Post-Keto Food I’m Dreaming About

September 23, 20171 Comment

If you haven’t already heard, I’ve been doing Keto since the end of June! My first blog post about it is here, and you can see my first before-and-after shot on my Instagram. My husband and I started Keto because we were in a total rut with our eating habits and needed something intense to snap us out of it. And it absolutely has. Daniel lost 23 pounds before he quit, and I’ve lost about 25! But my last 10 pounds have been the hardest to lose, and I am seriously about to scream. Daniel quit Keto early because he had already hit his weight goal and actually lost more than he meant to. Terrible problem, right?? Excuse me while I go punch something. Annnnnyway, I decided to keep going because I was so close to my goal. At first, it was fine doing Keto alone. Daniel told me not to cook anything different, which was really sweet. The next time I went to the store, I bought him a few snacks that I knew he missed (which he obviously appreciated). But as the weeks have gone by, I have found myself growing more and more impatient with my weight loss plateau. Y’all, I’ll be honest – I’m about done with this. I miss food like WHOA. Over the last week or so, I’ve been working on a list of all the specific things I can’t wait to eat as soon as I’m done with Keto, and OMGlookatallthecarbs:

French fries. (Far and away, the thing I’ve missed most.)
Biscuits.
Pancakes.
Pasta.
Warm, melty chocolate chip cookies.
All versions of popcorn.
Donuts.
Tortillas.
Chips.

And weirdly, that’s pretty much it! If you read my other post about all the foods I gave up in my first month, you’ll notice that list is significantly longer. I’ve been surprised by how many things I thought I would miss more that I haven’t really missed much at all. Even though we had to give up a lot of things, Keto was not that hard of a diet. We’ll definitely return to it in the future we we need a jumpstart again. In the meantime…….I’M SO READY TO BE DONE. Pray that these last 4-5 pounds will finally come off. And pray that I will have self-control not to stuff myself with carbs and gain all that weight back in the first three days.

For my buddies doing Keto – you’re doing so great!! Don’t give up!

What It’s Like to Own a Dog

September 13, 20173 Comments

Oddly enough, having a dog is exactly what I thought it would be and nothing like what I thought it would be, all at the same time. I know it sounds weird and confusing, but it’s just true! I spent almost 26 years of my life wanting a dog, and I felt exactly as excited as I expected to feel when we got Fitz. And yet my expectations for what it would be like to actually own a dog haven’t always been accurate. I’ve been surprised by how many different feelings this furry tornado has made me feel – everything from shock, to disgust, to anger, giddiness, pride, intense worry, and – of course – unbelievably fierce love.

Like I said, I always wanted a dog. I asked for one for my birthday every single year until I went to college. (Sidebar – for my 16th or 17th birthday, I asked for a car, a dog, and a phone. And I got a Hot Wheels Car, a stuffed dog, and a plastic baby phone. Thanks Mom and Dad.) But even after all those years of dreaming, I never thought I would get overly attached to a dog before Fitz came home to live with us. I poked fun at people who called their dog their ‘best friend,’ and don’t even get me started on the people who call them their ‘babies’ or their ‘children.’ But I found out how much Fitz actually mattered to me on the day he pulled the leash out of my hands to chase a stray out of our front yard and I thought I’d lost him for good.

To give you some context: we didn’t get Fitz when he was a brand new puppy. He didn’t come to live with us until he was about 7 months old, so while we TRIED to crate train him and teach him how to take walks like a normal dog without pulling our arms out of our sockets, it was much more difficult than it would have been starting with a younger puppy. He is incredibly strong, and although he has a really nice harness that he can’t pull himself out of, he can pull the leash out of my hands, and there’s not really much I can do about that. Anytime he has gotten loose, he just runs. He’s not a good listener once his mind is set on something across the street, especially if it’s another dog. So I’m not exaggerating when I say that when he jerked the leash out of my hands, I’m pretty sure my heart literally stopped beating. I truly can’t remember another time in my entire life when I felt that panicked about anything. I ran barefoot across our front yard that was covered in stickers without even feeling them. I had to stop zooming down our driveway to make myself breathe normally and keep from hyperventilating, because it was getting dark and I had heard the sound of a car swerving down the street just seconds after he ran off. Worst. hour. of. my. life. Thank God for a tribe of friends who were willing to drop whatever they were doing, hop in their cars, and help me look for him. Thank God that my friend Alesha found him and somehow – seriously, by God’s grace alone – managed to get him in her car.

That hour proved that I really did fall in love with Fitz. I had no clue how much of my heart he had stolen until I thought I would never see him again. I never could have guessed, when we got him almost two years ago, that I would fall totally in love and would continue to love him even though he ripped up all of our outdoor furniture cushions, has shed enough hair to cover about 57 other dogs, and NEVER stops begging for a bite off of our plates (and steals bites when we aren’t looking). I can’t really remember life without him, and even though he’s a pretty terrible roommate, I wouldn’t trade him for all the money in the world.

The Best Alfredo Sauce You’ll Ever Try

August 16, 20171 Comment

GUYSSSSSSSS. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to share this recipe with you before now. I’m sorry, honestly. Because you’ve been living your whole life eating sub-par alfredo sauce, when you could have been eating this creamy goodness.

I found this recipe on the “Mmm…Cafe” blog via Pinterest a few years ago, and I haven’t used another recipe since. I’m not an “alfredo sauce out of a jar” kind of girl; it’s soooo much better when it’s homemade. But if you ARE an “out of a jar” kind of person, just know that this recipe is incredibly easy and doesn’t take much time to make. We’ve eaten it on top of all kinds of pasta, and we even ate it just with chicken when we couldn’t have pasta because of the Keto diet! No matter how many times I make it, it always tastes just as good.

HOMEMADE Alfredo Sauce

Literally the best. You won’t find a better recipe than this.

PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES
COOK TIME: 20-25 MINUTES
YIELD: 2½ cups

INGREDIENTS

½ cup butter
½ tsp. garlic
2 oz. cream cheese
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper
⅔ cup Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

In a medium-to-large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for one minute or until fragrant. Add cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Whisk in heavy cream. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and whisk frequently until sauce thickens, approx. 15 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and reduce heat; remove from heat once cheese is melted and serve immediately over pasta. Garnish however you like – chicken, shrimp, fresh herbs, or (my personal fav) extra Parmesan!

I mean….you’re welcome. ;) Go forth and cook!

DIY Gift for a Mama-to-Be

August 7, 20176 Comments

For those of you who don’t already know – MY COUSIN IS PREGNANT!! And I’m over the moon!!! (Obviously, because of all the exclamation points.) I’m so ready to cuddle Mini Briggs this fall, and I’ve thrown myself into baby shower planning, especially now that we know Mini B is a BOY. :) I’m a big gift giver, though, so I couldn’t stop myself from giving Jennifer a “mama-to-be” present a few weeks after she told me she was pregnant.

In the basket:

Tums Chewables
Baby book
Mom’s favorite snacks
Water bottle
Stretch mark cream
Baby boots (gender neutral)
Prenatal vitamins
Super-soft black leggings

I also got her a 10×10 wood pallet wall hanging (not pictured) and some mini bottles of paint. She loves crafting, and I knew she’d enjoy making something for the nursery!

A DIY gift basket like this doesn’t have to be complicated. If you know the mom really well, pick things that make you think of her, things you know she’ll like. If you DON’T know the mom well enough to pick out her favorite things, that’s okay! Avoid the snacks and stick to the more practical stuff, like comfy PJs, gender-neutral baby items, and pregnancy survival necessities. No matter what you give her, though, make sure you pick out a sweet card. Or better yet, write a note inside the baby book!

Mamas, what was the best pregnancy/baby gift you received?

Colorado Road Trip: Part II

August 2, 2017August 2, 20171 Comment

If you missed Part I of this trip, read this post first!

I honestly don’t know how people drive safely in Colorado. Everywhere you look, the view is constantly like this:

And for those of you who have been to Colorado before, you know this picture doesn’t even do it justice. I mean, seriously – how do drivers keep their eyes on the road?? The closer we got to Pagosa Springs, the more beautiful the view became, and I, for one, couldn’t stop staring.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I completely forgot to take any pictures of our cabin. But I did snap a few of the view from our wraparound porch! This one ⇓ was taken from the front door, facing the driveway…

…and this one ⇓ was taken from the side. If the photo panned further to the right, you’d be able to see that the trees get even thicker. This was my favorite spot to sit and read – the air was clear, the view was spectacular, and the atmosphere was so calming. It did my heart good.

One of my favorite things we did on the trip was go whitewater rafting! My parents aren’t super outdoorsy, particularly my dad, but they had gone rafting on several trips they took together and knew they wanted to take the rest of us. We rafted the San Juan River with the guys from Pagosa Outside, and it was a BLAST! Our guide was hilarious, and I was really thankful that they put us in full wetsuits – the water in the river was snow less than 12 hours before we were splashing around in it! I have nothing but good things to say about that day.

Another place we visited that was really enjoyable was Chimney Rock! It doesn’t look very big in the picture below that I took from the highway, but trust me. It’s ENORMOUS.

Funny story (actually not really that funny), we ended up going to Chimney Rock twice! Our original plan was to check out Mesa Verde, but we decided it was a bit too far of a drive from where we were staying, so we looked for something a bit closer. Chimney Rock was only about 20 minutes from our cabin, so we drove up after lunch. We paid for parking and entrance to the area, only to find out after going on a truly dumb self-guided walking tour that we were too late for the actual hike up to Chimney Rock. Which the park volunteers neglected to tell us before taking our money. *facepalm* So basically, we paid to walk around a sidewalk for 30 minutes before going back to the cabin. We were very frustrated, but Dad really wanted us to get to explore the mountain, so we went back again later that week. And it really was incredible! I’m not a big history buff, but I love looking at old structures and imagining the people who lived there, and I’m always a sucker for a good view.

This is about as close as we were able to get – the trail leading closer to the rock mounds had gotten really scary, and they don’t take guests that way anymore. The pictures don’t even do justice to how huge they were.

Aaaaaaaaaand this is what happens when you try to get Daniel to take a picture of you jumping in the air on top of a mountain.

We could literally see for miles. One of the most incredible views I’ve ever seen.

The rest of the week was spent watching movies, eating, and taking turns washing dishes after discovering that the cabin we were staying in didn’t have a dishwasher. Lol. But it was an amazing week, regardless, and I hope we get to go back!

P.S. Oh and also, for the sentimental types: I met Daniel 8 years ago today, on August 2nd, 2009. EIGHT. YEARS. AGO. Time flies! ♥

Literally Just a List of Food I Haven’t Eaten in a Month

July 21, 2017July 21, 20176 Comments

Bread, in all its glorious forms.
Pasta.
Rice.
French fries.
Mashed potatoes.
Baked potatoes.
Scalloped potatoes.
Sweet potatoes.
ALL POTATOES OKAY.
Ice cream.
Cake.
Chocolate chip cookies.
All other (less worthy) desserts.
Milk.
Pizza.
Chips.
Tortillas.
Donuts.
Carrots.
All fruit, except berries.
Fried food.
Soda.
Juice.
Lemonade.
Snow cones.
Corn.
Gum, mints, and candy.
Crackers.
Pretzels.
Popcorn.
Granola bars.

We started the Keto diet on June 21, meaning it has been exactly one month since we’ve eaten any of those things. And you know what? I’ve survived. I didn’t think I would, but I have. This is sort of a humble-brag (sorry), but I really just want to be able to come back to this post and remember that I actually did this. I’m not saying I want to do Keto forever, but what a wake-up call it has been! God has been really gracious to me, because I was truly expecting Keto to be the worst, hardest thing ever…and it honestly has not been half as bad as I thought it would be. I’ll be thankful forever that we decided to do this. I am more disciplined about food than I have ever been in my life, even when I was doing the DietBet. I’m praying earnestly that God gives me the ability to maintain this new discipline, especially if and when we allow ourselves to start eating some of those things again. But in the meantime, while we’re still on Keto, I’ll eat all the bacon, cheese, butter, and cream I want and enjoy it with all my heart. ;)

Would anyone be interested in hearing more about our decision to do this or taking look at my recipes and meal plans? Let me know in the comments, and I might do a follow-up post!

Colorado Road Trip: Part I

July 18, 2017October 31, 20176 Comments

Ahhhhh, this trip was such a breath of fresh air – literally! Colorado fully exceeded my expectations and was unbelievably beautiful. Neither Daniel nor I had ever been to Colorado before, and this was also our first time to go on vacation with my family. So many wonderful memories were made!

The first leg of our journey took us through Amarillo to pick up my brother, Corey. He’s a meteorologist for KAMR, and an amazing one at that. We got a tour of his station, stood in front of the green screen and pointed at nothing, and even watched him do the weather live from inside the studio! Proud sister moment. :)

The next morning, we drove the rest of the way to Colorado and made it to our cabin, which I somehow managed to take ZERO PICTURES OF. *facepalm* Regardless, it was comfy and cute and had a terrific view! I’ll share some picture of the view from the front porch in my next post.

Our week was spent relaxing, watching movies, playing games, and taking in the scenery through several means, including whitewater rafting and hiking. Our first activity was taking the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train from – you guessed it – Durango to Silverton. We had a front-row seat to mountain views and the rushing river from our open-air car, and it was an amazing experience!

Silverton, it turns out, is just baaaaarely a town. Definitely touristy, but it was easy to navigate and I was very impressed with the shopping. Almost every store carried genuinely cute, clever things I had never seen before, and the downtown walk through all the little shops really was enjoyable. Especially when all you had to do was glance up and see huge mountains towering above everything else around you. *sigh*

Can you imagine if that were your Main Street??

After we got back to the cabin, Daniel and Corey decided that they wanted to take me and Robyn on a hike to a spot they visited the night before. Little did I know how much further they would take us past the point they hiked to before, and how much I would hate everyone by the time we were done. Lol. The altitude was killing me, and I felt out of breath after going just a few yards. But we made it to the top of a pretty significant peak, and the view from the top was choice.

This is the face of a girl who realized she had to climb all the way back down and already hated everything after scaling a very steep mountain and almost dying.

But still. That view, right??

Part II coming soon!

Alaska Anniversary Photo Shoot

July 12, 2017July 12, 20177 Comments

When Daniel and I took our Alaskan cruise, one of the most exciting parts of the trip was meeting up with one of our wedding photographers in Juneau for a 5-year anniversary shoot. And honestly, the whole day feels like I dreamed it. There were a few mishaps, like the fact that our original location was covered up by clouds and it rained on us a lot. But it really didn’t matter because we had the most incredible time wandering around Mendenhall Lake with Catie, and I will treasure these pictures forever!

Nugget Falls. Aka, the waterfall of my dreeeeeams.

Cool story – see that glacier behind us? The adventure excursion we took later that day included paddling across the lake, hiking up on top of the glacier, and exploring the ice caves underneath!! AH-MAY-ZING. Pictures from that part of our trip are here.

In this next little mini segment, Catie told Daniel to cuddle up close and whisper in my ear. So naturally, he did this: ⇓ ⇓

Catie: “Whisper sweet nothings!”
Daniel (seductively): “I love asparagus…”

Man, I like him.

The pose above has almost become a “signature” for us – we have an engagement picture and a wedding picture posed and positioned exactly like this, so I asked Catie to take one like them to keep the accidental tradition going.

SIGH. I seriously want to take a photographer on all our vacations now. So dreamy! Thanks again, Catie! ♥

30 By 30 Update, June 2017

June 25, 2017June 25, 20171 Comment

Y’all I’m SO FIRED UP right now!! I have checked a bunch of stuff off my list lately, and I’m totally giddy. Something about crossing things off of a checklist gives me a boost of energy to go cross everything else off. Haha! Here’s what I’ve done since my last update in November:

#2 – Take an Alaskan cruise. I cannot appropriately explain how mind-blowingly awesome this trip was. We got to visit Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Plus, we got to take anniversary pictures in Juneau (SWOON) and hang out with friends on our last day in Seattle! Dreamy, amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m still reeling from the beauty of it all.

#6 – Read 10 new books. I really feel like I’m on a roll with this one. I’ve finished a bunch since my last update, and I’m excited about the ones in my ‘queue’. So far, I’ve read Bossypants by Tina Fey, The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon, The Defining Decade by Meg Jay, Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown, and Wild and Free by Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan. Our community group from church is reading The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller, and I’m also working my way through Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers again (I’ve read it before, but MAN it’s so good).

#11 – Deliver meals to new parents. So far, we’ve taken food to the Whitley family to celebrate baby Abigail, and the Newton family to celebrate baby Éowyn! And there are lots more babies coming this year (including my first niece, Karis – she’s a doll!!), so I know we’ll get to do this again. :)

#18 – Take anniversary pictures with Daniel. Check check CHECK!! I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to top the experience of one of our wedding photographers, the amazing Catie Bartlett, taking our pictures at a glacial lake in Alaska.

#20 – Update my home décor. Technically this one was already on my last update, but I’ve added new things since! I got a gorgeous wooden ‘Oklahoma’ from my mom for Christmas, I updated our living room bookcases with new decorations, added a gallery wall in our master bedroom, and finally decorated the guest bathroom with an easy DIY craft project that I unfortunately did not take pictures of – bad Laura.

#21 – Make our backyard fun. There’s still lots to do, but adding some globe string lights and a planter of wildflowers definitely improved the back porch!

#26 – Visit 5 new states. Washington, Alaska, and Colorado are new additions – three down, two to go! We technically visited Utah…but we were only in the airport, so it doesn’t really count.

#30 – Take a road trip. The Simma clan family vacation to Colorado helped me knock this one out. Wayyy too many hours spent in the car, but lots of music, pretty views, snacks, and inside jokes with my siblings made it better.

Can’t wait to keep checking more off of this list – almost a third of the way through, and I still have 2½ years to finish the rest! To check out what else is on my list, go here.

Five Years.

June 9, 20172 Comments

Five years. We’ve been married for five whole years. Five is a “milestone” year, right? It feels like one. We aren’t in the glorious throes of parenthood or figuring out what it’s like to be middle-aged yet, but we’re not exactly newlyweds anymore either. We’ve laughed a lot. We’ve traveled a lot. We’ve stumbled, fallen, and helped each other up a lot. I earnestly hope that God allows us decades more of doing life together!

Daniel – I love you more and most. Thanks for embracing my crazy and not running away. :) Happy Anniversary!