Let's see how many places we can go to!

Happy Friday everyone.

I hope you had a great day yesterday!!  We sure had a busy one.  I woke up and got Ava breakfast and turned on some cartoons and I hopped on the treadmill for an "empty stomach" 3 miles.  Typically, I do not do this because I don't feel strong during my runs.  This diverticulitis has me rethinking my runs and I am nervous about running with food digesting and all of the jarring that my intestines takes during a run. 
The 3 miles went great!  I wanted to keep going, but I had told Clint I would only do 3.  He doesn't want me starting back up too fast too soon and I completely agree with him! 

After the run, I immediately got Ava and Pekka and we went on a mile and a half walk in the neightborhood.  It was a beautiful morning for a walk. 
We got back and I showered and then got this breakfast ready!




Egg, egg white, 1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese with drizzle of honey and cinnamon and a english muffin. (Ava actually had the one with jelly on it.  Mama's food always looks better!)

This meal seems to be sitting well each time I eat it, so I am eating it most meals.  I'm a creature of habit.  Plus it is a FANTASTIC meal!!

We got all of our snacks and juice ready for the day of errands.

Errand 1 was a quick play date at one of my best friend's house.

Swinging was had, chatting was had, and a couple of falls with crying. All in all, great time spent together! Quality time!!

Errand 2 was Hobby Lobby.  We met my mom to get some stuff for two wreaths that I am making for my brother's rehearsal dinner.  He will be able to keep one and I will keep the other. 

I could spend all day in Hobby Lobby.  I always find so many things I want to do there!! 

We left my mom and went to errand 3 to pick up a panel cover for an electrical panel for Clint's job. 

Errand 4: Gas

Errand 5:  We went to our gym and put in our 30 day notice!  We love that gym. Ava has grown up there, but it is a 30 minute drive each way and we are continuing our workouts at home just fine!!  It was sad, because Ava cried when we walked out the door!

Errand 6:  Vitamin Shoppe to pick up some more Probiotics for mama's healthy gut!

Errand 7: Babies R Us. I went to look for a Height Chart to put on the wall for Ava.  I am not spending $25 plus on those things.  I will look on Etsy!  Flip flops were on sale for $1.98, so we HAD to get some.  A girl can never have too many shoes!!  Train her right!

They were having a great sale on diapers!! Diapers that are $.15 per diaper are a Great deal!!!

Errand 8: Books A Million.  I wanted to kill some time before we met Clint.  What perfect way to do that than with books and coffee!! 

Errand 9: TJMAXX.  We picked Clint up and headed to TJMAXX. I wanted to look for a dress for my brother's rehearsal dinner.  It will be outside and semi casual.  Plus I wanted a new dress!!  I tried on some, but none that screamed, "yes buy me!"  I wanted Clint to go because he is so honest with me about clothes.  Sometimes, I thing "aw, man, but I liked that." But I know he speaks the truth!

I got a VOSS water and he was being funny!

Errand 10: The mall.  I tried on a few dresses and we both liked this one!  Plus it was only $13.54!!!  You can NOT beat that!! 

Yes, Ava is talking to herself in the mirrow.  She was saying, "I'm Ava. I missed you. Kiss. Big Hug."  Love this kid!!

We walked around a few stores and played on this thing. Not sure what it is, but when you step on it, things move. Kind of neat!

Errand 11: Target.  We went to look at the Keurig Vue.  We want one and are trying to find the best deal.  More to come on that!!! We walked out with an idea of what we want and got some SodaStream mixes on sale.  I was DONE by then! 

Let's go home!!! 

I had some ground turkey in the fridge that I need to use.  We weren't sure what to make with it, so I started browning it on the stove and decided that my stomach could handle a taco salad (minus the spice and tomatoes).  It was the best taco salad I think I have ever had!!!

All in all it was a great day, but with many errands!!!  Looking forward to the weekend!!!  See you soon!

Errand Tuesday

Good Morning!!  The sun is shining and it is going to be a warm "Summery" day today!

Yesterday, Ava and I got up and did some coloring and cartoon watching and ate a little breakfast.  Toast and an egg for me.  I am still having a few issues, but so much better than I was.  I know when to notice a problem coming on and handle it before it gets out of control.

I wanted to do some exercise yesterday, so I did a half Bodyrock workout to give my body a little wake up call.  Then, I ran an easy 1 mile on the treadmill.  Still want to go easy on the treadmill, since running can cause the intestines to move around quite a bit.  Tomorrow, I am going to try 3 miles and see how that does. 

Ava and I got ready. I made lunch for Clint and made us a juice to take on the road and some snacks for Ava.  We headed out for a busy day.

We took Clint some lunch (Ava was asleep), said a quick hi and headed to Green Hills Mall.  This mall is the "fancy shmancy" mall in Nashville. 

Dillard's was having a great sale on kid's clothes, so I bought Ava 3 outfits, that "Santa" will bring her for Christmas.  Hey, you can never start too early shopping for Christmas. 

I looked for some dresses for my brother's rehearsal dinner, but found none that I really liked. 

We then headed to Charming Charlie's. This is the cutest most cost effective way to shop for all accessories.  My mom's birthday is tomorrow, so I volunteered to shop for my brother and dad for her gifts.  Yea twist my arm to go shop with someone else's money!!  It was so fun.  But hard!  Hard because I had Ava's stroller, a bag from Dillard's, alternating holding 2 boxes of shoes and jewelry and Ava.  All while trying to get her to eat her lunch.  Sheesh, forget bodyrock.  This was a way harder workout.



Sorry for the sideways picture!!

Then we headed to this heaven on earth!

ugh!

We have decided to budget in a Trader Joe's trip once a month.  I have been before a long time ago, before I was super health conscious.  We had so much fun in there!!  I could have spend WAY more, but reigned it in!  I can't wait until next month!!

Our next stop was picking up something that Clint needed for work and then on to TJMAXX.  I tried on a few dresses but none that I loved, so we walked out empty handed. 

Supper (for Clint, because I ate some Pita Chips from Trader Joe's that were AMAZING, but were not sitting well in my belly) was marinaded chicken with homemade healthier red potato salad.

I chopped up 4 red potatoes and boiled them in a pot of water until they were soft. About 30minutes.  I drained them and let them continue to drain and cool for about 20 minutes, while I folded laundry.

I put them in a mixing bowl and mixed in 3tbsp light mayo, about 3tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp green onions, dash of salt, freshed cracked pepper and seasoning salt.  I tasted it and it was pretty darn good!

The HIGHLIGHT of my day, was when Clint was taking Ava to bed, she said "love you".  She has told Clint "love you" twice and I was waiting for my moment!  It happened and no sweeter words were spoken!!  My heart grew 3x it size!!

What was the highlight of your day??

Have a great day and I'll see you soon!!

Weekend in review

Well, Thank Goodness it is Monday......said NO ONE, Right!  ha

Even though it is Monday, it is such a beautiful Fall day today.  In fact this weekend was such a great weekend with the weather!! 

My mom was out of town on Friday so my sister, brother and dad all tag teamed and watched Ava while Clint and I were at work.  No one was injured!




Saturday morning we got up and Clint left before us to go start on my brother's house and the electrical stuff.  Ava and I went to the store and got some breakfast, plates, cups and drinks for the day ahead.  Oh, and I needed apples and oranges to juice.  Yes, I brought my juicer!

 

We were at his house from about 9 until 3.  We were machines.  Clint put in new light fixtures, a fan, and light in the kitchen and then helped in all other areas that needed his ahem..expertise.  I painted and painted...went to pick up pizza for everyone and painted.  Ava was so amazing.  I don't know too many 2 year olds who could be in the environment that she was in and not get in to everything and be a nuisance.  She just did her own thing and "helped" when she was asked.  Oh and she took a nap for an hour! 

Ava and I left about 3 and came home so I could make supper, get her a bath, and get ready myself. Me and my sister were going to supper at Demos's for our future sister in law's "bachelorette" supper. 

Fun times were had with my sis!  We have so much fun. 





The funny thing is people probably thought we had been drinking the way we were giggling, but we were stone sober AND I wasn't able to eat.  Do you know HOW HARD IT IS TO WATCH PEOPLE EAT????  Torture!  But it was the first day in 2 weeks!  That I had been pain free and I wasn't about to jinx it!

Sunday was church.  I snuck a quick picture of the kids building a "church" in Sunday school class before we left to go to our class. 


In our class we are reading "ScreamFree Parenting" by Hal Runkel.  I have actually read this book about a year ago.  (It's in our guest bathroom, haha) 
His points are really good.  Although, I don't agree with him 100%, im a sold 85%.  His main point is that "You are not responsible FOR your kids, you are responsible TO them."  Meaning that your kids are ultimately responsible for the choices they make and those choices have consequences. 

We came home for lunch, well juice and lounged around and watched football. Ava climbed on the couch with me and said, "let's take a nap."  Yes ma'am.

Although, I didn't nap, she did for 2.5 hours! 

After her nap, we took Pekka for a quick walk around the neighborhood and then came back to get ready to go to the


CARRIE UNDERWOOD concert!
Clint was able to get box seats from his work!

She is absolutely amazing!  Her voice is unreal!!!  It was a date night for us and we loved it!!



There is our weekend in a nutshell!  Oh and I was able to eat some solid food yesterday after a WEEK!!  Crazyiness! 

Today, has been ok.  I'm adding in foods slowly and not eating much in one sitting.  Don't want to cause a ruckus in my belly! Still no exercise until I can get back to eating enough calories to sustain some exercise!

Have a great rest of the day!  See ya soon!

Still pushing through

Happy Friday and Last day of Summer.  I Love Summer time and I am not a big fan of cold weather.  But, I do love crisp mornings and warm days!  Oh and sweat pants and long sleeve shirts just scream cozy!!  Hot chocolate and cider.  Fire places and bonfires.  Crockpots and cornbread.  MMM!  Sounds like I like Fall a lot more than I thought!

If you missed my last post on my "no bug, but worse", I let y'all know about my issues with Diverticulitis.  I am going on Day 13 of this mess!  I did a clear liquid diet for 48 hours Monday through Wednesday.  For lunch Wednesday I had some chicken noodle soup and some crackers.  Thinking that would be ok. That's what everyone says to eat after you have been sick with stomach issues right?  Well, not this girl.  Like clock work about 2:30 after lunch I had horrible cramps and chills until I got home from work at about 7:15pm. 

I was able to get a Facebook friend to drop off a Juicer that she didn't need anymore.  Heck yea! 
When I got home, Clint and I got to experimenting. 

1 orange
1 apple
3 carrots

turned into this



It doesn't look all that great, but it tasted really good!! 

I have been juicing since and some issues come and go. 

I'm pushing through this.

I also started a 30 day Colonix Cleanse from Dr. Natura's website.  My boss and his wife have does this particular cleanse before and had good results.  You can eat regularly (well not this girl) and you take 2 pills in the morning on an empty stomach with 8oz of water.  After 15 minutes, you scoop 1/2 scoop of this fiber stuff in 8oz of water and drink.  Follow this with another 8oz glass of water.  Go about your day.  At night, you drink this tea to help your colon get rid of waste the next morning.  I'll keep ya posted on that!

I am going to juice for the next 4 days or so and continue to let my colon calm down and not be so mad at me.  I will try to chew something after that and see how I react.  I am anti-medical doctor, but there is a point when I may need to cave and go see what can be done.  As much as I hate that, sometimes your body needs a little help. Especially when you are only able to get calories from juicing.

Yesterday, Ava and I went and cleaned the office and then came back and cleaned our house.  Our close friends and there 1 year old daughter were coming over about 3:30pm to spend some time with us and see our new house.  We had planned to make homemade pizzas and I had made brownies.  She called at 2pm and had to cancel.  She put too many irons in her fire and they weren't going to be able to make it.  I was disappointed, but what can ya do!  At least, we had a clean house and Clint and Ava still were getting brownies and pizza! 

I made the pizza dough in the bread machine and after it was done cut it into 4 pieces.  Clint decided to make one into a calzone and a small pizza for Ava.  His calzone turned out looking wonderful and the house smelled freaking fantastic.  He put the other two leftover pieces together and made a pizza for leftovers.  I prepared my juice....wah wah wah.  The first batch was an ultimate FAIL.  I had to throw most of it out it was so bad!  The second batch was a winner!  Simple and not too many ingredients is best!!  This juicing thing is a work in process, but one that I really enjoy! 

We are helping my brother paint his house tomorrow and then me and my sis are going to our future sister in law's bachelorette shindig.  Dinner and lingerie party.  That should be interesting!

Have a great weekend! See ya soon!

No bug, but worse!

Hey there!  Happy Wednesday.  Last week I posted about getting a stomach bug late Sunday night.  Well, this "bug" is still with me.  I have been scouring the internet each and every day to see what in the world could be wrong with me. 

EVERY time I eat, about an hour or so after my stomach would have these EXTREMELY painful pains and I could literally tell you where my food was traveling in my intestines.  I would get nauseous and get chills during this 4-5 hour process. It was waking me up at night with the same deal, no matter what time I ate before I went to bed.

 I thought at first it could be something with gluten.  I took that out to see if it was still an issue.  Well, still same type of pain.  I took out most things and still horrible pain. 

I am NOT a doctor or medicine person. I believe that God made the body an amazing thing that heals itself when given the proper environment, i.e. chiropractic adjustments, the right foods, probiotics, vitamins and minerals. 

I went from looking in to stomach ulcers, to a parasite, to finally talking to my doctor of choice, my boss and chiropractor.  We were both on the case trying to figure this thing out.  We came across diverticulitis and I KNEW!  It had all of my symptoms point on and made total sense to me. 

According to Wikipedia, "Diverticulitis is a common digestive disease particularly found in the large intestine. Diverticulitis develops from diverticulosis, which involves the formation of pouches (diverticula) on the outside of the colon. Diverticulitis results if one of these diverticula becomes inflamed." Source

Once these pouches are formed they are permanent, so flare ups can happen again.

So what to do??

Flare up diet:
I researched this too and when you are having a flare up, the first few days should be a liquid, super easy to digest diet. (water, tea, jello, popscicles, juicing)

After the intestines have had time to calm down, you slowly add in low fiber foods(pastas, cereals, soft vegetables, potatoes no skin, lean meats and proteins).

The last and long lasting stage is a HIGH fiber diet.  This will allow the intestines to not have to work so hard to get things moving.

Now, it is uncommon for people my age to get diverticulitis and it is typically when people have unhealthy diets.  I do NOT fit this criteria.  But with further research, healthy people do get this and there is no real reason. 

So how have I handled this?

Since it took me 8 days to figure this out, Monday's lunch was my last "meal". From then I started liquids, popscicles, I had 2 glasses of juice from a juicing machine, NO EXERCISE, and probiotics.  (I DO NOT reccommend this for a long amount of time.  It is not a healthy way to live!  I can tell my body is starting to get drained.

I am hoping to add in a little bit of solid foods either this afternoon or tomorrow.  We shall see how that goes.

Oh and I am gettting a JUICER!  So excited.  My boss and his family juice religiously and believe in its healing powers.  I went over to their house yesterday and got some and I am hooked.  I was even able to digest it somewhat easily. 

Does any one JUICE?? 
I had one that had carrots, grapefruit, lemon and oranges and the other was chard, apples, and celery.  They both were yummy. 

I am praying this flare will be over soon.  Even though I am still working and doing my normal routine, when I am not in pain, I want to get back to feeling normal!

Well, there is my woe is me for the day.  I hope y'all have a great Hump day.  See you soon!

Caught a bug

That is a Stomach bug, ya'll.  The last 3 days I have had this yucky stomach bug and the weird thing is that it comes and goes.  I'll be feeling back to normal and then all of a sudden, horrible stomach pains and maybe a run to the bathroom. 
Oddly, enough my runs have been pretty good.  I took Monday off of running and Bodyrock.tv.  Yesterday, while Ava napped I was able to run 5.5 miles and felt pretty good!


I also made an Herb Bread in the Bread machine.  It turned out really good!!

Ingredients:
1.5 cups skim milk
2tsp salt
2tbsp butter
2tbsp caraway seeds
2tbsp dill
2tbsp basil
3.5 cups bread flour
1 1/4 bread machine yeast
Setting: Bake Rapid


After Ava's nap we went to my parent's house so my mom could pin my bridesmaid's dress so it can be himmed.  My brother is getting married October 6th!  Just around the corner! Here is the dress. I really do like it!



We came home and played outside until Clint got home.  After some catching up on the day and watching The Voice from Monday night, we went back outside and I did my bodyrock, Clint lifted weight and Ava played in her house. 

While we were out I had picked up gas in the gas can for Clint so he could cut the rest of the back yard.  I took Ava and Pekka for a short walk while he did that so, we would be out of the way and give Pekka some exercise.

Supper was needed ASAP when we got back.  Since I have had the bug, I was starving by then!  I had marinated chicken breast earlier and we grilled them up and I cut up sweet potato fries and red potato fries to put in the oven.  Perfect meal!

This morning I got up at 3:50am had breakfast (can't workout on an empty stomach)and I was doing my 10 min bodyrock and then I got on the treadmill.  I had only intended to do 1 mile, but I started a good book and before I knew it it was 1.78miles.  Well, I HAD to finish out the 2!!  So it was a good workout morning.  That did make me run a smidgen late, but I still got to work before the boss. 

I am feeling about 80% this morning, I am HUNGRY, but I still having intermittent stomach pains!  Ugh no fun! 

I hope y'all have a great Wednesday!  See you soon!

Weekly updating

Happy Sunday y'all!
A little weekly catch up for ya!

Thursday was a really good day.  I have started cleaning the office where I work twice a month for a little extra cash and something to do.  Ava went with me and helped and played.  I love having her with me!  No matter what I do or how not easy it is with her, I absolutely love having her with me.  She makes my day. 

Anyway, I know some people think, CLEANING?  Actually, yea.  I get this soul cleansing feeling after I have cleaned.  It is an instant gratification thing and good and honest hard work!  Cleaning is not easy for sure!!

After "we" cleaned, I did some actual work and did some insurance calling and some tail chasing on some claims.  It was nap time!!!  Ava was a cranky pants McGee and fell asleep on the way home and napped for an hour and a half.  Clint was still working on the playground that he took off three days of work to help build for an elementary school.  I got to chat with one of my best friends for 45 min.  That was much needed.  It is so good to just chat every now and then with a positive and honest friend!

After Clint got home, I ran 5 miles on incline and did some leg exercises while we watched a "Rookie Blue".

Then it was Hide and seek with Ava.  She is the best at this game.  I laughed so hard and had so much fun playing with her and Clint.  It is the little things in life, people!  The little things are the most important!!

For supper last night I made Black Bean Burritos and they were yummy delicious!!

Ingredients:
1 can black beans drained
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup salsa of your choice, separated
1/2 cup shredded cheese, separated
2tbsp bell pepper
2tbps red pepper
1tsp taco seasoning
tortillas of choice(I used Bueno Vida low carb tortillas)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all above ingredients together in a bowl.  Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the mixture onto tortilla and roll up.  Put seem side down in a baking dish.  Continue until out of mixture.  Pour salsa and sprinkle cheese on top.  Put in oven and bake until cheese is melted. About 30 minutes for me.


Finished project!  Topped with a little light sour cream and salsa!!! 



Friday was a typical work day.  Nothing too fancy schmancy.  Clint and the volunteer crew finished the playground.

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

Doesn't it look amazing?!!  So proud of him for helping with this!

Yesterday, we didn't leave the house at all! I mean AT ALL!  We didn't even go get the mail!!  I got up and made sausage balls for breakfast.  Then I ran 6 miles on the treadmill and read a new book on my kindle while Ava and Clint had breakfast.

I showered while Clint and Ava got ALL of her toys out of the toy chest and when I got back from cleaning up, we started sorting!  It looked like a toy bomb went off when we started. But we finally, packed away "baby" toys to keep and ones to give to a future mom we know.  The others were organized into totes, buckets and whatever else we could find and put back in the toy chest.

Alabama played WKU at 2:30 so we watched that, well I would cycle with reading a book taking turns  playing with Ava and doing laundry and a little deep cleaning throughout the house.

It was such a good and relaxing day full of quality time!  Those are important day, y'all!!

I am off to run before the family gets up to get ready for church!  Have a great day!!!

Life in a nutshell

Hello everyone.  It has been a couple of weeks of life here at the Ferrell household.  You know, errands, cleaning, playing, spending time together, cleaning, repeat! 

It is quite impossible to keep the house clean throughout the day with a toddler and you know what THAT IS OK!  I pick up once a day and AVA DOES HELP!  We think it is very important to teach Ava that cleaning is part of playing.  (It is especially sweet when she sings the song..."clean up, clean up, every body, every where.") 

Our Labor Day weekend was far from laborious(is that a word? haha).  We went to visit Clint's dad and his fiance for a bit on Saturday and a little browsing some stores. 

Sunday was church and Clint and I left Ava at church with my family to go to Sunday school so we could go pick up clothes that didn't sell at a consignment sell that is put on in the area.  We are thinking we made about a $100.  This was my first consignment and I think I put about 3 hours total into the labeling and sorting.  That is $33.3333333 an hour! Pretty good if you ask me!  There is one in our small town in October that I am going to participate in.  Hopefully I will make a little profit there too.

Monday, Clint did some electrical work for my boss while Ava and I played with his kids and wife.  Then a quick trip to Walmart so Clint could get supplies to change the oil in our Murano.  He is SO handy!  It is crazy.  The man can do anything!  After we got home, I was so lazy!  It was unreal.  I fell asleep on the couch like 3 times(Ava kept coming over and saying, "Mama, wake up.") and then we went to bed at like 8:45!  I am not a lazy person, so I don't know what the deal was! 

Tuesday, my real day of no working at my job.  See that I typed that and not "my day off".  It irritates me when people think I have 2 days a week off.  Well, no!  I am still a mama and a wife.  I still have laundry to do, errands to run, the house to clean, workout, and get supper cooked and then clean the kitchen after!  It is not a day off by any means.
Ava and I went to Kroger, Dollar Tree and Aldi's.  I spent $131.  Some of that was stocking up things like barbecue sauce for $15 and free ketchup and the rest was for 2 weeks worth of groceries.  Yes you read that right...2 weeks.  I am not grocery shopping for 2 weeks.  Hopefully I can stay away!

Meals for the week:
Tuesday: Brats and oven baked sweet potato fries
Wednesday: waffles
Thursday: black bean burritos
Friday:BBQ pork nachos
Saturday: TBD

Oh the bodyrock is going GREAT!  I absolutely love the fact that I can get a kick-butt workout in in 12 minutes a day!!  Plus, I can tell I am getting stronger!  Score!  My running is still on par to meet my 1000 miles in a year.  Actually, I am still ahead of the game! 

See ya soon!