Boot Camp!

I used to be a regular gym goer, until I got burnout on the whole gym thing. 

 It's been over a year since I exercised regularly.

As I'm getting older though, my body is telling me "this is not the time to get burnout on exercising".

  You have to work twice as hard to lose weight, maintain muscle, and have energy.  

So, last week I started going here.....Savage Gym.....for BOOT CAMP!

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It may not look like much (there's actually more equipment than shown in this photo), but the girl in charge of the boot camp does a great job of setting up various stations for us to move through for 1 minute of strengthening and 2 minutes of cardio, 2x in each station.

There are about 6 ladies and we move through the stations doing squats with weights, jump rope, ab work, planks, lunges, and more!  And, the workout changes a little each time, which is what I need to hold my interest.

Today we did this......I have a whole new appreciation for those contestants on The Biggest Loser.

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We even swing sledgehammers into tires.....

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I was sore over the weekend, to say the least, but it was a good sore.  

So far it's actually been fun, hard, but fun.  Crazy I know.....but it's all women talking (like we do so well), sharing and laughing while trying to breath and control the sweat dripping down our faces.

I'm hoping to stick with it.  Wish me luck!

(although tomorrow I'm off to jury duty....)

Have a great week!

Petie

Orange Incorporated!

I did it!  

I've added some "orange" to the family room.  

In my last post, I shared some great neutral rooms with pops of orange that 

really added warmth and a little whimsy, in my opinion. 

I'm attempting to do the same in our very neutral family room and kitchen.  

This is where I've started....with a can (or 3) of spray paint. 

It's Krylon's, Pumpkin Orange, of course.

I need to add another coat and a top coat for protection, but 

our weather went sour before I could finish.

Even with the weather sour, this pop of orange is making me feel sunny!

 

Have a great weekend.

Petie

I'm linking to the following parties:

Be Inspired Friday at Common Ground
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Pops of Orange

I am feeling the need for some whimsy in our family room and kitchen.  Being a pretty neutral girl, whimsy for me means a "pop" of color.  Like these pops of orange below, in otherwise neutral settings.  Lovin' it!

Source: nehomemag.com via Petie on Pinterest

Source: niceandnicer.com via Petie on Pinterest

Source: flor.com via Petie on Pinterest

(all photos found on Pinterest)

Do you have any whimsy in your home?

Have a great week!

Petie

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love pictures of my kids hands!  

This picture was taken a couple of summers ago on a hike at Silver Falls State Park.  

While trying to find 4 leaf clovers, we realized the beauty of the 3 leaf clover

 with these great heart-shaped leaves.

Hope you're having a special day with someone you love!

Petie

Nesting

For me, if there's anything good that comes from an awful stomach bug, it's the nesting sensation I get afterwards.  After laying around for a week, I am ready to clean up and clear out!  So far, I've re-organized and weeded out cabinets and closets, and even removed cabinet doors to try another look in the kitchen.


 Before (with cabinet doors - minus one because I started removing them and then took photo)

 After

 

See those yellow boxes in the cubbies?  

I've been trying to find some kind of storage basket to fill those cubbies as long as we've lived in this house.  They're a "catch-all" for clutter (you can see that in the 1st photo), so I need something to keep the clutter hidden neatly.  

As I was getting groceries at Target, I started paying attention to various box sizes to fit in the cubbies.  I had some criteria - the box contents had to be something our family would eat and  something cheap since I needed 5 of them.  Lucky for my kids, these are ice cream cones!  

More to come on this project later.

 

Re-organizing the new open kitchen cabinets involved shuffling dishes from another 

closet of dishes/entertaining items, seen here and newly organized.

Hanging over the door is a shoe holder that has worked great for my napkin addiction 

collection, toothpicks, skewers, candles, and lots of other entertaining necessities.

And, last but not least, I have some extra storage in the laundry room 

cabinets that got involved in the organization "shuffle".  

These are all my vases/glassware storage.

I'm beginning to think another name for this post might be "hoarding".....yikes! 

Believe it or not, all of this stuff gets used at one time or another.

Petie

Valentines for the older kids

I found these large cups at TJ Maxx a couple of weeks ago.  

They have some great inspirational phrases on them....

Be an individual.

Take risks.

Be spontaneous and imaginative.

Have integrity in everything you do.

Make a real difference.

Wake up smiling.

Seize every moment.

Try new things.

Amaze yourself.

Take chances.

Be optimistic.

Embrace change.

Have an open mind.

Be fearless.

I think these are great words of advice for my 12 year old daughter and my 14 year old son. 

They're both huge water drinkers, so I'm hoping they'll wear these cups 

out and some of the advice will rub off!

For Valentine's Day I've filled them with treats 

(always a plus for kids).

And, these cute Valentine cookies caught my eye on Pinterest, so I tried to re-create them.

They are sugar cookies with a melted Jolly Rancher center.

I cheated and used store bought, pre-made, cookie dough.   Using 2 sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters, I cut out the design and removed the center heart.  Just add your Jolly Rancher to the center and bake according to package directions.  Let them cool.

Are you making any surprises for you kids this week for Valentine's Day?

Petie

The Stomach Bug Bit Me

This has been my week so far....

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.....but, I'm up and moving today, so I should be back to this in no time!

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Hope you're having a healthy week!

Petie

Painting the EDGE of the door

I've seen a lot of great ideas for painting interior doors, but painting the "edge" of the door is new to me. 

Look at these great doors I found on Pinterest. 

Love the pop of color!

This one coordinates with the color in the room.  

And check out that painted headboard....so creative.

Just looking around our house I'm realizing we have a lot of doors.....not sure where I would begin with this pop of color.  Something to ponder over the weekend :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

Petie