Movies at the Library

Justus and I plan to use Sling TV as our TV provider. It is online, $20 a month, has all the channels we watch, and no contract. Our street does not have internet yet, so are waiting to signup for this service. When we do get it, I will let you know how it works incase anyone is wanting to switch to internet based TV and pay less. We have been watching local channels, but miss watching Netflix and other shows on cable. I have been going to the library when I need internet and noticed they have an awesome DVD and blue-ray section. I love Redbox, but definitely need to take advantage of the free movies at the library! I discovered they also have a great selection of TV series. Justus and I enjoy binge watching TV series on Netflix, so decided to rent Homeland in the absence of Netflix. It is a great show and I love the fact it was borrowed from the library.

For the record, I do read and love renting books for my iPad from the library. I will post later about the online library and magazine reader our library has to offer later. So, the point of this post is checkout your local library for all the perks. Rent books on your iPad/Kindle, checkout magazines online, rent movies, TV shows, and of course books! A blessing from not having internet has been discovering how great our Norwalk Library is!

Home Show Replication

I got a lot of ideas at the Des Moines Home Show, but most of them I cannot afford to replicate. The one thing I could copy was a soap dish. It was a tray with small rocks that held the soap. It looked fancy, but not sure it has a purpose. I will tell myself it collects the "soap drippings". Anyway, for some reason it caught my eye and I thought it looked neat. After a lot of searching, I finally settled on a candle holder I found on Amazon to recreate this look. I obviously didn't use the candle holders it came with and will reuse those at a latter time. [By the way... I did use Ebates to make this purchase on Amazon and got a little cash back.] So here is my attempt with pictures from the Home Show and our house.

Soap dish from the Home Show

Soap tray in our kitchen

Soap tray in our kitchen

Learning Golf

Now that we have been living on a golf course for a little over a month I thought it is time I learn to play golf. I am bad....like really bad. I swing like I am trying to hit a home run, look very mechanical, and have no "flow".  Every time I hit the ball it goes way right, so look out!  While in Boone visiting my family yesterday I thought I would take advantage of their acreage and work on my swing. My mom gave me a lesson and I have decided she is good at everything! I now know I need to work on being smooth, not trying to "kill the ball", don't bring the club back too far, and keeping my chest down. These are just a few of the many things I need to work on.  By the end of my "lesson" (which she said I can pay her for later) I was hitting much straighter. I was also getting more consistent, so their is hope I can be a golfer after all. Other good news.... I brought 8 golfball and left with 8 golfballs after searching for a very long time.

My mom has given me basketball, pitching, fielding, hitting, discuss, trumpet, math, etc. lessons all my life. I would have to say by this time in my life it is probably more enjoyable for all involved. No more teenage meltdowns! I am very thankful for the time she has spent with me working on these skills and am very happy their is still more to learn. Hopefully soon we can go golfing together. However, that may be a ways out because in her words, "You went from being really bad, to just bad." I take that as a compliment :)

Thanks for a fun afternoon and helping me golf! <3

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Healthy Snack: "Seed Bowl"

When Justus and I were dating he always had a nut/seed mix from Wheatsfied at his house. I loved this stuff! I think this is where my love for trail mix and pepitas began. For the past year I have been adding pepitas to a bowl with some other seeds for a snack to get more protein. Justus refers to this as my "seed bowl" or "squirrel food"...

Recently at Gateway Market I bought their "student trail mix" and paid a crazy amount for a tiny amount. I decided I can make my own in bulk, so today I did.  The great thing about trail mix is you can add in what you like and what you have at the time. There is no recipe, so put the measuring cups away and throw in what you want. You can make it as healthy or not as healthy as you would like. The combination I made today was very healthy and high in protein...until I added some Reese's Pieces.

Here is what I put in my mix:

Ingredients

• Honey Roasted Peanuts (stole these from Justus)
• Dried Edamame (Surprisingly high in protein)
• Soynuts
• Pepitas
• Seasame Oat Bran Sticks
• Sunflower Seeds
• Reese's Pieces
• Raisins or Craisins will be added after I go to the grocery store

The Good Sense brand items can be purchased at Menards for $1. Who would have thought the best place to buy those items would be Mendards?! I buy a lot of my seeds/nuts on Amazon in bulk.

Final mix

My aunt Tracy makes an awesome snack mix. It is the perfect sweet n' salty combination. Here is what she throws together:

• Sunflower seeds
• Walnuts
• Craisins
• White Chocolate Chips

Favorite Workout Apps

Hot5 

Hot5 is an app I discovered last year and is now a favorite. Hot5 features 5 minute workouts with 5 exercises for 1 minute. The person in the video does the exercises with you and there is a timer so you know when to switch. I use Hot5 to do 5 minutes of abs after cardio, but I also use it for 5-20 minute strength workouts. The great thing about Hot5 is you can do one 5 minute workout or combine several for a longer workout. Many of the workouts are equipment-free, but some do require/recommend dumbbells, kettlebell, medicine ball, etc.  The categories are:

• High intensity cardio blast (no equipment needed)
• Total bodyweight (strength moves with no equipment needed)
• Abs & Core (most are equipment free, but a few require equipment)
• Butt & Legs
• Cardio & Agility
• Muscle & Strength (most require dumbbells, kettlebell, or weighted bar)
• Yoga & Flexibility (no equipment needed)
• Partner workouts (just need a partner...Justus has yet to do this with me)

Overall, Hot5 provides a lot of options and changes things up in your workout. I have learned a lot of new exercises I use in my normal workouts. Hot5 is free, but I believe now has in-app purchases. I downloaded it last year when it was all free :)

Here is the ab workout I did this morning (Complete Abs) on YouTube! Click here for an overview of the app. 

Yoga Studio 

Yoga Studio is the best yoga app I have found and trust me, I have tried many! I had never done yoga, but wanted to learn. I was too big of a chicken to go to an actual studio, so I searched for an app and I luckily came across Yoga Studio ($3.99). It taught me how to do yoga, is not boring, and really did improve my flexibility. The teacher in the app does a great job because it seems natural and flows well. You can search through the "studio" based on focus, duration, and level.

Collections:

• Sun salutations
• Deep Relaxation Meditations
• Quick Yoga Fix (under 10 minutes each)
• Yoga for Back Pain
• Yoga for Runners (My favorite collection of classes)
• Beginner Essentials
• Intermediate Essentials
• Advanced Essentials

Focus:

• Balance
• Flexibility
• Strength
• Relaxation
• Combination

Levels:

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Duration:

• 5-60 minutes
• I like to combine several shorter videos for a longer session

There are a lot of classes within each collections, so you can change it up often and not get bored. There is even the option to create your own custom class or copy a class, but make adjustments to it. There is a "poses" section where you can work on improving specific poses. I have never been to an actual yoga studio and am sure I should to get the feedback I need on form. Until then, I will keep using my Yoga Studio app!  Click here to checkout Yoga Studio and get a sneak peek before you download the app. 

Grilling Season: First Attempt at Pizza

Gas line to the grill

Putting a gas line on our deck for the grill was all Justus's idea and I am very glad he suggested it! We grill at least three nights a week. We grill the typical burger and brats (Morningstar black bean or quinoa patties for me), but tonight we got a bit more adventurous. Tonight's meal was grilled pizza, caprese salad (tomatoes, basil & fresh mozzarella) from Gateway Market, hummus, and veggies. It was great to have a yummy, healthy, fresh meal. Here is how we made the pizza's on the grill. The grilled pizza was easy and fun to make. We will definitely be making these grilled pizzas again & trying different combinations.

With the gas line we never have to refill a propane tank

Grilled Pizza  

Ingredients:

• Pitas
• Olive oil
• Tomato sauce
• Mozzarella cheese (Romano and Parmesan would be good too)
• Veggies of your choice (we used tomatoes and green peppers)
• Basil

Directions:

Ingredients ready to take to the grill

Spray/brush both sides of the pita with olive oil. Grill on each side for about 1 minute until toasted. Add your sauce, veggies, and cheese. Top with basil and anything else you would like on your pizza. Let it cook for about 5 minutes or when the top looks done. We added some sliced avocado to our pizza when off of the grill. 

Have fun building your own pizzas!

Perfect night