Feeling domestic. Steel Cut Oats Crockpot Recipe

One apple, peeled and chopped
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 C raisins/craisins
1 C steel cut oats (it's a smaller, round grain)
4 C liquid ( I'm lactose intolerant so I use almond milk)
Truvia (this is a sugar replacement)
I like adding my own little touch so I threw in some Maple Extract!

Put the ingredients in order, into the crockpot and set on low for 7 hours.
Soon enough your home will be filled with a yummy, sweet aroma that will make your family think you've been slaving away...we don't have to tell anyone how easy it is;)

I would love to know if you try the recipe out and if you tried anything different! I am no pro cook, so I like to hear what other people try:)

Everyone seems to be going 100 mph these days so I think quick, easy no stress recipes help make you feel like you've made a nice, healthy meal. Breakfast is SO important and with a pre-made meal like this, you can't go wrong.

If you have left overs, toss it in the fridge and warm it up later:) Wah La!!

Let's get domestic!!
Muah! - Mrs. B

Let's get real. It's time to get Festive & Fit.

So, let's get real. Have you ever been discouraged when getting ready for a holiday party because nothing looks right and nothing fits? Well, I have spent my fair share this way. We are quickly approaching the Holidays and I think I might be a Holiday elf because I am SO excited. I'm taking a resolve this year to spend no more holidays upset in the closet AND to establish healthy habits that allow me to enjoy the Holidays just as much as the next person. However, this year I am not going to get to January 1st thinking, "alright, here we go, this is my year! I'm going to eat clean, work out and get my butt into gear!".  ( I didn't mean to rhyme that) People, this is all going down before we even get to Thanksgiving. Enough waiting for the New year. If you are interested in  hearing my Festive & Fit plan, read on, my friends. Read on. If you just want to get straight to the point, without my story, head to paragraph 3.

Where we started.

Back in our dating days, Daniel's chiseled abs and rock hard pecks quickly became something that I knew I could live with for eternity. (obviously there were a billion other things I loved about him more than that, but still...it didn't hurt) I was constantly thinking to myself that this guy is way too fit for me and I won't be able to keep up with him! We got married, started getting busy, losing energy and quite frankly thought it was much more fun to just chill and eat chocolate chips. I was always working out and Daniel would play basketball once a week but let's be honest here, we were quickly going losing it. Daniel would keep telling me that I looked great and I would tell him that a little weight gain happens with marriage...LIARS. I didn't feel good and Daniel knew that what was happening was not ok. Sadly, life didn't really change. I teach dance and working out has always been a big part of my life but my body was not changing! I really felt trapped and frustrated that I didn't have the confidence in my body that I wanted and was working for.

After we were married Daniel quickly realized that something was very wrong with my digestion...eek TMI. I decided that it was time to get it checked out because it was ruling my life. We had a friend in Washington that had mentioned some health products to us but we were not interested. We didn't need any more of that (yes, we did) and being newlyweds felt that we definitely didn't have the money to make that type of commitment. Fast forward a few months down the road  and the decision to try it out...My digestive problems were finally solved and my body was finally able to absorb the nutrients I needed to be healthy from the inside out. Daniel was happy I had great results but wasn't interested himself. This past August we  finally got around to taking some pictures for our one year anniversary. They turned out really great but there was one picture that we flipped past and just stared for a minute, then we laughed...I remember Daniel saying, "remind me to never take pictures with my butt facing the camera". It was that moment that he decided that we needed to make a life change. We weren't unhealthy by any means, we are both athletic people but we were not happy with what we saw and knew that it was time for a change. We decided to start a 24 Day Challenge together. We had so much fun because we were seeing results and we were able to support and motivate each other. We had more energy than ever and it was so exciting to have a common goal towards becoming healthy and proud of our bodies. Daniel was working out again and I started to see his muscles peek out and I started to fit into jeans I hadn't been able to wear in 3.5 years! To this date from August 16th Daniel has lost 16 lbs. and I have lost 8 lbs. and not just the pounds you lose after depriving yourself of normal life. We are talking real live pounds!!

So, after this amazing experience we had, I want to announce and host my first official Festive & Fit Challenge!! As we all know, with the New Year comes resolutions of weight loss, work outs, clean eating, bla bla bla. I say, why wait until the New Year to feel good??? Don't you want to be rockin' your Halloween costume, feeling trim in your skinny jeans at Thanksgiving, and not use the cold weather to "hide" behind big sweaters and coats?? And not to mention, how amazing would it be to be done with your resolution before the New Year even comes! There is something so exciting about just doing it. I look back at holiday photos and remember my frustrations in getting ready for events and having NOTHING TO WEAR!! When really I had everything to wear, I just didn't feel comfortable in anything. There is no perfect size or weight. After my long road of weight loss or whatever you call it, I finally realized, I just want to feel good. There is nothing more attractive than confidence. We all know when we feel good, we feel more confident. It's not just about the outside appearance of a thigh gap or getting rid of the muffin top that folds over your jeans when you sit down, that stuff you can work on. It's about being engaged in something good and taking care of yourself. Something that will improve your quality of life and give you the energy you need to do the things you want to do. It starts from the inside out. It starts with the decision to let your body reflect your strengths, not your weakness. When I see a woman that is strong and confident, with curves, with a life full of chaos and honesty, that is what I want to be. So, let's do it together. For those of you who really know me, I do not recommend things that don't work. I've done those crash diets and I've lost 12 pounds in 10 days on restrictive diets. Life shouldn't be about missing out on the good things in life! Like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies..it's about enjoying them in moderation. This challenge that I am proposing is all about moderation. The average results come out to be about 10 lbs. and 10 inches but is not limited to that! This all depends on your level of commitment. How bad do you want it. I will give you all of the resources I have. Whether you are trying to lose those last few pounds, already have a body of steel or are trying to make a serious life change. This challenge is for everyone and anyone. I want you to succeed and I am here to help.


What in the world is Festive & Fit?

Now, for the details. When you sign up for the challenge you receive 24 days worth of Advocare products along with a nutrition guide and an amazing planner to help you keep track. The products include the 10 day herbal cleanse complete with probiotics, herbal cleanse tablets, and the fiber drink, 14 meal replacement pouches, two boxes of spark energy drink, 56 MNS pill packs for the Max Phase and  a bottle of Omega Plex that lasts the entire 24 days. Yes, it is a lot of product but the cost comes out to be about $8 a day. Definitely an investment I am willing to make for health and happiness. The challenge has two phases. The Cleanse Phase and the Max Phase. Thankfully, with this challenge you get to EAT. and I mean really eat. Restrictions never help anyone. At least me. Basically by the end of the challenge you will be ready to face the holidays with great habits and an understanding of moderation and what your body really needs compared to something you know will just make you feel bloated and bla. We've all been there, right? Now for the good part!!! Who doesn't love prizes and a little competition to keep you going?? There will be a private facebook page for all of those involved in the challenge to help us keep motivated and accountable. At the beginning of the challenge we will all privately enter and keep track of our weight loss and inches lost, and trust me they will be lost. At the end, when the transformation pictures have been entered, I will announce the top 4 winners of the challenge!

I am hoping to get about 20 people in on the challenge. So gather your friends and let's make this a party!

1st: $50 Lululemon gift card.

2nd: $25 iTunes card.

3rd: One bottle of the amazing product, Catalyst.

4th: One box of Spark,  Mental Focus/Energy Drink.

 

www.advoarmyutah.com

Festive & Fit

To join the Festive & Fit Challenge, CLICK HERE.

The last thing I want to do is waste your time and money. So, let me assure you that all of the products you will be using are completely safe. Advocare has chosen to put their products through an extensive process called Informed Choice. This is a very thorough process that examines every product to make sure that it is free from any banned substances. So all of you athletes out there, you're safe with us:)

Take the 24 Day Challenge

These pictures don't lie...and sharing the peace sign picture was not easy for us. So, needless to say, my passion about this challenge and the success we had is not an exaggeration. I am laying it all out there and have no fear about where I have been and definitely no fear about the amazing place I am going. Come along with me:)

Left: Pre 24 Day Challenge. Yikes. Looking a little too comfortable in married life..who let me out of the house wearing that? Top right: Engagement Pic. Bottom right: Post 24 Day Challenge. Hooray for results!


To contact me:
1. Friend me on Facebook and leave me a message in my inbox.
2. Email me at taylerames@hotmail.com
3. If you have my phone number, text or call.

Once upon a time we went on a honeymoon

 Almost one year and four months ago we set off to Mexico to celebrate the beginning of our new journey! I'm just now getting to display these memories.  Every year I understand more and more of what our elders mean when they say, "time flies". Anytime I see an anxious bride and groom I can't help but tear up in remembrance of our incredibly magical day. It was so fun to pull out these pictures to remember that short year or so back when we were so so new to this whole marriage thing. I can honestly say that  I wouldn't change a thing. We were so spoiled on our honeymoon and I can still recall the excitement of boarding the plane together and REALLY being all alone with one another, saying"here we go". It was wild to realize that it was just us two. No one was going to call us at midnight asking where we were! No one was going to tell us to empty the dishwasher! It was so exhilarating, yet so unreal and foreign. My advice to any of you who have yet to be a "honeymooner";

1. Live it up. You can go on all of the vacations you want with your man... but none of them will feel exactly like your honeymoon.

2. When you get home from the honeymoon, you are piled in with the rest of us "married people". Take advantage of the fact that you are a newlywed! There is definitely special treatment with that.:)

3. You might start having the, "we just want to start real life" feeling. You don't mean that. Ha! Real life goes on forever. The oh so loved "honeymoon phase" can last as long as you make it, but stretch that vacation out like your life depends on it. It only happens once. Sadly.

4. Lastly. This is the kick-off of your marriage. This is where you begin to learn things about your spouse that you couldn't have possibly anticipated before marrige. It's hilarious and no one really prepares you for it. You will decide which side of the bed you sleep on, are you really a morning person?, is your sleep talking really as bad as your family and friends say?...(in my case, Dan was not let down) and inevitably one of you will be the covers stealer.:) New nicknames will set in (tay-tor-tot) and your inside jokes will be funnier than ever. AND remember you are bringing two people together that have grown up with different habits...you might be tempted to feel that YOUR way is better or more right than your other half's...help each other out and see the good in what you both bring to the table..

You see each other in a new light. Like, "oh, hey HUSBAND". You've spent a good portion of your life without this person and then all of the sudden you're in Mexico on a honeymoon thinking, "am I really married??". Yes, yes you are. Personally, that thought was one of the most peaceful feelings. I knew that for my entire life I was going to be protected and loved. Mr. B is the most loyal man I have ever met. I'm so grateful he is mine and I am his. I mean, there is probably a  minimum of 200 nose/cheek/forehead kisses a day!  I love it, but, I need to get better at appreciating those little things. Note to self: Never take those little, sometimes seemingly inconvenient things for granted. It's really not that big of a deal if he insists on giving you 30 kisses all over your face while you are trying to brush your teeth.

A letter to myself...

You absolutely LOVED your honeymoon. You will never forget it. Always remember that excitement and magic that was held within the new experiences and the feelings of finally being a "real" adult. 10 years down the road, think back to the days when it was just you and Dan, lying on a beach in Mexico, with no idea what the future held for you. You were so clueless about what you were getting yourself into:) With that first year of marrige will come A LOT of laughs, love, frustrations, tears, firsts, goof-ups, spontaneity, craziness, prayers, hours of Netflix, meals gone wrong, the list goes on and on. Don't dwell on the tough stuff... enjoy every emotion and find the good in each situation. You guys will make it through whatever comes your way. I promise.

Love,

your one year older and wiser self.

 

 

 

 

It was a peachy kind of weekend...

This weekend was our little town's annual celebration called Peach Days. It just so happens to fall on the same weekend as my mom's birthday, which definitely adds to the excitement. Did I mention I have the most amazing mom? Our bestie family friends, the Fifes, visit every year and we make a party out of it. There was lots of rain, lots of laughs, an unexpected midnight pool party, watermelon cake, a visit to the Iron Horse to support a band member...that's an interesting story, and of course heaps of memories. Check out my dad's doo rag... It makes him feel about 20 years younger. He actually pulls it off.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Daniel and I grew up going to the same school, same church and he just so happened to be my older brother's best friend. We knew of each other and frequented one another's company, but I played my role as the younger sister with braces that wore my brother's hoodies. Not cute. I remember thinking how dreamy "Daniel" was, and I had held him on a pretty high pedestal. It wasn't until he was about to leave on his LDS Mission to Puerto Rico that our journey began. My first memory from our relationship began one night when I nervously text him about where he had been called on his mission. We casually text each other for the next couple of months slowly, but surely planting a seed. The days were nearing his mission and we finally went on a couple of dates. First was to an Aggies football game with some friends where we had been to a corn maze also and I was so excited because I knew that there would be a little contact...maybe an arm hold? The second date was a couple of days before he left on his mission. We saw Twilight together. Being the shy, young girl that I was, I held my drink in my hands the WHOLE time because my hands were too sweaty to hold his. Lame, I know. I was so upset with myself because I wanted to make a lasting impression so he would write me during his mission. I thought I had failed. Later that night I was brave and text him to see if he wanted to hold my hand. I shyly asked, "So, I have to know or I will go crazy these next two years. Did you want to hold my hand?" He responded, "Yes!". The conversation went on and ended with him saying, "It's ok, I have a feeling there will be a lot of hand holding in our future". Little did we know, he was right.

 

Daniel left on his mission and we began to email each other. Those emails and letters were so exciting for me! It was my first experience with writing a missionary. We wrote his entire mission. I would send him packages and our relationship kept growing. As December 9th 2010 came closer, I got more excited. I had started my first year of college and began dating a few people. Despite my active dating life, I continued to write Elder Bowcutt. I started to get nervous about him coming home because it was easy writing letters to someone thousands of miles away...but put him next door, that changes things. It finally came time for him to come home. I had imagined what it would be like seeing him for the first time. We were in the same ward and I pictured this romantic scene where we would be walking down the hallway towards each other and there would be a tender embrace, laughing and it would be history. Boy, was I wrong. I was blindsided by running into him at one of our friends homecomings. We saw each other, my heart starts pounding and a solid missionary hand shake comes my way. Not quite how I imagined it. Later that day at his house for the luncheon, we awkwardly exchanged phone numbers and I think he said to me, "we will keep in touch". Huh? I went home with all hope lost. I had been dating guys that were very forward in asking me out and letting me know how they felt about me and here is this guy that I thought I had a relationship with, and I honestly felt like the past two years of writing had been washed down the drain. Ok, I guess I have to play in to account that he was fresh off the mission, hadn't been in direct contact with girls and his mind/heart had been "locked" for the past two years. He deserves a little slack. So, eventually we started to text and then went on our first date. Let me tell you, from my perspective, it was pretty awkward. That is honestly the only word that described our relationship from that point forward for the next 6 months.
 

My mom likes to take the credit for us ending up together and I have to agree with her. She was the one that kept me in the game, and thank goodness I kept playing. It was so hard to date him! We had nothing in common, conversation was unnatural and he was pretty goofy. FINALLY, we had a ground breaking moment that defined our relationship. We were on our way back from St. George, Jaxon was "asleep" in the back seat. Daniel and I hashed it out. We finally made sense of where we were at. When we had arrived back in Perry, (did I mention our parents houses are next door) he picked me up and took me to one of his favorite, secret places. For the first time I saw this spontaneous side to him that I didn't know was there. We laughed and teased and there was a chemistry that we hadn't felt before. That night was defining for our relationship. We had a blast the rest of the summer. We grew. We began to understand each other. He fell in love with me and told me on the 4th of July in Bear Lake. Fact, I didn't tell him that I loved him until a month and a half later! I knew that if I told this guy that I loved him, that he would be my husband. So I took my time, and he once again showed his patience and proved to me that he wasn't going anywhere. There were lots of ups and downs but one thing I was sure of was that Daniel was who I wanted to be with forever. I didn't take the dating process lightly and I had to know that we were making the right decision. On November 23rd 2011, he caught me off guard and proposed. Once again I got to see a side of him that was unknown to me, a sense of vulnerability.
 

6 months later, a lot of planning and excitement, we were finally sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple. I can honestly say that it was the most magical day of my life. I wouldn't change a thing. Being surrounded by the ones we love, in a beautiful place is an indescribable feeling. I remember getting in the car after the pictures and luncheon were over. We were alone for the first time. Just us. We just looked at each other and once again, I was seeing him in a different light. He was my husband, my best friend, he was going to be my children's father and the one I wake up to every day. That evening was incredible. Our reception was in my parent's backyard and it was unreal. It honestly felt like a fairytale. All of our hard work had paid off. Thanks to some amazing friends and family it all came together. I will never forget what that day felt like. The support from neighbors, friends and family was overwhelming. There was singing and dancing, dippin' dots, waffles, an incredible dance floor built from scratch, chandeliers, umbrellas, croquet, twinkle lights, love. Pure magic. As we ran towards our future, hand in hand, down the magical pathway enveloped by love... the sky was covered in lights. We opened a new chapter to a book that had began years ago. I just adore the boy next door and how grateful I am to have finally opened my eyes to see that my Mr. B was right up the sidewalk all along...
 

 Photo credit to the amazing Laci Davis.