Advocare Links

I'm starting the 24 Day Challenge on Sunday. I'm super nervous so I have been searching for websites and bloggers who have been through it before. Here is a list of what I have bookmarked so far:

Life is a Run - Recipes and tips, she did a good job of describing exactly what she did for the challenge.
North Country Advocare -  This one hasn't been updated recently but has a lot of recipes.
24 day challenge bundle - Has some great printables, one is for eating out tips.
Clear Lake CrossFit - This is a manual with a measurement sheet.
the motivated momma - 24 days of recipes blog.
Time to Save - Advocare Recipes
Advocare Meal Journal - Only a few recipes, set up in 2012.
Jenny Collier - 24 recipes blog.
Advocare Runner -  This one is up to date, success stories, recipes and also after the challenge.
Beth 24 day challenge -  This one also is not up to date, but it is a success story and what she is taking from Advocare after the challenge.
Get You in Shape - 72 day challenge results for inspiration.
The Dish by Trish - Recipes and a few post from the challenge.
Trim Down Challenge -  Links and resources.
Choose the Challenge - Links and virtual coach, also a facebook page.

Good luck!

To Comment or Not

source:blogloving

Reading blogs is my favorite thing. I learn so much and have so my pretend friends, it's great! I have read some post that talk about commenting, and I feel I really need to step up my game. The problem I have with commenting is that: A. people will know I was there, which can feel like eaves dropping on a conversation I was never a part of, and B. would if they think my comment is stupid, catty, offensive, weird? These thoughts keep me from wanting to post a comment or sometimes just attach my name. I'm am trying to get over these thoughts because I know how great it feels when someone comments on a post, especially if you think no one ever reads your blog (In no way is this a cry for people to comment more on my post, I know I'm a slacker blogger and sporadic random poster). Here are my 5 rules for commenting on a blog:

1. Do not post a negative comment.

• I just don't see why negative comments are needed and I have read some really bad ones. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think negative comments are downers to a post. If I don't agree, then I don't agree but I'm not going to attack someone for their opinion, specially if they didn't ask for it in the first place. This is just my rule and I know commenting is a way to voice your own opinion on a topic, so to each their own.

2. Do not write a book in the comment field.

• I try to keep it to a short paragraph. This is why having your own blog is handy, instead of leaving a comment that is a post in itself you can do your own post on the topic. Just make sure, at the very least, to link to their inspirational post, and add a comment in their post.

3. Do comment often.

• This one I'm working on. If people didn't want comments they can turn them off or make them private. People may not want negative comments, but I know they enjoy some good discussion.

4. Do spell check and proof read.

• I think this one is important if you comment using a smart phone and have the auto correct on. I know we have seen those screen shots on Pinterest where they auto correct incorrectly. Proof reading is important because who can take a comment seriously if it doesn't make a lot of sense.

5. Read others comments before commenting.

• My thinking on this is if there are already 50 people who commented on a great picture of a haircut, maybe you could comment on her pretty eyes. It is always more interesting when there is more of a discussion in the comments instead of everyone saying the same thing over and over.

(These are not the bible of commenting or anything, just my opinion/tips for commenting. No negative comments needed. LOL)

Random Sites I Have Texted To Myself

When I am on my phone I will take picutres or text myself to remind myself to check it out later. I have yet to really go back to look at these things, so I thought why not today. Here we go:

• Apparently this day I was on a kick for Paleo resources. I just wish I could stick with this diet but being gluten free is expensive and I like bread. I still try my best to stay away from anything non-Paleo as much as possible.

Robbwolf.com

Biscuits and Gravy 

Super Bowl Party

• I did try this recipe and it was good. The kids weren't too excited about the crushed ritz crackers, but they could be left out.

VELVEETA Down-Home Macaroni & Cheese

• The next link led me to a dead end, but The Polka Dot Patch is a great site for a kids learning resource.

• This next link is an information face book post about various topic including the meaning of bread tags: Lynne Franks is on Facebook

• 50 tools to better your blog. I'm too disorganized to have a great blog so I've been mainly just blog when I feel like it and if people read it great, if not, oh well.

• Pork Tenderloin in Phyllo Recipe looks great, but I'm not sure if I could pull it off. I'm not much for a recipe that take that much time and effort. 

• A Beautiful Mess is a great design and craft blog. I can get lost in this site for hours.

• From Cube to Farm.....not sure why I was sending myself this link. It has a broken link for a Paleo story and I do like the story about the Mom support group, but it seems she hasn't been keeping up with her blog lately.

• I have just this past year started to eat brussel sprouts. I don't remember my mom ever serving them so I have had to find my own recipes. I have yet to try The Southern Lady Cook: Ritzy Brussel Sprouts. This also looks like a good recipe blog.

• The Krazy coupon lady has a list about every week for free Kindle books. Now that my kids have a Kindle I need to be checking this every week so they use the Kindle for more than games!

•  This last one is a Facebook post for KFC coleslaw, which I have always liked. I'm sure there are better recipes to copy out there but I would like to try this one some day.

Texting myself is an OK way to remember websites as long as I'm going to use my phone to re-look at the link, otherwise I email the link from my phone to my email address. Then I just open the link in my email. This can also be done on most browser if you are not using your own computer. Just open a new email and copy and paste the link and email it to yourself since you are not able to bookmark it. Discovering new websites it my favorite past time!

Crossfit Craze

Different day, but similar calorie burn tonight.

This week I'm trying the Crossfit work out of the day found at Crossfit Mama. She post a new work out M-F and so far I am able to adapt them to what I have on hand. These are really challenging. Today it took me 48:27 to do today's workout. I used my treadmill and went between 3-5 mph for .5 miles, used my hand weights for the kettle bell workout, and did knee push ups, repeat 5 times. I wanted to go 5 mph for all the half miles but my legs are sore from the 150 squats I did yesterday.  I figured I need to at least give Crossfit a week of my life to see how well it goes.

Christmas Spending/Savings

Family Balance Sheet  is putting together a Christmas Savings Club. If you had a hard time keeping to a budget or finding money to spend on Christmas gifts and you would like to think ahead, this may just be the right solution. I don't think you could go wrong in trying this club. It may seem crazy to think this early about Christmas, but before you know it, it will be here again.

Saturday Flurries

Saturday I woke up to a wet and heavy snow fall.  I ended up clearing our driveway twice that day.  It didn't stop snowing till dark.  It was so heavy I was able to build this giant snow person, but it wasn't so cold as to freeze the creek water.  My kids played outside for over an hour, which was great.

Doorway to Challenge Room

I added to the craft area.

I also worked on cleaning the basement room.  I started with the area by the door, which held the books.  I knew I had some double of the Berenstain Bear books because I was buying them in sets off of ebay when my daughter was little.  The sad part was I had double of some other books and I don't remember how that happened other than forgetfulness on my part.

The back wall is looking better without the toys.

 I wanted to use the storage container I was currently using to store some extra socks and underwear, to re purpose for the kids coloring books.  First I had to shove the shoes from my husband's side back inside the closet so I could open the door to my side.  Then I put some items from my under the bed storage are into the rummage sale, and the rest in my dresser drawers.  I was able to empty the under the bed storage container, and put the items from the closet storage drawer into this.  I'm not sure if I really like this yet.  I might end up just buying each kid their own box for coloring books and paper.  It would be easier to quickly bring up my son's books to help entertain him while my daughter does homework.

My husband's side of the closet.

My side of the closet.

Here is the after of the books and kids art supplies.  I need to adjust the top of the book section, the cardboard box on the top I need to work in somehow because my daughter says she doesn't want to get rid of them just yet.  The drawer on the bottom was from my bedroom closet.  The other drawers we have had for awhile.  I sorted them into the following: blank paper, construction paper, stickers, colored and regular pencils, crayons and markers.  The top has two tin cans holding paint brushed and scissors.  The other bins on the side still need to be organized.  I kept all the cans from dinner tonight so I will be able to sort out more tomorrow.  I also put rubber bands around the tins cans so I can see where they are, and also took an empty small cardboard box from ready made rice and pinned clips and clothes pins to that as well as stick all the push pins I had into it.

This is the area after I took all the kids art supplies away.

Tape I bought on clearance, $.68 each.

On one hand you would think it was a good deal to buy tape at $.68 a roll.  But I also found three rolls when I was cleaning through the art supplies.  The really bad part is that I only wrap maybe two to three gifts a year.  Somehow I never get around to wrapping birthday gifts, so I end up doing it at my sisters house or have my sister do it for me.  Most years I also let them wrap almost all the Christmas gifts, which they offer to do since they like it so much.  If I am able to add a wrap station in this room maybe I'll actually wrap my own gifts this year.

I was looking around blog land and found some great inspiration:

The Thrifty Decor Chick has an awesome unfinished basement craft room.

DaNita @ Delightful Order had a link up for craft rooms, which is where I found:

Karen @ Sew Many Ways is absolutely awesome.  She has Tool Time Tuesday, which is lots of fun. Plus check out her craft room.

Don't forget to check back in on Friday where I will link up this weeks progress on the basement room.  See more about the challenge at Org Junkie.

Simple and Effective Clean Up

Before

Before

 This morning my kids were out of the house so I decided I needed to take the time to pay attention to something I have been ignoring.  I decided it would be the top of my washer and dryer.  This took a whole 10 minuets out of my day and look a lot nicer.  Now the picture on the left has a blue plastic item in the picture.  This is the missing piece to the game Mouse Trap which we couldn't finish because we were missing this crucial piece.  I have no idea how it ended up on top of the washer or why I couldn't see it over 5 times a week and not connect what this piece was, but I can't wait for next week so we can play Mouse Trap again.

After

After

 The basket on top of the dryer I use for a garbage can.  This I bought for the bathroom to decorate but my bathroom is too small for a lot of decor so I re-purposed it for my laundry room.  I also keep that business card to help scoop up the dusty crumbs when I empty the lint trap.  Whoopee, like brand new appliances!

We also took the kids sledding today.  My daughter has a snowboard that I got from Target about two years ago.  I believe it was $8 and it is so much fun.  I like to ride on it too, but I think I hurt my hip today in an awkward fall so I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow.  When you live in a place where it has a season of sweltering summers and frigid winters, you have to take advantage of all the things you can do. The snow isn't quite ready for snowballs yet, but I can't wait because the kids got a snowball maker from Santa I really want to try out.

Inspired by this link:

Backlinks - Getting Back to Basics

Which I found through:

Problogger and Dear Mommy Brain

Here is some links on organizing and cleaning laundry rooms:

Noni at "A Slob Comes Clean" Organizing the Laundry Room

iSavvyMom How to Organize the Laundry Room

AlexisAnne at "Clean, Smart, Style" More Skeletons in my Closet!

Dont Stop Believin

So I know it's been a long time since I posted more than a meal plan, but it has been crazy.  Both my kids and myself are finally in school.  I have already had my first test even.  I just have this one course before I am on the top portion of the waiting list for the dental hygiene program. Yeah!  I'm sure I'll have a lot more time to blog after December, I just need to do it.  One of my distractions lately has been pinterest.com.  It is such an awesome concept, I wish I would have thought of it.


So today we went to Lowe's and built the cute police cars with working light.  In two weeks they will be having a fire truck with siren.  Afterwards we went to Kohls and picked up a Tonka toy for my son since he has been doing such a good job sleeping by himself in his bed.  I know he is four and he should have been doing this since birth, but he hasn't so it is a big milestone for us.  I might have mentioned this before but I think he has an attachment disorder of some sort.  He likes new things, but he doesn't like letting go of his old things, such as a too small pair of shoes.  The worst part about it, is he has a pretty good memory, so he doesn't forget what he had.  At the beginning of summer he remembered a shirt that he wore last summer, so it was a good thing it still fit.  I have to keep thinking of creative ways to convince him it's OK to get rid of these things. I think this ties into the fact that he has always wanted me to sleep in his bed, but then he is mad when he woke up and I was in my own bed.

Afterwards we went to Fareway and I tried to buy a lot of healthy foods.  I only ended up spending $29.52.  I also decided to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and buy the Eggies with my 20% coupon.  I have to still provide breakfast for my son which is worse I think than providing lunch because he isn't much of a morning eater, like myself.  I also went to Costco and spent $52.05.  They have these cute small animal pillows (knock off pillow pets) with a blanket that are really soft for about $12, so I bought one for my son and two for my nieces since their birthday is coming up and they started preschool too this year.  I still need to buy some more food for the week and tomorrow my sister and I hope to make some meals to freeze since she started and new job.  We each picked two things, and are doubling the recipes to share with each other.  I hope to keep myself in check, and hopefully I wont spend again till next weekend.

Progress and Juice Diet

So this week has been busy, and I'm sure next week will be too.  It seems like a lot is going on next weekend in my town and I won't even be here.  Yesterday I went to Costco and stuck to the plan except I bought some apples since my sister requested them and I buy her food to watch my kids two days a week.  I ended up spending $45.94. Not too bad.  Next I went to the mall to get my wedding ring checked, and my daughter talked about how she had never had chocolate dipped strawberries.  We passed by Godiva and they had them in their display so I splurged and got them.  5 for $10 plus $.60 tax.  Ouch.  Next stop Target to get mouthwash and more cotton candy for the ugly cake which cost $4.76.  Not too bad.  After the fair we stopped and bought a juicer for $83.94 ( I'll explain this), and also my husband was sad that ice cream in our freezer melted so I bought sonic for $8.15.  If I wouldn't have really thought about this I would have said I spent about $80 to $100 today.

Total for Saturday: $153.39, yeah this is more of my typical weekend routine of spending money.  So my total spending for last week was $262.16.  Over $151.86 for the three weeks.  That is a lot and I'm not sure if I'll be able to make that up.

I might have to rethink my strategy.  They other day I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It was an Australian guy with an Australian juicer going around just drinking juice.  He lost weight and helped get himself  off medication.  He also had a few others try it and got them hooked on it too.  Now I like drinks so I thought "What an idea".  I'm not sure how it really works but I also found this website: Juicer Recipes.  The movie also has a Facebook page and a website to help you get started on juicing.  The whole problem is they said it cost $14 a day.  For us that could be times 2, plus I don't plan on putting my kids on this diet or giving them crap, easy food while we do it, so I'm not sure how  this will work out.  My plan for now is to start with food to help clear my skin, then do a two week detox, and then repeat again in 3 months.  I'm not sure what my husband plans to do, but he wants to lose weight.  If you don't want to invest in a juicer there is also this website: Green Monster Movement.

So I need a new plan.  I think this week I will just keep blogging about what I am spending.  It is my daughter's birthday so I want to buy her gifts and also it is my nephew's birthday and I still need to get him gifts.  I'm also still in need of 5 more window treatments and decorative hardware.  I think I will keep dwelling on these things till I buy them.  I have been doing well on my saving money on the side so I do feel good about that aspect of life.  Maybe by next week I'll have a good plan.

What do you need another peeler for?

So today was a fail.  I don't even know why.  I thought this monkey peeler
was cute.  So when I found one, I thought I should buy it.  No real reason.  It was a good deal.  $3.38 with tax.  It sells for $7.99-$14.20 on Amazon.com.

I also spent $7 on food at the farmer's market, there really wasn't a decent meal for $5, so I spent it on 2 steak tacos, re-fried beans, and rice.  I also found a cute scrapbook store and bought a 12x12 t ball sheet for my son's scrapbook.  It was $.80 with tax.

So today's total (which I wanted to be $5) was $11.18.  I have 17.86, geez what a small amount considering last week I had $20 left over.  I also have little in the freezer to cook up so I will more than likely spend more money at the grocery store this week.  I also plan on baking a cake with my daughter on Saturday, and will need supplies for that.  It could be interesting.

I hope to post on Sunday night, but it could go to Monday depending what time I get home.  Have a good weekend!

Timely Returns

So today I finally returned this tube of sealant I bought from the hardware store almost a month ago.  It took maybe five minutes, but I just never made the time.  I was able to get back $6.33.  I think the more time that passes, the more you will just hold on to the item, or the store is less likely to take the item back.  It is best to put the item in your car with the receipt if possible.  I just happened to be driving by the store and remember I had this return, otherwise who knows how long it would have been.  It wasn't a large amount, but every bit counts.

Today I did spend money at the  vending machine(ugh, it is so temping now that I have the cash in my wallet).  It was $.60 for a candy bar, and then I also visited Costco tonight and picked up some photos I had ordered.  I found that Costco was the cheapest for 5x7 photos, at $.39 each.  My total was $2.89, and I also bought a pop for $.75.  So my total spent today was $4.24.  I also priced some items since they have some coupons coming out soon.

Oh Boy! Oberto beef jerky

$14.49, coupon for $3.50 off

Kirkland Signature Diet Green Tea

$9.99 for 35 bottles, coupon for $2 off

Scotch-Brite Sponges

heavy duty 21 count $12.55

multi-purpose 18 count $11.79

coupon for $2.75 off

Kleenex 

Family 10 boxes of 260 count

$16.85, coupon for $3.50 off

Cheerios49oz 

Honey Nut

$6.79, coupon for $4 off of two boxes

37.5oz Multigrain 

$7.69, coupon for $4 off of two boxes

Cottonelle Ultra Bath Tissue

36 pack

$18.89, coupon for $3.50 off

Haagen-Daz Vanilla Milk chocolate almond bars

$11.99, coupon for $3 off

Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner

6 24oz bottles

$8.79, coupon for $2.50 off

Clorox Wipes

4 packages of 78

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

Glide Floss

6 pack

$12.99, coupon for $3 off

Tampax 

Pearl regular 96 count

$13.88, coupon for $3 off

Super 96 count

$13.88, coupon for $3 off

Duo pack 108 count

$12.99, coupon for $3 off

Always

Long super 90 count

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

Ultra thin regular or overnight 96 count

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

I always go online and look ahead to see what the coupons are at adamcos.com.  Next I will budget how much money to bring to Costco so I can bring cash, and not be surprised at the register.

$29.04 left to spend this week.  I will be going to the farmer's market Thursday night and hope to keep it $5 or under.  I also am leaving for out of town on Friday so I hope to just spend $10 on eating out that day which will leave me with $14.04 left to spend on Saturday, when I will be in a very rural area, with no where to spend my money except maybe a gas station. Well, we'll see. :0)