Busy Lifestyle? Health and Fitness Needed

 It has been quite a long time since I have made it a point to exercise or to continuously eat healthy, two years to be exact. A few years back I was a huge gym freak that always ate healthy, but my excuse lately has been, "I just don't have time," or, "I'm too tired. I'd rather sleep or eat junk." Granted, I was pregnant for about a  year working up to 65 hours a week at a CPA firm, completely stressed out, and feeling sick all the time. When my daughter was born I ended up having to have a C-section; working out was not even an option for three months.


This past year, I have been a full-time student at Walsh College, working part-time 5 days a week, and attending regular board meetings for Warren Consolidated Schools where I am a board member on the Board of Education, all while adjusting to new life raising a little one. Working out and eating right hasn't been the first thing on my mind. Just eating anything once or twice a day was good enough for me as long as I got at least 6 hours of sleep. I am excited to announce that I should be graduating after the summer 2016 semester with my BBA. After graduation, I plan on obtaining a full-time position at General Motors. At this point in time, I should be making enough money to where we don't have to live pay check to pay check any longer, and have the ability to have more time for myself. But, enough of my excuses! - No matter how valid they might be. Here's a few ways I am going to start turning over a new leaf and bring healthy living back into my life.


I think a great goal to make is to begin by incorporating Grace into my workouts! Babies need your constant love and attention; they need to be entertained. My daughter loves walks in her stroller. Now that we are seeing some warm weather, I could start my warm up by taking a quick stroll with her around our block. I found this great YouTube video that shows great examples of how to feel the burn at home while entertaining your baby at the same time.


This woman is an inspiration! I will have to make a point to subscribe to her YouTube page. She demonstrates some very doable home work outs with her baby.

Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/p3gLtLfQLS0

Another thing I need to change is my eating habits. I would really like to start meal prepping for each week every Sunday. This way, I will get the healthy calories that I need ready to go without having to eat junk because I am on the go. I need to purchase about 20 new sealable containers so that I am able to prepare food each week for myself and my fiancé. Fish, chicken, and quinoa are what I will use for the main portion of daily protein. Purchasing pre-cut and washed fruit, veggies, and spinach at the grocery store will help save time when preparing for the week.


Another great idea I can do to get my daily nutrients is to make smoothies each day. The smoothies can contain various kinds of frozen fruit, avocado for texture, a small amount of orange juice for liquidity, organic plain yogurt, spinach and kale. Last, but not least, I need to make sure I drink enough water during the day. My goal is to finish a gallon of water per day. There will be lots of bathroom breaks, but it's very important that the body stays hydrated. Water also helps the body expel toxins. So, cheers to that!

Party Planning and Gracie's First Birthday

I am so excited and shocked at the same time that my little baby is going to be turning one in just two short months. We are planning a monster of a party. Ryan and I both have large families and a good amount of friends that will be attending Gracelynn's first birthday party; we are expecting about 70-90 people. The location will be at Ryan's parents' house, aka Bar Hewie (short for Hewitt). They have the perfect atmosphere for hosting fun parties for everyone. The party is expected to begin around 3:00pm and there is pretty much no end time. Since Gracelynn is one of the very few babies around our family the party will mainly be to entertain the adults. Hey, doesn't everyone use their child's first birthday as an excuse to have a bash?!

The location will have the pool, or the 99 man hot tub as they call it, open for business. They keep the pool heated to about 100 degrees, thus its nick name. Plus a tiki-bar, shuffle board, darts, ping pong, and corn hole games going on. We have a family member who is a DJ and who will be spinning for entertainment and for just plain for the fun of it.

Since I am so busy I decided not to procrastinate this thing and I have been a Pinterest freak for months now. I do have to say I put a lot of time and effort into the decorations for this party. I absolutely love decorating and DIY projects so planning this party has been a lot of fun for me.

The over all theme of the party is pink and gold. Here are some fun examples of what I am doing for her birthday:

Crowns! - These crowns are made from lace. You measure how small or large you would like the crown to be around your baby's head. Then, cover that section with mod-podge or fabric stiffener a few times until it starts to really harden. After it is hardened then you can spray paint it silver or gold and use thin elastic to glue to the sides of the crown so that it will be able to easily stay on the baby's head. I will be making a few of these and Grace will be wearing one of them. The extras may be used as decoration somewhere.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684797144/

 

Tables - I have different size mason jars that I have spray painted just like you see below. These will be the centerpieces on the tables. The tables will have pink table clothes with cream cups and napkins along with gold plates.



Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191683671523/

Invitations - I will be creating these invites. I bought some square brown cardboard paper and some doilies. You just razor cut the doilies on the top and the bottom and then tie a string around it for a cute invite!

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191685142875/

Party streamers - I bought some different fabric from Joanne's and just tied them to this string, pretty simple.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684799907/

 

High-chair tutu! - I found this great DIY tutu on Pinterest. All you need is 1 inch elastic, tulle, and Velcro strips to keep it up. Gracelynn's will be cream with a banner hanging in front of it that spells out ONE in gold letters.

Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/175781191684797147/

Last, but not least, I am making her smash cake myself. Her cake will be chocolate and the frosting will be very light pink. I am making the frosting homemade with confectioners sugar and a tiny bit of beet juice for dye. I just don't like the idea of feeding my one year old frosting with dyes and transfat, so this is why I have decided to just go ahead and make it myself.

There is so much more to plan, but at least I've got down the decorations.