my new obsession....burlap

This Summer I have picked up a new hobby, making burlap wreaths!!

It has been so much fun!!! I absolutely love my new hobby!! 

All orders are custom and all wreaths look different....that's the fun in it!

Some of my recent creations :)

making decisions...

When I became a stay at home mom losing my entire salary was not easy to swallow.  I had worked hard for the past 9 years to make the money I was making. It was hard to let go and start a new life with no income of my own. Seeing Culley's sweet face all day, every day was all that mattered to me though.

I knew I needed to be with him and I don't regret my decision.


Billy was just starting a new business himself and opening up a huge gym.
He had to be away a lot so I'm glad that I made the decision to be home with my little guy every day.  Cullen was the baby that nursed every 2 hours on the dot!  He was also an angel baby so we lived in our own little la la land on a daily basis ;)

Anywho...I literally waited until the very last hour of my last day of maternity leave to make my final decision to quit my job. It was probably one of the hardest decisions of my life. I was raised that you earn everything you have. I worked 2 jobs and babysat every chance I had by the time I was 16.
I love making "my own" money, knowing that I earned it.

Fast track to six months ago, I made the decision to start working again, as a stay at home working mom. Which was another hard decision and one I contemplated for a year!  I couldn't decide if being a BeachBody coach was for me.  At the time I felt lost and like I didn't have much control of my own life.  Everything I was doing was for Cullen. 

Then, one night I had a light bulb go off and I figured if I workout to keep myself healthy for Cullen (and myself) why wouldn't I want to help motivate others to do the same.  I sent a facebook message to my sweet friend and decided right then that I was going to sign up to coach with BeachBody.

Hands down, best decision I've made since I had Cullen!

I'm proud of myself and the decision I made.

Now I feel like a void has been filled in my life.

I have something to define myself besides just being C's mom or B's wife.

I needed this "job" and I'm thrilled to have such an amazing supportive team.

My team continues to grow and I've even added three more amazing ladies just this past week!!
My job as a BeachBody coach is incredibly fulfilling and the fact that I make good money doing it is just an added bonus!!

Next hard decision for me....going to look at schools for Cullen, hopefully starting TODAY. 

He went to preschool this past May and part of June and he loved it. 

Now I think it's time to get him back into something so he can have interaction with other kiddos.

I know my BeachBody career is only going to continue to grow so I feel I need to have a little alone time to focus my mind on BeachBody daily without any interruptions so I think this will be the perfect fit for him and I both.

Wish us luck in this next chapter...


(no pics on the account that they won't upload, BOO!)


HAPPY FRIDAY!!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

holy smokes....

Where in the world has the time gone? 

I can not believe I haven't posted in almost 6 months!! 

Excited to hop back into the blogging world though. 

I've missed it and I'm sure you all are missing C's sweet face!

I get to work from home every.single.day and be with this sweet as pie little boy!!!

 

I suppose that saying "time flies when you're having fun" always proves to be true....In January I joined BeachBody as a fitness coach. Joining BeachBody has been one of the BEST decisions in my life!  I have worked hard over the past 6 months to grow my team and WOWIE it has taken off. 

 These are just some of the amazing people that have joined my team!

{can you tell I'm a proud coach!!!}

I've also been promoted in the BeachBody world, I love that it's my job to help motivate and inspire others and I will do all I can to help anyone out!

 

{my new "office" has been fun to decorate as well}

Billy and Culley have been some of my biggest supporters and we have been such a fun Summer together so far! 

 

Today marks a big day for me as I take a step in the direction to begin blogging again and I just started PiYo which is a new BeachBody program that mixes up pilates and yoga.  AND it's motivation Monday! Get out there and get your workouts in!!!

I'm so pumped about everything in my life right now that I felt pulled in the direction to start documenting everything through my blog and to start sharing more chapters of my families life.

This month's special is PiYo in case any of y'all were wondering! :)

 {oh wait...mine has arrived!}

 

We have recently moved into a home on the river as well so everything with life lately is all new and exciting for us!  I will share pics of our home tomorrow! 

 If anyone has questions about BeachBody and what "coaching" is all about I would love to share more with you.  Leave a comment or shot me an email --> chaptersofourlife@yahoo.com

Hope ya'll are having a wonderful Monday!!

 

teambeachbody.com/Annie0720
Instagram - Annie0720
facebook.com/AnnieBFitness

beach body...

I'm finally back on the wagon and working on my beach body ;)

We can't forget that our summer bodies are made in the cold winters!

I've been working out again for around 6-7 weeks and although I'm not seeing numbers change on the scale I'm seeing some muscles that I haven't seen in months.

I'm loving the treadmill and T25!

If you want a booty kickin T25 is one intense workout.

I have started doing lunges and high knees on the treadmill with a 15 incline as well.

I guess I just like to kick my own butt and push myself as hard as I can.

 

I also recently became an actual Beach Body Coach!

I have known about the Beach Body company for over a year and have been following a friends journey with the company. She has been such a huge motivation for me to start working out again and getting back into the shape I was in 6 months ago.  She is such an awesome leader and person in general that I was inspired by her to join her Beach Body Team (family). 

 

I love hearing from posts on instagram (Annie0720) that I help inspire and motivate others which gave me the extra push to become a coach myself.  Even if I only help one person I know that it's worth it.  Not only do I get to have a fit family surrounding me for daily motivation, now I get to help others! 

 

 

I just started a facebook page where I'll be posting daily motivation pics and recipes!

I would love to have my blog friends follow along there as well :)

(just click the pic below!)

I hope to start blogging a little more as well, some day ;) 

Cullen doesn't nap anymore so he's always by my side.

I was nervous about having to workout with him awake but I was worried for nothing. He is seriously an angel and plays so well right by me the entire time I workout.

We are slowly getting into a new daily routine and hopefully being on the computer a little more will fit in there somewhere.

 

ornaments...

 

 

If you don't follow me on instagram (which you should ;) Annie0720) you haven't seen the pretties I've been making!  These are a tiny bit time consuming with a toddler running around that needs to be entertained as well but they are so much fun to make!!

 



A lot of those ornaments are actually for blog friends!!

If anyone else wants to order send me an email - chaptersofourlife@yahoo.com

$8 each, you pick the color(s) .

 

Thank you!! :)

a.b.c. house lately....

I haven't blogged in foooooorever!!

Wonder if I have any followers still.

Does anyone even blog anymore.
Hi aunt Lisa!

Anyway, onto what's been going on around the a.b.c.house....
 

It is freezing outside and snowed here in Minnesota last night!
To make it worse the sun goes down before 5.
Seems like last week it was still light outside at 8.
I'm not ready for winter.

I figured blogging at night would be a good hobby for me again. 

I'm going to attempt to get everything in my life in routine now that we won't be leaving the house all the time. 

I've started working out again, I'm 4 for 4 days...today will mark day 5.

That's something for me to be proud of.
I had gotten to where I wanted to be before and just stopped for no good reason.
Ready to be back in shape and healthier!

Seems like we have been so busy yet not really doing much.

I have no idea how that even makes sense. 

I have pics from the past 2 weeks to prove it though ;)

Time flies by too quick.
I tend to forget how much we actually do.
Just over a month ago or so Cullen and I were in Arizona for a week.

How could I think we were doing nothing when we were dancing in the rain.

Billy's downtime is fall/winter because kids are in school. 

He's home a lot during the day, which is nice for both Cullen and I.
He works very early mornings with kids before school but is home by the time C and I are awake and he works in the evening but is typically home by 8 at the latest.

He's a big sports guy (as most are) and his new hobby is to bet on FanDuel.

I've never bet a thing in my life and never would but this site is actually pretty neat.

If your husband is  (or you are) into fantasy betting, share this link with them!

 https://www.fanduel.com/?invitedby=cbear42111&cnl

You can bet as little as a $1 per game so it's not like you are blowing a lot of money. 

Awesome thing for B is he almost always wins.
Cullen loves watching sports with him!
They are best buddies as always, I adore their relationship.

Cullen is in speech and has it once a week for an hour.

B and I try to work with him a lot but he gets so frustrated.

Makes it hard on us all. 

He does sign quite a few things and still says his one word "Daaa-eeee" (daddy) all the time.

Let me remind you his first word was Momma a very long time ago.

He's regressed a little and we are still not sure why.

BUT  he is a spitfire, character and just SOOOOO much fun!

His personality just melts my heart.
Even if he's in his terrible two's and thinks he's part of the Paw Patrol.

AND it's almost that time of the year again! 

I've officially started taking ornament orders. 

If anyone is interested the ornaments are $8/each

That includes, your color of choice for ornament, name and ribbon (I chose ribbon).

Shipping depends on how many you order (it's low though).

 

If you want to place an order email me - chaptersofourlife@yahoo [dot] com

Hope everyone is doing wonderful!!

I've got some fun giveaway posts coming up soon and hopefully I'll be able to stay on track with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

Belles & Whistles...

The 4th of July seems forever in the past and Summer has just flown by!

I am planning to get back into blogging regularly now that Summer is almost over (major sad face!).

We have had such a fun Summer and I'm just sad to see it come to an end.

 

I had the opportunity to work with Belles & Whistles over the Summer.

Did you see that.....FREE SHIPPING!!!!

 

They sent me this adorable tank for the 4th of July!

 

I received so many comments on this tank!!

I loved everything about it...unique, loose fitting, super soft and so comfy!

You can find Belles & Whistles on Facebook HERE -go follow them!!

They have fun giveaways, discounts and free shipping all the time!

 

 

I have a promo code to offer you all!

Use ANNIE15 for a 15% discount!!

 

Would love to know what your favorites are!

What fun fall fashions are you all into?

I can't make a decision on what to order!!!



better late than never...

I have been so incredibly busy!

 I can't believe that we are already almost two months into Summer! :(

I can't believe Cullen turned 2 almost 3 months ago!!!

We celebrated Cullen's birthday one month after he turned two.

I wanted it to be warm enough outside so we could be in and out.

We just had immediate family over and it was a perfect little celebration for our sweet C!

 

Here are some of the pics, including links to Etsy shops who sent us goodies just for the party!!

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!

A little play time with Gma and Bumpa before getting party ready...

 

The best family pic we could get ;)

Cullen wasn't thrilled for pics, he wanted to party!

C's cute shirt is from Party Stitches!

 

The sweets tables...

The sweets sign is from Bertoli Bridal! 

The sweets table stocked up and all Cullen's gifts from family.

The fun circus tents are from Bits of Plaid n Paisley!

He's only a tiny bit spoiled!

A portion of the food spread!

 

Billy and his Mom grilled A TON of food for us!

Steak, chicken, potatoes, veggies and then we had plenty of other sides and snacks!

The cute paper straws are also from Bertoli Bridal!

Be sure to check out her adorable Etsy shop, she is fantastic at what she does!

 

 

Opening presents and playing...

 

silly string fun to end the party...

 This was only a tiny portion of the pics.
Cullen had so much fun celebrating with our families!