Feel Good Friday: SNOW

Happy Friday!  I am SO excited today!  So many great things all happening at once!  First and foremost....we are getting LOTS of snow, which means fun outside this weekend for my babies!  If we get enough, there is a chance of snowmobiling and sledding!  Fingers crossed.  My girls LOVE playing outside in the snow.  Last big snowfall we had was the day after Christmas and it involved multiple snow angels, a snowman, a Daddy made sled hill for the little one, tubing, snowmobiling, and a snowball "fight" with the dog (basically she likes to chase snowballs as we throw them and she even tries to catch them in her mouth sometimes). 


my sweet little snow angel



the final snowman



ready to go down the "sled" hill Dadoo made

So we have all these fun outdoor activities in the works!  HOORAY!  I made my first official sale yesterday from my wooden sign crafts.  I had a woman special order 2 custom signs and I think they turned out pretty darn good.  She was very happy and asked when she could put in to order more?!?! I even got started uploading pics to my Etsy site I'm going to launch...just trying to get enough pics there to make it worthwhile.  Here are pics of what I made for her:

 

 

I was happy that she was happy.  I also managed to get my February "command center" done last night too which made the start of the new month ready to go.

 

 

 

Today also begins to challenges that I am excited to be a part of.  The FABuary ab challenge and also I signed up yesterday to be a part of the 28 Day Blog Challenge!  SO pumped about both.  Challenges to get both myself and my blog in better shape this month!  Challenges ACCEPTED! 

What are you feeling good about this snow-filled Friday?

 

 

Feel Good Friday, so many good things

 It has been quite a while since I did a Feel Good Friday post, and this week I feel like there are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many things to feel good about!  I don't even know where to start. 

Okay, so first I guess I'll start with the actual FGF icon I use.  I had accidentally deleted the cute little Feel Good Friday logo that I found on Google so this morning I was like, "duh, you need to try and find it again."  I enter it into Google and the first pic that comes up is the one above, and when I clicked on it..it linked back to MY BLOG!!!  How cool is that?!?!?!  I have been trying to read up on how to better promote this sweet little blog-o-mine, and was just so excited when I saw it connected to my blog. 

This amazing discovery was after a killer workout!  Today is a half day at work, so I did in fact get to sleep in and snuggle with my baby bear (which was the very best possible way to start my day), then I got to head over to the gym and get in a nice workout on my own.  Do you ever have those days where you just want to clear your head and workout alone?  Not to negate how fun the classes I have been talking with my boss are, but I needed a day to just be me.  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical

and sliced through 412 calories!  Then to cool down and stretch some, I did an additional 10 on the treadmill and burned another 55 or so.  I'm hoping to get a little Just Dance 4 in tonight with the girls...so despite thinking yesterday that I may get an hour to an hour and a half in the gym today...it was MUCH better snuggling a little longer and then playing later with the kiddos.  I was so happy with my workout that I even did the unprecedented and took a post work out pic.

All sweaty and gross and high on endorphins getting ready to hit the shower.  note I'm sporting my sweet workout top I got from Kelly G over at No Thanks to Cake.  I definitely did sweat like a pig today too.  Felt ah-may-zing!!!

The coolest part of the past 24 hours was when I checked my mail last night.  I have a friend who is just one of the most awesome people you could ever have the privilege to meet and she works for the DNC in Washington DC.  She added my husband and myself to a very elite list, and look what we got in the mail

That's right, and invite to the INAUGURATION!!!  What?!?!?!  Now granted, its only a commemorative invite and not an actual ticket to the event, but how cool to have that arrive in my mail yesterday.  I was feeling pretty important.

So you see how a Feel Good Friday post wasn't just a passing thought today, it was a must.  I feel good about dear friends, mind clearing workouts, building my "ePresence" and snuggling.

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

Take a sec and tell us your Feel Good Friday story on your blog and link it back up here in the comments section! Invite your readers to share as well.

Feel Good Friday-Get your Strong On

I owe you all an apology.  I have been AWOL the past week and a half.  Things have been crazy at work and then when I get home I am so tired, but also trying to stay away from the computer.  I sit at a computer all day, so I have been trying to avoid using the home pc at all and just focusing on the girls and the hubs.  Please forgive my absence....it was not for lack of wanting to write.

Even with all the craziness, I have managed to get in some really good workouts.  I have known for a while now that I needed to incorporate more strength training into my workouts.  The Pilate's is good, but not enough.  Now that I have turned the corner of 35, I have been feeling an even bigger sense of responsibility to myself and the fam.  I have also known for a long time that if I added more strength training to my workouts that I would actually see more results faster, as strength training boosts your metabolism.  There are so many "pros" to weight training, why have I been holding out?  WHY???  It is because I have a fear of bulk.

There, I've said it.  I have a fear of big, bulky muscles.  Not on others (like my hubby's calf muscles...yowza!!), but on me, personally....it gives me the willies just to think about it.  As a kid, I was very active...I played soccer, danced, ran track....and I had some SERIOUS leg muscles as a result.  It meant having to buy bigger jeans to go over my thighs...it meant special ordering my majorette boots to be able to zip them over my calf.  Others were always impressed by the shear definition of my muscles...but to me it was just big.  Big and bulky and that's I think where I really started to feel embarrassment about my body.

So my Feel Good Friday this week is about my getting over the hurdle of fear and getting my strong on!  I have learned so much over the years...things that I wish I knew before... that I feel more confident about starting this new endeavour.  I know that lighter weights at more reps tones and doesn't bulk the muscles (hello MOST important thing to me). 

What are you feeling good about this Friday?

Share your Feel Good Friday on your own page, and make sure you comment here to share with us! 

Feel Good Friday: Family Edition

Today is a very good Feel Good Friday.  On top of all the wonderful feelings from yesterdays post I am feeling so good about the love I see in my daughters eyes when she is all snuggled up with her Mimi, Papa and Uncle Jon.  She has been having a BLAST with our sleepover.  She didn't do too great at the whole walking down the aisle at rehearsal thing, but to be fair it was after a full day at pre-school and then an hour and a half drive. Fingers crossed we do better at the actual wedding today.  My cousin, the bride, has been so good though and said if she doesn't want to walk or freaks out...no worries.

I will try and post more later, but we are making breakfast with Mimi right now and I am being called into action by the little one.  Hope you are feeling good on this fine autumn Friday!

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

Take a sec and tell us your Feel Good Friday story on your blog and link it back up here! Invite your readers to share as well

Feel Good Friday...the birthday edition

Happy Friday dear ones!  We have made it to the end of another week, and what a week it's been.  I am feeling good because the birthday festivities are almost over.  Is that terrible?  I feel like I have have been caked, doughnutted and cookied into a sugar coma.  Granted I have indulged in all in moderation, but you still reach a point where enough is enough.  My wonderful family made cookies early in the week (oatmeal raisin...so they were healthy really right ?!?!), then we did cake and ice cream on the big day, then at work yesterday we celebrated as a team and had doughnuts (major weakness of mine, I think all that is left is the festivities with my mom, dad and bro...plus hubs and kiddos of course...maybe I can talk them into a nice fruit plate? 

My "feel good" for this Friday is being happy with and accepting my new "number."  Not the one on the scale of course (especially after all the treats) but the one that bumps me up to a whole new age bracket in the survey world.  I am actually really happy with where I am in life right now, and the choices I am making everyday.  I think that being able to accept ourselves is one f the hardest things to do.  Am I done?  NEVER!  As I have been saying all year, I am a work in progress...that's how this all began!

Did I mention that I rocked my own version of Beef Stroganoff last night for the fam?  Not the healthiest...but it's my birthday week and I had never made it...and I have been craving comfort type foods all week....stupid cold rainy days. 

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

Take a sec and tell us your Feel Good Friday story on your blog and link it back up here in the comments section! Invite your readers to share as well. 

Feel Good Friday: a great week

Friday, Friday, Friday!  TGIF my friends!  I have had such a great week. I think that instituting Feel Good Fridays has given me a subconscious reason to find the positive in things throughout the week.  It gives me something to look forward to at the end of the week (other than the weekend of course) where I can celebrate my accomplishments!  HOORAY!

So this week my Feel Good Friday has actually been inspired by another blogger,  Jenna Zemering, over at Stay Fit. Stay Classy. Stay True.  Earlier this week, Jenna did a post entitled What Are You Grateful For?, and it seemed a fitting topic for my overall week.  So my Feel Good Friday warm fuzzy is how grateful I am for where I am in my life.

Sure, I have those days where I feel overwhelmed...the kids, the mortgage, the salary free taxi service I seem to provide for all things activity related...but in the big picture those are all things I wouldn't trade for anything else in the world.  I am SO grateful for my amazing husband who stands by me no matter what, and my two beautiful and healthy daughters (did I mention that the little one had a GREAT 3 year check up this week...she is off the charts!)

I am grateful for a boss who values health and fitness as much as I do and who plans our workouts during free fancy gym week.  I am grateful that I am healthy enough to take advantage of free fancy gym week. 

I am grateful that my number got picked off the waiting list at work to finally (for a little extra cost) got me a garage spot rather than the open lot I have been parking in the past year and a half...and right before winter HALLELUJAH!

It has been a great week...but so far it has also been a great life and I am very blessed.  We sometimes get so caught up in everything else that we forget how each little thing is a gift.  I am "great" ful for my life and look forward to what the universe has in store for me, and we know that she has been talking my ear off lately.

So, what are you Feeling Good about this Friday???

Feel Good Friday!

I can't believe it's already Friday again!  This week has gone by fast, and slow at the same time.  Started the week off with a sick kiddo, and am ending it with final birthday preparations and lots of soccer!  Birthday??  What??  I know you must be asking yourself, didn't she JUST do a birthday post?  Why yes, I did.  September is a very busy (okay, for Dadoo expensive) month in our house.  It's right after back-to-school shopping, right before Halloween shopping and is the month where we celebrate all three of the fabulous ladies that live in my house.  We have celebrated the big girl, this weekend we celebrate the little girl...and in a few weeks we celebrate this girl.  That's a lot of cake.  hahaha

This Friday I am feeling good about my cooking still, nothing too daring this week due to time, but made good choices (quick pre-made rotisserie chicken instead of Mickey D's).  Also, did another long walk to the farmers market, and I took the stairs EVERY time to and from work this week (my office is on the third floor).  I also signed up for 5 days worth of free classes at the gym next week.  But, truth be told, this Friday, my biggest Feel Good  is the birthday festivities for the little one.  I can't believe it's almost been three years since she made her big debut.

I love my girls more than anything else, but whereas my oldest is a Daddy's girl through and through, my little one is a Momma's girl with out a doubt.  She and I have a very special bond, and I just melt for her.  It breaks my heart how fast she is growing up.  It didn't seem to go THIS fast when our oldest was this age...so I am clinging to every moment.  We are going to have a Fairy Happy Birthday with Tinkerbell and all her Pixie Hollow friends. 

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

Feel Good Friday

Hello Friday, we meet again.  I am SO excited for the weekend to be here.  It has been a very long week...always strange on a short work week when it feels like that.  I am looking forward to sleeping in Saturday before our dance class and then doing a lot of cleaning, recipe hunting, and working out.  Sunday we are heading out to the apple orchard...one of my most FAVORITE fall past times.  The girls love apple picking, and I love fresh fruit...so, it's a win-win!  We are going to pick in the morning, enjoy a soccer game in the afternoon, and then make a batch of homemade applesauce in the evening.  Yummy for my tummy!
 
So now that you have my exciting weekend line up, here is my Feel Good Friday update.  I am feeling good about getting in a few nice walks this week (by nice I mean 2+ miles each).  One of them was to the farmers market on Wednesday.  I didn't get a huge shop but I got some fresh apples (not too many...we are going to the orchard after all), some fresh red skin potatoes and a batch of fresh green beans.  I am loving the fresh picked green beans lately.  I had a very happy two year old when I picked her up from pre-school and she found out that there were fresh apples in the car.  Extra bonus...the market on Wednesdays is at The Cleveland Clinic.  World renowned for their care.  They host a local farmers market on site every Wednesday all summer which scores them extra points with me on their emphasis on health but this week they also had someone handing out reusable grocery bags to haul your loot back in.  Cost of said bag?  A smile!  How awesome!

Yesterday afternoon I was driving home and could not stop thinking about pork chops.  I wanted pork chops for dinner.  I myself have never cooked pork chops but wasn't going to let that stand in my way.  Where I used to have a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach when I would think about attempting to make something I have never made before, I am "feeling good" about the fact that now I view it as a challenge.  Mini me and I made a quick stop at the grocery store (which ended up with us also picking up some fresh peaches) and went home to start on Operation Pork Chop.  Found a recipe on Food on the Table that I decided I wanted to try (again, loving that app) and set to it.

the ingredients have been assembled

The challenge was Maple Pork Chops with roasted red skin potatoes (from the market) and green beans (also from the market).  Yummy, fresh and healthy...three of my favorite things in a meal!  I am happy to say that my chops turned out juicy and delicious, the potatoes were darn near perfect (still amazed at the difference in fresh taters) and the green beans were good...close to the end of the season though I am sad to say.  Now that I have made this recipe once, I would make some tweaks before doing again.  With the pork chops, it calls for onions to be chopped and added on top with the "sauce" mixture right before oven time begins.  I think next time I would either saute the onions first or omit them completely...they didn't add much to the dish...but with the maple syrup, I think sauteed would be good.  I love the sweetness onions take on when they are sauteed.

final presentation

I even made a plate of these delectable delights for the two year old (sans onion) and she gobbled it up!  Feel pretty good about that too!  Recipe coming to Daring to Dream tab.

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

 

Take a sec and tell us your Feel Good Friday story on your blog and link it back up here in the comments section! Invite your readers to share as well. 

Feel Good Friday

      I am feeling good today!  The universe spoke, and I listened.  I feel AMAZING!  I left work with a need to workout yesterday.  I went and picked up my little one from pre-school and we hit the grocery store.  I wasn't in the mood to do a major shop, but wanted to do something nice for the hubs that I knew he'd enjoy, especially since he had been called in for a last minute meeting...so we went and got all the fixins for homemade French bread pizza (check the Daring to dream tab for more).  Went home, played with the kiddo, cleaned up a bit, made dinner and then talked Daddo into taking over bath time for the night so I could go and get my sweat on!  I got out my DVD and it was like seeing an old friend.  I have written before about my love for the Crunch workouts and especially how much I like Ellen Barrett and they way she teaches the video I enjoy the most Fat Burning Pilates so it was a great way to unwind and get in a good workout at the end of the day.  I was sore (it has been a while, too ling in fact) since I had done this workout, so I knew this morning I would be paying the price.
     But when I woke up this morning, I felt GREAT!  No soreness, no pain....just invigorated!  So I decided it's time to get you feeling good too!  I have a few blogs that I make sure I read everyday.  Two in particular I have mentioned on this blog before (All the Weigh and No Thanks to Cake).  Something that they each do is have a weekly feature, and I look forward to reading and commenting on these when I can.  So I thought to myself this morning....why not start a weekly feature for your own blog.  Kenlie, at All the Weigh has one she does every Monday called Friend Making Monday.  The topic is different each week , and the encourages you to share your thoughts and blogs with others out there in the blog community.  I have read some really great things by great bloggers because of FMM.  Another update I enjoy is on No Thanks to Cake, Kelly does a posting called Workout Wednesday (WOW) where she goes over her workouts for a week giving ideas, input and sometimes just plain funny stories about her adventures in working out.  It keeps me motivated to keep moving.  On top of the great weekly topics, both of these women are just inspiring to read, and if you haven't done so already I suggest you check them out! 
     So this brings me to MY weekly topic...Feel Good Friday!  I am feeling so good after a week full of accomplishments (cooking, getting back on track with a good workout) that I want to take the last day of our busy, busy weeks and celebrate together everything we have accomplished.  I say we because quite honestly without YOU being there, reading this, I would not be as motivated as I am today!  So...I am "feeling good" about finding, shopping for and creating meals that my family devoured as well as getting my butt up and moving.  All it takes is that 1 workout to jump start those endorphins and remind you of why love it!  I am feeling good about being back on track and getting back to an overall healthy lifestyle.  I am feeling good because with the holiday I only have to work a half day today and am off on Monday so I have 4 concrete days where I know I can make time for my workouts, which should get me back into a nice rhythm.

What are you Feeling Good about this Friday?

 

In the spirit of FMM, take a sec and tell us your Feel Good Friday story on your blog and link it back up here in the comments section!  Invite your readers to share as well.