Week 5

Well, I assumed that I wouldn't be following the Couch to 5k schedule as directed, but didn't know that I'd be this off.

Week 5 reads:

Work out 1 - Jog 5 min, Walk 3, Jog 5, Walk 3 Jog 5
Here's how we did it..... Jog 6 minutes, walk 2 ... 4 times...

Work out 2- Jog 8, Walk 5, Jog 8
Us - Jog 10, walk 3, Jog 8, walk 2, Jog 10.

Work out 3- Jog 20 minutes with out stopping.
Us: Jog 12, walk 4, Jog 16.

Hm, my trainer is HARD CORE and I love it!

I try and throw in an extra run here and there, so this week I also ran Friday with Scott and we did 12,4,12.

So needless to say I'm not sticking to the "plan" but I'm ok with it. We're up to running right at 5k, with our walking in there, and running longer than 20 minutes all together. More like 32 minutes. :-) So I'm pretty excited with my results.

So on this week, it's telling me to run small intervals like 8 minutes, it just seems like " why stop there? " So I am hoping to just continue to do longer spurts. Like 15 minutes, walk 3, 15 minutes. That will be a 5k. SO I'm now just going to start adding on the mileage and now I can start working on the speed with in the 3 miles. Until summer that is. Then we'll be packing on the time!

Just a little weekly progress on my " couch to 5k " I have to say I have a great running partners! We all do so well together!

Thanks, Glynna for kicking my booty!!

Sunday Snazzy Snapshots!

Ok, so maybe I've been too busy the last few weeks, and didn't get to update my Friday Foto Frenzy the last week or so. So I'll do it on this fine Sunday!

10 tips for looking younger

I was reading allure magazine this morning while drinking my coffee, and ran across an article ( like in many magazines) with some tips on looking younger. I began to think that I agree with most of these tips!

The idea for looking younger is to... Well, look younger. Think when you were young. We all had light blonde/brown golden hair naturally. There for it had lots of sheen and shine. We had a glow to our barely made up skin. We adored smells that were fruity, and punchy. Etc.

In my profession, this topic comes up daily. I tell my clients a few of these things in which I'm about to share with you, on a regular basis. Just some simple things to keep in mind. We're not 60 trying to be 16. But that doesn't mean that we can't add a few things in to our "style" to bring us back a few years!

1. Wear less make up.  Now, I understand that as we age, we have more blemishes, and things we need to hide. I think that you can do this with out "over-doing" the make up. I also think that we need to change  our make up every couple of years. Our skin is changing always, so why not go and get a new color and finish that might work better for you skin. There are beauty consultants EVERYWHERE that will help you for free find what you need. And trust them, they have been trained to know what is "in" and what works for mature skin. Just b/c you liked it 10 years ago, doesn't mean that it looks good now! This includes the colors that you may wear on your lips eyes and cheeks as well. Also, MATTE is not best. If your 20 and you have oily skin and you need powder, that's one thing, but if you are older in age, you want to bring some of the youthful glow back to your skin. As we age, we get drier and cooler in color. Highlighting the cheek bones, and inner eye (tear duct) with a light bronze warm shimmer color will help bounce light in all the right places tremendously. I definitely think that too much make up can make you look years older than you are!
2. Whiten you teeth. This is something that I don't think we even think about. But whitening your teeth a few shades will not only give you a more confident smile, but really will take some years off! I recommend crest white strips which range anywhere from $15-$30 give or take. They can be found at wal-mart. You can do the ones that are short or longer depending on the sensitivity of you teeth.
3. Spritz on grapefruit fragrance.  Lets admit, if we smell someone who smells fruity, or like coconut, or even a hint of floral, we immediately think young. I think that this can be something that can be age appropriate. We all know that fruity is young. Musky is old. So even if you get something to splash on from Wal-Mart, or a new hand lotion, get something that has more of a citrus/fresh scent to it, and see how your response is!
4. Add higlights. This doesn't mean go blonde. Or that your highlights need to be PLATINUM. But adding some demintion even to lighter hair, can make a huge difference in your complexion. And while we're talking about this..... WARMTH. I'm not saying you have to have all over gold hair... What  I am saying is " ashy " is well, not younger. How many young girls do you see walking around with "ashy" hair? No, it's all shiny, and warm and fresh. Ash tone colors are associated with gray hair. If you tend to like your hair very neutral with NO gold ( or as some people call it "RED") in your hair, then maybe add a few very subtle warm highlights to soften your skin. ESPECIALLY if you have cooler tone skin. Some who has warmer tone skin, can actually wear the more neutral colors easier. But as we age, the luster begins to disappear from our hair leaving it dull and lifeless. There is no better way to make it even worse, than to put ash colors in our hair. So ask your hairdresser what she can do to "brighten" you up.
5. Polish your nails. Researchers have found  that woman's hands look younger when wearing a brighter, or bolder nail polish.
6. Curl your lashes.
7. Cut bangs. When I say cut bangs I don't mean 80's (dated) looking bangs. Look around at all the women from 20-40. It's all about the side swept bangs.You don't see anyone in that age range, or celebrities walking around with "teased" bangs up to heaven. I understand that this was the best look in the 80's.... that was almost 30 years ago. Time for a change! Volume goes in the crown, not around the face. Ever. Especially if you worried about adding volume to your face. So a heavy side swept bang and be used for hiding any wrinkles that you may want to hide, and update you look. 
8. Smile.
9. Switch from lipsticks to soft rosy GLOSSY colors. Again with the "shine and sheen" talk....... Glossy lips are much more attractive than the matte wrong shade of lip stick. Anything that looks like it has moisture, will look full of life, instead of dry and lifeless.
10. Eat well.  Of course we live in a "right now" society. So it's all about the fast food! But what goes in your body will show on the outside. Really. Sure, have a hamburger every once in a while. But your main source of nutrition should be colorful and healthy! Just think about what your eating, and think if you'd want it to show on the outside. So rule of thumb, if everything on your plate is white. That's bad. Put as MUCH color on your plate and in your belly as possible! Stay away from fried food!!! And cut pack on the soft drinks. All of these things are just fat waiting to happen. Besides the fact that you will FEEL much better when you're putting the right kind of fuel in your body, you will look better! And might I add a little exercise. Anything to get your heart rate up. Get out for a walk in your neighborhood. Not only are you sending endorphins to your brain, which make us happy, but you are getting the best source of vitamin D! Quit making excuses and get out there!

So I hope that there may have been something for someone in one of these. There were a TON of ways too look younger, and there always will be. But I kinda liked these. They are simple, and cheap. I just wanted to share.

Happy Birthday CARRIE!

Happy Birthday to my neighbor and friend since we were in diapers.. No really...

Well I made up a little something for my sweet friend on her birthday! She has a lot coming up in her life, and I think her birthday may seem a little over looked. So I wanted to make her something a little special.

I found out that her favorite color is green, and her iphone  cover is zebra, so I put 2 and 2 together and came up with this........

My husband helped(OK did all the work) make the fondant. Instead of the store bought fondant we made our own, and it's made from marshmallows. So it tastes about 100% better than the Wilton fondant. A little different to get used to working with. And as always my butter cream under the fondant is home made. Yum. IT's so hard not to eat all this sugary stuff while making it!

The fondant is white obviously(marshmallows) so you have to put the gel colors in to make each different color. Bet ya didn't know that! -- That's a lot of why some of these cakes can take so long! So many different colors.

The letters are silver but kind of add a "white" appeal to the cake. There are a few little white stripes on the cake. I didn't want to OVER do it, so I just added a few on each side. This was the easiest cake by far that I've done. Once the idea is there, it is good. It's also only a 6 inch cake.

It's yellow cake with lemon icing filling ( all store bought ).


Just wanted to do a quick post! I'm excited about it.

My Shark Steam cleaner!

I hear the doorbell ring, and so I go to check it out. There is a small package, with my husband's name on it, which is a very recognizable package. I knew instantly it was yet ANOTHER remote for our TV!

As I turn around to go back in the house, I notice a large box sitting a little further away on the porch, so I walk over to it, and immediately assume that it's some kind of satelitte dish box, or something of that nature. I grab it, walk in and set it on the couch.

Later I walk by the mystery box, and notice that it says " for house hold use only" on the box. I am now intrigued..... So I proceed to investigate. I open the first part of the box, and I was overwhelmed instantly!

I knew the second I saw a funny looking spongy thing what it was. It's a shark steam cleaner.
I know, you thinking this is corny and something so lame to be excited about! -- But if you know anything about me, you know I'm a little, eh, paticular about the order and cleanliness of my house. Especially since having Anisten. She is on the floor all the time, and I can't stand when she gets dirty due to the fact that the dogs track in dirt from the yard. I just can't sweep and mop everyday! I do try to sweep and swiffer the hardwoods one to 2 times a week, but that gets to be a huge process! Now, I can do it with MUCH ease!

The steam cleaner comes with a couple of different attatchments.  It has a triangle looking head, a small rectangle, and a large rectangle. The triangle will be for cleaning around the toilets and funny shaped places like that. And the smaller rectangle has this foamy, fuzzy cloth thing that goes on it. It takes the place of sweeping. I love it. I do feel like I may have to spot sweep as well like in the corners, and the base boards, but for quickness, and spot cleaning the cloth sweeper will work perfect! Especially if I'm holding a child in the other.


I tried out my steamer for the 1st time today. And here is my little review.

I like how compact and light the product is.
Easy to use, only add water.
Dries super fast! I was able to do it while the baby was up, and she would crawl where I just mopped and it wasn't wet.
The mop is nice and large, and can cover big areas. ( My living room is 3/4 of my house! LOL)

I do feel like it's a little harder to "push" I guess more like a real mop. I'm so used to using the swiffer and doing it one handed. It's ok, I'll have buff arms!
I also feel like it could release a little more moisture/steam to help it glide a little better.




All in all I know that I will LOVE my new steamer. Instead of waiting as long as possible to mop, I will be able to do it comfortably 2 times a week. The money I will be saving just in swiffer solution will pay off the shark in no time.

This come highly recommended from an uptight house wife with hardwood floors! :-)

Week 4...

Little update on my training... I'm officially on week four of the couch to 5k running plan. This is, of course your 5 minute warm up, 3 minutes of jogging- 90 seconds of walking, 5 minutes of jogging- 2.5 minutes of walking REPEAT... I have gotten to where I don't add the 30 seconds on to the walking part, where as it's easier to keep the time, so for instance, I'll do 5 mintues of jogging, 2 walking.. So I'm able to get in an extra 5 minutes of running or so.

I have to say it's getting easier and easier. I have been running with a group of friends now for 2 weeks, and this I HIGHLY recommend. When there are several people running, you can usually find your own pace, or find someone in the group who you can pace with comfortably. So this is nice. I am running with the group 3 days a week and with another friend one day a week and this is usually a harder "free run". I don't know how I went this long running SOLO! I'm sure I will still have to every once in a while, but hopefully not often.

The time change seems to make the morning runs a little harder where as it feels like 445 instead of 545, but it makes the evening runs so nice!

Last night, Scott and I took Anisten out to the river and met up with a friend and we did about 2.5 miles, stretching our intervals ( scott runs longer and faster than us, so he just went ahead of us), like 7 or 9 minute intervals. We took the last like 1/8 mile or so and sprinted it out. I have to say that when I looked at my run keeper and saw that my current pace was a little over 5 miles per hour I was shocked! If you don't know how fast that is... Well, it's fast! But my legs were NOODLES!!!  They are good today, I stretched them well before and after my run last night and this morning. I run with a bunch of physical therapists, so we definitely implement this in to our routine which is so important!

All in all I'm really finding that joy I used to have in running again. Just exercising on a regular basis has changed the way I feel and think.  I have started to take my dog with me. She loves it. She is the more energetic of the 2, so I take her and it seems to help her hyper activity level. She makes me run a little faster than usual, but that never hurt anyone right?


Ok, my yummy coffee is done brewing, and my eggs are done boiling..  Until next time!

Friday Foto Frenzy!

It's that time again. It's time for our weekly update on pics :-)

We went to the park for the 1st time last Sunday, and had a blast!! She especially loved the slide. She tried to climb UP the slide several times! And you have to appreciate the static with her hair, makes for funny pics!

Baby shower/ High school reunion!

This past weekend, some friends from high school got together to celebrate the arrival of a new baby! It was really a lot like a reunion. Some of the girls, I hadn't seen since before high school was over! April is welcoming her 4th little baby to her family. So Carrie being the fantastic friend she is, wanted to throw her a baby shower. And let me tell you she did a KILLER job! Carrie and I are neighbors so we had the pleasure to whip up some crafts together. In the end everything turned out just perfect! It was great to get together with some of the girls again, and hope it's not another 7 years before we do it again! So here are a few of the pictures!

Old friends.The amazing hostess herself!!!Of course we had the good ole' who can drink the fastest bottle race! Kacy isn't playing around!The diaper cake. It was HUGE!!My little creation of course.All the yummy food--Peyton (bottom of pic) was VERY excited for some DUCKY cake!

 Me and my little friend.

Ducky Cake

This is the cake that I found  on the internet that I liked.... I like the idea of the ducky with the bubbles and such.

So I used that as a place to start...

I found out from the AMAZING host what colors and decor she was using. She told me it was multicolor, cirlces and polka dots...

So this is what I came up with!
The top layer is chocolate with strawberry/cream cheese filling... And the bottom layer is yellow cake with lemon icing filling!

Had some left over cake and fondant so I made a small little cake and sent to Allie Jo's 1st birthday party with my mother in law. Figured it might as well get eaten.. Wanted to get more practice with making the gift bow. 

 Chocolate cake with lemon icing filling.

So anyways it was about a whole day's (on and off) work. But I have been planning and thinking about what I should do for about 5-6 weeks now. So that makes it easy when I have the time to plan for it.

I have a few more events coming up that will help with practice... After all this is only my 3rd cake, so I will need it.

I will say, that this was alot more work than usual b/c I ( with a TON OF HELP from my husband) made the fondant. It's actually marshmellow fondant. So it taste TONS better. And I made my own butter cream icing which tastes so much better too. The MMfondant was a little different to work with, but with practice I think that I will get it down easier and easier.

I'll post some pics of the whole shower later.