Let's catch up?! (Friday 5)

Well hello! I have not written a Friday 5 in a couple of weeks since I have been on a motivation and recipe kick, so I wanted to catch up. It is not technically Friday yet, but it's Little Friday so that totally counts. 

My weeks are usually monotonous, but in a positive way. I work 8-5 Monday-Friday, train hard after my work day is over then go home; make dinner, get ready for the next day, shower, and work on my blog while watching trashy reality TV. However, work has been busier than ever so by the time I get home from a long day of that and training, I have been passing out on the couch. I need to catch up on your guys blogs and I promise to when things slow down. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks they will. Nonetheless, I have great recipes and things scheduled so I vow to still deliver good content.

(1) Work has been nonstop and I have been thriving and enjoying it. Unfortunately my HR mentor announced that she will be transitioning to our brother company in two weeks. She has been offered an executive position there and I could not be more happy for her. Teresa has been my rock here. I am going to miss her so, so much. The only good side to this is my Human Resource responsibilities will be growing. Which is great. I am in the midst of planning a big event for my company for our quarterly meeting and that has been so much fun. I love being able to plan all our company events; we do quite a bit.  Also, my company takes sports very seriously, ha! We always show our team spirit for our Charlotte Panthers and we go all out for other sports as well. This month we have been all about March Madness. We had a luncheon last week with the games playing in the break room while every ate. Each department has a bracket for the games as well. I designed a trophy for the team that wins. I think it is so awesome. This boosts team work and morale in the work place so I am all for it. Sometimes we get so set in our routines that it is good to shake it up a bit.

I received my (2) Ipsy bag last week. Another great month - thank you Ipsy! I am in love with everything that came - except the self tanner. I use Famous Dave's and will never use another brand, ha. So I mailed Kerry mine and she mailed me her lipstick. Ipsy trades are awesome. In the below picture, I am wearing the dark brown eye shadow, Bare Minerals lipstick, and the eccentric blue eyeliner. They are all wonderful. If you don't know what Ipsy is, it is a monthly makeup bag that you receive via mail for only $10 a month. Your are billed on the first of each month and the products arrive in the middle. Included is a makeup bag each month along with 4-5 beauty products. If you want to join, please use my link, just click here.

Even though I have been tried most evenings when I get home from working and training, I have been on a roll with new recipes. The best ones pop in my head at the most random times so I write down the ingredients, throw them all together, and hope for the best. Sometimes it requires quite a bit of trial and error. A perfect example - my healthy, clean pizza. It took me three times to get the crust the right way. Since I have been creating so many new recipes lately (3) I now have a "Clean Eats" page at the top of my blog. Clean eating is the most important aspect of losing weight and staying healthy thus I want you guys to have easy access to all of the recipes I post. Be on the look out because more will be coming!

(4) I changed my dining room. A couple of weeks ago, I had to make a Target run for my boss. I ended up purchasing a candle for myself, a pair of jeans, and this awesome wine decor. Who can truly go into Target, look around, and not buy anything? Certainly not I. I put the decals in my dining room and I liked it, but did not love it. Something was missing. This week I found small table, put an old curtain thing on it, a lamp I was not using, a piece of decor, and now I feel like my look is complete. Now I love it.

(5) I am still on a roll with my weight loss. I am training harder than ever and keeping up with clean eating - my struggle, ha. I did not lose any weight last week, meaning the scale did not change, but I did lose 1.4 pounds of pure fat. I just added muscle so there was not weight change. Which is totally fine by me. I will go to my doctor tomorrow for my B12 injection so hopefully the scale will be less, and if it isn't, hopefully I have dropped more fat. I am feeling absolutely fantastic though. I am finally at a point where my normal clothes are getting too big for me, people are noticing left and right, I am SO strong in the gym - I am hiking like crazy and improving on my time, and I just feel beautiful and confident. It has been a long, long time since I felt this way. Oh and my booty is growing too. I love it! I hope I never lose it. Now if I could just improve my arms! Everyone has their trouble spots and mine are my arms. It just takes time, I am doing the right things. 

I am leaving for Charleston with Kelly tomorrow at lunch and will be back Sunday. Then Monday I taking a mental health day from work and going hiking. My father is back in the hospital for the pain in his legs so I will probably go home next weekend when he is settled back into his house to stay and help he and my step mom out. Please keep him in your prayers. Have a great weekend everyone!