In a couple weeks I’ll hit the big 4-0.  The top of “The Hill”, the new 30, official middle age, whatever you want to call it.  Do I feel 40 years old?  Definitely not.  At least not most days. But, here I am.  Age is just a number, but society says this number, 40, is more significant.  So, I’ve been thinking about it more than I normally think about my birthday, and I’ve decided that if it’s going to be significant, I want it to be for positive reasons!

In an effort to make this year of 40 positively significant, maybe even epic, I’ve come up with an idea, and I need help from my friends!  I pretty much swiped this idea from my teacher friend who introduced the Read, Right, Run program to me. The base concept is that you read 26 books, do 26 good things (“rights”) and run 26 miles to complete a marathon (not all at once).  I’m adapting this program like this:

Read, Right, Rad

Read 40 Books – I love to read, but these days I listen to most of what I “read” through Audible.  So, this might be the hardest of my three goal categories, but I’m going to try to read/listen to 40 books this year.  If you are a reader and have a most favorite book ever that you could recommend to me, that would be awesome. I love reading books that my friends have read, and then we can discuss! You can find me on Goodreads here.

Do 40 Rights – I would love your suggestions here, too.  My goal is to have a wide variety of actions, ranging from small random acts of kindness to helping a friend, to volunteering and donating to causes.  I plan to blog about my progress on this project, so I would love to be able to share ideas that other people can also do or replicate. Again, send me your ideas, or maybe there’s something I could help YOU with?

Enjoy 40 Rad Experiences – Basically I’m talking about adventures here, but I was trying to stick with the alliteration of the R theme. I will probably run 40 miles this year anyway, so that didn’t seem like much of a challenge. I love adventures, both the traditional type and anything else that is a new or exciting/enjoyable experience.  So, give me your ideas. It can be a place to visit (although I can’t break the bank with this), a food to try, or something to do.  And, if you’re up to trying out a Rad Experience with me, I would love that too! I have been reading/thinking a lot about the importance of human connection, and I need to strengthen that area of my life. Let’s go wakeboarding, or hiking, or snowshoeing, or goat yogaing!

So please, leave your comments below, as I’m beginning to compile my lists. Thanks in advance for helping me with this project!

Looking for an easy weekend getaway this summer? Or, anytime, really?  The kids and I spent the weekend in Rogers, Arkansas recently and had a grand time. The first of a series of three articles I am writing about our trip is up on the Visit Rogers website. (Disclosure: I am being paid to write these articles, because, you know, that’s what I do for a living…) It covers the attractions that we visited that are weather proof.  Whether it’s hot, cold, rainy, you can still have a weekend full of fun in Rogers.  Click over to learn how to Weatherproof Your Family Getaway in Rogers.

I’m excited to be co-hosting a Twitter chat with MOST 529 College Savings Plan next week, complete with prizes! More on that in a minute, but first, I want to share the story of why we have 529 savings plans for our kids.Both my husband and I came from families that did not plan for their children’s college education. As a result, we both went it alone for the most part. Luckily, both of us had scholarship funds to help, and we both worked part time jobs during school to pay the rent. 14 years after graduation, we are finally finished paying off our school loans. Aside from learning to be self-sufficient and how to manage debt, our experiences also taught us the importance of planning for our own children’s college education.

As college costs are rising exponentially, the MOST 529 College Savings Plan is a great way for us to get a head start on saving for our kids’ education, even if college is still 8-10 years away. We keep it pretty simple. Half of any gift money they get goes into the fund, and we match that amount. Now that our own school loans are paid off, we plan to start making regular contributions to the kids’ funds as well. In addition to knowing that our children will start their adult lives off with less debt, here are five other Reasons to Start a MOST 529 plan:

1. There are several tax benefits with a 529 plan, including tax-deferment on earnings, tax-free withdrawals (for qualified expenses), and tax incentives for contributions to the plan.
2. The funds can be used for tuition, fees, books, certain room and board expenses, and supplies (including computers) required for enrollment or attendance. So, even if your child receives scholarship funds to cover enrollment costs, your 529 plan can still help with all those extra expenses.
3. It doesn’t matter where your child goes to school. Your child doesn’t have to attend school in the state of Missouri in order to use the funds. And, in addition to traditional 4 year colleges, the funds can also be used for post-secondary trade and vocational schools, 2-year colleges, and postgraduate programs.
4. A MOST 529 account is a compound savings plan, so the earlier you start adding contributions to the account, the more money you will save over time. Check out this example of how compound savings works.
5. A 529 plan won’t impact financial aid eligibility. Because the account is owned by the parent, it has a relatively minor impact on the child’s financial aid application, since it is not considered to be part of the child’s assets.

Next Wednesday, May 25th at 1pm, I will be co-hosting a Twitter chat with @MOST529 where you can learn more about the plan, ask questions, and even win a 529 contribution prize! My Twitter handle is @FawnRech, or you can search #MOSave4College. I’d love to have you join in the fun!

May 29th is College Savings Day. To celebrate, MOST 529 is also giving away one $5,290 savings plan contribution and ten $529 contributions. Visit the MOST 529 website to enter to win.

Hope to see you at the Twitter chat on Wednesday!

March is a big birthday month in my family. My husband, my son, and my nephew will each earn a notch on their trips round the sun belt. And there’s something about these March birthday boys – they’re a little difficult to buy for.  In cases such as this, UncommonGoods is a great place to turn to for gifting inspiration.

Today I want to show you nine of my favorite gifts from UncommonGoods:

1. Little Animal Lover Closet Dividers | $25. These are adorable, functional, and made by a mom. Perfect baby shower gift, or you can find more baby gift ideas here.
2. Construction Plate and Utensils | $33. My nephew’s parents posted this on Facebook because they thought it was so fun, and I have to agree.  Guess what he’s getting for his birthday?
3. ColorKu | $35. Like sodoku, but with colored wooden orbs instead.  We own this game. I enjoy playing solo, or teaming up with the kids to solve the 100+ puzzles. It looks great on the coffee table too. UncommonGoods has tons of games and gifts for kids.
4. Morse Code Necklace | $62. UncommonGoods has a whole slew of personalized gifts (check them all out here). I love small jewelry that has meaning and I think the fact that this necklace allows you to carry a secret message around your neck is super cool.
5. Fix it Sticks | $30. These simple little tools are something that would appeal to both my handy husband and my curious son, who loves to take things apart.  Extra cool – they fit together to make a T wrench!
6. My Life Story – So Far | $28. This journal gives the owner the opportunity to record their life’s experiences.  It would be perfect for a budding young writer, or for grandparents or parents to create a family heirloom. Flexible and simple, but something to be treasured. 
7. Gardener’s Tool Seat | $30. This is another item that I own and love. I don’t have any storage space for my garden tools, so this is it!  There are a bajillion pockets on it, and the underneath part detaches from the seat to make a separate tote bag. It would also do well as a tool or art caddy. There are lots of other fun garden themed items at UncommonGoods.
8. The Ooma Bowl | $25. Lots of snacking happens at my house, so I would buy 4 of these to prevent fights from happening. Beyond the chip and dip combo, these bowls would also be great for shelling nuts or edamame, or simply enjoying two different foods that you want to keep separated.
9. Scratch Map | $29. I’ve been coveting one of these for a while. You can scratch off the places you’ve visited, which makes for a fun visual and conversation piece. There’s a USA version as well.

UncommonGoods’ website and catalog is filled with products that have stories behind them. They work directly with artisans and companies that focus on creative design and crafting a great product. They also work at sustainability, minimizing their environmental impact, and valuing their employees. So, not only do they have great products, but I can feel good buying from UncommonGoods. You can learn more about their story here.

Thanks for supporting a business that helps support Instead of the Dishes!

My anxiety was how I really measured whether I felt “recovered” or not, as the anxious feelings, tight chest, and shortness of breath was really the thing that disrupted my life the most.  And yes, anxiety caused related things, including loss of appetite, IBS, and insomnia. I also struggled for a long time with feelings similar to morning sickness – If I woke up too early or too fast, I would feel nauseous until the afternoon.

It took nearly four years to feel like my body is completely back to normal, but I felt 80% better after the first year. I had been on various types of birth control for about 15 years, so my hormones really had no idea how to regulate themselves. Everyone is different in how they handle things, but for me, a big part of battling the anxiety was positive self talk.  I gave myself a lot of private pep talks – “You’re not going to be like this forever. You will learn to overcome these feelings. Stay calm and focused and move through the day one step at a time. ”  Things like that that helped me to not feel powerless against what was happening to me.

Other things that helped me with anxiety:

• Keeping a schedule – I typically live a crazy hectic life, but in the early parts of Yaz recovery, I set a very basic, bare bones schedule for my day and I stuck to it as often as possible.  I also made sure I had at least one weekend day of “nothing” to let my mind rest.  Anxiety makes everyday things feel exhausting, but once your brain gets trained to know what to expect, hopefully your anxiety will go down.
• Meditation – I had never done anything related to meditation up until a couple years ago.  I read a book called 10% Happier.  It is written by a national news anchor who had a panic attack while live on the air and then started meditating as a way to manage his anxiety. It piqued my interest, and I started using an app called Headspace to try meditating.  I really like it – it has helped me learn how to quiet my mind when things get crazy, take deep breaths when my chest gets tight, and just generally take a step back and relax. Headspace is free to try – you get a 10 day set of 10 minute meditations that introduce you to the practice if you’re interested.
• Colon Cleanse? – I think I mentioned in one of my yaz-related blog posts that I did one of those over the counter, herb based colon cleanse (in pill form).  I think it really did help with the IBS issues and also seemed to help with anxiety. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, so maybe it was psychosomatic, but it really seemed to help.
• Practice Thankfulness – One way I stayed positive was to try to keep focused on all the great things in my life. For me, that meant making different themed lists.  I have friends who do a Blessings or Give Thanks journal each night before bed. This also gave me fodder for those positive self talk sessions I mentioned above.
• Vitamin C – I did some research on cortisol, the stress hormone, and found that there are higher levels of it in the body in the morning, which I felt explained my difficulty in functioning in the AM. Vitamin C apparently eats cortisol, so I started eating a grapefruit every night before bed. It definitely helped me feel better in the morning.
• Exercise – I mention this last because if you are like me, it probably sounds like the last thing in the world you want to do in your current state.  Everyone tried to get me to exercise when my anxiety was bad, and there was just no way that I could find the energy to do it. However, as my anxiety started to improve on its own, I was able to add exercise to my schedule, and I feel that it definitely sped up the recovery process.  I saw a t-shirt once that said, “I run to burn off the crazy.” I still kick myself for not buying it. So, even if it’s just streaming a short yoga routine off of YouTube (Check out Yoga with Adrienne) or walking around the block at lunch every day, try to do something, and build on it as your energy allows.  I still have to work at this – I did  a different workout every day in January as a way to push myself to try new things and stay motivated to exercise. Again, just try to find something that works for you and build off of it.

If you are struggling with anxiety, I hope at least one of these things will help.  Know that you are not alone. Unfortunately there are thousands of people out there going through what you are going through. By the way, there is a a great read how to relieve your anxiety for those who prefer alternative medicine. Today I can say that I have normal levels of anxiety – I feel anxious in situations that should make me feel anxious, and not otherwise. I think that is another important part of dealing with anxiety – recognizing that anxiety is a valid emotion and that you just need to have the power to control it.

Saturday, Jan 23 – Hotel Burpee Bonanza

Today I am staying in a hotel and am scheduled nonstop from 7:30am to 8:00ish pm for a press tour. My press tour companions were super helpful in coming up with weird and wacky ideas for my daily workout, but in the end I settled for my friend Carrie’s suggestion 10 minutes of one minute burpee intervals with one minute rest between. Only, after the first minute of burpees, I became keenly aware of the fact that I was not going to make it through a second set of 1 minute burpees. So instead, I did one minute intervals of other things, like mountain climbers and pushups, alternating with more burpee reps.  I lasted 12 minutes before I decided I didn’t want to die alone in my hotel room.

Sunday, Jan 24 – Kinect Adventures!

I do this workout a lot when I want something challenging but fun. Adventures! was one of the first games that xbox made for the Kinect, Since I had been gone most of the weekend, the workout was also family time, as the kids got in on the action in 2 player mode. You can pilot a whitewater raft, race through an obstacle course, or play my favorite – ralley ball. It takes pictures of you while you play, which is also entertaining.

Monday, Jan 25 – Tabata

While researching other fitness programs and workouts, I had come across Tabata a few times, but wasn’t really sure what it was.  Essentially, it’s a workout where you work for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds in between. I grabbed Cardio Tabata from BodyFit by Amy on YouTube. Definitely a good workout and easy to follow. The short reps keep things moving, which in turn makes the workout go by pretty quickly.  My friend Lisa sent me a Tabata app that you can use to make your own Tabata workouts (or there are several on Pinterest).

Tuesday, Jan 26 – Aqua Fit

Water aerobics is always a nice, relaxing workout for me. It brings back memories of swimming with my grandmother, who taught water aerobics into her 90s, and also of being pregnant with my kiddos, because I did prenatal water aerobics. I wasn’t surprised to find a large class of mostly older ladies, but I was surprised to find my neighbor and friend, Bri, in the class. She is expecting her first baby and said that the classes have really been great for her (she normally does cross-fit). Water aerobics are fun because you can do things in the water you can’t do on land, like lay on your side and move your legs around in a circle like a helicopter.

Wednesday, Jan 27 – The Mix

I think this was my favorite class that I took at the Ozark Community Center this month. The Mix is half spin class (so about 20 minutes) followed by weights. The class is different every time, so you never know what you’ll get. This appeals to my slight ADHD. In the class I did, we finished with two suicides, aka shuttle runs, on the basketball court.  Haven’t done those since high school!  I almost died, but it was fun!! I’m planning to incorporate this one into my regular routine.

Thursday, Jan 28 – Nope.

Another fail day! One of the points of this project is to test how accessible and efficient different workouts are for me, to show myself that there’s always some type of workout that I can do every day, no matter where I am. However, some days just come tumbling down on your head, and when you hurry to pick the pieces up, a few get kicked under the couch. On purpose. Today my workout got kicked under the couch.

Friday, Jan 29 – Group Cycle

I have done the group cycle classes at the OC a few times, and they are always an intense workout, but only for your legs. Your upper body doesn’t get much work at all. I like the class ok, but it is a little too long for me, so I sometimes start to lose interest/focus. It also doesn’t really translate well to real life cycling, so I don’t feel like it helps much with getting ready to ride outside, whereas riding my bike on my trainer does. So, I don’t know that I’ll go back to the spin class anytime soon.

Saturday, Jan 30 – Personal Trainer?

Craig has been working out very seriously for quite a while now. He’s done lots of research and tweaking and is getting great results from his fitness and diet program. I finally talked him into taking me through his workout. We were in Las Vegas for his archery tournament, so he couldn’t really do a workout, but the resort we stayed at had a really nice gym and we wanted to take advantage. We started out with 5×5 weights, which just means you do 5 sets of 5 reps for each exercise.  By the time I got to the last circuit, I was exhausted! Then, he had me do tabata sprints – 8 reps of sprinting for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds jogging. We did this on a treadmill, which was a challenge, but Craig stood on the side of my treadmill and pushed the buttons for me.  It made me feel like a biggest looser contestant.

Sunday, Jan 31 – FitStar App

We were still in Vegas, and I was hoping to find something really fun as a grand finale to this project. For a moment it looked like we might be able to go take a trapeeze class, but it ended up conflicting with Craig’s shoot time. Our room was on the 20th floor, so I was considering running up the stairs just to see if I could (I’ve never run 20 flights before). But, our room had a great view of the mountains, and on Sunday morning there were all these crazy storm clouds coming in, so I decided to do my workout in front of the window to enjoy the view.

I downloaded the FitStar app to my phone and was surprised to find that it is narrated by Tony Gonzalez. You first go through a fit test to gauge your starting level. As far as what is free, you get access to about 4 beginner level workouts, none of which are more than 15 minutes long.  Anything else requires a subscription of $8 per month or $40 per year. I ended up stacking three of the free workouts to make one. The only problem with that is that each individual exercise has a file that goes along with it that has to be downloaded. If you are somewhere with slow wifi, it takes forever. I liked the workouts, and the audible ques make it easy to do the workout without having to look at the screen, so I might keep FitStar for travel backup, but I don’t think I would pitch in for a membership at this point.

What’s next?

In February my plan is to try to get a regular weekly schedule down, i.e., Monday – swim, Tuesday – bike trainer, Wednesday – The Mix class, and so on.  I’m hoping to still try something new at least one day a week. (This week I tried a rebound class (on a trampoline) and it was a blast. I’ll also do one more post on this project to talk about my favorite classes, lessons and results, and so on. If you have questions, let me know in the comments here and I’ll try to address them!

We all know how it goes.  The place we live has something it’s famous for – some attraction, or park, or land formation that people come from far away to see.  But not you. You live here! You don’t do those touristy things!

Well, this past weekend, I had the opportunity to become a traveler in my own city – Springfield, Missouri.  I actually live 15 minutes down the road in Ozark. Ozark is my town.  Springfield is my city. I went to college there, I shop there, and I work there.  And really, I feel like I do a fairly decent job of keeping up with what’s available to see and do, but there’s always more. More to experience, more to learn, more streets I’ve never driven down, new shops I haven’t visited, and interesting eateries I haven’t eaten at.  So whether you live far away or right here in Southwest Missouri, let me show you all the new-to-me places and people I found.

Ok, so I didn’t really “find” the Ramada Plaza Hotel. I’ve been to their Oasis conference center for events in the past, but I had never stayed there or been to their restaurant, Fire and Ice. I also found out that the hotel has an interesting story. It was originally the largest Howard Johnson in the world! What was a series of stand-alone buildings has been joined together into one big facility that includes Fire and Ice, the Oasis, and a large indoor pool and atrium. The Ramada Plaza is decorated in a tropical theme, which made it feel like I was far away from the freezing cold winter. The food at Fire and Ice is excellent. I had New England scallops that were so huge I could hardly eat them all, but so wonderful that I couldn’t bring myself to waste any! I have grand plans to bring my family back for a staycation. We’ll probably take advantage of their Family Fun Package, which my frugal blogger friend, Alicia, pointed out.

We got our creative juices flowing at Creative Escape Glass on Commercial Street. I had never heard of Creative Escapes before. It opened in September in 2015, but there is so much going on in the Commercial Street district that Creative Escape probably isn’t even the new kid on the block any more. So, we were all very excited to make our own suncatchers, and perhaps a little nervous because none of us had worked with fused glass before. Owner Rebekah Santiago guided us through the process, and then we all got to work. It was such a fun, creative experience, and as you can see from the last picture above, we all created very different pieces (although apparently bloggers really like blue!). I can’t wait to bring a group of friends back for more glass cutting creativity!

We also visited another local glass related business, Springfield Hot Glass, which does more traditional types of glass making.  Located downtown, they offer classes, but they also have a great glass gallery with pieces of all sizes and price points.  I bought an oil cruet that sits pretty on my kitchen counter. While we were there, there was a class going on, so we got to see a great demonstration on glass crafting! I have heard plenty about this store, but I had never been in.  You better believe I’ll be back.

For lunch, we visited Relic’s, the largest Antique Mall in Missouri.  I fast walked the aisles for an hour and still didn’t see it all. Owner Matthew Robb told me that if you walk up and down every aisle in the mall, it’s a total of 2.4 miles! After browsing we sat down with Beverly and Matthew, the owners, as well as Springfield’s mayor, Robert Stevens, for lunch. It was interesting to hear about how the Robbs got started in the business and to get Mayor Stevens’s take on what makes Springfield great. We had great conversation and great food! I had the Chicken Waldorf sandwich, which is the most popular item on the tea room’s menu. If you love your chicken salad with lots of ingredients, you must try this!  The chicken is grilled and then chopped, and it is sooo good. For dessert I had a slice of Lemon Berry Mascarpone cake that was heavenly. I posted a photo to Facebook that resulted in a Relic’s lunch date planned for next week.

I have been to the Springfield Art Museum before, but it’s been about 100 years. They’ve added on a lot of space since my last visit and I was so impressed with the facility. Right now they have a pop art exhibit showing which includes some Warhol prints and lots of other fun.  There are several other galleries as well, including a new family art lab and book nook.  It’s free to visit the museum (donations accepted). The Art Museum also offers several classes, summer workshops, and lectures.  Outside you’ll find several sculptures, and Phelps Grove park is right next door. If you haven’t been, go, and if it’s just been a while, go see what’s new!

We visited several other Springfield hotspots, but I’m going to leave those over to the other Missouri Women Bloggers who were on the tour. As their posts go live, I will add them below.  I’m proud to be from the Ozarks, and I’m proud of the direction that our Queen City, Springfield, is moving.  Come and see us.  I guarantee you’ll find something you’ll love.

Friday, Jan 15 – Bob Harper’s Pure Burn Super Strength (Inside Out Method)

What can you expect from a workout that has lots of fitness buzzwords in its title? Lots of fitness, that’s what. The total run time of this workout is 1:09, but that includes a nice warm up and cool down because, as Bob says, “you’re gonna need it.” Hand weights are required – my 5 pounders got really heavy, really fast. At first I was intimidated by the impeccable human specimens that are Bob’s “backup dancers” in this video, but even they all sissed out a few times, which kinda made me feel better.  This workout is hard, but I loved it.  Perfect for an intense at home workout. I’ll be back for you, Bob!

Saturday, Jan 16 – Giam Pilates with a Body Ring

I bought a Body Ring for physical therapy about five years ago and completely forgot that there was a workout DVD that came with it until a few days ago when the kids found it. I gave it a try and found it to be the complete polar opposite of the workout I did yesterday.  Very, very tame.  It’s more of a stretching with some resistance type thing than a workout.  I didn’t even take a shower after I was finished.  I’m pretty sure this is nothing like actual pilates, but would be a good activity for a “rest day” or when you are feeling especially sore.

Sunday, Jan 17 – Rock Wall Climbing

My kids have been going to the rock wall at Ozark Community Center on a regular basis for the past few weeks, so I decided to join them on the wall rather than watching from the bench today. I actually used to climb semi-often back when I was in college, so I dusted off my climbing shoes and harness and gave it a go.  Funny the difference 10 years can make. Seems I might have a bit of an issue with heights now that I’m old. Nothing like having to have your 9 year old talk you into pushing off the wall once you get to the top.  After that first climb though, I had fun “racing” the kids up the wall and seeing who could get the fastest time. I had forgotten how much core strength is needed to climb. I plan to do this more often with the kids.

Monday, Jan 18 – P90x Kenpo

The kids had the day off of school today, so I talked my teacher friend and neighbor, Angela, into bringing her favorite P90x disc over. I’ve never done kenpo or anything P90x before. It was a lot like kickboxing. I liked it as it keeps moving and has a lot of variation. I would give it a medium on the intensity scale, but maybe that was because we were talking too much.

Tuesday, Jan 19 – Body Combat

My cousin Valerie invited me to join her in her favorite class at Genesis Fitness, Body Combat.  I’m pretty sure Body Combat -is- kickboxing, but I’m not an expert.  Valerie -is- an expert though, and she totally tore it up!  I was glad to have her with me for my first go at it, as I could see where it would be intimidating to try this class all on your own. Totally worth it though, as I was sore for the rest of the day and the next day too. The instructor for the class was awesome, even making little super hero-ish sound effects for when you should be punching or kicking.

I hadn’t been in Genesis before, and while I didn’t see the whole place, the room we had the class in and the locker rooms were both very nice, clean, and well outfitted.

Wednesday, Jan 20 – 30 Day Shred with Jillian Michaels

The snow day threw a wrench in my original workout plans, so I decided to dial up Bob’s buddy from Biggest Looser, Jillian. 30 Day Shred was one of the things suggested by multiple people when I asked for feedback on Facebook about favorite workouts.  Angela slid her way over to join me again. The workout is only about 25 minutes long and includes a warmup. In theory you are supposed to do this same workout every day for 10 days before moving up to the next level. Angela and I both agreed that it was kind of boring and very basic. I’m not sure I could manage it for 10 days. I also was a little disappointed since Jillian is known for being, um, tough. In this video she was very tame, and this workout was not as hard as I expected. However, for someone that has not exercised much and has limited amounts of time to devote, this might be a great place to start.

Thursday, Jan 21 – Fitness Blender Ultimate Belly Fat Burning Workout

Snow day #2 turned me to YouTube once again. I was looking for something that wouldn’t be heavy on the arms, as I’ve had a lot of that this week and my shoulders needed a break. I definitely have belly fat to burn, and I’ve done other Fitness Blender workouts in the past and really liked them. Once again, my friend Angela trooped over through the snow to join in the, ahem, fun. The Ultimate Belly Fat Burning Workout clocks at 38 minutes and is very straightforward (one of the things I like about Fitness Blender videos). However, it was way harder than I had anticipated!  I am not very strong in my abs anyway, and the mix of ab work and cardio had me grunting, groaning, huffing, and puffing.  Meanwhile, Angela was able to show off her core exercise prowess with perfectly executed butterfly jack thingies (I don’t know what they’re called, I was a bit delirious at the time). We both liked the cardio moves in this video, which included things that neither of us had ever done before.  Again, a fast mover, lots of variation, and a good burn. I’m definitely going to be sore tomorrow.

Friday, Jan 22 – Hot Barre

My schedule got moved around yet again, but that’s ok, because it gave me a chance to try out a Barre class, which was another suggestion from the Facebook query. I had no idea what to expect. I signed up online for a Happy Hour class through Physique Downtown.  First, I’ll just say that this is a very beautiful fitness studio.  It is in an old building in downtown Springfield. My class was in the basement studio, which was dark and cozy, on account of the red heat  lamps shining down from the ceiling. They also filled my water bottle up with some green chlorophyll water, which has some interesting health benefits. 

The workout itself was very good. Movements are small and slow for the most part, with lots of pulsing and getting up on your tip toes. Half way through the class my legs started shaking!  We started with stretching and used light weights for arms. We also used tension bands for legs and some ab work. There is also some hip circling and pelvis tilting in this class, so bring your inner diva if you go. It was such a good total body workout that I’m not even sure which of my muscles are going to be sore tomorrow, but I know something will be!

Next Week

I’m spending the next two weekends in a hotel, this time with less “free time”. So, working out is going to be a challenge, but I have a plan (sort of) and my trusty netbook in case I need to stream something from the internets!  My next post in this series won’t come out until Monday February 1st, as it’s the fourth and final week of the month.

If you order at least $100 worth of items, the Aisles Online service is completely free.  And if you’re lucky enough to live within their delivery radius, they will even bring your groceries to you for free!

Here’s a quick rundown on how it works:

1. Login to your Hy-Vee account. If you don’t have one, you can register for free.
2. From the Aisles Online homepage, you can either browse items from the category menu at the top, or use the search box to find the items on your list.  I love using the “Search for multiple items” tool in the search box to quickly enter my entire grocery list.
3. As you add items to your cart, you also have the option to add them to your favorites list to make future orders easier and faster. You can also create multiple lists, which is a great tool for meal planning. 
4. You can click the cart icon in the upper right at any time to see a total that includes estimated tax and fuel saver earnings. You can specify whether you want your personal shopper to make substitutions if something you order is not available.  Your total may change a bit depending on actual weight of meats and produce as well.
5. You can also load digital coupons into your account from the Hy-Vee coupons page, and those will be applied to your order. Store coupons that are in the paper circular ad will also be applied.
6. Once you checkout with your credit card and specify the day and time that you would like to pick up or have your groceries delivered, you will receive an order confirmation email.
7. When your order is ready (My orders have been ready on time every time), you will get a notification email.
8. If you are picking up your order, you park in a designated parking space, call the phone number on the sign at the parking space, and a Hy-Vee employee brings your groceries to you!

I really, really love this service.  It’s so much nicer to do my grocery shopping from home. The interface of the online shopping system is very easy to use and if you do have questions, there’s a very comprehensive FAQ, as well as a live chat. Here are the pros and cons I see from using the program:

Pros:

• I can more easily compare prices between similar items. For example, if I search for peanut butter, I see everything peanut butter related on one screen.  However, if I was in the store, I’d have to look at the “regular” peanut butter section, and then go way over to the natural food section to look at the organic peanut butters.
• I don’t have to “double back” for items I missed as I would have to in the store.
• I also don’t have to haul my kids through the store with me. That alone is worth so much!
• No impulse buys.  I use a grocery list app on my phone to keep track of what we need. When I place my order, I go straight from the list.
• All the pros above culminate into lots of time savings!
• I save money. Being able to look at digital coupons and the circular coupons online helps me maximize savings.  I don’t want to mess with trying to keep track of all that while I’m on the move in the store.

Cons:

• You can’t use paper coupons from Sunday ads
• You can’t use reusable bags.
• Some items aren’t available, but not many that I’ve found.  Most notable – green chilies and some types of frozen vegetables.
• Sometimes meat measurements vary from what you order. For example, this week I ordered a 5lb roast, but I recieved a 7lb roast.

So, for me, the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot! I did try out the online shopping option for our other local grocery store, but I found it very cumbersome to use, and it is not free. HyVee’s Aisles Online program is my new favorite thing for the new year – I highly recommend!

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation of any kind for this post.  I just really like this service and wanted to share!