T minus 3 days until....

WE MOVE HOME!!! I am so excited that my husband and I are finally moving back home to our family and friends. I will be going back to work in a PreK room. Josh will be building houses for a time, which he loves. There are so many great things coming our way in the near future!

I hope this explains my absence over the past few weeks and not updating on my Organization Challenge. I guess I'll be starting that over when we get in our new house.

Lots of packing and planning to do in the meantime. Oh, and can I just express how stinkin' excited I am that I will be home by Thanksgiving and get to decorate for Christmas this year?!?! We were so busy moving with a 2-3 week notice during Christmas last year that my tree was up for less than a week and then had to come down. So I'm excited to have my house decorated for Christmas. It is my favorite time of the year! Prayers are welcome as we make this huge transition into our life back home! I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving!!!

Day 2 of 20 Days Organized

On day 2 of the 20 day challenge, I am supposed to do the master bedroom. However, I had two kiddos throwing up and sick all day, so during naptime, I decided to do day 3 and tackle my laundry area, which allowed me to be close to the kids at all times. I will do the master bedroom on Saturday while my husband is out since I won't have the kiddos here either!

Here is the link to the original day 2--Master Bedroom

And here is my day 2--the laundry room/area

TADA...Here is my super organized laundry space! Everything has a label and a place.

This green bag is hanging with a command hook (love those, especially for apartment living!) It holds all of my "walmart bags" and other plastic bags that we use for little trash and things. I always keep a few on hand. In the corner I also keep my ironing board, the mop, and the broom.

 This bag holds all of my reusable totes that I take grocery shopping, etc. I just grab the whole pink bag and GO! On the inside wall, I also have commend hooks for my fly swat and my little umbrella.

 I keep my laundry cleaners, dryer sheets, and trash bags in this blue bin. It also has my cute little Laundry Cheat Sheet on there (Pinterest!) You can also see my homemade febreze spray and a couple other cleaners, my paper towels, and my feather duster.

 

 This pink bin is for my baby, Roxy Ann. It has all of her treats, wipes, bones, collars, sprays, and anything else doggie right here!

 Below are the last few items in my laundry space. The tall bin to the left contains a variety of stockpiled air fresheners. Light bulbs are in the container on top of that. And the white bin has "lost sock." This is where I put socks that come out of the dryer without their match, until their match can be found of course. I also pull it out once a week or so to make sure I haven't overlooked matches.

 The last pictures here are of my Homemade Laundry Detergent. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff. It is so amazing, so cheap, and keeps my laundry clean and smelling nice. My recipe makes a TON, so at only about a tablespoon per load, it lasts a really long time. Did I mention how much I LOVE IT?!?!

Hope you had a great Tuesday, maybe at least a bit less sickly than mine.
Are you ready for Wednesday?
This is will be your task (laundry) if you are following the original schedule.
For me, Wednesday will be the living room.

Happy Organizing!

20 Days to Organized and Clean: Day 1

As most of you know, I am a housewife/nanny. I stay at home full time and keep two toddlers ages 3 and 20 months. One of the things I have really been loving and working harder on now that I am home is keeping a clean and organized house. I do fairly well with the clean part, I just struggle with making myself organize. It always seems like a never ending task!

While playing on Pinterest (another obsession of mine that I carve out time for during nap time!), I found this cute little blog called The Organized Housewife. I visit and take ideas from lots of blogs, and she is among my recently found faves. While looking around on her blog, I found her 20 DAYS TO ORGANIZE AND CLEAN YOUR HOUSE CHALLENGE. I was looking at all the different tasks for each day and thinking to myself, "I need this!" She has her challenge last month, and as I said I just found her blog last week, so I started my challenge today! I would love to have you join me!!!

Here is the link to the original post from The Organized Housewife and the pre-task info to prep you in getting ready to start your challenge. FYI, I didn't start a new binder since I already have a household binder I use daily. I just added it under the CLEANING tab.

GETTING STARTED: (click the picture to go to the into, which links to the pre-tasks..there are 4 total)

1. Print the daily checklists. 

2. Gather all of your cleaning supplies in an easily accessible and portable place.

3. Go shopping for any bins/supplies you don't already have on hand. 

4. Create a morning routine. It really helps you get going each day!!

5. Set up an evening routine. It makes the next morning less daunting. 

6. Get your goals listed, and get your sorting tubs ready to go.

(Click the picture to go to Day 1 post with complete details)

I will try to take before and after photos each day of the tasks I complete, but mostly you will probably get the afters. I'm a good housekeeper, so general pictures don't ever do the "befores" any justice. Below are my AFTER pictures from today. The challenge: The Kitchen!

(*Please note that I live in an apartment townhouse, so the appliances and cabinets, etc, come with it. That's why they are so dated. Not really my style, but decent and I make do!)

Here is my stove area. My spice rack is too tall for my shelves in the cabinet, so there it sits. It's actually very convenient until I can find a great way to put them organized and visible in the cabinet.

 This is what I refer to as COMMAND CENTRAL. This is where I keep my recipe book (blue binder with yellow label), Hill Household Notebook (next binder), my important papers (this is where I file my important papers and paid bills until clean out day), my catch-all basket (for things I use everyday that don't really have a home! but it gets cleaned out on clean out day too!), and my paper sorter. I use the paper sorter for my phone book and other important things that don't go in my household binder. It also gets cleaned out weekly.

 Here is my sink. Nice and clean. I repurposed an old SPARK canister to catch can tabs which we send to St. Jude. Not much here now, except my paper pumpkin that I made with the kiddos! HEY, It's fall!! :)

 Had to post a little picture of my homemade cleaners. I love them!! They are a now a staple in my home and have so much money!!!

 And here is my under the sink area..all neat and organized with my cleaning supplies! Everything has a home now.

If you are doing this challenge with me in October, leave me a comment with your thoughts/progress daily, and/or a link to your blog so I can see your progress and maybe we can share ideas! Good luck!


Happy Organizing!

5QF

It has been a while since I have posted in blog world. I have been visiting some of my usual reads, but just haven't had anything much post-worthy. So I thought I would just jump in feet first with 5 Question Friday, which I always enjoy.  

(I'm posting early, and as soon as she puts the linky on her blog, I'll link up for you to join!)

Here are this week's questions for 5 Question Friday

1. What is one grammar issue you cannot let go without correction? Well, as a teacher, I'm extremely OCD about certain things, but I would have to say that my biggest issue would be when people use the wrong form of a word. For example: to, two, too/your, you're/there, their, they're/etc. oh, it erks me!

2. What's your favorite thing about fall?
oh, that's a tough one! I'm a southern girl, and I love EVERYTHING about fall! It is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love football, cool crisp mornings, fall clothing styles, smells, fall foods, just everything. I don't think there is anything about fall that I don't like..

3. What's your favourite dish to take to a potluck? Anytime we have get-togethers like that, I'm always asked to bring a desert. So, my go to deserts are Oreo Balls and Butterfinger cake. Both are fairly simple, and definitely a crowd-pleaser.

4. When do you start Christmas (Holiday) shopping? I can always Christmas shop, and I'm not beyond buying something for a Christmas gift in February if I find just the right thing. However, I would say that I usually start planning and hunting for gifts in October.

5. Did you move homes a lot growing up? When I lived at home with my parents, we had 3 houses, all within a mile or so from each other in our cute little country town. We were in our first house until I was about 5, our second house until I was around 12ish, and my parents are still in our last house. That's the one I really refer to as "home." My husband and I have been married for 4 years, and we have had 3 houses (our first one we were in for a year, our 2nd one we were in for 2 years, and we are now in an apartment about 3 hours from "home" after taking jobs here). Let's just say that when we move again, I don't want to move for a while after that unless completely necessary!

Day 8 of 24DC + Weigh-In Results

One full week down!
woohoo!
Last week was tough, which the first 10 days always are [it's the cleanse phase]. So my body was kicking out all the bad toxins in my system and I was just a little "blah." HOWEVER, I now only have 2 more days after today on the cleanse and then it's the MAX phase, which is full of vitamins and nutrients and makes me feel AMAZING! So I'm looking forward to that and feeling like running again.

Ok. No more delays: Time for me Weigh-In Results:

Down 3.2 pounds and 4.5 inches this week!
WHOOP WHOOP!!
I say that's a pretty good first week!
That brings my total to:
-24.6 pounds
-23.25 inches
YAY!!

And with that being said, I was in complete shock when I got on the scale this morning.
I stepped on and off the scale just to be sure I was seeing it right..
and I was..
HELLO ONE-derland!! 

I say I'm off to a great start for a Monday and week #2!

24 DC: Day 1 and FMM

24 Day Challenge #2 started today.

I'm pretty pumped.

Last time I did the challenge back in March, I lost 11 pounds and 18 inches. I'm looking forward to seeing my results at the end of this 24 Day Challenge.

Here is how my day will go today:

5:30 am - Rise and Shine

5:45 am - SPARK

6:00 am - Gym Time (Ran 2 of 3.1 miles)

7:00 am - Shower

7:30 am - Fiber Drink

8:00 am - Breakfast (2 scrambled eggs)

10:30 am - Snack

12:30 pm - Lunch

3:30 pm - Snack

6:30pm - Supper

So far so good! I have planned out my workouts and meals/snacks for the entire Cleanse Phase (which is the first 10 days).

If you are interested in joining me, check out my website today!

Click Here >>  TASHA'S AdvoCare WEBSITE 

I'm feeling good about the things to come.

Also, it's time for Friend Making Monday!

Goals and More …

1. Brag about some of your daily, healthy habits.  Let's see. I touched on my 24 Day Challenge above..I drink ONLY water. I go to the gym for cardio 4 morning a week at 6 am, and have started running 3 of those days, training for my first 5K!

2. Do you track your daily food intake? If so, how? Absolutely! I use the MyFitnessPal website/phone app. It is amazing. (I love the barcode scanner, and that it keeps up with my calories burned too!) If you are on MyFitnessPal, let me a comment with your user name. I'm always looking for friends to keep me accountable :)

3. What do you want to change most about your daily routine?  Let's see..I stay at home with two toddlers (3 y/o and 1.5 y/o), so we are pretty active. However, I wish I could find the motivation after dinner to maybe walk an extra mile, whether it be outside or on a DVD.

4. How often do you exercise?  4 mornings during the week for an hour at 6 am. I try to get an extra workout in over the weekend, but sometimes that is hit or miss.

5. How do you stay on track when you’re on the go?  We only travel to see our family on the weekends. If we have a cookout or something, my dad is great about throwing me a piece of chicken and some veggies on the grill! These are generally the weekends when I usually miss my workouts. But sometimes my mom or aunt will go walk with me. 

6. What’s one excuse you use that prevents you from reaching your goals?  There is always this little voice in the back of my head that tells me, "You're going to fail. You're not good enough." I try with all my might and can quiet that voice most days, but occasionally it gets me. 

7. What scares you most about your journey?  Failure. My husband, my family, and my friends all see that I am on this journey to a healthier me. Sometimes I feel like it is never ending and I am never going to reach my goals. I have always set "goals" for myself, and I have reached them. But my family is always waiting for me to "reach the next goal" before 

I can even celebrate meeting the first one. Right now, I'm a certified teacher who graduated Dec 2010 and I am still looking for a teaching job. (Which if you are from my area, you know it's hard to find. Plus, with moving to a completely new town and knowing no one, that doesn't help.) I stay at home keeping kids (which I really enjoy by the way), but my parents are always asking about the job situation. They have a hard time accepting that until God blesses me with a job, I'm happy where I am. I guess I just want to prove to myself and my loved ones that I'm making the most of this time at home, and that plays into what scares me the most about this journey: failure of not being good enough and of not reaching my goals.

8. What do you think will change most when you reach your goal? (If you have reached it, what’s different?)  I hope to have so much more confidence and energy to do the things I want to do. 

9. What motivates you to reach your goals?  My future. I want children. I want to have a healthy pregnancy. I want to set a good example for my own children and those in my future classroom (when I have a job). I want to look fabulous for my husband. My grandmother has diabetes and I know I'm already at risk. I want to cut that risk as much as possible. 

10. Share a few of your goals.  

         - Run a 5K (scheduled for September 2012!)

         - Lose 70 pounds total (only 49 more to go!)

         - Shop for smaller clothes, and smile when I try them on!

         - Be HEALTHY!

Have a great Monday!!!

Tough Stuff Today

Hello!! :) I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! The hubby and I got to go come (3 hrs away) to visit with our family this weekend! It was wonderful to see everyone, but it's always busy. I usually feel like I need a weekend to recover from the weekend when we go home. It's worth it though. I get pretty homesick, so it's a blessing when we get to go see our family!!

Yesterday I made the decision to do away with the C25K. I was starting to get burnt out with it. I'm still running though. My very first 5K will be the Color Run on Sept 3. So I have about 6 weeks to get it down pat!! I decided to start just running/walking the entire 3.1 miles each time I run. In the past 6 weeks I barely making 2 miles and I wasn't even sure how far I was running.

Yesterday I decided to just keep up with my distance that I run and increase it each time as much as possible. I ran 1.5 total yesterday, with my longest run being .5 mile.

Today I increased that distance. My longest run was .75 mile. I seem to have pulled a muscle in the top my of thigh and something in my knee bothers me on occasion. So after the .75 mile run, the other runs were short jogs of anywhere between .1 and .5 mile for a total of 1.75 miles ran out of the 3.1 that I completed today. It was tough, but I'm determined to power through. Tomorrow if my off day from walking/running and then Thursday is just a walk day. I'm praying that will give my pulled muscles time to recover so that my run can be amazing on Friday.

That's the plan anyway.

Looking for some ideas here:
What is your FAVORITE workout activity?!

Post-Weekend Recap and Recovery

whew. The weekend went by so stinkin fast; my head is still spinning.

My brother, Jordan, and his girlfriend, Megan, came down to visit us this weekend. We had a great time with them. We went to eat at different places here locally, took them to some cool shops, and watched the UFC fights at Buffalo Wild Wings. We ate WAY too much though throughout the weekend. I'm still overly stuffed.

And I felt it on my C25K Week 5 Day 1 run this morning. I felt so sick from eating too much. Plus, someone had messed with the air at the gym, so it was nearly 80 degrees inside when we got there. We fixed it, but it didn't cool off until we were almost ready to go. sheesh.

Here is a little post-run pic

Then I had to get in some Rehydrate after the run!

This is some good stuff. It's part of the AdvoCare line that I am a consultant for. It's an amazing electrolyte replacement drink that you can use before, during, or after a workout. I also know lots of people that drink it when they are working outside in this terrible heat, too! Check out Rehydrate at my website: HERE

This week my goal is to eat breakfast everyday and try to get in an extra workout each day as well. Even if it's just a mile walk, but something for sure.
Here is today's breakfast.

 Wasa crispbread with Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cheese spread. Very low cal. And of course, some yummy green grapes!

Now, let's get this Monday going. Thinking some pool time is in order to recovery from the busy weekend! :) Hope you all have a fabulous Monday!!

Pushing Through The Pain

C25K Week 4 Day 2:

5 min warm up walk 

3 min run

90 sec walk

5 min run

2.5 min walk

3 min run

90 sec walk

5 min run

5 min cool down walk

sheesh! Yesterday was the same schedule and I powered through it! I felt great. No pain in my legs. Awesome.

Today. Today was tough. My legs started hurting from the 1st 5 min run, very soon into it. My breathing was alright and other than the pain in my lower leg, I felt good. But it was very intense and hard to push through. I stayed right on track, until the last 5 min run.

I got about 3.5 minutes into that last run and the pain was there. I had to walk for 1 minute and then finish the last 1.5 min run. It wasn't the way I wanted to do it, but at least I finished the time I guess.

Hopefully my last run of the week (on Friday) will be better. I hope so. I hope it's like yesterday and I can kill it.

Any of you runners out there have any suggestions for that lower leg pain? It's kinda on the front, inside of my leg just above the ankle. To the inside of my shin. It's muscle I'm pretty sure. But not shin splints, I've had those and know what those are right away. But I just have GOT to figure out a way to work around this.

err. 



On another note, my little brother is making the 3 hour drive to visit me this weekend! This will be his first trip to our new house since he helped us move in back in January. Ain't he a cutie? haha

Jordan and his girlfriend are coming down on Friday and staying through Sunday. We are planning to hit the pool, cookout, and go watch the UFC fights at Buffalo Wild Wings here locally. I'm pretty excited. I cleaned some major house last week, and if I can just get the hubs to help me keep it that way, I won't have a whole ton to do before they arrive Friday!

It's going to be a good weekend. 

Have a great Tuesday!

Minor Accomplishments --> Goals ahead

Last night I got a text from my gym buddy saying that she wasn't going to make it to the gym in the morning because she had some last minute company to stay the night.  That's cool. But I also have the bad habit of laying out too when she does.

NOT THIS TIME.

I made myself get up at 5:30 am like normal and hit the gym by myself!
Yes. Big accomplishment for me.
I hate working out alone.
But I did it!!!!

I completed my C25K run this morning. Week 4, Day 1. Up until this point I was barely getting in 2 miles during my 30 minutes, which was only about 9 minutes of running total.

And when I say "barely," I mean there were days when I only made it 1.9 miles.

Well, running intervals were longer this week, of course. Here was how I did today.

Not too bad. I'm a slow runner, but HEY. At least I'm running.

I haven't been a pound drop in the last couple of weeks. Sadly.

But it also hasn't gone up either. HOWEVER, I have noticed my thighs looking slightly less jiggly since I started running. That's a definite perk in my book!

Time to tighten back up on the diet though. That scale has got to budge. I have a long way to go to reach my ultimate goal, but I'm so close to one of my mini-goals that I can taste it. So time to get back to it!!

Have a Fabulous Monday!

Becoming a Runner-ish

It's been a little while since I have updated you all on my "fitness progress." So here is what I am up to now.

Two weeks ago I received a text from a family friend, who like me, is far from being a runner. We are avid walkers. She was telling me that her daughter was going to sign up for the Color Run. They allow walkers too, and she wanted to know if I would sign up and us walk it together because it sounded like so much fun. So, crazy me, I said sure! After we talked a little more, we decided that maybe we should try to run at least some of it! Now as I have said, I am NOT a runner. So I downloaded the Couch25K app on my phone and started working my way through it. I'm officially on week three, and I surprise myself each time I run!! I can definitely tell that I have lost weight and am getting in better shape each day. This week my runs are as follows: 5 min warm up walk, run 90 secs, walk 90 secs, run 3 mins, walk 3 mins, run 90 secs, walk 90 secs, run 3 mins, walk 3 mins, 5 min cool down walk. Yeah, three minutes doesn't sound like much, but for me, IT IS! I could barely run at all when I first started.


My 5k Color Run is September 3rd. I still have a long way to go, but I'm slowly making it a little bit each day. I guess it's true what they say. What you do today can improve all your tomorrows!!

So for any of you runner out there, I gladly welcome any running tips and/or advice. :)

AdvoCare & My Progress

Before Advocare

Current Progress: 20 Pounds Down!!

How have I lost it, you ask? Lots of hard work and eating right. It sounds simple, but for me, it hasn't always been simple. I have tried this before, but without much success. On March 5, I began using AdvoCare products, specifically their 24 Day Challenge. I thought, okay, I can do anything for just 24 days. I LOST 11 POUNDS AND 18 OVERALL INCHES!! OMG. It was just the motivation that I needed to keep going, and I was already in the habit of eating right, so why not keep going?? I have continued to use AdvoCare Products and have reached 20 pounds down! So I have decided to become an AdvoCare distributor myself. It's time for me to help others work on becoming a healthier version of themselves, too!

AdvoCare offers a wide variety of products for a wide variety of needs. We offer things to general health & wellness, energy, sports performance, weight management, and even some skin care!! I LOVE ADVOCARE!

What are my favorite products??
1. SPARK - it's a great sugar-free drink that provides mental clarity, alertness, and loads of energy to get through the day. Other than the challenge, it's my #1 recommended product for all people.
2. THERMOPLUS - This products boost metabolism, helps control appetite, and burns fat :)
3. CATALYST - I take this twice a day!!! It's a huge metabolism booster and calorie burner. It powers me through my workouts every morning, and in conjunction with SPARK, it is a staple to get me through my day!!

Do you need to have more energy to power through those workouts? Lose some weight? Feel better? Look better? Then, ask me about AdvoCare!! Check out my website and orders can be shipped directly to you!!!!!

TASHA'S ADVOCARE WEBSITE

TurboFire or Body Revolution??!!

I have a question for all of you on the journey to a healthy lifestyle? I LOVE at home workout videos. I'm currently trying to decide which set to add to my collection and start in the near future!!

I LOVE having a set workout schedule to follow and the following each have that for me.
Here are my choices.
I'm juggling between TURBOFIRE or JILLIAN MICHAEL'S BODY REVOLUTION.
I'm leaning toward TurboFire because I have the the TurboJam set and I really enjoy it a lot. However, I also like Jillian Michael's. For those of you that have tried either, please take a moment to provide me some feedback on your experience with either set.

In the meantime, here is a weekend recap. 

Here is a shot of my love and my babe on our lazy Friday night.

 My husband found this great little place not far from our house, 

so Saturday we played putt-putt golf. 

I got a hole in one!!!!

My handsome hubby totaling his loss :)

Oh yeah, that's right! I won, even if it was only by one point! ha.

WE HAD A BLAST TOGETHER!