Christmas Around Our Home

We put up our tree and other Christmas decorations a few weeks ago and finally wrapped presents this past weekend. Finally, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Team Jenkins household.

Here's a peek!

Happy Holidays!!

Questioning My Choices

We're less than 6 months away from the wedding and I'm not sure what I should be doing. The fact that we're having a destination wedding means I have a lot less stuff to do, but there's still things to be done and I wanna make sure that I can get them all done.

We've set a date, chose the location and made travel arrangements. We've also chosen the bridal party, picked our colors, registered and I bought a dress. And that's about it! Last week I had some free time and was able to put together a wedding to-do list and I've got A LOT to get done. But the problem is that I really need to decide on what I want. I'm questing my choices before I even make up my mind. There are just SO MANY options when it comes to everything wedding related.

I never ever thought I would be so indecisive when came to planning my own wedding, but I can't seem to make a decision without thinking that I chose the wrong place, the wrong colors, the wrong this or the wrong that. I have an idea of what I want but can't seem to put it all together and so I just ignore the situation. I know I have a wedding to plan and things to get do but I've put it off. Until now! I don't want to wait until the last-minute and become overwhelmed and not be able to enjoy the experience of having a wedding.

Since, I'll have a little time off for the holiday's these next two weeks, I'm committing to getting some more wedding stuff done. Choose my invitations and select a wedding cake topper and maybe even choose what I'd like for decor on the tables or choose a photographer for our engagement photos. Soo much to do, so little time.

 

I'd love any wedding planning advice, or tell me, if you could do anything differently what would it be?

Lately...

Holiday party fun with the girls!!

Picture perfect sky

Breakfast these days. I love me some Shakeology! The healthiest meal of the day!

Headbands are a staple these days while growing my hair out.

 Gel manicure...Lasted for weeks and still looks pretty good!

Two years later and I finally made a photo book of our trip to NYC.

 Some holiday baking with the kiddo!

Did a little shopping at Target to see their Target + Neiman Marcus Holiday Collection. 

Snacks these days.

Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad for lunch at Fox N Hound. 

 

Dinner with friends at Gloria's for the holidays!

Snacking on the go!

 I love Shakeology, even on the go!

All taken with my iPhone

Engagement Session Outfit

We haven't picked a date to have our engagement photos yet nor have we decided on a photographer. But I have started thinking about what I'm going to wear when we do schedule them.

I bought a pair of teal jeans that I'd love to incorporate in my casual outfit, but can't quite decide on what kind of top. I can't decide on a color, a style, patterns, no patterns, sleeves, no sleeves. There are so many options and I'm not really sure what I want.

Engagement Session Outfit Inspiration by virgostar16 featuring mid rise jeans

The 4th Thursday in November

Happy Thanksgiving all! It's officially the holiday season in my book and for me it's the most wonderful time of the year!

This year for Thanksgiving I did more cooking than I've ever done in the past and it was a success. Normally, we have a turkey that we'll cook or have deep-fried but this year we ordered a smoked turkey from Greenberg; and it was delish! I highly recommend them! Usually, I have my mom make her dressing for me, but this year I did it on my own. And other than forgetting to turn on the oven at first, it came out almost like my moms. Along with the smoked turkey & dressing rolls I also made some southern style greens and tried The Pioneer Woman's Soul Sweet Taters for the first time. I added some cinnamon, nutmeg & rum extract to the taters and they were to die for!

Our day started off by sleeping in and prepping dinner. That afternoon, we headed out to visit some of my extended family whom I hadn't seen in a while, which was nice and then headed to his parent's house to watch some Thanksgiving day football and relax. We finally made it back home around 7:30pm and it was rest & relaxation from there along with some more eating.

The day was filled with much gratitude and I hope everyone had a great day filled with family, friends and food.

I headed to Costco for a tiny bit of Black Friday but that was it. How about y'all? Did anyone do any midnight shopping for Black Friday?

Here's a peek at my day via Instagram...

Team Jenkins Together for the First Time

Have I ever mentioned that Kawon has a part-time deejay business and that I work full-time as a photographer? Yep, we're pretty much a dynamic duo! And for the first time,  we'll be working at the same wedding tomorrow! Whoop, whoop!

We're always being told that we should offer packages together, but I didn't feel it would be right considering we haven't actually worked together yet. So depending on how tomorrow goes (well I hope) starting in 2013 Shayla J. Photography we be offering photography packages that will also include a deejay as well.

It's so nice when we get to work together on the weekends instead of him working one event and me working another. Some weeks we're like two trains passing in the night. Literally, he'll get in from working at 3am and I'm leaving the house at 5am. So being able to spend time with him on the weekends, even if we are working is going to be nice.

In addition to the wedding tomorrow, We are also booked together for a wedding on Sunday but instead of the photographer I was hired as the Day of Coordinator. Yep, you got that right, I'm a jack of all trades! I acted as the Day of Coordinator for a friend's wedding back in May and did such a good job making things come together that I was contacted by a friend of the bride to do the same for her wedding. So once, we get to work together!!

I'll be sure to share sneak peeks of both weddings via Instagram (@Shayla_j) since we'll be away working for the weekend! Wish us luck!!

Enjoy  your weekend!

 

The Day After

Yesterday, I voted yesterday and then went home, turned off the television and stayed off of Facebook for the rest of the day.

These last few weeks have shown people's true colors about how they feel and while it's okay for everyone to express their own personal opinion, it's not okay to put others down.

I'm just happy that it's over. Well, that the elections are over. People need to understand that Americans had a choice and the majority won. Now as American's we have to deal with it whether you agree or not for the next 4 years.

Just remember that everything happens for a reason and everything is working out just that way that God has planned it.

Traveling Hearts

Kawon & his best man were planning on flying to Vegas in December for a little guy time since Mike works for Hotels.com and got a hook up on a room. But something came up and Mike can no longer go, so Kawon asked if I wanted to instead. Cool! But we've already been to Vegas together. Plus with us planning a wedding and flights being so expensive from Dallas even with a room discount we'd be spending a ton of money just to have a good time.

Since Kawon already has the time off from work, we would still like to go somewhere but can't decide where though. So that's you all come in. We need some suggestions.

We thought to keep the cost down we could go somewhere in Texas to avoid paying for airfare, but where. Neither of us are from Texas so we don't really know of any 'vacation' spots that we should visit. I will say that we've been to Houston & San Antonio before, so that leaves us with Austin. We've both been there separately in the past, but what's there to do for a couple's get-a-way. (As I typed this, I just thought maybe I should check Groupon or Living Social for deals, lol) We're also open to ideas for Oklahoma, Arkansas or Louisiana.

All recommendations are appreciated!! Thanks!

Work it Wednesday

A day late...

So, it's been a minute since I've posted anything about my weight loss journey and that's because I haven't been very consistent.

I did manage to weigh myself but the scale wasn't very reliable. At mom's house her scale said one thing and later that night at a friend's house it had a number that was 5lbs lighter. But either way the number was way too high. Like I mentioned before, I weigh more now than ever before and that's just not cool. Don't get me wrong I love that people are in different shapes and sizes, but personally I prefer to be at a healthier weight. Plus, I have a closet full of clothes that I can't fit into and I can't afford to go buy a new wardrobe.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="162"] September 15th, my last day as a 32 yr old![/caption]

I was doing really well leading up to my birthday which was on Sept. 16th since I was going to go try on wedding dresses that day. Every morning I did my 2 mile walk/jog before I took the kid to school and when I returned I was consistent with the Nike Training Club app on my phone. Then, Kawon suggested that we celebrate my birthday all week and that's just what we did! The week after my birthday consisted of hanging out with friends, eating out, beer at Oktoberfest and late nights and I didn't work out one bit. The week after that I only managed to get up one morning and workout and that was it. SMH

At that point, I could see a noticeable difference in how I looked from the weeks before. I wasn't as toned. There wasn't anything stopping me from working out except that I was being just plain ol' lazy. And that same ol' thought of I'll just be fat and happy crossed my mind, while chowing down on a whopper from Burger King.

[caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="215"] September 29, 2012[/caption]

After lounging around last Sunday and indulging on several 32 ounce soda's that day, it just hit me. I gotta make a change now before I get too comfortable and start gaining weight. I don't want to be that bride where I'm starving the week before because I need to fit into my wedding dress. I want to be in shape and at my goal weight by March so that I don't have that added pressure of losing weight up until the wedding. I just want to have to maintain my weight at that point.

I kept wondering why I wasn't as motivation to lose weight like I was a few years back. Honestly, to lose weight all you need is will-power. You don't need a gym membership or a pricey weight-loss program. I have weights at home, a treadmill in my dining room that I haven't used in over a year (SMH again! A damn shame, I know), 2 copies of p90x in my tv console and free apps on my phone along with plenty of knowledge of what I needed to do. And I still lacked the motivation. Really, I had no excuses.



I woke up on Monday, October 1st with a new a mission. I decided that everyday at 4pm I would do a p90x work out. It's a 90 day program so that means by January 1st, I don't have to make a new years resolution to lose weight because I already did. With the weather finally cooling off here in Dallas there's no excuse to continue my morning walks either.

To take accountability for myself, I got plugged into the Beachbody community from a friend on Facebook, and I'm so excited for my journey. Literally, within minutes of creating a profile I had other members that I don't even know sending me private message with encouraging words and just reaching out to introduce themselves.





[caption id="attachment_231" align="alignnone" width="120"] October 4, 2012[/caption]

Look at these photos!! It wasn't an accident, I put these horrible photos of myself up because it's all about accountability (plus, nobody besides my cousin reads this blog anyways, lol). I know I look like a hot mess in these photos, but just stick around for the after! I'm excited and best of all I'm motivated!

Lately...

Let's face it, not much is going with the wedding planning these days. And since this blog is about real life, personal style and stuff that's kinda funny sometimes I'm gonna go off topic and tell ya what my life has looked like lately.

I celebrated my 33rd birthday a few weeks ago and met up with a few friends at Top Golf in Allen. If you've never been, you need to go! And try the chocolate chip cookies, they're THE best! (Thanks Allison!)

Nicole, Me & Allison

Made a new friend on my birthday and when I went to hang out with her the next day she brought me flowers as a belated birthday gift.

Thanks Nicole!

Continued the birthday celebrations and partied it up at the Gentleman Jack Arts, Beats & Lyric event here in Dallas last Thursday !

I hung with Miss Kelsey! Can you believe she's 7 months old already?? Time flies.

Showed my support for my future mister while he DJ'ed a block party last Friday for the City of Dallas.

He's doing big thangs y'all!!

Kawon took Kameron on his first fishing trip at White Rock Lake last Sunday while I worked.

Taken by Kawon w/his Blackberry

And, us just being us.

Sorry for the crappy photo.