Back to Bloggin'

Well hello there long-lost blog friends!!!

I know, I took a long hiatus from blogging during 2015, but we were busy!! We attended lots of weddings, traveled to St. Kitts, Las Vegas, Florida and Cancun, celebrated 1 year of marriage and so much more! I really want to get back into the swing of things and have so much to blog about.

With the new year I know many people set resolutions to lose weight and get in better shape. I didn't necessarily set this goal on January 1st, but began at the end of October really trying to focus on my weight loss, overall health and fitness. However, I won't be sugar coating it... Fitness, weight loss and healthy eating is HARD (for me, at least!). But since I have had so much interest in how I've lost weight, stayed motivated in my fitness, and recipe ideas that I decided blogging would be the best and easiest way to share all I've learned.

So first up--- MEAL PLANNING!

My very BEST advice to stick to a "diet" is to meal plan! For me, I do this on Sunday mornings. I sit down and decide what we will have to eat every day/night, and then head off to buy all the goods. Not only does this save us so much money compared to eating out, but by having each meal already planned it is so much easier to stick to it. If I know something requires a lot of prep, I will do that on Sunday too (chopping veggies, etc). Think about what you have going on during the week before you plan your meals... For example, I workout after I get home from work, so I need to have meals that can be ready within 30 minutes of getting home so we aren't eating at 8 PM! I can't wait to start sharing recipes I've found with you all because they are honestly easy enough for anyone to make!!

My Sunday's typically include washing and chopping a couple heads of lettuce to store for the week. I use this lettuce for anything from sandwiches for lunch to salads for dinner. I can honestly say I would not have salad if it wasn't already washed and prepped. Green leaf lettuce from Sprouts is my favorite and it's always $1.49 or less per bundle. SO CHEAP! I also wash fruits, bag up individual servings of chips/cookies (husband's lunch), cereals, etc so that everything is easy to grab and go during the week.

Our meal plan for this week is:
Sunday- Bubble Up Fiesta Taco Casserole
Monday- Leftovers!!
Tuesday- Fish and Sweet Potatoes
Wednesday- Trader Joes Pasta and Caesar Salad (Garlic Bread for the husband)
Thursday- Turkey/Veggie burgers and grilled corn
Friday- Mini pita pizzas
Saturday- Chipotle OUT!

I will be sharing these recipes and more over the next couple of weeks! PLEASE let me know if you have any questions or meal suggestions. We are always looking for new ideas :)

Happy Tuesday!
Brianna

St. Kitts & Nevis

Well hello there, my long-lost blog readers!

 

So to be honest, I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately so there just hasn't been anything to blog about... OOPS! Luckily, on our recent vacation to St. Kitts I had my Mom and a tour guide there to take pictures for me. Last week, me, Michael and my parents head off on a vacation to the Caribbean island, St. Kitts! It was the PERFECT time to be gone from Tulsa...we missed several days of snow and also the PERFECT time to be in St. Kitts as they had gorgeous weather all week.

 

We finally arrived after a couple delays (does anyone fly without delays anymore??) and headed straight to dinner at one of our favorite beach shacks, Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack, home of the double decker grilled cheese (my personal favorite). Had to start off the week with a cold Carib beer brewed in St. Kitts.

Like I said, the weather was awesome all week... Can you tell by this picture?

The first few days we spent relaxing and lounging on the beach. It was such a nice getaway to have 7 days off work! On Tuesday, we took a boat tour to a nearby island, Nevis, where all the celebs hang out. I'm still pretty sure I saw Wendy Williams, HA! It was seriously amazing and the water was crystal clear. We had tons of fun hanging out on the beach at the famous Sunshine's bar and of course had to have the famous "Killer Bee" drink.

It was our 6 month anniversary. I could definitely get used to this kind of celebration every 1/2 year :)

 They even had corn hole in Nevis!! Michael was really excited!

The boat that took us to Nevis had only one other couple on board, who we ended up hitting it off with. Their last name was also Miller and they got married exactly 1 year before us! CRAZY. We ended up going to dinner with them that night at an Indian restaurant... remind me in the future, I apparently don't like Indian food.

Thursday we took an awesome tour that included walking down the black rocks, hiking the rainforest, and snorkeling. Our tour guide took pictures for us so we were able to capture the day!

 An old cotton gin where our guide hung out as a kid

 We did many "smelling tests" to figure out what fruits were growing around the island

 Pretty black rocks with waves crashing in the background

Andddd a massive wave hit us and we all got soaked! We were cracking up and so caught off guard! 

 Bamboo forest

 Where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic Ocean (The Atlantic is the left side with all the big waves)

 That's me! Snorkeling without fears for once!

 

Starfish family picture



I'm SO glad we got to enjoy a little time in the islands. It's so interesting getting to see different cultures and learn new things while traveling! I would definitely recommend St. Kitts to anyone and would be happy to give some recommendations on places to go while there. They have some AMAZING restaurants (Gnocchi at Ciao! was seriously to.die.for).

 

Now the hubs are I are counting the days until our Mexico trip in September! Only 178 more days!

 

Here's to blogging more,

Brianna

 

Eating Clean(er)

I've been struggling with a post-wedding/holiday food frenzy. It's been bad but oh, so delicious. But having a beach vacation coming up in less than 6 weeks, I've realized that the all you can eat diet just isn't going to cut it. My biggest problem with dieting/eating healthier is that I don't eat meat very often. It's hard to find a meal plan that works and doesn't include a bunch of meat as your protein. I wanted something quick and easy for my work lunches and portion controlled, so I wouldn't be eating too much food, especially at dinner time. I began searching the internet for some kind of meal delivery for vegetarians/vegans.

And then I found... VEESTRO! They provide many different options for meal delivery which include all healthy, organic and vegan meals. This was exactly what I was looking for, so I decided to order about 12 days worth of a la carte meals to see which ones I like best. They shipped out the following Monday and were on my doorstep by Thursday afternoon, frozen solid with dry ice. The best thing about it... It's VEGANUARY so I got a 20% off coupon code to start! (Code is VEGANUARY)

I had a few questions while I was in the ordering process and was so impressed with their customer service. They e-mailed me RIGHT back and answered all my questions. I wasn't necessarily looking for something that was vegan, but since I did, I figured I'd go ahead and see if I could go completely vegan for the 2 week period because WHY NOT! I tried my first two meals yesterday and have to say they were pretty darn good. I had an enchilada casserole for lunch (300 calories) and a country fried chick'n dinner with mashed potatoes (310 calories). Honestly, they were MUCH larger than I was expecting and surprisingly very filling. {The hubs even tried a bite of the chick'n after much persuasion by me and said it tasted like a chicken nugget!} The hardest part of this 2 week journey will definitely be giving up cheese, wine, and DIET COKE!

I'm going to post some updates throughout the next two weeks. I'm really pretty excited to try out the vegan life for a couple weeks, even if it doesn't last forever.

Eating Clean since 1/19,
Brianna

Cystic Fibrosis: Tulsa's New Leaders

I have been honored to accept a nomination as one of Tulsa's New Leaders of 2015.  As a member of a group of men and women who have been selected largely because of our community involvement and career success, I have been asked by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to raise as much as I can for the fight against Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that shortens the lives of those it affects to a median age of approximately 37 years old.

On April 2nd, 2015, I will be honored at a party for participating in Tulsa's New Leaders and raising money and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. As a participant, I have committed to raising at least $4,000 for CF.

I am asking all of my friends, family and blog followers to consider a donation to this amazing foundation to help find a cure for those living with CF. It's important to note that the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is very efficient and nearly 90% of every single dollar raised goes towards investment in vital CF programs to support research, care and education! Please consider a donation of whatever you can give. Every dollar counts!

You can donate online through my fundraising website: DONATE HERE!

For my fellow Tulsa friends, I would suggest that you consider purchasing a ticket to the event on April 2nd, 2015. I attended last year, and can tell you first hand that it is a blast! Tickets are available through my fundraising website and allow you to make a donation, as well as celebrate my nomination with me at the event. There will be an awesome dinner, live and silent auction and great music.

Thank you for helping me raise money for this very worthy cause. I am so grateful for your support and generosity!!

Brianna

My (new) Best Friend

Happy New Year's Eve, Everyone!!!

I am so excited to share this new product with you all today! I honestly think it is the best thing since sliced bread and cannot believe I hadn't used it before now! Everyone knows I have the THICKEST hair in the world, which might seem nice, but it takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R to dry. I seriously dread doing my hair because it takes 15-20 minutes to dry. If you have this problem too then I am about to become your life saver, favorite person, and best friend.

Meet Kenra Platnium Blow Dry Spray!

I have no idea how it works, but I don't care! I sprayed about 8 spritz' on my hair this morning, dried for about 6 minutes and wham bam my hair was magically dry. And also magically softer, shinier and just better. Not to mention, it smells fabulous too. I had been eyeing it for a while, but at $33 for the large bottle I was really hesitant. I had read so many reviews raving about it, I finally decided to purchase it last weekend at Ulta. I'll never go back now, this is absolutely a must and the price tag is SO worth it. I'm sure this bottle will last me several months, but more importantly save me precious minutes in the mornings while drying my hair.

*Note- I read several reviews stating that for thinner hair it isn't the best.... sort of makes hair greasy. But honestly, if you have thinner hair you can already blow dry in 5 minutes or less, so this spray probably isn't for you!

Cheers to dry, shiny hair!
Brianna

2014 in Review

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I have been totally absent from the blog recently with everything going on!! It's hard to believe it's almost 2015. This past year has been a crazy, exciting, happy, and hard year for the hubs and I. It was a VERY busy year! I decided it was absolutely necessary to document this past year in one post, so that we never forget how wonderfully awesome 2014 was for us.

On March 21st, 2014 we FINALLY got to move out of our tiny apartment into our brand new home. We started building in September 2013 and were unbelievably excited to finally have a home that we built together to start married life in.

We hosted our first family gathering in our new home in March right after we moved in.

In April, we celebrated Taylor's bachelorette party in Dallas.

And Hayden and I hosted a "Monograms and Mimosas" shower for Hailey.

In May, I was honored to be a bridesmaid in two weddings. It was a blast getting to see the weddings from the inside prior to my own and VERY helpful in my planning process!

We travelled just outside of San Antonio to celebrate Hailey and Ryan's wedding.

And stayed close to home in Tulsa celebrating Taylor and Nick's wedding which happened to be on the hub's birthday too! Double Whammy!

June was a jam packed month of fun. I was a bridesmaid in another wedding, started a new job at Cimarex Energy and celebrated my 25th birthday.

Stephanie's bachelorette party in Austin, TX was a blast!

Celebrating Stephanie and Matt's wedding in Oklahoma City.

Happy Birthday to ME!

In July, we were honored with our first TWO wedding showers. I cannot tell you how PERFECT they were. We will definitely cherish those memories forever.

Our very first bridal shower was hosted by Lee Ann, Kristin and Kaylin. They went above and beyond my wildest dreams.

Then we had our Stock the Bar party hosted by my friends Abbey, Hayden, Hailey and Emily.

Michael was SO happy to be included in this shower and it was amazing!

In August, I was honored with another bridal shower in Edmond, OK hosted by my Aunt Kim and cousin Halle. It was SO FUN to get to celebrate with family and friends.

Michael went to New Orleans for his bachelor party and managed to bring home ZERO pictures, except this one. BUT HE SURVIVED!

And I had the BEST TIME EVER in Las Vegas with my girlies to celebrate my Bachelorette party. A BIG thanks to my MOH, Kim for coordinating the greatest trip ever.

Oh, and my parents decided to move to their new home a week before our wedding... We weren't busy at all, hehe!

On September 6, 2014, Michael and I got married at the Golf Club of Oklahoma. It was rainy and the power went out, but it was still by far the BEST day of our lives. I would really love to do it again over and over. I will NEVER EVER forget how amazing that day was.

And then we honeymooned at an amazing resort in Mexico the week after. Gosh, I want to go back.

In October, we got Murphy Miller, a labradoodle that would change our lives forever. I'm pretty darn obsessed with him and I can't imagine life without him. He's a mess, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

We also survived our first major home renovation when our master shower had a leak.

In November, we got a little break from it all and spent time getting our house back in order and decorating for Christmas! We (the hubs) managed to get our house decked out in Christmas lights the weekend before Thanksgiving, even though a few tears and may have been shed by his terrified wife. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Tulsa, followed by a trip to Fort Worth.

December flew by with Christmas parties and celebrations. It was a great end to our year.

 

We are so thankful for 2014. It is a year that holds many many firsts for us and will be a year that we never forget. Next year, we are looking forward to celebrating more weddings, our first anniversary, vacationing in St. Kitts, and spending more time at home with our puppy. I cannot wait to see what unexpected surprises 2015 will hold. If it's anything like 2014, it will be another amazing year.

 

Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

Brianna