January Twenty Twelve Tidbits

Twenty Twelve has sure been an exciting year so far with lots of excitement, new recipes, many active and early AMs, and so forth. So for this post and with only a few days left of January, I wanted to bring a list of tidbits to keep everyone updated of the month's happenings. (In no particular order)

- The husband and I joined Texas Family Fitness with Kristin this past month. We have been attending several times a week including some pretty early mornings for tone and tightening and cardio blast classes.
- "Kickboxing kicks butt... including mine, " refers to Tuesday's kickboxing class where every inch of my body was sore.
- Ray and I have been enjoying many great recipes from Cook Yourself Thin. We also enjoyed several day dates. Here is one to a Yogurt shop next to our gym.


- I received beginning teacher of the year

- Within our study of animals and their habitats... I held a baby boa constrictor
- Poor Toby boy had another seizure:(
- Ray and I joined a small group within our ABF that we attend on Wednesday nights.
- This month we saved enough money for our down payment for a house. We will be moving forward in our process and are looking forward to purchasing our first home this March/April
- Little man Jacob turns ONE. We celebrated Jacob's Mickey Mouse birthday with his family and friends.

- We met up with our Gathings group for a funday Sunday with friends.
- Ray and Michael attend BSF (Men's Bible Study Fellowship)


January has definitely been a month of activity and excitement. We are going strong with no fast food, and I am still on board with no caffeine. That does make our early AMs a bit difficult but all worth it. I am looking forward to a fun year, making happy, and healthy choices. This will definitely be a year of fun adventures. Happy end of January and welcoming February!

M-I-C-K-E-Y... J-A-C-O-B!

Jacob Daniel Duke turns ONE!

Happy first birthday sweet boy. This Saturday, Ray and I traveled to Frisco to celebrate with family and friends a very special Mickey Mouse inspired birthday party. From Mickey decor, smash cakes, presents, and toys...

to best little friends...


being matchy-matchy...

and cute little boys!

This little boy is one loved little man. Wishing you all the wonderful celebrations ahead. The first year was a sure success! :)

Jacob turns ONE Picture Preview!

Today we celebrated a super special first birthday party for little man Jacob. Enjoy a few pictures from today's celebration as a post shall follow shortly.

New Recipes

Over the past few weeks, Ray and I have been trying our new Cook Yourself Thin recipes. As you may have read here, the husband and I are attempting to live a healthier lifestyle that includes fabulous recipes including baked ziti, lasagna, steak and peppers, and tomorrow potato skins. These recipes have been super tasty and really not that much extra time or preparation. I am now excited about our next trip to the grocery store so that we can include some healthy desserts. :) If you are interested in trying a few recipes from Cook Yourself Thin, you can find some tasty favorites here.

To my favorite chef... I look forward to continue trying new recipes and attempting to live healthier for this year and many many to come.

Fun with the Fants at Razzoos!

For several months, Ray and I had been planning an outing with our Fant friends for some good ole Cajun cooking at Razzoos. We had realized that it had been almost 5 years since our last trip there and knew it was time for another visit. This Saturday, we had our opportunity to meet the Fants at Razzoos for a night out and fishbowl fun.

Here is to amazing amazing memories, tons of fun with friends, and time spent with this little Fant. Happy Saturday!

Puppy Love

It is clearly evident that we love our puppies.

Our furbabies

Mattie and Toby

But we are not the only ones...

Becky and Todd's puppies
Falkor and Rory

and Rhino (the newest addition)

The Zellner Pooches
Pancho and Walley

The Waldrup lady
Aggie

Here's to puppy love and to all the best friend's in our lives that make us happy.

Our Veggie Tales

In an attempt to cook ourselves thin and to live a healthier lifestyle...

the husband and I decided to make some changes in our food selections. This past week, Ray and I joined Texas Family Fitness Gym in McKinney. On Tuesday, Ray and I met Kristin and Stephanie and attended our first Kickboxing class. I think my Facebook status said it best... "Kickboxing kicks butt... including mine!"

That night we found ourselves at Kroger purchasing ingredients provided by Cook Yourself Thin recipes. This is what we came home with...
I know. You may be thinking the same thing I was when I took this picture.Will we actually eat all of this or let it go to waste? Well of course that is not something we want to do and really each fruit or vegetable goes perfectly with the options we chose. From butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, strawberries, cuties, apples, carrots, celery, cabbage, spinach, onions, peppers, and so forth, this will all be consumed over the next few weeks. But yes this is the most veggies/fruits we have ever purchased at one time.


Here's to our continued resolution process, getting fit, and enjoying fresh, delicious, HEALTHY food.:) More posts to come about fun, healthy food options. Enjoy our Veggie Tales!

Sunday Funday with Our Gathings Group!

This past Sunday, after spending time with our ABF and serving in Joyland, the husband and I traveled to Mesquite to visit with our sweet Gathings group. We were so excited to catch up with Sally, Paul, and their one year old Miss Harley Raider. For over a month, we had this little outing planned, and I am so thankful that we can pick up exactly where we left off. We enjoyed an afternoon of pizza, football, ladies conversation and catch up, and of course a photo session with little miss. I am so thankful for these sweet friends and love the moments that we share together.

Cook Yourself Thin!

As many of you may have read on Facebook, I am a fan of Cook Yourself Thin. I have seen countless episodes and love the idea of eating real food that is made with healthy ingredients. This week, I have researched recipes and am excited to add those to our meal plan. I am looking forward to spending time cooking with my husband this week and making some of these delicious dishes that won't expand our waist lines. More blogs will be posted of our favorite dishes. We will be enjoying cooking ourselves thin and living a new healthy lifestyle in 2012.

Goals for 2012

Happy New Year!

I will be honest. I love to make new year resolutions. I understand that a large amount of people may not agree but for me, I really do like what a new year brings. I love having a brand new opportunity to make changes, to better myself. While one does not have to wait for the New Year to make such changes in his/her life, I think it is a great starting point. Both my husband and I do make some pretty challenging resolutions, but they are attainable. I understand when resolutions are too far fetched they become unreachable. I try to make realistic goals that will better my mind and body. This year we have some pretty lofty goals. This year I am giving up fast food and caffeine drinks. A few years ago, I gave up caffeine drinks, and I did it!... or so I thought. Last year I found out that Diet Sunkist in fact does have caffeine... who knew?!? Anyway, since I kind of felt cheated, I thought this would be a great opportunity to prove to myself again that I can do it. Plus it is just a healthy option that will force me to drink more water. Typically I am not a water fan and know that this is just a healthier option that will save calories that I can use enjoying other food options. Now in regards to giving up fast food. This means what it says and includes fast food and drinks like Sonic Happy Hour. I am still extremely sad by this, but giving up caffeine drinks has made this a non issue. We can still enjoy sandwich shops and restaurants. So wish us luck. I think this year may be a bit difficult, but totally doable. I actually gave up caffeine about a month and a half before New Years and am holding on strong. I do occasionally miss a cherry coke.

What are some of your 2012 goals/resolutions?

One Day...

"I'll start Monday."

These words have come out of my mouth probably over a hundred times in the last few years. I have found myself becoming a huge procrastinator and lazy has been my typical attitude. A few years ago, I was pumped about working out. What can I say I had a pretty great running partner. :) Of course it did take months of persuasion and then a small slip of speech by me, but after half a year of running, I felt greater than ever. After completing our desired half marathons, I took a break. I always told myself that I would never let this go. Being in shape felt amazing, I could run for hours... literally. Then the day or two break turned into weeks, months, and eventually I am where I am today. One day... I always tell myself. But that needs to be today. I know myself. I would like to think that I am motivated and ready to be in great shape. But this is not the case. I love my job and I love my kids, but it is tiring. I get home and the first thing I want to do is throw my stuff on the floor, change into over sized pjs, and relax on the couch while watching television. But because I know this about myself, I know I need a change. I want to be active, I love the feeling of having those random muscle aches knowing that my body is changing and developing. We want to teach this same healthy lifestyle to our kids one day. So one day isn't Monday or next week. One day is today. Now please know that I am human and there will be days that I fail. I know this. But as long as I do my best, and continue to make changes, I will succeed.

This afternoon Ray and I found our way to Academy. I left with two pairs of brand new workout pants. On my way home and after adding this new status to facebook, I received a text from my friend Kristin. She gave me information about a gym that I am pretty excited about and am looking forward to joining. The price is inexpensive and includes classes! Looks like this year will be a great year of getting into shape and making some great changes. More updates to come.

What are some of your workout/healthy lifestyle goals for 2012?

Picture Mail: Olivia Grace

Our Olivia Grace is growing up right before our eyes. As the only grandchild and niece, she is definitely one loved little girl by her Papa Z, Grammy, Uncle Ray Ray, Aunt Becky, Aunt Rachel, and me of course. This year she will turn 5. She is spunky, sweet, country, precious, adorable, honest, and loving. Living several states away makes every call, visit, card, and picture that much more special. We love you sweet girl and cannot wait for our meet in the middle visit as well as Christmas visit this year. Here is to watching her grow.

Merry New Christmacheese!

Last night we rang in the New Year with an epic theme party. It included typical celebrations incorporating a wine a cheese, white elephant Christmas party, and of course 2012 New Years bash. We enjoyed a Rudy's BBQ dinner party, appetizers of pecan tassies and deviled eggs, our annual deviled egg picture, white elephant gift exchange, giant jenga, dance parties, karaoke to Toto's Africa, and many opportunities to celebrate the blessings and possibilities that a new year will bring with great friends.

So here it is... a huge picture post to begin our brand new year... a year of continued traditions, but plenty of new ones will be created. It was a wonderful end to a great year. Many of these friendships have lasted almost a decade. It has been amazing to watch us all grow up throughout the years. I sure love growing old with these fabulous people. Happy New Year!