Valentine's Day Cards

Oh, Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day, whichever is the correct term that fits your holiday this year.  Do you remember Valentine's Day from when you were in school?  I remember making 'mailboxes' out of cereal boxes and having heart themed parties, but one Valentine's Day card experience scarred me for life!

We usually had Valentine's from a company called Lillian Vernon (that I think since has closed) and we would order check Valentine's from them.  The valentine's would look like checks and you would make them out to everyone in your class.  They were a huge hit.  Well, one year my mom had forgotten to order them (or they were late being delivered) and we had to go to the store the night before and sift through the valentine's boxes that were left to the last minute.  Choices were slim and we were down to one small bin at the grocery store.  I had VERY few choices and had to get Beetle Juice valentine's cards. :(  I was SO embarrassed to take Beetle Juice cards to school the next morning, but it was either them or nothing.  I'm sure it was all in my head, but I felt like everyone was looking at me funny.  It scarred me for life.

So naturally, to this day, I like to make cute Valentine' Day cards, well in advance.  Here are my Valentine’s Day cards I made this year for my coworkers and friends!  They say “Sip-Sip” Hooray, It’s Valentine’s Day with a crazy straw attached.  I love them!

Use this free editable Sip-Sip Horray Valentine's Day Template!

Here’s a simple way to make them.

Materials Needed:

Crazy straws (available 6-$1 at the Dollar Tree)

Tape

Scissors (decorative or plain)

Printer with colored ink

Free Cut-out template 

Directions:

Print out the printable with your name on it and cut with plain scissors or decorative scissors.

Cut a slit at the top for the straw to go through.

Stick the straw in the slit and tape it to the back so it will not slide off.

Repeat!

21 Day Fix-An Explaination

This week marks 90 days until I cruise away into the sunset on Royal Caribbean.  This also marks (just over) one week that I have been doing the 21 Day Fix.  I am making it my goal to stay away from sweets, treats and alcohol until the cruise.  I might slip up a little bit, but I am trying REALLY hard to make it.

Do you like my drawing? hahaha. I drew this on an envelope that I mailed Clarissa

I lost 2.5 lbs last week thanks in part to the 21 Day Fix and also walking a few nights a week at Memorial Park.  Meal planning has really helped keep me on track, but I have had a few times where I was out and about and stopped to get something. 

Did I ever tell you how the 21 Day Fix works?  It’s really simple way to portion control your food. 

THE FOOD

There are six color coded containers that each represent a different food group.  Green=vegetables, Purple=fruit, Red=protein, Yellow=carbs, Blue=cheese, Orange=Seeds and Oils.

I am in the 2^nd tier of containers and I’m allowed the following:

4 Green Boxes-Vegetables

3 Purple Boxes-Fruits

4 Red Boxes-Proteins

3 Yellow-Grains

1 Blue Box-Healthy Fats and Cheese

1 Orange Box-Seeds and Oils

Honestly, it is a lot of food and I’m not hungry!  By the time I get hungry, it’s time to eat again.  The difference is I am eating ‘better’ foods and smaller portions.  Portion control (and Taco Bell) has always been my downfall.  I have been overweight most of my life.  I gain weight in my mid section and upper body, but have great legs.  I look like a football player (without the SuperBowl ring) and my shape is called an inverted triangle.  However, I will change all that with this program!!

 

The Plan comes with an entire booklet to explain how to successfully complete the program

Throughout the day the goal is to eat all of your boxes.  You measure them out in the box and then put them in a to-go container or a plate, like you would normally do for your meals.   For instance, for lunch I would eat a salad and it would work out like this in my boxes:

2 green container of spring mix lettuce

1 green container mixed vegetables (l cut up beets, celery, carrots, bell peppers, and onions)

1 red container of lean ground turkey (keep in red container and microwave when ready to eat)

1 blue container of shredded cheese

1 orange container of olive oil and then I pour on the vinegar

Then I mix it all up together (when I am ready to eat it) so the dressing gets on everything and then I seriously enjoy it!  My mouth is watering right now typing this! :)

It makes for a really big salad that I add to my to-go container and bring to work.  I do measure out my olive oil and vinegar and add it to a sealed Tupperware type container to bring to work.  The containers aren’t air tight (or is it water tight?) and I don’t want olive oil and vinegar to leak on everything.

Measure it out and then put it in a baggie.  In the mix: celery and rainbow carrots, chopped

For a snack I usually have some cut up veggies, 2 boiled eggs, 1 container of mixed fruit, or a red container some cottage cheese with salt and pepper.  I measure whatever it is in the container and then transfer it to a snack baggie or Tupperware.  The booklet says that boiled eggs are a red container, so I don’t measure them.  I usually leave the cottage cheese in the container so not to dirty another container.  I guess you could leave the everything in the container if you aren’t using it to measure another food. 

THE WORKOUTS

There are several different workouts that you do on this program that are all 30 minutes long.  There is an ab workout that is 10 minutes long that you can do at the end of your 30 minutes, but so far I have not done so.  I think there are more workouts that come with a certain challenge pack, but I didn’t get them with mine.

The workouts are great and quick.  I did dread doing them (because I’m lazy) but then my very wise friend (Krista) said “it’s only 30 minutes” and I snapped out of it and did it.  Each workout works out different body areas, so you aren’t too sore the next day.  I did the Total Body Cardio workout last night, but today I will do Upper Body. I know my legs are going to buuuuuuurn later today, so I will feel a relief when I don’t have to work them out again.  The first time I did that program, I was soooooo sore for a few days after in my legs that I didn’t want to do it again. Haha.  I did though and feel great about it!  (ask me about how I am feeling later today or in the morning though)

My goal is to lose 5 lbs per week for my cruise, it may or may not be achievable, but I am striving for it!  I have just under 90 days left til I cruise, wish me luck! 

 

I had 90 days left when I made this!

If you want to do the 21 Day Fix with me as an accountability partner, go here and order it today!  It is about $60 for the program by itself (you can get shakes too, but I haven’t been using them).

Do you have questions on how to do the 21 Day Fix?  Write a comment below and I will do my best to answer them!  Or I will get Krista to answer it. :)

**I have not been paid to write this, I just LOVE it and want everyone to try it too. I do not get any credit or $$ by you clicking the links, so this is an honest testimonial of how awesome I think the program is.

Cash Money

After I babysat on Wednesday night, I stayed the night at my parents’ house.  There really wasn’t any point of me driving 45 minutes home late at night and then getting up early and driving the 1.25 hours it takes to work the next morning.  I just stayed there and just drove to work from Spring.

I didn’t want to wake everyone up while making breakfast so I just stopped at Starbucks on the way to work.  I was in line, waiting for my iced coffee and everything bagel (w/ no cream cheese-#100daycruisediet) when I spotted a Powerball lottery ticket that was folded up on the floor.  I pointed it out to the lady next to me to see if it was hers and it wasn’t.  I joked that it would be funny if it turned out to be the mega winner and she would see me on the news.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I picked it up and put it in my purse to check the numbers later on.

 

I won on the first set of numbers

I checked the numbers on my phone and they I had won $8!!!!!!  I was very excited that all I did was bend down and pick up a piece of (accidental) trash on the ground while I was waiting for my coffee.  I went to the convenience store later and I cashed it in.  I’m not sure what I am planning on doing with it.  We shall see!  I will probably put it in my online savings account and make .75% interest. Boring! (You know you're old when...)  Ha!  ;)  

PSA:  Don’t buy lottery tickets!  They are a waste of money, people.  However, if you choose to buy them, make sure you guard them in your pocket so they will not fall out!  Seriously.   

This person spent $10 but they only won $8.  That’s $2 that you will never get back.  Actually, in that persons case it’s $8 they won’t get back, but whatever. Haha.  I will say that when the lottery is up to a ton (over a few hundred million), I will buy ONE ticket.  Yes, just one.  I figure that if God wants you to win a lottery ticket, he will make you win.  However, you are only going to win on one ticket, no 20 that you wasted your money on.  If you are going to win, God will make you win with your one ticket.  

Babysitting Workout

Last night I went over to babysit my niece, Kali Claire. My parents had a rodeo meeting and my sister had to work so they asked me to come over and watch her until they got home.

We ate dinner and while she was playing in her high chair and banged her spoon on the chair.  She looked at me to see if I would tell her no, but I got two more spoons out of the drawer and started banging on it with her.  She started laughing and we made so much noise the dog went to my mom’s closet.  LOL. ;)

After I cleaned the peach and spaghetti remnants off her, I got some pots out of the cabinet and we started a band in the living room.  It started off with two pots, three spoons, and a lid, but it quickly escalated to many more pots.  The noise level was LOUD, but we didn’t mind, we were making music! 

Every few minutes she would say, “More” in her little voice and go over to the cabinet to get more.  She would be laughing the entire time and then run over back to me.  You can’t play drums with only a few pots, obviously.

I started to put the pots away and she would squeal “NOOOOOOOOOOO” and I decided just to leave them until she went to bed.  She had no plans on going to bed though, because we were playing peek-a-boo in the cabinet. 

She got tired and said “Night Night” and then walked over to the stairs.  I thought to myself,  that was easy, and picked her up to bring her to bed.  Nope!  I found out later that she is in the middle of transitioning to no bottle at night (it’s time-she’s 18 months) and I was the sucker who she thought she could pull a fast one on.  She was testing me.

I brought her upstairs but she was screaming when we got to her door, so I thought she might not be ready for bed yet.  I brought her back downstairs, but then about 20 minutes later she did the same thing.  Repeat the process and then I finally texted to see how to put her to bed.

Apparently she was trying to get me to give her a bottle, but I couldn’t find them.  My mom said to tell her they are broken and just put her in the bed with the fan on.  She looked disappointed when I told her they were broken, but she went to her room after that. She thought she could pull a fast one on me and get me to give her a bottle! Well, she almost did because I was looking for the bottles! Haha. 

She finally went to sleep after fussing for a few minutes.  I was with her for a little over an hour and a half and she wore me out!  She was my workout for the day. Haha.  I really did need a rest day though. :)