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.

Probability of a Bird Pooping on You.

Today, Joel and I decided to sit outside while he enjoyed a nice cup of ice cream from Costco. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and figured he was flicking a bug off of my sleeve. BUT NO....I was wrong. A bird POOPED on my shirt. This is the SECOND time I've endured the embarrassment/disgustingness of this type of situation. I mean seriously...how is it that I've been pooped on twice by a wild bird and JOEL has NEVER been victim of the free-falling defecation of our feathered friends?
I'm just wondering if anyone knows how to figure out the probability of this happening? I tried to research it on google..but found nothing. I did learn that birds have bm's every 15 minutes. Yikes...can you imagine?? I'm glad I'm not a bird!

VA REALLY IS for LOVERS!!

I finally decided to change the name of "our" blog to "VA REALLY is for LOVERS!" I decided that this was a great name (thanks to the TX Ueckers!) Since Joel and I met here and have spent the first 2 (well, almost 2) years of our marriage together...I thought I'd reflect that in the name of our blog. Don't worry...our blogs won't ALL be about how much in love we are!

Elite Seats..

Joel thought it would be funny to take a picture of the outhouses Kalen and I had to use when we went to a Christmas activity. BELIEVE me...these were anything but ELITE!!

20 Percent? REALLY?

I just discovered that not only supposed to tip my server 20 percent, but my hair dresser and dog groomer, too?!? (I knew about the server part..just not the other two) What? That's craziness? No offense to all you dog groomers and hair dressers out there...but that seems like pure ridiculousness to me! It just doesn't seem fair that someone who fixes my hair should make as MUCH an hour if not MORE per hour as I do! I'm out there saving lives! I don't get tips?!? I pick up poo..I get it on my face...if that doesn't deserve a tip...I don't know what does!I mean seriously, a $20 tip just to get my hair highlighted seems very unfair. I'm boycotting.

Me and My Honey.

So, since I've decided to make this blog more of a "family" one, I decided to write a post about me and my honey:) (BTW...thanks to all who suggested new names for my blog..er umm...OUR blog. I'm still carefully considering the different names!) Anyway, back to me and my honey. It seems like every time Joel and I go out with a new couple, they always ask us what we like to do together. We always twiddle our thumbs for a second and say "hmmm..what DO we like to do together?" Here's what we say.

1. Hike. This is funny...b/c I don't really LOVE hiking. I enjoy it in PERFECT weather conditions with no bugs, in areas of the country I've never been before. Those conditions seem to be quite rare...BUT, we always say hiking....even though we only do it once a year.

2. Traveling. This is TOTALLY true. We are both TRAVEL freaks. I love, love, love this about my husband.

and that's about as far as we get. This used to really disturb me. I would think to myself "Gosh, we've only been married for ________ and this is all we can think of? Where are we going wrong? Why don't we love all of the same things? We should be spending every minute of our free time having a blast (okay, so that's an exaggeration.) I then realized that we do have our own special little hobbies...they just aren't the usual types of hobbies one would mention when going out with a new couple friend. Here they are.

1). We watch the Amazing Race. Since we both love to travel, this show is perfect for us! We imagine what it would be like if we were the ones doing the challenges. We laugh at the silliness and drama...and we try to figure out who's going to make it to the end.

2). I finally convinced Joel that it would be a good idea to convert our garage to our own little home gym. We now do P90X together. This has been great for us! We usually do this together about 3 times a week! (For some reason Joel doesn't want to get up at 4:30 am to exercise on the days I have to go to work...:)

3) We like to go to the beach. I feel like this is something every couple says. It doesn't seem unique enough to be a "hobby." But..nonetheless..we both enjoy this. It's so relaxing! Plus...he can read his "manly" books...and I can read my classic literature...or my not so classic literature!

4). Playing any type of scrabble has also filled many of our spare hours. Since my husband is a brainiac, I hardly ever win. Sometimes this is frustrating..but it makes the victory oh so glorious when I do beat him!

So, all you couples out there...what do you and your sig. other enjoy doing together? You should definitely clue us in on some new hobbies that are FREE. We're all about saving money!