1st Blogiversary! Past, Present, and Future

One year ago today I wrote my very first blog post. Don't judge me. I didn't know anything about blogging at that point! 

You guys have been here through it all. Even when I tried to make bread for the first time and failed miserably.

And then when I got it right and made amazing bread!

It's been a long and wonderful road with a huge learning curve. But I really have enjoyed it all! Through joining blogging networks, connecting with other bloggers and even meeting a few of my fellow local bloggers! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started but now I couldn't even entertain the thought of quitting! 

I've now published a total of 211 posts! Wow. That's a lot of blogging! Here are some of the most popular/favorite posts. 

My MOST popular post was actually my husband's first post! His cardboard helmet tutorial got an astonishing 5,570 views! Halloween's coming up soon and this would be an awesome DIY costume for kids an adults alike. 

My second most popular post was my DIY pallet garden for under $20. It rounded out the year with 3,728 views which is still huge! 

The 3rd most popular post was my Magic Eraser toilet cleaner Pinterest fail and 4th popular was The Walking Dead workout! Is anyone as excited as I am that the next season is about to begin?!? 

My most popular Pinterest pin was the recipe for my homemade garden fresh salsa! 

Followed by my homemade no high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup! Both of which are so delicious that you'll never buy those things from the store ever again! So if you haven't pinned them yet, go for it! 

I'll wait. 

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click HERE! 

What Happily Ever Crafter post is YOUR favorite? You can choose from the ones above or the archives on the right sidebar. 

It's really neat to look at my most popular posts and realize they're all totally different! 

Our anniversary trip to Williamsburg, Virginia

And finally...drumroll please! My total pageviews for my very first year of blogging...

39,463!!!

For you seasoned bloggers that may seem like chump change but I am blown away! My very first month I had only 180 pageviews. I guess that's decent considering I didn't tell anyone that I started a blog!

Every month has shown exponential growth and it's so cool to watch! I owe it all to you guys for liking, commenting and sharing my blog! I can't forget my incredible blog networks either, you can check those out on my sidebar. 

The future of this blog is completely unknown. I have goals but I don't know where exactly this blog will take me. Here are some of those goals for the next year of blogging.

1. Reach 1,000 views a day.
2. Reach 1,000 likes on Facebook (currently at 391!)
3. Schedule Facebook posts ahead of time.
4. Get back to consistently posting (good content) up to 5 days a week.
5. Write those posts ahead of time and schedule them. AKA "Get with the times, Catherine."
6. Cook and craft more for better posts.
7. Try more things from Pinterest and share about it!
8. Earn a little money through the blog and buy my own domain name (plus make the blog beautiful and functional!)
9. Connect with YOU better and attend blogging conferences (like this one I'm attending on October 26th!)
10. Be open to constructive criticism and change. 

So here's to the first of many years of blogging! 

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the first post of the week and fill out my blogiversary poll! I want to get to know my lovely readers! 

Till next time,

Catherine

Couch to 5k - Week 4

Yowza.

That's all I can really say about Week 4 of the Couch to 5k program.

Now to be totally honest, I'm not the most out of shape person but I'm definitely no athlete. I've always been overweight but have always been used to hard work. My teenage years (and then some) were spent throwing hay and scooping poop at the barn. So I can keep up with hard work.

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Running, though...is a different story.

And it always has been. I've always thought it was the coolest thing to be able to run but always relented to the fact that I "wasn't a born runner," "didn't have the drive to run," and "couldn't become a runner." This past couple of years I've become really determined to change that. Who says I should listen to those detrimental voices telling me "You can't do it."?! Not anymore. Even if takes me an entire year to be able to run a 5k, I'm committed this time.

Though I hope I can do it by my second 5k on October 5th! (A month from the date of this post.)

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Later this week I'll try and write a more in depth post about the Couch to 5k program and my experiences with it so far. But for now I wanted to publicly declare that running will NOT get the best of me and it will be one thing I conquer.

And if I can do it...so can you!!!

Let's encourage each other and reach our goals!

What's your favorite motivational quote? How do you push through eating healthy/working out when you plain old just don't feel like it? What are your weight loss/health goals? Share with us! 

Till next time,
Catherine

Walking Dead Workout-Season 1

You may remember when I started The Walking Dead Workout when I wrote about it HERE. My husband and I have finally made it into Season 2 so I wanted to give you guys a re-cap of Season 1. This way you can do the workout without having to pause every 5 seconds in the show. Trust me, it's annoying. 

If you haven't heard of The Walking Dead Workout, it's basically like one of those movie/TV show drinking games, but instead of taking shots, you do different exercises. It's really a lot of fun, especially if you already enjoy the show! This gave us a good excuse to re-watch all of the episodes! 

As you can see, the episodes vary a lot! Also, I'm sure there are things that I missed but this is pretty much right.

Here's another quick breakdown if you're looking for more targeted workouts.

Season 1:
Episode 1-Arms, legs, abs
Episode 2-Abs
Episode 3-Legs/Easy
Episode 4-Abs and arms
Episode 5-Arms/Easy
Episode 6-Easy

Each episode that goes by we keep asking more detailed questions about each thing. We sort of took our own liberties with the differences.

-If someone kills a walker, we need to pretty much see the walker get killed for it to count. If they're simply shooting but you never see specific bodies, it doesn't count.

-For the guns being drawn, again, we need to see it or they need to have the intent to shoot something, not just the character walking around casually holding his/her gun.

-Human blood being spilled is pretty self explanatory. If you see human blood then you do 5 lunges.

-Someone referring to "the living" has been difficult. In Episode 5 someone (Rick, I think) actually says "The Living." But other than that it's been hard to decide if telling a story (Dale telling Andrea about his wife passing from cancer, Rick talking to Morgan over the radio, etc) counts or not. What do you think?

-With someone crying, it has to be a pretty obvious cry with tears and ugly cry-faces too. Farrah from Teen Mom or Kim Kardashian anyone? I shouldn't laugh...but I do. I don't watch their shows but I've seen enough to know about their awful crying faces! But really, no one looks cute when they cry.

-If someone screams, it can't be Lori yelling at Carl, it has to be someone screaming out of shock or fear. Also can't just be someone yelling to get someone's attention.

-There have only been two episodes involving human death in Season 1. The first was when the herd came through the quarry camp and killed several members of the group and the next being the CDC doctor and Jacqui. The herd scene is difficult because we only counted two characters that we knew (Ed and Amy. Amy gets you twice because she's later killed as a walker!) but one other human who was dead but not recognized as a character. It gets worse when you realize there are at least 5 wrapped human bodies in the pick up truck to be buried when it's all said and done. Hmm.

There you have it...The Walking Dead Workout-Season 1 in a nutshell. Ok that's a pretty big nutshell (Austin Powers joke).

Have at it and enjoy! It's a fun workout that varies quite a bit and it's a good excuse to re-watch the show!

Click HERE to check out Season 2!

Have you tried The Walking Dead Workout? Would you?

Till next time,
Catherine

Health Goals

At the risk of doing something that is highly overdone, especially in the beginning of a new year, I figured I should type up some of my current goals for getting healthier. I know I'm in the same boat as many people...this is our year! We're going to finally get healthier. Losing weight is awesome but the main goal is to get healthy and I mean it.

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I've always had extra weight and have always wanted to get rid of it. My weight fluctuates a bit but I feel like overall I've tried to stay fairly healthy. Keyword: tried. I'm usually pretty active and have worked several labor intensive jobs. But it always seemed like I'd eat the worst when I worked the hardest. We (the girls I worked with) were just exhausted all the time that when we finally got a chance to eat we would eat whatever was the fastest because we had to get right back to work! I shouldn't place all the blame on my previous job(s) but trust me, it didn't help. Especially because in our minds, hey, we're working really hard, let's "reward" ourselves with food. Bad thinking!

So now, upon entering the new year, 2013, I'm ready to buckle down. I have no excuses! I've got a great, supportive husband who will eat better with me, cook with me, work out with me and so on. There's a world of motivation and workouts on Pinterest and we belong to a great gym. No more excuses!

I want to:

• Lose weight
• Drop pant sizes
• Lose inches
• Tone up/Strengthen my muscles (I'm no weakling but I want to be stronger)
• Feel more confident
• Be healthier

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How I plan to do it:

• Gym 3 days a week--Couch to 5k program, lots of walking/elliptical, and weight training
• Lighter workout at home 2 days a week--Walking Dead Workout for now
• Eat more salads! Every day would be ideal
• Take daily women's multi-vitamin
• Drink more water--8 glasses + 
• Eat more fruits and vegetables--DAILY
• Eat less wheat products (we only eat whole grain/wheat, but could be limited)
• Continue to avoid processed food, fried food, refined, bleached, enriched, high fructose corn syrup, etc
• Don't eat out or highly limit it, twice monthly max
• Yoga? (I know it's supposed to be great for you but I've never tried...input?)

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All of these things are basically the same for my husband as well. He doesn't need to lose as much as I want to but he wants to be stronger and healthier.

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I decided to write this down on my blog in order to give myself more accountability. I would LOVE any kind of support and motivation from my readers and friends! All the nitty gritty scary details like weight and inches are staying in a secure Excel file on my computer...not brave enough to put that out there! Maybe when (not if! Need to be more positive too) I reach my goals! Maybe.

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My husband and I have talked about it a million times but we really need to buckle down and get serious. We want to live LONG, HEALTHY lives together. I don't ever want to be hampered down by a preventable disease. The decisions we make today effect our health later on in life.

Follow my Health and Fitness board to see some of the cool stuff I've pinned regarding health and fitness! That's where all of my pictures came from for today's post. I try to pin fun workouts and motivation along with other health tips and tidbits.

Are you trying to do any of these things in the new year? How are you going about it? Also, any suggestions for fun home workouts once we complete every episode for The Walking Dead Workout?

Till next time,
Catherine

A New Year

Well, as I'm sure most everyone is doing today, they are reflecting on the past year and preparing for a new one. 2012 was a great year and I really don't have any complaints. I got married! Everything after that is just a bonus!

Here are some highlights of my 2012:

• My husband (then fiance) got a great job in Lynchburg (technically this was still 2011 but he started in January 2012)
• We moved him to Lynchburg (January)
• Had an amazing bridal shower (February)
• Hosted a baby shower for a close friend (February)
• We got married (March)
• Had an amazing honeymoon in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania (March)
• My niece had her first birthday (April)
• Found a great job as a veterinary assistant (May)
• Joined Planet Fitness (June)
• Worked our 5th straight year of Studentz Camp (July)
• Started this blog (October)
• Vacationed in Hatteras with my family (October)
• Finished my last (full) semester of college (December)

I'm sure there are many more things I could type up but those are just some things that stick out right now.

Without turning this into a major bucket list, there are a few things I want to do in 2013...goals or resolutions if you will:

• Get a second part time job or one full time job
• Officially graduate college with my B.S. in Business Management
• Start online Veterinary Technician school/and other certifications
• Exercise more
• Eat healthier
• Grow the blog
• Volunteer more
• Buy more of our food from local farms
• Run a 5k with my husband
• Read more

So basically, live more and live better. Pretty usual stuff. I'm excited for 2013 because this will be my first full year as a wife and nothing can beat that! Bring it on, 2013!

What were your favorite times/events from 2012? What are some of your goals or resolutions for 2013? 

Till next time,
Catherine