february highlights.

Well February brought warm, sunny picnic days and iced-in, snowy no school days! I got the best of both worlds. Definitely ready for green grass and flowers to make their Spring debut.

Here are a few highlights from the second month of the year:

• I started a new Bible study called "The Five Aspects of Womanhood." My school nurse, Darlene, is leading it. There's a mix of young and old ladies. Single, married, dating and divorced. Women from the U.S., Great Britain and South Africa. I cannot say how thrilled I am about this in-depth, transparent and life-changing study!
• Stephen and I went to a Progressive Two Step dancing class! I must say the only way I got him to go was by not telling him. At first, he wasn't too excited, but he got over it. We went with one of my co-workers, Jennifer and her better half. Stephen and I are definitely terrible dancers, but it was fun.
• I got to have lunch with Stephen at his job! It's always really nice to not be around 14 year olds at lunch time. 
• Hannah came in for a quick trip! We literally talked the whole time, went to our usual Greek restaurant and she took care of me. I got some weird 24 hour virus :( 
• I GOT MY BRACES OFF!!!!!!!!!!!! PTL for basically being 25 and finally having teeth again! Also, my orthodontist is better than yours. Why? They give their adult patients a bottle of wine when they get their braces off. Hello, free bottle of Merlot. (Yeah...I took an at-work selfie)
• Stephen and I were supposed to go to a Stars hockey game last night, but due to the 4-5 inches of snow/ice we received yesterday there was no way we could safely make it south. Bummer. Notice how deep those footprints are in the snow!

my valentine.

Stephen and I originally thought we would be in separate places for Valentine's Day so we celebrated early and then we ended up being together so we celebrated again!

The week before last week, I decided to send Stephen a formal dinner invitation for February 7th at 7 o'clock in the evening. He said yes!

I really tried to do it up right. I set the table (correctly), bought candle sticks, bought a jukebox so we could have some jams (The Red Hot Chili Peppers greatest hits CD) haha. I'm laughing thinking about how silly I am.

I bought all the ingredients, including the fillet mignon, from Sprouts. I watched numerous YouTube videos on how to properly cook a restaurant style steak. This is the recipe I followed for the process. I seasoned mine with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper on both sides. That's it and they were amazing! Like A-Mazing.

For the mashed potatoes, I followed my mom's famous recipe! It is as follows (for a small serving):

Ingredients:

• 4 red potatoes
• 1 can pet milk (found in baking section)
• 1-2 TB butter
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes and boil with water.
2. Boil until you can stick a fork in them and they are really soft.
3. Once potatoes are really soft, drain water and mix with hand mixer.
4. Add butter, salt, pepper, and HALF a can of pet milk.
5. Taste. If more salt or pet milk is needed, then add it.

I made sweet potato mash for myself. Basically, it is the same recipe as above except I omitted the pet milk!

For my asparagus, I followed this one.

It ended up tasting and turning out beautifully, but only because I spent an honest amount of time prepping and planning for it. I mean I was adding the steaks to our plates as Stephen was ringing the doorbell. Perfect timing! His job was to bring the Merlot and he did a great job!

I'd say I met my 2014 New Year's Resolution "cook more."

I'll be honest and say I did not bake a dessert. I picked up an individual slice of cheesecake from Tom Thumb and it did not disappoint.

Set Timer Photography!

We spent the evening sipping wine, visiting, and enjoying my $30 jukebox! I'm still daydreaming about how perfect it was. :)

As mentioned above, we celebrated twice.

On actual Valentine's Day, Stephen surprised me with roses, wine and a sweet card:) and had the idea of having a picnic. Uh, yes please! We went to Eatzis (aka Heaven on Earth) and picked up our lunch. I got a salad and he mashed potatoes and chicken. Stephen insisted on getting a dessert.

Side note: I can have self control and not get dessert. Stephen doesn't have self control and always gets dessert. Now on the flip side, he can take TWO BITES and be done. I take ONE BITE and can't stop. I hate it! So yeah he took 2 bites. I took 12.

We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a fancy picnic blanket and then headed to Arbor Hills. Y'all, it was sunny and 75. The perfect day for a picnic. We also brought a little Boss music player and listened to George while we ate.

It was seriously one of my favorite days since I moved to Plano and I got to spend it with my favorite person.

I'm excited to spend many more Valentine's with my one and only Valentine.

21 dsd and why.

Last summer I heard about the 21 Day Sugar Detox by Diane Sanfilippo. I read many blog posts about it and decided to order the book. I tried it in August and failed because I didn't prepare and plan enough. After this past holiday season, I decided to give it another chance and kick sugar to the curb and...

Here's the real reason I was determined to stick with this program the second time around: PCOS.

This may be a little bit of TMI, but I want other women out there to know there's more than taking another drug to "cure" your illnesses. I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) in early of March 2014 after years of having irregular or no periods at all. This was a huge relief to finally know the cause of my cycle irregularity, but also disheartening when I was told the only "cure" was birth control and, in the future, when I wanted to get pregnant I'd have to rely on "fertility drugs."

After 10 years of dealing with an irregular period, I had tried one birth control pill after another. None of them ever made my body feel good. I always suffered from depression and emotional roller coasters...so I was not about to get on the birth control bandwagon again. Instead, I started doing my own research.

I learned most women with PCOS are overweight. If they follow a diet of high healthy fat, no grains and low sugar, then usually their cycles will regulate. I'm not overweight, but I decided to experiment and follow this eating plan. At this point, I was willing to give up my chocolate chip cookies and froyo. In August, I buckled down by increasing by healthy fat and cutting out sugar. Guys plug your ears. I ended up having a period in August. In September. In October. In November - while training for a half marathon!. In December. And in January. I have never in my life been that regular! And guess what, y'all? I didn't take one stinkin' prescription drug to make it happen. I did it 100% naturally. Praise God for making our bodies so perfectly!!!

Now, you may be wondering why I found it necessary to complete the 21 DSD if what I was eating was already helping me cycle regularly.

Here's why.

I didn't really follow any specific plan or recipes in the fall. I didn't have any accountability and I "cheated" a lot. I wanted to experiment with cutting out sugar for 21 days (and grains and dairy) following an exact meal plan so that I had legitimate proof eating like this works and could give other women with PCOS something to go by!

This is what I learned through completing Diane's 21 Day Sugar Detox.

1. Fat does not make you fat.

2. Cutting out sugar takes away the cravings (seriously!).

3. You have way more energy.

4. And sleep like a baby.

5. Your hormones are in check AND working properly! (PS Menstrual cramps are way less intense!)

Ladies, if you can commit to fueling your body with the real food we were created to consume, then health problems have the potential to be healed. (No I'm not a doctor, but I have experienced this first hand) Filling a car that runs on gasoline with diesel isn't going to turn out well. Neither will fueling your body with Cheetos and Oreos. Make wise food choices. Just do it! Cutting out sugar for 21 days was so good for me I'm doing another round! My girl, Hannah, is joining me again too :)

Here are some recipes I experimented with and loved:

• Primal Jambalaya
• Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa
• Chocolate Almond Butter Banana Smoothie
• Banana Bread (omitted coconut sugar & used green tipped banana for 21 dsd)
• Carrot Pumpkin Spice Muffins
• Mexican Tortilla Less Soup
• Meatloaf
• Chicken Soup
• Apple Streusel Egg Muffins
• Pad Thai with Chicken

Here are some blogs where I found some awesome recipes:

• Primal Palate
• Nummy for my Tummy
• Against All Grain

Disclaimer: I'm not saying birth control is all evil and no one should ever use it. I'm saying it didn't work for me and there are other options out there.