Standby

Well, I have lots of fun, new things to share. BUT - I cannot find my camera cord ANYWHERE! So, since I think blog posts with no pictures are bor-ing, please standby until I find my camera cord or get a replacement! Hopefully in the next day or so!



be back soon!

Keep Going

Your legs are not giving out.
Your head is giving out.
Keep Running.

Just a hop..

skip, and a jump away from our house, buried in the mountains is this:






And on the way back home from all that beauty, along comes this:





We were just on a short cruise and found this lake unexpectedly. But, I'm looking forward to making a day trip up there sometime, hopefully soon!

A Mom is...

...a hairdresser?

Well, not quite, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

BEFORE:


His hair was in his eyes, over his ears, hanging over the back of his polo shirts. Yeah, it was bad. But he's such a worm that I didn't want to take him somewhere and have some grumpy hairdresser get frustrated, or accidentally poke his eyeball out :) So, I figured I couldn't mess it up TOO bad... I trimmed it a teensy bit over the weekend, then finished up tonight.



AFTER:






Muuuuuuuch better!

The Beginning

Today when we got back to town, I just decided that I was going to work out. I was going to put Brayden to bed, put my running clothes on, put my tennis shoes on, and I was going to run. If I ran for 5 minutes and wanted to quit, then fine, but I was going to get on the dang treadmill. Of course once I START running, I have no problem going for 20-30 minutes at least, but allowing myself to have the thought "I can quit after 5 minutes if I want" makes it seem easier. Try it!

I did Week 1 Workout 1 of The Couch-to-5k Program. It consisted of a 5 minute warm up, followed by alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down. Some people think watching the clock while your running makes it drag, but having to watch the timer to know when to switch intervals actually made it go by much faster for me.

What is it 30 days to make a habit? Something like that, anyone know? Whatever it is; day 1- check!

Accountability Needed...

I was browsing the good ol' interweb the other night (a hobby I indulge in far too often) when I came across a quote that said "People's unhappiness is caused by sacrificing what we want most for what we want right now". How flippin' true is that?! I'd say it's pretty close to 100% accurate in my life. Our society has taught us to want what we want, and want it right now. Everything is about instant gratification. Much to our dismay, good things take time. Anything worth having is worth waiting for.





My problem is that I get "too busy". I put other things higher on my priority list. I don't work out unless I can dedicate a good chunk of time to it. If I break down and eat something unhealthy, my day is "wasted" anyway so I continue to eat unhealthy, or choose not to work out. I make promises to myself that I know I can't keep, but still feel disappointed when I have failed to keep my promise. Change is gradual. How can I (or you) expect to go from not working out, to working out every day? Or from not caring about what you eat, to eating a strict diet? This time around (I feel like a broken record), I am making a commitment to ACT HEALTHIER. To LIVE healthier. To THINK healthier. To make healthy CHOICES. I am not going to punish myself for slipping up now and again. I am not going to view myself as a failure if I go to bed without working out. I am simply going to work towards becoming healthier, a little bit at a time.

I have heard a lot on other blogs about The Couch-to-5k Running program. I finally decided to check it out and it really doesn't seem too difficult. It works to build endurance, slowly. I am thinking about giving it a go, but I am so incredibly OCD that I'm afraid if I miss a day, or don't follow the program to a tee, my mind will go crazy over it. I can commit to the program three times a week, but I'd like to try to be working out more than that, so I'm considering following the program, and if I choose to work out on a "rest" day, I will either do a P90X video, or the 30 day shred video.

I am going to try to post one or two times a week about my progress as far as when I have worked out and what I have been changing in my diet. My ultimate goal is to lose about 20 pounds, but mostly I want to be back to the weight I was at pre-pregnancy. Currently I'm +11. Anyone else making commitments to work out more? Eat healthier? Let's be accountability partners!



[Note: Images are not mine, both were found on Pinterest, and I just noticed the 2nd one has a typo but I like the quote so I'm leaving it!]

DIY Book Display Shelves

We have so many books in this house it is unbelievable. Brayden absolutely loves books. It makes my heart melt when I see him choose to sit down with a book over playing with any of his toys, and he chooses to do so fairly often. I mean, the kid is ALL boy; he definitely does his fair share of running around like a wild man and playing with trucks, but he loves to sit down and look at books just as much as he likes playing with toys. As a Mama, of course this makes me very, very happy!

But- with so many books floating around and no where to put them, our house was quickly becoming a book graveyard. They were EV-ER-Y-WHERE! We had an extra bookshelf, just the standard shelf with three shelves and it just seemed generic. I wanted something that showcased the books so Brayden would continue to be drawn to them. I wanted him to see the FRONT of the book, not the spine. I also wanted him to be able to help put them away. Plus, being an interior design major, of course I wanted them to be cute!

I started scouring Pinterest for fun ideas for DIY bookshelves.



Rain gutter bookshelves were my first decision, but aluminum gutter I didn’t think was safe, and I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to paint vinyl gutter so I started searching again. I found a tutorial for some do-it-yourself picture display shelves, looked simple enough so off to Lowe’s I went for lumber. I ended up having to make a couple trips back but in the end my supplies were:

8 pieces of 1 x 4 x 4
4 pieces of 1 x 2 x 4
2 cans white primer spray paint
2 cans bright blue Valspar spray paint
2 cans bright green Valspar spray paint
1 can clear glossy sealant spray
1 box of 2 inch screws



I could have been tedious and OCD but pretty much it was my first ever DIY that involved any sort of “wood-working” so I just wanted to do the minimum and hope it turned out good enough (so unlike me..!). I started by priming all the wood, then painting the wood for 2 shelves green and the other 2 shelves blue.



At this point my trigger finger had turned in to jell-o and my feet were sprayed blue and green.



I predrilled the holes and then screwed the pieces together; 4 screws for each board I was putting together which was 8 screws per shelf. Once they were all put together, I did a coat of touch up paint and sealed them.



When I was screwing them into the wall, I didn’t really measure exactly perfect, but put the first one as low as I could put it, right above the outlet. Then I measured 9 inches from the top of one shelf to the bottom of the next for each of the remaining shelves. Originally I had measured 12 inches but when I stepped back it looked really weird so I put them closer together, 9 inches ended up looking really good and still fit a lot of his bigger books. I used a stud-finder to make sure the screws were anchored into the studs and used three 2-inch screws per shelf.



Eventually I would like to pull them down and re-paint them with real paint instead of spray paint, the spray paint looks fine but I think it would look better brushed on. I also plan to sand down the rough parts and round off the exposed corners. Eventually…