Love Exercise

I used to hate exercise. Then I hated feeling sluggish and tired even more. Now five minutes into any workout I'm always thankful I started. I love jogging, hiking in the woods, and going on walks in the neighborhood, but not so much in the winter time. For one, I find 6am to be a prime time to get an uninterrupted workout accomplished and around here it's pretty dark then and I live on a busy road. Another good option is to exercise during Zane's nap time, which means sticking close to home. I don't have a treadmill or any fancy workout equipment so I turn to the tried and true alternative: workout videos. Here's a list of some of my favorites (none of which I purchased, check out what your local library has).

• New York City Ballet Workout I love this one because I tend to be more on the natuarally athletic side rather than the naturally graceful side and who doesn't feel graceful when practicing ballet?
• Pick Your Spot Pilates This one has four 10 minute workouts- one for your belly, butt, thighs, and total body. I like it because you have a 40 minute workout or if you just want to sneak in a 10 minute quickie you can.
• Basic Training Bootcamp I'm always sore the next day so I know it's working.
• Walk Away the Pounds Express- Super Challenge I've done several of her workout dvds and most of them are nice for days when you want a really light workout. This one is one step up from that. I sweat, but it's still nice and light.
• Pilates Weight Loss Workout for Dummies I like all the Dummies workouts I've done, but I particularly like this one because it has a 2o minute standing pilates routine in addition to the traditional Pilates floor work. I'm a big Pilates fan and I guess I'm an even bigger standing Pilates fan!

I hope you'll check out some of these dvds and learn to love exercise if you don't already. I'm always looking for new workout ideas to keep it fresh. Leave a comment to let me know what you do for exercise and/or what your favorite workout videos are.

The Salvation Army

... is my new favorite store. Today I bought 5 sweaters, one short sleeved shirt, and a pair of Gap jeans for $27.43. Of the five sweaters one is from J. Crew, one from Old Navy, one is a mohair wool sweater from Italy. I have to say I don't usually have good luck in these stores, but as I walked through the parking lot I asked God to put a special blessing on my time in the store and to help me find things I would know for sure I wanted. Side note: some of you may know I have a hard time purchasing anything without tremendous calculated thought. Also, to be successful at scoring the jackpot like I did, you need to have patience and a good chunk of time to weed through all the goods to get the goodies. Probably why I never had much luck before, lack of patience. Well, it was well worth it. Retail therapy has hit a new high. There will be no buyer's remorse tomorrow!

Here are some more thoughts on the matter.

Featured Crafters

Today I want to highlight some of my favorite crafts on sale at Etsy. Can you see the theme?

pendant by missficklemedia

wristlet by EmiShimosato

headband by Frosting Couture

coasters by 12fifteen

pony tail holders by MaryMarsh

hat by Two Seaside Babes

Dear Santa

As some of you may know, every year around Christmas time Oprah Winfrey hosts a special episode of her show where she gives away her favorite things to every member of the studio audience; Oprah's favorite things. If I were to do such a thing for my readers this is what I would give to you all. Two differences between Oprah's favorite things and Bethany's favorite things: 1. Oprah actually gives things away, I would just really like to give them away. 2. Oprah gives away things that she personally owns and loves, whereas the one qualifier for this list of things I'd love to give you all is that they're all things I want! So enjoy perusing this list of prizes you would get if I were rich and if you're looking for gift ideas for a certain thirtysomething, crafty girl....

• Where is Baby's Belly Button? by Karen Katz
  
• The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems by Tracy Hogg
• Shepherding Your Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
• To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl
• Thomas the Tank Engine board books
• Lamaze board books
• fabric
• scrapbook paper
• paper punches
• yarn
• a sweater
• pants
• tweed trousers
• gloves
• one panel pewter shower curtain
• this rug
• these throw pillows
• this 5x8 rug
• art
• lamp shade
• verse plaque
• 5 picture frames
• outdoor chaise
• silicone whisk
• hair care products
• ginger and sesame salad dressing
• anything from jcasa handmade
• anything from serenitymeadow
• an owl from old school acres
• crest whitestrips
• freezer
• Addi circular knitting needles
  

Freezer Jam

I love feeling like I'm domestic and there's nothing more fun than being domestic with a friend. Today, I went to my friend, Anca's house, and we made grape freezer jam. It 's so easy. A single batch can be made in ten minutes. Just follow the recipe that comes in a box of this and you've got it!

Mask Night

If you have a good health food store near you, you might find this amazing facial mask that actually makes your face pulsate. It's a powder that you can mix with either water or apple cider vinegar. It's definitely one of my favorite masks.

Toys

Today, I'll just leave you with a link to a list of some great staple toys for the kiddos.

It's a Hard Knock Life

I use this title for my post because I've been listening to this lately. And when your hubby has had a long hard day on his feet, the items pictured above can make it not such a hard knock day. A wash cloth, towel, some liquid soap, foot creme, a candle, a bucket (not pictured) and a willing spirit (also not pictured) is all it takes to get out all the tension in his feet. Plus, chances are if he's been working hard on his feet all day, you'll enjoy the smell a lot better if you do this for him. See, everybody wins!

Librarian Perks

As I was talking to my brother-in-law about the perks of working at a clothing store, he kind of laughed at my feeble attempts at saying that free books and getting paid slightly above minimum wage to be surrounded by books, books, and more books could actually be justified as perks. Mainly because it's only a slight step up from what anybody using the library can take advantage of. Well, to add to my list of perks, I do not get charged with late fees, I can check out more than the 20 items allowed to "regular" patrons, and I can order more than 4 books at a time from other libraries in our system. What a life!


As it stands I have 47 items checked out which includes exercise dvds, a few episodes of the second season of The Office, board books for Zane, books on fig trees that my husband is studying, Anna Karenina, and these four beauties-

Also, I can suggest books for purchase and I'm in love with the Discover America State by State series from this publisher. Check it out.

Simple Pleasures

Talk about simple, I love toiletries. I'm always curious at the combination of toiletries that people have and like. Here are some of my favorites right now.

• My shampoo (only 99 cents on Tuesdays at my local grocery store)
• My body wash (I love lavender)
• My face wash (it makes my face feel very soft)
• My deodorant (I like the apricot scent plus no antiperspirant means no underarm stains)
• My foot cream (great for summer)
• My pore strips (these work great)

Also check out my sister-in-law's sister-in-law's products at the link for Simply Pure under my favorite websites. Yes, I said that right, my husband's brother's wife's brother's wife would be another way to say it. So what are some of your favorite toiletries?

Pajamas

Today my favorite thing is staying in my p.j.'s all day while playing with my boy and enjoying the fall like weather. While I don't recommend living in your pajamas, every now and again it's good to tone down any trace of Type A personality you might have and just relax. If you need convincing, read this.