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Sense of Sarah

Sense of Sarah: Working out When You’re Busy

Working out is not something that I enjoy, but it is something that I really enjoy the way it makes me feel.  I blogged about my weight loss journey back in 2014 (which feels like forever ago!) and so if you followed me back then, you know that working out is something I have to do to maintain my weight.

Because grad school literally takes up all of my free time (but the end is near!), I’ve had to adjust my work outs to fit my schedule.  I don’t work out as near as much as I want to, but it works for this season of life that I am in.

This is what I do now:

On Tuesdays/Thursdays I…

Wake up at 4:20 AM.
Jillian Michaels BodyShred class at gym–5:00-5:45 AM

This was taken after Rachel and I survived a brutal class one morning.

On Saturdays I have a few options…

-Go to the gym sometime that morning to complete this workout:

This was in one of my Shape magazines and I change up the weight part every now and then.  You can customize it to fit you!  I keep the 5 minute jog and running for .25miles unchanged.

-Go to the stadium to run bleachers and run laps around the track for 30-35 minutes

-Run in my neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods for 2-3 miles

This will change once I graduate from grad school, but sometimes you have to make sacrifices.  I don’t enjoy getting up early those two mornings during the week, but I also don’t have time after school is over because I come home and do grad school work (plus cook dinner or any other obligation I might have)–I just don’t have time in the afternoons during this time in my life.  

Hopefully this has encouraged you to find some sort of time to work out!  You may be busy, but your health never needs to be neglected!

Sense of Sarah: Cleaning

Happy Monday, y’all!  I know that technically today should be a weekend recap post, but since I didn’t really do anything major this weekend except clean, I thought I would tie that into another Sense of Sarah post…..on cleaning.  Those who know me know that I’m a very clean and organized person.  I thrive in a clean environment.  I don’t know about you, but I love learning about the cleaning routines of other people because I’m always looking for a way to do something different and better than what I’m already doing.  If that’s not you, then feel free to skip today’s post!  Click here to see past Sense of Sarah posts.

Daily

Dishes–wash every day and run the dishwasher once a week
Kitchen counters–wipe down every day with Lysol wipes
Hardwoods–sweep every other day
Kitchen table–wipe down after supper each night
Laundry–do one load each night or every other night

Weekly
Master bedroom–wash sheets, dust, vacuum
Master bath–sweep/mop, toilet, trash, tub, shower, sinks
Open living area–dust
Guest bed/bath–vacuum, sweep/mop, toilet, trash (if any), sink

Tips
-I keep cleaning supplies in each area that I will be using them.  For example, I keep all bathroom supplies that I need to clean the master bathroom in there, and the guest bath on the other side of the house also has the cleaning products I will use in there….same thing for upstairs (except I only clean that bathroom about once a month since no one goes up there.)  This keeps me from having to tote around a bunch of cleaning products.

-I keep all cleaning rags in a central location.  I also wash them separately from my other towels so that I don’t get them mixed up.
Cleaning rags are in the box and the towels on the right are in case there’s a major spill, etc.

What are your tips and tricks to cleaning your house?

Sense of Sarah: Favorite Blogs to Read

If you’re new to what my Sense of Sarah posts are, just click here for an explanation and past posts.

I love reading blogs–just ask my husband!  I think my love of reading blogs also comes from my love of reading.  And I love how with blog reading, you really get to know the person behind the blog.  (I’ve made lots of friends through blog reading.)  Unlike books, blog characters are real people.  Plus, I’ve gotten great ideas from lots of blogs.

These are just a few of the blogs I really enjoy reading!

I LOVE reading Shay’s blog!  She’s from Texas, just adopted a little girl from China, and her brother was The Bachelor.  I love how her writing is clean and family-oriented, and I think her life is fascinating.  Her family is so cute!  I would really love to get to meet her someday to learn more about her!  (And tour her home haha)

Not only do I love reading Shay’s personal blog, but I love her foodie blog!  If you know me, you know how much I love cooking and baking–it’s such a huge passion of mine and my goal in the next few years is to publish a cookbook.  With that being said, I love taking lots of Shay’s recipes and putting my own spin on them.  I love that her recipes are really easy and healthy (and you can make even healthier).

Andrea is the writer of Momfessionals and she’s a middle school math teacher who loves Anthropologie!  I feel like that makes us soul sisters haha!  Andrea’s blog is filled with the cutest ideas for celebrating holidays because she is all about celebrating and making memories with her three kids.   Plus, I love how she dresses her little girl, Griffin.  #lifegoals

I don’t even remember how I found Elise’s blog, but I started reading when she lived at the beach and then shortly announced that she was pregnant.  It was so fun following her pregnancy and move back to her hometown of Charlotte.  Her daughter Nancy makes the funniest faces, and is always dressed so cute.  I have enjoyed reading about Elise making her new house a home and getting design ideas.

This is another blog that I can’t remember how I found but I love reading it!  Victoria designed my blog and has become a friend in real life.  We have lots in common which has been really fun to find out.  Victoria has a talent for decorating so I love it when she posts pictures of her home (or Thanksgiving dinners) and I can learn from her.  Plus, I think she writes really well.

I just realized this, but Christina’s blog is the only non-Southern blog on this list!  I really enjoy reading about all of the traveling posts that Christina writes about–she and her husband travel constantly and she always writes great posts that I want to bookmark in case I ever visit those places.  She also is a newlywed like I am, so it’s been fun reading about how she’s starting new traditions with her husband like I am.

If you read my blog and know that I read yours daily, don’t feel left out!  I will be doing an updated post later on other blogs I enjoy reading!

Next for Sense of Sarah:  How I Started Blogging