Tone Up Tuesday

OK here we go its Tuesday again and its time to get back on it. I said that I would introduce a new workout this week so here it is. This one comes from The Great Balancing Act. I think I might like her blog, it re-reminds me of workouts and circuts that I have forgotten over the years. So I have two goals this week
1) To Write Everything Down That I Eat.
2) Complete this Workout 3 time and also complete two days of total cardio.

We have family pictures on the 10th so I have a little under two weeks to clean up before then so wish me luck!!

Make it Monday

Well how was everyone's Thanksgiving? Due to the holiday I decided to take a break for a bit. Working in education I had the blessing to have the week off to enjoy my family and friends. I also was able to complete a TON of projects that you will get to see in the weeks ahead.

Yesterday my girl friends and I had our Holiday DIY party. A few weeks before each holiday we have been getting together to hold a Do It Yourself party. Each time a different friend hosts the party. Each girl (we keep it small only 4-5 girls) brings a completed project and enough supplies for everyone else to make the same or similar project. So you bring 5 of the same undone projects and leave with 5 different finished projects. We also bring our kids for a big play date, usually my mom will keep an eye on them for us while we create. Everyone also brings something to snack on too.

Today's Make It Monday is a rundown of the awesome projects of our Holiday DIY party.

1) Fabric Christmas Trees

This was a Pinterest find like all my projects. In fact I think all of our projects were. I would have made a tutorial for you but Cyndy from The Creativity Exchange did such a great job I will just send you to her. I found these to be fairly easy to make but I don't know if all of the girls would agree with me. I think the toughest part is getting and keeping the fabric smooth. I am pretty thrilled at how mine turned out though. They do take a bit if patience.

2) Felt Pointsetta Pillow Case

The picture defiantly does not give this justice. These are beautiful in real life. These are easy to make but are time consuming. Luckily we had all of the pieces cut for us and the pillow case was sewn and ready to be appliqued. Generally, you make a plain pillow case (or buy one if your not a sewing type of girl. Cut out three sizes of petals. Hand stitch a line of thick tread down the middle gather and knot on each end. When you complete all of the petrels you hot glue them on (you could sew it on but we were in for quick). Add some jingle bells to the center and there you go.

3) Clothes Pin Card Holder

Talk about cheap and easy, this one was it! Open up a wire coat hanger. Spray paint clothes pins and string them onto the rounded coat hangers. Alternate beads with the clothes pins to give the cards space. When you get to the top leave yourself a little room. Push the wire through the ending beads wrap and glue ribbon on the coat hanger to connect the ends. Add a bow and a piece to hang with. So cute!

4) Christmas Wreath

These are always fun and easy to make. Get a plain wreath and embellish it with ribbon, bells ornaments and whatever reminds you of Christmas. Be careful though these can get expensive quick so the more you put on the pricier it gets. Quick tip, go to the Dollar Store first to get your supplies to help you stay on budget.

5) Christmas Notebook

This is a simple project that I had not heard of or thought of. Just get a notebook and embellish with scrapbook paper and such. Tab out sections for recipes, projects, gift ideas, etc. To keep track of your Holiday plans.

This is such a fun time I highly suggest you do this with your friends. It is so fun to see the projects that people bring and how different each project ends up even with the same set of supplies. It also is a cheap and fun way to add to your Holiday Decor.

Have a great Monday!

Tone Up Tuesday

Wow I really like that 10 Minute Work Out. If you haven't tried it yet I suggest you do, its a great Total Body Workout. Ill probably change it up next week but this weeks "Tone Up Tuesday" is about keeping on track for the Holidays. I love Thanksgiving it is probably my favorite Holiday. There's something about getting together with your family without any expectations other than a good meal that makes me happy. I know myself to well to know that I will not be able to moderate my eating and keep it within the "diet lines" on Thursday so this week instead of worrying about it I'm going to go with it. Now that doesn't mean that I'm free to eat what I want all week. My goal this week is to go to the gym everyday its open (luckily I have this week off work) and making sure that I stay within my points for the rest of the week. Thursday I plan on getting up and going for a 5k run before getting ready for the day. Then it will be back to the gym on Friday and back to watching my points (which is where I am struggling lately). Enjoy your Holiday and remember its just one day not a week, month etc.

Make it Monday

This weeks Make it Monday was inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest. I have been admiring the advent calendars I have seen all over Pinterest but I currently have so much on my "to make" list for Christmas presents I didn't think I had time to make or attempt to make something overly time consuming. When I saw a pin for these goodie packets I thought that's it!

First you take a plain paper bag and cut it open. Typically I cut down the seam and then around the bottom until the bag is in a rectangle. You will then fold the rectangle in half, then in half again and again in what teachers describe as a "hot dog" fold. Then you need to fold in half the other way into a "hamburger" fold.

When you have your bag nicely folded draw a design for your ornaments. I did a tree, bell, ornament and a star. You will need some heavy duty scissors to cut out your design. When you cut out the design you will cut out multiple ones.You will need to make sure you cut out twice as many as you need. I had four designs so I needed six packets of each shape for the 24 packets for the advent calendar. So I had to make sure I had 12 of each shape after I cut them out.

Place two shapes together with the printing on the inside and the plain brown facing the outside. Sew around the shape making sure to leave an opening of about 1". Decorate each packet however you would like. I think glitter would make these really cute but seeing as when I gave Emersyn the pen's to decorate some of them I got this

I thought it was best to just leave ours with water soluble markers.

Mark each packet with a number 1-24 and punch a hole in the top of each. Fill each packet with goodies. I used M&M's and Hersey's Kisses. Then sew up the opening of the packets. I then strung the ornament packets on a red piece of yarn and hung it on the wall to wait for the first day of December.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday! My Thankful Thursday this week is all about my wonderful Hubby! He worked so hard this last weekend to make by birthday a great one and it didn't go unnoticed. Even his friends stated that he worked very hard on it. But that isn't the only time that he has worked hard to make me happy. Joe (my wonderful hubby) has constantly tried to make sure that our daughter and I are happy. He has sacrificed for me. He moved to Northern California for me (well for our family but he didn't know that at the time) he quit smoking for us and he has done countless other things our daughter and I. So today I am making a public announcement that he is a great husband and father and we are lucky and thankful that he is in our life. Thanks Joe!! We Love You.

Whats Up Wednesday!

Today my What's Up Wednesday is all about Me! It was my 30th Birthday weekend. How fun was that!

First of all I spent much of the day on Friday completing some Random Acts of Kindness, then I had a nail appointment, my car broke down (crazy out of control story but essentially operator error on that. Thank God for AAA) then I went to Sacramento to visit one of my great friends Lori. She had a girls night planned with some of her friends so that was a long night filled with good wine and girl talk.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit. Then Lori (Check Her Out Here) had massages planed for the two of us. Afterwards we did a little shoe shopping (I bought the cutest pair of boots that Ive had my eye on for two months). Then we headed to Chico for some downtown shopping and some more Random Acts of Kindness. We headed home around 7pm and when I pulled up to the house I could tell something was up (well actually I suspected something was up weeks ago) the big clue was the mass amounts of cars parked next door and then the fact that my parents were a our house but all of the lights were out. Hmmmmm..... SURPRISE!

Joe had thrown me a surprise party. I could tell when he walked in that he had worked incredibly hard to make it a good party and it was. He had one of my favorite Mexican restaurants cater it, he had a big bon fire going in the back yard and yummy cake to top it off (see yesterdays post on how I fell off the diet wagon yet again).

Sunday I was exhausted so I spend most of the day doing nothing...That was amazing!!! All in all I had a great and memorable weekend. Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate especially my wonderful hubby. Check in later this week when I share some of the 30 Random Acts of Kindness.

Tone Up Tuesday

Why is it when I think that this is it and I'm going to rock this diet thing something happens that throws me back down and out of control. Last week I was sure that I was going to rock it. On Friday I weighed less than I have in two years!!!! Then my Birthday happened and I had a great time. Too good of a time, with favorite foods, wine and a big ol cake to top it off. Here I am three days later and I am back up (In fact I chickened out on weighting in today, maybe tomorrow). OK here we go again back on the horse, for real this time.....
Last weeks post introduced a great workout. If you didn't check it out I suggest you do! That work out rocked my world. My goal was to do 30 min of cardio, two sets of the 10 minute workout I am referring to and then run 10 minutes twice. Well not so good. First of all my lovely daughter ended up super sick for two days and I couldn't do much but hold her for the two days, Then I was planning the 30 Random Acts of Kindness and was setting up for that and then to top it off I had Birthday celebrations. So I ended up only working out twice this week.  I can tell you though that this workout is rockin!!! I could only do one set and I was jiggle legs.

My goal this week is to do 30 min of cardio and one set of the 10 minute workout and run for 10 minutes twice this week. Wish me luck! I bought myself new tennis shoes this weekend so hopefully that will put a little more pep in my step this week.