Trials by Melody: 2014

A Very Warren Christmas

By Melody Warren - 7:38:00 AM

Happy New Years Eve peeps!

I hope you all have been enjoying your holiday downtime - I know we have! Also, can you believe that 2014 is almost over??!! HOW?!?

We are having a party tonight at the apartment to celebrate NYE, if you're interested in coming over - text me!

As my last post of 2014, I wanted to share some photos from our relaxing holiday and days off! :)

MIL and SIL on Christmas Day

Okay so don't knock it, but this is my mother in law's homemade strawberry cake receipe that I recreated... and it turning out pretty good!

Pretty momma with her festive Christmas Tree Treats

Christmas Tree Treats

Festive table setting

Handsome men

My sweet man

Momma

Lovebirds

Time for dessert!

Sweet ornaments from mom for our first Christmas tree as a married couple

And last, but no least, we found Shannon's wedding dress!!!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe evening tonight! I send my best wishes to everyone and hope your 2015 will start off on a great foot!

Hugs!

Mel

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The Ackley Wedding and a Weekend in Fort Lauderdale

By Melody Warren - 1:59:00 PM

Hello everyone!

We are about a week out from the Christmas holiday ... is everyone ready? Is your shopping done?

Have you thought anymore about ending your 2014 with a bang? One of the fun things that I did to end my year with a bang, was to take a weekend trip to Fort Lauderdale, FL for the Phillips/Ackley wedding.

I flew out of Houston on Friday morning, and was in Fort Lauderdale by lunchtime. After being picked up from the airport by my mom and Shelby, we had a nice lunch at the Bimini Boatyard.

Not a bad view for lunch!

After lunch, I checked into the hotel and then the 3 of us took the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi down the canals and headed towards the beach. The weather was low 70's with some wind. Breezy, but not too cold.

After the boat ride, we made it to the Ocean and got to put our toes in the sand.

and of course, we had to stop for a drink at Fat Tuesday's!

After our adventures, it was time for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

After a quick sleep, it was wedding day! 12-13-14.

The wedding and our accommodations were at the classic Riverside Hotel on Las Olas boulevard.

Riverside hotel from the street

View of river from wedding deck at hotel

All setup and ready for the wedding!

Mim and I before the ceremony

Beautiful corsage's for the family

My girl Bryleigh and myself

Frankie, the officiant

Karen and Shelby coming down the aisle

The beautiful bride and her son, J Philly

The Groom and his attendants

The Bride and her attendants

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Ackley!

I couldn't be happier for my Aunt Joyce. Wishing she and John all of the happiness and blessings over their union! God bless!

Xoxo,

Mel

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Monday Morning Pick-Me-Up

By Melody Warren - 11:40:00 AM

Happy Monday All!

Assuming that you're counting down the days until Christmas, and that you're wishing it was still the weekend, I feel obliged to share with you a fun and story to brighten up your Monday morning.

As many of you know, I am a TOTAL Disney nerd (duh) and I especially love Disney during the Holidays. I came across an article talking about the newest Disney Gingerbread house to join the many other Gingerbread Houses around the Walt Disney World property - The Frozen Gingerbread Castle at Disney's Contemporary Resort.

Click here for more details and pictures about the Frozen display. Click here for more information regarding the OTHER yummy delicious gingerbread house displays among the rest of the property!

Gingerbread House Display at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel

Since we are talking about Disney at Christmas, here are some fun and festive Disney Facts. Enjoy!

• There are roughly 15 miles of garland strung and 1,314 wreaths hung throughout the World Disney World.

• Over 10 miles of twinkling rope lights go into the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

• There are roughly 1,300 decorated trees throughout the WDW property.

• It takes 150 semi-trailer truckloads full of decorations to decorate 24 resorts, 4 theme parks, Downtown Disney and other Disney locations.

• The 70-foot-tall tree in Disney’s Contemporary Resort entrance lobby features nearly 35,800 white LED lights

•100 percent chance of snow flurries during Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, taking place on select holiday evenings in Magic Kingdom

• If you feel the need to purchase Disney Themed holiday items, don't fear! 365 days of the year guests can shop for holiday merchandise at the Disney’s Days of Christmas shop in Downtown Disney Marketplace!

I hope this brightened your Monday!

Credits: Ears of Experience , Disney Parks Blog , Disney Food Blog

Xoxo,
Mel

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Fitness

To snooze or not to snooze ... that is the question

By Melody Warren - 7:58:00 AM

Hey Followers,

Does anyone else feel me on this?

Personally, hitting the snooze button is something that I struggle with daily (but I am getting better!) Have you ever wondered why hitting the snooze button feels so good?

Your body has several mechanisms to prepare you to wake up and get moving. One of these is turning up your core temperature, which makes you feel more alert and less sleepy. This starts about two hours before the body feels ready to wake up. If you're not getting enough sleep, your alarm clock is going off while your temp is still in the deep-sleep range. The air in your bedroom feels SO cold and your bed feels cozier than ever. #snooze

Like I said, the body needs some time to get you ready to wake up. When you let yourself go back to sleep, your body thinks, "False alarm!” and settles back in. When that buzzer goes off a second time, your body and brain are taken by surprise, resulting in that groggy, fuzzy-headed feeling called sleep inertia. The more you snooze, the more confused your body and brain get ("So are we going back to sleep or not?!"), so you'll probably feel more out of it even though you actually spent extra time in bed.

Also, you're throwing off your internal clock by getting up at 7:00 one day and 7:30 the next. And if you're not waking up at the same time every day, your body doesn't know when to start feeling sleepy, either, making you more likely to push your bedtime later and further deprive yourself of rest.

SO – now that you’re informed, I wanted to share 5 helpful tips of how to get away from the snooze button and wake up to being the best YOU that you can be.

1) Set your alarm for the time you have to get up and then actually get up when it goes off, every day at the same time. Eventually, this consistency may help you feel naturally sleepy at the end of your day, so you'll feel compelled to go to bed when your body needs to, and then wake up without the need for an alarm.

2) Once your alarm goes off, immediately sit up and turn on a light. When a light hits your face, you’ll be less likely to go back to sleep.

3) If you’re a coffee drinker, set a coffee pot with a timer and prepare it each night before you go to bed. That smell of freshly brewed coffee will make you more likely to bounce out of bed in the morning.

4) Put your alarm clock (or cell phone) on the other side of the room. This way, you will have no choice but to physically get out of bed to switch the alarm off.

5) Reward yourself (waking up is really hard!) Our brains respond well to incentives. Consider giving yourself some kind of enjoyable mental activity in the morning. As soon as the alarm goes off, turn on the light and go your activity for 5-10 minutes to get everything up and moving. Example: Play an instrument, read a book, check your facebook or email, etc.

I hope these tips help you to wake up quicker and feeling more refreshed. Just know that we are struggling together!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Xoxo,

Mel

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Ending 2014 with a BANG!

By Melody Warren - 9:14:00 AM

Hey Friends!

Can you believe that we are already 3 days deep into the last month of 2014??!! Where has the time gone? Personally, 2014 was a successful and blessed year and I am marching toward 2015 with bells on. With only 28 days left in 2014 (WOW), I am forced to think back and reflect on 2014 and what I want moving into the new year.

As a personal challenge, I want to end this year with a BANG! For the month of December, I will:
- Break a sweat everyday and work on my 15-lb weight loss goal
- Get (as close to) 8 hours of sleep every night and DON'T push snooze
- I will love deeply. Love my husband, my friends, my family and myself.
- Drink more water daily
- BLOG

What are your goals for the end of the year? How will you prepare for 2015? I want to know!

Xoxo,
Mel

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Thanksgiving 2014

By Melody Warren - 1:49:00 PM

Happy Monday followers!

I hope you all survived the first day back to work after the Thanksgiving Holiday Break. Speaking of, how was everyone's holiday? Ours was great! I LOVED having some down time! This allowed for some R&R and it couldn't have come any sooner.

Some highlights of the break:

- Shannon and Danny got ENGAGED (read about it here)

- Legally changing my name from Melody Stacey to Melody Warren

- I did the Turkey Trot! (for the 2nd year in a row!)

- Quality time with my man and our family/friends

See below for some pictures! And only about 2 weeks until the next break - we can do it!

This was the insane waiting room at the Social Security Office. God bless anyone who ever goes here or who works here. I told Terrance that this was a true sign of our love and to my desire of wanting to have his last name. This place was NUTS!

Some festive turkey sugar cookies for Thanksgiving ... Gobble Gobble!

Twas the night before the Turkey Trot and I had everything laid out in my true Melody Warren OCD fashion.

Judith and I ready to Trot!


6.2 miles later - and this turkey was tired ... but happy!

I can't wait to hear about your Thanksgivings!

Xoxo,
Mel

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Shannon's Big Night!

By Melody Warren - 1:32:00 PM

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to share with you the great news about my best friend Shannon - she and Danny are ENGAGED!! It was a highly anticipated night and I am so happy that Danny asked me to be a part of it. See below!