🍂Holiday Season

Happy Sunday lovelies!

🍁Fall is a spectacular season. The colors (especially in Tennessee) are stunning each year. I was thrilled when Nathan and I made a quick trip back up to Knoxville a couple weeks ago, because we were able to see a decent amount of Fall colors in the mountains! The weather was chilly and dreary, but it was still beautiful. 

I stopped by The Consignment Shoppe in Farragut to do some shopping while Nathan worked at his observatory. The entire store was decked out in Christmas decor! I finally felt more excited about the upcoming holidays while looking around! 🎄

I ALWAYS find the most one of a kind, unique items at The Consignment Shoppe. I looked over the store about 6 different times, and kept finding things I didn't see before! The prices are insanely terrific. No matter what you are looking for, I bet you will find it at this shop!


It was a short trip to Knoxville, but I was glad we were able to see some friends and enjoy our quick visit!

Our furbaby sure was happy to see us when we got back home! He did not want to leave my lap!

Thanksgiving was so wonderful! We spent Thanksgiving at my Mother's this year; my brother and his family came up to visit as well. I had a blast spending time with my adorable nephew, but sure missed seeing my niece! There was a plethora of food (naturally), and the leftovers filled us up for days! 😆 My favorite Thanksgiving dish is green bean casserole! It is delicious! Our day was spent with too much food, hanging out with family, and just taking it easy.
I rarely participate in Black Friday shopping (I've worked retail and know how it goes) but Nathan and I did stop at a store to pick up a gift that we got a great deal on. Score!

Snuggles with my nephew!💕

Thankful ❤️

Pumpkin Pie!

Walking off some calories, to make room for more food!

With Thanksgiving officially over, we put up the Christmas decorations! It was quite strange not putting up my own decorations in my own home, but I am incredibly grateful that my Mother let me help her decorate her home! The Christmas music was blasting while we decorated, so now I'm even more excited for Christmas! 🎄

I hope everyone else had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well! 😊

QUESTIONS

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

* Do you go Black Friday shopping or shop online?

* Do you put your Christmas decorations up before or after Thanksgiving?

Goodbye TN, Hello SC!

Goodbye Tennessee...Hello South Carolina!

We have MOVED! 

All I can say about moving, is that it is a pain in the ***! 😂 A few months ago, my husband accepted a job offer that required us to move down to Charleston within a two week time span. We didn't hire movers, we did it all ourselves (and with the help of some amazing friends)! Ultimately, Nathan ended up having to go down and start work, while I stayed to finish my last days at work, get new carpet installed in our house, and finish packing/cleaning. The hubby came back up on the weekends to help move our stuff either into a storage unit, or to take items back down to Charleston. Luckily for us, we only moved 6 hours away AND we are staying with my Mother while we look for a new home.

We hired a property management company to help us rent out our home in Tennessee. Within a week of putting a "For Rent" sign up in front of our home, we had a tenant in place to move in!
I've heard plenty of horror stories when it comes to renting out homes. I'm praying that this experience will be a pleasant one, and not turn into a disaster. 🙏🏼

Now we are both officially living in Charleston, trying to get settled in! For those who don't know, Nathan and I met, fell in love, and were married in Charleston, SC ( Magnolia Plantation ). 💕
Charleston has grown tremendously since we left nine years ago. The housing market here is quite tough right now, so we're really taking our time figuring out which area(s) we think would be a good fit for us, as well as a smart investment.

Since we've been back in Charleston for a few months, life has been GO-GO-GO! With the Holidays approaching quickly, life won't slow down for at least a few more months. Who else is freaking out about Thanksgiving NEXT WEEK?? ✋🏽

Of course, we have made some time to revisit old hang outs, as well as check out places we had never been to while we lived here previously.

Searching for seashells on Sullivan's Island (that's quite the tongue twister)!

Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site

Hampton Plantation State Historic Site

The Oak tree was saved from being torn down by George Washington. (Hampton Plantation)

George Washington Oak Tree at Hampton Plantation.

Charleston is beautiful city rich in history, art, amazing restaurants, entertainment, and much more! I am looking forward to sharing more of my adventures while living in this gorgeous city!

QUESTIONS

* Have you ever visited/lived in Charleston, South Carolina?

* Have you ever moved to a different state?

* Any recommendations of places to visit, or restaurants to try in the Charleston area?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!!

Hi y'all! Happy February! ❤️

There have recently been some changes in my life and now I've been given more free time to focus on my health.

With my health and fitness being my biggest priority right now, I have exciting news to announce! I am now an official Distributor of Herbalife

🙌🏼

Thanks to my Sister-in-Law, I recently have become obsessed with Herbalife shakes (they are delicious!), and other fantastic products! So far I have stuck with the vanilla protein powder to mix with three different Formula-1 powders - dutch chocolate, vanilla, and cafe latte. You can add in sugar free syrups, almond milk, regular milk, instant Jell-O powder, PB2 (or regular peanut butter), fruit, etc.! So far, I've only been blending my powders with water and ice. The shakes are scrumptious as is!

I also joined and completed a 6 Day Eat Clean Challenge!
Figuring that being involved in a challenge, I would have more motivation to do my best and attempt to be more active (as active as I can be - thanks Fibromyalgia! 😡 ).

WARNING: I apologize in advance for all the selfie pics and shake/food pics, but that's what this challenge was all about!

The 6 day eat clean challenge consisted of drinking two shakes a day, having one regular (healthy) meal (usually dinner), and one-two protein & veggie filled snacks throughout the day. I added Prolessa Duo (enhancer to help make you feel more full) to one shake each day, and took the Cell-U-Loss tablets (helps with water weight) 3 times a day - with each meal. Not to mention, I made sure to drink a LOT of H2O!!

Day 1 began on Thursday: February 1st

Breakfast - Cafe Latte shake with Prolessa Duo & Cell-U-Loss

Dinner was a shredded buffalo chicken spaghetti squash meal! It isn't pretty, but wow, it's delicious!

Shredded buffalo chicken and spaghetti squash is super easy to make. I cooked the squash at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. In the crockpot, I cooked the chicken with buffalo sauce then shredded it once it was fully cooked & tender! Combine shredded chicken with shredded squash! That's it!

Day 2 (Friday):

Breakfast shake

I mixed up my shake and had 1 scoop of the cafe latte with 1 scoop of dutch chocolate mixed with the vanilla protein powder and prolessa duo! Yum!

At the gym, the ladies only section was empty...for like, 10 seconds. I enjoyed it while I could!

As far as my daily healthy meal, I had a Panera greek salad for lunch!

For dinner, I had my second shake of the day - dutch chocolate was the winner!

Dinner shake

Day 3 - Saturday:

Breakfast:

You spin me right round baby, right round round round 😂


Snack time:

1 whole egg and 2 egg whites scrambled with onion and peppers!

Lunch shake:

Dutch chocolate shake w/ Prolessa Duo and 1 Tblspn of PB2!

Dinner was leftover buffalo chicken with steamed veggies!!


Day 4 (SUPER BOWL SUNDAY):


Breakfast:

Cafe Latte

Snack:

1 egg, 3 egg whites and veggies

Lunch was a basic dutch chocolate shake!

Dinner: Ground turkey with tomato sauce, pinto beans, black beans, & taco seasoning mixed in with quinoa (my meals are never pretty, but boy, they are delicious)!

Day 5 - Monday (almost there!):

Breakfast: Cafe Latte shake on the go!

Snack: 1 banana with crunchy peanut butter

Lunch: Dutch chocolate shake ❤️

Dinner: Brussel sprouts and leftover chili!

DAY 6  AKA LAST DAY OF THE CHALLENGE (Tuesday)!!!:

Breakfast: FINALLY mixed it up some (pun intended) - French Vanilla shake with a few frozen strawberries! 🍓

Snack: 1 banana and crunchy peanut butter

Lunch: Dutch chocolate with Prolessa Duo

Dinner: LEFTOVERS! Yum!!

Turkey chili, quinoa and a TON of steamed veggies!

The 6 Day Eat Clean Challenge was amazing! Only a couple days in, my digestive system was working better! I felt less bloated/weighed down.
The fibromyalgia has been especially more difficult lately, so I couldn't get as much exercise in as I wanted, but even without the extra activity, I still lost weight!


Within the 6 days, I lost a total of 7.2 lbs!
Yep, that's right! 7.2 lbs down in 6 days! Woohoo!
My main goal was to get kickstarted and motivated to begin a healthier lifestyle. Which, I am certainly more motivated and inspired because internally, I feel better. The rest of my body, thanks to the fibromyalgia, unfortunately does not (yet). - Work in progress.

I NEVER starved myself or deprived myself. I had my shakes and healthy filling snacks, so I never was unhealthy! Again, this is not a diet, this is a lifestyle. 💪🏼

I absolutely love the Herbalife products and although the 6 day challenge has ended, it's not over for me.
My goal is to lose 33.6 lbs (at my current weight), but most importantly, my major goals are to be more fit/active and stronger!

I enjoy the products so much, and have LOVED my results so far, that I signed up to be an Independent Distributor through Herbalife!!

If you have any questions on products and/or would like to place orders, let me know!
Feel free to check out and place orders on my website: Kyla's GoHerbalife


I look forward to sharing my journey with you guys and hope you join me in working on your own health and fitness goals!!



*Always consult your Doctor before trying new products; what may work for some, may not work for others. 

July 1st

Hey y'all! Happy July 1st!
Monday is Independence Day! It sounds like there are some fun things going on this weekend but alas, I'm still sick, so I won't be able to participate!  :(
I hope I will at least be able to see some fireworks from a distance!

A couple weekends ago, Nathan and I were in Charleston, SC, to attend my brother's wedding.

Charleston always takes my breath away (I don't mean because of the humidity). The mesmerizing Spanish moss on the gigantic oak trees are one of my favorite things to see down south. 

My brother Ryan has finally tied the knot! I am so happy for him and his wife, Jamie! The ceremony was held at my parents house, and it was beautiful!

Jamie's extremely talented father built the stunning arbor/trellis!

The reception was held at a restaurant, literally 15 seconds down the road from the house.

Jamie did an amazing job decorating for the ceremony and reception! Her style was an elegant Alice in Wonderland/tea party, which looked gorgeous! I especially loved the cake and cupcake display table!

I am still under the weather, so I tried to rest as much as possible while I was in Charleston, but it still wasn't enough. I made it through the wedding, but it wore me down a lot. We ended up leaving to head back home earlier than planned so I could rest the remainder of the week (which has turned into multiple weeks).

Usually while we are in Charleston, we make a trip downtown to walk around and/or go to the beach to hang out. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do any of that. However, Nathan was a sweetheart and drove me around downtown so I could still take in the City's sights.

My parents house has a lovely pond in the backyard, so I was able to stay out there and feed the ducks and turtles. The turtles ate the food right out of my hand! It was adorable!

It was wonderful being with my family, even though I was sick the entire visit.
Now we are back at home, and I have been doing nothing but resting. I am ready to be back to normal so I can actually be productive!
My furbaby, Riley is the only thing keeping me sane while being sick!

Although I'll be stuck at home for Independence Day celebrations, I figured I could still do something to show my pride. I got out my nail polish and painted my nails red, white, and blue.

Questions for you:

* How do you stay sane while you are sick?

* Have you ever been sick while on vacation?

* What are your plans for the Fourth of July?!