Road Trip from Texas to Washington

So after leaving my hubby to visit family I embarked on a long but sweet road trip from Texas to Washington. Our little group consisted of 4 tiny dogs my parents and I all in my dads truck. He pulled their 5th wheel for the journey so we could go anywhere on the trip back. Our first night was in you guessed it Roswell NM! Let's face it...Aliens...Yep the highlight of the whole trip. I took tons of pics (yes even with an alien!) and left with a t-shirt to remember the awesomeness...And it was true awesomeness. I believe Roswell was everyone's favorite haha. We stayed in the cutest little RV park called the Red Barn was really really nice.

Then we headed up stopping here and there at different places but for AZ the meteor crater and you guessed it THE GRAND CANYON. (Notice the large caps for effect...)were our favorite stops. We were on the southern end of the canyon so we missed getting to walk on the glass walkway where you could feel like you were standing on thin air but it was still so beautiful! And the prickly pear honey from the gift shop oh my gosh...wow. My hubs loves honey so it's one of the things we pick up in random places. And don't worry his jar is still intact for him to devour when I see him again. My dad and I snuck into his before dinner one evening.

We spent a couple nights in UT. A friend of the family happened to be where we were going to be staying for his family reunion so we got a real native tour of Ogden. I also happened to have a friend that lived there so it was a busy 2 days. We saw the Air museum on Hill AFB and the Dinosaur Land. Coolest museum I have ever been too. Some of the dinos moved and made noise plus you had the fossils and such. I took some sweet pics there. I have one where I am running from a vilosaraptor I believe it was...After that we buzzed home in one day. In Idaho Butter decided on a stop to roll in something dead and stunk us out the last few hours. My parents are pretty awesome so there weren't angry at all mostly they laughed.

I was worried I'd gain some poundage on the trip since I knew I wouldn't be logging my food everyday on MFP or hitting the gym but surprisingly I lost a couple since my last weigh in so I am one happy girl and so thankful that junk I ate didn't stick to me! Now that I am at my families for the visit I am on a mission of the heath for keeping me on track and helping my parents with theirs lol. I don't mind cooking to help out and make some tasty dishes that are good for everyone's waistline. My mom is excited as she wants to loose some weight and she really likes Atkins and it has worked for her in the past and that fits in really good with they way I eat mostly anyway so I made my weekly meal plan and went shopping today for the week. This week I am also going to head up to the aquatic center and check out their gym and water aerobics classes. I have set up some goals to meet for myself by the time I get to see my hubs again and I am itching to meet them. Well I am off to check my pot roast so I will leave you with a couple of pics from my little trip!

Separation

I know being a military wife means that my hubby will be gone for various reasons and for different amounts of time. This however does not make it any easier and I'm sure lots of other wives will say the same. It just hit me this morning as I watched him get ready for the day. I know we will be fine it's just sad to be apart. And I know that he will be safe and kick ass at whatever he is doing. He is rather awesome at kicking butt.
One thing I do not understand are the spouses who count down the days with excitement and anticipation that their husbands will be gone.  And I'm not talking about a week for training but even deployments. ..I even dread the short trips! Don't even get me started on deployments. ... His last one I wrote him every single day sometimes more than once and sent tons of care packages. My phone was glued to me just in case he called. Hearing his voice is the sweetest thing ever even now together and doubley so why he is gone.
I find myself a couple days before he leaves following him around like he might disappear before I can kiss him goodbye.  Sad I know. It may be because the Army has often changed their plans last minute and taken him days earlier and made him home late. Like way way late.
So as usual while he gets stuff he needs done for work I try to keep busy and not start to feel to sad/anxious about him leaving.  Have to be strong for him so he doesn't worry about me! That and it's good to be strong for your man. But I miss him already!
Well here is to hoping he gets done early today so I can soak up as much time as possible and stay positive:)

Random I know but this would be so cool in my front yard. ..

Phantom fat

Although I'm not at goal weight but have lost over 100 pounds I know I sometimes/often feel this waywhen I look in the mirror which is why I'm trying everyday to be more body positive. 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31489881/ns/health-womens_health/t/phantom-fat-can-linger-after-weight-loss/#.U58iNI1dV5

I am the "Great" Log Dragger!

So I missed yesterday since I was outside doing lots and lots of yard work before our friends BBQ. I had the best fire going all day. We got some wood for free a while back and noticed it had termites. We do not want TERMITES! So I burned it all. Every last piece and the little bits from R chopping the wood. I tried to teach myself when he was gone helping a friend get wood to build his fence for a new home he had bought. Lets just say I am not a natural wood chopper. I can start a darn good fire but chop wood. Nope. I was getting better at hitting close to the same spot which is great but after 10 min and not much to show for it I decided to swing the axe one last time and lodge it in really good and then I drug that sucker to the fire and shimmied it up on the hot coals. I still got the job done haha!

They just enjoy watching me work...We woke up this morning to a dead baby copperhead snake in our backyard. That freaked me out really good! I don't want my loves to get bit...R got rid of it first thing this morning and we aren't really sure how it died. It looked as if it had just ate though...Maybe a bird or a bat? It was in our backyard so wouldn't have been an other large animal and I don't think it was one of our pups. Either way....Snake repellant will be in our future.
After that early morning excitement we decided hey lets just chill and relax a bit until we got a wild hair to hit Walmart for a rotisserie chicken. It is a mistake to brave Walmart at 3pm on a Saturday...I mean wow...Crazy town up in there. But in the end we got our chicken. Nothing like some oven roasted cauliflower to go with it and some garlic cheddar chive drop biscuits left over from breakfast this morning (I steal one bite or so off his just for the taste. A whole one would be way way to much carbs!) We munch on a lot of roasted veg in our house. Just cannot get enough of that natural sweetness that roasting brings out.

Our relaxing day was in part due to it being the FIFA world cup (soccer/futbol) My R is a huge soccer and ruby fan so our TV has been glued to ESPN. Today I was rooting for England! Olay! Olay Olay OLAY! The hubs routed to Italy in that game. It's crazy how much he knows all the different players from different countries. I know two and they both are retired lol. And that was because I thought they were delicious way back when. Now though its my one and only R with his sultry accent...Le Sigh***

Well off to log my dinner on MFP (minnievw67 if you want to follow one another) and take our evening walk w/ Butter and Nana. It's the consistent little changes that will make your weight loss stay off. And I sleep better after.

Carrot Poke Cake (not WLS friendly but delicious just the same)

The hubs has a 4 day weekend since it's the Army's birthday. What better way to celebrate than to spend your Friday night at a friends house for a BBQ!  I am in charge of a dessert to bring so I needed something that a bunch of rowdy boys will like. I did my first picture tutorial for this recipe. It's so easy you will be amazed.

Ingredients:

*9x13 carrot cake, cooled (I just used the Duncan Hines boxed one)
    Plus the ingredients called for the cake mix.
*1 can sweetened condensed milk
*1 8 oz tub French vanilla cool whip
*1 8 oz tub regular cool whip
*6-8 oz jar of caramel topping
*3 oz package of chopped pecans

Instructions:

Cook carrot cake and leave in pan to cool. This is not a free standing cake it's far to moist. After it has cooled poke about 25 holes into the cake evenly spaced.

Pour the can of sweetened condensed milk over the top evenly.

 

Mix the 2 thawed tubs of cool whip together and spread evenly over the top of the cake. By this time most of the sweetened condensed milk will have soaked into the cake.

   

 



Pour the jar of caramel all over the top. As little or as much as you would like. I did the whole jar for this cake.

And finally sprinkle the tiny bad of chopped pecans over the top. Cover with tin foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but it's best overnight.

For myself I will be munching on some fresh cantaloupe I chopped up and put in a bowl. But I may just have to steal one bit from the hubs tomorrow because it really is that good!

Adventures in waxing

Well waxing my face has gotten so expensive at 55 bucks every week and a half that I thought I bet I can do this! So I set out and did some research on home wax kits for sensitive skin for your face. I ended up getting suddenly smooth for sensitive and fair skin with all the stuff you need to get for a wax job. After a buy one get one free on my wax pot and a 15% off coupon I found online it was only about 20 bucks more than getting my face done where I normally go. And I don't have to hear her tell me every time I go in what a great deal she is giving me, how sad she is about my face hair, and over and over "so much hair" Now come on...I am not an ogre! Sheesh. Not to mention I now have enough wax for a couple years! Who knows I may get frisky and try my underarms or legs...Maybe.

So as you can see I am all set up. I test the wax like they said on  my wrist ok this isn't bad...now I put it on my chin...ok strip on...rub rub rub. and PULL! 3 Hairs came off...only 3!!! There must be an art to waxing I am missing but I am determined to not give up. And trudge along. Rip rip RIP! I am happy to say that I did get a bit better the more strips I tried. But I have some practice to do...I can't seem to get under my chin on my neck area as I can't see it haha! Guess I will have to work something out with that. Thank goodness for tweezers to help after! It took 3 times as long as going to get it done but I am sure practice with help with that too.

 

My face is a bit red but I expected that. I will see if I break out like I do occasionally with a new product on my face. Hopefully not. I also want to look for a cooling antiseptic for my face I think....I rubbed some rubbing alcohol all over it when I was finished and let the burn go! (Thank goodness for a cool setting on my blow dryer to help cool off the sting)

 

Overall I think I made the right choice in going for the at home method. that's 100+ dollars I can now spend on important things like kitchen gadgets or shoes! A girl has to have priorities you know...

 

Now to see what the hubs thinks when he gets home...

What Color Looks Best on You? Color Analysis Tool.

So I thought today I would write a fun post! I was surfing the web and thinking about all the packing I have to do and randomly out of the blue this online quiz for a color analysis pops up. I am thinking ok what the hey lets do this! As we all know I love quizzes. And every woman likes to know what colors look best on her so she can look her best. Now I am a no fuss kind of girl myself. I have a deep respect for the ladies who know exactly what makes them pop and sizzle with a glance at a product and who take 30-60 min for their hair and another 15+ for their makeup. I do ok with the clothes but tend to play it a bit on the safer side more often than not and I seem to only wear makeup on a rare occasion. I have wanted to wear it more often but I have a weird thing about being able to feel things heavy on my skin. I have often wondered if it was the type of product I was trying but am afraid to go to a high end store pay an outrageous amount and still hate it. Or not know how to put it on correctly. I will say YouTube has taught me how to do my eyes a ton better and put some sassy roux on. Who knows. Maybe someday I will be more of a girlie girl. Luckily for me my hubby doesn't mind that I "put my face on" or "paint my barn" for special things like fancy dinners, holidays (where you dress up), and eh I'd say 70% of the time for Church. Luckily we attend a more down to earth non denominational where some people dress up. Some don't and it doesn't matter.
Anywho. The link! http://www.colorenalysis.com/index_original.html

My results in case you were curious are. The woman with Clear coloring has outstanding features that are rather exotic!  (OoOo I am exotic!) With your medium to dark hair, bright eyes, and light to medium skin tone, your best colors will be the brightest shades you can find. 

Having high contrast in your coloring combinations of Dark colors with very light ones will look amazing on you!

Be confident and wear bright colors to enhance your natural coloring!

Color Intensity: Bright Hues

Accessories: Silver is best, but shiny gold works too

Best Neutrals: Black, navy, and deep charcoal gray

Pop Colors: Bright purple, clear red, sunny yellow, hot pink

White or Ivory?: White

Best Shoe and Purse Color: Black

Best Makeup Shades: Vibrant shades of berry, fuchsia, and pink

Hair Advice: Stay as close to your natural hair color as possible. Clears, you should never highlight your hair.
Try a clear gloss to add some shine.

Oooo she even has a beauty boot camp in Myrtle Beach, SC coming up in October...Bit spendy but would be fun I think for like a girls weekend. Now where to find a random almost 600 dollars laying around haha. The hubs would think I was crazy if I wanted to spend that. Who knows maybe we will win the lottery that we never play and I can go! You never know. It could happen :)

BTW I live in fear of this happening!