Some other things you might not have known about me.

Top: Urban Outfitters | Skirt: Soel Boutique | Saltwaters via Soel Boutique

1. One of my dreams is to live abroad. The idea of traveling abroad frustrates me a little, because I don't feel you can really experience a culture or its people in a quick trip. I yearn for immersion.
2. Pizza is one of my favorite foods of all time. 
3. I really need to eat more vegetables. 
4. I secretly wish that I was a yoga master, but my arms are abnormally short. I cant even place them flat on the ground when I'm sitting on my bum...
5. I love the smell of Justin's must. Not BO, but the must smell you know?
6. Showering in the dark is my absolute favorite, and the only way I shower.
7. I rarely wash my hair. 
8. Strawberries, watermelon & pineapple are my other favorite foods. 
9. I was born in Utah, but raised in Texas, so I claim Texas as my home. 
10. Water is my favorite drink.
11. I have a very sensitive gag reflex. If you gag, I'll gag Jack. 

I can't be the only one with quirks. What are yours?

distressed denim & a few things you might not have known about me.

Jeans: Ideeli | Top: American Eagle (what?) |
Belt: H&M | Shoes: Frye via 6pm.com 

I am slightly OCD. That is why I try not to follow too many people on Pinterest or Instagram. Once I start I cannot stop, until I have made it allll the way through my feeds. 

I hate tangled cords. Or visible cords. A necessary evil, but if I had my way, everything would run on fairy dust & magic.

I have Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). That is what made it so difficult for us to get pregnant & carry to term & makes it very difficult for me to manage/loose weight. 

If I could have any super power, I would want to be able to fly. 

I kinda really like Star Trek (not all of them, but ya know).

I am totally that annoying person who always has a song stuck in their head and hums or sings it constantly (usually only 1 or 2 lines of it).

I'm kind of afraid of heights. I think rock climbers are insane.

Cotton mouth kills me. Literally, I die a little inside.

My favorite colors are green, yellow and blue.

One of my favorite books of all time is Mara, Daughter of the Nile. I don't know what it is about it, but I read it in 7th grade, and I've never stopped loving it.

Lets talk about...

Weight loss. Boo.

Having this baby and trying to loose the baby weight has been a real kick in the pants, I tell ya.

totally worth it though. little j & I on our first morning after he was born

When I was pregnant with Jasper, I gained about 50 Ibs. Boo again. And mind you, I was pretty healthy throughout my pregnancy. I ate well, and was exercising up until the last week and a half. A week before I went into labor, we were hiking around the Utah gardens in Lehi.

Big as a boat pregnant at 40 weeks (top) and 39 weeks (above)

Everything was smooth sailing until about the last 3 hours of labor. Little J never dropped. We didn't know at the time, but it was because he had was wrapped himself around the shoulder, waist, and hip up in his too-short cord. Consequently, every time I had a contraction the stupid thing was squeezing him half to death. Poor guy came out looking like he had done 12 rounds in a boxing ring.

Our little Quasimodo.

So, I had to have an emergency Cesarean. And even with all the bad wrap cesareans get (and believe me, I was teary eyed going into the OR), I am very, very grateful, because it definitely saved one, or both of our lives.

meeting each other for the first time.
I was really concerned about his little nose.
In my defense, I was a bit out of it. 

I was told that my recovery might be a little longer than a regular delivery, but I felt pretty great after the delivery; I was up and walking the next afternoon. I think I got a little too overconfident, because I decided to start exercising more than the suggested walking before the recommended time.

Because everything is still moving back after having baby, and you are still carrying around a bunch of extra weight that your body isn't use to supporting, they generally suggest you wait at least 6 weeks before exercising. Medically, you are still deemed "pregnant" until 6 weeks postpartum.

I don't know if Cesareans make things more complicated (I wouldn't think so, but honestly I know nothing, obviously), and clearly there is no "formula" that works for everyone, but I ended up putting a lot of extra stress on my back, and getting myself a pretty severely herniated disc. BOOOOO again.

So for the last 7 months, the pain from the disc has been off & on, interfering with my ability to do much of any physical activity.When I felt good, I usually tended to overdo it (Crossfit anyone?) and usually ended up aggravating it again.

It wasn't until last month that I was able to get an epidural to treat it (my foot is still numb, but hey, I can bend over), and start to feel confident that hopefully this thing is gone for good. (The guys that I work with are so sweet, they saw me hobbling around, bent in half for a while, so now whenever they see me, they always ask "How's your back?" *Face Palm*).

I've finally started seeing results though. The other thing that really has made a difference for me has been getting on the right dosage of Metformin. I have PCOS (an infertility, insulin absorption disorder), which makes it very hard to loose & maintain weight, and in the last 2 weeks since my disc has been treated and I've been on the right dosage for PCOS, I've lost 11 Ibs. YAY!

I'd still like to loose an extra 20 to be at my ideal weight though. So here is my question:

What works for everyone else? What routines etc. do you like? I don't mind cutting out unhealthy foods, but I'm not a big dieter. I find that a lifestyle of healthy eating habits is waaay more effective than any diet.

What can I try though? That is what I want to know. And I want to be held accountable for what I'm doing. So I'm going to be doing a "Health Progress Report" post weekly, where I report on my progress, and what I've liked/hated over the previous week.

So here is to babies. And weight loss. And progress. And herniated discs (but not really). Feel free to join in on all the fun if you like to!

"Let's make things happen girl".

box it up.

We sat Jasper this box yesterday in hopes that it might keep him contained long enough for us to get some cleaning don.   

He loved it. My child, that never sits still, sat in that box and played with his little toys. 

There must be something to the saying that kids will love the box their toys came in more than the toy itself. I  never would have thought of using a box as a photo prop, but he was just being so adorable, I had to grab the camera and snap a few pictures. I can't get over how creamy and delicious they turned out. 

Love this little crazy guy. 

great big LASIK Giveaway!!!

*The giveaway is being provided by Davis Vision and Cade's surgery was provided for him*

I feel so honored to be teaming up with such an incredible group to bring to you all an amazing opportunity!

I'm excited to be working with Oh Sweet Basil, Favorite Family Recipes, Sweet Treats and More, The Recipe Critic, Baking with Blondie, Something Swanky, Taste and Tell, Your Cup of Cake, Brassy Apple and 365 Days of Slowcooking to give away LASIK eye surgery worth $4800 to one lucky winner! Just scroll to the bottom of the post to enter!

Here is the most amazing part though; even if you don't win, Dr. Davis still wanted to send an exclusive discount to help ease the financial burden of the procedure to all applicants, so even if you don't win, better eye sight can still be a reality!

The story of how this giveaway came about is actually really sweet, so for those of you innterested keep reading!

The Story: Giving Cade the Surprise of His Life and Why They Chose Davis Vision

I'm still amazed that Carrian of Oh Sweet Basil was able to keep the secret so well. Here husband, Cade, had been dying to have LASIK for years, but the price tag prevented them from taking the leap.

After a little bit of research, Carrian decided that Davis Vision was be the best place to trust her hubby's eyesight to. Once she had made that decision, she started to go about putting together the best surprise Father's Day present Cade would ever get & this amazing giveaway you all have the opportunity to participate in!

So, Kyle, the marketing man behind Davis Vision & Carrian thought that a really cool way to kick of this giveaway would be to invite all the participating bloggers to Davis Vision to see  Cade get the exciting news & watch the procedure.

Carrian had been sneakily hiding away Cade's contacts for a few weeks (you can't wear them for a week before the procedure), and told him that they would be going to a 1800 Contacts event where he would be getting a year supply of contacts to get him to the surveying, and to prevent him from buying more. 

Sneaky sneaky Carrian. 

Cade was so surprised to learn after get a tour of the office that HE would actually be getting LASIK, that night. It was so so very sweet. 

I loved having the opportunity to visit the office and talk with Dr. Davis and their staff. Everyone was so kind and accommodating, and made us all feel welcome right away!

Here are some of the things I learned while chatting with Dr. Davis and his staff:

1. Dr. Davis has performed over 25,000 vision correction procedures
2. Every person has seen an improvement in vision.
3. Advanced Blade Free LASIK can have outcomes as good as 20/15
4. Dr. Davis has several options available because everyone has different eyes.
5. Some who weren't candidates in the past are now candidates due to technology advancements.
6. Dr. Davis also performs ICL and cataract surgery.
7. Dr. Davis helped develop the technology that is used in LASIK as an electrical engineer in the 1980's
8. Care Credit is available to patients who qualify with 0% interest
9. Dr Davis and his staff are kind, and more concerned with the patient and what a great privilege it is to change their life through corrected vision than prices, gimmicks etc. (This was a really big deal for Carrian & Cade in choosing Davis Vision)
10. Lasik is performed with the intralase laser which means that the surgery is less complicated, lower risk and easier to recover from versus the blade procedure. Plus it only takes 10-15 minutes to do it!

He has nooooo idea what is coming

Dr. Davis himself

They give patients a teddy & blanket to keep them warm and to keep their hands away from their eyes.

Carrian being all sweet & watching her hubbies surgery! Wasn't even nervous a bit!

Dr. Davis, doing his thing.

 Want to see a few short clips of it happening? It is a little graphic so don't click through if an eyeball bothers you.

They surgery took maybe 15 minutes (Could you tell he was excited?) recovery is pretty straight forward too: eye drops in every 30 minutes to keep them moist, and 4 times a day his two eye drop prescriptions, and goggles to wear every night. 

By the next morning Cade's vision was already at 20/15 (better than 20/20) and it is suppose to get better every day. I loved Carrian's tweet the next morning "'Holy crap!" Is the word of the day. "Holy crap I can see you, holy crap I can read that!"'

Now it's your turn.

Enter below for the chance of a lifetime & to recieve an exclusive discount offer from Dr. Davis & his team!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

we have beautiful friends who sometime let us take their pictures.

Every once in a blue moon, you make a friend that changes you. Maybe not in a big obvious in-your-face ways, but in substantial, simple ways, over time, so you barely noticed it happening it at all.

And then they move. And you realize that they've changed you. They've changed the way you look at things.

Like bunnies, peonies, or pagan holidays.

And you feel just a little bit robbed. Robbed that they moved away, and that you didn't notice the changes while they were here.

But they have been here. They've done their work, and now you'll never be able to listen to a George Michael song the same way again.

Brad and Julie, we love you. We miss you. The people of Mississippi are lucky have you. Watching & being a part of your journey has been the pleasure of a lifetime.