Update!

I've disappeared off of the blogging radar the past month and I wanted to do a little update on things that have been going on.

Wedding: Wedding planning is great! Things are coming together and I am as excited as ever. My spare room is exploding with things that I have been buying and it's pretty much all I want to talk about. The countdown is at 132 days! I will be sharing more on Wednesday and the Wednesday's following.

Grad School: I am working on my capstone! I will be walking at graduation on May 2nd which totally blows my mind. I might not be completed done with my paper by then but I should be getting close. I have to have it submitted by the middle of June. I can't believe I am actually going to have completed my Masters Degree in a year.

School: Teaching has been great! My kids are only driving my slightly crazy but thankfully we have spring break in a week. My FFA students have been working hard and we have our district competitions this week. After those we will be preparing for State Convention in May. Even when I am exhausted and swamped with life I am so thankful for such a rewarding and fun job.

Healthy Living: I have been failing miserably at eating healthy and working out. I can do so well for a month and then I totally fall off the wagon. I am going to start again (for real) either this weekend or next week when spring break starts, and I will be making myself work out daily. I'm down to 2 months before my dress fitting so there really isn't any time to mess around. I don't need to lose a ton of weight but since I'm going to hawaii for my honeymoon and planning on running around at my bachelorette party in a tutu, I want to be feeling good about myself.

That's pretty much it. I'll try to be more consistent with writing, but thanks for stopping by to catch up!

Five on Friday:

I am trying really hard to not spend money since I'm trying to save for a wedding and honeymoon this summer. I tried to not spend money this month but since today is payday and my birthday is coming up, here are five things I wish I could buy...or receive this month. 

Yoga Pants

The compression capris from Old Navy are my fav! 

Bathing Suit

I want a simple white top to wear with two new bottoms I got on clearance in the fall. 

Tennis Shoes

Dress Pants

As I start to lose weight my dress pants don't fit well anymore and i find myself wearing jeans to school more often. Just because the year is (slowly) ending I don't want to slack off in looking professional. 

A Vacation

I would love some sunshine and time off right now. I'm not sure what it is about this time of the year but even with 3 day weekends and Christmas break just a month ago I am really dragging. I'm dreaming of Disney. 

Linking up!

Happy Friday! :) 

Sweat it Out Sunday: 3

Does anyone else have a fitbit? I find that it helps me a ton because even on days when I don't want to work out I always want to find a way to get to my step goal.

Best day: Monday - 13,846
Worst day: Wednesday - 7,663

My workouts weren't the best this week. I got called to babysit last minute on Tuesday and missed Zumba then a late meeting on Wednesday prevented me from doing anything. I've been in a funk this week and I'm hoping next week will be better.

Goals this week
Monday: ZUMBA
Tuesday: ZUMBA
Wednesday: Day off
Thursday: ZUMBA
Friday: cardio and weights

...or in 7 months when I'm getting married! :) 

Have a great week! 

Sweat it Out Sunday: 2

I successfully completed my goals for this week! I switched my off days, but I still did worked out 5/6 days. According to the scale I lost about 2 pounds! Here's what my workouts looked like:

Monday - 35 minutes on the elliptical and arm weights

Tuesday - ZUMBA

Wednesday - off day 

Thursday- 20 minutes treadmill, squats/push-ups/abs

Friday - Mixxed Fit (new class at my gym)

Saturday - Ripped (resistance, intervals, power, plyometrics, endurance -- class at my gym) 

I'm feeling so good. It's crazy how even after just a couple of weeks it makes such a big difference. Maybe I'm alone in this one, but I feel like so much of it is mental. I know I'm doing good things for myself and it instantly makes me feel better. Yes, working out is tiring and sometimes after work all I want to do is lay on the couch, but I know how good I will feel. Now let's hope I can keep this up for the next seven months. 

Goals for next week: 

Monday: ZUMBA

Tuesday: ZUMBA

Wednesday: off day 

Thursday: ZUMBA

Friday: at least 30 minutes cardio

Saturday: at least 30 minutes cardio

What are your fitness goals? Anyone else a zumba fan? 

Have a great week! 

Sweat it out Sunday

I am trying really hard to go to the gym and get back in shape. Since I was a teenager I have struggled with self-esteem and my weight, usually leading to dieting/exercising for a while to lose weight and then gaining it back. I've never been overweight, but usually on the top end of healthy and always wished I could be a little skinnier.

Knowing that my wedding is 7 months away I am trying to keep that in mind and not totally overwork myself so that I get sick of it. I'm an all or nothing person so I have to remind myself that off days are okay.

My goals for working out this week:
Monday - Cardio 20 minutes, weight machines for arms
Tuesday - ZUMBA
Wednesday - TBD
Thursday - Off day (evening meetings at school)
Friday - Mixed Fit Class
Saturday - ZUMBA

I'll check in next Sunday and see how far I've gotten. What are your favorite things to do to workout? Do you prefer classes, weights, running, or something different?

five on friday: what's on my mind

We've reached the end of another week. Yay! We have no school today as a state in-service day and I'm thrilled for the 3 day weekend. Here's what's on my mind this friday. 

1. Gymnastics! 

I'm a huge gymnastics fan and this week is hte World Championships so I've been waking up super early (today I got up at 4am) to watch them. I'm totally crazy but it's so fun and this only happens once a year! Go Team USA! 

2. Silent Auction Fundrasier 

I'm organizing an auction for my FFA chapter which is happening tonight. We have a ton of awesome items so I can't wait to see how it ends up turning out. We are trying to raise money for 18 students to travel from Washington state to Kentucky...so it's pretty spendy. 

3. Getting healthy

This has been at the bottom of my priority list and I'm so unhappy with myself for not taking it more seriously. After this auction stress will be a little less and hopefully I can find some time. I really need to before it's too late.

4. My Wedding

(loving this look for the place card table) 

Things keep falling into place and I'm slowing making more decisions about things that I want done. One of my friends (who is the mother of my flower girls who was also my 6th grade teacher) asked if we want and engagement party and I'm considering it. Is it weird to have one a couple months after you got engaged, or is it worth it to celebrate and see your friends? I'm torn. My mom and I are going to look at my venue today because she hasn't seen it and I'm excited to go back. 

5. Money

I've been reading Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money and it really gets me thinking. My best friend just went through financial peace university and passed along a lot of the tips. I want to make sure that while we are young we are managing the (little) money that we have in order to maximize it in the future. 

Happy Friday! Linking up with the lovely 5 on Friday ladies. :) 

FIve on [[a fit]] Friday!

I'm linking up with Darci today for my Five on Friday!

I'm trying to eat healthy and get myself in shape at the gym so today I'm going to talk about my five foods that are my keys to eating well. If I was able to stick to eating these five foods then I probably would have a lot easier time losing weight. It's all those other pesky things that sneak ing (ice cream being the worst) that ruin it for me!

1. Apples! There is nothing like a crisp, juicy, apple. For the past couple of years I have eaten an apple almost every single day and I give that credit for why I don't get sick often *knock on wood* and generally am pretty healthy. You've all heard it, an apple a day keeps the doctor away! My personal favorites are Pink Lady and Golden Delicious.

2. Tillamook Light Yogurt. Very Vanilla! I am a weird person when it comes to yogurt and I only will eat vanilla. I don't like the little pieces of fruit in yogurt and I know that they are TINY but they still gross me out and I can't eat them. So I stick to plain old vanilla and it's delicious. I like Tillamook because it's nice and creamy and I think that they don't use aspertame, so that's always a plus. We know I get enough of that from my diet coke. :P

3. Fiber One 80 Calorie cereal...chocolate! This is a great snack for any time of the day. If I need something to satisfy my desire for chocolate this is a great go-to because I can have a whole handful for only 80 calories! I do sometimes have it with milk and then you end up with yummy chocolate milk. It's not super filling so I usually need something else with it for breakfast but it's still good.

4. Baby Carrots. Let's be honest, I don't actually like carrots. I make myself eat them because I know they have little calories and I feel like they have to be good for me...right? They have the convenience of being small and easy to eat pretty much anywhere. I heard on biggest loser once that if you aren't hungry enough to eat your vegetables then you aren't actually hungry, for me carrots are always the test for that. I save them for after school when I'm starving && then I actually eat them.

5. Luna Bars. These aren't the best and usually if I am counting calories I don't eat them as much just because they have more calories and not a lot of protein. When I'm serious I will stick to 'pure protein' bars but if I want something that tastes a little better then Luna Bars it is! I personally love the Nutz Over Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cookie. Chocolate caramel brownie is also a winner.
That's my fun down on my five favorite healthy foods. What are your go to healthy snacks? I'd love to hear some suggestions! -J