2014

Hey Friends! I don't know about y'all but I have really enjoyed my downtime the last few weeks.  I've had family here for almost the entire time and I wouldn't have had it ANY other way!

Faith, Family and Love, what more could a girl ask for?

The holidays weren't exactly my *ideal* version because we missed my dad so much, but we tried to make the best of it and keep trucking :) That's what he would want! 

I can not believe it's almost 2014!!!! My goals for 2014..I haven't really had much time to stop and think about it.. but I bet I can come up with something :)

1. Spend more *quality* time with the family. You know, turn off the cellphones, TV's, video games and just unplug. We LOVE board games at my house. So I am making it a mission to have more board game nights, days or whatever else the family wants! 

2. Focus and give God the credit for our many blessings in life. My friend just told me about the "JesusCalling" App and I absolutely love it!

3. Spend more time in my classroom with "free moments".  By free moments I'm talking about leaving the lesson plan on my desk and having free discussions with the kids about their learning and what their goals are. I think this sometimes gets left in the dust with everything we have to do, so I'm going to try and make this more of a reality in my classroom.

4. Create more nonfiction units for my kiddos so that they can enjoy their leaning!

5. Keep up my exercise routine that I started over a year ago. I just recently got back in the gym after a few weeks off, and it was tough, but I'm ready to get back to the stamina I was at before Thanksgiving happened! This is week two of the new start, and I'm feeling more motivated than EVER!

So we go back Thursday! Kinda of crazy. When I made my plans, I was thinking about different sponge and review skills we could do before we start  new material. 

We are going to start off with a review of Place Value. We are going to use my Place Value Interactive Flip Books to review this skill. Our curriculum doesn't call for expanded form yet, but I always like to teach it as young as soon as possible. As a former upper grade teacher, I understand this is an important skill that needs to be taught while they are learning the basics and setting that foundation. My Place-Value-Interactive-Flip-Books are on sale as well as the rest of my store! 

Well, I'm off to cook my New Years Eve Dinner! Happy New Year Friends ! Love y'all! 

New Years Resolutions: Fitness

Whew! The holidays are such a busy time for everyone! My family was here the for the week of Christmas and we had such a nice visit. It's always hard living away from family, so it's really nice that they take the time to come and visit us!!

My kids got *guinea pigs* for Christmas! Dad is pretty thrilled about them, while Mom is still getting used to them! ;) The kiddos sure do love them though!!!

It's that time of year again! The time of year  that we make all sorts of goals, and try to keep them through out the year!  After reading about some other great bloggers and their fitness journeys, I really wanted to try it out.  Erica Bohrer has a great post on working out and her fitness journey. That is what inspired me to get started. So back in October, when my hubby was deployed, I started working out again. I typically do this every deployment. Gives me something to focus  on. In the past, I would just do cardio, and I would see results. This time, that wasn't cutting the mustard! When I signed up, the gym offered  a few free personal training sessions. Going into it, I knew, if the trainer was not able to handle my personality...I would never stick to it! I've heard all of these horror stories about having personal trainers who do not know their stuff, so I was verrrrrry nervous!!!  I got so lucky to find a great trainer who keeps me in check. The best part about this, is that my trainer is a Christian, so in  between lifts and squats, we are usually talking about random scriptures or bible stories.  So I am now about 10 weeks into this, and am seeing results! I have to admit, I was expecting the weight to just "melt" off....and when that didn't happen, I would get extremely frustrated! The crazy thing is that I would see a difference in my clothes before I would ever see the number on the scale go down. I typically lose about a pound a week, and at first,  this was driving me crazy! But, once I saw how fast I was losing pant sizes, I decided to *finally* listen to what my trainer was telling me. Because of the type of exercise we are doing, I am gaining muscle. Even though I've heard this a million times from so many people, when you are working so hard to acheive something, and don't feel like you are getting results, it's only natural to get frustrated. So here's where I'm at 10 weeks in:

*Down 7.5% of body fat

*Down 3 jeans sizes

*Down  just about 10 lbs.

AND I didn't gain any weight over Christmas! So I am super excited! So for my New Year's Resolution, I want to continue my fitness journey!

Here is my progess in pictures:

Here are a few  eating tips that I try to remember EACH day!!!

One of my high school teacher's used to tell us "A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips"!! This is something I try and remember EVERY day!!!!

I drink a TON of water a day! I drink at least a gallon a day, sometimes close to a gallon and a half.

My *biggest* struggle is FOR SURE  avoiding the SODA! I am a HUGE Dr. Pepper fan! So far, I've been 5.5 weeks free and clear :)

I limit my eating out as much as posisble. Even though most resturants offer low calorie options, the sodium is usually pretty high. So I try very hard to avoid eating out.  I always have healthy snacks with my while I'm on the go.

A few of my favorite healthy snacks:

*100 calorie packs of Almonds

*Apples

*Greek Yogurt

I don't know about y'all, but the texture of Greek Yogurt drives me insane! I can't eat it right with a spoon. So I make a easy smoothie that's about 275 calories!

Another big difference, is switching all breads and flours to WHOLE GRAINS. Everything in our house is now whole grains!

My husband still eats whatever he wants, so often I find myself cooking two meals. I know for most of us, this is difficult. But for us, it works. Most of my meals, I make ahead of time so that I'm prepared and don't binge eat.


When my family starts to eat junk, I go on Pinterest and pin healthy things :) It keeps my mind off of the JUNK!! You can follow my Pinterest boards HERE!

Workouts:

I work out 6 days a week. I do three pure cardio days. The other 3 days are a mixture of cardio and strength training. You know what my favorite day is? My heavy strength day! I NEVER thought I would enjoy lifting so much...but it's so much fun. For me, it's about looking at something and thinking "I could never do that" and then seeing myself accomplish it!!! I have a few videos, but I'm too shy to post them, maybe I'll work up the courage later ;)

So what is your current fitness routine? Or what do you is your new fitness plan? Having a plan makes it so much easier to stick to it!!!

Be sure to head on over to

Mrs Wills Kindergarten! She has a few ways to add fitness  into your classroom! I love her ideas!

One of my favorite new items that I JUST got is my heart monitor!!! I love the Polar FT4! Of course, I *HAD* to have it in pink ;) I love it because it tracks your heart rate, calories burned, and the time of your training. Once you are finished training, it gives specific details of your training session. For example, if you worked out for 1 hour, it will tell you how long of that 1 hour, your heart rate was "in zone". Here is the one that I have--

In honor of New Year's, I'm throwing a Sale at my TpT Store!

Now is a great time to stock up onWinter-Literacy-Center-Packet-8-Centers

Till Next Time