Lessons Learned on my Fitness Journey

So as I mentioned yesterday...I'm not very smart with picking shoes to wear while working out. 

Actually, to be honest, I'm not very good at picking shoes in general. I always end up with shoes that tear my feet APART and leave me wishing I never had to wear shoes again. I don't know what it is about shoe shopping but I can rarely find a pair of shoes that fit correctly.

So I don't know what I was thinking today when I forgot my work out shoes as I left for work. All I had with me was my super comfy Uggs that my sweet hubby bought me while we were engaged.

I went about my day as a comfy happy camper and enjoyed an AMAZING lunch with my life long friend and bridesmaid, Kelli. Then I went back to work and as I was finishing up, got a text from Brittney about going walking. I'm so glad she texted me because I probably would have not gone without that extra push. As I was texting her I was reminded again about the shoe situation and told Britt that I'd have to take it easy today...or at least that was the plan.

While we did walk at a slower pace than yesterday, we walked much longer than expected. I was thinking we'd only go a half hour or so, but after walking and talking, we realized an hour had passed.

I'm SO glad that I go walking with someone because it definitely makes the time go by faster and makes it much more fun. My only problem tonight was that my shoes didn't agree with my walk, haha. While we were walking I could tell they were rubbing on my heals but I just ignored it and kept on trucking.

While I love these shoes on a daily basis, I quickly found out they are NOT the shoes to be wearing while working out. I came home and found that I have quite a few blisters because of these cute boots I own.

I'm happy to say that I'll have the weekend off from walking and will definitely have time to find some appropriate shoes for my weeknight walks.

Here's to resting my poor feet and continuing to work out.

Oh, and since I posted those old Christmas pictures, I couldn't end this post without posting another picture from that night.

Can't believe that was two years ago. Can't wait to CONTINUE to work out and get back to that weight.
Anyone know a good shoe store? ;]

Christmas Craftin' in November

In hopes of having a fun filled December without needing to finish last minute decorations, I am getting to work now on my craft to-do list.

Thanks to Pinterest I have a TON of fun ideas, crafts, and recipes to try out this holiday season so I will be a busy little bee making our house a Christmas WONDERLAND.

When planning my crafts, I KNEW I wanted to start out with a fun craft I pinned quite a while ago.

I found TWO versions of really cute snowmen that I knew I wanted to recreate.

Here are the projects I found via Pinterest:

Source: etsy.com via Kayla on Pinterest

Source: savvychichome.blogspot.com via Kayla on Pinterest

Aren't they adorable?! Who wouldn't want to recreate these?

I got started this week and I am ALMOST done...

For this fun project all you need is some wood, paint, dowels, some tools, and whatever embellishments you want for your snowmen. You can completely make them your own which is great and the best part about these little guys is that they are about $7 a piece depending on what buttons and fabric you use.

To start I had my hubby get some wood for me. I started out with just a 2x4 but after my first snowman was done I ended up using a 2x3 and a 2x8 we had lying around. I talked to my husband and we decided what sizes would look the cutest and he used our saw to cut my desired lengths.

I ended up with 3 snowmen, each with 3 pieces of wood....9 pieces of wood total.

Here is a picture of us trying to figure out the best snowmen shapes.

You can sand your wood right away but I decided to paint first.

Either way works well but I knew I wanted to have a distressed look so I just sanded them once rather than twice.

Make sure you take your time painting. You need to let each coat dry and do one side at a time so you don't end up with newspaper stuck to your snowman.

Once the wood is painted and you have sanded the wood (if you'd like the distressed look), you'll need to put some dowels in the wood to make the snowman stay together.

My wonderful husband drilled holes in the wood and put two dowels in so they would be secure. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of this process, but if you have any questions, just let me know.

When my snowmen were all put together I just glued on some googly eyes and buttons and my snowmen started coming to life. I knew I wanted a more natural look because I love the country Christmas look. I found really cute pinecone fabric for the scarves and used sticks for the noses. I just drilled a hole in the face and stuck in a stick from outside. My hubby taught me how to use the drill for this and I think the noses turned out so cute.

Here is how they turned out:

This guy was my first snowman. Here are all three:

My only dilemma now is the hat situation... I pictured pinecone hats and just fell in LOVE with the idea.

We picked up some pinecones and Andrew sawed them in half to make the perfect hats:

Cute huh?!

But then....I wanted to see what felt looked like:

Cute AGAIN.

So now I'm in a pickle. I LOVE the natural look of the pinecones, but the felt is super cute too.

So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help me by telling me what you like best:

No hats.

Felt hats.

Pinecone hats (I still would need Andrew to help me cut one last pinecone).

OR a mixture?!

What do you think? Overall I'll love these little guys no matter what they wear on their heads, but I'd appreciate your opinions.

If you want to come over and make some of your own, let me know! I'm having a craft night at my house in a week and a half and can't wait for a fun girls night! Also, if you end up making your own version, let me know so I can check them out! :]

HAPPY CHRISTMAS CRAFTING!

MERRY CHRISTMAS (a month or so late!)

HELLO STRANGERS! Sorry I've been MIA in blogging world. I'll try to work on that. To catch up: Andrew and I celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple this year and had a wonderful season. Of course I tried to fit as many crafts in as possible, but still didn't get the house as Christmasy as I hoped. We also didn't do as many Christmas activities as I wanted to, but there is always next year.  Overall it was still an amazing first Christmas even without all my dream decorations. Here are some of the decorations I DID get done:

Happy Holidays!

My cute ornaments for our tree! :]

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

Andrew and I on Christmas morning.

The cute stockings I made. One for Duke, Andrew, me, and Daisy! :]

Christmas was a very good day and we were definitely spoiled. I got a Cricut, lots of crafting supplies, perfume, a new purse, money, movies, a NEW camera, cute boots, etc. Andrew got a new dirtbike helmet with money from me, my parents, and Gma and Gpa. He got a new snowboarding outfit as well, along with some speakers for his Lincoln, some shirts, a new tool belt, and lots of other stuff. We got to see all of our family in town which was a plus as well. It was DEFINITELY a wonderful first Christmas and I can't wait to spend many more together. I'm still in the Christmas spirit in fact...especially since I need to mail out A LOT of our Christmas cards still. I know, I know. I'm SUCH a slacker. So if you get one in the mail, I'm sorry I didn't get it to you BEFORE Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and may the spirit of the season always be in your home!