Spark and a clean house

It is no secret to anyone in my life that I.love.Spark. Deeply and madly. It is one of the first few things on my mind when I wake up, everyday. Within the first hour I tried it for the first time, I knew it was something I was going to be best friends with for the rest of my life. It is truly that amazing.

Even though we have been sick and fairly run down lately, Justin and I mixed up a Spark the other day after laying on the couch for a few hours. Minutes later I found him in the kitchen doing dishes and I was getting ready to iron a huge stack of clothes. He finished the dishes, grabbed our cleaning supply bucket and said, "I swear there is something in Spark that makes you want to clean!" (I started thinking, maybe I should make it for him by the gallon!;)) Now, I cannot attest that cleaning frenzies are the case for everyone...but, I will tell you....it is our "get 'er done" drink of choice, for sure! I know many, many people feel the same. 

Why SPARK, you ask? Simply put: it is a healthy, nutritionally balanced source for energy. For all you coffee, coke and Red Bull peeps out there...take a look at some of the comparisons below. Not only does Spark knock them OUT of the ballpark in nearly every category, but Spark tastes GOOD. And I mean real good:) 

If you can answer yes to any of the questions below...Spark will be your friend, I promise.

Have trouble waking up or feels "energy slumps" throughout the day?
Can't work up enough energy to live life the way you want?
Looking for a more nutritious alternative to coffee, soda or other energy drinks?

Let me know if you have questions or check out this page to find out more info on how Spark could just possibly help you get your hubby to clean the house, too :) 

House Proud

Justin Gresham

I hope the day never comes when my wife has to choose between me or Nate Berkus. I think I would lose.


Do you watch The Nate Berkus show?? Justin posted the above quote on FB the other day and while it is NOT true...I do love me some Nate! If you love design,  DIY projects, etc. and do not know who NB is...promise me you will dvr his show soon....you will love him, too. ;)


I know Justin struggles to understand why (which, is actually OK with me:)), but I am an unashamed NB groupie. I cannot help or avoid it. One of my favorite parts of his show is his "House Proud" segment where people submit photos and videos of elements of their homes they are proud of. I love seeing all the creativity and unique ideas people come up with and it makes me ITCH to be in a house, soon. Don't get me wrong...I do love our 3rd floor bungalow! There are so many limitations with an apartment (i.e. only allowed to paint ONE wall. Well, I guess we broke that rule) that make it feel fairly un-workable, sometimes. Sometimes, my head will spin with ideas to make this place come even more to life, but I quickly curb my ideas and put them in a mental file folder until we are in a space that allows us to rip up carpet, paint an entire room and stain our kitchen cabinets. I keep thinking we might really help out the apartment complex rent out our space if they did allow these things!! Not so sure they agree with me on this issue!


Hopefully, soon, we will have a House Proud of our own and mayyyyyybe can score a seat on the NB show!!! ;)

Yuck.

I hate being sick. Really hate it. For the last two weeks I have been battling some crud like crazy and I think (hope) I am at the end of it. Justin joined me in on the fun halfway through my journey, so we have been sickly little ones for quite some time now...no fun!

Not to fret, though: we are all hyped up on meds. For real. Our medicine cabinet is chock-full of all the 'nighttime sniffling sneezing coughing aching' gunk you can imagine and surely we are non-contagious at this point. We have felt much older than 26 this past week, constantly reminding each other to take their respective pills. Dang germs. 


Aside from getting our money's worth our Netflix subscription by watching many, many SVU episodes (as in close to an entire season), we have tried not to miss out on too much life (I'm sure contributing to why we are taking so long to get better!) 


Last weekend, we celebrated Justin's 26th birthday by bowling, touring Rahr & Sons brewery in Ft. Worth, getting him his first massage, a good 'ole Palio's pizza birthday meal followed by a trip to the Minute Clinic -yahoo! I did not get to 'shout out' to my sweet husband on his birthday via bloggerworld, so here it is in all it's glory: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, J!! Pretty glad you were born and I absolutely adore and love you more than you know. :)

The "gingers" blowing out their brownie cake. Sam is a 

Christmas baby!

Some of the bowling group. Good friends :)

In one of our more 'under the weather' moments, but

still having a great time at Rahr! ;)

Main take-aways from this blog: Happy Birthday, Justin and everyone should bump up your Vitamin C intake!

Cheers to staying healthy~

Just Do It.

Today is a revolutionary day, indeed. A day in which something old will be tossed into the trash and something new, glorious and perfect will therein take it's place. I have been waiting for today for quite some time, though, I did not realize how ready I was for today until today actually arrived. Today is a revolutionary day for...my feet. 


Ladies, I got my first pair of Cole Haan "Air" heels today. And they.are.phenomenal! When I put them on, I literally heard my feet singing my praises for ordering these babies...I think they feel spoiled :) If you are a regular heel-wearer, you must try these on. I wear heels everyday for work and am standing on hard, tile flooring most of the day. My feet take a beating and I have not found a pair of shoes that have helped remedy how bad they (and sadly, my lower back) ache sometimes. Until I got my Air Talias. 


Geniously, Cole Haan teamed up with Nike and their 'Air Technology' to create the closest thing to a "perfect" heel that I have ever experienced. A sincere blessing to the heel-wearing women of the world, I submit. I am actually looking forward to waiting and standing on cold, tile floor for obscene amounts of times, now. No aching feet or back from this girl; I've got the 'swoosh' working in my favor. 


Yes, they are plain but I chose the most basic, black, leather heel because for my job they will be the most practical and useful. They are one of my Christmas gifts from my parents (thanks, guys!), and I am so thrilled to start wearing the heck out of them! You can check out all the Air Technology heels Cole Haan has to offer here. They also make them for men, too. Shoes...not heels. Unless you're into that sorta thing. 


Though they are definitely not an inexpensive shoe, they are certainly quality and these days I am all about quality. Over the holidays I did a MAJOR closet revamp and purged so many items that have just been hogging closet space for years. Literally, there were things that have been moved from College Station to my parents home, to my apartment in Dallas, back home, and finally to our apartment now...completely unworn with each move. Transporting and carrying clothes is my most HATED part of a move and I keep thinking of how much wasted time and muscles over the years these threads have cost me. But that is beside the point. The point was to simplify and de-clutter. 


A few hours and a several 'get real with yourself, you are never going to wear that again' moments later, I felt rejuvenated. I stepped back and stared at our now color and season coordinated, simplified closet (will last for all of 1 week, I'm sure) and the HUGE pile of items I set aside to donate. Because probably none of you really care that I cleaned out my closet (nor do I blame you), here comes the purpose of this really deep, thought-provoking blog ;). There was a dominant, consistent theme to the items that made it to the donated pile. Wanna know what it was? Inexpensive, impulse purchases that embraced not a single smidgen of quality. Things that at one point I was thrilled to have because I could get 5 shirts instead of 1 and therefore made my money "go further." I know they did look cute....that one time. But, after they were washed - they took a turn for the worse and turned into an extra load to carry up the stairs come moving day.


I am migrating from that mentality I have had for many years: "more is better" or "quantity over quality." I have always loved to see how much I can get for my money and I would like to think this is being a savvy shopper! However, I am really learning that in terms of my wardrobe and shoe rack, more is not always better. Case in point: Tonight, I will throw away several pairs of cheap, scuffed-up, uncomfortable black heels and replace them with one quality, God-sent and comfortable pair of JUST DO IT heels. They are sufficient and oh-so-worth every penny.  

I now subscribe to the "less is more" and "quality over quantity" mentalities but would it be hypocritical for me to already have my eyes on this pair of heels?! 

If you ask me, these are pretty perfect and I most likely would not mind having these adorn my small shoe collection. The Nike marketing team is taunting me with their unfriendly slogan now...."Just Do It." I'll try to resist :) 

Pear Budget

Most likely, as with everything, I am behind times in knowing this. However, last night, my friend Courtney at CrossFit DFW introduced me to a budgeting website that I am already just loving! 


The site is called PearBudget.com and brace yourselves: it is awesome. The website tagline is "Really Simple Budgeting" and you know what word I love? Duh, it's 'SIMPLE'! Yep, call me a simpleton if you wish, but I love how stinkin' easy this site makes it to budget and keep track of all of our many "ins" and "outs"! 


Over the past few months, I have tried to use the online money-tracker system my bank offers and even create my own excel budgeting system to help us stay on track. All of which have ended up overwhelming me and failing miserably. (Let's be honest....I didn't really pay THAT good of attention in my college INFO 229 class, so it is to no surprise that my self-made budgets are lacking in simplicity and more importantly...efficacy). 


Enter: Pear Budget. This bomb.com website allows you to plan your expenses,  and track them against what you actually spend. It is clean, simple and safe (does not link to any account - everything is entered manually by the user). The greatest thing about Pear Budget is that you can split your expenses into so many specific categories, which is extremely helpful. Like my friend Courtney told me - think about a receipt from Target. In one trip you could have purchased groceries, medicine, clothes, and household items such as cleaning supplies. Looking at "Target" on your bank statement is not a very specified way of tracking how that money was truly spent. Pear Budget knew that you were having this problem and allows you to enter and categorize your receipts, tracking every penny that trickles in and every one that flies ever so quickly out the door. The best part of it all: Pear Budget does all the hard number-crunching, formula calculating for you. SCORE!


You can do a 30-day trial for free and if you sign up before January 20, 2011 - it is only $3.00/month. After that, it is $4.95/month which is totally worth it for the time it saves you. Remember, time=money. So, you do the math on that hard equation :)


YAHOOOO for 'simpleton' budgeting! 

Today is a good day for crafting, not working :)

Brrrr....it's too cold to be out pushing drugs today! (Not to worry...I push legal ones :)) I want to be at home doing some little projects that I have had in my head for a while but until I can, here are just a few little things I worked on over the holidays. 

 Some more Table Toppers for a Holiday sale.

 A little 'hodge-podge' canvas for my parents :)

After the messes that I make while doing these things...it is truly a miracle that our apartment is still in the condition that it is in....especially the carpet. Justin is a trooper in dealing with my piles of paper, trim, glitter, paint, etc. because it is usually spread out everywhere! I definitely look forward to having a "craft room" one day ;) 


Enjoy your cold day, today. If you do not have one of those amazing heated throw blankets that I have talked about and love so, so dearly...today might be a great day to invest in one. I know mine will be put to use this evening ;)

24 Day Challenge

In keeping with the goal theme, I thought I would mention something for all the weight-loss/health goal setters out there. And I knowwww you're out there ;)


So, I have mentioned it before but I will say again. Justin and I LOVE, love, love working for AdvoCare. Actually calling it work is just not fair...because it's just not work. We consider it a joy to sell the best nutritional supplements in the country and help people achieve their health, fitness and financial goals. It's awesome and sooo rewarding in so many ways! 


AdvoCare offers a product bundle called the "24 Day Challenge" and it is truly an incredible way to jumpstart your health and nutritional goals for 2011. Right now, the 24 Day Challenge is on sale for $22 off the original price, which is a great deal :) 


We have started several people on the challenge over the past few weeks and have seen amazing results: Matt lost 8 lbs and Lexy lost a dress size - both in their first 10 days. I'm not kiddin' around, people, the stuff works :) 


So, if you're wondering what in the world the 24 Day Challenge is, here is a basic overview: 

Days 1-10 Cleanse Phase
The first ten days are about cleansing your body of toxins and preparing for optimal nutrient absorption, and you may enjoy weight loss as well!*

• Herbal Cleanse-Citrus: helps to cleanse and detoxify your body.*
• OmegaPlex^®: essential fatty acids for increased overall wellness.*
• AdvoCare Spark^®: nutritionally-advanced energy*

Days 11-24 Max Phase
Give your body the best tools you need to achieve your next weight management goal during days 11-24!*

• Metabolic Nutrition System (MNS^®): Your choice of Max C+ (appetite control), Max E+ (energy), or Max 3 – for weight management, appetite control and overall wellness.*
• Meal Replacement Shake - Chocolate: Complete nutrition in a great-tasting shake!
• AdvoCare Spark^®: nutritionally advanced energy*

Each 24-Day Challenge includes:

• One box of Meal Replacement Shakes - Chocolate
• One box of Herbal Cleanse - Citrus
• One bottle of OmegaPlex^®
• One box of AdvoCare Spark^® - Mandarin Orange
• One box of AdvoCare Spark^® - Fruit Punch
• Your choice of one box of MNS^® Max 3, C, or E

To learn more information or order the 24 Day Challenge, visit  www.advocates4champions.com. 

Let me know if you have any questions!!

Welcome, 2011 !

[This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but let's just pretend:)] 


Today is your last day. Well, your last day to do or not do all of those things that will be on your list of resolutions that will show up tomorrow. You will vow to keep these goals for the next 365 days of the year...starting tomorrow. Are you ready?? 

I thought I would research the "Top 10" New Year's Resolutions and not to much surprise, here's what I found: 

1. Diet/Exercise

2. Quit smoking

3. Spend more time with family/friends

4. Quit drinking 

5. Stop procrastinating

6. Save $$/get out of debt

7. Go to Church

8. Stop cursing

9. Volunteer/help others 

10. Learn something new

While these are all admirable goals, I personally do not set New Year's resolutions. You might be thinking that I do not set them because I am afraid of failing and abandoning my resolutions...but you might be wrong! You might then be thinking that not setting them is a pessimistic attitude toward the new year and lacking in hope that it will be different or better than the year just completed. Again...wrong! 

I have never set NYE resolutions because I am constantly setting new goals for things that I want to achieve. There is always something new for me to learn, always something to be challenged by and something for me to add or purge from my life. Just because tomorrow we will sign and date with an 11 instead of a 10 does not mean that I am all of a sudden starting from scratch and going to do or not do something for the next year just because of an arbitrary date change. 

If you are making your list right now...good for you! Goal-setting is a wonderful thing and I think it's awesome if you set a goal that you will keep for the next year. Even if you don't keep them for every day of the year, the mere act of setting the goal is a good practice of discipline, which, we all need...right!! 


Best to luck of everyone with your smaller food portions, new gym memberships (or just to actually using it, now), less of some things, more of others and to a happy, healthy, blessed 2011! 

"Because of the Lord's great love 

we are not consumed, 

for his compassions never fail. 

They are NEW every morning; 

great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23