A Garden Tour and Annual Planting Ideas

My father's garden is without a doubt one of my favorite places. 
 
As a child, I can remember helping haul wheel barrel after wheel barrel of mulch from the spot in the front yard where an entire truck load was dumped to the backyard where the garden was just beginning.  It was hard work, and I am sure my parent's (and now Dad & Kim) did the bulk of it, but I will still take pride in that beautiful landscape.
 
One summer, my father decided he wanted a new water feature with a rock bed around it for room to sit and put a bonfire.  About 3/4ths of the way through carefully lifting up sod from this location and saving it to put in bare spots around the yard, a neighbor came by.  He let us know there was a machine that would do that for you.  I was dirty, sweaty and speechless...did my dad know this, and was he just torturing me!  We didn't get the machine, we finished by hand, even wheel barreling the rocks down ourselves.  Now I must say, it is one of the designs for which I can take a lot of pride! 

 
The back yard has had many updates throughout the years, and each member of our family has put in a significant amount of work along with the help of friends and a few paid workers.  I love this place, and I want to give you a glimpse as well.
 
First, I want to share with you something new that my father and his girlfriend have put in this year.  It's in-ground containers filled with rich soil for annuals.  They dug and placed these throughout the rock beds for easy landscaping, this way next year, all they have to do is dig out the plant, put in a new one, no need to move around rocks or wonder where the design might look best.  It stays in place & it look lovely, crisp, and clean!
 

 

  
 And off to a picture tour

What I woke up to every morning!

 

Newest addition, Dad & Kim cleaned this side up and put in a lovely walking path

Garden view from the dock

Location where I wanted to get married...thanks for shooting that one down Dad.  His excuse, we didn't have enough restrooms...lo & behold, the location we chose had less than his house...but I'm not bitter ;)

 

Homemade pond fills with lily pads in the summer

 

Homemade waterfall from the pond to the lake

 

Garden overview from the pond looking to the lake

 

Dad used old candle sticks as potting designs in the garden

 

A vegetable garden!

Garden décor

 

 
 



Hen & Chicks, my favorite succulent grows throughout the larger rock beds



If you have never touched Lambs Ear, you have to!  It's my favorite plant, and the 'leaves' are so soft!

 
In my perfect world, every great night ends with a bonfire!

 

Dad & Kim!

Question of the day:  Do you have a favorite location at your parents home?  Is it a room, a park across the street, a hideaway you made in the attic? (yes, I def had that!) 

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Vacation Preparation!

I am beyond excited and feel so blessed to be able to go to the beach with two of our very best friends, Bob & Natasha!
 

Our first Alpha Chi Omega Formal! That's from 2006 (my 'freshman 15' days!)

 

 
We leave for Cancun on Saturday and get to spend 6 days with them, lounging around the pool, drinking Mexican beer & cocktails, enjoying all you can eat buffets, and forgetting about work!
 
Well, that all sounds good, but I don't want to fall completely off my healthy habits.  Last time I went to an all-inclusive resort like this was on our honeymoon!  However, I was completely out of commission for an ENTIRE day due to heartburn from the food and drinks.  This time, I'm going to do things a little differently!

On our honeymoon at Kimono's (Sandal's St. Lucia resort)


During our honeymoon, I hadn't yet been diagnosed with Eosinphillic Esophogitis, so little did I know that the mounds of salsa, spicy foods, coconut enhanced drinks, and just general consumption of food & alcohol were making my throat break out in a similar fashion as a rash one might get on their face, arm, etc from a food allergy.

An adventure tour in St. Lucia that ended at a waterfall!

 
This time around, I am going to prepare myself by indulging with at least a bite or two of my favorites.  You better believe that I will NOT turn down a cheesecake!  I will just share it with our group, or have only what I can eat without bursting out of my cute little outfits!  I plan on maintaining clean eating by filling my plates up with fruits in the morning and veggies throughout the day.

 
Also in preparation for the trip, I am doing the Tone It Up 5 Day Slimdown!  This is a mini version of the Tone it Up 7 Day Slimdown, both are provided after purchasing the Tone it Up Nutrition plan.  Your trainers & nutritionists, Karena & Katrina, provide practical recipes, guidance, and nutritional information to keep you going through their slim down plans & healthy living through well balanced meals. 
 
I am not trying to lose weight, rather I am doing the 5DSD to get myself balanced and cleansed, ready to hit the beach running (or snorkeling!).  Here's a little snip of this morning's 5 Day Slimdown Start of Bombshell Spell, Slim Down Scramble and my dogs after our AM Workout!

 
While on vacation, I'll stay active snorkeling, swimming, hopefully doing a yoga class on the beach (still haven't found out if the resort has that), and maybe visiting the on resort gym if I'm feeling the need to pick up some weights and drop some sweat.  Mostly, I am going to relax and have fun with our wonderful friends & my amazing husband!

6 more days, and I can hardly wait! 


Pirate Party with Natasha, Neal, Myself, Laura & Bob! 
You better believe this will be a wild trip!

Question of the Day:  What's your favorite vacation you've gotten to take with friends? Pin It Now!

May 2013 Workouts

Backtrack to April
On April 6th, I ran the Southern Indiana Classic Half Marathon in 1:45:36 (yes, that's 1 hour and 45 min!).  I did amazing in the race and took home 1st place in my age group!  At first, we thought I had gotten 2nd in my age group, but the woman who beat me actually placed 3rd overall, so that bumped me to first!  Woot woot!

After the 1/2 marathon, my knees were sore, but I felt pretty freaking awesome.  I iced them and had already planned on taking the week off.

I was supposed to run the USI Spring into Fitness10K the next Saturday, one week after the race, but when I went to do a test jog after taking the week off on Friday night, my foot screamed in pain.  Or maybe that was me screaming that my foot was in pain? :)  I knew something was wrong and I shouldn't risk running in the race the next day.  Needless to say, I went and picked up my t-shirt anyways.  Yes, I am obsessed with race shirts and awards.  It still makes me sad that I didn't run, because I really think I could have placed if I was 100%, and that would mean I would have placed in all 3 USI Running Series Races.
My foot continued to be in pain, so I finally called my family doctor to ask if I needed to be seen.  He scheduled me an appointment.  At that appointment (18 days after the race), he told me that he believed I had a 5th metatarsal stress fracture and that we would first have to take an X-ray, which he didn't think would show results.  He said we had to do the x-ray first for insurance purposes and just in case it did show something more serious. After an x-ray, he said we could do an MRI.  I am too practical.  If it feels like a stress fracture, then it probably is a stress fracture.  The x-ray results, like he suspected, didn't show anything, and I wasn't about to pay for an MRI.  My doctor said that was fine and put me in a walking shoe. 

 

For the last 6 days of April, I didn't work out much.  I had my craft fair where I stood for long periods of time, and that was about it, until the TIU Bikini Series came along!

 

Monday, April 29

• Biker Babes, I did a mini version of this outdoor with my hubby!



Tuesday, April 30

• 3 rounds of the Sun Seeker Workout, and my foot start to hurt badly again.  

Onto May

May 1-5

• My foot hasn't been feeling so great.
• We have been painting our new rental home every day after work, so that's my exercise

Monday, May 6th

• AM Workout = Itty Bitty from TIU, one of Karena's arm workouts, and some of Katrina's deadlifts to work on that booty
• Deadlifts throughout the day when I passed by the weights (about 5 total sets!)
• PM Workout = Painting the rental house!

 Tuesday, May 7th

• Painting the house again
• PM Workout = at the gym with Neal doing some back and bicep weight training moves
• Wide Grip Front Pull Ups, 3 sets
• Regular Pull Ups, 3 sets
• Weighted Row, 3 sets
• Some back machine I hadn't used before that targeted all the muscles back there! 3 sets
• Machine bicep curls, 2 sets
• Cohen bicep curls, 1 set
• Incline bicep curls, 1 set

Wednesday, May 8th

• AM Workout = 3 rounds of TIU Surfers Paradise Workout (some foot modifications still), an 8ish minute walk with the dogs, and deadlifts.

Thursday, May 9th

• PM Biker Babes workout - so fun!

 

Saturday, May 11

• Grab a Friend and Go Workout from Tone it Up!  I was at my dad's house for the weekend, so he got to be my workout buddy!

 

Wednesday, May 15th

• BCWO was 3 Tone It Up routines! 2xs Sunkiss Abs, the new Bridal Babe workout, & Surfer Girl from TIU Beach Babe DVD

 

Thursday, May 16th

• BCWO = 3 Rounds of Surfer's Paradise and 2 Rounds of Cowabunga!

Monday, May 17th

• Morning walk with the puppies - 30 mins.  1st day of the Beach Babe 5 Day Slimdown!  I didn't do my HIIT this morning b/c I really just wanted to walk the dogs. 

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Funk in the City 2013 - My First Art/Craft Show

Hooray for Funk in the City! 

Participating in my first craft show was fun, exhausting, challenging, and rewarding.  I am not scheduled for another show until September 28th & 29th in Brown County, IN.  For that, I am thankful. 

I loved the thrill and excitement of the days building up to the show.  However, I felt like I had 2 full-time jobs for the last month and a half!  As soon as my IT job was over, I'd start working on making more pieces, making displays, or marketing myself for Funk in the City.

I didn't get everything made that I wanted, but I graciously accepted that fact and was able to enjoy all that I had accomplished!

Funk in the City 2013 was good for my first show.  I stayed busy enough (just so much that I forgot to take some pictures), but I wasn't overwhelmed.  The weather was much less than optimal.  It was chilly, in the mid to lower 50's, and the rain dripped down for a constant hour with the skies were grey all day.  However, I feel I offered a ray of sunshine with a smile and positive attitude.  I couldn't believe how good of a mood I was in considering the weather situation.  The first show, a semi 'washout' quite literally, and me still happy...what?!  I will contribute that to the support of my family and friends & to my own personal mindset I was able to put myself in.  My glass remains half full!  I met my sales goal (just barely), which makes me even happier!

So onto my display!  The only thing I forgot to take pictures of was the wall of jewelry organizers, & I feel so silly because it was so pretty!

 
My little sign below washed away in the rain, but it was cute for an hour or so!

These may have been my most popular pieces, the elastic stretch bracelets & druzy wrap bracelets. Behind them is where my jewelry organizers were hung...silly me for not getting a picture of the beautiful display Neal built me!

 
These shutters with all my earrings were in the wind's way all day.  Thankfully, Neal figured out a way to tie them to the tent so they wouldn't blow over onto people!

 

My necklace display still need some work.  This too blew over in the wind a bit, but I think I know what I will do for my next show & my next necklace display!

 

 This necklace was one of my most favorite new beauties, and it blew over in the wind and was perfectly fine until I stepped on it!  I cracked off the crystal surround, but plan to put it back together...clumsy me!

 
 And lastly, a cute way to display business cards!

 

I had a great time at Funk in the City 2013!

• 15% of all my proceeds went to the Boys & Girls Club per the regulations of Funk in the City. 
• I met my sales goal. 
• I met a lot of great people, many who asked which boutique my shop was in, that made me smile since I am not in a boutique but would love to be :-)
• I also met with a few people on committees for other craft shows who are interested in my participation in their shows!
• The Funk in the City group loved my setup and thought I did really well.
• Many people were surprised that it was just my first show.
• Customers loved that I gift wrapped everything and took time to put their new pieces into boxes with ribbon & a cute teal bag!
• I remained positive and happy throughout the rain and chill!
• I had a lot of fun! 

Question of the Day:

Have you ever done a craft show, or gone to one and really liked something about a person's setup, displays, or service?  I'd love any ideas!

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Going Wheat Free

A little over 3 months ago, I visited my allergist for a follow-up from my esophagus scope.  The team reviewed my eosinphillic cell count from 2012 to this recent scope in 2013.  While they said the number of eosinphillic cells had lessened, they said that I was still showing quite a bit of eosinphillic cells. 

Thus, my current 'treatment' of keeping food allergens out of my diet, taking a protonix when I have acid reflux, and doing an inhaler treatment in the morning and evening hasn't been helping enough.  Insert super sad face!

I will be completely honest, I am not that great at remembering to take the inhaler.  I am, however, generally good about avoiding the foods I am allergic to, tomato & coconut.  It's easy for me to avoid those foods because the instant tomato is ingested I have a massive burning sensation in my throat like I just took a bite out of a jalapeno pepper after consuming a tablespoon of hot sauce.

Now, it's been suggested I take a different approach, either I try going wheat free for a month, dairy free for a month, or possibly both to see if that helps.  WHAT?! 

My amazing friend Natalie signed up for a contest at www.aimeemcnew.com for a giveaway to nominate a friend with nutritional issues to win a year of free nutritional counseling.  Umm, guess who won?  NATALIE!  Guess who she nominated for a year?  ME! 

Yes, if you follow me on the blog, Instagram, or Facebook, you would think that I eat super healthy, how could anything be wrong with me?  In fact, after submitting 5 days of a food journal to Aimee, she complimented my good eating habits as well.  (yes, I may have just patted myself on the back).  However, Aimee did describe why the doctors suggested me trying wheat and/or dairy free.  Aimee suggested wheat free for me.

Why wheat free?  Aimee has done a lot of research on this, and I don't want to misinterpret any of the information, but I will try to summarize what I retained.  Wheat is one of the many foods in the US (and around the world) that has been genetically modified to help it be bug resistant, survive in various weather conditions, grow stronger/faster/bigger etc.  It may be that when foods are genetically modified is that some people are affected adversely by the changes made.  When allergies are tested at your office, the tests may not be updated to include the additional substances that now make up the wheat we consume (this is a MAY, so do NOT by any means think that this theory is a scientific fact rather make your own educated opinion).  This is why we could be seeing an increase in certain food allergies.  Again, there are various theories, some facts, and other professional opinions.  This answer made the most sense to Aimee and it makes sense to me as well.

So what to do?  Time to find things that are wheat free.  Currently, I am looking for Gluten free options as I know they will not contain wheat. 

Just look at this delicious loaf of bread I made!  I added 2 T honey to the mix and topped it with brown rice flour and pumpkin seeds.  It turned out AMAZING!

Some things that get my blood boiling to consider about why I was told to go wheat free and it's possible relationship to GMO's:

More than 60 countries around the world outlaw and have bans on GMO Products, including countries you and I have heard about like Japan and Australia.  Yes, I completely get that the number of countries that DON'T have any bans is significantly higher than those that do.   Learn more about non GMO here http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

In almost every article I find on GMO's, the most basic concern is the affect GMO's have on people with food allergies.  In this article from Oprah (yes I know, not a scientist, but the girl does her research), it states that no one really knows at this point the total effects of GMO products, but some studies link them to kidney malfunction, inflammation, and reduced fertility.  The last one possibly is currently affecting yours truly.

I am no scientist.  I am just a normal girl with a major curiosity about healthy & clean living.  I search for the balance of living a healthy lifestyle and not overly focusing myself on food and exercise.  I watch nearly every single food, happiness, and healthy living documentary on Netflix, and I try to take it all in with a grain of salt & make my own evaluated decisions.

I encourage you to think about what you are eating.  How it affects the environment, your body, & your family.  I don't discourage or dislike anyone for eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, a fast food burger, or sipping on sweet tea, sodas & beer.  I simply encourage you to never over indulge and be mindful of the choices you make & how you nourish your body. Pin It Now!