health journal: final week.

Health journal: this is week 7 and our last official meeting. Are you sad? I am a little, but you are probably sick of me going on about my failures of the previous week.. :)

I am down 7 pounds and 4 inches. I wish it was more, but I’ll take it. I’m up to 3.5 miles with running without stopping and am thinking of entering a 10k. I’m starting level 3 with Jillian on Monday (gulp.) I can do 10 full manly pushups! I so, so, so, so want to keep going!  I AM going to keep going. I have 12 more pounds I would love to blast off by summer. I don’t know why it makes me so nervous to type that? I don’t have any great pictures to show you, and you probably wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference, to be honest. Besides,  I would much rather take pics of my kids and home stuff! :)

I can tell mostly with the way things fit. I promise I will show you a before/after picture  if er, when I meet my goal!

Looking back on the past 7 weeks, there are a few things that come to mind:

* I talk to myself…a lot. I try to ask myself what it is I really want. “Do you really want to blow that workout this morning on that bowl of hot buttered popcorn and reeses pieces? (oooh, that does sound good right now, doesn’t it?) Girl, c’mon….you worked too hard to let that workout just be a null!   “Melissa…are you really hungry or are you bored/stressed/excited/worried?? Let’s step away from the pantry, count to 44, drink a glass of water, brush your teeth and then see if you really want those nasty value chocolate chips..” it usually works, *if* I talk to myself. But sometimes I completely smother the voice of reason with a big spoonful of nutella. It just works better to talk to yourself…

* My friend Lynee taught me that it’s much better to plan your meals before you eat them, rather than eat and then record. I was eating and then writing it down… but if I was bad, I felt awful recording it….and so I didn’t and then just usually bagged it for the day!  I’ve done so much better on the days that I plan out my meals and snacks before I start eating so I know where my calories are going. It’s kind of like money: if you know exactly how much you can spend on the bathroom, you’re going to budget much more effectively and make better choices than if you just blindly put it all on the credit card and then start to add it up and feel really, really guilty. right?

* do everything possible to exercise first thing morning. If I lay out my clothes, put my socks in my running shoes, mp3, etc. the night before and know I am going to go running right after Lauren gets on the bus, I have a much higher chance of actually doing it. If I wait until after she gets on the bus at 6:50 a.m. to get dressed and then maybe I check my google reader, or my email, and then I can’t find my sports bra, then I have to listen for Jillian to tell all you badbums out there to follow Natalie… it’s already 7:20 and time to get the second round of kids going and hopefully I’m going to squeeze something in later in the day. Is there anything better than starting the day off with that high?

thank you, thank you , thank you, thank you for beginning this health journey with me. I can’t tell you how much your comments, encouragement, tips, and personal stories have helped this girl. A special thanks to my heart health trainer, Alysa. Follow her and she will whip you into shape in no time! Let’s keep going…you can DO it! I know you can.

The Epione ClearTouch Matrix giveaway and the Olive Garden $100 gift card giveaway are still going on!

The winner of the Polar FT7 watch is Tammy~she said: “Anything that would motivate me to do SOMETHING would be good!” Congrats, Tammy!

master bathroom: details & pricing

Thank you SO, SO much for all of the comments, pinning, sharing of the bathroom! Here is the post I promised with all the dirty details and pricing :)

We sold the cabinet above the toilet on Craigslist. (ahem…let me clarify. The cabinet is still sitting in the garage waiting to go on Craigslist)  The shelves were from Home Depot~you can find them in the closet organization section. I liked them because they were a bit deeper than others I looked at, but not so deep that they stick too far out from the back of the toilet. $27 x 3 =$81 {more coming on these}

The wall paint color is Fossil Grey by Glidden. <------if you click on that link it will show you some close matches. It is an older color, but Home Depot and Ace Hardware (and most other places?) should have it in their computers. I can’t tell you how many other greys I tried and this one was exactly what I was looking for. Not too dark, not too light, not too cool, not too green, not too brown. Love it. $25

new toilet paper holder on side of the vanity= $6 at walmart

new garbage can from TJ Maxx= $10

 

We just went with a classic waffle weave shower curtain from Target $25.

 

I know you are shocked, but the silhouettes aren’t of us. I found them at a little thrift shop I stopped in at one day and was just kind of smitten with them. They were $11 for the pair and they are old. Like I was afraid the frames weren’t going to make it when I hung them. I’m just going to pretend they are family heirlooms. :) I would love to know the history behind them though…

hooks are from Home Depot $4 each = $8

white towels from TJ Maxx $8 each = $16

 

 

frame from goodwill .55 (not .50! but .55…gotta love their pricing) I love this quote and I decided I needed to hang it where I would see it often. I found it on Pinterest.

 

 

Light fixture from Home Depot for $29. It was one of the promos they had at the end of the year, re-do your bath, everything you need is cheap :)

The mirror was from Lowes on clearance $24. (Not THE mirror clearance, but just a random one this year and not as exciting) {more coming on how we removed the old mirror}

 

 

We kept the original vanity and painted and just replaced the counter and sidesplash.

The carrera countertop and sink were from Home Depot online:  $387 + this sidesplash $38 = $425

The faucet was also from H. Depot: $117

 

 

Paint on cabinets: benjamin moore impervo in white dove. ( Leftover from my daughter’s room and the kitchen.)

the handles are from Home Depot $4 each = $8

 

The little frame was from the thrift store: $1 and I just printed off this quote. The towel holder was from Walmart $8.

 

 

The baskets were from Michaels on sale w/ coupon (of course!) 4 at $7 each, the small one was $4. = $32

The gold mirror was from the thrift store $2.95

The clock was from etsy: $15

 

The wire tp basket I have had for awhile~it was from a yard sale $1, the containers were from the goodwill, .55 and .95 each~one held used to hold chocolate, the other said “tea” on the label I tore off. The towels were from TJ Maxx, $8 each =$18.50

 

The magazine holder is from TJ Maxx. $15

 

 

The flooring is Allure flooring from H.Depot in Pacific Pine. It is only $1.99 a sq. ft, so it was under $100 (2 boxes, we used about one and a half.) We used it in our last home and in our bathroom downstairs and loved it, and since he’s a pro at installing it now, he put it in over his holiday break. When he installed the flooring, we removed the baseboards and painted them to freshen them up. {more coming on this}

 

The roller shade is just a simple one found at Home Depot for $3.85~look in their miscuts and you can usually find one that will work. Then I just covered it with fabric (Premier Prints chipper twill storm) from Fabric.com  $7.48/yard 1.5 yards = $11.50 {more coming on this}

Our budget was $1,000 and we came super close:

Grand total: $995.90 for everything above, including the accessories, towels, etc. but I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Oh well…close enough?

Did I miss something? Feel free to ask questions in the comments! There are a few more little tutorials coming next week on some of these~thank you again for all of your kind comments and pins on this~

Epione ClearTouch Matrix giveaway

This is kind of sad: The last giveaway from our New Year, New You program. And it’s a GOOD one:

The Epione ClearTouch Matrix:  An innovative system that not only cleanses the skin of makeup and daily impurities, but also massages the face helping reduce the appearance of fine lines and discoloration.

Sweet! Let’s see:

Oooohh, what a pretty box:

Here’s what is inside:

1. First, you insert the batteries (not included!), then turn it on. The first attachment we’re going to use is the small brush head.

Simply apply your cleanser as you normally would, but don’t rinse it off. Move the Epione over the face using small circular motions. Make sure the brush is flush against the face, not at an angle.Do you know how hard it is to take pics of yourself while doing this?

You will definitely feel the cleaning action. It doesn’t hurt, but you will feel the bristles moving and cleaning out everything.

The next is my favorite: the face sponge. It’s soft and feels so good when you massage your face. Use it after cleansing with the small brush head. This little guy is supposed to increase skin elasticity and help improve the appearance of fine lines and discoloration. I’ve only had it a few days, so I can’t report on that, but I love using it.
I could definitely tell a difference afterward. The pores on my nose are usually pretty big and, well, have blackheads, but they were tight and clean after using the Epione. This is kind of gross, but I don’t know how else to say it? Usually, if I squeeze my nose, I can get some oil or blackheads out. I squeezed the heck out of it after cleansing with the Epione and nothing. Nada. It was awesome!

There is also a pumice attachment for your feet:

Simply immerse your feet in warm water for a few minutes (or use right after a nice hot shower) and it will exfoliate the rough skin right off of the bottom of your feet. This is my husband’s favorite attachment because when I put my cold feet on his, they don’t scratch him up anymore. :)

And finally, the large brush is for exfoliating the hands and body. This is perfect for before I want to apply sunless tanner and need to be smooth as possible.

My final analysis?

Pros: I LOVE it. Great cleaning (especially for those large blackhead pores!), feels good, my face is ultra smooth and soft.

Cons: You know what I’m going to say because I’m cheap a thriftress: the price. And I wish it came with batteries. It’s a luxury item in my book, but what a fun gift to ask for or give. It makes a beautiful presentation and would be a fun way to indulge someone you love. I’m definitely going to keep using it!

Of course you want one…and we’re giving one away!

To be entered for a chance to win, just leave me a comment and tell me why you would love an Epione ClearTouch Matrix.

  Good luck! Note to mobile version users: To be entered, you have to click over to the comments on the actual blog, not the mobile version. Otherwise, your comments won’t be included~thanks!     Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a) Leave a comment (see above)
b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/22 – 2/28. Also be sure to visit the Inspiration to Fitness page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers' reviews, get great fitness tips and find more chances to win! You can also click on the Best Buy image at the top of my blog to view a calendar of all the Inspiration to Fitness content. Best Buy Buyer’s Guide sweepstakes is here. Good luck!   Have you taken the fitness pledge?   Best Buy does not sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any responsibility for this promotion.  

master bathroom after!

Okay, here are the beauty before shots:I *love* that my husband remembered to take pics before he started on the floor when I wasn’t even there. He is the best.

 

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Okay, that was ugly.

Now you can come in for the after! It’s tiny, but we just worked with what we had:

One more time:

I’ll share all the info: prices, buying, how-to, etc, but right now I just want to take a nap :)

**update: sources and prices for this bathroom can be found in this post.**

Happy Tuesday~

snow day!

We got a gorgeous snow here…but I kind of hope it’s the last.

a list I found on the table(bowl=fun sledding hill)

Hope you had a wonderful Monday~

did your family have today off for President’s Day? My husband didn’t (booooooooo) but my kids obviously did! Did you get to do anything fun?