Happy Monday, all! I hope you had a great weekend, ours was freezing but great none the less!

So I say we just jump right on into today's topic.

Weddings.

For those of you who have already had one you know how crazy it can be to plan.

For those in the thralls of planning, may you not be pulling your hair out.

For those who have yet to embark on that journey, take all the advice you can get!

Today, Sworkit and I are unveiling (pun intended) a new workout series we are bringing to all of you 2017 brides (& bridal party, and heck even wedding guests).

We are calling this six week series, Bridal Bootcamp 2017!

Along with the workouts I'll be sharing moments from my own wedding back in 2011 (Pre-Pinterest people, so there's that). I'll also be sharing my tips and tricks for planning your own wedding as well!

My husband and I first met back at 2005 when we worked together. By the end of 2006 (December 27th to be exact) we started dating. We were together two and a half years before we got engaged, he proposed on my 21st birthday, September 2nd 2009. I immediately went into wedding planning mode, and let's be honest, even before getting engaged the wheels of wedding planning had began to turn inside my head.

Needless to say I was completely overwhelmed, there was so much to do. The one thing I didn't realize was that booking a location is much more intricate and difficult than one may think. Wedding venues book up years in advanced, seriously it's insane. We got engaged in September of 2009 and didn't get married until April of 2011.

Locations book up FAST so my pro tip for today would be, get as organized as you can as fast as you can. Don't go into finding a location having ONE date set in your mind, be open to a general time of the year or even just one month in particular. Your vision of finding a location will be MUCH easier if you are flexible. I know plenty of brides who want ONE specific date and it becomes problematic when finding a location. Once your location is chosen everything else will fall into place once you have the location to inspire you! I know it's easy to jump right into the dress, the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers etc. but your life will be much simpler by choosing a location first and a date that coordinates with the location!

Our ceremony location was at my childhood church and where I went to school from preschool through 8th grade...

Our reception was at a GORGEOUS reception venue in downtown St. Louis called Windows on Washington...

SO today's workout is all about Sweating For The Dress... Because let's be real, every bride just wants to feel her best on her big day and there's nothing more important than getting that dress to fit just right! First, download the APP and then follow the link HERE and get started with week 1 of our 2017 Bridal Bootcamp!

Be sure to share your progress, thoughts, before and after pics using the hashtags...

#nogymnoexcuse #scribbleandsworkitbridalbootcamp

Make sure you are following Sworkit on all social media (IG, FB, TW)

Next week I'll share another fun tip for planning your own wedding, along with another kick butt workout for this series so make sure you check us out again next Monday!

Cheers!

It's 2017, I can hardly believe it!

So it's been a while since my last post, the holidays came over me like I couldn't even imagine and needed to take a step back and focus on everything going on.

Well, along with focusing on my family, the holidays and everything along with that I have been able to plan out what the whole 2017 will basically look like here on the blog *yay*

First, recipes, we all love a good recipe. Every week I will be sharing recipes that I just can't get enough of. Whether it be a full meal or just a snack, recipe's are where it's at. I'll also be looking for YOUR favorite recipes to share here on the blog as well so please shoot me an email or DM on any form of social media so we can chat about your recipe and a timeline of when we can share it!!

Second, Sworkit. As you know I just love the Sworkit app, the company and the individuals that work for this incredible company. I can't even begin to describe just how life changing my connection with them has been, because it's been incredible! So there is going to be a LOT more coming from Sworkit and myself!! **Go check out my Instagram over the weekend for a fun little announcement!**

Third, the topic of today's post title. January is all about starting over, at least that's what it has been for me the past few years. With that means kicking it up a notch in the working out and healthy eating! So what Leanna from Sworkit and I are wanting to bring to you all is a little series called January Journeys ( #januaryjourneys ... to follow along on social media!). So today I am going to finish up this blog post with my first installment of this series...

I have been working on myself for quite some time now, well over a year, just about a year with Sworkit. February of 2016 my oldest son turned 2 years old, my youngest was 7 months old. We had a small party for the oldest and this picture was taken...

... After the party and reflecting on this photo, which I do love so much, I realized that I wanted to just feel better about myself. I wanted to get into shape and look and feel as good about myself as possible. For every single person that means something different, no matter what your size, age, gender etc. we all have things we want to work on about ourselves. The second I decided to give it 100% (up until that point I had been working at about 50/60% on myself at best) I didn't quit! I use this photo as a reminder, a reminder where I was a year ago and the reminder of how far I have come. I love knowing that I have achieved more than I could have ever even imagined and I can't wait to go even further.

I am loving my relationship with Leanna and Sworkit and I am using the app and the support around it to continue to push myself into being the best I can be! This January I am going to continue to look back, reflect and realize how strong I truly am as an individual, for I have pushed myself further than I ever imagined possible.

So at the beginning of January 2017 my goal is to tone my body some more, eat as healthy as possible and find a way to incorporate more cardio into my workout routine, since running isn't an option at the moment (I'm in St. Louis, it's cold right now, running outside would just be silly if you ask me)

I encourage you all to share your #JanuaryJourneys along with us on social media! At the end of the month I am hoping that we can all come together and share our progress, both physically and emotionally! Make sure you head on over to my Instagram later today for a chance to win a YEAR OF SWORKIT PREMIUM for following along and sharing your own January Journey! Details will be in the IG post!

Cheers!

In the beginning of this month my husband, myself and four of our friends, took a much needed vacation to the beautiful Mexico! We chose to stay at the Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. To say the resort was beautiful would be a vast understatement.

We arrived to a hotel that embraces the outdoors, covered walkways all open to the ocean and water features and ponds surrounding everything. Absolutely gorgeous everywhere that you looked!

We had oceanfront rooms which made it super convenient to take a morning run down the beach to the sunrise. Which leads me to the mission of this post, to share with you all what my workout routine was during our vacation.

...view from our room

Now I know when you go on vacation you are supposed to rest and relax, which I did, pretty much the entire time. However, I took an hour or so each morning to get in a little workout, whether it be running or yoga on the beach. I can't help it, aside from the fact that I feel blah all day if I don't get in some sort of workout, no matter how small, I knew I would regret it if I didn't take advantage of our location by running on the beach with the sunrise.

... sunrise on the beach :)

I would wake up between 6:30 and 7 each morning, get ready and head to the beach. The first two days I ran a couple miles, quite leisurely I might add, and just took in the ocean waves, the views and the sunrise. The last morning I joined a yoga class that was taking place right outside of our building on the grass immediately in front of the beach.

... post run

... yoga view

Taking this time each day just jump started my day and made me extremely pumped and ready to go have drinks by the pool and endless amounts of food!

... ready for the day

Going with other couples was by far one of the best decisions we could have made, however it was very important to take that time for myself, away from everyone to just take it all in and relax on my own time in my own way. Starting each day out like this was just what I needed and just what this vacation was all about, decompressing, relaxing and just taking some time for ourselves!

I'll be sharing some more pictures from our trip with you all here on the blog soon! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday and start to this crazy Holiday week!!

Hey, everyone! So I missed posting last week, but I have a good reason. My husband and I, along with some of our friends, took a much needed vacation to Mexico! I'll be sharing pictures later this week in a few different posts!

So with that said I wasn't able to share with you all the second week of this challenge in a blog post, however I did share it on Facebook and Instagram!

If you missed the second week's workout, don't fear, I'll share all of the workouts in this series at the end of this post!

Let's begin this week with a bang, and by bang I mean a hard core leg workout that will leave you wobbling. And along with this intense workout I'm going to share with you all my FAVORITE family recipe for what to do with your leftover Thanksgiving feast! Seriously, you'll need all of these workouts in this series to keep up with all of this deliciousness!

The boys decided to join in on the leg workout today as well... They love those squats!

I shared this recipe a few years back, however it hasn't gotten old and I feel it's necessary to re-share it with you all today!

Here is what you will need:

Left over turkey

Potatoes

{make the portion of potatoes to turkey even}

Your favorite turkey gravy

{You will need a good amount of gravy, I would say whatever you think you will need, get a little more than that}

An onion

Celery

{I used three small stalks}

What to do:

Peel and cube potatoes

Place potatoes in a pan with water on the stove, heat up until they are JUST about done

{And by done I mean, soft... You don't want them mooshy but you don't want them really hard}

Shred up the leftover turkey

Dice up the onion and celery

Once you are done set the turkey, onion and celery aside

While the potatoes continue to soften make your gravy

{Since I used the packet I just followed their directions}

Now for the fun part...

Once the potatoes are done strain out the water

Proceed to place all ingredients {potatoes, turkey, onion, celery} into an oven safe dish

I did layers, turkey, celery, onion, potatoes, more turkey, celery, onions, potatoes etc.

Now pour the gravy over the whole thing

Make sure to take it slow so that it seeps all the way down to the bottom

Place this in the oven for about twenty-twenty five minutes, really this part is up to you, since all of these ingredients are already cooked and edible it is just based on how done you want it.

And voila you have Turkey Hash!

I like to serve it over a bed of left over stuffing that I warm up in the microwave! Don't cook the stuffing in the dish, it'll just not turn out right!

Now that you have this recipe to get you through the days after Thanksgiving make sure that you check out ALL OF THE WORKOUTS in this series...

Week One!

Week Two!
Week Three!

Each week focuses on a different part of the body, making these three work GREAT in unison. My recommendation would be to do each workout for 12 minutes (one right after the other) 2 or 3 times a week, along with other types of cardio and you will not have to feel one bit of guilt this holiday season! I definitely intend on keeping up with these workouts myself, as much as possible that is! :)

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday and I'm looking forward to hanging out with my family and enjoying a delicious meal and their company! Because right after Thanksgiving is over we go straight into Christmas mode around here, and this year we are doing Elf on the Shelf for the first time so if you have any Elf suggestions please send them my way!

Happy Monday, everyone!!! I hope you have enjoyed this workout challenge series as much as I have!!

Happy Monday & Halloween everyone! I hope it's been a great weekend full of Halloween shenanigans and tons of fun. Well, today marks the beginning of something I am so excited about! Today, as mentioned on Friday, Leanna from Sworkit and myself are bringing you all a Thanksgiving Inspired Workout Challenge over the next few weeks! We are challenging each other to keep up with these custom workouts along with other fun little challenges we will be throwing out to one another on our social media accounts!

Today's workout focuses on the upper body, and boy do I feel like I need that this week! We are heading on vacation on Saturday and I definitely need my beach ready arms in gear! Both boys are also raring to go with this workout challenge, they were doing their best to show off their upper body muscles and man was it one of the cutest things ever!

... Yes, that's their "GRR" faces!

So...

HERE'S THE WORKOUT!

{make sure you have the APP downloaded to your phone}

I challenge myself,  Leanna & everyone of you out there to go grab this workout and do it for a total of 15 minutes 3 times this week!

If you are going to participate I ask that you Tweet, Facebook or Instagram your involvement with a post, update, tweet or image while you are doing the workout and use the hashtag

#turkeydayfitchallengeaccepted

As always while using the Sworkit workouts, be sure to hashtag your posts with #nogymnoexcuse so even more people can see your progress and be inspired to get in on this workout challenge as well!

Make sure to check back on our social media sites throughout the week for other fun little challenges and to share your progress as well! Also, be sure to check back next Monday for week 2 of this challenge and to see what these crazy boys are up to for Core week!!

Cheers!