Grain-free.

That's right, I'm going GRAIN-FREE!!! I'm nervous posting this on my blog for all to see, because this means that now I have to stick to this to a T! But that's a good thing.. That's the point. I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish, and I have been reading up on this a lot, and YES IT IS HEALTHY. Any benefits you can get from grains, you can get even more of them from other, healthier foods. So, I'm going to do it!

WHY, you ask?

Because it has a lot of health benefits. 

Because I want to finish what I started in 2007 when I lost all that weight.

Because I'm not all that hooked on grains anyway.

Because I want to start good eating habits while I'm young I'm not stuck in a rut after I have kids.

Because I don't always have the time to burn off these grains in the gym.

Because I want to FEEL BETTER. 

So, goodbye to this... 

And hello to this...

And this...

Posting it on my blog for EVERYONE to know and see will help me stick to it, although I'm confident in my abilities to do this! Wish me luck! 

Philadelphia/NYC!

Nate and I got to go out to visit my brother Sterling, sister-in-law Sarah, and nephew William in Philadelphia over President's Day weekend!!! Our flight was FREE, thank you American Express Skymiles... and we had a BLAST. It was so much fun hanging out with family and seeing baby William! Nate loved the east side and it was fun for him to see it for the first time. We are looking to move back someday! I grew up in New Jersey and, after going back, I can't help but miss it!
The day after we arrived in Philly, Nate and I took a 2-hour bus ride to New York City!! It was so much fun, and we didn't even get lost! We found it pretty simple to find our way around, and it was fun walking around all day with the hubby! We went shopping at H&M (p.s. wayyy better in NYC than in Utah..), ate the famous New York pizza, saw the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, rode the subway, had an interesting conversation with Mustafa (story to come), saw a homeless man play an AMAZING drum solo on restaurant pans, stayed in Times Square, went to Chinatown and Rockefeller Center, walked 5th avenue, and ate tons of Lindt chocolate. All in one day. It was so much fun but we were SO tired!! Pictures are all on my facebook, I see no reason to post them twice.
After we got back, we got to spend the whole weekend with the family. We went to King of Prussia mall, which is the biggest mall in the USA, with all kinds of high-end stores. It was a beautiful place. Now if only I had 20,000 dollars to spend. The next day was Sunday, and we loved going to their church. It was different, but the same. :) The next day we went to downtown Philly and got to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. We didn't spend much time there, but it's a good thing to see at least once in your life! Especially if you're within a half an hour of it. Then we went to Reading Terminal Market which is a BLAST. It was Nate's first time there and he thought it was awesome! It's HUGE and has awesome, exotic foods and little shops. So much fun. I want to go back. Right now.
We got Sarah and Sterling hooked on Prison Break while we were there.. except it scares Sarah ;) We played games and talked and laughed and played with baby. We ate to our hearts' content - Philly Cheesesteaks, AMAZING turkey sandwiches at the market, pasta, fajitas, a whole bunch of deliciousness.. let's just say I did not stick to my original diet plan while we were there! We loved every second of it. THANK YOU Sterling and Sarah and William!!! Love you!

Finally some drama in our monotonous lives..

So Nate and I have been in school and working for what seems like forever. All we do is wake up, go to school/work, come home, I make dinner, sometimes try to get in a workout, try not to procrastinate homework for too long and go to sleep. Basically I feed off drama, I love it. It has kind of sucked that the past few months haven't had any dramatic events in store for me. Well, I know this isn't SO dramatic, but it was for us. And also worth documenting because it was our first thing we kind of had to "get through" as a couple. Sounds cheesy for such a small thing, but I was scared and really relied on Nate to help me through. Don't worry, he did.... Now for the dramatic event...
So I've had this infection on my finger for like 2 weeks now. I get little ones quite often because I bite my nails but never one that actually makes my finger look like huge red hot cinnamon candy (sorry, that's the only metaphor that came to mind). So I decided I'd just wait it out, see if I can't pop it myself within a few days, give it some warm soaks, put Neosporin on it, etc. So I did that, and it went away for a while! I was thrilled because I HATE going to the doctor. So scary! My mom told me I should go but I didn't really listen because I wanted to see if it would just heal on its own. Well... bad move, Hales. The infection came back a little bit after I thought it was all better, and it spread FAST. I woke up at 3 am this morning with a throbbing, dangerously infected, HUGE left index finger. I woke up in a sweat, and was also freezing... fever. Not good. I went out to look at it and it almost made me faint. It was so dramatic I even started crying and I couldn't figure out why. I was just scared and tired and sooo sick. So I woke Nate up and cried to him and told him what was wrong and he jumped right up and said, "We're going to the emergency room, I don't want this thing bugging you anymore!" So we got dressed and went. When we got checked in and were waiting for the doctor, Nate was so sweet. He tried to calm me down as best as he could, he said a prayer with me that the infection didn't spread so much that anything drastic would have to be done. He was very calm and so sweet and held my hand the whole time. Pretty sure I've never found him more attractive than I did last night. So our doc comes in and it's this familiar fellow!(Quick - Name that show)

Jk wasn't really but he looked exactly like him! I was like babe I think I've seen that guy before... and we figured out he's on The Office! Anyway, so David Wallace tells me that he's going to numb my finger and then cut it open to get the infection out. Ya. Sounds scary, huh? Well it is. So he puts the shots in the base of my finger and DANG that hurt!!! I just squeezed Nate's hand and thought.. "Ok Haley, just breathe through it. It hurts but it's definitely not as bad as when Sydney used to pinch you." Funny that of all things, that's what I thought of. So I got all numbed up and he cut it open, couldn't feel a thing. THANK YOU ANESTHETIC. So Doc says that nothing's coming out of my finger so the infection must have spread to the muscle in my finger!!! Ya, bad. So basically all that numbing and cutting open nonsense was for nothing. Yay. So he gave me antibiotics and we were on our way.
Scary, but also good. I felt bonded to Nate afterwards for some reason. Maybe just because I couldn't believe how much he would do for me at 3 in the morning ya know? And he had work at 9 this morning too! What a husband, eh? Such a sweet, perfect guy. He never complained, he focused on me and getting me better and making sure I wasn't scared.
So there's our little dramatic life event! Our first semi-disaster in our marriage! Feels great. I like that it happened now that it's over with, except that it cost us 85 bucks total with the prescription. Also, if you had asked me on the way to the emergency room if I still wanted drama in my life, I for sure would have said no way.
Other than that, we're doing great! We're getting really into school and are both really loving our classes! We've been thinking about some really exciting future plans.. We'll see what happens! Happy Saturday!
p.s. If you see an infection on your finger, go to the doctor within the week.

Best, Incredibly Low-Fat, Healthy Greek Salad EVER.

-This is for one serving-
About a cup and a half of chopped Romaine lettuce
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
2 TBS. chopped purple onions
1 small chopped grilled chicken breast**
1 TBS. Feta cheese
Pinch of Kraft low-fat grated parmesan cheese
1 TBS. Fat-free Greek Dressing (Can find at any grocery store)

Put it all in a mixing bowl and mix it up with some tongs. Enjoy your delicious, awesomely healthy salad!
* Best when chicken is warm and fresh :)

** Grilled chicken breast: Set the oven to BROIL on HI

3- 4 chicken breasts (I make more than 1 so I can have leftovers for my next salad!)

I usually cut the chicken up into smaller pieces so it will cook faster - usually ends up to be about 8 pieces after cut. I use Knorr Garlic Herb seasoning and about a TBS of light olive oil - mix the raw chicken in with about half the package of seasoning until it is creamy and well-spread out. Spray your broiling pan with PAM non-stick spray and place the chicken pieces on it, spread out. Put the chicken in the oven, about 5-6 inches away from the heat coils at the top. Cook about 6 minutes, checking occasionally. When it's done, take it out and turn the chicken pieces over and cook for another 5 minutes. Take the chicken out and cut some of the pieces to see if they're done - if they're still pink, put them in for another 3 minutes or still, checking occasionally. Then when they're done, cut them up and enjoy!

The Rhino vs the Unicorn

I'll admit it, I have problems with my self body image. Almost my whole life I have wished I was somebody else, and have tried to attain an unrealistic body for the wrong reasons. It has all backfired on me. Even after losing 100 pounds, I am still not happy with the way I look. No matter what everybody has ever told me, I've never been proud of my achievement or happy with what I am. I still struggle with wanting to have that perfect magazine body.. I honestly try again and again to get it. But then the husband and I want to go out and get ice cream.. what to do then? I think a lot of us have a problem with trying to be someone we're just not. I realized that we all are a pretty perfect version of exactly what we are. Who is to say that thin is beautiful? Sure, it's good to be healthy, but when did beauty start playing a part? When did the world become so materialistic and obsessed with image? I would like to share a story with all of you. It helped me take a new perspective to all of this...

"This picture makes me so sad and it also embodies a lot of what is wrong with media and its effect on body image. The unicorn in the photo doesn’t exist. It’s an unattainable dream in the clouds. Also, the unicorn is a horse. The poor rhino on the treadmill is a RHINO. Rhinos and horses aren’t in the same family of species. That rhino is built like a rhino. It’s a beautiful rhino. It looks exactly the way a rhino should look. But if it only ever thinks it’s supposed to look like something that it genetically and physically just is not, it will believe that it won’t be beautiful ever. It’s exactly the same thing with girls and “thinspiration.” Bodies in magazines are photoshopped. Not even the models in the magazines look like the pictures. Ladies, don’t look at something that isn’t you and wish that you could be it. Look at yourself and wish to be yourself. Don’t love something fake and unattainable more than your own self. Love your self, or a version of your self you want to become, but don’t disregard everything you have going on for you in favor of some poster figure. And furthermore, don’t give in to what media and society tell you about your body. Own your body and love it. It does everything for you and it’s the only one you have. Don’t hate the way it looks just because it doesn’t look like a magazine picture. That’s no way to treat something that literally does everything for you. Dear cartoon rhino in this picture, you are perfect just the way you are. BE a rhino. OWN being a rhino. Embrace being a rhino. You want to be a rhino that exists and not a fake horse with a horn that doesn’t exist. Replace that poster with a poster of a rhino. You are a beautiful rhino with a beautiful horn, an adorable tail, and adorable ears, and all the other rhinos love you exactly the way you are."

** Note: This is not to discourage trying to become a healthier you, just trying to emphasize the point that being thin does not necessarily make you internally happy or beautiful. You are already beautiful. Own it!

Midterms Are Over!

Well, made it through the first midterms week of the semester with flying colors! A's on all my tests except for one, but the whole class average was far too low
 so it's looking like around a B + on that one, maybe even an A -! 

Even though I did well, it came at a price. Stress beyond belief, literal non-stop studying, bloodshot eyes, a head cold, never thought I could be so tired... Physically and mentally. 

That was the hardest midterms week I've ever been through! 

Bring on the next one. 

But hey, I'm alive, it's Friday, and I'm going to Frightmares tomorrow with friends and family. 

Things all worked themselves out :)

Time to ignore my bit of homework I should be catching up on and give myself a break.

If not, I think I'll go crazy.

Life is good.

Gratitude

I can't believe how much has been going on lately! I haven't blogged in months.

Nate and I are doing great - better than ever, busier than ever.

Both in school taking 14 credit hours and working 30 hours a week.

I volunteer on Saturday at the Utah State Hospital, he works on Saturdays.

We are grateful for Sunday.

Sunday is the only day of the week we get to spend good quality time together.

We take a break from the homework and all of our worldly worries and just enjoy the day together. 

Such a wonderful blessing that our Heavenly Father has given us. 

He knows that all of us lead very busy lives, and he advises to take one day off to stay sane...

Smart man He is.

Even though we are busy, keeping our lives busy is such an important thing, and we know it!

I honestly feel less stressed now that I have things to do. 

I am grateful for prayer. 

Prayer is what gets Nate and I through each long day. 

Prayer is what helps me wake up at 6:00 am every week day to make the drive to Provo.

Prayer is what helps Nate to stick around even though I'm a bit crazy ;)

Prayer is what keeps our marriage strong and joyful.

We love the gospel, and we love each other.

I am grateful for this guy right here..

He has made my life completely 100% worth it. 

Every tear ever shed over a broken heart,

Every discouraging thought I've ever had,

Every terrifying moment when I felt I just wouldn't make it...

Has all been worth it

Thanks to Nate. 

He keeps me happy and feeling good about myself.

He never fails to come home from work and say, "Dangggg girl! Mmm is that MY wife?!"

He never fails to be honest with me about life, even if it's hard for me to hear.

He always kisses me goodbye in the morning.

He never gets upset with me.

He forgives and forgets. (By the way, KEY to a happy marriage.)

He loves to make me laugh, especially at night when we are trying to sleep. 

We have so much fun together.

We have the same goals for the future.

He believes in me, and I believe in him!

We balance each other out.

Plain and simple....

I love him.

He helps me learn patience.

He reminds me on a daily basis to enjoy the simplicity of life. (He may not know he does this, but he does.)

He is kind to others.

He has a one-of-a-kind way of loving people.

He is everything I've ever wanted. 

I am grateful for him everyday, and it will stay that way for the rest of my life. 

There will be fear, sadness, anger, and frustration in the years to come.

There will also be triumphs, joy, and love.

And he'll always be mine,

And that alone will bring me enough happiness to last me forever.

I am grateful that I married the right person,

In the right place,

At the right time.

And I get to be with him forever.