2012 Recap!

Hi all!

We are just hours away from saying goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013. Since 2009 I have been documenting the year with a scrapbook I make online and in the last few days I have been working on my 2012 scrapbook. As I go through the pictures of the year (which are organized by date and event on my computer), I am so grateful for all the wonderful things that have taken place. As the countdown winds down I can only imagine what fun and exciting things 2013 will hold for me and my family. Since I can't predict the future, I will just do a quick recap of the amazingly fun year of 2012!

• In February I had the awesome opportunity to attend the IOC Women in Sport Conference. This conference brings women from across the world together who are apart of the Olympic movement. We have come so far in the United States with women's rights compared to so many other countries. I can play sports, vote, work, drive a car, etc.These are freedoms that on any given day I may take for-granted.  The ability to do something as simple as compete in  a sport has so much power to shape the lives of women across the globe. I enjoyed this conference a great deal and the lessons I learned will not soon be forgotten.  Oh did I mention the conference was in Los Angeles and I got to go to Hollywood while we were there?!

Jennie Finch!!!

• 5K craziness! I completed nine 5K's and one 8K. Needless to say I have found a new hobby! Turns out I really like to run. I even got a treadmill for Christmas so I could run at home when it's cold! I had to get new running shoes because I actually wore out a pair. That is just unheard of! In December, I officially signed up for my first half marathon in March of 2013. I don't know what has gotten into me. The best part is I have roped my sister in to running with me at most of these things! In 2012 I have run through mud/obstacles TWICE, been splattered with paint TWICE, run in freezing cold temps, extreme heat, and even finished a 5K in 35 minutes (this is a miracle for me! There was a point in time my goal was just to jog the whole thing without walking!)! I can only imagine the types of runs 2013 will hold! Oh yeah! I even made my family do a 5K for my birthday celebration! :)

Run Lucky

Jim Thorpe Courage Run

Dirty 30

 Corporate Challenge

The Color Run

Color Me Rad

Midnight Streak

Dirty 30-Zombie Edition

Edmond Turkey Trot

Naughty or Nice 8K

• I think the best part of the year was the Family Reunion in Hawaii!! We spent a week in paradise and I got to meet some really great family! TJ's aunts, uncles, and cousins are amazing people. I am so honored that I got to meet them all. In addition to the reunion we got to explore the Big Island and Oahu. I can't wait to go back! I love the culture. I also want our kids to know that part of their family history. It is so important to know where you come from. 

• My 10 year high school reunion was in October. I felt like we all looked pretty much the same! LOL! I had a great time catching up and reconnecting with old friends. Go Bronchos!

• I know we got Elizabeth Tyalor at the end of 2011, but she has been so much fun this year! We love her to pieces and we are so glad she is our little puppy baby! :) To add to the family dynamic my dear sweet husband rescued a kitty a couple of weeks ago! I was willing to give it a blanket on the porch, but he thought we should bring it in. So now we have a cat... She is fun and Elizabeth loves her. Maybe in 2013 we will add human babies to our family! Only maybe no promises! :)

• A huge accomplishment for this year is I have managed to lose almost 50 more pounds. I only have 25 more to go to be at my goal weight for Weight Watchers. I am so excited to be so close!! It will be a life long journey to stay healthy and keep my weight under control, but I am confident I will because I have changed my lifestyle! It's not a diet people, it's a way of life! 

Feburary

December

• The Holidays! 2009 was a tough year for my family. My Grandma Norma passed away right after the first of the year and then that December my Papa Frank joined her in Heaven. That was a sad time and the Holidays were tough to get through since all of our traditions revolved around them. I made a promise to myself not to let another holiday season pass by without trying to enjoy  it to the fullest and creating new memories with the loved ones we have with us! I think we did a great job of that this year! We had the 2nd annual Calfy Christmas at my house, we had our 2nd annual treat baking day, mom and I enjoyed tea at the Skirvin, and many other celebrations took place! We can't let Grandma down. She loved this time of year! 

 

There were so many other wonderful moments in 2012. This year was truly a blessing and I look forward to what 2013 has in store. I wish you all the very best in the New Year. I hope you are able to find all the happiness and hope that your heart desires. 

See you all next year!

Love always,

Leigha

Crock Pot Crazies!

 As the fall season is trying to make an appearance (I say try since it has been unseasonably warm the past few weeks) my friend Cheryl and I have been using our crock pots more and more! We have found these ladies who call themselves the Crockin' Girls. Their recipes are super easy and taste wonderful.In an effort to make our lives easier, we decided to take some of our favorite recipes, mix all of the ingredients together,  and put them in a freezer bag for later. Ta Da! We have super easy dinners ready to take out of the freezer and put in the crock pot!

 We headed to Crest with our shopping list. We doubled all of the ingredients so we would have enough for each of us to have six different meals to freeze.  On a side note, we don't know how to convert ANYTHING! How many ounces are in a cup? How many cups are in a quart? How many cups are in a pint?! We gave Siri a workout. She probably thinks we are stupid.

 Anyways, in less than an hour we were checked out. The lady at Crest let us split the bill and in the end we both spent 83.45. Not too shabby! That's about 13.90 per dinner. Each dinner could feed at least four people if not five or six for some. After a quick break for lunch, we got started in the kitchen about 1:55 pm ( you will see why this is important later).

Let the crock pot cookin commence!!

Most of our supplies!

We started off with actually cooking potato soup. It would be done in four hours and we could freeze it already cooked! It would be done by the time we finished with everything else.

Measuring the garlic!

The timer is set and we're cookin! 

We used red potatoes that we didn't have to peel, so this took us no time at all to get ready!

Next we worked our way through the other recipes. Before we would put each of our concoctions in their freezer bag we would write on the bag instructions. We would also use the bags to mix ingredients has well, which resulted in fewer dishes to clean up!

Cheryl chopping peppers!

Crest actually split these for us! Otherwise they may not have been cut so well! LOL!

We also pretended we were Rachel Ray with out fancy strings to tie the chicken! :)

The next recipe is one I have been making since college. My roommate Emily showed me how to make this and we would fix it in the oven. It is also the dish I made for TJ way back in the day so he would think I could cook! LOL!

Please note the fancy instructions on the bags! :)

Next up Italian beef, pork chops, and a chicken pasta dish!

You make the pasta separate from the chicken in the crock pot, but we went ahead a bought it  so we would have it on hand! :)

 You are probably thinking, what's the catch? There is none! This was so simple we were done at 3:55 pm. That includes clean up!! I know! Two hours and we had five meals in the freezer, one meal in the crock pot, dishes in the dishwasher, and trash out to the trash can! So what did we do to kill two more hours while the soup cooked? We went to get our nails done and wandered around Hobby Lobby! :)

Landry wanted to dig into the trash! 

That's not too many dishes if you ask me! 

So all in all it was a huge success! Not to mention it was a ton of fun! I would highly recommend this for a fun afternoon with the girls! :)

Thanks Crockin Girls for the recipes! :)

You should get this book if you don't have it or  they have a wonderful website with  their recipes as well! 

Oh and just so you know, the soup is so yummy and we might have listened to Christmas music while we work fixing the meals! :)

If anyone out there is reading this and wants to buy me an awesome Christmas gift, I want this really really bad! It is so cool! Cheryl had one and it chopped everything so well! Really, it's the coolest thing EVER!

Until Next Time,

Leigha

My Pinterest Inspired Blog!!

I waste an enormous amount of time on Pinterest. I am planning my country chic yet modern home with an upstairs tree house/reading loft with a slide staircase, pretending I am a world famous baker/chef, and planning for our yet to be convinced children and how I am going to be the most creative, fantastic, mom ever! Yeah right. I have one general rule while I am on Pinterest,  I have to at the very least look at the blog/website connected with the Pin to see if I could even attempt what I am posting. If it looks simple enough, it makes in onto my board.

Well, there are a crazy amount of fabulous bloggers out there. They are blogging about EVERYTHING, including how to make fun recipes. Now, obviously I enjoy blogging. Not the the extent where I will post everyday, but once or twice a month just because. So today's blog post is inspired by all of those oh so creative bloggers out there that have driven us to believe we can make anything as long as there are fun pictures posted to see the ingredients!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! I give you "Leigha's oh so wonderful, inspiringly (yes, I realize this is may not be a word) creative, simply fabulous CAKE BALLS!" That's the official title  so if you decide to Pin this exciting post you will know how to mark it!

Step One: Pick out your ingredients. 

I originally wanted to make cake balls for our 2nd Annual Calfy Family Christmas Treat Bake Day (we are going to have to work on my titles for things). I however have no patience and wanted to try them now! One trip to Hobby Lobby and the grocery store later I have what I need for Halloween  themed cake balls. I wonder how many times I am going to type the word balls in this blog...

I chose Rainbow Chip cake and frosting. Why? Because it's my favorite!!! I got milk chocolate and green vanilla  candy wafers to dip the cake balls in. Finally, I have cute monster toothpicks and orange decorator's gel to make them extra cute once finished. At least that's the plan!

Step Two: Bake your cake!

It's not hard to bake a cake, just follow the directions! I would say anyone could do it, but you never really know how well someone can follow directions. I have left the eggs out of cupcakes before, soooo.... yeah. On a side note, the mixer in this picture is one my Grandma bought me several years ago when I rented my first house. She knew I liked to bake and thought this would help! :) I like to use it any chance I get because it makes me smile! 

Step Three: Put cake mix in pan and bake per directions on the box! :)

Just in case anyone is not sure about anything, I want to make sure there are plenty of pictures!

Step Four: Listen for oven timer. Test cake with toothpick to see if it's ready. Remove from oven. Let it cool. COMPLETELY!! 

Again, just in case you needed help! 

Step Five: Crumble up your cake!

I had read somewhere on Pinterest that you should use a food processor. I don't have one, so I read I could use forks or a blender...

That worked as well as a sharp stick in the eye, so I went back to Pinterest and found someone who used a mixer!

Score! It really worked! Who knew? 

Step Six: Add the frosting of your choice! 

I only added about 2/3 of the container. I had read it could make the cake balls too moist if you use the whole thing. 

Step Seven: Make the cake/frosting concoction in to balls! Finally...we made it to the ball step!

I used a melon baller in order to keep them all around the same size. Place them on wax paper and pop them in the freezer for 30 mins to an hour. I ended up balling up about 48 pieces!   

Step Eight: Melt your candy wafers and dip away. 

Really, this is not as easy at it sounds. I couldn't figure this out. I tried toothpicks, forks, dropping them in there then fishing for them...I say do whatever works for you on this step!

Green Vanilla Candy Melt Stuff!

I hope you all can appreciate my attempt at artsy camera angles! LOL!

Milk Chocolate 

My Mess!!This is the place toothpicks come to die...

Step Nine: Decorate and Enjoy!!

I picked up some cute monsters at Hobby Lobby! Only 24 balls made the cut...wait for it...LOL! The others are just waiting in a bowl to be eaten! Enjoy!!

TJ said the green ones looked like boogers...I won't be using that color again.

So all in all, this was a long process. When I do this again for Christmas I will make the cakes the night before to save time! I am also going to investigate how to better dip my balls in chocolate! Ba HA! :) 

Talk to you all soon! 

Leigha