The end of an Era

Now, you may be curious about what it is I actually do. Until recently I have spent the past two years building a strong bond with someone else's kids. That's right. I was/still am for 6 more working days, a nanny. I am with these children 50 hours a week, loving them, cherishing them, and hopefully helping them become better people. For two years I have kissed boo-boos, given piggy back rides, taught countless lessons, and rocked them into peaceful slumber more then one time. It breaks my heart to leave them, but I know it's my time to go. The end of an era has finally come, and I am now, a real live teacher. With a classroom, and students, and a lot of responsibilities. AND IT'S REALLY SCARY. But also very exciting :). The children that I will be teaching are pretty much the opposite of the children I care for now (It's safe to say they don't  have a nanny), and I couldn't be more happy to help make their lives a little bit happier.

p90x!

This week has been super busy! I have been waking up at 5:30 to get my p90x workout in, and then most of the time doing something in the evening. On Monday, Tom and I went to the gym and I ran a few miles. Tuesday I rode our recombinant  bike for an hour (I went 14 miles), and today it is likely we will go to the gym so I can run again. Tom and I are signed up for a 5k on April 20, so that should be fun! And it gives me some motivation to keep running. My endurance is getting a lot better thanks to my handy dandy ankle brace! It supports my entire ankle, so I can't roll it again. Next week I start up grad school classes again, so life is going to get a whole lot busier. I have been pretty good at managing it in the past, so time management will be a very important skill going into the next 15 weeks or so.

This past Easter weekend we got to spend a lot of quality time with our families, which is always nice. Friday we had dinner with Tom's parents, his sister, her husband, and two of our cute nephews, Connor(4) and Zennon (almost 2!!) After dinner we headed to my sister Rachel's house, to see her, her husband, and our other cute little nephew, Max (almost 5 months!). Saturday was a busy day at Tom's sister Melissa's house. The whole Schneider side of the family was there to visit, which is always a good time! :) Sunday we were up and off to church with Melissa, Eric, & the boys. After we hung out, then went to my mom's house for Easter dinner with my family! Busy, busy, busy.

I got to try Shakeology for the first time this morning. I ordered the Vegan Chocolate Shakeology, and boy was it yummy! A little bit of a chalky texture at first, but once the ice melted down it was better. I think it could have used more blending. I knew that the vegan version was going to be like that, but I still wanted to try it. I mixed mine with some peanut butter, coffee, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and water. Also shaved some ice in there with out awesome Margaritaville Margarita Maker. I feel energized, and full! I was not expecting the shake to be so filling!! If you're interested in ordering some, email me at laurentonesitup@gmail.com, or checkout my beachbody page. Fun stuff, right?!

My little bicep is growing! You could barely see it before!

Day one of p90x!

Day Two p90x!

Not the greatest pic, but it's there!

mmmm Shakeology!

Big one for me, little one for hubby :)

Love,
Lauren

Beachbody

Why Hello! 
Fancy seeing you here! I know, it's been.... a while. I've been away, and a lot has changed. But not too too much. Last January (2012) I started Grad school, working on my master's in Software Engineering Management. It's hard, but I really love it so far. Also, Tom and I got married (Whoot Whoot!) Locked one of the good ones down for myself! Nanana Boo Boo! We went on an AMAZING honeymoon to the beautiful island of Hawaii ( I know Hawaii is a chain of islands, but we actually went to the big island, which is actually named Hawaii!). We spent two blissful, loving, beautiful, relaxing, thought about moving there, weeks there. Seriously, if you ever get the chance, GO! 

Beyond that, life's been hectic, busy, and very overwhelming at times, but nothing I can't handle. Right? On top of everything else in my life, I have decided to become a Beachbody Coach. What is a Beachbody Coach you ask? Well, it's pure awesomeness. Not only do I get to have more motivation, and more of a reason to workout, eat healthy, and be overall more awesome, but I get to help all of you! And make a little extra cash. :) :) Why did I decide to become a Coach? Well! I love the whole fitness world, I love exercising, helping others exercise, cooking, and eating healthy. 

On top of all of that, I get to learn about, and use all of the Beachbody awesomeness that there is and share it with all of you. My first product that I am trying is Shakeology. From what I have heard and read, it is the most nutritious thing that I could possibly eat or drink in a day. I can't wait to get started with it! I am also going to begin the p90x program, but I am still waiting on my door stopper! 

If anyone is interested in any Beachbody products, or would just like some tips and motivation, please email me at laurengetsfit@gmail.com, or visit my website, www.beachbodycoach.com/LDURIS

Love, 

Lauren

Our 2011 Health Journey

So last December (2010) Tom and I looked at each other and thought, "Wow, we need to do something about this!" We were overweight and feeling down on ourselves, so on January 3, 2011 we started our weight loss journey. At first that's what it was all about, losing weight. I lost about 15 pounds in a month and Tom lost over 20. We cut out all the junk, all of the processed, boxed, frozen, JUNK. I instantly started to feel better, not just in my appearance, but I was sleeping better, Tom stopped snoring, I didn't get tired as quickly, and I didn't feel lethargic all the time. I could run longer, I could lift more, and I was excited about how my body was feeling. Tom's acid re-flux went away completely, and he was re-energized.  As I become more engrossed with losing weight I learned about all of the health benefits of cutting all the junk out. Diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, glaucoma, all those things run in my family, and by changing my diet and exercising, I was preventing all those things from happening to my body. That gave me even more of a drive to change my lifestyle.

I did become obsessed for a while, weighing myself everyday and scrutinizing myself over each inch, and each pound. Instead of celebrating how far I came I was tearing myself down for what I hadn't done. Luckily, I am marrying and amazing man, and he reminded me of what I have done for myself, my future, and my body. He is so encouraging, and I couldn't have done this without him.

Of course we had our moments of weakness. When we would go home we would splurge, or when we had family come visit us, or to celebrate something. But we always went back. We maintained really well, and at the end of 2011 I had lost 30 pounds, and Tom had lost 35 pounds. As we entered 2012, we reevaluated our health goals and decided that Tom wanted to lose 10 more pounds, and I wanted to lose 15 more. We switched back to a whole food diet (I think I made this up! To me this means veggies, fruit, lean meat {chicken, turkey, certain fishes, Heart Healthy pork loin} and yogurt.) It's always hard at first, giving up the pizza, the margaritas, the Mexican food, the JUNK, but already, after six days I feel so much better. I am back to having a full night's sleep without waking up, I have more energy, and I am getting so much more out of my workouts because I have natural food supporting my body. The food you're meant to eat, the food God intended us to eat. I have lost 4 pounds, and tom has lost 4 as well. Yes, we will splurge, but we know that it only takes a few days on the whole food diet lifestyle and we will feel so much better. And honestly, this is a lifestyle that we have taken charge of and intend to live our lives this way. We want our future children to understand what healthy food does for them, and how it will make their bodies feel amazing. We are thinking long term! So to those of you who have made it a goal to get healthy, help your family get healthy, and change your lifestyle, you can do it! Get up, and do something, you will feel so much better about yourself.

I have a simple rule that I follow if I'm not sure about what to eat, "If it has roots, or a mother, and looks like it did when it was grown, then it's good!"

Good luck with all your New Years resolutions, and if you need a work out buddy or some yummy healthy recipes, just let me know! :)
Love,
Lauren

Tom and I in December 2010. (several pounds heavier!)

Us in September 2011

Rachel and I on New Years!

See, MAJOR difference!

Home Sweet Home!

Why Hello :]

As many (should be all!) of you know, Tom and I moved just north of Cincinnati last December. We are now nearing our one year anniversary of moving here (Time sure flies when you're having fun), and I FINALLY got to putting things up in our bedroom. Heck, we didn't even have curtains until about a month ago. Well, I have pretty much cluttered up decorated all of the other rooms in our house. So now it was the bedrooms turn! We got our engagement pictures done about a month ago, and I finally found some frames I like to put them in! Now keep in mind, we do not have children, so we have a lot of pictures of ourselves. haha. 

So oddly enough, this dresser belonged to my parents, they bought the whole bedroom set when they got married, so it has been around for quite a while! I have three Ball mason jars on the left with candles in them, and a candlestick that I got at an antique mall  with a candle on it. We just hung the pictures above today!

Here is a close up of the pictures. I bought the two thicker frames at Michaels today, the little one for $3.99 and the big one was $6.99. The three smaller frames were actually orange and I spray painted them brown! 

This is the collage photo frame I got today at Michaels for $14.99! What a steal! I have been looking for one I liked for cheap, so perfect!

Here's a close up!

I know, I didn't center these the best, but I'm not that worried! I grabbed these shelves up a few weeks ago from target for 6 bucks! The bouquet is from my sister Lisa's wedding, and the other things are stuff I had around the house!

This is a piece of metal art that my sister Lisa got me for my birthday, and it's perfect because it's big enough to not look small on this huge wall (at least in person) and the tone of the colors matches perfect with our ugly yellow walls. 

Now this isn't in the bedroom, but I spray painted this frame brown. It was white, but it was kind of scratched up when I bought it (it was $3 at TJ Maxx), and I knew I could fix it right up with some spray paint!

Here's a close up! :)

Please forgive my awful yellow walls. They're not my favorite! But we're renting, so we can live with it!

Hope you enjoyed a peak into our home!

Love,
Lauren

Wedding Madness!

Hellllllloooooo!
Yes, I am one of those annoying people who use too many letters in my words. It's the best! So, as we near our wedding deadline (EIGHT MONTHS FROM TODAY!) we actually have to do things for our wedding, not just talk about it. We now have invitations picked out, engagement pictures done, save the dates sent out, and are beginning to gather things for the reception. My's family is also beginning to plan my shower! Exciting I know. This transition is very strange though. We went from only talking and discussing, and dreaming, and now we are doing. Next, we will begin picking out cakes, flowers, food, and music! In the next few months I also get to go with my wonderful bridesmaids and help them pick out their dresses! We also get to discuss our ceremony with our awesome officiant, Jason Mims, who became an officiant just for us! How awesome! I am getting more and more excited as our day is rapidly approaching, and we cannot wait to celebrate with everyone!
Love,
Lauren
PS- Here are some of our engagement pictures, all courtesy of Blue Martini Photography