Valentine tutorial plus Monday weigh in...

I know on Mondays I usually write some little blog completely dedicated to my attempt at losing weight and becoming healthier... Usually "whoa is me" and all that blah blah, but today is Valentines so I am going to post a tutorial (my very first) for a fun way to dress up your Valentine treats. On this wonderful day we for some reason we feel the need to shower the ones we love with chocolate and flowers, proclaiming our undying love for them... While I think we really should do this more then once a year, I am a sucker for any excuses to do something special for the ones I love! So anyone can buy chocolates, but doesn't it mean more when you add a personal touch? I think so! It's so easy and cheap to personalize your chocolates with a cute homemade wrapper. what you'll need...

Cute paper

Scissors

Measuring tape

Double sided tape

and

chocolates of course

What you'll need to do is measure all the way around your chocolate of choice and measure how long it is from end to end across the top as well. You want to leave a little room for the ends of the candy bar to show so if your doing a small chocolate (like the ones I did) leave about 1/4 of an inch (1/8 inch for each end). For a longer chocolate bar leave about 1/4 inch on each end showing. So if your Chocolate is 3 inches long then you would want to cut your paper 2 and 3/4 inches wide. Now if you use a full or king size chocolate bar, lets say 6 inches long the you would want you paper to be 5-1/2 inches wide. I used Hersey Chocolate Nuggets so my strips are cut 3-1/4 inches long by 1 inch wide.

Cut all of your strips. Apply a small piece of double sided tape to each end of your paper.

Stick one end onto the bottom of your chocolate and then wrap the paper around the chocolate.

You should have just enough to over lap where you started on the bottom.

Stick down and wallah ...

You have cute little chocolate to give to the ones you love... Make it even more personal by writing little messages on the chocolates or stamping their initials on them... Lots of fun, super cheap, very easy, and best of all personal!

Now a little tidbit about my Monday weigh in... I am down one pound from last week. Not much, but slow and steady wins the race I think... Going to have a yummy dinner of roast, asparagus, and salad and I am sure some chocolates since it's Valentines day. I feel good!

Oh Monday Weigh In AGAIN!

Going to keep it short and sweet this week... Unfortunately I didn't lose a pound this week. On a positive not I also didn't gain a pound so I have neither won nor lost. I was expecting the worst when I pulled the scale out this morning. Several nights of eating out since I was out of town most of the week and then we had my parents here for the weekend. I thought for sure that those dreaded two pounds I blogged about last week were going to be back and possibly with a friend or two... To my surprise the scale is holding steady. So, this week no eating out and hopefully the scale will showing a decrease next week. For a little something to share this week... Last Thursday my amazing friend Amy came and taught a cooking class for my Girl Scout troop. Among other things she taught them how to make some smoothies and so I have been hooked... My favorite was the Avocado-Pear Smoothie... I know YUCK, avocado and pear how could that be good?! Well trust me friends, it's super YUMMY! So put your brave face on and give it a try...

1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted

1/4 cup plain yogurt ( I would go for greek since it's high in protein, but to each their own)

1/2 cup pear juice

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup ice...

Put all ingredients into the blender and blend it up until it's smooth and creamy. Put the glass to your lips and enjoy some yummy goodness!

I'm interested to see what people think about this one so, if you try it leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

A Little Man Named Lincoln

It's crazy to think that just six months ago I was rockin' this baby belly, waiting to add another member to our family. John and I felt we already were blessed with more love then we could ever ask for, so when we found out we were going to have another baby we were overwhelmed with excitement.

On August 4th, 2010 we welcomed Lincoln Johnathan Scott Meier into our family. He weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces and we 20.5 inches long. It was love at first site for all of us.

After three months time we were still totally taken by this little man. Watching him grow and change on a daily basis is so much fun.

Now this little man named Lincoln is six months old and still holding the key to everyones heart. These big blue eyes always have a sparkle in them that makes everyone smile. He is hitting all of his milestones and weighs a whopping 14 pounds 15 ounces (small for his age they say). He is worth every sleepless night and tired moment we have had. A little man named Lincoln completes this Meier family!