"The Notebook"

For my friends wedding I wanted to give her a special gift. We had been talking so much about different plans and what she wanted to do and there was so many ideas floating around that I decided a wedding notebook would be perfect as a little gift.

I got the idea from another friend of mine and she sent me files and files full or wedding organizing tips and checklists.

Next i just needed something fun to put it all in. This is what i came up with:

The last name is Swatski and they are having a superhero themed wedding (which i am totally excited for, it is going to be awesome)

All I needed for supplies was a cutout of the Superman logo, a notebook, sharpies and glitter glue.

I started by tracing the logo onto the notebook and then outlining it in the sharpie.

Then i finished it off by tracing over that with the colored glitter glue. It was so super easy. I am not really pleased with how the letters came out because the glue came out a little thicker then i wanted it to but overall it looks super cute and she loved it!

I am so excited for the wedding. The venue they chose is absolutely beautiful. The planning is coming together nicely and the next step we have is to go dress shopping! 

Happy Thursday Friends!

Dashboard

Yesterday was my best day yet with using my Fitbit. I struggles last week because i was off on a mini vacay visiting my sisters family over on the other side of the state.

Everyday it tracks your information and then you sync it with you computer and it shows you your results for that day. You can also look back at all the past days. You don't have to sync every day like i didn't for 5 days in a row while i was gone and it held all my data in the little device i wear around.

On average you are supposed to walk 10,000 steps in a day. Do you know how hard that is when you have a desk job? I get up and pace just so i can get extra steps in, or i jog in place for a few minutes. Even when i am at the gym i try to walk around extra. I still haven't hit that mark yet but am really hoping to soon. I have reached my calorie goal several times though. For my height and weight i am supposed to burn 2,184 calories a day. Yesterday i hit 2200 burned and i had 42 very active minutes. That little bar chart at the top of the picture breaks it down to how many steps you take every 15 minutes, the green lines are where i have walked over 1000 steps for those specific time frames.

Its hard to reach the goals it sets for me, but i literally try every day to get up and move around extra so i can. One day soon i will get there.

Also i was able to link my Fitbit account with My Fitness Pal account so it logs all the data together to show just what i did for what specific day. After "pretending" to go back on my diet a couple weeks ago and then taking a week off at my sisters house. I am back to a strict diet again. I bought and planned all my meals for the whole week ahead of time. Today is day 2 back on it and although i am starving i am remaining strong and am not going to give into the cravings.

Ah Monday

Last week was my first full week back at the gym and it was hard. I really enjoyed being back in the mindset to push my body to its limit.

I am excited to go today. 

I got a Fitbit Zip and loving it is an understatement. This little thing is amazing. It keeps track of calories burned, steps taken and distance walked. I have been wearing it while i sleep even so it tracks my sleep activity. 

This is not the fancy one by any means. I would love to have the bracelet but it wasn't in my budget. This one i got off eBay for $35 but they normally retail for about $60 which still to me seems like a lot. But after wearing it for a week I would have definitely paid the $60. Keep in mind though that it has to be hooked up to the internet to get it set up.

After the first couple days i realized that i do WAY to much sitting at work. So i started getting up and walking around more. I do a few jumping jacks here and there or i will jog in place just to get myself up and moving. I still have yet to hit the 10,000 recommended steps per day but i am getting closer! 

One thing i did to help me out was bought an elliptical. We had one but took it over to my sisters cause we didn't really use it much since we all went to the gym. She is still using it and i was looking for something to help me out on days i didn't go to the gym or so i could do my cardio at home instead of spending so much time at the gym So i searched our local yardsale page and found one for $35. It isn't the nicest one but it is perfect for what i need it for and i have only had it for a few days. I find myself jumping on it here and there for a few minutes to bump my heart rate up for a little while.

Tonight i am going to start off with a few minutes of cardio just to get my body warmed up then i am going to go into my normal workout routine but finish it at home and do my cardio there. I am pretty excited to try this out.

And yet again I am also start up My Fitness Pal again. I have been lazy about it and not paying super close attention to what i have been eating. But now that the holidays are over and I am all caught up on crocheting i am going to fully devote my mind back to myself to get to where i want to be.

Happy Monday Friends!

A lot has gone down in the last 2 weeks

Well lets see its been since before Christmas the last time i updated. In my defense i had some time off work and had to spend a lot of that doing my second job of crocheting. Since then:

I now have a nephew Hunter James, he sure is a handsome little fellow.

We had Christmas, she looks so precious in her Christmas dress and she actually cooperated for a picture.

We did some shopping. She didn't want to walk or sit in the cart but i refused to carry her. We are at the point where I am tired of carrying her and she needs to walk. I am all for this but she doesn't feel the same.

I am caught up on crochet orders for now. I do still have a few but i am not so overwhelmed that my life completely revolves around it which is kind of nice.

It has been 3 weeks since i have been to the gym (minus the 1 day i got to go last week). I am so ready to go back! I still have a little ways to go to reach my goal and want to continue on my fitness journey. However what i am not looking forward to is the hoards of people that are going to be there working on their New Years resolutions. Unfortunately for me 5pm is the ONLY time that works for my schedule for me to go to the gym, it also happens to be the busiest time of day there.

We are making progress on the house. I have had to make threats about sending in formal complaints (which we are going to do no matter what at this point). But if all goes according to plan we should be finished with this all very soon and finally be able to move into our house. I cannot even begin to explain how frustrating this whole situation has been and how hard it is to be patient but it will work out in the end if it is supposed to.

Happy Monday!

~~~Added in i forgot to mention that 2 sets of our friends got engaged! Our friend Kim proposed to her BF Matt (Jason's current roommate) on his birthday. There is a long story behind it but i videod it and am so grateful that they asked us to be involved in non only the day they got engaged but I am also going to be in the wedding.

The other being Jason's old roommates Tim and Robyn got engaged on New Years Eve at the get together we were all at. He proposed right at Midnight and it was very special :)

I am so very happy for all of them!

Fingers and Toes

Who doesn't love festive nails!

This was super easy to do. All you do is take a bobby pin and dip one of the rounded ends in polish and put your dots where you want them. The end of the bobby pin i used wasn't super round so i didn't get perfect circles but you get the idea. 

Its easier then using the brush, where you know in the back of your head you are just going to end up with a blob instead of a dot, but you do it anyways.

I am officially done with crochet orders for before Christmas, I have a lot of spare time now so i will probably end up working on some of the others i have to do just so i am really caught up on things. It was a little scary there for a few days and i didn't think i was going to finish, but i did and it was a huge relief.

Kendall is so excited for Christmas and i really can't wait either.

Merry Christmas Friends!

First time Auntie!!!

Today in the next few hours (hopefully for my sisters sake) I will become an Auntie. My older sister Prairie Princess and her hubby made their way to the hospital last night around midnight to start preparing for Puppy Marshmallow's big arrival.

Puppy Marshmallow is the name Kendall gave to him because they are keeping his name a secret until he is born.

I so wish i could be there for her and even make a trip in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately due to work and time off it will be a couple months before we get to go :(

I am so anxious and excited that i can hardly contain myself. I got lucky with only 5 hours of labor before Kendall was born and i know that is not the case with most first time labors. This waiting game is hard though. It is driving me crazy but i know soon enough that sweet little boy will make his appearance. 

Happy Thursday Friends, I hope you are having a Merry Christmas season and that you are all getting your shopping done.

Mission Almost Accomplished

This is what a typical work week looks like for me. This was last week. It only lasted 2 days and ya there are a lot of people here but when someone brings in food people chow down. This is also why i didn't reach my goal by Thanksgiving. There is always snacks here. One of the ladies likes to go to the grocery store before work and you can tell when she is hungry when she goes cause she brings back Puffcorn (which is AMAZING by the way) those are oreo marshmallow squares you see on the side, then some peanut butter fudge, butterfingers and whoppers. This week there are turtle pretzels, peppermint oreo white truffle bark, sugar cookies and truffles.

This was our Thanksgiving spread. We like to have potlucks here and they definitely don't disappoint. When you have 15 people each bring something different in large portions. It usually results in almost everyone leaving early to go home and take a nap. Every couple of months we will do this to just reward everyone for the hard work they have been doing and its a great way to socialize with the other workers on a different level instead of only chatting while we work.

These are reasons why i have struggled to reach my goal. However as of today i am only 3 lbs away and i am determined to get there by the end of the year. Which means it took me almost a whole year but i lost 20 lbs, WOW, i am more then happy with myself for this.

I have been so busy with crocheting that i decided until i am caught up i am going to take some time off from the gym and will most likely start going back after Christmas. I have however been going to a pound rock out class twice a week and it is awesome. I have never had my whole body worked so hard in 45 minutes before. I am literally sore for days after and even though i have only been a couple times i can definitely see a transformation in my body from using my muscles differently.

That is one of the things that is the hardest for a lot of people who get into a consistent routine. You do the same thing over and over and over and your body gets used to it, that is where i am at right now with the gym. But since adding in this pound class i get a good cardio and muscle workout. It has been a nice change. Best part about it is the whole month of December the pound class is FREE.

Happy Tuesday Friends. Only a week until Christmas and i haven't wrapped a single present, oops.