Never Will I Ever...

Never will I ever.  The term that no one planning on becoming a parent should EVER say.

I really do try to "never say never," but there are a few things that I had very strong views on prior to becoming a parent.

One of these things was licensed character apparel.  Not kidding.  I have no idea why, but I was totally opposed to anything that had a Disney or Sesame Street or whatever character on it.  I was so opposed to it that I vowed my child would NEVER wear anything of the sorts.

Don't get me wrong.  I have always loved both Sesame Street and Disney, just not the apparel.  No idea why...just one of those things.

Ha!  Fast forward 2 years to my life with a Sesame Street obsessed two year old daughter.  Yup, you can guess what has happened.

My first experience with licensed character apparel was with her Halloween costume (as you might remember: Letting Go: Halloween Costume).  I seriously struggled with that, but it turned out really well.  When I look back at her costume, I can't get over: 1. how freakin' adorable she looks and 2. how happy she looks.

I think that is what started to chip away at my steadfast opposition to character apparel.

After Halloween, it continued with me buying a Cookie Monster shirt in Old Navy one day.  It was on clearance and I figured that she could wear it for playing.  One shirt, no biggie.

Checking out her book from Sesame Street Live while wearing her Cookie Monster shirt.  Life is good.

The past few days though, the licensed apparel has really taken on a life of itself.  And you know what?  I am okay with it.

We went to Kohl's yesterday and Myra saw a pair of Elmo slippers.  Of course, she immediately reached for them, exclaiming, "Elmo shoes on!"  We put them on her and, of course, she loved them, and my Mom, who has the firm belief that Myra should get whatever she wants (which is what makes Grandparents awesome), decided that they had to be bought.

And that was that.  My sweet Moose is now the proud owner of Elmo slippers.  And look at her, how stinkin' adorable is she?!  She ever wears them to sleep because she loves them so much.  I think the funniest thing about them is that she actually shuffles around the house in them.  She is totally digging this "retired in Florida thing."

Sleeping with the slippers on!

No pants, veggie chips, Sesame Street, and slippers.  Ready for retirement!  ;)

Today, it continued.  We went to the Stride Rite outlet to look for sandals (since we are in Florida).  Myra spotted a pair of Abby Cadabby shoes and was immediately sold.  We put them on her, she exclaimed, "Myra Abby Shoes!" and then followed up by sitting down, looking at us, and saying, "buy it."

And we were sold.

Abby Shoes!

As a side note, when I told this to my husband, he said, "I am glad that she already has an undeserved sense of entitlement."  Lol!  Guess that is why it is better to shop with your Mommy and Grandparents.

So, Moosey is now the proud owner of not one, but two pairs of Sesame Street footwear.  And I, her mother, think that she could not look any cuter.

Never will I ever...say never.

Exercise Results...drumroll please

This post was written pre-Christmas, but man is the timing of it perfect now.  I have totally indulged in cookies, candy, ice cream, appetizers, wine, you name it over the last week.  While it tasted delicious, I am pretty sure that my waistline has suffered a bit.  Time to get back on track!

For me, this fitness journey has been as much or more about my mental health as my physical health and appearance.  I feel better about myself when I workout that makes me better in all other aspects of my life.

I don't use a scale because I don't want to be discouraged.  If I am working out everyday, eating healthier, feel stronger, and feel mentally healthier, does the number on the scale really matter??  No.  It doesn't matter at all.

That being said though, I did do the before and after picture thing and found out that I have lost some weight / toned up.  Total bonus!

Clearly I am better at working out than I am at taking selfies because the pictures are taken from different sides, with different clothes, and the one on the left is blurry.  BUT STILL, you can definitely see a difference.  How exciting!

Those results took only one month and literally all that I did was starting working out 25 minutes per day and, for the last two weeks, replaced one meal a day with Shakeology (which tastes like dessert). I made no other dietary changes because I am lazy didn't want to take on too much at one.

So, there it is.  I am telling you people, T25 and Shakeology are freakin' amazing!  

Why T25 is the bomb-dot-com (does anyone say that anymore??)

*It is ONLY 25 minutes per day.  25 minutes, people.  You can do that!

*It can be done from the comfort of your home.  Or mine.  Come on over!

*Shaun T takes his shirt off in Beta.  'Nuff said.

And what makes Shakeology amazing:

*No GMOs

*No artificial sweeteners (those are poison and most other protein shakes contain them)

*Loaded with super foods

*They taste like a chocolate milkshake and everyone loves milkshakes.

*They keep me full until lunch and that is amazing because this girl loves to eat!

As I mentioned before, I have had such success with T25 and Shakeology that I am now coaching!  I would LOVE for you to be on my team.  We can be motivation buddies, and, let's face it, EVERYONE needs someone to motivate them.  

Please message me (bridebryson@yahoo.com) if you want more details on how to try out T25 and / or Shakeology.  In the meantime, I will continue to torture you with my selfies.  ;)

Christmas Tag!

Man oh man, do I love Christmas!  I seriously love everything about it: Santa, Christmas trees, giving presents, the songs, the food, the snow, the jingle bells, the movies, the decorating...every single thing.

And now I have one more thing to love: Blog Christmas Tag!  It is a fun game where you get "tagged" and have to answer questions about yourself that are related to Christmas.  I love stuff like this because I enjoy reading random things about other people.

This year, my first year, I was tagged by the lovely Leslie over at Violet Imperfection and the awesome Sandy over at Mother of Imperfection.  Be sure to check out their awesome blogs!  I am a regular reader of both.

And without further ado...

1 // What do you love the most about Christmas time?

Crap.  I just answered this one above.  Forgive me...it has been a week or so since I read the original one.  I will repeat though, I love it all!  If I had to choose 3 things, I would say Santa, Christmas trees, and buying gifts for people.  Oh, and hearing Myra sing Christmas Carols.  That was 4, but toddlers singing can't be excluded from anything.

Our Christmas Tree!

2 // Do you celebrate the holiday in style or is bah-humbug for you?

Total style.  I go all out and celebrate in every single way possible.  Now that I have a toddler, I, myself am not too stylish (I do have a few red shirts), but Moosey has 4 Christmas outfits, so we are literally a stylish family.

The bow, the boots, the necklace...this child is infinitely more stylish than I will ever be.

3 // Are you leaving anything out for Santa Claus this year so he remembers to leave your presents?

Undecided.  If we do, I think that Myra will be pissed that she can't eat the cookies.  Maybe we will leave him something like broccoli and see if it will actually entice Myra into eating vegetables.  Ha!  Wouldn't that be a Christmas miracle?!

4 // What is the one gift you are most looking forward to GIVING? {It can be to your kids, another family member, etc ~ remember to be discreet if they read your blog!}

Santa is bringing Myra a bike and she has been talking about it for months!  When you ask her what Santa is bringing, she immediately says, "bike!"  She is going to light up when she sees it under the tree on Christmas morning.  Can't wait! :)

I suspect that Santa will be leaving this under our tree on Christmas morning.  

If so, we are going to have one excited little Moose on our hands.  :)

5 // What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie?

Christmas Vacation because it has been a family tradition for a long time and it never gets old.  Plus, it is not only hilarious, but also highly quotable.  Before you write me off as totally un-sentimental, I also enjoy Frosty, the Grinch, Elf, and Miracle on 34th Street.

How can you not laugh at this part?!

6 // What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?

Why not just ask me to choose my favorite child?  Good thing I only have one.  I seriously can't choose.  I love all Christmas carols.  Except "Christmas Shoes."  I hate that one.

7 // If given the opportunity would you participate in an "Ugly Sweater" party and what sweater would you wear? Peruse one on the Internet or even in your own closet and show us!

Is that rhetorical?  Of course I would!  Here is the thing though, I remember when "ugly" Christmas sweaters were in style, so I actually kind of get nostalgic instead of appalled when I see them.  Unless, of course, they are just ridiculous or don't make any sense like this one:

Or if they have tinsel...

Both of these amazing sweaters were found on Google Images.

8 // Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that you plan on carrying forward?

We have been reading Twas The Night Before Christmas every day 4 times a day.  This was my tradition as a child and we started it with the Moose this year.  I can't believe how much she loves "Santa Book!"

9 // It's Christmas morning...what does it look like outside where you live?

Cold and brown, BUT on December 26th, I will look outside and see the sun, water, and palm trees.  :)

10 // You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe...who comes up to give you a kiss first?

Probably no one.  Lol!  If Myra was bored, she would come first.  If Josh was paying attention, it would be him, and if I had just walked in the door, it would be Scooter.

Because I waited until Christmas Eve to write this, I am pretty sure that it is too late to tag anyone.  Next year!

Happy Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!

A Visit from Santa!

Josh once said to me that life goes downhill from the moment that you find out that Santa isn't real.  And it's true.  Because it is, at that moment when the sad truth is revealed, that you realize that the world isn't quite as good as you once thought it was.

There is something so amazing about watching kids experience the magic of Santa.  And not just the magic of the story itself, but the belief that they have that the world is so good that someone life Santa could truly exist.  It is truly an extraordinary thing to witness. 

This year, we were lucky enough to have Santa visit Myra's school.  He arrived on a fire truck, which she still talks about every single day (this was on December 3rd).  She didn't want to sit on his lap, but loved sitting next to him and talking his ear off.  She told him that she wanted a bike, which I am pretty sure that he is going to bring for her.  ;)

Here are a few photos from the event!  How sweet are they?!

How much do you love that she is pointing her finger while talking?!

Making sure that she tells him everything that she wants.

Blowing Kisses to Santa.

Getting a candy cane from Santa.

Goodbye, Excuses: My "Aha" Moment!

"Excuses are like male nipples.  They are completely useless."
-Don Calame

So, I wrote the other day about my two diet / exercise realizations.  In order to be successful at making healthy lifestyle changes, in my opinion, you have to have an aha! moment and you have to find something that you love. 

This is the story of my aha moment.  Don't get all excited and mushy though.  It's kind of a pathetic one.

I have always been full of excuses when it comes to exercise.  Well, not always.  Since I had Moosey though, I have been brimming with great reasons why I just cannot exercise.  The kicker is that many of them were true, so it was like constant reassurance for my laziness.

Family hike in September 2012.  I don't mind exercise

that doesn't feel like exercise (skiing, walking, hiking, etc).

My top excuses were:

*I don't have time.

*The trainer is too expensive and that is the only thing that I like to do.

*I don't want to take time away from Myra to workout.
*I hate group workouts because they humiliate me.

Josh would say things like, "why don't you wake up early and go to the gym?"  My excuse was that it took too long to get there, workout, get home, shower, and make it to work.  I am not a morning person.  Kind of weak sauce, but kind of true.

He would say, "workout at night."  I would say, "no way.  I worked my ass off all day and I want to relax at night, not workout.  I am too tired."  That one is still pretty understandable in my opinion.  I can barely stand at night, let alone workout.

Workout at lunch?  Kind of hard to take a lunch break from work when you only work 21 hours a week to begin with...

Workout at naptime?  No dice.  I cook, clean, do laundry, pay bills, and maybe do a teensy bit of Internet surfing.  Plus, that is my only alone time.  

Honestly, those things are all true.  I am sure that they are true for most of you.  The problem is that those excuses still left me waking up every single day feeling dissatisfied and frustrated.

So...here comes my aha moment.  Ready?  Drum roll...

I ran out of excuses.  

Yes, seriously.  How anti-climatic was that?  For real though, read on.  It gets better.

My friend started a program called T25 and was raving about it.  She liked it so much that she became a coach.  T25 is a series of workout videos that you do once a day for 25 minutes, 6 days a week.  That's it.  She invited me to try it through one of her challenged groups and I decided to go for it.  Because I had no excuses not to.

Me, post-T25, yesterday.  Exhausted, but loving it!

I mean, it is 25 minutes per day and can be done from my house, which means no added commute time.        25 minutes.  There goes the no time excuse.  Since it is only 25 minutes and I can do it in the morning, it is done before Moosey wakes up, so that excuse was also gone.

It is so much cheaper than the gym (have you checked lately...gyms are expensive!), so that excuse was  also null and void.

AND...you get to do it at your home, which means that you save the discouragement and humiliation that can come from going to the gym.  I know that sounds silly, but going to the gym makes me feel SO self-conscious (group class are the worst).

So, guess what?  Since I no longer had an excuse, I tried it and I liked it.  Loved it, in fact!  I have been doing it for 5 weeks now and am totally hooked.  I have noticed a few physical changes, but the most important thing for me is how much better I feel mentally.  I am a whole new person from the one who wrote the previous post in September.

And...there is more!  I am such a believer in this program that I am now coaching!  Unreal, right?!  I am going to be hosting Facebook challenge groups starting in January, so please message me if you want more info.  I would LOVE to have you on my team!