Friday, November 30, 2012

InstaFriday

life rearranged

Lately I feel like all my posts revolve around catching up - catching you up on our busy lives. Not too much about anything else. But hey, what can you do. Life is busy!

This weekend, Sam is off hunting again. Near the Mexico border - send out your prayers that he is safe and warm and successful! But since he is gone, I'm hosting a little get-together with some girls! Ashley is coming up, and some girls from around here will be joining me in baking cookies, drinking wine, margaritas, etc, and enjoying some good old fashioned girl time!

So, for now, here's InstaFriday - linking up with Jeannett again!

Floral scarf with the stripy shirt...really liked this outfit in the dark. Then at work later, it totally irked me. And now I'm irked that I even bothered to tell you all about it!


Kona has been a dork lately. She holds her chewie in her mouth the entire drive to work (25 minutes!) It just hangs from her lips! Such a funny dog! Love her though! She may have slept under the covers on Sam's side of the bed last night  ;) 

Don't worry, I'll wash the sheets today. 


Kona also had a doggy playdate with Mack! Notice their choice in toys - branches that we cut off the Christmas tree. Remind me why I spend money on stuffed animals and overpriced toys for her?? Is having real kids the same way?


I got this pretty package in the mail this week! From Here. I'm so excited to use it in my next sewing project,   which might get done this weekend if I have time. 


Last night I was finally able to pick up some Christmas gifts that need to be mailed to family out of  state. So I had to put them together and wrap them up all pretty! This year I bought a roll of craft paper from Home Depot for under $5! And I'm hand stamping the packages with the recipients names - it's time consuming, but worth it! Plus the packages look adorable with washi tape holding them shut rather than scotch tape!


And just for kicks, here's me. Driving to work. Woo Hoo! 


Happy Friday friends and family! 

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Workout #5

For a short period of time, I worked out with a friend of mine who was a Marine...I'm sure you can imagine the intensity of the workouts just because of that. But on top of being a Marine, he was a Cross Fit junkie, and he liked to yell. All of which made our workouts very tiring, but well worth it. I remember him specifically saying this one particular thing that has stuck with me over the years.

In context, this was yelled at me when I stopped in the middle of an exercise to catch my breath:

" Why are you stopping? It's not going to hurt any worse than it already does and you're not going to get any more oxygen than you're already getting so you might as well KEEP GOING!"

What he was saying was this - when you're working out, you're exhausted, you're tired, sweaty, and you probably very short of breath. But why should that mean you get to stop? Why not keep going and power through the next 30 seconds? You've already come this far!

I try very hard to instill this mindset into my students during class. Because it pains me to watch someone hold a plank for 45 seconds, only to drop it with 15 second left to go. You've made it THAT far, why stop now? It's not going to hurt any more than it already did! 


succeed

With that in mind, I've put together this workout, inspired by a Fitness Magazine's workout that is solely based on time. I encourage you to put the pain aside and just get it done. Don't stop because you're out of breath. You can finish the 1 minute exercise without stopping if you WANT TO SUCCEED!.




Swimmer Push Ups - Do one push up, then lift opposite arm and leg, "swim" your arm backwards as if you were doing a backstroke. Alternate sides.

Toe Taps - With a medicine ball on the floor in front of you, tap your toes on top of the ball as quickly as you can, as if you were doing a high knee run.

Scissors Twists - Lie on the floor on you back. Place your arms out to the sides. Reach opposite hand to opposite foot while pulling your shoulders off the floor and lifting your leg high to meet your hand. Alternate sides.

Backwards Lunge Jumps - Lunge backwards with one leg, then "skip" or jump it forward towards your chest. It's as if you were doing a large skip in place. Repeat, 30 second on the left, 30 seconds on the right.

Squats with a Shoulder Press - Holding a medicine ball at your chest, drop into a low squat. As you come out of the squat, reach your arms high into a shoulder press. Before coming back into the squat, take your arms to a lateral raise in front of your chest, then drop back into the squat and bring the ball back to your chest.

Punch Burpees - Stand with your left leg towards the front, complete a jab-hook as if you were in a kick boxing class, then jump back into a plank. Jump forward to come back to your feet, but this time land with your right foot in front. Complete the jab-hook, and jump back into the plank. Continue alternating sides.

Seated Row - Sit on the floor in a v-up hold position, holding your medicine ball, "row" your arms back as if you were rowing a row boat. Hold the v-up hold and repeat the row for the whole minute.

Single Legged Squat - Standing on your left leg, hold your right foot just off the floor, next to your left ankle. Drop your booty low, keeping your chest held high, while reaching with your right hand towards your left ankle. Repeat 30 second on the left, 30 seconds on the right.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Catching Up - Hello Monday

It's been a while since I've linked up with Lisa from Lisa Leonard Designs for Hello Monday. But it was such a great holiday weekend - so I've got some things to share with you!

Hello 8 days left! 

I know, I sound like a broken record, but I want to remind you about my Dad's campaign on IndieGoGo. The money isn't just going to the development of Smart Spot, it's going to help keep the doors open to Make-It Manufacturing. The past few years hasn't been nice to him, to put it nicely, and we need your help! This is a great way to get some Christmas shopping done (for only $25!!) and to help out the small guy! 


Zebra Stripe

Zebra Stripe


Hello super chilly nights! We've been enjoying having a real fire place to keep us warm. Actually, Kona enjoys it the most.


Hello pie making and See's Candy Chocolate Turkeys! Thanks Grandma Ellie! We celebrated Turkey day last Saturday with Sam's parents, and spend actual Turkey Day serving food at a women's shelter. We're very thankful for a safe place to live, and wonderful family to spend time with. 

Hello to Kona photo-bombing our pictures!



Hello to hockey season! Go Ice Jacks!



Hello to warm afternoons in the woods. When's the real winter weather going to get here??


Hello to long walks over the holiday weekend, and realizing that swings make me nauseous. I never thought that day would come!


Hello to candy making and new traditions with the Heffelfinger family!


 Hello to being proactive with our Christmas cards! We're almost done, just waiting for our new return address stamp that Sam ordered for me for an early Christmas gift! Thanks baby!


Hello to Christmas tree cutting permits, a freshly cut tree, and shiny new ornaments to adorn our naked tree. 


And lastly, Hello to Sam and I being goofy.


Follow me on Instagram, I'm LeahHeffelfinger! 

PS - HUGE Congrats to the newly engaged couple - you know who you are! We're so happy for you and thank you for letting us be a part of your special moment! Woot woot! 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Ramble and Workout #4

Sam and I spent last weekend with the Heffelfinger clan celebrating an early Thanksgiving. It was great fun, lots of pies, lots of laughter, oh, and dog fur. Dog. Fur. Everywhere. But a wonderful time, I'm so thankful to be a part of the family.


Since we celebrated with the family early, Sam and I will be volunteering at Hope Cottage in Flagstaff on actual Turkey Day. I think Jeanette's project got the ball rolling for us, and spending our time helping others has become somewhat of a theme the past few weeks. Hope Cottage is a shelter in town that offers a home for men, women, and children. It's so easy to forget how fortunate we are, and with the help of the Happy Day Project, it made me realize that it's not hard to spend a few hours helping others. Or even a few seconds! I'm still carrying around a Blessing Bag!
So, on another note. Dry. Skin. It's only November, and already my skin is peeling, cracking, flaking, and down right itchy. Like so, so, so, itchy. I'm pretty sure my bones are itchy. It's. That. Bad. I think it's worse this year than last year even. I could literally bath in a vat of Vaseline. Do you have an recommendations for helping this issue?? I feel like I'm dying.  No exaggeration here. My bathroom is overflowing with tubes, and jars, and bottles of lotions, cremes, and pastes, that don't seem to help. Help Me!


I'm really on a roll with this rambling. I have to share this with you. It's important. Especially if you have curly hair like I do. I've talked about BirchBox before here, but I'm going to remind you that it's AWESOME. It's basically like Sephora, but online. Anyway, I pay 10$/month to get a box of samples, which so far, has been awesome, pretty much guaranteed to come with at least one full sized product, and great coupons, and fun stuff that I wouldn't normally purchase. Ok, so today through December 15 you can buy and Miss Jessie's curly hair products for buy 1 get 1 free! Most of her products cost $22.00 or more, so this is a steal! 

Hand-picked beauty and lifestyle samples, delivered to your door for $10/month.

While I'm going on about random things, I'll put up Workout #4. I taught this last night in a class called Stretch and Tone. We do about 30 minutes of toning, and 30 minutes of foam rolling. Here's my toning workout, it's a good one, focusing on cardio, core, and upper body. We used a BOSU, but you could easily do it without one.

Workout #4 

Warm Up:
30 Jumping Jacks 

Cardio:
I use the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia...trust me, it will rock your world. 
Single squats throughout the entire song (Ouch) 
Pulsing squats during the chorus (there's 3)



Core:
:30 Left side plank (Feet on the BOSU)
:45 Mountain Climber (Hands on the BOSU) 
1:00 Crunches (Sitting on the front of the BOSU)
:45 Plank jacks (Hands on the BOSU) 
:30 Right side plank (Feet on the BOSU)

Upper Body:
Repeat this 2X while standing on the bubble side of the BOSU using 5-8 lb weights: 
4 bicep curls
4 front raises
4 tricep extensions
4 rows
10 push ups 

Repeat Core, then cool down! Simple! 

And that's all for today. Happy Tuesday! 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Workout #3

To INSANITY and back....  One Girls Journey to Fitness, Health, & Self Discovery.... http://mmorris.webs.com/


I love waking up every morning before teaching class and coming up with a new workout. But let's be real. Sometimes the morning comes too soon, and inspiration lacks.

Luckily, God gave us Pinterest :)

So yesterday, I went to my Work It (follow me on Pinterest!)board and was reminded of a great obliques work out - here's my rendition of the approximately 40 minute workout out:

Equipment: weighted bar, one light dumbbell, one heavy dumbbell 

Warm up: 
30 Jumping Jacks

Work out:
50 Russian Twists with the light dumbbell (25 right, 25 left)

20 leg lifts (10 right, 10 left) -with the weighted bar

20 inner thigh leg lifts (10 right, 10 left) - with the weighted bar

10 dumbbell side bends  (10 right, 10 left) with the heavy dumbbell

40 Russian Twists with your light dumbbell (20 right, 20 left)

5 Side plank rotations (5 right, 5 left)

20 hip twists in a plank (10 right, 10 left)

20 Jumping Jacks 

40 Russian Twists with your light dumbbell (20 right, 20 left)

50 bicycle crunches 

20 side crunches (10 right, 10 left)

20 double legged side lifts (10 right, 10 left)



10 dumbbell side bends  (10 right, 10 left) 

60 Russian Twists with your light dumbbell (30 right, 30 left)

50 Jumping Jacks 

Cool down and stretch - or if you have time, repeat!









1 Bathroom = 1 Makeover

Sam and I are very blessed to be able to call our home our own. While I might be caught complaining that we only have 1 very tiny bathroom, it's all our own to do what ever we want to it. I finally got around to adding a little flair to it. The boys were complaining about only having a clear shower curtain liner, they said it was awkward, especially considering we have a window literally in our shower.


Other awkward things about our bathroom, and our home in general, is that the cabinetry was apparently built for NBA stars. (I didn't feel like standing in the shower to take pictures of the cabinets, so you'll have to use your imagination.) I can hardly reach the top shelves, let alone put anything up there. It's basically wasted space. And the shelves are too close together to put lotion bottles or anything tall...so those items sit on top of the toilet.I'm looking for a long, flat basket or tray to set on top of the toilet to corral the items that sit there... unless you have a better idea.


We have not a single ounce of counter space, so it's imperative that the toilet seat always be down, since it's the only flat surface in the room. I won't be a happy camper the day that my jewelery holder falls into the abyss. 





But really, other than those complaints, the bathroom does have a lot of room for storage, even if it's only helpful to giants, and the shower has brand new tile and faucet. The hot water is SUPER fast too, which is a huge plus during the cold winter months.And, it's consistently the warmest room in the house because it's so small the heat gets trapped in there.


This last photo is above the toilet. All the cabinets that I've been whining about are above the towel bars that you see. I took all these pictures at night, and I'm editing them from work, so now I'm realizing that I should have shown you more. But this will have to do. At least we now have a pretty shower curtain and matching hand towel (Target) and a pretty blue and gold door pull on the medicine cabinet (Urban Outfitters) and the bright and cheery art print (Life Rearranged?) 

I also wanted to take just a moment of your Friday to remind you of my Dad's campaign on IndieGoGO, here's what he has to say about it:

The honest story of how Smart Spot came to me began on a stormy Monday morning. I set off to work, stopped off at a local coffee shop for my coffee, and proceeded into the office. Like always, I started my day by placing my phone on my desk, my keys followed, then I spilled my coffee on my phone!

So being a product designer, by noon I had a design of a platform on which I could safely set my phone -- so it would not get dunked again! Like always, I emailed my initial design to my favorite critic, my daughter. Her response was not very positive: “Dad all the phone accessories are so over done! There is literally an accessory for everything. Try something else!”

Call me stubborn, but by the end of the day I had machined a prototype of Smart Spot. I personally fell in love with it, but what do I know? So, I showed it to my secretary. She laughed, and said, "What have you invented today?" It was time to close out my day -- I had literally done nothing on my to-do list.
Spilling my coffee had turned out to consume my entire day.

After a few modifications to Smart Spot, by Friday that week I had in my hand a product I felt was worthy of showing to my biggest critic, my wife. You have to understand that for 26 years of marriage I have been bringing home inventions. Here's how it usually goes: I walk in the door with my prototype in my hand and say, "Honey, look at this!" Her normal response is, "Yea, that’s great, the trash needs to be taken out!" This time it was different, she set her phone on it and went back to texting. We were sitting at our kitchen counter, and then she moved into the kitchen and took it with her. Moving from there to the patio to enjoy some wine, I noticed she took it with her again. At this point, I still had not got much of a review from her. Joking around I said, "You know, I have to take that back to work on Monday right?" She responded, "You will bring it home Monday night, right?" --- I guess she likes it after all.


That next week I made a few more prototypes, and made the decision to send one to my daughter and see what response I would get when she had one in her hand. A few days later her response came in a text message. “Okay, I got your Smart Spot in the mail. I need one for each room in my house and one for my office.” Ha! Now that both my critics have seen the light, the work begins!


Colors, material for the face, non skid for the base… these projects always seem so simple in the beginning -- and then everyone has an opinion. It gets overwhelming at times. Staying focused, I made the decision to carry my prototype with me and showed it to as many people as possible. When I ran out of friends, I went to Starbucks and sat at a table near the line of caffeine depleted people. In 45 minutes I had 22 people ask about Smart Spot. Normal response was, "Hey, that’s very cool! Where can I get one?"


Now I am all in! I ordered mold bases and made a prototype mold. Wow, that sounded so simple, didn’t it? Well, I spent an entire week, plus the weekend making that mold, a sum of 60+ hours. Not kidding, ask my wife, when I get consumed by something not much else in my life gets much attention. Sorry honey, I love you!


Now all this may sound crazy, but I truly love this product!

My goal is simple: get it launched in time for holiday sales. Impossible you might say! Well, if this were a huge company we would still be in meetings discussing designs, colors …etc. This is NOT a big company, and I am the big cheese, head honcho, and chief. Now with my prototype tool in place I can manufacture a limited number of units and promise delivery for the holidays.

Smart Spot comes in two different materials. The lest expensive Smart Spots are injection molded bodies, filled with sand for weight. The more expensive Smart Spots are CNC Machined hand polished and sent out for decorating.

There is a Smart Spot for everyone.

Please help support his project and my family - it's a great cause and a great gift to give this holiday season!

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Happy Day Project: A Recap

For those of you who missed my post last week about The Happy Day Project, here's a little synopsis of what it is:

The point of it is to spread joy. Simple as that. Jeannett from Life Rearranged set us up with a little calendar of  things to do each day of the week.

Life Rearranged

Each day was just a little something that might only take a minute to complete, or an hour to put together, but it would hopefully spread a little joy to someone else. And so, here's what I did:

MONDAY: Handwritten Note

Jeannette provided some stinkin cute printable note cards, so I used 6 of those to write a little HELLO to my Mom, MIL, and some close friends.







BTW, everyone who got a note called me to say that it made their day! What a happy feeling! I need to write notes more often.

TUESDAY: Gift Card to the Homeless

All day at work I pondered how I was going to accomplish this task...I'm not even sure why it seemed so daunting... but it did. I tried to think about where a less fortunate person might want a gift card to. What did they need?...maybe even what they wanted? I ended up picking up a gift card to Target. I figured they have warm clothes, blankets, food, all sorts of things that a homeless person might need. Then the hard part came. I actually had to find someone to give this to... I drove around town for a bit trying to think of places that I might find a recipient. I ended up at a gas station on the way out of town where I had remembered seeing a a girl asking for change once.

I ended up finding her. She was standing on the corner of the street in a purple flannel shirt. She had a backpack and maybe another bag. And she was holding a sign that said "Homeless and Hungry".

I have to ask, maybe another participant of The Happy Day Project felt this way too, but I was suddenly so nervous, would she accept my gift, did she even need my gift? I felt totally self conscious as I drove up to her in my new car, clean clothes, and a happy dog with her head out the passenger window.... did anyone else feel.... odd?

I handed her the gift card and said "I hope this helps"... which afterwards seemed like such a dumb thing to say, as if my puny little 10$ gift card could actually help this girl....she smiled and gratefully took the card, not sure what it was and told me that I had a beautiful dog.

As I drove away I watched her in the rear view mirror look at the card and then say "Saweeet!" and tuck it in her pocket. And in that moment, I'm not sure who The Happy Day Project benefited  more... me or her. My heart felt like the Grinch's heart, two sizes too small, but then overwhelmingly full of gratitude and happiness.

This was most definitely my favorite day of The Happy Day Project.




WEDNESDAY: Treat Someone

While sitting at work on Wednesday, I kept thinking about who and how I was going to treat someone this afternoon. I don't have much time after work to bake, or take someone out to dinner etc... But then I remembered that my little brother, also my roommate was heading out to a hockey tournament in California that night. Knowing that he probably didn't think to bring any food and that he's a cash strapped college student, I did the quickest thing I could. I ran to the convenient store and picked up all his favorite goodies! No cute little bag with rafia and tissue paper or ribbon. Nothing fancy. Just the plastic bag from the store choc full of sugar, unhealthy goodness. A quick hug out the door that night and a good luck! That's all that kid needs!



Thursday: Blessing Bags

The blessing bags were a great idea. I'm really glad that Jeannett shared this with us. I went to WalMart after work on Friday (a day late...sorry) and picked up things. Anything that could fit in a gallon sized zip lock bag, and things that I thought someone might need. I still haven't found a recipient for my Blessing Bag yet, but it's in my car and ready for someone. Here's the items that I chose:

  • Vaseline
  • Hand Sanitizer 
  • Personal Wipes
  • Lotion
  • Mittens
  • Beanie
  • First Aid Kit 
  • Flashlight 
  • Nail Polish (Why nail polish? A girl deserves something pretty!)
  • Men's and Women's Deodorant 
  • Hand Warmers
  • Travel Toothbrush
  • Tooth Paste
  • Sanitizing Wipes
  • Granola Bar 






 Friday: Appreciate Those In Service

I chose to treat my post lady to a little chocolate. We just met for the first time a few weeks ago when Kona tried to jump in her truck while she was delivering our mail. We didn't exchange names, but she seemed to not mind Kona jumping on her so she must be super nice!

I simply used another note card from Monday and taped a candy bar to it, stuck it in the mail box, and went on my way! I hope she likes chocolate!




And that, my friends, concluded The Happy Day Project! I hope you enjoyed it, and maybe consider taking some time out of your day to help someone else. It doesn't have to be a big thing, but sometimes the simplest thing, a phone call, letter, etc can make someone's day so much brighter!

HUGE Thank you to Jeannett for hosting this project!

Happy Monday! And Happy Veteran's Day!


life rearranged