Living in a Hotel

Josh and I have been living in a hotel since I moved to Colorado. The town we live in is SMALL and the only apartments are for low income families and the elderly, so that forces us to either find a house to rent or to live in a hotel. I've been looking for a house to rent but they are either too expensive or they want a long-term contract (that is just something we can't do with the unpredictability of Josh's job). As a result we have been living in a little motel for the last couple of months. It's been... okay. The room is small, but it has a kitchen which has been nice because I love to (and want to) cook. We can't fit all of our things in this little room so we are also renting a small storage unit. We are hoping to  move to a larger city in January, but we will see. Until then, this is our home:

[Main Room/Bedroom/Living Room/Family Room]

 [We couldn't live without our TV!]

[The Kitchen]

[The Second Bedroom (which we use as my closet and for storage)]

The owner has been taking advantage of us being there (rent is EXPENSIVE) by doing some renovations. He has recently painted the outside of the hotel and got the roof repaired. While the men were on the roof fixing it they dropped a large case of shingles which caused the ceiling in our room to break off and come crashing down. It was a HUGE mess and I was really upset about it. Luckily, nothing of mine was broken.

 

So that is our home for now! I try really hard to keep things clean and organized but it just ends up looking cluttered. Ugh. Hopefully, we can get out of here and into a nice apartment within the next few months. I really miss having a full sized kitchen and my Direct TV. 

Thanksgiving in Omaha

Josh and I went to Omaha to spend Thanksgiving with my brother, Ryan, and his cute family. I was excited to hang out with my family and to see my adorable nephew, Brady. 

We had a great time eating, playing video games, decorating the house for Christmas, Skypeing with my parents, going out to dinner, and attempting to take family pictures in the cold (it was FREEZING!)

[Ryan and Josh putting up lights, Missy is supervising]

[Christmas Tree]

[Missy and Ryan were really excited about their first Christmas Tree]

[Brady and Me]

[Taking family pictures was a little hard when the baby was freezing and the wind was blowing]

 

[We had cute matching outfits on but there was no way I was going to take my jacket off]

[Happy Brady in the warm car]

Thanks to Ryan, Missy, and Brady for having us over for Thanksgiving! We had a great time!

Eating Healthy

Josh and I (well, more me, Josh is just along for the ride) are really trying to eat more healthy. I have a bunch of Weight Watchers cookbooks that I have been going through to find some great recipes for us. Some of our favorites have been Breakfast (consisting of whole wheat pancakes, soy sausage, and turkey bacon), Turkey Burgers, Spicy Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry, Sicilian Sausage-Stuffed Pizza, Almond-Crusted Tilapia, Spicy Green Curry-Cilantro Shrimp, Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts, "Skinny Chimys" (Skinny Chimichangas), Spaghetti and Meatballs, Creamy Garlic Shrimp and Pasta, Tacos, and Flatbread Pizza. I've also found some fun dessert and appetizers recipes that I've been trying out. 

Breakfast (whole wheat pancakes, soy sausage, and turkey bacon)

 Crispy Italian Wontons

My cousin, Cheryl, has been talking about Green Smoothie (they are all the rage!) forever and recently Missy, my sister-in-law, introduced me to an EASY (frozen banana, peanut butter, milk, and spinach) Green Smoothie and I usually have one every other day.

Eating healthy can be hard and requires a lot of planning but I like how I feel after eating a healthy meal!