Category: Uncategorized

What better way to start off the new year than by jumping back onto the blog?

What a year it has been. January of 2020 seems like it happened ages ago. It started off in the most exciting of ways: finding out we were expecting! The first few months seemed to be off to a good start, but by March things had certainly taken quite the turn and little did we know that our entire year would look so different from any other that we had experienced before.

Aside from navigating pregnancy during a global pandemic, it was a year full of loss. I lost my job, and our family lost two grandfathers. The hardest part was not being able to celebrate their lives with family and friends, though we settled with Zoom visits to see each others faces and share memories.

Although the year had such low lows, I have tried so hard not to dwell on the negativity and sadness, but rather look at the blessing of the many wonderful years we got to spend together. Our family was so lucky to have such great role models and have left us with nothing but wonderful memories from our childhood and all of the great times that we spent together.

The birth of our sweet little Vivian Jean was the brightest light of 2020 and has filled our lives with so much joy. She has given a new purpose to my life which now completely revolves around her in the best of ways.

This New Year feels slightly different than the rest in a sense that I truly have no idea what is in store for this year. I enter with a bit of caution, and hopeful that the world will get back to a place of normalcy (whatever that may mean moving forward). I enter with hopes that I will find a new job that I enjoy when the time is right for our family. Mostly, I enter with pure excitement to watch our sweet baby girl learn about the world around her and grow into her cute and tiny human self.

Here’s to making 2021 the best year that it can be, and celebrating whatever comes our way. Cheers!

Laugh Often – Rachel

Remember all of those New Year’s Goals I set? And how I promised I would update how they are going? Well here it goes….

1. Drink more water – this is a complete fail. I am SO bad at drinking water. I think about it often. But still cannot manage to drink extra water! I even tried making fruit infused water to bring to work so it would have a slight taste. But still, I was barely making it through a bottle per day. I like plastic tumblers with straws and feel they help me drink more water, but still, I don’t make it through enough of those either… let’s just say this one is a work in progress. It’s still high on my importance list. I just need to figure out how to execute.
2. Exercise more often – okay this one might be moving in a positive direction! Aside from the 2 weeks I was sick and felt like absolute garbage… I’ve been hitting the gym 2-3 times per week after work and I LOVE it! This still might not sound like much, but it’s better than nothing! I think once we have a little bit more daylight I’ll be more inclined to get outside and walk the dogs (maybe even a light jog?). In the meantime, gym it is!
3. Stick to our budget – this one is actually going pretty well also. We’ve been pretty on track here. Cooking meals at home more often, less online shopping, the list goes on! Perhaps being sick took away from my time to get out and spend money? I’ll take it!
4. Cut down on sugar and dairy – YES! Well maybe just half… I have definitely cut down significantly on dairy. I’ve noticed that my lactose intolerance has been at an all time high lately. Even with my dairy pills, I don’t feel great. Definitely much worse than I had been previously. So this one wasn’t so much a want, but a need because feeling terrible wasn’t worth it to enjoy an indulgence. I won’t say that I’ve completely disregarded the sugar thing. I certainly still eat it, but have been trying to make healthier decisions. I’ve been leaning on fruit – loving blueberries right now!! Also apples, oranges, bananas, etc. I really want to get back into making fruit smoothies as well. I have definitely still been indulging from time to time, but have also noticed that I’ve been feeling more bloated lately, and just feel better when I don’t bog myself down with too much sugar.
5. Mediate – Oops! Haven’t even tried. I really need to find time for this. One night I was feeling very overwhelmed and couldn’t get work thoughts out of my mind, so I did turn on a guided breathing app, which helped me fall asleep. I guess that kind of counts? But I’d love to incorporate this with the pure intention of meditating rather than as a last resort to get some sleep. Though it definitely helps!
6. Prioritize family – hmmm I don’t know that I’ve improved here either, unfortunately. I still call my Mom once a week because I just can’t go longer than that without talking to her! But everyone else… sorry guys! Effort coming soon.
7.  Start a blog – errrr keep up blogging. As you’ve seen, I was doing okay, and then completely fell off for like a month. It’s hard! Finding that extra time to sit down and write has been a challenge. Especially after a long day of work, I just want to unwind and watch some mindless television. I have to jump back in and I’m so ready! I just need to do fun things to write about 😜.

Okay I’m actually kind of proud! I thought I was doing a whole lot worse than that, so I am happy to see that some improvements are in progress, and this also refreshed the few that I was missing. We’re only mid-February, so plenty of time to turn it around! Hope everyone’s 2020 is off to a great start, and continuing to move in a positive direction. Cheers!

Laugh often – Rachel

 

 

I think we have officially become Coloradans… we took our first ski lesson! (dramatic pause for cheers). I have to admit that I was pretty nervous for the lesson. Back in middle/high school I went snowboarding from time to time and remember being fairly decent. But that was 10+ years ago. Now I am an older, wiser, and a much more cautious young lady. The thought of falling on my face didn’t sound so great. Mike has been talking about skiing since we moved to Colorado, so I knew I better suck it up before too long and give it a go.

To be totally honest, my coworkers peer pressured me into signing up. We were supposed to go a week earlier with some friends, but that ended up being over my cold when I still felt so crummy and couldn’t stop coughing for more than 5 minutes, so I figured going into the mountains to exert all energy, probably wasn’t the best idea – so Mike and I rescheduled our lesson.

The girls went and had a blast, but somehow that didn’t help my nerves. Was I going to be too cold? Was I still not going to feel well? Was I going to completely suck?? All of the questions flew through my mind.

We got up at the crack of down to get on the road in hopes of avoiding as much traffic as possible. We still hit some, but made pretty good time getting into the mountains. We even had time to stop at a …cute… little cafe for breakfast on the way up.

Once we arrived, it was an absolute zoo! People everywhere trying to get ski and boot rentals. A somewhat organized chaos, but a very small building with far too many people. We went through the lines, grabbed our gear, and were ready to go! No one mentioned to me how awkward walking in ski boots would be! I don’t remember snowboarding boots feeling like that…

Before long it was time for our lesson to begin. It was a rather large class with a very loud, and overbearing teacher. Not the most positive and optimistic teacher, but one that wasn’t afraid to call you out in front of everyone if you did something wrong. Not exactly my style… what did I get myself into? I was practically ready to quit before we even hit the slopes.

We started on the bunny hill, and after one quick trip down, he deemed us ready to move on. Up the magic carpet we went, and back down the hill, learning how to french fry, and pizza. The next trip up, we got to ride the lift! This time learning how to turn, and the hockey stop. It was a busy afternoon, more exhausting than I could’ve imagined! Every ride up the lift was a well deserved break to sit and breathe.

Overall, it was a huge success! Mike turned out to be phenomenal (show off 😂). He quickly became the star student of the class, and loved all of the compliments and attention from the teacher. I did okay, but don’t think that skiing is going to be too often of a venture for me. I did enjoy our free time a little bit more than attempting to do something specific I was told – I think I’m better without the added pressure and eyes on me… Oh well. Glad we went! I’m sure we’ll be back eventually! I can certainly see why everyone loves it so much, though!

Laugh often – Rachel

I have been M.I.A. for far too long. My excuse? What felt like a never ending cold. Tis the season, right? So funny that I thought I could sneak by scot-free… I thought wrong! What one day began as a slight sore throat turned into two weeks of no voice, runny nose, extreme fatigue, and uncontrollable bouts of coughing fits. It was impossible to sleep because symptoms multiplied once the evening time rolled around. I have practically every pillow in the house on my side of the bed in hopes of propping myself up to get some rest. I felt like every moment that I didn’t need to be at work was spent lying in bed in complete misery. Am I being slightly dramatic? Possibly… but come on – that was rough.

Luckily I had my sweet husband by my side that allowed me to bark orders at him. “Make me dinner,” “refill the humidifier,” “get some medicine from Walgreen’s,” so on and so forth. I sure wish I could say I was nicer, but everyone has their moments right? I could barely muster up the energy to walk down the stairs. By the end of the two weeks, I would love to never cough again. But to be completely honest, the cough is still hanging on.

I hope everyone else is staying healthy during the season of the plague! But I think that’s enough about that. I certainly have some updates to come now that I’m starting to feel like myself again! Happy Day!

Laugh Often – Rachel

This has been an exceptionally quiet week/day, so I don’t have a whole lot to report on. I figured I could take this time to share one of my favorite little healthy dessert snacks: Apple Nachos!

This probably doesn’t even constitute as a recipe because it is so stinking simple, but that makes it even better, right?!

First up: an apple of your choosing. My personal favorite are honey crisp, or have you tried the new COSMIC CRISP apples?!!? Literal perfection in apple form. Get back to me once you’ve tried one.

Second: Creamy peanut butter. Again, select your favorite – I like to go for the all natural, with no sugar added. Costco’s organic Kirkland brand is a hit in our house.

Lastly: Mini chocolate chips.

Step 1: Slice the apple and lay the slices out on a plate as if you are attempting to make the most beautiful nacho display of your life.

Step 2: Take a couple of tablespoons of the creamy peanut butter and pop it in the microwave until melted. I tend to do about 20 seconds, take it out to stir, and another 10-15 seconds more. Once melted, drizzle atop your apple slices. I only end up using about 2-3 tablespoons, but if you LOVE peanut butter, you can load them up!

Step 3: Sprinkle your mini chocolate chips over top.

Okay – maybe I lied when I said lastly above. This is where you can get as creative as you want. Perhaps some slivered almonds, or chopped pecans. You could even hit it with some sprinkles, or a caramel drizzle. But now I’m falling off the healthy train, so you can stop it wherever you’d like. (Can you tell I’m a fan of caramel apples?) 😂 I finished mine with a light sprinkle of unsweetened coconut flakes and TADA! The finished product:

I also just thought of the most genius idea: sub the peanut butter out for Trader Joe’s cookie butter!!! Now fair warning here – this probably removes all hope of being any bit healthy, but come on… have you tried that stuff?

Hope this helps to curb one of your late night sweet cravings! Now please excuse me while I devour this beauty.

 

Laugh Often – Rachel

Lately, Mike has been itching to get up to the mountains to enjoy some snow activities. We moved to this beautiful winter wonderland and haven’t taken advantage of it yet! I finally obliged and we planned for a day to head to Rocky Mountain National Park – about an hour and a half to two-hour drive from our house.

We decided we would go on a short hike, so we filled up on camelbacks, grabbed some snacks, and packed the car up to head out on our way. With so much driving ahead of us, we wanted some entertainment for the road and figured that a Podcast would be perfect! Quite possibly the toughest decision of the day: a podcast we would both enjoy?! Seemed impossible. I am more of a light, random listener to podcasts that involve Bachelor/Bachelorette cast members, while Mike leans more toward Sci-Fi and serious ones. Somehow every podcast/audiobook he selects, I can NEVER stand the narrators voice!! He let me pick, and in an effort to make it a more enjoyable day, I thought something in the true crime family would be fun! Serial it was and needless to say: We. Are. Hooked.

We made the drive and pulled into the park, greeted by the most pleasant park ranger. Mike had selected a trail, so following the map we were on the hunt. Not far into the park comes the road closed sign. The area of the park that this trail was in was closed off for the season and completely snowed in. He was a little bummed that his plan was ruined but I assured him that we would find somewhere else to walk around. I certainly hadn’t anticipated the amount of snow that would be up there and had forgotten my snow boots. All I had were my tennis shoes, but I gladly agreed to wander around anyways.

We followed along the road that was open until we found a small parking lot with a snow play area full of families. We walked up the hill a way and enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us. A beautiful snow-covered ground, and a forest of trees around us. Picturesque clouds passed by with the breeze. It was peaceful and majestic.

The biggest bummer was that we didn’t have a sled with us. Everyone looked like they were having so much fun and Vegas Mike has never been sledding before!

After wandering around, we started to get chilly and decided we would continue driving through the park to see what else we might run into. Plenty of beautiful lookouts, and we even spotted some Elk!

After a long day, we decided it was time to head back toward home. Afterall, the Seahawks were playing in the wildcard game and we couldn’t miss the whole thing! Podcast back on, down the mountain we went. After much debate, we decided we had to stop for dinner as we hadn’t eaten much all day. We stopped in Lyons – a very cute and quaint little town and dined at the most delicious BBQ restaurant. Lucky for us, they had the Seahawks game on. 😊

A successful adventure is in the books, and we can’t wait for the next one!

 

Laugh Often – Rachel