Fall Bucket List

Last week I was asked when I was going to post my fall bucket list. Truth was, I wasn't going to write one, but why should summer have all the fun? This list is much shorter than the summer one, you know with me working and all. I also am not really sure when the fall season ends and the winter season begins. I mean, yes I could look at the calendar, but I feel that most of my Christmas stuff should be on a winter list. Any who, I present my fall bucket list.

Yes, almost half the list has something to do with food. Fall just seems like a season for food.

What did I miss on my bucket list? Are you planning anything fun for the fall season?

A fresh start

As any teacher knows, the new year starts in September, not January. Like any good new year, I have some goals that I am setting. One of my big goals has nothing to do with my classroom. In fact, I haven't really ever talked about it here in this space. Or really, talked about it at all. I have been pretty unhappy with how I look. I have been unhappy with how I am feeling. I have been unhappy with how my clothes are fitting.

As a health teacher, I feel like I am failing in my healthy modeling. I love working out, but I don't do it consistently. I love healthy food, but I really love deep fried or sweet goodness. The scale is now reaching the numbers that I swore I would never hit. I know things need to change. My family history alone is enough to make anyone cringe.

So, I know something has to happen. One of my goals in my 13 in '13 has been to workout 12 hours a month. It hasn't happened yet. It has to. And I know it has to be a mix of cardio and weight training. I am a huge fan of group exercise classes, and I have been scheduling my weeknights around my gym schedule. I also am committing to tracking my food intake (at least during the work week). I have used MyFitnessPal in the past, and I was pretty successful. And the scariest part of it all... I am going to post my progress here. Right now I am not comfortable with a "before" picture, but I am going to put out my "before" numbers. I know tracking the scale hasn't been successful for me, so I am going with measurements. (I took these myself so I know they are only semi-accurate.)

Please feel free to follow my journey along. I will be posting here monthly-ish? (I'm not promising anything... shoot, its pretty much a miracle that I have been posting anything after my August showing.) But I should be updating MyFitnessPal Please friend me to keep me accountable! My name is caseyamber. 

What tips do you have to stay on track?

Summer- bucket list style

I guess my blogging didn't get much better after my last post. Oops. Its back to school time for me. We have been back for a week of planning/organizing. Tuesday is the first day with kids, and Wednesday is my first day teaching. I guess summer is over. I know y'all have been on the edge of your seats wondering what our summer was like...

• I picked both blueberries and blackberries. 
• Shopped several times at the local farmer's market.
• I learned how to big girl can :) I made some berry syrup with a friend I (who was teaching me) and then some jalapeno jelly on my own. I also made quite a few jars of freezer jam.
• We picnicked at our secret spot on the river
• We went camping. It was fantastic.
• We stayed at the beach. It was fantastic.
• Watched a Bon Jovi tribute band at our local park
• Pigged out at the State fair (and saw the cutest baby pigs and goats!)
• I read a ton of books-I'm thinking close to 10. 
• We flew down to San Francisco to spend some time with my aunt.
• Hung out at the Rogue brewery hop farm.

I'd still like to watch something at the drive in, and I am always ready for a pedicure. We should be having some fireworks during the end of September festival our town puts on. Maybe we will still go mini golfing for a date night/afternoon one day.

Things that aren't happening:

• Our garage freezer broke this summer, so we just don't have room for my own popsicles right now (although my aunt had some fantastic watermelon/lime/jalapeno ones she had made)
• I am so far out of running shape, that a race would be torture
• Our garage is still a disaster.
• I haven't pulled out my sewing machine in quite awhile... probably jumping into something I want to wear isn't the best to start off with.

How was your summer? Did you get all of your bucket list items crossed off?

Where Am I???

In July I wrote 4 whole blog posts. I don't have much of an excuse, I mean I don't work in the summer, so I should have plenty of time to play on this little space.

Craig and I have been making the most of our weekends. With his new(ish) job, he has every Friday off, and we have been filling our weekends with beach trips, camping, BBQ, hiking... all kinds of good stuff. However the weekdays I do really important things like watch the Today show and play with my dog. The truth is, as much as I love free time, I crave a schedule. Without one, I seem to just flounder about and don't really get anything done. There is nothing motivating me to stop watching reruns of CSI Miami.

I know some people who don't get summers off are probably so annoyed by this. Shoot, me in May is super annoyed by this post. I go back to work in about 2 weeks. And I have to admit, I am looking forward to it. (Please remind me of this sentence when I am looking at classes of 35).  Kids don't start until after Labor Day, so I still feel like I have plenty of summer time left. In that time I hope to accomplish some more stuff off my Summer Bucket List and I have a couple projects that I want to get done as well.

And now I will leave you with some funny things...

Have a good day!