Working the nightshift...

I'm doing squats in the bathroom at work. I'm thinking about putting some gloves on and moving on to burpees :)

a side note: just got a fun package from think thin! Will be reviewing these bars soon! Stay tuned- there may be a giveaway in the near future :)

weekend in review

so, the events of saturday i already covered. here's some pics of my loot....

don't you just LOOOVVEE when clothes fit? and are on sale? 

$60 dress for $15. tons of weddings this year. this dress will be perfect.

one of the cute outfits for my babes..never mind the toes in the pic :)

new boots! my old boots were like 7 years old...and it showed.

jeans that fit?!?! sooo excited for these and my new colored skinny jeans!

this was BY FAR my deal of the day. nike running skirt...marked down to $4.80 plus i got an additional discount. i payed less than $3. retails for around $50. 

Lola checking out my new running socks and chevron eye mask. yes, i wear an eye mask when i sleep during the day. (working nights blows)

so. that was my saturday. pretty good haul, huh? sunday my husband spent ice fishing and i did the usual weekend stuff with the babe. 

Ben looks less than thrilled..i think that had more to do with the temperature- around 10 degrees.

Last thing before i call it a night. BIG PLANS FOR FEB!

i'm anal, i know...but prior to every month i fill out a calendar with what particular activity i'm going to do each day and i also use this to schedule my days off. i work 12 hour night shifts and work an hour away from my job so my rest days are usually in between nights of working. if i go right to bed when i get home, i have 7 hours of sleep before getting up, hanging with the baby, making dinner and heading back to work for another 12 hours...sooo..it makes the most sense for those days to be rest days.

 sleep is important in your overall health too! :)

**disclaimer: i usually don't follow my schedule exactly. however, it sets up a good framework for the month. i LOVE having a plan. i tend to overdo it on my schedule a litte bit but that's totally intention. things always come up. this way, i'm prepared and still get enough workout days in**

the following is my feb schedule:

2 rest days this month. i know what you're thinking. 

like i mentioned, i'm sure things will come up..but this is my guideline. plus, i scheduled a staycation in February so i have less rest days this month than usual because i'm working less. 

GOALS FOR FEBRUARY

1. workout at least 2o times (5x a week)

2. attend kickboxing at least once a week

3. one long run per week

i think that those are some pretty hefty goals for one month so we'll leave it at that for now :)

Back to my Carrie moment....

so, you know how carrie is always typing something deep and meaningful on her mac during episodes of sex and the city? that's been me for the past couple of days...except not nearly as funny or witty. let's be honest- i always wanted to be carrie...but i'm actually charlotte. i digress....

so. you can read the first part of my carrie moment here.

disclaimer: i in NO way have all of this "making yourself a priority" mess figured out. i'm not professionally trained but the following is what i do know. 

so, lets go back about a year. my daughter was born. i spent 3 months at home taking care of her. my body was a mess. my hormones were a mess. i didn't have time for a dentist appointment or a shower. In those early days, i made the goal for myself this: SHOWER EVERY DAY. pathetic, huh? it's was 10 minutes of me time per day. sometimes it happened at the end of a long day but i made sure it happened. it gave me a little time to clear my head and well, clean myself. lol. 

a few weeks went by and i felt like i needed something more. i needed to leave the house.

i found a gym membership special: $100 for 3 months. bam. SOLD. i joined the gym. I'll be honest. at first, it was hard to commit to going. i felt guilty about leaving the baby. i was tired at the end of the day. i had to make dinner. i was missing out on family time. the baby neeeeedddssss me. all of that was true. and still is true but that was my first step at making myself a priority. first step at taking care of myself so i could take better care of my family. 

good start, right?

fast forward to friday. i still go to the gym 4-5 times a week. i haven't been to the dentist in months. i've been to the hairdresser one time in the past year. can't tell you the last time that i look a day to myself or spent money on myself. don't have any clothes that fit cause i don't go shopping. and now i'm in.a.rut.

i'd venture to say that going to the gym is what keeps my stress level down (read: prevents me from burying my hubby in the backyard...just kidding. kinda) but i still need to make me time. my husband has no problem taking days for fishing, hunting, football, laying on the couch, etc. it this particular instance, i wish i had more of a man brain. he doesn't think twice about going and doing things for himself. heh. 

i had a breakdown expressed my need for time away..and he gave me yesterday, Saturday, as my day. 

me?! a day?! i get a whole day?! 

i took yesterday for myself. i went to the gym in the morning. after my shower, the baby was napping. i quickly ran out of the house. i knew if she was up it would be 1,000 times harder for me to leave. i won't lie...as i was driving down the road, i was seriously thinking about going back home. for about 10 miles. i figured there was only one solution: turn up the music so damn loud that i drown out my inner thoughts. and drive. and that's exactly what i did.

i didn't even know where i was going. but i was going. me. alone. doing whatever i wanted. on my schedule. 

i know that you're all dying to know what i did....

SHOPPING! duh!!

I honestly had the best day. going at my own pace. no sippy cups and snacks in my purse. no husband following me around the stores like a lost puppy. 

i missed my daughter all day. i bought her things everywhere i went. but i needed yesterday for me. 

here's my advice: if you're in a rut, like me, take time for yourself. take a bath, read a book, shop til you drop, go to a spinning class. whatever you need to do to make yourself a better person, mommy, friend..whatever. trust me, i know how crazy schedules get...but fit it in where you can. 

someone please keep reminding me of this so i don't go another year without a "me day" :0)

on the agenda for tomorrow's post: my shopping loot & workout plan for February!

what do you guys do for you? to keep sane? 

My Carrie Bradshaw Moment...

So, yesterday (while in the shower...don't laugh) it occurred to me how quickly I let myself slip down on my list of priorities.

Prior to having my daughter, I think I did a pretty good job of keeping myself somewhere toward the top of the list. Today I would not say that is the case.

Thinking back as to why: after my daughter was born I went into full mommy/wife/provider mode. My main (and sometimes only) priority is Avery. I also blossomed into housewife of the century. Thanks to Pinterest, my husband now thinks I'm a domestic goddess. Shhh...it's our little secret.

So, after meeting the baby's needs, keeping her occupied, cleaning, laundry, bills, grocery shopping, making dinner & working a full time job....I'm exhausted just thinking about all of that.... When is there time left for me?

The short answer is: there's not.

Stay tuned for how I decided to rectify this situation.....

Totally having a moment.

I had all these thoughts going through my head during spinning tonight. Totally weird cause it usually clears my head.

This blogger app is bogus. Fill you all in on my thoughts tomorrow- feeling a little under the weather. Couldn't possibly have been the Chinese that I had for dinner :-X

Leaving you hanging for the night!!

:0)

We've all heard it before...

You can't out train a bad diet.

So, my batteries died in my scale last week. Wasn't overly concerned about it bc I try not to weigh everyday anyway.

Well, my daughters first birthday, her party, having friends over for the weekend & party leftovers in the house did me in.

Put new batteries in my scale this morning...up 5 lbs! Ughh. I know that some of that has to be water weight but it was a smack in the face to see on the scale this morning.

I hit the gym hard 5 times last week. Twice so far this week...but it doesn't matter bc you can't out train a bad diet. Mehhh.

I need to remind myself that this is a process..there's good days and bad days. And most importantly: the scale is a lying whore.

It's a lifestyle.. Not a diet.

Time for a protein shake & an apple :)
Happy Wednesday!

Full disclosure

So..there's something that I've been thinking about all day...

I haven't told my family about this blog and I can't exactly put my finger on why.

I'm not sure that I feel totally comfortable with them reading all my thoughts...and I'm questioning whether or not I could be totally honest and really open up knowing that my family was reading.

Bloggers, I need help! Any advice in this department???

Weekend review

This weekend was sooo much fun! (i lead a boring life...but this weekend was the exception! haha)

Saturday was Avery Della Rose's first birthday party. i've been planning...and stressing...about this party for weeks. Right after the holidays were over, i went into full birthday party mode since her birthday is a mere 3 weeks after christmas.

My friends were reminding me that it was silly to stress over it. i mean, come on...she's 1. she's not going to remember it anyway. true! but in full jess fashion, if i'm doing something, i'm doing it all the way.

60 guests, a few hundred dollars, lots of food, presents and good conversation later, the party went off without a hitch. take a peek...

do i not have the most precious girl EVEERRRR?!

her favorite gift: minnie mouse vacuum cleaner

My cake! 

friends from out of town stayed at our place on saturday night. it was great getting to sit around and chat while the kids played. Avery also had her first co-ed bath with her friend, Brayden. There were pictures taken which WILL be used for embarrassment when they're teens. 

Today was a day of relaxing, destressing and cleaning. living far from friends is such a bummer...but it makes getting together for special occasions like this even more special! i love that!

Plans for the big 2-8!

so, last night i finalized my plans for my birthday this year...and boy, am i excited!

my mom, sister and i will be doing....

yeahhhhhhh!

i completed my first (and only..womp, womp) 5K in july of 2012. i had big plans after that...and well, it just didn't pan out.

my first 5k was a little bit of a downer. while i should have been thrilled that i completed my goal of running a 5k, i was upset with myself that i didn't do better. my finish time was 32 minutes....sad compared to my 29 minute practice time from the week before.

here's where i think things went wrong....

1. it was the middle of july. sooooo hot, even first thing in the morning and the sun was beating down on you the whole race.
2. i run indoors. on a dreadmill. all. the. time. i told myself in weeks prior to the race that i was going to get outside and run. didn't happen. so rather than let down myself, my husband & my mom and bail on the race, i ran despite my lack of outside experience.
3. i set standards for myself that are too high. (i'm the only one that does that, right??) i should have been thrilled that i completed my goal, passed 3 people within the last quarter mile & made my husband proud. (he later admitted that he never thought i'd actually complete my goal of running a race.)

i need to be proud of myself instead of always expecting more.
so where to go from here??

make 2013 my year!!

starting with signing up for color me rad on my birthday....pretty much ment to be!
i also have a list of other 5k's that i plan on signing up for..including the dirty girl mud run with my girls from the gym!
i also set a goal of completing the hershey half marathon in october.

it is the sweetest place on earth...and i WILL be getting that sticker! :-D

in a month or so, when the weather warms up a little in PA, i'm going to start my c25k app over again outside. i'm able to run 5 miles on the dreadmill but put me outside and i'm total crap.

so excited about color me rad, meeting all my new goals & being proud of myself for what i AM able to accomplish.

what are you goals for this year????

Maybe it's a sign...

The battery died in my scale.

Perhaps it's someone trying to tell me something? "It's not about the number Jess."

Muscle weighs more than fat :)

Keep on, keeping on.

one year ago today the most amazing thing happened to me...

my daughter was born.

at exactly 1:44pm...after 12 hours & many scary moments the most precious little girl was born.

get ready for a photobomb!

my precious, Avery Della Rose

One day old

Running my first 5K

whoa...yuck!

so here's the thing...it didn't occur to me until after i made that wonderful baby that perhaps i needed to start taking care of myself. it wasn't until after i gave birth that i realized what an amazing thing the body really is (shit. i'm a nurse. $80,000 later and i couldn't figure that one out?!) and it wasn't until i had the most precious, beautiful little girl that i realized that i need to be a role model. a role model for being healthy. a role model for being good to your body.

skinny is not beautiful. healthy is beautiful. strong is beautiful. i've been working hard through the last 12 months in attempts at getting myself to that point..but it's still a work in progress. on that note...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY EVERYTHING, AVERY DELLA ROSE!

**big birthday party on saturday. pics & crafts to come! :-D

Speaking of commitment....

funny how i finally got the balls to address my commitment issues yesterday and start this blog then  i was presented with another (new and exciting) opportunity dealing with commitment this morning.

my spinning instructor contacted me this morning and asked if i would consider becoming a spin instructor!!

i'll bore you guys with the story of when and how i decided to get fit another day.

but, a spin instructor?!?! me?!?! :-D

i won't lie. i've been thinking about it for months....but being the commitmentphob that i am, i always come up with reasons why i shouldn't....

will i enjoy it as much when it's a job?
will i be able to commit to a set schedule?
will adding another thing to my already crazy schedule stress me out??

so many things to think about but i'm so flattered that she asked.

anyone else addicted to spinning??

I hate commitment.

I'd say that for a good year..who am i kidding? 2 years now...i've been contemplating starting a blog. i think about it at the most inopportune times, get all pumped up and then get too busy with everyday life to commit. insert full time job, home, pregnancy, baby, friends, family, weight loss, working out...and dare i say, making time for myself?!? :-O

i have a self diagnosed commitment issues...despite owning a home, having a career & being married with a baby. see, i can commit....at times! perhaps this is why my thoughts of a blog have never made it past the brainstorming phase....and why i'm still trying to lose those last 10 L.B's. heh.

well, here it is! i'm jumping in head first and hope you come along for the ride :)


what's to come? trials and tribulations of everyday life, getting healthy & attempting to keep my sanity.
stay tuned ;-)