Kitchen Chaos & Home Decor Finds

Good morning & Happy Monday!

I hope you are all enjoying the day as much as I am. Today is my last day off before heading back to work tomorrow. It has felt like forever since I've been there! I enjoyed my last day off and have had quite the productive day if I do say so myself, which included picking up the books pictured above from the post office. I ordered them online a couple weeks ago from Amazon and was thrilled to find the little postal delivery note in my mailbox this morning. I heard about these books from a YouTuber that I watch and thought I would check them out myself. One of my "resolutions" is to read two books every month, so I added these to my collection to help me along with that goal. The Instant Happy Journal is just that - a journal where every day you follow the prompt and write your answer in there. Some samples of questions in this journal are, "Recall a loving act - either one you did for someone or one you did for yourself" and "List todays mini miracles." It looks like a great way to reflect and really release some of that mental clutter that can often overtake your brain.

Rewinding to yesterday. I left the house for the first time since Thursday(!!!) yesterday afternoon, so Ryan and I headed out to Home Depot and to Winners. Of course, one cannot leave Winners without buying at least something! Ever since the Christmas decorations came down, I have been itching to redecorate certain spaces in our home to fill up some empty spaces.

Our front entry way has a dresser that holds most of our shoes. Pardon me. Most of my shoes. On top of the dresser we have a metal tray with all kinds of goodies inside. The newest thing to the collection: the silver striped vase in the back, purchased at Winners.

I also found this mirrored picture frame. For whatever reason, I am in love with that design carved out of the wood front of the frame. I don't even know how to describe it, but I noticed that our curtains in the bedroom (AND the guest room) has this design. They are different, of course, but maybe not that different. Further, I found a couple more candles to add to the collection, but they are unpictured. All about that candle life (said every female ever).

Finally, we are at today! If you guessed, "You guys must be painting the cupboards!" then you guessed correctly. They have spent far too long in a pile on the kitchen floor, so last night at about 6 o'clock pm I said to Ryan, "We should paint the cupboards right now. Come on!" So, that's what we did. We painted until about 9 o'clock before calling it quits, and made a huge dent in the work! I finished painting the sides and backs of the cupboards today, so hopefully they will be up in the next couple days after the hinges and knobs are added on. Does anyone else like shopping for knobs and paint and home stuff? It is pretty exciting to see all of your hard work come together!

Speaking of hard work, on a non-home related note, I had a check in with my trainer today. Today was my first morning back at the gym since last Monday. I did a home workout on Thursday, Wednesday I half-assed it in that I did a few squats and bicep curls and called it a day, and that was it for last week. It felt good to be back there, and despite taking it easy for back & biceps today, breaking a sweat was way better than being on the couch! 

Today's work out looked like:
3 x 12 lat pull downs
3 x 12 straight bar pull downs (arms straight, targeting the upperback/trapezius area)
3 x 12 bicep curls (using rope attachment on the cable machine)
3 x 12 bent-over rows (targeting rear deltoids)
3 x 12 face pulls (using rope attachment on cable machine)
3 x 12 alternating bicep curls with dumbbells
20 minutes of cardio, 15 minutes on the stair climber & 5 minutes walking cool down.

During my check in we talked about my food for the last couple days. I flat out said I was not consistent because of my wisdom teeth surgery and that it is still kind of uncomfortable chewing more solid items due to the stitches in my lower jaw. I am going to do what I can do make this week GREAT and to get myself back in the game. With that said, despite a funky week last week, I am still down 1.4% body fat and inches all around, so progress is progress. I'll take it!

I hope you are having a great afternoon & I will talk to you on Wednesday. In Wednesday's post we will be chattin' about goal setting. Stay tuned for more!