Grilled chicken with roasted vegetables

Recipe to follow....

Our story....

Eric and I met back in 2004 while at work.  I was 27, he was 26.  We enjoy running and traveling together, and sometimes we get to combine both interest! We have had our fair share of ups downs, break-ups and make-ups during our "relationship".  But we truly believe that we are meant to be together.  You see... "We are connected in a way that goes beyond romance, beyond friendship, beyond what we've ever had before.  It has defied time, distance, and changes in our lives.  And it has defied every explanation except one:  purely and simply"  WE ARE IN LOVE!   We embrace our differences and celebrate our similarities.  We have definitively grown closer together and are on a mission to make every day count.
I definitely give him a run for his money.  The thing is...  I am a little complicated.   But at the end of the day he would do just about anything to make me happy and put a smile on my face.  I am truly grateful to be in a relationship with such a wonderful man, a man who brings me so much love and joy.

Some wedding pictures 09.16.12

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower with Garlic and Avocado Salad

The following recipe is easy, quick, tasty and healthy.
Broccoli and cauliflower are rich in vitamin C, and garlic adds antioxidant. Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E and B, and folic acid.

Ingredients

1/2 of an avocado

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cut cauliflower florets

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Paprika, pepper flakes, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper to taste

Juice of half lemon or lime.  I used half a lime

Directions

1. Combine the broccoli and cauliflower in a bowl.  Toss with oil, garlic, paprika, pepper flakes, sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  Arrange on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees, stirring once, for about 20 minutes or until lightly brown.  Return to the bowl and toss with the lemon/lime juice.

2. Slice avocado and season with salt and freshly ground pepper

3.  Arrange on a plate and enjoy!

40 Days to Personal Revolution

Tomorrow starts my journey to "awaken the sacred within my soul"

   

Today I had my first meeting with my new group of "40 Days" friends, where we discuss the program.  I also was partnered up with a "buddy", whom I am expected to check in with once a week.  The program starts tomorrow and for the first week we will be meditating for 5 minutes, once in the morning, once at night.  We also must practice yoga for at least 20 minutes a day.  Since I am off from work tomorrow, I will be attending the studio class at 10 am.

If you are wondering what is "40 Days to Personal Revolution", is a daily combination of yoga practice, meditation, balance diet, and personal reflection.  And as the name implies, it must be follow for, you guessed it, 40 days.  The program is divided into six weeks.  Each week you are introduce to two of Baron's laws of transformation.  Each week builds on the previous week teachings.  

The requirements for successful completion of the program are:

1. Daily Yoga practice - 6 days a week, 7th day is a day of rest

2. Daily Meditation - Develop a daily personal meditation practice
3. Balance Diet - Eating wholesome foods.  Week four has a 3-day fruit cleanse
4. Assignments - Complete all weekly questions from book
5. Weekly Meetings - Attend all meetings

Why forty days?  According to an excerpt from dailyom.com, the answer is:
"Because the number 40 holds tremendous spiritual significance in the realm of transformation. Jesus wandered in the desert for forty days in order to experience purification and come to a greater understanding of himself and his mission. Moses and his people traveled through the desert for forty years before arriving at their home in the holy land. Noah preserved the sacredness of life by sailing his ark for forty days and forty nights. According to the Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical text, it takes forty days to ingrain any new way of being into our system, and that is what we are aiming to do here: wipe out the old and welcome the new. In forty days, you can shift into a whole new way of living and being". 


Let the revolution begin! 

A little about me....

• I am....
• A wife and mother
• Wanna-be blogger and Yogi
• Dog mommy
• Wine and coffee loving
• Fitness enthusiast
• 
  

I can't live without

• My son Kevin and my dog Lucky!

• My husband Mr. E

• Coffee

• Vick's VapoRub

• My Laptop

• My iPhone

• Sweets!

I aspire...

• To travel
• To live a fulfilled life

Favorite hobbies

• Working out
• Traveling

• Shopping

• Dancing
• Reading

• Listening to music

Favorite books to read

• Self-help and inspirational books

• Fitness, Fashion and Home Decor magazines

Favorite quotes

• "This is who I am.  Nobody said you had to like it."
• ~Unknown

• 
  

• "The soul needs beauty for a soul mate. When the soul wants, the soul waits." 

• ~U2

• 
  

• "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

• ~Walter Bagehot

• 
  

• ‎"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain"

• ~Dolly Parton

• 
  

In the pursuit of fitness

I've always enjoyed exercise, but tend to lose motivation very fast. I was also a runner and had spend the past year traveling around the country running in half-marathons, but I was a mediocre runner. I have always been intrigue by fitness athlete, but thought that a physique like that was unattainable.

One day while browsing a friend's Facebook page, I came across the profile of an absolutely stunning lady... Lauren Catherine. I was in total awe with her physique, and having the obsessive personality I have, I stalked her Facebook page until I finally found out how she attained such a sculpted body. She was a Mibolife athlete. I browsed the Mibolife website and decided that I if I wanted to obtained my fitness and health goals, I would need to enlist the help of Mibolife's president and owner, Ben Yosef.

When I first met Ben, I explained to him that I was interested in getting my clothes to fit better, and that I wanted to get into the shape of my life. But after meeting Lauren Catherine and the rest of the Team Mibolife Athletes, it was then that I made a decision... I wanted to complete in a figure competition. It was time to really get in shape.

About 37 pounds overweight and tired of just feeling mediocre, I started with a vengeance. The first phase of Ben's consisted on getting me lean, the second part consisted of building my musculature, and last was prepping me for my first figure competition. Ben customized a personalized clean eating plan for me, and we worked out almost every day for at least an hour.  Approximately 7 months and 37 pounds later, I was shopping for new clothes, and ready to step on stage for the first time.

I did not place on my first figure competition and didn't take home a trophy, but I got into the best shape of my life and I get to go home to a loving, supportive family.