Rebooting My Life!

Do you ever keep talking about things you are going to do or want to do and never put them into action? I know I have! Lately, I have really felt convicted about my duties as a stay at home mom.

When Cooper was first born, I was bored to death. I was miserable and wanted to go back to work so bad. My thoughts were "why did I quit my job?"

I was in retail management for a while and worked...oh goodness, can't keep up with how many hours I worked and then stepped down to an hourly position. While working full time, in my spare time, I took numerous custom cake orders from home and played softball on at least 4 different teams, mixing it up with women's and coed leagues. I was always gone away from the house, playing Monday night through Thursday night, travel ball on Saturday...some tournaments we wouldn't get in until 2-3am and then turning around and playing Sunday league in the afternoon. I was busy and on the go. I look back and think...how did I keep up?

When you start a family, you have no choice but to slow down all of your extracuricular activities. It took me a little while to realize this. Softball and cakes, well they aren't that important anymore. Although, I do miss traveling with my girls and playing all over, I enjoy my family much more. Especially since it is about to grow come February 2012 with the arrival of Harper.

Being a wife and mom means providing for my family the best way I can. One of my major set backs is that I hate to cook!!! When I do, it usually something quick and easy out of a box. Well, as I said before...Do you ever keep talking about things you are going to do and never do them?

One of my things is MEAL PLANNING and planning healthy meals! I have dedicated my time to making myself a recipe book, meal plan and my cabinets and pantry are almost cleaned out of processed foods. There are a few things left, not much, but they all will slowly get replaced by clean, raw, whole ingredients!

Right now, my pantry is stocked with all kinds of spices, whole wheat flour, oats, nuts, real maple syrup, etc. My freezer is full of frozen fruits and veggies (with no added sauces). My fridge is stocked with yogurt, almond milk, eggs, fresh veggies and fresh fruits.

What is all this about? CLEAN EATING! Basically, eating whole, natural foods (not necessarliy organic...I'm still having a hard time trying to digest the price difference) such as fresh fruits, veggies, lean protein meats and complex carbohydrates. Eating clean is going to be a major transition for our family considering we like sugar, fast food (well, eating out period), white bread and junk! It will take discipline to make it a habit, but I know in the long run it will have so many health benefits.

My goal this week to check out Trader Joes and possibly Sam's Club to buy a few a things in bulk, like cinnamon. It seems to be a major ingredient in a lot of recipes and it is good for you!

Here is what we had for breakfast today...

Breakfast...
French Toast

***For dipping batter*** 2 eggs mixed with almond milk and cinnamon
then serve with a little bit of REAL maple syrup. This morning we had Aunt Jemima's Lite Syrup. Like, I said, there are still a few things in the pantry that aren't so clean...but we still had an open bottle left.

Lunch

Grilled Cheese on whole wheat bread
Orange Slices
Choc Banana Protein Smoothie

***Since my son will not eat veggies, a friend of mine gave me some good tips on how to hide veggies from him...SMOOTHIES!!! what a great treat, bc he slurps them down!

Dinner

Chicken and Dumplings

Here is the recipe from thegraciouspantry.com

Clean Eating Chicken And Dumplings

Stew Ingredients6 cups low-sodium chicken broth (no sugar/dextrose added)1 tbsp. marjoram1 tbsp.. garlic powder4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – cut into small chunks2 tbsp. olive oil1 large onion – peeled and diced4 large carrots, peeled and sliced4 stalks celery, cleaned and sliced
Dumpling Ingredients(This is a recipe redo. Find the original here.)2 cups whole wheat pastry flour1 tbsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt3 tbsp. olive oil1 cup milk (any milk you typically use is fine. I currently use unsweetened almond milk.)
STEW DIRECTIONS
Step 1 – Pour the broth into your crock pot (or into a large soup pot if cooking on a stove top)
Step 2 – Add the marjoram and garlic powder to the broth and turn the crock pot to high (stove top, bring to a slow boil)
Step 3 – In a pan, combine the olive oil, onion, carrots and celery. Saute until the onions are translucent.
Step 4 – Add the veggies and cut up chicken to the crock pot (or soup pot).
DUMPLING DIRECTIONS
Step 1 – In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend well.
Step 2 – Pour in the oil and milk and mix with a wooden spoon.
Step 3 – (Be sure the broth is hot before adding the dumplings to the pot) Using two teaspoons, scoop up and round off your dumplings and scrap into your pot. (Just like making drop cookies)
STOVE TOP – Boil until the dumplings and chicken are cooked.
CROCK POT – I cooked this on high for about 3-1/2 hours. But if you need to cook it longer because you are leaving for the day (or cooking overnight), turn the crock pot to low and cook until the dumplings and chicken are cooked through. (My guess is about 6-8 hours). It’s important to know how your crock pot cooks here. Every crock pot is slightly different.
Also, the dumplings will look a little odd after they have been cooking at the top of the stew all day. They create a sort of “crust-like” cover. Just break them up with a wooden spoon and stir them into the stew to finish cooking. Simply break one open to be sure it’s cooked all the way through.
Eat and Enjoy!
Nutritional Content1 serving – 1 cup
Calories: 145Total Fat: 5 gmSaturated Fats: 1 gmTrans Fats: 0 gmCholesterol: 27 mgSodium: 269 mgCarbohydrates: 12 gmDietary fiber: 2 gmSugars: 2 gmProtein: 14 gmEstimated Glycemic Load: 5


I HIGHLY encourage you to view
www.thegraciouspantry.com
www.theskinnycrockpot.com
www.cleaneatingmag.com

for all kinds of recipes!

This is my commitment from here on out as a mom and wife!

Cooper is a big boy!

It has been a while since I've blogged. I am really slack at it and I was trying to wait to blog again once I got Cooper's one year pictures done. Those are not coming until the end of July, so I figured I would go ahead.

When we found out we were first pregnant in Oct 2008, we were excited of course, scared and nervous at the same time. Our whole world was about to turn upside down. About 6 weeks later, the unfortunate happened and the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. At first, I was mad at God and I would always think "why me?". I honestly thought I was being punished.

Then, I realized God doesn't punish...he never does. If anything, I feel he puts these kinds of trials in our life to make us stronger and have faith in him. I know it sounds crazy thinking why would God let me miscarry and then I call it a blessing. Well, it was in fact a blessing. Lee and I were not in a financial place to start family and he had a terrible job with bosses that had the worst people skills that I have ever heard of. His schedule was awful and I really wanted to be able to stay home and raise our kids. I did not want to have to put my child in a day care.

Exactly, one year later (Oct 2009), we got pregnant again with Cooper. The due dates from the 1st pregnancy and Cooper's were only 2 days. I knew right away something special was going to happen. In Nov of 2009 Lee received several phone calls and went on several interviews with Nucor Steel. We were crossing fingers and praying that Lee gets this job. The opportunities were endless with the company. He was hired in Jan of 2010. We were so excited, bc we knew that this company could provide and allow for me to be a stay at home mom. His schedule is perfect...4 days on then 4 days off. It's not perfect all the time, with the overtime pick up, but we enjoy out family days on his days off.

God's timing was absolutely perfect. We were blessed with a good job and a healthy baby boy. Cooper was born on June 15, 2010, weighing 8lbs 5oz and was 20in long. He was a big boy. I am glad that I had that emergency c section now!

We celebrated Cooper's 1st birthday on June 15th. I can't believe my handsome little man is ONE. He has the biggest smile, with his mouth wide open, on any baby I have ever seen before.

Cooper has been a blessing. Some things I have learned over the last year are:

As a mom:

**patience is really a vurture. even though, i might want to secretly scream and act like cooper doesn't drive me nuts, but he does sometimes.

**it is ok to just go with the flow. cooper isn't eating very well right now. he struggles with textures of foods. he won't eat any kind of pastas, beans, meats...what kid doesn't like mac and cheese? my dr suggested occuptational therapy, but when we were interviewed and screened, he didn't qualify bc he shows absolutely no signs of motor delays...my gosh he was craaling at 5.5 months. so right now, we are just going with the flow with foods. whatever he will eat right now, is fine with us. i struggle with dinner choices, but for breakfast it's a pop tart or a nutri gain bar and for lunch it's a pb and j or grilled cheese. cooper likes whole things he can pick up and eat.

**you are not a bad mom if your child falls off the bed or the couch. it happens to the best of us.

**babies are very sneaky. cooper likes to hide things now and push his car up to the couch or ottoman so he can climb up onto it.

**cooper will never have a milk in the car again.

**your 15min shower and shave has now turned into a 5min shower. and what is shaving again?

**we call cooper the little beaver. i am constantly saying things like "cooper, don't eat the wood, baby" he has tons of bite marks in his crib and we've already taken a trip to the dentist to prove it.

**you never know what you will do with your child until you are in that situation. so, i never thought i would do (that)? ...is a reality.

**it is fun watching cooper grow, learn new things, dance, and talk like he is having a real conversation with you. our house is playground as he constantly explores it.

**it is more fun for him to take things out of boxes, drawers, etc than it is to put them back. i can not fold clothes when he is around. i will have to fold them 100xs. as soon as i fold them and put them in the basket, he pulls them right out.

**being a mom is the best and most rewarding job ever!

Those Moments!

When I was growing up, softball was everything to me! I don't have the passion I once did when I was in high school and college, but I still enjoy playing. When I was a junior in high school, a game against Fort Dorchester, was one of many games I will never forget. I was coming up to bat with 2 runners on base and no outs. Coach gives me a signal, so I stepped in the box all confident, hit a double and scored the 2 runs. I am standing on second base grinning from ear to ear. Coach looks at me and says "great hit, but you missed the signal!" I didn't care, because I just knocked in possibly the 2 winning runs for the game. We were visitors so they had to bat one more time. We won in the end!

Coach chewed my butt!

I didn't understand it at the time. I am thinking "How can she be this upset with me when I knocked in the 2 winnings runs for the game?"

She gave me the bunt signal and instead, I had no idea what signal she gave me and swung away.

It all came down to MENTAL FOCUS!

You can have all the physical ability/talent in the world, but if you don't have mental focus, you may as well hang up your cleats now!

This is what I was thinking about my running shoes...just hang them up Rhonda!

I can physically run 8 miles at one time without stopping, but I have to keep telling myself to keep going. Running is 90% mental and 10% physical. On my days I run solo, I struggle like whoa! and I have to give myself pep talks! I am not physically tired, just mentally fatigued!

At my race on March 17th, The Catch the Leprechaun race, in Mount Pleasant under the Cooper River bridge, was a very nice scenic race, until we got to the boring part in the middle!

Rascal Flatts "What hurts the most" song playing on my ipod was not good "pump up" running music! I was dragging! I was thinking "Oh God, give me strength!"

I remembered a verse, Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

Then the famous "Lip Gloss" song came on and the beat had me going for sure! Next race, I made sure to make a play list. My ipod had not been updated in about 4 years, seriously...no LIE!

That last little stretch was rough, but I was determined to beat my last time! I didn't have to give myself the "pep talk" because at this point my mental game was up to par with my physical game. I was excited and just sprinted to the finish line, beating my last time by almost 3 minutes. SCORE!

I have to remind myself all the time that running isn't easy. If it was, then everyone would do it! I am taking on a challenge and the difficulties I face will make my accomplishment more worthwhile in the end.

Who wants their CAKE and eat it too?

I wanted to share a few of my favorite cakes!

The monkey cake was for a friend of mine, Shannon Hartz Cox for her baby shower. Shannon and I played high school and college softball together. It was such a privledge to play on the same ball team as her through out the years. It is amazing to watch us grow up together as teenage ball players and now become wives and mommies.

The Bee themed baby shower cake is my most recent cake and one of my favorites. It was for Marena Malizia Spell. Mimi and I were neighbors growing up and have known each other since we were 12 years old. Even though, we parted ways (in a good way) for a while due to "life", I am so glad that her and I can catch up like we were still neighbors. She is offically my hair lady and I love chattingwith her as if we never had a break from each other. We just laugh and talk about the crazy times we had.

This pink and Black wedding cake was for my sister, Aron. She married her high school best friend on August 26, 2006. I love this cake. Aron always tells me, "why do you always put my wedding cake as your profiel pic? I seen you make prettier cakes than mine."

Well, she is right, in a way, but since then, I have worked with fondant over and over and it has really brought a lot of variety my skill. So, I wouldn't call the other cakes prettier, just different.

Plus, who wouldn't love their sister's wedding cake?

It's an honor to create these kinds of things for family!

The Tiffany style box cake is my absolute favorite!

When the bride, Karla, told me she wanted a tiffany box style cake, I got really excited, because ideas started spinning immediately. The most exciting part was that she gave me the topper and said, "do whatever." I love it when brides give me free range. It doesn't happen often, but I love it.

I am so glad I met Karla and was able to create this cake for her. Everything on this cake, except the cake topper is 100% edible!

Although, these are not all of my favorites, I could go on and on, but I just wanted to share a few that I considered different or a challenge.

Thanks for peeking!

No coupons, say what?

CVS

$130 before coupons, $26 after with $10 extra bucks back, so basically a $16 trip

• 6 12pk charmin toilet paper
• 2 dove body washes
• 1 men's dove body wash
• 3 excedrins
• 2 oral b power toothbrushes
• 2 crest 3D white toothpastes

Today, I had to take Cooper to the doctor for his horrible diaper rash. The poor little guys has been fighting an ear infection since March 5th. We have tried 3 different antibiotics, causing an allergic reaction with an outbreak in hives. Now, he is fighting this terrible rash and the ear infection doesn't seem to be getting any better. But, on a good note, he is still happy and hasn't had any fevers!

So, the doctor recommended a certain kind of cream. Even though, I knew I was going to "pay" a pretty penny for it, so against my better judegement, I decided to make a one stop shop at Publix without any coupons. I was avoiding having to stop again and unload my super tired, ready-for-a-nap son!

What was I thinking going in there without any coupons?

This is the first time, ever, since October when I started couponing that I went shopping without coupons. Let me tell you, that will never happen again!

I almost had a heart attack when the cashier gave me my total ($113) when I only had 7 bags of groceries. It hurt to pay that much!

Rite Aid $118 before coupons, $45 after

• 3 boxes of huggies diapers
• 2 4pks of quilted northern
• 3 pks of wet ones
• 2 zicams
• 2 loreal make ups
• 4 pks of huggies wipes

Publix $57.33 before coupons, $1.63 after coupons

• 12 pks of kotex
• 3 colgate toothpastes
• 4 sundown fish oils

These are just a few of my many successful couponing shopping trips. I know it takes a little bit of time to save money...not much, just a little. When you can save this much with coupons, why wouldn't you?

I say spend the time to save money or you will be spending money to save time!

In the famous words of Hannah Montanna, "No coupons, say what?"
I will never go into a grocery store without coupons again!!!

The Heart of An Athlete

So...my sister has encouraged me to blog. She seems to think I have a lot to talk about with my cake decorating and couponing. Even though I am a first time mom, it will be hard to stay away from the personal "mommy" experiences, but I am going try and keep this blog mostly about my experiences with couponing, running and cake designing. I seem to love all three, I call it my triple threat!

I recently became a runner over the last couple months. I never thought in a million years that I would run just to run...and actually enjoy it! I hated running in my high school and college sports (softball and volleyball). All coaches seem to use running as a form of punishment. When you mess up in practice, you ran. When you struck out looking in a game, you ran. When you missed curfew in college, you ran. When you lost a game you weren't supposed, you ran. When you did bad in school or cut class, you ran. RUN, RUN, RUN!!! I mean, seriously, who likes to run?

Well, this girl does!!!

I wanted to run for two reasons: the obvious being to lose weight and to get in shape. I worry about setting a good example for my son. So, not only to run to try to be heart healthy, but I also started a clean eating diet. Well, I really wouldn't even consider a "diet" but a change of lifestyle in the way we eat. Cancer, heart disease and obesity scare me! I am not perfect at it, but I try. It's hard on the wallet to try and eat clean 100% of the time.

When I first started running back in January, I could barely run a mile without stopping. I am carrying so much extra weight and it killed my knees, hurt my lungs and I just wanted to quit! My exact words in my mind were "this crap is for the birds!" BUT, I kept at it, thanks to an excellent running buddy, Felicia, who pushed me.

My very first race was on February 26th, 2011, a 5K (3.1 miles) in James Island. I was so nervous. I had first time "at bat" jitters. You know those "game day" jitters. I felt like I was playing ball again in high school or college.

The heart started to race and all I kept thinking about was "just go, Rhonda!"

I told Felicia "do not let me stop!"

Towards the end of the race, that last 0.1 mile to go seemed the hardest, because Felicia said "Don't let the purple shirt lady pass us." Us both being very competitive...so, we sprinted...

I was saying out loud..."Oh God!"

Felicia said. "Don't stop, keep going. We are almost there!"

Like Nemo "Keep on Swimming" well, we kept on sprinting. I felt like that little stretch of 0.1 miles was 5 miles away. I thought I was going to die, literally when I crossed that finish line.

Felicia said, "I thought you were going to quit on me at the end"

I said, "No way girl, I made it that far, I was going to finish!" And I did, finally! 41 minutes and 4 seconds later, I finished.

What an accomplishment for me after only training for a week. I ran here and there, but never consistent. I felt so relieved that it was over, but at the same time, I was ready for more!

2011 Race Results

1. February 26th * Lifepoint 5K * James Island, SC * Time 41.07
2. March 12th * Flowertown 5K * Summerville, SC * Time 37.41
3. March 17th * Catch the Leprechaun * Mt Pleasant, SC * Time 35.51

I have improved and so excited! It only gets better from here.

My goal at the end of the year is to run a 1/2 marathon, which is 13.1 miles. Some people think I am crazy, but this is my personal goal along with dropping 30 more lbs aside from the 15 I have already dropped.

I haven't felt this great since my collegiate athlete days. Back then, 1998-2002, I was only 130lbs and running was easy, even though I hated it, I could do it with no problem. Although I am no where near the athlete I used to be, I am now doing it for different reasons.

I can tell it is definitely getting easier, because I am up to 5.5 miles in one run, my knees have finally stopped aching and my lungs don't feel like they are going to collapse through my chest.

I want to be heart healthy!