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best decisions…meet lee!

May 16, 2013 in Best Decisions, Blog, Blogging, Friends, Guest Post

I’m on a boat PLANE headed out to Utah!!  I might be a little sparse over the next few days with Blend, but I promise to overload my Instagram and Facebook feed with pictures, so make sure you follow on both of those outlets if you can!  Did I tell you guys that TRAVIS is coming with me?!?!  I’m stupid excited about getting to travel with a companion, even if he does fall asleep within 5 minutes of sitting in the plane seat (and stays that way the remainder of the flight!?!?  I can’t sleep on planes.)  Anyway, today we travel, so I thought I’d introduce you to my friend Lee and her best decisions!  Take it away, friend!

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Hello Lindsay’s List readers.  My name is Lee and I blog over at In My Tummy. I’m excited to do this guest post for Lindsay on the five best decisions I’ve ever made.  Let me tell you, giving my blog that dumb name was not one of them.

1. Moving to Atlanta. I’m from the Washington, DC area. I went to college in Vermont and after I graduated, I didn’t quite know what to do with myself, so I moved back. Though I lived in an apartment with a friend and had a job (actually two; I had a full-time job and I waited tables), I just wasn’t happy so I saved up some money and took a leap of faith. A couple of my friends lived in Atlanta and just sort of decided that I was going to join them down in the ATL. It’s been ten years now and I’ve made my life here and I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I didn’t.

2. That leads to me to point number two and I can’t believe I’m going to admit this because I usually don’t. Trying out internet dating. Right before I met Jason, my husband of almost three years, I had been sort of hanging out with this guy who was a real jerk to me. To sort of get over him, I decided to create an online profile and ended up meeting Jason and the rest is history. I know that it’s common to meet people online nowadays (I mean, hello blogger friends) but I still sometimes wish that when people ask us how we met, I could say something like “in college” or “through friends.” Oh well. I just admitted it to you guys and called it one of my best decisions.

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(I promise, we don’t normally wear matching jackets.)

3. Getting a dog. After Jason and I had been together for about a year, we got Murphy from a golden retriever rescue. (Though when we got him, his name was Ricardo. He told us that he felt more like a Murphy though.) He is the cutest golden retriever you’ll ever meet even if he’s a little camera shy. I cannot imagine life without my best buddy.

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(Hello crows feet. Maybe getting some eye cream should be one of my next best decisions.)

4. Running. I was not athletic in the slightest when I was growing up. When I was really young, like elementary school aged, I did soccer and gymnastics, but from about age 10 to age 18, I did nothing athletic whatsoever. For a few years after that, I ran off and on, but I really didn’t get into it until my mid-20s when I randomly decided that my first race was going to be a half-marathon. Now, I’ve run ten of them and various races of other distances. While I’m not a particularly fast runner in any sense of the word, running has given me a sense of self confidence that I never had. It showed me that if you put your mind to something, you can do it, even if you aren’t really naturally inclined.

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This picture cracks me up. So dorky!

5. Starting a blog. Cheesy answer, but it’s true. I have always been one of those people who kept journal after journal. I probably have them going back to when I was about 14 years old, maybe younger (and they are painful to read)! I kind of view my blog as an online journal. I get to talk about myself (which I like to do!) and meet new friends at the same time. I mean, it’s a total win-win and it’s become one of my favorite hobbies. See, new friends. I bet you recognize some of them.

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There you go, my five best decisions!

QUESTION:  Share one of your best decisions!  Or give me tips on how to sleep on a plane (i just get so gosh darn excited – i must have a window seat!)

splendid…lindsay

7 Comments »

back to basics: improve your health with just minutes a day

May 14, 2013 in Back To Basics, Blog, Blogging, Lists, Workout

Happy Tuesday (and one day closer to Blend!!  eeeeee!!)  I feel like I haven’t talked about fitness or health recently and I decided to change that today.  Here’s another “Back To Basics” post geared towards women and our need for a speedy day!

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If there’s one thing that most of us have in common, it’s a LACK OF TIME! It seems as though we’re constantly sprinting from one thing to the other, maintaining our family and it’s needs, our job, our chores, all while overlooking our own need to SLOW DOWN.  The days that we have little to do seem like Christmas and we cherish that quiet time.  In all honesty, those days are few and far between.

So how does a busy woman make time for her health and fitness, you ask?

By multitasking and using those little windows of time throughout the day to make ourselves better.  Here’s how to fit healthy living into your already busy life, in just minutes a day!

Got a minute?

Perform deep squats at your coffee table!

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With weight in your heels, take your bottom all the way down to your coffee table slowly, then stand back up quickly.  You’ll target your quadriceps, glutes and calves.  Kids around?  Encourage them to join you!  Children love to mimic healthy (and sometimes unhealthy) behavior!

Got 3 minutes?

Make your own Vitamin Water!

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The average woman gets about HALF of the water she needs in a day (which is 96 ounces!).  The biggest complaint?  Water is boring and hard to chug down!  The solution?  Make your own flavored water! With little calories and nutrition to boot, you’ll be well on your way to downing those 96 ounces!

Here’s how to make it:

  • Add fruits instead of sugar for a natural sweetener for your H2O
  • Cut the fruit into paper-thin slices or small chunks.
  • Combine ingredients with water
  • Refrigerate 4-6 hours.

Another tip – Invest in a good water bottle!  I carry my Contigo around with me everywhere!  It literally forces you to drink more water.

Got 4 minutes?

Time for TABATA!

Four minutes is all you need to TABATA!! If you’re unfamiliar with tabata training, go here where I’ve outlined the basic idea!  In short, tabata training is a high intensity workout that pairs 20 seconds of all-out activity with 10 seconds of rest.  You repeat this sequence 8 times for a total workout time of just 4 minutes!  Try this tabata that I created for Mom365 out:

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Got 10 minutes?

Cut up your fruits and veggies for the week!

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By precutting your fruits and vegetables and storing them within eye level in your refrigerator, you’ll be more apt to choose those healthy options over something else.  This goes for the rest of your family as well – precut some of their favorite veggies (or buy precut vegetables at the store) and always offer these first when someone asks for a snack.

Got 15 minutes?

Go outside!

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That’s plenty of time for a walk with the family (Henry and Clara still LOVE hopping in the stroller)!  Gear up with bikes or your stroller and get moving!  It’s proven that just 15 minutes of outdoor activity can increase your Vitamin D and serotonin levels, which in turn, act as a force against depression and anxiety!  Have a dog?  Take him as well!  Pets who get outside for daily fresh air have less body fat, shinier coats and a healthier digestive system (source)!

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More Back To Basics:

Diet Vs. Exercise

Best Strength Training Exercises for Women

WHY You Should Strength Training

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QUESTION:  I could have given a million different tips.  Your turn?  Got ___ minutes?  Do _____.  Fill in the blanks!

splendid…lindsay

19 Comments »

my analog weekend…a review

May 13, 2013 in Blog, Blogging, Family, Goals

Alternate title:  “I’m addicted to my iPhone and I needed an intervention!”

Oh. my. word.  This weekend showed me SO many things about myself.  The first being – I’m addicted to Instagram.  Facebook, I could take or leave you.  But Instagram, oh buddy.  You hold a special place in my needy, social interaction-craving heart.  I started this analog weekend off on Friday morning and ended it on Sunday night (after I was just SO eager to see what everyone got for Mother’s Day).  I have several observations/confessions:

1.  I CHEATED!

I did check Instagram and Facebook a couple (I think like 3) times throughout the weekend.  To my credit, I checked when I was ALONE, meaning the kids were with my mom or Travis was doing something.  I feel a little less guilty about it since my cheating wasn’t taking time away from the people around me (which was the point to begin with).  But still – I didn’t go the entire weekend strictly offline.  Wah wah.

2.  I’m a snoopy snoop!   

It’s why I read blogs.  It’s why if you put an open diary in front of me, 100% of the time I would read it.  I like looking into other people’s lives.  And I love Instagram for this very reason.  Looking at pictures of people and their food, dogs, houses, workouts.  I love it all.  I felt a little out of the loop with my online friends this weekend.  (If anything big happened, let me know!)

3.  Sometimes I use social media to BRAG.

Short story time:  On Saturday morning at 7:51am (as I was checking Facebook, ahem), I saw this status from my friend, Diedre:

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A race?  For the pregnancy care center?  I’m intrigued.  The race started in NINE MINUTES.  So like any sane person, I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, put clothes on and drove quickly to the start line (which was like 2 minutes from my house).  The race director actually HELD the race for me so that I could register and pay.  Ha!

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I ran. 

I raced.

I WON. 

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And I wanted so so badly to tell you guys on Instagram and Facebook.  I almost did.  But when I thought about it and thought about my motives, I knew I couldn’t.  First, I’d be cheating (again).  And second, I kinda wanted to BRAG.  Not “share” or “inspire”.  I wanted to brag about what I’d done.  And that’s just not ok with me.

If I learned anything over this analog weekend, it’s that I need to think through my motives before I post online (think before doing – a novel idea).  Why am I REALLY showing you a picture of myself?  If it’s to brag or ask for some kind of attention, I want no part of it. 

4.  I need to do this more often.

Not only was I more present, which has been my New Year’s resolution for two years running, but I found time to do things that needed to be done.  I hadn’t realized just how much time I was spending online!  Too much.

Instead, I painted with my husband…

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I hung out with my kids ….

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I had some “girl time”….

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I got outside…

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I found time to READ…

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And I was lavished in Mother’s Day gifts…

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5.  There must be a balance.

And this is where I’m left pondering.  How much time online is TOO much time?  Should I go back to my old-school phone?  (The iPhone was pretty darn boring when just used as a phone.)  Where is the good, happy medium between living online and off?

I’m on a quest to find out.  And in the end, if I feel like this pursuit of social media/blogging isn’t enriching my life or my family’s life, I’ll have to stop.

QUESTION:  Do you spend too much time online?  How do you know if you are?

desperately seeking balance…lindsay

40 Comments »

best decisions series….meet scott

April 26, 2013 in Best Decisions, Blog, Blogging

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Well I’m off to Park City!!  Excited to have this chill weekend with some of my very best blends!  I’ll be back late Sunday night, but until then, I want to introduce you to Scott (a boy blogger – gasp!).  Not only is he a boy blogger, but he’s been my friend ever since high school.  (Correct me if I’m wrong, Scott, but didn’t you win Most Talented??)  EXTREMELY innovative/talented and incredibly funny, I know you’ll enjoy reading about some of his best decisions! 

Thanks, Scott, for subbing for me!

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Best decisions I’ve ever made.

The BEST decisions… not just the good ones, like passing on seafood salad at the flea market.

Here we go.

1. BEST DECISION! I married the most wonderful, beautiful, adorable, lovable, intelligent and hilarious person in the world. There is no question that this is the best decision I’ve ever made.

“But what if…?” you ask.

“What if you never met this spectacular person? What if through an odd and unexpected chain of events involving stolen library cards, a Hulk Hogan look-a-like, mild food poisoning and not one but TWO hobos named Cornbread…you missed your chance to ever meet your loving wife?”

Well, I can only imagine that instead of this…

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My life would look something like this…

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2. Getting in Shape!

The decision to lose weight and get healthy is not only relevant to this blog but really is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. In early 2008, I stepped on the scale and saw the number 215. I was so shocked that I let go of all the helium balloons I was holding… that’s when sh!t got real. Two hundred and forty three pounds, I weighed. Which wasn’t all that bad for someone 6’ 3” but since I’m 5’ 7,” I decided something had to change.

So, I did what I was supposed to do. I ate healthy food, I exercised every day and there was so much water going in and out of me, it barely had time to get warm. After a year or so I had lost 60lbs and swore I’d never go back.

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3. Learning to Play the Guitar!

Am I the inexplicable love child of Eric Clapton and Chet Atkins? Hardly.

I’m not incredibly skilled or knowledgeable and never had any lessons but I sure do enjoy it. I would encourage anyone to learn how to play at least one instrument because it is one of the most fulfilling skills you can learn. I engage in a myriad of creative hobbies like drawing, painting, woodworking, sculpting, and modern dance (the last one is a lie) and while I may be better at some of those things than I am at playing and singing, they’re not as fun. I actually made the guitar in the video out of a tree I cut down in my front yard, which is cool, but playing it is still the fun part.

5. Skipping Number 4!

I think it was a great decision to skip number four because I’m a guest here and it was mostly just questionable language and obscure references to breakfast cereal commercials from the 80’s.

6. Being Myself!

What a novel idea. It’s sounds so simple and yet so many people seem to struggle with it. To save time for the rest of this post, let’s call these folks Waddles. As in “Waddle people think?” and “Waddle people say?”

Now, the problem with Waddles is that they have a tendency to put what strangers might think about them ahead of what they actually want when making decisions. I strive to avoid Waddling whenever possible.

Beyond your standard Waddles you’ll find the Extreme Waddles. These are individuals who go to incredible lengths to appear as if they couldn’t care less what people think about them… because they actually care so much that they’d rather pretend to be someone they’re not than be seen as who they are.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not that I don’t care or don’t think about what other folks might think about me. You can’t just ignore it. Well you can, just don’t be surprised when the job you’re hoping for goes to a person who didn’t wear paisley overalls and a captain’s hat to the interview.

I’m Me… and that’s cool because nobody else is Me. Only Me. You ain’t Me. You can’t be. Because I’m Me. See?

Now you’re thinking “Wait a minute… I am too Me!”

Nope, you’re You. You can walk around all day long calling yourself “Me,” my friend, but everybody else knows the truth. Don’t think so? Just wait until the next time a stranger needs to get your attention. I’ll bet they won’t yell “Hey ME! Yeah, Me in the blue shirt, come here for a second.”

Everybody’s Me and everybody’s You. That’s why We are Us. Dig it?

Okay, the whole Me/You thing just then was really stupid, I know, but it was really fun to write and I like fun… so there. I know a lot of folks will read that and think I’m weird and I’m fine with that. Think what you want, that’s my point.

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7. Starting My Blog!

I know it’s supposed to be “5 Decisions” but I’m done after this one, I swear. As I mentioned earlier, I have a lot of creative hobbies and as you may have figured out, I’m a bit of a right-brained person. So, needless to say I’m not a big fan of boring day jobs. I thrive on creativity. I love humor and I love creating things and ideas. For these reasons, I created kindofsketchy.com which I’m hoping will someday earn its place as one of the best decisions I’ve ever made (and get me out of my boring day job). It is my venue to share what I do and what I like because I’m going to do all this stuff anyway so why not share it? Maybe someone other than me will enjoy this stuff too, who knows? I’m really just getting it started so there is so much to be done and so much to add. It is my hope that I can use my blog to not only entertain and interest people but to create interest in my artwork and other creative skills. I believe that someday I will be making a living doing the things I love to do and I will then be able to say without a doubt that kindofsketchy.com was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Lastly, I want to thank Lindsay for allowing me this opportunity and of course all of you LL readers who actually stuck around and read all of my rambling. And like I said, I’m new to this blogging thing, so any advice and tips are most welcomed and appreciated!

If you would like to see a lot more of my artwork, you can visit my facebook art page. You can also follow me on Twitter @kindofsketch and of course, check out kindofsketchy.com if you get a chance… maybe something on there will make you laugh.

Thanks again!

Scott Clark

17 Comments »

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