Tessa Archives - Wild Ginger

Oh, Hey Friday! : THE NEW YEARS REZ

January 6, 2017 by Lindsay

So how’s your New Years Rez (Resolution) going? This week for Oh, Hey Friday!, I’m posting how I’m keeping up with mine.

5 on Friday | O, Hey Friday! | Friday Favorites

Yes, health & weight loss is the most common of all the resolutions, and Lord knows my favorite thing is following the mainstream *enter angry red faced emoji* but here is why I chose this: Since June, when we took over the store, I have gained 20 lbs. There’s a Casey’s RIGHT across the street that we visit regularly for breakfast pizza, pizza, chicken bites, chips, soda, _____fill in any other unhealthy snack food here. If I forgot something for lunch, I wasn’t too worried because I would just walk across the street. Also, with Nathan working the afternoon shifts, I was waiting for him for dinner and sometimes that wouldn’t be until 8pm. No good. And when I did cook dinner, it was something fast; frozen pizza, chili, something with pasta, corn dogs…It is UNREAL how much pizza we have consumed in the last 6 months.

ENTER New Years Resolution: Eat Clean! :: No refined sugars. REASON: To put thought into what I’m eating. Hopefully to lose extra lumps (I’m ok with my *keep me warm fat!*)

ONE | PROS:

I LOVE TO COOK! I’ve made lots of new things that are just crazy good…well and bad….but the experimenting is awesome!
My girls are eating better, because there is better food around!
My energy level is up.
Growing success is contagious, which is rubbing off on a few other of my goals.

TWO | CONS:

I’m not a huge water person. I’m really only drinking water & tea.
NO COFFEE. I have to get my caffeine from black tea. Yes, I could drink black coffee, but then I’d want to put cream in it, which is vanilla creamer…with sugar.
Grocery runs are expensive & time consuming to start because I’m reading labels & buying LOTS of produce.
I can’t really drink any spirited beverages. I can have wine, but I’m really not all about sipping a glass.

THREE | THE FOOD

My favorites so far…

Baked Sweet Potato topped with baked chicken, black beans, onions, tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, & a dollop of sour cream.

Apple Walnut Salad with cranberries & feta cheese with homemade honey mustard vinaigrette.

Apples & Smooth Operator Peanut Butter (it’s got raw cane sugar in it…i’m considering it ok for now)

Others….

Wheat English Muffin with avocado & apples with peanut butter

FOUR | THE GIRLS

Ruthie got in trouble yesterday for eating two apples. 🙂 Tessa has been adventurous and trying some of the food. She also LOVES helping me cook! So, I try to find jobs for her that are kid friendly. She washes LOTS of grapes.

They had pizza & berries at HyVee. This is one of their favorite things to do.

While they had their greasy pizza, I had this tasty salad. Hardest part…Tessa left half her pizza on her plate, and I couldn’t eat it. In my head I was thinking, “I don’t want that $ to go to waste.” But really what I was thinking was…..mmmmmm….”Greasy pizza….”

FIVE | THE WEIGHT

I try not to get my hopes up with the loss the first week, because naturally when you drastically cut carbs & cut calorie intake, then you’re going to lose weight.
These first 5 days, I’ve lost 5lbs. SWEET! Now, I just need to find time to exercise.

So far, it’s a success. I plan to do this the whole year. I can hear some people say, but this is sooo drastic, you are setting yourself up to fail. My first response… about 6 years ago, I gave up meat for 1 year. And I did it. I HAVE to do something drastic, because if it’s something small that takes just a little bit of effort, then I will brush it off. I must make it big so I have to constantly think about it. AND I have to tell the world! That way when I slack, someone will ask me, “Hey! How’s your NO SUGAR thing going?” I will feel like a failure when I say, “Not good.” Not for everyone, but I respond best to public humiliation. People pleaser, ya know!?

What was your New Years Resolution? Be careful! Whatever you comment, I will ask you about later. 🙂 Accountability at it’s finest!

HAPPY FREAKIN’ FRIDAY!

Truthful Tuesday: 30 Things I’ve Learned by 30

May 11, 2016 by Lindsay

So yes, some time has elapsed from one Truthful Tuesday to the next, but I felt this extremely appropriate during my current circumstances. I won’t elaborate, but all’s to say, I have learned more in the last month, then I ever wanted. God is refining me into who he wants me…I’m just feeling the burn…

So here are 30 Things I have learned over the past 30 Years…

1 | 90% of veggies taste better roasted. I honestly don’t know the other 10%,
but as soon as I put 100%, I’ll think of an exception.

2 | Saying NO does not mean you are any less dedicated/committed; would someone want only partial commitment from you? No! So don’t do a mediocre job. Just say NO.

3 | Changing who you are in NOT BAD! What is water that doesn’t move? STAGNANT. Maggots grow is stagnant water. If you’re not changing then others will pass you by. We can’t follow Christ by standing still.

4 | Never finish this statements…”My kids will never….” It will never work out for you.

Sleeping Beauty in PINK

5 | You literally can do whatever you want in life; it just may not pay well, and you may choose the wrong thing to do. It may not be the right thing…but you’re going to do what you’re gonna do. THINK BEFORE YOU DO!

6 | You are responsible for EVERY action you take, even if it was a REaction. It’s still your ACTION!

7 | 85% of communication is in what you don’t say.

8 | UNCROSS YOUR ARMS! You’re not angry and you ARE approachable.

9 | Only 75-year-olds know everything.

10 | Don’t put off doing dishes after dinner; unless you want to play the dish stacking game.

11 | Regularly download pictures off your phone.

12 | PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE! Especially on dates.

13 | Joy & Happiness are 2 different things. Learning them is life changing.

14 | Blogging is not for the faint of heart.

15 | Ironing only gets worse. You hate it more and more with time.

16 | You either have WAY too many hangers or not enough. There’s no happy medium.

17 | Learn how to make spaghetti. If you learn how to do that, you can turn that into so many other things.

18 | Nathan says cow poo smells like money. No. It does not.

19 | And while we are talking about cows, a heifer is a cow that hasn’t had a calf, a cow is one that has; a steer is a boy cow without a pair and a bull is fully equipped. Make sure with us cow folk, you don’t confuse us. It’s not difficult.

20 | Always have an unlimited supply of pacifiers; or at least a hidden one ALWAYS.

21 | Laundry isn’t completely done until it is in the drawers. i.e. my laundry will not get done until I’m 40.

22 | Sponge Bob…..REALLY?

23 | Being your own boss is liberating and all EXTREMELY hard if you don’t have any discipline.

24 | Leadership is displayed through service, not just empty words.

25 | Always work as if you can be replaced. A sense of entitlement is unflattering and detrimental to your work ethic.

26 | The difference between a DREAM & a GOAL is a deadline. (N. Hill)

27 | No one & nothing is more powerful than a confident woman.

28 | Don’t judge your insides based on someone else’s outsides. (J. Savage)

29 | If you don’t ask a question, then the answer is always no.

30 | <— That is only a measurement of age. Not a Gage for attitude or capability or “I have all my s*** together now because I’m 30.” That’s DEFINITELY not true. I am merely a 30 year old with two AWESOME ginger babies, a husband, huge family only partially dysfunctional (normal is so boring), and a God who saved me from eternal death. He refines me though life experiences, some hotter than others. But if I am ever ungrateful for ANY of these 30 things I am a fool. Straight up.

*she drops the mic and walks into the shadows*

I’ll take a #TruthfulTuesday and a #WCW Combo

April 6, 2016 by Lindsay

Um…yes… I will take a #TruthfulTuesday and #WCW Combo please.. oh, and hold the sarcasm. Thanks a mil!

Hello, friends. I have been planning AAAAALLLLL day to post a Truthful Tuesday. So what do you do when you don’t get started on it until 9:40pm at night? Make it a combo! Talk about real life lately, and then #WCW which, for those of you who may not know what that means, Woman Crush Wednesday where I get to talk about some pretty AMAZING women!

First… TRUTHFUL TUESDAYS!

I feel like every year, I start spring break thinking how relaxing it might be. NEVER HAPPENS! Great and exciting things DID happen but only at the expense of sheer exhaustion. But we got some GREAT pictures.
Tes milked a cow surprising well…
Tessa has a new favorite thing to do…she LOVES to cook with me. She sits on the counter, usually asked for a piece of bread, then continually asks “Wha da? Wha da, Ma?” This was a funny video from the other night where we discovered Tes has an obsession with chicken.
Last but not least…um…this is what I had for dinner. True life. And yes, that Snickers Bar says COMPLAINER. Not sure how I got that…

Second… #WCW

And I have two…I’ve had opportunities to spend my time with some amazing women lately. These two hold a special place in my heart right now, and deserve a SHOUT OUT!

This is my friend Courtney.

We go WAAAAY back…like single digit grades back…I’ve known her as a daughter, an awesome sister, an authentic best friend to more than just me, an awesome girlfriend turned awesome and HOT wife, then mom, and now a MOM 2.0 (arrive mid-August–eeek!)

I met up with her for lunch two weeks ago, then a play date & lunch with her main squeeze, Hunter. 1st of all I see GREAT marriage potential here (Hunter the Handsome), but more so, MAN this girl is a STRONG powerful woman! After meeting with her and chatting for hours, it just solidified that we women cannot do life alone. In all feminist state, we absolutely can, but we work better together. And it’s WAY more fun. Her friendship really means the world to me, so I wanted to give her a HUGE shout out. Court, you are Godly wife and mom, a God-fearing Proverbs 31 woman, and on those rough days, you are EXACTLY where God intends you to be. PS. Let’s schedule that double date soon. CAN’T FORGET!

Secondly, this is Jane.

Jane and I met during my glorious years that I worked at a local radio station. Her and I had big dreams of a OnAir talk show basically covering the DEEP THOUGHTS of Jane & Lindsay…like fingernail polish keeping your hands warm or the power of chocolate. The station manager, would usually just chuckle, shake his head, turn and walk away. So there was hope there… 🙂 We stayed in touch on an off for about 4 years then began seeing more of each other last fall. Last November, I joined her Mary Kay team, excited to make some extra money, but I gain OH SO MUCH more! A sisterhood of Christian sisters with a BIG (no, I’m not calling you fat!!–Jane’s laughing right now b/c I put that…) SISTER named JANE!

Jane is taking the next step in our Mary Kay business and entering into Director in Qualification to become a Mary Kay Independent Sales Director. And sometimes, when God asks you to step out in faith to do something, the devil begins to meddle. BUT GUESS WHAT JANE! God’s already won the war! AND in this momentary battle, I am a WARRIOR on your team!

Being surrounded by wonderful, strong, God-fearing women PUSHES me! And, the good Lord knows, that right now, I need that in a BAD way! Jane & Courtney, Thanks for your friendship. You are a blessing!

Heart=FULL

HAPPY TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY!