I don’t even know how to begin writing this blog post. I honestly don’t. It feels so strange to say things like “We lost my Dad” and even worse, “He died”. He died? No he didn’t, no way. He couldn’t die, he’s the strongest person I know. He was just okay the other day, he was joking and eating grilled hotdogs with us. Hot dogs with “just mustard”. We just made pancakes together the other day and he was criticizing my pancake-making. How could he not be here any more?

My Dad was such a beautiful person. He loved everyone and saw every single thing as something useful and needed. He held onto things that looked broken or ragged, with the hope that he would be able to find use for them someday. To some, that may seem a little like hoarding, (it did to me once too) but now, I see it as my Dad was a hopeful person. He was a positive, glass half full, supportive, beautiful person. He was hilarious, in that adorable-old-guy kind of way. He was so cute and friendly, he was loved by every person that ever knew him. I am brokenhearted for my Mom, who lost her soul mate, for my brothers who were just at the beginning of their own journeys into adulthood, and for my Son, who will miss out on the best grandpa he could have ever hoped for. I will miss him every single day.

At my baby shower. I don’t care how fat and swollen I look here, I will cherish these pictures. He was so proud this day.

I took this photo while we were still at the first hospital we visited. We were waiting for the pain medication to work and it never did. For just a few minutes, he seemed calm and able to rest. I snapped this photo because I was happy. I thought he was getting better. Just a few minutes later, I was holding him and rubbing his back when he collapsed in my arms. This was the last photo taken of my Dad, the sweetest man God ever created.

I have to believe he’s in a better place. It seems like he’s just gone, but I know I’ll see him again someday.

Would you like to see a photo tutorial on this look? Leave your suggestions in the comments! :)

How to achieve this look:

·· Start off with a base coat or two to protect your nails and extend the life of your manicure. I use OPI Nail Envy and also Duri Rejuvacote. I find that this step is very important.
·· You don’t have to use a base color, but here I just added one coat of Essie’s “Mademoiselle”. I feel like this gives the glitter another coat of something to stick to that’s not my nail. This color also adds a slightly milky sheen that looks really nice with glitter.
·· Allow to dry and add a fast drying top coat. I use Sally Hansen’s “Dries Instantly”. Seche Vite and Sally Hansen’s Instadri are also fantastic top coats. Allow your top coat to completely set before you start sponging on your glitter. This may take anywhere from 10-25 minutes or longer if you’re applying thicker coats.
·· Using a damp makeup sponge, apply a silver glitter to the tips of your nails using a bouncing motion. (Be sure you don’t over-bounce, or you may start taking the polish off rather than putting it on!) Apply the silver glitter until you’re satisfied with the results. The silver glitter I used is Loreal’s “Sparklicious”.
·· After your silver glitter has dried completely (When glitter is sponged on, it dries almost instantly which is pretty awesome!) go ahead and go in with your gold glitter. I’m using China Glaze “Angel Wings” which is an absolutely gorgeous gold, holographic micro glitter. I just love the difference in size here and I think it works really well. Feel free to use whatever you have though!
·· I added a few more silver bits over the gold, but you can stop there if you’d like. Add a topcoat and you’re done!

Beauty Giveaway coming soon! :)

I absolutely love Ipsy. So much better than Birch Box, which I cancelled after two months. It just wasn’t worth the money! Ipsy does have a waiting list, but it’s totally worth waiting for. If you have ten bucks to spare each month and you haven’t tried it yet, please do! You wont regret it.

All of the products come in a different bag each month, and also come with coupon codes to different brands. (Normally the brands of the products inside.) Your Ipsy bag also comes packaged in this adorable metallic pink padded sleeve. Such a nice touch, Ipsy!

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Blush in “Sweet Cheeks” Retails: $16.00 – I like this blush a lot! This is a full size “sample” and a gorgeous color. This is a medium, soft pink blush with very fine shimmer. Perfect for spring! I really love the quality of this product. Not to mention, it retails for $16, so I have to say my Ipsy bag has already paid for itself with this one item!

Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Nourishing Styling Treatment Retails: $4.99 – I’m really glad this product was included in my bag this month! I know some girls got some sort of dry shampoo or volumizing spray by Big Sexy Hair. I haven’t tried this product yet (I’ll be using it after my next shower) but I really love how it smells. I use argan oil after every shower anyway, so this will definitely be used. The full size is a bit pricey, (retails at $22) so I’m kind of hoping it’s not other expensive product I fall in love with. :)~ Still, it’s cheaper than the original Moroccan Oil! (I’m trying to be glass half full here, guys. I know $22 is pretty steep!)

MicaBeauty Shimmer Powder Eyeshadow in “Earth” Retails: $14.95 – This mineral eyeshadow is in such a beautiful, neutral, well… earthy tone! I’m all about the browns, tans, neutrals and warm tones. I was pleased when I saw this instead of something more PINK in my bag, since I’m not the biggest fan of pink shadows. I have a few of these pigment type powder shadows from a few years ago and they’re great! I bought them from one of those little carts at the mall, when MicaBeauty was brand new and was actually called “MicaBella”. This shimmer powder is VERY shimmery and I think it will look great on the eyes with a little Fix+ for a more metallic finish.

Miss Professional Nail Sation Nail Lacquer in “Of Corset I’ll Call You” Retail: $5.99 – I know this is a great brand with great formulas, so I’m sure I’ll love this polish when I actually have time to apply it properly. I did quickly swatch it on one of my nails though, and I’m pretty sure I have ten other pinks just like this one, so I may include this in a giveaway soon. It’s a sheer cream jelly based polish and would be absolutely gorgeous layered with a silver or white glitter!

Total Value: $41.93

I can’t say I would have picked up all of these products on my own, but I still love them and I think Ipsy is completely, totally, one hundred and ten percent worth the money. I’d probably pay double most months. Like I said, if you love your products and you love to try new ones, please check out Ipsy!

xo ♥

The second reason I didn’t want to call it my “March Favorites” post is because I really don’t buy enough new products each month to do something like that monthly. Don’t get me wrong, I do buy more than I need and I know that, but I don’t keep up with new products for the most part and I don’t feel the need to rush right out and buy things everyone else has just to say I HAVE THIS.

So, let’s get to the post! These are products that I am absolutely loving right now, and have been for a few weeks! These are products I tend to reach for more than others. I hope you guys enjoy! Let me know if you like posts like these and I’ll keep you updated on what my current favorites are! ♥

Banana Boat “Summer Color” Self-Tanning Lotion I really love this product! I normally start fake tanning in the spring so I have a little color and I don’t look so insanely pale until I get out in the real sun. I have found that this lotion is very moisturizing, doesn’t streak if you apply it correctly, and it smells great. Sort of citrus-y? It doesn’t have that funky smell that some self tanners get after wearing it for a few hours. Just as a disclaimer, I use this product because I do not tan in tanning beds and I normally wear SPF when I’m outdoors, especially on my face. I don’t wear SPF every single time, because I think the sun is great for you in small doses, but for the most part, I don’t allow myself to tan a lot. Anyways! Try this lotion out if you take to do fake tanning! It’s very affordable, so even if you don’t like it, it’s not like you’re spending a lot!

Garnier’s BB Cream Oh. My. Goodness gracious. I absolutely love this product. I use it every single day and it’s probably my absolute favorite product in my collection. It goes on like butter, and does so much for your skin. The only draw backs to this product are; The scent. It’s pleasant, but it gets old fast. I would much rather have something unscented, especially for the face. I think the scent is just unnecessary and it’s not good for your skin at all. Second, this is not the newer Oil-Free BB Cream of theirs. This is the original that I’ve been using since before they came out with the Oil-Free version. I still love it, but I really need the Oil-Free BB Cream. I have normal skin with an oily t-zone, so I normally have to powder up every couple of hours wearing this. It’s still great though and I love it! I don’t wear foundation most days, just this set with translucent powder. I just work it into my skin with my fingers and roll! It’s so fast and easy, and looks very natural.

Real Technique’s Blush Brush There really isn’t much to say about this one, just that I love it, obviously! I love all of my Real Technique’s brushes, but this one is my favorite. It’s so soft and such great quality. It applies color, even very bold ones, so evenly and blends like a dream!

Covergirl’s “Clump Crusher” Mascara This has been my go-to mascara lately. I really love how it separates each lash, it does a great job. If I’m going out at night or wearing a darker look, I’ll do a coat of a thicker formula mascara first, (Like Jordana Best Lash Extreme or Loreal Voluminous mascara) then quickly go over it with this.

I have found that the comb does grab your tight line (mine, anyway) on occasion and it’s pretty sharp so it doesn’t feel fantastic. That may be me though, because I have a bad habit of trying to get too close and too deep into my lashes. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to re-apply my concealer because I’ve accidentally grabbed my tight line and blinked, hard. Argh!!

Covergirl Eyeshadow in “Champagne” This is one of those old school shadows from Covergirl that will probably be around for forever! Most of us had these in our first days of playing in makeup and there is a good reason why. They’re fabulous! I really love a lot of these but this is my favorite one. It’s such a gorgeous color. I use it almost every day (when I contour/highlight, that is) for highlighting my cheekbones and the inner parts of my eyes.

It’s pretty opaque but can be applied very lightly if you’re using it as a highlight. It looks absolutely gorgeous on the cheekbones when you apply it with a fan brush, or any brush that’s going to give a delicate touch. This is also a great highlight for anyone with a more fair skin tone, like mine is right now. I’ve found that some highlighters don’t really show up on lighter skin tones. (Side note, but should I be worried about people snatching my finger print here? What the! It’s oddly clear in this photo.)

Urban Decay Vegan Palette I did a swap with my friend Missy awhile back, and this was one of the things she sent me! I absolutely love this palette. It is, of course, excellent quality and I love every single color. The palette is super cute and small enough to fit in almost anywhere conveniently.

I love that it has three of my favorite colors from the Naked palette in it (Smog, Gunmetal and Half Baked) and also includes some contrast colors like the teal, green and dark chocolate brown. My Naked palette is never far, but I feel like this palette has those every day colors that I gravitate toward in the warmer months and it’s a little more compact and easier to handle than the Naked. These colors can also be purchased individually if you’re only in the market for one specific shade.

I do believe this palette was a limited edition palette but I’m really not 100% sure! :x

Urban Decay Naked Flushed Palette I decided to pick this palette up shortly after it came out, because I was in love with the blush shade! Yes, I bought it (mainly) because of the blush. It’s an excellent palette for traveling, everything is nice and compact and the packaging is fantastic as usual.

I absolutely love the bold berry colored blush. It’s beautiful and applies so evenly. The highlighter and the bronzer, I’m not really impressed with though. Which I hate, because these suckers aren’t cheap! Anyways, the bronzer is great quality, and maybe I will like it more when I have some color on my face, but it looks so orange on me right now. The highlighter barely shows up at all, so I’m hoping some summer color on my skin will help that as well. I plan on revisiting these in a few months! The only other thing I don’t like about this product is that the product is sooo SOFT! It almost crumbles if you use any force what-so-ever. You can also see that little dent in the highlighter part? That’s where my fingernail accidentally nicked it one day and it came off so easily. Ahhh!

Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in “Bad to the Bronze” This is my go-to, in-a-hurry, slap-it-on eyeshadow. It doesn’t crease and it stays all day. Literally, you can’t wipe it off! I have a bunch of these, but I keep this one in my every day makeup bag.

I love how metallic and neutral this color is! It looks different depending on what kind of light you’re in, or what part of your eye you apply it to. Personally, I sweep it all across the lid with my finger and blend it up into the crease and that’s it!

Physician’s Formula Mineral Correcting Bronzer I’ve found that this bronzer is light enough to be used as a very “blown out” and blended bronzer, but it doesn’t do very much as a contour. This is also ideal for my fair skinned friends! It’s a beautiful, light, airy bronzer!

And as most PF products do, it comes in this really awesome packaging, with a mirror and little brush inside. How cute is that? I have to give props to Physician’s Formula for their packaging, it’s always A+.

Last but certainly not least, my two favorite nail care products right now. As some of you may remember, my sweet Jason when to the store for me to get me a new bottle of my go-to top coat (Sally Hansen’s Instadri) but they were sold out. He sent me a photo of this “Dries Instantly” by Sally Hansen, and he got that instead. I think it may be the exact same formula, because it works just the same. The pink bottle is a strengthening base/top coat called Rejuvacote and I’m really liking that as well. I’ve noticed my nails have seemed more “rich” since I’ve started using it, does that make sense? I hope so! :)~

That’s all guys! Good job if you read all of that, I know it was long and drawn out! Oops!

XOXO

Back to the holiday! Our Easter was pretty uneventful, but still good! We had a lot of fun and got to spend time with our family, so we really couldn’t have asked for more! We woke up around 8am as usual and Anderson came up stairs to find his Easter basket and a cute little lounge chair from “the Easter bunny”. He was actually more interested in finding the eggs that were all over the house though! Each time he would find one, he would crack it open and giggle because there was something new in each one. It was adorable. When he finally tore into his basket, he did like it! His basket included; A coloring/sticker book, chalk, bubbles, a new Buzz sippy, a tube of mini M&M’s, (his favorite) pringles, (his other favorite) and a few other miscellaneous things. I don’t bother with things like stuffed animals, because those quickly become toys for Phoenix instead! :P I posted a photo of his Easter basket on Instagram!

I’m also so mad at myself because all of the photos I took that morning are so horrendous. I was so unbelievably tired and shouldn’t have been operating a camera, LOL. At least I have them though. I can’t say that I’ll be posting them anywhere, but at least I tried. :)~

We went to Easter service at our church a little later and it was great. If you take a look at the photo of the cross of post-it-notes, those are the names of everyone in that service who wanted to dedicate themselves to God. The purple are people who want to “refresh” their dedication, and the yellow ones were for first timers. It was so amazing to see all the people go up and add their post-it notes! No one (except the people who had been to an earlier service) knew what they were going to do with all of the post it notes, but when they lifted up the cross full of them, it was just awesome. I love that the photo I took has the choir in the background as well. My sister is the one in the bottom row, with her hand in the air and the other on her heart.

We headed over to my sister’s house afterward and I spent most of the time cooking dinner, playing with the kids, and taking pictures. We ate, the dudes played Playstation, the kids played and sang karaoke and colored Easter eggs. (Hence the hilarious green hand of Anderson’s. Haha!) It was a fun day overall, I just wish my Mom and Dad could have come in for it, but they had their own things going on. Wah!!

And since we’re on the topic of Easter, I thought I would share a few of Anderson’s Easter photos. My sister and her daughter Makierlynn came along as well, and I just love the ones of her. The editing on these is kind of shabby, but I still love them. Anderson was such a butt while we were taking them though. All he wanted to do was play in the dirt and pick bark off of the trees. Like, seriously dude?

I hope you all had a great Easter friends!! ♥

I love participating in #ThrowbackThursday on Instagram, but I thought I would share them here instead. I feel like it’s less obnoxious and less in your face. This way, you don’t have to look at it if you don’t want to. I like that.

 
Anderson was just a little thing.

 

Warning! Image heavy :)

 

We were on our way out the door to see HP5 premiere and LOOK AT MY NAILS. The horror.

 
Channeling my inner Starbucks snob. LOOK at my green straw. I am like, so proud that I like, paid $6 for a coffee. || When my baby was getting teeth. Whaaaaa? That seems like so long ago!

 
Buying goodies last Easter! || Newbornness ♥

 
That silly face he use to make. ♥ || His beautiful little baby curls.

 
When I took a picture of food at my party, with Heather in the background. Ha!! ||

 

Okay… Now onto the serious throwbacks!

At my Grandma’s on Christmas Eve. She use to get me a porcelain doll every. single. year.

Graduating second grade! (We had graduations for everything back then.)

COSI!

Building a snowman with my Daddy. Lookin’ good Dad!!

My niece Brianna. She was so tiny! (And had a cold or something, apparently!)

At my Uncle’s in Florida.

My brother Tommy.

One of my favorite photos of me and my Momma. :)

Me and my sister Lori. I need to remember to make fun of this hair style the next time I see her. :P

Another favorite. I was a total Mommy’s girl.

And I’ll leave you with a few more of my sweet baby. ♥

We luuuuv Heather ♥

My brother Joey playing with Anderson. It was soooo funny, Anderson was trying to wipe his tattoos off, LOL.

]]> http://www.laughlovelattes.com/throwback-thursday/feed/ 2 http://www.laughlovelattes.com/this-weeks-instagram-food/ http://www.laughlovelattes.com/this-weeks-instagram-food/#comments Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:23:15 +0000 Ashley http://www.laughlovelattes.com/?p=1325 Hi friends! I thought I would bring a little Instagram foodie goodness to my blog! I’m always getting questions about my food, whether it’s healthy stuff, kid’s recipes, or really bad yummy food! So here we go! A very simple post with VERY simple recipes! Everything I eat is normally healthy, but also pretty quick to put together. I do a lot of planning and prepping to make our meal times as easy as possible.

   

Peanut Butter Protein Bites · 1 Cup Oats · 1 Cup Protein Powder (Vanilla or Chocolate) · 1 Cup Natural Raw Peanut Butter · Stevia or Agave to taste Directions: » Mix ingredients, add water if needed. » Roll into balls, enjoy! » Store extras in the freezer for post workout snacks!

Berries & Yogurt · 1/2 Cup Plain, nonfat Greek yogurt · 1-2 Cups berries of choice (organic) · Stevia drops and lemon juice to taste Directions: » Mix stevia with yogurt. » Add berries and extra stevia if you like!

   

Steak Salad Wraps · 3-5oz Lean Sirloin, grilled (Leftovers work great for this!) · Large lettuce leaves (for the wrap) · 1 Cup Organic Greens, any variety you like · Frank’s Red Hot Original · Plain Greek Yogurt Directions: » Place 1/2 Cup greens in each lettuce leaf, creating a “bed” for your steak. » Add your steak and top with Frank’s to taste. Follow up with a small dollop of nonfat Greek yogurt. Servings: 1 | Calories: 210 (Depending on your steak, this may vary!)

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt · 8 Medium Strawberries, organic, frozen · 1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese · 1/2 Cup Greek Yogurt · Juice of 1/2 large Lemon · Stevia Clear drops to taste. Directions: » Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth. » Pour into a glass, freezer safe container and freeze for 2-3 hours. » If frozen longer or over night, allow to thaw a little before serving! Servings: 2 | Calories: 140

   

No recipes for these two, just added them for ideas really! The first photo is from my very first restaurant experience on my diet. I ordered plain grilled chicken breast and plain broccoli. It was actually pretty good, but they charged me around $10 for it. I could have made better at home for around $2. Wont make that mistake again! | The photo on the right was my snack/lunch this afternoon. I’ve found myself being really turned off by meat lately, although I am going to be attempting some chicken wraps here in a bit. It’s just cucumbers with a laughing cow wedge (35 calories, they’re so yummy!) Lemon drop stevia greek yogurt, and strawberries. Can you believe all of this was only around 150 calories? I guess I never realized how low calorie a LOT of fruits and veggies are. It’s great!

   

No recipes for these two either, LOL! Sorry! I will explain though. The first photo is obviously just more cucumbers and laughing cow, which I’m obsessed with. | The photo on the right was from dinner last night. I do these kinds of things a LOT. I just call them “____ _____ Sauté” and call it a day. Last night, I tossed some raw chicken in a pan with some garlic, fresh rosemary, salt and pepper. When it was fully cooked, I added some fresh asparagus and brussel sprouts. I did end up seasoning it a bit more. It was delicious! I also had some of my super yummy tomato soup that will be explained below!

   

Fresh Tomato Basil Soup · 5 Large Tomatoes, organic · 5 Large basil leaves · 2 Cups chicken or vegetable broth, homemade (or low sodium and natural) · 3 Tbsp Tomato Paste, organic · Stevia Clear Drops, to taste · Salt & Pepper, to taste Directions: » Line a shallow baking sheet with foil. Don’t skip this part, trust me! » Cut your tomoatoes into quarters and place onto lined baking sheet. » Brush lightly with olive oil. (I have cut out most oils, so I skipped this step.) » Add salt, pepper, and whatever seasons you wish. I used fresh Thyme, and dried basil. » Bake under Broil until they’ve released liquid and look nice and roasted. This wont take long! Be careful! » In a blender, combine roasted tomatoes and all other ingredients, blend until smooth. » Bring soup to a boil in a sauce pan and simmer for 20 minutes before serving. Servings: 5 | Calories: 150, Approximately

Simple Orange Julius · 2 Clementines or “Cuties” (I prefer these over regular oranges!) · 1-2 Tbsp Milk · 10 Drops Vanilla Creme Stevia · 1 Cup Ice Directions: » Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth. » Pour into a glass, enjoy! Servings: 1 | Calories: 70

]]> http://www.laughlovelattes.com/this-weeks-instagram-food/feed/ 0 http://www.laughlovelattes.com/go-home-spring-youre-drunk/ http://www.laughlovelattes.com/go-home-spring-youre-drunk/#comments Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:34:34 +0000 Ashley http://www.laughlovelattes.com/?p=1307 I’m so glad we’ve been spending time outside before the snow came! Nothing as amazing as what my West coast friends are experiencing, but we’ll take it!

Sand boxes and winter gear normally aren’t suppose to mix lol!

And a random picture of my niece holding a pine cone. :P

On another note, since Google can’t get their crap together, follow me with Blog Lovin’! Hopefully all of my followers head on over there, so they don’t get lost in the Google Friend Connect craziness!

]]> http://www.laughlovelattes.com/go-home-spring-youre-drunk/feed/ 3 http://www.laughlovelattes.com/productivity/ http://www.laughlovelattes.com/productivity/#comments Sun, 24 Mar 2013 20:07:16 +0000 Ashley http://www.laughlovelattes.com/?p=1291 Lately, I have been obsessed with the television. Seriously, that’s all I want to do because I have so many amazing shows to watch! I normally have free time after Anderson goes to bed, and lately that has been right in front of the TV! I have been watching Private Practice on Netflix and I’ve already blown through four seasons in two weeks. Jason and I are both huge fans of Grey’s Anatomy, so it only makes sense that we would love Private Practice as well. The first season starts out soooo slow, (which is why it took me so long to realize I loved it) but it’s so good right now! It really starts to pick up in Season 2.

And can we just talk about how absolutely perfect Kate Walsh is? Okay, maybe not Kate Walsh, because I hear she’s kind of a bitch, but I absolutely love her as Addison. She’s beautiful, smart, passionate, classy, I just love her! I really hope that this show ends with Addison’s life and circumstances looking up. I can totally picture this show as one of my turn-to’s when I’m in the mood to watch reruns! (Yes, I really do that.)

Anywho! So instead of spending all of my free time watching shows, I thought I would go ahead and make a to-do list. Things I need to get done, but they are tucked away deep in the back of my brain, they’re on the back burner, they’re last on the list. They need done though, dang it! I sat down with my planner earlier and thought, “You know what? I’m just going to blog it!” Maybe if I have my shame out in the open, I’ll be more likely to follow through. Right? Right?!

Kitchen:
· Mop
· Organize cabinets

Living Room:
· Carpets
· Hang canvases
· Organize desk
· Organize toys
· Dust

Bedroom:
· Vacuum
· Arrange books
· Organize toys
· Dust
· Laundry & bedding

Online:
· Update my photography blog.
· Update Etsy files to instant download (so tedious!)
· New designs. (Someone kick me in the pants and make me do more designs!)

So that’s all pretty standard crap, right? And even though I go down stairs and think “I really need to dust.” the other side of my brain is all OMG PRIVATE PRACTICEEE. I hate that I always get this way when I find a show I like! It’s especially crappy this time, since the show just aired their very last episode this past season! Wahhhhh! It’s probably for the best though, shows that run for too long tend to start sucking after awhile. Sigh. All good things must come to an end!

Like this blog post, for instance! I’m going to hop off and get started on some things around the house while Anderson is napping, and finish when he wakes up. I need to get some things done for my photography site, but that will have to wait!

OH! I would also like to wish my sister Melissa (and her family, Steve, Daylan and Makierlynn) a very safe trip in the morning! They’re heading out to SC/NC to visit the beach! xoxo

Weight loss today: +.2lbs

]]> http://www.laughlovelattes.com/productivity/feed/ 5 http://www.laughlovelattes.com/my-weight-loss-journey/ http://www.laughlovelattes.com/my-weight-loss-journey/#comments Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:47:44 +0000 Ashley http://www.laughlovelattes.com/?p=1271 It feels kind of cliche to title this post “My weight loss journey.” but what else would I call it? That’s what it is. A journey to better days. A journey to feeling better about myself and living my life!

The summer before I became pregnant, I was actually thinner than I have been in a long time. Then… then came my sweet baby and of course, my pregnancy. I never really worried about my pregnancy weight, it was always right on track at every appointment. I was gaining exactly what I should have been, and even a little under at some appointments. After I had Anderson, I lost most of my baby weight very quickly. I was eating well and nursing around. the. clock. Seriously, I felt like I had a fifth limb growing off of my chest. I really noticed a spike in my weight when I quit nursing. Since then, I’ve been telling myself that I need to get rid of the extra weight I’ve been carrying around. Now I am. I’m not saying it anymore. I’m not having a cliche “My weight loss journey” without any actual weight loss. I’m not saying “I really need to lose weight.” and having pizza for dinner. I’m not going to feel bad about swimming in a pool with my son this summer. It’s ON!

Today, I met my very first weight loss goal! I hit -10lbs!!! (-10.8, actually!) I am so thrilled. This is just the motivation that I needed to continue with my journey. I get discouraged just like anyone else, but that feeling on the scale, it’s amazing. It’s like the scale is saying “You go girl! Look what you’ve accomplished! Don’t stop now!” I also keep hearing “It’ll be all for not!” in my head, thanks to my son adoring the movie Brave, haha.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of you and your support lately. I’ve gotten so many congratulations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. My family too, everyone is so great. Jason has been amazing and so supportive. I feel so lucky! ♥

I’m going to leave you with some photos of my beautiful rose plant Jason bought me. Let me give you a little background on this, and tell you why it’s so special to me.

The night before I started eating clean and being completely dedicated to losing weight and getting fit, Jason brought me this plant. (Along with a bottle of my favorite wine, which I finished that night, but that’s another story!) He had intended on just doing something sweet for me, giving me something to wish me luck and show his support. He had no idea that this would mean so much to me!

I look at it and I am reminded of how precious life is, and how much I want this. How much I need this! I’m sure it sounds weird, but it gives me hope.

Thank you for reading friends! Leave me a comment and I’ll be sure to return the favor. ♥

]]> http://www.laughlovelattes.com/my-weight-loss-journey/feed/ 4