High Impact Mom » Impact Living

Wordless Wednesday – Cheering for My Girl

Amanda — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:29:08 +0000

This weekend my KG competed in her very first cheerleading competition and she blew my mind!! I am so proud of the way she behaved, her performance during the competition, and the way the whole team worked together.

They even brought home the 2nd place trophy for their division!

*Congratulations girls!*

I am so thankful that the girls, my girl, have such amazingly supportive coaches who work so hard to give these girls their best!

For more inspiring photos be sure to check out: Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, The Centsible Life, Rachel Ferrucci, Lil Kid Things, Resourceful Mommy and Zensible Mama and don’t forget to link your own photo stories.

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Wordless Wednesday – Impromtu Stay At Home Day

Amanda — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:39:07 +0000

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Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Amanda — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:57:42 +0000

Pin It

Looking for a quick alternative to your pizza or spaghetti night? Look no further than our delicious variation on Better Homes & Garden’s Upside Down Pizza Casserole. Add whatever extras you like regularly on your pizza for a fast weekday dinner – this meal can be customized for any tastes.

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Upside Down Pizza Casserole

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken - browned & drained
1 pound extra lean ground beef - browned & drained
1 15-ounce can of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup of your favorite pizza extras - mushrooms, sauteed peppers and peppers, pepperoni, green and black olives, you name it
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 10-ounce package of refrigerated biscuits.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Mix meat and spaghetti sauce.
Pour mixture into a large casserole dish.
Sprinkle the top with cheese.
Top with slightly flattened biscuits.
Bake in 400 degree over for 15-18 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.

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Mamavation Monday – Feeling Better

Amanda — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:59:07 +0000

After weeks of sickness, everyone is well enough in my home to start exercising again and we have. With a vengeance. I had forgotten how my body yearns and aches for my time in yoga and how the soreness in my muscles reminds me that I am strong. I need that. Especially now.

I don’t really have a lot to say this week. I’ve been following the #2weekchallenge exercises with Mamavation. The exercises have left me feeling exhausted and spent. I haven’t really been feeling like myself; I’ve been feeling weak, drained, and emotional recently so exercise is super important right now. I know that if I can drain my body through exercise then my mind will calm and I will have some focus.

So I push on.

I push my body daily to places that in November would have been a piece of cake…now take all I have.

Why is it so hard now?

Maybe it’s the stress. We’ve got a lot going on right now and I’m not handling all of it as well as I would like to be.

Maybe it’s that I haven’t really pushed my body since then. (Yeah, it’s probably that huh?)

So here I am…working on myself again.

I’m not just working on the outside though, I’m re-reading Frances Scovell Shinn’s collection of wisdom and I’m trying to make time to meditate for at least 5 minutes a day (that hasn’t been working out so well though). I need this kind of comprehensive plan right now, because it’s not just the outside of me that is suffering at the moment. I need to be strong; mentally and physically.

That’s what is important right now.

I’m down another 2 pounds this week. (17 pounds total) SO YAY! for that. I’ll be taking part in the #2week challenge which will have me doing a ton of push ups, weight lifting, and lunges this week.

I’m also trying to be more present when I’m eating…I ate an entire bag of carrots last week sitting at the computer. An entire bag people. Yeah. While that probably wasn’t terrible for me, it could have easily been a bag of chips or something else not great for me. And it’s mindless eating. I wasn’t tasting or enjoying those carrots. I want to work on that this week. Focus on what I’m eating when I’m eating it.

Also on the agenda for this week: More Water Intake. Yeah. I fail at this for reals. So totally going to be focusing on that.

So to wrap this book…I mean post…up, this week I’m:

*participating in Mamavation’s 2 week challenge and including daily yoga afterwards
*trying to meditate daily for at least 5 minutes outside of yoga
*being present in my life and eating
*thinking positive
*taking care of myself
*drinking more water

What are you doing for yourself this week?

Image Credit: Danielle Moler

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Wordless Wednesday – Disney Dino Fun

Amanda — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:00:46 +0000

We’re missing Disney again this morning, so I thought I would share a picture from one of our favorite places we visited while at Disney last year…Can anyone guess where we were when we took this picture.

Hint: We were eating!

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Personal Focus with Three Words for 2012

Amanda — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:01:11 +0000

Yesterday I shared with you my three words for my professional life and promised you a look at what I had decided on for my personal life. The two parts of my life, professional and personal, are so very different and yet because I work from home they are also intertwined.

Three Words of 2012

1) Simplify: The state of clutter that has taken over our home until recently is a direct result of the clutter that is pervasive throughout our family life…and honestly in my own mind. I’m ashamed to admit that there are times when I “forget’ to clean my house (I mean really clean) for weeks at a time…and then suddenly I’ll look up and the toys will have take over, no one will have any clean laundry and -horror of horrors- there are no clean coffee cups!

The time has come for our family to simplify our extra-curricular activities, our work projects, and our home. We’ve already begun simplifying our home with the mass extermination of 7 30-gallon trash bags to the local Goodwill. Now is the time to focus on simplifying our lives, our thought processes, and continue with our home organization. Simplify is a huge part of 2012.

2) Together: This is a biggie for me, but it’s simple. I want nothing more than to focus on being together in 2012. Just being together. Family is everything.

3) Gratitude: Our family has been blessed beyond measure, in the past years. Who are we kidding? I’ve been blessed every one of the 29 years I’ve been on this Earth. Our blessings can become so mundane…so usual…that we forget to be grateful. We forget to show gratitude for what we have been given. This year, instead of focusing on a new house, new cars, new clothes, and more stuff, I want my family to focus on being grateful for what we’ve been given and give thanks to the One who has given.

So there you have it! My professional and personal three words for 2012.

What about you? Do you have an goals, aspirations, or resolutions you want to focus on for 2012? Share them in the comments!

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Professional Focus with Three Little Words for 2012

Wordless Wednesday – Holidaze

Amanda — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:00:50 +0000

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone! My first since the holiday break started and I wanted to share a photo I snapped on Christmas Day of KG and her cousin Baby A (not such a baby any more though). KG and Baby A have a special kind of relationship, one where A leads and KG follows. Both of my girls love Baby A as though she were their sister as well. I hope that never ends. I love these girls. All three of them.

And Baby A’s mama too, I guess.

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Baked Chicken and Quinoa Recipe

Amanda — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:09:34 +0000

If you’re in search of an easy recipe for baked chicken and quinoa, look no further. This is our go-to meal when we need to get dinner on the table without a lot of effort. Highly nutritious, quinoa cooks up fast and delicious with a slightly nutty flavor. The slightly spicy baked chicken recipe adds the perfect kick of extra flavor in this recipe.

Serve with salad or your favorite steam veggies to complete the meal.

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Baked Chicken and Quinoa

Rating: 4 1

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings

Quick, healthy, and delicious baked chicken and quinoa recipe.

Ingredients

Chicken:

4 Chicken Breasts (thawed)
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Garlic & Herb
1 1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Extra Spicy Seasoning Blend
1 1/2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 1/2 tsp McCormick Garlic Bread Sprinkle

Quinoa:

1 cup dry Quinoa
2 cups Chicken Broth
1 TBS butter/margarine

Instructions

Chicken:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Place thawed chicken breasts in a large 9x11 pan and cover with broth.
In a small bowl, mix your dry seasonings; sprinkle mixed seasonings over breasts and in broth.
Cover pans tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30-45 minutes or until chicken has reached 180 degrees.

Quinoa:

Bring broth and butter to boil in a 2 qt. sauce pan.
Add Quinoa and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all the broth.
Fluff with fork.
Serve both with steamed vegetables for a quick and delicious meal.

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Wordless Wednesday – Student of the Month 2011

Amanda — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:45:41 +0000

Last night, Jon and I had the pleasure of watching KG accept her second Student of the Month award. We are so proud of her and honored to be her presents, KG certainly shows us how compassion, loyalty, hardwork, and kindness can pay off.

We love you sis!

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Munchkins, Student Council, and Student of the Month…wow

Amanda — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:00:42 +0000

I’m at a loss – completely flabbergasted – in a good way. In the last week my first mini-me, KG, has had some pretty phenomenal things happen…but I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.

A few weeks ago, KG’s principal called me out of the blue while I was grocery shopping…of course immediately my mind thinks something is wrong and it takes him FOREVER to get the point.

It seems the local high school will be putting on The Wizard of Oz this Spring and as such would be casting some of the elementary students as munchkins, Mr. J thinks KG would be perfect for the part. The problem is KG won’t agree to even practice to try out without my permission (whoa. Kind of makes me sound like Troll Mom.), so Mr. J is calling to find out if I have any qualms.

Are you kidding me?!

Theatre I understand! Hello!! It’s what I originally wanted to get my degree in, ya know…before I realized I needed to make money.

I calmly assured Mr. J that I wasn’t a troll was ok with KG practicing and auditioning, all the while tamping down the urge to break out into song right there in the middle of Kroger. My girl wants to be an actress!! I think to myself and then struggle to remember not to project my dreams on to her…while also silently planning how we can watch the movie over the weekend and devoting myself to helping her perfect her audition piece.

The rest of the grocery buying trip is a blur…I had to call everyone and tell them that my daughter was going to audition for the high school play!! She was following in Mommy’s footsteps a little!

Fairly floating on air KJ and I arrive to pick her up…but wait! The fun isn’t over!

It seems that my ever the advocate daughter would also like to fill out an application to be in the Student Council.

Success!! I have done something right!

Not only does my girl want to act…she wants to be in the student council!

Thoughts of college applications….and years of student council-ing…fill my head. I am awesome at this parenting thing!

I’m even more thrilled when we arrive home and ‘lo here is an opportunity for KG to practice her open-ended question answering, handwriting, and grammar skills! Upon my demand, she writes all of her answers on a separate sheet, I then reviewed it and pointed out any errors or areas that needed clarification, and she rewrote it on the application. Ha! Score another for Mom! I thought!

All the while I’m also thinking…let her audition, let her apply…what are the chances of all the kids she’ll actually get chosen for both?

HA!

It seems that out of all the kids who auditioned for the part of a munchkin, KG (and several other deserving students) was chosen for a munchkin part in the high school’s Spring play, The Wizard of Oz! YAY!

First rehearsal is January 9th….from 3:30-6pm…wait. That’s a Monday. She has cheerleading on Monday’s from 6-8! Oh boy.

From there we will learn the rest of our rehearsal dates and times…oy.

On the same day we found out KG was also accepted as a 3rd Grade representative of the Student Council! YAY!

These practice days don’t interfere with anything and actually we’re really excited about this!

And now for more good news!

KG is Ms. W’s Class’ Student of the Month!!

Students of the Month are “chosen based on academic achievement, behavior, positive peer relationships, and/or academic growth.”

We are so proud of her!

And ya know what? I would be proud of her even if none of this had happened..

Share what your kids are doing to make you proud in the comments!

 Image Credit: Sam Howzit

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