Week 8: New Running Plan

The New:
I know that exercising is a super important part of living a healthy life, but I have always struggled with running long distances. Maybe the same is true for you, but never fear, I think I've found a solution!

While searching through the wonderful world of Pinterest, I found a running plan that takes twelve weeks to slowly build up running stamina. It is linked to this website, but I was unable to find the original picture that was pinned on here.

The idea of taking three months to build up to running for 20 minutes straight seemed like a long time at first, but then I remembered how terrible I am at running. That in mind, I decided that if I build up to it slowly, I might be able to trick myself into being able to do this.

Okay so here's the image with the running plan (from the website above):

The Evidence:

I can't offer much more than a picture of my cute tennis shoes and some sweaty laundry this week, and something tells me that you could probably go without seeing that. Besides, the image with the weekly runs is much more appealing.

I realize that I have been slacking on providing you with evidence lately, as I only have something solid about every other week. I assure you though, come March I will be better about picking things that I can actually show you, as opposed to just telling you about!

The Verdict:

So far, this plan has been super easy to stick to. Today's walk-run combination was my last one for week 2, and I have yet to miss a day! I even did it on Valentine's Day, and I am normally the girl who looks for any excuse not to exercise (even though I know how good it is for me and how amazing I feel afterward).

That being said, I'll admit that there are two apps that have really been helping me stay on track! The first one is called IntervalTimer, and its free, which makes it even better. This app lets you program a timer to count down the minutes during each high intensity and low intensity during each interval cycle. So while the timer is keeping track of how long you've been walking or running, you can listen to your music and just wait for it to beep to tell you when it's time to switch.

The second app is one of my all-time favorite running motivations. It's called Zombies, Run! and it is wonderful. Unfortunately, it's not free like the first one and I can't remember how much I spent on it, as I've had it for several months (if not a year) now. Let me give you a little insight on it though. I'm a pretty big fan of the Walking Dead, so the idea of running away from (fake) zombies is quite thrilling for me, and this app is precisely that. It offers different missions that you (as Runner 5) have to carry out through the game in an attempt to rebuild a post-apocalyptic community. While you're running, you pick up supplies, run from mobs of Zombies, and get in some good exercise! Each mission is a combination of transmissions from the communication tower and music from a playlist that you get to choose. I always have so much fun running while listening to this app because listening to it makes the time pass quicker.

Maybe you don't geek out on zombies the way that I do, but I'm sure there are plenty of good running-companion apps out there, so I would encourage you to browse until you find one that could motivate you to get out and go for a run on  a regular basis. Feel free to tell me about the ones that you find, down in the comments section. I would love to hear about what else is out there :)

Happy running y'all!

Week 7: New Craft

The New:
Hey y'all! I hope you had a lovely and enjoyable Valentine's Day. My post this week is directly related to that day, seeing as I decided to make something for my boyfriend rather than buy him something. I had seen collages of pictures on Pinterest where the person uses their arms to create a heart, and I thought that seemed quite appropriate for this holiday. That being said, I made a lovely collage for my man and I am going to give you the basics on how to do it yourself!

So first, I took 12 pictures of myself, using the 10-second timer option on my camera. This took me quite a while, so be patient! The outcome is totally worth the time it takes to get it just right. So of these photos, 4 were just of me and the other 8 created the heart. You can scroll down to see how your arms should look in each of these 8 photos (Feel free to use the ones I took as a guide for how to put your arms. It's harder than you might think!). I then uploaded them to my computer, made them black and white, and had them printed.

For this next part, you will actually need a few supplies, all of which I was able to find a Hobby Lobby. You'll need a canvas big enough to fit all of your photos, so it is better to bigger than smaller. Chances are, you'll end up needing a canvas that is 16"x20". You will also need mod podge, paint, and a paint brush.

After you have everything you need, paint the edges of your canvas and let it dry. There's not really a point to painting the middle, seeing as your photos will be there, but as you can see below, I used that space to get rid of the extra paint on my brush.

While your paint is drying, trim your pictures (if you haven't already) to make sure everything lines up the way you want it to. When the paint is dry, use your mod podge to stick the photos the canvas by 'painting' it on the back of the picture and onto the canvas.

I started this by doing the top row of pictures first. I placed the two middle pictures and then the outside pictures. I then did the second row, right to left. I did the bottom row last and also place those pictures right to left. Do whatever works best for you though :) Finish sticking the pictures down by spreading an even coat of mod podge over the whole canvas, pictures included.

To add a personal touch, I wrote "I love you" at the bottom in red paint. Maybe that's obvious from the pictures, but I figured I would point it out anyway :)

I should mention that I was originally inspired to stick my photos to a canvas because of this this blog. It's a little less complicated than what I took on, but it's the same idea.


The Evidence:

The Verdict:

This project was so incredibly simple, and let me just add that it meant SO much to my boyfriend. We are currently in a long-distance situation, so he appreciates all the pictures he can get of me, and this time I was actually able to do something clever with them!

I will definitely be doing this again in the future. I highly recommend this technique for displaying photos in a unique and homemade way.

Valentine's Day

Some people love tomorrow and some people hate it. I've been at both extremes. We are so fickle aren't we? Beside that though, why do we insist on despising a day that celebrates love, one of the most sought after and rewarding things that can be felt by humans? If I had to guess, I would say that those who hate it have been rejected, turned down, ostracized, dumped, whatever. There's a long list of terrible things and feelings that arise when love doesn't work out or when it fades. But here's something to think about, before you jump to the conclusion that Valentine's Day is the equivalent to Single's Awareness Day:

"We love each other because [God] loved us first" 1 John 4:19

What an amazing thing to think about. Love goes so far beyond your significant other, although they are not excluded from this realm of affection. Think of your family though, and your friends, and your Creator, who first loved you. How is it that people can be so bitter when they have so many people who love and care about them, regardless of whether or not they are in a committed relationship? I must say, it is so easy to overlook what we have when all we want is just a little bit more.

Maybe this Valentine's Day, we should focus on showering ALL our loved ones with affection, and not be so hung up on the commercial meaning of Valentine's Day. That's not to say you shouldn't do something special with your sweetheart (goodness knows I certainly will), I'm just suggesting that we love a little bit on everyone who we cherish in our life.


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Week 6: New Reading Material

The New:
This week, I started reading a book that I've heard is wonderful and that I have always had a desire to read, but just never made time for it. What book is it? Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by: Mildred D. Taylor. I was a really big fan of The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and so I assumed it would be easy for me to get caught up in a book set in the same time-period, and I must say I know myself quite well. I am already a third of the way through it and I can't seem to put it down once I pick it up.


The Evidence:
I don't exactly have evidence for you this week. Sure, I could have taken a picture of the book, but that just seemed to be lacking something, so I opted out. You'll just have to trust me this time :)


The Verdict:
So far, I have nothing but positive feelings toward this book. Now of course I haven't finished it (yet) so I can't fully disclose my verdict. Just know for now that I am LOVING this book. It is intriguing, exciting, and well-written in that I feel like I know the characters and I am consistently eager to see what they will do next.

Week 5: New Financial Outlook

As promised, here is my post about budgeting: the most exciting thing ever that everyone loves talking about. Okay, maybe sarcasm is lost through electronic communication, but you can't blame a girl for trying. So let's dive in:


The New:
During the summer of 2013, my parents encouraged me to check out Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University program. So yes, it may have taken me six months to be totally on-board with this, but I'm hoping that I will look back on February 2014 as the month that my financial life began to transform into a stress-free, relatively organized system that eventually became second-nature. We shall see...
So I'm no money expert, nor am I about to give you Mr. Ramsey's entire financial plan, but I will tell you some of the main points that I took away from his lessons and will be attempting to successfully imitate over the next month (for now).

Key Changes (from my current spending habits/money practices):

• Pay for everything with cash. He talks a little about the difference between paying for things with cash versus with a debit or credit card. He makes a good point in saying that when you feel the cash leaving your hand, it is a lot harder to watch it go than paying for something with your card. (This is my paraphrase of course.)
• Make sure that every dollar coming in has a purpose. It is so super easy to just spend money until it is gone and then wait for the next paycheck so you can do it all again. I admit: I, myself am guilty of this. BUT that is no way to plan for the future or to be a good manager of the monetary blessings that God has poured out on me so from here on out, every dime that I earn will belong to one of the following categories: rent, utilities, internet bill, groceries, gas/car maintenance, savings, or pocket money. After every month, I will review my spending plan. If I didn't set aside enough for groceries, but I had extra funds in my gas category, I will adjust accordingly.
• Use an envelope system.  The idea here is that you keep the allotted amount of cash for your different categories in separate envelopes, and when that envelope is empty, you don't buy any more of that category until next month. Basically, this is an accountability and organization tool for combining the first two items. I believe that Dave Ramsey has a special one, but I just picked up a coupon organizer last time I went grocery shopping, and I think it will work out just as well. You can see it right in the middle of the picture below.

The Evidence:

Here it is, the official kit that my parents handed down to me as they urged that I give it a shot:

The Verdict:

Well, it would be silly for me to give a verdict on this just yet, seeing as today is my first day at this whole she-bang, but I will say this much: I am very excited to have some purpose and organization in my bank account. There's a pretty good chance I'll post more about this as the months pass and I have a better understanding of what works for me and the adjustments that I'm sure I'll have to make.

Like I said, I take credit for 0% of this! I am simply attempting to follow Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program. The website for it is here if you want additional information about things that go deeper that the items I discussed.