This Morning's Insight

I tried blogging on Tumblr to start to create a brand/website for health coaching.  I really didn't like Tumblr. I don't know a lot about it and I just feel like blogger is so much simpler.  So here I am... Trying this again. I felt very uninspired to blog over there because I didn't fully understand the format.
I had a bit of a realization this morning at 5:30 AM while procrastinating on my workout and here I am... (I ended up not working out... Oops).  I have spent the last 2 years trying to find a balance and "what works for me" in the fitness/health world.  What worked for me in the beginning was choosing healthy foods every day and working out.  I keep thinking... It was definitely Tone It Up and I need to get back to that.  Yes, Tone It Up taught me about healthy eating and got me excited to workout.  But it was making healthy choices, running, stretching, doing yoga, weights, interval training, etc... That brought me to a good place.  I have spent so much time obsessing over what to do that I think I lost sight of the overall picture.  And now that I realize it I feel kinda dumb....  Should I do paleo, beach body, TIU, bikini body guide, gluten free, clean eating, intuitive eating?  Its exhausting.  I can't find a balance because my focus is wrong.  Who cares what its called?

Its tough for me... I'm usually determined, headstrong, and stubborn.  I tend to go all or nothing... All in or all out....  One extreme to the other.... That can be a good trait sometimes (when I'm focusing on a goal). But it also gets me in trouble.  It causes stress in my life that is so unnecessary.
Now, the tricky part will be remembering this tomorrow. :)

Chasing my dreams

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New and exciting things are happening for me and this little blog! I can't wait to share more with you guys!   I have been on an extreme life high since Friday.  My mind is full of ideas and I am so excited about life!  I know this is super vague but I don't want to share too much until I know a little more about what I am doing.
The 5th Annual Tone It Up Bikini Series is officially kicking off Monday! I can't wait!  If you're not familiar with Tone It Up or the Bikini Series I encourage you to watch their video about it.  The excitement in the TIU community is just courageous right now!  I love it!

The TIU Girls- Karena & Katrina posted a video recently that got me really thinking... In the video they encouraged everyone to pursue your dreams.  Take risks.  I NEVER take risks... I am a play-it-safe-kinda-girl!  But I'm super excited about a new life adventure for me that is coming soon!  I can't wait to share it!
Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

April Goals

I feel so much better today, almost completely back to normal. I just have low energy. But I think thetas totally normal considering I didn't have any solid food yesterday.
I wanted to share my April goals with you guys today.

I love to utilize the space in my Inkwell Press planner to jot down ideas or very general goals for the month. Its called a personal mission board. I love that!

Here's a few goals of mine for the month!

*I want to start yoga again.  I won a month of unlimited at a local hot yoga studio that I LOVE 2 years ago and I have never cashed in that free gift.  I always find an excuse to not use it. I would love to do that this month.  

*Spa night/ face masks at least once a week

*Stick to budget

*Plan date nights

*Sign up for the 2015 Tone It Up retreat!!!

*Blog during the week

*Keep going strong with the Bikini Body Guide. I'm on week 7 and I absolutely love it! I will do a full review when I am done with the 12 weeks

*Workout 5 days a week

*Continue eating Paleo

*Continue eating at home. minimum @ restaurants

*Do a few home improvements/ updates that we have put off for 2 years!!

What are your goals for the month?  I love reading other peoples' goals!

30 Day Push Project

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I read about Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push Book and Challenge through my Beach Body Team.  I've really been interested in personal development lately.  I feel like its something everyone can benefit from. With all the negative self-image and negative self-talk I've been dealing with for the past month or so I think its a great time to start this.

The 30 Day Challenge is free.  You can sign up here and follow along with me!  She teaches how to manage your time, become more successful, create to-do lists, set and achieve goals, etc...  Each morning for 30 days you get an email with a short video to watch and an assignment for the day.  It takes roughly 10 minutes.  So that's easy right?!  Everyone has 10 minutes.

I started the program yesterday- on the 3rd. I'm excited for this!  I've read great things about this program! I would love an accountability partner in this!!

**I started my day today with my first day of T25... OMG! I'm in pretty good shape. It killed me!  25 minutes of high intensity constant movement was tough.  I burned a little over 210 calories.  I think that's awesome for 25 minutes.

We're officially New Orleanians!

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Well we did it! We closed on our New Orleans townhouse on Thursday of last week!  We had a bit of an emotional roller coaster during the period of trying to sell our current home and buy a new one.  We definitely had fights, frustration, and tears (on my part)...  Here's a bit of a back story to how we arrived at this point.

We bought our first house in a very small town outside of Baton Rouge  in 2009.  We picked that location because husband was working in BR and I was working in a town about 30 minutes away.  It made perfect sense b/c it was right smack in the middle of our 2 jobs.  We got the house for a great price.  The house is perfect. It has really nice upgraded features and a nice size yard for the dogs.  We also got the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit. This meant we had to live there at least 3 years or we would have to pay it back. We spent most of the money on our wedding that October and getting things for our house.

In June 2010 my company moved their office to a town 50 miles away from my house!  I've been making this commute for nearly 3 years now.  Its pretty tough.  The amount of money we spend on gas and the time I spend in the car sucks!  We traded Matt's truck in about a year ago to save money on gas.  He got my Volvo S40 and I got a Hyundai hybrid. It definitely helps us save some money on gas.  But the amount of mileage I have racked up on the cars in the past 3 years is just crazy to me!

So we made the decision that we would put the house up for sale to move closer to our hometown and my work as soon as our 3 years were up (July 2012).  But we never thought about the fact that Matt's job was in BR.  So moving us closer to my work and home doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  We started toying with the idea of moving to New Orleans (33 miles from my office) because his company has a branch there.  He spoke to someone at work about transferring, and they said   But we just never acted on it.  Every time we would visit we would pine over gorgeous houses and living in that wonderful carefree city with so much character!  We're from a very small town (no red lights at all), and the town we live in now is very rural too.  So the thought of living in a city is pretty new to us and most of our friends/family too! We talked about moving a lot, but we didn't officially decide to start the process until December.

We called a local real estate agent to list our house.  We were quickly brought back to reality when we realized our house was the most expensive one in the neighborhood (and it was cheap)!  The amount of money we owe on the mortgage vs what things are selling for there is about a 10k difference.  This doesn't even include paying an agent to sell it.  We got a lot of showings on the house.  People loved it.  Everyone said it was priced too high.  We even did a realtor tour, and the agents loved it.  They said it was priced too high.  But we couldn't budge on the price b/c we priced it exactly what we owed on the mortgage.  We were going to pay the agent out of our pockets.  This meant spending every dime that we have worked so damn hard to save over the past 3 years for a new house.

After much much discussion amongst ourselves and with the agent we decided to take the house off the market after only being for sale for 2 months.  We realized we had 2 options- stay in the house and pay the mortgage down or rent it.  We already made up our minds that we would move closer to my work.  Plus, we were just tired of living there.  There's nothing to do there, and we have no family or friends there. It really just didn't make sense anymore.  Our agent even suggested renting it out.  So we put it on Craigslist, she screened the applicants (credit checks, background checks, reference checks), and we found a renter within 1 week.  He signed a 1 year lease, but is interested in a lease to purchase down the road.  He's moving in April 1st.  I don't think "investment properties" make sense for everyone.  But for us, it did.  We can afford to make the mortgage and another one if we had to, and hopefully the housing market will pick back up over there in the next 5 years.  Until then it looks like we're landlords.

I'll be back tomorrow to talk about the search for new home and buying process!

Me, Myself, & I

    I'm a little late with this, but I meant to link-up yesterday for the Me, Myself, & I Link Up Party.  You can click on the button above to see other participants also!    Here's this months' questions:    1. When you're feeling down, what do you do to pick yourself up?  I shop! I love to shop- even if its just for groceries.  And unfortunately, I sulk or cry... It usually does make me feel better to just let it out.

2. If you had to live in a different time period which would you prefer? Definitely the 60's-70's!  I would love to live in a era where everyone was so care-free and happy!  I love the clothes, the music, and the lifestyles then! 

3. What is the most creative Halloween costume you've ever worn? I can't think of one. I've never been a big Halloween person. One year the husband and I dressed up as Ken and Barbie.  But that's really then only time I've dressed up in my adult life. 
  4. Five weird things about you we wouldn't know without being told? -I talk to myself when I grocery shop sometimes.  I'll tell myself, "ok, I need 2 apples, etc..." I don't know when I started doing this either.  One day I just noticed it. - I think puppies are cuter than babies. - My husband and I literally have nothing in common except that we like to eat. But we don't eat any of the same things at all! - I love the widest range of music, from dirty raunchy rap to good classic country.  George Jones, anyone? - I have terrible road rage.  Nothing pisses me off more than when someone rides in the left lane on the interstate. I don't care how fast you are going. Its illegal!  There are signs everywhere that say left lane for passing only.  It seriously makes my skin crawl when I see someone get on the interstate and immediately go to the left lane (when not passing), set their cruise, and just ride. MOVE!

5. What would you tell your 16-year-old self? Cherish your friendships and memories. When you get older everyone seems to drift apart.  Calm down!  I was really a wild-child in high school.  I would definitely tell myself there's plenty of time for partying!  But oh well, I lived and learned from it!      Make sure to go check out all the other entries for the link-up!

XO-Heather