This weekend was a work retreat with Nate's company, for all the managers and their spouses. We drove down to the Grand America Hotel Saturday night and came home Sunday. Nate's sister Michelle is in town from Kentucky so she came over and stayed the night with the kids.

Although it was short, it was so nice to have a little "trip" with my guy. We don't get to go on fun grown-up outings very often.


We were a little bit late because Nate was stuck with customers, so we rushed right to dinner when we arrived. This was the entrance into the hotel from the parking garage. Ha, I felt like we were "walking the red carpet."

Dinner was an amazing buffet! I really wanted to get a picture but I didn't want to be that person. I managed to get an inconspicuous picture of my cupcake though :)
Dinner was: Cedar Plank Salmon with Lavendar, Prime Rib, Salad, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Red Pepper and Feta Dip, Antipasto, Baked Brie with Candied Pecans and Berry Compote.
Dessert: Red Velvet Cupcake, French Macaron, Dulce de Lech Cake

After dinner we explored the hotel on our way to check in to our room. It was huge, and gorgeous! They have a toy store inside with a giant bulk candy display.

A French Patisserie with amazing pastries. I wanted every single one!

The hotel itself was beautiful. So much marble, and tons of huge chandeliers.

The "Executive Suite" they put us in had a doorbell! I thought that was crazy.

And the whole bathroom was marble, it blew me away!

After we settled into our room, we met up with some friends at the lounge, but you have to be 21 to hang out in there and I left my wallet in our room. I ran back to get it because although I was pretty full from dinner, something on the lounge menu would not stop calling me name! I knew if I didn't try the Kimchi Pork Belly Sliders, I would regret it and be thinking about them for weeks to come haha.

 I only ate one, our friend ate the other, but man oh man were they good!

 We had an early morning the next day. Breakfast, and then the employees had meetings until 3. He was the first one that had to present in his meetings and I felt bad that we stayed out so late. Hopefully Nate did well :)

Breakfast was also yummy. But I couldn't get over all the miniature condiments.

During meetings, I walked around and explored more of the hotel.

 My father in law picked me up after he was done with Music and The Spoken Word. That way I wasn't stuck at the hotel by myself the rest of the day, and I could get back to my babies! We had a great time and I am looking forward to these manager retreats in the future.

Ps- I am normally against so many "selfies" but for one, I was sending them to a friend who I had just had a "selfie" conversation with and two, I actually felt cute during this trip which is rare. I was feeling good with my weightloss. So, sorry if you find them annoying like me :) Ha.

This boy amazes us.

Shortly after his 2nd birthday, he became fascinated with the alphabet. He learned all the letters very quickly, and with little help from anyone. Ever since, he has been reading off letters anywhere he sees them. He's got them down (except for the occasional weird fonts that throw him off.)  I am so proud of this smart little boy. He sure knows how to make mommy and daddy happy!

Oh, and he counts also. To about 12 right now. I love watching him at this age, learn so much.

It has been 1 month since I started my healthier journey. This past month I have lost 10 pounds just by making healthier food choices and staying within my daily caloric budget. It also helps that I have an amazing friend who agreed with me to text each other each time we eat something during the day. I am now at 174.

Crazy.

I have never been more aware of what I am putting into my body. I have slowly changed my view of food from stuff I eat because it tastes good, to body fuel. I'm no longer living to eat, rather eating to live. I never thought I would view it that way because my life revolves around food. I graduated from culinary school for goodness sake. Food was my life. Bad food. But food is still my life, just in a different, healthier way. And I'm accepting, even enjoying it.

This month I am incorporating exercise to accompany my healthy eating.

It's 5:30am...I've never been up this early to work out. Wish me luck!

Hello 11 month old Cambria!

This month you:

-learned how to sit up from a laying position

-love to say "hi"

-blow kisses

-have hair long enough for a clip

-play peek a boo

Happy Halloween!

For lunch today we got dressed up and went to Nate's work for a Halloween lunch. It's so much fun to see all the families and employees dressed up. Cambria was dressed as WonderWoman, Landon was Jake from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" and Nate and I were Price Is Right contestants. He also had a coworker that dressed up as the host, Drew Carey.

This is Lydia, one of Nate's coworkers daughters.

After lunch, the kids and I went home for their naps so they could rest for trick or treating later. Landon didn't take a full nap but once I got him out of his bed he layed in my lap and fell back asleep. I love these rare moments!

Before we went out, we had Jack O Lantern pizza from Papa Murphys. I think the kids will enjoy that tradition when they are old enough to recognize it :) Landon was just happy to be eating pizza!

Daddy got home just in time to grab some pizza and head out. We left the rest of the candy on the doorstep and took Landon out for his first time trick or treating. Once he figured out what was happening he was loving it! Cambria and I hung out at Grandmas after taking Landon to a couple of houses. Once all the kids were done trick or treating, we went to Grandmas for some yogurt parfaits.

Tonight we celebrated Great-Grandpa Ferrel's birthday. The kids enjoyed spending time with him and helping to open his gifts :) What a special man.

I love Fall! It's always so fun to take the kids to get pumpkins. This year we kept it simple and got them at the grocery store. Thankfully the kids are still too young to care about things like this :)