Making time for me! ;)

Okay so I’ve been back and forth lately and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m worn out from work, kids or just this winter weather, most likely a combo of all 3.

I have two big goals I want to work towards. My first goal is to be on a good workout routine one year after going back to work from maturity leave. The BIG one for me is in just 1 year and 7 months I will be 40!!! My hopes and dreams is to weight the same as I did prior to having kids.  

March 18^th. 2014 is my 1 year mark for returning to work after having my 3rd and last buddle of joy…  I’m down about 10 pounds, but I had hoped to be down about 20 to 25 pounds. I’m pretty typical in the fact that I’ll start a program and within a week or so, I’m back where I started. I know what I have to do but, I just have a hard time staying on track. I’m hoping with the warmer weather I’ll be a little more motivated.

So I’ve tried a couple things… I got a treadmill, but its sitting in the living room not getting a whole lot of workouts in. I also tried working out during my lunch hour and I did really well for about a week.  The following week I had all the intentions of going to the gym and I was excited for my accomplishments and efforts. However, each day I would come up with a reason why I couldn’t go and now I‘m not even bringing in my gym clothes.  

I really want to be at a good routine by my 1 year mark, so I think the next thing I’m going to do is get up early enough for a 30 minute jog each day. I plan to follow the Body for Life eating program and allow myself only one cheat day. The hardest for me is going to be wine!! J I’m going to follow the workout plan lightly, as I’m a lot happier when I’m running than lifting weights. I’ll plan to do some weights though and want to add the activities from the picture above to me daily routine.

So here's my first week’s workout and meal plan!! I can do this!!!!

Week 1

Pre-make all my meals for the week.

4:30am get up and get outside… Cardio/jog 30 minutes!

Breakfast - 16oz of water, Coffee, Boiled egg, Banana and Slice of whole wheat toast.

Snack - 6oz hot tea, 10oz of water, hand full of grapes and small portion (about 3 teaspoons) of cottage cheese.

Lunch - salad with chicken. Lite dressing, 16oz of water

Snack- apple, 16oz of water

Dinner – Lean protein, veggie, 16oz of water, yogurt.

And that’s it. It’s not much but I know if I make it too complicated, I won’t stick to it. So I think this is something I can start with. I hope to post next Sunday with my results and I look forward to taking on this 12 week challenge.

October 2013

Okay so it's October 15th and I'm just now posting my challenge this month :)
here we go....
-finish quilt!!!!!
-workout after work each day
-drink more water
-do a quick workout each morning
Well thats it folks...I've been really busy this month and I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better... Happy Tuesday

Pop Art Painting

Here is the orginal photo and below is the photo cartooned  
 

This was created on http://cartoon.pho.to/

It was really easy to use. Just upload your pitcure and they do the rest! :)

 

Here I just took the copy of the cartooned picture and blew it up to the size I wanted to trace onto the canvas. I did 200x’s on the copier and used some tracing paper to copy the image on the canvas. The pictures on the right side are the photo and the cartooned picture to use as a guide when I start painting

.

 

and here is the ROUGH  draft of the image traced and drawn. I think I may change the size of the title RYDER and make it larger (any thoughts??)

 

So that's where I'am at right now...I did get some pianting done the other day and hope to do some more this Sunday :)

September's challenge 2013

YAW~~~ Back to school this month! :)
I know, I know but I can't help myself...not only does Ryan start 1st grade this year, but Mr Ryder starts preschool 2 days a week! :)
I'm excited for a few reasons. I'm excited for the boys to start a new phase in there life. I'm excited to be back on a schedule. I'm excited for the fall weather, and I'm excited to have some well needed time to do somethings just for me!

Overall I'm really happy with all the things I completed in August. There were just a few things around the house that I didn't get to...painting the house foundation....finishing the side yard....and moving the book case (I'm planning to get that done this coming Tuesday!) Either way I really happy to have gotten so much completed last month!

So what's on the list for September...
-Finish all back to school shopping (I should finish this up today)
-Start college classes and complete my course requirements
-get those darn t-shirts already
-finish Ryder's painting! (I'm starting this today and look forward to sharing the process on my blog)
-pay for vacation for October
-get pool safety cover
-finish side of yard
-continue with planning meals for the week and start my workout program (I was doing really well with this but had a set back the last few weeks, so I'm going to get back on board with this)
-and last but by far not least...... RYDER'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Sunday all and I hope everyone completes all their goals for the coming month!!!!

Recap August goals 2013

Well I'm pretty stoked on how much I've completed this month!
I'm getting the rest of my river rock and plants today and tomorrow! It's about time; I started this project back in June!!!!! I also plan to get a bunch of scrapbook pages completed this weekend :)

This is want I've been able to complete so far....

-NBC Monday and Wednesday
-Work on river rock
-Open Bank account for Ryan and Saving for Reid/ update direct deposit info
-Start School??? (waiting on money! fingers crossed)/
-Go through Baby clothes (doing this tonight)
-Start planning Ryders 3rd Birthday Party (already started)
-Plan Vacation in September
-Update PTA membership on Facebook
-Got my dayplanner

and here's some of the things I still would like to do

-Finish "Forgotten God"(Ernie is keeping me from this :))) )
-Complete 5 scrap pages(doing that this weekend!)
-Get t-shirts and Canvas(going to try and get the canvas today!)
- driveway rock and plants - flocks and knock-out roses
-Work on leaves (I hate the leaves!!!!)
-Move book case to living room/ make a study area for boys(hopefully this weekend if not tonight)
-Paint house foundation (Maybe Tuesday or Thursday next week)

Last, I looked over my 101 things to do 1001 days list and was able to cross some of those goals off today.... I've got intil April of 2014 - to update that list , but I may do it in the next few months :)
Here's a quick recap of that list as well...........

****1. Use all body lotion, body wash, soap, shower gel, and body scrub before buying more

2. Put $1,000 into savings

****3. Get 8 hours of sleep every night for 2 weeks **** (started 06-20-2011, I tried to away and I think I did a pretty good job... I may try this again very soon :))))

4. Go for a picnic in a secluded spot

5. Read three new books of the Bible

6. Dine out, just the 2 of us, once every 2 weeks for 2 months

7. Make homemade ice cream

****8. Plan a treasure hunt **** (We had a great treasure hunt for Easter 2012)

9. Find a new restaurant worthy of becoming a new favorite

10. Don't say anything negative for 1 day

11. Support a charity walk/run

12. Fix master bedroom closet door

****13. Stay within holiday shopping budget for 2011, 2012 and 2013

14. Watch the sunset from the top of a mountain

15. Build a scarecrow

*****16. Complete all my craft projects before I buy any new ones *****

17. Don't complain about anything for a week

****18. Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"**** Completed 06-14-2011

19. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go

20. Send a message in a bottle

****21. Identify 100 things that make me happy Completed **** 06-20-2011

22. Buy something from Etsy

****23. Make a list of my 50 favorite movies *****Completed 06-15-2011

****24. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself *****(I did it and even found 100 things I like about myself ;) Completed 06-13-2011

25. Become a bone marrow donor

26. Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet

27. Do the polar bear swim on New Year's Day

28. Take a photo of the same place every month for year and then turn it into a calendar for the next year

*****29. Keep a “My Day in Six Words” journal for 6 months********

30. Plant a tree on Earth Day

31. Make some Fourth of July cupcakes

****32. Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011****

33. Watch a movie at a drive-in

34. Play classical music during meal preps

*****35. Make my bed every day for a week.*****

36. Put one piece of fine art in each room

37. Make and hang flower boxes

****38. Visit a church on Wednesday night**** (March 28th....I just started attending a women's bible study on Wednesday nights at my Church!!! I Love It!!!!!!!!!!!)

39. Go camping at three state parks I've never visited each year. (Westmoreland-2013)

40. Plant grass in the fall

41. Write a yearly letter

42. Take an adult ed class of some sort

****43. Buy Christmas presents in advance **** (I'm right on track this year!! 2011)

44. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping

45. Make something for my best friend

****46. Decorate half bath in the kitchen**** (Started Saturday August 13th, 2011)

****47. Sort the mail when it comes in, instead of letting it accumulate into a huge pile first***** (so far so good!! November 18, 2011)

****48. Take a multivitamin every day for a week ***** (Prenatal vitamins)

49. Use those teeth whitening strips and finish pack

50. Have a spa day

51. Pay off 3 credit cards (2 so far...YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!) 

52. Take kids to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House

****53. Do all the lessons in "A Course in Miracles"**** (Started August 11th, 2011)

54. Paint a wall mural

55. Work on children’s book and Publishing

56. Go back to school and complete degree

*****57. Pull out “The Creative Artist” book and work on some new ideas *****(2011 September and October, Made a still life drawing using my left hand, and journal my weekend with drawing's) Still have more to do though*****

58. Go white water rafting

****59. Take kid’s to the beach once each summer****(2011 August 9th and 10th, August 6th 2012, 2013)

60. Run a ½ marathon

61. Visit a Renaissance fair

62. Make stained glass windows

****63. Go to “Drive Through” Zoo *****(Completed, July 9th, 2011, I think we will do that again...lots of fun!!)

*****64. Finish baseball books*****

65. Finish back deck and get furnishings

66. Complete master bath in upstairs bedroom

****67. Get rocks for back yard ***** (finally found a guy on craigs list giving away his landscaping rocks!! April 2012)

68. Buy produce at farmers market 10 times

69. Finish baby books and older scrap books and photo books

70. Get new carpet and floor for living room and kitchen

*****71. Redo full bath downstairs*****

72. Get solar film for back windows and skylights

73. Get a safety cover

74. Spend the weekend without any phone or TV

75. Upload videos into on-line saving system

76. Go through old 8mm video’s and watch them outside during the summer

****77. Start an allowance and chore list for Ryan **** (Started September 12th, 2011)

78. Have one day a month for each kid, just them and me!

79. Get my hair cut and colored without being concerned about money

80. Buy a pair of red flannel pajamas that you wear only on Christmas Eve

81. Take a holiday photograph each year in the same spot, such as by a favorite tree in your yard. In years to come, you’ll have a wonderful record of the growth of your family, as well as the growth of the tree

82. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, read by candle light about the birth of Jesus in Luke, chapter 2

83. Fill a basket with photo’s from past Christmases. Put it in a prominent spot

84. Take a family portrait

85. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years

****86. Send a secret to Post Secret (August 16th, 2011)****

****87. Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home décor**** (Finish my Picaso Cubism and added a quote..turned out great! Feb 2012)

88. Read a book in a day

89. Trace my Family Tree

90. Go to a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing at midnight

91. Finish a 500 + piece jigsaw

92. Go to at least one concert

93 Achieve my goal weight

94. Watch an entire season of a television show in a weekend

95. Try a new recipe every month for a year

96. Sky Dive

97 Visit five local restaurants I've never been to (Crazy Greek of Midlothian July 30th, 2011)

98 Complete the 100 push-up challenge

99. Complete the 200 sit-up challenge

100. Attend a book reading

101. Make snow angels

I really need to update my list :) HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 2013

My oh my, it's August 6th ALREADY!!!!
July flew by and in just 4 weeks the kiddos will back to school/preschool. (smiling inside:)))))
We finally got the pool completely cleaned and we can now SWIM in it! It took about 2 weeks total to drain it, refill, and get the chemicals right! I'm so glad to finally get it straight and get the new safety cover on this Sep/Oct.
I was able to get a lot done in July, but still have a long list of things I want to complete by this summer. While my list is long, many of the things are easy goals that will only take a little bit to complete! So here we go:
-Finish "Forgotten God"
-VBS Monday and Wednesday
-Complete 5 scrap pages
-Get t-shirts and Canvas
-Work on river rock, driveway rock and plants (flocks and knock-out roses)
-Open Bank account for Ryan and Saving for Reid/ update direct deposit info
-Work on leaves
-Move book case to living room/ make a study area for boys
-Start School??? (waiting on money! fingers crossed)/ Get boys school supplies
-Go through Baby clothes (doing this tonight)
-Paint house foundation
-Start planning Ryders 3rd Birthday Party (already started)
-Plan Vacation in September
-Update PTA membership on Facebook
.
 Well thats the big list !!. Happy Tuesday and best of luck with your monthly goals!
 

July 2013

JULY!!!!!

Well I really didn't do very well with completing my goals in June... I did manage a few things and I've decided to reevaluate what I'm doing and how I'm spending my time.

There’s a ton of stuff I want to get done this month and the summer, so I'm going to try and really knock it out of the park the next few months, but ironically I plan to be less busy!

So here are my hopes and goals for July!

- read 1984

- clean/ detail car

- wake-up by 4:00 am on work days and get things out the night before

- work on scrap pages, and baby books

- work on Ryder’s quilt and art project

- continue weekly meal plans

- NO alcohol

- Photo a day

- Finish river rock, fill dirt and add 3 plants and flocks to front... get driveway rocks added

- Beth Moore study

- backyard teepee

- July forth cupcakes or cookie

- Make homemade ice-cream

- continue workouts after work

So there it is, my monthly challenge ;)