'Tis the Season To Be Healthy?

Happy Black Friday!!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I spent my entire day with family and it was amazing.

My grandparents were able to drive up and see everyone and seeing my grandmother broke my heart.  You can tell how the strokes have aged her.  I told my dad I'm so scared this is the last Thanksgiving with her and he told me he felt the same. :(

Me and my cousin, Tommy

Now that Thanksgiving, and my super sugar binge, is over its time to get back on track!  I have been feeling a bit better this last week but work has been so overwhelming its been hard for me to stay on track as far as eating.  I don't know about you guys but food has always been my problem.  I love smoothies and fresh juices but my juicer is a centrifugal juicer so you need to drink the juice soon after you make it.  I am saving to get a masticating juicer which allows you to juice and have some time before you drink it but good gosh are those buggers expensive!  Thus began a search for a cheaper alternative.

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Hello Nutribullet and thank you Kohl's cash and whomever gave me a Kohl's gift card for a wedding present for making this purchase possible. ;)

I've had a Magic Bullet in the past and used it so much that I blew the motor out.  I have a Ninja blender but I was wanting something I could take with me to work so I could make smoothies there and that Ninja base isn't going anywhere but my kitchen counter.  So my amazing, super analytical husband did some research and found the Nutribullet was probably going to be my best bet.  After a freezing cold trip to Kohl's I came home with this baby.

I made me a kale and apple smoothie for breakfast yesterday and all I can say is...YUM!!!  Awesome purchase and so worth the moolah in my opinion.  I'm about to make my son a carrot and apple smoothie so he can see it in action and get a healthy breakfast at the same time.

I really want to start the holiday season on the right foot and I am SO ready to get this nasty, disgusting flab off my body.  Since I've gotten married I've gained 30lbs.  I blame marital bliss and the hysterectomy but I am so tired of excuses.  I am ready to claim my body back and hopefully having this little gadget is going to get me one step closer.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and if any of you are crazy enough to go out today please be safe.  People get crazy this time of year, am I right???

Hahaha!!!  Truth...

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Cowboys & Romans

I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan since the womb.  I have baby pictures of me in a onesie with a Dallas star right in the middle.  I remember Sundays with a lot of cheering and yelling.  It's all apart of being a true Cowboy fan: you take the good with the bad.  This season we've been taking the bad with the worse but still...you get what I mean. ;)

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Right now the Cowboys are taking on the Giants.  I actually don't hate the Giants so if we lose today (which most likely we will) it won't sting as bad as if they were playing say the Packers (the team I most detest in the NFL).

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Here is an action shot of my man #82.  Love you Jason!!! xoxo

Switching gears here...

 Did you know that my name Christi means "follower of Christ"?

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I haven't talked much about my faith on the blog yet.  Mostly because these past few months have been a very emotional struggle for me and when I get that way I don't like to talk about much of anything.  You know how you go through times when you really feel close to the Lord and other times He seems so far away and anything you do, including praying, is a struggle?  That's been me since the surgery.

Yesterday I found one of the Bible studies I bought before the surgery in hopes that I would have a ton of time to get into God's Word.  I did have the time but my spirit wasn't in it.  It is now.

If you haven't guessed yet I am a Christian, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.  For a long time I was ashamed of my faith which is something that is extremely hard for me to admit.  It's never been "cool" to be a Christian but I have to say I am so sick and tired of being a poser.  I am ready to stand for what I believe in and I am going to let my little light shine!

I know there are going to be those haters and that is ok.  I am at an age where I know that you cannot please everyone and after years of exhausting myself trying to I am done!

I am going to start studying the book of Romans which I've been told is a wonderful place to begin when you start truly studying God's Word.  I am really excited to see where the Lord takes me on this journey.

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Stay tuned later for my goals for the week and hopefully some workout pics!  I'm trying to get myself psyched to start training again but my fear of getting hurt is huge and in this freezing weather we're having here talking me out of getting out of my sweats and away from my coffee is going to take a lot of persuading. ;)

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How I Became A CPhT and Now A Manager

I don't know if I've mentioned this on here yet but I am a CPhT aka a registered pharmacy technician.  I never dreamed of being a tech but when people ask me how I got into the business I tell them it was a total accident.

It was 1998 and I had just quit working at Blockbuster.  I hated that job so much and wanted my next job to be something of worth.  I had been working since I was 15 and fast food, grocery store cashier, and a clerk at Blockbuster was what made up my resume.  I craved to find my passion with graduation and college looming in the horizon.

My boyfriend at the time was a delivery driver for a local pharmacy after school.  He only had to work until 7 and the pay and tips were decent enough.  By this time I was paying for a lot of my things and I definitely did not like the idea of being unemployed but I refused to get another whatever job.  I wanted to find something important and something that could work with my school schedule.

It was about 6pm one Tuesday night when my phone rings and its Boyfriend.

"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Nothing much"
"Want a job?"
"Are you serious?"
"Yes!  Can you be up at my job in a few minutes?"
"...I guess so...What would I be doing?"
"I have no idea but the owner and one of the girls got into a huge fight and we are super busy.  I need to be out on deliveries so can you come up here and answer phones?"
"Sure.  Give me a few minutes."

I remember driving up there not knowing what to expect and shaking as I got out of my car and approached the pharmacy.  By 7pm that night the owner offered me a job and I accepted.  It was perfect for a girl going to school and the pay was $3.00 more an hour than what I had been making at Blockbuster which was awesome!

Back then you didn't have to be licensed to be a pharmacy technician but over the years many of the laws have changed and in my state you not only have to be licensed through the national board (PTCB) but you also have to be licensed through the state.

I have been licensed, lost my license, and now am once again licensed.  If any of you are ever interested in getting into pharmacy let me give you a piece of advise-NEVER let your license lapse for ANY reason.  Keep it up because if you let it lapse and you try to reapply they make you feel like such a criminal.  Just thought I'd throw that in there. ;)

Let me just add that I have NEVER liked pharmacy.  Ever.  I won't go into all the details as to why that is but I will say one thing...it has saved me financially so many times in my life.  I've done every kind of pharmacy you can think of and now I work at a speciality pharmacy which a few weeks ago I had actually debated on quitting until my boss offered me a management position.  That is one thing that I have never had experience in and another awesome thing I can put on my resume but when I accepted the position I had NO idea how much added work I would be putting into it.

My schedule used to be 8-3 and then it was bumped to 8-5 and these past two weeks because we are short-handed I have been working 8-7 at least.  I am exhausted.  I am blessed to have the weekends off but I am usually so exhausted from the week that I spend the weekends playing catch up on sleep!

I've been released to go back to training but right now my question is when?  How do some of the women do it?  I mean, seriously?  I have young children.  I have a husband.  I have a house, a puppy, a FULL time job...where is there time to train?

That's actually my goal for tonight and tomorrow.  I MUST figure this out.  I've thought about getting up at 5am to train but last week I set my alarm and slept through it every single morning.  I am literally that exhausted.  After I get home its cooking dinner and spending time with my family.  After I put the boys to sleep I can hardly keep my eyes open so I usually go to sleep not too long after them.  Then I get up and do it all over again.  Something has to give but what?

Please if there is any woman out there that is able to do it all can you please help me.  I am sending an S.O.S. out there for real!

Sorry for this post being so long but I haven't posted in awhile so I thought I could get away with a long one. ;)

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I'm Hooked Again

When I helped open our pharmacy back in 2011 it was just me and Layla*.  That first year was a doozy with just the two of us running the place. I look back and wonder how we did it but by Gods grace, and a lot of Starbucks, we did. 

I've always loved coffee. I remember my dad making coffee Saturday mornings and letting my sister and me have a sip. My dad has always made it with a ton of creamer and sugar with just a hint of coffee so naturally that's how I grew up sampling it. 

In college I remember loving coffee shops but boycotted Starbucks. In my click that was the cool thing to do. Throughout the years I went through coffee phases like when I had the boys (after breast-feeding of course) and when I worked at a mail order pharmacy where my day started at 4:00am and ended somewhere late afternoon. Coffee became my life blood and the only thing that kept me sane and functioning many a mornings. 

When Louie and me started dating and trying to lose weight together I decided my favorite sugar-laden beverage had to go. A few months after the pharmacy opened I quit cold turkey. Layla was shocked but I told her it was the health benefits and the money. I love me some Starbucks but good gosh is it expensive! 

Since the hysterectomy I've been craving coffee like no other. I checked some of my favorite health/fitness sites and many bodybuilders blend their morning joe with protein. Genius!!! 

Thus began my experimentation. I tried my Cellucor chocolate and it was too sweet. I'm out of vanilla protein so last week on my way home I stopped at The Vitamin Shoppe and the manager, and fellow coffee fanatic, told me about this. 

I am a huge latte fan (especially vanilla) so when I saw the bottle I was sold. It is delicious!! It's not enough protein for breakfast but it's better than sugar and chemically-laced creamer! 

Now coffee is back in my life and my Keurig and me could not be happier. 😊

Does anyone have any other uses for protein powder? I've read about pancakes so that's probably my next experimentation. Yum!! 

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*Name change to protect the privacy of my boss 😉 

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November Goals

I posted this on my Instagram and Twitter a few days ago and completely forgot to post it here!  My bad! ;) 

So far all I've done is #5.  I have been on a big recipe kick the past few days and even tried a few new recipes today!  They didn't turn out too pretty or I would've taken a picture.  

I do plan on starting the Bible study later this evening and am chugging the water as we speak.  I really can't wait for #3.  ;) 

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Today is my last day off for my surgery.  I have mixed feelings about going back to work.  I miss the normalcy and the pay but I am really going to miss spending time with my boys.  While I was off my boss called and offered me a management position so starting tomorrow I am going to be a manager!  I'm nervous and excited at the same time.  I've never been a manager before.  :) 

Don't be surprised if you only see sporadic posts.  I'm not sure how my new schedule is going to go and I know its going to take a few weeks to get into a new normal. 

So what are your goals for November?  Leave me a comment and we can help keep each other accountable. :)

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