Crockpot Taco Soup

This soup is a family favorite! It is so quick and easy and cooks well in the crockpot! It will make your house smell amazing! You will need:
1 lb of cooked ground beef
1 can of Rotel
1 envelope of taco seasoning or 3 tbsp.
1 15 oz can of tomatoes
1 onion chopped
2 peppers chopped
1 can of each drained: black beans, white beans, and kidney beans
1 small jar of salsa. We also like fresh store bought as well.
Cook for 8 hours! Top with cheese, guacamole, or sour cream. We also like tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Two Uniforms

Last night I had a date with the hottest cop I know. I often forget he has another very important title. I always identify our family as a Marine family instead of a Police family, which is so silly to me because we have been a law enforcement family for about 10 years. It was fun to mingle with other wives and get to know the guys he always talks about. One of his friends is leaving to go to the FBI. I loved the places they presented him with.

Beyond The Cammies Shop

You will notice a new widget on the side bar of my blog! I have opened a Beyond The Cammies Etsy store. For this week only save 10% off your first order with code MARINEWIFE.

Lab Coats and Badges

Yes... Clinicals have begun. Although I was completely exhausted from my past few days, I loved almost every minute. I could have done without the guy in the room to us screaming and vomiting across the room. I am working on the oncology floor, ER, and ICU. I have met some sweet patients and loving families. So far so good. Today is my class day, however one has been cancelled for today so I will spend the extra time getting caught up on homework and maybe my house. I am so blessed that AJ is so wonderful and did a good job taking over the past few days. We have had one sick with the flu for a week. Why not with all the changes? I haven't made it to the gym this week. I was most concerned with how I was going to eat clean and keep that part of my lifestyle going. So far so good. Hope to get back to the gym today and tomorrow. I miss it. Well it is time for our day to start and I hear the boys yelling at each other in the background ;)

Darker Hair

School has begun. I have spent the past few weeks weeding out stuff we no longer use and going through my closet. I freaked a bit when I pulled into my garage on the first day of classes and realized I really had not accomplished much around the house. Clinicals start Tuesday and although I am excited... I'm scared to death! I'm scared of the balance and bring away 16+ plus hours on top of homework and kid duties. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves to do laundry and dishes. I've been eating 5 meals a day since starting crossfit and I worry how I will do that at the hospital. We will see. I am feeling great and getting leaner and stronger by the week. I decided to go even darker with my hair and really love it for winter.

Protein Baby!

Every morning I start my day with a protein shake. I have been playing with the recipe and some days I have a smaller shake and then breakfast. I use;
A handful of Spinach
1 banana
Few strawberries and or blueberries
1tsp of natural peanut butter ( I like Jiff or Skippy)
1 scoop of protein powder ( we use Vanilla or brownie but fudge by Dymatize.)
Blend and enjoy!

Dog Diabetes and Blindness

Our poor Puggle who is 7 is losing his sight due to diabetes. It just breaks my heart. He doesn't seem to effected by it, although today I caught him trying to walk through the back door. He is off to the vet Friday, however they said that there is really nothing that can be done and he will live a great quality of life despite. The boys wanted to get him glasses and B was actually mad at me. He thought I just wasn't going to help him ;(

Semester 3 and Getting Organized

My third semester at USC has kicked into high gear. It is my biggest semester yet and I get hands on experience! This textbook is sure to come in handy!

Of course right before classes started, my iPad stopped working. It has become a great learning tool for G and I have begun to get my text books in the Kindle format, so I convinced hubby to buy me an iPad mini. I love it ,ore then my iPad2. Graycen likes the way it fits in his hands.

I was a bit slacking at the gym this week. We had a quick trip to Chicago for,the boy's eye appointments and I was exhausted by the quick trip. The weekly schedule and start of school got the best of me. This week I did increase weight to the big girl bar...45lbs for push press and dead lifts! B joined me on Friday!

Keegan was not able to go to Chicago with us and I quickly realized he is just growing to fast. Freshman orientation is in a few weeks! I rented a movie and both boys left their play station to watch a movie with me. ;)

As I returned back to school, I was mad at myself for not doing more organizing. I found these cute baskets at Target and whipped out my new laminator and luggage tags to make some new storage baskets for the boys. No more... Where are my shows, library books, uniforms... They are all here!

Next up is my planner from Erin Condren. After getting my iPad I tried to figure out if I could go digital, but I think I may just need to do both.

New Year.. New Goals

Last year around this time, our 6th deployment was looming. I decided to make the deployment a growing experience instead of sulking in things I couldn't change. I made this visualization board and left it hanging in places I would see it everyday. I then tucked it away the past few months because I felt that I had accomplished most of what I had set out to do last year. On my board I hoped to have a happy homecoming with my Marine. That happened! I set out to start swimming and get healthy. Although the pounds did not melt off and frustration set in, I finally found a local trainer and program that I love and I am seeing my body change everyday! I spent a lot of time talking to God to led me to a better relationship with him and to lead me to where he wanted me to go in my life. That led us to a new church and me applying and getting accepted to USC Master in Social Work program! I revamped my blog and had a goal of reaching more women. Women who were mothers, wanting to get fit, going through deployments, or just needing inspiration and advice. My blog to date has had 57,000 hits. Some days I am amazed that I get 150 plus visitors! We scooted off to Cancun for a post deployment trip. It was so much fun and so glad we got that time to reconnect. My book writing has been put on the back burner with all the writing I have been doing for my grad program. It is still a goal for me. I also want to develop a nonprofit for military families. Financial health is the biggest goal for the next year. Going from a two household income home to a one has been an adjustment. ( I left my real estate career when AJ was activated.)

This year: 

I hope to create a more functional, simplified life through organization. I have been an iPhone/ smart phone user for years. I really got into keeping my calendar on my phone. But as the boys get older, AJ shares in driving, and our lives get busier... I set out for a new solution. I am going back to a paper planner, a large calendar on our fridge, and reminders on our phones for when AJ has to run the kids. I was forgetting appointments, losing schedules, and going to the wrong places for kids activities. As I prepare to be out of the house 16 hours a week for my internship, it all has to be in order. I loved this free printable one at I Heart Organizing, but after I priced the cost for materials, I decided to go with Erin Condren's Life Planner. I can't wait to get it! 

I will continue to work on my fitness and clean eating ( as I devour this piece of turtle pie in front of me).

Source: kalynskitchen.com via Jen @ on Pinterest

Now that my husband is home and should be here the rest of the year. We are going to work on our financial health TOGETHER. Because we got married at the age of 18/19 and he was constantly leaving, I did the bills. I also made the important decisions. I feel like a lot of the struggles we have had financially is because of decisions I have made is because we were not doing it together. I am super cautious and have a lot of emotion in paying bills and buying things. I think that AJ would take that away and be stricter on paying things off and keeping a budget. One idea we are excited about is this one I found on Pinterest. We will put away every $5.00 bill we get this year. At the end of the year we will do something fun with the money.

Source: thefairlyoddmother.com via Jen @ on Pinterest

We want to continue to work on our Faith and incorporate it more into our family and our kid's lives. I want to spend more time really getting to know their hearts and talking with them. I also want to work on money with them and responsibility. We have incorporated this system in our house. We set up savings accounts for them and will directly put their money in their accounts, minus the money for church/ charity. I will share my templates in another post.

Source: 71toes.com via Jen @ on Pinterest

   

I want to continue to balance my grad school career with my families needs. I have found a passion in Social Work and am so excited that I will be working at the local hospital and primarily in oncology and the ER. For my blog I want to really connect with my readers. I have so many people that just stop by. But, I want to really make connections with you all. If you stop by... please leave me a note or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram!

2013 Fitness... If I Can Do it... So Can You!

I have been working out now regularly minus the week in Cancun, and Christmas week that turned hectic and brought sickness to me and two of the boys. It felt so good to get back this week. I am so proud of my progress and so thankful that AJ and I share this common love. I even got to work out with him last week one day and impressed him. Brayden got to go a few days last week as well as Keegan. I can't believe how my strength has increased, my muscle tone, and my form. I did 100 of these yesterday with 100 burpees. I would have never thought that I would be addicted to working out! I find my off days getting antsy and I have to throw something into my day. This year I want to continue to life heavier, continue to work on my muscle tone, and keep progressing on my healthy eating to fuel my workouts. This is my motto for this year! No more scale!!!!

Source: carbtripper.blogspot.com.au via Jen @ on Pinterest

Egg Muffins!

Since starting crossfit and trying to eat as close to Paleo as possible, I have been eating a lot of eggs. To the point where they were getting old! I decided to try and throw some ingredients I had on hand together and the result was amazing! I am in love with Jimmy Dean Precooked sausage crumbles! Eat it everyday! No mess, just warm up, and throw in with my eggs. More protein! I haven't tried the turkey crumbles, as I am just not big into turkey. To make the egg muffins you will need:

1 dozen eggs
dash of milk
Seasonings of your choice (pepper, salt, garlic powder)
1/2 a bag of sausage crumbles
veggies of your choice. I used yellow peppers.
Shredded Cheese

I mixed all the ingredients together and then spooned them into a greased muffin pan. I didn't have any cooking spray, so I used muffin tins. They turned out fine, but were hard to get out of the wrapper. I would spray them too. I cooked them at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The recipe made 18. I froze 6 for mornings on the run. Enjoy!

Looking Forward to 2013!

AJ and I were talking yesterday how great 2012 had been for our family. Yes, he spent a good portion overseas and away from us, but we received so many blessings. I applied and was accepted to USC. I have a wonderful internship in place for the next two semesters. Our boys are beautiful and healthy. They are full of so much life and personality. AJ came back from our 6th deployment unharmed and has eased back into our family and civilian life. Our relationship has truly grown and we have really tried to focus on what is important.

We attended the visitation and funeral for Sgt. Ty Ziegel the past few days and we spent the past few days with members of our Marine Corps family. My husband was able to see Marine that he hasn't seen in years, and it was so fun to see them all come together and the brotherhood they share. It always amazes me how Marines and Marine families can just pick up where they left of as if 8 years never had passed since the last time they had been together. I cherish our Marine friends and know they will always be a part of our lives.

Rainbow on the way to Ty Ziegel's visitation. 

One of my favorite Marine wives. 

On the way to the visitation, I just couldn't get my mind of his dear family and the sacrifices they have endured. In those moments, we noticed a small rainbow. The sky was completely clear with no moisture in sight. I immediately took a photo and posted it to his Mom's Facebook page. I loved that I was able to share with her this story at the visitation. My belief of a sign of hope and blessings for the family.

After attending Ty's funeral, I was left with the reminder to live each day to the fullest. Ty had so many chances to give up on life, but yet he chose to live when living was not the easy choice. He never complained of his war wounds and spent time encouraging others. The funeral and visitation were packed and there was not a dry eye in the room when we were told stories of his love for life and the constant bravery he showed. As the ceremony concluded a beautiful snow began to fall. The snow was not in the forecast and it continued through his funeral luncheon.

The park near Ty's funeral and visitation. 

Our midnight toast. 

Grape juice! 

We concluded the year with plenty of great food and drinks and our favorite couple friends. The kids minus Graycen made it to 12:00. I made it to 12:30. Two nights of partying, sure makes for a tired momma today. I am very ready to get back into a routine. A week left off of school for me and the kids. AJ heads back to work tomorrow. It has been so nice to have him around and again a blessing that he was off to help what was needed for the funeral.

Shot glass of grape juice! 

As I close, I wish you all a happy 2013. Thank you for following our story. I can't wait to share what 2013 has in store for our family!

Love him!