#runday May 8th

Today was a run day! 

For the longest time I have not been able to improve my fitness. I do not think my body cannot handle it, but the coolest thing about our bodies is that they are made fore this! So it is my brain that is always getting in the way. I tell myself I am getting tired. I can not go any further or fast, but I really can. I am trying hard to break through my mental roadblocks and believe in myself. Today I told myself "You can do it!" over and over again. Then I started thinking about Adam Sandler and Waterboy (that is what I call runner ADHD). Before I knew it I was home! 

I did a 3 mile run on a pack of nabs and a cup of coffee! So why can't I run further and better when I have a good lunch? It is all in my head! The first step to breaking down those mental roadblocks is believing in yourself.

We have a great place to run in my neighborhood called "The First Street Path"! It runs along West First Street, up by the Wright Memorial and then to the school, library and government center in Kill Devil Hills. Love this path! 

I am still doing the 30day ab challenge

Today:

• 36 sit-ups
• 29 crunches
• 30sec plank
• 19 pushups (I have been doing man pushups! They are killer)

I also did a great plank workout from Badass Fitness  she is a beast! I hope to be like her one day! 

What is in your gym bag?

My workout schedule: 

   Monday #weighttraining   Usually I do some type of quick circuit training. We are lucky to be able to go to the high school and use their equipment. The gym teacher their provides us with new workouts to try each week. 

   Tuesday #runday

   Wednesday #runday

   Thursday #weighttraining 

   Friday #restday

   Saturday #runday

   Sunday #restday

1. Merrell bag
2. Make up remover wipes I like the clean and clear ones too! These I picked up at TJ Maxx. It is important to make sure you clean your face before you work out
3. Barefoot shoes!  I am trying the new barefoot shoe thing and I love it! I have tried the New Balance kind too. My only complain is that they stick... really stick! 
4. Nike+ watch w/ shoe sensor  check out my Nike+ profile 
5. Razor 
6. Sweaty Band I love my sweaty bands!
7. Headphones
8. Deodorant 
9. Lotion I like something that smells good when I'm working out
10. Tons of hair ties
11. Victoria Secret sports bra My favorite sports bra yet!
12. Protein shake and blender bottle 
13. Pre-wrap  (to use as a headband)
14. 4-H t-shirt
15. Shorts

I usually pack a few outfits because I never know what I am going to feel like come 4:00, nor do I know what the weather is going to be like. 

30 Day Challenge

 

I have been doing the 30 day squat challenge! It has been amazing. I am really feeling the burn! I have been kind of cheating. I split the number for each day between plea squats and regular squats. Sometimes I even throw in a few lunges. 

Plea squats target the inner thighs. You can also lift up to your toe on your left or right side to target the area. Make sure you only do one side at a time and have the same number of reps on each side. 

These are deep keen squats. The goal of a deep knee squat is to get your butt below your knees. If you are not following the proper form you more than likely will feel it in your knees. These squats will give you the best results.

Do you add weight? The USDA recommends that Americans get at least 2 days a week of strength training. Weight barring exercise can be done with body weight but once you have master body weight squats it is a good idea to more on to weights. You can use hand weights, body bars, or even kettle bells to ad weight. I am currently squatting 40 lbs. with a body bar. No more than 15 reps per set. I try to do about 10 sets per workout. If you are trying yo bulk up do a heavier weight with less reps, but if you are looking for lean muscles do a smaller weight with more reps. 

Remember to stretch your thighs after your workout. For your muscles to grow long and lean you want to make sure that you have a good stretch after all workouts especially when you are working such a specific area. 

An ab challenge is on the horizons for May! Get ready summer! 

-Liv   

New dinning room table

Our retro table just is not doing it anymore! We have an old laminate wood table with chrome legs that are duck taped together at the top. So I thought it was time for a new table, but tables are really expensive so I thought I might make one. Here is my inspiration!

I want to build a bench for one side! I like this one, but I want a back on mine. And I love the light colored upholstered chairs with it. So I am going to do both.

Here is my beautiful wood it is black or dark walnut. I am think I am just going to seal it because the wood is pretty. But I want to have a dark table so we will have to see how it looks after the top is put together and I condition it.

There are my legs the short ones are for the bench and the long ones for the table.Duh! I go them from www.hairpinlegs.com/ . It was super easy to order from them and they have tons of styles! I hate choices. Right now they are raw steel which will rust so I may need to spray them black or clear.

 

 

 

I have picked out these chairs from IKEA. They have a dark brown/black base with a brown/natural cover which is great because you can change the cover! Check them out at Henriksdal chair from Ikea!

I am so excited about this new project! I am not that great with wood work so I am getting some help. I will be so happy to throw that old table away. And share the finished product!

-Liv

Whats going on?? Why no posts?

Well I have been extremely busy and my focus has been on work, school and become super healthy! So I have not had a lot of time for sewing. I guess I could cut out sleeping but I really really like sleep. So I thought it might be easier to post about what I am doing rather than just projects I have going.

So I wanted to show you how crazy my life! This is a picture of my desk today. I know crazy, but thankfully school is almost over for the semester. Summer is on its way and maybe I can turn back into the beach bum I have always been!

I have been working hard to finish my first graduate class at East Carolina University. I have taken other classes since I graduated from College APP State '10, but this one is the start of my graduate program, MS Family and Consumer Sciences Secondary Education. I will take the GRE this summer and apply for grad school in March. Wish me luck! I am powering through this literary review with muller! Non-fat yogurt with caramelized almonds! So good, but it is 200 calories as my fitness pal reminds me. Naked Protein granola and coffee are of course important to keep me focused. 

I am back at it! Running and workout got me through college, but as an adult I have found little time to do anything other than eat, sleep, or work. I have been working through this and I will be posting some workout/nutrition stuff, because thats whats going on with me right now. My sewing machine is feeling a little neglected. Maybe I can pull it out durning the summer?

As summer approaches I have been spending a lot of time with family. Mainly because I live at the beach, my family loves the beach, and they just need a reason to come down as often as they want. I constantly remind them that it get cold here too! This is us on the newish Jennette's Research Pier. It is so cool to see the wind turbines, and other sources of wave energy they have been able to harness. This pier was built by the aquarium so it has several huge tanks with fish in them!

Hope you enjoy some of the new stuff I post! 

-Liv

How does your garden grow?

My little potted garden on the porch has grown so good this summer. I think the rain water is what it really likes.

I have had a wonderful crop so far this summer and the plants still are not finished producing fruit. Next year we are going to try for more plants and see what happens. I think I am going to try to grow greens and strawberries in the spring. Maybe I will look for some things that can grow in the fall too. I love growing stuff.

My herb garden is doing good indoors too! I use the herbs in everything. I would love to grow lemon balm and mint. But I think they would do better outside. I am still learn but I think for my first growing season I did good. We can try again next year.

Summer Night Alone

Lights over the top of my deck 

Pandora Station I am listing to. Add a little Tiny Tim in there too!

MacBook for tunes, wine for sanity, and the mason jar as a night light

Drink of choice, almost as good as my Pink Truck 

I love the lights 

A nice spot to rest and relax after working all day 

The patio garden that surrounds me

Things I have learned from Contemporary Folk Music tonight:

1. Let it be 
2. You can't roller-skate in a buffalo herd
3. You can't go fishing in a watermelon patch 
4. Sweet Pea your the reason I keep coming home 
5. Darlin' your heads not right 
6. You were only waiting for this moment to arise

I think Contemporary Folk music could be my new favorite music especially if I am going to lean things like these! To night was a nice relaxing time and I am glad I got to spend it with myself. It is hard to remember that you need to have time to turn your brain off and just pick up on the funny lyrics to calming music. It takes my mind off the fact that all the clothes I have washed are hanging around the Apartment because the dryer is broken. 

My goal for this week is to spend time with myself!! 

Anniversary Adventure

Yesterday, June 3rd, was mine and Owen's two year anniversary. We spend the day on the beach with Rosco. It was a beautiful Sunday. The water was almost completely see-through and there was hardly a cloud in the sky.

Thank goodness summer is here. We were starting to get the winter blues and I think I may have overwhelmed Owen with all the projects I had for us on those cold winter weekends. 

It is true the quality of our life is way better in the summer. We just made it through our first beach winter together and there were several times when we weren't so sure we could make it. We are so glad to have the sunshine and warm weather. Back to spending weekends on the beach! 

Rosco loves the beach. He is getting so brave in the ocean. Before we know it he will be out there in the deep water with me and O. Of course it would not be a beach day on the National Seashore without the third degree from the Park Service about keeping Rosco on a leash. Good to know our tax dollars go toward something other than putting up fences around the birds.

Yesterday was a perfect day for me to surf! Little waves beautiful water and it was such a warm day. We even had some very up close encounters with the most beautiful dolphins. 

This is my sumer project! Surfing! Gary, Owen's Dad brought me this throwback in the eye board from florida. Now that the water is getting warmer I think it is time we put it to use!

Rain catching

I had this wonderful ideas that I would buy a rain barrel, but I do not have gutters so filling up this 50 gallon bucket is not an easy task!

I love my collapsible rain barrel because I live in an apartment and I rent so it is a lot easier to travel. I also love how the top of it is so big so I can catch more rain. That was the main selling point. You can build your own. But you have to find a large barrel first. If you find one let me know I want to make a compost bin in one.

This publication gives the most info about rain barrels!

http://fli.hws.edu/pdf/how_to_build_a_rain_barrel.pdf

I put these guys on the front porch to catch more water. I need more buckets are gutters. Then as they fill I run them to the rain barrel on the back deck. I'm only half full now. Hopefully I'll get a few more good rains before summer.

My new window herb garden loves my rain water! I found this basket to put them in at Hot Line. They look so good. They taste wonderful too. I have dill, time, oregano, and lavender in this window sill. It smells so good over there.

I keep a little rain water inside so that I always remember to water my house plants with it too. It also gives me a good use for all the half gallon jars I found in the old house. They are no longer safe for canning and I am not sure where I would find a canner big enough to put them in. I know I will never make that much juice! As you saw from how I made jelly making juice is hard. 

These guys like the rain water too! Its only May and look how big my tomato plants are. The pepper plant is working on it. I think it just takes longer for them to grow. 

My rose bush is finally growing! I had two in there but i successfully killed the one that was on the left side. Poor thing. Hopefully I will have a huge rose bush growing over the side of the railing soon. Or maybe that is wishful thinking for this year. 

Yogurt making

I don't know where these wild ideas come from! I think I was reading a blog about urban homesteading or something like that and I saw them making their own yogurt and I eat yogurt everyday. So clearly I should try to make my own yogurt. I tried in the oven first because that is cheapest, but I had to leave my oven at 110 degrees all night. It made me a little nervous and then my yogurt was very runny and i did not add any sugar so it was super tart. It was still good with granola and honey. If milk freaks you out you should not do this because you do have to boil the milk. And it's not too pretty.

Then I bought this nifty thing. It incubates my yogurt and has a timer that shuts off after you have set it for the right time based on the milk fat content. Usually 8 hours, but last time I did 10 and it was really tart. The yogurt maker came with these cute little glass jars. You can put the expiration date on the top of them. Homemade yogurt is only good for 19 days.

I take 42oz of milk which fills all my containers. I bring the milk to 120 degrees in a double boiler and add about 3/4 a cup of powdered milk. Then I bring the milk to a boil for 1 to 2 minutes. That is 180 degrees if you use a thermometer. The milk needs to climb the sides. Then I let it cool to 120 and you can add sugar or honey, but only a little like 5 tablespoons or so. But I usually wait until I am going to eat it to sweeten it. Once the milk has cooled to 110 degrees I add my starter; which can be plain sugar free yogurt or freez dried yogurt culture. If the milk it too hot the bacteria in the yogurt will die and yogurt cannot form. Then you have to incubate the yogurt. However you would like to keep the yogurt between 108 and 112 degrees. Yogurt temperature should not drop below 100 degrees.

Once the incubation process is over I let it rest for at least 3 hours before I eat it. And hot yogurt is not very good.

It's pretty easy! No preservatives, added sugar or artificial flavorings. I actually use my jam to flavor the yogurt. It is really good and totally homemade.

Yogurt puls homemade granola.