Yesterday was my birthday. It was the best birthday I've had in a while. I went to the gym in the morning, Ken went down the street and picked up my new stove (got a free microwave as an added bonus), we went to see Monsters University (a REALLY cute movie), came home and Ken and Kaylee cooked dinner for me. Kaylee is using my birthday dinner as her next Kooking with Kaylee.
I'm always depressed by how my fat free cakes turn out. But, I decided to try it one last time. This cake was a home run! I was so excited. I got the recipe from The Fat Free Vegan Blog. Click HERE for the recipe. I actually didn't change anything except I used regular whole wheat flour, sugar free maple syrup and used cornstarch instead of chia. I also added a Cool Whip frosting (1 cup milk, 1 box sugar free fat free pudding mix and an 8 oz container Cool Whip Free mixed together) to the top. {Birthday cake needs frosting in my opinion}
This is a one layer cake and I'm a complete frosting addict. My trick? Use a sharp knife and hollow out some cake from the top. You can fill the hole with frosting and you'll get more. I crumbled the cake I removed and used it on top for garnish.
My gifts. Popsicle molds and a misto from Ken, a new watch, the Fitness RX magazine and the necklaces from Kaylee, Mantha gave me the watch and the Muscle and Fitness Hers magazine, and Sunny gave me the ring and keychain. Everything I wanted. I was so happy!!
Where has this year gone??!!?? It's already July 1st! I'm really excited for this month. My anniversary, the family vacation, and my birthday are all in July. And they're all within the first half of the month.
There's so much left to do to get ready. Grocery shopping, supply shopping and packing.
Most people go out to dinner for their anniversaries. Ken and I? We perfer to cook a nice meal at home. There are 2 reasons for this A) I'm cheap {spend $30 or $130??} and B) Independence Day is meant to be spent grilling!
This year we are going to do something a bit easier than normal/. We are going to get Publix to steam our shirmp so we don't have to do it. This is our way of being "fancy" for our special day.
Here's the rest of our menu:
Fruit Salad (fresh berries, apples, bananas, nectarines and grapes)
Sauteed Zucchini
Corn on the cob
Watermelon (you can't celebrate the day without it!)
Potato Salad
Chocolate cheesecake with a strawberry swirl
For the cheesecake I reversed THIS RECIPE and used strawberries instead of raspberries.
The following picture is one I posted to my personal Facebook page. I am amazed that I looked decent in this "one-size-fits-all" dress. It was actually a quite emotional thing for me. It was a major mental win for my self-esteem. This is the first time in my life I've been a "one-size-fits-all" girl. I never plan on going back!
"Today
I bought this dress. Why is that amazing? Because this dress would
not have fit me 4 years ago. I would have looked like a stuffed walrus
in this dress. I honestly never full realized how far I've come until
today. I actually have the body to wear a dress like this. Who knew
that the girl who got called fat for 90% of her school years would look
like this?? So this dress has finally made
me realize I can say F**K YOU to all those people who ever said nasty
things about me, guys that turned me down because I wasn't a size 2 and
everyone who laughed at me (both behind my back and to my face.)
This might just look like a dress to everybody else but, this dress is
mental freedom, this dress is empowerment, this dress is happiness."
Happy July everybody!!
As y'all know I've been working on my AFAA PFT Certification. On the 19th I took my practical. I studied for atleast 2 weeks. Ken helped me, the girls helped me, I worked on it by myself, at home, at the GYM.....I studied really hard.
The exercise I was given was the crunch {Original thought: YES!! EASY!! I got this!!} I had to modify it for an obese, deconditioned chef with back problems. {Honestly?? I laughed because it reminded me of Ken, minus the obese part} I nailed the demo. I knew what I was doing, I knew the modification and I nailed the spotting. Easy-peasy.
Then came the questions. I had to show 2 stretches, tell the opposing muscles {easy}, and tell an exercise for the opposing muscle.
The examiner told me that when I answered the questions I wasn't "confident enough," and it sounded like I "was guessing at the answers."
I'm sorry that I have 3 kids, and a house to take care of, PLUS my nerves were so wracked due to the test causing my answering not to be in the very front of my brain.
The next day I was emailed my results. I had "failed" 3 portions of the test. After looking through my book I realized I was wrongly failed. BUT, when I called to find out about appealing the score I was told there was nothing that could be done. WTF??!!?? Anyway, as soon as I get my multiple choice grade I will be retaking my practical.
I took my multiple choice yesterday. It's a timed, proctored (they watch you the whole time), 2 hour, 120 question multiple choice test. I started to worry when I realized I had skipped over the first 30 questions. I was afraid I wasn't going to finish on time.....or I was going to get them all wrong. The last 20 questions are all pictures. You have to put them in order from easiest to hardest, tell what body part is out of alignment, etc. \
I am very happy to say that I PASSED! I'm so excited. Now all I have to do is study for the practical again and in a few weeks I'll be certified!!
Anybody need a trainer starting at the end of July?
