Life is Short Make it Count. #16

SURPRISE! We climbed Blood Mountain again.

We had really nice weather (cooler and low humidity) this week after a very rainy week so we decided to take advantage of it and went on a hike after Scott got off work on Wednesday too. With these long days, we still have time to squeeze in shorter hikes after he gets off! We were actually going to go up to Blood Mountain again but decided to go to Tallulah Gorge instead! It's been years since we visited this state park, mainly because it is very busy on the weekends but we only saw a few other people out there the evening we went! A few years ago me, my sister, and my friend did the Tallulah Gorge floor hike which was AMAZING. It's pretty dangerous and they only allow a certain number of people on it each day (and you have to listen to a safety class first!). There's a sliding rock at the end of the trail that we had fun sliding into a large body of water - it was pretty scary too! You can ready about that hike here.

I posted the picture below on Instagram. The trail we took was 1,099 steps to get this picture! I used to not post as many hiking/adventure pictures as I do now. I'm not really sure why I didn't but I want to show you that not all exercise has to be in a gym and it doesn't even have to feel like exercise. You don't have to run yourself into the ground running multiple miles each day or doing a ton of plyometrics. Find something that you love! We will definitely be back to do the Gorge Floor trail again soon.

Besides our hikes, I took a few yoga/pilates classes and did most of the workouts from the She Sweats Extreme workout plan. I've been having neck problems. I believe they started after we went to Six Flags MONTHS ago, then we moved, and they've just been lingering. I went to the chiropractor and had a few massages, both of which helped a lot but the pain would still come and go. So last week I went and had my neck needled, it was an instant relief. The pain went away completely for a few days and has recently started coming back but from what I understand it could take awhile for it to completely go away. To make a long story short, I've been having to kind of take it easy with some of my moves in order to not strain my neck anymore.

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I TOOK A FOOD PREP PICTURE! I think it has been about six months since I remembered to snap a pic even though we've done food prep pretty much every week.

We made:

• Zesty Grilled Onion
• Lean Mean Cheeseburgers (made with bison from Costco)
• Riced Cauliflower (from Costco)
• Sweet-Sweet Potato Cubes
• Balsamic Grilled Chicken (recipe coming soon!)

And I also remembered to take a picture of our Costco purchases!

Visit this link for our shopping lists and this link for ways to save money grocery shopping.

Until next week, have a good one! Let us know if you ever have any questions or comments! I've loved hearing from you about the updates! Click here to read all of our updates.

Life is Short Make it Count. #15

One of these days I'll get back to truly making these weekly updates again. ;-) For now, the above quote sounds about right. And, like I do every single month, I'm asking myself how it's already the middle/end of June...

Since our last update, we went up to my late aunt's lake house (the one that passed away the day before Thanksgiving) to celebrate my cousin Trent getting married! They had their wedding in Utah (where Kaitlyn is from) and a reception here in Georgia. I went up early to help set up, spend time with family, and spend time relaxing at the lake. Me and some of my cousins even had a game of whiffle ball Saturday night - it was so much fun and now I'm obsessed. Maybe I'll start a league in our new neighborhood. Oh, and my uncle has land in Hayesville, NC and there is currently a tiny home model home parked on it...and it's for sale...stay tuned. :) I posted pictures of it on Instagram Stories and Snapchat (hesheeatclean) but didn't save any on my phone so I don't have any to share right now but I will next time I go up!

P.S. Trent is a photographer in West Yellowstone, Montana. Yes, MONTANA...our favorite state! Check out his gorgeous shots!

I didn't take many pics but I did take a selfie with my sis!

I just LOVED this dessert table! The floral arrangement is one from their wedding ceremony in Utah and the banana pudding is adorable in those glasses.

We had a great time but it was also hard too. As many of you know, my beloved aunt was taken off life support the day before Thanksgiving last year. She was more than just an aunt to me, she lived next door to me growing up (yes, all of my family lived next to each other), and acted more like a grandmother after mine passed away. She spent a lot of her time in the mountains and this was the first time we walked into her house without her being there. It was tough and even makes me cry just typing this up right now. Below is the picture and text I shared on my personal Instagram and Facebook.

I've missed this place but now I miss the person who used to be here even more. It just isn't the same. Scott and her "arguing" over politics or the economy (really he just said stuff to get her going), the black and white movies playing in the background, looking at MORE land in the mountains to buy, her nursing some poor animal back to health, driving all of the grandkids around in the golf cart, and grilling out for anyone and everyone who came over.

The problem is you think you have time. If you only knew how much those little moments with you mattered to me. A thousand moments I took for granted because I assumed there would be a thousand more.

"Perhaps they are not stars but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones shines down to let us know they are happy."

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On the way home from the Lake Chatuge, Scott and I hiked...you guessed it...Blood Mountain! We just love the mountain, the workout, and the people we meet on it. I posted this on Instagram but I like to also share these posts here. Tip: If you want cheese dip and chips...get it but get the smallest portion. After our hikes we usually share a side (side, not cup!) of cheese dip and chips. Restaurants (like Willy's, Moes, and Chipotle) give each person way more than one serving of chips. Ask for just one serving if you are with someone else (or none) and share! It's kind of like sweets, you don't need as much as you think to satisfy a craving.

RELATED: 5 Chipotle Hacks 

Last Friday night we were actually driving up to hike Blood Mountain again but there was a storm RIGHT on the mountain. We decided that probably wasn't a good idea so we just kept driving and ended up hiking at Amicalola Falls State Park. It has been quite a few years since we visited and we had forgotten how gorgeous it was! We've had a lot of rain lately so the waterfall was HUGE. We took the trail that was 600 steps to the top of the waterfall and we took the wooded trail back to the trailhead.

In between all of the hiking, I'm still doing the She Sweats Extreme 4-Week Shred! And still loving it. P.S. I extended the entry for the challenge too - you have until Friday, June 23rd to enter! Get more details here. If you are reading this after June 23rd you can still do the workout plan (or one of our many others!).

How could I forget about the project we completed?! I absolutely love it! More pics and tutorial coming soon!

Be sure to follow us on the following social media accounts (and snapchat under hesheeatclean) and also sign up for our newsletter so you never miss anything!

Until next week, have a good one! Let us know if you ever have any questions or comments! I've loved hearing from you about the updates! Click here to read all of our updates.

Life is Short Make it Count #14

Since our last update we climbed Mt LeConte in Great Smoky Mountains National Park! Scott took a half day on Friday, May 26th, we drove up and started hiking around 3:30 PM. It's a gorgeous but very difficult hike (I shared more pictures on Instagram). After the 10.5 mile hike, we drove into Gatlinburg to eat at Mellow Mushroom. If we are eating pizza, it's going to be Mellow! ;-) We don't often appreciate the things we have close by and we are so lucky to have the Smokies less than three hours away. Yes, we drive 4-5 hours total to hike! Sometimes we spend the night and hike two days but often we just drive up there for a day hike.

We also just got back from Chicago. As you know, we are Cubs fans (I even wrote a post on what your fitness journey has in common with MLB players!) so we like to go to Chicago at least once a year to watch a game or two. Scott has a cousin that lives in Chicago that let us use her condo while she was out of town. We went to Wrigley on Friday and Saturday. They won both games and we got to see Kyle Schwarber hit the first grand slam of his career! Look for a post on how to save money while attending baseball games coming soon! ;-) Tickets to baseball games are not cheap anymore (especially Wrigley!) but that doesn't have to mean that you spend a lot of money either!

We ate at a restaurant called Lyfe Kitchen on Saturday after the game. It was delicious! Most of all our other meals, actually ALL of our other meals, came from Whole Foods.

Be sure to follow us on the following social media accounts (and snapchat under hesheeatclean) and also sign up for our newsletter so you never miss anything!

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Workouts:

I've started our She Sweats Extreme 4-Week Shred! As I shared in the challenge post, I finally feel like I have enough energy for workouts that are a little bit more intense. I haven't done anything that intense for almost a year. I'm loving it so far! If you want to join us, you have until June 15 to enter the challenge (but you don't have to have the challenge to get started, just do it!). Learn more about the challenge here.

Food Prep:

Visit this link for our shopping lists and this link for ways to save money grocery shopping.

Since we've been traveling lately, we've been doing super easy food preps...but that's really all we ever do. ;-) We typically grill a few pounds of chicken (Zesty Grilled Chicken), make bison burgers (Lean Mean Cheeseburgers) and make a few batches of Sweet-Sweet Potato Cubes and Scott's Green Machine. If I ever remember again, I'll try to snap a picture next time!

Until next week, have a good one! Let us know if you ever have any questions or comments! I've loved hearing from you about the updates! Click here to read all of our updates.