Artsy Fartsy

SO...When I first moved into our new house I was a pretty excited to have a place that I could paint! I had been living in the white washed rental land for so long that I could hardly wait to get color on my walls! Well...my excitement sent me a bit over the top I think and I went BOLD. I painted my Master Bedroom this DEEP DARK Chocolate Brown. ...Not even just an accent wall. I painted the WHOLE thing brown. ...I know...now I ask myself what I was thinking. I mean I love the color but...it's a little too much of a good thing, and it's REALLY dark. Well...I asked my husband one night "On a scale from 1-10 how annoyed would you be if I re-painted our room?" In a very calm, but clear "end of disscussion" tone, he immediately replied "10."

Well...I had to do SOMETHING about my faux pas! I HAD to break up the dark, bat cave look, so...I've been doing some blog stalking lately and I came across this SUPER great idea. http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/01/tutorial-decorative-wall-art.html Can you say "PERFECT"? All props go to All Things Thrifty, on the "how to" tutorital but...here's my twist on it.

Told ya it was dark. But what do you think??? Doesn't it help?!? I LOVE IT! I didn't put anything behind it like they do in the tutorial, I just put it directly on the chocolate brown wall. And it turned out great!

Go to my other blog http://www.chandacehatch.blogspot.com/ to check out our sweet head board my brother just made for us! He's amazingly talented!

HAWAII!

We finally made it on our Honeymoon! If you guys want the details hit up our other blog http://www.chandacehatch.blogspot.com/

Empowered

I coupon. I'm a couponer. Every sunday I have 4 sunday papers delivered to my front door. Am I really that obsessive about the going ons around me? No. All I'm interested in are the ads found in the middle.

My sister-in-law got me into it. I had heard about it before and, I'm not going to lie, clipping coupons didn't sound like my idea of a good time, but Brittney kept coming home with all these AMAZING shopping trips where she saved these enormous sums of money, got things free or was even PAID to go shopping! Plus her food storage was actually becoming something noteworthy, unlike mine which was doing well if I had a couple of extra cans of chilli and/or tuna fish "filling" up the shelf. I've always wanted to be one of those women who always had everything basically on hand. I was a boyscout for 4 years and the whole "Always be Prepared" thing was engrained into my soul. So...despite my leeriness of clipping coupons for the rest of my life...I turned to Brittney and said "Okay, I give. Teach me how, Yoda."

She made it super simple, and then Brittney, being the craftyminded woman she is, decided to really convert me and show me how it's done. After lesson one, she took me shopping, I ended up spending $37 and saving $42. More than 50% of my bill and getting twice the amount of groceries than I normally would have??? Okay. SOLD.

There's something empowering about going to a store, and feeling like your working the system. Something rewarding about watching your total diminish right in front of your eyes as they scan in the coupons and add the discounts.

I had a very empowering moment yesterday at Kohl's. And I feel like one of these commercials. I can do anything now. My total bill was $87.34 and at the bottom of my reciept, circled in a beautiful shade of red was my savings: $208.47.

I got 5 shirts, one pair of capris, a dress, leggins, earrings, sunglasses, and a pair of shoes. AND my husband wasn't even mad. In fact, he was impressed, and we went back to buy him some things too. and ended up saving another $82.00 and spending $50.

Here's to couponing.

Jillian

I'd like to introduce you to my personal trainer. Jillian. That's right, every morning at 6:00 a.m. she comes directly to my living room via my husbands "42 inches of pure bliss" to whip my sorry *ahem* into shape.

Now...I've worked with Jillian before. I become very much acquainted with her last summer as she kicked my butt through a 30 Day Shred. However, I've been on a fairly lengthy hiatus for a few months since I've been slightly consumed with other trivial things like...Christmas and getting married...stuff like that.

Not going to lie...Jillian was less than happy with me for choosing to ditch out on her for so long. And she let me know it. First day back...she made me cry. And the pain lasted a couple of days. But I'm getting back into the swing of it.

I started out...once again...with the 30 Day Shred. It's only a 20 minute workout. I figured...I can do it. But...the woman is GOOD at what she does. On this DVD there are 3 different levels. Level 1, 2, and -yup you guessed it- 3. Each level has 3 segments with 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. 20 minute workout. And let me just tell you...it works. And it works well.

My first go around with the 30 Day Shred...Level 1 made me cry...but after about a week and 1/2 I got the hang of it. So I decided..."Sure...I can do level 2." Level 2...level 2 made me almost throw up. Who would have thought it would have been SO much harder?!?! My husband used to tease me about how much I hurt after I worked out for 20 minutes with sissy 3-5lb weights. But one day...when he needed a break from studying and it was too cold to go running...he plugged in Jillian with the notion that he MIGHT get his heart rate up a bit. Feeling a little cocky he opted to do Level 2 and skip Level 1. Yeah. He couldn't even FINISH level 2. He doesn't mock me any more.

Level 2 is rough...so rough in fact that by the time I was supposed to advance to level 3...I was terrified to do it. Once I finally got the guts...to give it a try...I realized...I had every right to be afraid of it. But I did it. And I will tell you what...it made me feel like an absolute POWER HOUSE when I finished. Seriously...if you're diligent...and you meet with Jillian every day...she will make you TOTALLY Shredded.

But...I started to get a little bored with the same old workout, albeit effective...I needed something different. SO...I went and got DVD #2. Banish Fat Boost Metabolism. I've only done it twice...and I've yet to actually DO the ENTIRE workout...I've about made it to 90%. The women practically maimed me in a 20 minute segment before...This one...this one is 40 min. She pushes you to inches of wanting to take your own life just to make it stop. I LOVE IT! That sounds a little masochistic, I know, but I feel like I actually got something out of my workout! I hate it when I work out for an hour and...feel like I have NOTHING to show for it. I LOVE feeling like I'm being pushed. I love feeling the burn. I love walking away from it...barely being able to walk! Because I feel like I actually GOT SOMETHING OUT OF MY EFFORTS!

I cancelled my gym membership...which was collecting dust anyway. I am saving myself $60/mon. AND for a mere $10/ea. I went to Target/Walmart and bought myself a personal trainer who brings results! She's one of the meanest, scariest, and most motivational trainers out there...and I'm hoping she will scare me right into a size 8!

New Year...New Leaf

So...I was reading a friend of mines blog, a very TALENTED friend of mine, and she wrote this piece which...really made me think. I LOVED it...and I just HAD to share it. SO...Lindsey Maughan, I hope you don't mind...but you so eloquently brought to light something that has been on my mind for weeks.

http://abridgetobrooklyn.com/ "You are X here."

CHANDACE

Hey Everyone! We've got a new blog! Well...we may just keep this one...I may turn it into my DIY page for decorating my house and such...BUT for all updates on me and my bunny...go to http://chandacehatch.blogspot.com/ Lots of love! MWAH

Wedding Gala

Just in case we miss anyone, I wanted to make sure you knew that you were invited. We've had some troubles with the people who are printing our invites, which is why you haven't seen them yet, but you will. But I wanted to give you all a heads up to a time and place so you can mark it on your calendars and hopefully come and celebrate with us! It's going to be quite the party and it'd be that much better if you were there! Here is an electronic version of our invite! My amazing friend Lou designed them for us! 2 more weeks!!! We're so excited!