To my friends who entered the Biggest Loser competition, we have 22 participants. That means that the two biggest losers will win $110 each!
Can’t wait to hear how you all do! I’m hoping a combination of meal planning (I planned all of my meals and snacks for the week), scheduling my workouts, and tracking everything what I eat (I use the app MyFitnessPal), the weight will naturally come off. Good luck!
I am hosting a Virtual Biggest Loser Competition. Everyone who wants to enter will put in $10 via PayPal, then the two people who lose the most percentage of weight in five weeks will split the money.
Here are the details:
Sound easy enough? Well, the weight loss might not be so easy, but the competition will be! Make sure to share with those who may be interested because the more people we get involved, the bigger the winnings, and the bigger the motivation!
Let the games begin! Send me your money by next Monday and let me know if you have any questions.
It’s been so fun to do these 12 Days of Christmas posts. It’s gotten me to post about more than just our daily life and think about something Christmasy every single day. But Christmas is obviously more than sparkly sweaters, glittery nails, and Mr. Bean’s nativity. I want to make sure you all know how much I love and appreciate the greatest gift we’ve all been given. The gift of Christ, the Savior to the World. Recently I’ve been relying on His atonement so much in my life, more than the repentance part. I’ve needed His grace to make up the difference in my life when I’m tired and when I feel inadequate as a mother. Life is hard and I’m so grateful for His love to help me each and every day. He sees our efforts and is watching over us with our Heavenly Father. So, this Christmas Day, take time to remember Him and the true meaning of Christmas. I love you all and hope you all have a great day celebrating!
Congrats to Megan Hess! She won the Lolly & Pop giveaway! Thanks for entering, everyone, and don’t forget to check out Lolly & Pop’s store for some adorable hair clips and bows!
Like I’ve said before, I really love dressing up for Christmas. I think it’s because you can get by with wearing sequins, leather, and sparkles much easier. So, obviously, we dressed up in our Christmas Best on Sunday. I wore a gold sparkly sweater (fun fact: I got that sweater at JCP at the end of the season for like $2 so I bought one in three other colors!) with a textured black skirt, my wedges, and a green statement necklace. Eva wore a sparkly red dress, and TJ wore a Christmas skinny tie with a red sweater and blue blazer. Finny Babe was wearing a cute button-up but slept through pics, so we did classic gang only pictures. To make up for it, I took a picture of him in his cute “Santa’s Favorite” onesie and little red mocs which remind me of elf shoes.
I can’t believe Christmas is right around the corner. I’m so ready, but don’t want it to be over because January and February are the wo0o0orst!
Make sure to check out Danica’s blog for her final Christmas outfit linkup! It’s been fun!
This is my ultimate favorite Christmas video. The story is such powerful, Ed Herrman does such a great job narrating (I can’t believe he passed away!), and the music is beautiful. Take time to watch it and share it with others.
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.And in despair I bowed my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
Why do I set up for Christmas and start listening to Christmas music so early? ^^^ This is why! Christmas is almost here. I cannot believe how quickly this month has gone.
So, my pictures for this outfit linkup is just as bad as usual. But at least we took them! On Friday night, we went on a date so I got dressed up but because we were trying to get out of the house so quickly and then got home so late, I skipped the pictures. On Saturday, we went to see The Christmas Carol with TJ’s family, meaning I had another chance to dress up and snap a photo of the outfit.
Unfortunately, you really can’t see the outfit details from these photos, but I’m wearing suede wedges, leather leggings, a silk top under a sequins sweater with my red plaid coat. I kind of love all the different textures in the ensemble and how fancy it looks, yet it’s so comfortable! That Christmas tree photos is SO poor of quality, it makes me laugh, which is why I included it. Sometimes TJ purposely takes funny photos just to make us laugh, like where he’s zoomed up really close on a body part, or looking up so you see a great angle of my double chin. Thanks for being such a good sport, dear husband.
It’s time for another giveaway! This week I’ve partnered up with my friend Kelly over at Lolly & Pop shop to give away $20 to her store. She sells the cutest leather bows and clips, so make sure you enter!
We have had a really busy weekend, so of course I’m a little behind on my 12 days of Christmas blog posts.
This is one of my favorite Christmas videos of all time. Mr. Bean is the best, and I really love all of his Christmas and New Years episodes. They used to be on Netflix, but for some crazy reason were taken off. Enjoy this clip!
A couple years ago, I tried out three sugar cookie recipes. The first was my current favorite, made with shortening. The second was a classic sugar cookie recipe that had a lot of great reviews, but dried up easily. The third turned out to be my all-time favorite. They’re made with sour cream and aren’t terribly sweet, so when you add icing, it’s not a complete sugar overload.
I’ve got a lot of little gifts to hand out, like for neighbors, TJ’s coworkers, and teachers, so one evening this week I made a batch of cookies. When I started, I thought it looked like it wouldn’t make enough so I doubled the recipe. Turns out I made about 80 cookies… whoops! I guess one batch would have sufficed. But, oh well! You can really never have too many cookies, am I right?
Here’s the recipe. I cook mine for exactly 11 minutes. 10 minutes might even be better, but anything longer than 12 won’t make them taste as good, in my opinion.
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