Instagram & Beachbody!

So I have been looking into these fun and amazing ways to get my Beachbody business out there. By the way my coach mentor Holly Hillyer is absolutely amazing and our team offers some of the best training I have ever had in any position!

The part I love most about Beachbody is that they don't push the sales, it is not sale, sale, sale! Everything I have learned is preach YOUR story, YOUR progress, and YOUR life! Not sale, sale, sale!

That to me is completely doable. I would rather be a life influencer than a Beachbody influencer. Yes, I want to be more healthy and I want my family to be healthy but I don't just want to push the products I want to get the lifestyle out there. That is the core of being a Beachbody Coach!!

Beachbody makes me happy and that's why I stay a Beachbody Coach! I still have a full time career & I have a growing family but I do this for me!

Instagram has been one of the easiest ways to find more followers and get YOUR story out there! I am using for my property as well as my Beachbody/Personal Life. You can now use your Instagram story and ask questions.

Want to know more?
Want to make a lifestyle change?

I would suggest to anyone looking to start on social media to check out Instagram and get starting! Look up hashtags!

Water Challenge Update

Main Gate Anxiety

So this may be a new military wife thing but does anyone else have super gate ID check anxiety?! 

My first time ever going on to a Military base was with my Husband in Italy. I remember every time we left the house he would go through a check list of everything I needed to make sure we could go on base. So by god by the time I left I was a pro, I knew where everything was and handed it to them in the order they were going to look at it. 

It just made me super nervous! You play out the worst case scenario in your mind...What if I drop my ID and it goes into the missing sock abyss? What if I hold up all of these people? What happens if they for some reason they won't let me in? I just have this fear of them making me hold up traffic or heaven forbid turn around. 

Any time my family is in town they laugh at me because I ask like five times if everyone has their ID before we leave the house. I have this fear my Mother will be the person whose ID is partially melted in their wallet and gets completely stuck. My Dad on the other hand, always has his wallet in whatever bag is located in the trunk, no matter how many times you remind him that he needs it. 

Does the anxiety ever go away? Will I ever just be one of those people that it doesn't bother? Who knows! 

I completely blame my Husband for installing this fear of being stuck at the gate into my mind! He dies laughing when he is in the car with me because not very many things make me nervous but this is one of them! 

Hopefully I am not the only one that checks to make sure they know where their ID is 8 times on the slow roll up to the gate! 

2nd Generation Family Favorite - Rotel Chicken

There weren't many meals growing up that my Brother & I could agree on. I of course was a picky eater and he was not. Now dealing with my own family I understand my Mother's pain. Grayson will eat anything and everything you put in front of him...Eva not so much!

This recipe is super easy, doesn't take a great deal of time, and is also good as left overs!

The quantities I use can always be adjusted to preference I tend to like mine to be a little bit more creamy and my Mother likes to use more chicken.

Ingredients:

1-3 chicken breasts
1-2 cans of Rotel Tomatoes (Mild or spicy)
1 Block of Velveeta
1 can of cream of chicken soup (or two if you like it creamy)
1 bag of egg noodles

This is also fantastic for a family meal on a budget!

First you want to boil your chicken breasts, I normally boil mine 30 mins+ because I am super weird about undercooked chicken. Then once it is done & cooled off just shred it up and lay to the side.

Use the same water that you boiled the chicken in and add more to it so you can cook your eggs noodles.

Egg noodles are super easy to over cook and you don't want them to be all mushy so once the water is boiling dumb in the whole bag and boil for around 10 minutes.

Once your noodles are cooked, drain and I always spritz them with cold water so they do not stick together.

I normally use a half block of Velveeta for this recipe but again personal preference and how much you are making will change this. Cut it up into very small chunks so it will melt easier. (FYI the individual mini blocks are absolutely amazing!)

Put the noodles back in the pot on Medium heat. Pour in your cream of chicken soup, the entire can or cans of Rotel tomatoes, and your Velveeta chunks. Get to stirring!!! You will stir and stir until its all mixed up and the cheese is starting to melt then dumb in your shredded chicken.

Make sure everything is melted and mixed together and there ya go! Easy one pot meal that the whole family will love! We have to cut Grayson off after his second helping!

Let me know if your family likes this dish as much as mine does! 

Drink More Water Challenge!

So today after lots of reading and thought I have decided to do a drink more water challenge with myself....well maybe my Husband because he has a PRT coming up!

There are so many great side effects of drinking more water. Some say that you need to drink a gallon of water a day! Now to me that seems a lot but I want to be able to say I came pretty close!

I know for a fact my skin greatly improves the more water I drink and it helps with digestive issues as well! If anyone has ever been pregnant you know that those are found in abundance!!!! (TMI major digestive issues with all three pregnancies, you are not alone!)

Lets take a look at my redneck math for a moment!

I have my handy dandy tiffany blue yeti, that my amazing husband gave me for my birthday one year. It is 30oz and there are 128oz in a gallon.

If I can drink four of these a day full of tasty ice cold water I will be pretty dang close! Now others might prefer to carry around a gallon of water and that works too! I am extremely clumsy and would just end up dropping it or wearing it so I will stick to something that in my mind is easy and 100% doable!

I have also noticed that the more water I drink helps with my awful morning sickness. I have basically been drowning the nausea away. Sounds completely nuts but hey it works!

It also seems to help with those pesky pregnancy headaches, I am not sure what causes them or where they come from but I know that if I have one I can go and chug a bottled water and grab another one to sip and it starts to ease up.

Now by no means will this 100% work for everyone but I am going to give it a whirl and see if it works for me! If anyone has tried this or has any good advice I would love to hear it!!

Why I started my blog

Russell Sprout #3 Update

So as we round up week 14 of 40, I just wanted to give a little baby Russell Sprout # 3 update.

We tried to cheat and find out early was the sex of baby #3 is but baby had completely different plans. We found a local ultrasound studio that offered $60 sneak peeks. Even though they did call to adjust our time a few times, our experience overall was great. I was extremely spoiled by the "newness" of Nashville so I am having to cope here in Virginia Beach.

The Russell Sprout had both arms and hands over his/her face and had those little legs crossed up so tight! We tried for 30 minutes to get a better look but no luck.

The Daddy person left disappointed and pouting.

The morning sickness has yet to ease up and the energy levels still leave me dragging behind the family but they are being patient with me and allowing me to cut in on Grayson's nap times.

I feel the difference in my level of fitness with this one. I had a ton of energy when I was pregnant with Grayson and I was able to stay active. This one the morning sickness has really kicked butt but we are going to start Beachbody's Maternity friendly workouts this week and see if that helps.

Italian Chicken Bake - Easy Dinner!

So my darling Husband has brought to my attention that I cook the same recipes over and over. Which I have to admit is completely true! I am a creature of habit so once I find something I like I will eat it over and over and over. Well, I guess my Husband isn't so he asked to switch it up. Now I won't really say this one is healthy because it does use a 1/2 stick of butter but its a vegetable, a starch, and a protein so for my picky family its pretty dang healthy!

It is a one pan, 5 ingredient, throw together recipe that was loved by all!

1. 3-4 Potatoes
2. 2 Handfuls of green beans
3. Italian seasoning packet
4. 1/2 Stick of butter
5. 2-3 Chicken breasts

Start out preheating the oven to 350.

Peel 3-4 potatoes, we used just normal ones (russet not sure why that's normal to me) but I am sure red, yellow, or brown would all work. Cut them up into quarters & line along one side of the pan.

We used fresh green beans and I am gonna throw this country bumpkin measurement at ya and say we purchased two handfuls. Rinsed them under cold water and cut the tips off. We probably didn't have to but it just seemed right to me. Place these on the other side of the pan.

We only had two adults eating, one very picky little girl, and a baby that eats everything so I had two HUGE oversized chicken breasts that I cut in half and placed them in the center.

I used a little over a 1/2 a stick of butter. Cut it into little pieces and spread evenly over everything. You can use more or less based on how you like it. I will say that next time I will use a little less.

Now take the Italian seasoning and shake over everything evenly.

Now wrap in Reynolds wrap and place in the oven for 1 hour. ( I wasn't quick enough to catch my timer haha) I would say it maybe took me 10-15 minutes of prep work and most of it was just peeling potatoes and chasing a one year old crazy baby around. The final product was amazing! Both kids loved the potatoes and the Husband got the clean plate award for the night! 

If you try this recipe please let me know how it goes and if it was a family favorite for yours like it was mine! 

Is It The Right Time?

I just hit the ten week mark and per the usual the morning sickness is kicking my butt, I have absolutely no energy, and I feel like all my skin issues are getting worse because I am not able to eat as well. I have learned your diet literally controls every single thing in your body and for any one who has ever had a cyst on their tail bone, you understand my pain! 

After my last Doctors appointment I noticed I dropped even more weight. Now before anyone freaks out, I lost 18 pounds with my son before I started going back up. (Morning Sickness is all day sickness for me) So it brings questions to mind...…..

Will working out help with energy levels?

How would I feel if I started my Shakeology every morning? 

Instead of ice cream I could have my shake? 

Justin could do it with me.... no wait that would make him healthier and lets face it I don't want to be nine months pregnant and my husband be in the best shape of his life. 

What if???

This is the face of a pregnant girl freak out!

The best part about this crazy argument I am having with my self is I know for a fact that Shakeology is a super foods shake & not a weight loss shake. I know that my body needs those extra vitamins because I am throwing up everything that goes down. I remember how great I felt before this move & me falling off the bandwagon and diving my feelings into a bag of honey buns and rum! (Yes that happened) 

So out of all the questions & typing this blog I feel slightly ridiculous and I feel like I am already behind! This Beachbody Coach is getting this crazy life back on track because hell you guys I am about to have to keep up with not one, not two, but three Russell children! I need to be prepared for a triathlon at this point! 

Does anyone want to join me? I will gladly take any Mommy Life friends who just want to feel better & live better!

My Shakeology Page

The Third Baby Meltdown

For almost 5 years all I could imagine having was just Eva. She is my all, my everything, my little Eva Diva! Then I met Justin, (my amazing superhero husband) and everything changed we found out that we were having Baby Russ. (a.k.a Grayson, chunk, the grouch, grumpy baby) I started to worry how in the world can I split my love between the two of them? Would she feel left out? Would she like her brother? Would they get along? 

Needless to say she is the best big sister ever and has a little brother who absolutely adores everything that she does! He will literally just watch her for hours and wants to eat and do everything that she does. I am super lucky & even though they can be completely exhausting and I make my Husband use his Dad voice to create some form of order they are some very well behaved kids. Eva was always teachers pet and so far Grayson pretty much rules his daycare classroom. I have two "Leaders" for kids please pray for me! 

Now I am stuck between a rock and a hard place because WTH am I going to do with 3?! Yes, we found out we are pregnant with number three and while Eva is beyond excited I don't imagine Grayson will like sharing his baby time or his sister very well. (And I thought I was worried before!) There are so many things that go through your mind with a third child! 

Who is going to have to share a bedroom eventually? 

Where am I going to put two car seats? 

How am I going to go to three different sporting events?

How are we going to manage water & beach side with being outnumbered? 

What kind of personality is this one going to have?! 

I find myself laying in bed every night trying to "figure things out" and I get no where but more stressed then feel bad because in my mind I should feel super excited and happy. 

How did everyone else handle their 3rd baby? I would love to hear some feed back! 

But my two are really cute though!

Oh Virginia......The House Buying Horror

So life has been pretty much a disaster since we moved to VA. I can't say that southern hospitality is at a all time high here but I can say the military moms gangs are actually pretty awesome! I have managed to make a few friends and realize that life with two kids isn't all sunshine and barbecues!

We decided to venture in the process of buying a home....biggest mistake of my life. We found our selves stopping by open houses just to see what was out there. Some had paint obviously picked out by a color blind person and others smelled like every stay stray cat in the state of VA had stopped by for a bathroom break. One of the better ones we stopped at had a realtor my husband seemed to click with, he seemed nice enough to me but I know sales is sales and sometimes that diamond is just a rock with glitter on it. None the less he seemed to understand what we were looking for and respected our laid back approach to searching. We quickly figured out that housing here goes fast! Like super fast, meaning the good ones go in 5 days or less. After about the 6th house we missed out on the Hubs and I decided maybe we should start looking a little harder.

After a few after work trips to look at houses we found THE ONE. Completely remodeled, with only a few finishing touches left to complete. Everything was grey scale (just the way I like it) and was in walking distance to the Elementary School. We decided to make an offer! At the suggestion of our realtor we put in a full price offer with some stipulations. Add a deck over the busted up patio, finish the flooring in the sun room & install garage door openers. Keep in mind I assumed that surely the outstanding items to be finished would be completed, example: installing the smoke detectors on the counter, having the house semi cleaned or at least wiped down, removing all the equipment and old appliances from the garage.

Inspection is completed and they only had a few simple things but otherwise said the house looks great.

Closing day arrives on Wednesday and this is where I started to get nervous. They had us do the final walk through the morning of....absolutely nothing had been done! Not a dang thing, nothing cleaned, equipment in the garage, smoke detectors are still sitting on the kitchen table from the time the inspection had been completed the house had not been touched. We were assured that everything would be completed in a timely fashion and to have no worries, said our used car sales man of a realtor. We were advised to proceed with closing by both our mortgage company and our realtor, wanna know why? They just wanted to get paid.

I get off work expecting to go to finally see the house of our family's dreams completely finished. Nothing, had been touched. My husband finally realizes that the crap has hit the fan and starts calling... wanna guess what happens next? No one answers not a soul, no one on our team or the sellers want to answer our calls. We decide that okay maybe it is after business hours and decide to go back to our rental house and hope all is better tomorrow.

Fast forward to Friday night after I get off work. We finally got someone to answer our calls and assured us we had not been forgotten about that they would be there to finish as soon as possible. At this point I had no faith and was already looking to contact an attorney but our wolf in sheep's skin realtor just kept calming my husband down saying "this is a process, this is what it takes to own a home." I knew this as complete crap but hey I have only been in Property Management for 8 years what do I know about customer service. We decide to finally try and take a load of stuff over to our new house, I am so glad that we did. The brand new HVAC that had been installed in January has leaked all over the brand new carpet. Soaked the hallway, the closet, and both of the children's bedrooms. All I could do was cry.

Here we have spent all of our savings buying this house to get out of our rental that flooded and is now covered in mold to have the exact same thing happen again. Two for two on houses in VA! Again, complete radio silence from all parties phones. Except our realtor who basically went to bad so sad but if you have a shop vac I will help you clean it up.

This has been one of the worst experiences our family has ever had to go through. Two weeks later we are finally getting to move into our new home and we are just crossing our fingers that our Homeowners Insurance doesn't sky rocket or drop us after having to make a claim within days of our policy going into place.

I wanted to share this so that any one thinking of buying a house uses people you know and TRUST! People that have amazing reviews and had friends or family use them before. Read the reviews and DO NOT DO WHAT WE DID!