Week in Review 7.1.17

We had a quieter week around the house due to a big writing job I had. I had a lot of fun working on the project but am glad to have a bit more time back to myself. It also made me realize how many little time sucks there are in my day. I get 9 hours a week while both girls are in school to get work, errands, appointments, etc. done alone. Sometimes drop-off sucks away some of the time. Then there are surprise tasks that pop up that need to be done during my kid-free time. Soon I find out that my 9 hours have shrunk to 6 but I still have 12 hours of work to get done. It is exhausting. I have high respected for full-time working parents and all that they have to juggle.

Exercise

Bootcamp was brutal this week. I angered my back on Monday so I was very gentle with it the rest of the week. I still got in three boot camps, a barre3 class and a SHIFT class. I love that crazy SHIFT class so much. I used my ClassPass for the barre3 and SHIFT class. Interested in trying out ClassPass, use my referral link for $40 off your first month! If you missed it, I posted 5 Rockstar Workouts for Summer Travel this week.

Food

I prepped again on Sunday which helped me prepare for my work load. The house doesn't slow down if I am needed elsewhere. I made Shrimp Dragon Noodles, Quiche and Burrito Bowls along with Zucchini Bread and Chicken Salad for lunches. Instead of roasted chicken for the chicken salad, I used canned chicken and it was really good. Scott and I both had evening things in different directions later in the week so the kids had macaroni and cheese with their sitter and we finished the week with Shutterbean's Sausage Kale French Bread Pizza

I'm not doing a monthly meal plan for July since we'll be traveling. I'll be playing it week by week. I'm also doing a condensed prep session since our meal plan is pretty simple. Our meal plan for this coming week is: 

• Sunday: Hot Dogs and Sausages with Corn on the Cob
• Monday: Teriyaki Chicken with Rice and Broccoli
• Tuesday: Picnic Dinner
• Wednesday: Crockpot Spaghetti
• Thursday: Salmon and Fish Stick Tacos (cleaning out the freezer!) 
• Friday: Pizza
• Saturday: Out

I also cleaned out the fridge and felt so accomplished. Seriously a cleaned out fridge feels like a huge accomplishment. I love how easy it is to find what you need and how fresh it smells. 

The Girls

The girls continued with swim lessons this week and Molly learned how to ride a two-wheeler at school. I was honestly shocked. Of course, now all she wants to do is ride her bike which I do love.

Sleep shenanigans continue but they are easier to take on when there are two parents around. I gave up on a solid bedtime early in the week and decided not to force the issue. I'm hoping when the nights start getting darker again, that they will start going to sleep earlier. Molly's teacher claims summer days at school will exhaust her but I'm not sure he's encountered a sleep avoider quite like Molly. Molly is also wearing a sleep tracking watch for the sleep study she is in, this week. She claims to not like it but then talks about liking it so I don't know. 

Other Goings On

Somehow in the midst of all the chaos this week, I managed to finish reading three books. I was getting worried because the first book took me forever to read but the next two only took an evening or two. I also started working on the doll outfits for the church charity project I'm doing. I took out two dolls for the Atlantic Street Center and am outfitting them with sweaters, pants and blankets. I'll be knitting some and sewing some of the outfits. 

5 Rockstar Workouts for Summer Travel

This year, I'm working toward 217 workouts in 2017 and I am not about to let travel get in the way of my goal.  As we prepare to head out on our two week road trip, I'm making plans for my workouts. I've put together a set of workouts that don't require any special equipment and can be done in 30-40 minutes. I also plan to hike some and walk a lot.

Workout #1  - The ABC Workout

I found this one in one of my workout groups and shared it with another. This led one of the Sync Fitness trainers to have us do this workout at Sync Fitness Boot Camp and I loved it! The concept is simple. Do a quick 5-min warm-up and then start spelling (i.e. your name, your school's mascot, etc) and do the corresponding exercise. One of my friends just did the entire alphabet which I like too. Set the timer for 25-30 minutes and get going! You'll be amazed at how quickly you run out of things to spell. Make sure to stretch at the end.

Image Credit: PopSugar

Workout #2 - PopStar Tabata

This workout comes from Pop Sugar and is a great 40 minute burner. Bonus: No equipment is needed! Find out more information at Pop Sugar: Do This Superset Tabata Workout Anywhere

Image Credit: Barre3

Workout #3 - Barre3 Online

Barre3 offers an awesome subscription service but a little known fact, some of their workouts are free! I love this one because it is a quick 30 minute blast of intensity. This video does suggest the use of a barre3 ball and weights but you can leave those out if you don't have them with you.

Check out the barre3 workout here!

Workout #4 - ClassPass

I use ClassPass at home but love it when I travel. It gives me the opportunity to try new studios in different cities. If the city you are visiting does not have ClassPass, I recently discovered that ClassPass has workout videos!

Interested in trying out ClassPass, use my referral link for $40 off your first month. Videos do not count toward your monthly class total!

Workout #5 - Boot Camp Card Play

One of my favorite Sync Fitness Boot Camp workouts is when the trainer pulls out a deck of cards. As with the ABC workout, each exercise is determined by each card. Start with a proper warm-up then draw cards for 20 minutes and finish with a good stretch for a great workout.

Hearts = Pushups
Diamonds = Squats
Clubs =  Overhead Press
Spades = Frog Jumps
Jokers = Run in Place or Around the Block + 10 Burpees
Face Cards = Cardio for 20 seconds

Cardio Ideas: 180 degree Squat Jumps, Jacks, Skaters or Squat Hops

Raising a Reader, Dinner Plans and the Fake Rolex of Canned Foods are This Week's Links From Around the Web

Summer Reading List: 40 Books to Read Before They're Movies

The Fake Rolex of Canned Foods

How to Raise a Reader

Tips from Seattle's Most Stylish

20 Easy Dinner Recipes for Your Next Meal Plan

Cooking Lessons

Summer Bucket List

This is Molly's last summer before she starts Elementary School and I am determined to make it one of our best summers yet! We have an epic road trip planned, rocking climbing classes scheduled and so many swimming lessons but there is so much more to do. We spent some time this weekend discussing summer bucket list ideas as a family and got really into it. Whenever we saw something cool. someone would yell, "Put that on the list!" I'm kinda excited about our list. 

Epic Summer 2017 Bucket List

• Go Swimming
• Visit a National Park
• Have a Picnic Outside
• Go to the beach
• Make popsicles
• Go Blueberry Picking
• Go on a Hike 
• Splash at the Wading Pools 
• Go to Golden Gardens and build a sand castle
• Run through the sprinklers in the yard
• Have Ice Cream for dinner
• Swim in Lake Washington
• Go Kayaking
• Visit a Farm
• Go to the Enchanted Forest
• Go Rock Climbing
• Have a Molly Day
• Have a Maggie Day
• Go to a Baseball or Soccer Game
• Fly a Kite
• Go on a Road Trip

Week in Review 6.24.17

Scott comes home today after a week in Australia! I'm so excited to see him and honestly for another adult around the house. Being the one in charge of everything gets kinda exhausting. I especially missed Scott when I had to scoop the cat litter and take out the garbage. I missed him for other reasons too but the feelings of extreme sadness were around the cat litter clean-up. ha!

Exercise

I missed bootcamp on Monday this week due my lack of getting my work done before my deadline so I worked hard to make for that later in the week. I went to 2 super hard boot camps, one of which we had to HOP UP A HILL! Seriously, that was intense. Then I got in a barre3 class in the studio with a new teacher who was so hard it was good. I'm starting to plan my workouts for our upcoming road trip and plan to do a post about my workout plans with links!

Food

I'm working on a story for healthy travel food and one of my twitter friends introduced me to Picky Bars. They are AMAZING and super healthy. I love bars that have natural ingredients that I can pronounce, are low sugar and taste great. These fit all those needs and have silly names.

I prepped on Sunday for my solo week and it made a huge difference. I made Spicy California Shrimp Stack for lunches from Skinnytaste. For dinners, I made Blackened Shrimp Tacos from Budget Bytes and Lemon Ginger Meatballs from Nom Nom Paleo. We ate out on Thursday and I had pizza delivered on Friday which helped me limp to the finish line.

I made yogurt in my InstantPot and it is delicious. Probably more work that I'll plan on doing most of the time but really good yogurt. I used this tutorial which was easy to understand. My best friend's Mom suggested it and she knows her stuff.

The Girls

The girls continued with swim lessons this week and had their "last" day of preschool. They start the summer session on Tuesday so they'll be back for summer fun! Molly is going to be so sad on her true last day at preschool. She loves going there but is also looking forward to being a "big kid" and going to kindergarten. 

On Friday, we spent most of the day swimming and it was so great! I somehow put way too much money on my swim card so I plan to have us at the pool as much as possible. Luckily we all love to swim!

The girls were actually quite good while Scott was gone. They still struggled with bedtime. I think the daylight until forever is messing them up even though their room has blackout shades. They tried to keep the house clean and help me out which was very nice. 

Other Goings On

I didn't really have to many other things going on this week. I was focused on keeping everything in motion and realizing how lucky I am to have Scott in my life. I also worked on our Summer Bucket List which I'll have a post this next week.

Stories Published 

Seattle Refined: Paddles Up! Here are the absolute best places to kayak around Seattle

Garden Update

Every year my garden grows a bit more. Scott teases me that soon our backyard will just be raised boxes. I love the process of gardening so much. I love watching things grow. I however am not that enamored with the pest control or weeding. I am ok with the harvest but that does not make my soul sing. My excitement comes from planning my garden and watching it grow. 

After a fitful start, the peas are huge and producing so much. I have to remember to get out there everyday to pick some peas. Some of the peas are hiding so I have to take some time to find all the plump peas. 

My tomatoes and tomatillo plants are flowering and I can't wait to eat their sweet cherries. I stuck to the small tomatoes this year since that is what I really enjoy eating. I can't wait to see what happens with the tomato/potato plants! 

The squash are spreading out. Their leaves are green and strong. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 

I made a rookie mistake and planted my lettuce seeds too close and planted too many. The chickens are enjoying the fruits of my labor. There is more lettuce than I can hope to eat. 

My poor brassicas have gotten attacked by caterpillars. My friend Katie helped me out with some tips. I've been out twice a day searching for caterpillars to feed to the chickens.

The rosemary needs to be hacked back and the mint is trying to take over but all in all, I am so proud of my garden! I'm planning to do a bit more planting next week of some short season vegetables. Hopefully they'll thrive! 

Bucket Lists, Rabid Raccoons and Quiet Time are This Week's Links From Around the Web

Summer Bucket List for Kids

This Local News Story About a Woman and a Rabid Raccoon is a Literary Masterpiece

What happened to the owners of Embeya?

Making Time for Quiet

Week in Review 6.17.17

Today is all about ballet recitals and spending time with the family. This week has been busy, busy with travel, end of school year celebrations, the start of swim lessons and other obligations. We are go-go-going over here!

Exercise

This week started out slow and quickly turned busy. I got in 4 workouts - 3 boot camps and a barre3 class. Scott was out of town for the last half of the week which always changes my workout schedule. Luckily I've gotten better about being flexible and knowing which studios have childcare options. This is where ClassPass is a huge lifesaver for me since my main gym doesn't have childcare options. They do, however, have classes available when the girls are in preschool which is awesome.

Food

I prepped again last weekend which made the week's meals work. When Scott is gone, it means more solo time for me so if I can get ahead of the cooking, I can then stay on top of the never-ending cleaning. I made the Probiotic Salad from Amy Pennington's Salad Days book and this is being added to our rotation. It was delicious! I also made Honey Roasted Strawberry Muffins from Andrea Bemis's Dishing up the Dirt cookbook and they barely lasted until the next day.

I also made a big batch of barre3 chocolate truffles for when I want something sweet but need a more nutritional option than ice cream. I also started adding collagen powder to my coffee. It is supposed to help with achy joints, gut health and help one look younger. My joints have been aching a lot and my gut could use a boost so I did some research and decided to add it to my daily diet. The awesome lady at Whole Foods told me that she adds it to her coffee. A lot of people at my gym add it to their smoothies but I'm not a great smoothie drinker. I excel at drinking coffee so I decided to add to my morning drink. I honestly can not taste it in my coffee which is awesome.

The Girls

The girls started daily swim lessons this week. Molly missed Tuesday due to her school having swim lessons which meant I just had Mags with me. She would not go in the water. We had this situation happen before and I've figured out that she is so attached to Molly that she won't go in the pool without her. They aren't even in the same class so as you can guess, this refusal drives me nuts. Molly had a hard start on Monday but eventually got in the pool once she got over her anxiety about it. She's been having a hard time with "new" situations. I explained that she has been taking lessons at this same pool for the past four summers but she couldn't remember them and was completely worked up. Luckily her instructor remembered her and was able to coax her in and then couldn't get her out at the end.

Molly has her first Popsicle Playdate at her new elementary school. She was able to meet the principle and teachers and was able to reconnect with a ton of co-op, ballet, etc friends. She told me that she had a really good time and was looking forward to kindergarten. I know she is still nervous about it but the school has summer playdates, orientations, etc to help ease the kids in. 

On Friday, I took the girls to get their hair cut and then to the nail salon for mani/peds. It was hilarious. Maggie can barely hold still but the ladies at the shop loved her. The owner even brought them extra candy. So they want mani/peds everyday now and I said it will be a long time before I do that again.

Other Goings On

All 5 of my chickens finally laid. I was waiting for the last new one to get going and the one who lays green eggs is not a daily layer. My friend is watching the chickens while we are out of town next month so I was also excited because I can make her a graphic to id the eggs. I only get worried if I don't see an egg after 3 days so hopefully it won't be a problem for her.

I've been really focusing on my MK1 project this week. I worked on my preliminary swatch and then dove into the questions. I feel like there is very little actual knitting with this project and lots and lots of questions. Those require a lot of my concentration which is hard with the amount of attention the kids also seem to require. 

I've been reading about using coconut oil in one's beauty routine and picked up some Conscious Coconut. I've been using it before bed and my hands and feet are feeling less dry. I also like that for every tube purchased, they provide a meal to a hungry child. 

Stories Published 

Seattle Refined: A Beginner's Guide to SUP (Paddle Boarding)