Whole30...the beginning...

Today Tyler and I started the Whole30 challenge.  Crossfit870.com is doing one final challenge and this is it! I am doing it along with some people from the gym and if I fail I have to pay $30 to the gym.  Since Tyler isn't a member of CrossFit, I had to come up with something he really liked to put on the line if he broke it! Needless to say: If Tyler Conn breaks the Whole30 then he loses his VIDEO GAMES for a MONTH!!!!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, you can check it out at whole9life.com.  This "way of eating" is based on eliminating sugar, grains, dairy, and any processed food from your diet for 30 days to help restart your metabolism and kick your body back into gear.  After the 30 days you slowly work these foods back into your diet to see if you have any food sensitivities.  These sensitivities can be the reason you have low energy, restless sleep, weight gain, etc.  Anyways I've already prepared all our meals for today so here is what we are going to eat:
Tyler:
 Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon
 Snack: Banana and almonds
 Lunch: Steak and carrots
 Supper: Grilled Chicken Salad
Me:
 Breakfast: Bacon and Banana
 Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad
 Supper: Grilled Chicken Salad
Technically they want you to eat exactly 3 meals a day, but Tyler has a tendency to get the munchies at work so I packed healthy snacks last night for him to throw into his work bag this morning! I am really excited to do this challenge! Hopefully I'll be able to keep everybody posted on our progress!!!

Here we go again on our own...

Well people believe it or not, I am finished with text book work for graduate school.  I completed my last class this past week and today I began my fourth and FINAL clinical at The Learning Center here in Jonesboro! I am slightly overwhelmed when I begin to ponder on everything that has happened over the past 15 months and I can't believe it is coming to an end.  I moved to this town without any friends and NOT excited about attending Arkansas State University, and I now understand God was completely in control.  This change in my life brought about maturity and growth like never before.  It also brought into my life AMAZING new friends both male ;-) and female!  I could never have asked for a better group of ladies to go through this journey with and I appreciate so much how each of them has helped to make me into the clinician I am today.  Each of these ladies touched my life in a special way and they will never be forgotten.  I'll be the first to admit I was not excited about attending ASU, but after the past 15 months I can honestly say it was great! I feel prepared to tackle whatever the world throws at me! Along with how great school has been, I must confess that my life away from school has been AWESOME as well! I am active in my church (Valley View church of Christ) and I am dating the man of my dreams.  God is always in control of our lives and that is something I tend to forget.  He placed me in this town for a reason and I am so thankful He did.  To anyone who is frustrated with where life has put them, just remember God has a plan and there are amazing things waiting for you just around the corner.  My only advice is: keep an open mind to change because you never know what incredible thing awaits you!

CrossFit870

So... approximately 3 months ago I started CrossFit at CrossFit870 here in Jonesboro! The goal of starting some form of a workout routine was because I had gained so much weight since starting grad school! Well now I am going to Crossfit 5-6 days a week and I LOVE IT! It is official that I am 100% addicted! So you may be wondering if I've lost the 15 pounds I had gained, but the answer is NO! I'm not really mad about it though because I am so much stronger than I was when I started a few months ago.  This week alone I accomplished 2 personal records!!! I deadlifted 200# and I did high bar back squats of 160#.  When I started just a few short months ago the 30# bar almost killed me! Needless so say I love getting stronger and feeling better every day! If you are in the Jonesboro area and want to workout at a place that will challenge you daily and help you become a better YOU...I strongly recommend CrossFit870!!!

Gettin' Healthy

So I've spent the past month going to Crossfit at Crossfit870 here in Jonesboro.  Well they started a paleo challenge diet the week I started going there to work out.  For those of you who don't know the paleo diet is basically eating like a hunter/gatherer avoiding carbohydrates and refined sugar.  I sometimes break this diet plan because I LOVE CARBS, but lately I've been trying really hard.  Needless to say I came across an awesome recipe on pinterest for low-carb pizza!!! I am a HUGE fan of pizza so I knew I needed to try this recipe. Basically instead of using flour as the crust you use cauliflower!!! Yummy!!! I decided to try this recipe today since I had a few extra hours to waste...

I started here with this entire head of cauliflower! I then cut off the stems and leaves and used my magic bullet to make it more like actual flour.

After you get everything mixed together you bake the crust by itself....

Then you add your toppings!!!! I used tomato paste, ground turkey, cheddar cheese, onions, and tomatos.

Here is the final product!!! I accident turned my phone sideways this time so it needs to be rotated, but you get the point!

--The end result was a very delicious close to pizza tasting cauliflower pizza. It does NOT taste exactly like pizza crust, but it really is yummy.  I allowed myself to eat one piece before Tyler got off work! Whoops! Now I'm waiting for him to get here so I can devour the rest! Anyways here is the website that gave me the exact recipe... http://stickafork.net/2012/04/16/cauliflower-crust-pizza/ Enjoy eating this low-carb pizza!!! I wish I knew the total calorie count, but oh well it's still yummy!

Turning things around...

So when I moved to Jonesboro I was in the process of losing lots of weight! I lost about 15 pounds that I have now gained back plus some! I blame stress from GRAD SCHOOL and having an AWESOME BOYFRIEND, but never the less these factors have increased my waist size.  So I have contemplated the past several weeks/months what I could do to fix this weight increase.  After talking to several friends I have decided to try Crossfit.  This new activity will begin on Tuesday at 5:30 and I am unbelievably terrified.  I mean the people on the Reebok Crossfit games on TV are super fit.  I am super out of shape so this may be a challenge.  Anyways hopefully I won't wait this long before I blog again.  Maybe if I blog about my Crossfit experience I'll stick to it longer.  Tyler and I are doing it together so hopefully he'll bring extra motivation.  Here goes nothing...

Reflecting on what might have been...

So since it is Christmas break, I find myself slightly bored.  Yes believe it or not I've been out of school for a week and I'm already starting to get the itch to go back! As bad as it sucks while you're there, ya sure do miss it when its gone.
Basically I've been trying to figure out something to do with my free 5 week Christmas break.  Tonight I worked out and watched my new obsession "How I Met Your Mother", but I had the desire to create something.  I went to my very messy closet and dug out all of my art supplies.  This lead to me seeing the Italy HUF 1 and 2 scrapbook that I started, but haven't finished.  Discovering my HUF memories lead to me to a gallon zip-lock bag that contained all of my tickets, cards, etc from HUF 1.  When I see a card that I actually kept, I have this HUGE desire to read it...so for the past thirty minutes I have been sitting in my floor reading.  Well the cards were filled with encouraging and strengthening words as well as dozens of people saying they were praying for me, but they all left me wondering: What might have been?
Typically I am not a person that wonders about "What If" because who cares what if lets just focus on what is, but tonight I have let my mind wonder.  "What If" I hadn't had the car wreck back in 2007? "What If"I wouldn't have had all the complications with my leg? "What If"I would've gone to Harding freshman year instead of CRC?  "What If"I had gone to take a nap instead of going down the mountain one more time? "What If" my ski instructor would've spoken english? "What If" I would've stayed standing up instead of sitting down? "What If" I wouldn't have had to leave Italy after only being there a month?
Well with all of these questions there has to be some answer...
Here is my opinion: If I hadn't had the car wreck in 2007, then I would've continued to idolize guys and not have turned to God like I did.  If I hadn't had all the complications with my leg, then I probably would've had a speedy recovery and again never had the relationship with God that I do.  If I hadn't gone to CRC, then I wouldn't have the amazing friends I do today.  Granted we don't talk very much, but I know they'd be there if I ever need them (Yes, Ro, I'm mainly talking about you!!) All that part seems to have positives that came from it.  The only "What If" that I'm left still pondering on is: Italy!!! Well I've concluded something: if I hadn't broken my leg and gone home, then I wouldn't have spent the summer in Italy with one of the best Christian young ladies I've ever known, I wouldn't have gotten even closer to the "potluck" roommate that I had Sophomore year, and I wouldn't have the awesome memories that I have now.  Granted HUF 1 was awesome too, but HUF 2 is where God wanted me to be. So I guess I don't have anymore "What If" questions to ask, but instead a lot of thank you prayers to say because although there was another road that I could've taken, God put me on the road I'm on for a purpose! Jeremiah 29:11
Oh yeah and after taking out all the scrapbook stuff, I'm putting it all back up. Gotta figure out something else to do.

Roller coaster they call life....

So I'm currently riding the roller coaster called life.  One day I wake up extremely happy, ready to greet the day, and overjoyed with become a speech therapist, but the next day I wake up hating everything especially school! I know grad school isn't easy or they wouldn't give you a master's degree for doing it, but still! I want to enjoy it more.  I've decided, after a presentation from one of my professors, that I dislike school so much I have literally kept my brain from obtaining information.  My brain is so burnt out on everything that it will not allow me to store any more information.  So how do I get past this slump in life?  I've decided I HAVE NO IDEA! I've been working on increasing my prayer life and studying the word.  I think I've put so much focus into school that I've lost some sight of God.  Also, I haven't really been the faithful exerciser that I should be.  Surprisingly working out really can change your life way more than just your physical appearance.  I need to get my ever increasing tail into a gym or out on a road! 

So besides school what have I been doing?  Well as we speak I have 3 precious babies sleeping in my living room.  No they aren't actual babies and NO THEY AREN'T MINE! These angels belong to Sara and Jason Elms.  I'm only calling them angels tonight because it is their first night with me.  By Sunday afternoon they will demons I'm sure! Tonight we all went to eat at Habachi Grill and let me tell you I think I made 15 trips to the buffet and they weren't for me! I never realized how annoying a buffet can be when you have 3 kids that require adult supervision at all times! Mark that down on another reason why I HATE buffets! So besides having the kiddos life is just life.  It has its ups and downs.  Although I'm currently in a down, I know that I'm only here because I was UP and it's only a matter of time before I'm UP again! I need to find my chipper energetic self again.  I know she is hiding up the rock called Grad school.  Everyone pray that I learn to move this rock so she can come back around! That's all for now.  Sorry there isn't much fun stuff to talk about!