my first and probably only purchase from the TV

I purchased P90X. Chances are you've heard of this home exercise regimen; their marketing efforts have been significant. I actually didn't learn of it on TV; rather, I had a friend who followed the program and lost a good amount of weight. Caron and I were thinking what money we would ultimately save by building a home gym in our garage and we really needed a change of pace. So..

We purchased some dumbells, fitness bands, a yoga mat and block, a pull-up bar, and a tv/dvd.

As an exercise physiology major in college, I recommend P90x because it is real exercise. It's not a gimmick. Each routine is hard work and there is sufficient recovery time between routines to avoid overtraining. There's a nice balance of cardio, strength training, and stretching. All of the variety in the workouts has really allowed my muscles to respond and I've made significant strength gains (I started at 2 pull ups and now can do 12).

I have 1 week of the 90 day program left and have lost 7 lbs. I've probably lost more than this, considering the muscle I've put on. And, consider that I haven't done the plyometrics, abs, core, legs, or kenpo workouts as scheduled. Basically, I've done half of P90x, with a very healthy diet (no starches after lunch) and gotten great results. I hope to get my core injury rehabilitated soon so I can add the abs and leg workouts for even better results. It's been fun to work out together on occasion and to see visible results of exercise-joel

I'm Makin' My OWN Storage

Lately, I've been reading a lot about organization. Apparently, in order to have an orderly household, one needs numerous shapes and sizes of storage bins. Easy Sneezy, Right? I thought so too..until I saw the price tags on all these nifty "life-savers." So, I decided to make my own. Now, it's not as beautiful as the ones that you may see in the gleaming pages of your newest Pottery Barn magazine, but it is MUCH prettier than using plain old cardboard boxes. Here's what I did.
1) Found an old cereal box (it was a heavy duty one from Costco).
2) Ripped apart the material from my old hamper (it was ripping anyway)
3) Had my husband fetch his staple gun
4) Wrapped the box like a present
5) Put one staple on the bottom and one on the side
6) Hot glued the rest of the sides together.
The picture above is the end result. You could always use more exciting mat'l, but this is what I had on hand. I would have tried sewing the mat'l to the box...but I don't even a needle or thread. (My mom is probably astounded by this)
So, there you go folks. I just saved myself about $15.