IT'S RAINING & Giveaway Winner Announcement!

Hey Y'all! 
It's been a while since I've written on here. Lots of events have taken place since I have last written! To say the least ;-) We were lucky enough to be able to visit family for Christmas this year which was a lot of fun.

lilly presents from my lovely mother! #lillychristmas

I loved seeing Grayson interact with my little brother, it was too sweet. I miss my family a lot and I am happy to at least have my sister out here now!!

All of us, after Church. I love how you can only see my Husband's head! Ha.

We also had it flood in the home we are renting out. It completely flooded in the kitchen and it was quite the ordeal. A huge mess, and a lot of stress. Grayson came running saying "IT'S RAINING" and I was thinking he was just playing or watching a show, and then I see this.... 

I had a melt down (and that's putting it lightly).... luckily nothing *really* got ruined even though some major important things got wet.... vacuum... computer..... and other random kitchen appliances. At least my Blendtec was safe ;-) I think I actually went to get that first thing haha. I feel like our place is still  in shambles a little bit. We had to use every towel we had, plus a lot extra from my husbands family. They were really great in helping us and helping shop vac out all the water. They've had this happen a few times to different homes they've lived in or rented so they knew what to do luckily! I am also glad that we were home when this happened because we were about to go out on a date and let my sister tend Grayson. Which that would have been way worse to have her alone and have that happen! I am thankful for my family and everything that they do for me. I wouldn't have been able to make it through this weekend without them haha. 
I am trying to at least find a silver lining to this in that I can now completely re-organize my kitchen, pantry (it leaked in there too) and linen closet, since we had to use all of the towels and it was pretty much a mess prior to this. [well a "trying to look halfway organized" mess.] So there's that! ;-) 

Sisters<3

I want to also take this time to announce the IdealShape Boost Packets Giveaway Winner, not too many contestants this time! But it's all okay, since the winner is Kendal Ianuzi, my sister... She's pretty pumped to try these out and is thinking of starting a Fashion Blog herself. She is seriously amazing at putting outfits together! She is also one of my biggest supporters when it comes to my blogging and youtubing which means a lot to me :) I love her and I am so happy she is back and that I get to see my son, Grayson spend time with her and see how much he loves his Auntie "Kennel". Thank You to all those who have entered and stayed tuned to my Youtube Channel for some more exciting Giveaways which shall be taking place soon! 

Xoxo,
Brittany Marie Powell 

Have you ever had anything major happen to your home or where you were living?

#MIMM~ Anthropologie Inspired Snowglobe DIY

Happy Marvelous Monday, my friends! 
Today I decided to get a little bit crafty... Thanks Pinterest! hah
I am obsessed with, and totally in love with the store Anthropologie and what I love most is their home decor items. Unfortanately they're a bit on the pricey side so I am always trying to figure out a way to make or diy myself whatever it is I am coveting at the time. 
Right now it just so happened to be this little beaut....

How Lovely Is This Right??

So I headed to my local thrift store and was able to find a bottle brush tree attached to  a creepy  ornament/decoration of some kind. I broke it apart so I had just the tree intact. If you'd like to see the entire process/tutorial on how I made this Anthro Inspired Snow Globe, go to my Youtube Page now and watch my DIY Tutorial! Don't forget to subscribe and like, for many more videos like this. Do you like crafts? Do you like making you own Christmas Decorations? I love it! 

Xoxo,

Brittany Marie Powell

www.youtube.com/theianuzified

www.youtube.com/theianuzified

www.youtube.com/theianuzified

www.youtube.com/theianuzified

Beehive Bazaar

Today was a fun day because I actually had something fun to do, and not boring (like laundry) hah! I decided to go check out the Beehive Bazaar down in Riverwoods. 
I met up with a friend and we had fun looking at all of the different booths vendors had set up. Everything was set up beautifully, and it was all so crafty and adorable. 
Some things were so simple yet I would never have thought to make it! 
I got a lot of cute decorating/crafting ideas and 
I purchased a couple of cute items that I want to share with y'all.

{i am going to do my best to mention everyone who 
crafted these items, to give credit where credit is due my friends!}

Item #1 is this cute little wooden iron-man, which I believe all the Avenger ones were strategically placed at toddler eye level for a reason ;-) hah but he really wanted it,  I usually don't give in to all the toys he wants, because he always wants toys whenever we are out and about, but this time I did. It was too cute to pass up. I would have liked to get all of the Avengers!

made by littlethingshappy instagram

IRONMAN aka "man man" as Grayson likes to say.

made by unknown, if you the crafter of this beautiful-ness
happens to read this blogpost, let me know! :)

Item #2 is this darling deer antler decoration (by which I can hang jewlery on... and anything else that needs hanging. Maybe my race medals! I am wanting it to be hung with all of my other girly items like my makeup and shoes and nail polish. :) aka #myhappyplace I have actually been wanting to craft something similar to this for a while now, one of my good Youtuber friends did a whole tutorial on something similar she had made, and it was so cute! So when I saw this I had to have it, because I know I probably wouldn't be making it any time soon, since I've been saying I'd make one ever since she put the video out. Which was a while ago....

Going to this shin dig made me realize all of the things I want to craft up, so I making a personal list of crafty projects I want to finish/DO.... feel free to ignore this haha
*paint thrifted bookcase, you bought it in JUNE....
*make a pretty bunting banner with fabric for my Youtube Videos.
*make a cute wooden sign.
*make a christmas tree like this whimisical one by noelledesigns instagram:

the green one with the pink pedestal is my fav <3

#tiredmommyselfie

I am including this lazy selfie of me, because I really liked my outfit today. I'm wearing a Lilly Pulitzer mermaid top and a mermaid necklace to match! Both of which were purchased on ebay and I got a really great deal on both items. #ilovelilly and #iloveebay

I feel very sleep deprived right now, even though last night was the first night in a while that I was able to sleep. Perhaps that's why. Do any of you function better on less sleep than you do with more? Or am I just extremely strange? I still need to work out too... I ran a mile this morning... and then I talked to MY SISTER, which may not seem like a big deal to most but she has been serving a mission for our Church in the Phillipines, and today was the first time i got to talk to her for 18 months. I am so happy she is home and I am so proud of her for serving for our Church. She's a good egg! <3 hah

Xoxo,
Brittany Marie Powell

WIAW

Hello my loves! So today is another what I ate Wednesday post, I've been eating a bit differently lately eating a big meal in the mornings, fruit or veg for lunch, and then a clean protein rich dinner. For breakfast I had Shakeology Chia seed pudding with 1 serving of Jif PB Cereal on top, soooo gooood!! I also ate some frozen berries. My snack was some Quaker cheddar cheese popped chips, and some  beehive cheese curds, I love cheese curds :-P And my other snack was a honey crisp apple! they're so pricey but so delish! They really are my favorite apple. I also had some applegate farms organic chicken breast slices (60 calories). Man, I eat a lot haha. I was able to wake up early and get my run in. I really enjoy the feeling I have after an early morning run, it makes me feel like I can conquer my day, and I'm about a billion times more productive versus when I wake up later. So I'd rather be a bit more sleepy, and feeling accomplished than not tired, and frazzled. I got such a delightful surprise I'm the mail today! I'm like a little kid when I get packages in the mail. I received a package from a company called P28, they're are based in Syracuse, New York which I think is pretty cool since I am from Binghamton, New York! It's no secret that aside from my husband and child, carbs and peanut butter are the loves of my life. So for me a protein bread is like a dream come true! A lot of their products have 28g of protein! Thats so awesome and it's such a fun way to switch up your protein sources. That's what this healthy living lifestyle is all about, making healthy choices fun!!! 

Later on tonight I had the opportunity to do makeup on some girls at our church, it was so fun for me. Makeup artistry really is a passion of mine. And I'd love to expand my knowledge and hopefully someday be able to shadow someone or take some classes. Makeup is so much more than what we put on our face, it's am art and it really can change how someone feels about themselves. I love getting a woman all done up and to see her face when she sees how beautiful she truly is. Because I think as women we don't give ourselves enough credit, beauty truly does come from within. I loved watching the girls reactions after they got all done up. 

I filmed several youtube videos today as well, one of which I already uploaded, all about my new hair extensions! 

Xoxo,

Brittany Marie Powell

#MIMM

Happy Marvelous Monday Everyone!
   Today was a cooking day for me, every year I like to continue my Grandmommy's tradition of Dinner In A Pumpkin :) It's not a very complicated recipe, I'll post the recipe on here soon, but it's pretty time consuming when you are serving a large group of people. I bought 3 pumpkins for cooking, two pie pumpkins and one normal Jack-O-latern pumpkin, the pie pumpkins are slightly sweeter tasting and perfect if you have a small family or if it's just you and your significant other. I also made some Protein Cheesecakes for dessert, which I have a post with that recipe on here.

   I also was able to get some much needed cleaning done today, the clean mama's cleaning charts are so motivating. I am looking for a shoe organizer to take care of the shoe explosion in my closet. I am thinking of purchasing this cute locker style cabinet from Ikea, I would need to figure out a way to set up shelving inside of it though for shoes.

I am also in search for a toddler bed for Grayson, I was going to start him out in a twin bed, but I'm thinking it might be an easier transition for him if we start out with something lower to the ground. Any mommies reading this I am happy to hear your input with this! :) 
  I was able to fit in a run today. 3.5 miles. I am really wanting to start running more regularly again, and have a goal of doing 3 miles every day till christmas. I think that's reasonable, but we shall see, if I start getting knee issues again, I know when to hold back. I just feel like I need to give myself a little challenge again, since hubby and I are looking for a house I have cut back on how many races I've done this year, and in some ways that sort of kills my motivation so I need to find new ways to give me that push. I do think I'll be signing up for some sort of race soon though, even though it's getting chilly!

 I also was able to purchase some of the Suja Juices today, they're $$$ but my body is in need of juicing again I think.... and this just might get me to get in the mood to start juicing again :) 
Anyways, that's all for My #MIMM not much to post today, but just wanted to fill you guys in! :) 

XOXO,
        Brittany Marie Powell

What I Ate Wednesday

What I Ate Wednesday!

   I haven't done one of these in ages! Mostly because I have #strangebutgood food choices! haha This morning I made egg white chips, which my husband thinks is the oddest thing on earth! But I think they are a good low carb option, and high protein, and great for when you're craving something crunchy. Plus you have so many options when making them, you can make them sweet or savory. What I do is spray a few muffin tins with a non stick spray and pour a tiny tiny amount of egg whites in each muffin spot. And then I let it bake at 350 for however long it takes them to get crispy, I am weird and like them to be a bit burnt... haha.

egg white chips

I also ate some carrots with Grayson (side note: he LOVES carrots, he always tells me when we eat them "MOM bunnies eat carrots!" haha funny boy) in bed while he watched a show and we both tried to wake up a bit. I then made his breakfast too which is usually Eggo waffles, not the healthiest thing, but he's so picky when it comes to food. I'd like to make him a healthier alternative such as spinach banana pancakes, I know he would probably like those since he loves 'nana's.  I went running after I ate my egg whites I like to eat something light if I know I am going to go running after. 

  After my run I made myself shakeology, I love the chocolate it tastes just like a frosty. Then Grayson and I got ready for the day. We went up to the mall so I could return some shoes that ended up not fitting... I was trying to be frugal and decided to buy some boots that were children's size which normally that works out for me when it comes to certain boots like Uggs or Hunters but these were some Steve Madden zip up boots and they wouldn't fit around my calf, haha I think I have large calfs... But I was happy to see that Burlington Coat Factory had the same ones for $35! And I had paid $75 for the ones that didn't fit so it was sort of a blessing in disguise in a way. I've wanted these boots for years, I just love the red zipper and tan color, I can't wait to wear them with skinny jeans. 

  And for dinner I had a Garden lites souffle, more egg white chips haha, and butternut squash. 

XOXO,
Brittany Marie Powell

   

Me Party Of One!

   Well, Grant went to the movies with a friend so I decided to have a ME party, as the Muppets Movie would say! Which really just consisted of having a sugar free Rita's Italian Ice...watching trashy girly reality TV shows and reading blogs. Livin' it up over here. ;-)

   We are on the bulk phase of Body Beast. I've really enjoyed Body Beast, and even though it is tough it is worth it to me because I can see and feel the changes. I can even see myself doing another round of this! I'm starting to enjoy lifting more. I still don't think I get quite the same endorphins/stress relief as I do with running. 

   

   Lately Grayson just thinks it is hilarious to cover himself (and mommy) in stickers. It's so funny to see what he thinks is funny. He's developed such the little personality. He's my boy<3 

   Tomorrow for dinner I am hoping to make a turkey meatloaf. The body beast nutrition guide came with a recipe book for one. I am also thinking of trying to make a key lime cheesecake or maybe a Carmel one or maybe a cookies and cream one. Or I might just get the church lazy's and not make a dessert haha we shall see. Church wears me out sometimes (my service is 3 hrs).

   

^ I like this quote a lot. For me personally, I think I let fear win when it comes to things I want to do. I think, I think I won't succeed and that scares me. But honestly I have come to the conclusion that I would rather try and fail at something, than to never have tried at all and spend my life wondering. Anyways that's my "deep" thought for the day haha getting sleepy now. Good night everyone! 

Xoxo,

Brittany 

   

   

My Birthday in Pictures.

    Birthday Date with Grant.

On July 16th I turned the big 2-5 I had an awesome time with family and friends. And food :-P haha

    "First Let Me Take A Selfie"

    

    Love my Girls! And Grayson helped me blow out my candles, he's sucha good helper.

   

   PIZZA!!!!

    

   I've waited forever to have this cookie, because I kept telling myself I could have it on my birthday it was delicious! 

Xoxo,

Brittany Marie Powell

Protein Cheesecake Recipe

   I've wanted to try this recipe for months! But my husband isn't such a fan of "healthy" desserts, since it's my birthday week I went ahead and made it. It was sooo good you guys! Here is the recipe:

1 pckg fat free cream cheese. 

Yoplait Greek 100 calorie vanilla yogurt.

1 Egg.

3 Eggwhites.

Some sugar free cheesecake pudding mix, like 2 tbsp.

Sugar free graham cracker crust.

1 cup artificial sweetner of choice.

1 scoop vanilla whey.

   I blended all of the ingredients, poured the filling in the crust and baked for 40 mins at 300 degrees. It's about 185 calories and 18g of protein per slice! Enjoy! 

Xoxo,

   Brittany Marie Powell

I'm SO excited, and I just can't hide it....

B r i g h t  N i g h t  E v e n t TOMORROW !!!! Yippee! I've been so busy today. I had to get my little business cards ready so people will remember me. Haha. I made sure all of my sites were perfect, I did a lot of work on here, although it still has more to be done. I am a little nervous, I hope to make friends at this shin dig and not be a loner. And I still don't know what I'm gonna wear. A fashion blogger I am NOT! Hah. Anyways, I'm going to try and sleep, I can't wait to have a Me Party Day, with no mommy duties to tend to. :)

Xoxo,

Brittany 

Happy 4th of July!!! :)

Happy 4th y'all! 

  We had a lazy morning together as a family. I made a chocolate shakeology with frozen berries and it was really good!

  Grant and I then proceeded to do our workout. Today was Body Beast Build Shoulders. It was hard, but I am really like the style of these workouts. I love doing the super sets and some of the moves Sagi has us do. We worked out with Nani there and that was a challenge, a lot of pausing happened to help him with a toy or kiss his hand cuz he pinched it, but we got it done. "WHATEVER IT TAKES!" I've been SO sore. It is different than running sore. In fact I really have only ran a few times since my race because I've been putting my all into these Body Beast workouts. I want to get back into my running tho. For a while my knee was hurting but it's been feeling better now. It was especially sore after leg day! I like the structure that comes with this workout. And how each day we are focusing on diff body parts. I also like watching Grant lift ;-) haha.

   Tonight we have a little family get together we are going to. I wonder if Grayson will like fireworks this year, last year he was a little bit chicken, and cried. Well that's all for now you guys! Enjoy your days :-) I know we will. 

Xoxo,

   Brittany Marie Powell.

   

#MIMM

   Today was a typical Monday around here. I went and got some groceries for our week, and Grayson an adorable "How To Train Your Dragon" shirt. And toy. Because he had a canniption over it lol. He's sucha cutie and has been relatively good lately. *Knock On Wood*

   I came up with a pretty good little lunch today. Instead of having my shakeology in shake form. I simply mixed my chocolate shakeology with water to make a 'pudding' like consistency, I also added 1 tbsp. of Hershey's sugar free chocolate syrup. I then topped my Carmel flavored rice cakes with the mixture. It was so good, and fudgey, and decadent. It felt like I was eating a dessert :-P I also ate some cherries with them. #cherryaddict #ilovefruit

   For dinner we went out to eat, as we do most Mondays. I chose a healthy option of salmon and steamed veggies cooked in olive oil. It was really good! I love salmon, it's my favorite fish. I've been really making an effort to focus on my nutrition, and making sure I'm making good choices. It's not always easy, but it does get easier. When I am tempted food wise, I like to think of the quote "don't give into what you want now, for what you want most." I also try and wait it out usually, if I have unhealthy craving, I'll chug some water. Like I said, it's not always easy, but it gets easier. And the results are so worth it :)

     I CANT WAIT TILL BRIGHT NIGHT EVENT!!!! You have no idea how much excitement I have for this event. I love all of the bloggers blogs who are hosting. Especially, LivyLovesToRun. She's such am inspiration to me. :) I feel like this event is going to be so much fun and I can't wait to listen in on the seminars, and learn new things, and hopefully my awkward self can make some new friends. Haha. And I'm excited for the food and diet coke of course ;-) 

   I'm  really liking body beast so far, my husband and I are doing the Lean version. I hope to gain some muscles from this program. I'm determinded to give it all I've got this time. I want to prove to myself that I can be the best version of me. I also did the cybex machine at the gym for an hour. 

Happy #MIMM everyone, 

Xoxo, 

   Brittany Marie Powell.

   

   

Funnnay

   Just wanted to take a break a post some "funnay" pictures, because that's how Grayson says funny. Today was a crazy #mommyproblems day. So I'm tired. And tomorrow is leg day for body beast.

                      

     

    He's learned how to take selfies with his ninja turtle camera. Haha!

Xoxo,
   Brittany Marie Powell.

Is Shakeology worth it?

   So as some of you may or may not know, I am now indeed a BEACHBODY COACH. Yes, I've joined the masses. Never in a million years did I think that I would be doing something like this. Some of the "coaches" I have come across have been so pushy that I think it turned me off to the idea of it. Also, my lack of ever completing P90x :-P But a close family member of mine convinced me to do it, so here I am. 
   I have chosen to do the program Body Beast. What I like about this is it's mostly lifting and that's what I aim to do/learn is how to lift weights. I am extremely uncoordinated so sometimes something like plyo can really challenge me and not end up being much of a 'workout' because I spend half my time trying to do what they're doing. haha! SO I think being a coach is going to push me to DO THIS. To see what i've made of so to speak. I also would love to get Grant on board, for him to get healthy and maybe gain some bigger biceps in the process ;-)
   I've wanted to try Shakeology for a while. It has loads of stuff in it. And I like feeling confident that I'm getting an adequate serving of veggies via a chocolate shake. I was SO skeptical that it would taste good. I thought for sure since it was "healthy" and had so many good things for you in it, that it wasn't going to be some delicious treat. BUT it actuallly is. Oddly, I get happy in the mornings when I get my shake ready, cuz its that good you guys. It's become something I CRAVE now. I'd have to say that Shakeology in and of itself is worth the investment. Even if you never plan on doing any of the Beachbody workouts I think Shakeology is something everyone should look into, young and old! haha I know that I'm not making this up in my head or trying to get myself to like it (which trust me I have done with certain foods throughout my weightloss journey) it simply isn't something that takes an acquired taste. I knew I wasn't fooling myself when my husband had his first shake and said "its pretty good, for a health shake."In fact, he even just the other day said "yeah, the shakes aren't bad." You guys, this is monumental for my red meat loving husband to like it.  And Grayson likes it. So yeah overall Shakeology is a win-win at our house. 
   To me it is worth it. I wasn't sure if I wanted to shell out the cash for it, but I'm honestly happy I did because of the energy and impact it's had on me, I plan to do a follow up post talking about body beast too. Don't worry just because I'm a Coach now I won't bombard you with Beachbody things. When it comes down to it you have to decide what you want. Not to toot my own horn, but here's my beachbody coach link, just incase you do decide to become a coach, buy a challenge pack or shakeology. Just so you know the challenge pack is the best deal, which is something I wish I would have known at the start! 

beachbodycoach.com/GBPOWELL
beachbodycoach.com/GBPOWELL
shakeology.com/GBPOWELL

my coach ID # is: 422548


P.S.- I've already lost 5 lbs since starting Shakeology!!!
Xoxo,
   Brittany Marie Powell.

Utah Valley Half Marathon

   Woo Hoo! I did it guys, completed my second half marathon. The morning of the race was kind of crazy for me, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and drove to where I thought the buses were. But it turned out it was the buses for the FULL marathon and not the half. So I ran back to my car and had less than 10 mins to make it to the half marathon bus location. I honestly barely made it. But the fact that I did reassured me in some small way that I was meant to do the race.

  I always feel somewhat inadequate at these events. Especially when the woman I sat next to on the bus was on her 35th half marathon! Crazy. My time was not as good as my first half. I think waking up as early as I did had a lot to do with it. I also had to use the port a potties quite a few times during the race tmi I know haha. It was all worth it when I crossed the finish line tho. There really are no words when you finish. I think for me a lot of emotions hit me during this race. It's funny how that happens. It also has offered me a lot of clarity and insight for what I want to do next. I'd definitely want to get my body ready for a full marathon in a full and calculated way. And I really feel like strength training needs to be a bigger part of my goals now. I know I say it often on here, but I really do feel that way. I also have something else I'm working on but I am waiting to unveil. ;-) 

  Some things I took away from this race:

  1) practice waking up and running at the time your race is scheduled for so it's not sucha shock.

   2) fuel better pre run.

   3) set up a race playlist. I kept hitting next song a lot this race because too many slow songs came on shuffle.

    4) hydrate better! 

    5) RELAX I think I stressed about this race way too much, and at the end of the day I am proud at listening to my body and pushing myself the right amount. I now feel like I could do another half this summer or maybe even a full. 

   Anyways that's all for now, Happy Father's Day everyone!!! I'm so thankful I have my husband and for what a good father he is to our son.

Xoxo,

   Brittany Marie Powell. 

What I Ate Wednesday

   Hey guys,
   I decided to do another #WIAW with y'all! :)
   Breakfast was a rushed meal, since I had to drive my husband to work and go to the gym. So I decided to just have a premier nutrition protein shake from Costco, chocolate flavor of course ;-)

   Lunch was leftovers. Last night I made a spinach plantain pizza for myself, and regular pizza for the boys. So I had the other half of my pizza and cauliflower for lunch. I realize how unappetizing this looks, but I promise it was tasty! Haha

   Today was Nana's last swim lesson. I don't know that he really learned that much but he loved them and if anything else it has made him less fearful of the water. He still won't blow bubbles or lay on his back though. I want to do a different class with him because he loved the social aspect of these lessons.
   We also went and ordered his Birthday Cake today. I chose an 'Avengers' cake because he loves them and lovingly calls them "guys". He loves action figures and fighting, he's sucha boy!
   For my workout today I ran 3 miles and did some arm exercises for an upcoming YouTube video I'm doing. Even though my form isn't the best I still wanted to do it. #brave #sobig
   Dinner was Chili's Tilapia without the sauce. And then it all went downhill because my MIL ordered dessert and i obliged haha. I ate some bites of a cookie-zilla and their molten lava chocolate cake. Sometimes ya gotta live a little. Xoxo, Brittany.