Showing posts with label socialevents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label socialevents. Show all posts

Monday, February 13

"Pinning!" {wk.12} RED!

Sorry this got delayed this morning! I had completed my collage and just as I was about to click on save, I lost EVERYTHING.  Ugh!  Without any further delay:


Welcome to "Pinning!"!!!
First timer?  It's simple:
Follow your hosts: Courtney & Kimberly
and
 Link up your favorite pins for the week
or
Participate in the theme of the week

This week's theme: RED

What better theme in anticipation of Valentine's day!?

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

Check out Kimberly's Blog to see who won last week's title of Pinning-est!
Are you "Pinning"?  
Come on, everyone is doing it.  
Join us MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  

February 13th: RED (Cause, you know, V-day is tomorrow!)
February 20th: P.S. I Love You (Be Creative!)
February 27th: This is My Style (Define your style!)

March: We'll be doing something new! Stay tuned!

Monday, February 6

"Pinning!" {wk.11} Party Time


Welcome to "Pinning!"!!!
First timer?  It's simple:
Follow your hosts: Courtney & Kimberly
and
 Link up your favorite pins for the week
or
Participate in the theme of the week

Lastly, please link back!  You can get the badge here!

This week's theme: Party Time!

Zion's 2nd Birthday is in May, and I am already busy clipping ideas from around the web.  Right now, I am loving the idea of a rainbow themed birthday party.
{sources}
14. DIY Finger Paints (Favors?)


THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

The Award for Pinning-est Goes to:
Remy at Cinnamon Bubbles for this stunning sea of people pin in the Harajuku District, Japan:
{source}

Remy, feel free to grab the button, and flaunt it!

Are you "Pinning"?  
Come on, everyone is doing it.  
Join us MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  

February 6th: Partytime (Plan a party, any party!)
February 13th: RED (Cause, you know, V-day is tomorrow!)
February 20th: P.S. I Love You (Be Creative!)
February 27th: This is My Style (Define your style!)

March: We'll be doing something new! Stay tuned!

Wednesday, February 1

O.M.Y. {oh.my.yum} A little Sugar for your Sweeties ~ Featuring Lish from Imprintalish!


Hello Baxtron {Life} readers! My name is Lish and I blog over at Imprintalish.You'll find crafts, photography, tales of my two little men and a little bit of everything else in my corner of the web.  We love baking around here and this recipe that I am sharing with you is so easy to do with the little people in your life. A bit messy, but fun! It's also the perfect recipe for Valentine's Day. Heads up though, probably not so good for your waistline!! HAHA!
Sugar Cookies
3/4 cup of butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Assorted Food Coloring (makes roughly 5 dozen)
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
Stir in flour, baking powder and salt until dough forms.
Separate dough into sections for each color you want to do. Add a couple drops of food coloring to each  section until you reach the desired intensity. Stir to blend color evenly.
Under the command of my 2.5 year old, we did pink, purple, blue and green. Cover and chill for at least an hour in fridge (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on a well floured surface, 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes.
Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Or a pizza tray in my case, LOL, while the other tray was in the oven! Bake 6-8 minutes. Cool completely. These also freeze well too, just do so before adding the icing.
Icing
1 cup icing sugar
2 tsp milk
2 tsp corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla/almond extract
Assorted food coloring & sprinkles for topping
(this is enough icing for a dozen cookies-if more is needed, I would recommend doing one batch of icing at a time)
 In a small bowl, stir together icing sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and vanilla until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup. Divide into separate bowls, add food coloring to desired intensity.
Paint cookies with a brush or spatula. This icing is really forgiving to work with, the bumps and ridges just melt away into a smooth and glossy finish! Sprinkle with whatever pretty topping you have!
Well there you have it, the perfect little cookie to share with friends, teachers, family and of course to eat yourself!!!
Thanks so much for having me over to hang out Courtney! It was tons of fun and I hope to see some of you over at Imprintalish. I love meeting new people, so don't be shy-say hi!
Lish

Lish, what a fantastic Valentine's cookie recipe!  It looks super fun to make with the little ones as well…and currently Zion is on a big baking kick…what can I say, like mother, like daughter…so this is going to be put on our baking list pronto!


Monday, January 30

"Pinning!" {wk.10} Take Me Away


Welcome to the "Pinning!"!!!
First timer?  Check out the RULES, then link up below!

This week's theme: Take Me Away!

If you could go anywhere right now…where would you go?

 {source}
 {source}
 {source}
 {source}
 {source}
 {source}

I'd definitely take the nook…although the Tree house looks like an adventure!

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

The Award for Pinning-est Goes to:
This week I just couldn't decide on a winner, 
both Joanna & Kimberly deserve it for their very different and stylish boot collections!



Are you "Pinning"?  
Come on, everyone is doing it.  
Join me MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  
After all, together we are "Pinning!"

January 30th: Take Me Away! (If you could go anywhere right now…)
February 6th: Partytime (Plan a party, any party!)
February 13th: RED (Cause, you know, V-day is tomorrow!)
February 20th: P.S. I Love You (Be Creative!)
February 27th: This is My Style (Define your style!)


Thursday, January 26

Muffintop Meltdown {v.4}




Progress, Points & Free Workouts

 
 
 

Progress Report:

Weight Lost This Week: 3 pounds
Total Weight Lost: 8 pounds
Inches Lost This Week: 4 inches
Total Inches Lost: 10.5 inches

Points Earned:

This Week: 97
Points Balance: 283!

Today, I thought I'd share a bit of how I'm burning extra calories each day, and how you can take advantage of some excellent free workout programs.

1.  Pilates: Pilates is my ninja workout strategy.  In order to have better form and strength in all of your other exercises, you need to have good core muscles.  Your core pulls everything else in tighter.  I recently had a chance to participate in a small group Pilates class with an awesome instructor, who taught me a few tricks that have improved my pilates workouts immensely.  Of course I'm going to share one with you: while you are lying on your back doing a pilates workout, imagine you have a large bowl filled with water resting between your hips/on your pelvis.  If your pelvis is tilted back or forward too much, that water is going to go everywhere, your goal is to prevent that from happening.  This helps you to keep your hips and pelvis in the right position to utilize your abdominal muscles fully…I was absolutely amazed at the difference this makes.  I use this free Pilates video by Denise Austin on Hulu.  It will work every inch of your body, targeting muscles you didn't even know you had!

2.  Strength Training/Toning: A lot of women I know are afraid to do lifting, thinking that it will cause their muscles to be bulky.  This just isn't true!  You don't have to lift heavy weights, but adding toning/strength building workouts to your routine will give you more muscle which burns more calories at rest than fat.  Did you catch that?  More muscle=more calories burned with less effort.  I have one set of 3 lb. hand-weights, that is it.  You don't even have to have that to get started, in fact, for the first couple of weeks that I started working out, I used only my body's natural resistance, and was still sore!  I try to do at least 2 sessions a week, but plan on increasing it as I get stronger.  I will eventually add heavier weights when the current ones get too easy.  My favorite free toning workouts are about 20 minutes each and focus on different body workouts, not to mention these ladies are in fantastic (motivating) shape: Envy Girls: Arms, Buns, Legs, Body.

3.  Cardio:  Cardio is the biggest challenge during the winter…mostly because my number one choice for cardio is distance running.  I have to huge setbacks right now with running, first: I don't own a jogging stroller, and second: I don't run in the dark.  If you are blessed with an in-home elliptical machine or treadmill…you have no excuse! Ha!  Because I don't have the best opportunity for cardio, yet I have vowed no excuses this year, I had to find a solution.  So, there are a couple things I do: first, the Body workout listed above by the Envy Girls is a great choice…it is a superset workout, so your heart does get pumping.  I own Shawn T's Hip Hop Abs DVD so that is one way I can get a 45 minute cardio workout done.  I also count brisk walking, especially pushing my daughter in her stroller for a mile or two.  A couple of other good cardio workouts I like: Self: Dance Your Way SlimBikini Ready, Fast! and Slim & Sleek Fast

Another thing you can try is a basic calisthenics workout (think P.E. exercises from your school days), like this one:

One last note…I believe that exercise is very important, but I've learned that eating is even more important!  So even if you can only get in 1-2 exercise sessions a week, as long as you stick to eating well, you will continue to see a loss!

**I am not a certified expert on nutrition or exercise, so please, do your homework/research, and as always consult your physician before making major lifestyle changes that include diet/exercise!**

This Week:

I'm proud of these choices:

Birthday Brownie Bites: I made chocolate fudge brownies for Jerry's birthday with applesauce and egg whites, eliminating virtually all of the fat…best part, they were DELICIOUS and still fudgy/chewy!  {Okay, I admit they weren't entirely innocent, cause I added a few Reese's pieces to them! :)} 
Consistent workouts: I've been really staying focused and on target with my almost daily exercise routines.  I look forward to getting sweaty, and I'm starting to see my form and strength improve!

I'd like to work more on:

Water consumption: I slacked a bit this week.
Eating breakfast within the first hour of waking up, preferably before my first cup of coffee.
Doing my physical therapy exercises a minimum of once per day.
Cutting down to 1 cup of coffee a day {am I kidding myself here?}.

I totally cheated when:

I have been a little more tired so I've been chugging coffee like its beer at a frat party.  I'm pretty sure chugging either is not a very healthy habit.


My One-For-One this week is: Water instead of my 2nd and 3rd cups of coffee!!

How did you do this week?  I'd love to follow your success!  Feel free to link up below!

Missed the last update? V.3V.2, V.1







Monday, January 23

"Pinning!" {Wk.9} These Boots Were Made For Walking


Welcome to the "Pinning!"!!!
First timer?  Check out the RULES, then link up below!
 {source}
 {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}

Have you found the boots of your dreams?  I seriously want need want, ALL of these boots!  I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

The Award for Pinning-est Goes to:


Kimberly (From A to Sneed!)
Check out this OPI color: Baby, It's Coal Outside!  

Kimberly, the badge is yours to flaunt this week!


Are you "Pinning"?  
Come on, everyone is doing it.  
Join me MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  
After all, together we are "Pinning!"

January 23rd: These Boots Were Made For Walking (Boots!)
January 30th: Take Me Away! (If you could go anywhere right now…)
February 6th: Partytime (Plan a party, any party!)
February 13th: RED (Cause, you know, V-day is tomorrow!)
February 20th: P.S. I Love You (Be Creative!)