A Good Start to the Week!

I went to the gym yesterday! I actually joined again a few weeks ago (not sure if I mentioned it here or not), because Cheryl had started going a lot. As some of you may know I'm often on a quest to get healthy, eat better, be more active etc. but I often go through phases of this and don't stick with it for the long haul. I can't honestly say this will be for the long haul either, but I'm hoping it is and not just another phase that may only last a few weeks. You see, it's not a diet I'm on, or trying to stick to . . .  it's a WAY OF LIFE! Many of us will quote that mantra, and it is true. I don't want to just watch what I eat for a few weeks so I can lose a few pounds, I want to eat like this for the rest of my life. 

Luckily for me, I LOVE fresh fruit and veg. Pictures like these get me excited :-) and they look so appetizing to me, so colorful and good for you!

So, not only have Cheryl and I been going to the gym a lot more (it's so much better when you have a workout partner) we have started 'eating clean'.  Have you heard of the Eat Clean Diet?  I already have the  diet book and cookbook (bought them years ago when I was on yet another diet phase)

and I also have a few issues of the Clean Eating Magazine.

To be honest there's not that many recipes in the cookbook that I would actually want to make, but I do like getting the current issue of the magazine for fresh ideas and to read about healthy living. What I'm concentrating on right now is thinking about the food I'm eating. When I snack, what am I snacking on? Is it processed junk? Is lunch just a frozen low calorie meal? I'm happy to say that this week it's not. I had a banana before I went out to the gym, and when I got back I had 2 eggs poached with an English muffin for a late breakfast. As a snack I will have cottage cheese and an apple. Dinner tonight will be homemade turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and a salad. And I must not forget to DRINK LOTS OF WATER :-)

 

The holidays are coming up so I won't say I'll never have another cookie again, or eat those deliciously sinful creamy mashed potatoes I always make, but if I'm working out 3 or 4 times a week and eating well the rest of the time, I'm hoping to survive the season without gaining any weight.

What about you? Are you feeling inspired to eat better? Be more active. Share with me what motivates you to a  healthy lifestyle?

A Little Obsession (Confession!)

I've come to the conclusion, not recently mind you (I think I've known this for a while now) that I have a little obsession with  . . . . . Magazines! Only certain ones, but the ones I like I just can't bear to part with and so over the years they seem to have mounted up - just a tad! I thought I'd share with you just a few of my favorites!

Of course right now, these are all of my favorites! As we near the Holidays I'm seeing all the new lovely Christmas magazines hit the shelves, but I keep telling myself I shouldn't buy any more. These (above) are some of the ones I pulled off my shelves last night to browse through when I went to bed!  Seriously, if I never buy another Holiday magazine again, I'm sure I'd be just fine - but I keep thinking I may be missing something 'new' in the most current edition :-)

As well as Holiday mags, there's my knitting magazines (this is where the obsession really kicks in), I seriously can't stop buying these, because there's new knitting patterns in them every month. 

I counted each pile and there's about 30-40 mags in each. That's over 150 knitting magazines!!! And I still keep buying more.

In the magazine holders below that I have my food magazines. More Paula and Sandra Lee mags that I've bought over the years, Clean Eating magazines, Taste of Home magazines and a few other odd ones that I just can't resist when I'm in the grocery store!

So, that's just a few of the mags I'm browsing right now. What about you, do you have a favorite magazine you can't resist buying every time it hits the stands? Do you have subscriptions to any of them. Right now I'm surprised I don't have any subscriptions to my favorite mags! I may have to rectify that shortly.

With Christmas on my mind, I've made a start at wrapping the hand knit gifts I've made. I've kept the wrapping very simple and 'rustic' looking. Tissue paper and yarn! I think it goes well with the hand made theme. I hope my family members appreciate them. I've been knitting all year so I would have something sweet and personal to send to each of them.

I also made a start on some online shopping at Amazon this week. Should be fun when that arrives next week. I can't believe it's already that time to start wrapping up gifts! Perhaps not for many of you, who don't start til December, but I personally like to start getting things done now, rather than later ;-) Have a wonderful weekend, I'll be back Monday.

Thank you Judy for my sweet Thanksgiving Sig Tag.

Party Night - Picture Overload!

Two posts in two days, I may be on a roll!  Here's some pictures of our fun Halloween Party from Saturday night. I posted these on Facebook earlier this week, but my sis doesn't use FB, so I'm posting them all here mainly for her ;-)

My costume was from Pirates of the Caribbean. I have to say it was not that comfortable to wear, the 'off the shoulder' thing was rather frustrating and the cummerbund and belt just felt like they were riding up all the time! But it was still fun dressing up.I wanted Jason to be Jack Sparrow but the costume was $60 and we didn't want to spend that much (mine was on sale for just $29!). So he was a prisoner instead.

And here's why he picked a prisoner costume. . . .

Ha ha ha! Poor Boo! but really, I think he loved every minute of it!

 Here's pictures of the food and decor!

 I was going to make a pumpkin cake but Kristen saw this snake in a magazine I had so we did this instead.

 

I loved the guacomole!

and the first time ever we bought dry ice - it looked so cool in the kids punch bowl.

 the gorgeous Cheryl (she's an angel really!) :-)

 I loved Gabby's Ninja Turtle costume!

 Loved that Rene was Woody and his little boy was Buzz :-)

 Angry Bird!

 me and Angry Bird's Mom :-) AJ!

 I set up a cookie decorating and mask making table in the dining room for the kids.

 and outside I had 3 boxes of 'monster body parts' for the kids to FEEL!!!

 Monster Intestines! (spaghetti and oil)

 Goblin Eyeballs (grapes and olives)

 Zombie Brains! (oatmeal and oil, with pumpkin guts underneath!!)

Cheryl has more fun pictures on her camera (more importantly, ones with me and her together, that I haven't seen yet). Hopefully I can share them later. We certainly had an awesome night and I'd seriously consider doing it all again next year :-)

We had a blast. . . .

at our Halloween Party on Saturday night. Kristen had fun last night too Trick or Treating, so I have lots of photos to share with you. First up, Kristen's costume this year - she was a Ninja! and pictures from trick or treating. . . .

Her friend Emily was 'Hermione'

and Connor was also a Ninja!

Our neighbor Dave (Cheryl's Dad) always sits outside and hands out candy. His is the first house we stop at.

 

there were lots of kids out this year. It was a lovely warm evening.

 I don't know these guys, but they looked so good I had to get a picture!

the ghost actually kept popping in and out of this jack o lantern!

We hosted our very first Halloween Party on Saturday night. It was a ton of fun and we ALL dressed up.I'll post pictures later tonight, or I think this post will be waaaaaaay too long!!! Hope you all had a fun Halloween. Next on the calendar is Kristen's birthday party, and Thanksgiving. Kristen's birthday falls the day after Thanksgiving this year so I think we'll be having a party the weekend before.