So Long Baton Rouge!!

I'm really going to miss LSU and my family here. It's been my home for the past 4 years!

I cannot believe I had front row seats for the 2007 football season.

I'll miss you Mike VI

Towel Beach Tote

The week of crafts continues with a beach bag made from a towel. This was another Pinterest find that I finally got around to doing. I hand-sewed it because I didn't own a sewing machine until today!!! and I couldn't be more excited! I have big plans for my new friend :)

Back to the bag:

What you'll need:

An old towel in good condition (mine was free from a Bacardi promotion at Albertson's ;))

A needle and thread or sewing machine

Scissors

Plus velcro

Directions:

I didn't want to use the whole towel so I decided to make a bag just big enough for my favorite magazine. I cut the rest of the towel into smaller pieces to use as gym towels and rags. The thick edge of the towel will serve as the handle, a thick ribbon would also work, or a piece of twisted rope. Begin by folding the towel in half inside out. Stitch up the two sides. Sew the handle into the top corners of the bag (I only used one strap, but two would work great too). Iron the seams for a more professional look. Use velcro on the inside of the bag as a clasp. Load it up with your favorite sunscreen, magazine, shades, and you're ready for the beach!

Repurpose, recycle, up-cycle

Repurpose, recycle, up-cycle, whatever you call it, its good for the environment and can save money. As you know, I'm an avid Pinterest user and there a lot of Green ideas floating around the site. I tried out a few and thought they were good enough to share:

A small milk jug turned into a toilet brush holder, a gallon water jug turned into a sandwich container (with velcro to hold it together), and a shampoo bottle turned into a cellphone hanger.

Cellphone Hanger

This is a hack from lifehacker and it is super simple. All you need is a pair of scissors and an empty shampoo bottle (any plastic bottle will work). Cut 1/2 inch from the top of the shampoo bottle off and discard. Half way down the bottle, cut the front and sides of the bottle completely off. I cut the top of mine like a hanger, but next time I am going to cut a circle out of the top so it hangs better. I'm waiting on a red bottle of shampoo to run out so I can repurpose it :)

Headphones

I saw these amazing headphones on Etsy, and had to find a way to replicate them myself.

All you need is some embroidery floss and a pair of headphones. Close-pins also come in handy to use a spool for the thread. I used to make friendship bracelets all the time when I was younger, and its not something you forget (like riding a bike!).

I choose to use 3 colors: aqua, turquoise, and purple, but any combination would work, you just have to consider the thickness and the complexity of using more colors. I started at the earbud end of the headphones and tied on the embroidery thread (you won't cut the thread until the end of the project).

After the thread is tied on, choose your first color and pull it to the left side.

Bring the other two colors in line with the headphones.

Make a 4 with the first color over the headphones.

Bring the first color thread under the headphones and through the 4 that you made.

Pull tight. Repeat until you make it to the end of the headphones strand. Tie the thread off and tuck it under itself.

Originally decorated earbuds...Voila!

Movin' On Up

Did I mention that since we could only afford one Uhaul EZ took almost all of my furniture when he moved? Including my bed? Yep, I've been sleeping on the floor for the past week. It really isn't as bad as it sounds, and after some research, I found out that it can actually be good for your back (not medically proven of course). I figure more than half of the world sleeps on less than a thin mat, so why can't I too. And I am definitely missing EZ and Kahlua more than my bed. Kahlua is probably in Dog Heaven in her new home. She has a backyard with a fence and a new big brother (Champ, EZ's family boxer) to play with all day. I can't wait to see them again, but it probably won't be until September!! Soooo I've been trying to keep myself busy and today I made some delicious comfort cookies. I've had these on Pinterest for awhile and have been meaning to make them...

Brown Sugar Cookies

I halved the original recipe (otherwise I would've eaten waaay to many)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

3/4 c brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350degrees. Beat together the butter and brown sugar (this was a little difficult for me since the beater also went in the move). Add in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add sour cream to the brown sugar mixture and then the dry ingredients. The recipe says to bake for 8min, but mine took 12min.

Icing

(this is my all time favorite type of icing)

Melt 1/8 cup butter in a saucepan then add 1 cup of powdered sugar and a splash of milk. Spoon over cookies. I think I'll double the icing next time :)

Kahlua and Champ

Week 3 Workout

I've been slacking on posting this week and I have so many updates! As you know it was week 3 of the workout. It wasn't much different than weeks 1 and 2, just a little more intense.

Monday:

Warm-up

5 min bike

8 push-ups

10 body weight squats

Circuit 1: 3 exercises with 8 reps each repeat for 8min

Dumbbell Row

Dumbbell Bench Inclined

Dumbbell Single Arm Swings (I've never done these before, and they were a full body workout)

"Burpees" (aka "up-downs", "squat thrusts")

2min of 20sec on 10sec off (this translated to about 4 sets of 8 for me, I want to make it sets of 10 next week)

Circuit 2 2 rounds, takes 4 min

Hip Raise with feet on a Swiss ball

Mountain Climber

Dumbbell lying triceps extension

Mountain climber

Cardio

4 min elliptical at 30% effort

9 min elliptical of 30sec at 80% 1min 40%

4 min warm down at 30% effort

Wednesday:

Warm-up

Circuit 1 for 10 mins

Thrusters (DB press) x8

Rear lat raise x8

Pushup (these were killer) x12

Reverse dumbbell lunge x8

Mountain climber 30sec

Circuit 2 2 rounds, takes 4 min

Swiss-ball jackknife

Swiss-ball hip raise and leg curl

Swiss-ball jackknife

Dumbbell split jump (these were the devil)

Friday:

Warm-up

Circuit 1 repeat for 10 min

Elbows-out DB row (I did a bench row with one knee on the bench) x10

Incline DB bench x10

Squat thrusts x8

DB push press x10

Single-Arm DB swing x10

Circuit 2 2 rounds takes 4 min

DB squat

Single-arm DB arm swing

Hammer curl to press

Single-arm DB swing

Cardio

Same as Monday, feel free to use any cardio machine

Refer to the link for any demonstrations

On top of these workouts, I joined a group exercise program. So far I've tried Zumba (love it, but I am extremely uncoordinated and lanky), Spinning (one of my old favorites), BodyPump (not the best, but I'll give it another try), Yoga (I cannot believe how un-flexible I am!!). This week I've probably overworked myself because I'm trying to finish out the Women's Health workout and still get my money's worth out of my new membership. But its a good thing I have all of this to keep me busy because EZ moved to Hobbs on Tuesday with Kahlua, and I'm stuck here finishing out the summer. I also need to update that I finally got a summer job! I'm working as a pre-school instructor and I love it so far! Could it be my new career path??