4th of July

First of all I have to say that the weather on 4th of July was kind of bizarre. It was cloudy and rainy most of the day in Arizona. With that being said, we still had a good time hanging out with friends and watching fireworks. I wish it wouldn't have been in the middle of the week because then we would've been able to spend time at the lake with Matthew's family. Embree was not a fan of the fireworks. She had her tail between her legs and wanted to hide inside during them.

xoxo,

Megs

 {Embree hiding inside}

 {Sparklers}

 

{Sparklers}

 

{Fireworks}

 {Embree & Matthew :) }

 {Happy 4th of July}

 *All personal photographs unless noted otherwise*

California Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to California for a wedding and a mini vacation. Our friends Rachel & Erik go married in a beautiful ceremony on the beach. The weather was great and the view was perfect.

{Mr. & Mrs.}

{ :) }

Rachel & Erik

{Matthew playing on his phone before the reception}

The next day, we made our way up to my brother's house to visit him and some of Matthew's family. We spent most of our days relaxing! It was a nice little break from work and school.

 {Making funny faces with my nephew}

{Gavin & Keria being silly}

{Cameron & Matthew playing video games}

xoxo,

Megs

*All personal photographs unless noted otherwise*

The Weight Loss Chronicles: Smoothies for Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We've all heard this many times before but for me it is one of the hardest meals of the day. In the morning I'm running around trying to get ready for work, taking care of Embree, and sometimes packing lunches. By the time I have to leave the house, there is no time for me to make something to eat. Usually I just skip breakfast all together and then I'm starving the rest of the day!

Recently I've seen and pinned a lot of smoothie recopies on Pinterest and decided I was going to make smoothie bags to simplify my life in the morning. Surprisingly, they were pretty cheap and easy to assemble and I now have breakfast for the next 24 days. There are many how to's out there on the interweb about making smoothie bags. I personally followed this one but instead of using ice cube trays, I used a muffin tin. 

When I went to the store I purchased a 64 oz bag of frozen strawberries, pineapple, bananas, yogurt, spinach, and almond milk. I bought the frozen fruit because it was slightly cheaper than buying it fresh, even with the sale that was going on. When I got home I divided up the yogurt into the muffin tin. Since I used a standard size muffin tin I was able to fill each cup with about 1/2 of a yoplait yogurt container. I chose to buy different flavored yogurt because I've tried making smoothies before with plain or vanilla and it just wasn't for me. Once the yogurt was in the tin, I put it in the freezer and started dividing up the fruit. I cut each banana in half and then into smaller pieces so it would be easier to blend. Then I add about 2 cups of fruit to each bag. Once the yogurt was frozen I added them to each bag.

I placed one smoothie bag in the refrigerator before I went to sleep. That way it will somewhat thaw out before I blend it up in the morning. If its not completely thawed in the morning, you can let it sit on the counter while you're getting ready. When I was ready to blend it up I added a handful of spinach to the blender first. To help blend the spinach I added about a cup of almond milk, you could also use water if needed. Once the spinach was blended up into a nice liquid, I added the contents of my smoothie bag and blended until it was the thickness that I like. You can add more almond milk if need to aid in blending. Surprisingly enough, I was unable to taste the spinach in my smoothie this morning and now I don't have to think about what I want to eat in the morning because it's already made.

xoxo,

Megs 

Embree Passed...

Last night Embree took her CGC test and she PASSED!! We knew she would do well on pretty much everything but were a little worried that she wouldn't be able to contain herself when it came to the part of the test where the instructor tried to pet her. That is her only weak area but she was able to keep it together long enough!

The CGC is a basic obedience test that dogs can take. They receive a certificate at the end. If we want, we can now continue on training her to do agility courses or even becoming a care dog. For now, we are a little burnt out on training classes. We went for pretty much 18 weeks straight so we are going to give it a little break.

In other news, I finally got my passport! So that means we are all set for our Honeymoon next month!!! EEEEEKKKKK! I'm so excited!

xoxo,

Megs

Embree: 6 Months(ish)...

Embree is about 6 months now. I still can't believe how big she has gotten since the day we brought her home. She is still very energetic and driving us crazy most of the time, but we wouldn't have it any other way. In two weeks she will complete her advanced training class. For the most part she has excelled in every area....except getting overly excited when people want to pet her. If she's able to control that during her test, it will be a miracle! 

xoxo,

Megs

{Embree with her ball}

{Looking out the window}

{Embree in action}

**All pictures are personal photographs**

Summer of Fun Ahead...

I'm so excited for the next couple of months! We finally get to enjoy our summer! Next week we are headed to California for our friends wedding! While we're there we are going to visit family and friends and hopefully make it to the beach! It's going to be a quick trip, but I'm excited to get away for a bit.

At the end of July, we are going on our Honeymoon cruise! We only have:

Matthew's passport came in the mail the other day and I am anxiously awaiting mine! I'm excited to spend a whole week of uninterrupted time together! While we're in Alaska we are going whale watching and snorkeling! Don't worry....I'll take plenty of pictures!

xoxo

Megs

Feeling Homesick...

Every now and then I get a little homesick. It's crazy to think that I've been living in Arizona for a little over three years now. I miss being close to my friends. Instead of seeing them everyday, I talk to them on Skype. I'm grateful for the friends I have in Arizona but sometimes I wish I could have the best of both worlds. As we grow up and change through the years, I know we will always be best friends! I love you ladies! Miss you more than you know!

xoxo
Megs

St. Anne Photography

**All personal photographs, unless noted otherwise**