The Hansen Family

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...

Well it only took a year and a half, but we found a lamp for the side table in our living room! Remember this post ? We were looking for candle holders and candles at Hobby Lobby and this literally was right in front of me. Everything happens for a reason, right? This lamp matches perfectly with some other baskets we have in the room! (sorry for the grainy photo) It sets off the right amount of light at night. And I really like the height of it in contrast to other items on the table. We also added a circle wall hanging in our den: Its amazing how long it takes to decorate a house. And it never ends. What have you been decorating lately?

When I started this blog it was for the sole purpose to document building our patio . Yes, I admit it has morphed into something different through the years. I haven't had a project in a while to share with you all, but this fall/winter I really want to get my craft room going. And I have some small decorating updates to share throughout the house! For now, I'm focusing on fitness and nutrition and I'm in a happy place. I'm happy because I am more comfortable in my skin. I still haven't accustomed to my "new normal" after having three kids. The skin on my stomach is my biggest down fall, that is where my self-esteem falls. I'm not raggin' on my body image, don't get me wrong, I'm trying to create a picture for you all of where I have come from. Like I have mentioned in a previous post , I have been wanting to find a nutrition plan that will work for ME. Once I found it, I wanted to share it with others. If I could show you a program...

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...