Up to Speed - Jan. 2015 to Now :)

As a general update since the start of 2015 I decided to do one massive posting! The overview will include LOTS of photos from January till now (mid March). I have continued to Jam (love those nail wraps baby) and have enjoyed a new part of my weight loss journey, I’ve done a few little trips/explorations, and all while still working and taking classes. I even helped plan our biggest BCSC event yet- the Father Daughter Winter Ball- that we had in mid February. Plus- can’t forget about my house project I worked on too. Had to get prepared more and more for when the hubs comes home!

Firstly, and most easiest to cover, check out my WRAPS! My addiction has never ended.

Next, a huge part of this New Year was my new way of eating and cooking. I hit a plateau at 25lbs lost and knew something needed to change! Since I had been logging consistently on LoseIt I decided to look back and see just what I had been eating. A woman at work started a new clean eating diet and inspired me to dig deeper. What I noticed was that I was eating SO MANY CARBS! Each day I was averaging 150g of carbs and about 50g of protein. My go to snacks were carbs (cheez-its, fruits, ect.), I cooked a lot of pasta and rice, and also ate bread a bunch. I decided that, with my plateau, it wouldn’t hurt to try a new “dieting” angle. So- the plan was to give it 30 days and the reevaluate. I decided to eat 60g or less of carbs daily and 75g+ of protein daily. I invested in an amazing low carb cookbook (picture below J) and started my new adventure.

Within the first 3 weeks I knew I wasn’t going back. I was back losing weight again and enjoyed all the recipes I was trying. I cook and shop totally different now –almond flour and coconut flour are my new BFFs- and I even have a protein cabinet in my pantry! Here are a few of the recipes I’ve tried and recommend:

yummy cauliflower pizza!

Chicken salad with my favorite German cucumber and dill yogurt salad dressing!

Stuffed chicken breasts! Onion, parmesean, and spinach :)

Stuffed Peppers!

Sausage and Cheese Pinwheels. A yummy breakfast treat!

Parmesan crusted chicken

Since my lifestyle change I have now lost a total of 39lbs. I faltered from the path a bit in February because I was just so busy with the Father Daughter Ball but, I’m back on track now and losing more. If any of you reading this want a workout motivator or someone to share ideas with I’m down! I feel so much better about myself and know I can hit my goal by our anniversary in July FOR SURE!

Next, with all the talk of the Father Daughter Ball, I’ll hit that.  I volunteer with the BCSC as the marketing chairperson and, since before Christmas, we have been planning and organizing a Father Daughter Winter Ball for this past February in Baumholder. Lots of events happen in Kaiserslautern and not in Baumholder so we felt it was important to host in Baumholder. The dance was “Frozen” themed and the kids LOVED it! We had a professional photographer, a German restaurant in town catered, we had a DJ, and a few people dressed up as characters from the movie. There was about 160 attendees and the event was a hit! Everyone had great things to say about it and I’m so happy we did it. Seeing how happy the girls were and all the adorable dads in their dress uniforms with their princesses was worth all the stress. Here are a few photos from the event.

the table centerpieces

The party favors for each girl; Jenny helped me to put them all together.

The buffet line, we had a German restaurant here in town cater.

Beginning decorations outside the ballroom where tickets were taken and coats were checked.

Olaf and the awesome balloon arch! FYI don't use
helium for these :)

Snowflakes that hung down from the upper level

Cupcakes for dessert!

Cynthia dancing and rockin her sling!

During the after party clean up we found this on one of the tables;
how adorable!

Anna and Elsa performed for everyone. The girls loved it.

Next, a few things I did around the house-  I’ve been working a lot to finish up our guest room more and make it more complete. There are still a few changes and adjustments that are left but I am very happy with how it is shaping up. I found a decent bedspread that is the right colors and made curtains to hang (love the curtain fabric!). I also organized the dressers to make room for guest stuff (when they come), I hung up some photos, and got a lamp for the dresser. I’m proud of how it’s coming together. I know Rob will like it.

Love the pictures I printed for in here- they're from different cities or places I've
seen or traveled to since we've been here.

Another project was finally finishing the top of our end table in the living room. I used Mod Podge and newspaper clippings to dress up the top and used a blue knob I found at a lil German store for the drawer. I really like how it turned out. Love doing little projects! Next- more curtains :)

Also- In addition to the rest of life, I got my hair colored! I went for the blonde ombre on my hair and I really like it. It is the most blonde I’ve ever been but it was a fun change! Who knows maybe next time I’ll try something else crazy! I just wanted to do the ombre because it is expensive to maintain dying my hair every few weeks and the ombre can just grow out and still look good.

So those are the big things that happened really. I’m going to do another post about my trip to Amsterdam with Jenny and one about Rip & Chandler’s going away party. Both of which were great times but have a lot of photos included and are worthy of their own post J

But, to wrap up, gotta include some adorable pictures of the furbabies I’ve taken the past few months!

Now that that almost brings me up to date. I’m just keeping on keeping on. Homework, work, working out (I started insanity!), and preparing for the husband to return eventually. Still super busy as usual but I’m happy about it! Now for a blog about my adventure to Amsterdam with Jenny and MAYBE another for a going away party I went to for some friends of ours in the company. :) I'm finally back bloggin ! #wootwoot #winning