Birthday Fun Times

Monday, April 4 was my birthday. I am now officially 33 years old/young. In the past I was never a big fan of birthdays. I have no good reason, just wasn't. However, this year I decided I was going to enjoy my birthday, heck I was going to enjoy the entire week of my birthday. I was also very determined to have some sort of cake to put my candles in.

So how did it go you ask...it was WONDERFUL!!! I can't take all the credit, actually I can't take any. Thanks to the amazing people in my life this year's birthday was one the best ever birthdays! It all started the Saturday before my birthday. The wonderful man in my life, Jay, took me to the aquarium. It was so much fun. I haven't been to the aquarium since I was a kid and truthfully I don't even remember it. I felt like a kid as we walked around and hopped between different exhibits. Good thing he knows how to read exhibit maps because I was just wandering. Also, on the health side my FitBit was showing some large number accomplishments after walking around all day.  

Admit it, you just played the jaws theme song in your head

I don't love winter, but I do think cold weather animals are so cute, and that includes penguins. They had the adorable black and white penguins for us to see, but they also had a new exhibit with blue penguins. They are Australia and just as adorable. 

Blue penguins.  I am pretty sure the guy on the end was posing. They were so adorable.  

Can't forget these guys, just because they may not be blue but they were so cute!!
The one on the mat didn't move for at least 20 minutes, we think he is still there.

Another favorite was the giant turtles. They are huge and yet they swim very gracefully. I could have watched them all day playing with each other and I think they were posing too. These animals know what they are doing. 

So huge and so graceful.  Let me in the water I want to play!

We also got lucky, after we were done inside we went to leave and to our very happy surprise the rain and nasty weather had cleared. We were able to walk and hang out along the waterfront for a little. 

Selfish at the aquarium!

I love being outside, especially near water. There is something so peaceful and freeing

Then it was off to dinner. I can't even tell you how wonderful it feels to be with someone who respects your health and understands you can't just eat anything and is okay with that. Never once does he make me feel bad that I eat differently or that I take my time and like to check out menus online first to be prepared. We picked a place to eat and off we went...is it wrong that I got seafood after going to the aquarium. Hmmm....

I was able to eat out, enjoy, keep it healthy, and was full after!

Yes, it tasted as delicious as it looks

Jay kept it healthy too with steak, and green beans.
He requested no mashed potatoes, but they showed up on his plate.
The man has willpower and only had a few bites. 

And that was only Saturday!

On Sunday my parent's came over to my place to celebrate with me since weekdays are always harder. My mom even brought over lunch and made food I could enjoy as well. I think it was hard for them at first to realize my way of eating wasn't about some fad or crash diet it was about my health. It was about feeling better and healing my insides. Now my mom makes food I can eat and enjoy as well. It means a lot to me. She even brought over strawberries for dessert. Adding to the fun was earlier that morning I decided to try making vanilla almond flour cupcakes (don't worry I will post about them). They were delicious!! I even put a little PB2 on top instead of icing and my dad put cool whip on his. My mom was able to put the candle in the cupcake for me and I got one of my wishes...my candle in a cupcake!! It's the little details in life that mean so much. 

Finally!! It's this the prettiest dessert. More than that, it meant a lot to me that my parents put it together.
(The brownies on the side my dad happily enjoyed)

Birthday presents! My mom and dad got me some really fun presents, but I had to share this beautiful bag.
I couldn't wait to use it for work Monday. 

While most of my birthday fun took place on the weekend, it was still for my birthday and so much fun!! I will never forget the amazing weekend I had, oh and in addition, I am having a party this coming weekend to celebrate with my friends. 

21 Day Fix....Week 2 Done

I survived week 2 of 21 Day Fix and I have to admit, I love the workouts!  Well I don't love them while doing it, but I love the feeling I get after the workout. I'm out of breath and sweating and feeling so good about myself. I even enjoy the next day when my muscles are slightly sore. Sometimes I am sore in places I didn't even know muscles existed. I'm even thinking I might have to increase my weights soon. Ha, didn't see that happening any time soon.  

My current weights...I think it's time to up the numbers

However, it is time to step up my game. When I started 2 weeks ago I decided to not do the eating plan. I thought eh I got the eating stuff handled. Turns out, I don't really. Feel free to read back to my post about peanut butter. So I have decided to do the full program including meal plan. The plan is actually pretty neat and seems easy enough to follow. 

So excited to start this meal plan...and no counting calories! 

You get colors containers and each container goes with a good group...Green is for vegetables, red is for protein..etc. Depending on your weight you are allowed to have a certain number of each contain a day. I have already discovered my portions were a little out of whack, and that is with only trying it for a day.  This could be very eye opening. I also like that it is teaching me how to eventually be able to eyeball portions without containers, measuring, or scales!

My container friends for 21 Day Fix
No counting calories and well rounded meals and snacks.

I am super excited to see how amazing my body does putting the workouts and the meal plan together. The goal is always to  better my health for now and the long term and to feel good, but come on let's be honest...warm weather, shorts, and bathing suit season is around the corner! I would like very much to look amazing in those shorts and feel confident in my bathing suits. 

Bring it on 21 Day Fix!! I got this! 

Party, Pants, and Friendship

I got home not too long ago from my best friend Debbie's birthday party. It was so much fun. I got to ride to the party with her and hang out with her family and meet all of her friends. I met so many wonderful people who I have heard about for years, but can now put a face to the names.

The moments leading up to the party were a bit more challenging....what to wear?? I had one outfit in mind...but you know how that goes; once you try it on you decide maybe not.

This was my original outfit, but I wasn't feeling it and
the shoes weren't that comfortable

The weather can't seem to decide from one minute to the next if it is winter still or spring so that never helps, okay it will be inside that helps. The hardest part came when it was time to choose pants. Usually I would have worn jeans, but the truth is jeans just aren't that comfortable on me. Tight in some areas super loose in others. So frustrating! When I was sick last year I lost a ton of weight, now that I can eat again I managed to put some back on. Not a lot, but enough that my jeans notice the difference. So I tried on about 5 outfits with jeans and 5 outfits with leggings. Feeling completely frustrated and unsure what to wear.  I finally decided to go with leggings and be comfortable and just have a great time. I paired my leggings with some cute heals to lick the outfit up a notch and ended up receiving so many compliments!  Wardrobe crisis no more!

Tada!  This is what I wore to the party and I am so glad I did!
I felt totally comfortable and was able to have more fun because of that

The hardest part about parties for me, is usually before I get there wondering what I will be able to eat. I didn't have to worry about that this time, Debbie told me a few weeks ago she ordered a carving station with roast beef for me (other guests were allowed to eat it as well, haha I share). She knew I could eat plain meat and wanted to make sure I was covered. She then proceeded to surprise me and told me she got me a cake. I said to her you got me a cake for your birthday party? She said absolutely! She wanted me to be able to have dessert and cake with everyone else and that is what you do for people you love, you make sure they have fun too. I was shocked. I actually started to cry a little. I am so lucky to have her in my life and be able to call her my best friend.

I had broccoli and roast beef.
So delicious!

I am sitting here now, still a little amazed at the trouble she went through to make sure I had a good time and food to eat. I know I have done something right to have a person like that in my life and I will never forget the love she showed me today. To some it might just seem like meat and cake, but to me, it made my heart happy and the food was good too.

Gluten free, dairy free, coconut flour cake
I still can't believe she got me a cake.
It was really fun being able to have dessert with everyone

Have a great Saturday everyone and if you have a friend like mine remember to be thankful for having them in your life and maybe even give them an extra hug when you can!

Here I Am

I'm back in the blogging world. For those of you that have not forgotten about me I thank you, and for those of you just tuning in, welcome to my life!

2015 was a crazy year for me...let's start with being bit by a dog in the park. Not so fun. Then I developed a case of oral thrush (candida overgrowth)..this was horrible! I will explain that more in another post. I dated a guy that taught me a lot of life lessons, but was in no way the man for me. In fact my best friend Debbie still wants to beat him up. What are friends for...love you Debbie!

Who knew a Great Dane would think I looked like his breakfast.
Yes I still have a scar. 

I also discovered that gluten, wheat, rice, soy, coffee, sugar, and potatoes are not my friends. Yes I said coffee, it's been since December that I gave it up and while I notice a difference in my body I still miss it every day. On the plus side I have discovered a love for tea. The first week I was off coffee my coworkers all brought me in different teas to try. I love yogi teas and the little inspirational messages on the string are fun to read.

My tea cabinet..Just a few of my favorites.
I have yet to try one I didn't like

So while 2015 was not the funnest of years for me, I am thankful for it. Without going through all of that I wouldn't be who I am today. I love who I am today and I love the path that I am on. Somewhere along the way I forgot how to dream and have faith that things do have a way of working out. I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me.  I am going to use this blog to share my highs and lows with you and I hope that you will share yours with me. One of the biggest lessons I learned in 2015 is I am not alone and with the support of friends (yes, even internet blogger friends) it can make a huge difference in your life.

Thank you for reading and please come back soon!

This is me, Cindy
And can't forget the cute furbaby on the floor, Abby