31 and blessed.

Yesterday, I hit the big 3-1.
(how did this happen?!) :)
Thanks for all the sweet birthday wishes yall...you bless my heart!

As y'all all know, this last year (my 30th year) has been by far the hardest of my life.
Losing my dad, losing two babies, a major health scare, learning how to support my mom through her grief, learning to grieve myself, all while raising two busy little girls...
it has had some pretty rough moments.

but.

As I looked through the pictures from this last weekend, from Thanksgiving and my birthday,
the tears started flowing.
The Lord needed to remind me
 that while the enemy wants me to hear
"Sarah, look how much you have LOST"
HE is telling me
"Yes, Sarah, you HAVE lost, but I have been here.
And I HAVE given you so much life, so much blessing."

I mean, look at these precious babies in my lap.
I am beyond thankful.



Abigail and Bethany are the lights of my life.
Bethany's face (above) pretty much describes how I feel about these two.
Such joy!

And for a special birthday treat, we got to go with our sweet friends next door
to see the Nutcracker yesterday...Abigail's first time.
If you know me, and that I danced my whole life, you know this was a BIG deal and dream come true to take my little girl to this ballet!


(that might be one of my favorite all time pics of me and my big girl!)



Thanks for blessing me y'all.
Your encouragement here is part of the reason I can remember that through hard times, there is even more good for me, more blessing to embrace!

Here's to 31...

Give thanks to Him!

So, so much to be thankful for,
it makes me teary to think of all the blessings around me.

Here's to a day of remembering, recognizing, and giving thanks for all those blessings...
Cheers!!

Cranberry Apple Brandy Salad

I tried out something new today, for a dinner we are hosting tonight, and it is DELISH!
Would be a perfect Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish!
It's super easy...and pretty too! :)

ice pretties

We are getting some ice (and hopefully snow later tonight!) here in Oklahoma...
so while we are staying close to home, we obviously had to bundle up and go inspect it all!

I absolutely love watching these two beauties explore the creative designs God made in nature.
And one of may favorite sounds is hearing icy leaves crunch under our boots.
Though its cold outside, my heart is warm!

Hope y'all have a good and warm and snuggly weekend!

Paleo. Whole30. Clean Eating...a little food update!

ok I feel like i need to do a quick eating update here...
I had mentioned recently, here and on Instagram, that the hubbs and I were starting to eat Paleo/Whole30 again.
A few weeks ago, we started the Whole30 challenge which cuts out all carbs and processed sugar.
I went through the awful sugar withdrawals for a few days and already felt better.
I'm a big believer in cutting sugar to lose weight and add health!
(read about my big post-baby weight loss and how I broke my addiction to sugar here)

After about a week, we decided that doing the super-strict Whole30 was not gonna be best for us this time.
That said, we have still been eating Paleo most of the time.
Parker has been doing it about 90 % of the time, and me about 75%,
as I am not trying to lose weight myself, just trying to feel better and have better energy!
And that I do.

It feels good to eat cleaner, even if it's not 100% of the time!



I will be sharing some food ideas, including Paleo and Whole30 stuff, because I know so many of y'all are interested in that! And like I said, even though we aren't doing it as strictly as we had planned, we are trying to eat a lot healthier.

In addition to sharing new recipes and ideas, be sure to check out the Paleo recipes I have posted in the past...
Check out the "Yummy" tab over there ------>
and then look in the Paleo section!

so here are a few of the things we've been eating, just in case you need a few new simple ideas!

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Zucchini Bacon side-dish:
Cooked sliced Zucchini in a little bit of Olive Oil on the skillet,
added some crumbled bacon, pepper, and seasoned salt.
Is a really good, easy side dish to compliment any meat, or just a quick yummy way to get a portion of veggies!



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Sweet Potato Chili Fries
This is hands down one of my favorite Whole30 meals, I make it a lot!
I'll share the recipe here soon.



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Turkey Roll-Ups with homemade mayo, avocado slices, tomato slices, and crumbled bacon
Eat with plantain chips and strawberries,
A good lunch idea, my hubby loved this!



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Egg Scramble with turkey sausage, Bacon and fruit
a yummy, paleo, filling breakfast!



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Whole30 Sausage Apple Hash
a YUMMY dinner, or
a good side dish with a main portion of meat, if you need a little extra protein.
*this is a great dish for you Crossfitters out there!
also, my littles love this meal!!
(recipe posted here)



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Spicy Honey Chicken
Another fav around here, especially for Parker bc he loves spicy food!
be warned, this def has a kick!
*this is not Whole30, bc it uses honey, but it IS Paleo!
(recipe posted here)
I posted this forever ago before i changed up my blog, so the post may look a little funny!



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Whole30 Tuna Salad
another great lunch idea!
(tuna, chopped celery, chopped apple, chopped walnuts, a little mayo, a little mustard, salt and pepper)



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Hope those helped give you some new ideas if you attempting to eat a little cleaner like we are!
If you want some more Paleo or Whole30 ideas that I posted in the past, check that out here.

Hope y'all have a good Wednesday!
Be blessed today.