Confessions

-I haven't combed my hair all week.  It's been really static-y and every time I brush it the static just gets even worse.  Even Static Guard doesn't help.  I've been wearing it up for most of the week, but still, I'm scared to finally brush it.

-I think I need an intervention with Craigslist.  I've been purchasing a ton of random things off of there.  In the past few weeks alone I've purchased or tried to purchase the following:  2 Queen Anne chairs, the Morticia Addams chair I posted about earlier, a rain barrel and 3 chickens.  There's just so much good stuff for cheap.  The rain barrel was actually free!

-I really thought Beyonce sang the national anthem.  It seemed so real.  The ear piece getting ripped out.  The hand motions.  What's going on Beyonce????

She still looked amazing though.

-I've been working out in the mornings and in the evenings, but not losing any weight because I've been eating like a crazy woman. Yesterday when I came home KB wasn't there and I ate some leftover fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and a biscuit.....then ate again when KB got home. I'm ravenously hungry all the time now, but I'm sure eating fried chicken hand over fist isn't really helping me.

-My biggest confession of all is that I've been keeping a secret from you guys. I got a new job! Starting week after next I'll be working from home for a new company, but will still be doing basically what my job is now. I'm excited to be at home with the puppies during the day now. Maybe they'll actually get this whole potty training thing down pat....I'm looking at you Pancho.

Now go link up with Mrs. Bear and confess away!

Randoms

I've been doing lots of fun projects around the house, but I'm too lazy right now to take pictures of them. Updates coming soon with lots of ginger jars (who knew Goodwill was the best source around for ginger jars), really masculine paint colors, a big framed deer painting and much more.

So what if I've watched Pretty Woman two nights in a row. KB has been gone dealing with dramaz and it's a cute movie. Also, hello Richard Gere? I know you are old, but you look real good in that suit and I love me some Wall Street types. Just about nothin' is better than powerful men that know how to handle money and wear suits almost everyday. Rawr.

Something in our master bathroom is leaking into our laundry room ceiling.  There is a huge wet spot and we're probably going to have to rip out some drywall once we see what's leaking.  Of course KB isn't here to deal with it.  He just told me to shut the toilet off and he'd deal with it later.  Awesome.

I've been ramping it up on the treadmill recently.  I did an interval workout earlier today that was an hour and a half long.  It really wasn't that bad.  It looked terrible on paper and I thought I would give up pretty early on, but I stuck with it and it ended up going by really fast.

This show....let's discuss.

I love me some rednecks.  I married into a family that has a bunch of them (luckily KB is only a part time redneck when convenient).  I watched the first two episodes yesterday and they were hilarious.  It's super staged and you can tell that most of these kids have got some money from somewhere because of the sheer amount of 4 Wheelers and pick ups, but I really like it.  It's sort of like hanging out with my brother in law and his redneck friends over the summer - it's fun while you're doing it, but you're pretty glad you're not like that all the time.  One of the funniest people on there is Shain.  It goes without saying that my redneck brother in law shares the name, the weird stache, the accent where sometimes you need subtitles and the constant dip in the mouth.

We're  I'm in the process of choosing paint colors for our house.  Whyyyy is this so hardddd?  I got some samples today and painted a little bit, but it's so hard to figure out how it's going to look on a major scale.   I'm going for a dark green exterior, with an antique white trim and dark brown porch.  That's way harder to find than it sounds.

On Second Thought

After posting about my original New Year's goals and seeing every one else's goals, I came up with a couple more. So far so good on working out in the morning (I seriously feel amazing pretty much all day), so hopefully I can make these stick too.

Eat at least one salad per week.

On Monday I made a huge salad for dinner and it was amazing. I also had enough leftover to have salads for lunch most of the week. I want to try to branch out my salads and get some crazy ones in there. I just never really think about salad as a dinner food, but when you load it up with all kinds of good stuff it's really filling. I've been browsing around Pinterest for a while. These look particularly delicious:

Source: dashandbella.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: frenchknots.net via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: greensnchocolate.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Clean everyday.

Right now I don't really clean during the week besides the regular "put something back after you are done with it". I save up all of my cleaning for the weekends, but then sometimes it feels like I waste a whole Saturday with just cleaning. I need to get better about cleaning a little bit everyday. I've seen a bunch of cleaning "schedules" around, but I'm not sure I could stick with them. I need to just do it!

Drink/make more smoothies.

After working out yesterday morning for the first time I really wanted a smoothie. I was really hot and eating regular food didn't really sound good to me. I made one up with some frozen strawberries, regular oatmeal, milk and greek yogurt. It was amazing! I want to try to expand my smoothie aresenal for breakfast. These also look especially delicious:

Source: dashingdish.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: livestrong.com via LIVESTRONG.COM on Pinterest

Source: mylittlecelebration.com via Wendy on Pinterest

Source: mynewroots.blogspot.com.au via V e e on Pinterest

Any extra resolutions on your part? I'm hoping I can stick to at least a few of these.

Auld Lang Syne

2012 was a pretty good year I guess.  We bought our house.  We moved in.  We did lots of work.   2013 will probably be pretty similar.

I try not to make resolutions because I don't ever keep them, but more like goals.

This year my goals are:

Work out in the mornings.  I just bought this bad boy yesterday so hopefully that will motivate me.  I'm planning on getting up 30 minutes earlier every day to use it.

Stop spending so much money.  To most people I'm a really frugal person, but I think I spend too much money on useless things that I don't necessarily need.  I've been taking lots of stuff to the Goodwill recently and every time I take a load I stop in to see what I can find.  I've gotten all kinds of "new" clothes and things for the house and what not, but over long term that stuff adds up.  My goal is to try to spend no more than $50 per month on random things that we don't need (clothes, house stuff, coffee, etc).

Take my dogs for more walks.  When the weather is nice and it's not dark when we get home I almost always take the dogs for a walk.  Those days only comprise about 1 month out of the year though.  When it gets too hot Rosa can't walk because she gets overheated, when it gets too cold Pancho can't walk because he gets too cold, and when it's winter they can't walk because it's dark when we get home.  I'm going to make more of an effort to take them out in the mornings and on the weekends in the winter.  Rosie is getting quite a little pudge that needs to be worked off!

Hopefully I can keep these up!

Random Facts

Clarinda nominated me for a Liebster award.

So here's a little bit about me...

1. Why did you start blogging?

I mainly started because I was creeping on other people's and it felt weird sometimes. I started one mostly so I could comment, but then I thought "if random person can write about what she ate for dinner, so can I!".

2. Why did you choose this name for your blog?

My last name is Brown (and it had recently become so when I started this blog) and I grew up on a farm. It was fun and it rhymed.

3. If money were no object, where would you live and why?

I genuinely really like where we live. We live in Western NC. It's pretty, the weather is nice (most of the time) and both mine and KB's families are here. That being said, I wouldn't mind having some vacation properties in South America, a lodge in Montana or Canada and in Europe. A girl can dream right?

4. When you meet someone for the first time, what's the first thing you want to know about him/her?

I like to know where someone is from and where they grew up. I get asked this a lot at work because I'm one of the few people that has a Southern accent. It tells you a lot about somebody by knowing where they grew up.

5. What's the most unique thing about you?

Ummmm I don't really feel like I have that many unique things. I have really long toes (like really long). Some of them are as long as my fingers. It's kind of gross.

6. What inspires you?

Right now I'm trying to get fit, so I'm inspired by a lot of weight loss blogs and Pins. It's really motivated me so far to go online and see people who have lost a lot more weight than I want to (or need to).

7. What's your favorite dish (to eat or prepare)?

My favorite dish to each (but definitely not prepare) is country ham. It's so salty (and really bad for you) and so good. I don't eat it that often, but on a biscuit it is seriously heaven.

8. Describe your ideal weekend.

My ideal weekend sounds a lot like the one coming up. I'm going to stay at home and get my yard ready for winter by cleaning out some flower beds and moving some plants inside. I'm going to make some really good deer stew and probably some bread. On Sunday it's supposed to be cold, so we'll probably just stay inside and lay around all day. We've been gone the last few weekends, so this one will be great.

9. What did you want to be when you grew up and how does it compare to what you do now?

For a long time I really wanted to be a veterinarian I really liked animals and I thought it would be super neat.  When I got older and wiser I realized that you had to know a lot of science and chemistry and I was just too lazy for that. Now I work in marketing for large pharmaceutical companies. It's definitely not what I saw myself doing for the rest of my life, but for now it's pretty fun and I've learned a lot about that industry.

10. What is your dream career?

I honestly have no idea. I'd really like to be able to stay at home and raise some goats and chickens and dogs. I'd like to have a big garden and just can stuff all day long and make good food. That's not really a job, but more of a lifestyle I guess

11. What is your favorite song or who is your favorite artist to dance to?

One of my favorite songs is "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones. The words and music are really pretty. It's not a really good song to dance to though. For dancing, I move it a lot to 80s hair metal. I love me some hair bands.

I'm terrible at nominating people for things, so I'm going to be lazy and tag anyone that wants to say a lil something about themselves.

Decisions Decisions

I'm going to make a pretty big purchase for myself and I can't decide which one to get.

Any thoughts?

Are you team treadmill or team spinning?

Currently...

Listening...to some weird alternative music from the local radio station.

Eating...Nothing now because I just ate a TON of really good pizza for lunch.

Drinking...Peppermint tea.....because of said ton of pizza.

Wearing.....a black long sleeve dress, black and grey wedges, and a silver hoop necklace. I've been told that I look dressed up by 5 different people today. I just threw stuff on...oh well.

Feeling... Sleepy. I ate a ton of pizza and got to bed late last night.

Weather.....bright and sunny, but windy and chilly

Needing... to wash my hair. I didn't have time to wash it this morning so it's feeling a little greasy.

Wanting....to get my wedding ring back! It's getting fixed and has been for over a week. Come on people.

Thinking....that I'd really like to get a big fake knock off Michael Kors chronograph tortoise shell watch. Or a knockoff David Yurman bracelet.

Enjoying....being able to leave work a little early and get a good workout in. I was out last night and didn't get to workout.

Weekly Work It Out

I'm finally back...yayyyy.

We've been out of town, working on the yard/house, and also working on getting fit, so unfortunately blogging fell by the wayside.

Hopefully this week I can get back on the wagon (with working out and posting).

Here are the workouts I'll be doing this week...

While the name may say "Totally Cool" I'm going to bet that it's probably not as cool as Christi Taylor thinks it is.  Nevertheless, it's about 2 hours of hard core step aerobics, so cool or not it will probably get me sweating.

I really like Chris Freytag.  She looks kinda creepy and should probably lay off the facelifts for a while, but she generally has really good workouts. I did one of her workouts last week and it was really good, so hopefully this one will be too.

I'm also going to try to walk the dogs more this week.  It's been raining here a lot and it's hard to walk around in the mud with 2 dogs that pretty much drag the ground because they are so small.

What workouts will you be doing this week???

Pinteresting Wednesday

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday post.  Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the week:

Source: pillsbury.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: mindbodygreen.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: style4style.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: haystacksandchampagne.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: greenlikebathwater.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: clarindas.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week???

Pinteresting Wednesday

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday - link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are my favorite Pins of the week...

Source: preventionrd.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: mamalaughlin.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: jackthreads.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: en.wikipedia.org via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: pinterestviralss.blogspot.co.uk via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: ginamarieskitchen.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: mommymakesitbetter.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins of the week???

Weekly Work It Out

With the beach coming up every day I definitely need to amp up my workouts.  I only worked out a couple of days last week because it was so hot and I was busy picking up some furniture (a post about that to come!).

Here are the workouts I have planned this week....

I've done something similar from the Firm before and with this lady.  It ended up with me gasping for air on the tile floor thinking I was having a heart attack.  There is a ton of jumping and going crazy.  Maybe this will make up for my not working out hardly at all last week.

I'm not so sure I'm going to like this workout.  I don't like that Allie chick on the cover.  She acts like she's some big time fitness trainer - she's not.  At least there are 4 workouts in one DVD so I can work on it for most of the week.

What workouts are you doing this week???

Weekly Work It Out

Here are the workouts for the week....

The Firm is my jam.  I always get the best workouts from them in a reasonable amount of time.  They're rarely ever longer than an hour.  Based off of the reviews you need some special equipment, but most of the time I can get by with some weights and a step.

It's just a Firm week for me!  This workout looks a bit easier than what I normally do, but it will be good for in the middle of the week and I don't feel like moving when I come home from work.  You are supposed to have special equipment for this DVD too, but I think I can make do with what I have.

On another note,  I'm still doing this workout and it's really fun.  There are three 40 minute dances, so I've been splitting them up.  The instructions are really easy to follow and the dances are really fun.  I'm definitely going to be adding these to my rotation.

What workouts will you be doing this week???

Weekly Work It Out

I laid out in the sun today for the first time and it was only motivation that I really need to step up my workouts. This week I'll be doing the following.  I'm also going to try to take the dogs for walks more and eat less.  That will be the hard part.

I've done a lot of the Prevention workouts and I really like them.  Chris Freytag will push you to no end and I still don't understand how she can do her ab work and still talk (I can hardly breathe).  This workout is only 30 minutes long and consists of three 10 minute segments.  That's my favorite kind of workout - it's over before you even know it.

I'm a little worried about this one.  I'm always trying to switch up my routine, but I'm not sure what I was thinking when I put this in my Netflix queue.  I'm not that great at dancing so I'm sure I'll be lost the whole time.  The reviews say that it's pretty easy to follow so hopefully I won't be just stumbling around the whole time.

I love me some Firm workouts.  The ladies are a little weird and Stepford wife-ish, but they always make me feel like I've spent my time wisely.  Most of the time by the end of them I'm super sweaty and tired.  For some of the Firm workouts you have to have special equipment, but most of the time you can make do with just some dumbbells and a step.

What workouts will you be doing this week???

Pinteresting Wednesday

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday post.  Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Here are some of my favorite Pins of the week...

Source: repinly.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: onlinefitnesstrainingprogram.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: ohmyg.info via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: crockpot365.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: puttinonthegrits.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins this week?

Weekly Work It out

I'm still working out...sort of, so this is what I'll be doing this week...

I'm hoping I get my Sexy Legs Fast! in this one.  I've done some of the other Self workouts and they were pretty good.  According to the reviews the strength portion isn't that hard in this one, but the cardio is good.  It's about an hour long so at least I can get it done all in one go.

The Firm videos are always cheesy and kinda weird and old looking, but they normally work me out pretty good.  You're supposed to have some special equipment for the Firm videos (Fanny Lifter?  who are these marketing people?) but normally you can make a regular exercise step work.

I've never done any Kathy Smith workouts but I've heard that they are pretty good for cardio.  Based on the reviews this is a repeat and repackage of a previous workout.  Good thing for me I've never heard of this chick!

What workouts are you doing this week???

Pinteresting Wednesday

It's time for another Pinteresting Wednesday post.  Link up with The Vintage Apple to play along.

Source: fortheloveofcooking.net via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: skinny-before-summer.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: theyellowcapecod.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: kalynskitchen.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: allrecipes.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What are your favorite Pins of the week?