Back to Life..back to reality!

How many of you are now singing that song?  Sorry, I am too!

Getting back into the swing of things after being gone on the most awesome family vacation in the world is SOOOOOO hard!  My laundry pile will take me about 15 days to get through and trying to get back to cooking healthy meals and not eating ice cream every single day will take my family like 15 days to get used to (I'm ready for some good healthy homecooked food again!) and getting back into the everyday routine of waking up early and having to go to school instead of a theme park and then come home and do homework instead of going out to eat and play or back to a theme park will be a challenge but in the end it was 100% worth it!  It took us a long time to save for this vacation and pick the perfect time to go but we finally did and all 4 of us had 6 full days of magic and fun! 


Everytime I see these guys (and many many others) I will smile bigger and shed a tear of happiness because of all the new memories I now have of the totally awesome Walt Disney World!  There is nothing like taking your 8 year old son, 6 year old daughter and 42 year old husband to the happiest place on earth for the first time and experiencing it all over again!  I was fortunate to go once as a kid and once as an adult (when hubby and I were dating) and have awesome memories of those vacations as well but as a parent, its a whole new world (no pun intended :)  Thanks Walt...I know you didn't live long enough to know how happy you were going to make people but you sure came up with a fabulous idea for families for MANY years to come!

And to all you Disney characters....thanks for making my little girl smile OVER and OVER and OVER again!  your hugs, your signatures and your demeanor were a big part of her happiness! 

And to your roller coaster designers... my boy thanks you :)  Space mountain is SO awesome!  yes, that was his favorite part but he enjoyed all the little things as well.

And to every single person that works in and around Disneyworld...you are amazing!  You know how to treat each and every guest like they are special.  Never once did we feel rushed, never once did we feel silly for asking how to get somewhere (even if it was 10 feet from where we were standing) and never once did we ever feel like we weren't supposed to enjoy every freaking second that we were there, no matter if we were walking, standing, talking, waiting, singing, dancing, or eating.  Disneyworld has the best customer service in the world...something I never noticed before but have definitely learned from.  I think everyone could learn a thing or 2 from them, no joke!  And finally, to all those people who sweep up the popcorn and clean the bathrooms.  I have never seen such a crowded place that was sparkling clean ALL THE TIME!  In the rain or the sun, it didn't matter, the bathrooms were always clean and there was never a drop of garbage on the ground. 

Yes, I took it in from all aspects this time around.  It was a very busy trip and I may need a week or 2 to recover from the long days we kept, but boy did we all have fun...I hope we all remember this trip for the rest of our lives.  I know I will :)

Eating carrots=getting tan?!

I needed to share this because I have been getting the comment over and over...."wow, you're tan, you must have been somewhere warm."  No, I wish!  Or...wow, you look tan!  You get my point.  NO...I WISH I was somewhere warm!  I've been stuck in the cold, dreary, snowy, rainy sunless state of WI for months (with a couple quick trips to central IL...pretty sure that didn't do it!)  After many of these comments I finally said, wow, everyone keeps saying that to me.   Some of those days I have a tiny bit of makeup on that might be a little darker than my natural skin color but its nothing new so I thought, no, can't be my makeup.  Couldn't possibly be hanging outside at 3:30 in the winter with the kids for 30 min when half those days are not sunny or the sun is going down!  How the heck do I look tan? 

Until yesterday...when finally a couple people said it to me again and I said, no haven't been on vacation but everyone keeps asking me and one lady said...have you been eating a lot of carrots?  DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YES!!  I've been eating a ridiculously large amount of carrots lately...and sweet potatoes and squash and spinach and kale and peppers and tomatoes....Carotenoids!!!  Foods rich in carotenoids help make your skin pigment darker, NATURALLY!!!  Apparently it takes a couple months before you notice a change and that is exactly what happened to me.

Now, while I should have blogged about my journey all along, I kept it to myself and just shared with a few friends.  I changed my way of eating to more of a "clean eating" philosophy.  Cut out a lot of foods and feel unbelievably great when I eat exactly what I should.  I've been following this hard core for nearly 2 months, but had increased my vegetable consumption many months before that.  Carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, kale and spinach just happen to be the ones I have in the last 2 months consumed an increasing amount of!  Basically I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and chicken...yes, there are a lot of other foods but those are the main staples of my diet!  So...not surprising, I know have glowing skin...who knew?

I'm kind of embarrased to say that I didn't even think of that with my health background and my knowledge of healthy foods, but I guess it just never dawned on me and the fact that I look at myself every day so I don't really think my skin tone has changed.  I guess its kind of cool and by no means do I have that summer tan look, but I guess my skin in a little darker and it does look pretty healthy.  Now hopefully that can help protect me against getting burned in the warm summer sun.  I am no fool though... I will continue to buy stock in sunscreen...better safe than sorry!

I highly recommend trying it!  I mean the worst that could happen is you don't quite change your skin tone...the best...you lose a few pounds (I did!!) and get healthier in the process.  Just make sure you are substituting all those veggies for some unhealthy choices!  My favorite go to snack...carrots (and whatever other chopped veggies I have) and hummus!!!!  low cal, high fiber, filling, delicious and full of carotenoids :)