Friday, April 28, 2017

Five on Friday – More Tornadoes and a Few Faves

Y’all.  This week started out pretty great and it has slowly gone downhill.  The kids have been just insane this week, Olivia had what we thought was pinkeye (but fortunately turned out to be a viral infection to which she still had to stay home from school for a day), B was in a tennis tournament leaving me to be a stay at home mom a couple of nights this week, and then yesterday we had aaaallll the severe weather again.  Shew.  I need a glass of wine.  

Oh wait, I had a big one last night. 

O N E – More Freaking Tornadoes

This month has been just awful for severe weather here.  Yesterday afternoon consisted of weather alerts on our phones, citywide tornado sirens, and hunkering down in our “safe place” at work again.  There were several tornadoes in our area yet again, and apparently there was a really awful one that barely missed us.  The weather team reported that the rotation stayed in the sky while making its way across our city, and then it finally touched down just to the east of us.  It was on the ground for at least 45 minutes wreaking havoc.  I was listening to the live coverage and they kept saying things like, “catastrophic” and “nothing in its path will survive” and “radar showing debris being thrown 20,000 feet up in the sky.”  All I could think about was the people in its path and how terrifying it would be.

All I can say is thank you, GOD, for sparing us yet again.  And also, thank goodness I wasn’t at the gym with a bunch of strangers like last time.  Instead, I was at work and I had my twin, Adrienne, with me for moral support.  It kills me to be away from my babies during weather like that, but their schools have proper procedures in place for these types of events, so I knew that they were safe.

Now, no more severe weather for the rest of the year, mmmmkay?  We’ve had enough to last a good long time.



T W O – Stair Stepper

I already mentioned this in my Wednesday post, but I thought it was worth mentioning again because I love it so stinking much.  Brian got this stair stepper for me for my birthday and I am L-O-V-I-N-G it!  For the tiny size of it and for that cheap price you just can’t beat it! 

I had a few people ask me how the actual work out is on it, and I’m here to tell you that it’s kicking my butt!  I consider myself to be in pretty good shape, and the first time I got on this thing I could only do five minutes before I was sweating and panting and feeling like I was going to die.  Ha!  I have just now worked my way up to just shy of ten minutes and I’m telling you guys, it is a great cardio workout.  My thigh muscles, glutes, and arms definitely feel it the next day!



T H R E E – New Children’s Book

The Easter Bunny brought this new book to Olivia and she is enjoying it so much!  She has already requested to read and listen to it several times and I am actually enjoying it, too.  It is very informative on classical music and instruments, and in my opinion is a great tool to help foster a love of classical music in kids. 

B and I both grew up surrounded by all genres of music.  I have mentioned on here numerous times that I pretty much love all genres (but please, no heavy metal) and my musical tastes are very eclectic.  We pretty much always have music playing in our house, and B and I love love love live music.  I mean, we’ve already been to three concerts this year and it’s only April!

But anyway, we know that we want to raise our children to love music as well, and I think that this book is perfect for helping them learn to appreciate it early on.  You just can't go wrong with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5!



F O U R – 6K on Insta

I hit 6K on Instagram this week!  I’ve been trying to grow my following this year and it’s working!  I seem to be steadily growing by about 1K per month as I’ve grown 3K in 3 months.  If you want to see my strategy for growth, click here.  I’ve given an extremely detailed account of what I’m doing.



F I V E – Broke Another Record

I’ve also been focusing on fitness this year and I joined a gym last August to help.  I’m using it a couple of times just for cardio during the week on my lunch break.  Thursday I broke my personal “burned calories” record.  Each time I go I have exactly 30 minutes to work out.  I’m not one for running anymore as it’s bad on my SI joints (I have a lot of trouble with them since I gave birth to Jacob) so instead I have been focusing on fast walking and utilizing the incline. 

Since I am constantly changing speeds and inclines, the only way to really measure my progress is to watch the “calories burned” data.  In the beginning of my gym days, I was usually walking around 3.4 mph on an incline of 3 or 4 which was burning around 200 calories, but I’ve gradually increased the speed to a 3.6 with an incline of 9 or 10.  My previous record was 311 calories burned and yesterday I hit 320 calories burned.  Woo hoo!


Happy weekend!


*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

*This post may contain affiliate links.



25 comments:

  1. So glad y'all are ok...that must have been super scary!
    Way to go on the 6K...you rock and your pictures are great! I'm slowing working on mine! HA
    Way to go on the calories burned! I need to look into that stepper!
    Hope you guys have a great weekend!

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  2. I know how much you hate storms, I am so sorry you all had a scare, glad you are ok!!! My stepper is one of my favorite things in the whole world! You go have one awesome and gorgeous weekend beautiful girl!!

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    1. Thanks, Andrea! Yes, it was not a fun afternoon! I hope you have a great weekend, too!

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  3. If I had a lunch break I don't think I could ever work out during that because I sweat a lot whenever I workout haha! And I can't believe y'all had more tornados! It rained really hard and stormed for us yesterday morning (after midnight) but that was it. Happy Friday!
    Sarah at MeetTheShaneyfelts

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  4. Hee hee, love that you had your worry twin there! Had no idea you guys worked together. :) Congrats on 6K followers and calories burned too! And I totally want to check out that book for my kiddos. We're big into music around here as well. Hope you have a great weekend!

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  5. I don't know how you workout during lunch, I'd be so sweaty and gross. Do you shower after? Way to go on the instagram followers, you have worked it! Glad the tornados didn't get y'all. Have a great weekend, friend!

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  6. So sorry for your crazy weather again!! Ugh hope that's done with now!! There also must be something in the water because our kids have been insane all week too, like give me all the wine please!! Yay for hitting 6K on Insta!! Happy Weekend! xo

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  7. My goodness. The weather sounds awful. Glad everyone is okay. We've had a ton of rain, but nothing else. Thankfully, but I'm ready for the sun again. Have a great weekend!

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  8. More tornadoes?! Oh my gosh you guys need a break! I am definitely checking out that stairstepper!

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  9. I hate tornadoes. Glad you stayed safe! Way to go on the IG growth! I need to re-read that post to see what else I can do.

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    1. Thank you, Danielle! Good luck! I hope the post helps you!

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  10. YIKES to the tornadoes. That stair stepper looks and sounds awesome, I need to look into it. Also, YAY for your IG growth. Happy Friday!

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  11. Congrats on breaking 6k on IG & a fitness record! Yikes about the tornadoes though! I hope you have an awesome weekend!

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  12. Way to go on all record breakings! I've been working on dropping some pounds but had to give into a chocolate chip bagel this morning since my allergies are kicking my behind! Have a super fun and hopefully safe weather weekend!

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  13. I love spring-time, but could do without the severe weather. So sorry you had to go through that again! I know how much you hate them, as do I. I would have had a panic attack if I heard things like ‘catastrophic or nothing in its path will survive”. Eeeek! Praying for no more severe weather. I need to order that stair stepper like yesterday! 6K followers? You go girl! That is awesomesauce. Happy Friday! Hope you have an amazing {storm free} weekend!!

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  14. Congrats on 6k! But yipes to more tornadoes, so glad you guys are safe! Happy Friday gurlie <3
    Green Fashionista

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  15. That book looks great! I'm definitely going to pick it up! Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Yay for 6k! That is so awesome. I hope the severe weather is done, our tornado season usually arrives in June and I always H-A-T-E it. Fingers crossed it's over! On a side note, I kind of love those gold-ish pants you are wearing :-)

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  17. Oh no, I'm sorry about the tornadoes! Great job on instagram growth! I'm going to read your post again!

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  18. Yay for burning through workout goals. I am so glad you and Adrienne are ok. I saw your IG posts and was worried about you ladies. I can't believe you hit 6K followers already. So awesome. I want that stair stepper. I need to up my game as well. Have a great weekend.

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  19. I feel like I need that stepper - so cheap and sounds like a great work out! And congrats on breaking another calorie goal - that is great!

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  20. That's awesome about the calorie goal and the Instagram increase! Hooray! So sorry to hear about the tornadoes...so scary. We had a mid-afternoon monsoon (or close to it, ha) and it was so random, but no tornadoes thank goodness. Glad Olivia doesn't have pink eye. Hope you guys have an awesomely wonderful weekend!

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  21. Glad you are okay! Hope you have a nice weekend.

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  22. Oh my word friend. Y'all have got to cool it with the severe weather going on, lol. We have had an eventful spring too, but it has mostly just been flooding. We are talking record breaking levels here. I hope your weekend was amazing.

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