Anna's Aprons

So I ran across an old friend of mine's page and she has started her own business called

"Anna's Aprons" and they are absolutely adorable just like I remember Anna! They are only $25 and are hand sewn aprons and get this... the inside of them is a dish towel!! Awesome!

She hand sews all of them and can customize them to whatever you want. My favorite is the one in the picture-too cute! I will for sure be ordering this. Take a look at her site- I could not figure out the link so just put Anna's Aprons in the search box on facebook and it comes up.

Fiber 35 Diet

Hey Ladies,
Here is the diet I am on.. or I like to call it my new Challenge lol.... Its called the fiber 35 diet.. basically the rules are:You get 1500 calories a day to use however you like... BUT within those calories you have to get 35 grams of fiber! I did it before my wedding and lost 13lbs in 3 weeks! I will sware by this diet.
Okay so I found the diet online at www.fiber35diet.com which is completely free. You can sign up and go to meal tracking I believe and print you off some pages to keep up with what you are eating and to see the formula the diet uses for the end of the day. Once you get it down pat, you may be able to do it in your head instead of using the journal, but I like keeping up with it personally.
I usually buy the Fiber One bars... I like the Oats and Chocolate and they just came out with a new one that I like.. Oats and Apple Streusel. Delicious! They have several other flavors too. They also make cereals, pop-tarts, muffins, pancake batter, and yogurt. I buy this because their bars alone have 9 grams of fiber in them!
You basically look for stuff that has lots of fiber... a medium apple has 5 grams, 1 cup of cooked broccoli has 4.5 g, plain baked potato with skin has 4.8 g, 1 slice of whole wheat bread has 2 g. brown rice has up to 8 g for 1 cup. There are endless possibilities out there.
If I know I am going to eat out on my lunch break or on the weekends I usually would look up the nutrition facts online of the restaurant we are going to and find whatever has the most fiber in it.
I like that you can eat anything you want. Also, you can take fiber pills. I buy the Wal-mart brand Fiber Therapy and get some of my fiber grams from there if need be. Just so you know 6 of those pills=3 g. 10c. and the bottle says you can only take 15 a day.
Here is a sample of one of my days:
Breakfast: Frosted Shredded Wheat (1 serving) 217.5 c / 4.5 fiber
Snack: Fiber One Bar 130 c / 9 fiber
Lunch: Banquet Frozen Chicken Parmesan w/penne and broccoli meal 350c. / 8 fiber
Dinner: Bertolli brand Stuffed shells with scampi sauce 590c / 9 fiber
green beans (2 cups) 80c. / 8 fiber
TOTAL: 1367.5 calories and 38.5 fiber
Fiber Flush Formula (multiply daily total fiber x 7) = 269.5
Net Calories (subtract daily total calories - fiber flush)= 1098
A good site to check calories on is www.calorieking.com if you are unsure. If you have any questions let me know! :) BTW- sometimes I do not get all my fiber but I still lose weight. At least try to get in the 20's.

My Sweet Daddy

My daddy has been many things to me over the years...

My super hero saving me after skint knees trying to learn how to ride my bike at the campground without training wheels, the greatest friend I could have on the park playground (he taught me how to play on the monkey bars at Fairhope Pier), the best swimmer and sand castle builder at the beach (he would play in the water for hours with my brother and I).... time passed and he became a great tutor to help me with my homework, a Lego-block master!, someone I felt safest with and a daddy who would pray for me every night.... time passed and he became the biggest pain in my butt! Grounding me for every little thing, thinking I did not love him anymore because I was a teenager lol, and forbidding me to hang out with the boys... time passed and he became the person I came to when I needed advice about those boys, a shoulder to cry on when my heart was broken, to get advice about what I should go to college for, and needing him to be there with me when I purchased my first car on my own. NOW... he's one of my best friends, a wonderful father-in-law to my husband, and the greatest Papa I could ever imagine my son having. I love him and appreciate him more than he will ever know. Happy Father's Day Daddy. I love you.

One of my Favorite Places to GO!

SO.. I have this PLACE I like to visit daily. I guess you could call it my secret haven I like it so much :) I must talk about it to my husband every night before we go to bed and I find myself aspiring to be more like the creator of this place. So, where and what is it you ask? Well, over a year ago I somehow stumbled across a blog that a woman wrote. The more I read, the more intrigued I became and the more I found myself visiting the site to see what she wrote next. This mother... Stephanie Nielson, is everything I've always wanted to be as a mother. I get so excited every time she posts a new entry! The name of her blog is the "The NieNie Dialogues"... how clever! After a few months of reading her blogs, I logged on and read that on Saturday, August 16, 2008 Stephenie and her husband Christian (whom she calls Mr. Nielson in her entries) were in a near fatal plane crash and were severely burned. I was so sad to read the updates her family posted while they watched over poor Nienie's children. I prayed for them to get better. This world was too blessed to have a mother like her and then lose her. For what seems like forever I have been printing off her delicious recipes she has shared and wondering what it must be like to be her friend.

Her and her husband are now home, but they are scarred. She cannot do all the things that she used to do and can not be in the sun for two years, but she is strong and beautiful. She is special. To me and to so many others so I wanted to share her story with you. Her humor, sadness, quirkiness, and loveliness captivate me. Go check it out.

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Jell-O Beach

In addition to my Beach Bear cupcakes, I found another cute idea on kraftfoods.com today! It's called Jell-O Beach and not only is it adorable, but it sounds pretty tasty too! Will have to have Jell-O day with Hartleigh now! Check the site out- there are so many cute projects to do with your kids this summer :)

http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/jell-o-beach-dessert-53500.aspx?cm_re=1-_-1-_-RecipeAlsoEnjoy

Judson's First day at the Beach

Today was the first time we have taken Judson to the beach and he loved it! He was so content the entire time we were out there. I bought a small pool to take out there with us just in case he got over heated we could put him in the water, but we ended up not needing it for an actual pool. Instead, there was a nice breeze so we put a beach blanket in the pool and then put him in there with his mini boppy and he was as happy as could be! These pools are so cute and they have a shade on them. I bought it at Walmart for $10. They have a turtle, hippo, and giraffe. You can also hook your water hose up to the bottom of each animals head on the pool and water comes out the top as a sprinkler feature! How cute!

Seriously losing it!

The other night Jimbo and I had not slept well... in months lol and we had just put Judson down for bed and were trying to stay up and finish one of our recorded shows (it takes us forever to get through one show these days).

Jimbo turns to me and is wearing Judson's mini boppy on his head and we start laughing. A few minutes later I put Judson's big boppy on my head and told Jimbo "Beat that Buddy!"

We then went into hysterics for several minutes and even managed to snap a picture during our madness lol! Losing it! I'm telling you... were seriously losing it!

It's the simple things that make me HAPPY!

For instance.... my coupon organizer!!! lol

I have been having sooo much fun finding

coupons and saving some mulah baby!

I have been saving at least 20 bucks every time

I go grocery shopping. I was throwing them all

in an envelope and then I decided it was time

to get organized. So.. I found me a little coupon

organizer at Walmart and voila! Im so excited!

Here are some of the sites that I visit for my

coupons:

athriftymom.com

On that site right now you can find a good coupon

for Coppertone suntan products $3 off.... DiGiorno Flatbread Melts $1.50 off....

and another good one is a coupon for Bertolli Italian Meals $1.50 off. These meals are absolutely elicious and perfect for two people!!

I also visit couponmom.com, eversave.com, kraftfoods.com, and redplum.com So much fun :)

Our Song

Savage Garden-I Knew I Loved You

Maybe it's intuition

But some things you just don't question

Like in your eyesI see my future in an instant

and there it goes

I think I've found my best friend

I know that it might sound more than

a little crazy but I believe

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

There's just no rhyme or reason

only this sense of completion

and in your eyes

I see the missing pieces

I'm searching for

I think I found my way home

I know that it might sound more than

a little crazy but I believe

I knew I loved you before I met you

I think I dreamed you into life

I knew I loved you before I met you

I have been waiting all my life

A thousand angels dance around you

I am complete now that I found you