The Hansen Family

It's been a while since I've posted. We've been busy getting three kids through High School and College. I thought this would be the perfect time to share some of the things that have worked for us over the years as we move our daughter into her first post-grad apartment. When my daughter started college, I did what most moms do: I scrolled through Pinterest, searched dorm room boards, and filled carts with everything from command hooks to mini ottomans. Some of it worked. Some of it just cluttered the room and never got used. Now that she’s living in her first apartment, there are a handful of things she's  still using,  and I honestly wish we’d just bought those from the start. Rolling Storage Cart Used daily as a food stand in the dorm. Now it lives in the bathroom with hair tools, skincare, and makeup. Cozy Blanket A girl can't have enough blankets, however, this one has stood the test of time and something that she uses.

What would you tell your 22 year old self? I'm here to share with you what I would tell my 22 year old self. View my video over on Facebook: Renee Hansen Coaching or click below to view video. I'm Renee Hansen, I'm a wife, a mom of 3 kids with very busy full-throttle schedules, i work full-time outside the home and I hvae very little time to myself and I have figured out some ways to help organize my schedule. What would you tell yourself that you know now, that you wish you knew then? Fitness & Nutrition: I would tell myself first to focus on your fitness. Keep it up, you love it, it helps your stress. But, when you turn 32 and 37 you are going to need to focus on your nutrition. People keep telling you about nutrition and you wish you wouldn't have known more about nutrition when you were having some stomach problems. Get Your Schedule Organized: Next, if you think you are busy now, HA! you will get even more busy with three kids in...

Is your schedule running your life or are you running your schedule? Tips to organize your schedule and your life. You guys! I've finally cracked the code to organizing my day. Every morning I wake up and exercise (I'm sure you know that by now). But I've finally, finally figured out a pattern to make my day feel like I own it! Whew, what a great feeling!  Do you ever feel like your calendar is taking over your life? Do you sit in meetings thinking of all the things you need to get done or people you need to contact? Does your desk look like this... Do you find yourself thinking about all the things you might forget? Are you worried about trying to get so much done and not enough time? Are you constantly worried about forgetting something? Are you on your phone all the time checking email or your calendar, social media over and over and over again? Are you impatient and short with people, co-workers, your family, trying to get it all in? Do you make...

Are your friends always asking you if you are going to run in the next local race? Now is the time to sign up and prove them all right! Check out my previous race posts: ( training schedule , tips 1 , tips 2 ) Do your friends ask you...Are you running in the next (insert local race)? Or Have you ever run in the (insert tough mudder)? OR Maybe we should do a race for our local fundraiser? If you are interested in starting your own race for your local fundraiser check out Eventbrite. They can help you get your site up and running! They can help you get your site up and running! I get asked these questions all the time and the funny thing is, yes, I exercise a lot, but I really struggle with running. It's tough for me. If you've seen my previous posts  ( training schedule ,  tips 1 ,  tips 2 ) you'll know it really is a challenge. However, they are asking you to run, because they KNOW you CAN do it! So, what is stopping you? Sign up to run a race now and pr...

Dance recital tips and gift ideas! The girls dance recital was last weekend and I enjoy them so much. But I didn’t always… It’s a bitter sweet weekend for us as our oldest wants to take a break from dance. And I get it, it can be a long season, and she should be able to choose. I don’t want to force her to keep taking classes if she isn’t into it. Our youngest now wants to take a break too. Hmmm? That is a decision mommy and daddy may have to make. The girls danced so well, and received so many compliments. However, there was a time when I used to dread dance recital weekend. It was so stressful and LooooooOOOOOooooooong. Especially for a child under 6 years old. I have some tips in a past blog on how to survive dance recital here . Our oldest daughter wanted to do pinwheels this year as a gift. I thought that was a great idea. I feel we overload on sweets, it has nothing to do about being healthy, and I know that I have been focused on health lately....

Why is change so hard? I know you wish to change something, your body, your tummy, your thighs, your hair, your attitude, your leadership. What is that ONE thing when you get up every morning, or go to bed a night thinking, "when am I going to start changing XYZ?" Tomorrow is NOT the answer anymore. I believe it all starts with a mind-set. Yes, a simple mind-set or attitude. We have to finally give up all control and power over our BAD habits. It could be a bad habit with eating, exercising, wasting time on Social Media (I'm totally guilty of that), watching TV, smoking, alcohol, biting your nails, too much pop, too much sugary coffee. When you go to bed tonight, think about the ONE thing that is sticking out in your mind that you KNOW, I mean really KNOW, your bad habit that you want to quit. Find three people and tell them, TELL them OUT LOUD, face-to-face! Tell them you are not going to do (your bad habit) for two days. Make them hold you accountable. Be...

Okay I'm sure you are all asking, what is she doing? I'm seeing all these posts about some 21 day thing...what is it, and why is everyone is talking about it? The 21 Day FIX is a 21-day program of simple portion control and 30-minute workouts that anyone can do. You can lose up to 15 pounds in 21 days! The portion-control containers take all the guesswork out of losing weight, it's the simplest way to control how much you eat. I personally love the 30 minute workouts, they are quick, and include the warm up and cool down in the 30 minutes. As a busy mom, I don't have time for a long workout, since I exercise in the mornings. The workouts are intense enough for me to work up a sweat, but they are NOT hard on my joints. With my busy schedule I need something that is going to deliver results in a short amount of time. This did it! I was NEVER, ever hungry! I'm more energized, I'm happier and more patient with my kids. I'm more alert at work. Peo...

Swimming lessons are so important and lately I've been seeing a lot of news stories about the importance of learning to swim. Therefore, we signed up Kennady for swimming lessons. She was very excited to go swimming.  She wasn't too excited to meet her teacher or "learn" to swim. But, after a few lessons she was excited to go. We'll be doing more swimming lessons later this summer and fall. Do you remember your first swimming lessons? Follow on Bloglovin so you don't miss out!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Father's out there! We had a fabulous day packed with golf, camping and dropping our oldest child off at overnight basketball camp. I'm so excited for her to have this amazing experience. It was so weird helping her set her room up in the ISU dorms. That brought back memories just being in a dorm room again. I was a little jealous, reminiscing of my days at summer camp at Lake of the Woods . Two of the best summers I ever had as a kid. What summer camps do you send your kids to? Follow on Bloglovin so you don't miss out! Now it's time to hop on over and link up your blog. Subscribe to our mailing list

One step at a time we are getting closer and closer to having Sidney's room done.  I'm still searching for a bookcase and I think I'm going to break down and go to Target. It just needs to be complete, and why are bookcases so hard to find? However, I did get her artwork hung on the wall. Although, it's still not complete. We need to hang her hooks so she can hang all her medals. Here is how I did this and all the measurements were perfect and easy to hang without putting multiple holes in the wall for each frame. I started by laying 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper on the floor and taping them all together. Then, Sidney and I tried different picture frame compositions and the above was the winner. Then, I traced the outer edge of each frame and measured where the nail should be. I taped it to the wall and MOST IMPORTANTLY I used a level to make sure the frames were straight. After adjusting the paper I hammered the nails into the spots I marked. Then I c...

Our daughter started dancing at age four. Her first dance recital was so stressful for me. First, because she was so little. Second, because a dance recital is mass chaos for a first timer. Now that I'm more seasoned, it has gotten much easier.  So I thought I would share some tips for you newbies. First and more important buy treats for every classmate of your child for recital.  It is best to bring them to your first performance and pass them out before they go on stage. This was something I knew nothing about and I was "that mom" that didn't have anything the first performance. DON'T. Forget. the. TREATS!   I found these treats at the Target 'One Spot.' Yahoo! The treats don't have to be fancy, but you can do some really cute ideas; nail polish, a flower, candy, picture frame or bracelets. Other items that are essential are: Hair spray bobby pins mascara eye shadown applicators WATER, WATER, WATER (it ...

Our youngest just "graduated" from Preschool this week.  It's hard to believe she is growing up so fast. It's hard to believe school is almost out, summer is here! This means it's time to start scrambling for the end of year teacher gifts.  I am doing a couple different ideas this year. Like usual, I get most of my ideas from Pinterest. However, the Preschool teacher gift, I came up with, by myself. It's a mixture of many ideas on Pinterest.  I really wanted to give Sweet Basil as a gift. I had no idea how hard it would be to find! When I got this idea, I was so excited. I wanted to have a cute little chalkboard sign and a Caprese Salad recipe attached.  As it turned out, I had to go to four stores to find sweet basil. FOUR stores! I ended up settling for a 4" pot of basil. That is all I could find.  It was a nice size for basil and I thought I would split it, since I needed two for two preschool teachers. I found the white square pots at Wa...