Pool-Crashers & Water-Splashers

Good morning lovely ladies! Hopefully your Monday's are off to a decent start. Mine seems to be good so far. I'm in quite a nice mood, and I don't really even know why. But you certainly don't hear me complaining about it! I think it might be because I got more sleep last night than I have in the past like 10 days - so that's definitely a good thing. And it was necessary for sure after the fun and busy weekend I had! Wanna hear about my weekend shenanigans? Well,

This Weekend I....

Friday
+ Went to dinner with my parents at Applebee's, and even though we had a good time together, we weren't impressed with our meals or our server, so we probably won't be back for quite some time.
+ Then I met up with Jeff and the boys for a quick trip to Publix, to grab groceries for Saturday
+ Rented "The Rise of the Guardians" from Redbox, and watched the first half before the boys fell asleep
+ Then Jeff and I finished our week-long game of rummy, and clearly I blew him out of the water
+ Oh, and I made some delicious "redneck" caprese to take as part of my lunch on Saturday. I called it redneck because I forgot to buy fresh mozzarella, so I just cut up some string cheese sticks :) And it was soooo good. I'll be buying more tomatoes and cheese tonight to make this again, ASAP.

Saturday
+ Woke up early-ish and headed back to Jeff's house to get packed for the day, then we met my friend Lacey and her daughter, and we all headed down to swim at Wakulla Springs for a while! Since it's a natural spring, the water is always 72 degrees, and even though that doesn't sound particularly cold, it actually feels freezing. So the "big kids" didn't really do too much swimming, and instead just supervised the little ones in their floaties.

+ Then Jeff had to run the sound booth at his church for a wedding, so Lacey and I took the kids to a local apartment complex, and crashed their pool. There's no security guard or code or gate or anything, so we just walked right in. It was a great find, and we'll definitely be visiting many more times this summer!

+ After the wedding, Jeff came to meet us finally, so we got groceries, and cooked dinner for everyone at Lacey's house that night, and the kids all watched "The Rise of the Guardians," twice. And luckily I got to see the end of it the second time around. And it's such a good movie! For real, so good people.

Sunday
+ Went to Sunday school and church with my parents, and then met my sister, brother-in-law and step-brother for Father's Day lunch at Beef O'Brady's
+ Saw "Man of Steel" for Father's Day, and it was so good!
+ Cleaned out under my bed, and even though it's not completely done (still a DVD player and some other random things under there), it's about 95% done, so I'm crossing it off my list
+ Took the boys to swim at one of their church-friends' house for a couple of hours. And we spent a good amount of time working with them on learning how to swim more (they got so close last summer), and I think they've just about got it now!
+ Came back to Jeff's house and got some good snuggle time before heading home

Lots of activities, lots of sun, lots of water - lots of fun! (I love when I accidentally rhyme...) We had such a great time this weekend, and I realized how blessed we are to have such great friends for us, and for the boys, that we can hang out with all the time. I also had a great time celebrating Father's Day with my dad and siblings. And of course, just like everyone else on just about every Monday morning, I only wish it could have lasted a little bit longer! But we do have a couple fun things planned for during the week, and we definitely have fun things planned for next weekend as well!

How were y'all's weekends? Hopefully you enjoyed it, no matter how busy or relaxing your weekend was.

Much love,
Halie

Pudding Mix, Games & Randomness

And thankfully, another Friday rolls around again to grace us with it's presence. This week has been fun, but exhausting, and that makes me so glad it's the weekend, where I can rest and play and recharge myself a little bit. And since this week has been a bit crazy, I have no specific topic for today's post, so I'm just gonna wing it. But these random thoughts posts always end up being really popular for me, so I guess wingin' it is A-OK with me!

First of all, let me tell y'all about my breakfast. I mentioned in my weigh-in post from Wednesday that I'm drinking ViSalus shakes every day for breakfast and lunch. This isn't my first time doing this (I did it for a while back in April), but it is the first time I've jazzed them up a bit with some fancy recipes. And y'all, this morning's was de-lish-us. It's called the Butterfinger shake, but even as much as I love me a Butterfinger, I was skeptical this would actually taste like one. I figured it would be good, but not actually match the flavor of the candy bar. But boy was I surprised when I took the first sip. It tasted exactly like you would expect a Butterfinger milkshake to taste like! Soooo yummy. I'll definitely repeat this one.

For those interested, the recipe is: 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 2 scoops of Vi-Shape mix, 1 tablespoon sugar-free Butterscotch pudding mix, 1 tablespoon PB2, 1 cup of ice cubes. Blend until smooth and creamy! And then enjoy your super yummy breakfast shake, for only 163 calories. Yup, 163.

A while back, I got super excited for my first ever 5K race. I pre-registered for the Run or Dye race here in Tally, and got super pumped about it. But that was back in April and then my excitement kind of fizzled out. But this past week, it's ramped back up again. First, I confirmed with my friend Jenni (who has already done like 4 marathons!) that she is planning to come up from Orlando to run the race with me. Second, because I actually figured out a "training schedule" of sorts for myself, that I'll start the first week in July. It's gonna be pretty rough (with it being about a bajillion degrees and all), but I'm pretty determined. And then third, my friend Lacey also pre-registered to do it with me as well!

Last night after dinner, Jeff and I and his mom took the boys to Nuberri for some frozen yogurt for dessert. Mmmm yummy. I was good though and only got a little, and only topped it with fresh fruit and a tiny bit of sliced almonds. Still so yum. And those boys are just so dang cute :)

Sunday I'll be seeing my sister for the first time in two weeks, and I'm really excited! It's still so strange adjusting to not living with her, and I miss that girl. So glad that we get to all have lunch together for Father's Day, so that forces us to have some time together.

I just started reading "The Hobbit," and even though I'm only about 20 pages in so far, it's still really good already. It probably helps that I've seen the movie a couple of times, so I'm picturing that as I read, but I'm still really into it so far. Hopefully I can find the time to read some more, so I can add another book to my read list for the year!

Since Sunday night, Jeff and I have been playing a running game of Rummy after the boys go to sleep every night. Normally, we would be watching a movie or catching up on some of our favorite TV sitcoms, but it's been really nice to have some time to just be together and talk and laugh. Last night, the boys actually went to sleep super early, so we sat next to each on the couch and just read our own books for a while, and that was really nice too. I just love spending time with this man, no matter what we're doing :) But back to the card game - I'm whooping his tail...

And now for a little preview of the weekend: tonight I'm having dinner with my parents, because I haven't seen them since Sunday basically; tomorrow we're going with some of our friends and taking the kids to go swimming at Wakulla Springs; Sunday is family lunch and Father's Day and fun time; and hopefully I'll be able to find some time to straighten up my room a bit and do a load or two of laundry. Gonna be a good weekend! I'll get a good mix of family time, sunshine, time with Jeff and the boys, friends, cleaning and rest. Love those weekends. 

What are your weekend plans? Will you be doing anything crazy fun, or are you keeping it low-key and just relaxing? Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy it! Happy Friday, friends!

Pinnacle Moment for a Bride-To-Be

Although I'm (obviously) not going to share a picture of the wedding dress I've chosen before the big day, I do at least want to write a little story about the process of finding it! I think that making the decision on my wedding dress was the one thing that really made me feel like a bride. Creating a Pinterest board or looking at pretty wedding cakes we want is super exciting and fun. But every girl can do that. But what every girl can't do, is pick out her wedding dress. That's a tradition that's reserved solely for after he pops the question and slips the bling on your left hand. The beautiful ring on my finger feels amazing, but actually picking out the dress I'll wear when I say, "I do," feels like something completely different. It feels like the Pinnacle Moment for a Bride-To-Be. Picking out my dress made everything seem so surreal and crazy and exciting. But let's back up and talk about the process of actually finding "the one!"

As I've shared before, we're trying to have a small-ish wedding, on a pretty tight budget. So that meant I wasn't going to be spending a couple thousand dollars on just the dress alone. (Side note - on 'Say Yes to the Dress' yesterday, I watched a girl pay $10,000 for a dress. Insane! Our entire wedding won't even cost that much...) So even though I had a certain vision in mind for what I wanted, I wasn't willing to spend a fortune to get it.

So the first place we headed was to David's Bridal. And it was not so great. We had been there for my sister's wedding to look at bridesmaid dresses and the flower girl dress, and both experiences were pretty rough. The staff wasn't friendly or helpful, and God forbid if you didn't make an appointment. But I wanted to give them a chance, because I had seen some of their dresses online and liked both their style and their price. But once there, my "consultant" didn't really provide me with what I was looking for. I felt like she didn't listen to a word I said about what I wanted, and a couple of the ones she brought were the exact opposite of what I was looking for. Pretty, but not the style I was going for. We did end up finding one there that even though it wasn't the style I thought I wanted, I did actually like it. Just not enough to buy it...

So then a couple of weeks later, my mom and I headed up to The New Image in Thomasville, Georgia. She was looking for a Mother-of-the-Bride dress for Megan's wedding, and I got to try on some wedding dresses for myself as well! (They have a huge variety of bridal, prom and MoB stuff.) I tried on about four or five, and really liked a couple of them. Then that last one I tried one, Mama and I both loved it. Mom immediately said, "That's the one. That's your wedding dress." And although I think I agreed then, I still wasn't quite ready to commit to it. And plus, I really wanted my sister to be able to see it first too.

Then on June 1, I made an appointment at a local place here in town, Vocelles. (This is actually where Megan found her dress last summer!) This in a cute little boutique bridal shop with a pretty atmosphere and super helpful staff. There were about three here that I really liked a lot, and one that I was in love with. (The one I loved the most was pretty similar to the one I liked at The New Image.) The train was longer than I wanted, but that's about the only thing I didn't like. Well, that, and the price of it! Because that's the thing with Vocelles - it's all gorgeous, but it's all a little pricey, and definitely over what I wanted to spend. In fact, it was about $600 more than the other one at The New Image, for basically the same thing. So as much as I loved the one from there, I felt conflicted about how much it was.

Aunt Suzanne, me and my sister Megan.

So we left there, and headed back up to The New Image again. I had them pull the one that I loved from my last appointment, and then we pulled about four or five more again, just to try. And I did end up liking a couple of the new ones too, but then once I put back on the one from the first trip, we knew that was THE One! Mama, Megan and my Aunt Suzanne all loooved it, and so did I. It's exactly what I was picturing in my head, and just what I wanted/needed for an outdoor wedding. It's simple, yet beautiful, and I think it's just so me. (And it makes me look so good and so skinny!)

I am so so so incredibly happy with the dress I've chosen and I can't wait to get my actual dress in so that I can get a better feel for it! The one I tried on was about three sizes too small, so I'm just kinda stuffed in it, and things are all tightened up to get the right effect. Like, so tightened up I couldn't breathe very well. So I definitely can't wait to try it on in my actual size! I think it's going to be perfect on my wedding day, and I'm so glad I found exactly what I had pictured myself getting married in. Hurry up, October 5th!

Much Love,
Halie

Pie for Breakfast

Yesterday afternoon, I posted this as my status on Facebook, "I'm hoping for an awesome weigh-in tomorrow, so I'm planning to kill it tonight at Zumba!" And that's just what I did folks. My friend Lacey met me there early, and we did our usual mile. We walked a little bit too much and so I didn't set a new PR or anything, but we still did good. And then at Zumba, we continued to push ourselves hard, and it seems like it was worth it for today's weigh-in...

Highest Weight = 227

January Starting Weight = 217

Last Week, June 5 = 187.4

Today, June 12 = 185.4

And that brings me to 31.6 pounds lost since the beginning of the year, and 41.6 pounds lost total. And I am so proud of myself! A while back, I set a goal weight for my wedding day of 170 pounds. Last week, I realized if I was going to make it to that, I'd have to lose four pounds every month for the next four months. So I made the decision to look for my motivation and determination again, and miraculously, I found it pretty quickly. Monday I started eating healthy again and making great food choices, and I'm getting back to my exercise routine. 

Mainly though, I want to share how/what I'm eating for at least the next few weeks. First of all, I'm drinking a ViSalus shake every day for breakfast and lunch. Normally, I don't have great luck with things like this (I've tried lots of other products that I won't mention, in order not to bash them - but none of them worked like this stuff.) Jeff and I first tried ViSalus because his co-worker sells it, and she got him a tester to try out. And then he ended up ordering a few bags of the shake mix, and so I tried it out for much of April, with good results. And now I'm back at it and doing it again for two meals a day. This time around though, I'm trying out new recipes and jazzing it up a bit, rather than just drinking it plain, with no yummy add-ins. This morning I had an Apple Pie Vi Shake. So basically, it was like I had Pie for Breakfast. And it was awesome.

Only 185 calories for a sweet, yummy and super filling breakfast shake. That's my kinda meal.

My snacks are all fruits, veggies, hummus and some fat free yogurt occasionally. And then for dinner, I'm eating as low/no-carb as possible. I'm avoiding all bread, pasta, snacky-junk foods, fried food, potatoes and the like. For dinner Monday night, I had a chicken breast, with broccoli and green beans. Every Tuesday, we go out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant with our group of friends for Taco Tuesday - but instead of tacos, I got chicken fajitas. But I only ate the chicken and veggies with a tiny bit of guacamole, and didn't eat the tortilla, rice and beans. Maybe not super healthy, but I did what I could...

Also, I'm drinking Ms. Jillian Michaels' detox water drink every day for the next seven days. Today is day two, and so far so good. It's really simple, tastes pretty plain, and isn't much different than drinking regular water. If you want to try it, it's 60 ounces of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sugar free cranberry juice, and 1 dandelion root tea bag. (I couldn't find this exact thing at Publix, but I did find a box of tea labeled "detox" with a special herb blend - dandelion was one of them, so that's what I'm using.) Leave in the fridge over night, and then drink the whole thing the next day. 

And my favorite dessert obsession right now is fresh strawberries cut up, with a glob of fat free cool whip. This stuff is sooo delicious, and only has 20 calories in 2 tablespoons. Definitely a great option for a healthier dessert. I've had it two nights in a row now (shared with Jeff last night while we played some cards), and I'm pretty positive I'll have it again tonight as well!

Oh, and I'm back to counting calories and logging everything into MyFitnessPal. So if you want to come over and find me on there, that would be just swell ;)  My user name is HalieRenee, so feel free to add me. So - that was a lot of stuff to share today, but I'm glad I did. I want to be completely open and honest about my weight loss journey and efforts, no matter what. So to recap, two Vi-shakes a day, no/low carb for snacks and dinner, and getting back into my exercise routine. I've lost two pounds so far this month, and now I just need to lose two more to stay on track to get to 170 by October 5th. I know I can do this!!!

Picking A Wedding Venue - The Final Part

So our first option was a beach house. Then that was gonna cost an arm and a leg, so we nixed that idea and decided to look for outdoor venue options around town. Our next choice was Maclay Gardens State Park - and we loved it. But we weren't quick enough and it was already booked for our original October 12th date, and the whole rest of the month too. Then our next option was The Dogwood House. It was a good option, and we definitely liked it, we just weren't in love with it, and were a little hesitant to book it.

So we looked around some more, and then last week Jeff and I and my parents finally went to go visit the Wakulla Springs Lodge, at Wakulla Springs State Park. And we absolutely loooooved it. Like a lot.

The bad news was however, that there was already a wedding booked for October 12th. Sad news. However, pretty much every other weekend in October was available, so we talked about changing our date. It ended up being a really quick talk though, because we both loved the Lodge so much, that we could find no real reason not to change our date. The next day (last Thursday), I contacted the Lodge once more, to get the contract started! And that afternoon I sent in our signed contract with our initial deposit. So our new wedding date is October 5, 2013!

Now I guess I should share some pictures of the place, right?! This pretty little gazebo is where we'll do the actual ceremony. Jeff and I and the pastors will stand in it, with our bridal party down on the stones, and then we'll set up chairs facing it, obviously. I want to try to decorate it a bit by either doing something on the backdrop, or something around the front two columns. Not exactly sure what yet though, but I'm trying to think of something!

And then the reception will be just about 200 feet away, back inside the main lodge building, on the glass-enclosed terrace room. We're not doing a full, sit-down meal, but just appetizers and hors d'oeuvres and cake, so we won't have tons of tables and chairs taking up too much space. However, the room itself is pretty huge, and is actually way bigger in real life than it looks in the pictures. It's so pretty in there, and I think it will make a really gorgeous place for our wedding reception! (The first picture below is just to show you how close the gazebo is to the main building.)

This is the door leading from the main lobby, inside the terrace. And it's gorgeous!

So our venue has officially been booked now! And we both couldn't be more excited about it. Seriously. And this beautiful place is only about 20-25 minutes outside of Tallahassee, which makes it easy for us to visit and plan, and easy for our guests to get to as well. I'm already trying to envision how we'll decorate and set everything up, and I think it's going to be so great and gorgeous and I just can't wait to get started on some of the projects in my head! So glad we finally have this huge detail finalized, and that we can now move on to other things. That's one big stress lifted off my to-do list now, and I'm so thankful for that.

At dinner with my parents after visiting the Lodge last week.

P.S. - My awesome and amazing friend and blog designer Erin has been working for me the past week or so, and things should be changing around here today! Get excited for that folks, because I'm super pumped about it!

P.P.S. - UPDATE! The blog redesign is now complete, and Erin did such a great job bringing my ideas and visions into a real life layout and design. And I absolutely love it. Check her out if you're looking for great design work, at awesome prices, from someone who's incredibly easy to work with. Seriously - go check out her design page!

Pool, Hot Tub, Slip-N-Slide, Games & Girlfriends

I don't mean to rub it in or anything, but I'm pretty sure my weekend was better than yours. Actually, I'm quite positive it was better than yours. I got to spend it with seven of my bestest girlfriends, at a farm house in the country, playing games and having fun and slip-n-sliding and laughing a lot, and just having the most awesome time. Because this past weekend was our second annual KAG dubbs weekend! (As previously explained, KAG dubbs is our awesome nickname for girls weekend, that just makes it sound so legit, and stands for kick a** girls weekend.) I could go into a ton of details and account for every fun minute, but instead, I'll try to give you the "Reader's Digest version" of the weekend!

Friday night we all met up there around the same time, got our cars unloaded and claimed beds, and then immediately started having so much fun. We made some dinner and then started right away playing a game! We played for a couple of hours and then finally called it quits pretty late, only to stay up with two of the other girls chatting till 3 am. But it was so great to have some real talks, and get caught up with them, and just enjoy our time together.

Saturday morning we woke up and Kaley made us breakfast sandwiches, we put our bathing suits on, and then we got our giant slip-n-slide ready! We played on that for a while, and then made our way over to the not-so-full-pool to hang out in there for a couple of hours chatting and making up our own games. We also ran around in circles to make a whirlpool a couple of times, which was fun and funny. Dani and Jeannine took orders and made sandwiches, and we sat on the amazing back porch eating sammies, chips and veggies.

After lunchtime, a few of us played some cards and then got back in the pool once we got hot. Then we all sat in the hot tub for a while and put in some yummy smelling eucalyptus-scented hot tub stuff and it felt like we were on vacation in the mountains. Then we went back in the pool for a while until we decided we had had enough water for the day. Saturday night, Nicole and I made tacos and Spanish rice for dinner, and we just kinda chilled for a bit watching TV.

Once we were rested and ready, we started playing games again! I got a real bad stomach ache, so I laid down for a nap around 9 p.m. and missed the end of the game, but woke up around 10:15, just in time to have a giant nail-painting party with everyone. We took out all of my nail polish and the supplies, and everyone painted our fingers and toes and they all looked so pretty. Then even though it was after midnight, we wanted to watch a movie, so we watched "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." It was my second time seeing it, but most of the girls' first, and it was so cute and they loved it.

Sunday morning, I was the first to wake up so I sat on the back porch reading a little bit until some of the other girls woke up. Jenni and Cally made us omelette's and a fruit salad and we had a late breakfast/brunch. Then we had an issue with the trash compacter, so a couple of us worked on it for about 30 minutes, before we realized there was a latch on the side that made the whole thing kinda of flap open, to make it easier to empty it.... Awesome. And then since we were tired and it was overcast, we decided to just camp out indoors for a while, so we watched "Identity Thief" and ate sandwiches and snacks and it was such a funny movie.

Finally, we started getting the house cleaned up, and put the water stuff away, and showered, and packed our bags and our cars, and then it was time to head out. We of course made sure to take a couple of group shots though first, and they turned out great. I love these girls so much :)

And of course we're all already excited for KAG dubbs 2014. Hopefully we can arrange it on a long holiday weekend or something, because two nights and only one full day just isn't enough time together. We definitely need an extra day in there! Can't wait to see them all again, and soon. Love y'all!

Peppy

It's Friday! It's Friday! It's Friday! And I'm feeling extremely Peppy = zippy, energetic, vigorous, lively. And this level of energy and excitement is not just for any 'ole Friday - although I do love me a Friday. But today's excitement is because it's the 2nd annual girls weekend with all of my friends from St. Augustine, at one of the girls' farm house in the country. Last year was sooo much fun, and I'm quite sure that this year is going to be just as great, if not even better. So today after work, I will make the short 45-minute drive to the farm house, to see six of my bestest girl friends!! 

Oh, and we've nick-named this annual tradition KAG dubbs - which stands for "kick a** girls weekend." (Sorry Mama for the language!) We decided the weekend needed a name that was equal to it's amount of awesomeness, and just "girls weekend" made it sound lame and not very awesome. So obviously we had to kick that up a notch. Can't wait to see them all tonight, and spend the whole weekend talking and laughing and slip-n-sliding and playing games and painting our nails and driving ATV's and holding hands and being silly and just having so much fun. It's gonna be the greatest.

But for today, let's hop into five awesome things from this past week, and link up with the cute Lauren Elizabeth.

1. Running and zumba is so much more fun when you do it with a friend! So glad that my friend and bridesmaid Lacey starting coming with me every Tuesday!

2. The cake tasting at Publix earlier this week was sooo delicious. And these tiny cakes are just adorable, aren't they?! Publix made it all pretty easy on us too, and they are definitely a great bakery choice for anyone who's looking for one.

3. This pretty little gazebo is where I'll become Mrs. Halie Pullen on October 5, 2013! We officially sent in our forms and deposit yesterday, and I am so stinking excited!!

4. My dessert for the past two nights has just been a spoonful of Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, and it's been so yummy. Don't judge me.

5. Chick-fil-A breakfast on the way to work this morning was definitely a great idea.

And not pictured above - we did our second registry last night, at Target! We've been super productive this week with wedding stuff. Since just last Saturday, here's all we've done: bought my dress, registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond and at Target, picked our cake, and Jeff's groom's cake, found our venue and submitted the deposit. Things are coming along quickly now, and I couldn't be more freaking excited!

Also, I'm excited because the look of this little bloggy is about to change again, thanks to the most awesome sauce designer and friend, Erin. And I'm so pumped for that!

Well I think that's enough blabbing for today, so I need to stop myself now before I just go on and on forever because I feel super hyper and amped right now, so I could just talk and talk forever.....(And that was a super long run-on sentence.) I hope y'all have had a good week, and that your weekend is even better. I know mine will be! Happy Friday!