This Little Fam of Mine

M + L + A

We are so far from having it all together.

We've had quesadillas and cereal for dinners this week because I didn't want to cook. We haven't been on time for church since having Lydia. We've been known to leave the dishes in the sink for a few extra days. Our laundry room is chalk full of outgrown baby swings and suitcases and old furniture, and I keep saying I'll get around to it and I keep not quite getting around to it. We sometimes skip Lydia's bath and sometimes miss scripture study. We may or may not walk past the full garbage bin and pretend not to see it in hopes that the other person will take it out. We have two separate piles of shoes in our bedroom that have just become part of the decor at this point. We both are always right, which get's tricky when we disagree ;).

(We sound like slobs. I promise we smell okay.)

So I just wanted to paint a picture of the more realistic side of this life you see. The one where we set up the self timer camera on top of our garbage can, smiled for these pics and then raced inside to strip off our church clothes! :)

We are so far from perfect or even just good, but we're tryin! Bit by bit, week by week we're trying to mold our family into the one we've always wanted.

Even if it is a little (lot) messy along the way :).

My Love Affair with Trader Joe's {Packaged Yummies}

Howdy and happy Monday! 

(I'm a sucker for samples.)

Kicking off Part 2 of my Trader Joe's series with some of my favorite packaged foods. Freezer sections, snacky stuff, all that goodness. (Part 1 included fresh produce like veggies and cheeses and refrigerated items, and it's also where I sung the praises of TJ's, see it here.) Disclaimer: I took all these pictures way back in March so A) there have been a few more discoveries since then and B) don't mind all the expiration dates you see on packages and C) sorry for all lovely pictures of my left thumb ;). Let's dive in! 

Trader Joe's // Packaged Yummies

I'll kick it off with your basic pretzel stick. YUM.

Their pb is perfectly salty and ever-so-slightly grainy, which I like!

Of course their famous Cookie Butter! Michael eats a spoonful of this for dessert almost daily. If you haven't tried this, it's pretty life altering.

I love using this for a hint of coconut in place of regular PAM!

Their balsamic glaze is fantastic and good for everything! Thicker and sweeter than straight up balsamic vinegar, we drizzle it over pizza, roasted veggies, caprese salad - it is amazing.

I'm slightly obsessed with all asian/thai/indian food, so we always keep a bottle of this on hand. Great for potstickers, cucumber salad, chicken satay, etc.

If you are ever wondering what you want for breakfast/lunch/dinner/3pm snack that takes two minutes with almost no clean up - BAM I've found your answer. We love these at our house! Literally add water and pour on the pan (sprayed with the coconut spray above!) and you're done. We served these all fancy-like at our Easter Party here and they were a huge hit! 

*PS - don't mind the wacky measuring instructions on the box - just pour the mix into a bowl and add water till you get normal pancake batter consistency ;).

Cheapest Quest Bars in town. I probably have 3 of these a week - high protein, low sugar, delish.

All their frozen meals are pretty creative and tasty. You can't go wrong with their Kung Pao Chicken and the Gyoza below. Not the healthiest meal, but quick and good!

Yum.

Yum again (with more of that Sweet Thai Chili sauce above)!

They have a great selection of frozen mexican foods that Michael takes to school for lunches.

These quesadillas are bomb.

I've pretty much liked all the frozen veggies I've tried! It's nice to keep a few different veggie bags in the freezer for healthy additions to lunches/dinners.

This medley can go really any direction, which is nice.

I could save this for the treats post I'll do next, buuuut it's greek yogurt so it's basically healthy right!? I love this with blackberries, sliced almonds and agave!

Best almond milk (and coconut milk!) around.

Perfect for salads and yogurt!

TJ's is awesome because they sell these bags for around $6, and each one has 10 little snack packs of nuts and dried fruits! I always have a little pack in my diaper bag.

Lydia's fave.

Lydia's other fave. Great for tiny hands! 

Aaaand closing out with these babies. For all you salty sweet lovers out there, this is your new happy place. A.MA.ZING.

Well there's enough low quality pics of my thumb for one day! Have you guys tried any of these slash what else should I know about?? 

Workin' On My Fitness ft. Fergie & Anni-J

So is it embarrassing that at one (small) point in my life I went by Anni-J?

Annika + James = Anni-J. I even got it stitched on my Land's End backpack. Go 3rd grade self ;).

Anywhoo...

Exercise!

A few people have asked me what I've done to try to get back in shape after having a baby, so I thought I'd write a post about it!

The word 'exercise' has brought up way too many high emotions for me over the past 7 or so years. I'll delve into all of it at some point, but basically I've swung from overexercising to not breaking a sweat for months to playing college sports and exercising for hours a day to using exercise as punishment. Our relationship has been complicated at best. And I think (maybe!) I'm not alone in this, I think a lot of people struggle with finding what works for them! Some happy medium between dreading exercise and obsessing over it.

So I've finally struck that balance! It's taken a loong time to get to this point where I exercise to feel strong and happy and healthy and productive - NOT out of shame or duty or negativity.

The best thing I ever did was 6 weeks post pardum sign up for a gym membership. Yes it's pricey, I got the cheapest one in town with daycare, but still pricey for us, but it is 100000% worth it. I dabbled with some at-home workouts, but it's really hard to motivate yourself to work out in your basement when you're waking up three times a night with a newborn ;). 

I've found I really thrive off classes! I like the music blasting and the instructor shouting and I think I work harder with other people around me.

Also, weights are the best things in the world. Obvs the goal isn't to get hugely ripped (maybe for some of you rockstars?), but I feel like I can jog on a treadmill forever and not get results, but after a week of weight classes I immediately see definition and feel stronger.

Here's what I've been doing lately that I love: 

Monday: 

30 minute Grit class - basically a lot of jumping and squatting and pushups and burpees all with free weights

15 minute Core class - abs and obliques and twists and planks and all sorts of burny things

Tuesday: 

60 minute Spin class - I love Spin as my cardio! the lights are mostly off so no one can see how much I sweat, music blaring, and it goes wayyyy faster than an hour on a treadmill

Wednesday: 

30 minute Body Pump class - weighted bar for legs, chest, back, arms

30 minute Core class

Thursday: 

60 minute Spin class

Friday: 

60 minute Total Body Conditioning class - weighted bar exercises for half the time and then free weight cardio-ish things (kettlebell swings, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, etc) for the other half

or

45 minute Cardio on my own - 30 minute sprint workout on the treadmill and then 10 minutes on the eleptical and 5 on the row machine

or 

Rest :)

Saturday: 

60 minute Total Body Conditioning class

Sunday: 

Rest :)

I'm definitely far from perfect but this is the schedule I try to stick to. And here are a few tips that are SUPER helpful for me (and maybe you!): 

- Never skip a Saturday or Monday. Missing Saturday makes me feel lazy all weekend and makes Monday morning workouts that much harder to get to. Also I feel like I eat better on the weekends if I work out on Saturday.

- Exercise early. For me I've found the best time to work out is 5:45am. I'm at the gym while Lydia sleeps and I'm back home before she wakes up! (Michael's home with her.) Also Lydia has been a real stinker at the gym's daycare lately and I usually get pulled out of class 20 minutes into them because she's crying. So this has kind of forced the 5:45am thing.

- Wear cute workout clothes! I don't think this is factual but it's a good excuse to go shopping amiright.

- Don't base success solely off a scale. All these weight-bearing exercises will increase muscle mass and the scale might not even budge - but body composition definitely will! So I try and go off a pair of jeans or a dress. If it's a little snug I know I need to eat healthier, if it's fitting great than I'm doing good things! Vague, but helpful for me.

- Eating is everything! I've heard that eating is anywhere from 70-90% of getting in shape. That means all those workouts at the gym only amount to like 10% of your bod!!! So I really try hard to eat balanced and limit heavy carbs/sweets after like 4pm (obvs there are some major exceptions to this ;) ).

Well sorry for the longest post in history. But I hope this was helpful or at least mildly entertaining for some of you! I am by no means a fitness guru or but I am happy I've found some balance in my life :). I'd love to hear any workouts or tips you guys swear by!

Sunday Walks

If roller coasters with no lines are a 10 and throwing up is a 0, I think Sunday walks are a solid 7.

There's something so mind-clearing about just walking and talking with your best friend. No destination, which is typically hard for someone like me. I'm the girl who basically only runs outside if it means I'm headed somewhere. But on Sunday walks there are no errands to run, no schedule to stick to, just family time.

I think on this particular walk last week we talked about money (always) and family and how grateful we are for this beautiful neighborhood. Tree lined streets and the cutest little old homes; ours was built in 1943! Luckily we remodled a bit ;).

Darling!

We also reflected a lot on the past year. One year ago almost to the day we were moving into this new (old) house and began the huge overhaul of ripping everything out and putting all new stuff in! It was a P.R.O.J.E.C.T. And included workers here everyday from 7am to 5pm as I waddled around speaking Spanish to all of them at 8-9 months pregnant. Ha! I would love to go back and see that. 

Actually no. No visuals of my 8-9 month preggo self! No thanks ;).

And what a year it has been. House remodle, baby, first year med school, new friends, new ward, new challenges, new budget ;), this has been one for the books!

I Got Dressed {Neon Makes Me Happy}

Poor Michael is surrounded by pink. Shoes, bows, sheets - everything is pink!

I feel bad for any future potential sons... HA. Because allll his blankets and stuffed animals are gonna be shades of pepto bismol ;).

I bought this little dress for her on sale at Gap before she was even born. So happy it finally fits her, I've been waiting a looong time! 

This teeny thing has always been a size (or two) too small for all the clothes. Basically all her winter clothes didn't fit her till March and half her closet is still long sleeve! Lydia's been tiny since Day 1 - she was born at 6 lbs. 1 oz. - but luckily even though she's small she's been growing on the percentile line the whole time. Homegirl's growin' strong! I always get so stoked when she fits into the next size up.

Love my Little Lydie-bug!