Thirty for Thirty {days 11-15}

Holy busy schedule Batman.  Life has completely been turned upside down these last few weeks.  Marty and I have been an incredible opportunity to buy a house in our hometown of Elizabethtown.  In order to get this house, we have to sell ours....in 4 months.  Not an impossible task, but now is not the ideal time to sell a house (or so we've been told) and my worrying nature and anxiety has kicked into overdrive.  I have a TON of work to do to get our house ready to show and a new post on my Thirty for Thirty challenge has been the last thing on my mind.  But, in case you're interested, here's days 11-15. 

I kind of hit my stride after day 11.  It was much easier to mix and match my pieces with accessories.  I wish I could be like some of the people that I got my inspiration from and really go all out with my accessorizing and fashion choices.  But I'm not there.....yet.  This challenge has made me more fashion conscious and what I'm putting on my body every morning.  I kind of feel like an outfit isn't complete without some bracelets and a belt now.  Who knows if it'll continue after I'm allowed to explore the rest of my closet again.  By the way, who else is excited that it's FINALLY Fall?!??  Hello boots, scarves and goodbye ridiculously hot weather and summer clothes :)

Because who doesn't love FREE stuff?!?!

Alright.  The gloves are coming off.  I'm declaring war on my Followers number.  I know numbers aren't a great reflection of how many people read your blog, but 37 is just plain sad y'all!  I'm tired of looking at that number every time I log onto my blogger account.  Plus, I hate odd numbers and that's two of them in a row (3-7 *gag*)!  I'm doing something about it.  And hopefully you are too!!  If I can get 50 total followers on my blog and 100 followers on my Facebook page by October 15, I'm going to do a GIVEAWAY!  You heard that right----free stuff!!  The winner will receive one of my hand-painted personalized signs. 

 

 

 

 

 

These signs are completely customizable.  I can paint on canvas or wood.  You can pick your favorite quote, Bible verse, saying, family's name...whatever!  You can also pick the colors of your sign to match your personal decor. 

 

BUT WAIT!  Here's how this is going to work.  If I get the 50 followers and 100 Facebook fans by October 15th, I'll do another blog post telling you guys that you're amazing, that I have my followers and we'll do the giveaway.  You'll have to comment on the post saying that you follow my blog and/or my Facebook page and a random winner will be drawn on midnight of the 16th.  Clear as mud?  I'll provide more details when the actual drawing happens. 

Think we can do it?  Who's going to win their very own hand-painted sign??

 

 

Hot Mess {week 11}

Hot Mess time.  You may remember last week when I went super downhill and ate like crap.  Was I better this week?

Original weight:  142.5
Last week's weight:  134.0
This week's weight:

Loss from last week:  0
Overall weight loss:  8.5 lbs

Biggest challenges this week:  I didn't lose, obviously.  Strangely though, I'm okay with it.  I've had a TON of people tell me that they can notice a difference and that I look good.  They say it takes 4 weeks for YOU to notice a difference, 8 weeks for those CLOSEST to you to notice and 12 weeks for people OUTSIDE your circle to notice.  Well, we're on week 11 and I'm getting comments from others, not just my family.  Am I where I want to be?  Not yet.  I still have 14 lbs to lose before getting to my goal weight.  That's not really what's important to me though.  Would I LOVE to be 120 pounds again?  Abso-freaking-lutely.  But what's more important to me is continuing to eat healthier and set up a healthier lifestyle for myself.  To zip up my size 6 jeans and feel good in them every single day...not just on my skinny days.  To feel proud when I take a picture with my daughter or my husband and be able to share it willingly on Facebook and not worry whether or not I have a double chin.  These things are more important.  The scale is just a number--it doesn't define me.  Do you think someone is going to look at me and say "Oh girl, she is obviously not 120 pounds.  She's gotta be at least 125!" Or do you think they're going to notice when my clothes are fitting better and look healthier?  I'm voting for option two.

What worked this week:
My journey is still continuing.  I hope to lose weight this week (although we leave for Florida on Friday and I will probably consume my weight's worth of crab legs while we're down there).  I'm still proud of myself, no matter what the scale said this morning.  I don't have to think really hard to make healthier options when I make dinner or go out to eat.  I just know what's better for me and what I should stay far, far away from.  And that's a huge step in itself.  Before, I would guess at calorie counts and think "Surely a chicken sandwich at McDonald's is better than a hamburger."  Not always the case, my friend.  I'm already on my way to living a much healthier and fulfilling lifestyle than I was before.  And that's more of a reward for me than a half a pound loss this week anyway.

Minnie Mouse Highchair

I'm sad.  This is the last of the "Avery's Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash" tutorials I'll be posting.  I hope if you're having a Minnie themed party of your own, you've gotten some ideas for your party too!  So, here it is, the last tutorial:  *drumroll*  a Minnie Mouse highchair (as seen here as my little girl chows down on her birthday cake)!

 I lucked out on this chair.  I had been wanting a cheap highchair for pictures to paint a bright color, like yellow or turquoise, until we decided that Avery would be having a gigantic Minnie Mouse party and this idea was born. 
Wanna know how to make one for yourself?  Here's what you'll need:

• Highchair (obviously)
• Black spraypaint
• Minnie Mouse polkadot fabric
• Foam circles
• Polka dot ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Sandpaper

I found my highchair at Goodwill for.....get ready.....$5.  The legs wobbled a bit and it didn't have a tray to go with it, but it was FIVE DOLLARS.  I could deal.  It was also a little bit dirty.  So, step one was to sand the highchair down to remove all the stickers and junk that littered the arms and seat of this bad boy. 

After sanding, I began to spray paint. It took two coats of black spray paint (I bought the cheap Walmart brand) to cover the whole thing.



 

When the chair was spray painted and dry, I brought it into my house to add the Minnie skirt along the bottom.  Finding the fabric that perfectly matched Minnie's skirt ended up being the hardest part of this project.  I went to FOUR different fabric stores before I found the perfect print (Thank you JoAnn's Fabric).  I got two yards and it ended up being JUST enough, so get 2 1/2 or 3 to be safe.  I was sweating as I was coming to the end because I really thought I was going to run out.  Here's how to attach the skirt (and if my instructions don't make sense, hopefully the pictures will....I'm a visual person, not a descriptive one). 

 

Take your hot glue gun and put about an inch worth of glue along the chair and attach the fabric.

 

Now, put about a quarter of an inch of glue along the end of the fabric that you've just glued to the chair.  Fold the fabric back and glue it down. 

 

Repeat the above two steps.  You'll be creating a sort of ruffle effect along the entire chair. 

 

Once you've done a few "ruffles," you'll get the hang of how to do it.  Continue along the entire chair. 

 

When I first started working, I wanted a floor length "skirt" on my highchair.  Because I didn't get enough fabric, I had to cut it in half to have enough to finish the entire chair.  I like the finished look better, I think.  It's appropriate because Minnie doesn't wear a floor length skirt!

 

After you've finished the skirt, spray paint the two foam circles black (this will take MULTIPLE coats with a heavy hand because the foam soaks up the paint like crazy).  Then attach with a hot glue gun to the sides or top of your chair.  Glue a matching red and white polka dot bow to one of the ears and you have your very own Minnie Mouse highchair!!

 

I hope you all have enjoyed the entire Minnie Mouse series!  If you're interested, check out Avery's Minnie birthday invitations and envelopes, canvas bag party favors, personalized Minnie Mouse wreath and Minnie Mouse birthday bash recap (including a Minnie Mouse Cozy Coupe)!  Now, what to do for the 2nd birthday......



Organize One Thing meets Penny Pinching

This post is going to be pulling double duty today!  It's a "Organize One Thing Wednesday" meets "Penny Pinching Summer" kind of post (yes, I know summer is almost over, but you can learn financial tips any time of the year). 

I am a FREAK when it comes to organizing my checkbook.  I don't see how people balance their checkbooks only once a month when their bank statement comes in the mail.  I'm signed up for online banking and I check my account and balance my checkbook EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  I need to know how much is in my account every day...down to the penny.  To further cement my OCD status when it comes to my checkbook, I color code everything that's written down.  Yep.  Color coded.

Breakdown:

Green is bills.  Medical, credit cards, house payments, utilities, etc.  This is the stuff that has to be paid, before anything else.  On payday, I sit down and make sure all the greens are taken care of first.

Orange is gas purchases.  Since we live in Bardstown and I'm driving to Etown, I like to easily see how much I'm spending per month in gas.  Makes budgeting so much easier.

Pink is deposits.  Paychecks, cash deposits, etc.  Helps me be able to add up what's coming in.

Blue is necessities.  Grocery trips, medicines, clothes for Avery, clothes for me or Marty (that are needed, not just a splurge), etc. 

Yellow is my least favorite.  It's unnecessary purchases.  Trips through the drive through, that cute pair of shoes I wanted, but didn't need.  Those kinds of things.  It's more of a motivator when I look in my checkbook and see 5 yellow highlighted purchases.  I feel guilty for throwing that much money away and vow to do better. 

I know, I know.  I'm OCD.  At least I'm admitting it, right?  It sure makes me feel better and makes balancing the checkbook and making my budget so much easier.....and more colorful. :)

Hot Mess {week 10}

Hot Mess Monday.  I knew this day was coming and I wasn't looking forward to it.  Here's why:

Original weight: 142.5
Last week's weight: 133.2
This week's weight:

Difference from last week: +0.8 lbs
Overall loss:  8.5 lbs

*sigh*
Biggest challenges: I could make a million excuses for this week.  I haven't been sleeping.  I've had a sickness that's lingered in my body for a month in a half and I haven't felt like doing anything except sit around and eat comfort foods (i.e. french fries, mac and cheese).  I've barely been home to make dinner and attempt to be healthy.  Reality is, those are all excuses.  The reality is, I've eaten like crap.  Reality is, I've been exhausted and had zero energy to cook or work out or anything.  No excuses.  I take full responsibility for this one.

What worked this week:
Nothing.  I was bad and I paid for it this week. 
I'm getting back on my diet horse today.  No more eating like crap.  No more feeling like crap.  No more being lazy.  I want to be a hot mama.  I want to be the wife and mother that Marty and Avery are proud of.  I want to feel good about myself again.  Yes, I realize that I don't have to be some size 2 skinny to have my husband and child proud of me, but I want to say that I did this the healthy way.  To say that I lost my baby weight over time and did it right.  I didn't starve myself, I didn't become a gym rat that ate nothing but hummus and water.  I did it a realistic way....by being a wife and mother and living my everyday life while making healthy choices.  I CAN do this.  I CAN be a Hot Mama.  Scratch that.  I WILL be a Hot Mama.  Until next week....

Pray for me. Seriously.

Fellow moms reading this blog, please keep me and Avery in your thoughts and prayers tonight. If you're a faithful reader of this blog, you know Avery's sleep issues. She is 13 1/2 months old and doesn't sleep through the night yet. In her 410 days on this earth, she's maybe slept through the night 30 times or less. In the past, I have tried different sleep techniques to try to help Avery sleep through the night. I tried the tactics in the "No Cry Sleep Solution" for weeks. Avery wasn't having any of it. We've tried weaning her off nighttime bottles (successful), tried sleep machines, strict bedtime routines. You name it, we've tried it. We even tried crying it out. When Avery was probably 4 months old, I suffered through the crying it out drama. It worked. Until Avery got an ear infection and all my hard work went out the window. Since then, I haven't had the heart to make her cry it out again. I hated every single second of those 3 nights when she was little.  So I had pretty much accepted that Avery would be up every night until her toddler years and I would just have to suck it up.  Lately, Avery has been getting up during the night, just for the sake of being up and wanting to whine just so I'll come into her bedroom. As soon as I give her a pacifier and lay her down, she goes right to sleep. At first, she would wake up around 5 am every morning. That, I could handle. That is almost a full night's sleep before I have to get up and tend to her. But slowly, Avery is waking up earlier and earlier every night. Last night, she was up at 1, 2:30 and 5. And I've had a sickness for a month and a half that I can't get over because I'm not getting any sleep at all. So, basically, last night was the last straw. Tonight, I'm letting her cry it out. Im not looking forward to this at all. I love my husband dearly and he helps me with every single thing I've ever asked in regards to Avery--dirty diapers, snot wiping, spit up, everything--but I'm on my own with this one. God love him, Marty just can't listen to her cry (not that it's my favorite thing in the world either ).  This means I'm committing to multiple sleepless nights. Isn't that better than multiple sleepless years?  And I'm not willing to do that. So, fellow moms and faithful readers, pray for me. This is not something I'm looking forward to.  At. All. Keep us in your thoughts and pray Avery is receptive to this sleep training and that I'm not up for weeks letting my kid cry it out. *deep breath*