Monday Musings

I'm in need of a good, solid nap after this weekend. I went out both Friday and Saturday night...managed to get back on the right track with weight training sessions on Saturday and Sunday...and I grocery shopped, meal prepped, did a bunch of laundry...and also went to meet this little guy...

Meet the newest member of the Smith clan...he won't be ours for a few more weeks yet, but we had to meet the breeder and put our deposit down to hold him for us. We have named him Badger {Jake's a Wisconsin guy} and he is currently about 6 weeks old and already weighs 10 lbs! He is an Olde English Bulldog{ge} and he may get somewhere between 70-90 lbs! Hard to believe seeing him this small right now.

Did y'all watch the Ronda Rousey vs. Bethe Correia fight? We didn't watch it, but I've watched some old fight videos of Rousey and that girl is a BEAST! I am so glad she knocked that girl out in under a minute...she had been going to far with her sh**-talking from what I heard. I also loved a clip from an interview with her in which she made this quote:

Amen to that, am I right?

And honestly, I had a bit of a hiatus from weight training the last couple of weeks. I had been so bogged down with house selling/buying and the move coming up that I just lost focus for a bit. I also was sort of nursing my hamstring...turns out it's tendonitis and every time I was running, it was getting inflamed, causing pain to radiate from my knee to hip...sometimes even just walking. I did leg/glute day on Saturday and for whatever reason, at least for now, it actually has felt a little better since. I'm hoping it's on the mend.

A little pre-workout selfie on Sunday...I did my back/shoulder workout at home that day in the interest of saving time {you can see a video with short clips of some of the exercises I did on my Instagram}. I've still got some work to do, but I'm proud of what I've accomplished since having Farrah. I'm definitely ready to take it up a notch though.

And in the spirit of taking it up a notch, I've been keeping good with my clean meal prep. Here's a view of what my evening looked like last night:

Hope y'all have a great week!

Linking Up With:

Mondays: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston // Fizz & Frosting // More Pieces of Me

Tuesdays: Bless Her Heart Y’All // 2 Cats & Chloe // Style Elixir // Designed Décor // Enjoy The View // Olives 'n Wine // Confident Twosdays

Wednesdays: Pampers & Pearls // Fitness Blondie // Because Shanna Said So // The Pleated Poppy // Get Your Pretty On // Let It Be Beautiful // Tucker Up // Pumps & Pushups // Shopping My Closet // Cappuccino & Fashion // Classy Yet Trendy // Book of Leisure

Thursdays: Home of Malones // East Coast Chic // Living In Color Style // Stylin’ In St. Louis // What I Wore To Work // What Wives Wear // Look What I Got // ThrowBack Thursday
Fridays: Hello, Happiness! // The Good Life // A. Liz Adventures // Carolina Charm // Lauren Elizabeth // Meet @ The Barre // September Farm // The Farmer’s Wife // All The Joys // Momfessionals

Monday Musings

We've had a busy weekend...

Our house listed on Thursday and so far has had three showings, so I've been doing my best to keep it as immaculate as humanly possible with three kids under 10. I keep praying it won't be much longer until we get an offer and won't have to be unrealistically clean for an indefinite amount of time.

On Friday, I went to an awesome art supply store called Artists & Craftsmen in downtown Charleston that I've been meaning to see. I got a few new acrylic paints and a sketch book, but I'm already itching to go back.

I started work on this piece, but still have a bit to go until I'll call it "finished".

Also on Friday, I was home from work and had the boys with me, but we also had a cleaning lady come and deep clean the house, so I had to get them out of the house. We went out to eat and then to Sky Zone to wear off some energy. It was nice having time with just the two of them.

And then that night, I went out for a much-needed evening of wine and appetizers with a couple of girlfriends.

Saturday, Jake got a lot of the to-do list for the house completed {that we had hoped would be done before listing, but oh well, it's done now!} and then we took the kids to the pool.

Sunday, we went to church, did a bit MORE work on the house {I'm calling it done now!} and I managed to get some meal prep done for this week! I am determined to get on a normal schedule with it and keep at it. As long as I get it prepared, staying on course is the easy part.

We then just sort of relaxed and laid low with the exception of having to rush out of the house for a last-minute showing. I am getting anxious about selling the house quickly and just keeping my hopes and faith high that it will.

Hope y'all have a great week!

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Linking Up With:

Mondays: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston // Fizz & Frosting // More Pieces of Me

Tuesdays: Bless Her Heart Y’All // 2 Cats & Chloe // Style Elixir // Designed Décor // Enjoy The View // Olives 'n Wine // Confident Twosdays

Wednesdays: Pampers & Pearls // Fitness Blondie // Because Shanna Said So // The Pleated Poppy // Get Your Pretty On // Let It Be Beautiful // Tucker Up // Pumps & Pushups // Shopping My Closet // Cappuccino & Fashion // Classy Yet Trendy // Book of Leisure

Thursdays: Home of Malones // East Coast Chic // Living In Color Style // Stylin’ In St. Louis // What I Wore To Work // What Wives Wear // Look What I Got // ThrowBack Thursday
Fridays: Hello, Happiness! // The Good Life // A. Liz Adventures // Carolina Charm // Lauren Elizabeth // Meet @ The Barre // September Farm // The Farmer’s Wife // All The Joys // Momfessionals

Five on Friday

{one}

I got an offer for a permanent position at Boeing this week. It will be for a different manager in a different organization though. I am so happy and relieved to finally be in a company with great salary and benefits...this will be pivotal for my family. After all the contingencies are taken care of, I will know when my start date is. In the meantime, I am still working my contractor position there.

{two}

There were lots of Insanity workouts, running and eating clean this week...it's amazing what a difference I can feel even after just a few days. My new meal prep service has been well worth it.

{three}

I'm hosting my neighborhood wine night tonight for the first time...should be a lot of fun as usual! I am making my night the karaoke night...I may have to post a video here shamelessly soon.

{four}

I made a few small changes to my entryway decor...and I'm trying to decide what to do with this mirror. I'm leaning toward metallic gold, but maybe white? What do you think?

{five}

Check out my post on The Gym Bunny today about why you should wear weight gloves when weight training.

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Linking Up With:

Mondays: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston // Fizz & Frosting // More Pieces of Me

Tuesdays: Bless Her Heart Y’All // 2 Cats & Chloe // Style Elixir // Designed Décor // Enjoy The View // Olives 'n Wine // Confident Twosdays

Wednesdays: Pampers & Pearls // Fitness Blondie // Because Shanna Said So // The Pleated Poppy // Get Your Pretty On // Let It Be Beautiful // Tucker Up // Pumps & Pushups // Shopping My Closet // Cappuccino & Fashion // Classy Yet Trendy // Book of Leisure

Thursdays: Home of Malones // East Coast Chic // Living In Color Style // Stylin’ In St. Louis // What I Wore To Work // What Wives Wear // Look What I Got // ThrowBack Thursday
Fridays: Hello, Happiness! // The Good Life // A. Liz Adventures // Carolina Charm // Lauren Elizabeth // Meet @ The Barre // September Farm // The Farmer’s Wife // All The Joys // Momfessionals

Tuesday's 10 Random Thoughts

{one}

On a whim, I took the kids out to the beach last Thursday afternoon after work. Jake was playing his normal Thursday night beach volleyball there, so we all hung out.

I am Hell-bent on getting out to the beach a lot this summer to make up for last summer's postpartum reclusive phase. So I'm trying to get out there every Sunday as a family and then of course during the week like this when we can make it happen!

{two}

Getting back on the clean eating and meal preparation plan and I was referred to a company that actually does the cooking and prepping FOR you. The company is Just Stuff It Charleston. It's really not even that bad of pricing when you consider the time it saves and I bet it tastes a heck of a lot better than anything I prep and it will add some variety {I usually just cook chicken breast, sweet potatoes and veggies in bulk and eat them all week...same thing every day}. One of my friends is an IFBB Pro competitor and she uses them and loves it. Anything approved by her as far as food goes, I know is legit and a good plan. I was even lucky enough that they happened to have a Groupon going so I got Jake and I our first week's worth of food {just lunches and dinners for M-F work week} for $70! It gets delivered every Sunday evening, so it's perfect. I will happily subscribe to this every week, especially if it helps me get slimmed down!

{three}

Speaking of slimming down, Body Beast is going great. I don't know what it is, but I seem to always feel I can see a difference even after just one week in my muscle tone. Might just be my imagination, but I'll take it because it makes me feel good and want to keep going. Husband jumped on my bandwagon so to speak and is doing early AM Insanity workouts now. Glad to see him back into it as well.

{four}

In not-so-slimming fashion {hey, I'm not perfect}, I took the boys out after work yesterday to get some ice cream before we picked up Farrah from daycare. It was nice to get some time with just them and with the 100+ degree humidity, it was well worth it.

Just love those happy faces.

{five}

Despite the crazy heat wave we've had the last few days, Farrah is really wanting to explore outdoors more now. She loves to crawl around on the porch. Excuse the no-pants, it was really hot after all.

Besides, who doesn't love looking at those chunky thighs?

{six}

Speaking of chunky thighs, those mosquitoes are relentless and they certainly love those sweet things...and the rest of her. She's a lot like Breckin...they are attracted to her and cause welts. I made a bug spray my essential oils and it has been working fabulously! I also love that I can protect her without using any chemicals on her sensitive skin. This is the recipe I used:

All-Natural Bug Spray

10 drops Citronella

10 drops Thieves

10 drops Peppermint

2 oz Witch Hazel

2 oz Water

I just bought a small spray bottle from Target and refill as needed. I'll even spray it all around our porch rug and furniture out there to keep them out of the area.

{seven}

I haven't done any outfit posts this week because I hit my head hard on Sunday {damn klutz that I am} and have a bit of a bump/bruise. I suppose I could always Photoshop it out, but I like to keep it real. Stay tuned for some outfit posts hopefully next week.

{eight}

I need good ideas for Father's Day - for both my dad and my husband. What can the kids make for Daddy this year? I bought him a new duffel bag for beach volleyball per his request, but I feel like I still need to do more. My dad lives far away so I always end up sending a card and making a phone call, but would like something more personal this year {though he's never been the mushy type, hence, I'm not either.} Let me know if you have good ideas!

{nine}

Looking forward to the weekend...Party at the Point on Friday night with my wine club gals, and hopefully some pool and beach time with the kids. I also hope to get Jake to FINALLY paint our stairwell and master bedroom! It's been on the to-do list forever now. Maybe then I can finally finish redecorating the master and also hanging some pictures and mirrors back up in the hallway. I hate looming projects. Some inspiration pictures for our master:

{via}

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{ten}

OK, I need to keep the workout motivation high so I'm posting some memes that are inspiring. Have a great rest of your week.

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Linking Up With:

Mondays: Life Of Meg // Still Being Molly // Lipgloss & Crayons // B Loved Boston // Fizz & Frosting // More Pieces of Me

Tuesdays: Bless Her Heart Y’All // 2 Cats & Chloe // Style Elixir // Designed Décor // Enjoy The View // Olives 'n Wine // Confident Twosdays

Wednesdays: Pampers & Pearls // Fitness Blondie // Because Shanna Said So // The Pleated Poppy // Get Your Pretty On // Let It Be Beautiful // Tucker Up // Pumps & Pushups // Shopping My Closet // Cappuccino & Fashion // Classy Yet Trendy // Book of Leisure

Thursdays: Home of Malones // East Coast Chic // Living In Color Style // Stylin’ In St. Louis // What I Wore To Work // What Wives Wear // Look What I Got // ThrowBack Thursday
Fridays: Hello, Happiness! // The Good Life // A. Liz Adventures // Carolina Charm // Lauren Elizabeth // Meet @ The Barre // September Farm // The Farmer’s Wife // All The Joys // Momfessionals