Get Stoked

 I have worked out off and on ever since I was in fourth grade. I feel like I have tried just about every workout routine there is. I signed up for Beachbody on demand in 2020. I worked out 3-4 days a week but saw little results. I follow Candace Cameron Bure on Instagram, and she kept posting her workouts with her trainer, Kira Stokes. After hearing that she is in her forties and looks as amazing as she does, I knew it was time to check it out. 

I signed up for the seven-day free trial and was blown away. I knew I had gotten extra fluffy over the years, but when I could barely get through the warmup, I knew I needed to stick around. I started using Kira's app in March 2021. I wish I could say I have stayed faithful to my workouts, but I have not. I can make it further than I could when I first started, but I still cannot do a full workout from start to finish. I've noticed changes in my arms. Kira loves to work the triceps.

Kira's workouts are very challenging, but they work. I feel so much stronger than I used to. My only complaint is she goes through three rounds of the same exercises. I get bored very quick, so I hate to repeat exercises. She does change them up each set, but it's not quite enough for me. I plan to stick with her app for a while. I can't wait to finally complete a workout start to finish. Once I achieve that goal, I will move on to trying to complete the entire stoked stack. 

When I first started out, I did not have her workout gear. I just modified the workouts as needed. Once I knew I was going to stick with her for a while, I ordered the stoked set. The stoked pro was not an option at the time. I have since added the stoked block, ab wheel, and jump rope. The stoked block allows you to go into a deeper lunge and man does it burn! The jump rope just came back in stock, so I haven't tested it out just yet. I have used the ab wheel and I've learned I have no abs. I am working hard to get some muscle back. I am excited to have found her because I like how I feel with her workouts. 

Helen, Georgia

 Our second state to visit was Georgia. We were supposed to go to Helen, Georgia with one of my friends, but I ended up having to work, and we weren't able to go. We decided to take a day trip while I had some time off work. We went during summer, and it was so hot! It reminded me of a smaller Gatlinburg, TN. There are trails you can hike, and you can tube down the river. 

The drive was pretty from our house. There were several pull off spots to take in the scenery.

We were ready to jump in with our clothes to cool off. 

This bridge reminded me of the Pont des Arts in Paris. I've never been to Paris, but I have seen the bridge in pictures and on tv. I would love to visit Paris someday. 

We ate at the Troll Tavern. We both enjoyed it, but thought the food needed salt. We sat outside and this was our view. 

I took a snippet of the menu. We both got the chicken salad sandwich. The heat ruined our appetite, and we really just wanted a drink. I saw someone ordered the burger and it looked and smelled good.  We would definitely come back here to eat.

My favorite store was the Christmas Shoppe. When we walked in it was like we stepped right into Christmas. Christmas music was playing, and all the ornaments were hung on Christmas trees. If I ever move to Helen, I may just have to work in the Christmas Shoppe.

We each picked out an ornament. Most of the ornaments did not have Helen, GA on them, so we picked out one more that did. 

After we visited the Christmas Shoppe, we were ready to head home. I still had to grab a few more pictures of the scenery along the way. I'm pretty sure Maddy was over it by this point lol.

Every place we travel, we always want to go back. Helen is no different. We would go back in a heartbeat. We still have lots of exploring to do, so it will probably be a while before we make it back.

Learning to Letter

I have always enjoyed handwriting. I think penmanship has been an interest of mine since third grade. While getting involved in the planner community, I learned about lettering.  I thought it would be something I could just pick up on my own, but it turns out I needed a little help. 

My parents got me this book for Christmas in 2020, and it has been extremely helpful. I haven't practiced as much as I should. 

By February I decided to try it out on my budget envelopes. These envelopes are from the Budget Mom, so make sure to go check her out. She really steps up the budgeting game. I was a little frustrated by how long it was taking me to learn the process. I almost gave up, but I love the look of it too much to give up. When I get frustrated, I take breaks and try again after I have had some time to chill.

I was pretty proud of Maddy's card. The 'M' is not an easy letter to draw. I have since learned when using an actual brush pen the 'M' is not as bad as it is with a regular pen. Most books do not spend a lot of time learning to connect letters. There is a little section on how to connect letters, but I needed a whole book on how to connect letters.

I tried off and on throughout last year to really nail it down but was not really succeeding. I realize now I truly did not practice enough. I found an Etsy shop that sold lettering practice sheets. Memories by Meyers sells this digital lettering practice set. I started at the beginning but was getting impatient because I just wanted to learn to letter. I didn't want to practice my cursive. I ended up taking a break from this workbook for a while. I think this is a fantastic learning tool, I unfortunately was just impatient. I have since picked it back up and am so glad I made the purchase. 

I recently purchased one more lettering book from Sarah Ensigns. Along with her book I ordered some smooth tracing paper, so I didn't have to write in my book. I feel like I now have all the tools I could possibly need in order to learn the art of lettering, and I have been practicing. My skill is still not where it should be considering how long I have been trying, but I finally feel like it is starting to click with me.

I spent Friday night practicing. I will share even though the quality is horrible. 

I am not an artistic person at all. I have read you don't have to be an artistic person to learn to letter. I've also read it does take some time to learn. I don't think you have to have all three resources to learn to letter, but all three have helped me in different ways.

 All three books I used start with learning faux calligraphy. For this step you really just need a pen or pencil. I also recommend tracing paper so you can keep your book for future use. Once you master faux calligraphy, you can move on to brush lettering. Every resource I have used all say to practice the basic strokes over and over. I definitely recommend this as well. 

I have not used a lot of different brush pens. I started with the dual tip Tombow brush pens. They are a large brush pen, and I have had some difficulty in learning to control my strokes. I have been using these Pentel pens and love them. 

I wanted to share my experience because I could not find anybody else struggling like me. I joined some groups on Facebook in hopes I could find encouragement, but they all seem to be on a higher level. Even if I never get the hang of it, it is at least a great way to relieve stress.

Road Trip - See All Fifty States

 As I mentioned in a previous post we love to travel. In fact, one of the reasons I decided to start my debt free journey is so we could have more money to see the world. We got this fun idea to try and see all fifty states. Ideally, we would start in alphabetical order, but I knew I couldn't save enough to visit Alaska. 

Our first official state to visit was Alabama. We live about two hours away from Alabama, so it really isn't that bad of a drive. Thanks to Pinterest, we found Birmingham, Alabama had a free botanical garden to visit. I took my birthday off last year and decided to make the trip to see the gardens. Siri had difficulties in getting us to the parking lot, but once we finally got there it was pretty neat. It was really cold and misting a little. I would like to go back when we have more time to explore.

We were in a hurry to get in and I didn't really get a good picture of the map. I think we had an hour by the time we got there, and I wasn't sure how big it was.

It was really peaceful. There weren't a lot of people when we went, so we were able to take our time and enjoy the scenery.

Had it been warmer I could have easily sat on that bench for a long time.

I thought this looked neat.

Can we say beautiful?! This is when you first walk in, and I was in awe. I know this picture doesn't do it justice, but it was really pretty in person.

Had to take advantage of every photo opportunity.

As a Christmas person, I had to take a picture. 

This is on the way out. I think there was a lot we missed, and the time of year wasn't the best, but we still had a good day. 

We have lots of places to visit and are so excited. Our goal for the states we've already been to is to find somewhere we haven't been. We have actually been to Alabama before, so finding the gardens was something new. I'm hoping to document each and every place we go just for our memory's sake. 

Because I'm Happy

 Everybody is different in how they stay organized and remember important dates. I am the type of person that needs to physically write down things. I have been using the Happy Planner since 2015 or 2016. I originally wanted an Erin Condren planner, but that was too expensive for me. A quick google search and the Happy Planner popped up. 

I am a seasonal type of person. The Happy Planner covered this for me with minimal decorating needed. 

This was either my second or third planner. 

My favorite planner from them is from 2019 - 2020:

This was the most seasonal filled planner I had, but sadly this was the last real seasonal planner the Happy Planner has made. I miss the seasonal days of Happy Planner, but still use their planners. If I ever find another planner that is seasonal, I will switch in a heartbeat. The owners sold to a corporation, and we all know how that works. Everything is the same and very neutral in color. The seasonal they did have was not seasonal at all, and now the seasonal is a color block planner which I hate. I think the idea is to buy stickers and other accessories to really make your planner spread pop, but who has that kind of time and money. The Happy Planner is where I emotionally spent the most. I would buy all the sticker books I wanted at one time, instead of saving up.

This is one of the spreads I did. It is certainly not the best, but it got the job done.

This is what I aspire to achieve in my planner one day. I am not an artistic person at all, but I try. When I first started using this planner I dedicated the top box to me, the middle box to Maddy, and the last box to Marley and other misc. items. I found I was wasting a lot of space, and I needed more space for my to do list. After seeing how other people use their planner, I decided to switch it up. I change the location, but one row is my dedicated to do list. The other two rows can be used for decorating. The side column on the left is where I write down my cleaning schedule.

I also utilize their weekly meal plan sheets to keep track of what's for dinner. Meal planning is a huge help on time. I no longer sit and wonder what we are going to eat. I simply look at the meal plan and have all the ingredients ready to go.

I used to use my planner to help budget. I still use the monthly calendar to write down all my bills, but I have moved over to the Budget Mom's budget workbook to keep track of bills and expenses. 

I would be lost without my planner. I have tried to use my phone calendar, but it is not the same for me. I enjoy looking at my weekly spread. It helps get me through the week. Maddy has climbed on board the planner train, but mostly because she enjoys decorating her planner. She uses her planner to write down her school assignments for the week.

We have the same planner this year.

If I can't have seasonal, dogs would be my second choice. I absolutely love this planner. 

How do you remember all the things?

Christmas 2021 - Part 2

 Merry Christmas! Maddy was beyond excited about Christmas morning. She asked me the earliest she could wake me up. I decided 6:00 A.M. would be alright, but she was not allowed to set an alarm. She did not set alarm and found herself awake at 5:00. The minute the clock hit 6:00 she was waking me up. She scared me half to death. 

Once I finally got out of bed, I got the camera ready to take any last-minute pictures. I wish I had taken some pictures, but I mostly took videos this year. After presents I made pigs in a blanket.

We had lunch with family at my mom's house. 

That was the gist of our Christmas. 

I thought I would share what Maddy got for Christmas from me. 

She wanted an Instax or something similar. I am the type of person that does a lot of research on things to find the best. The main reason she wanted the Instax is because it prints out a photo. After a lot of research, I came to the conclusion the Canon Ivy was the best option. I told her if she still wanted the camera I would get it for her, but she has loved her printer.

I thought she needed a holder for her printer so she could safely take it wherever she wanted. She also got extra paper to go with it. 

She has fallen in love with the "oldies." Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, she's a fan of them all.

This was not on her Christmas list, but something I thought she could use. She is getting more and more into makeup. She is only allowed to wear eyeshadow, mascara, and lip stick. 

I was really excited over this hoodie. She is a huge Marvel fan. 

We went opening night to see Black Widow. It was a huge hit with us. Maddy fell in love with Yelena. I must admit after watching Hawkeye on Disney +, she has become one of my favorites as well. I ordered this from Etsy, but the shop is no longer open

Every Black Widow fan has to have the "You're a total poser" shirt. I just want to know why Marvel felt it necessary to kill Black Widow. I'm still waiting for her return.

Maddy got AirPods for her birthday. Somehow the left ear got messed up and was hard to hear. It was frustrating when she needed to only have one in because it is more comfortable to wear just the left over just the right. I decided to throw these in as part of her Christmas.

We were talking about Christmas one night and she stated she wished she had thought to put a karaoke machine on her Christmas list. She seemed a little bummed because no one would know she wanted one. As soon as she said that I knew this would be her final present. I had gotten most of her presents already, but I just didn't feel it was complete. After ordering this I finally felt done.

She got a new phone case and of course needed a new popsocket for her case. Out of the options these seemed to be the best. Captain America was her first favorite.

Spider-Man is what got her into Marvel. She wanted to know what the original Spider-Man movie was like. She watched it and fell in love. How this translated into Marvel is beyond me, but somehow it did. She wanted the Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland ones. 

It was time for a new Switch game. 

She bought herself some gel pens before Christmas. She used them to color, but they seemed to run out pretty quick. I didn't think anyone else would buy her some, so I got these. I found out afterwards someone else did in fact buy her some, but you can never have too many.

Bath and Body is a must have in this family. She requested this scent. I thought it would be too sweet smelling, but it really isn't. It is a light scent and smells oh so good!

What can I say, this girl loves Marvel!

Throughout 2021 Maddy received a small allowance for doing chores outside of what was expected of her to do. She decided after her birthday she was going to save her leftover money to purchase me some Christmas gifts. I tried to talk her out of it, but once she has her mind made up there is no changing it. She did a wonderful job picking out gifts I would love.

She got me this dachshund blanket that is so soft and warm! I am a dachshund lover.

Every year she gets me a calendar with the help of her Nana. She was so excited to be able to purchase this one by herself. Gilmore Girls is my favorite tv show of all time. 

This is my favorite gift she got me. It is also from Gilmore Girls. I was so surprised!

I think she has the kindest heart and couldn't be any prouder of her.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We are already counting down to next Christmas.