Maternity Photo's {38 weeks}

My amazing and talented friend, Alysse & her hubby Clint, offered to snap some pics of Dave and I so we could have some memories to cherish of this pregnancy.

She took SO many amazing ones, they are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Here are a few...

XO,
Hannah

Fall is upon us... What are some of your health/fitness/wellness goals?

What are some of your fitness/health goals for this Fall? Tell me, I really want to know!

****I know most of my "blog readers" are friends with me on FB/Instagram/Twitter and if you want to private message me through there with some of your fitness goals/questions, go on ahead. You don't HAVE to put them out here for all too see ;)

Considering I'm 9 months pregnant --> My goals need to be bite size {smallllll}. If you know me, you know I'm a "Goal Setter Extraordinaire". Even now, this far along into my pregnancy, I come up with these HUGE plans/goals that are way too outrageous for this season I'm going into--- My husband gladly calms me down and reminds me that I could have a baby at any second, maybe I should take my dreams down a few notches... In the moment I feel that he's a dream killer, but when I step back and look at the HUGE life-change that's about to take place, he's right :)

Sooooo... Since it's still a part of WHO I AM, I do have a few goals for this fall I'm going to share with you.

After baby arrives {Again, could be ANYDAY}

My goal(s) will be: Keep baby, mommy and daddy healthy and happy! Boom <-- There it is!

I am taking 2 classes this Fall at the University of Hawaii, still running a business, helping my husband get through nursing school, trying to maintain a clean house, make sure we are eating healthy meals and so on... Sitting at home with baby is not the only thing I have on my plate, but it's definitely one that I'm excited about and hope and pray I'm good at.

My mom is flying in as soon as she gets the "I'm in labor" phone call and she is staying for a few weeks which will be a life-saver. I'm so blessed that she can do this and thankful my dad is able to take over all of her duties while she's here with me.

I do have some health/fitness goals as well... Definitely journaling my food intake, getting back on track with my usual eating {It's changed a lot with pregnancy}, AS SOON as I feel well enough to go on walks, you bet I'm going to be out there walking!! Once I get clearance to work out from my doc, it's ON.

Yes, the goal is to breastfeed-- {Lots of you have been asking}. So I want to make sure I'm eating PLENTY of calories, healthy foods and not overdoing myself as that can lead to lower milk production and that is no bueno...

I'll keep you up to date on the happenings around here and I'm SO excited to share Project: New Mom & Lose the Baby Weight, over the next few months!!!

XO

Hannah

9 MONTHS PREGNANT <-- Waddle alert!

Definitely coming to the END of this pregnancy. This week I'll be starting my 37th week of pregnancy!! ABSOLUTELY crazy that Moses "could" arrive ANY DAY. My doctor said if labor starts, it's go-time, meaning they won't do anything to stop it :)

I have Braxton Hicks contractions every day, all day! Also, everyday I'll have quite a few really strong menstrual-like cramps. Every contraction is one step closer to meeting my son which is VERY exciting.

Walking for any period over 10 minutes is NOT COOL. I have to sit at least every 10 minutes or I have major contractions and then it's too late to find a place to sit and I just have to stand and breathe through my contraction which won't stop until I sit... Good practice for the upcoming birth.

Nesting is kind of here, kind of not. We are totally prepared for Moses, the ONLY thing we haven't done is pack our hospital bag which is TOTALLY not something to "wait till the last minute" but we have. Maybe we'll work on that tonight!! The pic below is really how I'm going about this whole nesting thing...

Being this far along in pregnancy is definitely a challenge. My pregnancy has been AMAZING, no real complaints. But this last week has been pretty rough.

-Hot flashes that DO NOT stop {a constant state of sweat dripping down my neck, SEXY!}
-NO SLEEP- Possibly because I'm propped up against hot pillows and icepacks, I have to pee every 10 minutes and my hips are sore from only being able to sleep on my hips for the last 5 or so months.
-Walking- uugh! Waddle, waddle & then stop for a contraction... Baby is SO low I feel like he may fall out...
-Exercise- I've been getting in the pool everyday, LOVE the weightless-ness of swimming AND the fact that it's cold water which helps with the overheating feeling.
-Water consumption- WOW! I carry a 33oz Camelbak water bottle with me EVERYWHERE and I drink about 6 of them a day. That's 198 oz of water a day. Way over my body weight which is the minimum I want to drink everyday. YAY for me. I'm thirsty all the time and if I forget my bottle {which has happened twice} I panic and pull into the closest mini-mart to pick up a gallon jug. Water is my BFF right now, that is for sure!
- Weight Gain- I want to the doc at the beginning of the week and I lost 2 lbs... LOVED SEEING THAT ;) I don't know how or why, but it happened and I won't complain.
-Complaining- I'm really trying to not complain, but 95% of the time I'm pretty miserable... Just uncomfortable doing anything. I guess that's 9 months pregnant??

I got a pedicure this week, a massage and the hubby bought me an air conditioner :D Overall, a great week!! I'm hoping this next week will be a tad more active if ya know what I mean... ;)

Here I am this week: comfy dresses are my lifesaver. They are lightweight, they are flowy and I still feel cute in them.

XO,

Hannah

::Just being honest:: A new way of thinking...

This is a totally raw and honest post from yours truly J

2 ½ years ago I took on a HUGE goal—LOSE weight! Get HEALTHY! It was my life, it was my passion, my every thought, my total mindset was focused around this. I did it too—I lost 30 lbs of FAT! Put on muscle and never felt better in my whole life. I never starved myself, didn’t use a “lose-weight-quick” plan, never thought about throwing up my food, nor did I obsessively weigh myself. I am proud to say I got healthy the healthiest way you can do it. Eating healthy and getting active…

In this pursuit for the perfect body ;) What’s that? Right! LOL!

SOOOOOOO many changes occurred. As they do whenever you make or have a significant life change. My goals, focuses, aspirations changed. A lot of them were for the better, but some weren’t… I started asking questions like:

WHY doesn’t everyone do this?? Why don’t people lose weight? What’s with all of the excuses? {I know I had my excuses for about 5 years} What will MAKE people change? How can I MAKE people change? I posted about it on my FB, twitter, told everyone I knew, I just became obsessed with “Fit-Thinking”. I have to make everyone lose weight!!

What I didn’t realize in this crazy, one-track-mind, obsessed frenzy I was in, was that not everyone wants to make this change. Not everyone was as obsessed as I was about their body image. Needless to say, the “healthy-looking mindset” I thought I had, wasn’t too healthy. I offended people with these thoughts and couldn’t give my clients what THEY NEEDED. Even though I thought I was doing it out of love {Who wants to watch their family/friends die, be depressed or get sick because of obesity related issues you can do something about it??} The way I was going about it, was not loving.

My point of this post is not to be an advocate to being overweight or that it’s okay to shovel fast food into our mouths on a daily basis while we follow it with a HUGE soda. I 100% believe in living a healthy lifestyle, but that also means being able to have “cheats”, enjoy cake, take a rest day from fitness, be a size 8/10 without having criticism, help people find a plan that works for them and their lifestyle.

Over the last year-ish {steadily gaining weight} during this pregnancy, not being involved in any fitness/weight loss company, stepping back from FB, prioritizing and re-fueling, I feel I’ve have a “mindset change” I’ve been able to step back, take a break and my eyes have been opened. I thank the Lord for this time. Although I’ve maintained a healthy pregnancy and stayed active throughout- I’ve still GAINED… My skin has stretched and I’m a vessel for this little boy who has already stole my heart and I haven’t even met him!! Also, stepping out of the fitness industry has been huge, constantly feeling the pressure of the competitions and media can take a tole on your thoughts!!

I want to be in a place where I can HELP people. Not force people to be a certain size or weight, but ENCOURAGE them to just make healthy changes in their lives.

It really, really, really is AMAZING to have a healthy, functioning body. To sweat out toxins, fill up with endorphins, feel confident in swimwear, have energy to LIVE, fight off diseases, feel sexy and proud of the work you are putting in. I’ll never stop living a healthy lifestyle!!

After baby comes I’m SO BEYOND excited to work on my post-baby body {I dream about it everyday, lol}, which will be amazing, beautiful and any flaws will be proof that I created LIFE inside of me! I want to encourage others to join me and help people find their way of living healthy.

It’s just important to keep healthy and happy in the forefront of my dreams! There is no one-size fits all fitness plan, people are fabulous no matter their shape or size. As long as they happy and healthy!!

Over the past couple years I’ve been BLESSED to have helped quite a few ladies {And men}

lose weight, get their bodies to a place where they feel confident and sexy. It’s a passion of mine to help, motivate and encourage people. It’s also been amazing to go through this journey and discover my flaws so I can better help MORE people. Thank you Lord for showing us our weaknesses and flaws so we can work on ourselves and be better, more joyful people J

Hey! I'm still here :)

This summer FLEW by!

The last month and a half, I’ve been spending QUIALITY time with my husband. Getting everything ready for Baby Moses {who is set to arrive in +/- 4 weeks!!}.

So glad we got to spend this time together, just enjoying the TWO OF US <3 Work was super chill, we ate breakfast and had coffee on our porch every single morning. Chatting and laughing with each other is the best. {Mushy alert} I absolutely adore my husband and I’m so blessed by his love for me. We’ve been married almost 7 ½ years and he still makes my heart melt! I have so much love, respect and honor for this man that the Lord has blessed me with, words can’t even express!! He will be the best daddy to our little man – from setting up the crib with me, buying Moses’ first outfit, installing the car seat, feeling all the baby’s kicks, and listening to the heartbeat every night, I’ve seen my husband tear up, laugh and express such love and joy for this little baby he hasn’t even met yet. It’s so wonderful and I owe my successful marriage to the Lord- He is our rock, our bind and the One who has taught us how to love each other.

Now that summer is over L ß Actually I’m not totally sad about it, it just means I don’t get to see the hubs as often, our schedules are crazy opposite, school is back up and running {And YES, I’m taking TWO classes this semester and expecting a baby… It’s going to be interesting!} Dave’s continuing in his pursuit to complete his nursing degree so his schedule is off the chain… And we are trying to get organized, prepared or whatever else you want to call it that we need to do before baby comes!!

Life is good though. I hate being home alone while Dave is gone during his long days {Wed & Thurs}—Blah, boring! I chat with my dogs, but they are always napping so it’s hard to hold full conversations… {Crazy dog mom- That’s me} So, in my times alone at home I’ve been trying to keep busy organizing our budget, creating schedules, trying out new recipes, cleaning ---NESTING---, looking into new health/fitness/wellness ventures {Because I need MORE on my plate ;)}. It’s nice to have such flexibility, but when you spend a whole month and a half with someone NON-STOP and then they leave, it’s sad. I tell ya, I love my hubs, 24/7!

Anywho, this is just a post saying , “Hey, I’m here” Still pregnant, still enjoying life. Trying to get back into the groove of {Fall-Time} before I have to get into a whole new groove of {New-Mom time}.

Hope you had a FABULOUS summer!!!

XO

Hannah

{Toxic} Relationships

                     Today I’m sharing on the topic of “toxic” relationships!

We ALL have them in our lives --> they are the people/relationships in your life that you may or may not constantly be around. They can be family members, co-workers, acquaintances or even someone you’d call a close friend! Whoever they are, their words or actions either hurt you, bring your spirits down or just provide an awful dose of downright rudeness when it’s totally unnecessary.

Whether their comments are small or large, they can hurt and COMPLETELY derail you from the joyful life you were put on this earth to live. My husband and I have experienced this first hand and have over the last couple of years really focused on finding those positive people and relationships to surround ourselves with and ignoring the “noise” and negativity of the toxic ones. 

A little over two years ago we took a HUGE leap of faith and moved across the Pacific to Maui, leaving ALL family, friends, acquaintances, EVERYONE! We knew TWO people here in Maui, they were the sweet couple who moved over here with us. Those were the only two people we knew. Dave & I both grew up in a towns where you’d run into someone you knew every single time you left your house, so this “knowing not-a-single-person” thing, made for an interesting twist in our lives. When we moved, HUGE transformations happened in both of our lives and our marriage. We lost a combined weight of 100lbs, we COMPLETELY changed our eating habits, our views on health, our thoughts on family, our relationships with ourselves and each other and the Lord. We realized that even though we lived a pretty fab life in Oregon, we were not living the life intended for us… The move to Maui was exactly what we needed to CHANGE out of the toxic habits we held! The Lord has done a work and there are no words to describe how amazing I feel and how thankful I am for that work. 

After about 6 months here, after we had our “transformation” ;) Or whatever you want to call it… We started looking into the relationships we had back in Oregon and ones we were making here and realized how many toxic relationships we had in our lives. Not always was it a toxic person, but it was the way we carried a relationship with them or how we handled ourselves around them, it wasn’t healthy. We weren’t friends to them and they weren’t friends to us. It was just toxic, stagnant, no give. When we saw how much changing our mindset had transformed our whole lives it was crucial to look back and see what exactly the root of our issues were and how we could fix them. Most of the relationships have been healed due to us changing and the other person never even knowing there was an issue... Other relationships have had to be mutual, where both parties had to take a step back to get to the point where they feel comfortable and confident to step back in. Then sadly, there are relationships that just didn’t work out. You do what you can, but obviously not EVERYONE can or wants to be your friend and vice versa! 

It’s important when you’re {cleaning up} your relationships that you realize, it doesn’t have to get nasty. You don’t have to say everything bad they did or rub their mistakes in their faces. Handling it with love and respect is the best way to go. It’s inevitable that people will come and go in your life… THAT’S LIFE! Sometimes there will be a relationship that will be OH SO hard for you to give up, but they don’t respect you or support you or give you the love YOU deserve. {Those are the toughies} But I can’t stress the amazing feeling it is to get rid of the negative and surround yourself with positive, uplifting and respectful people. People who cheer you on, even when you’ve set a CRAZY goal. People who are there when you fall, even if you’ve fallen 100 times over the same issue. People who laugh with you and don’t talk behind your back. People who will tell you the TRUTH with love and help better you. Be open to criticism, but don’t let people walk all over you. Be open to change and positivity. Your life, goals, dreams, mindset, relationships, health and wellness depend on YOU to be open to having healthy relationships and positive fellowship. 

I REALLY wanted to share this because it’s been a HUGE help in my life, to know my true friends and be okay letting some go. I have rock solid relationships with people who LOVE me. I have best friends who I’d do anything for and they would do anything for me. I have friends who are closer to me even living 2000 miles away from them than people who live down the street. Living a balanced, healthy life is my goal and making sure my friendships and relationships are balanced and healthy aligns with that goal and makes for a pretty happy ME :)

XO Hannah

30 weeks and counting!

I can’t tell you how FAST 30 weeks goes by, but the time sure does fly! I’m entering my 31^st week of pregnancy, getting everything prepared for baby Moses’ arrival and ENJOYING the last few weeks as a family of two with my husband.

 A couple of weeks ago I was able to take a MUCH needed and super relaxing trip to the mainland, Oregon to be exact! It’s where I was born and raised until two years ago when my husband and I packed up and flew across the Pacific to reside in Maui. It was so great to see my family & friends. Having almost two weeks of total relaxation, fun get togethers and enjoying Oregon with the people I love. I definitely ate my way around Oregon, lol! Gaining some poundage in that two weeks {I’ll discuss later}, but it was 100% worth it! I love living in Hawaii, but I will ALWAYS be an Oregon girl at heart and I enjoyed myself THOROUGHLY! Here are a few of my Oregon pics :) ENJOY!

Grandma-Me-Mom on the 4th of July-- My FAVORITE ladies in the WHOLE world!!!!\

My fam! Dad, Mom & my amazing brothers!

I visited my in-laws for a BBQ and fun in the Oregon sun! Not pictured {my 6 brother/sister in laws and 8 nieces/nephews}

My grandpa-- One of my VERY favorite people in this world <3

Lunch with Jaime (Who got married the weekend after this was taken) and our moms. I've known her my WHOLE life. Our moms even grew up together. Such great family friends!

Visited with my BEAUTIFUL friend Meg & her little cutie- Emma. LOVE, LOVE these girls!!!

Girls night with my mom, my BFF Tara (who is pregnant with a little girl!! YAYAY :) and her mom-in-law Candice (my momma's BFF).

Crashed a Johnson family get together, this is my BFF (Ruth's) family and these are her two strapping brothers!! Love them!

 Coming back home to my hubby was also amazing—I am so blessed with a rock solid marriage and a sexy, fun and kind husband. We’ve been together for almost a decade and been married for 7 of those years and my Oregon trip was the longest we’ve been apart. Embracing him when I got off that plane almost brought tears to my eyes. I am in love and there are no words to describe the passion and love I have for my husband. He also had a big surprise for me when I got home. He had completed SO many things off my Honey Do list that I’ve been compiling throughout this pregnancy. He’s continued to spruce up our home and make everything PERFECT for our family. It’s definitely helped me out, because my anxiety has been at an all-time high during this pregnancy, he knows this and has done everything without me asking—He just does it and blesses me beyond what I would’ve asked for. 

FLASHBACK-- 7 years ago on our wedding day! LOVE THAT MAN!!!!!!

 

 As for my health... I’ve been rocking this bump like a pro! Of course back pain is starting to creep in due to all the pressure and weight coming out of the front of my body. Heartburn has been so crazy, I’m poppin’ antacids like nobody’s business. I’ve been trying other things as well and all jokes aside have been really changing my diet to see what helps—Honestly, it doesn’t matter what I eat… Baby is pushing up, my smooth muscle is weak and that combo creates a burn that is excruciating, but will end once baby is born. Sleep is some nights, amazing and others nights I roll from side to side 300 times… It can be annoying for my bedmate, but hey—I’m the one getting kicked ALL night from our future NFL kicker! So, he doesn’t complain. Like I mentioned earlier, I gained a bit “more than normal” when I took my vacation to Oregon and I KNEW I would. Heck, my family took me to EVERY one of my favorite restaurants... Hello!? Yes please, pass the bread basket. LOL All of that to say to you now, I’m back on track! Dave and I have been eating super well since my return, we’ve been doing a two-mile walk almost every night that gets us both sweating. I also get in the pool everyday no matter what and do laps, get my heart rate up and stretch. Having a pool has been Ahhhh-Mazing! I love it! 

This is ME, 7/26/13 entering my 31st week!

 Anywho, that’s where life’s at for us! We have it pretty good, I think!\

XO Hannah