Home Decor for Cheap {My Fave}

While trolling the internetz, I happened upon some really cute home decor ideas that could easily be copied for cheap (thank you Lowes, Hobby Lobby and Walmart).

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Our Walmart sells a similar style candle holder for five bucks and Hobby Lobby always has these bad boys in stock! Plus, it seems as though Hobby Lobby is always having a sale. 

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You can find inexpensive boards at Lowes for around $4. You would probably want 4 pieces: one long piece for the front, bottom and back with the last piece cut into squares to make the compartments. An easy weekend project! You could even make a smaller version for the entry way and place things like flowers in each section! 

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One more trip to Lowes for paint, wood and nails! 

Happy Monday!

 Where are you finding inspiration? 

Get Fit Chick #13

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I heart ChaLean Extreme! The Boy and I just started week 3 of the 90 day program and I'm really enjoying this change of pace. We're in the Burn Phase so we only have two cardio driven days and the rest is strength training. This is a huge change from Insanity (thank goodness)! 

The Boy popped two resistance bands in one night (some of you may know that because of Twitter) so we headed over to Dick's Sporting Goods. I love that store! The SKLZ Chrome Resistance Cables worked best for him so we bought the 30, 50 and 70 pound cables. I felt left out so I bought a pair of 8lb hexagon barbells. Yup, a whole 8 pounds! Ha! 

I've lost 1 inch from my waist and 1/2 an inch from my arms so far. After chatting with a couple of you, I've decided to start posting my measurements once I'm in a more comfortable place. Maybe mid next month? 

Happy Tuesday! 

What I'm Working On

Yippee! Chalene Johnson's program is only five days a week (Insanity was 6) so I have more time to sew now. I'm ready to beef up my shop with more color for summer!

I'm always on the hunt for some cute totes that can be used on farmers market days so I decided to make some. Here's a peek! 

Happy Tuesday!!

When life gets busy how do you stay on track?  

Gone Camping

We went camping just outside of Bryson City, NC! I'm exhausted but wanted to share a few pictures from the trip.

Happy Tuesday!

Get Fit Chick: Insanity

The Boy and I have been done with Insanity for a few weeks now (woot woot!) so I can give my full opinion of the program. 

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I have a love/hate relationship with Shaun T (the maniac behind Insanity. ha!). He will push you and make you want to work hard to build the body you want. There were times I thought that I was in bootcamp because he demands you take it to the max. Never in a mean way though! He just wants you to push past the "i'm too tired", "i don't feel like it"...which I did say. Thankfully for me, I had a motivator in the form of my awesome hubby who made me NOT cheat myself. (hey boy! if you're reading this...thank you)

The Fit Test:

You begin and end the program with the fit test which is a fantastic idea. You have a few throughout the 60 days also, about one every two weeks. My fit test results were another motivator. I just HAD to beat the numbers. I get really competitive y'all. When we were doing a new fit test, I would ask Mike about his numbers and aimed to smash them. Ha! He always smoked me in a couple categories like the "power jumps" but it was still fun to try to beat him. My end results are triple my first results in almost every category. The dang "frog jumps"...I had the same two numbers the entire time! 

The First 30 Days:

The workouts during the first 30 days were about 45 minutes with roughly 9-10 minutes of that being your warm-up. There are a couple days where you will have two workouts in a day, so if you choose to do the program keep that in mind. We live in an apartment so we weren't able to complete ours in the morning (there is a lot of jumping in Insanity). If you live in a house, I would suggest to do what you could in the morning if your schedule allows. By the end of the first 30 days I had biceps and was down pounds and inches. Holy moly! 

The Last 30 Days:

This was when your girl was on the floor about to die! The workouts are longer...an hour. There was one day we were working out for what felt like two hours. But we did it and so could you! I just find the time factor important because we all have different schedules. The second month is where you will see your best results. I don't mean that you'll lose a crap ton of weight, I'm saying that you will see your body change. You'll see some sexy muscle formation! ;)

The Verdict:

Like with any fitness program/routine you will have to dedicate time in your schedules to allow for proper nutrition and exercise. If you are ready to eat clean, sweat and bust your booty you can do it. I don't suggest anyone with knee, ankle or any body part below the waist problems do Insanity. There is a lot of jumping. I know that I've mentioned it already...but yeah. Insanity is based on MAX Interval Training so your heart rate will soar before he brings you back down for a quick rest. If you have a problem with your ticker, don't do Insanity. I do think that you should speak to a health care provider before diving into the program. Unless you're an athletic person already? The Boy and I didn't but I was mindful of my heart rate the entire time. I would walk around the room if I felt that I needed to. All in all, I love what Insanity has done for Mike and I. We've moved on to ChaLean Extreme because we caught the fitness bug. 

Bring it!  

Happy Tuesday!

Have you entered the giveaway yet? It's free. ;) 

Slow Cooker Kielbasa and White Bean Stew with Tomatoes and Spinach

On rainy days like today, I like to pull out my crock pot. It just seems appropriate to me for some reason! One of my favorite recipes of late comes from Kalyn's Kitchen and that is her Slow Cooker Kielbasa and White Bean Stew with Tomatoes and Spinach. That's a mouthful! Ha! 

The stew has a light, vibrant taste and is incredibly filling. My coworker doesn't care for beans normally but she enjoyed her sample. (we always sample each other's food. do y'all do that at work?)  

I followed her recipe exactly. Enjoy, we sure did! 

Happy Monday!

My Memories Suite: A Giveaway

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned my newfound love of scrappin'! Have y'all ever heard of My Memories Suites? I'm going to pretend that everyone is shaking their heads "no". My Memories Suites is a digital scrapbooking software program. Its so easy to use and I just love how you can customize everything!

I've tried regular scrapbooking in the past and have gotten overwhelmed. You have to cut this, adhere that and then clean up a mess when you're done. That's just too much work for this lazybone. Ha!

What I love:
You can choose to use one of their really cute templates to customize (or use as is) or build your own. I'm talking choose your paper, color and design...build your own!

This is one of their adorable templates for Babies! 

The scrapbook software comes with fun fonts already, but you can buy more on their website. And they have a dollar store! Don't roll your eyes...their dollar store actually has add-ons you would want. Girl Scout cookie eater's honor! I frowned up when I saw that they had a dollar section because with other software programs, it's just stuff that I don't like. Just being real with y'all. But after a few days of being frowned up, I unscrewed my face (as my momma would say) and clicked on the link. I delightfully surprised to see things like this and this available. They even have some Facebook Timeline templates available for download and customization!

Facebook Timeline Template...I really like this bunny. Ha!

The wonderful people at My Memories Suite wanted to sponsor a giveaway for y'all! 

Here's how to enter: 

Please visit mymemories.com and leave a comment telling me what your favorite template is.

 (mandatory entry)

Extra ways To Enter:

Follow them on Twitter (2 additional entries)

Like them on Facebook (3 additional entries)

 Following their blog

If you are interested in the scrapbooking software, but don't want to enter the giveaway...

They provided a coupon for $10 off.

The giveaway will close on May 31st at 12AM EST. Anyone, anywhere can enter. 

*I wasn't paid for this review, however, I was provided the software for my honest review. If I didn't believe in the quality of the product, I would tell y'all. And that's word to ya motha! Sorry...I've been listening to 90s hip hop. =)

Happy Tuesday!