De-Cluttering and Stuff

Hey everyone!

I have been busy getting things done around the house. It is amazing how much you can get done when you’re not depressed!

I know I’ve been talking about this FOREVER, but I am actually planning on painting this weekend. I have purchased the paint and everything. I just need hubby to do some spackling for me and then I’m getting it done.

I cannot wait for it to be finished! I have so many organization ideas and I look forward to getting rid of the clutter. I want everything to look put away and polished. It will take some time to actually finish the entire room, but at least I’ve gotten a start!

I have been making a lot of progress on the de-cluttering of the house. I finally have the baby clothes in totes, labeled and stored. I’ve made numerous trips to the consignment store (and have made some money!) and I have bags full of clothes for Goodwill.

I feel like I have always been the type of person who would buy anything for a good deal. Then it ends up sitting in my closet unworn, etc. I’ve decided that I’m only buying things that I absolutely LOVE, which won’t be nearly as any things, and it doesn’t matter if they’re a little more expensive. I might as well have a few things I love and use than a bunch of things that I kind of like and never use. Amiright?

I’ve had to go through sections of the house multiple times. Each time, I decide that I don’t really need to hold onto things that I thought I needed to hold onto the time before. It’s so easy to think we need to keep every single thing when we really don’t need to.

It’s harder when it comes to personal things—like we have these candle holders from our wedding. Do I keep them or get rid of them? We never use them but it’s also something that feels special—although we could certainly live without them.

So many decisions!

I will let this be all for now. I hope you’re doing well.

Making the Most out of the Days and Nights While Working Towards Good Health and Fitness

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HealingNightsSleep #CollectiveBias

 

 

It has been a couple of weeks since we moved our clocks back and lost an hour and I think we’re finally used to the time change. Isn’t it amazing how one hour can make such a difference? Instead of feeling sleep deprived, we’re finally making the most of the daylight hours.

As you know, hubby and I have been working toward better health and fitness. We’re both doing really well with the weight loss and have been working toward adding more activity and workouts into our week.

Primarily, we go for walks. It’s always fun to check out a new trail and explore the area. We love going for bike rides when the weather is nice. But pretty soon we’ll get getting our activity in by sledding and, dare I mention it, shoveling.

 

 

The funny thing is, I think I got a better workout from climbing up a playground ladder at lightning speed than I have from anything else I’ve done lately!

I should explain.

I will preface by saying that our Little Miss Sunshine is a dare devil at only 18 months old. Not much scares her. She loves to stand on the merry-go-round and walk around while it’s spinning. Her favorite pastime lately is spinning around in circles until she’s dizzy and then trying to walk. This is followed by loads of giggles.

 

While at the playground, she was walking across a very safe area of playground equipment bridges with rails. And suddenly, she made her way to the adjoining section of the playground shown below. From the ground, I told her to come back, but she just kept going until she was making her way up the steps to the tall slide.

I almost had a heart attack! I climbed up the 8’ ladder (the S shaped type to the left) faster than I thought possible and grabbed her as she was at the very top step to the slide. 

 

 

You wouldn’t believe how sore I was that evening. I couldn’t believe it. Yet another reason to increase my fitness level—so I can keep up with the little one!

Little Miss Sunshine keeps us on our toes and gives us a workout every day.

I believe another important part of healthy living is having an organized environment that’s free of clutter—it’s good for mental health. So I have been slowly working on getting rid of things that we really don’t need.

I have cleared my closet of so many clothes that I could probably open a shopping mall. Recently, I finally conquered a book shelf that has been making me feel unsettled every time I looked at it.

There have been so many 20-gallon totes filled with clothes and books that I’ve had sore arms from carrying it all around. You have to love good functional exercise too.

 

 

So much better. Clean home, clear mind.

Our diet has changed drastically. I’m cooking a healthy and balanced supper each night as opposed to feeling too tired to do anything except pick up the phone and order a pizza.

The plan that we are following is low glycemic so we have cut out sugar for the most part. At first, we had withdrawal symptoms—headaches especially. But it’s for a good cause—better health.

There sure is an awful lot of pain involved in getting healthy and fit, right? From headaches, to sore muscles, and let’s not forget a growling stomach—ok maybe that’s not considered pain, but it sure feels like it sometimes! 

At the end of a long and productive day, when my body aches and it’s keeping me from getting a good night’s sleep, I’ll turn to Advil PM for a Healing Night’s Sleep. A good night’s sleep is the only way to ensure productivity the next day.

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Advil PM at Walgreen’s in the Pharmacy section and it has been nice to have on hand.

 

 

It also helps to use the foam roller to alleviate pains and I always make sure to drink lots of water, which can help you recover faster.

I look forward to someday having aches and pains from completing a triathlon or running a marathon rather than just from chasing after Little Miss Sunshine!

Working towards our health and fitness goals will be worthwhile someday and a little discomfort now will seem like nothing when the time comes when we finally achieve our goals.

 

How do you manage the aches and pains required to achieve health and fitness goals?

If you need a little assistance from Advil PM or other Advil products, you can save with these offers so you can get a healing night’s sleep.

7 Habits for a Life of Good Health and Happiness

Everyone wants to be happy and enjoy good health, but when it comes to putting in the work required to achieve these goals, many people fall short because they don’t have a plan in place. It can be difficult to envision long term success while dealing with the short term stresses in life that can often sidetrack us from our goals.

Good health and happiness require a balance in life that doesn’t tip towards over zealous behavior but also doesn’t tip towards lack of action. The following seven habits are easy ways to create a life of good health and happiness.

1. Meditate Daily

What do you envision when you think of meditation? Do you envision a guru sitting cross-legged on a mountain top and hear a monotone humming sound? That’s how many people view meditation, but the truth is that is just one type of meditation.

Merriam-Webster defines meditate in two ways: “1) to engage in contemplation or reflection, and 2) to engage in mental exercise (as concentration on one's breathing or repetition of a mantra) for the purpose of reaching a heightened level of spiritual awareness”. While the latter is typically how meditation is viewed, the first definition provides many opportunities for meditation.

Contemplation and reflection are key. Many find that belief in a higher power and meditation on these things is a centering force in life. For Christians, contemplating scripture and prayer are fulfilling means of meditation. Meditation keeps the soul focused on a greater purpose.

2. Get a Good Night’s Sleep

The benefits of adequate sleep are innumerable. In our go-go-go culture, it’s easy to try to add more work into a day by subtracting from our sleep time. This is a recipe for disaster for both health and happiness. We simply need rest to function well.

We can set ourselves up for success by forming a nightly routine that helps us wind down. Read a book, drink a cup of tea, take a warm bath, or even spend time meditating. The truth is, we can function better mentally and physically after a good night’s sleep.

3. Eat a Balanced Diet

Your diet is up to you and while some may choose to eliminate certain food groups, it’s generally a good method to make sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, healthy grains, protein, and drink lots of water. Find what works for you. Adding in a variety of super foods will also help to maintain good health and can be helpful while trying to lose weight.

However, as we have already discussed, good health and happiness come down to balance. Sometimes a little indulgence is what the soul needs. Occasionally enjoy a decadent dessert, a favorite treat, or enjoy a piece of cake at a birthday party while celebrating with friends and family. A healthy life can also include occasional indulgences.

4. Keep an Organized Home

A messy house can result in a scattered brain and an organized home can result in a focused mind. The environment we live in affects us. When the house is a mess we often feel out of control, but the ability to keep the home clutter free can lead to a feeling of control over our environment and in turn we will feel more in control of our lives.

5. Foster Relationships

There’s no doubt about it, maintaining happy and healthy relationships takes work. But it’s well worth the time and effort when we reap the reward of having a dedicated spouse, loving friends, and adoring children.

Success and monetary rewards are all good, but will never be as satisfying as the important things in life, such as faith and family. Foster your relationships with others and with a higher power for true happiness.

6. Spend Time Outdoors

Spending time in nature is healing for the mind and important for emotional health. Looking at a bright blue sky and feeling the warmth of the sun can make us happy almost immediately. Make sure to wear sunscreen!

Turn off the electronics and disconnect from the fast pace of life and enjoy relaxing amongst the quietness of nature. It will transform the mind into a place of peace. Even better, spend time outdoors with friends and family for an added benefit. Take a moment to slow down and smell the roses, literally.

7. Be Active

Simply move more. Find an enjoyable sport or activity and do it. Find a wearable fitness device that inspires activity, such as a Fitbit. The important thing is consistency and that’s also one of the hardest parts.

Even just going to the zoo with your family and spending the day walking around is great for health and happiness. Park farther away from the store requiring you walk farther. Train for a 5K. Walk, run, spin, or jump. Carry in your heavy groceries for added strength training. Do what you can when you can. Just keep moving.

 

Tell me what you think is the most important habit for health and happiness. I look forward to your responses!

Repurposing my Old Home Office into a Fitness Room

Yesterday I embarked on a mission to organize my old home office. While doing so, I decided I should really repurpose the room and make it into a fitness room since I no longer need the home office as a SAHM.

I finished it all before hubby got home and when he saw it he loved it! And so do I. All I accomplished was a very basic reorganization of the room and moving furniture and equipment around.

I will have a section of the room for the treadmill and recumbent bike.

There’s a section for weights/etc. (ignore the paper hole punch paper circles on the carpet…my vacuum cleaner broke when I tried to vacuum this!) I want to buy a stand for the weights. Any ideas on yoga mat/equipment storage?

It has a good size empty space in the center for doing yoga or an exercise DVD, and then on the other side of the room I have a stand with my old large PC monitor that I think I can hook up to my laptop to complete workout DVDs or YouTube workouts, etc. This would also be a good place for the Little One to watch a kid’s show on Netflix (when she’s old enough) while I workout on the bike or treadmill.

You can see I placed workout DVDs and various equipment pieces on the shelf.

It’s going to work out great! I have a lot of work to do yet though. The floor is wooden with carpet placed beneath the equipment. I’d like to buy foam interlocking mats for the middle section, or probably the entire room but I need to look into how those are maintained. I also want to paint the walls, get new curtains, and decorate accordingly.

It’s a very small room, but it’s the perfect size for a fitness room and there are big windows so it lets a lot of natural light in. I LOVED working in this little space when I had a 40-hr. per week job.

It’s hidden behind the stile of the door, but I have a dry erase calendar on the wall next to the pin board. I think I’ll keep the calendar there and use it to mark off days I workout. I’ll probably take the pin board down.

I never really did much with this room except buy curtains, fancy curtain rods, and a painting (which isn’t in any of these pictures, I see). We also replaced the old windows because this room got very, very cold in the winter with the old single pane wooden windows. I’ve never painted in this room and now it needs a fresh coat of paint but I’m not sure about what color! I’m also tired of the red and want something different. What color scheme do you think is best for a fitness room?

I moved my desk into another room and I look forward to creating an organized place to keep blogging, photography, and writing projects as well as organizing the mail, a place to put keys, etc. This will definitely help keep the house organized!

Any décor ideas that you have for this room? I will be searching Pinterest to start planning!

First Day with my Passion Planner

Today was my first day using the Passion Planner and I am happy with my productivity. I hope I can keep this up!

My plan was to wake up at 6 a.m. but when my alarm went off I just couldn’t do it. There are some days that I am naturally awake at 6 a.m. but I was especially tired today. So I slept and I felt much better when I woke up at 7:30. I was bummed that I didn’t follow my plan, but it all worked out wonderfully because I was still able to fit in everything, except writing, into my morning before baby woke up.

That means I biked for 20 minutes, took a shower, meditated, did some laundry, checked my email/blog things, and prepared breakfast. I felt so productive and that was a good feeling. I was actually just lucky that baby girl slept later than usual this morning.

There’s something about getting my shower in first thing that just changes the entire day for me. I definitely want to try to do that.

Once baby was awake, we ate breakfast and then headed off to get groceries. She was such a good girl this time and it made it significantly less stressful for me! Yay!

I got to sip on Starbucks while grocery shopping and picked up some cheap sushi to bring home for lunch.

My afternoon didn’t quite go as planned, but that’s ok. I had a conference call for a new partnership, and shortly after that baby woke up early from her nap screaming. Poor girl. She acted like she didn’t feel well. So I rocked her for quite a while…which is something that I never get to do anymore because she doesn’t usually sit still!

I had planned to take her to the pool for a little while but it was raining and with her not acting herself I didn’t want to risk it. Like I said, the afternoon was just all off, but I managed to do more laundry and prepare a good supper while also keeping baby happy as best as I could. We went outside when it wasn’t raining.

When hubby got home, we ate supper and then headed over to his parent’s to pick up sweet corn and the first garden tomatoes! So excited to try those tomorrow! Yum! One of the best parts of summer.

I made sure to straighten up the house again tonight so that things don’t just pile up and become overwhelming. I definitely want to keep that up because it’s much easier to do it regularly than after it piles up!

So that was a short summary of my day and while I’m happy with it, I feel like I’m just learning how I will be able to structure my day so that I feel productive. I know it’s not really possible to do it ALL, but I’m going to try to do the best I can.

I have four goals that I am working on, which the Passion Planner has helped me with.

1. Get rid of “stuff”/organize and keep the house clean
2. Take time to meditate consistently both morning and night
3. Workout 5 days per week
4. Writing & Blog goals

These are all small goals which lead to greater things eventually. I’m excited about this because I think I need some structure. Whenever I do anything, I always like to have a plan—so why not apply it to personal goals?

I’ve already decided that I will make a general plan for each day but fill in the details of the next day the night before. It’s kind of hard to plan everything too far in advance. I’ve found myself having to white out quite a bit!

Also, my planner looks super messy! But overall, I’m really loving this so far!

Do you use a planner?

#ThingsILoveThursday

Disclaimer: This post contains a couple of Amazon affiliate links.

I am constantly scouring the internet and Pinterest for things that I love. I pin images or add items to my Amazon wish list and that’s usually the end of it. I thought it might be fun to periodically post my favorite things I’ve come across.

I present to you the first edition of Things I Love Thursday! Feel free to create your own Things I Love Thursday post and use my graphic. Leave a link to your post in the comments!

Passion Planner: I love all things organization and planning. I would have so much fun with this. You can actually download the entire planner for free, print it, and go to an office store (or wherever) and have it bound. I have a million goals right now, especially writing my book, and I feel lost and don’t know where to start. I’d love to start planning it all and get a visual picture of the actions I need to take.

(photo from Passion Planner site)

Amazon Prime Day on July 15th: There are supposed to be more deals than Black Friday and the sale is for Prime Members. I am a huge Amazon Prime fan. There’s nothing better than being able to order something and have it in my hands in two days. This is how I order diapers, wipes, vitamins, and much more. I can’t wait to see the sales!

Jane Austen Literary Mug: I stumbled upon this on Amazon one day. Jane Austen’s books were the first books that got me interested in literature. I have a fondness for her books and writing. This coffee mug is decorated with various Jane Austen book quotes.

Amanda M. James “Go Rest High on that Mountain” cover: I’m a huge Vince Gill fan and this is one of my favorites. This girl does a beautiful cover of this song. She has a fantastic voice. I always find myself singing this song after the death of a loved one. We lost a wonderful friend this past week.

A beautiful cover.

Starbucks non-fat iced Caramel Macchiato: This has been my drink of choice since the weather started warming up. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t dream of sipping one of these. Too bad I only get about one per week! A Grande is 5 PointsPlus and totally worth it to me.

So there you have it—a few of the things that I am loving lately.

What are you loving lately?