Quick Update!

Well Trevor and I were able to take 2 weeks off and head up to Idaho for Christmas and New Years. During this time we had the WHOLE family up. (Including the Hunsaker's from Kentucky!). The stomach flu got passed around. (I had it on our first day up there.) Christmas came and went, as did New Years. Trevor and I had to move apartments (with the help of family). The we had Aidann's baptism to end the trip! It was awesome and fun. It was nice to see my family after 3 months of not seeing them. We took a ton of pictures and many posts will be coming!

Now we are back in school. Trevor just had his second day of classes (and feeling even more like an engineer). I'm blasting through my very first accounting class! (which I'm LOVING!) And, I'm back to work at SexyModest. We are all settled into our new apartment, which is on the third story.

We love our new apartment, the third story was the best decision. We get exercise going up and down the stairs. We lift weights as we carry our groceries in the house. But the best part is, no streetlight shining in our eyes at night! Hahaha. There is also more privacy. On the main floor, it was weird to be eating breakfast at our table and have another person walk by our window and wave to us as we eat our cheerios. Also, on the third story, the sun hits our balcony so I can have a container garden this summer! YAY!

We attended our new ward on Sunday. It's AWESOME! We really think this will be good for us, and have already met quite a few members of the ward who are super cool! We meet in the multipurpose building which feels a lot like the institute building our old singles ward meets in. So, there is a bit more familiarity.

Anyway, life has returned to normal and is progressing and moving forward. We are lovin life! Hope you are too!

-SamiMae

The Hormone Diet

A few weeks ago, after a visit to my doctor, I learned I have PCOS. (Poly-cycstic ovarian syndrome). It's genetic in my family, and now I have it too. I wasn't too surprised, just disappointed. But it was nice to finally have some answers. My miscarriage through off my hormones big time. So my doctor prescribed me some birth control to take to help level things out.

It's helped a lot. But I've also realized that I have to make a lifestyle change. Because of past eating habits, and maybe some genetics, I'm tend to have higher insulin levels. Or in other words, I'm insulin resistant. My body mass produces it because I get sugar cravings, and give in, and then crash. So my body's over producing it to compensate. After doing some research of my own, I've determined that a low-glycemic diet is the best thing for me. I did it for one week (before the holidays) and boy I saw a huge change. My acne cleared up, I had higher energy levels, and lost 2 pounds without doing anything. 

Among my research, I came across the book called The Hormone Diet, by Natasha Turner, ND. I really like her book. She shows the science behind our hormones and how they effect us and what we can to to affect them! She has three steps in her Hormone Diet. I'm on the first step right now, which is to get proper sleep and to do a two week detox.

This detox is a little...intense. Basically all common allergy foods are removed. Corn, wheat, peanuts, etc. Today I went shopping for food. I've found me a few recipes that I'm excited to try. I think it'll be good. Tonight's dinner was great! I'll post that later. I've also got fruit to make smoothies in the morning and cooked chicken for salads for lunch. I'm excited to get my hormones back in balance and get healthy. I could use the energy as well!

I would recommend The Hormone Diet to anyone. This isn't a new "fad". It's backed by science and studies. It doesn't call for anything that isn't common sense or radical. Give it a try!

- Samantha 

God Wink ;)

Hey! Read my story about a God Wink ;) I had last week. God exists and knows us personally. He also loves us very much. Sometimes, when we are struggling, he'll send down a God Wink ;) to show us that he is aware of us. Read about my God Wink HERE!

(It's on my I'm A Mormon page)

Winter is here!

So, today I went to get in my car to go to work...and found I couldn't. My car was stuck. Winter is here. I spent the next 50 minutes getting my car unstuck. Poor Honda wasn't too happy.

Thanksgiving!

Hi everybody! I know I'm a little late in getting my Thanksgiving posted. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I learned so much and it was truly one of gratitude

Click here to read my post of it! (It's kind of long, but I hope you enjoy!)

Happy Holidays!

-SamiMae

Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes!

For Thanksgiving this year, we weren't able to travel to Idaho. Instead, we had the opportunity to have Thanksgiving with Trevor's mother, aunt, and her children. They asked me to make homemade mashed potatoes.

Trevor and I enjoy spending time together in the kitchen. He is always a super great help! :) We chopped up some golden potatoes, boiled them, and then drained them. Afterwards, I had Trevor mash them. We added buttermilk, cream cheese, chives, garlic and fresh rosemary. YUM! I love to cook. I enjoy improvising and never measuring. :) I must say, we made some pretty spectacular mashed potatoes.

We took selfies. Hahaha. Enjoy the Pics!

Be Spontaneous!

Trevor and I are what our parents call "Old Farts". We are usually in bed by 10:30 every night. This early bed time has carried over into out weekends. We often talk about going out and doing things, yet still just chill in our apartment.

So last night, we again said "We're old farts, it's 8 pm and I'm ready for bed. I almost feel guilty. It's Saturday night. We should go do something" I said.

Trevor drops the sponge, (we were working on dishes, that are still not done. :) "Let's go!" He grabbed the car keys.

"What?" I said.

"Ya! Why not! Let's go be spontaneous!" He had a big grin on his face. "Where do you want to go?"

I thought for half a second. "Is Temple Square too far?"

"Let's go!" I changed out of my pjs and we both put shoes on and were out the door. It was 8 pm and we were on our way to Temple Square. As we were driving I realized that it had been quite a few weeks since I had gotten out of Utah Valley. It was an awesome night to go and spend a few hours on Temple Square. The lights are up and it's so pretty this time of year.

I also realized, that I hadn't been back to Temple Square since we got married in August. It was awesome to visit again and admire the Temple and all the history that is there. We enjoyed walking through the visitors centers and seeing all the nativities and lights every where. Such a good feeling on Temple Square. Super fun!

We are young, in love, and have no kids. We realized that we needed to take these weekend opportunities to be SPONTANEOUS! For one night, we didn't care about the money, or were we were going, we just enjoyed the journey. :)

Here are some pictures! Enjoy!