Life

Currently – January Edition

/ Cami Grace / Leave a comment

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We are halfway through January and I am having a very lazy weekend!  We have watched far too much Netflix and have done a whole lot of nothing else.  Well…actually, that’s not entirely true. I have managed sneak in Pilates workout and I started a little sewing project.  I am not the most crafty person ever, but every once in a while I catch the crafting bug.  If it all goes well I will have a cute little DIY kindle case.  We also went to church.  Sooo I guess I haven’t been completely lazy. ;)

Anyway, enough of my weekend.  Here are my January Currently’s.

Currently Watching

We just finished catching up on Arrow at the beginning of the month and glad there is a new episode next week!  But we also just finished the last season and episode of Bones yesterday on Netflix – Nnooooo!!  So now we have to figure out what to watch next.  Decisions, decisions…

Also, my husband accidentally signed us up for Amazon Prime so I can tell you right now I will soon be binge watching Downton Abbey.  I just have to find time to watch it on my own since my husband isn’t exactly crazy about it. :)

Currently Reading

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling.  I am really, really hoping to finish this book this weekend.  Mikey bought me the next book for Christmas so I’m looking forward to that.  With our trip coming up so soon I might wait to read it until then, that way I can guarantee I’ll have something good to read, but we’ll see if I can hold out that long.  :)

Also, I kinda, sorta finished “A Woman’s Walk with God – Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit” by Elizabeth George.  I hate to admit this – but I skimmed the last part of the book.  When it came time to check the book out again for what would be the 3rd time, I knew that it just wasn’t going to happen.  So, yes, I skimmed.  But all in all, it was a good read.

Currently Making/Baking

Don’t judge me…I bought Wal-Mart brand pre-made cookie dough, less than $2.00.  I was thinking since it wasn’t Pillsbury or Toll House that the cookies would be subpar, but I was wrong and they were delicious!  Definitely not in the healthy category.  I caved in a moment of weakness – delicious, delicious weakness and worth every penny. :)

Current Obsession

Getting ready for our CRUISE!!  We made the final payment for our cruise last month, booked our flights, and booked our hotel.  We are just getting all the little details in place and making sure we have all the Caribbean clothes and items we need.  The waiting part is the worst!  I found a really awesome website which gives you all sort of insider information and tips at CruiseCritic.com.  I can’t stop reading the forums!  Any question you can thinking of and someone has the answer to it, it’s really great.

But also while I’m waiting I’m determined to get into even better shape.  I’m proud of myself for being consistent with my workouts, but since I’m going on a trip where I will be wearing my swimsuit half the time, I need to step up my game a bit.  After looking up different Pilates workouts, I found Blogilates Youtube channel.  She is amazing and I’m already feeling pretty sore, so that’s great!

Well, my dears, that’s all for now.  I hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!

 

New Years “Resolution” Follow up – Week 1

/ Cami Grace / Leave a comment

As I stated in my last post here, I am really only working on 3 goals this year: positivity, eating healthier, and taking more photos.

SOOoooo here’s how it’s going so far

1.  Positivity  

OOooh my goodness, talk about setting myself up for failure.  First of all, I did not get enough sleep New Years eve, SO I woke up very grumpy.  It’s really, really hard to be positive when I am completely grumpy.  The more I tried to be positive, the more grumpy I got.  So yeah, day 1 and I was ready to completely bag it.  After the first day I realized it was a lot easier for me to be positive when I’m not trying so hard, so I kinda let it go.

As my week went on and I let up a little on the “I must be positive” thing, I started noticing 2 different things that really that helped me have the ability to think more positively.  The first being the small amount of time I spent before bed reading my bible and in prayer.  I’m still working on consistency in this area, but even when I’m not able to read a whole chapter, I at least make the effort to read a verse.  I noticed when I at least make a heartfelt effort to meet with God, he meets me halfway.  It’s nice to be able to come to God with complete honesty about how I feel and just lay my heart out to Him and just put everything in His hands and kind of say “here, you handle it.”.  And what’s even better is that God can be 100% completely trusted with everything you give to Him.

The second thing that helped me be more positive was a little unexpected.  Yoga.  I discovered “Yoga with Adrien” on Youtube and even after just 1 day I felt a difference, mainly because of the breathing techniques.  It’s funny, because especially at work I notice I tend to hold my breath when I get stressed or I take really short breaths, which doesn’t help anxiety.  But since I’ve been more mindful of my stress these days, being able to take note and then take a deep breath in and let out my breath slowly and just let go of the stress, even for a second, really helps.

2.  Healthy Eating

I am actually doing really good in this department!  Like I said in my last post, I don’t want to go too crazy with a healthy diet, because I know myself and I will burn out quickly from even trying.  So I’m only incorporating a new recipe once a week.  I have a couple healthy recipes that I cook with already, so I’m just trying to find more recipes to include in my arsenal.  Here are links to my favorite healthy (or at least not completely unhealthy) go-to recipes.

~ Doritos Taco Salad from Emily Bites

She has quite a few yummy recipes, but this one I think is my favorite so far :)  (Side note: I use my own no sodium taco seasoning: 1 Tb chili powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp ceyenne pepper)

~ Tomato Basil Pasta found on Pinterest

Not a healthy additive, but I also brown ground sausage to include in this recipe, and sometimes I add spinach too.

~ Cauliflower Chowder from Damn Delicious

This is especially nice in winter. This is another site that has lots of really yummy recipes.

~ Paleo Nachos from Paleo Grubs

Very yummy!

And here are the new recipes I’m trying out.  The first one I’m making tonight. :)

~ Greek Marinated Chicken from Budget Bytes

I am using chicken breasts instead of thighs though, and will make a small side salad and steamed broccoli to go with it.  I’m getting hungry already!

~ Sweet Potato Sloppy Joes from Paleo Newbie

Looks delicious!

So there’s my healthy food follow-up.  You can also follow my “Health Recipes” board on Pinterest here.

3.  Photos

Ummm…..yeah…..about that.  Guess I should go charge my camera.  :)

So there it is, my January so far!  The rest of the day will involve cleaning our house, taking Kahlua (our dog) out to play and pick up the back yard (yuck!).  Then my hubby and I will go see Star Wars (it’s pretty amazing we haven’t seen it yet!), and then of course we will come back and I will make the Greek Marinated Chicken.  You know, since you all were just dying to know what I’ll be doing the rest of the day, haha ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Another End and a New Beginning

/ Cami Grace / 1 Comment
www.happynewyear2016wishess.com

(www.happynewyear2016wishess.com)

 

Happy New Year everyone!!

2015 was stocked full of blessings.  God has been so so good to us and has answered so many prayers – sometimes it almost feels too good to be true (I mean, do we really get to go on a cruise next month?!).  Sometimes it’s hard to relax in the goodness, because for so long it was so rough for us without my husband having a job and wonder how we were going to make it.  Being able to work away on our finances and not to have to worry about making ends meat has been a huge, huge blessing.

How We Rang In the New Year

I was able to get off work early, like 11:30 in the morning early, yay!  So I came home, grabbed Mikey and headed to lunch and then to spend some Christmas money.  We wanted somewhere cheap for lunch so we went to McDonald’s.  I don’t know why, but I love their little cheeseburger’s.  I’m guessing it doesn’t even have real meat in them, but whateve’s.

Mikey then wanted to go to the Comic Book shop, so we stopped there first.  I’m not into comic books at all (I don’t have anything against them, just not my thing), but since Mikey was going to the makeup store with me I was more than happy to let him take his time lol.  After browsing around we then headed to Ulta.

I don’t always like to spend my hard earned money on makeup that I’m not sure if I will like or not, so Christmas money is great, because I have absolutely no problem spending that!  Soooo, I got a bottle of dry shampoo that I have never tried before, new mascara, eye liners (buy one, get one free!), Jergen’s Natural Glow daily moisturizer, travel size IT cosmetics CC+ cream and then bonus!  I got a free gift of a travel size It’s a 10 leave-in conditioner, which I’ve used and love.  All in all, I would say it was a successful makeup run.  I’m excited to try it all out, especially the CC cream.

After the shopping we headed back home.  Some friends of ours were coming over so we ordered pizza from Pizza Pipeline- we got a Cheese to the 7th Power pizza and a Hawaiian Luau Extreme pizza.  The Hawaiian Luau was amazing, it has pulled pork, Canadian bacon, pineapple, and bacon pieces on top and extra cheese…YUM.

So our friends came over, we hung out, I played with their baby, we laughed and had a good time.  They ended up leaving early around 9:30 or so Mikey and I put on Arrow, which I ended up falling asleep through.  He woke me up 10 minutes before midnight where I had to fight to stay awake, we watched the ball drop, said Happy New Year, kissed and then I went to bed.

2016

So yes,  that was the end of our 2015.  And now here we are in 2016.  I don’t know exactly what 2016 holds, we never really know what any year holds, but I do know this – I will take God’s “hand” and step into the new year.  I do have goals for the year, but really, I hope and pray that I will live a more meaningful life this year.

This year, I pray for boldness and confidence as I live my life out for Christ.  I pray that those around me will see Jesus.  I pray that all my life’s stresses won’t even be noticeable to me because I am so focused on God.

I pray that I will have fun and take time for friendship.

I pray that I will be a wife that continues to put God and my husband first, and that I will be a blessing and encouragement to him.

I pray that I will stop taking things for granted and count my blessings daily.

I pray that I will use my time wisely.

Goals

Along with those prayers, I am setting a couple goals for myself.  Nothing crazy with 10 things I want to accomplish, just 2 main goals and throwing in a third, just for fun.

1. Be more positive.

I tend to be a realist, but I err on the “glass-half-empty” side of the realism.  There’s more to this story, so it might just receive a post of its own.  But this is something I feel that I need to work on. :)

2.  Eat healthy.

I’m not talking of going on a strict Clean Eating or Paleo diet, I don’t have the time for that right now, but I would like to try incorporating a semi-clean diet, eat out less, eat more salads, plan my meals better.  I’ve been struggling with some health issues, which I’m sure my diet has played at least a small part in, so here’s to making better decisions.

3.  Take more pictures.

I hardly took any pictures at all this year and it bugs me I keep saying this every year!  So maybe, maybe this year will be the year I actually have pictures to show the world lol.  Might have to try one of those photography challenges.  We shall see.

So there you have it my dears.  I hope you all have a wonderful new year full of many, many blessings!

 

Post Thanksgiving Thankfulness

/ Cami Grace / Leave a comment

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Thanksgiving is the one holiday that seems to change for us.  With family being spread out all over the country and with our schedules being a little tricky to work around, we never seem to know what we’re going to do, but something always works out and we’ve been blessed to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family and/or friends.

This year I slept in, spent some quality time with God reading my Bible and in prayer, talked on the phone with my parents in Chicago, and sister in L.A., then we did some more unpacking and organizing (for those of you who don’t know, we just moved into a new house!), then we headed over to my brother’s house to spend the afternoon/evening with him and his little family.  It was definitely a great way to celebrate the holiday.

With thanksgiving in mind I am grateful to God for so much.  Here is just a list of a few things I’m thankful for.

  1. God and his unconditional love, faithfulness, mercy, grace, and forgiveness
  2. My husband
  3. Fresh beginnings daily
  4. A new home for our little family (huge blessing)
  5. Kahlua, our lab, and the goof ball that she is
  6. A small yard for Kahlua to be able to run around in
  7. Our kitty, even though she has given us a ton of grief, she’s still my little baby
  8. That I was born into a Godly family
  9. For deep, meaningful friendships
  10. God’s constant provision
  11. the blessing of my job
  12. for my husband’s job
  13. Turkey’s being 50% off the day after Thanksgiving (woohoo!!)
  14. Food – I love food
  15. Health
  16. Safety and protection
  17. For our cute little car that has been reliable ever since we bought it about 7 years ago
  18. For the people that inspire me
  19. For awesome technology to be able to stay in touch with long distance family (yay Skype!)
  20. For rest and relaxation
  21. Books and blankets – and how well they go together (along with hot chocolate)
  22. Electricity – being without makes you appreciate it sooo much more
  23. For the things we get to look forward to (Christmas, a new year, vacation…)
  24. Laughter
  25. For this blog – it’s been a fun little journey on here, but I’m also thankful for blogs in general, because it’s fun being able to look into other people’s lives and receive inspiration and encouragement.  So thanks to you guys out there too! :)

I hope and pray you all will continue the rest of the year with many blessings and continue to give thanks through it all.

Much love xoxo

Storm Recap

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The exciting news of the week was definitely the storm we had this past Tuesday, so here’s what happened.

The Storm

We had a huge wind storm this week that ripped down power lines, toppled trees, and caused huge amounts of damage.  You can view a few photos of the aftermath here.

The Drive Home

My typical 25-30 minute drive home took me a little over an hour, and that’s after leaving work 2 hours early.  I decided to avoid the freeway since my car has a hard enough time with 35 mph wind gusts, let alone 35 mph sustained winds with 60-70 mph wind gusts.  Power was out at half the stoplights I came to, which meant it was now a 4 way stop at major intersections with multiple lanes.

After about 40 minutes I came to another major intersection, also without power, and decided to take a detour.  I was going to jump on the freeway, but when a huge gust of wind started shaking my car, I changed my mind.  Thankfully, I knew another way home, and the way I was going was taking me to an area that still had power.

As I continued on my way the wind was picking up even more and trees were bending over, practically in half.  I made it allll the way down to the road when I notice the truck in front me suddenly swerved into the other lane. Directly in front of me was a tree laying across the road.  I followed the truck in front of me (glad I was following at a safe distance) and drove over the top of tree.  For about 5 blissful minutes my car filled with the scent of pine.  As I was thoroughly enjoying the scent of Christmas, reality soon kicked in and suddenly all the lights along street went out.  Thankfully the stoplights flickered but decided to stay on for the remaining 5 minutes of my commute.

Home

Our apartment was dark and cold, but I was so thankful to be home and safe as the storm grew even more strong.  I called my mom to let her know I made it home ok and then waited for my husband to get up (he works graveyard, so he sleeps during the day).  It just completely amazes me that he can seriously sleep through anything, even a hurricane, apparently, haha.

Once he was up I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pulled out our board games.  It was fun but we were definitely getting cold and couldn’t concentrate after a while.  Since Mikey still had to go to work later that night we decided to find somewhere we could get something hot to eat and went to my brother’s house, which amazingly enough, only lost power for 2 hours.

After 24 hours our power finally came back on (24 hours in the middle on November is miserable – but that’s nothing compared to the people who are still without power 5 days later and counting).  I’m thankful to be safe and have a home that was unharmed.  Unfortunately there were many who were not so lucky.

As for my pets?  the storm didn’t even phase them.  I think living on the Oregon coast for so long had them pretty well prepared.  While my dog Kahlua lounged on the couch staring out the window, my cat was on the floor in front of the window trying to chase the leaves that were blowing on and off our balcony.

The End

So that was the excitement for the week.  This weekend has been busy with packing, packing, and more packing.  Today is our last and final day for packing and tomorrow we move into our little house!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.  Happy Sunday!