4 Weeks!

How far along: 4 weeks as of July 12, 2015! 

Total weight gain/loss: 115

Maternity clothes: Nope! I am very bloated right now, so I like maxi dresses, peplum tops or anything that helps me look not so fat. (: 

Sleep: Cannot get enough!! Always so tired! Last night I fell asleep at 6:00 pm and enjoyed that sleep until 7:00 am! Very sleepy around 12:00 pm & 5:00 pm! Naps are my best friends! 

Best moment this week: Telling our families the news!! But as of right now, Grandma's, Grandpa's, Aunts, Uncles & Cousins have no idea! (: Hehe! 

Food cravings: Anything salty/cheesy, get in my belly!! 

Food aversions: Anything sweet sounds horrible. 

Gender: I am going to guess weekly on this just for fun! I think it's going to be a boy! I want a baby girl so bad but I just have this feeling! We will see if I change my mind from week to week.

Labor signs: No, thank goodness.

Pregnancy symptoms: Soooooo hungry & tired!

What I miss: I'm growing a little human inside of me! Whats to miss?! 

What I am looking forward to: Our first appointment on August 10, 2015!!! I wanna hear that little heartbeat!! 

Milestones: Officially one month down! 

One tip I could give a first time mom who is also 4 weeks along: The internet is a bad place right now. Stay away! Don't worry to much and know that God is with you every step of the way! (: 

Why I Chose to go Organic

I know what many of you are thinking... "Oh boy! Here goes another one!"

I know this because I was one of you. I was the one always criticizing those who chose to go organic saying things like, 

"You are spending extra money for nothing!"

"We've been eating this food all our lives and we turned out just fine!"

The truth is I watched a show(s) that changed how I see food entirely.

The earth is full of so much variety when it comes to food, and that food is full of rich vitamins and minerals our body needs to stay healthy and strong. So the thing that's hard for me to understand when it comes to our food these days is why are we completely changing how food is made? 

In the show(s) I watched it shows and explains just how the food companies these days work. They work with only one thing on their minds... money. They don't care about the farmers, the food or us. They only see the dollar signs. And that just didn't seem okay to me. 

We should know exactly what we are eating and exactly where it is coming from. I don't need a genetically modified chicken, or the poor cow that spent its entire life at a factory waiting to be killed for me to have that dollar cheese burger. They deserve more than that and so do I!

So organic is the way I went. 

I feel so much better knowing that my family is getting healthy, REAL, natural food. And my body is feeling the benefits as well. I have more energy when I make food from scratch and not a box. I have a better mood when I eat organic and I feel happy knowing that my body is getting what it needs. 

For those of you who think organic is too expensive, it really isn't. You will maybe be spending $2-$5 more for the same items you already purchase. In the long run your body will thank you for spending a little more for giving it a lot more.

If I had to give a few tips for those looking to change their lifestyle habits when it comes to food this would be it:

1. If it comes from a box, don't eat it. Rarely does it have any nutritional value for you.

2. Check how much sugar is in the daily items you eat. You'll be surprised. Many things you "think" are healthy really aren't. That "low fat" or "0 calorie" item you picked up really isn't that great for you. They usually replace the fat or calories with sugar making your liver work overtime to produce more insulin. And when insulin is being produced in large amounts it gets stored as fat. Quick fact: everything on a food label shows the daily value next to it besides sugar. Seems those food companies are being a little sneaky.

This is a food label for yogurt. Lots of sugar for something you'd think would be healthy for you. 

Make sure you know the difference between added sugar and natural sugar. (Fresh fruits our natural sugar.) 

"According to data from the U.S. in 2008, people are consuming over 60 pounds (28 kg) of added sugar per year and this does not include fruit juices. In 2008 the average intake was 76.7 grams per day, which equals 19 teaspoons or 306 calories."

Recommended daily sugar intake:

• Men: 150 calories per day (37.5 grams or 9 teaspoons).
• Women: 100 calories per day (25 grams or 6 teaspoons).

http://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-sugar-per-day/

3. Soda is the devil. I do not drink soda. I haven't since middle school. Of course I’ll have a little sparkling cider here and there but I do not drink anything with carbonation on a day to day basis. It is SOOO bad for you people! I know it tastes so yummy and can even become addictive at times but get rid of it! Once you stop drinking it for a while you do not crave it and when you do have it, it does not taste the same. (When I have soda it literally burns, and I can feel it burn all the way down into my stomach!) My favorite saying of all time, "Soda makes you slow." (For all you athletes)

4. Not all calories are created equal. 60 calories in a soda is NOT the same as 60 calories in almonds. Soda will give you a fast sugar high followed by a crash of lost energy. Almonds will process in your body different giving you gradual energy throughout the day.

5. Water is everything. Don't forget to drink your 8 glasses a day. It changes everything!

Sorry this might be a long and boring post for many of you but I hope you decide to make a change for the better in your life. You WILL feel the difference I promise!

Here is a link to the show that changed my outlook on food:

http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

Thank you for stopping by and be on the lookout for more posts later this week.

Love Always,

The Crazy Collards

Workout Lover

Long time no talk my friends!! Hope you are all having an amazing week so far! I thought I'd get a post up about one of my all-time favorite things in the world...

Workout clothes!

Guys, I could literally spend a million dollars on workout clothes.

I am all for the comfy and cute and workout clothes do just that!

Today I put together a simple workout outfit that can be easily recreated by anyone.

Enjoy! (Links to everything will be listed below)

Shorts

Bag

Top

Socks

Shoes (I bought these a while ago so this is the closest I could get)

I hope you enjoyed this post and get a little inspiration for your next workout outfit!

Love Always, 

The Crazy Collards 

Blood Clots

Today I watched as my husband, my everything, shake. Shaking uncontrollably for what felt like an eternity.

Naturally I thought he was joking because that’s my husband. The joker.

But when he stood up, body pale white and asked me "what just happened, I don’t remember anything." I was terrified.

And today I am able to say, it was the scariest day of my life.

Let me back up to 2011. That’s when Zack and I first started dating. Early on Zack told me he had a blood clot in his right arm. This wasn’t just some regular blood clot either, this thing was huge!

He told me about all the things that could happen since he had a blood clot and it freaked me out but everyone including him made me feel like everything was okay.

I was okay until yesterday. January 28, 2015. Zack had been having some pain his left arm the night before and it continued to get worse the next day. We made a doctor’s appointment that morning and went in not thinking much. The night before Zack said it felt like how his other blood clot felt so I guess we kind of knew.

By the time we got to the doctors office Zack's arm was swollen bigger then his right arm which is unusual because his right arm is always bigger because of his first blood clot.

 Zack got an ultrasound which confirmed another 8in blood clot had formed in his left arm. Identical to his other one but smaller.

I wasn’t sure how I felt at the time. I was angry, "why does he have to have another one?"

"Why him?"

"Why now?"

But I was mostly sad. It’s hard to look at the person you love and see them so defeated. It was hard for me to see him upset.

The whole day I was trying to be positive and happy and make sure to let him know that everything is going to work out. That’s truly how I feel. I feel everything is going to be just fine. Modern medicine is amazing and I have faith in that. But it’s still scary to think about the what ifs.

The doctor prescribed some medicines and set up a few appointments to see some specialists to figure out why he developed another one. One of the things I had heard Zack talk about before was that he had to get shots in his stomach two times a day for his first blood clot so when the doctor told us we'd have to do it again Zacky wasn’t to happy.

That night his mom gave him the first shot (as you probably saw on my Facebook) to show me how to do it for the next two weeks.

The next morning it was my turn. To be honest, I was FREAKING out. I think I was more nervous than Zack was. I didn’t want to hurt him, and I didn’t want to do it wrong. It was terrifying. I tried to keep my cool for Zack though, I didn’t want him to know how much I was freaking out inside.

Zack was nervous, I mean who wouldn’t be? A shot in the stomach twice a day is no fun. So as I was going to give him the shot he would stop me and say, "Wait, wait!"

"Oh my, I am gonna throw up!"

"Hold on, I need to throw up!'

Until finally he turned away and let me do it. I tried to do it fast and easy, but by the time I was done Zack's entire body and face were pale white. I turned around to throw away the needle and by the time I turned back around Zack was against the wall shaking. Then he bent over in his chair mouth wide open still shaking. This lasted about 30 seconds. I kept saying, "Zack stop."

"This isn’t funny!"

Until I was screaming, "Zack seriously stop. If you are joking stop!"

He then stood up asking me what happened. His hands were shaking, tears in his eyes.

I called his dad and told him to come over, while making sure Zack was okay his mom called and I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I broke down in tears, that was the scariest moment of my life.

I felt so helpless, and that maybe it was my fault...

By the time his dad arrived he was doing much better. I wrote down everything so that he would be able to tell his doctor what happened at this appointment.

To see someone you love so much suffer and not be able to do anything about it is the hardest thing to go through. I want to make sure I can do everything I can for him and it’s hard when I can’t be there 24/7.

What we’re going through is hard. So hard for him, but I think it’s secretly hard for everyone else as well. To not be able to do much to help is hard.

I know that everything happens for a reason and that everything will work its way out, but I can’t say that I am okay because I’m not. I am so scared.

I will keep everyone updated with the appointments that will happen this next week, and thank you for all the support and love. It really means the world.

Love Always,

The Crazy Collards

3 Simple Hairstyles for the Lazy Girl In You

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

Today I am going to be showing you 3 simple hairstyles for you short hair ladies! (These work with long hair as well. Bonus!)

I love how easy my short hair is but I sometimes feel like I am always doing the same thing with it every day. So I played around for a while to find some different hairstyles that can be done just as fast but still give me the look that I actually went the extra mile on my hair. So let’s jump right into it.

You can do any of these with straight or curly hair. My hair is usually in messy curls so that’s what I’ll be working with today.

1. Twisted side

This little twist took me a minute to master but I finally figured out the trick!

I start by taking 2 pieces on one side of my hair.

I then twist each separate piece AWAY from my face. Make sure you twist each piece the same direction, away from the face. That is the trick.

I then twist each piece over the other until I run out of hair.

I then boddy pin it back and you’re done!

2. Braided half up

This is similar to the twisted side but instead of twisting you braid and on both sides.

I start by braiding one section of my hair (as you can tell I changed my part the middle), this time I will grab my longer pieces so that it can reach the back of my head after braiding.

I then do the exact same thing on the other side until I reach where my last braid ended.

I pin both sections together so they meet on the back of my head.

I fix my curls and I am good to go!

3. The 3 tuck

The next one takes a minute to get just right but once you master it, it turns out awesome! This is especially awesome for layers!

First you section out 3 pieces at the bottom of your hair and section them off.

I like to leave out a few pieces from the front.

Then start pinning. I twist and pin different sections making it look like an up do.

I make sure all pieces are how I want them and spray for hold.

I hope these are useful for some of you because I absolutely love them! Let me know if you tried any of these out and if they worked for you! Thanks for checking in!

Love Always,

The Crazy Collards

2015

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Can you believe it is already 2015?

Where the heck did 2014 go?

2014 was one amazing year for me! I started a new job, bought our first home, I got engaged, and I got married to the love of my life. Looking back all I can say is I am truly blessed. 2014 you were so good to my family and me. You will forever hold so many special memories of mine.

I cannot wait to begin 2015 and see all the amazing things it has in store for my family and me!

To start off every year, I always make a few goals for myself and I thought I'd share a few with you so maybe you can all help me stay on track!

My number one goal is probably the same as everyone else but ya know, you gotta try and get it this year! (;

1. Get my "dream" body. This year I really want to make an effort to watch what I eat, and workout a little more.

2. Be consistent with my blog. I want to make sure that I am at least posting two or three times a week. I have really been slacking lately but I have some fun things in store, and I am excited to get everything going.

3. I want to strive to work on the relationships with those around. Sometimes it is hard to give enough attention to everyone in your life, and I feel bad about it. I don't get to see my family as much as I’d like and I get really upset about it. So this year I really want to make an effort to spend quality time with those around me.

4. Have a positive attitude daily. I'll admit it, I am a complainer. Zacky likes to tell me "stop complaining all the time." I didn't notice it that much until he pointed it out to me. I complain way too much and it needs to stop. So I made a goal to have a more positive attitude. I am so very blessed and I need to realize that and stop complaining.

5. Be a better wife/always be working to build my marriage. It's not that I am a bad wife but I can always be better. Zack works really hard to provide enough so that we can have and do the things we want/need and I want to make sure that I provide for him as well. I want to always be looking for ways to strengthen and build our marriage. I want to work towards our dreams not only as a husband and wife but as individuals. I want to look back next year and think about the struggles and triumphs we went through to work towards what we've always wanted together. 

6. Start a new adventure. I want to make sure this year is full of adventure and so I am going to make an effort to get out of my comfort zone and do some new things and face my fears. I hope that those around me can do the same.

These were a few off my list that were important to me that I thought I’d share. Let's make 2015 the best year yet! I can't wait to make some new memories. (P.S. I made a memory jar. Pretty sure I’ll be the only one putting memories in it but that’s okay! Haha)

I'd love to hear what some of your goals are for the New Year! Thanks for checking in and being a part of our 2014 year!

Enjoy a little recap of 2014 with us. 

 

 

                                                  

Love Always, 

The Crazy Collards