Fan- Freaking-Tastic (flashback) Friday!

On the eve of our engagement photo shoot with the AMAZING Christy and Jasen from Studio Moirae I have been getting super excited and nostalgic thinking of the time David and I have spent together over the last 22 years!!!!!  We are going to have one of our first bonafide date nights since Olive was born and the best part about it is we get to have our amazing photographers chronicle our fabulous evening!  I hope to post a sneak peak of our photo shoot tomorrow on the blog or instagram- to give you  a hint our location is the Arizona Science Center :) ahhhh!!!

While thinking back on how much David and I have done in the last year I am shocked how much we gone through together in such a short period- new jobs, new house, new baby, new life, new everything and we are still going strong... I love him more everyday! I am also super shocked how excited and eager I am to have another baby. I was 31 weeks pregnant with Olive this time last year and I miss being pregnant constantly!!  With the new amazing career opportunities we both have been afforded we have to put of baby #2 for a bit!  But I still wanted to reminisce and share the chalkboard pics from last year- I've been slacking! 

FLASHBACK AHEAD!

My favorite chalkboard out of all the ones I created was the new years board!  We had our annual New Years Eve Party at my parents house and I made matching Olive and Martini invitations to boot!  It was the first new years ever I didn't get to indulge in a martini but the party was amazing!

 Week 29 was the week I started to feel like a house....   It was my second to last week at Pier 1 and the week I officially got the job at the Cancer Center!!  This was also about the time I was getting up at least 2X a night to pee and standing on my feet 6+ hours a day!

When I was 31 weeks pregnant my sweet and caring parents sold us my mom's Honda Accord!  I had a smaller little suzuki that had been driven across the U.S. like 5 times that was on its way out and they wanted to be sure we had a safe and reliable vehicle for when baby Olive came! 

 I was a little bummed because everything for baby including the car seat and extras matched my little Olive green car named "Olive" lol but I quickly got over it after reading the Honda Safety reports and using the cruise control option that I did not previously have!

Oh what can happen in a year.... On the eve of our engagement photo shoot I can only imagine what adventures we will have in the next year... truthfully I think it will not be as extremely busy as this one!

Can't wait to share some photos and share more about my upcoming workouts!  Hope you have a great weekend!

X, Jamie

MOVE IT MONDAY CORE POWER GIVEAWAY WINNER!!! And our sweet weekend!

CONGRATS TO ANDREA BYRNE!  She is the winner of our First Ever Giveaway on our blog- A Core Power Fit Kit!!!  SOOOO excited for you Andrea!  I use my yoga mat and ball nearly every day and it is so handy to have ready to go in the living room!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats again and thanks to all who entered!  Please check back because we will have more fitness/health giveaways as well as a few things that are just for the ladies in the near future!!

My monday workout consisted of only doing my Jillian Michaels 30 day shred! (We are saving our couch to 5k run for tomorrow after our morning walk with Michelle)  Olive and I had a bunch of wedding errands to run today and little household chores so we were limited on time!

Sparkly shoes make everything better!

I will admit with work, therapy, wedding planning, sick mom and a sick and teething baby, I haven't been as diligent with the Jillian Michaels/ Resistance training as I had hoped... so to remedy this I now have a virtual workout partner!!!!  One of my bridesmaids and besties Rachael purchased the DVD on amazon also and we resolved to Shred it with Jillian 5X a week and have 2 other hardcore workout days!  We are going to text/call/email/facebook/smoke signal... whatever we have to do to keep each other motivated and on track! It is so much easier when you have someone to hold you accountable!

I ADORE RACHAEL! Not just as a workout buddy but as a truly dear friend!  We have known each other for almost 10 years and have been there for each others big milestones including working in a research lab and hospital together, having babies together, and I was even in her wedding too!    She came to Phoenix for a visit this weekend so we had an early morning play date Saturday at the Phoenix Zoo with her little girl Lizzie and my baby Olive!

It's all about the matching joggers!  2 blondes and 2 babies!!

The girls loved the zoo...however I think it was more for us mommies than them at this age!  

 

Rachael is another one of my fabulous photographer friends- I haven't gotten the high quality pics from her yet from our big adventure so you have to put up with my run-of-the-mill point and shoot and iPhone pics hahaha! Someday I will rock out some great photos!

 I had the BEST TIME EVER with Rachael and the girls!

They were a little wore out by the end... so we decided to get a quick bite to eat before heading home!

We went to this random little pub and had the most energetic lunch date ever hahah!  2 little munchkins, highchairs, and food everywhere!  We had a dance party, shared food, and these girls became instant besties.... they were even trying to hold hands and sealed the deal by feeding each other.

My. Favorite.Picture.Ever.

Omg I don't think we stopped laughing and barely remember what my food tasted like. Truthfully we have the mom talent of hoovering our food (so we can referee what our children put in their mouths) down... I paid $11.00 for a sandwich I don't remember eating! hahahah 

We plan to make this a yearly tradition and hope to hit up the butterfly sanctuary soon!

When we got home I remembered I had a fridge full of organic foods that were about to go bad- so I cooked a million meals and made a bunch of baby foods to freeze!

In addition to some healthy dishes (salmon, a pork loin, and kale chips), I ended up making a bunch of organic foods for baby Olive to include:

Bananas with Raspberries

Bananas with Blueberries

Sweet potatoes

Green Beans

Apples with Pears and Cinnamon

and lastly

Sweet potatoes with apples Pears and Cinnamon!

Having the support of my friends, family, the handful of readers I have, and even little baby has really helped remind me of how important continuing a healthy lifestyle is!  I feel blessed to have a jogging stroller, a DVD player, a flexible baby and future husband, and incredible friends... today and this weekend really helped put into perspective that all this time and effort is worth it!

I hope you all feel the same sort of lifestyle support and if you ever need someone to virtually hold you accountable just let me know!

Hope you have a great week!

X, Jamie

Move it Monday! And a Fan-Freaking-tastic Friday recap!

Today was the first time in a LONG time that I felt like I had a great workout and a good stretch after!  I truly love this free Couch to 5k app!  The time just flies when you're listening to a great pandora station and the commentary and timer make the interval training SUPER easy!  

I repeated Week 2 Day 1 twice- I ran last Thursday and was not happy with my performance so I thought I would give it a second try!  My workout today was:

I added another 10 minutes of walking at the end to just finish the loop in my neighborhood!  I got back to the house- did some great stretching on the foam roller...

 Then rocked out with Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, week 1 again (because I totally slacked last week!)

My 20 minute workout ended lasting almost 45 with all the pausing I had to do!  I had the sweetest little workout buddy who just has become so inquisitive, so mobile and just  ALL OVER THE PLACE!

My little helper was doing such a good job, I gave her the best seat in the house to watch mommy and Jillian..... 

Strapped in her Bumbo- Behind the couch.

 and I even provided snacks! 

The best part was during the speed running cardio intervals- I turned around and saw Olive flailing her arms like a mad-girl pretending to do the exercises!  It was pricesless- I took a picture but literally was a creepy blur!

I know it is hard working out with little ones at home- but it can be done!!  That's why I am so excited we still have 5 days left of our Core Power giveaway!! Don't forget to enter for your chance to win!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's so funny how not only workouts but weekly achievements change once you have kids!!  This week we bought a potty chair, Olive started wearing shoes, and I gave her mac and cheese with green beans (not blended) for the first time!  The Mac n cheese was gluten-free-organic-basically-vegetables-dyed-orange so I felt not so bad about giving it to her!  (I blended and froze the rest! Recipes to come- I love my infantino pouch system)

Another achievement for Monday was I got 2 soups made and a number of other meals prepared or frozen for the next few BUSY months!!  Not only have we stepped up our game with eating clean and working out to prepare for the wedding, but to also prepare Olive for a future healthy life!!  I'll post a pic sometime this week of the treasure trove that is our freezer- my Grandma Jan would be proud.  She lives in Minnesota and could live a month without going to a grocery store in a blizzard with the contents of her "deep freeze" as they call it :)

It was a pretty fulfilling Monday, especially after our Fan-Freaking-Friday and great weekend!  We try to avoid having Olive watch tv directly or minimize her exposure- but lately there are a few programs where she is just mesmerized and we have to turn the TV off to get her away.... because of that I decided I couldn't wait any longer to have our own family movie night!  We stocked up a few kid flicks on the DVR and David was excited that he had plenty of Disney and Pixar flix to choose from!  

So I rushed home from work friday and blew up the air mattress, got blankets and pillows for Daddy, mommy, and baby, and made sure we had snacks!  Cheerios for Olive and popcorn for us!

I even busted out the footie jammies for both of us to get all cuddly comfy!  She loved the air mattress!

She loved it so much she fell asleep early, before David even finished eating and we could start the movie :)

So... David and I made a date night out of it and watched Ironman 3!  IT was AWESOME!

Not gonna lie I was kinda bummed I had the big mess to clean up and she didn't even get to enjoy it- but hey, I tried! LOL :)

We jumped on the air mattress all day saturday before I overhauled and cleaned the entire house :)

I can't wait to do it again!

Hope your weekend was as good as ours and your workouts for 2014 are just as successful!!  If you want more details about specifics of my routines just let me know!

X, Jamie

Wedding Wednesday- Our color scheme!

So for the next two months my dear readers get a treat (just kidding)!  I'll be sharing some of my wedding day details!! I wanted to share some of my ideas and schemes because I feel like they can be used for a wide range of events, from themed parties to ladies nights, even a kids birthday! I know talking about my wedding is far removed from fitness goals and baby products- but as promised with my blog title I'm going to tell you about our journey through life love and everything in between...this is part of the mushy love chapter (and the craft chapter!).

Out of all the things to decide for the wedding, I changed my mind about 30 times regarding the color scheme.  Choosing the venue, the food, the overall feel and photographer were easy... deciding what color scheme could best portray our personalities and can be coordinated as unique statements was hard!

We originally planned for a fall wedding and I loved the bright bright orange with the deep almost cerulean blue!  

(Color palette from Design Seeds!)

I also LOVE the color grey and would do everything in my life grey if I could!! I also love mint and seafoam greens!

I just couldn't make up my mind!  I LOVE the design-seeds website because they have a million color combinations with corresponding breath-taking pictures that make it even harder to choose! Ever palette started my imagination fluttering for all the photographic treats that were possible!  Finally I just kinda went with my gut and knew that I kept coming back to the bright crisp orange of my favorite dahlias and the soft minty seafoam green I adore!

Then I came across this amazing image from Camille Styles that embodied some of the rich seafoam and oranges I was dreaming about! 

More design-seeds inspirations!

This dahlia is perfect!

Look at those delicate yet bold ropes!

For more color palettes check out my Pinterest board "Someday"!

It took a lot of looking and a little disappointment but my bridesmaids and I finally stumbled upon a gorgeous seafoam to pair up with my dream flowers (which are fake from Pier 1! haha!) 

The majority of the decor will include the standard white linens with pops of vibrant orange in the centerpieces, pops of soft coral in the candle holders and desert table, and bright orange bridal and bridesmaid bouquets!  My favorite part of all of this is that after the wedding some of the decor will find a special place in my new seafoam and white office I'm working on!! Can't wait to share the end results!

Just a sneak peak of the bridal bouquet I'll be carrying that I found at DK Designs!

In addition there will be of course MANY chalkboards strategically placed around the reception area to tone down the bright bold colors and to tie in a million of my ideas!

I can't wait to reveal more of the fun wedding surprises we are going to have!  I hope these color palettes help inspire you for your next event or even room design!

X, Jamie

Let's do this! Our first GIVEAWAY!!

Now that the sickies of the house are on the mend, I got a lot of nagging chores done this weekend and I am feeling great!  I want to continue to ride this incredible "ENERGY" wave and set some metrics for my 2014 goals!  The first of which is to carve out time for specific projects every week! To help keep on track I hope to use the blog as a schedule- much like my couch to 5k running schedule!  Hopefully I can get back to posting at least 3 days a week and my dear readers can know what to expect! 

My tentative plan is:

*Move it Mondays*

- I'll chat about my current workout routine (couch to 5k, Jilian Michaels 30 day shred!), favorite products for racing/training, and any fun adventures we have that involve gettin up and out!

*Wedding Wednesdays*

- WHOOT WHOOT!  The wedding is happening in 2 months and 9 days... we are in crunch mode and I will recap all the good, bad, and oh so stressfully fun wedding planning details!

*Fan-freaking-tastic Friday*

- in all the craziness I hope to keep up with some of the craft projects for the house and little Olive (and my new office) so I hope to chat about all the fun things we accomplished during the week! and finally my fav...

*Sweet Pea Saturday/Sunday*

- Where I hope to recap about little Olive, her milestones, the things I love about my parenthood, and the fun adventures David and I get to have as that mushy-disgustingly in love couple!

To start off our "Move it Monday" (from yesterday) we have our first of many up & coming incredible giveaways!!!  I was just sponsored as Core Power Ambassador and through them I have an awesome Core Power kit to give away! 

 To jump start your 2014 workout plans you can win this kit that includes: an AMAZING gym bag, pilates ball, yoga mat (with matching mesh mat bag), a waterbottle, towel, and samples of their delicious Core Power Natural High Protein Milkshakes! You can also check out the website for recipes!

At the end of this post there are MANY ways to enter and win this amazing kit!!  You have until Sunday January 26th to enter and win!  I will be announcing the winner that monday so keep posted!

I will never endorse anything I haven't tried on this blog!! We got our kit in this weekend and yesterday I got to use everything for the first time!

 I LOVE getting packages in the mail and this one was HUGE!  Olive loved the box!

 My little helper!

I started my Monday with the Banana flavored protein shake!  IT WAS AMAZING!  The things I love most about this brand is there are no artificial sweeteners and they don't leave that lingering taste in your mouth after a few hours like some protein powders do!  Trust me I've tried hundreds of protein shakes, meal replacements, powders and bars, and these are truly delicious!

 It really did help fuel me for my walk/run with Olive and workout after! (after we ran the wedding invites to the mailbox)

EXCITING NEWS- last week my physical therapist cleared me to start jogging!!!!!!!!  Greatest day ever (though I already snuck in a run before she gave me permission!)

My photographer friend Christi got me HOOKED on this new Couch to 5k free app!  I LOVE THIS APP!  I turn on my pandora app, open this baby up and just follow the voice over prompts and chimes while I jam out to my favorite tunes!It uses increasing time intervals  throughout the program and it tells you every step of the way when to run/walk/warmup/cooldown!  The sounds are not obnoxious and it makes your workout fly by in comparison to the days where I did my own interval timing!

As I mentioned the app is FREE and so amazing!  I recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting back into running!

After our Week 1 day 3 run Olive and I kicked some butt with Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30! Since we have just 2 months until the wedding I bought these two puppies on amazon for like $8 each!  I hope to do both before the wedding!!  

We do baby yoga moves at home- but she really got into watching Jillian and loves my foam roller!  I hope we can keep this up together!

ENTER HERE! WOOHOO!

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I wish you all the best in entering our first giveaway ever!  I hope I can help kickstart your 2014 goals in any way possible! Happy new year, happy new day, happy everything!!