Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal. Show all posts
Oh my goodness, y'all. I put my midriff out there for you and held my breath. Thank you so much for the questions and comments that you've forwarded my way! I've had lot of questions about the food plan, which is also the #1 topic that my friends have approached me with.

So, there is no great secret here. Portion control and clean eating are key. The advantage of this plan is that the authors have laid out a solid 28-day schedule of food and exercise for you. You don't have to think about a thing! And the recipes are really, really delicious. Here are a few of my family's favorites (no time for food styling!):

Doughettes... just like eating cookie dough. Peanut butter, dark chocolate, oatmeal... gah!!! I want to eat them all.


Fitnana Split, plus dark chocolate granola...


Brunch for dinner...


Sushi Undressed...


So, you may be thinking, "That's a lot of kale, Rachel. Um, no, thank you!"

Three-fourths of my family happens to like kale, but you could sub it out for whatever green works for you. All of the recipes are customizable based on your preferences. Don't let ingredients hold you back.

This is where the Instagram community shines. It's inspiring to see how the women in my "tribe" customize their menus to their tastes. I have a lot of "ah-ha" moments.

One major advantage to clean eating is the amount of time you save in the grocery store. You spend so much less time on the aisles because your best food comes from the perimeter of the store - dairy, meats, produce... I'd never thought about before. I've always hated grocery shopping, but I find that I don't mind it as much anymore. I feel good about what I'm loading up my cart with.

One more accolade - the food is so good that my parents wanted in. So, I prep their lunches with my own 5 days a week. They were grabbing takeout most of the time and this one small change has made a huge difference. My mother told me recently that she's lost 8 pounds! Just from eating the lunch I'm packing her... how crazy is that?

Fit Girls Guide offers a free app that includes their entire 28-day exercise plan and sample recipes for you to check out. No reason not to download that immediately.

Again, I'm not affiliated with Fit Girls Guide. I have nothing to gain by sharing my experience. I just hope that the right person might be inspired at the right time to take control of their health and that he or she will have the same awesome experience that I've had so far.

Next, I want to tell you about the running. Ahhhhh!!!! The running story is awesome!!!

Like the genre of this blog, I've always considered myself a work in progress. Never satisfied my current state. Be kinder. More attentive. Less distracted. Healthier...

My health has declined in unexpected ways over the past few years. Nothing life threatening, but in ways that have affected my outlook and spirit. The doctors blame it all on stress.

Stress.

Well, that's not going away anytime soon so... what's a gal to do?

I decided last summer that I really, really needed to start taking better care of my body. Garbage in, garbage out. Laziness yields more laziness. I could go on forever.

I thought I was watching what I ate. I joined a gym. I began **trying** to run with my husband a few times a week. We'd head down to our neighborhood track. I'd run a lap, then walk a lap, run, then walk. It was pretty monotonous and I felt like I was just as lethargic as ever. I just wasn't getting anywhere.

(Running is an important part of this story, but I'll return to that in a following post.)

In January, I was introduced by a small, targeted Instagram post to Fit Girls Guide. I didn't know that in that moment, my life would change. I spent some time exploring the online Fit Girls community and I was so inspired. I felt so hopeful that real health change could happen in my own life.

I took the $20 plunge and downloaded their 28-Day Jumpstart book and prepared to join in the next group challenge. But I really had no high expectations.

Before I tell you more about this amazing, life-changing plan, let me be clear - I am not selling anything... I have absolutely nothing to gain from sharing this story. I am not affiliated with Fit Girls Guide at all.

I am simply a girl who has come face-to-face with her rock bottom and has finally taken control of her health. I'm inspired!! I'm healthy!! And, I hope that the right person reads this and leaves inspired, too.

Here was my monthly progress over the course of five months:


And a side-by-side comparison:



The 28-Day Jumpstart is a guide, delivered as an e-book, that lays out an entire eating and exercise plan for four weeks. Fit Girls Guide encourages its participants to start each 28-day challenge with the international community that they have cultivated via Instagram. This helps to provide daily support from among other women (and men) who are going through this shared experience. It's actually more effective and inspirational than you could imagine.

The plan is easy. It's fun. It's silly. Obviously, it's rewarding. The hardest part is mustering your personal commitment to see it through. You definitely get out of it what you put in.

I knew I could stick to any personal commitment for 28 days. Beyond that, I was unsure.

That was 205 days ago. And, I'm still feelin' the love.

Beyond the physical transformation, I have a mental clarity that had been missing for some time. My relationship with food and exercise has changed. Between all of my work and life demands, I'm busier than ever, but the stress has not impacted my well-being.

It's kinda awesome.

So. I have a few more health-related posts that I'd like to share with you, but - never fear - this will not turn into a health-focused blog. Please bear with me as I fill a few pages with my overflowing enthusiasm.

And, then a return to all things creative. Hopefully a little bit more than you've seen from me in the past few months.

Maybe a sprinkle of healthy nuggets here and there... but mostly sewing, knitting, crafting, DIY home projects, etc... promise.

Have a great weekend ahead!!

It's hard to believe that 2 months have passed since moving home from Pennsylvania. In some ways, it feels like the blink of an eye... in others, as though years have passed. I am feeling a bit reminiscent today so I thought I'd share some of the wonderful things that I already miss from that beautiful, enchanting part of the country.

Mild summers...


sponge candy...


beer culture... pirogues... gorgeous waterways...


ancient trees...


Perry's ice cream... Conneaut Lake...


Hank's frozen custard... abundant nature trails...


beautiful bridges...


local wineries...


Lake Erie during any season...


groundhogs (really?)... one day of snow...


maybe two...

playing Euchre with these friends...


old train tunnels...


flowers for miles...


amazing parks and historic sites...


the fish in Linesville...


no... I won't miss them.

**shivers**

I have been so richly blessed by the opportunity to live in a part of the country that is so different from where I've spent most of my life. While it feels good to be "home," northwestern Pennsylvania will always feel like a close second.


Call us "Cavy Slaves." Over the past year, we've fallen totally in love with a pair of guinea pigs, Jagger and Joplin.

They wheek and we come running. We are really at their beck and call.

Well, Miss Joplin decided to give birth to two precocious wee ones while we were on the road, traveling from Georgia to Pennsylvania.

Yeah... our road trips are never boring.

Just look at these little guys!!





We have been planning to find forever homes for these babies, but now that they're here... we can't imagine giving them up!

Wheek!!

I was so excited to host my best friend, Kellie, for a few days this week. It did my heart good to have her here.

Our birthdays are back-to-back and we both agreed that we needed girl time to properly celebrate.

We laughed, baked, crafted, shopped, got manicures, forgot calories, and enjoyed some outdoor winter fun.








We were all so sad to see her leave, but the memories made will never be forgotten.
After one full year in Pennsylvania, we finally went sledding and it was...

So. Much. Fun.







Well, friends, despite its best attempts, 2013 didn't kill me. I am a fighter.

{Cue Rocky theme music...}

Needless to say, I am so happy to see it go.

I made a major move this year - from Georgia to Pennsylvania. With major life change, you should always expect the unexpected.

I certainly didn't expect to have two bad falls (one that took 6 months to fully recover from), a car wreck, and bizarre illness, including shingles (at age 35! And, whoa mama! You do not want shingles!).

I think there were office bets circulating about how long it would take for me to run back to Georgia...

I also didn't expect to fall in love with a part of the country so far from my home. Despite the extraordinary challenges of settling in, my whole family feels like this is home.

We love the climate.

We love the culture(s).

We love the people. You know who you are.

Here's to a safe, happy, and uneventful 2014! May the Lord bless you with peace and joy in the new year!

P.S. I now own a four-wheel drive and a serious pair of snow boots. Bring. It. On.

Every now and again, I have to write a post to remind myself why I blog.

I was interviewed a few months ago about my experience as a blogger and was asked about my goals.

My reply?

"I've read that the typical lifespan of a blog is about two years. I'd like to do what I can to defy that statistic."

However, as I approach my third anniversary, my posting has become less frequent... my motivation has diminished... my inspiration has been funneled into other priorities...

It may feel a bit as though I'm giving up.

But, truthfully, I love blogging. I love engaging with people across the globe. I love having a special place to record my projects.

I also love my family, my job, my friends, and life balance. Without life balance, I can't love anything with the intensity it deserves.

My priorities have demanded more of my time over these past few months so the blog has been put on the back-burner - to help preserve that precious life balance.

I live a creative life. I've never stopped living a creative life.

I look forward to catching up over the next few weeks and posting with more frequency as the new year arrives.

Wishing you peace and joy!

"How important it is to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!"
~Maya Angelou~

I'd just seen my oldest board the bus and was heading to work. Suddenly, I noticed my lovely neighbor waving me down so I pulled over to chat.

"Did Dylan tell you about what happened on the bus yesterday?"

{fear... horror... wonder...}

She relayed a story about Dylan falling victim to a bully on the bus (something he never shared with me) and proudly shared how her daughter stood up for him, going as far as to report it to the school administration.

{sadness... pride...}

As I began processing all of the other emotions that followed, one kept rising to the top—sheer admiration of this small girl who did a really big thing. I had to figure out a way to honor her.

My go-to? You guessed it... something handmade... something celebratory... something a tween might appreciate? A sparkly confetti necklace!


Here's what I used.


I used a simple hole-punch to make the confetti and began layering it on my wooden disc with Mod Podge and a toothpick (one end as a brush, the other as a positioning tool), allowing the confetti to overlap the edges of the circle.



I printed and punched my quote and added it to the back of the disc while the front was drying.




Once the front was dry, I trimmed the overlapping confetti from the edge of the disc.


The newest material to me was Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. This was a first experiment with this medium.


{Learn from my mistakes} I added way too much to the top of the confetti side and it began to drip down the sides. Oops! Start with a thinner coat and build up.

A few hours later, I added a few more confetti pieces and another layer of Dimensional Magic to create more dimension to the piece.

Once all was dry, I sealed the back with traditional Mod Podge and added a silver bail with E-6000 adhesive.


You know how I like to overthink things. It's just how I roll... I remembered that I received a bottle cap in an assortment of jewelry findings and thought that I could make this pendant even nicer with that serving as my tray.


All was looking great until I became too impatient and added the epoxy bubble to the top before the Mod Podge was dry. There was too much moisture trapped in the layers below. It doesn't look bad, but it could have been perfect {with a little patience on my part}.


I hope my little hero will wear her special necklace. I can't wait to give it to her this weekend. Not having girls of my own, I can only guess about what she might actually wear.

Unrelated, but related... I gave a Hello Kitty poster and marker set to a feisty little 6-year-old down the street, who promptly informed me that she doesn't care for Hello Kitty - at all. Oops. Clearly, I'm out of touch.

Well, I'm so pleased with how these turned out that I might just make one for everyone. There is no limit to the looks you can achieve with different papers and textures.

I'm thinking about vellum... Ooooooo...
Fall is in the air, my friends!

We awoke to a picture-perfect, cool, crisp morning. While I certainly LOVE this time of year, I'm sad to see summer go. It has been an amazing season for us!

Primarily because we're used to record-breaking temps and humidity that forces Southerners to hibernate during the summer.

No hibernation for us this summer, though! Here are a few of my favorite memories.

We camped (a lot)...

 

...here...


...and here...


...and here.


We spent time on the water.


We skipped rocks and gawked at ancient trees.


We went on urban adventures.





And we saw the most amazing sights!






We're all a little tired.


Back to the routine of real life... and...

Back. To. Blogging.