My Dad's Retirement

I drove to St. Augustine during our Spring Break to have a short getaway and help celebrate my dad's retirement. My dad interviewed for his job with Arnett Heating and Air when my mom was pregnant with me! He has been there since that time (with a short break to run a restaurant with my uncles and with a job in Palm Bay, FL). Needless to say, he has been there for 30 plus years and is loved by all he has worked with. Many people stopped by to wish my dad well in his retirement, including neighbors to the shop, former employees, and other local businessmen and women. 

One of Dad's former employees is one of my childhood friends, Freddy. Freddy lived in our neighborhood; we rode the bus together, played together, went to Homecoming one year together. He worked for my dad before moving on to his family's business. He told a story of learning from my dad. And how my dad never made him feel stupid when he didn't know something. Instead, my dad was patient and kind and allowed him to work the problem out for himself. There were many other stories similar in nature to this one from others that gathered that day.

I love both my parents tremendously. They are terrific individually and as a team. 

Congrats on retirement, Dad! You deserve a break. When you get tired of relaxing, I have a long list at my house. 

Beachbody

After Weston was born, I was feeling a lot of different emotions. We had just moved and I felt so isolated. I'd been having babies for 7 years straight. 5 children in 7 years can wreak havoc on your body and your emotional health. I found that I was not taking any time for myself. I wasn't even eating healthy meals, which is something I really want to do and intend to do, but when the day gets away from me, it doesn't always happen. I have totally eaten cookie dough for lunch!

A friend of mine from college reached out and introduced me to Beachbody. I had heard of some of the workouts and was excited to have accountability in my efforts to shed some baby weight.  What I found was so much more than a way to lose weight. While doing Beachbody, I felt inspired, I felt confident, I felt strong, I felt like ME! It was wonderful. I loved reconnecting with my friend and meeting others who were all on their own individual journey to live their best life.  

Then, the holidays came. I got busy. I hurt my leg. I got sick. My kids got sick. I stopped sticking with my goals to be active, eat clean, and enlighten my mind. I became lethargic, cranky, and stressed out. My friend, Emily, posted her motto, "Mom is always one workout away from a good mood!" What an example Emily is to me in so many ways. She is like my "mom template" and she was right once again! I needed to take time out of every day to do something for me. 

I don't love to shop. I don't love to get my nails done. I don't have one ounce of crafting talent in me.  I have only had two haircuts in the last year. Fitness, reading, and being outside are the things that rejuvenate and inspire me. Oh, and raising chickens! We recently acquired five chicks and I am so in love with my new status as a backyard chicken farmer.

I think I've found a way to really make time every day to feel like ME. I am becoming a Beachbody Coach. I want to have more accountability and really stick to my own personal goals. I am also hopeful that I will be able to help others to create and accomplish their own fitness and healthy lifestyle goals. 

It cracks me up that I'm once again doing something that I never thought I'd do.  I have not worked outside of the home at all since Miriam was born. I have had a job since I was 15, so to not work the last three years has been kind of weird. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT want a day job. My job as a mom is my dream and it's fulfilling and wonderful and so hard! I love the idea of being a Beachbody coach. I get to help people, which I LOVE and use a product regularly that makes me FEEL like Andrea and not just Mom. If you want to learn more or join me, please email me at fitkrausehaus@gmail.com

See my progress pics below!

I put on about 40 pounds with each of my five pregnancies. I loved watching my body grow with life, but each time I got so depressed afterwards when I just wasn't bouncing back. I should have relished those post-pregnancy moments in my 20's, because in my 30's the pounds have been even more difficult to shed.  I am happy to be fitting into pre-pregnancy clothing, but the biggest thing I lost was self-doubt and self-criticism! That, my friends, is some empowering stuff to let go of. 

My BEFORE photos taken in August 2015 (four months post-partum with baby #5)

My MIDWAY photos taken in September 2015 (CIZE 6 times a week and Shakeology every day)

My AFTER photos taken in December 2015 (PIYO 6 times a week and Shakeology every day)

11 MONTHS

All I did was blink! Weston is 11 months old and loving life (as long as mom is within two feet)! Our big boy continues to get even bigger. He has five teeth and loves to eat yogurt, oatmeal, and most fruits. His siblings can really get him laughing. He loves to see and talk to and try to grab all of our pets, especially the bearded dragon, Alexandra. Still nowhere near needing a haircut. Which is so unlike all our others, that it is a little weird he still has so little hair. Mom is still his favorite person. He loves to be held, but has also discovered the joy that comes from crawling and cruising around the house on his own. He has let go while in the standing position and has stood on his own for a few seconds at a time. It's so cute and exciting. Weston loves music and is developing his own set of dance moves.  We love our Westi-woo, our little koala baby!

St. Patrick's Day

I associate my favorite holidays with the food eaten on those days. I love having traditions associated with yummy food and my favorite people. Believe it or not, I have Irish heritage on my dad's side. His mother's (my grandmother's) maiden name was McCormick! I thought I'd share our signature St. Patrick's Day dishes with the recipes I use. Enjoy!

Note: I always add extra milk!

In a crockpot, pour 12 oz apple juice add sliced (lengthwise) carrots, and 3-5 pounds corned beef with spice packet. I like to brown it on the stove in a little oil first. Cook on low for 7-8 hours Remove beef and let rest. Add sliced brussel sprouts and turn crockpot up to high and cook additional 20 minutes. Slice beef and serve.

Note: I know corned beef isn't really a traditional Irish dish. Shepherd's Pie would be more accurate, but we really like this recipe so this is the one we pull out for this day. We also love Shepherd's Pie and eat it throughout the year. :)

Note: I do not add caraway seeds or raisins because I do not like them. I slice it, butter it and spread on some strawberry jam. It is so good!

Down on the Homestead

Jared is feeling so country out here! It's really not that country because we live in a neighborhood on a golf course. However, compared to Orlando, it is definitely country. We have a bigger yard than most, but it is definitely not a farm. I'm doing my best to be a homesteader out here because I've been in love with that type of lifestyle since my girlhood when my favorite books were the Little House on the Prairie series. We've put in a garden. It is a first attempt at growing anything and I'll be happy if we eat one thing from the garden. 

We also inherited this chicken coop from our neighbor. 

He built his chickens a shed and gave us the old coop. It was only a year old. I decided to give it a facelift. I painted it as close as I could to the color of Nana and Granddaddy's house in downtown St. Augustine. It turned out great. Jared is also going to build an extended run, so they have more room to roam until we can get a fence. I also felt like I was super frugal about it. In all, the coop cost me $2 thanks to our generous neighbor and Lowe's having paint samples on sale. The extended coop should be free as well. I picked up a pallet board from someone throwing it out down the street and another neighbor gifted me a huge roll of chicken wire. I love our neighbors. They are so giving!

After

We bought five hens. *Hopefully, hens. There was a disclaimer.

Ethan named his chick Zoe.

Grayson named his Bella, but has changed it every day since. He polished her nails pink so he could tell her apart from the other chicks.

Landon named his Loveheart and after a week is finally not afraid to hold her.

Miriam named hers Emma.

Mine is named Grace.

Right now they live in a storage bin in our garage and they are stinking up the place. Thankfully we live in Florida and they'll be able to move outside in a few weeks.

 We take them out every day to get fresh air, roam the yard, eat the bugs, etc. They stick together and are hilarious. Yesterday one found a huge berry that actually fell off our Christmas wreath. Before they discovered it wasn't edible, all the other chickens were chasing the one who'd found it. It went on for a while and we were laughing so hard.