A few changes around here

I don't know if you have noticed but there have been a few changes at Simply Fit Mama. I enlisted my amazing web faerie to make some magic happen to give this blog a little summer cleaning ( I missed the spring cleaning boat). And in the blink of an eye she had everything that I needed done because she's rad like that.

Here are some of the changes:

• There are two new categories on the navigation bar at the top "Recipes" and "Menu Plans". You will be able to click on either word and the page has all the recipes or all the menu plans from this blog. Yippee!!

• At the bottom of every post right next to the comments there is a "Print Friendly" button that will enable you to print that post if you would like. This should come in handy for printing recipes. You also have the option once you click that button to delete what you don't want from the post like pictures or my rambling, to save printer ink.

• You can also now get to this site through the web address: www.simplyfitmama.com or www.simplyfitmama.blogspot.com and of course just by searching "Simply Fit Mama" in your search engine.

• The rest of the changes are cosmetic but I do hope you enjoy the refreshed look of this site.

And just in case you are interested in new blog designs or need a refreshed look for your current blog take a look at Carrie from Sweet Faerie Designs. I think she is awesome and highly recommend her! I also know her in real life and she is a peach. She makes all my crazy ideas become a reality.
Thank you, Carrie!

Simply Fit Mama Featured in Parenting OC magazine!!

I wish you could have heard my giddy squeal when I saw my feature in Parenting OC magazine for the June issue. Parenting OC made an awesome directory of Orange County mom bloggers in their June issue if you didn't get a chance to check it out here is a digital link (Simply Fit Mama is on page 30). There are some wonderful blogs in this directory.

I knew that they were making a directory but I had no clue how it would be featured. Needless to say I am extremely thankful to the kind people at Parenting OC magazine and of course to you my readers.

Thank you!!

Here is my copy of the June issue of Parenting OC magazine!

Clever Craft Caddy by Angry Julie Monday

Recently the kids and I went over to a friend's house for a play date and as I was snooping around her house (with her of course!) I spied a clever little craft caddy. It's a lazy susan and the containers are fastened to the top. Genius!

Of course I voiced my opinion and gushed all over it and within a week or so I was gifted this lovely craft caddy all for me, well for the kiddos. Thank you, Angry Julie and Angry Husband!

Before the caddy I had the kids pencils/markers/crayons in multiple pencil boxes and mason jars. I love how everything is in one place now and easily accessible for little hands.

Angry Julie Monday claims that she's not crafty but she really is. Check out her site for an easy peasy tutorial to make one for yourself!

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I know we did!

Exciting things ahead this week at Simply Fit Mama.

If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed that on Thursday I spent some time at Whole Foods doing a little research for the 30 day challenge. Whole Foods was kind enough to give me an insiders look at all the deals and steals that they run in their store. This week I will share those tips with you!!

Today is the official start of my 30 day Whole Foods challenge. Unofficially I did my grocery shopping on Saturday; since the store is new to me I did not want to have a restriction on time or bring the kiddos because it is easier to shop alone. Not to say I don't love shopping with the kiddos, for the most part I do, just not at a new store trying to stay within my budget.

New fitness goals. Upcoming races.

Menu plan for this week.

Simply Fit Mama- OC Blog Award Winner

This morning I woke up to a great email from Kelly and Colleen over at Just Spotted, they announced the OC Blog award winners today and Simply Fit Mama won for the sports & fitness blog category! Thank you Kelly and Colleen for allowing me to be apart of your blog community!! I was honored to be nominated and I really didn't think I had a chance at winning my category, there are so many amazing OC blogs out there! 

So thank you to those of you who read my blog, thank you for voting for me as a Simply Fit Mama, I hope you will continue to follow my blog. And if you have a chance you should take a look around at some of the other inspiring and informative blogs at Just Spotted.

A great thing about the blogging community...

is when people come together to help each other out. Callie over at The Wannabe Athlete has been raising funds for her Aunt's radiation therapy. I don't know Callie, but my family has been touched by cancer and I have witness a handful of friends deal with the heavy weight of financial stress on top of the stress of fighting for their life. Let's try and help alleviate one of those stresses for Callie's aunt.

The Wannabe Athlete has partnered with Bondi Band to raise the funds for treatment. If you are looking for a way to get your hair / sweat out of your face while you are running, biking or really doing anything check out her site and order a band 50% of the sales go towards treatment cost.

Make sure to order through her website and all orders must be placed by noon on Wednesday, August 11th.

I ordered the "Fight" headband with the pink band.

Corona Del Mar, California

My day did not go as scheduled at all. I woke up early to go for a bike ride before my husband went to work but then I didn't go.

We had planned to attend another playdate at the church we have been visiting. Today was going to be a water playdate. I packed our lunches, everyone got dressed in their swimsuits. We were out the door with plenty of time to spare.

When we arrived we noticed no one was there and the water fun was no where to be found. So I googled the playdate time and date on my phone...wrong date. It's next month. The sad thing is that I actually checked the date and time before we left!! I have been soo scatterbrained since the move. I am wondering if my brain will ever recover.

The kiddos were bummed. There was a lot of excitement built up for this playdate, there was promise of water bouncy castle things. So I explained to them that I mixed up the dates and they really were great sports about it. I decided to make an impromptu beach trip. We were already in our suits and the bag was packed with lunch, towels, spare clothes and of course sunblock!

I drove to Corona Del Mar. It was about twelve minutes away. My kids love the beach. This beach was great, it was our first time here. We were able to see scuba divers in the water, snorkelers, boats, crabs, seaweed and more. There was a lot of exploring going on. It was great! I will need to find a book on sea creatures and plants to help give them explanations for everything. We have never lived this close to the ocean so it's new for me, too.

The houses and plants along the coast were beautiful. I had to take a few pictures to show you! I felt a little weird taking pictures of other peoples homes but they were asking for it, you know being soo "coastal home...ish".

The day didn't go as expected but it turned out to be better than the my plan. The ocean was wonderful, salty and peaceful. I can't wait to go back!

Oh yesterday, I'm so glad you are no longer today!

It was a frustrating and somewhat lonely day for me. I decided not to go on my morning run because I was tired and felt like I needed the rest (it's always good to listen to your body). After getting up and feeding the kiddos and myself I remembered that there was a summer play date at the church  we have been visiting.

I looked at the time and realized we were already 30 minutes late. I quickly finished getting everyone ready and out the door and we made it to the play date an hour before it ended. Mainly I was soo desperate to go because I had thought that I would meet some other stay at home moms there and possibly make a connection.

The play date itself was fun. They brought in baby farm animals for the kids to pester. I felt bad for the animals but also happy for the kiddos to get up close and personal with each cute and cuddly little animal. The kiddos had a blast!

I didn't. I tried to strike up a conversation with a couple of different moms but they were very short with their answers and it seemed like they didn't want to be bothered. So I spent the hour not talking to anyone, missing my friends desperately, and really ready to get back to the house.

We got back to the house and had lunch. Then headed to the library. We didn't get there on Monday like I had hoped. The fun thing about this trip to the library was that I let Weston my oldest get his own library card. He thought this was the best thing since sliced bread (and he loves some bread).

But all in all the library was frustrating too. The children's section was poorly laid out. And since I didn't know where all the kids favorite books where it was frustrating for the kiddos too. We looked them up in the library catalog but everything we wanted was not there. And due to budget cuts they did not have any staff to help find things.

I miss our old library. The familiarity and the nice friendly helpful staff. I'm sure we will figure out the right library for us here. But for right now, I'm frustrated.

So the day didn't go as planned. I didn't meet any other moms even though there were about a hundred moms at the play date. And we didn't even get a whole lot of loot at the library. Bummer day.

But after thinking about the day and sleeping on it. I realized like everything else in my life, I always try to make things fit in my timing. Or my way. And God has shown me many times over that my timing is not the best and His timing always is. And I'm grateful for that.

So right now I'm okay with missing my old friends (because they are awesome and a hard act for anyone to follow). Settling into my new life and house here in California. Helping the kids get along in this new life. And maybe when the time is right a friend will come into my life when I least expect it and most need it.

Today is a better day.

Introducing the iPhone 4!!!

I was so excited to see the ad for the new iPhone 4! I love Apple. I love their ingenuity. I love their packaging, it's soo cool.

Have you seen the Video?

I love my iPhone. It has made my life just a little bit easier. I use it to track my run times. I used it to train for my first and second 5k. I listen to my music on it. I stream internet radio from it. I video record special moments with my children (more so than I ever have with the video camera). It's my alarm clock. Time-out timer. I facebook and twitter with it. Keep up with my email accounts. Use the GPS a lot!! Oh and soo much more.

I love some of the new features for the iPhone 4 here are the ones that caught my tearful eyes (tears of joy):

• 5 megapixel Camera with FLASH (finally!!)
• Face Time- Video Calling from your cell phone (that's just crazy and amazing)
• Multi-tasking between Apps
• Folder for Apps (it would be great to organize apps for a less cluttered look)
• More battery life (I like to talk a lot, and GPS sucks the battery life, so this is great)
• iMovie is included to edit and finish all those videos on your phone (cool)

Bottom line. Apple again creates something amazing! Mind-blowing. And...

I want one...I want one...I want one!!!

Summer Reading

I love reading. With all the moving, unpacking, situating, etc, I have not had a chance to sit down and read a good book.

We are headed to the library today to get library cards, I am soo excited!

We tried to get them two weeks ago but since I didn't have a California ID and had no utility bills to prove residency they would not issue me a card. Good thing the bills are rolling in... now we can use the library!

I would love to hear what you are reading right now.

Any recommendations?

My life in boxes

It's crazy how easy all the rest of the move seems now while I sit amongst boxes and boxes of stuff. This is the hard part. Unpacking and finding a place for each and every little thing we own. Sigh.

The last time we moved my son was 8 months old. I remember that he took long naps and played in his bouncy seat. It was easy. This time I have a 3 and 4 year old. They are very active and just want to play. They are very good at entertaining themselves but they still need me to break up fights, feed them, etc.

Here is a little peek at the progress as of yesterday morning.

Goals for today:

• Finish unpacking the kitchen
• Create a simple meal plan for the week
• Grocery shopping
• Go to the park
• Unpack Master Bedroom (we've been sleeping on the sofa bed)
• Go for a RUN!  (this makes me super happy, it's important to take time for yourself!)

Check back later, I plan to share my simple meal plan for the week. (Don't get too excited, it will be simple!)

Where in the world is Brandy?

Image Credit

I am back in North Carolina! Just for today; we fly out in the morning to go back to California. Here is a snapshot of what our travel has looked like this month:

• North Carolina to California- House Hunting
• California to North Carolina - Movers pack and load all of our earthly belongings.
• North Carolina to California- Pick up keys to new house...stay in hotel for the week.
• California to Illinois- Attend a wedding and a b-day party for Natalie & Cousin Haley
• Illinois to North Carolina - David follow up eye appointment (had laser in January)
• North Carolina to California - Final Destination!! 

By my calculations we have traveled by plane approximately...drumroll please...

 9,012 miles since May 1st.

(No, this does not include all the miles I have logged lost in California, that is probably another thousand.)

We are very excited to be "home" tomorrow. Our household goods arrive Wednesday morning. And our vehicles are in California waiting for us to get there. So we should be able to get our cars Wednesday, too.

IKEA

For those of you who know me IRL (in real life) know that I am officially in California. We flew into Orange county Sunday evening. We picked up the keys to our new home on Monday.

I would love to say we are in our new home and cooking on our own stove but I can't say that just yet. We do not have any of our household goods or our cars until next week. So we are staying in a hotel and renting cars for a little while longer.

It is safe to say that the excitement and newness of staying in hotels and dining out has worn off, for our whole family. I can't wait to fill you all in with all the local food I find here. And of course all the new places to run, bike and swim!

Today I spent half the day at IKEA. I have only been to IKEA a handful of times and only to buy small little toys  or other small items. This is the first time I have been to purchase furniture. Wow...it is crazy in there. Very cool place, great prices, cute stuff, not so friendly staff.

I let the kiddos help pick out new bedding (they are downsizing beds). I had hoped I could persuade them to like the super coordinated boy / girl stuff but they have creative little minds of their own and picked out what they wanted. I didn't give them a hard time, I promise, I just threw it in the cart and was proud that they were soo sure of their choices.

After that I let them play in the play area and I hurried around the store, which is ginormous, to grab all the little things. You know,  like a couch, bunk beds, mattresses, and hangers. I feel like this served as a small workout (cardio and weights). I broke a sweat during all the running around handling two kiddos, one regular cart and one flatbed cart. I need more arms!!

My couch is in transit and so are the bunk beds. So we will have to wait on those. David and I had a secret plan of getting the kids beds set up and the pull out sofa for us and sleeping in our own house instead of the hotel. My plans were foiled by the "no couch in stock".

Believe it or not I was able to fit the two carts full of stuff into my little rental car (Nissan Altima). That includes two twin mattress. And two kids in car seats. Thanks to the clever packaging of IKEA.

Whirlwind Week

We returned to North Carolina on Friday morning (red eye flight). When we got home we started pulling stuff for our big garage sale. We have not stopped moving since we landed in North Carolina.
Today the movers are here. They started at seven in the morning! It's crazy/weird/nice having other people pack your belongings. The kiddos were super excited to see the big moving truck and to watch how fast the movers pack and load things on the truck is amazing!

The moving company estimated three days to pack and load all of our belongings. In reality it took them one day! They started two hours early and left three hours late. It was a long day for all of us.

We thought that it was important for the kiddos to see their things getting packed and loaded onto the truck.  So they could understand a little better how things will make it to California.

They enjoyed watching for about 15 minutes and then became bored out of their mind and tired of hearing me telling them "no" and "out of the way, please". We are blessed to have great friends in North Carolina who love and care for us. One call and my best friend was at my house to take the kiddos off to a super fun play date with more wonderful friends!

I don't know how we could move without the support of such amazing friends!

Huntington Beach

David and I went and sign all the paperwork involved for leasing our new home. It's almost as intense as buying a home, felt like they were going to ask for my firstborn!

After all that I dropped David off at work, picked up the kids and grandma and headed for the beach! Everyone has told me that the beach is only 15-20 minutes away but I am an unbeliever until I see for myself.

Our Pick!

Thanks for voting that was fun. :)  The way leasing works here in California is that you put in your application for the ones you like and hope you get accepted.

On all three houses there were other applicants. We were picked over the other applicants for two of the three. The third home they choice another applicant since they were willing to pay four months in advance.

We were picked for Woodbridge (2 bedroom) and Woodbury (3 bedroom walk to Trader Joe's). We chose... drumroll please...

Woodbridge the 2 bedroom with all the upgrades. All of the homes were small 1200-1300 square feet. It was a tie for me between the Qual hill and Woodbridge town homes. We made the choice Monday evening and felt even better about the choice when we heard we weren't even chosen for the Qual hill one on Tuesday morning.

Woodbridge is an older more established neighborhood. Mature trees and a little more space between the homes. The homes here felt a little more private. We are within walking distance to the elementary school (.4 miles to be exact). The park is less than two blocks away. There are three pools within walking distance. This home was also the closest to David's work. A little under 10 minutes to two trader joe's and whole foods.

Our short list for homes

David had to work on the second day of house hunting so ended up being me and the realtor. Which was just fine since I have really enjoyed her company. I viewed four more properties on Tuesday. Out of the four one made our final cut.

Last night we went to all three homes with the kids and my mother-in-law to compare them side-by-side. Grandma graciously offered to watch the kiddos and keep them for a sleep over in her room so we could have the night to go out and have a quiet dinner to discuss and ponder our choices.

David took me to Laguna Beach to a restaurant on the water called La Brisas. I had a wonderful cranberry margarita, swordfish and creme brulee. DELISH!! We discussed our choices had a wonderful evening and barely made it home before falling asleep.

So without further adieu...the finalist:

House Hunting in California

We spent about four and a half hours looking at all types of housing today. We have debated buying but due to the unstable market, not knowing how long we will be here and the cost of homes; we have decided to lease.

I was a little disappointed today and surprised that out of 10 homes we only found two that were possibilities.

So here is a picture of the front of one townhouse. It is three bedroom two and a half bath and 1300 sq. ft. It's in a new community area. Walking distance to Trader Joe's!

                                                                     Front Door.

Backyard with fruit trees.

Here is the second one.

This house is amazing inside. The upgrades are incredible. The downside would be that it is only two bedroom and it just feels really small inside.

Two bedroom two bath and 1200 sq ft.

Back yard.

Moving to the O.C.!!

Well for those of you who know me IRL (in real life) know that my family and I are relocating to Orange County in sunny California. We found this out just a few short weeks ago and will be completely relocated from North Carolina in about two weeks. Moving from one coast to the other in just 4 short weeks is enough to make your head spin...and mine has been break dancing!

Throughout this whole process we have seen God move in some amazing ways. And feel completely engulfed in his love and grace. I can't wait to share the details but for now I need sleep.

I do want to share that we are in Orange County. We landed this afternoon after a long flight with two little ones. They did awesome traveling. We are all exhausted.

While we are here the goal is to find a place to call home. I would love to share some of what we find here with you all, so stay tuned for details on the housing front.

• Have you ever traveled or lived in Orange County, CA? 
• If so, where did you eat, live, play? 
• Any suggestions for family friendly neighborhoods with a short commute to Santa Ana?

You may wonder...

why there is a large gap of time from my last post to my current post.

You will see that  I blogged for awhile about my family and updates about our children so that our family could keep up to date with our life. I really didn't have a ton of time to work on it because let's face it...life with two toddlers was crazy!!

I felt guilty about it every week, month and then eventually year that passed by that I didn't update our blog. But what I realized during this hiatus was that we all have seasons in life where we don't have time to do things we want or feel we need to do. And that's... OKAY.

I am not the worst mother ever for not journaling every little thing my children did. I love the idea of keeping up with all those things and hats off to Moms that can juggle all of it.

Instead of blogging I added more sleep for mama. Instead of blogging I added more play for the kiddos. Instead of blogging I added more time with my wonderful husband. I no longer feel guilty about the break; I needed it.

I had a chance to dig myself out of the trenches of having two children 20 months apart. I gave myself permission to take time for myself, grow stronger in my faith, start eating well, get in shape, and remember who I am as Brandy and not just Mama.

What can you expect from my updated/new blog? It will not just be an update for family about the kiddos. I need a place to write out what is going on in my crazy world. I will write about whole food, realistic fitness for moms, my family and...well... my life.

I hope that you will find encouragement from the words I write and in turn I hope you can encourage me as I continue to move forward.