The Hansen Family

I used to dread waking up early to go exercise, but I knew I had to do it to stay healthy and fit. After a while, I started getting bored with my workouts and I kept hitting snooze, over and over and over again. I would get so mad at myself for doing it too! I really think I have exercise ADD. I need a change-up about every three months. All of a sudden, now I don't hit snooze anymore. It didn't even occur to me at first until I read somewhere, "Do you like early morning workouts?" YES, YES, I do! I do now. You will read in many articles that you should schedule your workout or it won't get done. My only time to workout is early in the morning. When I say early I mean 5:30am. I'm a busy mom and my kids are active in sports, I work full-time and mornings are "ME" time.  I never thought of my workouts before as "ME" time. But now they are, because I love my results from 21 Day FIX, I love getting up and working up a sweat to Turbo...

I know that sushi is a staple in some people's monthly diet, but I'm not very knowledgeable about sushi. At all. We have a gourmet group where we host dinners with eight other couples. This quarter we did a sushi party. The general theme was Asian cuisine. Because we didn't know HOW to make the sushi, we hired a local chef, Becky Ringsby to help us. She was Ah-maz-ing! Our menu consisted of: Egg rolls Pork tacos Miso soup Sushi Fried bananas Green tea ice cream Mai Tais Japanese beer   The Asian Pork tacos were a hit as well as the Egg rolls. This was a great appetizer before the Sushi meal!   The hostesses with the mostesses and Becky Ringsby. If you need a chef in the Central Iowa area, I highly recommend her. Here is her contact info . Getting ready for our sushi demonstration. Becky demonstrating how to roll sushi. Some were better than others. And now we're ready for the meal at the beautiful place settings. ...

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...

We finally finished our basement around Christmas! We needed to get the guest room ready for family to stay overnight. We were able to get a bed, and well, that's about it. Now that we've had some more time. I have been able to decorate the room. It's not complete, but we're getting there. I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to make some art to hang. and this is what we came up with... We took blue, white, espresso and tan colored paints, put them on a paper plate and started mixing them together. Then we made a short stroke on the canvas and volia, we had art! The girls loved it and it took about 45 minutes. Now we need to hang it. It's only propped up with the pillows right now. But this was simple, easy, quick and cheap art that WE made! And now I feel like it needs more color. Maybe that side table will get a fresh coat of bright yellow paint? Hmmm? Hopefully our guests feel "right at home." Have you made any art lately? W...

I want to share with you my new adventure. I'm sure some of you have already seen my posts on Facebook and I want to tell you my story. I have jumped into something that I truly believe in. I wouldn't have jumped if this was just a quick fix, but what it really is, is a life long sustaining nutrition program that works. I am living proof! See below for my results. I workout regularly. I don't love to workout. I mean, really, who LOVES to workout? I was doing hard core, intense jumping, HIIT and running workouts. I did it to stay healthy, be fit, and let's be honest to look good. After each workout I would have breakfast on my way to work. I thought, I can reward myself, I pushed myself hard today. My breakfast would consist of a Starbucks Grande Decaf Nonfat Cinnamon Dulce Latte and one of their yummy muffins or pound cakes. I deserved it right? I was getting away with this for a long time and then boom, the scale started moving, moving in the wrong d...

It has been a really, really long time since I posted something on this lovely blog. Lots has happened since my last post on the 4th of July. I took a new job, our youngest started Preschool and rides the bus, we switched daycare because of said new job and preschool. Lots of changes this fall. I thought I would share this gift we made for our daycare provider who we had been with for eight years (if I'm doing my math correctly). It was so, so, SOOoooooo hard to leave and I knew that we wanted to give a personal gift. I enlarged a picture of the kids and bought a white frame with white mat and had the kids hand write things they liked about daycare and their daycare provider. I tried to match it to her home decor. I wrapped it with a bow and attached a card and gift card. She is an extension of our family and the kids called her "Grandma Jean." If your reading this Grandma Jean, we MISS YOU! Need more gift ideas? Head over to my projects page .

If you don't already know this about me, I LOVE the 4th of July. Have you seen our family photo ? #redwhiteandblue Since this holiday, like any holiday, creeps up on us, I thought I would share a simple recipe that we eat weekly in the summer. It's especially delicious when you can get tomatoes right off the vine from your garden. Ingredients: 2 medium tomatoes (preferably home grown) 4 basil leaves 3 Tbls. olive oil 1 1/2 tbls. balsamic vinegar (or more to your liking) Pinch of Minced Garlic (or fresh garlic if you have it) 1 large french bread loaf Preheat oven to 350. Slice bread into desired thickness (I like them thin). Toast in oven for about 5 minutes, or until desired toasty-ness (I know it's not a word). Dice tomatoes and put in a bowl. Its easiest to cut the tomatoes with a serrated knife. Chop basil leaves and stir in with tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then sprinkle minced garlic. Let sit, if you can, so the fla...