Whole 30 Challenge

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Today is day 13 of Ryan and I’s very first Whole 30 challenge. I’m pretty sure I went through all 5 stages of grief, but am now (finally!) accepting and embracing it! It’s funny, I always thought I ate pretty healthy, until we cut out all the unhealthy stuff and I realized how badly I wanted it. When we were on our vacation in Yosemite & San Francisco I thought about all the terrible food I would consume and justify it because we’re on vacation. All the ice cream, chips, and junk food. It’s just like road trips and junk food were made for each other! That week was definitely the hardest. Not to mention it was our first week. I begged to start Whole 30 when we got back from our trip but Ryan really insisted we start June 1st so we could do it with a group of friends who were all starting that day. But it was definitely challenging to eat well on the road!

Looking back I am so glad we did start when we did. It helped train me to make good choices even when we’re not at home. That I need to eat healthy and be cognizant of what I’m putting into my body even while traveling. That there are healthy options out there that still taste great and won’t leave me feeling sluggish, it just requires a little more effort!

I’m definitely still eating crazy huge portion sizes due to nursing though. But it’s bigger portions of healthier food, so it’s better for me and therefore better for the baby too. I have to make sure to consume enough calories to keep my supply up, and so far it has not been an issue. I’ve cut my workouts down to twice a week, which helps it not be too extreme. So overall I feel good about it! 

One thing I’ve noticed is how many products at the grocery store contain added sugar! It’s insane. Lunch meats, salsas, pasta sauce, breakfast foods, etc. This challenge has definitely enlightened me to the importance of checking food labels. Unfortunately it takes me twice as long at the grocery store… but I think it’s definitely worth it!

Almost halfway there! Hoping to finish strong! :)

Our Trip To Yosemite

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I don’t think I ever fully understood the meaning of the word majestic until we went to Yosemite. I’ve literally dreamt of going there for the last 5 years. When I still lived in Florida, I got a “Visit California” magazine in the mail, and it had several pictures and images of Yosemite National Park. Ever since then it has been on my heart & mind as a must visit destination. 

We’ve tried to plan a trip there every summer since we moved to California, but it didn’t happen for one reason or another. But this summer we finally made it happen! And it was really special having our sweet little Eveleigh along for the ride. This was our first big trip with her and she did really well! Which definitely made the whole trip easier for us all. 

After our visit to Yosemite, we headed West and stayed a night in San Francisco, but more on that later. ♥  

A Little Playdate

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A couple of weeks ago we had a little playdate over at Laguna Beach. It was actually Eveleigh’s first playdate! She hasn’t really been around too many other babies. So it was fun to see her reaction and see her observe and take it all in. 

It’s so nice to have a couple that lives nearby that is our age & has a baby around Eveleigh’s age. It’s so important to have friendships and have people to do life with. In my adult life I haven’t had too many close friends, but the ones I do have I really cherish. The older I get the more I realize how important having community & fellowship is. I really want to invest time in my relationships and pursue friendships. Even (and especially) with my friends that are scattered across the country and I don’t get to see regularly. The distance means a little more effort is required, but it is certainly worth it. 

Girl Meets Boy.

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                                    Our wedding day, March 7th, 2010.

            

                            Fall, 2005. Check out our sweet hair ;)

In honor of throwback Thursday, I thought I would share a little bit about how we met and came to be together! 

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It was 2004 and I was a young little thing. Never would I have guessed that I would meet the man I would some day marry at 14 years old (and yet I guess I always sort of loved the idea of a Cory & Topanga kind of romance). 

It wasn’t quite love at first site. I was standing in our church lobby with a friend when Ryan approached me, on behalf of his friend, stating “My friend thinks you’re really pretty. Which you are. But don’t let it go to your head.” Oh, well, gee, thanks! It was all so very high school. 

Time passed and there was a group of us who would all hangout together after church. I actually even ended up briefly dating the previous mentioned friend  - we even went to my freshman year homecoming together. That faded quickly but amicably though. Then it was almost summer of 2005 and a group of us were going to a CD store to see  Ryan’s new band Between The Trees play a show. We were all hanging out and killing time before the show began. We decided to drive over to the mall. Problem was, there wasn’t enough room in the cars. So they were having the girls sit on the boys lap. I was supposed to sit on Ryan’s. I refused. “I’m sorry I don’t feel comfortable sitting on your lap. I don’t know you that well. It’s not appropriate." Good girl! This surprised Ryan and caught his attention. We ended up getting into a really great conversation and talked for while. That moment and the subsequent conversations allowed us to see each other in a new way. It sparked both of our interests. A lightbulb went off in my head and I was like "hmm… I might like him.”

The next week I saw him at church and asked if he had my number. He didn’t, so I gave it to him and told him to call me. Very forward of me, I know. He did and we talked until 4 a.m. that night. Soon after I went up North for the summer to visit family. We talked a lot that summer, and when I returned we began dating. We shared our first “I love you” on August 3rd, 2005. Older friends, parents, and siblings would often comment “Aww puppy love! So cute.” But I knew it was so much more than that. I just knew this was the man I would someday marry. 

Ryan would’ve married me right on my eighteenth birthday – but I knew I wanted to wait a little while longer. I wanted to complete at least a little bit of college before getting married. I completed my AA degree in 2009, and that October Ryan proposed (which, by the way, was pretty much the sweetest/best proposal ever). We married on March 7th, 2010 – an intimate outdoor wedding. It was such an amazing, romantic day, and one I will never forget.

One of the blessings of meeting Ryan so young is that we really grew up together. We went through so much & grew so much. Instead of growing apart we just grew closer together, and share such a deep connection because of it. I love chasing our dreams together and now starting this crazy adventure of parenthood together. I know our love is forever and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing man to share my life with.

There is obviously so much more to our whole story, but this little snippet will have to do for now. ♥ 

The  night he proposed. October 30th, 2009.

A few of our engagement pictures. Wedding & engagement photos by Jessica Bennett Photography