Keeping Up With...Goals for 2015 (A Recap)

So around this same time last year I sat down and came up with 15 goals for 2015.  I said I would update every month about how they were going.  And then I never looked at them again until today.  Oops.  2015 wasn't really a "bad" year for me or my family, it was just very busy and we had a lot of changes.

I wanted to just ignore these goals and move on to 2016.  But then I decided I should look, maybe it wasn't as bad as I though.  Here's how my year stacked up.  The blue is my end of the year update on each one.


Fitness Goals:
1. Continue teaching at least 6 Zumba classes each week.  I have 7 on my schedule right now and I'm super excited about it.  I know things will change as the year goes on so I'm targeting 6 per week.  That still gives me time to sub and time to take some other classes.  While I didn't track this exactly, I feel pretty confident that other than a few vacation weeks I nailed this one.  I think most weeks I was closer to 8 classes.  YAY!
2.  Finally get under 200 lbs.  I don't know where I'm at right now, but I'm assuming it's around 220.  I've had this as a goal for over a year now.  It's happening this year even if I have to cut off a limb.  My BFHG (big fat hairy goal) is to lose 52 lbs this year, one pound per week.  It's a stretch but I think I can do it.  Didn't happen.  Not even close.  I actually gained weight last year and am starting higher than I've been since having Zak almost 4 years ago.  Sigh.
3.  Get at least 2 new certifications and start teaching new classes.  I'm signing up for Zumba toning in March and I'm so excited for it!  I'm also doing a bunch of training at the YMCA and would like to get either spinning or step class certified.  I'm also interested in Zumba Step, Gold & Aqua so we'll see which one works out best.  Done!  I got Zumba toning as well as the Y Group Fit certification and their strength and muscle conditioning certification.  I am teaching 2-3 toning classes each week and I love it.  I haven't got a muscle conditioning class together yet but it's on the agenda for this year.
4.  Attend at least 4 Zumba jams this year.  That's one per quarter, I think that's doable.  They are such a great experience.  A fun way to learn new choreography, meet other instructors & burn over 2,000 calories.  Done!  I feel like I did 5, but can't remember for sure.  I know I did 4 (Lynn, Lisa Marie, Jason & Kearsha). 
5.  Attend at least 2 classes other than mine each week.  This will be a stretch goal, but one I really need.  I need some variety in my workouts to help lose the weight, tone things up and help me become a better instructor.  Big fail.  I barely went to any other classes other than teaching this entire year. 
6.  Do at least 10 minutes of strength training at home 5 days each week.  I'm going to start doing the 10 min kickboxing DVD I got last year for Christmas and then branch out from there.  I know there are a ton of workouts online and other 10 minute DVDs so we'll see what I'll do when I get bored with kick boxing.  Another fail, didn't even make it out of Jan with this goal
7.  Do at least 60 minutes of yoga or pilates each week.  This will go hand in hand with goals 5 & 6.  I will try to take at least one yoga class each week and if I don't make it, then I'll do it at home.  Another miss.  I did take a few yoga classes last year and enjoyed them, hoping to do some again in 2016.
8.  Continue doing the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans monthly calendar.  This is a habit for me now.  I finished all 12 months last year & I saw the difference.  I've already started January's squat & push up challenge.  Fail.  I finished Jan & maybe Feb then I stopped.  I got stressed out whenever I fell behind and so I just stopped doing them.

Food Goals:
1.  Continue to menu plan every week & cook what I plan (or at least use up what I buy).  This saves time and money and is also less calories than going out.  I did pretty good with planning and cooking most weeks.  There was more eating out than I would have liked, but not a lot of food went to waste so I'm thankful for that.
2.  Use my new water infusing pitcher and try a different flavor each week.  I currently have lime and grapefruit water.  Next week I'm trying cucumber mint.  Yum!  Done!  I have loved using my infuser and plan to keep using it.  Two of my favorite flavors - mango & pear.
3.  Stay under my calorie goal 27 out of 30 (or 31) days each month.  This gives me 3 days to "cheat" if I feel the need to.  I will continue to use My Fitness Pal to track my calories and keep it set to lose 2 lbs/week.  Not even close.

Family/Life Goals:
1.  Take at least one picture each day for the whole year.  I have done this the past 2 years and I love it.  It's a great way to look for the good in each day.  Did it!  Year 3 complete and year 4 is already started.
2.  Continue to learn more about essential oils and possibly start selling them.  I love how much they have already helped all of us!  Did it!  I continue to learn more about them and am also actively selling them.  Love my oils!!
3.  Read 12 books.  My reading has fallen off recently but I have a ton of ideas and 2 book clubs so I have a lot of material to pick from.  I didn't quite make this one but I read 10.5 books last year and am thrilled with that.  I'm sure that's way more than 2014.  I'm going for 12 again & have already finished one (the other 1/2 of the one from last year)
4.  Significantly declutter this house!  I had this under control and now it seems out of control again.  My main areas of focus will be the loft, basement and our closets.  But there's clutter everywhere!  Did it!  We made a real good dent in the loft, basement and closets.  Unfortunately now there is more clutter.  It never stops!!

Well that's not as bad as I thought.  I accomplished 8 of the 15 so that's more than half.  And really the one downfall was my eating, I ate pretty horrible last year, but boy was it all delicious!!  No now I'm doing what everyone else is and setting goals & making resolutions for next year.  Since I wasn't very successful with 15 I figured I'd up the number to 40 this year.  Yes I'm serious.  But this will be more like a bucket list with a few goals thrown in.  More on that soon!!

Happy New Year!!

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 1/11 - 1/17)

I'm back again.  Before I share my meal plan for the week, I wanted to explain what's been going on the past 2 weeks.  I popped in to catch you up on what's been going on & promised more blogs and updates, then disappeared for almost two weeks.  I was actually in the middle of a review of my 2015 goals (still coming this week) and our internet went out...for 3 days!!  It was crazy how lost I felt without it.  And then during those days, my grandmother passed away so I headed to NJ for most of last week.  Needless to say my year has not started great, but I'm taking a redo on New Year's Day & starting 2016 tomorrow.  :)

So one of my goals for this year (also still coming this week) is to get back to healthy eating and lose some weight.  I know the number on the scale doesn't define me, but the number has gotten big and it's starting to affect me negatively.  So I'm back to focusing on counting calories, varying exercises and eating healthy filling foods.

Here's what I'm planning on cooking this week:
Monday - Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo with a salad
Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (the boys have been asking for almost a month!)
Wednesday - Greek Chicken Salads (need something easy)
Thursday - Thai Chicken Wraps
Friday - Butternut Squash & Sausage Casserole
Saturday - Saucy Asian Meatballs over fried "rice"
Sunday - Beef & Spinach Lo Mein

I also plan to make these bars for our breakfasts some time this week (another goal for the year - more homemade breakfasts) and this quinoa bake for lunch/leftovers.  Another change I have made this year is to try to meal prep over the weekends so that the busy weeks are easier.  That didn't happen this weekend since I was playing catch up all weekend (Oh My Word, the laundry will never end!) but it will starting next week.

I  am still using my water infuser, it's been just over a year and the only week I didn't have infused water was last week when I was gone.  I've already set up this week's water, orange & strawberry, yum.  I'm excited pears are on sale this week, I plan to buy some of those to snack on and also use to infuse.

As always, I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast.  Go check out the other blogs on the link up for some more yummy recipes!  Have a great week!!

Keeping Up With...Family (Catching Up)

Hello Again!  It's been a while since I've written here.  There are a few reasons with the biggest being life got in the way.  We haven't had a ton going on that was worth writing about but at the same time we've been super busy.  Nov and Dec have been pretty good months for us and I'm looking forward to what 2016 has in store for us.  More on that in the next few days.

So what have we been up to?  Where do I start?  The big things I guess.  We celebrated Thanksgiving (twice) with the Jones grandparents before they headed down to Florida for the winter.  We celebrated Carl's birthday with the traditional meal of pizza, beer & cake.  We took the older boys to see "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" the musical.  It was a great show, perfect for their first theater experience.  Grandma took Zak for that day & took him to McDonald's & Meijer, he didn't realize he missed out on anything with us. 

Christmas came and went was amazing!  Santa finally granted the boys wish of a WiiU and they were beyond thrilled.  They got a bunch of games from the family so we have a nice start on a collection for the new system.  We also got a bunch of board and card games.  We have been enjoying all of them this break.
The boys also got an experience gift from us, we went to see Marvel Universe Live yesterday and it was fantastic!  We all really enjoyed the show, especially all of the stunts.  And AJ had the best time when "Hulk" gave him a thumbs up at the end of the show.  We were about 7 rows back & he was standing right in front of us.  AJ had on a Hulk hat from his cotton candy so the Hulk actor caught his eye and gave him a thumbs up, twice.  The look on AJ's face was priceless, SO excited!

Other than those big things life has been cruising along with our normal busy pace.  AJ is still playing ice hockey & is constantly improving.  His hockey team skated at intermission of a Columbus Blue Jackets game.  Daniel is really enjoying Boy Scouts.  He competed in his first Boy Scout Raingutter Regatta (and lost badly).  Zak is loving soccer & is excited to play football in the spring.  Zak finished up ice skating lessons and moved on to the next class (although we are taking a session off right now).  All 3 boys want to start baseball in the spring too.  AJ & Daniel didn't finish up their bowling league last season, it just became too much for our schedule.  But we are back to that and swimming starting in January.  All 3 are also still doing great in school.  AJ is working very hard to try to get straight A's this quarter at school.  He's close and has another 2 weeks when break is over to get there.  I hope he makes it!  Adrian has worked a bunch of overtime and then scored this whole week between Christmas & New Year's off.  He was bummed the Buckeyes lost to Michigan State but is excited for the bowl game.  I taught a bunch of Zumba classes, volunteered a ton at the schools and successfully got everyone where they needed to be.  I am holding my breath for the Jets to make the playoffs.


I think I'll stop talking there and drop a few photos for you to look at.  I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting about, but these were the highlights.  Come back later this week for a recap of my 2015 goals, 2016 goals, a return to menu planning and a recap of our winter break.  It feels good to be back!

Daniel at the Raingutter Regatta

Zak and his bird feeder

Ohio Theater Selfie

Zak the ice skater

AJ the hockey player

Mailing Santa letters

Santa picture

Daniel's gingerbread house

Christmas Eve - it was 60+ degrees!

Our WiiU gifts - nice start to our collection

Marvel selfie!

Keeping Up With...Family (School Updates)

I was going to do this post in mid-Oct after I had the older boys' parent teacher conferences and when they got their first quarter report cards.  But I decided to wait until after I also had Zak's parent teacher conference at the end of Oct so I could update about all 3 at once.

AJ is doing great in 3rd grade!!  We all struggled a little at first with a lot of changes this year, new school, gifted class, 2 teachers instead of only 1 all day, lots of homework, riding the bus, etc.  But after a somewhat bumpy start we are hitting our groove.  I ended up having conferences with both of his teachers and they both said he's doing really well.  He is extremely smart and is doing great academically.  He is still struggling a little socially but they both said not to worry about that right now, that it will come eventually.  And he does struggle a little during transitions but they have found some work arounds for him and will document it so we can update his IEP as necessary going forward.  He finished the first quarter with all A's and B's which we are all thrilled with since this is also the first time he is getting letter grades.

Daniel is thriving in 1st grade!  He is handling the transition to full day school like a champ.  He really enjoys having 2 recesses and specials at school now, although I think he would prefer to come home for lunch.  He is doing great academically, right where he should be for his age.  And his behavior is fantastic!  He often clips "off the chart" for his great behavior during the day at school.  He already has his clip on the "Hall of Fame" in the principal's office, he's one of only 5 students to do that so far this year.  He was a little bummed that none of his friends were in his class, but he had no problem making new friends in his class this year.  He also won a special award at the end of the 1st quarter for Outstanding Achievement being Respectful.  He was very surprised to get the award and I am SO proud of him!

Zachary is also doing fantastic in his first year in preschool.  His teacher is very impressed with his behavior and what a good listener he is.  He is right where he should be for his age academically.  His favorite things to do are make crafts and go outside for recess.  He is also doing really well socially becoming friends with the other kids in his class.  His teacher said he was a little shy at first but the last two weeks he has really come out of his shell and let his personality shine.

I am so thankful that all of the boys are doing well in school so far this year, despite some very big changes for all of them.  I am also thankful that they have amazing teachers!  I know none of this would be possible without them and how hard they work.  I can't wait to see how the next 3/4 of our school year progresses!!

Keeping Up With...Family (Halloween - Part 2)

After our busy weekend, we continued celebrating Halloween all last week.

We started with Zak having a Halloween party at his school on Wednesday.  He enjoyed lots of Halloween snacks, came home with a whole book bag full of treats and made a few crafts.  He wasn't allowed to wear his costume (who wants to help 8 3-year olds go to the potty in those costumes??) so he wore his Minion shirt instead.  And the class "dressed up" for us for pick up time.  We walked in & they all looked like this:

Welcome to the pumpkin patch!!

Then we did our third and final trunk or treat on Wednesday.  It was another rainy day and I was thinking about not going because I figured since it was inside it wouldn't be super crowded.  But a friend said it usually isn't very busy so we decided to go.  She was wrong.  It was CRAZY!  But Daniel, Zak and I made the best of it and had a great time!  AJ had to miss this one because he had hockey practice.  I was so busy having fun, I forgot to take pictures this night.

Then Wednesday night we got a little off track when AJ and I both came down with a stomach bug.  Thankfully AJ woke up on Thursday feeling fine but mine hung around a little longer and I was down until Friday morning.  Thursday we cancelled our busy day and spent the day relaxing and recovering.

Thursday night was trick or treat in our neighborhood because for some reason Columbus doesn't want the kids trick or treating on a weekend night.  I was too sick to go but Adrian took the boys out for about 90 minutes.  They were joined by their friends and my brother, sister in law and niece.  Everyone had a great time and came home with a ton of candy!  Again, no pictures since

Friday we stayed low key since I was still recovering and we were really trying to have everyone healthy for actual Halloween on Saturday.  We watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and then watched the Mets win.  Saturday started early for me with a tough Zumba class and then AJ had his first hockey game of the season.

After we got thru all of our "have to's" on Saturday, then we were on to the fun part!  We headed out to our friend's neighborhood to trick or treat since that town was doing it on actual Halloween.  That neighborhood was great!  There were so many houses that were decorated fun and every one was giving out handfuls of candy.  Everyone was super nice and we had a blast.  We were only out for around an hour because it started to rain and we really had enough candy.

Our last stop on our Halloween tour was to Chipotle for their $3 Boo-ritos.  You had to add an extra to your costume to get the deal so we brought the boys in their costumes and AJ added a TMNT to his back, Daniel had sunglasses & a wand and Zak had a sword.  I also wore Zak's minion googles on my head just to ensure we got the deal for all of our burritos.  Adrian & I got our usual wraps and AJ tried and enjoyed a steak taco.

After gorging ourselves on Chipotle and candy, we let the boys stay up as late as they wanted.  AJ had been begging to stay up to watch sports with us for a while, so we let him stay up to watch the Mets.  We knew with the time change Sun would be a nightmare anyway so we figured why not.  Zak passed out on the couch around 10:30 but both other boys made it past 11 and to the end of the game.  Everyone slept in on Sun and the day went better than any other time change day has gone ever.  Maybe after 8 years we finally figured out how to deal with the time change?

It was a super fun Halloween season for us!!  Now we have a slight break before the whirlwind that is Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We will be taking it easy for the next few weeks to get ready for all that we have going on for that month.

Keeping Up With...Family (Halloween - Part 1)

We love to celebrate Halloween around here!  We started 2 weeks ago with Boo at the Zoo and had two other things planned that weekend that didn't pan out.  I always plan more than we will actually do so that when plans fall thru, we still have plenty left to have fun.

Last weekend was jam packed with Halloween fun!  It started with Haunted Happenings at AJ's school on Friday night.  We had a blast trick or treating in the hallways, playing games in the classrooms and visiting the book fair.  The highlight for the boys was sliding down the giant slide in the gym.  AJ did it during the day and the other 2 were so excited to do it that night.  It was also fun to see a lot of our friends, both for the boys and for me.  And we got some pretty awesome pictures there, the Minions one is seriously my favorite picture ever.

 

Saturday after we did our normal Saturday stuff, swimming, hockey & Zumba, we headed out to our first trunk or treat of the year.  We went to Stoneybrook Church in Gahanna for the second year in a row.  We had a blast there last year & this year was much of the same, even if the event had to be moved inside because of the rain.  We got to all of the "trunks" to collect candy, played games, made crafts, met a Minion and ate yummy food including Daniel's first ever cotton candy.  We had planned to go to our town's Halloween party this night too, but it was cold and rainy so we decided to skip it.

On Sunday AJ was invited to a birthday party for a girl in his class so he headed there in his Hulk costume.  He had a very fun time playing with everyone there.  While he was there Adrian took the other two boys to trunk or treat number 2 at TriVillage Church in Pataskala.  We go out there every year, it's one of our favorites.  I didn't go this year because the Jets/Pats game was on & I was sucked into that.  Adrian said it was very crowded but they had a great time!  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that day since I didn't go to any of the events.

It was a Halloween fun filled weekend for us!  We also got a lot of stuff done around the house and rested up for a busy Halloween week!  Come back tomorrow to see how the rest of the week went.

Keeping Up With...Food (Menu Plan 11/2 - 11/8)

Happy November!!  I didn't post my meal plan last week because it was honestly either leftovers, pizza and sandwiches every day last week.  We had something going on every night on top of our busy days.  I'm glad I had an easy plan since AJ and I were also struck down with the stomach bug in the middle of the week.  I was in bed most of Thursday and had to miss our town's trick or treat.  Luckily we had another one planned for last night and we all got to go together.

So my eating has been pretty horrible.  Seriously when I started to feel sick Weds night I assumed it was because I had eaten 4 pieces of candy before bed.  I need to reign it in some this month.  I won't be perfect, I have plans for dinner this Weds, then two different food trucks coming to town the next two weeks, plus Thanksgiving.  But I'm going to start with eating as healthy as I can other than these special things.  My weight loss goal always changes to "maintain" instead of "lose" from mid-Oct to early Jan for my own sanity...and that of those who love me.

Here's what we're eating this week:
Monday - Squashed Washington - I'm making this today so we just have to bake it tomorrow
Tuesday - Chicken Paprika
Wednesday - Potbelly Subs for a school fundraiser
Thursday - Chicken Fajita Pasta
Friday - Leftovers - I will be at the school all night setting up for a huge vendor/craft fair the next morning.  If we don't have leftovers, Adrian will probably do something on the grill and I'll grab something on the go
Saturday - Saucy Asian Meatballs over and fried "rice"
Sunday - Chicken Enchilada Zucchini Boats

I also plan to make this black bean soup for lunch at some point this week.  Either Tuesday while the boys are off from school.  Or Thursday or Friday while I have a little lighter schedule.

Water Flavor - Pear.  This is another one of my favorites.  I also have to share that last week I did cucumber infused water, which is delicious on it's own.  However when I got sick I was using spearmint essential oil to help settle my stomach.  I added some of that oil to the cucumber water - delicious!!  That will be happening a lot!!

As always, I'm linking up with Laura at Mommy, Run Fast & Jill at Fitness, Health and Happiness.  Go check them out for some more yummy recipes!  Have a great week!!