Transformation Tuesday... er... Wednesday

It's almost the end of the 1st quarter of 2015. Have you stuck to your New Years resolution? Have you changed for the better since 2014?

Time to celebrate the good changes since 2014.

Good vibes!

The goal was set, it was achieved, now bring on the good vibes. Dan and I must both be radiating some good ones, because after 2+ years of trying to find some close friends, we have managed to find a small group of like minded young professionals to tear up the town with. Date nights are 10x more fun when you have people to laugh with. We even had a BBQ to celebrate the amazing weather on Saturday and people didn't leave our house until 1am. It was a blast and I can't wait to do it again!

I'm not going stir crazy anymore. Yes we just got another 6 inches of snow last night, but I am getting out of the house on a consistent basis. We go on date night once a week, no matter what. I go out for drinks with friends every other week. I am taking the kids to the pool, alone, which before was a suicide mission, but I am strong enough now to carry a 20 lb baby + 15 lb car seat, a 10 lb bag of supplies, and a 28 lb toddler out of the pool area when she starts having a tantrum. 6 months ago, I would have never even considered it.

Cheers to looking and feeling amazing!

I am 2 months into the Body Beast program and things are still changing for the better. I have transformed my body into the best shape it's ever been with the help of P90X to lose weight and Body Beast to gain lots of lean muscle mass. At this point it is really just fine tuning and getting stronger. I wish I could wow you like I did a few months ago, but now this is just how I look. Badass!

That before pic will always make me cringe.
 

Huge accomplishment is in the last picture which was taken this morning, I had just finished my workout. The accomplishment is that I have a terrible cold and a sore throat but I STILL worked out. Yesterday I felt even worse but still did Bulk Legs, which is pretty much the most grueling workout ever.

I feel like I am eating healthier. Not as much processed food like frozen meals, but I am eating a lot of bagels with vegan butter spread. I think gaining muscle makes you hungrier for carbs. Dan really wanted to eat healthy for his last month of Body Beast so we are eating dinners that consist primarily of meat and veggies, with maybe a slice or two of crusty bread or corn bread.

My after workout (or sometimes during workout) drink is about 16 oz of water with 2 scoops of recovery drink and a teaspoon of creatine. Then I slam a protein shake immediately after. I added creatine after reading an article about creatine and sleep deprivation. It was specifically talking about the benefits to women after having children. Dan was already taking it, so I added it to my drink. It hasn't made me gain huge mass, or an excessive amount of water weight, but I feel like my arms and legs are definitely more defined and I get a great pump during my workout.

In case you wanted to know the brands I use.

The Mandy Project continues...

The second round of botox not only took 10 years off my face, it brought be right back into puberty when I had pimples all over my forehead. I haven't had a pimple in years. Plus this time it hurt a lot more. It wasn't just me either... 2 other people said it was more painful. I was looking to find something to help the wrinkles that botox couldn't fix anyway, so the search started for a new facial routine.

You can only see 1 pimple in this pic, but there are
 3 more the camera didn't pick up.

Since I will be 35 this year and I didn't even wash my face before bed until now. I wanted the best of the best, so I decided on the Nerium line of night & day cream. The added bonus is that I also bought the Firm cream to use on my stomach to tighten the skin from my pregnancies and subsequent weight loss. So far so good! Before and afters coming soon...

These are not my before and afters but they were my inspiration for trying the product:

This is not me, but if it can do this for her,
then firming me up should be a snap.

I really need to find a self tanner that works. I am trying out different brands and will share my knowledge with anyone that wants to look brown without gaining wrinkles. So far I have tried 4 brands, 2 more and my write up will be complete.

I put self tanner on one side. Can you tell?
I need better lighting.

I have lots more transformation Tuesday posts to come, it just takes a while when before and after pics are involved. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please share! Thanks for reading!

This post contains affiliate links, because if you're going to buy a product, why not buy it from me?

Me and My Phone

I have an intimate relationship with my phone. Oh don't act like I'm weird... lots of people have relationships with things. I know people that feel this way about their cars, ipads, computers, TVs, and their Keurig machines. I am just in the open about my relationship.

My phone is my assistant. Siri dictates my emails, texts, and helps me navigate. She organizes my emails, notes and tasks. Without her I wouldn't be able to juggle multiple jobs, appointments, and clients.

2 weeks ago my iphone 5c broke and I was pissed! It wasn't that I dropped it in the toilet, or Kenzie dropped it on the cement, or the screen shattered... nope the screen just wouldn't turn on. I stormed into my sprint store and demanded why they ever let me purchase that phone to begin with. As I glanced around not one of the workers had an iphone so I decided: never again!

I tried a basic LG G3 android phone and at first I was excited. It was bigger than the iphone and all my google related apps were already there right on the first screen.

It took me 48 hours and I had my "must have" playlist downloaded, my work emails up and running, and at least 5 videos of the kids all nicely accessible. My contact list was missing and converting my iTunes into mp3s took some time but I managed it.

I was happily an android user until... I tried to download a siri type of app but it wasn't the same. This lady was pushy, she wasn't just willing to help me when I needed it. Nope. She was trying to get me to find gas stations, and stores, and use stupid emoticons. I deleted it immediately. Then I tried to reply to an email by typing. The autocorrect had a mind of it's own.

By the time I finished one message, I had 15 more waiting to be answered. I was hurrying to type and autocorrect was playing tricks on me. It was purposely trying to make me look like an idiot. I would type "they're" and it would correct to "their." I would type "then" and it would correct to "than."

It corrected "my" to "ty"
It corrected "Anway, we need..." to "And she weeds..."
It corrected "private space" to "pirate face"
It corrected "bring home lunch" to "boring nose punch"
It corrected "I f***ing hate this phone" to "I ducking ate this home"

I was trying so hard to type the right thing, but kept correcting to something totally different, even when I was spelling everything right. Oh hell no!

Plus there were all these notifications. Lights of every color were constantly blinking when the phone was off. It was letting me know there was an update, someone liked a facebook post I liked, I had 14 new emails, my texts were coming through as emails... it was all wrong! I was stressed out just trying to manage my notifications.

I had to fire my assistant. Today I took her in and faced the 3 scowling sprint reps (who seemed perfectly happy when I first walked in). I only had 14 days to try it, and today was day 14.  I switched her up for an iphone 6. Like most firings, I felt relieved when it was over.

I ran to my car after the switch and scrolled through my contacts, all accounted for! I looked through my iTunes, all there! I logged into my work emails and just like the wonderful assistant she is, she didn't hold it over my head that I had spent 14 days without her. Siri willingly turned all my words into perfect text and 2 minutes later my inbox was empty.

So here's to the one thing in my life that eases my stress and helps me manage my crazy schedule. I can't imagine a better assistant to share a St. Patty's Day drink with. Cheers!

I need a life.

The Favorite Child

"Ketcher is obviously your favorite." "Why don't you post any pics of Kenzie?"

I am going to address this since I have heard comments like these from no less than 10 different people.

I post pictures of Ketcher all over my instagram, facebook and occasionally twitter. In the last 6 months I have probably posted 2 pictures of Kenzie. Let me explain...

Why Ketcher's pictures are all over the place.

First of all, Ketcher is insanely cute. His gigantic eyes, chubby cheeks, spikey hair, and constant smile makes him look like a muppet. He is photogenic and easily holds still and smiles for any picture. I feel like it's my duty to plaster my walls with his face.

 

Learning to howl.

 

Second, that first year goes by SO FAST! Month to month he is changing more than he will the rest of his life, I need to capture it all. I learned with Kenzie that all too soon I will only remember that first year if I look at pictures.

Third, he is still mostly stationary.  He is just now on the cusp of being 100% mobile. I can set him on his butt and he won't move from that spot, but if I lay him on his tummy he is all over the house. I have to take pictures now because all too soon he will be running away from me or hiding when the camera comes out.

First week of army crawling.

Where did Kenzie go?

Kenzie is still here. She doesn't make the media because she can't stop moving. All the pictures I take of her are in a constant blur.

When I try to make her stay still, she hides her face or screams at me. Dan and I have tons of videos of her, but I don't generally post videos unless it's on youtube.

 She is also temperamental. One minute she could be singing and sweet, and literally the next breath she is screaming and crying. So I see her doing something hilarious, I run to grab my phone to take a video or picture, and by the time I get back (2 seconds later) she is in hysterics.

Our normal morning battle.

 

 

The battle continues.

 

Kenzie also wears the same outfit everyday. See that dress in the video below? 90% of the time she has this on. If it's in the wash she has a frozen dress she wears. It makes the pictures I do take look exactly alike. 

 

She still loves to pretend to talk on the phone.

Do I have a favorite?

Sure, I have a favorite child, however it isn't always the same one. It depends on the day and sometimes the hour. Rest, assured I love both my kids and they make me smile and laugh every day.

The very rare photo with both kids.
I didn't send Christmas cards this year but if I did,
this photo would have made the front.