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Day 3 of 21 – First Workout & Random Acts of Swearing

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legdaytoilet

Whew. Day 3. Helloooo Day 3.  Today was my first session with my new trainer, Tyler.  When I walked into the gym, I saw my Mestie, Ben.  We hugged, high-fived and warmed up together on the treadmill.  Ok, let’s clarify that.  I warmed up. He took a break from lifting weights the size of me.

Tyler, much like Ben, is all about form.  I love this.  Bad Form = not just potential injuries, but the possibility of being “that guy”.  You know..the dude that everyone looks at like, “What in the hell is he doing?” Note: you don’t want to be that guy.

Bent over Row, Lunges, Leg Lifts.  Sounds pretty easy right?  Well, tell that to my legs.  I have the most restless legs in the world tonight.  Stairs and I are fighting and I’m purchasing a parachute on Amazon Prime for my free falls to the toilet seat.  Oh Leg Day, you son-of-a-bitch..you ol’ sailor you…I LOVE YOU.

Words cannot express how great I feel after a workout like that.  My form was on point. Tyler mentioned on more than one occasion that he was excited to see I was not just practicing good form, but that I was strong.

Strong is what I want to be.  Not skinny, not great in a bathing suit.  I just want to be Strong, Healthy and Fit.
I made a new recipe tonight, Egg Roll in a Bowl.  Pretty much all the good stuff from the inside of an egg roll.  Find the Recipe here

Tomorrow’s goal?  Power through another session, especially if it’s upper body. I’m gettin’ my hair did…so this girl won’t have to even try to wash her own!  Oh, and drink more water.  This one is big.

I’m off to bed, swearing with every step down the stairs as if calling my legs dirty names will make them hurt less.  Nope.  Magnesium will though.  (yes I supplement)

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Rub-a-Dub-Dub, I made a bathtime Salt Scrub!

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If there is one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I have a secret 2nd life.  The only way to meet the “other brook” is to peruse my Pinterest Boards.  Seriously. I have an addiction to pinning things that will never come to fruition due to lack of time, funds and, well, ambition.  But I will pin them like it’s my job.

Every now and then, I actually DO set forth to conquer a pin from my boards and although it’s never PINTEREST FAIL worthy, it usually ends up needing some tweaking.

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Enter Peppermint & Lemon Foot Soak.  I loved everything about this pin.  From the look of the finished Pinterest project to the thought of keeping it holistic and in-house.

So I made this “by the book”.  Looked great, smelled decent, but I wasn’t totally sold.  The recipe called for using Peppermint and lemon EXTRACT.  Hmm.  Not too sure.  It had a strong alcohol scent like it would using extract.  So, I sealed it up and figured I’d let it meld for a bit, per the recipe.

The more I sat there looking at it, the more I was like. Nope.  So I decided to take out my #YoungLiving oils.  I am not an oil lady, I don’t sell them I don’t promote them, but I have a few that have been rockstars for me; Peppermint, Lemon, Lavender.

So I made this recipe exactly EXCEPT, I used a few drops of each of the three oils INSTEAD of the extracts…and BOOM! There it was.  That was the glorious smell I was looking for and it was less liquid which kept the tea leaves from bleeding into the salt making it a weird green color.

footsoak

Peppermint-Lemon-Lavender Sea Salt Foot Scrub
(Adapted from Peppermint & Lemon Foot Soak.)

1 cup EPSOM SALT
1 cup KOSHER SALT (or sea salt)
2 Tablespoons PURE PEPPERMINT TEA (not flavored, but pure)
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Cornstarch
Peppermint, Lavender & Lemon Essential Oils (I used Young Living)

  1. Mix both salts together in a bowl until smooth
  2. Add Olive Oil and mix until smooth
  3. Add 3-5 Drops of each oil mix well until smooth (no lumps)  You may want to use more or less of the oils, they are potent. So Add to your liking.
  4. Mix in Baking soda and Cornstarch until smooth
  5. Lastly, add in the tea leaves.  If you can’t find loose tea, I bought bags and cut them open to get my Peppermint tea.
  6. Mix it all (should be like a grainy sand) and store in an airtight container.  I put mine in Mason Jars and am giving a few for gifts 🙂

update on the original recipe.  Once I made the jars with the Essential Oils, I threw out the others with the extracts.  They didn’t hold a candle to the EO ones. ❤

 

Pinterest, Printables and Parenting: The Three P’s of Timothy’s 3rd Birthday

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In the words of another mom tonight, “OH MYLANTA”.  It’s been so ding danged long since I’ve posted on this site. I feel like I should rename it Won’t Post Ever.  ugh.  But tonight, I’m waiting for my husband’s pants to dry before I hit the sheets so here I am.

IMG_0333Timothy just turned 3 on Friday and we even threw together a last minute dinner with Family tonight.  My In-laws were here, as were my two best friends and the best neighbors we could ask for.  My mom was unable to make it, and it felt empty without her.  Maybe that’s why, as we were getting the house ready today, I started to feel guilty that I didn’t plan a big party; no balloons, no theme, no big cake.  It was just a dinner.

Well, let’s just say the “Free Printables” I found on Pinterest and my trusty printer came to the rescue.  We still didn’t have a theme, but I did print off a Curious George Party Hat and a couple little things to make it a little more festive.  We had a cupcake with 3 candles and I pulled out the table cloths from last year’s birthday.  To top it all off, I still had balloons from last birthday as well, and working in radio, we always have helium at the ready, so I ran into work to blow up a couple balloons.  BOOM. we’ve got a “party”

It wasn’t much, it didn’t all match and no I didn’t make the salads from scratch, but it was great company and Timothy was so tired in the end that I thought he’d be sleeping with his cupcake rather than eating it.

IMG_0353I don’t know why we get so caught up in everything being “good enough” for our children.  I mean “good enough” is 100% in the eye of the beholder.  There were no invites, no goodie bags, no running like crazy to coordinate, just family and friends and laughs.  Honestly, I think that’s more than enough.

Fixing my Marriage…and self …one Pinterest project at a time.

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Finding my path to health and wellness has not come easy to me.  I can see, plain as day, what I need to do, but the motivation to do so, is another ordeal entirely.

Stress from work, home, family, money, blah blah blah…has really put a damper on my spirit as of late and I’m looking for outlets to bring back my vigor, my creative, fun nature and my drive.  I may have found it.

Charlie working 1My husband and I have started “projects”.  The kind of projects that either fill our house, are gifted to others, or sold for a little extra cash.  There is something lively and electric about the search for the perfect pieces to our masterpieces.  Sometimes it’s a simple drive to the Home Depot or Thrift Store, other times it a 30 min drive to get wooden pallets from a friends farm.  It’s always an adventure and always a challenge.

When we get the products, it about how we can do it better than the last time, improve it, get MORE creative and Charlie and I just gel during these!

Projects_workingWe get so caught up in our crazy lives that Charlie and I tend to nit-pick at each other for the dumbest things.  When we are creating together, however, it’s like a new spark, a new journey and it’s so refreshing.  It’s like craft time for adults!

Someday, we’ll teach Timothy how to use the saws, hammers and more to create for himself, but for now, Pinterest has become the catalyst to our “date nights” and I’m so grateful!

Chalkboard_joy to the world Chalkboard_joy wreath Chalkboard_little things
Pallet Art_Framed Monograms winerack_1 winerack_2

 

Overnight Oats & Weighing in on the Weekend

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SELF_3lbs week

3LBS BOOM!

Last week was my first week in over a month that I was able to make it to all three of my training sessions.  It was glorious!  As of Friday, my birthday, I was down 3.0 lbs from Monday.  I’ve set a minimum of 2.5 lbs per week goal til my Nashville Trip.  That will at least put me 10lbs down, and although I will still be far from my goal, I’ll be 10lbs lighter in my step.  After an awesome workout and a little extra cardio on Friday, I headed home.

Everyone kept asking me what I was doing, where I was going, how drunk I was going to get.  Truth be told, none of the above.  Other than a super tight budget due to paying for our upcoming trip to Vegas, I wasn’t about to take those 3 pounds and just put them back on with night of drinking which inevitably leads to a late night trip through the Taco Bell Drive through and a day of Carbs licking my liver’s wounds the next day.  I was surprised at everyone’s reaction to this.  They felt sorry for me.

Well, they were the only ones feeling sorry for me.

FOOD_PB&JInstead of the normal Mexican Village or other restaurant free meal or dessert, I opted for something that wasn’t totally naughty, but also wasn’t on plan.  Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  Let me tell you.  After a week of eating Chicken, Broccoli, brown rice, Oatmeal and Whey Protein..this sandwich was like a flavor explosion consisting of winning the lottery, getting a pony and fireworks over the lake all wrapped into one.

Saturday my husband took his 1970 John Deere Snowmobile to the antique Snowmobile Ride In in Waconia and I got to spend the day with Timothy.  We never left the house once.  We made Valentine’s Day Window Clings to send to family and made our first finger painting masterpiece.  Then we read a couple books, napped and laughed a lot.  I’d say it was a pretty awesome day.

Sunday was a day to plan.  If there is one thing that I’ve noticed, eating clean is not always cheap. Especially when you have a 17 mos old and a husband to feed as well.  So, planning this week on a tight budget was insane. After 45 mins of coupon clipping, Target Cartwheeling and sale shopping, I took a load of Groceries that rang up at $112 and the coupons brought it down to $72.00. BOOM!  #SuperShopper.

I decided to try an overnight Oats recipe I found on Pinterest.  I’m really digging it, but next time I’ll make this variety without the maple.  I don’t know why I put it in there.  I loathe oatmeal with cinnamon, maple or brown sugar varieties.  I’ll eat brussel sprouts before those. That’s saying alot.  Brussel Sprouts are like ipecac for me.  So I used Blueberries and Almond milk.  They turned out great, just weird to eat them cold, but that’s easy to get over 🙂

1st week official weigh in today at 2:30 pm.  Excited and nervous all at the same time.  Let’s keep this Train rollin’!

FOOD_Overnight Oats 2

Best Picture I could get…I scarfed these before I took it..whoops.

Overnight Oats with Blueberries & Maple

  • Small 1/2 pint canning jar with lid/ring
  • 1/4 c Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1/4 c Greek Yogurt
  • 1/3 c Unsweetened Almond Milk
  • 1 Tbl Flax Seed / Chia Seed /or mix
  • Blueberries to fill
  • Tsp Maple Syrup
  1. Put the Oats, Milk, Yogurt & seeds into the jar.  Cover and shake til mixed.
  2. add Maple and fill the jar with Blueberries.
  3. Cover again, shake til mixed then put in fridge overnight.
  4. Enjoy Cold or hot the next morning.  (evidently this keeps for up to 3 days)

(Adapted from this Post)

Ritz Sandwich Crackers, Tow Trucks and 50 Shades of Menards.

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I don’t really know why certain things happen to me, they just do.  Maybe it’s because my quirky sense of humor can handle it so God sends these situations my way, and maybe it’s because I’m just as whacked as everyone else, who knows.

My weekend consisted of a little bit of work, lots of family time (aka drill sargeant husband and his list of cleaning duties will had to get done) and a good amount of shopping.

First off, Saturday I end up getting the bill for my unpaid parking tickets.  Yeah Bout that.  Not a good starter to 48 hours straight in the house with your husband.

Next came the task of dinner.  I had been planning this dinner for 3 days at this point.  Rosemary Citrus Roast Chicken with Parmesan Roasted Potatoes.  Oh the joy of the smell of potatoes and Chicken roasting.  They looked amazing.  So, after approx an hour, I checked and the juices were clear.  Took the bird from the oven, covered it and let it rest while the potatoes finished.

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Rosemary Citrus Roast Chicken

Now at this point, the baby was in bed.  We were having a late dinner and a movie at the house.  I’m all excited to get this Beautiful and CLEAN meal out to us and it happens.  Once slice near the thigh and BAM there is was. Uncooked Chicken.  Lord Save the Queen.  Of course, like any normal human being we panic like we’ve just poisoned the waterhole and start scrambling to save any and all livestock.  I start looking around the kitchen.  Right then left.  Left then Right. Then it dawns on me.  The oven is STILL on.  The Bird is STILL hot.  Just put it back in.  Ok.  The birds in the oven (disaster averted…kinda)

This is the point where the potatoes need to come out of the oven.  They look amazing. Then I realize that it will be quite awhile for the chicken still.  ugh.  so they go back in the oven as well.  We did finally eat.  45 mins later.  It still tasted good, nothing was burnt, but my pride was a bit bruised.

So the next morning, as I’m watching the final minutes of “Pitch Perfect” on HBO, we start making the list of things to do.  I get the kitchen organized and clean, then we take to the laundry and the Christmas Decorations.  So of course, I’m scanning Pinterest for ideas for the outdoor decorations for the house.  I am also in the process of slowly re-fabbing (aka Re-FABULOUS’ing) my downstairs bathroom and master bedroom.  So I take off for a night of shopping and crafting! yay!

BLOG_HOME_Jute LampOne of my stops is at Menards.  You know, the Midwests version of a Lowe’s Meets Home Depot meets Fleet Farm!  I need Jute Rope.  Thick Stuff so I can Wrap a pair of lamps I have so they look similar to this lamp I found on Pinterest.

I hop in the “6 Items or Less” line with my Jute Rope and Diet Coke and here comes this man and his cart with 6 Coleman Camp Stoves Propane Tanks, two large bags of ice melt and a gallon jug of Tampico.  He looks at me and straight faced says, “So ya gonna tie your man up tonight?”

Out of sheer shock, I blurt out the only thing that will come out of my mouth, “It’s for a lamp”.  I didn’t just say this, I shouted this.  The Cashier Jumped. Lord.

Fast forward to this morning.  My car is a pit.  Between carseat in, carseat out, trips here, trips there, you can find remnants of each trip.  It’s so bad.  So as I’m driving on this -7 degree day, I realise that my car is no longer accelerating.  OMG.  I push the gas and nothing. I can’t even hear a rev.  I’m Freaking out.  It looks as though my car is shut off.  ah!  I have a push start Altima and so I step on the brake and restart it…nothing.  So as I’m dialing a tow truck, since my husband at the time was on a plane to Houston, I come to a startling realization.  Hanging up  the phone as fast as I can to avoid a pickup followed by me faking a wrong number, I look down and there is a box of Ritz Cheese Sandwich Crackers jamming my gearshift into Neutral.

So if you ask how my weekend was, It was interesting.  I had a 70 year old man get all 50 shades of Jute rope on me at Menards and a box of Ritz almost cost me a $100 Tow Truck call and a ton of embarassment.

And…it’s only 2pm.

Citrus Rosemary Roasted Chicken and Sugar Cookie Oatmeal (an I Love Pinterest Post)

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Rockin’ the Good Ol’ Winter Gear..pretty much always now

In the world of Clean Eating, there are a two things I’ve come to the startling conclusion of:

1.  Not all Clean Eating Recipes are GOOD for weight loss.

2.  It doesn’t have to say Clean Eating to BE Clean Eating.

It’s cold here.  Really Cold.  Like -7 F is the Temperature at 2pm and the wind chill is -24 F.  No, I don’t live in the arctic and, no, we don’t have polar bears.  What we do have is the need for indoor activities and what better activities than cooking up some new clean meals in the kitchen! yay!

So of course I took to my good ol’ buddy Pinterest on this one.  If you search for Clean Eating recipes you’ll pretty much find a dominance of pins from Tara McNitt (Undressed

Skeleton website / pinterest) and Tiffany McCauley (The Gracious Pantry website / pinterest ).  Although they have some seriously awesome posts and constantly bring new ideas to the cutting board, sometimes you want to feel like you’re not having to steer that far from everyday food.  Here’s the part where your mind gets blown.  Much of today’s recipes are already clean, we just don’t realise it!  If they aren’t, usually a simple substitution on an item or two will convert it to clean status!

Here are two recipes I am going to try out this weekend!

and this one!

I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Want to follow me on Pinterest? BOOM here ya go!