Just So You Know...

I've been away from blogging so long I don't even know what to write about anymore. I originally started blogging as a place to document this little life of mine. So, I want to get back to that, and I hope you readers don't mind! I've thought about going back and doing posts that captures the highlights over the months I've been away. I may get to that and I may not. My life has changed in so many ways! So much to share! The end goal here is to BLOG!

I hope this is a true hello, and I'm BACK!

Until next time, 

<3 Keia

Currently...

Heyyyyy friends! Long time, no see! I'm not even going to waste your time by going in to a long, drawn out story about where I've been the past two months. Ain't nobody got time for that! Is that still cool to say?!  I am alive and well! I thought I would come back and share what's going on with me currently. I have seen this cool blog post idea around the blogosphere, so I thought I would share too!

+ Crafting: Well I have a quite a few crafting projects that I want to work on...BUT I'm one of those people who find things I want to craft, especially using things I find on my thrifting trips, and then they just find a home in a closest FOREVER! Must do better...

+ Cooking: To be quite honest, I'm still patting myself on the back for the Thanksgiving meal my honey and I prepared! We decided to stay home this year because for one, we didn't get Little R until 6:00 pm, and we were going to be in Virginia with my family the following Saturday for my cousin's 40th birthday party. Long story short, Big R smoked two whole chickens and a turkey and I cooked all the sides (mac and cheese, candied yams, Big R's mom's dressing recipe, greens, corn, and mashed potatoes) All of it was bangin'! Since then we've ate out a few days. (So bad!) I'm happy to get back in the kitchen this week and take control of what I'm putting in my mouth!

+ Drinking: Mostly water! I haven't been drinking coffee as much lately (gasp! I know) -- more on that later!

+ Reading: I started reading the Fault in our Stars weeks ago. Great book, I just have to force myself to separate from my phone and laptop and actually read more!

+ Wanting: To marry Big R already! -- more on that later!

+ Playing: Nothing - I don't really play any games. Never really been my thing. 

+ Wishing: My dad was here to see me get married and the birth of his first grandchild (my niecy pooh will be born late December/early January) 

+ Enjoying: Writing this blog post! Gosh I've missed blogging sooooo much!

+ Waiting: Christmas! I just love the Christmas holiday. It's the one holiday that gives you such a warm and fuzzy feeling year after year

+ Liking: Seeing all the Christmas decorations in our neighborhood. I like to have my decorations up by December 1st, well that didn't happen. So hopefully I will have it up by the end of this week!

+ Wondering: What I will get Big R for Christmas. 

+ Loving: Weekends with Big and Little

+ Needing: A new hair style. Early September I had to get several inches of my hair chopped off, and I'm still not used to it yet!

+ Smelling: Glade Vanilla Frost Plugin

+ Wearing: t-shirt and shorts. I don't wear pajama sets. Do you?

+ Watching: Just finished watching Sunday's episodes of Real Housewives of Atlanta and Kourtney and Khloe Take the Hamptons

+ Listening to: Big R's phone conversation with an old coach/friend

+ Obsessing over:  The changes occurring in my life over the next year!

+ Shopping for: "Santa" shopping for Little R, Christmas gifts for Big R, gifts for my niecy pooh!

+ Learning: More about the MBA program I will be starting in January 

+ Wasting time on: Youtube videos, blog reading, and trash tv

+ Working on: Growing with my company

+ Looking forward to: My birthday (12/21), Christmas, and then skip right on to SUMMER! : ) 

Until Next Time, 

<3 Keia

BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge Week 1 - What I Ate

Hey friends! Happy Friday! As promised, I'm back to share more about what I ate on the BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge. The detail provided as a part of the challenge is extremely helpful. You are provided with not only a meal plan for two weeks, but you are also provided with a weekly grocery list, as well as the steps you need to prepare your meals for each week. As I mentioned in my post last week, I followed Week 1 fairly closely. I purchased most of the items on the grocery list provided by the BuzzFeed team. I really enjoyed each of the meals for week 1. I tried meals that I definitely would not have thought to prepare on my own. I also used ingredients that I don't typically use, which was such an interesting and enjoyable change. 

Based on what I learned from Week 1's meal plan, grocery list, and meal prep, I modified Week 2 quite a bit. I plan to talk about my reasons for doing so in an upcoming blog post. ; )  

So here's the nitty gritty! The do's and don'ts! What you really need to know! 

I know I have said it 100 times already...but I REALLY think this challenge was worth it! My daily diet still reflects many of the basics of the clean eating challenge. I have really been able to transform the way I eat, and I am very happy with the overall results. Next week sometime I plan to share the pros and cons of the 2 week challenge! 

Thank you to everyone who reached out to me last week! I really appreciate your kind comments, and I'm happy to hear that at least a few of you plan to try the challenge for yourself. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts after. Let's do this thing together!!!

Until Next Time,

<3 Keia

10 Things That Make Me Happy

Not in any particular order! ; ) 

1| Coffee.

via

2| My relationship with Big R. He's got my back, and I have his. 100%

3|  Spending time with my family.

4| Little R's antics. He makes our house a home.

5| Shopping at the Goodwill. It is therapeutic for me.

6| Blogging. Reading other blogs.

Some of my favorites!

Sarah @ Hello Hive

Tia @ The Chic Stay at Home Mom

Erika @ ErikaWyatt.com

Amberly @ A Slice of Glam

7| YouTube.

Some of my favorite channels!

myhousewifelife

How Jen Does It

House of Aqua

SacconeJolys

GabeBabeTV

MsVaughnTV

8| Pumpkin season aka FALL!

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9| Good food.

10| A fresh smelling home.

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BONUS| My frannnns!!! {Thanks for calling me out Donna! Love ya!}

What makes you happy?! Let me know in the comments!

xoxoxo,

<3 Keia

Take Control| Featuring BuzzFeed's 14 Day Clean Eating Challenge

Hey, hey friends! Happy Friday! Today I want to share something a bit on the personal side. I've mentioned in a couple of my recent blog posts that I wanted to share with you how I have decided to Take CONTROL of my health and fitness! Well, my friends, today is that day!

Just to give you a brief background story (ok, well at least I am going to try to keep it brief)...I had always considered myself to be a fairly healthy person. I had even fooled myself into believing that I lived an 80/20 lifestyle. If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have told you I tried to eat 80% healthy and the other 20% of the time I ate what I wanted. Well, that was not entirely true...and I did not realize that until I REALLY adopted an 80/20 lifestyle over the past few weeks. Every late spring, early summer I gear up to whip my butt back into shape for the summer time. This past summer was no different; however, even though I increased my workouts by double of what I had been doing in the months prior, I still did not see the results I was looking for. By mid-July I was extremely unhappy with how my body looked. The pound or two I had lost going into the summer had not made a difference in my appearance or the way I felt at all. Furthermore, I knew I was at a point where I wanted to make a full-on lifestyle change! I had complained enough about my metabolism slowing down at the ripe old age of 26. I was tired of just losing weight to just look summertime fine! One day in late July, while doing my daily Pinterest perusing I came across the Buzzfeed Clean Eating Challenge. I liked the pin, and I made a mental note that I would come back to that post the beginning of August. Now, I specifically chose the beginning of August for a couple of reasons. 1) I knew Little R would be going back to school, which also means that we no longer have him for extended periods of time. 2) Big R would be knee-deep into football with camp and preparing for the football season. I have found that it can be very difficult to adopt a new meal plan/healthy eating change when you are preparing other meals for your family that aren't as healthy. So since I knew my time with my guys would be limited that allowed me the time I needed to jumpstart my new health journey with little to no distraction. 

Ok...so that backstory was longer than I anticipated!! BUT, that brings me to the BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge. "BuzzFeed's Clean Eating Challenge is a two-week detox plan that’s all about eating real food in order to feel great and have more energy. All of the food is low carb and gluten free with an emphasis on lean protein (no red meat) and fresh produce. There’s no processed food allowed; every meal is homemade."

Now let me go ahead and keep in funky with y'all! I followed what would be considered a modified version of the challenge. I followed Week 1 of the challenge with just a few modifications to the grocery list and meal plans. Week 2 I did not really follow the grocery list or the meal plans from the challenge, BUT based on Week 1's meals, I made sure to stick with the same overall theme of grocery items, meals, and snacks. My goal with trying the BuzzFeed Clean Eating Challenge was not to just lose a magical number of pounds with in that two week timeframe and quit. I wanted to use the challenge as a way to transition into a new healthy eating routine forever...hopefully. So far I am happy to report I have been able to do just that!! Woot woot...AND holla at ya girl!! Haha! I have so much more control over what I put into my body, and as a result I feel soooo much better! And added bonus is that I look better too. ; ) 

When I first started the challenge I was hitting the gym pretty heavy as well. I will talk more about my workout routine in another post, BUT I do want to mention that I contribute the way I feel and look in most part to the change in my diet!!! I still want to lose a little more weight, but my focus at this point is to TONE! I am in need of some serious toning, so my goal at this point is to spend more time working on strength training in the gym.

In future posts I plan to talk more about what I ate during the Buzzfeed Clean Eating Challenge, what I am eating now, my plans to try weekly meal prep, what I have done in the gym up until now, and more about what I plan to do in the gym going forward!

Now this post would not be right without some before and after pictures right?! I really debated whether or not I wanted to share these pictures or not...but I hope that by sharing them I will be an inspiration to someone else! Here we go:

Now I realize the change is not drastic! So far I've lost 6 pounds since early August, and I'm pretty happy with that. I don't necessarily have a weight goal...I just want to be healthy and feel comfortable in my own skin! So tell me...do you feel like YOU need to Take CONTROL of your health and fitness? If so, join me!!! Use the hashtag #takecontrolwithkeia on Instagram and Twitter. I would love to follow you along on your journey. I need you to encourage me to keep it up, and I would be happy to do the same for you!!

Remember! You are the only one who decides how you feel about your body!

xoxoxo,

<3 Keia

Update

Heyyyy lovely people! Oh, how I've missed my blog! The past couple of weeks have been a little bit on the hectic side for me. I don't know if I have mentioned it here on the blog before, but I'm from a small, country town. My mom always has old school, country sayings that she has shared with me since I was a small child. With everything that has been going on lately, in the back of my mind I know she would say "Every day won't be a cloudy day." That couldn't be more true. On those difficult days, when you are dealing with difficult situations, always remember that not every day will be a bad one.

I thought I would just drop in and share some photos I've snapped over the past couple of weeks!

I miss this little guy. A LOT!

I was involved in a car accident last weekend...on my way to visit my bestie.  Ruined my trip. I spent the last week working with the other lady's insurance (she ran a red light so the accident wasn't my fault at all) and it still hasn't been resolved. At the end of the day though, I'm not hurt and my car can and will be fixed!

I've been spending my days working,  sipping on coffee in my Asian-inspired mug, and missing my honey in the evenings. I love football season, but selfishly I miss him when he's working. I picked up the cute 'Notes' notebook from one of the Target dollar bins. I can't wait to write my daily to-do list for work in it this upcoming week!

I also wanted to discuss the future direction of my little ol' blog with you all briefly. You may have noticed I had a few blog series going on: Monday Mani, My Style Thursday, and The Friday Five. Well, I'm going to take a different approach and see how it goes! I will still pop in with mani posts and style posts here and there, just not on a strict schedule. My goal is to post more frequently, and I also want to start blogging about more lifestyle related topics. So, I just wanted to give those who are interested a heads up! 

Lastly, I just want to say THANK YOU to you all! Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting, thanks for stopping by my small space of the blogosphere! I appreciate it!

Until Next Time, 

<3 Keia