Wow.......it has been long enough since I posted!

I have been a major slacker with blogging.   Life keeps you busy,  right??  I wouldn't change it for the world!  

I have done lots of new things around my house that I will be posting.   In the meantime I opened my Etsy shop for my crochet scarfs called The Creative Hook Beth.  That is my newest obsession!  I started out making scarfs for myself and started getting positive feedback from friends and family.  I started selling over the holidays and had quite of few sales.  So my goal was to open up a Etsy shop with in stock items.  I am offering cowl infinity scarfs, buttoned cowls, boot cuffs, and possibly more items when I come up with them.  The possibilities are so endless with crocheting.  

Here is some examples of what I am offering:

Lots of new to come!!

Please come see me at my Etsy shop:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheCreativeHookBeth?ref=l2-shopheader-name

You can also find me on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Creativehook?ref=hl

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

Go enter this giveway!

Head over to http://acrazywalkonthesafeside.blogspot.com/  for a great summer giveaway!  I hope I win this!!

I never thought I would see this day!

I am finally under 150 pounds!  I weighed 149 this morning.  Last week when we were visiting family I was quite as strict eating and this week I think it really helped shredding more pounds. 

Some random things that motivate me daily are:
1.  My family
2.  I weigh myself daily.  I know this is a big no-no in dieting, but it motivates me tremendously! 
3.  Weighing cute workout clothes
4.  Looking at fitness magazines while on the bicycle
5.  Trying on a size or two smaller pants and watching them get looser.
6.  Pinterest!
7.  Knowing that I only have a couple of months before bikini season.

I am not very far from my goal and I said 140 was my goal weight.  I decided when I get to 140 I would see how I look and if I don't like the way I look I will loose another 5.  I really isn't about the numbers on the scale, but more how you feel and look.  Even at 149 I still don't feel like I am a healthy weight.  I have lots of back problems and the more weight I lose the better my back feels.  Same goes for my ankle injury.  

Lately I have noticed I can add in some new things to my diet without it affecting my weight loss. I have started eating Chobani yogurt everyday and eat overnight oatmeal every morning.  You can find the recipe here on Yummy Lifes blog.  This is so so good and taste like dessert to me!  Drink tons of water makes a  huge difference and I mean like a gallon a day.  Yep, that's a ton, but I feel so good when I drink that much.
I added in vegetables in at supper.  Like last night I had baked pork chop, roasted asparagus (YUM!!) , and a salad with light ranch.  While I also think bumping my mileage up to 10 miles a day is helping quite a bit too.

Keeping it on the down low

I am at 155 right now.  We are visiting family so it is kind of difficult to hardcore diet while we are here.  I am still trying to eat healthy.  I am eating oatmeal, turkey wraps with Flatouts, Fage yogurt with fruit, hummus with pita chips, almonds and raisins, Luna bars.  I don't have my bike here so I have walked outside.  Next week I will really get back on it.  I still would like to loose at least 15 more pounds.  I bought some shorts at Gap that were at size 8 and I could button them....yay!!  We recently got PX90, so I would like to start that maybe soon.  I also recently ordered a pair of Asics Kayano that were regular $150 for $59!  They have gel in them and feel so good on my bad ankle.  We recently celebrated my daughters 3rd birthday and we had a blast with family!  I may have had a small piece of cake!

What I wore Wednesday and weight update

I am linking up with  at Lindsey the Pleated Poppy  for What I wore Wednesday. 

 

black tank - Old Navy

black and white Maxi skirt - Seven (Marshall's)

Turquoise necklace - yard sale

top - Marshall's 

Coral tank - Old Navy

Express shorts - yard sale

sandals - Target

Earrings - Forever 21

Leather  ruffled cuff bracelet - Etsy

 Black tank - can't remember 

David Kahn Jeans - Goodwill

Flip flops - Walmart clearance $3!!

Necklace - yard sale

Belt - goodwill

Now for the semi-appointing weight update.  So on Monday I weighed and had not lost a single pound in fact I gained a pound.  How could this be and I worked so hard last week.  I ate so good last week, but I also started the Shred last week so part could be muscle...I hope!  Today I weighed and I am down 1 1/2 pounds.  So I will take it!  I may have been hitting a plateau.  I am not sure if this helped, but I picked up a couple of the Luna bars.  Oh...my...goodness are those so good!  I had the chocolate dipped coconut.  I felt so good after eating that.  Either way I think I will start eating one of those everyday and see what happens.  They are like candy bars which is a huge plus and 180 calories with 9 grams of protein.  I am still doing 9 miles on the bike everyday along with the Shred.  I really do think the Shred is working.  I can tell a tiny bit of a difference with my love handles.  I started drinking aloe vera juice this morning.  I think it does help some and it really does help me with energy. 

My weight loss journey

Hi all!  I hope to get back into blogging.  I am going to start talking about my weight loss and everything in between.  We are finally settling into our new house and we have been here for a year in February.  I also celebrated my one year anniversary breaking my ankle on Feb. 14...yay me!!  I have meet a lot of great friends here and so glad to have them!  I miss our families back in Alabama too.

Well first off, back in the fall I decided I really wanted to loose weight.  I started out trying to eat better and walk on the treadmill.  I usually have little patience when it comes to dieting so after about a week I called it quits.  The holidays were coming up and I didn't want to give up the good holiday foods.  My New Years resolution was of course to lose weight and with summer approaching soon I wanted to be in a cute bikini this summer.  So I officially didn't start dieting until the first of February.  My first weigh in was at 178  5 1/2 weeks ago and I haven't looked back!  Today I am at 158.  I have lost 20 pounds and feel so great!  I have so much more energy now.  I am not sluggish throughout the day like I use to be.  I can actually fit into a 10 now.  I am not stopping though anytime soon.  My goal is to be about 140 or a size 8.  I have also told myself that this will be the year that I will be in the best shape of my life.  I want to continue to eat better after my diet too.

A few things that are working for me are cycling for 9 miles day.  I have started doing Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred this Tuesday.  I am on day 3 and it is pretty rough.  I feel my body getting stronger.  I push myself and feel like I am dying, but when I finished I feel so accomplished.

My day goes a little like this:

8:30- breakfast- usually plain oatmeal with Truvia, fresh berries, and a protein shake with unsweetened almond milk.  I drink hot green tea every single morning with Truvia.

9:30-cycling for 9 miles and right after that Jillian's 30 day shred.

11:30-lunch-2 large boiled eggs, protein shake again, and some sort of fruit.

2:30-snack 15 almonds and beef jerky or sugar free Jello and hot green tea

about 5:30 or 6pm- supper-always protein usually 4 oz of baked chicken, and a steamed vegetable (my    new favorite is brocolli salad with onion, tomato and italian).

This is the last time I eat.  I drink tons of water throughout the day.  I take my vitamins 3 times a day also.

When I first started dieting I drank 2 oz of Aloe vera juice a day.  I think it helped some, but have quit drinking it..  I gave gained a pound this week, but I hoping that it was muscle.

I will doing a weekly update weigh-in results.  I think blogging about my weight will motivate me and hopefully inspire others.  Losing weight is so dang hard and it can be done.  I will leave you with a quote that I read on a weight loss blog:

"Until your whole heart and soul is ready to make the change, don't bother!  And if you are ready, take that leap of faith (no, that one is not easy), and just do it!  Do whatever it takes to make it happen.  There will be sacrifices, many of them, but in the end it will be worth it."  These statements are so true and you have to be the one to make it happen, not anybody else!

I will still blog about decorating also, so more pictures and posts to come.

What I wore Wednesday

I am linking up to Lindsey @ The Pleated Poppy for What I wore Wednesday.

Here are a few of my outfits!

Dress - Goodwill

sandals - Target

bracelets - Target

Top - Calvin Klein @ Belks

skinny jeans - Mossimo @ Dirt Cheap $1.00!

  sandals - Target

 Belt  - Platos Closet

Dress - Marshalls clearance

 sandals -  Rack Room Shoes

Dress - Ross

   Sandals - Target

  necklace - Target Clearance

I love love this dress it is so comfortable and adore the color!  Don't mind all the fingerprints all over my mirror..compliments of my 2 year old!
 

Thanks for stopping by!

I got 2 pretty new rugs for cheap!

At Lowes!   Thanks to Emily @ Decorchick for the tip on rugs and Melissa @ 320 Sycamore I now have 2 new gorgeous rugs!  They are $17 on clearance and I had 10% coupon.  I called my 2 local Lowes and had them look to see if they had any in stock and sure enough they had 2, but couldn't find them in the store.  So I went myself and looked for them and found them.  So sometimes you just have to go and look for yourself.   They are indoor/outdoor, but will probably use them both in the house.  I moved my dining room table in my breakfast nook and put the rug underneath....LOVE THEM!  The item # 147081  The picture on the other blogs look kind of tan, but mine are greenish color.  Still works for me! 

Hope you all find some!!!

Lisa Leonard Giveaway!

Little Miss Momma is having a Lisa Leonard giveaway that ends today!  Head over and enter for chance to win!  I would love any of her fabulous jewelry.

Keep Calm and Carry on

I love this quote!  I have been wanting to do a couple of these for a while now.  I needed something in the space between the two windows in my bedroom.  I love the gold/yellowish color too!  The mat in frame was for a collage, so I covered it with tan striped fabric and now it looks like a mat at fraction of the cost.  Plus you can do any design fabric...love it!

I hung one upstairs in the landing.  I love it in blue too!  Hopefully since I hung it there my kids will be nice to each other.  Ha!

We have to got to get some paint on those white walls!

I am linking to Between Naps on the Porch, CRAFT, Craft O Maniac

I'm Back!

Well I finally came off my crutches 2 weeks ago.  I go back in 2 more weeks and will come out of this boot and will have air cast for a little while.  I have been trying to get the house back in some sort of order.  The majority has been unpacked so I have got to rearrange and decorate the house.  We are really loving our new house...of course we really miss being close to family.   Everything is blooming so beautifully outside.  We have tons of rose bushes and they are gorgeous!   The people that lived here before us did a incredible job at landscaping.  I am not too good at that so that was definitely a plus!  We have wonderful neighbors that have made us feel so welcome.  I have tons of projects to do, so I will keep you updated on those.  I will give you a tour of our house in the upcoming posts.  My husband painted our living room and kitchen grey.  We are painting the foyer, the hall upstairs soon.  We are probably going to get scaffolding to foyer because the ceiling is so tall. 

We got new couch and love seat because our sectional would not fit in the living room.  I am really loving my fireplace!  I just don't love the gold on the insert.  That is a upcoming project.  I would really love something new to go under the TV.  My buffet got moved to the foyer and I really like it there.  This room still needs tweaking. 

 

The curtains definitely need to be hung higher, but for right now it will do. 

 

The living room and kitchen is open, so that works really well for us.  

 I will post more pictures of my kitchen because the batteries in my camera died.  I have tons to do and I can't wait show it all to you!  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

I really have a good reason!

Sorry I have been missing for awhile!  We have moved and the day after we got here to our new house I fell and broke my ankle in 2 places.  I had surgery 4 days later and now I am in boot for 6 weeks.  So not hardly much going on her besides laying around for awhile.  I can't wait to get going again and get my new house decorated.  My mom has done alot of the decorating for me with me directing where everything goes.  Hopefully I can get pictures up soon!  We still have alot of painting to do!  I love our new house!  My backyard is awesome and my kids and the dog love it!!

Here is a picture of the outside

 

I will see you all soon!!  

Loving these fabric banners!

I made these fabric banners for both of my girls rooms.  I really love them!  I will definitely do more of these especially for birthday parties and they were super easy to make!

I like to mix up the fabrics especially with different textures.  Both of my girls loved them!  No sewing just hot glue.  Easy peasy!

My hubby got me the floor lamp to the left of my couch for Christmas and it is exactly what I wanted.  It looks alot the one from Pottery Barn and a whole lot cheaper.  It came from Home Depot and they have a pretty good selection of floor lamps.   I couldn't find one anywhere else that I liked.

I moved my black drop leaf table out of my dining room and put it in my kitchen for a island.  I love islands and this is the closest thing to one right now. I moved my round table out to give it more space in there.

Bo says "Happy Monday"!!

Linking to Debbiedoos Pet party!
 

 

Happy Late New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure did!!  I have been a bad blogger, but I promise to be better!  It has been so fun redoing things around the house since I took down all of my Christmas decorations.  You know the saying "shop the house"  Well I definitely done that!  I finally got around to redoing my new dining table and I LOVE IT!  I painted the bottom white and I am probably going to glaze or something to it later on, but for right now I like it white.  I stripped the old stain off the top and used Danish Oil in Dark Walnut and I really like the color alot.  I paid $50 for this table, what a bargain!  I used my chairs that I had in there before and recovered the seats in linen.  I really like my bench there too!  I think it looks like a farmhouse table now.  I would like another bench later on but this one will do for now.

This is what it looked like before

and now the after

 

I moved my black table that was under my mirror in my dining to the kitchen (will show you later).  I moved this white little table in.  For this table I painted it white and distressed it a ton!  I love that basket underneath that I got while thrifting and I put my chenille throw in it.  My  little cutie owl on top was brown and I painted him white.

This chair came with my dining room table and I was really sad that there was only one because I love it.  I painted her a pretty turquoise and she is beautiful now!  I gave her a new seat too.  Here she is at her new home.

I will be back to show you some fun things I have  done over the past few weeks. 

I am linking to a few parties today

A little rearranging and a new table

Well first off I found a new dining room table.   I have been wanting a farmhouse table forever and wanted this shape and it was only $50.00.   Can't bet that!!  I didn't take a before picture, but the legs were kind of buttery color.  I painted them white and plan on redoing the top.  I am thinking golden oak or walnut.  I am not sure what do you think?  I am  pretty sure it is solid wood too and it is super heavy.  I would love to get some different chairs someday.   Maybe even a different bench too.

Do you ever get a wild hair and start rearranging stuff late at night?  Well I did and changed up the wall behind my couch and I really liked the way it looks.  Something different for a change.  I got the old window at the thrift store for $2.  Hung the "W" from strip of fabric and I already had the plates.   When I rearrange things I like the house clean.  So I spent today cleaning my house.    

I think winter is officially here!

It has been so cold here in Alabama!  This morning I woke up to frost over the ground and freezing cold.  I am pretty much a cold blooded person so freezing cold weather doesn't set very well with me!  I done a little Christmas decor outside because we are trying to sell our house and I didn't want to have to take a ton of it down.  So if anybody is looking for a house to buy in Alabama....buy mine please....just kidding well not really.

So here is the outside of my house

 

I made some initial glass ball ornaments last year.   I bought some clear glass ball ornaments last year at Hobby Lobby,  bag of fake snow, and some stick on letters from the scrapbook section.  I took the caps off of the balls and stuffed the snow inside.  Stuck one of the letters on front.  Instead of using plain ornament hangers I used ribbon to tie it to the tree to give it some jazz. I actually done that to several other ornaments too.  I just tied it in a loose knot instead of bow.  I made everybody in my family ornaments with their initials on them.  They would make great gifts for Christmas or even for teachers. 

 

I am linking to these parties today:

Hooked on House Impromptu Party 

Southern Hospitality  

Have a great day!!

What I wore Wednesday

I am linking to Lindsey at  Pleated Poppy for What I wore Wednesday.  I would love to start doing it everyday, but I have to get motivated and do it.  So here is what I wore today.  Sorry for the awkward poses...it is the best mirror I have. 

Grey long sleeve tee- Target

Black sweater- Dirt Cheap $4.00!

Brown Belt- Plato's Closet

Skinny Jeans- Target

Black Boots- TJMaxx

Owl Necklace- Body Shop

Thanks for looking and Happy Wednesday!

Some of my favorite things!

1.  St. Ives Naturally Clear Blemish & Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub.   

 

This stuff is really awesome!  I have breakouts from time to time.  Using this morning and night helps control everything and its cheap!

2.  St. Ives Timeless Skin Collagen Elastin Facial Moisturizer 

  

I heart this moisturizer!  I have NEVER been able to use them because my breakout prone skin cannot take them.  I desperately needed something because I get really dry sometimes.  This leaves my face so soft and does not break me out at all and again its dirt cheap!

3.    Mrs Meyers Cleaners

 I have looking for this for a while and finally found some at my Winn Dixie.  I bought the Basil and Lemon Verbena.  I have only used the Basil and it smells great!  It is a little strong, but I love it.  The smell definitely lingers for awhile.  

 

4.  Target Mossimo Riding boots

 

 Love, Love these boots!  They are so comfy and for the price you can't beat it.  I got these for my birthday and so glad I did!  Mine are kind of brownish-grey.

 

5.  Chi Silk Infusion

 

 

I have super thick, course, curly hair.  I straighten my hair and before I do so I put this on wet.  This stuff makes my hair so soft and so much less frizzy.  It is the best thing I have ever used!  It is kind of expensive, but I only use a dime size so it goes a long way.

I will be back very soon with more decorating ideas and new tutorials!  I hope everybody had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  We had a great time with our families.