My Fitness Journey

Hello! I wanted to share something with you guys. I started using the BodyLab by JLo app and I joined the #BeTheGirl challenge about three weeks ago. I will talk more about that later, but I was asked by BodyLab to share my fitness journey which really got me thinking about why I am doing this and where I want this to take me. I realized I had a lot more to say than 140 characters, so I wanted to share my whole story here :)

My very first day! I wanted to capture the moment, and I was very excited to be starting this journey.

I had to think back all the way to high school to realize just why this challenge was so important to me. In high school I was only ever really planning to be a wife and mother. I was comfortable with that and looking forward to that "perfect" life. I could not even think of a career path I wanted to pursue because I couldn't think past being a mother. Obviously when it came time to go to college, I still had no idea what to work for. I remember being so frustrated that others knew exactly what they wanted to do with their lives, and I was struggling so hard to figure mine out. My parents wanted to be able to help me with college, and I remember them saying, "we just don't see any passion from you. We want you to be passionate about something." I didn't know how to just find passion. That's not something that can just appear. After three years of college, I decided to just work whatever job I could find.

That was not enough for me. But it was during this time, and through that frustration that I realized what my passion was and what had been holding me back.

I spent about 22 years of my life only imagining my future as someone else's wife. I had dreams for kids of mine, but no dreams of my own. How could I think of the future if I didn't have the other person to imagine it with? That's when it clicked for me. I was no longer content to wait for "my other half," I wanted to be a whole person all on my own. I was able to start thinking about a life for my future, and I found my passion. Teaching! I think it was about a month from the time I realized that and my first day of classes. I went back to school at the age of 23 and I will be 26 when I graduate, but I am so pleased to do this now and not waste any more of my time.

These last few years have been filled with discoveries. I have learned so much about who I want to be and what I enjoy and what I care about. I have learned that it's okay to be myself, even if that makes me "less marketable." Because, who cares?! I love being single and being free to be myself. It's addicting-being yourself. I highly recommend it :)

But this brings me to why I wanted to join BodyLab and focus on my health. I was intrigued by the #BeTheGirl challenge. It's a challenge to "be the girl of your dreams." This struck a chord with me, because I used to be in a place where I would do things in order to be what I thought was someone else's dream. I finally wanted to be fit and healthy for me! And it's so exciting to see the benefits of that.

JLo follows me on twitter! I tried not to freak out, but how could I not?! Now the pressure is on to stick with the program and show her my fantastic results :)

Healthy living for me is the tool that helps me do everything I'm passionate about. When I eat healthy, I am not sluggish and I have the energy to get my homework done, to do it with my best effort, to make time for the people I love, to live a successful life! When I workout in the morning, I have that energy to wake up early and read my Bible. When I feel good about myself I am so much more willing to be nice to others! It shouldn't work that way but it does. I am friendly and confident when I feel good about myself. I never want to become some gym rat, but healthy living helps me pursue my passions and live a successful life.

This was day 3 for me. Can't wait to show a great "after" shot right next to it!

I am excited to share this with you and have that accountability of people knowing and watching as I try to stay on track. I want these healthy habits to be lifetime changes. I have enjoyed the meal tracking that BodyLab offers and the workouts have been so great! I get to feel strong and work hard without fear of bulking up or not understanding some of the workouts. It's a program designed "for women and by women." I have loved it so much, and I look forward to sharing more positive results with you!

Life Planner 2015

I am so excited to show you my new life planner from Erin Condren!! My first blog post was all about my planner from last year, which you can read here. I did not hesitate at all this year to purchase another one because I used my planner about every single day for the last year! So worth it, and I won't go back to living without one :)

Once again, the box is gorgeous. I track my packages all the time, so I was already anxiously awaiting its arrival. As soon as I saw the "delivered" message I hurried over to my mailbox to check it out!

When I rushed back inside and cut open the box, I loved seeing these little notes! I already have plans for where I would like to use these for daily reminders.

There it is! (Insert an angel choir singing "ahhhhh" here!) I love seeing my name on it too. As silly as it is, I never could buy things with my name on it because I spell my name different, so there's just something about seeing my name spelled correctly that I just love!

One thing that is different than the one I had last year, is that the bookmark is clear. I realized I always had to move it back and forth to see my notes on each day, and it is such a simple improvement that I know I will appreciate.

Each month starts with a page for the whole month. This is the same as last year's but I really like it. It's nice to be able to view the whole month for making plans.

Each week gets a page like this. I love this set up! I put all my class information on these pages for homework and tests and reminders. I use the spaces on the bottom to plan my meals, and while I do that I make my grocery list on the left side. So convenient!

This is something new for this year that I love. The planner includes the next two years in the back. The  planner from last year had these calendars on the back cover, which can't be written on. So this year's planner has them on pages in the back of the book. I didn't use these very often, but when I did use them I wanted to circle dates on them, and now I can!

Stickers! The same as last year's but I wanted to show them again :)

This was a genius change that was made. For important dates and contacts, the planner from last year had pages included in the book. But then you would have to transfer that information to each new planner from year to year. So now they are all in this convenient and cute little book that can stay in the folder in the back, and easily be transferred to another planner next year!

These are pictures of what is inside of that book for contacts and dates.

One of my favorites! I love that these tags are included as well. And the planner has the pouch in the back to keep it all easily accessible!

I cannot wait for my classes to start so I can start to fill it all in!

My StitchFix #2

I am really enjoying the services offered by StitchFix! You can find out all about it here on their website or see my post here about my first box. This was my March box and I was so excited about it, I may have squealed out loud while opening it up. (and my "may have," I mean "most definitely did.")

So a little fact about me: I am not very good with surprises. I cannot wait, even if the wait is supposed to be worth it. So I learned a little cheat! When I get the email that my order has shipped, I log into my StitchFix account and I can see what items I will be receiving. I know! I'm horrible. But if it makes it better, I don't always know the color or style, but I do get an idea. 

I was so excited about this box as soon as I opened it! I loved the bright colors, especially for March because it was finally starting to feel like Spring and I was ready to kiss Winter goodbye.

I really liked the color of this shirt. I don't usually gravitate toward green clothing and now I am wondering why not. It's a great light fabric and looks great tucked in or not.

My stylist actually looks at a pinterest board I created for her, and she noticed a lot of coral, so I got some! This was another great top, perfect for Spring weather.

Coral? Check! Chevron? Check! A must have for my closet? I do believe so :)

I have actually never even tried on a boyfriend jean before this one. I think it helps that this one is not as baggy as some that I have looked at before. I love the comfy fit, so I paired it with just a light hoodie and some Toms. 

This necklace is actually a little short for my taste, but it was actually cheaper if I bought it than if I didn't. StitchFix gives you a 25% discount on your entire order if you choose to keep everything, and since I wanted everything else it only made sense to keep the necklace too. I actually have worn it a couple times already!

I ended up keeping everything and I have loved it all! I definitely don't plan on doing that every month and that's just fine. I love that StitchFix lets you give feedback on both why you keep something and why you don't. That way my stylist knows what I want more of or what I don't. In fact, she hasn't sent me any more jewelry since I said that I hardly wear any. Great service, and I do recommend them :)

Getting Them Reading

As you know, I have been tutoring this semester, and the emphasis is on reading. I have really enjoyed my time doing it, but there have definitely been discouraging days as well. If a student does not want to read, how do you get them to do it? One day my student was not interested in reading the book at all, and I was desperately trying to think of something to keep him engaged. I came up with a game that has turned into his favorite thing, and I wanted to share it!

My student and I take turns finding sentences in a book and reading them to each other. The trick is we leave out one of the words, and instead say, "blank." Then the other has to try and figure out what the missing word is.

For example, if we were using this book(which I found at Goodwill for only $.89! Goodwill book shopping is my favorite thing to do!) we would randomly find a page and select a sentence.

I love when it takes a while to find a good sentence because then my student is reading without even realizing it! Here on this page, I could use the sentence, "The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his 'blank' with the back of his hand." The word I left out would be mouth.

Sometimes they get it right on the first try, but most of the time we give clues. We can tell each other when a guess is very close. Often this is using good use of synonyms, which I love. Or I will repeat the sentence and encourage using context clues. Sometimes we use a whiteboard to show how many letters.

I got this whiteboard at the dollar store and it was the best dollar ever spent. Students like using this far more than paper and it is much easier to erase and use over again. We will write blanks for the letters of the word.

Sometimes if the word is difficult to figure out we will give the first letter or even the last letter.

Usually with all the clues we give, we figure out the word. But if we can't figure it out, the other person gets a point. Because what fun is a game without points and a winner?!

I'm losing :( But he's reading, so I am one happy camper!

My StitchFix-#1

So recently I discovered StitchFix, thanks to Kinder-craze. You can find her post here. Basically, it's an amazing service that allows someone to shop for you, send you items to try on in your own home, and keep or send back items you choose. You pay $20 as a styling fee each month, but if you buy any items at all, that money is taken out of your total cost. You fill out a taste profile, and can even connect the stylist to your Pinterest account and set up a board specifically for them to use as inspiration. You receive five items each month. These items are based on the sizes, styles, needs, colors, and cost that you entered in the taste profile. The box comes with a letter from your stylist, the items, cards for each item on how to style it, and a UPS bag for free returns. After you have tried them on and made your decisions, you can pay for them through your account or send them back. Added bonus, if you buy all the items from the box you save an additional 25% off your order. Of course, this can also be explained on their website here.

Now for me, I have my own reasons why I love StitchFix:
1. First of all, I am a horrible shopper. I hate trying on clothes all day, especially when they aren't even the right size anyway.
2. I can never visualize how I would wear the thing, so I put back so many great items that I realize only later were in fact great.
3. I never take the time to look through racks or stores to find what is good, I definitely judge a store by the 2 outfits on the mannequins in the window.
4. I want to be more adventurous with my clothing, but am not always sure how to do so.

So, with all that in mind, I signed up for my first box in February! I was so very pleased with what I got.

Here's the letter from the stylist explaining why she chose what she chose.

I just love opening boxes, look how pretty it is!

Here are my things from February:

I will say, I sent back a black shirt that I thought would be too low for anything I would use it for. And I sent back a brown bag that I wasn't in love with. But here's what I kept, and how I styled it.(with my own clothes, from my own closet, in my own room!)

I loved how this jacket fit, especially with an adjustable waist.

I was so surprised how well these jeans fit! They are a great, flexible color as well.

This was my favorite!! I love the versatility of gray/black. The sleeve length is perfect. And for me, the best thing is how the shirt falls at my hips. It is a flattering fit for me, and I was so thankful for the opportunity to find that out.

Also, for fun, here's all three items I kept from my February box.

I loved my box so much, I immediately signed up to receive another! Like I said, this was my February box, so I will try and hopefully will be much faster with adding my March box for you all to see.

Snack Time-Greek Yogurt Blueberries

You may have caught on by now that I am a snacker. So, to help I try and make sure the snacks I have in my house are healthy options. Here is my current obsession that I love!

Only 2 ingredients, so we are off to a great start! I love the Simply Balanced brand from Target, especially when I want something fresh and healthy.

I laid out parchment paper first so they would easily remove when they were done.

You simply roll the blueberries through the yogurt and lay them out to freeze!

(since these berries were rather small, I would have 2-5 berries in each cluster. Other times I have done it with only one blueberry at a time.)

For this batch I used vanilla greek yogurt, but I have heard blueberry is good as well.

Throw it in the freezer for about 2 hours.

ENJOY! They are seriously great, I love them and eat way too many of them.

Try them! Or tell me what combinations of fruit and yogurt flavors you try so I can try them as well! :)

Skinny Cupcakes

So I have a bit of a weakness for cupcakes, cakes, sweets, frosting, that kind of thing. So when I saw on pinterest a "skinny cupcake" I had to try it for myself! Now I followed the recipe given on another blog and all the credit goes to Six Sisters' Stuff, you can find the post here.

For the cake all you add together is the funfetti cake mix and a can of sprite zero.

I could not find a can anywhere, so I made do with this 2 liter. A can is about 12 ounces.

It was sort of weird mixing these together, it just was not what I was used to, but it turned out really well!

Now I have a cupcake maker, so I just popped them in here. I do 6 at a time for 10 minutes.

Here they are cooling before I frosted them.

For the "frosting" the recipe calls for fat free cool whip and 1.5 ounces fat free vanilla jello instant pudding. Here is what I could find at the grocery store.

I also discovered it would have been helpful to wait until the cool whip was no longer frozen. I think I added more jello mix than I needed because it was hard to tell what the texture would be when it was still slightly frozen.

Here is my finished product! So super easy to make, and only 110 calories each!