Better late than never...

I know Valentine's Day is over but I still wanted to post my pictures of my decorations and the super cute Valentines The Son and I made for his class. (Next year, please remind me to rethink the handmade thing;) )

Here's my mantle in all it's hearty glory! I didn't want to buy much this year so I just spent a few dollars at the dollar store and used other things I already had. I hope to add to my Valentine collection next year.



I made this little sign with my Cricut and some scrap paper. The frame is from the dollar store. I love it! ha ha get it, LOVE it! (Sometimes I just crack myself up.)

My foyer table...never mind the papers and other stuff sitting on it. I didn't realize it was there when I took this...(is that a screwdriver?)

I also covered the lids of these boxes, they were green for Christmas but I never used them anyway. The paper I used is not adhered as nicely as I'd like so I'll probably peel it off and use some spray paint and acrylic paint to decorate for next year. I like to change things up.

Here are the valentines that we decided to make. They were supposed to look like heart-shaped lollipops. The Son did all the stickers and he also decorated the envelopes.




He made these two especially for his teachers. Notice the layered heart stickers, he worked really hard on that.

And, lest you think I cut all those hearts out by hand, I'll let you in on my little secret...The Cricut. Sure, it still took forever but not quite as forever as it would have by hand. LOVE the Cricut.


Lastly, I decorated some hand sanitizer bottles for his teachers. I got the idea from Chris at "Just a Girl" hers are really cute. She used mostly stickers, I used paper because I didn't have appropriate stickers. (Notice I didn't say, "I didn't have stickers" I have stickers...boy to I have stickers...they're just not the right kind for THIS project.) Anyway, I thought they came out kind of cute and all teachers can use hand sanitizer, right?




So, that's the end of my very long, late, Valentine post. As most of you are relaxing and enjoying your President's Day off. I am at an all day training for the child care program that I work for in the mornings, after that, I teach swimming from 4-6. The Husband and The Son are probably having loads of fun without me. Oh well, usually it's me having fun with The Son, he deserves to be home with him for a change while I work and make the big bucks. ha ha ha ha ha! Well, a few extra bucks, they're certainly not big!

Have a great President's Day everyone!

16 years ago today...

The Husband who at the time was just The Boyfriend asked me to marry him...thus making him The Fiance'. I said "yes" of course and the rest is history.

I generally do not like cheesy photos where you dress your child up in goofy costumes to make them look like some mythical Roman God only to torment them years later when you show their prom date, but we had this taken for The Son's first Valentine's Day and it was so cute I couldn't resist it. He loves it now but give him eleven more years and he'll be cringing at this for sure!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Also, I do have photos of my decorations but they have to be edited a little bit so I'll have to post them later. I'm headed to the Y and we're all getting hair cuts today so I must get busy!

Living Healthy, Living Well...

Adventures in Living Healthy with CityMomma/ CountryMomma

It's Friday! Time for my "Friday Feature." Two weeks in a row...pretty good huh?

So, I got weighed yesterday and I lost another pound. One pound. Miss Phyllis our group leader says to be happy for that pound and I am but I was really hoping for two or three pounds considering how much I worked out last week. She got sick of my lamenting over "just" one pound and made me hold a little hand weight (with my arm straight out) while we chatted. It started to get a little annoying after a few minutes which is when she informed me that it was only half a pound. OK Phyllis, you win. I'll stop complaining now. (Oh and I'm down 13.8, just in case you're counting.)

At the Y today, while I was working out, I had a woman approach me and tell me, "I've been watching you work out. You work out really hard. Good job!" I thought it was nice of her to stop and say that to me and she didn't even work there! It's nice to see that others notice how hard I work, I hope my body starts noticing soon! ;)

So, speaking of working out. I mentioned in my "favorite things" post yesterday that my new sneakers are one of my current favorite things. Getting them has really improved my work outs which is why I am going to tell you about my "sneaker theory". This is just my own personal opinion, it's what's worked for me.

A little more than a year ago, I was training to complete a 5K and I was having a really difficult time, I get shin splints badly. I thought I had "good" sneakers, they were fairly expensive running sneakers that the person at the shoe store in the mall suggested for me. I don't know if the sneakers weren't the right thing or they were just worn out so I decided to head to our local running store, since I was living in The City at the time, I visited The Philadelphia Runner .

It was a little embarrassing as I was overweight and clearly not a "Philadelphia Runner" but the gentleman who helped me was fantastic! He asked me to take off my shoes and walk across the store while he watched me. I've been suffering with heel spurs and plantar faciitis for years which I let him know. He instantly told me that I had very high arches (which I knew) and foot pronation (which I didn't know) and he trotted off to the back to pick me the appropriate sneakers. He came back with a few different choices, all in about the $100 price range, give or take. I tried them on and ended up with the Adidas Supernova.

Those sneakers changed my work outs so much. Finally, I had no shin splints, my foot was supported and the running was coming much easier. Unfortunately, this all happened as my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and somehow the running and in fact most of the exercise just kind of stopped. Until now.

It's over a year later and I was STILL working out with the same sneakers. Well, it doesn't take a genius to realize that they are now worn out and certainly not supporting my foot anymore, they probably should have been replaced a long time ago. Money is tight but I knew I absolutely had to get new sneakers. I spent a few minutes on line searching the Adidas Supernova again and found them on sale for under $60 which included shipping and handling! I got them a few days ago and I am feeling SO good when I work out. I "ran" 5K today and beat the time I was trying to beat. I'm not going to tell you what it was because it's still really slow but notice how I have the word "ran" in quotes...it's running for me, it's walking fast for other people! ha ha!

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you're wanting to get healthy and you want to begin exercising and working out, invest a little time and money into a great pair of sneakers and get an expert to help fit you. I don't mean a trip to the mall to a "big box" sneaker store with some 17 year old kid who just wants the discount helping you. I mean a real "running" store, even if you're not going to be running per se. I believe that it makes all the difference in the world, your feet and legs will feel so much better and you'll be able to have more productive, beneficial work outs. I'm hoping to run in a 5K in November for the Brain Tumor Society, and this time, I mean real running. It's more than enough time to lose weight and improve my running times.

I'd like to make a trip to another running store the next time I need to replace my sneakers just to make sure that these are still appropriate for my foot since I do realize that things can change as I lose weight and get more fit. BTW, what do you call them? Sneakers? Running shoes? Tennis shoes? I know there's lots of different names for them depending on your location. I'd love to hear the variations when you leave your comment...get it? WHEN you leave your comment. (hee hee)

On a different note...

We have a busy weekend planned. Tonight, The Son is going to "movie night" at his karate school. It's $15 and they get to go from 7:30 - 10:00! They have pizza and play games and watch movies. The Husband and I are thrilled because it's rare that we get a night out together. We'll be celebrating Valentine's Day at a local restaurant. I've already checked out the menu and have some ideas of what I can do to order healthy and still stay within my calorie range for the week.

We're all getting our hair cut tomorrow and probably going out to eat as a family, also to celebrate Valentine's Day. I don't know where we're going tomorrow but I will definitely be making healthy choices, not to mention working out both Saturday and Sunday.

I have some Valentine's things to post for the weekend... I hope to have time to get around to that. Have a great weekend everyone and have fun celebrating your loved ones.