All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!
Life, Parenting

3D Avengers and Our Next Date Will Be Different

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The Avengers: Age of Ultron was not only the first movie we’ve seen in almost a year, but also the first time to ever get the 3D “experience”. I put that in quotes because it really doesn’t seem that special.

Here I am rocking a new belt I received from Kore Essentials before heading out on our date. I’ll post a review of the belt soon.

Don’t worry, I quickly un-tucked my shirt after the pic (per my wife’s request), I just needed to show off that fine Evolve Buckle and Belt!

At first, 3D is cool because, well, 3D, but then it’s just like any other movie but you have to wear glasses. And as a guy who already wears glasses (I try not to as much as possible), that meant I had to double up my eye-wear. So yeah, I was looking pretty Rico Suave for sure!

If we didn’t have a $25 gift card to use, the 3D thing wouldn’t of happened. Come to think of it, going to see a movie wouldn’t of happened if we had to pay for it with our own money. Hell, we didn’t even have enough to cover the $4 bottle of Dasani water after purchasing the tickets. Stupid Coca-Cola company, I don’t like you getting our money!

I’m done complaining, for now at least. The movie was good, but not out-of-this-world-slap-you-in-face-fantastic. I found myself laughing at the intended jokes, but in retrospect, they seemed to joke too much and during times of immense stress. My wife noticed this right off the bat, but it took a while to set in for me. Plenty of action though, and as a boy who loves his comics, I was thrilled to see the superheroes in action.

The move was rather long, and the trailers beforehand didn’t help. I found my leg getting fidgety early into the movie and didn’t stop until the end. Basically, sitting is not a strong suit for either my wife or I, we’d much rather be moving or at least standing.

Which is what I did when we went to the pub afterward for a beer. And a beer is all we had. Weak, I know, but we just stood there, drinking, and couldn’t find much to discuss. We picked apart the movie we just watched, Kelley brought up the fact that we could have watched 3 episodes of The Walking Dead in the time it took to see the move, and we talked about Avery (of course).

We talk so much about our freedom away from our kid, but then end up missing her while we’re out. We can never win! Actually, I take that back, we just need to do something different next time. By different, I mean nothing that involves sitting, not even beer. Well, maybe beer afterward, when it feels more deserved.

For instance, on our 7th anniversary, we seemed to have the most fun when we went on an impromptu kayaking trip. So, next time we agreed that going hiking, rock climbing, or even bowling will be the activity of choice. Movies are cool, but sitting is not, and $4 water from Coca-Cola definitely IS NOT!

Meanwhile, Aunt Stef and Avery seemed to have a great time and played hard while we were out. Avery gobbled up the steamed carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower with wild salmon I left, and kept taking her Aunt inside and outside multiple times.

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Big thanks to my sister-in-law for watching our crazy toddler for the day! I know her daughter, Cousin Taylor, really wanted to be there but had a soccer conflict, so they plan to come back next weekend. Now, Going Mom and I just need to plan out our next date and what adventure we should go on.

Are you good at sitting through movies?

Have you ever seen a movie in 3D? Like, dislike, or don’t care?

Any thoughts on a fun adventure date to take my wife on next?

Life, Parenting

The Avengers, Beer, and That Loathsome Lip

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Did you know The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie just came out yesterday? It’s a little know fact that I’m a die-hard comic fan, especially anything from Marvel and DC Comics. So when a movie comes out, the giddy kid in me comes out as well.

That said, we hardly ever go to a movie, much less an obviously popular one that just came out. Crowds, people, public? Ugh. Yeah, introvert is my middle name, there’s no use trying to hide it.

Anyway, Going Mom and I are getting crazy and going to see an early afternoon showing of the awesome Marvel superhero team in action while Aunt Stef watches Avery for us. Afterward, we’re heading to The Gingerman where they have a vast selection of local craft beer for us to enjoy. It’s the same place we went to before, so hopefully they have some new beer for us to try!

After a few rounds of beer (it doesn’t take much), we plan on walking around the town square in which the pub is located until we feel good enough to drive home. Aren’t we grand, being responsible and all? Once home, we have something we haven’t done in a while that needs to be addressed.

Hey, get your mind out of the gutter, it’s watch The Walking Dead! We haven’t seen a single episode since last weekend, so we’re eager to “catch up”. Seriously, binge watching a show is so much better than watching one at time. Thank you, Netflix!!

Nothing extremely romantic, but time away with just the wife doesn’t happen enough anymore, so it’s become a little luxury for us both. Thanks to G-Ma (my mom) and Aunt Stef (Kelley’s sister), we are able to get away every now and then which, from what I’m told, is good for relationships! 🙂

Speaking of relationships, Avery’s bottom lip was still being headstrong even after my second plea to knock off the evil cuteness power it beholds. Coincidence or not, the same day I posted about her rogue bottom lip, Avery busted it, hard!

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I’ll apologize to you now, Avery, I know this picture isn’t the most glamorous. Sorry. It doesn’t help having remnants of the spinach, banana, and black bean puree I made on her mouth.

She was playing with Mommy’s sweater and tripped over it making her bite the ground. Lots of thick blood and a screaming toddler later, you get the picture above. She actually handled it better than I would expect, but the rest of the night was not the most fun.

Despite the swelling, she seemed to handle whatever pain she had the next day, Friday, pretty well.

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It hasn’t turned the yellowish purple I figure will eventually appear, but there’s still plenty of time. Hopefully that bottom lip has learned its lesson and will think twice before showing itself again.

I’m actually amazed at how well she was eating. She chowed down the NuttZo and banana combo like a champ, as referenced by the leftovers on her lips.

Oh, and speaking of champ, the “champ”agne I brought home for my wife apparently grew arms to write this note. And then lost the arms…

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Weird, it has crappy handwriting just like me! Small world.

Just figured it would be nice to have a good beverage while watching The Walking Dead. My drink of choice will be this potato vodka I picked up with a Zevia Tonic Water.

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Never tried potato vodka before (maybe Hammy can fill me in), but I know for a fact that Zevia is awesome with or without a mix-in.

I don’t expect to be on the computer much this weekend, so hope you enjoy it like I know I will!

Can you remember the first time your kid busted his/her lip or does it have yet to happen?

Are you going to see the new Avengers movie?

Life, Parenting

5 Turtles Free and Uncle P Turns 23

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Over the course of April, Avery and I have rescued 5 turtles from meeting their demise by something even their tough shells can’t withstand; cars. Texas has been fortunate enough to have lots and lots of rain so far, but this tends to bring more wildlife into the busy streets as they try to cross over to another safe-haven.

We’ve rescued both baby and fully grown terrapins and felt great knowing their life is at least prolonged just a little longer. Sadly, we also found many we couldn’t get to in time as they already met with their round rubber assassins.

My heart sinks a little each time I see one of those tiny turtles flat on the road. Unlike their bigger counterparts, they look like nothing more than a small stone to drivers. But, how about we focus on what we can control, like moving the living turtles off of the road.

I shared all but one turtle rescue on Instagram, but want to bring them all together in one post on my blog. But, before we go through each “saving”, I need to say something….

Happy 23rd Birthday Preston!

(aka Brother/Uncle P)

Yep, today, May 1st, is my little bro’s birthday. I don’t get to hang out with him that much, but need to have another night where we go enjoy a few craft beers. Avery also doesn’t get to see him as much as since the last picture we have is from Christmas.

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We’ve seen him more recently than that, but never took a picture. Look at how much Avery has changed in just a few months, yikes!!

Anyway, Preston, if you’re reading this (I’ll also call you since that would be the brotherly thing to do), lets find a time to meet up so I can buy you a round of beers for your birthday, mmmmmmkay?

What better way to commemorate Uncle P’s birthday than to go over the turtles we’ve rescued last month? After all, his gamer tag/name on Halo, which we used to play ALL the time, was Turtle. It only makes sense, right?

1. The first one was a baby water turtle (actually, all of these are water turtles) that we found on our afternoon walk (again, all of these were found on one of our daily walks). This guy stayed with us for about a week before I realized I had no idea why I was keeping it, so back to the wild next to a serene creek bed he went.

“Lyle Leo” was supposed to be “Little Leo”, for Ninja Turtles, but stupid auto-correct wins again! Maybe that’s why he paused before heading off to find his family.

2 & 3. Then we found a mommy or daddy turtle with its little one. They were next to the curb, but trying to get to the other side of the road. Abby stood guard as I helped them cross.

4. This was a quickie rescue mission for another baby turtle. I saw, I picked up, I carried to a nearby lake, I forgot to take a picture. Instead, here’s an old pic of our escapee pet box turtle, Tash, from a year ago. This is when we first introduced Avery to my favorite creatures and G-Ma was there to help.

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5. And the last one, saved just this past Wednesday, was the biggest turtle I’ve seen in our neighborhood to date! I had to put the mean snapper in a box and it literally weighed about 10 – 12 pounds!

I even caught video of the release. This is not the kind of turtle you want to pet. Avery walked right up to it and I had to grab her fast just as he snapped. Phew, close call!

Who knows what May will bring in terms of animal rescues? But one thing’s for sure, we’ll be there, walking and looking to help out whenever possible!

Do you encounter certain wildlife in your area often?

Do you or have you ever had to rescue an animal around your neighborhood or anywhere else?