lift.tone.burn.

One of my favorite gifts for Christmas was the Pure Barre DVD's I received from Justin's sister.  If you have not heard of Pure Barre, you should definitely see if they have any locations near you.  It is the best workout ever!  The classes get a little expensive at $225 per month.  To get started I recommend going to the month unlimited class for a good feel of the overall workout with a live instructor.  If you are a new member it is only $100 per month for the first month.

The DVD's are a perfect option for me, especially since it has been so cold outside.  The last thing I want to do after work is go to the gym, change, workout, come back home and cook dinner.  With the DVD's I am able to come home, change, get dinner going, and workout.  The workout is a solid 45 minutes and I feel great afterwards.  All it takes is doing Pure Barre 2-3 times a week to change your body.  The best bang for your buck is the Collector's Edition.  You get it all in one package.

I promise you will see and feel the results very quickly.  You want that shaking and trembling in your legs and body...so go for it!

As they say at Pure Barre...Happy Tucking!


{photo credit: www.purebarre.com}

make it personal.

At the beginning of the year I like to stock up on small gifts.  You never know when you might need a dinner party, house warming, birthday, or thinking of you gift.  In This Very Room has some great options, at fairly decent price points.

Some of my favorites are:

trellis magnetic board

the "links" cutting board

And last, but not least...fabulous trays for entertaining

the damask tray

macbeth tray

I just love all the prints to choose from. You pick your favorite color and just add initials, name or monogram.  All your friends and family will adore these personalized gifts. 

Happy gifting! 


{photo credit: www.inthisveryroom.com}

you can plan on it.

A new year is always exciting to me for many reasons.  One being, I get to get a new planner!  For the past three years I have found these fabulous ones from Gallery Leather. They not only come in fun colors, they are small enough to fit in your purse, but large enough to write all your "to do's" down.  If you get lucky, you may find them at TJ Maxx or Marshall's as well. My mom found them and gave one to me for Christmas.:)

 Happy Planning! 


{photo credit: www.galleryleather.com}

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I took a little break from blogging since we were on the go over the holidays.  Justin and I drove to Anniston the night before Christmas Eve.  We were able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day until lunch with my family.  We woke up to a White Christmas in Anniston!  It was so peaceful and perfect.

My dad, grandmother, Nana and Uncle Brian came over to spend lunch with us.

The drive back to Nashville through Gadsden, Cullman, and Huntsville was beautiful with all the snow.  We arrived in Brentwood around 6:00 PM.  It took over 3 hours to open all the presents for the Moses clan!  Justin and I got home and felt overwhelmed with blessings for our first Christmas.  We were able to spend it with both of our families and celebrate a White Christmas.

Since I was off of work the entire week, I drove back to Anniston on Monday to see both my grandmothers and to have breakfast with one of my lifelong friends, Jamie, her little girl, Charlee Kate (CK) and her mom, Freida. They hold such a special place in my heart.

It was great being able to spend more time at home.  I came back to Nashville Wednesday afternoon.

Thursday Justin and I relaxed - it was much needed, as I was battling a cold.  Friday it was off to Gatlinburg!  The cabin - Cabin Fever  - was amazing.  It had everything - the guys loved the pool table and games on the bottom floor.  We all struggled to stay up til midnight to celebrate the new year!

Saturday we took a little trip downtown for an Old Tyme photo and lunch.

Then it was back to the cabin for more football watching and lots of eating!  Lara made the best sugar cookies ever.  Justin, Matt, Laurel, and I challenged Pam and Dennis to a game of dominos.  We made such wonderful memories.

It was definately hard to go back to work today.  2010 brought such incredible moments - Justin and I getting engaged and married, buying our first place, starting new jobs, baby Caleb and Cy, Laurel becoming pregnant.  We are blessed beyond words  - I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store!

Cheers!

a full plate.

My company - Healthways gave us the Full Plate Diet book.  Our mission is to create a healthier world, one person at a time - this book is fabulous for our objective.  The question is - Are you eating enough?!  We need about 40 grams of fiber a day!  This book gives great recipes for obtaining this goal.  I promise if you get the fiber you need (and less sugar) you will have much more energy, feel clean, and look amazing.  Justin and I gave our dad's the book for Father's Day.  They continue to use it, b/c they see it working.

Below are some of my favorite recipes:

Go Green Smoothie

RusticTortilla Pizza

• 

  • 
    

    New Potato Salad

    • 
      
      

      
      

      • 4 cups diced new potatoes - leave skin on
      • 2 T low fat mayonnaise (or Vegenaise, which I perfer) 
      • 1/4 cup low fat sour cream 
      • 1 teaspoon lime peel zest juice from one lime (about 3-4 T)
      • 1 T dried or fresh thyme
      • 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
      • 1/4 teaspoon salt
      • 1/4 teaspoon pepper 

      Cook potatoes whole, drain then dice after cooking. Leave the skins on, otherwise you're losing 1/2 the fiber in this recipe. If you let the potatoes cool prior to dicing, the skin will stay on nicely without peeling off.  While the potatoes are cooling, mix together all the other ingredients. Once you have 4 cups of cool diced potatoes, toss everything together and chill.  You may need to alter the spices to your taste buds. As we know spices are expensive, so I don't put all of these in.  I leave out the dill weed. :)  A serving size is 1 cup.  This recipe makes about 4 cups.  169 calories, 4.2 grams of FIBER, and 3.7 grams of protein.  We like to take this for dinner parties or even tailgating. It is always a favorite!

      
      
      

      Cheers to yum-o fiber rich foods!
      
      
      {photo credit: www.fullplatediet.org}

  • 1 whole wheat tortilla
  • 2 tablespoons Ragu Pizza Homemade Sauce or 2 tablespoons refried beans (this will increase fiber)
  • Thinly sliced vegetables (such as onion, zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms)

  Preheat oven to 400° F. Place tortilla on baking rack and cook until crisp. Take tortilla out of oven and spread with sauce. Pile on toppings then place pizza on an unsprayed baking sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes until vegetables are cooked.

  One pizza has 154 calories, 4 grams of fat, 590 mg of sodium, 9 grams of FIBER, and 11.72 grams of protein!  Nice! 

  
  

  
  

• 4 kiwi peeled
• 1 pear sliced
• 1 banana sliced
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves packed
• 1 cup soy, almond, rice, or no-fat milk

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend on high until smooth and creamy, 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Makes a perfect dessert as well.  Serving size is 1 cup.  You get all this yumminess for 163 calories, only 57 mg of sodium, 7 grams of FIBER, and 4.5 grams of protein.  This will definitely put some pep in your step!

the sweetest thing.

new year's resolution #1 - EAT LESS SUGAR
I just ate a big, fat yummy Christmas cookie from Puffy Muffin.  It even was iced with sprinkles.  15 minutes later I feel gross!  It would be one thing if I only ate cookies once a week, but I have to have my daily sugar fix.  I don't drink soft drinks or any caffeine, but I do have my daily "fix".  The amount of sugar American's eat and drink every year has soared nearly 30 percent since 1983 and is likely a major contributor to the soaring rates of overweight and obesity in this country. Although the USDA recommends we get no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar a day, the average American downs about 34 teaspoons -- more than three times as much. Gross!!!  

Below are a few ways I can eat less sugar:
 
1) Instead of a cookie or two a day, I will eat a cookie three times a week.  (See I am sticking with realistic goals, and then will move to one a week.)

2) Read labels!  I will buy bread, ketchup, crackers, tomato sauce, etc. that have no sugar or less than two grams.

3) Did I mention read labels?!  - Not only for sugar, but for fiber and protein. Beware of these words: brown sugar, corn syrup, dextrin, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrate, high-fructose corn syrup, galactose, glucose, honey, hydrogenated starch, invert sugar maltose, lactose, mannitol, maple syrup, molasses, polyols, raw sugar, sorghum, sucrose, sorbitol, turbinado sugar, and xylitol.

4) Bake my own sweets using apple sauce, stevia, or agave nectar for a substitute.
  
5) Try my very best to avoid processed foods.
  
6) Don't skip breakfast - I will try eating steel cut oats with agave nectar.

7) Exercise - A walk for 20 to 30 minutes a day helps lower the level of glucose in the bloodstream.


If you simply reduce the amount of sugar you consume you will protect your entire immune system, which in turn will protect you from developing a wide variety of chronic diseases. 

garth. nashville. amazing.

Last night I was blessed to be invited to see one of the nine sold out shows - Garth playing in Nashville for the first time since 1998!   What a way to literally get Nashville back on its feet after the flood in May. The crowd stood the entire concert - a memory I will never forget.  It is pretty amazing to go to a concert and to be able to sing every word to every song. The River, The Dance, Rodeo, Papa Loved Mama, Shameless, The Thunder Rolls, Calling Baton Rouge, and the list goes on.  We even got to see a surprise performance by Trisha Yearwood - She's in Love with the Boy. This was all to raise over $5 million dollars for flood relief efforts.  What a way to boost Nashville's economy at Christmas!

{photo credit: www.tennessean.com}

Merry Christmas!  Thank you Garth and Lindsay for an amazing memory that was so Nashville!