Colorado Wildfires

Our beautiful state of Colorado has had record breaking heat for the last week.  We have had 5 consecutive days of 100+ heat that finally ended today (at a low 97 degrees).  Because of the extreme heat, it has been much drier than normal which has created the perfect recipe for wildfires.   

As of this morning, there were 15 different wildfires burning across the state.  The Waldo Canyon fire is the closest one to us about 50 miles south, down in Colorado Springs. On Tuesday night this week, 32,000 people were evacuated from their homes.  Many of those homes have burned to the ground.  The fire was considered highly contained, but then the winds started gusting at 65 mph and changed the direction of the fire.  Many had just minutes to evacuate their homes.

My mom's first cousin and his family were evacuated, and we are still waiting to hear if their home survived the night.  The fires across Colorado have been devastating for so many and the end is nowhere in sight . 

These are just a few of the many photos of the fires: 

It's hard to put into words the sadness I feel for all of the families who have lost their homes and all their treasured belongings.  I know that as long as they have eachother, nothing else truly matters.  But I can't imagine a home lived in for 50 years.....50 years of memories.....50 years of pictures.......50 years of life, destroyed by fire.  I feel such sorrow for those affected.  

We had a little bit of rain this afternoon, but nowhere near enough to slow these fires down.  All we can do is watch, and pray that our weather cools down, our winds stop blowing, and our firefighters stay safe.  

xo,

Kara

***Lifestyle change update: 27 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes situps/pushups all at 5:30 am. 

 NO snacks after work. Finally.

One Year!

It's hard to believe that we have been in our new home for a year! There are still some empty spaces waiting for something lovely, but I am proud of us because we have taken our time picking out pieces we love, instead of things that just fill space.

One area of the house that we have completely neglected is our patio.  Now that summer is in full swing, I feel like we need to spruce up the space a bit.  We planted 8 pots of flowers this year that look beautiful but we are still missing something....can't quite put my finger on it......oh yeah, patio furniture.  I think we have waited so long to purchase that patio sets are actually starting to go on sale. Woohoo! Who knew that the whole patience is a virtue thing actually applies in real life?!

I found inspiration on Pinterest for our outdoor living spaces and I am hoping to re-create a combination of these looks:

We have a walk out basement and deck just like this one and I like how there are two very usable spaces here.  I would love to add the drapes on our lower level-not sure if we get too much wind at our house though.

Source: bhg.com via Kara on Pinterest

I LOVE this outdoor rug.  Before browsing for different options for our patio, I hadn't even considered and outdoor rug and now I think it is a must! Do you have outdoor rugs?

via Kara on Pinterest

This last space is by far my favorite.  I just love the simplicity of the old whiskey/wine barrels and the hurricane lanterns make it feel so homey.  And don't you just adore the glass bulbs hanging above the sofa?  LOVE.

via Kara on Pinterest

We found a set on sale at Home Depot this weekend, and I am hoping the hubby surprises me with it next weekend.  Keep your fingers crossed! I think we could get pretty close to look above. Eeeee!!!

 I'll let you know. 

xo,

Kara

***Lifestyle change update: 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday at 5:20am!! I got my booty out of bed early!! Ate healthy all day, but did have some snacks while fixin' dinner. :-(

Baby Steps :-)

Easy Healthy Ranch Dip

One of my favorite snacks is carrots with ranch dip or hummus.  Unfortunately I always feel as though I am getting more bad than good when it comes to ranch dip.  There were a few unmentionable years in college when I put ranch on EVERTHING.  Guess I shouldn't have been surprised when the number on the scale kept going up and up and up.  :-)

Last night I made a super tasty, healthy pasta salad (I will post the recipe soon, I have a few tweaks to make) and I wanted something creamy but healthy to mix in.  Cue the amazing fat free greek yogurt I had in my fridge.   Mix in some dry ranch mix and you have a match made in heaven.

Right now my favorite greek yogurt is oikos, it's creamy, rich and delicious. I am pretty sure you can find it in any grocery store, but I buy mine at Whole Foods.

                                                                                               via Kara on Pinterest

Start with as much greek yogurt as you need for your pasta salad, veggie dipping.....whatever your heart desires, and then mix in the dry ranch mix to taste (I used Hidden Valley Ranch because I had it on hand).  That's it.  Easy Peasy. 

It was such a welcome addition to our pasta salad. It gave it the tangy, spicy kick I wanted and added a little creaminess without adding fattening mayo! Hope you give Greek yogurt a try, I have a bunch of other fantastic recipes to share that involve my new bff :)

***Day one of my lifestyle change update: Treadmill 35 minutes-mostly running with a little walking thrown in here and there-a girl has got to start somewhere.  Healthy eating all day except for....wait for it....a couple of snacky bites between workout and dinner-darnit! In my defense they were healthy snacks, but I have GOT TO cut that out.  Things can only get better from here, right?
 I will leave you this morning with a little inspiration :) Get running!

                                                                                                 via Kara on Pinterest

Who doesn't want Carrie Underwood's legs???

Happy Tuesday!

Xo,

Kara

Update

I cannot believe it has been 2 months since my last post.  May and most of June have been CRAZY busy for us.  We travelled 5 out of 6 weekends starting the first weekend in May, and the weeks at home were just as busy. 

This past weekend was our first full weekend at home in 7 weeks, and let me just tell you it was amazing.  We did all the weekend-y things I have been longing to do for 2 months.  We did a whole lot of nothing....together.....and it was fantastic.

Outside of being busy with every day life, I have somehow completely fallen head first off of the workout wagon.  So I figured what better way to re-commit myself than in front of all the many readers of my blog ;-) 

My goal is to get in 30 to 45 minutes of physical activity 5 to 6 days a week.  And keep my calorie intake at about 1400 cals a day. I downloaded the "lose it" app to my iPhone to track my calorie intake and workouts daily, so I think that will really help me reach my goal.

The most difficult challenge for me is finding a time to get my workout in each day. On a typical week day I leave my house about 6:45 am and return home around 5:30.  For the last few months I am finding it nearly impossible to wake up when my alarm goes off to workout out before work.  And at the end of the day, I have no energy to force myself to workout.  Now I know this is a vicious cycle......when I am not working out I am even more tired, so if I could just get my butt out of bed 45 minutes earlier I know I would feel less tired.  Why I can't convince my body, and mind of this, I do not know. 

My other challenge is snacking after work before dinner.  The rest of my day is full of healthy meal choices, but the apparently from 5:30 to 6:30 I need snacks.  That is the one thing I need to quit today. 

The changes I need to make are small, but I know that they aren't always easy.  But not making the change is just me making excuses. 

So here goes nothing.

                                                                                                                   via Kara on Pinterest

I will keep you updated.

xo,

Kara