! And my mom even won for hers! Rockstar runner, Jason, got 3rd in the entire race! I was/am so happy to be their daughter! Jason told me after the race "I never thought I'd be doing THIS with you!" Me either. Like I said, 2 years ago, I would have NEVER thought I'd run a race. Or actually just run period.

But I did it! I did it! We're doing another one next month and now I'm crazy enough to think about signing up for a 10k, then eventually a half marathon at some point.

Yay!!

Finish the Sentence Link-up

Linking up today, with Jake and Holly for "Finish the Sentence." I love link-ups like these! You can always see a little bit of everyone's quirky sides.

1. People always tell me...I have a very southern accent. And I have a funny (they really mean weird) laugh!

2. In the movie based on my life...Not sure if I understand this one. If my life were anything, it'd probably be a sitcom. There's always something different going on.

3. Typically, I end up regretting...not finishing things! I am so one to start something and not complete it. My hubby recently brought this to my attention, so I'm working on fixing that.

4. I always ask to leave off the...tomatoes. Well, actually I don't that much anymore. I still don't like tomatoes. But I find its easier to just pick them off myself. Other than that, I really don't have anything against any kind of food.

5. Kim and Kanye...I hate Kanye. (I don't particularly like Taylor Swift either, but I just can't seem to get over that episode.) And Kim...Now, I ain't sayin' she's a gold digger...but..

6. My parents always reminded me...how important finishing school was. Now...I really understand it.

7. Every single day I...check Facebook, email, and Instagram within the first 10 minutes of opening my eyes. I am so lame.

8. This one time in college...My friend and i didn't see ANY harm in drinking vodka and Gatorade like water..at a wrestling team's disgusting house. I remember hanging over the toilet while a bunch of random people fed me stale honeycombs. (cereal) Eek!

9. My grossest habit it...ugh. smoking when I drink. :((

10. My latest white lie was...that the Lowe's shopping carts buggies were "Thomas the Train" ones. Mackenna would have had a meltdown because we couldn't find the racecar buggy they have. Yes, shes a girl.

11. I know all the words to...most Nick Jr. and Disney Jr. cartoon songs. "We had a greeeatttt dayyy..." Fresh Beat Band anyone? No?

12. When I grow up...I want to be a dental hygienist. But, as life goes on I'm becoming more and more okay with sitting on my ass being a stay at home mommy.

13. Sexy time is...Oh hussshh! There's no such thiiiiing as sexy time!

14. I will never, ever...get a tattoo. I like them...on other people. I've went 25 years without getting one, so now it's kinda "my thing" to not have one.

15. I think it's hilarious...to yell out something crazy in an extra deep voice when I'm out with my husband. People always assume it's him. ;)

Odds and Ends

Confession- I totally forgot my blogger password. I have no idea how that even happens since its been the same since I started, but I did. Then...my phone number that blogger would normally send my password to was wrong (without me knowing.) So, basically I gave up after the 738498 time..until today when I actually had time to figure it out. Ugh. This blonde hair is getting to me, I think.

Did everyone go sign up for Erin's diet bet!? The pot is well over $3000! That's insane. I don't know about you, but that excites me! This diet bet started yesterday, but you could still follow along to see how things work and sign up for another one.

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I had my Premier Designs jewelry party Tuesday night. And my little issue with people wearing shoes in the house solved itself. Whaddya know! Everyone pretty much copied the first people (my mom and grandmother) and took their shoes off without me having to feel like a shoe nazi.

I had 10 people here and scored $278 in FREE jewelry! Is that crazy or what?! I had so much fun picking out all of those beautiful pieces I earned. I'm definitely a jewelry-aholic.

I made Tastefully Simple's new Dill Pickle Dip. Amazing. Tastes like a fried pickle when you dip it with a regular potato chip! I also made Tastefully Simple's new Lemonberry lemon bars, a buffalo chicken pizza, and an Artichoke and Spinach pizza. I had some really freaking good food. Food and jewelry made for a fun lil girls' night!

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Darren and I also had a date night last Friday night. We went out to eat and I had a grilled salmon salad. The salad part sucked, which left me eating only the salmon and a few "onion straws" for our appetizer. So that was fine. Then later, we met up with some of our friends at another bar and we may or may not have stopped at Mickey Dee's afterwards. Followed by Sonic for lunch the next day then fried shrimp for dinner. 

^^I got that shirt on clearance at Belk's for $10.00! Holla!

Needless to say, my week was not all that great food-wise. Time to kick it up 10 notches so I can win some monnnaay with the diet bet! I DID fit into my old American Eagle size 2 shorts though! Obviously, I'm pretty stoked about that.

Hope everyone's doing better than I am this week! :)