" I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe that LOVING is the best calorie burner. I believe kissing. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." ~Audrey Hepburn

Monday, January 26, 2009

This is a LDS post...just so ya know.

My mom's ward blog posted this qoute about the Temple by President Hinckley last week and I thought I would post it too. I read it and quickly was reminded of the wonderful "Spiritual High" I recieve as I walk into the Celestial Room of ANY Temple (no matter how many times I have been in THAT particular room)that I cannot get anywhere else. I hope this post doesnt offend anyone as it urges those of us who may have not been in a while to go. But, as many of my prayers have been answered within the walls of that most sacred place - I agree 100% with the qoute...And I think it is safe to mention, youll find us on date night at the Temple if anyone cares to join!

“I urge you, dear sisters, to attend the house of the Lord and to encourage your husbands to go with you. If, perchance, there may be some here who have never been or who have not been for a long time, I suggest with love in my heart that you do all that is necessary to qualify to do so. If you have not done so, you have missed, really, what this Church is all about. The very purpose of this work, as declared by God of Heaven, is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men and women. Do you love your husband? Do you love your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren? Then do not miss the opportunity to bind them to you in an eternal compact that time cannot destroy and death cannot break. This can be accomplished in no other way” – Gordon B. Hinckley

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Cook for 4 for $140 a month!!!

One of my secret LOVES is going to cooking classes. If I had an unlimited amount of money to spend on this so called "hobby" that I so throughly enjoy...I would totally go once a week. I don't know why I love these clases so much as I must admit, that Casey happily has been cooking for me 4 out of the 7 days a week. Gosh, I am spoiled! Thanks for being such an AMAZING honey honey! Anyway, I am sure once I dont work more than 40 hour week I will enjoy cooking...its just the fact of getting home late at night and then spening another hour cooking that doesnt hit so well...but one day!
So, Bosch Kitchen Center on 6261 Highland Drive is offering a class on how to cook for four people o n $140 a month. The class only costs $12. To register call 272-9922 or go to jandjkitchen.com
Cool stuff! Just thought I would share! Cause I know that Casey and I spend about $140 at least every two weeks on groceries, let alone in a month!

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A dreary attempt of our Christmas festivities!

The title of the post should surely tell you HOW exciting the post will be. However, I am sure you are all DYING to know...so let me share a few things Casey and I did this holiday season. As a disclaimer, my camera was put on bed rest come the 2nd week of December bc of all the holiday family pictures that I took...so sorry for the lack of exciting pictures!
Anyway...the first "Christmas" festivity we had was at my sister-n-laws Stacy house where we had a 'family' competition to see who could build the best gingerbread house...guess who won? Thats right!!! We did! We took home $20 and spent it seeing Twilight, Casey for the first time and me for the third! Thanks Kendall for date night!!!
Then a week later we went to my families annual gingerbread house gathering...no tournament there...we have been doing this for years and my mom goes ALL OUT getting all the candy for it. My dad Mark actually makes the houses out of wood (so technically, I guess they arent "gingerbread" houses...but whatever!) But with the two of them...all of our houses end up being freaking amazing...im not gonna lie...check ours out~

Yeah...that is stone around the bottom! hahahah
Thanks mom and Mark for the once again AMAZING Gingerbread house memories!

If entertaining our family wasnt enough...my mom did it all again with my little sister Alyssa and her friends...it was cute, and they were quite the creative ones! Look how freaking cute she is - I love this girl!

My work gave me a 2 night stay at the Chateaux up in Deer Valley where Casey and spent 2 relaxful days in a romatic suite! We got up there in perfect timing for the Outlets to have some killer sales! It was great.

I'm trying to keep this short and sweet...so bare with me.
Christmas Eve we headed up to Heber for the Edwards Christmas Party which was as always...entertaining with great food! Pam I forgot to tell you HOW much i loved getting up in front of ALL the inlaws and spell "SANTA" with my botty! Thank you so much! hehehe. However, the entertainment really did come from that game!
On the way home from Heber Casey and I started talking about how weird it was going to be to spend Christmas morning by ourselves... being we dont have kids to entertain and siblings and parents were at their homes...I made an attempt to re-create Casey's morning breakfast that his mom always did for his family. (No hard feelings mom...Casey just doesnt get the whole turtles and pepsi with sweet roll thing like we do!)Anyway, Casey did make the Christmas Casserole, which was surprisingly delicious...yes, i did have my doubts. And I made Christas pull-aparts that also to my surprise were divine...(the only reason I say that, is BC I was worried I wasnt going to meet up to the expectations of Christmas morning food that Pam has always prepared! So we had success! Check out how 'cute' my pull-aparts look. (I didnt have a bundt cake pan)

Oh and here is my favorite Christmas decoration...LOVE IT

After Breakfast Casey and I opened our gifts...Casey was so excited to see a Victoria Secret Box, little did he know that inside was a beanie for him. Too funny. And check out this RAD jewelry hanger I got from my mom! I saw it at a boutique Alyssa and I did together and told her about it...It is so dang cute!


Then my dad came and joined us for seconds on breakfast...He was excited for the cologne we got him!

Then later that day we went over to Casey's parents house and opened gifts. We got a COSTCO membership...WOOHOO! We were so excited! We also got a gift card to the movies and a very sweet scrapbook made by Pam of our Family vacation back in October to Oceanside, California. Thank you Thank you for that sweet memory!
Here is a random picture of Hollie and Russ...

Then Casey and I hooked up with my family for our family Christmas tradition of going to the movies and we saw Benjamin Buttons! It was really good...if you havent seen I totally would go!
So...we headed home and when we got off our exit we were stopped by the police making sure we had 4 wheel drive so we could make it to our house...Thankfully we did, but it didnt help much, we couldnt even see two feet in front of us! So if you are wondering why you cant see in this picture...its bc you cant!

So there you are in a nut shell! Hope your holiday season was great!

Oh and I know I look super hott straight out of bed! No worries, I already know. HA

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Holy…no freaking wonder!!!

Seriously…I just found out that I was the WORST eater of all times! I am so lucky that I don’t way 300 pounds by the things I use to eat! One of my friends just sent me a link naming the 11 worst foods of 2008 and I was really surprised with what I found on the list. Do I need to mention that during the winter 3 of my days I always found myself at Starbucks ordering hot chocolate or that EVERY time Casey and I go Taco Bell I order their Fully Loaded nachos or what about mine and Casey’s last date to Olive Garden…when we ordered the Garden Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara? Gross…not really! All I can say is…No freaking wonder they are so good!
Yes…please read on~
Fast food and chain restaurants have evolved significantly over the last few years. Burgers, fries and sodas are still the status quo for many diners, but those who seek healthier foods have plenty of options, from fruit and yogurt parfaits and baked potatoes, to apples cut like fries and grilled chicken. Trans fats have been reduced and eliminated; lowfat milk, fresh fruits and vegetables grace the menus at even the most ubiquitous roadside eateries; and more companies are disclosing nutritional information.
We've rounded up 11 of the worst foods we've seen this year.
Stay far, far away from the foods listed below.

Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolates
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know you need your caffeine fix. And yes, we know, Starbucks is delicious. But these Signature Hot Chocolates are drinkable desserts, plain and simple.
The no-frills version has 430 calories, which has more than three times as many calories as a grande skinny Caffè Latte and almost twice as many calories as a skinny Caffè Mocha. (You save a few calories by getting iced hot chocolate, but in the middle of winter, who wants to drink that oxymoron?)
Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate (no whip)*
510 calories
22 g fat
14 g saturated fat
Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate (no whip)*
550 calories
24 g fat
14 g saturated fat
Signature Hot Chocolate (no whip)*
430 calories
20 g fat
12 g saturated fat
(*calculated for a grande with 2% milk; add 70-80 calories and 7-8 g fat for the whipped cream, and save 30-40 calories and 3-4 g fat by asking for nonfat milk)

Wendy's Gourmet Mushroom Swiss Burger
Wendy's worked hard to class itself up in 2008, giving its namesake a tuxedo in ads and stressing the freshness and "gourmet" items on its menu. The home of the fresh-never-frozen-burger earned a respectable B rating on its restaurant report card, thanks to a variety of salads and healthy side items such as yogurt, chili, baked potatoes and mandarin oranges. After last year's Baconator, we thought Wendy's had learned its lesson.
Then Wendy's came out with this:
"A 1/4 lb. of fresh, hot 'n juicy beef, topped with natural Swiss cheese, sautéed Portabella mushroom blend, hickory smoked bacon, a savory peppercorn sauce, crisp lettuce and red, ripe tomato."
Gourmet and gourmand aren't synonymous, Wendy's. This burger would be better named the "Glutton Mushroom Swiss Burger." A regular 1/4 pound hamburger has 170 fewer calories and 16 fewer grams of fat! Stick with the chili and a baked potato if you want to watch your girlish figure, Wendy!
600 calories
36 g fat
14 g saturated fat
1.5 g trans fat
110 mg cholesterol
1,090 mg sodium
37 g carbs
2 g fiber
35 g protein

Burger King Mushroom Swiss Steakhouse Burger
Wendy's, we take back what we said. Yours is not the worst mushroom Swiss burger to show up on fast food menus this year. That award goes to Burger King, which relied on Simon & Garfunkel style warbling ballads to sell its upgraded burger:
"Flame-grilled Angus beef, tender mushrooms, warm, melted Swiss cheese,* crispy onions, golden corn dusted bun. (*Processed and pasteurized cheese)"
Burger King doesn't mess around with lettuce and tomato on this burger and nixes the bacon, too. I'm not really sure where those extra 220 calories come from, but they're certainly not helping you reach your five a day vegetable and fruit quota!
Maybe, instead of naming each of these burgers to our list, we should have just named "Mushroom-Swiss fast food burgers" the worst food trend of 2008.
850 calories
48 g fat
18 g saturated fat
2 g trans fat
130 mg cholesterol
1,950 mg sodium
54 g carbs
4 g fiber
41 g protein

Romano's Macaroni Grill Seared Sea Scallops salad
Why bother even calling this a salad? Could we ask restaurants to have a calorie and fat limit for the salad section? I'd like to be able to order salads without worrying I'm consuming an entire day's worth of protein and fat. Judging from the Macaroni Grill menu, it's impossible to create a salad with more than lettuce and dressing for under 500 calories. Macaroni Grill flunked the Men's Health restaurant review.
"Seared sea scallops, tender leaves of spinach, arugula, feta cheese, crispy prosciutto, toasted walnuts and Parmesan crisps with light citrus dressing."
Psst… vegetables and lean protein taste good. You don’t need to douse them in fat for us to eat them. (Don't you just love that it comes with a "light" citrus dressing? Nothing in this salad is light, judging from the nutritional info!)
1,270 calories
94 g fat
27 g saturated fat
2,740 mg sodium
42 g carbs
76 g protein
6 g fiber

Butterscotch Rocks Pancakes at IHOP
That IHOP doesn't provide nutritional info should be enough reason to skip breakfast. Most of the foods gracing the pages of its large glossy menu are desserts masquerading as breakfast and have more toppings than a banana split!
We shook our heads at the "stuffed" French toast, dropped our jaws at the coffee cake pancakes and finally threw down our forks at the Butterscotch Rocks pancakes:
"Four fluffy buttermilk pancakes filled with pecans, granola and butterscotch chips, then topped with whipped topping and drizzled with caramel sauce."
Needless to say, these pancakes didn't find their way onto the "IHOP for Me" healthier section of the menu. This dish seems to be the winner of a "how many sweet-and-sugary-toppings-can-we-cram-onto-a-stack-of-pancakes" contest!
We conservatively estimated the nutritional content of these pancakes based on menu description.
1,310 calories
52 g fat
A standard 4" pancake has just 80 calories and 3 grams of fat; however, IHOP's flapjacks would dwarf your homemade ones. You could eat more than a dozen regular 4-inch pancakes with a 1/4 cup of syrup and a tablespoon of butter for the same calories.

KFC Original Recipe Fully Loaded Box Meal
Nobody needs a box of food. Chances are good that if your restaurant food comes in a box, it should be shared or just avoided. KFC made our Worst Foods of 2007 list with its Chicken & Biscuit Bowl. Now, the folks that brought you a chicken dinner in a bowl bring you the "KFC Original Recipe Fully Loaded Box Meal." It comes in a Guitar Hero box, but we're slightly confused. Are you supposed to eat this while playing Guitar Hero? When I think about rocking out to a video game, I don't conjure an image of myself holding a drumstick seasoned with 11 herbs and spices.
"The KFC Original Recipe Fully Loaded Box Meal brings all your favorites together for an over-the-top concert of flavor. Each box is jammed with two Original Recipe Strips pressure-cooked in the Colonel's famous 11 herbs and spices, plus an Original Recipe Snacker, your choice of a drumstick or thigh, 2 individual homestyle sides, a famous KFC freshly-made biscuit and 32 oz drink. Man that's a lot of food!"
1,320 calories (calculated with barbecue baked beans, cole slaw, a drumstick and a Pepsi)
43 g fat
8 g saturated fat
3.5 g trans fat
100 mg cholesterol
2,740 mg sodium
196 g carbs
40 g protein
13 g fiber

Taco Bell Fully Loaded Nachos
If there were 10 Diet Commandments, somewhere on that list would be this sage piece of advice: Thou shalt never eat the receptacle in which thy food is served. Nothing healthy comes in a carbohydrate bowl! Taco Bell has taken the edible food vessel one step further. Their "Fully Loaded Nachos," which are already a big pile of greasy chips with "double the seasoned beef, fiesta salsa, guacamole, hearty beans, three cheese blend and nacho cheese sauce," are served in a giant fried tortilla. Nachos served in a nacho. Na-cho best idea, Taco Bell.
Parent company Yum! had been making tremendous progress on the healthful fast food front, by touting its Fresco menu at Taco Bell, adding lighter items at Long John Silver's and volunteering to post nutritional info. This, along with that whole "Fourth Meal" campaign, is a giant step back across the border, Taco Bell!
1,390 calories
83 g fat
17 g saturated fat
4.5 g trans fat
70 mg cholesterol
2,190 mg sodium
15 g fiber
34 g protein

Olive Garden Chicken & Shrimp Carbonara
Carbonara pasta is essentially bacon-and-egg pasta. Delicious, yes. Healthy, no. The simple dish is traditionally made with "egg, pancetta (Italian unsmoked bacon), black pepper, and parmesan or pecorino" cheese. Olive Garden's version "combines chicken and shrimp with bucatini pasta in a pancetta and parmesan cream sauce." It's then "baked and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs."
UPDATE: Olive Garden now lists nutrition info! (Score one for the Olive Garden! Thank you!) However, we now know that this pasta has 1,440 calories, 88 g and 3,000 mg sodium! Olive Garden doesn't release its nutritional info, but this dish is rumored to have upwards of 1,400 calories . Picture fettuccini alfredo--an Italian fat bomb on its own--with bacon and breadcrumbs, plus shrimp and chicken. The photo on the Olive Garden website shows pasta swimming in sauce, so this clearly is a high-calorie dish.
Maybe someday Italian food in America will no longer be drowning in butter, cream and cheese. Plenty of traditional dishes contain those rich ingredients, but Italians have learned a word that's been lost in translation: moderazione, or moderation.

Jack in the Box Egg Nog Shake

Jack must have been knocked in his noggin before he came up with this eggnog shake. Egg nog, that delicious yet caloric holiday beverage chock full of eggs, sugar and cream, is blended with ice cream for a seasonal treat. That's almost an entire day's calories in a glass. You could eat four Jack in the Box hamburgers with cheese for about the same calories and 23 fewer grams of fat. Pretty hard to swallow, isn't it?
1,450 calories (large shake)
68 g of fat
24 g of saturated fat
3 g trans fat

Quizno's Prime Rib Cheesesteak
"It’s the sandwich your mouth always wanted," says Quizno's. It's the sandwich your heart always feared, we say. This beefed-up cheesesteak boasts "prime rib, Swiss, sautéed onions, mayo" on toasted bread. Let's return to the list of Diet Commandments for a moment. #4:Thou shalt not eat anything thy can't fit in thy mouth. No one needs to eat sandwiches so big you must unhinge your jaw like a snake to consume. Pass them by, Dagwood, unless you want to eat an entire day's worth of sodium and saturated fat in one meal.
Large sandwich
1490 calories
88 g fat
21 g saturated fat
2,675 mg sodium
(Small: 640 calories, 37 g fat, 8.5 g saturated fat)

Chili's Texas Cheese Fries with Jalapeno Ranch dressing
Whose idea was cheese fries? They're delicious, sure, but really, did we need to top deep-fried potatoes with greasy melted cheese and bacon and dip them in dressed-up mayonnaise? No, we did not. Now they're a staple at chain restaurants, who try to one-up each other with signature ranch dressings, extra toppings and, ultimately, more fat.
Chili's boasts: "homestyle fries topped with melted cheese, jalapeños, applewood smoked bacon & jalapeño-ranch dipping sauce."
These fries lost the contest for the worst cheese fries in America (that dishonor went to Outback Steakhouse's cheese fries), but it was a tight race.
One hundred and sixty grams of fat. One-six-zero. 160! (Oh, and you'll get 1 1/2 days' worth of sodium in one meal!)
2,070 calories
160 g fat
73 g saturated fat
73 g carbs
85 g protein
8 g fiber
3,730 mg sodium

Monday, January 12, 2009

Hard core in the new year…and all water!

My amazing and VERY self-disciplined husband and I, have in fact, been HARD CORE workout-a holics for 17 days and counting. Yes that means we started some of our “New Year Resolutions” 5 days earlier than many of you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to go to a New Years Party that has more delicious food than many of our attended Christmas Parties and have to pass it up? Surprisingly enough…it really wasn’t that hard. I’ve never been good at the so called “diets” I have tried in my lifetime and I DON’T understand those of you who simply starve yourselves to lose those 5 stingy pounds (what is wrong with you? You’re just going to gain it back when you actually start eating whole food again)…and yes, I know who you are! But when Casey and I sat down together and came up with a killer work-out plan that is fun and an eating plan that will help us improve our eating habits in the long run – has made my life, so much easier!!! So praise to you my sweet honey! One exercise that has become my absolute FAV…is plyometrics! Talk about THE hardest workout I have EVER done! Have I ever mentioned that when I played soccer down at SUU that we had 3 a days? Yeah, its that intense…and fun! You should try it!!!!
So, the reason for my incredibly boring post is simply this…Along with “improving out eating habits” we thought it might be a good idea that I (Casey too, but mostly me) give up my caffeine! I was seriously ADDICTED to Coke and Dr. Pepper. My work so opportunely has a soda fountain located in our break room that allowed me access to my morning splurge day in and day out. I couldn’t withhold myself through 11 in the morning to NOT get a soda. As you see, by 10:45 I would already have a caffeine headache from my sad withdrawal. In November I made myself drink an entire water bottle before my first soda, than I could drink. Once I finished my soda, I had to finish another water bottle. And so on and so on. I HATED water! It tastes like nothing! Like, how do you even describe water…its like describing salt to someone. Anyway, for those of you who truly care…I have been soda (meaning caffeine and carbonation) free for officially 17 days! It only took me to day 13 to get past my HORRIBLE headaches…I know, I know, I am super proud of it!
So as I sit here at my desk sipping on my seventh glass of water for the day, I couldn’t help but ponder… “Why is it that I can drink coke after coke after coke and not get sick of it, but by my fourth glass of water I’m like dry heaving?” Just kidding – dry heaving is a little excessive? Hum…I wonder. But soon, when I get another one of those lame (but for some reason I still fill them out and forward them on) “get to know me” emails that ask “what is your favorite drink?” I will proudly be able to say “water”!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Am I missing out???

Nice, I haven’t blogged in almost 2 months...what is wrong with me? I have so many fun and exciting things I could share with all of you, but for some reason I just haven’t done it...Well, let me explain myself - Casey and I have now been in our new home for 6 months (crazy huh?) we love it to pieces and I have met some really neat friends in our ward and even got reunited with some. However, Casey and I decided that when we moved in that we were going to try to go without cable or the internet for a couple months and see if it was really a "necessity" – six months later…here we are without either still! I defiantly miss the internet more than TV, FOR SURE! Just because I like to blog and really enjoy online shopping or just browsing…but whatever – My sweet sister in law Deanna started recording Biggest Loser and Superstars of Dance for me – but what happens when 24 comes back on? Sure, she can record that one too…but what about my “leisure” time? Hum…I’m stumped and don’t know what to do.
Well, now I’m debating…do you think I am missing out? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you choose? I cant quite convince myself that we need both, but I really do want one of them!