It's baaaaack...

I finally have my Macbook Pro back and functioning! In August it completely stopped working and when we took it to the Apple store they said that it would be a very expensive fix. I was able to find a guy in Eugene who has his own little computer business out of his home and he was able to figure out a solution for me.

It turned out that my computer was on the recall list for a video issue and he said that if I could call Apple and get through all the hoops during the phone call they would send me a box to ship them my computer. Long story short, Apple fixed my computer in two days and it was all covered under the recall issue so there was no charge to me. I am one happy camper :)

my long lost pal. just in time for research writing in my practicum this term and next!

Curtains

I never thought curtains and a rod would warrant a blog entry, but after our weekend of searching, it is blog worthy! Yesterday we looked for curtains at Target, Ross, Kohls, Bed Bath and Beyond, and JcPenny. I finally decided on a set from Target. We knew that the curtain rod would either need to be super long or we would have to used two curtain rods over each window. We found a curtain rod at Ross that we liked that was 120inches. Greg was awesome and got it all set up and ready to go... it was a few inches short! So frustrating! So today we went back to Target, Ross, and Kohls to search for a longer rod and could not find one. We finally settled on one from Sears that was 136inches. After that entire fiasco I am just thrilled to have curtains up! They seem to pull the room together.

I would like it better it it were one large window, or if we put a third panel of curtains in the middle. But we'll figure that out later.

 Choosing this color and design was a pretty bold move for me. I tend to stick to neutrals so it was a step out of my comfort zone! So thankful for a patient hubby who helped make this all possible :)

Getting Into Shape

Most of you know that I have been an avid runner most of my life. I have had gym memberships over the years, but all I have ever used them for was the treadmill. At this point in time Greg and I cannot justify spending money on a gym membership so I have been "forced" to become creative. I admit that from November-December I did not do much when it comes to working out, but now I feel like I am back in the swing of things. I thought I would share some of the variety of workouts I'm doing - all of them at home, and they don't require any gym equipment or weights.

RUNNING: I couldn't seem to find the motivation to get out there and run for 20-30 minutes straight. I would end up only making it 15 minutes and get discouraged. Then I found this running schedule on Pinterest.

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Week 1: Run one minute. Walk 90 seconds. Repeat eight times. Do three times a week. 

Week 2: Run two minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat seven times. Do three times a week. 

Week 3: Run three minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat six times. Do three times a week. 

Week 4: Run five minutes. Walk two minutes. Repeat four times. Do three times a week. 

Week 5: Run eight minutes. Walk two minutes. Repeat three times. Do three times a week. 

Week 6: Run twelve minutes. Walk one minute. Repeat three times. Do three times a week. 

Week 7: Run fifteen minutes. Walk one minute. Run fifteen minutes. Do three times a week. 

Week 8: Run thirty

I am currently on week three of this routine and it has been wonderful! Having that one minute of walk time to look forward to has been a huge motivator as I build my endurance. Another thing I love is that it is open for modifications. If you need to jog and walk you can. If you need to speed walk the longer portions and slow down your pace for the one minute, you can. Sometimes if I finish my last set and think I can get one more in then I do (Monday was one of those days for me, but today was not, and that's OK).

STRENGTH TRAINING/PLYOMETRICS: I have never been much of a weight lifter. Anytime I have been on a weight schedule I end up growing out of my clothes and getting "big" which I did not want. I even met with a physical trainer at a gym once and she put me on a program to help me become strong and lean... I once again grew out of my jeans... NOT COOL. I found this circuit drill workout on Pinterest and have tried it a couple of times. The first time I could only get through it once. The second time I got through one and a half times. I'm hoping my third time I can get through the entire thing twice!

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YOGA: I never thought I would be into yoga. I always pictured it as a lot of meditation and weird breathing and sissy stretching, I'm an athlete darn it! Well, I have crossed over to "sissy land" and am never going back! My cousin introduced me to the dvd Yoga for Athletes a few months ago and it has changed my life.

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I have never been very flexible, and as a runner have always had tight hips, calves, and hamstrings. Yoga has helped my muscles immensely! The thing I particularly enjoy about Yoga for Athletes is that it is designed for athletes and also includes several poses where I use my own body weight as a strengthening tool. I can already tell a huge difference in my body. You can check out Yoga for Athletes for more information if you're interested in the dvd.

ZUMBA: I got into Zumba a couple of years ago as one of my colleagues and friends became a Zumba instructor and it consumed her life. I was skeptical at first because I have never been very coordinated when it comes to dancing, but I LOVE Zumba! If you are not familiar with Zumba it combines latin music with dance moves that sculpt your body. I don't have a Zumba dvd, but after attending so many Zumba classes/parties I have memorized several routines. When I Zumba at home I plug my iPod in and dance away for 30-60 minutes. By the end of a Zumba routine I am almost always dripping with sweat.  I highly recommend it if you have been skeptical about Zumba as a workout.

ABS: One last thing I have incorporated is some ab exercises to help jumpstart me for the month of February. I also found this on Pinterest.

I just started this today and it was a piece of cake. However, day 29 kinda terrifies me... a 2 minute plank! Seriously?!

Well, I hope this was informative/helpful for some of you out there. I know many of you work full time and cannot fit much exercise in and that is completely understandable. I don't do ALL of these exercises everyday. The running is 3 days a week, I do the circuit training 2 days a week, the abs everyday this month, yoga every other day, and Zumba is a fun way to mix up my workout when I'm in a slump. Saturday and Sunday are normally my veg out and relax days. Happy exercising everyone!

Not one of "the four"

I spent Monday - Wednesday out at my parents' house with my cousin. It was a great visit because my mom didn't have to work due to the "snowy" weather. I enjoyed hanging out with the fam and of course getting to be with Macie Rae. Unfortunately, she did not feel the same way. She apparently has four people she is completely herself with: my brother, Katrina, and my parents. Anyone else and she freaks out. How does a four month old already have "favorites"?

My cousin and I teased Tyler and Katrina the whole visit about how Macie hates us. She will be giggling and cheerful, but as soon as she is transferred to me or Janell she gets this upset face and starts bawling! We rock her and bounce her and sooth her, but nothing does the trick. You give her back to any of "the four" and she is fine. And there is always that classic moment where I am holding her with her back to me and she is content for quite a while, but as soon as she turns and makes eye contact with me and realizes I am not one of "the four" she freaks out!

The following were my attempts at getting her to smile for me... and instead I got some other expressions...

"Oh hey...."

"Wait a second... you're not one of the four..."

"Seriously, you're making me nervous... who are you and why are you taking my picture?"

"I'm ready to see one of the four now..."

She doesn't exactly cry and freak out whenever I hold her, but she definitely is not "herself." I think I am okay with her not smiling throughout her photo shoot. The stoic look came off quite nice :) Kinda wish my niece didn't hate me though...

To do list

If you are a checklist kind of person like me, you know there is no satisfaction quite like crossing something off of your list! Yesterday I had a pretty lazy day. I justified it because I was supposed to sub all day today out in Independence, but due to flooding the Central School District canceled school. After my lazy, day I knew I needed to be much more productive today so I made a To Do List. When I got up at 7:30am, this is the list that I made:

run
yoga
vacuum
sweep
mop
clean bathroom
clean kitchen
shower
lunch
return cans and bottles
grocery shop
go to Springfield School District Office
drop package off at post office
blog
call  Praxis office

relax :)

I would have shown you my actual list, but you can't make any of it out because I crossed EVERYTHING out. That's right, I did it all. What a great feeling! I also noticed (realizing others would read this) I always put "relax" with a smiley face at the end of my to do lists. I guess I feel the need to remind myself that all of my hard work deserves some relaxation. My relaxation this afternoon includes this...

Little bit of Christmas

Greg and I traveled to the Portland area for Christmas and made many stops over a few days to visit family. We had 6 different "events" from the 23rd-26th. On the 23rd I decided to dress cozy for our drive to Portland and wore my black leggings, a longer shirt and my UGG boots. My thought was to then have my cozies (leggings and UGGS) for the whole trip.

Well, on the 24th I was lazy and relaxed in my cozies all day. When it came time to get ready for our get together with my mother in law and her side of the family, I looked in my suitcase to find no pants. That's right, zero pants. All I had were my black leggings, and I didn't have appropriate tops to wear with those leggings for the rest of the trip. Needless to say I pulled the "high maintenance wife" bit and got Greg to take me by the mall to pick up a few things. This whole story to describe why my mind was not in its best state and I somehow forgot to take any pictures of Greg or I over Christmas! Here are a few photos I took and one that I got in over New Year's.

Macie really enjoyed the tree

she was pretty happy hanging out while opening gifts

she received a lot of fun toys

um... this was the gift from Greg and me... I think she was so happy that she didn't know how to express herself!

My dad got a Captain America Snuggie from Ty and Katrina lol

at my extended family xmas we played BINGO and Greg won this popcorn. We have yet to try it... I'm not too sure about it, but Greg is convinced it will either be awesome or terrible.

For New Year's Eve we hung out with my cousins Janell and Lars at a house party in Eugene. Having family in the area has been a plus with living in Springfield!

I am incredibly disappointed that I didn't take many pictures of Christmas this year! I have absolutely learned my lesson. I guess when we didn't have a tree ourselves, I didn't think to take a picture in front of someone else's tree. So thank you to all of you who did document your Christmas with photos, I have been creepily and vicariously living through you and your family!

Goodwill Finds :)

Greg and I decided to get out of the house for a bit today and try to find an ottoman/coffee table. We had originally been looking for an ottoman, but with how picky I am we couldn't find anything that I liked well enough for the price. We then decided maybe a coffee table was the way to go for now. We had $60 in Walmart gift cards from Christmas (we usually do not shop at Walmart, but figured we would put the money to good use). The "furniture department" was somewhat lacking so we used the gift cards on items for the iPad instead :)

While leaving Walmart we saw a furniture store that was going out of business. We hopped in there for a few minutes and Greg found a pretty nice/functional coffee table, but my picky taste quickly vetoed it. I guess I'm looking for a coffee table that has been repurposed into a coffee table, something that I won't feel bad painting over or sanding down at some point.

After that it was off to Goodwill which was also in the same area as the other two stores. We did not have much luck in the coffee table/ottoman department, but I totally scored in the book section! Being a teacher, children's books always grab my attention and for $0.99 or less I could not pass them up! I limited myself to 10 books, I had 13 but put three back before the purchase. Here were some of my cool finds.

my students have always loved this book. it is a story of all of the typical fairytales, but with a humorous twist.

boys always need their nonfiction shark texts as well as their Captain Underpants comic!

books with great illustrations. verdi is a snake that is afraid to change and become like older snakes, but realizes that change doesn't need to be scary. Little boy is a cute poem.

All books that I remember loving growing up. Why not get them for my own little one someday for only $0.99?!

I also got two other books that had the book sleeve missing with the cover illustration, but the books themselves are in excellent condition. The Mitten and The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. I was so excited about my 10 books for $8.92. It was exciting to find ones that I cherished as a child, a student, and a teacher. I will definitely continue my Goodwill book search in the future. There were so many I had to pass up!