30 Days in Pictures: Day 2

Day 2: A picture of you and the person you have been the closest with for the longest


This is my Mary. She is my Marymama. We are twins separated by 25 years or so. We share our love for Jesus, mochas with a little atmosphere, and our children. We also share some not-so-fun qualities such as always loosing our keys and phones. (If you call either one of us and we don’t call you back for days, please don’t think that we don’t love you. We have just misplaced our phone somewhere and it has died so we cannot call it to figure out where it is.) She has and continues to get me through more than I can say. She was the matron of honor in my wedding. She is and always will be my better half.

30 Days in Pictures: Day 1

There is this thing going around the internet called "30 Days in Pictures" I'm sure if you are reading this, you've seen it. If not the idea is to post 30 pictures with different thoughts/ideas/information. Most of the time I think these internet games are silly, but one of my friends is doing it. I enjoy seeing what she has written and getting to know her. So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Day 1: A picture of yourself with 10 facts




1. My name is Brooke. I love when my cousin Jennifer and Aunt Bah call me Miss Brooke. And when my babies Bella and Samuel (who are not really babies anymore) call me Brookie.
2. I would love to work for The Cake Boss on TLC for a day.
3. I could waste so much time taking personality tests. I am an ENFJ on the Meyers Briggs scale.
4. I am kind of a clean freak, but I rarely make my bed.
5. I am a brand loyal to bare minerals. Their makeup is amazing!
6. I want to start a shopping ministry where I discuss fit, style, color etc. with women and then take them shopping for clothing. Ultimately, I want to help them feel good on the inside and out… Now I just have to figure out how to fund this ministry…:D
7. My son’s name is Jude Azariah. Jude after the patron saint of hopeless causes and Azariah after a young Old Testament king who followed God’s will.
8. I will do anything within my moral boundaries for a Starbucks peppermint mocha.
9. I often wear my mom’s shirts from highschool…how’s that for vintage? Hmmm…No, I was not trying to call my mother old.
10. I'm pretty sure I met my husband for the first time when he was 13 (We've discussed it, and he was either 12 or13) and I even thought he was cute back then. :)

Mommy's Helper

I guess they always say, "Start em' young..." Jude loves doing chores. He thinks he's so big!

BIG BOY

Our little boy is getting so big...

"...Every Dance on the Kitchen Floor..."

I normally like to have pictures with my blog posts. It makes them more interesting/fun to read. Fun to look back on and remember. Well, this one I don't have a picture for because some moments you don't want to stop to get the camera. During a busy day of running around trying to get oh too many things done my husband turns on the music. Stops me in the kitchen. In the middle of everything. And asks for a dance. Perfect moment. The only thing that made this moment sweeter is our little boy looked at us with the cutest little grin like he wanted to join in too. Of course we let him. It's the little moments in life really. The moments where the three of you take a second out of your busy day just to dance. I love my husband! He reminds me to slow down and enjoy life! I hope wherever you are at you get to dance today. :)

Body for Life (for women)

I've so excited to tell you about this. I've been waiting to see how it would go for me for a few weeks before I shared. It's called Body for Life. You may have heard of it. It's been around for awhile, and I'm a little behind the times. Anyway, it's not supposed to be just another diet. It's supposed to be a lifestyle change~eating~working out~being HEALTHY! Now, I don't practice the method exactly, but I've been doing what works for me, my likes, and my lifestyle. If you want to know the cut-and-dry you can check out The Body for Life books. I personally like the Body for life for Women because it is personalized. So...Here's the gist.

You eat 6 small meals a day~filled with protein, SIMPLE carbs, and believe it or not a few fats (good for you ones of course, like avacados.) Then, you work out six times a week~the 7th is the day of rest, of course!

Why I like this lifestyle change... Why am I'm so excited to tell everyone about it? Let me tell you just a few reasons.

*I am a girl. Some girls claim that they are not hungry or don't like to eat. Say what they want (I don't believe them) I LOVE LOVE LOVE to eat! I LOVE FOOD. Food is a life-giver, energy. There are so many memories attached to food. I come from a line of AMAZING cooks! In my world, food=family=love.

*I have tried to navigate through the mass chaos of calories, dieting, starving, overeating. I have done it all. Anorexia, bulemia, binges, workout frenzy, and laziness. For a long list of reasons, I just couldn't get the eating/working out thing figured out. Too much? Too little? I'm a bit of an extremist. So I was either all in or all out when it came to dieting/working out. This eating/workout plan provides me with a COMPROMISE. I eat SIX TIMES A DAY, but I eat the healthy stuff. So, I can eat to have energy, but I don't have to over-eat because I know my next meal is right around the corner.

*In the book it says to only follow the plan 80% of the time. What about the other 20%? Dessert? Yes Please!

*Most importantly, I feel so much better. I'm not really doing this to loose weight; I'm doing this because it makes me feel ALIVE. Let's be honest, being a new mom it is kind of hard to get the nutrition that I need. So often I would be lucky if I had something to eat by 1:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes I would be so busy caring for my hubby and little one that I often got neglected. The BFL plan has provided me with a bit of routine. I convinced my hubby that we should join a gym, so I get up in the morning, eat, workout, eat......do some other things....and keep eating. Giving my body the fuel it needs. Giving me the ENERGY I need. I don't drag throughout my day anymore. I can keep with with life and enjoy it too!

I really hope I'm not getting too excited too fast. To be honest, sometimes the plan feels like a diet because boy oh boy do I like carbs(the complex ones like PASTA AND BREAD), but I'm trying to balance out my love for carbs with some protein and veggies. When it gets hard, I just have to remember the ENERGY that goes along with it!

I really hope everyone has some sort of plan like this that helps them feel energized throughout the day. I know Body for Life isn't the only plan out there like this. If you are having some of the issues I described above, you should either check out BFL or some other eating plan that will help you get on the right track.

Blessings,

Brooke

Jude the Baker Noodle Maker

I have been going through Christmas pictures. I have realized I take WAY TOO MANY PICTURES because I feel as if I will be going through them for a lifetime trying to get them put in albums, but anyway, here is one of my favs. My little boy making homemade egg noodles with me. Just for the record they are SOOOOOOOO much better than store-bought.