A no pizza party? What!?

December 22, 2014

Last weekend I had a cute little PJ party with a few friends. We hung out in our PJ's, drank crock pot hot chocolate and a few snacks. My friend Sarah who happens to create awesome dishes made us a RAW salad and a walnut lentil spread with crackers. This is her specialty and what she does for a living. She got this recipe from her manager but did an amazing job at creating it for us herself.

We laughed saying why aren't we just ordering a pizza?! What PJ party doesn't have pizza right? =) Especially since there is a Domino's close by. We thought it would be fun to try something different and learn a new recipe.  Since we were doing healthy why not go all in. One of my friends there is having to detox from Gluten so *almost* everything was Gluten free.

I had Glutino lemon wafers, specialty marshmallows, organic peppermint candy canes with no artificial dyes, cocoa pita chips and organic cocoa for the hot chocolate. All purchased at Whole Foods.

The salad and the walnut lentil spread was pretty much "farm to table". It was 100 percent RAW and made from scratch.

View fullsize

Yes below is the salad. This was basically for presentation purposes and how it would look if she were working an event. When we ate it we did pile it on our plates ;) It was so delicious!

The walnut lentil spread being made here was amazing! We used sesame seed and rice crackers for this

As we were eating it we DID still contemplate that yummy pizza ;)

A PJ party wouldn't be complete without a back drop. I mean I am a photographer and all.

My grandmother had actually purchased a long thick table cloth that I used and then I purchased a gold door decoration that I hung infront of it. Viola! A cute little photo back drop.

My daughter (who is 5) enjoyed our little party and took this photo for us. She had so much fun and was so excited to be with mommy at the PJ party.

The evening ended with a fun round of catch phrase.

Christmas is a perfect time to host a cute little party like this. We had a great time =)

XOXO,

Jenn

What if your blessings come through raindrops?

December 27, 2014

I am so excited to say that the winner of my "12 days of Christmas" giveaway is Kerith Stanton's mother. Kerith nominated her to get a photo session with her two grandkids.

Here is apart of Kerith's email to me:

"Like many mama's she rarely takes time to make herself feel beautiful or special. I'd love for her to see her gorgeous self the way we all see her". Even after losing my Dad last year, my mom has continued to do so much for other people...she has even started a widows support group in our church. She takes care of other widows, reminding them they still have so much to live for and enjoy in life."

Much prayer and thought went into who would be chosen so I want to thank those that nominated someone. I appreciate you sharing your stories and will most certainly be doing more giveaways like this in the future.

With that being said I also am offering my services to a project called, "Create Love Project". Heather with Jagger photography created this to help others who are having a hard time in life for various reasons. photographs ( I think) can certainly help people find beauty through the pain.

For instance, Christmas seems to be the hardest for me when remembering my grandpa. I miss him all the time but the holiday's hit home for me. I have so many videos that seem to be at Christmas time and from my own memory I love reminiscing about the awesome Christmas's we had with him. I truly love looking through old photos of him and I. Having those make me so happy. The pain of that dreadful day is hard to forget. The way he left this world is UN-imaginable and having all the photos I have remind me of the beautiful and special moments I had with him. This is him and my grandmother ;)

Photographs are so special! So I am excited to help out with this project. If you know someone who is deserving of a photo session please click here to nominate them =)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

XOXO,

Jenn

Rome wasn't built in a day

December 10, 2014

I was passing by a lady yesterday I had met several months ago at church and she excitedly told me she was starting a weight loss regimen. She said she thought of me and that gave her motivation for it. That definetly put a smile on my face.

You see 2 years ago I was 40Ibs heavier. The days of eating whatever I wanted and not gaining a pound were over. When my husband and I were dating the weight really started to pack on. We were happy though ;) After having my sweet babies it was even harder to loose the weight.

I reached a point that I was so tired of still having to wear materntiy jeans and never having anything fit right. For a girl who loves fashion it was hard. I came across a weight loss challenge and nutrition club practically down the street. It was there this whole time and I had no idea what it really was. I have to say the accountability was amazing. It was just the push I needed. Soon after my husband joined too.

After 2 challenges, starting to slowly run, Zumba and joined a fitness group I won 1st and 2nd place. I had to really change my eating habits and especially learn portion control. All of these things led me to doing actual Crossfit and lifting weights which is the most empowering feeling ever. No, I didn't get bulky from lifting weights. A lot of people have a mis-conception about that. I feel like I'm truly in the best shape of my life. I have an amazing group who has become family that I work out with and in general my lifestlye has changed. I still splurge sometimes and I stil enjoy the things I love ( I had pizza and a cupcake last week) I just know now and am able to have better discipline. Everything in moderation =) All in all I make better choices for my family and I feel so good about it.

It wasnt easy but looking back it was so worth it. I really had to pull from God's strength to get me through. My husband also lost 46 Ibs. It's been awesome doing this together and when one of us falls the other is there to whip back into shape! Fitness for me is so much more than just physical but its very spiritual as well. I saw this quote once that said, "it would be a shame to work so hard to be fit for this world and be unfit for the king". When I work so hard physically it's a reminder to give the same endurance spiritually. Let's just say I'm a work in progress for both. I fail all the time but I get right back up.

Before and after

I say if you are trying to change your lifestyle and eating habits find what works for you. Stick with it and don't give up. Rome wasn't built in a day ;)

XOXO,

Jenn