06.04.13
by

Start of Summer

It’s officially summer in our house. You know the whole ‘opening of the beaches’ usually marks the summer season for many cities around the country? Well, in our house it’s the first Slurpee run.

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(& no, she’s not really drinking it!)

I saw a sign for the new Sprite flavored Slurpee as I was getting gas & KNEW I had to try it; it’s delicious, by the way, and I will back for more…probably today. ;)

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I am a HUGE Slurpee lover. Anything cold is so refreshing in this Florida heat (the heat index is over 100 here), especially Slurpees and Italian Ice, specifically Jeremiah’s Italian ice.

I love how we can have thousands of toys for Gabriella to play with, yet she only wants the most random things. Like the cup above, she played with it for a good 30 minutes. Give the girl a cup with a straw & she is in heaven! I took it away for a second & put it on the ground, to get another picture, and she was DETERMINED to get it.

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Needless to say, I did not get my other picture. She just got her cup back. :)

I have been meaning to share a new recipe with you for a while, but just kept forgetting. Today is finally the day!

You guys, I have a new favorite quick bread. And I am a HUGE bread maker. I’m always making quick loaves, at least 3-4 a month. I typically make lots of banana bread, only because we often have brown bananas, which I’m not a fan of. I always try different recipes, using different ingredients, just to see what kind of ‘works.’ (example: subbing Greek yogurt for butter, or apple sauce for oil) I want it to be healthy, without it tasting too healthy, does that make sense?

Anyways, I came across this new recipe while I was searching for recipes to use with blueberries. Once I saw this recipe, I KNEW immediately I had to make it. Not just because I wanted it, but because I knew Craig would love it.

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It combines blueberries with lemon, and he is a HUGE fan of lemon! And I am so ashamed to admit this, but I have always tried to buy lemon zest. I never realized you just use a cheese grater & make the zest yourself. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, only because of how long I have been cooking. But it’s never too late to learn something new, right?? :)

Lemon Blueberry Muffin Bread

(recipe found HERE)

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar  (I used Truvia baking blend)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups blueberries (12 oz)
  • 2 tsp lemon zest
  • ½ cup plain yogurt, regular or low-fat (I used Greek yogurt- Plain 0% Chobani)
Directions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and salt. Add the blueberries and lemon zest and toss to combine.
  3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the yogurt then the dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated and being careful not to crush the blueberries.
  4. Scoop batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting gently onto a plate.

Yield: makes 1 loaf

The ONLY thing I changed was using truvia instead of sugar. Again, original recipe found here.

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Not only did we EASILY polish this WHOLE loaf off in three days, I am about to make another one. The combination of blueberry and lemon is JUST perfect! I think next time I may add a little more zest, only because we both raved about how we liked the addition of it to the bread.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND making this as soon as you can!! You won’t be disappointed.

Last, but CERTAINLY not least, Happy SEVEN months to our little baby girl! <3

Favorite kind of quick bread?

Favorite Slurpee flavor? I plan on trying ALL of the flavors this summer! ;)

06.03.13
by

Perfect Ending

Despite this past week being as crazy as it was, this weekend was by far one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time.

Yes, I am still having issues with my Crohn’s, but I think I can finally say that the new medicine may be kicking in. I don’t want to jump ahead too much, I am thinking positive though. It really is amazing how much positive thinking helps.

Also I cannot say THANK YOU enough for each and every one of your kind words, emails, and comments. Every time I checked my email & saw that I had a new comment, I would read it & it would just make me smile. Most of you I have not even met in person, and yet you still have the nicest, most uplifting things to say. For that I truly cannot thank you enough!

This weekend was time spent as a family. Our little family of three.

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Saturday I actually did quite a bit of cleaning and clearing out my closet. I took a bunch of clothes to Plato’s closet and made some money, always nice to sell more than you were expecting!

After that Craig & I played with her and she is REALLY into hearing her little voice. She will just sit and screech for HOURS. It is hilarious!! Then I will do it back to her & she laughs and does it some more.

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^that would be her mid screech ;)

Absolutely LOVING this age!! She’s becoming more & more aware of her surroundings and really soaking it all in. She is already trying to pull herself up on EVERYTHING. The more & more I look around our house the more ‘hazards’ I see when she starts walking. I think we may have a couple of more months before that, but never to early to baby proof, right? :)

Saturday afternoon I actually felt up to going for a run, I wasn’t able to run on Friday (due to the Crohn’s flare up) and REALLY missed it. So the minute I felt like going, I knew I should. I put Gabriella in the BOB stroller and we were off!

It felt SO good to get out and run and NOT have to have any bathroom stops along the way. (Sorry if that was a bit too much information.) Gabriella enjoyed her time too, girl LOVES to be outside. She got her Momma’s love of nature and outdoors! Once we got back, we spent even more time outside- I set her her baby pool and she played for a good hour in there.

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I thought Saturday was great, but then there was yesterday…which was darn near perfect! G woke up at her normal 6:30am wake up call, so after getting dressed and getting her ready, we were out the door for our normal Sunday morning Starbucks run. The baristas love seeing her each week, she made some friends. :)

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Once Craig woke up and Gabriella had her morning nap I suggested we go to the farmer’s market on Lake Eola, in downtown Orlando. I really wanted / needed to get out of the house. I couldn’t really go anywhere last week, because of the stomach issues, and I was just feeling a little stir crazy.

My parents were actually going to come down & visit us, but I asked that we postpone the trip, only because I really was not sure if I would be able to enjoy the company. (only because I wasn’t sure if I would be in the bathroom the whole time) Thankfully they understood, and I’m looking forward to seeing them soon.

I figured we would give the farmer’s market a try, and it was right near my office, so I knew exactly where EVERY bathroom was, just in case I needed to make a run for it.

Side note: One of the perks of having Crohn’s disease is that you know where each & every bathroom is at all of the places that you go to – restaurants, grocery stores, departments stores, etc. ;)

I’m so glad we went because we ALL really enjoyed ourselves. Gabriella loved looking at all of the people there, and she had her first encounter with a duck!

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She also got to play with a new toy at the park.

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And we had to get a few Daddy & Mommy pictures in front of the lake too, of course! :)

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Girlfriend was MUCH more interested in the swans & ducks than taking pictures, can’t say that I blame her, she pretty much always has the camera in her face. ;)

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I also was able to pick up some homemade Kombucha at the farmer’s market, which made me think of Lindsay :) , in hopes that it may also help my stomach. Fingers crossed!

Once we left, we headed home & took Gabriella out to the big pool for a while before nap time. We finished up watching the Orioles win the series against the Tigers! WOOHOO!

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Couldn’t think of a better Sunday! (well, unless the Ravens were playing too ;) )

I’m so thankful that after such a stressful, rough week that our weekend ended up PERFECT. I’m so thankful for my husband & daughter. They really do know how to cheer this Momma right up!

Do you ever go to your local Farmer’s market?
Favorite part of your weekend? Anyone out there run any races? I know two very special ladies that ran AWESOME races & WON!

05.31.13
by

& It Continues…

I HATE this disease. Absolutely HATE it.

Not only does it interfere with my life, but now it’s interfering with Gabriella’s life. I feel like it is taking me away from being the best Mom I can be.

I thought things were looking up there for a minute, and then today happened. It has been AWFUL to say the least.

I down MORE weight. At this point it’s scary. With past eating issues, I would have been like ‘oh yay! I’m down even more weight.’ Not now. Not at this point in the disease. It keeps going down down down. It. Is. Scary.

The other thing is that it is HARD to eat, and now I need to eat even more to get in the calories. But the LAST thing a person dealing with a flare up wants to do is eat. About five minutes after you eat anything (I mean ANYTHING) you are in the bathroom. And in pain. So in the back of your mind, it’s like WHY am I even eating if it’s just going straight through me AND leaving me in pain?! But of course you have to eat, ESPECIALLY during a flare, it’s just HARD. Really hard. I have been drinking protein shakes, but the protein is causing stomach pain, so I may have to switch to something else, like Ensure or Boost. (They just don’t have a lot of protein, which is key, but hey they are additional calories.)

I’m not going to describe what happened this morning, but it was NOT pretty. It just VERY clearly made me remember HOW bad a flare is…and that I probably should NOT leave the house. AT ALL. Thankfully I have Craig, who was able to run a few errands that I had to get done. (like dropping off things for the tests I am having done to find out if it is more than a flare- like a possible infection)

Anyways, I’m sorry, yet another vent about this da*n disease. I just needed to get it out. I feel bad for always telling Craig about it, but to be quite honest I don’t think many people really want to hear all of the details because well…the disease is disgusting & embarrassing.

I’m just happy I have this girl to make me smile:
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05.31.13
by

She Makes Me Laugh & NEW Workout!

Good Morning & Happy Friday to you!!

Thank you all SO very much for all of the comments about my Crohn’s disease dilemma. I am looking into a few of the books recommended to me, and for now I am just taking it day by day. I started my new medication on Wednesday morning…6 horse pills.

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Yesterday I started actually feeling a bit better, still a LOT of trips to the bathroom, but not as many as Wednesday. So a little progress, I hope that it continues. The weird thing, well, I don’t know if it’s all that ‘weird’ but my Crohn’s is EXTRA bad at night. I mean I barely sleep at night. I may go 45 minutes, if I’m lucky, and then I’m in the bathroom (or up with Gabriella for a feeding). That part kind of sucks. Another hard part is that I’m trying to stay away from coffee because it irritates my stomach even more. Yesterday though I did have to have a bit in the morning, I just NEEDED it! :)

Another good thing was that I was able to run and not have to stop for a bathroom break- WOOHOO! So I’m crossing my fingers & toes that it continues to get better & that yesterday wasn’t just a fluke.

Enough Crohn’s talk for now. I have to tell you something funny about Gabriella. Well, you all know that she won’t take a bottle, that’s old news. BUT this girl will take ANYTHING else that’s not a bottle. I mean look at this:

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Girlfriend takes my cup from my hand & then proceeds to drink straight from the mouth piece. I just have to help her hold it & tilt it up for her, but she drinks it like a pro. She makes me laugh! As much as we tried & tried with the bottle, she refused, but give her a sippy cup or just a regular cup & she’s ALL about it! I think part of it is seeing me drink from it & she is very much into the ‘copy cat’ routine right now. Monkey see, monkey do. ;)

Now as for that promised workout, I have it for you below! I did this on Monday & I was sore for THREE days after it- my hamstrings & tush were on fire! So don’t say I didn’t warn you. ;) Oh, and I did use heavy weight for all of the exercises- which is part of the long term soreness…but so worth it!

Full Body Workout, With Emphasis on Glute (Butt) Muscles

1. Single Leg Squat (Using Smith Machine): 4 x 12 (each leg)
2. Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 4 x 10 (each- & heavy)

3. Single Leg Step Up with Knee Drive holding Dumbbells (Just like a step up, but at the top push your knee in the air) Here’s an example, but don’t go that high with your knee, just 90 degrees: 4 x 12 (each)
4. Incline Bench Sit ups holding plate : 4 x 15

5. Alternating Jump Lunges : 4 x 20 (each leg)
6. Tricep Dips : 4 x 15

7. Bulgarian Lunge holding dumbbells (or a plate) : 3 x 12 (each leg)
8. Lat Pulldown: 3 x 12-15

9. Box Squat (or use a bench):
10. Calf Raises on Machine: 3 x 20

I actually started this workout with a 20 minute HIIT run (30 seconds at 9.5mph, 30 seconds at 6.5mph), but I would suggest either starting with some form of cardio, or ending with it. I just wanted to get it done before I started with the weights, and I’m glad I did because I was WIPED after this one.

Happy Friday!! & enjoy your weekend!

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Love, my little lizard tongued girl ;)

05.29.13
by

The Beast Is Back…

Good Morning to you!

This post is going to be a bit of a ‘Debbie downer’ type of post, and for that I apologize, but I just want to be as real as I can be with you regarding my Crohn’s disease.

I had planned on writing this a few weeks ago, right when Gabriella turned 6 months old, but I kept putting it off and it’s kind of ironic that I did because boy did it change in a matter of a couple of weeks.

I was living the life before this past week. It was almost like I didn’t have the disease. I had a few rough days here & there, mainly with the urgency to go to the bathroom immediately, but nothing too crazy.

Before I got pregnant with Gabriella I couldn’t remember the last time that I was able to run outside. I always ran on the treadmill so that I was near a bathroom at all times.

Then I got pregnant & life changed. My Crohn’s pretty much went into ‘remission.’ I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t know what it was like to live life Crohn’s free.

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I was able to run outside, eat ‘normal’ foods when I wanted & not have to know where every bathroom was within a two foot radius…well, other than the normal pregnant woman’s need to pee every five seconds. Haha!

During my pregnancy I always wondered how my Crohn’s would do once I gave birth. Would it flare up, like some women experience? Would it stay the way it has been during my pregnancy, which was pretty much remission? Or would I experience a ‘milder’ form of the disease?

November 5th, 2012 I got my answer. My little bundle of love arrived.

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The best day of my life.

I honestly was on pins & needles regarding my Crohn’s after giving birth. I really felt like at ANY second it would flare back up. But as time went on, and I didn’t have any symptoms (other than a few here & there), I figured I may be in the clear.

Well, you know what assuming does…

Last week it took a turn for the worse. The VERY worst. One night it just hit me. I could NOT stay out of the bathroom. I was either up feeding Gabriella, or in the bathroom…ALL NIGHT LONG. It was awful. Completely draining.

I was hoping it might have been something that I ate, and that the issues would go away. Not the case. For the past week I have been in the bathroom more than I ever want to talk about.

I have been completely exhausted. My body is not absorbing ANY food. The second I eat anything, even something as plain as a piece of toast, I end up in the bathroom about five minutes after I finish. Gross.

The other thing that is worrisome is my weight. It keeps going down…it’s getting BAD. I know, you are probably thinking, ‘Cry me a freaking river Holly. You poor thing.’ But it IS a HUGE issue now. I lost three pounds in two days. I look like I need to eat. It’s NOT the look I’m going for.

This is me (& Lea :) ) right before I got pregnant:

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I actually liked my weight at the point in life….which for me had NEVER happened before. I always had issues with body image (I thought stick thin was the way to go), so to actually be content with my weight was a shock.

Now I am smaller than the picture above, which was ok, but now I am quite a bit smaller. Seeing bones is never attractive. This is not by choice, but just because my body isn’t absorbing any nutrients…or any food at all.

The other thing is the exhaustion. Never have I ever really ‘needed’ help with Gabriella since she has been born. Of course I appreciate any help, but right now I am almost to where I NEED the help. Another reason I wish we had family close by. Taking care of a 6.5 month old while being in the bathroom half of the day is not ideal.

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I feel bad for G. I don’t want her to feel like I’m not paying her enough attention.

Another thing is the running. I LOVE running. It is my sanity, and MY time. Yes I go with Gabriella daily, but she plays with toys in the BOB while I run & typically takes her morning nap in the stroller. It gives us a chance to get out of the house, and I am able to get my exercise in. I usually run anywhere between 6 & 10 miles each day. But yesterday I ran three miles & thought I was going to die. I couldn’t believe how DONE I felt when I finished. I felt like I just ran a marathon. Then it hit me ‘DUH!!! You have no fuel in your body to get you through your run. HELLO!’

It’s amazing how much better you feel with some food in your body! And it was scary after that run, to see how much my body was suffering from the symptoms from my Crohn’s.

Once I got home, I called the doctor to see if they had any appointments available. Thankfully they were able to squeeze me in for an ‘emergency appointment’ yesterday afternoon, specifically for patients dealing with a sudden flare up. Like any other doctor appointment, the first thing they do is weigh you & take your blood pressure. Well, the FIRST thing the doctor says when he walks in is ‘You can’t lose anymore weight.’ Which I knew. So we made a plan.

Since I am breastfeeding, my options on the medications that I can take are limited. But he did change my medication from Delzicol to Apriso, which is another form of Mesalamine and it is safe for breastfeeding.

Next up the plan for not losing anymore weight: add protein shakes, or nutrition shakes to my diet. He said 2-3 a day. Eek! But it’s manageable and NEEDS to happen. I immediately went out and bought some shakes as soon as I left the office.

And finally they sent me to a lab to pick up some things so that they can run a bunch of tests to find out if there is some sort of another infection going on, or if it is just my Crohn’s flaring.

He also reminded me that if I am feeling exhausted, it’s probably not the best idea to go out for a long run. (I know, DUH!) He said sometimes a little rest does the body good. And obviously my body is telling me to rest with the feelings of constantly being tired.

I go for a follow up appointment in two weeks. At that appointment we can make our next plan. But we are hoping that the medication starts to work wonders.

If you don’t mind, please say a little prayer that we can find something that works to get this disease back in ‘remission.’ Also anyone want to come & help me take care of a 6.5 month old for a few days?!

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She’s REALLY cute & I promise to pay you in baked goods.

If you made it through this entire post, THANK YOU! I hope it didn’t bore you too much.

Anyone else out there experiencing issues with Crohn’s? What medication or supplements, if any, are you on? Do you have certain things that trigger your disease?

05.28.13
by

Weekend Wrap Up

Good Morning!! I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. (& if you didn’t get a long weekend, I am sorry, but hopefully your day was still nice)

Craig & I celebrated our two year anniversary yesterday! It was VERY low key- we didn’t do anything for it. We just enjoyed our time off from work and played with Gabriella. She was enjoying some extra Daddy time this weekend. :)

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Does it get any cuter?! I mean really.

We actually ‘celebrated’ earlier. I gave Craig his gift on Wednesday only because he was having a really rough week and I knew he could use some cheering up.

This is what he came home to:

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I got him the ‘new’ Ray Ban Wayfarer…

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and a HUGE cookie, recipe courtesy of Sally, of course. ;)

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As big as a PLATE! All I did was use a 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips total, instead of the 1/4 cup of Reese’s pieces. Look at how THICK this thing was:

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Insane, right?!? He LOVED it though. I had a ‘hunk’ of it too & it was DELICIOUS! That Sally, she sure does know how to make amazing recipes, can’t wait to order her cookbook!!

My hubby got me pretty good too. Friday afternoon I got a text around 5:30pm telling me that he would be late, he was super busy at work because he was catching up on stuff for the long weekend. So I went ahead & fed Gabriella dinner (we feed her solids at night before bath time and then I nurse her before bed) and gave her a bath- both of which Craig normally does when he gets home from work so that I can make dinner. We planned on having leftovers, so it actually worked out perfectly, since I didn’t need to try to entertain Gabriella as I got dinner together.

Craig got home right as I finished giving Gabriella a bath, so he got to say goodnight to her, which she LOVED. Then I fed her & rocked to to sleep. As soon as I walked out of her room, I looked down & saw a post it that said ‘I Love you H Dub.’ <—what Craig calls me because my maiden name is Williams. As I continued down the stairs there was a little path of them leading to the dining room table, with the final one saying, ‘I made dinner.’ I looked up & saw a big plate of sushi from my favorite sushi restaurant, Shari.

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And three of our favorite rolls. From the left, my VERY favorite Chiquita (topped with bananas, I PROMISE it’s so good- Craig doesn’t even like bananas & he likes this roll), Drama Queen (tuna tartare) & Ceviche. (just like the appetizer, and topped with cilantro & lime juice- perfect combination of flavors) Just looking at this picture makes me want to go to Shari right this minute!

He also had some wine for us and a candle in the middle of the table- a ‘Sugar cookie’ candle- haha! I thought he was baking cookies when I walked down, totally threw me off- sneaky guy. ;)

It was such a perfect night! Since we couldn’t go out, he got it for us at home!

Saturday we spent looks of time with Gabriella, since the little lady is against sleep (she still gets up 3-4 times a night- I typically only sleep in 2 hour chunks, if that) she was up bright & early at 5am to hang out.

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Shirt says it all. ;) Craig and I also watched Django Unchained- SO GOOD!!!!

Sunday was spent at Craig’s co-worker’s house- he was having a birthday & memorial day pool party. It was a fun time, and Gabriella enjoyed the pool (she is SUCH a water baby!)- sadly we couldn’t stay for the actual cook out because the little lady was ready for bed time. But it was still nice to see everyone & socialize for a bit.

As you know, yesterday was our two year anniversary & Memorial Day!! Thanks again to all of those who serve & have served in our military- you guys ROCK! We didn’t have any plans and just hung out with our favorite girl. Best part of the day?

Watching her spend about 20 minutes trying to crawl FORWARD, not just backwards.

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And we got to see her move one of her knees forward! I know, I know, you are probably like ‘really Holly, you two were excited over ONE KNEE moving forward?!’ Well, yes, yes we were. ;) It’s a big step in Gabriella’s world. :D

For dinner I made Shrimp Scampi, some sea scallops sprinkled with Old Bay & summer squash and zucchini.

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The shrimp scampi recipe I followed is found HERE, I just halved everything- actually only cooked 3 servings of pasta, instead of four- and we probably only ate HALF of that. The recipe was really good, I think I would just add a bit more lemon to it, but overall a nice light scampi sauce, instead of some of the recipes I saw that were LOADED with butter & oil, which would kill my stomach.

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A little bit of a ‘fancier’ meal for our anniversary.

We also topped off the night with some frozen yogurt and a milk shake for Craig. Can’t think of a better way to end our special day!

Anyone do anything special this past weekend??

This week I PROMISE a new workout coming your way, and I am also going to write about the status of my Crohn’s disease 6+ months after having Gabriella.

Enjoy your TUESDAY! Yay for not being Monday!!