Finding happiness in St. Louis!

Happy Monday!  We got in from St. Louis late last night.  It was a good weekend and I’ll recap it later in another post.  This post isn’t for that that.  Traveling to St. Louis with Willie was kind of an eye opening experience for me. Or maybe just a huge surge of energy into my system.

I’ve been floundering through life for the past couple of months.  I really thought it had only been a few weeks but if I look back on big picture, this moment has been coming for a long time. I’ve felt like I’ve been stuck on a path that isn’t leading to a path of happiness.  With the weight loss, I feel like I was given a second chance to really love life.  I feel like I can do anything if I try hard enough.  I just don’t feel like I’ve been trying.  I’m not a risk taker.  I’m a rule follower.  I do what I’m supposed to do and that’s that.

I’ve been on a quest to really find my happiness and to find myself.  I’ve been living my life doing the things that truly make me happy with the people who make me the happiest!

I felt like for so long I was unhappy with life, relationships, my weight, my job that I needed to be happy ALL the time.  The sad reality is: no one is happy all the time.  The more times I spent trying to make myself the best and happiest version of myself, the more I failed.  It was like I was trying to prove something instead of just being happy.

St. Louis RNR

This weekend as I walked the St. Louis streets with my husband, I knew exactly what my happiness is in life.  Yesterday, sitting at a table enjoying a snack with Willie as we plotted out life, I knew my happiness would be achievable. I knew would find our happiness together.

Willie is my best friend.  This is nothing new.  But I know that I am truly blessed to have married my best friend because we sat at a table plotting out life and happiness and he didn’t even blink an eye thinking about how crazy the plans we were setting in stone. Willie said, “It’s time to explore the off beaten path.”  In that moment, everything came into perspective because he got it and there was no explanation needed.

The explanation of it all sometimes leads to more discomfort.

Playing around at the ballpark...#rnrstl #stlouis #travelgram

I’m getting to the point now, I promise.  My happiness lies with pushing myself past what I thought could ever be done.  It’s personal.  You may not understand it.  It may not appeal to you.  But 4 years ago, I was 338 pounds and growing and I never thought I would travel, walk the streets of a city without fatigue or even want to run. It’s time for me to step out of my box and live.

I’ve decided I am going to try to join the 50 states marathon club.  Willie and I are happy to explore and see new things.  We definitely happiest when we are doing these types of things.  And we all know that I LOVE to run so I will attempt the 50 states marathon club and travel our beautiful country with my husband (most of the time)!

Travel and running are a passion.  I can’t explain it but it’s something I think about ALL the time.  It’s probably not normal.  My free time is spent looking through travel guides and finding new places to visit…and then immediately looking up to see if they have a race for me to run and some great local culture for Willie. Most people won’t identify with it and I know people won’t understand it. At the end of the day, it’s not for you really to understand, but I would appreciate you taking the journey with me. I want to talk to different people, I want to hear their stories and I want us to share ours.  I need to get out and live life!

This is my goal.  This is going to make me happy.

If you really stop to think about it, what is the one thing in life that will make you truly happy?

The Sunday setup on Monday

The Sunday setup on Monday

Good morning everyone!  I’m getting back on my workout routine.  I went to Group Power class this morning and I almost died.  Everything is an increased weight factor and it was hard.  But I made it through. I wanted to stay in bed but I got up to go.  Sometimes you just have to make yourself get up and do it. I was definitely feeling this way this morning.  I hate these ecards but it was the best thing to use this morning. Yesterday was a nice day because I actually had time to do stuff.  We did our grocery…

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I roasted my first pumpkin yesterday

I roasted my first pumpkin yesterday

Hello my friends!  I’m boring this week.  I’m living for the little things.  I’ve been really busy at work (both jobs) so I have been looking forward to spending a minute at home.  Meal prep happened very quickly this week by eating some old favorites.  But I was looking forward to making something with my pumpkin that has been sitting on my counter since Friday. Last Friday, we did the grocery shopping for the week because we went to Tyler for the race. We wanted to make sure we had our groceries when we returned. That’s when I decided to…

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Egg White Muffins for breakfast

Egg White Muffins for breakfast

I like to share something from the kitchen every week so this week I’m sharing a super easy breakfast thing. I use to wake up every morning to make us egg white omelets. That was before I started teaching cycle at 5AM so I had to find a way to make breakfast in the morning easy and portable if needed to be. I decided on the egg white muffin because I can cook six at a time and it was a set it and forget it type of thing.   Egg White Muffins Recipe Type: Breakfast Cuisine: American Author: Angela…

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A note on transforming: leading by example

A note on transforming: leading by example

It’s hard to go back in time. That’s what makes it a little difficult to blog here sometimes. When I blog here, I feel like I’m stuck in the in between. I think it’s time to get out of this place…it’s just not a good place to be. It’s called a transformation for a reason and my blog friends, we have transformed. Weight loss was 2011. The struggle, the work, the dedication to losing the weight was then and it definitely not now. We BEAT fat! We continue to beat fat everyday, but it’s a difference. I’m not saying we…

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The king of grocery shopping

The king of grocery shopping

I spent the weekend with my best friend in Mississippi while Willie stayed behind to handle the dogs!  He also had to handle the grocery shopping so that we could successfully handle the Sunday meal prepping. For the record, my husband is AMAZING! I got to enjoy views like this and he got to take the dog to get his shots. Remember ho I told y’all Willie came in under budget for the grocery shopping?  He did it again.  Maybe I should start sending him to the store instead of going myself.  He did a really good job.  Our fridge…

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A few things I learned this week

A few things I learned this week

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope it’s been a great week for everyone.  It’s been a good week for me!  I’m always behind when I can’t do my meal prep on Sundays.  It’s been a very telling week and I’ve learned a couple of things about myself. 1.  I started logging my food again this week.  We can be friends on MyFitnessPal if you e-mail me.  I thought my eating was a little bit out of control.  Willie would tell you that was all in my head.  I learned that he was right.  I’m a grazer.  I cook and I nibble…

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The ground chicken spring roll

The ground chicken spring roll

Last week my friend made egg rolls. I can’t have egg rolls because they are fried. I thought I would try something different. Willie purchased some spring roll wrappers a while ago so I thought I would give it a try.   The ground chicken spring roll Cuisine: Asian Author: Angela Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 35 mins Serves: 8 servings Ingredients 1 pound ground chicken breast 16 spring roll wrappers 1 bag 14oz shredded cabbage 1 cup mushrooms, chopped 1/2 cup shredded carrots 1/2 cup white onions, diced bowl of warm water Instructions Sautee…

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I’ve been MEGA inspired

I’ve been MEGA inspired

My inspiration changes from moment to moment and that’s what keeps me going. That’s the great thing about inspiration, it doesn’t have to be just one thing or person. I must share, I’ve been inspired by a special person in my life: Patsy! I will keep this short and sweet because words will never be able to express the full emotion. I see Patsy working really hard! She’s been working on her fitness and has made some positive life changes over the years. But the thing that really got me? On Sunday, Willie and I were on our way to…

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I’m loving pumpkin right now. Try it …

I’m loving pumpkin right now. Try it in overnight oats!

How is everyone doing this week? How is your refrigerator feeling this week? It’s Thursday so our fridge is starting to empty out which got me thinking about some things I can’t get enough of lately. I love pumpkin, Willie hates it. That’s fine. That means I can eat all the pumpkin and not have to share. September came around and everyone went pumpkin obsessed. For some reason September triggers fall in people’s mind when it just triggers extremely hot and humid weather for me. I’m longing for fall though for “cooler” temperatures and more time with my running group.…

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How your love language fits into your life

How your love language fits into your life

Do you know your love language? It’s an important thing to know. Taking this simple quiz will tell you a lot about yourself which in turn will show you have you navigate life. My primary love language is quality time. This explains a lot about me. I carry around a lot of guilt because I keep a busy schedule. I’m just one of those people who just like to stay busy and all of you know I like to get out and explore different places. That makes quality time being my primary love language a little ironic…at least to me.…

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