Nothing too special or monumental today, but here is the cleaning breakdown of the day...
mental- a wonderful relaxing hour long massage that I used a Christmas gift card for, and after waking up so sore I could barely move from yoga today it was very much needed. I cleared my mind and just relaxedddddd.
physical- I continued with my cleanse treatments.
house - 1000 loaads of laundry done, whole house swept and dusted and switched out winter clothes for summer clothes.
xoxo
Ashlea
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Spring Cleaning
This week I am on spring break. What better time to spring clean?
This week I am cleaning mind, body and house :)
My mental health cleaning for the day was a yoga class I took this evening. It was a power vinyasa yoga class which is yoga done at a fast pace in a hot room. Afterwards I felt relaxed and mentally clean.
My physical health cleaning is a cleanse that I began today, it includes skin brushing , oil pulling , an epsom salt bath in the evening and drinking a detox tea 2-3 times today as well as lemon water throughout the day, about 8-10 glasses. This weekend I will write about what I think of each of these treatments.
My house cleaning for today was the kitchen, specifically the pantry. I could not be more pleased with how it turned out, here is how it went down.....
With everything pulled out I was able to wipe down the shelves, I made 3 piles of food...
With all that organized I went over the Dollar General and for $40 got canisters, baskets and containers to hold the KEEP food and here is the final result.......................................
I could sit and stare at her beauty for hours :) Its just so............clean.
After the pantry was done I took my Mrs. Meyers all purpose cleaner and went to town on the cabinets, counters, walls and appliances. Lastly I took baking soda, a splash of vinegar and a squeeze of dish soup and scrubbed down the sink. The whole kitchen sparkled! When Tony got home he asked what I changed to make the kitchen look different, just the magical combination of elbow grease and organization, my friend!
Stayed tuned for tomorrows cleaning update!
xoxo
Ashlea
P.S sorry for the bad quality pictures, my camera was dead so I had to use the iphone!
This week I am cleaning mind, body and house :)
My mental health cleaning for the day was a yoga class I took this evening. It was a power vinyasa yoga class which is yoga done at a fast pace in a hot room. Afterwards I felt relaxed and mentally clean.
My physical health cleaning is a cleanse that I began today, it includes skin brushing , oil pulling , an epsom salt bath in the evening and drinking a detox tea 2-3 times today as well as lemon water throughout the day, about 8-10 glasses. This weekend I will write about what I think of each of these treatments.
My house cleaning for today was the kitchen, specifically the pantry. I could not be more pleased with how it turned out, here is how it went down.....
 | ||
| Before (the madness!!!) |
 |
| First I pulled out everything. Makes me think twice about complaining about not having anything to eat. |
With everything pulled out I was able to wipe down the shelves, I made 3 piles of food...
- Keep (yummy whole foods)
- Donate to our local soup kitchen (unopened non perishables)
- Throw away (opened food that is old/we wont eat/smelled funny)
 |
| my little helper |
With all that organized I went over the Dollar General and for $40 got canisters, baskets and containers to hold the KEEP food and here is the final result.......................................
 |
| TAA-DAA!!! |
I could sit and stare at her beauty for hours :) Its just so............clean.
After the pantry was done I took my Mrs. Meyers all purpose cleaner and went to town on the cabinets, counters, walls and appliances. Lastly I took baking soda, a splash of vinegar and a squeeze of dish soup and scrubbed down the sink. The whole kitchen sparkled! When Tony got home he asked what I changed to make the kitchen look different, just the magical combination of elbow grease and organization, my friend!
Stayed tuned for tomorrows cleaning update!
xoxo
Ashlea
P.S sorry for the bad quality pictures, my camera was dead so I had to use the iphone!
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Keeping It Real
Back in October I went to see the doctor, Tony and I had been trying to have a baby and things weren't going smoothly. While I was given A LOT of information and plans of action, one of the "easiest" instructions I was given was to cut out "refined food" and "bad carbs" from my diet. To be completely honest I didn't really know what that meant. What exactly is a refined food? Which carbs are good? Which are bad?
I didnt grow up on junk food, either did Tony, and we didnt consider ourselves bad eaters. I know in comparison to some people we weren't all that bad but we definitely had room to improve. Those "doctors orders" were just the kick in the pants we needed.
I did my research and through that and my common sense to not eat neon foods or ones that will out live me on the pantry shelf, I have found a way of eating that I dont feel is a diet or restrictive but rather the best thing for me and my body. Simply, I eat REAL food.
My list of no-nos are:
One of the biggest steps we have made recently has been with meat. I love meat and so does Tony. A lot. So no fear of this house turning vegetarian, however for the past few years we have bought, free range, hormone free, antibiotic free meat here and there. I liked doing it because I knew I didn't want those things in my body but sometimes I would forget or I would say its too expensive and go with the normal stuff. Well last week we watched Food Inc. and that was that. I will NEVER and I mean NEVER eat meat that is not humanly raised and slaughtered locally. I will go into what struck me the most in movie in another post but for now I beg you to go watch the movie yourself.
Lastly I want to share our weekly meal plan so you can get an idea of what this way of eating looks like day to day.
Tuesday
Whole crock pot chicken and balsamic glazed veggies
Wednesday
Hamburgers with mushroom sauce and sauteed squash
Thursday
Sweet and Tangy crock pot meatballs over quinoa with roasted broccoli
Friday
Apple sausage and cheese panini with salad
Saturday
Grilled steaks with raw veggies and ranch
All meat is from a local farm, all vegetables are organic and locally grown if possible and things like the ranch, bread for paninis and bread crumbs for meatballs are whole grain and homemade. For a great resource on this topic and wonderful recipes check out this blog. I hope this gives you something to think about and maybe start making some changes of your own!
xoxo
Ashlea
I didnt grow up on junk food, either did Tony, and we didnt consider ourselves bad eaters. I know in comparison to some people we weren't all that bad but we definitely had room to improve. Those "doctors orders" were just the kick in the pants we needed.
I did my research and through that and my common sense to not eat neon foods or ones that will out live me on the pantry shelf, I have found a way of eating that I dont feel is a diet or restrictive but rather the best thing for me and my body. Simply, I eat REAL food.
My list of no-nos are:
- artificial colors
- refined grains (white flour/ white rice)
- refined sweeteners (white sugar, splenda, corn syrup)
- artificial preservatives
One of the biggest steps we have made recently has been with meat. I love meat and so does Tony. A lot. So no fear of this house turning vegetarian, however for the past few years we have bought, free range, hormone free, antibiotic free meat here and there. I liked doing it because I knew I didn't want those things in my body but sometimes I would forget or I would say its too expensive and go with the normal stuff. Well last week we watched Food Inc. and that was that. I will NEVER and I mean NEVER eat meat that is not humanly raised and slaughtered locally. I will go into what struck me the most in movie in another post but for now I beg you to go watch the movie yourself.
Lastly I want to share our weekly meal plan so you can get an idea of what this way of eating looks like day to day.
Tuesday
Whole crock pot chicken and balsamic glazed veggies
Wednesday
Hamburgers with mushroom sauce and sauteed squash
Thursday
Sweet and Tangy crock pot meatballs over quinoa with roasted broccoli
Friday
Apple sausage and cheese panini with salad
Saturday
Grilled steaks with raw veggies and ranch
All meat is from a local farm, all vegetables are organic and locally grown if possible and things like the ranch, bread for paninis and bread crumbs for meatballs are whole grain and homemade. For a great resource on this topic and wonderful recipes check out this blog. I hope this gives you something to think about and maybe start making some changes of your own!
xoxo
Ashlea
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Weekend
This weekend was perfect for...
I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well!
xoxo
AshleaTuesday, March 13, 2012
$10 or less makeovers
I always have a running list of projects I want to do. They are as large as painting the kitchen cabinets and as small as making DIY dryer sheets, which if it goes well I will share later. Lately I have been doing a bunch of my medium projects and as always I try do so on a budget. Here are some of my latest ones that I did for $10 or less.
Spring Wreath
At a yard sale a couple of weeks ago I picked up a huge drop cloth for $5, I love the color and texture of the drop cloth. It has a very natural heavy linen look to it and I knew I could use it for a bunch of different projects. First up a Spring wreath for the front door.
Materials
-drop cloth $5
-wreath form $3 (Joanns with coupon)
-floral moss FREE since I already had it
- sticks FREE from backyard
- needle and thread or sewing machine
I took the drop cloth and cut long strips approximately 3-4 inches wide. I used 1 of the strips to wrap the wreath form and hot glued it in place. I decided to hand sew this because I was watching a movie and the sewing part is not much and very easy. First, sew the short ends of a couple of the strips together. Then sew a very large stitch along the long edge of the strip, when you get to the end gently pull on the thread and ruffle the cloth. After you have all of your ruffled strips, wrap them around the form and hot glue in place. Finish it off with moss, sticks, eggs, flowers or whatever reminds you of Spring! Total cost $8 and about an hour of time.
Love Sign
If I ever got brave enough to get a tattoo I want love written in a heart shape on my inner wrist. Until then I made a sign with the same writing. A hand painted sign is an easy and personalized way to decorate any room. You can use a favorite quote, symbol or initials.
Materials
- wood stain FREE already had on hand
- paint FREE also had on hand
- wood FREE leftover from other projects but a 2X4 at Lowes shouldn't cost you more than $3-4 and they will cut it for free :)
I simply nailed the three horizontal boards together using 2 vertical pieces for support then stained it to the color I like. With a pencil I drew out the design I wanted and went over it with white paint. A new free piece of personalized art in just a couple hours (mainly drying time for stain and paint). I have it hung in our master bedroom and love that its one of the first things I see in the morning.
Coat Rack
I was so tired of having coats and bags all over the couch, dining room table and wherever else we seem to toss them when we got home that I decided to take action and make a coat rack. Our entry isn't very big so I knew something small and wall mounted was the way to go.
Materials
- wood $3 at Lowes
- stain FREE already had on hand
- coat hooks - $8 ($2/4)
I know this goes a hair over $10 but I figured Id let it slide. First, stain wood, then drill in hooks and mount to wall. Seriously one of the easiest projects I have done and it looks great and solved a war that was going on our house.
I hope that I inspired you to do some mini makeovers in your own house and showed you that you can do it for cheap and still have a great polished result!
xoxo
Ashlea
Spring Wreath
At a yard sale a couple of weeks ago I picked up a huge drop cloth for $5, I love the color and texture of the drop cloth. It has a very natural heavy linen look to it and I knew I could use it for a bunch of different projects. First up a Spring wreath for the front door.
Materials
-drop cloth $5
-wreath form $3 (Joanns with coupon)
-floral moss FREE since I already had it
- sticks FREE from backyard
- needle and thread or sewing machine
I took the drop cloth and cut long strips approximately 3-4 inches wide. I used 1 of the strips to wrap the wreath form and hot glued it in place. I decided to hand sew this because I was watching a movie and the sewing part is not much and very easy. First, sew the short ends of a couple of the strips together. Then sew a very large stitch along the long edge of the strip, when you get to the end gently pull on the thread and ruffle the cloth. After you have all of your ruffled strips, wrap them around the form and hot glue in place. Finish it off with moss, sticks, eggs, flowers or whatever reminds you of Spring! Total cost $8 and about an hour of time.
Love Sign
If I ever got brave enough to get a tattoo I want love written in a heart shape on my inner wrist. Until then I made a sign with the same writing. A hand painted sign is an easy and personalized way to decorate any room. You can use a favorite quote, symbol or initials.
Materials
- wood stain FREE already had on hand
- paint FREE also had on hand
- wood FREE leftover from other projects but a 2X4 at Lowes shouldn't cost you more than $3-4 and they will cut it for free :)
I simply nailed the three horizontal boards together using 2 vertical pieces for support then stained it to the color I like. With a pencil I drew out the design I wanted and went over it with white paint. A new free piece of personalized art in just a couple hours (mainly drying time for stain and paint). I have it hung in our master bedroom and love that its one of the first things I see in the morning.
Coat Rack
I was so tired of having coats and bags all over the couch, dining room table and wherever else we seem to toss them when we got home that I decided to take action and make a coat rack. Our entry isn't very big so I knew something small and wall mounted was the way to go.
Materials
- wood $3 at Lowes
- stain FREE already had on hand
- coat hooks - $8 ($2/4)
I know this goes a hair over $10 but I figured Id let it slide. First, stain wood, then drill in hooks and mount to wall. Seriously one of the easiest projects I have done and it looks great and solved a war that was going on our house.
I hope that I inspired you to do some mini makeovers in your own house and showed you that you can do it for cheap and still have a great polished result!
xoxo
Ashlea
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Ohm
I haven't done yoga in almost 2 years now and haven't really though about it. Then my friend Lindsey started going and reminded me of how much I loved it. So this morning I went and signed up for 5 classes at a yoga studio down the street and took my first class. It was wonderful! It was a good mix of breathing exercises, stretching, poses and meditation. With my week being jam packed, like most peoples, it is so good both mentally and physically to take 1 hour and focus on my body and how I am feeling.
If you have ever toyed with the idea of doing yoga I highly recommend it, even for the most busy, type A personalities. You don't have to be named Sunshine and only eat raw vegetables to be the type of person to enjoy and benefit from yoga! Now that my morning has been started off focused and calm, I am off to conquer the day and hopefully have a post with some easy peasy DIY projects for tomorrow.
Namaste :)
Ashlea
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