To Have and To Hold-11 years and counting

On Saturday, Brian and I celebrated 11 years of marriage.  Brian surprised me with a night away.  He arranged for my parents to watch the girls Friday night and Saturday morning.  Thanks mom and dad. 

I was told to pack a bag and that was all I knew, so I was delighted when we pulled up here:

I have always wanted to stay at The Hermitage Hotel.  It is over 100 years old and is the only 5 star hotel in Tennessee.  It did not disappoint.  Their attention to detail is incredible. 

We were told that the woodworking in this ballroom was the same that was used on the Titanic.  Pretty neat.

I kept staring at the ceilings.  They were absolutely beautiful.  I could have hung out in the lobby all day.

We had dinner at the Oak Bar.  It was divine.  Seriously, I can't wait to go back.  Brian had a double stacker hamburger that was to die for.  I snuck a bite and it was so yummy.  Mine was really good too.

After dinner we went back upstairs to get ready to see "Titanic, The Musical" across the street at TPAC.  When I walked into the room, there were rose petals on the floor, candles lit and chocolates and champagne.  There was even music playing on the tv.  This is one classy hotel.  Everything is top notch.  Guys take note.  This is a great place to take your wife.  You can thank me later.

Our hotel room:

I may or may not of taken an hour long bath while watching Guiliana Rancic's True Hollywood Story.

Breakfast at Capitol Grille was included in our package Brian bought.  It too, did not disappoint.  I had a Belgian waffle and Brian had the Tennessee "Jack" Egg Sandwich.  Our waiter told us that the Food Network named it best breakfast sandwich in Tennessee.

If you are ever in Nashville, you must stop by for the dining.  If you can stay the night, even better.

Thank you my love for such a fun getaway.  I love you and am blessed to be your wife.

2012

Happy New Year to you all.  I had a good start to my day, as Brian got the girls this morning and let me sleep in.  Thanks babe.  Today was day 1 of a week long detox I am doing.  I have been awful to my body over the last few months and I'm paying the price for it.  I know better than that, I mean, I really know better.  I love to study health and I am passionate about what our family eats.  I am a huge proponent of organic, raw, unproccesed, and whole foods.  My hubby will tell you I despise High Fructose Corn Syrup, GMO's, Food Dyes, and foods with hormones and antibiotics.  Here is a great article that talks about the effects of dyes on our children.  I will talk more about this in another post.

But when I am tired, stressed or depressed, I just don't care.  I'm laying it all out there because it's the truth.  I've treated my body like a trashcan and it has to stop.  It has to stop for me, my husband and my two beautiful girls.  So with a new year, comes new possibilities.  Brian challenged me to use my blog to keep me accountable, so that's what I am going to do.  Every Monday, I will report in and blog about my progress over that week.  This is not just about weight loss, although that's a huge part of it, but it's finally gaining control of what I eat and not letting my emotions dictate what I put in my mouth.  One of my goals this year is to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday in April.  That is a lofty goal I know.  Will I make it?  I have no clue, but I am gonna work my bootie off and try my best.  I'm doing it with what I believe it best for my body; raw, whole, organic foods.  That's it.  No magic diet pills or pre packaged food, just whole foods.

This week I am in detox mode.  I will eat only raw, organic, vegetarian foods and drink fresh juice from my juicer.  That's it.  For exercise, I will be walking and doing yoga, with a little strength training thrown in for fun.  I have to say that Day 1 went well.  I won't lie, I have a giant head ache right now, due to the fact that I haven't had any caffeine and my body is screaming for refined sugar, but I know the first few days are the hardest, so I expect it all.  I told Brian today that if I snap at him this week, to not take it personally.  :)

Here's what my day looked like today:  smoothies for breakfast, giant spinach and mixed greens salad with carrots, sunflower seeds, cucumbers, beets and olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the dressing.  For snack I had a cashew side salad from Whole Foods, lots of water, and I had another smoothie for dinner.  I also ate a bunch of carrots, an apple and a couple of oranges.  Whole Foods makes some great vegan salads that are to die for. I will probably be living there this week. On the Do Not Eat List:  breads, sugar, meat of any kind, cheese/dairy products, anything fried, caffeine and alcohol.

This is the only way I know how to really detox my body and get rid of alot of the toxins and inflammation going on in my body right now.  I'm kind of making up my own plan.  I'm not following a diet per se.  There are some great books out there on raw eating if you want to check them out.

Natalia Rose is one of my favorite raw food authors.  She even has a section about infertility on her blog and about the link between what you eat and the ability to become pregnant.  You can check it out here. 

This is another great book and I love her story about why she started eating raw food. You can check out Carol's blog here.

So that's it in a nutshell.  I've also ordered two DVD's from Amazon that I cannot wait to watch.  I think it will be life changing.  I will definitely be telling you about those in the future.

Do you have a weightloss goal in 2012?  I'd love to hear about it. 

Cheers to a happy and healthy new year!