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Weekend Shenanigans – Last of March Edition

Friday – Friday evening was a low key. When I got home from work, I straightened up a little bit around the house and waited for Chris to get home. We hung out on our front porch for a little while and talked while he smoked a cigar, then headed to Mexican for dinner. Yum! After dinner we stopped by his parents house for a few minutes then came home and crashed.

Saturday – I dropped my car off to get the oil changed, and met up with my mom and sister for a day of birthday shopping celebrations! (My sister’s bday was Thursday.)

We started off at Target, then hit up TJ Maxx. After that we went to The Pinnacle and shopped at half the stores there.

I scored these shoes on clearance at Belk. They were on clearance for $51 then they were an additional 40% off!!!!  I love a good deal! Basically $90 shoes for $30.

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The boys were getting hungry and I needed to get my car before they closed so we took a little break from shopping and grabbed lunch at Jim n Nicks. I got the turkey breast lunch plate that came with a side salad. It was delish! So good and stayed healthy 🙂 I was REALLY tempted to get the BBQ potato but I knew I would feel gross the rest of the day!

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After lunch we headed back up to the Pinnacle to finish up shopping there. Cooper was fed and happy and decided to crash. Apparently he can’t hang!

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Tracy had to leave at that point, so we parted ways with her and my mom and I continued on! We went to Jade and The Spotted Zebra, two super cute boutiques in Trussville…then we decided to head to the outlets!!! I really wanted to go to Loft and Old Navy. Old Navy was a HUGE disappointment! They had a lot of the dresses I had been scouting out online, but in person they weren’t as cute and they all fit HORRIBLY! I can always count on finding stuff at Loft though. The entire store was 40% off! YES! I scored a pair of cropped jeans, a black and white striped tank top with the cutest scoop neck ever and a purple 3/4 length cardigan for transitioning into spring. Also not picture before is a necklace.

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My mom and I parted ways soon after the outlets, and I picked up some beer and snacks and headed home. Chris invited his friend Joe over and streamed the Ultra music festival live on our projector in the basement. It was awesome!!! Deadmau5 killed it!!

Sunday – I made a yummy breakfast of biscuits, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs with feta cheese and turkey sausage.

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I did our meal planning and grocery shopping then the rest of the day looked like this:20140331-071215.jpg

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We watched The Wolf of Wall Street. It was three hours long, but I really enjoyed the movie. Afterwards, we tried out our Disney Golf Game. I suck at golf in real life….and in pretend Disney life too! Whatever, I can kick your ass at Mario Kart!!

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And then just like that, the weekend was over and it is time to go back to reality!

Have a great week!

 

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Friday Five

Can you believe that it is the last Friday of March?! This month and well, year really, has just flying by!

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1. Jane.com – I ordered two scarves on Jane.com two weeks ago for less than $20. They are both SUPER cute in person and were delivered quicker than expected. If you aren’t checking this site out daily, I don’t really know why not? Actually, wait until I check it out first every day. Don’t take all the good stuff! (The coral is part of the black and white scarf…it is hard to tell in the picture!)

2. Reading- I took a week off after I finished the last book in the Harry Potter series. I have  a hard time changing gears once I finish a book! I got caught up with a LOT of magazine reading and then started a new book. My mom got me the newer Nicholas Sparks book for Christmas, The Longest Ride. You guys…he gets me every damn time with his love stories!!! I have read nearly every one of his books. I started reading this book at lunch on Tuesday. I usually only have time to read at lunch and I am already on page 100! I just love it! It makes my sappy heart smile real big =)

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3. Hair Care – I stopped by TJ Maxx last night to see if they had any color care products. They did not. Soooo off to Target I went. They are offering $5 off a hair care purchase of $15 or more through tomorrow! Score!!! I got this HUGE ass bottle for $11!!!!! I haven’t tried Nexus before, I usually go for Paul Mitchell or Biolage so I thought I would try something new.

4. Loft – They have 40% off EVERYTHING today!!! Check out these items I am totally loving!

5. E-Card/Shopping – Yesterday I dedicated a post to my sister in honor of her birthday. This weekend my mom and I are supposed to take her shopping and out to lunch! I can’t wait!! What would one of my Friday post’s be without an ecard lately? Nothing burgers. That is what!

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

the Sowell life

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Tracy Lee

 

It was March 27, 1988. I woke up and climbed out of bed and heard talking in the kitchen. I wondered downstairs to see whose voices I was hearing. My Grandma Jerry and Grandpa Carl were sitting at the kitchen table. I asked them where my mom and dad were. They told me the next time I saw them, I would have a little baby brother or sister.

What Tracy probably didn’t know until I texted her this morning, was that the moment after I found out my mom was going to have a baby I had crossed my fingers and wished on stars that I would have a little sister.

I couldn’t have asked for a better sister. Tracy has grown up to be the most amazing, wonderful woman. She is an amazing mother to two outstanding boys, and an amazing step mother to two beautiful girls that she treats like her own.

She is the hardest worker I know. Day in and day out she goes to a job that drives her absolutely crazy, helping to provide for her family and make sure they have what they need.

Tracy ALWAYS puts everyone else before her own needs. Sometimes I find myself yelling at her for not doing something for herself every now and then.

Tracy and Mike have such a strong marriage. They have been through so much together, loosing Mike’s parents and their home in the tornado on April 27, 2011. They lived in a camper for 6 months while they rebuilt and put their lives back together. Every day I wondered how they did it. But they did.

Tracy and I might not always have “liked” each other, if you have siblings…you know what I am talking about. But we have ALWAYS loved each other and stood up for each other when needed.

Now Tracy is like my best friend and I am so thankful to be blessed with such an amazing sister!

Happy Birthday, Tracy! You deserve the best and so much more!

Tracy 1

Tracy 2

This is one of my favorite pictures of us!! Anyone remember perfume Barbie?

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Tracy and I with our great aunt, Nannie.

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The year Tracy cracked her head opened before Christmas and blamed it on me. Don’t worry, the story will be posted!

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I am not a giant here, I am a few years older than everyone else in this pic. Tracy just looks absolutely beautiful in her heart romper!

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The day we met Lucky, our Dalmatian.

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Good ol’ snow pictures!

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Shortly after this picture, Tracy crashed into a tree because she didn’t roll off when I told her too!

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We were always classy.

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I love you Tracy Lee!!!!

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Confessions

I hate Tuesdays. Can we all agree that Tuesdays are the worst days ever? It was so damn longgggggg……

BUT now it is Wednesday, confession time!

My car needs washed. My car needs washed so desperately bad. I am so sorry dear Rogue for letting  you ride around all dirty. You still have sand particles from the last time in snowed here and that just ain’t right!  Speaking of car washes, Kathy…is this how you wash your car?

I don’t give a shit about March Madness. There. I said it.

I freaking love the new JT song!! It reminds me a little bit of old school NSYNC and that makes inner high school Nadine very happy. The song has been stuck in my head for days.

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I am fully aware that I would fail at any diet/lifestyle change that completely cuts out cheese. Don’t lie, you would too.

I hate when I stumble across an awesome new blog and they don’t have a Bloglovin’ follow button. Here is a little memo for you blog world: not everyone uses Blogger and you are limiting your daily readership if you only have GFC. If I REALLY like the blog I will try to find it on Bloglovin’ anyways…but nine times out of ten I am too lazy.

This:

And now a deep confession:

I have been getting angry with my work outs. I wake up and do them, but I haven’t really been seeing much difference. I mean, if I really think about it…my muscles in my legs have improved over the last two months. I can handle longer bouts of cardio than I could when I first started. Yet, I don’t see enough difference for how hard I am working. It is frustrating to make yourself get up as early as I do and work out five days a week to not see desired results. I am feeling discouraged. This tells me one thing, I am not eating clean enough, little enough, or well enough.Also, the increase of strength training with the Beta phase has me hungrier than usual, which has caused me to snack more than I should be. I have been experimenting with upping my protein to keep me full longer. Now that I am aware that I am not trying hard enough, I am taking steps to fix that. Doesn’t mean that it is easy.

Now go link up with my girls Kathy and Liz and confess something!

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The Hump Day Blog Hop

 

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Spring Goals and Two Challenges

Now that winter has come and gone and I tackled a good bit of my winter goals, it is time to conquer some more! I am going to set up my goals in the same format I did last time, I like to focus on several different areas of my life. You will see that a few of my winter goals that did not get accomplished have been brought over for spring. They are going to get done, damnit!

Mind

1. Read at least two books.

2. Watch at least three new to me movies.

3. Study and research different nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

Body

1. Make an eye doctor appointment to get prescription sunglasses.

2. Complete T25 and start a new work out program. (I am currently on week 4 of Beta with T25)

3. Incorporate more work outs than just my morning  work out program Monday – Friday.

4. Complete both the 1800 minute challenge and the 90 days til summer challenge. (See bottom of post for information.)

Home

1. Turn the dog room into more than just the dog room/storage room. Make it functional and organized.

2. Clean the garage and get rid of EVERYTHING that we do not need.

3. Start collecting items for the gallery wall.

Food

1. Try a new food that I wasn’t willing to try before.

2. Eat at two new to me restaurants.

3. Try three new recipes.

Money

1. Continue with staying in more on the weekends than going out.

2. Cut any excess spending. (services that aren’t being used, etc.)

3. Come up with a savings plan goal.

In addition to all of these goals, I am going to participate in the 1800 Minute Challenge. I think this is a great way to incorporate more work outs than just the 25 minutes I do for T25…and whatever my next program will be. This challenge starts on April 1 and runs for 60 days. Basically you are to work out for 1800 minutes in 60 days. This is about 30 minutes per day.

Also, the 90 day summer bikini challenge is going on, which takes you through June 21. I didn’t link up my plan, but I do plan on following  along and working my hardest through the next 90 days. And the rest of my life…but I like to take it bits at a time with these mini challenges!

If you are following along with either of these, let me know so I can make sure I am following you! I like to see what others are doing, their motivation, etc.

I hope between these two challenges, cleaning up my eating some more, and staying on track….I will see some results in time for summer! It is quickly upon us folks. Time to buckle down.

I need to make a sign with these words