I've been following the tone it up workouts for the last couple of months and really love what they do! If your anything like me, I get bored easily with my workouts. So what I love about TIU is they offer so many different kinds of workouts and they are centered around being a women- yay! They are also huge on nutrition which is also amazing. And offer a really helpful diet plan that helps educated you on what to eat, when to eat & how to be overall healthy!

"Get fit in the gym- lose weight in the kitchen"

If you have a chance check them out on facebook or their website toneitup.com. Let me know if you decide to be a TIU member- we can be ones together : )

So something that I never knew I really liked to do until I was married is cook. Probably because I've always had an amazing mom who always cooked us delicious meals from scratch. And don't even get me started on her desserts. She is so creative! So needless to say she has definitely influenced me over the years and one day I hope to be even close to how good of a cook she is! A reason I think I like cooking is because you can be so creative with it. So many different spices & so so many recipes. I love mixing recipes up and I love finding a " new treasure". It also helps tremendous that my husband is not picky, a great taste tester and loves to try new things. When they say food is a way to a mans heart- I think they were on to something : ) One of my quests with cooking is to make it yummy, but also healthy! Best combination right? So I thought I'd share with you two little treats that my husband has been loving lately! It's not a cooking type recipe so don't worry- it's a simple, quick and easy!  

Yogurt Bites

strawberry greek yogurt
 flax seed oil
wax paper

 I used strawberry greek yogurt & I put some flax seed oil in them to give them a little boost of fiber. You simply pour the yogurt into a zip lock bag (stir in flax seed oil before hand if you decide to use). You then cut a small corner off the bag in order to make a handy little pastry bag. Make a little dollop on a cookie sheet (with wax paper) then put in the freezer. Soon you'll be able to pop those little morsels of yum into your mouth. 

Banana bites

Bananas
Dark chocolate
Peanut butter
Wax paper

Slice a banana into small sections then put a dollop of peanut butter on top of each banana slice. * You can use natural peanut butter or whatever kind you prefer. You then take melting chocolate- I used dark chocolate & dip them into the chocolate & place them on a cookie sheet (with wax paper). Prepare for messy fingers and banana bites that might not look perfect. Since I've only done this recipe a few times I have not yet been able to perfect the look of them. All I know is Tyler couldn't get enough of these! And the nice thing is because they are packed with flavor, 1 or 2 go a long way! 

 Enjoy : )

Home sweet home...

Hello again!! Life for this Mrs has been crazy the last month! Tyler & I finally moved to Davenport the first week of February. Everything went so great with the move too! Our family was a huge help & made the transition so smooth & enjoyable... Not to mention Tyler's mom got this cute little cake for us from the same bakery we got our wedding cake, yum!

 

Shortly after we moved in, Mr & Mrs celebrated our 1 year!! We enjoyed a little trip and a night of re-living the memories of our wedding all over again with a video that I got made from our wedding, etc.. Such a great night! We then had a little housewarming party for our families followed by finding the church that we are going to start going to (so excited) followed by Tyler and I starting school at Palmer on March 6th!! So we've been busy busy! All the in-between moments have been wonderful as well. I have loved every minute of decorating our new place, exploring the area, long walks with Tyler and trying out new meals in the kitchen. 

It is so funny how as humans we can be so afraid of change. We are creatures of comfort. We want to feel safe & overall just be comfortable. And part of me is soo like this. Buut the other part of me longs for taking risks and living a life of stepping out in faith. Coincidentally my middle name is faith, love how God worked that all together! The thing is when you are taking risks or taking a step of faith.. I feel like that's when you truly feel alive. It stirs up passion in you and reminds you that your going to be okay if things change. Change can be a good thing, even when it seems scary. When you are where God wants you to be, everything else will just fall into place & he eagerly pours out his blessings. I never would have pictured Tyler & I's first year of marriage with as many adventures as it did, but I would not take away a single one of them. Making the decision to move to Davenport and start school was I think one of the best decisions Tyler & I could have possibly made. When I got here I kept expecting to want to grieve.. or that my emotions would catch up to me and I would be like... "what in the world are we doing here!" Instead though I have felt such a peace about where we are at and have felt God's blessings all around Tyler & I's situation. We absolutely love our new home.. the location, the feel of the area, the people. We feel like we have found a wonderful church where people passionately love Jesus and where we can do life together with these people. School so far this week has been a great experience.. the teachers there seem to genuinely want us to succeed, they are passionate about what they talk about and are very down to earth. I swore I would never go back to school, but here I am excited about it and eager to want to learn. I think it's because this time I have a goal. I know what I want to accomplish at the end of it all. The idea of being able to open a chiropractic office with my husband is a gift. The fact that I can kiss him in the hallway at school & hold his hand.. its a gift. And I am so looking forward to all the wonderful, crazy adventures and blessings God has in store for Mr & Mrs in this new chapter of life. God is so good!!

Tonight for dinner it was just me  so I decided to try a little something new that was quick and easy. What did I find... a microwavable sweet potato... sweet & spicy tuna. Soo you heat up the sweet potato and top it with the tuna and what do you do know...

 It was yum- if you can't tell by the picture!

My heart shaped dinner :  )

Dinner ended up being a success, but what about you? What are some of your quick, healthy & yum meals that you have created?

Something new to try...

Ever since my husband and I did a Pilates class in Millennium Park over the summer I totally fell in love! Pilates is a form of exercise that works on building up your strength & flexibility and also works on lengthening your muscles and improving your posture. It offers such a different kind of workout for me so I love doing it on my off days! I have yet to take another Pilates class since the summer, but instead I just do videos online. My favorite videos to watch are called POP Pilates by Cassey Ho on Youtube.

She's fun, quirky & plays good music throughout the videos

Today I paired a couple different video's together for a full body workout!

1: Inner thigh insanity 13 min  
2: Intense ab workout 10 min  
3: Super butt workout 10 min 
4: Body slimming workout 10 min

* If your new to Pilates try the Total body workout for beginners

Try them out & let me know how you liked them! Keep in mind how you breath during the excercises. Try to exhale as your exert energy & suck your belly button to your spine so that their is no arch when your back is on your mat. You'll be sweating, your muscles will be burning, but you'll feel great afterwards!!