#NOtivation Fabulous Fitness Survey!!

I am LOVING this link up over at Mal Smiles! 

1. What did you eat for breakfast?
I had a bowl of oatmeal and fresh raspberries!

2. How much water do you drink a day?
It is really important to me that I drink water through out the day. I use to measure my water intake but I have been really lazy about it lately. I always have a water bottle (reusable of course) with me at work and I fill it up many times through out the day.

3. What's your current favorite work out?
I am really liking Zumba right now. It is fun and it has helped a lot with my waist and stomach.

4. How many calories do you eat a day? 
I eat around 1300-1500 a day. I have tried to be good with keeping tack with an app, but I just always forget. I eat really clean and healthy, so I am not afraid of calories.

5. What are your favorite healthy snacks?
I really like sliced cucumbers with lemon. I also love fresh fruit (in moderation).

6. What do you usually eat for lunch?
I usually have a green drink and veggies or a salad. Anything with lots of veggies.

7. What's your favorite body part to strength train?
This year I started to lift weights and I really like a good leg day! I find it fun and challenging. Plus, my strong legs have really helped my running!

8. What's your least favorite body part to strength train?
ABS!! I have none, maybe that's why. ha My middle section has always been my weakness, it's the first place to gain weight and the last place to loose it.

9. What are your "bad" food cravings?
I blame Joe for these two: pizza and wings. We would often go get both pizza and wings and I LOVE both. I wish I could eat both things and not have the calories :) wishful thinking.

10. Do you take vitamins or supplements?
I have them, but am very bad at being consistent. I "take" a multivitamin, fish oil, and CLS. I also drink protein drinks after a hard work out.

11. How often do you eat out?
I eat out a few times a week. But I do make very healthy choices.

12. Do you eat fast food?
No, not really ever. It was never a big part of my life the past 10 years. I've had 3 McDonald's Breakfast sandwiches  in the past 10 years. haha and I've never even been to most fast food places.

13. Who is your biggest supporter?
It's a tie... Joe and my mom. I think Joe was afraid to mention anything about working out when we first met, but now that he knows how important it is to me, he has been my number 1 cheer leader. My mom has always been the leader in our house when it comes to fitness and eating healthy. She goes to train 5-6 times a week, she boxes, and even does Spartan Races! Don't tell her, but I really want to do one with her but I'm afraid she will kick my butt and beat me.

14. Do you have a gym membership?
I do have one. This is the second time that I have ever had one (last time I didn't use it). This time I use it 4 times a week. I really have enjoyed lifting. I have seen changes in my body.

15. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
Anywhere between 6-8. But if I am not working out, I can sleep 10-12. I get so tired when I am not working out.

16. Do you have a "cheat" day?
Not really, my fitness and health is my lifestyle. I generally don't make poor choices so when I want to eat something I just do.

17. Do you drink alcohol?
Not really, I only drink it to be social. I am not social that often ;) I might have a glass of wine every now and then. Fun Fact: I have never had a beer in my life!

18. Do you have a workout buddy?
I do! Her name is Ana! But she only does Zumba with me. My sister will run with me and hike with me. My gym and yoga done solo (I don't know anyone at the gym or at my yoga studio).

19. What's the best thing that has changed in your life since committing to a healthy life style?
I think I am happier and more awake. I use to always be tired and upset about something. Now I have plenty of energy to live my life and have fun! 

20. What is the last healthy thing that you did?
Well, the past 2 weeks have been tough. I just had my eye surgery and I have not been able to work out. But I have still been eating healthy! I can't wait to hit the gym and work out! 

How I Became a Syracuse Fan... Kind of

Joe is from New York State and he is a huge Syracuse Basketball fan.  If there is a game playing he is watching it, finding a way to watch it, or constantly asking me to check the score on my phone. (he does not have a smart phone, I am pretty sure he is the only person left).  As a result we have had more than a couple lunches and dinners at Buffalo Wild Wings and gained a few pounds to prove it!

Before I visited Joe’s family for the holidays he told me that we were going to go to a Syracuse game.  Every year when Joe goes home he goes to a game with his dad. It has become a tradition, a tradition that I got to experience first hand. For Christmas Joe’s parents gave me some Syracuse clothes as gifts.  I received a t-shirt, hoodie, and hat. All of which had a purpose, the game and I was prepared for it.  On the day of the Syracuse game, I put on all my gifts and came out into the living room only to find the entire family decked out in Syracuse apparel.  Joe’s father and sister, who were going to the game, also had on t-shirts and hats and Joe had on an old varsity style leather jacket, he said it was to keep him warm. But I think it's just one of these things that I will try to get rid of but will always come back. We took some pictures and then got in the car to drive to the game.

It took about an hour to get up to Syracuse and I have never seen snow banks so high, I really wish I had not worn my leather boots, but I was new to the New York weather and still trying to figure out how to look cute and stay warm.  After parking we went to the downtown area to grab some food, NY style pizza of course. The walk to the stadium was a half-mile up a hill through the snow, bare foot (ok I made the last part up, but it felt like it. My cute boots where doing nothing for me). 

 The Dome, where Syracuse plays, is huge.  The court is set up on one side of the stadium and the other side has vendors and games to play.  During the game I saw the true nature of Syracuse fans. They are die hard and cheer when their team is doing well and boo  at their own players when they are not.  Overall the game was enjoyable, and we had great seats to watch a Syracuse victory.

So at the end of all this, am I a Syracuse fan?  Of course I am ;) Well, at least I have enough t-shirts and clothing to pretend like I am.  Go Syracuse.

Have you ever been given a team to cheer for by your boyfriend or husband?

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Vacation all I ever wanted! - Sunday Social

This is the first week that I will be joining the Sunday Social and I am really excited to jump right in. 

1. What is the best trip you’ve ever been on?

The best trip that I have been on, so far, was this past winter. Joe and I went to Upstate New York, New York City, and Los Angeles. This was a very special trip because it was the first time that Joe and I got to met each others families. We spent Christmas in New York with his family. We had a break from family time and spent a few days alone in NYC. Then went across the country to Los Angeles to spend New Years with my Family! 

I got my 1st white Christmas // I got to see Wicked on Broadway // I got to go to Disneyland with Joe 

2. What is your best idea for a girls weekend trip?

Hands down, Austin, Texas! I just went on a quick weekend trip to Texas with a couple of girlfriends and we had a blast. It is such a fun city.


3. What is your best idea for a couples trip?

Joe and I love to do anything and everything. I think it would be going somewhere and learning about the area, the culture, and the food! It would be going on an adventure. We have a list of places that we want to see and I can't wait to explore this world with Joe! 

4. What is the best vacation on the cheap?

Ever since I graduated from college most of my vacations have been "on the cheap". I have really taken advantage of the fact that all of my close friends live all over the United States. The past 3 months I have visited 3 different friend in 3 different cities. I have been to Vegas, Hawaii, and Austin! All were very affordable. Go see a US city that you have never been to. Bonus points if you are going to see a friend. They usually know the area and can show you the less touristy places! 

In Las Vagas with Nikki // In Hawaii with Amanda // In Austin with Brittany

5. What is the place you most want to visit?

This list is way too long, but I will give you my top 2. Angkor Wat, Cambodia and Machu Picchu, Peru. Both are places that I want to see and explore before I settle down and have a family. 

Angkor Wat, Cambodia // Machu Picchu, Peru 

Check out Neeley at A Complete Waste of Makeup for the Sunday Social! 

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4th of July - Care Packages

I created the below post for my guest post on Mal Smiles! I just wanted to re-post it on my blog for anyone who needs a little bit of care package inspiration. :) I am sure most of you have already seen this!

xoxo,
Steph

Hi! I am Stephanie and I am a brand new blogger over at Living in the Moment! I am so excited to be a guest blogger for Mal. She was one of the first blogs that I really started to follow and I always enjoy reading about her day to day life. Mal and I have a few things in common. We both have men in the Army, we are both are fitness enthusiast, and we will both be moving to Colorado in the fall. I have really enjoyed getting to know her better and I can't wait to meet her in person!

On my blog you will find a variety of lifestyle topics, everything from health, fitness, family, and deployment. But one of my favorite things that I like to blog about are care packages. My soldier is currently deployed and I have really enjoyed making him themed care packages. I normally like to think outside of the box when it comes to the theme and not go with the traditional themes.

But, this time around I wanted to send 3 boxes, 1 for Joe and 2 for the soldiers that work in his office. I don't really  know much about his soldiers and I have only met them once.  So, I decided that it was safe/best to just stick with good old 4th of July themed boxes.

For these boxes I used the medium flat rate boxes, I normally use the large ones because they are less than $15 to ship and "if it fits, it ships". I prefer to used these flat rate boxes because they are free, they ship quickly (this batch took about a week), and they are easy to get. To decorate the boxes I always go to Michael or any other craft store and get scrapbook paper and stickers. As a rule of thumb I like to get 5 pages of paper per box, this will cover the entire inside of the box.


For these boxes, I filled them with a lot of snacks and fun little things to keep them entertained. I have found that the following snacks ship really well:

• Sun Flower Seeds, Beef Jerky, Pop Corn, Individual packed snacks (I send individual packed snacks because they are easy to pack and great for him to take on a mission or to work), Gum, Hard Candy (It is getting too hot to send Chocolate, but I have sent it in the cooler months and it has arrived fine), Drink Mix (Mio or Propel Single serve) 

The guys received their packages a day before the 4th and were thrilled to get them. Below you will find links to some of my other care packages that I have blogged about. Each one is filled with different ideas and tips. 

Zombie Theme / Honey I Shrunk the Care Package / Travel Theme / Syracuse Theme

Thanks Mal for letting me guest post and for being such a great Smile Sister. I have learned many things about blogging from you and am excited for what's ahead. I hope you will all stop by my blog and say hello! 

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My Joe Doll!

About a month ago, I decided that I wanted to find a way to take Joe with me where ever go. I came up with a few ideas and finally decided on how I would do this. I stumbled upon a website that creates dolls (pillows) for kids for when their dad is deployed, www.daddydolls.com. At first I thought that it was a bit strange to have a doll with Joe's picture on it. But then I just did it. Who says that only kids can have a daddy doll? This was one of the best things that I have bought.

Now, I can take Joe with me where ever I go. I just got my Joe Doll a few weeks ago and he has already been in the cockpit, been on a fire truck, been to Texas, been with me to get my surgery, and many more places. Here is a tiny sample of the places he has been!

I am also very excited that Joe's Steph Doll just arrived yesterday in the mail! I will be shipping her out to Afghanistan today! I can't wait to see what photo idea's Joe can come up with. 

I have a few more ideas about where my Joe Doll will go. Keep checking back to see where he pops up. I really wish I thought of this before he left! 

Do you have any cleaver ideas for deployments?

Am I crazy for having a doll that looks like my boyfriend?

H54F!

Since I am still recovering from my eye surgery, this week was a really slow week. But, I managed to find 5 pictures from my week!

1. I had Monday off and my sister decided she wanted to take her behind the wheel test. When we first arrived someone who had just finished their test, had ran into a sign and right through the bushes. I doubt they got their license. But my sister did!! So look out on the road, Stevee is a licensed driver!

2. "I make my own Sunshine" - I was trying to come up with a wonderful care package theme, but this is all that I could come up with. It was orignally going to be a hawaii theme, but Joe started to request actual things that he needed. Now it's just stuff he needs and a box about me. :) post will come as soon as he gets the box, he reads my blog now.

3. For my first day back to work in a week and my first day with my new "boss", I decided I wanted to dress up a little bit. I went to TJ Maxx and found an adorable dress. I got complements all day and it was only $16.99!!

4. I went to spend some quality time with my 2 sisters the other day. We went to the movies and saw Despicable ME 2. The movie was really cute and we ate popcorn and drank slurpies. I am going to pay for all of this junk food that I have been eating. :(

5. My 4th of July was really laid back, I spent the entire day just hanging out with my family. We BBQ'd and ate cake! I spent most of the day watching movies with my sisters or on my computer. We didn't even go see fireworks but, I still had a great time. In a few months both me and my middle sister Stevee will be gone (I am moving to CO and Stevee is going back to college in San Francisco) so it is nice to have these days just hanging out at the house

I doubt my weekend will be very exciting either, but I am really enjoying this time to just relax. It's really rare. Happy Friday!!

Link up with Lauren Elizabeth of H54F!

Happy 4th of July! - Thank You!

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays and this year it is even more special for me. I am so very thankful for all of the men and women who protect our country. Most of the time, I spend the 4th of July with friends or family just having a great time, doing fun things. To be honest, I can't really say that I even thought about what people in the military are doing for us. I was always one of those people who just celebrated just to celebrate.

I want to take this time to thank the men and women that are in our military. Thank you for protecting our country. Thank you for all of the sacrifices that you and your family make on a daily bases. Thank you to the spouses and children who are often left to celebrate alone and who stand behind their serivce member. Stay strong! 

Thank you dad for serving our country. Although you served before I was born, I just want you to know that I am proud.

Thank you Joe for everything you do for me and for our country. It is people like you who give us the opportunity to celebrate this special day. While we are here having a drink and spending time with our families, you are in Afghanistan. I am sure it is hot and you have a ton of things to do. But please know that I am ALWAYS thinking about you. I can not wait until you are home safe with me.

Please have safe and Happy 4th of July.