January 14, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me 2/52

Here is how week two went.

What I did last week:

Wednesday-20 minute ab workout

Thursday-30 minutes running on a treadmill (I ran alongside the Dean for Academic Affairs. That pushed me a little more than I would like to admit.)

Saturday-1 hour of BodyPump. I know that I do not work out as well when I try to do it by myself. I LOVE going to workout classes. It is like having a personal trainer except the focus isn’t solely on me. It is really motivating to be in a room full of people. I don’t compare myself to them, it’s more of we can all do this together kind of mentality. (Ok maybe sometimes I do compare myself, but it is encouraging to push myself to their level.) BodyPump was my favorite class to go to in Ames, and I am excited to finally have a place to do it again. If you are not familiar with BodyPump, it is a strength training class that guides you through weight lifting exercises. Each song focuses on a different part of your body. I love doing weights this way. This is by far my favorite workout class I have ever taken.

Sunday-I attempted to do a half hour of yoga, but it was like everything was against me. I went to the gym but you had to provide your own mat for the class (nevermind that we were also 5 minutes late). So I had to turn around and nix the idea of that class. Then I went home to do it on the Wii, but anytime I would get into downward dog, George would start crying. So it was probably a good 10 minutes of stretching instead of full out yoga. Unless making oogly faces and baby noises at George counts as exercise, than I got a full 30 minutes in.

Monday-20 minute ab workout

Tuesday-30 minutes on the elliptical

Impressed by:

I made it completely through every BodyPump song except shoulders/back without taking a break. For not having lifted in over a year, I am happy that I kept up with the class. I would have made it through shoulders/back, but I thought I was able to do more weight than I should have. So I had to take a break in the middle to switch weights and catch my breath.

Struggled with:

On the flip side, I was upset seeing how little weight I could press. I was up to a pretty high number when I left Ames (at least high for me). It was a little eye-opening to have to start completely over with a clean bar on some things. I also have no core strength, so doing abs was ridiculously difficult. I am a little embarrassed at how much weight I could push and how many crunches I could bust out, but hey I can only go up from here.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

We have figured out a schedule, but there are still little kinks to work out which is why I was late to that yoga class. I pick up George MWF and do a light ab workout while watching TV sometime that night. Tom heads straight to the gym on those nights to do his workout. Then Tom picks up G-man on T/R so I can run after work. Then I plan on doing a class on Saturday and Sunday at our gym, and Tom and I will go to the gym together. We pay $8 a month at our gym for childcare which means we are able to workout at the same time after work and on the weekends so we can really maximize our time as a family. $8 for unlimited childcare is totally worth it to make our schedule work more efficiently.

What is my goal for next week?

Work out the kinks of our schedule so I am not late to a class. I would like to make it to two classes this next week. (We have bought a yoga mat, so I guess I can’t use that as a goal…)

Fitness Thoughts:

There are so many people at the gym in January. I really hope they all stick to their fitness goals and aren’t just resolutioners. It is a lot of money to invest in a gym membership so I hope they get the most out of it!

Do you have a gym membership? What are your favorite workouts?

January 12, 2015 by Stephanie

10 Days of Tom

Tom has never been a big birthday person. Usually we do something fairly low key, and there have been years Tom has removed his birthday info from social media so people wouldn’t know.

But this year was Tom’s 30th.

I wanted to do something to make a big deal about it but also be sensible.

Enter the idea to do small gifts over 10 days.

10 Days of Tom

First, I am no expert wrapper. Just get it covered is my motto. Second, I had already given Tom day one’s gift before I had the forethought to take a collective picture.

Here is what each day brought him.

Day 1: Funfetti cake and Coldstone gift card. He needed his birthday sprinkles.

Day 2: House shoes. We love being old.

Day 3: Gum and travel teeth cleaning items. My husband doesn’t like to have bad breath or a yucky mouth, and since he will be out of the house a lot these will come in handy.

Day 4: Undershirts. He has been using his army tans for his undershirts. No thank you. He needed to update his closet since getting out of the Army.

Day 5: Mike and Ikes. His favorite candy.

Day 6: Nalgene. This is Tom’s favorite water bottle, and they have been lost (err I lost them) in the last few years. So it was time they were replaced.

Day 7: This one was just for Tom. But it had something to do with birthday suits. Keeping the romance alive.

Day 8: Chipotle gift card. This is his favorite place to eat. Always be bulking.

Day 9: Two wallet sized photos, one of our family and one of just George. Tom’s has always kept photos in his wallet, so he needed some updated ones with George. This way we can always be with him.

Day 10: Pre-made date cards for the entire year. There is one for each month. We have had a hard time finding time to go on dates and be just us. We usually end up staying home watching a half hour of TV before the dogs or George need us to do something. With this one I wanted to make sure we do something fun and different each month to reconnect. I wanted to be intentional on putting focus on that “us” time. Some of them are random, but they should be fun. Tom was upset that I gave him a gift that he couldn’t fully open since we will open each month one at a time when that month rolls around. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

This was really fun to do for both of us. I liked doing some fun and some practical gifts. It went over well, but now I have set this standard…whoops.

Have you done anything like this? Here is one my friend did. (She was a lot more awesome about her coordination than I was.) How do you celebrate birthdays with your significant other?

January 11, 2015 by Stephanie

35 Before 35

Another month has come and gone. Let’s see where I stand.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves at least once a year (~~2013~~, ~~2014~~, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

2. Do a photography challenge

I am still keeping up with getting the DSLR out at least once a week with George. This last month a lot of them were for Christmas and not just with George. Here are some that I haven’t shared yet.

3. ~~Visit 5 cities I have never been to before~~ (5/5)

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the KY/TN area

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

With the craziness that was December, I did not come even close to getting letters out.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

7. Run at least 10 races (any distance) (1/10)

8. Go camping with Tom

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

10. See Tyrone Wells live as many times as possible

11. ~~Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville~~

12. Water ski with my dad

13. Do a 5K with my mom

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

I am still in a reader’s rut personally, but I did read a book for work. I read Visible Solutions for Invisible Students: Helping Sophomores Succeed. We are looking into starting a sophomore year experience in my office, so I am spearheading a lot of the research on it. This was an ok book, but nothing that I couldn’t have found on the internet.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

I looked up some community classes, but they are super expensive here in Columbia. If they fit into my work schedule, I might take some classes at the college since my benefits cover them.

17. Do one new recipe each month

I did two this last month.
I made a funfetti cake for Tom’s birthday. That boy loves his sprinkles. It was an ok cake. Our oven racks are tilted so it affected the evenness of the baking, which I was not aware of prior to this cake. Lesson learned.
We had these chicken pot pie biscuits this last weekend. They were delicious! I hate pies so these were a perfect substitution since Tom loves pot pies. We will be making these a lot more often!

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

19. Find a place to volunteer on a regular basis

20. Go hiking

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

22. Go to at least 20 “new to me” restaurants. (17/20)

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

25. Have a Kentucky Derby themed 30th birthday party.

26. ~~Explore Nashville while we live here~~

27. Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 20 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning) Movies (2/10); Documentaries (7/20)

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch

29. Do a personal devotional/bible study on my own

30. Be a mascot for an event

31. Go on our honeymoon (preferably somewhere tropical)

32. Host an annual NCAA Basketball Tournament Championship game party

33. Go on a mission trip

34. Be on a recreation volleyball team

35. ~~Become a mom~~

January 8, 2015 by Stephanie

Movie Review: Into the Woods

I love movies.

I love musicals.

I love movie musicals.

Whenever I see one, I envision myself singing one of the main parts and dream of being dressed up and thrown on stage as a star. Reality is I cannot sing alone, and I am too much of a perfectionist to make acting work. (Seriously in the fifth grade I beat my self up for not saying the word “the” in one of my lines for a Christmas pageant. I thought the world was over because I failed so miserably.)

So I go to the show and dream and of course sing along.

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I recently saw Into the Woods over the holidays with my SIL and MIL. It was nice for us to take a break without the kids, although I realize my MIL was still with her kid…but I digress.

This was just great. It had been awhile since I sat in a theater with an ICEE in hand. This movie was just delightful.

I love many of the actors, and they did not disappoint. The design, set, costuming, all of it was very pleasing to the eye. Who knew Emily Blunt could sing?

I had never seen a production of Into the Woods before seeing the movie. I had only read the synopsis and heard some of the music. I really enjoyed the satire and humor that is infused into the plot line.

There was a woman behind us who was not pleased with the Chris Pine song. She did not get that it was supposed to be over the top acting, which made it even funnier to me.

The story is about a couple who is trying to reverse a cursed placed on their house. It follows their adventure of collecting these items that intertwine several other fairy tales together.

Seeing that I am a fan of fairy tales and things like Once Upon a Time, clearly I would like this musical.

I don’t think they messed up any fairy tales which I know many people are worried about. I like seeing how people interpret the same story differently. Did I say that I was a fan of Once Upon a Time? The way that the stories are infused are so light that it is ok when they took some liberties with the story line.

The ending kind of caught me off guard, and I was sure that it was all a rouse. (I don’t want to ruin it for you if you haven’t seen it.) I am ok with the ending, but it was just surprising how it wasn’t really your traditional fairy tale ending.

I LOVED the music. I CAN see myself playing in the band, and envision my bass parts accompanying the melody.

I really recommend this movie for any lovers of musicals or fun times. I thought it was upbeat, funny, and hits ya in all the right places.

I will note that both my MIL and SIL said that the theatrical version is better. So I would love to see it on stage sometime. I would agree that a lot of times the theatrical version is better, so I wasn’t surprised with their comments. I did see in an interview though that many parts were shot live as far as singing goes and were not dubbed over from a studio.

Also, this is all my humble opinion. When I was looking for pictures, of course I scrolled to see what others were saying. Many out there thought it was bland and had harsh things to say about it.

Granted, it was no West Side Story, but I think this movie has its place. It was a fun little film that takes a different twist on stories that we think we know. For me, it was funny and refreshing. And again, I am a sucker for all things musical.

This review is my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.

Did you see any movies over the holidays? Have you seen Into the Woods?

January 7, 2015 by Stephanie

Fit for Me Week 1

Week 1 out of 52: done.

A year doesn’t look so ridiculous when you count down by week.

What I did last week:

Saturday-Ran for 30 minutes on treadmill [My legs are still sore from this. I don’t even remember the last time I ran like that. It was a good run but awful at the same time.]

Sunday-45 minutes of yoga

Monday-30 minutes of cardio on the Wii [I have a video game-Fit Coach-that you can personalize your workout. It keeps up with your progress too. It doesn’t have the best weight/strength training, but it has really decent cardio and yoga. I don’t think I have had the same workout twice in the 5 years I have used it.]

Tuesday-30 minutes of yoga

Impressed by:

I am impressed with myself for actually getting up at 4:45 this week to make a workout happen. I am also impressed that I ran as much as I did for that 30 minutes considering it has been close to a year since I have gone on a good run.

Struggled with:

Getting up at 4:45am. I DO NOT wake up quickly. I know I am not a morning workout person, but it really seems like the only time I am able to get some time in besides the weekend. I know my workouts aren’t the best when I work out this early because I usually am still waking up when I am driving to work. It is all a process for me and one where I prefer not to be carrying weights or doing jumping jacks. I was cranky pants every morning.

Did I meet my goal from last week?

Since my goal was to workout at least 3 times, I would say I hit that one out of the park.

What is my goal for next week?

I want to figure out a better schedule. I know it takes time to get used to new things, but I have tried soooo many times to make morning workouts work. THEY NEVER WORK. For me at least. Half the time, I use the plank/cobra/anything-that-is-remotely-close-to-lying position as an excuse to lay my head on the floor and fall back asleep…So since I am being self-aware, I need to find a way to make working out after work do. Tom and I are figuring out a new schedule so that both of us can get what we need and not have to wake up before 5.

Fitness Thoughts:

It is hard to make this [working out] a priority with schedules of today. Work and family take precedence, and there is little or no time to exercise. Tom and I talked the other night that if both of us worked out for an hour in the evenings (assuming it is not at the same time since one of us needs to be with George), we would not see each other until 7, but really closer to 8 if you include travel time, which is when we are gearing up to put little one down for the night. I think this is why often it seems like a chore to people. I need to remember to make it fun. Hence why having it at 4:45 am is not a good idea for me. That is not fun.

fba52fd896af528eac9bad7607dcf7c1 image via