Wednesday's Fitness and Food Post

I moved to an area of Texas which is not very diverse as far as grocery stores go. There are a few Walmarts and a couple H.E.B.'s. Then of course if you want to drive farther down the road, Fort Hood has two very small Commisaries. Now, everyone knows I could go food shopping for days, browsing the aisles reading every label as I go. I was absolutely devastated when I learned my food shopping experience was limited, especially when I learned Walmart is simply my best option. In Tennessee I NEVER ever set food in a Walmart. It was never necessary to step that close to evil when I had my Kroger and Publix so nearby. 

I have always wanted to do a fitness/ food blog revolving around food labels. I know it sounds crazy. I am obsessed with label reading. So here goes my first product review based off the label. 

• Stonyfield Organic Creek Yogurt-plain-individual cups. http://www.stonyfield.com/products/yogurt/greek/nonfat/plain (comes in 4 pack). 
• Price: 2.99 at Walmart in Harker Heights, TX
• Taste: light, fluffy and no bitter or sour taste
• Calories: 70

Ingredients: cultured pasteurized organic nonfat milk with active cultures

Only one ingredient!

No carregeenan, aspartame or artificial flavors or colors.

Carbs are only 5 grams per cup and protein 12 grams

Each cup boasts 15% of the daily allowance for calcium

And I mention each 4 ounce cup only has 70 calories?

Guilt rating: 0

The Royal Baby and who I celebrated

This cake is for a guy I entirely adore, my hubby!

He's not the Royal Baby, but he's sure a cutie in his own right.

I just wanted to let him know he is special even though his big day was overshadowed by the birth of the Royal Prince of Cambridge. My husband will always be royalty in my eyes!

Of Sand and Sun

Rocks!

Stillhouse Hollow Lake

Seashell searching

The waves

Texas boys and barbies

 I already figured out that Texas men have a certain pride in their manhood. They carry guns, they are cowboys, they hunt and fish and they teach their sons how to carry a football across the 50 yard line. I know this because my husband was born and raised in Texas. You can imagine his face when our 4 year old son took a break from watching Power Ranger mega force and put on a Barbie movie on Netflix. My son is watching a Barbie movie! Bring in the psychiatrists and figure out what we have done wrong as parents. That is real sarcasm, though. It certainly isn't helping my husband to tell him about multiple studies down that have shown that boys who play with dolls are better dads. If he doesn't believe that, I can always convince him that my son thinks the Barbie dolls are hot. He is just getting into the love and dating game a little early. 

My Texas cup of coffee

There is no real point of making a blog post about coffee. Most people drink coffee to stay alive. Just kidding!  But really, coffee is an important part of everyday life, especially Texas life. Starbucks is bigger and better in Texas. 

The flavors just taste a bit more bold down here in the lone-star state. Posting a picture of a coffee cup is just a bit cliche. But, I can't do Texas without my cup of coffee. So, like it or not, I'm posting another picture of a cup of coffee to blend right in with the coffee obsessed 

Society of the USA. A blog post about coffee is boring, cliche and so don't read it as it will kill a few more brain cells even before your next cup of coffee.

A Texas Rainy Sunday

When my husband goes fishing, he usually is gone past mid-night and sleeps until noon the next day. So when our four year old woke up at 8 am and wanted to go to the park, I jumped on it right away. I grabbed my toothbrush, poured myself a cup of Starbucks Veranda blonde roast and threw on some typical mom wear.

Let's face it, I don't exactly look great in skin tight yoga pants so I settled for my favorite Under Armor shorts and big Tee. I can't say putting on 50 pounds in a year has exactly improved my image, but my mom duties continue on regardless of the extra poundage. Of course, I am thinking of buying a gym bag, some yoga pants and joining the gym 1.5 miles down the road. Being in Texas means competing to be the best mom, most fit, most rich and driving the biggest SUV. I mean, I didn't watch "Big Rich Texas" while I lived in Tennessee for nothing, right? Oh yes, and good hair and make-up.  I am a blonde--not exactly natural- (except for a few months last year when I had my mid-thirties crisis and went to Walgreens to buy a box of red dye and emerged 2 hours later bright red headed). I suppose having a son who plays football may win me some cool points but other than that, nope, I don't fit in even with the blonde, especially with my Giants T-shirt and my weird dry voice that came from years of anti-socialization in the woods of upstate NY. I attempted to be peppy and bouncy and all excited once but it didn't stick...My sarcastic, slow tone came out sooner than later and people just looked at me---or rather, stared.

But enough about that, I was out the door in 15 minutes to take my 4 year old to the park. The small Texas town of Harker Heights has a community park about 2 miles down the road, past two gyms and two tanning salons (ok, I took the hint). Little man took off running and happily played on the monkey bars and slides. He collected a few stones for his pockets, and threw some at the big tree as well. After a few minutes he announced he was hungry so we took off to Shipley's Donuts to get him "one with the sprinkles". It's amazing how quaint and cute the Texas shoppes are.

With my sweet boy munching on his donut, we arrived at this small Texas Garden Center. And soon I was browsing through rows of Texas hardy
plants, palm trees and Pecan trees and cactuses. My 4 year old did less browsing and more touching everything and running.

Guess what, the girl who worked there was blonde with a nice little tan and a cute Texas drawl. I thought to myself, this can't be happening! She was pretty though. I mean, if I were a guy, any guy, I would totally date her or at least ask her out for brunch or whatever meal they are doing these days.

At the playground

Avoiding eye contact, I hid among the hanging plants and noticed in a remote corner some aromatic herb plants perfect for my little Texas herb garden. $8 later, I hauled the small box of herb plants back to our house.

And then it rained. I guess it was a good thing that it rained. I planted my herbs and pulled weeds and the rain just started to pour down while my 4 year old danced in it. Then suddenly it was 72 degrees and we were all shivering. The Texas heat had stormed off and left us in a chilly cold rain.

My first Texas peppermint plant

My first Texas lemon balm plant

Arrived at Destination Fort Hood Texas

One of the perks of having OnStar in our family sized SUV (which my fifteen year old daughter looks at in disgust calling it a "mom car") is that I can call up anytime I am lost and get re-rerouted back to my destination. By now, after a three day drive from Tennessee, and 8 day vacation to San Antonio and El Paso, I am sure OnStar is secretly wishing I would find my way already. I have gotten lost a total of three times a day since moving to Texas. Everything is crazy, new and roads are so opposite. And why does every road begin with "FM" and end with a string of numbers?

I cried the first day I arrived in Texas from sheer terror of being lost in this huge State. The desert, the cactus, the rattlesnakes and strange dust devils were intimidating. But, slowly, I found a foothold in my Texas backyard. This 1800 square foot house, with browning grass and spikey weeds. A pretty outdoor kitchen and a place to start a rock garden and small herb garden. The sun set brought temperatures to a low of 102 degrees and as I watched my 4 year old run through the sprinklers followed by the family dogs, Lola and Cujo, I smiled and felt I was home at last.

I am looking forward to sharing my journey of building my rock garden, fun in the sun and my new Texas adventures with you all.