2015 Goals

Yesterday I posted my recap about my accomplishments and needs improvement on my 2014 goals. I am so happy with how well I did so I thought that I would share with you all my 2015 goals!

1. Run a race a month! Yep, I want to stay in constant training mode so I don't go into a funk and stop running or take too much time off from running and such. I want to do a mixture of local and "bigger" races to help with fees because let's face it, running races can get pretty pricey pretty quick! I am happy to report that I already have completed January's race, (New Year's Day 5k, yesterday.) And I am registered for February's and March's race as well. I know what race I will do in April. Don't have May's race yet. I will probably do the Wounded Warrior race in June and the 4th of July race in July. Looking for August. September will be the Woman's 4 miler. Need a September and October race. November the DISNEY WINE AND DINE 1/2 MARATHON and a local turkey trot and December I will probably do a local Jingle 5k. Super excited so far!

2. Potty Train Mason. My goal is to have Mason potty trained by his 4th birthday. Yep, 4th. It just isn't happening. He is one of those types of personality that it won't happen until HE wants it to happen. We have an incentive for him right now, a Pachyrhinosaurus (Pack-E-Rhyn-O-Saur-Es) dinosaur toy for him when he is potty trained but so far that has only lasted 1 day.

3. Be more diligent in Mason's preschool between January and May to help him prepare for official preschool in September. I think we are going to do it and enroll him in school. We have noticed that he does better when it is not Mom or Daddy teaching him and it has been quite a struggle for me. Dude just likes to say NO to me right now. So now my goal is to make sure he is proficient in his alphabet, colors, shapes, numbers to 50 and starting to read by September. Tall order but it is what it is.

4. Lose 20 lbs in the next few months. I know this seems fast and all but I know that if I stick with my nutritionist based diet that the weight just falls off of me, quickly! I just have to stick with it. Why the weight loss? Well, we want to add another little one to our family and I do not, DO NOT want to get pregnant at this weight! It hurts when running and I frankly don't want to carry around another 15 lbs of baby on top of what I am already carrying around. What about my races if I get pregnant. Well I know I will defer the Wine and Dine a year if I am pregnant, depending on how pregnant, because I will not run another 1/2 when I am super pregnant again! I have the turkey trot as my back up for November.

(ummm, Mason just locked himself in the bathroom. Hoping he is going poop! Nope false alarm, just locked himself in!) Just keeping it real!

5. Continue to grow my readers for this blog! I love that I doubled my daily and overall viewing of this blog this past year and I want to do it again. That means, more meaningful content and with the help of you I can grow this blog! I love doing it and it is so fun and a great way to stay accountable for what I need to do! Working out has kind of become my job and I need to do better at it and I will this year. I KNOW IT Because I am WORTH IT! I AM WORTH FIGHTING FOR!

Along with that I do have a clean eating group starting Monday the 5th! If you wanna join comment below or send me an email at connectthedotsginger (at) gmail (dot) com.

2014 Goals Recap

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is the start of a great year and I am so looking forward to it and to my goals I have. First though I wanted to take a look back at my goals I had for 2014 to see if I accomplished them or not. So here is a look back!

Here are a list of my goals for this year:

1. Weight loss/Staying Healthy-
I was pregnant so this was hard on me but I DID IT! I continued to exercise while pregnant and only gained 15 lbs while pregnant. PRETTY GOOD for this food lover! It was after I had Collin that I struggled. I kept a pretty good diet while pregnant but then fell into eating poor foods after about 3 months postpartum. That has resulted in me ending the year gaining weight from when I had him and that is just not cool! So I did great for the first 6 months, it is the last 6 that I struggled. So I give myself a C+ on that one. And breastfeeding never helps me lose weight. Awful rumor to say that it will cause it does nothing for me! 

2. Exercise-
Yep, did pretty well with this one for most of the year. I ran all the way till 30 weeks pregnant (the week after my half marathon) And also again at 40 weeks started walking and doing some runs to help Collin come out. Then I had a LONG recovery after Collin to the point that any time I ran ) even after 3 months I would bleed heavily for a few days. I think those days are over but it has really messed with me mentally and wanting to get back into running. I was getting frustrated with my body for not listening to me and for fighting me for exercising. But I have pushed on and it seems (cross fingers) that it is getting better. 

3. Blog pageviews-
YES! I have doubled my views since last January and it has been AMAZING! I have had almost 25k total page views since I started blogging and that is AMAZING! Thank you so much for reading and it is still a goal of mine to continue to grow in my readership, which means for you, yes you my friend, to pass my blog on to your friends! 

4. Be a Better Mother-
Well, not sure about this. I question it most days if I am being a good mom or not and Mason will even say, "Not bad mommy, good mommy!" It is kind of cute, but I am still trying to be better. We do our little "homeschooling" most days and he is talking so much now and is doing great with numbers. January I plan on starting to help him color more and then hopefully transition into trying to write. Plus working on reading words. So we will see. Oh and he will be potty trained by July! 

5. Continue to grow my piano studio-
CHECK! YEP Totally did this! As of January I have 10 students! How awesome is that! I am so proud that finally after 2 years I finally have a full studio! The only thing is I have to keep it now, so I am always looking for more students to make sure that my studio stays full!

I have written 316 posts including this one since I began blogging and I love it. Thank you so much for staying with me and getting to know me! Hope your day and beginning of the year is a great one! 

QOTD: How did you do with last years goals? 

New Year's Eve Eating Help

Are you going to a New Year's Eve Party? Here are a couple of tips and tricks to help you get through to midnight without letting your eating get out of control! 

1. Check out this portion reminder! As you go to get food from the buffet keep this in mind. Opt for the small plates if there is an option. Fill your plate with fruit and veggies and go from there.

2. Make a promise to yourself that you will only get food at 7pm and 10:30pm (if you need to) for a light snack. Try not to graze the whole night long, 

3. Limit your alcohol. There are so many wasted calories in alcoholic drinks. Stick with water as much as possible to stay hydrated. 

4. Don't go hungry to your party. Make sure you eat a nice healthy filling dinner before you go so that when you do go eat you will only eat snack sized. Chicken, broccoli and rice would be a perfect dinner to help you feel full! 

5. Have fun! New Year's parties are so fun to talk with your friends and make new ones! So even though you might be taking it easy on the food and drink you can still have plenty of fun! Happy New Year! 

New Year, New Resolutions

As we come up on the end of the year I start to think about my resolutions. I am not going to share all of them quite yet, waiting till Jan 2 for that but I thought I would off a little help to help you think of new ones for you!

1. Put you first. It would be great to have world peace and there are some things we can do to help with that but not a whole lot. Your new year resolution is YOURS. So make it personal. And if it is personal than it is more likely to stick. Make your new years resolution personal. Not just, GO TO GYM MORE. That isn't going to help much. More like, I want to go to the gym more because... and make your point. Make it personal. Make it deep. That is how you will achieve your resolution.

2. Learn to love yourself. Find a way this year to add in learning to love yourself for how you are today. Not how you will become if you lost x amount of pounds or after you have another kid. Embrace your flaws. You must first love yourself and work on yourself before you can help anyone else.

3. Don't forget to add something about service. Service is a great way to learn to love others and to help you love yourself better. It keeps you humble. It keeps you appreciative for what you have. You recognize more blessings in your life. Trust me try to find a place to add this in!

I have made the lists in the past and I barely do any of them. But they always contain items that are more: of do this, not that. I have never made them personal and have my WHY! Very important.

2014 Year In Review

Here we are! At the end of an amazing year. And what a year it has been. This year has been full of so much joy and accomplishment, as well as needing to give myself a kick in the BUTT! So here it is.

January marked me passing my half way point in my pregnancy. And training going strong for the ENTIRE MONTH! I had to train for my first 1/2 marathon. And I did it all while pregnant.

February had me planning for our Disney Trip and training and some days questioning my sanity to run in a 1/2 marathon at 29 weeks pregnant! And actually completing my very first 1/2 marathon. And doing something that I never actually thought I would ever do! (next time regardless of how I feel, I WILL take a great happy shot of my medal. Kicking myself over that one for sure!)

March was all about baby and getting ready to have one. Getting the room set up and feeling more prepared.

April was about tying up my studio for the year so that I could take 3 months off from teaching. Looking back, I really think that this month was pretty good for me. I also became an Ambassador for Girls Gone Sporty! I love being part of networks with like minded people and I have learned so much from the amazing awesome women who are part of this!

May, I felt like I was the white rabbit always checking my calendar and watch for when baby will arrive. And even did some late term pregnancy running to GET THE BABY OUT! And thankfully we welcomed baby Collin into our family and he was healthy and happy after just a short little scare. But all was well. I had my no drugs needed labor and was able to get up and walk to the NICU, unassisted, 30 minutes after having him to be with him.

June and July I rested and recovered. I did help out with the local Woman's 4 miler training program and another local race on July 4th with Collin in attendance. I didn't start actually running until after August though. I also became a Beachbody Coach to help motivate people one on one  and to achieve their weight loss and lifestyle goals!

August I started running again, as best as I could with still recovering. And I ran in the Woman's 4 Miler again!

September, I became an Ambassador with FitFluential. An origination that I had been trying to be part of for a year! I love working with them and so thankful that we are working together and love meeting and reading all about my fellow ambassadors.

October, November and December have been a roller coaster of training and not training. Still dealing with my body not liking me running, still have issues to this day, more on that later. I have lost motivation and gained it. I have not lost my baby weight either. But I am not perfect. I am human. I am still trying everyday to do better and some days are better and some not so much. But overall it has been a pretty AMAZING year for me!

I am so excited for the amazing goals I have set for 2015 and can't wait to share all of them with you. I am so thankful for the wonderful blessings I got in 2014 and for my healthy family. Thank you so much for joining me on my journey because I love hearing from you and knowing that someone is reading. Here's to 2014. And because it is worth fighting for let's make our dreams come true in 2015!

Song of the Day

Went on a little post Christmas run this morning- felt like I had a ton of bricks in my shoes- and my iPod hit a song that just kept ringing a tone with me. I played it 3 times. Especially the chorus which is in the above picture. Do you have a fav song when running or exercising?

Looking Up
by Paramore

Lyrics

Things are looking up
Oh, finally
I thought I'd never see the day
When you'd smile at me

We always pull through
Oh, when we try
I'm always wrong
But you're never right
Oh, you're never right

Honestly, can you believe
We crossed the world while it's asleep?
I'd never trade it in
'Cause I've always wanted this and
It's not a dream anymore, no
It's not a dream anymore
It's worth fighting for

Could have given up so easily
I was a few cheap shots away
From the end of me

Taken for granted
Almost everything
That I would have died for
Just yesterday
Just yesterday

Honestly, can you believe
We crossed the world while it's asleep?
I'd never trade it in
'Cause I've always wanted this and
It's not a dream anymore, no
It's not a dream anymore
It's worth fighting for

God knows the world doesn't need another band
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
But what a waste it would've been
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
I can't believe we almost hung it up
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
We're just getting started
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh, oh

Honestly, can you believe
We crossed the world while it's asleep?
I'd never trade it in
'Cause I've always wanted this and
It's not a dream anymore, no
It's not a dream anymore, no, oh
It's not a dream anymore, no, oh
It's not a dream anymore
It's worth fighting for

I can't believe we almost hung it up
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
We're just getting started
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
I can't believe we almost hung it up
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
We're just getting started
Yeah, we're just getting started

Merry Christmas 2014

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas day today! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you are having a wonderful day! Kids are having so much fun. Mason now has a huge collection of AWESOME Dinosaurs, which he likes to keep his little brother from. And Collin is getting more adventurous and trying to "cruise". Silly kid, doesn't he know that he isn't supposed to be attempting this at only 7 months old?!?!? SERIOUSLY!

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day!

 

 Wishing you and your family the best!

FitBit Charge

Need a last minute gift for that health conscience friend or family member??? Here you go! I am loving my Charge! I love checking out how many steps I am taking every single day. Oh and every morning I check how much I didn't sleep! (I love sleep and this nursing this is so hard for me but I am surviving!)

What makes the Charge different than the other Fitbits is that it has the scrolling screen available. I (and Mason)  double tap the screen and the clock pops right up, perfect so I don't have to wear a watch AND my fitbit. Then I just use the clicker to see my steps for the day, calories burned, stair tracker, distance and my daily alarm. Oh and if I had a working cell phone it could be my caller ID too. The screen is super bright, especially in the middle of the night!

To check out my stats I have a little device that hooks into my USB and it does its own wireless sync. It is pretty handy and the little Dongle is small enough that I just leave it plugged into my computer.

Then I go to my Fitbit.com dashboard and I see all my stats. Super easy. And customizable. I can even enter that I am nursing to show the extra calories burned. Also it has pregnancy trackers too for the different trimesters too to show those calories burned as well. I love this thing! IT IS AWESOME! I will say that I am not used to sleeping with "jewelry" on. I take off my ring and earrings at night so I am still not quite used to wearing something while I am sleeping but it is getting easier!

My Garmin is perfect for the run to track my runs and this is perfect for the everyday wear. I am kind of in love right now with both things! (Oh on avg I am walking 4 miles a day, IN MY HOUSE!) I am excited to see how much it changes when I start adding my runs back into it again!

Here is my weekly stats that I get from Fitbit! Love seeing all that I have done. What would you like most about having a Fitbit?

Seriously, a great gift for anyone!

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own.

Construction Part 2

DONE! We are done! I am so thankful that the construction is all done! Dust and noise all day long is not the best remedy for healing sick kids! But now it is done and they couldn't be happier! We love it and have gotten lots of rave reviews on it on Instagram and Facebook. Gummy and Guppy like it too.

Can't get over how much wasted space was there. Yes, the bump out of the wall was originally there. And I think this is the perfect thing to put here. And we were talking that this could make a closet or pantry or any other type of storage area besides just empty closed off space. I am just shocked that it was so closed off. But this is perfect for our family and since we aren't done having kids we are going to get years and years of enjoyment off of this!

So I hired a contractor to cut the door and window in the walls. He had to move load bearing supports for the stairs. He put in headers to support them and anchored in the stairs to the studs on the sides. He installed 2 lights. And did the drywall. Then he was done. My fun started on Thursday night where I had to prime the walls. 2 coats. I have never had to prime bare drywall and was nervous about it. But it was nice to have the walls go from the splotchy drywall to all out white!

Friday night after Mason went to bed I painted the room. Matt held Collin down here and we were up till 12:30am (Collin feel asleep before then but then had to get him back to sleep.) I was so glad that I decided to knockout the 2 coats that night! The next morning I painted the trim white on the window, door and inside. We went to a holiday party and when we got back it was mommy quiet time for Mason and then I started on the floor.

The floor took forever and I was super nervous about it but I did it. It worked perfectly. I used ever single time we had. We only had 37 and they were all used. (only just a small little part of the A tile was used but we were missing a piece of the A so I couldn't use the tile anyhow) Also I couldn't find my tape measure so I had to improvise for the cutting of the tiles around the entrance and the half tiles. Thankfully I made it work! We love it and am so glad that we have it!

~~~I have been getting a lot of questions on the color of the blue that I used for the room. I used an old Pottery Barn color by Benjamin Moore called Buxton Blue (HC-149). It really is more of a slate blue and not as boy blue as it looks in the pictures. I will be using the same color in my morning room when I get that painted.~~~

December Week 3 Recap

Training has taken a standstill for me the last couple of weeks. I have had 2 sick kiddos and when the kids are sick I can't get to the gym to run. And with construction going on early in the day I didn't get my workout in either. I am doing my min 3 days a week of working out which is great but MAN I AM MISSING MY RUNNING!

How on earth am I going to do the 10 miler in mid March without all the training? I was thinking back to last year though I got super sick last year in December and my running took a huge hit. I still did the half marathon. So like everyone else, after the holidays, I will be back in it. I am ok with that. My kids come first and this is Collin's first big sickness and to be honest I have been worried about him. He is still sick even today after about 10 days now. He had a fever this morning and I am staying on top of it but man this sucks! I hate it when my kids are sick and have a super bad cough that will not let up!

I feel bad that I have this health and fitness blog and I haven't been a very good example of that lately. But that is what makes us human. We have good days and bad days, good months and bad months. As long as we never quit then that is what counts. And I really think having the race a month thing will be just the motivation that I need to make sure I keep it up. I do have my first race of the year on New Year's Day and I am doing it no matter what! It is only a 5k and I can totally handle that!

So that is what is going on with my life right now. Taking care of the kiddos and trying to get better myself. Oh and this week, enjoy Gummy and Guppy in town for Christmas! On a plus side, the construction is DONE and Mason and Collin love it!