Weekend Recap {Memorial Day}

 {Image Credit: Destination 360}

This long weekend has been exactly what I needed. I had a chance to rest, shop, and hang out with some great friends.

While the three day weekend was a much needed break and the official start to summer, I'd like to stop and remember the true meaning of Memorial Day weekend. I could not be more grateful for the country I live in and the brave men and women in our Armed Forces who fight each and everyday to protect our freedoms! They are the reason I get to wake up each day and have the freedom to go to work, church, and live life without fear of someone telling me I can't.

On Saturday, the hubby and I had the opportunity to show our gratitude to these men and women by participating with neighbors and friends from our community at CrossFit in the WOD Memorial Day "Murph." The workout was created by and named after Lt. Michael Murphy, a navy seal who lost his life defending not only his country but also trying to save his team of seals who encountered unexpected opposition in an Afghan operation in 2005. Murphy later became a Medal of Honor recipient. 

This was my first year to participate in the "Murph" workout, it was intimidating, but at the end was totally worth it! The workout starts out with a 1 mile run, followed by 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats and finally another 1 mile run. BRUTAL! But so worth it when you think about how hard some of our service members train! It was an eye opening experience for sure, but when you start getting tired just think about how Lt.  Murphy felt while out defending our country!

{Image Credits: CrossFit Albuquerque "Murph" 2012}

The Weekend

Hello loves! We finally made it to another Friday and the weekend is upon us, make that a 3-day weekend. I could not be more excited! It has been another crazy but wonderful week. Thankfully we only have a few plans this weekend, but will mostly get to stay at home and rest. While many will start their first summer vacations this weekend, the hubby and I will be rocking our stay-cation! I hope to play with some new recipes, catch up on some reading and be lazy! I'm sure we'll be out celebrating Memorial Day with the Memorial Day Murph workout at CrossFit on Saturday, but other than that we have no set plans, just enjoy a little extra time off. We could not be more thankful for a long weekend!

{Image Credit: Southern Sophistication via  Simply Luxurious Life}

Easy G-Free Pizza

The hubby and I get up everyday at 5 a.m., head to CrossFit, then straight to work. And lately both of us have had pretty hectic work schedules, so by the time Friday evening rolls around we are completely exhausted, I mean come home sit on the couch and don't move all night exhausted. So when I found these pre-made crusts and managed to pull together a decent pizza, they instantly became a staple for our Friday evenings.

There really is no secret to this, except the amazing pre-made Udi's Pizza Crusts! You can literally make these pizzas in 15 minutes, then sit down, kick off your shoes, throw in a good movie, or in our case one of our favorite tv shows, Justified or Blue Bloods, and relax! Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Ingredients:
Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crusts
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Tomato Sauce
Pinch of sea salt
Fresh basil leaves, chopped
Fresh grated mozzarella cheese
Toppings of choice (we use pepperoni, browned sausage, onions, and mushrooms)

Heat oven as directed on pizza crust instructions. Cover a baking sheet with foil and place the pizza crusts on top.

Pour oil on pizza crust and spread using a basting brush, or spoon. Brush oil all over the crust.

Then pour tomato sauce on the pizza, use as much or as little sauce as you like. I prefer to leave about a half inch ring around the pizza crust without sauce so it's easier to eat. Dust the sauce with sea salt, the sprinkle the chopped basil leaves on top and sprinkle with cheese. Again, there is no special amount, just sprinkle as much or as little cheese as you like.

Then top the pizza with your favorite toppings. I'm pretty boring, or so I've been told, so I just like plain pepperoni pizza with browned sausage on top. The hubby likes his pizza to be a little more adventurous, so I add onions and mushrooms to his.

Place the pizza in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, as directed, or until cheese melts.

**I've also tried making our own g-free crusts using gluten free Bisquik but the texture was rather thick and it took about an hour longer to make. 

Quick Trip to {Dallas}

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to travel to Dallas for work. I could not have been more excited to not only participate in some exciting research for work but also to get the chance to spend a day with my sweet little sister. It was exactly the kind of day I've been needing for quite some time.

My team and I arrived in Dallas late Tuesday evening. We spent all day Wednesday doing research at two local stores, and I stayed an extra day, Thursday, to do some more competitive research for our team in the Dallas region.

Wednesday evening and Thursday I was lucky enough to spend time with my sister. The weather could not have been more perfect so we ate dinner at La Madeleine, one of our favorite restaurants.  And the next day we had fajitas at Mi Cocina. Unfortunately, New Mexico doesn't have either of these restaurants so they were quite a treat!


And of course we did a little shopping! We spent all day Thursday at the malls, mostly doing research for work (my sis was my expert shopper/helper) but also doing a little looking on our own. It was a whirlwind shopping day for sure. We hit two malls for research, the Shops at Legacy for lunch, the Container Store and with 30 minutes to spare, before I had to be at the airport for my flight, we did a quick run of Ikea. I don't know anyone who can spend less than 30 minutes in Ikea, but we managed to shop in less that!

To top it off, I was able to fit everything from the days trip into my two carry on bags and spent less than $60 the whole day! Wow, how's that for tight budget and limited space? Needless, to say it was busy but the most important part was getting to spend time with my sister. Living in two different states during this time in our lives has been pretty difficult, so every little bit of time we get together is pretty sweet.

On My {Summer} Shopping List

There are so many fabulous trends out there this summer I'd love to try, but we are on a pretty tight budget so here are just a few of things on my summer shopping list. Some of the items are basics, or essentials, my wardrobe has been lacking, but there are also a few trendy, more colorful pieces I've been dying to get my hands on.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8

Weekend Recap

This weekend has been absolutely amazing! It was exactly what I needed. My husband was sweet enough to tell me last week that he wanted me to do absolutely nothing this weekend. I must say for me that was a challenge, but I followed his leadership and relaxed. Here's a few of our weekend highlights via instagram.

One of our favorite Friday meals is pizza. I mean who doesn't like pizza on Friday, isn't it an American tradition?! We love making these fantastic homemade g-free pizzas! We can personalize them without worrying what the other will like, they take 5 minutes to make, and then we turn on the Netflix for the rest of the night and chill.

We spent most of our weekend at home, allowing us to catch up on some reading!

Sunday evening, C made one of my all-time favorite dishes. Chicken Tortilla Soup! This dish is my hubs specialty, it has just the right amount of spice, lots of chicken, cool avocado and homemade tortilla strips (not g-free or paleo but who cares, we splurge on weekends).

A Little R&R

This past week/weekend has been insanely busy. We've had some pretty stressful weeks at work, a lot of upcoming travel, a new schedule to adjust to and we've literally been on-the-go since last weekend. So my body told me "enough!" I've been feeling pretty lousy this week. Probably partly caused by my allergies from the winds and dirt in the air, or maybe it's the nasty chest cold and cough going around. Needless to say, I'm enjoying taking time to make myself relax, sometimes it's what we need. A little extra care for our bodies, drinking more water, good nutrition, exercise, and most importantly sleep and REST!

{Image Credit: Prettystuff Tumblr}

{Bold} Pants

I consider my style fairly classic. I prefer to wear blacks, grays and more neutral colors. But lately I've become a little bored and much more interested in experimenting with the latest in fashion trends. Unfortunately, I don't consider Albuquerque to be one of the most stylish places in America, therefore we are limited in the number of places we have to shop, so I rely on my sister back in our hometown of Dallas to do some shopping for me. I send her my wish list of clothes and when she has time to get out and go shopping for herself she will often look for the items on my list as well. I'm blessed to have such a great sister who wants to help keep my style up-to-date.


The most recent item I received from her were these fantastic H&M pink pencil pants. Originally, I expected them to be a rich shade of red, but when I received them in the mail I was quite surprised to find that they were a far more bold coral/pinkish color than I expected. I love them nonetheless! In fact after looking around on Pinterest I found a number of great outfit inspirations to experiment with and can't wait to share. In the meantime, I'll just pair them with a solid colored tee and pumps.

Pants: H&M

T-shirt: Target (here)

Pumps: Target (here)

Necklace: LOFT (old)

This Beautiful Day

This morning started off a little different than normal. Last night was a pretty rough night. I had horrible stomach aches all night long that kept me awake for a vast majority of the I should have been sleeping. I wasn't able to get up for CrossFit this morning and ended up sleeping past my alarm for work. Needless to say, this isn't how I imagined my day starting. But after waking up and eating a filling and clean breakfast free of any kind of grains (g-free or not) I was able to sit at the table and have some quiet time with the Lord and slowly began feeling a little better. Maybe God just wanted me to slow down and spend time with Him.

Through my quiet time I was reminded of the freedom, joy and peace that God provides. I used to live with chronic anxiety. It was a daily battle I had to fight both spiritually and physically, but after months of work and pressing in to the Lord I realized I had so much to be thankful for and little reason to be anxious, because as a daughter of the Most High, the beautiful life He has given me is in His hands.

In times like this we are called to dwell on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable, here are the things that immediately came to my mind:

1. Christ's love for me, a beloved daughter.
2. My husband; his love, patience and leadership
3. My family and friends - I don't even know where to begin, I'm just blessed.
4. This beautiful, warm, sunny day that I am able to experience.
5. My physical strength that God has allowed me to use to His glory.
6. My little, but beautiful home that gives me a place to rest.
7. The creative desires God has given me.
8. My passion to serve others.
9. Our sweet little puppy dog.
10. My job that gives us a little extra money, but also gives me the opportunity to work in a creative environment and travel.

{Image Credit: Pinterest via Tumblr}

Apple Sauce Pork Chops

Sunday, we spent the day at home doing our regular weekly chores and relaxing as usual. We love experimenting with recipes on the weekends because we can spend as much or as little time in the kitchen as we want. I tend to be the one who sees a recipe then makes adjustments/adaptations to make it either paleo or g-free, C simply imagines flavors and comes up with recipes on a whim, I only wish I had that man's creativity. Anyway, we didn't want to spend too much time in the kitchen so we decided to throw together a quick meal with what we found on sale at the grocery store. Here's what we came up with: apple sauce pork chops and mashed cauliflower. Amazing!

Apple Sauce Pork Chops

Pork Chops
2lbs. Boneless Pork Chop Loins
1 Tbsp. Pork BBQ Dry Rub Seasoning

Apple Sauce
4 Apples
1 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. Cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans


Turn oven on broil. Pound out the pork chops to tenderize. Rub both sides of the pork chops with a dry BBQ rub. Place on broiling pan.

Core and dice the apples. Heat butter in a skillet. Once skillet is heated, add the apples. Cook the apples 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally. Then stir in cinnamon and chopped pecans, cook for another 1-2 minutes.

Remove the skillet from heat and place the cooked apples in a food processor until desired apple sauce consistency is reached.

Place the pork chops in the oven and broil for 7 minutes on each side. Remove the pork chops and let rest for 5 minutes.

Pour the apple sauce on top of the pork chop or serve it on the side as a dip.


**We made mashed cauliflower as a side dish. I'm not a fan of cauliflower but it's a great alternative to mashed potatoes and tastes very much like them! For the mashed cauliflower we used a recipe from our Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. C paired his meal with Shiner Ruby Redbird, a seasonal beer flavored with ruby red grapefruits from the Rio Grande valley.