Hey there, Friday! We're officially 10 days away from Spring! It's something about the start of Spring that gets me motivated, focused, and ambitious. Maybe it's the warmer weather and the flowers blooming. There's a lot I want to accomplish in the next few weeks and months both for myself and well to keep our house running smoothly. Hello Spring Cleaning.


Here's what I'm going to work on in the next few weeks:

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Organize, Box-up, and/or Donate Clothing.
This one makes me shutter. I know sorting through my clothing and the kids' clothing needs to be done, but it's really the last thing that I want to do. I know it would help with having more space in our closets and dressers to put laundry away. I still have a few maternity pieces in my dresser, which I don't need right now, so it's long overdue to box them up. Speaking of which, I'm 9 months postpartum today...I just can't believe my baby is 9 months old already! Oh and don't even get me started on the number of mix-matched socks in my sock drawer. Why are socks so hard to keep up with?

The baby's dresser could also use some serious reorganization. Like I'm talking there's still some 6 month clothing in his dresser and he's out growing his 12 month clothing. I just want to know how that happened!

A very ambitious, not fun goal for me. And I'm just gone to be realistic and say that this is one is going to take me some time!

T W O//
Fold and Put Away the Laundry.
I always start a load of laundry in the mornings, but I hate to admit it- that laundry doesn't always get folded. Half the time it ends up in our extra bedroom and then I have to fold a massive mountain of laundry at once, which is miserable. It would be much easier if I just washed, folded, and put away one load of laundry a day.

T H R E E//
Read More.
This has nothing to do with Spring cleaning, but I haven't been reading lately. It's really something I enjoy doing, so it's time to make it happen! I want to read at least one book before March is over.

F O U R//
Sleep More.
I'm lucky to have to two kids that sleep through the night, so there's no real good reason why I shouldn't be getting enough sleep. I've felt really exhausted lately, so I know I need to get more rest. Basically, I just need to prioritize getting in bed earlier...simple enough, right?

F I V E//
Work with the Magic Circle.
This goal is totally Pilates specific, but I want to bring the Magic Circle back into my matwork. Never heard of the Magic Circle? It basically is a great tool for helping your work deeper to engage the powerhouse and inner thighs for example. Below I'm using the Magic Circle between my calve muscles for Open Leg Rocker, which is a rolling exercise in the matwork. You can even use the Magic Circle for some arm work as well.



And If you need some ideas for some core work- check out my post earlier from this week here about The Series of 5 aka The Abdominal Series. I'm off to a Pilates Mat Workshop today and I'm really excited! Have a great weekend! And Spring, I'm ready for you! 

I can't believe it's Friday again AND that we're in the month of March, which means only 20 days until it's officially Spring! Although it has felt like Spring for like a month now. Here's my favorites for this week...

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T W O



T H R E E
Workout Inspiration
"The body is a sacred garment. It's your first and last garment; it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor." - Martha Graham

"Take care of your body, it's the only place you have to live." -Jim Rohn

It think Martha Graham and Jim Rohn said it best. It's so important for us to take care of our bodies both physically and mentally, which is why regular exercise is so good for us- even when we don't want or don't feel that we have the time. I shared yesterday a little about what helped me when I felt like I was in a funk working out. Read that here.


F O U R
Oh laundry...
I just can't seem to keep up with laundry! I recently started throwing a load of laundry in every morning when I get up, but the problem is- I never get that load of laundry folded and put away haha. Maybe my goal this month should be to work on that.

Anyway, hubby recently ordered this drying rack from Amazon and I love it! I air dry most of my clothes and this drying rack hold lots of clothes and has wheels.

F I V E
March MATness
I probably won't be filling out a College basketball bracket this month, but I will be doing some March MATness. I'm a newbie to the Pilates March MATness fun (and 3 days late, but if you know me- I'm really good at being late haha)...But I'm going to join along with the MATness fun over on Instagram. Read about the March MATness Campaign here.

I'll be sharing the third exercise- The Roll-Over on Instagram today. Have a great weekend!

It's been a quiet week around here. And I took a little blogging hiatus this week. Ever feel like you can't keep up with all you want to accomplish? Totally was me this week. But it's finally Friday and there's always the weekend to get everything in on my agenda. Or maybe I can find a way to add more hours to a day...that would be amazing. But let's get to it.

O N E
The Pilates Spine Corrector
It's been awhile since I've played around with the Spine Corrector, but before and after teaching a few of my lessons this week, I decided to give it a go. I feel like I often forget about this piece of equipment- but it is so great to use to support your back and spine. It's a perfect place to work on keeping the pelvis lifted and build strength for back bends.

Y'all, I'm exhausted! Not sure what is about this week, but I'm worn out. I've been crashing hard after getting the kids to bed. I like to catch up on my favorite TV shows after the kids go to bed, but this week it hasn't happened. Like I'm talking it has taken me three times to get all the way through Jane the Virgin because I can't stay awake...Side note- anyone else watch Jane? I'm really bitter that they killed Michael off of the show. I could rant on, but it's Friday, so I'll move right along.

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Patience, Commitment, And Progress
I'd say the past four months, I've really committed myself to getting back on a routine workout schedule and increased my workouts to five to six times a week. I'm definitely starting to to see and feel the results. My arms, thighs, and abdominals are toner and stronger. I'm paying more attention to my posture. I feel better...Pilates will do that to you. I've been combining Yoga into my routine as well...this past week I've made it to three Yoga classes. Yoga has really helped with my flexibility (which has helped with my Pilates practice). I'm feeling a difference when I do exercises such as Tree in Pilates (pictured below). I think the key here is I've noticed so much progress lately from being patient with myself and committing to prioritizing my workouts. Just in case you missed it, I blogged earlier this week about being patient both in fitness and life- read it here and here.

T W O
Spring Fever
We've had a lot of warm weather the past few weeks with highs in the 60s and 70s for part of the week. I feel like it has been a few days of spring mixed with really mild winter weather. Next week, the weather forecast looks just about the same. I'm not really complaining and we did get to enjoy one snow this year.

T H R E E 
bareMinerals Foundation Primer
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Essential Oils of the Bible
A few months a go, a friend recommended this book to me- Essential Oils of the Bible. I use essential oils regularly, especially to fight sickness (read here and here), but I'm interested in learning more in general about essential oils and ways to incorporate oils. I just picked this book up from the library, so I really haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'm looking forward to flipping through it. I thought I'd check it out from the library before I decided to buy it.

F I V E
Valentine's Day Dinner and Treats
I did a lot of cooking and baking for Valentine's Day. I really enjoy baking from scratch, knowing and controlling what goes in our food, and using Organic ingredients as much as possible.

Hubby loves and requested Apple Cinnamon muffins, so I made those- loosely following this recipe. The main difference is I used Organic Unsalted Butter instead of Coconut Oil (his request) and I dipped the muffins in melted butter and cinnamon after pulling them out of the oven.
For Valentine's Dinner, we had: Grilled Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, Brown Rice, and Heart-shaped Biscuits with Honey. Here's the recipe for the biscuits.

 
For dessert, I made Sugar Cookies with Strawberry Glazed Icing with my little assistant. Yes, we did use Sugar, but we used Organic ingredients and no food coloring. Side note- I just really hate the thought of adding food coloring into what I cook. The icing was delicious and the strawberries gave it the perfect color and flavor. I found the recipe for the icing here. The recipe calls for fresh strawberries and lemon zest, but we used frozen strawberries and lime zest (since that's what I had on hand). The cookies are just about gone- if that tells you anything!

Have a great weekend!

Hey there Friday. It's been a fast week, but maybe because I've been soaking up this wonderful weather instead of folding the mountain of laundry in the extra bedroom...priorities...But let's get to it and then I should really fold some clothes.

O N E 
Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies
Yum! So I made these last night and they were delicious...and guess what?! They were made with all Organic ingredients, 100% Whole Wheat Flour and no refined sugar. All the more reason I can have one with my breakfast, right? Seriously though, they were a hit with the whole family and even hubby didn't notice they did not have sugar in them. I love cooking with honey! I made them with Bob's Red Mill 100% Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and the recipe came right off of the back of the bag. The recipe called for 1 cup of Honey, but I think you could get by with less if you wanted. I couldn't get a good picture of the recipe, so here it is in case you want to try it as well. These would make perfect Valentine's Day Treats. Speaking of which, I do have plans of making some not so healthy Valentine's Sugar Cookies before Valentine's Day.
Peanut Butter & Honey Cookies (Makes around 30 cookies)
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup of Honey
1/4 cup of Butter, softened
1 Egg, beaten
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven at 350 and Grease a baking sheet (I used Coconut Oil Spray.)

Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine, peanut butter, honey, and butter. Then, add egg and vanilla extract and mix well. Slowly add flour mixture until combined.

Shape dough into balls (use about 2 tsp of dough per cookie) and place about 1 inch apart on the baking sheet. Using a fork, flatten each ball with a fork to make a crisscross pattern. Bake for around 10 minutes or until golden brown.

T H R E E
Chicken from Aldi
So I realized, after I shared my favorite Organic finds from Aldi earlier this week, I forgot something. (If you missed this post, check it out here.) Aldi also has a good price on boneless chicken breasts. Now, they are not certified USDA Organic, but I think they are the next best option- 100% Vegetarian Fed, No Antibiotics and No Added Hormones or Steroids. I paid $6.56 for a little over 1.5 lbs of meat.
So last night for dinner, I made Panko-Crusted Oven "Fried" Chicken using my package of chicken breasts from Aldi. You can find the recipe here. The only tweak I made was I added just a tiny bit of milk to my egg mixture. I used Ian's Original Panko Breadcrumbs to coat the chicken. It was delicious. We have a little bit left over, so I thought for dinner tonight I'd make some Honey Mustard to go along with it using this recipe.


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Blessing Box
So this is currently going on around Charlotte and I think it is such an amazing way for us to spread kindness and peace into our community. Basically, the Blessing Boxes are a place to encourage and share acts of kindness. Once you've done an act of kindness, you record it and place it in one of the Blessing Boxes found across Charlotte. Read more about it here. Later this spring, the slips of kindness will be used to create a public artwork.

You can find one of the Blessing Boxes at Charlotte Family Yoga Center.

F I V E
Blessing Bags
So feeling inspired to spread some kindness with the Blessing Boxes, I loved the idea of getting my little ones involved in this project and making "blessing bags" to give to others. I had my oldest paint the bags this week. This weekend, we're going to work on filling the bags with small snacks and treats.
Random Acts of Kindness Week is also next week (February 12-18th), so I thought the blessing bags would be a fun way to celebrate that and teach my kids about kindness. Here are some other great ideas to do with your kids.  Have a great weekend!