Accomplishing Goals and Staying Fit!

      So, I have always wanted an elliptical machine. Why? Well because for one, I HATE running--with a passion. I  actually did run a 1-mile and a 2-mile race a couple years ago, but I only started running because a friend needed a running partner. It honestly gets addicting after a while and the "runner's high" is real guys and gals. So why do I hate it? Because if I stop running for a period of time it's like my slate is wiped clean and my muscle memory is gone and I have to start completely over from scratch. This means that when I do start over--I can run a total of a tenth of a mile and i'm exhausted, my legs hurt and I can't breathe. Not fun. I also played softball for..I don't know 1371237 years--okay actually more like 14 years but yeah--i'm only 23 you know--so like my whole life and consequently I have problems with my knees! Yay sports injuries! But that is why running is both mentally and physically difficult for me to do.

     About a month ago I told my husband that I wanted to save up and buy an elliptical machine, because they are easier for me to use and easier on your body too. Having one in our home would be amazing because it would eliminate the dreaded 7:00 am drive to the gym and the outrageous membership fees!

Let's put this in perspective:

• Average gym membership $55/month which is $660 per year. 
• The average amount of gym membership money that goes to waste from under utilization: $39/month.
• Average times gym membership owner goes to gym: 2x/week. 
• % of ppl with gym memberships that never use them: 67%. 

Stats taken from: http://www.statisticbrain.com/gym-membership-statistics/

     You get the picture--and I would be part of those statistics in that I would not go as often as I would want to and I would not get my money's worth because the only machine I use at the gym is the elliptical machine. So, we began to look into machines and we found one for a decent price of $200 and the reviews couldn't get much better.

     Now that the easy part was done--We found the perfect machine--We now needed to come up with the $200 to pay for it. My husband and I follow Dave Ramsey's advice for budgeting and things of that nature so we are on a strict lower-income budget. We both knew we couldn't use any of that money to help pay for the machine less we go without food for a month ;) SO--we had to figure out another way. Luckily I have a nice little hobby I like to do on the side (painting) that would help with funds. I got really lucky when a friend of mine from work had me do a bunch of canvases for her! :)

     Next, a donor decided to give my school a ton of money in which they distributed to their employees based upon how much we worked over Christmas break--AWESOME! So I got a nice little bonus check that I could put towards our goal!

     We also had an old mini-fridge that we sold and some other little things, but we met our goal and WALAH!

Elliptical machine-- Welcome to the Austin home, you will love it here!!! 

      This was beyond exciting! My husband and I put it together last night! (An accomplishment in itself lol) And I had my first workout on it this morning at 7am! No cold morning drive, no cold drive home, and I got to watch netflix while I was working out! This is the dream, and we are so blessed. I believe God has provided yet again because He loves us. He has been so good to us and we are so grateful! We have more than we deserve.

I hope everyone has a blessed week!

Brandy

Just Another Tuesday Night

I am the type of person who needs a "project" at all times. I constantly need something to work on, work towards or look forward to. I guess I would call myself a forward thinker. Anyway, I love to paint so when I get some down time--after work or on the weekends--I tend to paint...something...anything..whatever I can find :). My husband loves this ;) haha. But he doesn't mind usually because it makes me happy and we have neat things around the house now :)

So, we have this gold shiny lamp that was given to us by a friend who moved to Georgia. It wasn't an expensive or fancy lamp...just ordinary--but in my opinion--way outdated. Tonight I decided that I couldn't stand looking at the gold lamp any longer, so I grabbed my  paint and paint brushes and let loose! haha

Here are some photos of our lovely lamp in its gold get-up. 

And here is our fabulous brown beauty, looking gorgeous in her coral bow! 

Now, before you say a word-- next project: Lamp shade make-over!!

Tonight, I also decided to spruce up our front door--which was looking awfully bland.

I used an 8x10 Canvas panel and the back of a picture frame cardboard insert (the A) to piece together our beautiful door decor! 

I also decorated my coffee mug, to make it look cute...because you know--that matters.

(Draw on a mug with sharpie, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes)

Well, there you have it! This is how I spend my evenings! Hope you have enjoyed it!

Life Post-Graduation

So you are in college right now and it's  hard. You stay up late working on assignments, writing papers and studying until you can't hold your eyelids open any longer. Why do you do this to yourself?? Well, to GRADUATE of course! That is the goal of college isn't it..to pass your classes and get a degree!

Well, if you are a type A, perfectionist personality like me..passing  your classes wasn't the only objective. Your goal was to have that perfect, shiny, beautiful GPA: the highly sought after 4.0. Well needless to say, I spent my entire college career putting fun aside to focus on my grades. Don't get me wrong I still had plenty of friends and I still had fun, but schoolwork always took priority.

So you want to know, did all of my hard work pay off? Did I get my perfect 4.0 GPA? Did I conquer the world? The answer is No. But I did get pretty close. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.95 GPA. I was highly decorated during my graduation ceremony and I had done what I set out to do: I graduated with the highest of honors I could have.

So now what?

That was all fine and great and I made my parents proud and all of that ..but now what?

I immediately took an internship the summer after graduation in a new state where I knew nobody. I was a lowly, nothing, bottom of the totem-pole intern. Nobody gave a crap what my college GPA was. Not to mention having a close-to-perfect GPA is not a good conversation piece because more than likely those people are few and far between. And normal people have better, more interesting things to talk about than grades..you will learn this.

My point is this: your GPA does not define you or determine whether or not you will be successful in your career or in the workplace. It honestly doesn't have an impact on it whatsoever. I ended up not being so successful in that internship and learning that research wasn't what I wanted to do.

My advice to you: do more than just study in college. Go on adventures! Meet new people, learn new life skills and figure out what you like to do for fun. If you don't do it in college, you will have a more difficult time doing it once you are in "the real world". That has been my experience anyway.

I regret not spending more time having fun and taking advantage of the awesome trips my college had to offer. They took students white-water rafting once and I didn't go because I.. "needed to catch up on...something".. see I don't even remember what it was but I bet I would have remembered every minute of that white-water rafting trip. Life is short, so take advantage of every opportunity God lays in your path!

Have a blessed week!

A Sunday Walk

Today I decided to go for a walk to clear my head in the 30 degree winter weather. I took a few pictures while I was out, and I want to share them all with you. 

 Can you see the little bird?? Pretty great camouflage.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos, nature is so beautiful and perfect! I love to take advantage of every chance I get to be immersed in it. 

From Toilet to Treasure!

So this past weekend I started on a new little project for a friend of mine. She wanted me to make her a canvas to go over her bed that said, "Always kiss me goodnight". The thing about it was that she wanted it to be a lot longer than it was wide and I wasn't sure if I could find a canvas like that in the area I live in. (We pretty much have Walmart to choose from and that's about it!) So, I started to think about it and decided to check out some other places to see what I could find.

Well I found this wooden sign at a Vendor's Mall nearby that was the perfect dimensions...but only one problem...

Haha, so my next step was to get some sanding equipment to remove the lovely paint that already existed on my board. I ended up getting a little sandpaper sponge from Walmart and it worked really well after I wet it. You can see the beginnings of what it looked like as I sanded on the right of the board where the "...USE" is.

This is what it looked like after I completely finished sanding off the paint. The brown paint around the edges didn't need to come all the way off because I was going to use a darker color brown to paint over it.

The next thing I did was paint it a chocolate brown color. I used 2 coats of paint to make sure I had good coverage.

 This is what the final product looked like after two coats of paint.

Once this was completely dry, I started painting the quote onto my board. The cool thing about this part was that I only had to paint the letters once and they looked great. Usually when I paint canvases I have to go over my letters 2 or 3 times in order for them to look nice and for the color to show up completely.

And this is a picture of the final product before I sealed it with clear acrylic sealer!

This project was so much fun to do! It's amazing what you can do with a little sandpaper and some paint!

Yoga-venture!

Everyone is making "New Year's resolutions", right? I don't know about you but after about the third or fourth week into the new year I already start slacking. I know this sounds cliche and all of that but I am holding myself accountable to making this year different! I have made a resolution to work out and stay fit all year long! I love to work out but what happens is this: I get super inspired and I start working out and it lasts for maybe a week or two and then the couch looks so inviting and Grey's Anatomy is on Netflix and then BOOM...lazy me is here to stay. This year will be different, I will make my fitness a priority! God, Husband, Family, Friends, FITNESS! In that order!

The most important thing ever when setting a goal...is to legitimately set a concrete goal that you can both measure and plausibly attain. This is so important and plays a huge role when it comes to your motivation!
Now, I have always loved the way Yoga makes me feel, so I have begun practicing as part of my fitness goals. I have set a goal for myself to practice yoga 5 days a week for at least 20 minutes a day. I know what you're thinking, wow what a wimp! 20 minutes a day of yoga is NOTHING. Well, you have a point but I am starting out fresh and my body isn't used to a crazy amount of exercise, so it's very important that I start small and work my way up to a bigger goal. Setting smaller goals is a great way to help motivate and encourage yourself without feeling like your body is breaking down and you aren't good enough or strong enough to do it. THERE IS NO SHAME IN THIS! Don't ever compare yourself to someone else! Do what you feel comfortable doing and eventually you will build the strength and the stamina to reach your biggest goals! Don't push yourself if you aren't ready!

Now, I will be posting every week to give you all updates on how my yoga-venture is going! I will share the insights that I learn and describe how Yoga is effecting me physically, emotionally and mentally. Feel free to leave comments and share tips and suggestions for others to read!

I have been using the podcast, "Yoga-Mazing" which anyone can download onto their iTunes and ..it's FREE! Which is great because I am a newlywed and yoga classes didn't make the budget this month ;)
Also, I have a Mac book which with two inexpensive cords (HDMI & and Adapter cord for my macbook), I can hook up my laptop to our big screen TV and I can see my yoga podcast nice and big right in my living room!

Here are some of my short term goals:

One Leg Wheel Pose

Bow Pose

Standing Bow Pose

Extended Hand-to-big-toe Pose

And here are some of the long term goals that I hope to be able to accomplish by the end of this year!

Yoga Sleep Pose

Crow Pose

8-Angle pose

Shoulder Press Pose

Monkey pose

Scorpion Pose