Get excited!

Oh my dear friends...I feel I owe you a big apology.  I have not been the best blogger within the last month, because I've actually been working on a fun surprise. :) 

One of my favorite things about blogs are reading other blogs.  I feel like it's the best way to gain advice, insight and inspiration to make my own blog...better!  My desire is for you to feel encouraged and interested in what I have to say. :)  So, this is what I've decided...I needed a new direction.  So, that's what I did.  After a few little tweeks...I'd like to introduce you to (drumroll please)....
http://littlemissfitnessblog.wordpress.com/!!!  Yes, the name is changed, the look is changed, the material is fresh, but the blogger is still me. :) 

I've so enjoyed creating Little Miss Fitness and I hope you will enjoy it, too.  So, get excited and check it out!  :)

a griddle and an xbox

Friday was a fun night for the Peterson's.  We headed to our local Best Buy and Target and bought some late Christmas presents:  a griddle and an xbox. :)  What a combination.

When we got married, I knew one thing I needed to learn to make and make well was Bisquick pancakes.  They are JJ's favorites and though the recipe may seem easy to follow, there are a couple things that I've learned from his mom that make these pancakes extra delicious.  :)  One being using water instead of milk so the consistency of the batter is super thin.  They are a favorite breakfast meal when they're flat and perfectly golden.

A griddle has been on my wish list for awhile and I'm so glad to finally have it as a kitchen gadget.  Pancakes, bacon, sausage, grilled cheese, eggs...the options are limitless!

an easy dinner

Last night was burger night at our house, and boy was it good!  At Publix this week they have these huge boxes of Jennie-O turkey burgers on sale (buy one, get one) so you better believe it--we are stocked for the winter. :)  All I did was put them in a baking pan with a dash of garlic, onion and basil powder and broiled them for a few minutes on each side.  (**I took the pan out and flipped them  to ensure thorough cooking on each side)  With a side of steamed brocolli, it was a delightfully satisfying meal. 

On a side note, JJ and I are excited to be Aunt's and Uncle's again to our new niece Mary!  She was born this past Saturday to my brother and his wife.  We love her so much already.  She's even wearing a hat courtesy of an Orlando shop, Lulu Belle! :)  It's a beautiful baby boutique!  http://www.shoplulukids.com/home.php

I'm thankful that God's first and only choice to be this little baby's mom and dad are my brother and sister-in-law.  She's in good hands. :)

will bike for icecream :)

For Christmas, JJ received a giftcard to a local shop called, "Jeremiah's Ice."  It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to bike our way to the icecream. JJ brought his phone and we found our way as we rode.

Jeremiah's Ice was amazing!  Have you tried it?  Wow, that's all I have to say.  I tried the Strawberry/Lemon and Bahama Breeze icee with vanilla soft-serve.  JJ tried a mint chocolate chip, cookie dough with chocolate icecream.  It looks like he liked it! :)

 With full stomachs, we headed home.  It was the perfect energy boost (a.k.a. sugar boost) to get us home.

If you ever get to a Jeremiah's Ice, take the time to stop in.  I recommend the strawberry/lemon icee. 

target & mac and cheese

 What a great day off!  It started around 9:00 a.m. with a piece of peanut butter and honey toast and a 4 mile run.  The sun was shining and the air crisp and cool.  The only unfortunate part of the run was grabbing the wrong key and getting locked out!  Good thing JJ wasn't too far away and I was able to get his keys.

This afternoon, I received a surprise call from my co-worker and friend, Jessica.  She needed a friend to hang out with while her car was in the shop and I was lucky enough to be that friend.  :)  First on our agenda, a Target run.  She needed to pick up some things for work, so we headed on an adventure in search of the downtown Orlando Target.  As you can see, this Target was truly "Super."  They even have an escalator for your cart!

Four rugs, a few buckets, and one coffee and one Cinnamon Dolce latte later, we headed back to my house and made some Annie's Mac and Cheese.

Annie's produces all sorts of yummy, organic snacks and meals.  You can find this at your local Target or Whole Foods.  (At least this is where I've seen it.:)  http://www.annies.com/  One of my favorite Annie's products are the Cheddar Bunnies.  Like goldfish snacks, but better!  The only down side is... you can't just have one.  :)

good run, good friend, good salad

I love going on a run after not working out for awhile.  I have to admit I fell off my regular routine when we went home for Christmas, but being back in this 70 degree weather just makes me itch to run!

To cure this, my good friend Carrie and I went on a 4 mile run.  It was the perfect temperature, cold if you're standing, warm if you're running.  We had such a good time catching up after not seeing one another for a couple weeks over Christmas.  When I moved to Florida, I didn't think I would find someone like my friends from home.  But, lo and behold, I found Carrie.  She's the best.  Both JJ and I have so much fun with her! :)

After a good run, we had some good eats.  On sale at Publix this week is "Al Fresco Chicken Sausage."  (Buy one, get one) I have never had it before so I thought I'd try it. :)  The best thing is that it's fully cooked.  All you have to do is heat it through on the grill, in a pan, on broil or in the microwave.  It was a good buy!  I chopped up a bunch of vegetables and added some dressing I had bought a couple weeks ago that was also buy one, get one.  It was a delightful dinner.

I feel like there are so many ways to have a salad.  They never should get boring.  :)

What is your favorite salad?

photoshoot courtsey of brooke peterson photography

One of my favorite Christmas presents this year was a beautifully framed photograph that JJ's talented sister Brooke took over Thanksgiving, as well as a disk of the Thanksgiving images.  I love how they turned out, so I thought I'd share her work with you here!  :)

 Thanks, Brooker for these!  I am blessed to have you and Kaylie as sisters! :)  Check her photography out at:  http://www.brookepetersonphotography.com/index2.php#/home/

a new bike!

You are looking at the proud owner of a new bike. :)  My dear husband had this all ready for me when we came home from church on Christmas Eve.  (A red bow was even tied to the handlebars.)  I had been telling JJ I thought a bike would be a nice thing to save up for since we can use them year-around.  Apparently he thought so, too! :)

On Christmas Eve night, we went back to church at 10:30 p.m. for the Christmas Eve service and rode in style....on our bikes!  We're thinking as long as we're in Florida, we're making it a tradition.

We are now visiting family and enjoying the rest of our Christmas break!  I hope you are, too!

christmas eve!

Happy Christmas, everyone!  I hope the last couple days have been filled with lots of joy and celebrated with those you love. :)

Christmas Eve was a different than usual.  This year, JJ and I celebrated just the two of us.  After a long day at church, we came home for some evening appetizers.  The day before, I picked up some delicious salami, pepperoni, monterey jack cheese, baby swiss cheese, red, yellow and orange peppers, green onions and pineapple. We also added some spinach & artichoke dip and ranch dressing.  We sipped on some red wine bought from Whole Foods a couple days before.  Everything was Mmm...Mmm...Mmm.  A perfect light meal before going back to the 11 p.m. Christmas Eve service at our church.

My Christmas Eve "Sunny Spot" was spending it with my husband.  :)  We started a couple of traditions that we'd like to continue for years to come and celebrated the birth of Jesus at a really magical Christmas Eve service.  I'm so thankful for such a peacful silent night.  I hope your Christmas was wonderful.  :)

thank you, julia!

The other day, my friend and co-worker, Miss Julia, brought all of us a sweet treat:  (homemade) almond poppy seed bread.  There is only one word to describe what I tasted...scrumptious.  One bite was just not enough.  It was sweet, but not overbearingly sweet, moist and light.  This would be a delicious breakfast, snack, coffee desert, or full-on meal!  To find this recipe, you can visit:  http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/12/almond-poppy-seed-bread.html

Thank you so much, Julia for taking the time to make this life-changing bread! :)

On another note, I've decided I would like to do a "Sunny Spot" every so often because my blog is about health, fitness and everyday things that make life so sunny. :)

My Sunny Spot for today would be homemade gifts.  You just can't beat them!  When I received Julia's homemade bread neatly tied in a festive red ribbon, my heart just jumped.  It meant so much that Julia would take the time and energy to make us each our own loaf.  Homemade gifts don't have to be extravagant or pricey...you just have to put a little heart into it. What homemade gift can you put together to make someone's day?

inspiration

This year will be our first Christmas with just JJ and I, our second Christmas as a married pair, and our third Christmas as a couple.  I am constantly brainstorming about what should be our tradition as our own family.  Something that we can carry on throughout the years that will be special for our family. :)  Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Because we'll be quite busy on Friday with my job at church, I plan on doing some yummy appetizers for the two of us.  First up, Giada's Pea Pesto Crostini.  That's it. I'm not sure what else to do, so yesterday, JJ and I headed over to Barnes and Noble to check out some magazines and cookbooks for some inspiration. :)

I'll have to let you know the whole menu when I get it all figured out. :)  Tonight, it's off to Whole Foods to get some ingredients for a Christmas to remember!

happy birthday, megan and soo!

Tonight, our good friend Carrie made an absolutely fabulous birthday dinner for Megan and I.  It's Megan's actual birthday today and mine on the 27th, so we did a double birthday dinner. :)  Carrie used her slow cooker to make a shredded chicken tortilla soup.  It was a crowd-pleaser! If you want the recipe, let me know and I'll have Carrie guest post the deliciousness.  She also made a yummy yellow cake with chocolate frosting. The cake decorating is compliments to Dru.  Thanks, Dru and Carrie for a special night!

Although the boys joined in for the birthday fun, they're not pictured here.  However, shown here is:  Lauren, Steph, Megan, Carrie and me.

Happy birthday, dear Megan!  I am so thankful we were able to celebrate this special day with you!  24!!  What a happy day!

snickerdoodles a la "How Sweet It Is"

Last night, I went to a fabulously fun cookie exchange and secret santa party.  I actually have never been to a cookie exchange, so it was shocking to see how many cookies there were to consume. :)  There were peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip, peanut butter balls, pumpkin, peppermint, and my snickerdoodles.  I had found the recipe earlier that day from "How Sweet It Is," a fantastically well done blog I stumbled upon earlier this fall.  http://www.howsweeteats.com/2010/12/11/fat-fluffy-snickerdoodles/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+howsweeteats%2FsmSp+(How+Sweet+It+Is)

Now on to the cookies.  Here are the ingredients:

1. cream butter and sugar
2. add egg and vanila
3. stir in flour, baking powder, salt and 1.5 t. of cinnamon.
4 stick them in the fridge for 30 minutes
5. dip in cinnamon and sugar mixture
6. bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes
7. taste test!

I came home with three baggies full of cookies last night. :)  That's a lot of sugary deliciousness.  Sounds like a movie night with a side of cookies.:)

homemade chicken noodle soo-up :)

Like I said earlier, yesterday, I made some homemade chicken noodle soup.  I think it turned out quite delicious.  Onion, celery, carrot, chicken, chicken broth, vegetable broth, salt and pepper...all heated up. :)

To try the recipe for yourself, you can find it at:  http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/quick-and-easy-chicken-noodle-soup/Detail.aspx

Enjoy!

o Christmas tree

This is our first Christmas tree.  I love the red bows I tied to its branches and I love the sparkling white lights that act as our living room night light. :)  I also love that it is artificial and will be up year after year and was half off at Hobby Lobby! :)

This weekend was low key and relaxing.  We enjoyed spending time with JJ's family and enjoyed spending time together.  It seems like everything picks up around the holiday season, so any down time is much appreciated. 

Last night, I made some delicious chicken noodle soup.  JJ still isn't feeling top notch, so I thought this might help.  It was super easy!  I will post the recipe later...along with a few pics. :)

I hope you're having a wonderful day!  12 days until Christmas!

Christmas party fun

Tonight was my very first work Christmas party.  Unfortunately, JJ still wasn't feel top notch, so my co-worker and friend, Jessica, whose husband couldn't make it either, was my "date" for the evening.  :)  Before we left, we decided to do a Christmas Party photo shoot. :) 

  The meal was delicious, the company fantastic and the dessert...scrumptious.  If you haven't ever had a SWEET cupcake--they are the best.  I even brought a couple home for JJ...when he's feeling better. :)
http://www.sweetbyholly.com/

Now, it's on to some FRIENDS watching with my sweetheart.

to the mall we went...

Yesterday, JJ, Carrie, Megan and I headed to the mall to do some Christmas shopping.  It was perfect timing because JJ was able to meet up with his parents who are visiting, while the girls and I hit up stores such as:  Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie, Gap, Urban Outfitters, J.Crew, and the such.  Surprisingly, the mall closed at 9 p.m.  I literally was crawling underneath a shop's gate to get out of the store!

We even ran into this little guy...

I still have a couple people left...but slowly by slowly the presents are piling up under our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

On a side note, when we got home from the mall, JJ wasn't feeling well.  Unfortunately, as I type this the next afternoon, he is in bed--sick. :(  Now, it's up to me to get him back on his feet and to keep myself well!   :)

This morning, I helped out in Carrie's classroom for their "Christmas Around the World" project.  What a fun, sugar-filled morning!  Then, I went for a quick run and ate a delicious tuna fish sandwich, apples and cheese.

Off to work I go! Have a wonderful morning!

my day with sullie

Today was a good day.  I worked half a day and got to play with our nephew, Sullivan.  (a.k.a. Sullie)  After picking him up, we came to my house and he took a long nap.  We played with some fun toys, took a walk, had coffee with Megan and even did some grocery shopping.  Sullie was super excited when his Uncle JJ came home to play with him.  The aunt changes his diaper, gives him his dinner and cuddles him after a nap...but no matter what...he'll always want to go to his uncle.  You see, his uncle throws him in the air, chases him around the house and wrestles him on the ground. It's funny how that works out. :)

 Sullie ran around Barnie's courtyard while Megan and I sipped a vanilla latte!

Thanks, Megan for the coffee and grocery shopping! :)  We had so much fun with you!!

Now, I'm off to bed to recharge from an eventful day. :)