He Did It Again!!

So there's a significant weather advisory around these parts, and it is thundering BIG time.  Cameron isn't a huge fan & wants to snuggle (which we love), but ever since we taught Avery that "God makes thunder & lightning", she just exclaims with excitement, "He did it again!" anytime she hears the thunder or sees the lightning.  CUTEness.  :)

In other news, I guess I pulled a muscle in my back.  Between my spine and my right shoulder blade, there is some major discomfort going on from my trap to the bottom of my shoulder blade, and it's been there for almost a week now.  It hurts with a firm touch, and feels like a pulled muscle.  When I lean against the back of a chair or lay on my back in bed, it spasms and is just...annoying.  It's definitely a muscle issue, not a joint/spine/bone issue (thankfully!).  But I'm not sure how to deal with it?  I spent a few days icing it (after making it worse by asking the hubs to give me a massage thinking I had "knots"), I've been taking anti-inflammatories, "resting" it...as much as a mom of a 1 & 2 year old can rest anything :)  I'm not a fan of having to steer clear of working out OR not being able to roll around on the ground with my littles, so I'm hoping this thing leaves me alone soon!

And in other AWESOME news, the Rileton is back in the States for a few days, so we get to hang with him this weekend.  SUPER excited to spend time catching up on his life & God's work in Honduras.  And just pumped to chat and hang and let the girls love on BOTH of their uncles for a couple of days.  Super thankful for the times my fam gets to be together...yay for The Curry Connection!

Moms Night In- N.Texas

So I'm super excited to be a part of this cool event: Moms' Night In hosted by McDonald's of North Texas.  McDonald's Regional Marketing Director of North Texas, Jordan (super cool chick!), contacted me a while back (she first found me through The Good Life by RoxyB blog!) about participating in an event to educate influential moms of North Texas on how to integrate a healthy lifestyle with a super-busy lifestyle!  Of course, that's my fave thing, so I was intrigued from the start :)  McDonald's has begun offering healthier options on their menus, has changed old options to remove at least portions of the unecessary unhealthiness, and has begun adopting MUCH more environmentally friendly business practices.  Most of this has happened without the general public's knowledge.  With their commitment to promote & encourage a healthier lifestyle, McDonald's (well...Jordan) came up with this great idea to involve local moms in a conversation about challenges moms face in raising a healthy family with such busy and demanding schedules.

On October 5th, we'll address some of the most common issues moms (and our families!) deal with each day, and we'll offer tips and advice on little changes we can make to lead to a healthier existence for us, our husbands, and our little ones!  I'm really pumped to be on the panel with Nutrition-Super-Expert Carina Saez and have the oportunity to educate people on what we're passionate about!

If you're located in the North Texas area, the event is taking place at a McDonald's location in Irving (THE most amazing fast food restaurant I've ever seen!).  Be sure to RSVP to receive a goodie bag full of coupons, discounted services, and helpful info!  You'll even be invited to tour the kitchen with a Food Safety Expert to see all of the health and safety-conscious measures McDonald's takes in their food prep.  If you are NOT located in the North Texas area, you can join in the conversation on Twitter.  We'll have a live feed at hashtag #MomsNightIn.  Simply use the hashtag to share your thoughts and to get your questions answered!

Don't miss out.  It should be super fun :)
 

The Good Life by RoxyB

So I realized in looking back at my blog, that I haven't really documented ANY of my journey in getting back into the business of fitness!  Since it's a pretty significant part of my life, I want to be able to go back and read about new opportunities, my thought processes, and lessons learned during this whole thing!

So... I've ALWAYS known that I want to be in the health/fitness/wellness world for the rest of my life.  It combines all of my passions: a love for PEOPLE, the gift of ENCOURAGEMENT, both sides of EDUCATION, physical ACTIVITY, taking care of the temple aka- HEALTH.  Since Avery's birth, I've taken a hiatus from my fitness profession, but around the beginning of 2011, I decided I was ready to stick my toes back in and test the waters :) 

It started with my Fitness blog (late 2010), which was just my outlet for sharing fitness and wellness information!  I'm constantly playing with the layout, trying to find something I'm satisfied with (who knows if that will ever happen!), but I just want it to be something that people can refer to for any questions they may have relating to fitness!  I want it to be user-friendly, well-organized, and easy to look at.  Who knows... maybe we'll get there one day :)

After The Simple Plan in April, I felt prepared to take on my first "official" clients, and thus has blossomed, "The Good Life".  My dear friend Kelly Simants, of Sweet Pea Events, has been an insane blessing in giving me advice, encouragement, and support on the business side of things.  God definitely orchestrated this friendship for many awesome reasons, probably the least of which is for my business' benefit :)

My clients have been super fun, some have been super challenging, and I am LOVING it.  A few months into this adventure I realized that I needed to give myself limits and designate certain parts of my day that could be devoted to "The Good Life", because although I love it, I did NOT want it taking time and energy away from my babygirls or my hubby or my wife/mom duties (which I LOVE and are my #1 priority!)  After feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed for a short period of time, I figured out how to make things work... reprioritized :) It's amazing how when you bite the bullet and just spend more time in The Word, EVEN when you feel like there's NOT enough time, your days seem miraculously longer and The Lord finds a way to provide the time you need, the peace you need, and the attitude you need :)   Love it.

Anyway- that's what's been up with The Good Life by RoxyB in a nutshell.  There are some pretty fun opportunities I get to be a part of in the near future that wouldn't have presented themselves without The Good Life in my life!  Will share them soon.  Time for bed.  I'm thankful that God has blessed me with so many things.  HE is enough for me.  But He has blessed me beyond what I need with a super awesome husband to share my life with, 2 little angels of love that bless every minute I spend with them, and the opportunity to have a business that I'm excited about!

Finding Your Inner Child: Lifegroup Bowling!

Our Lifegroup is kiiiind of awesome.  We have finally finished up our Revelation study, and instead of diving into the next one this week, we decided to have an adults-only night-o-fun during the week! (since it's nearly impossible to find a weekend that we're all in town).

We ended up @ Main Event in Frisco... totally cheap fun.  I didn't snap any pics of the bowling, but we all took a quick 10ish question survey while we were there to earn a $15 card to the arcade.  Let's just say that the neon lights brought out our inner children (who am I kidding...everything bring out our inner children!)

We played some air hockey, some DDR, did some shooting, you know...your typical arcade entertainment.  The grand finale of the evening was spent in the arcade's Man-Fest Corner with games that involved seeing who could kick a soccer ball & hit a punching bag with the most force.  Pretty entertaining :) 

Here's to my fav Lifegroupers :)  P.S.- We missed you, Simants Fam!!

Potty Training w/Aves!!

WARNING: Much toddler potty talk exists below these stars...

**********************************

A few months ago, we attempted to start potty-training Averton.  Um.  It was a no-go.  The little munchkin just wasn't quite ready, so after a few days we ditched the big-girl underwear and stuck with diapers for another couple months.  About 3 weeks ago, we made attempt #2, and this time, Aves has been all about it!  She doesn't do the whole post-tinkle "treat" thing.  She's just not motivated by it for some reason.  She seems more motivated by our excitement with her success.  Kind of a cutie :)  Who knew a trip to the bathroom could result in so much joy :)

Each time she goes, she exclaims with GLEE, "I GO TEE-TEE!!" with the most excited smile on her face :)

Anywho- we're still sleeping in diapers, but starting to work on the concept of not going potty ANYWHERE, but on the potty!  I'm not sure how long kiddos usually sleep in pullups before they're 100% potty-trained.  Right now, she waits until she's in bed with a diaper on to go #2...she tries to go in the potty sometimes, but hasn't had success yet.  We've got #1 down to a T!  So proud.  There's nothing cuter than seeing that tiny little hiney running around in undies!  

Longhorn Football

After a slowwwww start {typical} the Horns just pulled out a comeback 1-pt victory over BYU.  Phew!  Starting the season 2-0.  I'll take it :)

After taking in tonight's game from my living room with my mini-Longhorns & my sis-n-law {B-Riz took a friend to the game} I'm super pumped about some things, and then not-so-pumped about some others.

YAY for:

• The McCoy-Shipley Love Connection.  AGAIN.  I mean...seriously?  This couldn't possibly be more fairytale-esque.  Like father- like son- like OTHER son.  Cray.Zay.  ESPN will have a friggin field day with this.
• The YOUTH of our team makes me HAPPY!  And makes me HOPEFUL for much success for the next few years.
• The new coaching staff.  They got me super excited back in the Spring, and I'm thinking everything they had to say was super legit.  They've even got MACK extra pumped. The dude was basically doing heel-clicks on the sidelines.  Kind of cute.
• Trickery on offense.  Yes, we actually threw in a trick play tonight!  Refreshing.  I'm diggin' our man from Boise.
• The running back sitch.
• Having 2 little behbehs to dress up on gamedays.  Superfun.  Great excuse for some additional burnt orange in the casa :)

NOT so yay for:

• Garrett's STRUGGLES.  I don't get it.  This kid was sensational in high school right?  One of the most highly recruited kids in the country. Multiple-State-Record-Holding quarterback.  Led his team to 2 straight State Titles.  Won National Player of the Year.  Some even said he'd win the Heisman before his college career was finished.  And to top it all off, he's a good humble dude {at least he was back when we knew him...}  Makes me sad to see him continue to struggle :(  I'm praying for his future and for his psyche.
• The lack of success @ receiver.  Jaxon Shipley can't catch every single ball in every single game.  

Will we continue to win in 2011?  Time will tell...  But win or lose, I heart my Texas Longhorns :)

PS- This ND/Michigan game is insanity!! Denard Robinson seems destined for victory.  Super happy for Brady Hoke :) And, I don't like to be a hater, but Coach Kelly made me want to puke last week...so I'm not all THAT sad to see him experience another defeat.  Kudos to him for not publicly humiliating another one of his players this week though...

Okay.  Yay Longhorns!

It's the Little Things :)

As we head into the weekend, I'd like to leave you with an image of pure bliss

I hope you all take one from Averton and let loose this weekend.  Indulge in the simple things in life {like cowboy boots ;)} and enjoy the sun, the outdoors, your fam...whatever makes you happy!   We sure plan on it :)

The Most Amazing Art Ever {seriously.}

My friend, Rachel Schwind, is an artist.  But not just an artist.  This girl is absolutely amazing.  I'm serious.  You need to check out her website :

art by rachel schwind 

And then you should check out her facebook page.

I want any of these for Aves:

I want one of these for Camo:

For my mantle:

For my future studio (dreaming!):

And I want these to put basically any place I can possibly put them.

I mean...amazing right?  Rachel Schwind, you are one amazing talent!  God has given this girl a GIFT and the best part?  She totally credits the Lord for her talents.  Super cool chick.  Super AMAZING work.  I want them all.

Cupcake... WINERY??

So as I started with dinner tonight, I realized that I didn't have ingredients for tomato sauce for our eggplant parmesan {b-riz makes a mean e.p.parm, but I tried a healthier version tonight and it was TREMEND.}  So, I sent the hub off to fetch a couple of last minute ingredients, and when we returned home.... he had THIS in hand:

The name was enough to get me super-pumped... little did B-Riz know when he found this cute leetle treasure that he MAY have just discovered my new fave red :)

If you haven't tried it, you totally should.

I {heart} the University of Texas!!

The University of Texas is near the top in efficiency among the nation's public universities: A message from UT President Bill Powers...

Dear Friends,

At UT Austin, we’re working every day to improve the student experience and our academic outcomes.

I have created a task force, which convened in July, to work on increasing our graduation rates. As I said in my May speech on the future of the public research university, raising our four-year graduation rate is one of the most effective ways we can lower costs for Texas families and increase capacity at UT.

This effort is consistent with Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s Framework for Advancing ExcellenceAction Plan, which was unanimously approved by the Board of Regents on August 25. The framework addresses student success, faculty productivity, higher education costs, and many other factors.

I want to call your attention to some related comparative data taken from a study conducted by UT Austin sociology professor and associate dean Marc Musick:

• UT Austin’s six-year graduation rate of 81% is 13^th out of 120 American public research universities.
• We rank 10^th out of those 120 universities in the percentage of students graduating for every taxpayer and tuition dollar received.
• We are 2^nd in the number of faculty employed for every taxpayer and tuition dollar received.

Based on these objective measures, UT Austin is near the top in efficiency among the nation’s public universities.

Of course, there is much room for improvement. Our four-year graduation rate of 53% is not good enough. Michigan and Berkeley graduate about 70% of their undergraduates in four years. We must identify and remove the obstacles to timely graduation at UT Austin.

Public research universities must be good stewards of the public trust — and public resources. I am committed to making UT Austin an even more efficient university.

Sincerely,

Bill Powers

President

The University of Texas at Austin

Like I said, I HEART The University of Texas!  Proud of my alma mater :)