It can’t believe it is that time of the year already, but the Nutcracker production will be coming to a theater near us very soon. I have always loved the music to the Nutcracker production ever since I was in high school. I was a second chair flutist in our symphonic ” band and we would play the score to this production during the Christmas holidays and the music would just make my soul dance. I still have my flute and if I could find the sheet music to it I would buy and just play for hours!! I love music and I remember that I told myself that one day I will go and see the production and I did over 10 years later. A couple of years ago a really good friend of mine and I really wanted to go see the show with our husbands, but the guys did not want to go. So, we said forget them and we went together and turn it into a wonderful Mom’s Night Out!!
I remember get very excited ordering my tickets online at nutcracker tickets and I remembered to order them fast because if you wait to the last minute you will be out of luck. Why? This production is so popular during the Christmas holidays across the world and the tickets sell out very fast. Which if you ask me that is not fun. Who wants to wait until the next season to see the most moving show ever? No me, so at that time I was so excited I ordered my tickets right away. We ended up with really great seats since we ordered early, so at that point I was so ready to see the show.
The night of the show came and us moms got dressed up in our after five attire and I mean we dressed up!! We went out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Chez’s and enjoyed a awesome dinner without the kids, and then we headed out to the theater. Boy was I so eager to hear the music play live!! Finally it got dark and the production began. What a beautiful production!! The music was exactly how I remembered, the choreography was so beautiful, the costume was simply marvelous, and the staging was just out of this world!
So I would say if you are a Nutcracker buff like me and missed out on the production last year don’t wait! I would totally recommend purchasing your tickets as soon as possible before they sell out fast. Why? You can get better seating that will give you the most out of the show. This event will make a wonderful family outing or like I said before, if the family does not want to go grab a few girlfriends and make it a girls night out or mom’s night out and have a great time!!
I hope that you all had a great day today. My day was long today. It was raining off and on outside, so no outdoor play for me and Arman. We were just indoor sniffling and sneezing due to allergies. I am not kidding. We were so bored Arman wanted to watch The Incredible’s movies and dress up in his Dash costume, so I let him. He was so cute and has long as he wasn’t whining about his nose I was happy. During all of that to clean, do laundry, exercise and get dinner ready before I left for work this evening. And guess what? I was so tired that I just popped in a pizza for my hubby and Arman and I had a lettuce wrap sandwich with grapes. it was yummy and fast!!!
About time I gobble that up it was time to drive into work. I was so tired that I wasn’t looking forward to taking calls I just wanted to sleep since I did not get any sleep the night before due to these darn allergies and Arman taking over DH’s and my king size bed. Did I tell you that this boy sleeps so wild? OMG!! This is a king size bed and I was almost about to fall out of it last night. Good Grief!
So, I got to work and thank God it was busy otherwise I would have feel asleep waiting for the phone calls to come through. Then work was over and I went to the Grocery store at 10:00pm tonight because we were out of milk and other items and I did not want to hear it from the boys that I can’t have cereal or oatmeal because there is no milk. Do any of you moms understand where I am coming from. So I am finally home, and able to get comfortable to chat with all of my lovely friends here on this blog and to my Nutrisystem community.
Tomorrow I am hoping that the day will get better and it should be, i hope, but I am going to go for now and get some sleep.
As you know I love to sure the web! Arman is playing with his Thomas Trains since he will not take a nap today. Of course, you know that I am going to try getting him to nap in a few more minutes. The boy is so darn tired because he did not sleep well last night due to his seasonal allergies. Heck! I did not sleep either because he woke up at 12:00Am, 2:00am, and 7:00am, so I am toast!!
But anyway I am currently looking to order some reprints of our family photos to place my a collage of them on one of the walls in our family room. Hey, The walls have been empty for too long now, and since it is a family room I thought lets put some pictures of your family trips and stuff on the wall. Well, I was surfing and came across this interesting website that I am almost convinced to give it a try. The name of this website is www.paintyourlife.com. What they offer is a wonderful service to turn your regular photo into art with portrait paintings. The Talented oil portrait painter will take your photo and paint the same thing onto an canvas with oil paints. Isn’t that neat? It’s almost like you commissioned an artist to paint your families most precious moments at the same time it occured. I was really impressed, because I want something interesting to hang in my family room and I thought this would be an awesome conversation piece to have. You have got to check this out!!
Did you check it out yet?? Isn’t that cool? They also offer other services than oil painting too! They also can make a rendering in charcoal, water color, pastels, acrylic, and pencil, and on top of that they can do renderings of people, animals,landscapes, and architecture too! To put the icing on the cake that also offer framing services too. This is great because the gift giving season is right around the corner, and you can shop for birthdays, anniversary, Christmas and much, much more! The site is so easy to use and it is very thorough on the ordering process too. Go today and check it out and you maybe be able to have a head start on some gifts already. I am already thinking of having my family photo created and a wedding picture of my mom and step dad too. I could go on and on. Enjoy!!!
I hope that you are getting through hump day this week. I am trying to, but man with these darn allergies are kicking my butt and then to add to this my little one has allergies too. So, today is quite a challenge. We have both been indoors all day and now it just started to rain. Maybe the rain will knock out some of the allergens out of the air. Please!!
How many of you love the effects of what exercise can do for your body during and after weight loss? I know I do, but man do I hate making a date to do it!! Do any of your feel that way too sometimes? You love exercise and then you hate it too?
Today I could have just thrown away my step bench away because my legs are tired and then I looked at the Bowflex and wanted to turn the other way? I just don’t like to workout my muscles and then the next day I feel like a sore old lady that has to run around all day and chase a active almost 4 year-old around. lol. :) All I know is that I did my exercise anyway and I felt good that I did it, but…. yeah there is a but to all of this. I have to get my mind ready to do it again tomorrow. Wah!! But I guess I can’t complain though. the scale is finally down to 161 which means that I am officially 1 pound away from my goal weight!! So, I guess there is an upside to this exercise thing, right? Hopefully this Sunday I will get on my scale and it will read 160!!! I am praying and working for it all this week and when I hit it I will be so ready to do a happy dance and then it will be on to the next goal. Which is toning and shedding off 5 more pounds to see if I lose a little bit more in my abdomen area.
Well, I am off to get dinner ready for my family now. I hope that you all enjoy your day and if you have a love/hate relationship with exercise please tell me!
The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony.
By Mary Baker Eddy
I can’t believe that it is back to school already!! I was in the stores watching the hustle and bustle of many families getting school supplies, clothes and that special gift to give to that special teacher in their lives. I was in shock, but man I was thinking I remember my mom giving gifts to my favorite teacher when I was growing up and soon I will have to do the same for my little one too!
So I was thinking to myself, what do type of gift would I give a teacher? It has been so long and do even have a clue. That is when I decided to do what I do best and surf the trusty web for some ideas. I was looking at Target, Macy’s, and even teacher stores and still I was inspired at all until I came across these beautiful gift baskets at igourmet.com. igourmet.com is a wonderful place to buy gourmet gift baskets! They stock a huge selection of imported cheese, wine, meat, seafood, and more from across the country. So if your teacher loves Italian, French or Spanish foods they will have it and more!! There gift baskets are filled with the highest quality gourmet foods you can find. You can even customer make gift baskets to your liking. There great thing that I like is that the gift giving doesn’t have to stop with your favorite teacher in you and your child’s life. You can also give great gifts from this site to newlyweds, mother’s to be and so much more.
I know that I have a very good friend on mine getting married soon and I found the perfect gift set to give her and your new groom to be to take with them in the honeymoon. I know they both love Italian foods and wines, so I will create something delicious and have it shipped to there honeymoon suite or to there home as a welcome home gift too. You will definitely have to check this out for yourself, but when I was there I was instantly impressed. If you get a chance to check it out please tell me what you think of this site.
Are there any Step aerobic divas out there that love step aerobics? I love it so much I almost do step 4-5 times a week!! I am not kidding, but I am not complaining either because my legs are really toning up! Yey!! I came across this wonderful article talking about this subject and I thought to share it with any of you that may have the same interest too. By the way. can you share with me what step aerobic classes you currently take or what DVD’s you use? I currently am addicted to Cathe Friedrich’s Cardio Fusion. It’s awesome!!!
Step Aerobics For Your Health
By Al Villa
One of the more popular aerobic exercises is step aerobics. Most of the time step aerobics is conducted as a class in a gym. This can really be fun and you can make a lot of good friends. But with the number of videos that have hit the market many people do step aerobics at home. There are also the many TV programs that conduct daily exercise classes. Most of the TV exercise classes conduct a variety of aerobics so if you are into step aerobics only this may not be for you.
Step aerobics is done on a platform where you step up and down usually to the beat of music. It is recommended that you not exceed 128 BPM as this can cause injury. Sometimes this can cause people to want to go faster to get a better workout. Well you can actually get a better workout by staying below the 128 BPM and modifying your routines. The platforms are usually from 6 to 10 inches. For a better workout if you are in good physical condition choose the higher platform. You can stay below 128 BPM and achieve the same step aerobic workout.
But before you even get started doing your step aerobic routines, it is a good practice to warm up for about 10 minutes doing stretching exercise and maybe some light jogging.
Another thing that is very important is the Choreography. Increasing power and force can add significantly to the intensity of your routine and cardiovascular benefits. Raising you upper limbs and bringing your knees up higher is also helpful. This way you can get that good workout that you want and still stay below 128 BPM.
Sometimes we get very enthusiastic and want to to do step aerobics everyday. This is not a good idea. Most experts suggest that you limit step aerobics to no more than 4 days a week. But you are encouraged to participate in cross training activities with equipment you find in a gym or bicycling. The idea is that you need to be cognizant of possible injury doing step aerobics, especially if you increase the tempo beyond 128 BPM.
Al Villa is a former Judge and now an internet entrepreneur. He loves to do research and write Articles about Health. You can find links to all his Articles at Lose Weight Fast. You may use the Articles as free content as long as they are copied in full including this resource box.
Well my little one is off playing with his toys, so I was just surfing the web this morning! It’s funny how I used to veg out in front of the T.V. but now I find myself doing the same thing on the web now. No, laughing okay? In the mist of my surfing, I came across this cool site called online coupons “Coupon Chief”. Now, I am about saving as much money as I can for my family in any way. I have a growing 3 year-old, soon to be 4, a hubby that has his technology and other personal interest, and then there is me. I love exercise and I am always looking for new workout clothes to wear, workout DVDs, and now I am looking for an elliptical trainer, other equipment to build our home gym in the near future.
What I found about online coupons is that it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Coupon Chief, Inc. At Coupon Chief, they strive to provide a one stop coupon deal and discount resource for their Web site visitors. Their focus is on customer support and providing up to date coupon codes and promotional deals and discounts is unparalleled in the online shopping e-commerce industry.
When I visited this site there are a host of e-stores that you can start getting deals on today! For us exercise buffs we can stop waiting to buy a new pair of workout shoes and start saving money on that next pair at stores like Nike coupons, champion deals, and others. Or, if you are just dropping sizes like crazy and needing new clothes you can start saving more money at stores like Kohls deals, which is one of my favorite stores to shop now.
Now, just imagine now that the holidays are just around the corner from Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays and Christmas! This about how much more money you can save with this website for gifts for friends and family? Check this site of for yourself and let me now what you think? I am really interested in knowing your opinions. As I said before I will give this a shot myself because my birthday is around the corner and I really want to get some new clothes or if the budget is right I want an elliptical trainer and I noticed that Sears is a featured store on their site too, and they have the elliptical I want, lol! Enjoy!
I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids. With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person.
It has been a while since I blogged and I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer. How many of you are like me? You are a few pounds from your goal weight and now your are thinking… I am at my goal weight, but now I am ready to get toned and more definition to your new bodies? That’s where I am at now. I got the weight down and now I want to be a little more solid. I came to this thought after taking a picture of myself in a bikini for the first time in my life!! I am not kidding!! I have never worn one before and I am so proud that I tried one on this summer. See the pics!!!
I can’t believe that I am posting this, but I have to say that I am proud. Plus I was just so inspired by some fellow NS members getting their bodies in shape and very well toned. Thanks Tressa and Amanda for the inspiration. You all ROCK!!!!
However, like I said before it is time to get toned with more muscular definition now. I am not in the mist of fitness competition, I just want to look tone and fit. Hey.. you never know though. Hee hee So, saying that I have given myself a new goal to reach. Yes, I said it another goal. Here they are:
Lose an additional 10 pounds (getting to 150lbs). My doctor says that is a healthy weight to keep my BMI in a great range. Right now it is about 24. I want to reach that goal by Oct 1st.
Increase muscular tone to my arms, back, quads, hell… all over!! Hee hee
Increase muscular tone to my abdomen area.
These are my goals right now and I will start with that and each month I will post progress pics to see how I am coming along. I am so excited because I found a wonderful weight training DVD by Cathe Friedrich that I can used to get the toning together and now I just need to purchase a few more things to add to my home gym to take it to the next level. For starters I want
A variety of free weights. I have a 2lb and 5lbs, but they are getting very light to me now. I can’t believe I am saying this. Before they were soooo heavy. Now I feel like I can juggle with them. Ha ha ha!!!
A weight bar
A few medicine balls to workout my core.
A high step or I could just use by step aerobic bench to workout my legs!! I will have to post pics because my legs are starting to show more tone now!! Yey!!
Elastic bands
Jump rope for added cardio
My dream equipment is a Pro form elliptical training. (maybe for my birthday or Christmas?? A girl came dream you know.)
With that above should complete my home gym that will keep in shape and headed to reaching my next goal. I can do it!!
Best Wishes!!
Tags: weight loss, body sculpting, weight training, fitness, healthy living
It can’t believe it is that time of the year already, but the Nutcracker production will be coming to a theater near us very soon. I have always loved the music to the Nutcracker production ever since I was in high school. I was a second chair flutist in our symphonic ” band and we would play the score to this production during the Christmas holidays and the music would just make my soul dance. I still have my flute and if I could find the sheet music to it I would buy and just play for hours!! I love music and I remember that I told myself that one day I will go and see the production and I did over 10 years later. A couple of years ago a really good friend of mine and I really wanted to go see the show with our husbands, but the guys did not want to go. So, we said forget them and we went together and turn it into a wonderful Mom’s Night Out!!
As you know I love to sure the web! Arman is playing with his Thomas Trains since he will not take a nap today. Of course, you know that I am going to try getting him to nap in a few more minutes. The boy is so darn tired because he did not sleep well last night due to his seasonal allergies. Heck! I did not sleep either because he woke up at 12:00Am, 2:00am, and 7:00am, so I am toast!!
The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony.
So I was thinking to myself, what do type of gift would I give a teacher? It has been so long and do even have a clue. That is when I decided to do what I do best and surf the trusty web for some ideas. I was looking at Target, Macy’s, and even teacher stores and still I was inspired at all until I came across these beautiful 
Are there any Step aerobic divas out there that love step aerobics? I love it so much I almost do step 4-5 times a week!! I am not kidding, but I am not complaining either because my legs are really toning up! Yey!! I came across this wonderful article talking about this subject and I thought to share it with any of you that may have the same interest too. By the way. can you share with me what step aerobic classes you currently take or what DVD’s you use? I currently am addicted to Cathe Friedrich’s Cardio Fusion. It’s awesome!!!
Well my little one is off playing with his toys, so I was just surfing the web this morning! It’s funny how I used to veg out in front of the T.V. but now I find myself doing the same thing on the web now. No, laughing okay? In the mist of my surfing, I came across this cool site called 
It has been a while since I blogged and I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer. How many of you are like me? You are a few pounds from your goal weight and now your are thinking… I am at my goal weight, but now I am ready to get toned and more definition to your new bodies? That’s where I am at now. I got the weight down and now I want to be a little more solid. I came to this thought after taking a picture of myself in a bikini for the first time in my life!! I am not kidding!! I have never worn one before and I am so proud that I tried one on this summer. See the pics!!!
So, saying that I have given myself a new goal to reach. Yes, I said it another goal. Here they are:
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