Let's Get Physical!

I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I received an email from a great friend saying, "Hey, wanna do the 30 Day Shred and Turbo Fire with me for the month of July?"  Uh, YEAH!

I've come to the conclusion that Weight Watchers is just not for me.  I just can't do the tracking thing.  I know it's important, but I just can't bring myself to do it. 

Our schedule is M, W, F 30 Day Shred, T, R, S Turbo Fire with Sundays off.  So far so good.  I missed a couple of days when we were traveling for July 4th, but I've since made them up.

Want to join us?  It's never too late!  

Watching things grow

My garden then...

Only a few weeks later, my garden now...

I found two gnarly tomato hornworms on my tomato (obviously) plants yesterday.  It was my first encounter with hornworms and I'll admit, I was pretty grossed out.  They make this awful clicking sound and spew out nasty goo when they're threatened.  I didn't think about taking a picture (I was too consumed with getting them OFF MY TOMATO PLANTS!!) but here's a picture of one I found online for your viewing pleasure:

From http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1224.html.  This website has some really great info on these guys.

Here are some pictures I took of the chickens this afternoon.  They love chilling behind the wheel barrow.  

Little does homeboy know he (as well as his bro) will be placed in a new home in the coming week.

Thanks for stopping by!

These are a few of my favorite things

 Why the hell is my dog laying in the fire pit??

 This is the rain chain my husband got me for Valentine's Day.  I love it!  I then bought a half whiskey barrel from Lowe's ($30?) and put a water lily in it.  So far it hasn't flowered and I'm not sure it will based on how much sunlight it receives.  The wreath was made out of grapevines by my dad for my wedding.  I love him.

 I made this raised planter bed from this tutorial.  I have sunflowers, strawberries, basil, catnip, apple mint, cilantro, okra, cucumber, tomatoes, serrano peppers, and some sort of squash planted.  I say some sort of squash because they came up from my compost and I have no idea whether they'll be zucchini, summer squash, or pumpkin.  You may notice my tomato buckets on the fence...last summer I had them hanging but they became too heavy and broke so this summer I have them sitting on two iron plant hangers.  I need to do some serious pest control.  Just need to figure out the best eco-friendly way to do that.

This is my blue hydrangea that I absolutely love.  A late frost this spring caused some burning, hence the left side full of blooms and the right not so much.

 

My rain barrel!  It's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it does the trick.  And best of all...it was FREE!  I won it in a raffle at Greening up the Mountains.  

The chicken coop!  I painted 'eggs' on the side.  I'm so cute I can hardly stand myself.  :o/  I realized after the fact that I should've installed the planter box lower so I can open the window without hitting whatever's planted.  Oh well.  Speaking of that window box, I made it myself from leftover boards from the backyard fence.  I like free.  The coop & run...NOT free. 

 The chickens then...

 The chickens now...

Spike is on the box and Little Foot is the brown one.  We think they might be roosters.  :(  We're pretty sure Ducky & Petrie are hens.

Hope you enjoyed my favorites from around the house...thanks for stopping by!

Out with the old

I've been doing a bit of purging lately.  Purging of blogs that is.  The majority of the blogs I frequent are mostly about food.  And I admit, I have found some really good recipes, but nothing I can't live without.

Yes, I enjoy the blogs and I enjoy being in the kitchen, but I feel like I need to focus on healthier things like gardening, reading, and finishing up my half-finished crafts.  And let's face it, I have tons of cookbooks that are crying out for my attention.  Not to mention Pinterest will for sure keep me up to date on the latest recipe craze.

Disclaimer: I did hold on to a food blog that I particularly like.  Come on, I have to have some fun!  :)

If any of you know of any good healthy food blogs, I'm all ears!

Coming Soon!

My adventures in backyard chickens!

Keep those appointments

Well, I've done some thinking.  I have another blog where I was posting about my workout and weight loss adventures.  Except that it was boring and I didn't keep up with it.  So I've decided to just detail my "adventures" here.

First off, I joined Weight Watchers.  I've heard lots of great things about this program and I saw it first hand the first week when I lost 2 pounds.  Unfortunately, the second and third week I gained some back.  Disheartening and annoying to say the least.

I started Turbo Fire again and the first week was great; felt like I really put my all into it.  I have noticed two things with weeks 2 and 3:

1. Time management - I have a difficult time getting up in the morning to workout and on that same note, I also find it difficult to do it at the end of the day.
2. Energy - I don't have the energy in the morning to really put my all into it.  I can also say the same thing about my evening workouts.

This post was going to be much longer but I cut a bunch out.  Why?  Because I feel like I whine about this all the time.  The solution is simple!  If you want it bad enough, you'll do it.  It's all on me...no one else.  I can't complain about not feeling/looking my best when I don't put the work in.  Life isn't a cake walk...it's going to take some effort on my part.  :)

Here are the solutions I came up with for my two issues:  

1. I am making an appointment with myself at 5am.  Made my appointment this morning.  I wasn't late and I didn't cancel!  *I've officially done 3 morning workouts!*
2. Uhhhhh...the solution to this one is to get your advice.  :)  What do you do to boost your energy before a workout?  I have no energy in the morning but I can't eat a full meal right before a workout.  Banana?  Clif Bar?  Toast?