So I’ve been working with Ally, my coach from Beyond Bionic, for wow, almost 4 weeks.  The first week was pretty bad.  I didn’t do what I was supposed to do because my life was crazy.  However, I got back on track and for the past 2 and 1/2 weeks have been sticking to my workout goals and I do feel stronger.  So what am I doing?

8K steps a day

60 squats a day

Power Yoga, 10 Minute HIT Training or Arm weight workout for a total of 4 days a week.

I also am more mindful of what I’m eating.  I’m not eating sugar but man I could and have eaten my weight in sweet potato chips.  Ally was kind enough to suggest eating protein when I eat carbs so I don’t eat the whole bag.

She also shared how an exercise plan that worked for her to transform her “flat butt” to one that was bootilicous.

She did 100 squats a day for 1 month.  How easy is that?  You don’t have to do it all at once – 20 here – 10 here – just as long as you end up with 100 squats a day.

It’s good that Mr. Bejelly is a boob man because my butt is as flat as Hank Hills – no joke. It’s just nonexistent.  So, I’m doing this workout slightly modified (I started at 40 squats a day a week, then added 20 the next week and so on until I get to 100 a day) with the goal of  getting a butt like the one above.

Anyone want to join me in this? We can tweet squat photos at each other for fun

I am not kidding when I say that I absolute love the look of Minted‘s indie-designed wedding invitations. I spent a good hour looking through all of their option and I was just seeing the tip of the iceberg of  options they had for fun, unique wedding invites.  If I had to make a decision about which one I would use for my wedding day I would spend a month going through each one.  Then I would order samples of my top four.  As soon as they arrived, I would gather my closest friends and family and have them vote on which one would be help memorize our special day.

I have been toying with the idea of renewing my vows and I know where I am going to do to get the invites – Minted.  I’ve shared my favorite invites above and if I had to make a decision today, I couldn’t’ do it.  I’d have to get creative and buy four different sets of invitations and send them to selected groups of people.  Hey, that’s not a bad idea.

In addition to glamorous wedding invites, Minted has cards for every occasion - Father’s Day, Birthdays, Announcements, Holidays and so much more.

They even have a section called Eye Candy where you can create inspiration boards around the invite you pick.   Hint – go to the category selector to find the occasion.  Right now they’re giving away up to $4000 in Minted prizes in their inspiration board challenge.  Here is one that is just made me swoon.

Classic Claddagh board by Hooray Creative. See more Minted

Gorgeous!  Which wedding invite would you pick?

Last week I had the chance to drive the Mazda CX-9  for the week.  To say that it was like jumping into the 21st century is an understatement.  My current ride was born in 1996 and is quickly approaching it’s expiration date  and it was very easy to see how much auto makers have continued to transform the automobile from simply a way to get from point A to point B to a home on wheels.

The CX-9 is nimble, quick and sporty.   There is a lot of awesomeness packed in to this crossover but my three favorite things would have to be:

1. The blind spot monitor – some yahoo decided to buzz past me and the car gave a nice warning sound.   I didn’t realize this was a feature on the car until this happened and I truly loved having this on a vehicle.

2. The amount of cargo room in the CX-9.  My mother’s day gift was a Traeger grill and I thought we would have to lay down one of the second row sits to make it fit.  We didn’t.  It fit perfectly in the trunk with the third row seats down.  I was seriously impressed.

3.  The auto setting on the headlights.  Ya, I know but to me it was cool not to think about whether my car lights were on.

Mr. Bejelly drove it during our trip to pick up the Traeger and he went all kinds of gaga over the sport shift mode. He explained to me that it allowed you to select the gear you wanted the car.

For more in-depth specs about the Cx-9 you can visit Mazda’s website to learn more.

I will tell you I was worried about the gas mileage of the crossover but I put 150 miles on it during the week and I still had just over half a tank left. I also had the air conditioner on full blast the whole week as it was crazy hot in Portland (85 degrees).

The only issue I had with the CX-9 is that it doesn’t  have enough head space for me.  I’m tall.  I’m 5’7 and most of it is in my torso and I like a little more head space in a vehicle.    The Grand Touring model has a sunroof so that did help some.

Nonetheless, this is a great vehicle for the person looking for a vehicle that is sporty and can haul a lot of people and/or cargo.  I won’t lie, getting back into my standard ride was tough after that week and it just made me realize how comfortable, safe and fast the Mazda Cx-9 truly is.

Disclosure: I was loaned the Mazda CX-9  for 7 days for the purpose of review. No compensation was received. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ok, I had no idea what in the world to call this and Mr. Bejelly and I debated over this recipe for a good hour before I pulled an executive move and called it a soft cracker.  The main argument was can you call something a cookie when it’s not sweet?  This is not sweet.  Yes, it has a lovely blueberry flavor and it’s soft and gingery at the same time but it is not sweet.  You could kick up the sweetness by putting some sort of fruit preserves on it or even better a cream cheese like frosting made with honey but I don’t do sugar anymore so I can’t take you down that path.   Don’t add honey or maple syrup to the cookie as it will mess up how it bakes, ok.

Anyhow, these are lovely.  They work great with tea and we all ended up calling it a different thing.  Mr. Bejelly keep saying muffin or a scone.  I thought cookie or cracker and the Little just kept saying “more”. I’m really excited to share that these are dairy-free and egg-free too. You will want to roll this pretty thin though – 1/4″ is perfect and they make a nice snack when  you’re out and about and running errands.

© 2011-2013, A Girl Worth Saving. Feel free to pin my posts but do not repost my full recipe on your blog, Tumblr, or any other website.

Spicy Paleo Slow Cooker Chili 

Lamb Saag

CrockPot Lime Beef Stew

Easy Crock Pot Roasted Chicken w/ Lemon Parsley Butter

Slow Cooker Tomato Beef Short Ribs

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings in the Crock Pot

Crock Pot Carnitas

Paleo Slow Cooker Beef Brisket

Cranapple Crockpot Turkey Breast

Greek Inspired Stuffed Chicken Breasts in the Crockpot

Peach BBQ Short Ribs

Hot Chinese Mustard Chicken Thighs, Wrapped in Collard Greens

Crockpot Greek Chicken

Thai Lemon Short Ribs

Paleo Crockpot Jambalaya Soup

Slow Cooker Osso Buco- Beef Shanks with Marrow Bones in Garlic Tomato Sauce

Philly Sloppy Joes

Corned Beef and Cabbage 

Slow Cooker Bacon & Chicken

Paleo Mexican Spiced Pork Loin

In addition to being a professional blogger, I have a part-time job where I also work online.  What this means is that I ended up sitting for long periods of time and, well, my back isn’t the same as it was before I had my son.   One of things that I fail to do is stretch enough so that the pain and cramping in my lower back aren’t exacerbated more than it is.

The American Osteopathic Association has created the following video with some really helpful information about the proper way to sit and stretches that may l help lessen some of the chronic pain that you may be experiencing.

I tried the stretches recommended in the video and I did notice my back was less tight afterwards.

Ok, right now are you slouched or hunched over in your seat? Now, I am so guilty of slouching when I am at my desk.  I have had to remind myself to sit up straight three times during the last 30 minutes.   Proper posture and stretching are some really simple things that you can do to help Break Through Your Pain.

Now, this might not work for everyone so if you are experiencing chronic pain you should talk to your doctor and develop a plan to help manage your pain.

No one should have to deal with chronic pain and I encourage you to share this post so that someone with pain might be helped from this information.