Week 5!!!!

Today marks 29 day of going to the Y. I feel stronger. Unfortunately I have gained 1 pound, but gained muscle so I am not worrying about that right now.

The plan is 3 days a week of running and yoga. The other 2 have been bike/elliptical and Pilates. While I have not had a week where all of those things happen I am very close. The pattern of my new life of fitness is set.

I have even been working out with my 10 year old 2-3 days a week. It is so good to be growing together in health.

None of these changes would be possible without my amazing husband!! He has encouraged me and supported me every step of the way.

Hello Fresh!? Or is it?

A friend gave me a free trial of Hello Fresh so I had to give it a try. https://www.hellofresh.com

Since we are a family of 5 I upgraded from the free 3 meals for 2 to 3 meals for 4.

$129 is the cost for 3 meals for 4 people. I paid $60.

For our box I chose the Cornflake and Honey Crusted Chicken, Pan Seared Salmon, and Smoky Sloppy Joes.

The box arrived via UPS. The packaging was very unique and appealing to the eye.

 One of the gel packs broke so the packaging at the top was wet and slimy.

For our first night I cooked the Cornflake and Honey Crusted Chicken.

This is a screen shot from their website showing what the dish is supposed to look like.

Moments after arrival I opened it and took to cooking the first meal. The broccoli was bad. Discolored and slimy. A lot of the florets were yellowed. Thankfully I had ORGANIC frozen broccoli in the freezer so we were able to have a balanced dinner anyway.  I called the company and they gave me a $10 credit towards my next purchase. 

Here is a view of the ingredients. Each meal has a white box with all the goodies in side. Packaged separately are the meat items. 

I am extremely disappointed that Hello Fresh chose to use KELLOGG'S corn flakes. There is nothing healthy about corn flakes or the Virgo Yellow rice. 

According to their website: 

"Always Fresh & Healthy

Fresh is not only in our name, it's our promise to you. We bring you the freshest and healthiest food, with a dash of fun, a sprinkle of learning, and a dollop of deliciousness, all for a great price."

The BHT and GMO corn is a deal breaker for me. We have not eaten Kellogg's in years. 

I cooked the chicken according to the directions but it was still raw in the middle. So we had dinner in a few courses. The meal was well received and most popular among the children. My questions and concerns mostly involve the chicken and the rice/cereal ingredients. Where is this chicken from? What is the country of origin? It says natural but what does that mean? Are there plans to use rice that is organic and free of artificial colors? Maybe a rice with no trans fats?

For our second night I gave the Pan Seared Salmon a try. It was an interesting experience mostly because I had never eaten nor cooked salmon before.

This is a screen shot from their website showing what the dish is supposed to look like.

I was very pleased with the ingredients for this dish. I liked that it was real whole foods. The only thing that could make this better would be all organic produce. Also labeling if the ingredients had been washed or not. 

I am quite pleased with how lovely the salmon turned out.

This was also my first time having quinoa not in something as a filler. I really was not impressed with the flavor of this dish. No one enjoyed it, I think that was mostly due to the arugula. My kids eat spinach and kale raw so we are used to greens. We just don't like the bitter taste of arugula. It turned out very pretty though.

All in all a very pretty plate. A nice healthy dinner. Except it was really hard to get the arugula down. I think you either love it or hate it. At lease now I know we just don't like it.

The final dish! Smoky Sloppy Joes.

This is a screen shot from their website showing what the dish is supposed to look like.

 Tonight's menu called for a a salad. Too bad the cilantro and the lettuce were rotten.

The meat turned out very nice. It had a good flavor. There was way too much meat. We barely ate 1/2. 

Only 4 buns for 1 lb of meat so we will be using sandwich bread on the left overs.

The final product! The husband says manwich (which I won't buy because of the rubbish in it)  is better but this was a solid good meal. My concern again is where did this beef come from? Was it grass fed? Made in the USA? These are important bits of knowledge that would play a factor in me deciding to purchase again.

If all the food arrived fresh and stayed fresh long enough to eat it (3-5 days isn't a huge expectation) this could be a valid option for good food. It is quite expensive. We could eat out to Olive Garden 3 nights and feed our family of 5 for the cost of this box. If the food was Organic I could see the extra cost. I can shop at Publix/Costco and buy organic food for the same or less. I understand this is a convenience to have food dropped at your door, but I would rather drag myself to the store and have a better quality of food. If I want quick and convenient for a comparable cost I would rather go to Olive Garden or Perkin and not have to do the dishes. I did not call and report the bad salad and cilantro as I don't plan on ordering again so another $10 credit isn't enough for me to try again. $130 is a lot of money for 3 meals. I am very glad I had the chance to try out this product. I think it could be amazing for people with very busy schedules. If the food was organic I would be willing to try it again in the future if I was too busy to shop.

Week 2 check in

So it has been an insane week! I meant to post this Monday, so lets hop in the way back machine and pretend.

So no visible change. *I normally suck in. Letting it all be relaxed for reality! That's ok. I am in this for the long haul. I am not dieting and exercising. I am eating healthy and training. I am stronger than I was yesterday. I am way stronger than I was last Monday.

M: Ran C25K week 1 day 1. I did not finish because I had to meet with a trainer.

T: Ran C25K week 1 day 1. Followed by 1 hour of pilates.

W: Biked for 30 minutes then walked/lunged back and forth in the pool with the baby clinging to me like a koala bear.

TH: In door trampoline place.

F: Ran C25K week 1 day 2. 

S: Ran C25K week 1 day 3. I made it!!!

Su: Swam with the kids.

So it wasn't amazing or anything. I didn't break any world records but I did beat my record. When doing C25K I walked at a pace of 3 and ran at 6. I have tried C25K in the past and every time the kids have pooped out on me or I have given up. I have never had the consistent speeds the tread mill give me. I LOVE IT!!

My girl has started walking with me in the gym. I hope I am setting a good example for her. This isn't just a mommy making changes this is the whole family making changes kind of thing.

Lifeproof iphone 6 review

Last October my dear husband bought me an iPhone 6. We got the apple care for it so he said I really shouldn't worry about getting a case. He is the kind of person who can carry an iPhone around and have it naked without a single issue. He has never broken a device. Ever. Me well that's another store. I have the grace of a hippo then add in the logistics of 3 kids.  In January I dropped my iPhone getting out of the car and it landed face first on the asphalt. Off to the apple store where they were too busy to get an appointment so I invented the scotch tape over the face trick till we could get an appointment where they handed me a shiny new phone after I paid $80 for my 1st and hopefully last apple care replacement.

I decided I didn't want to break another phone so I ordered a lifeproof case off Amazon. I also ordered an iPad mini case to try to make sure we didn't break that as it did not have apple care. My phone case didn't stay waterproof for long. The 2 year old managed to break the plastic film over the flash with rendered it no longer waterproof. I really like that it was waterproof because we had tons of fun taking under water pictures.

The process of filing a claim is so incredibly easy. My case looked terrible. To get the charger cover to open the rubber was wearing away. The edges were beat up. The color wasn't bright and shiny how it was 3 months before. Most importantly the flash plastic film was damaged allowing in water. Lifeproof sent out another case.

About 3 months later it happened again. Broken flash cover and the seal in the charger cover went missing again. So here I am on my THIRD cell phone case in 9 months. At $85.19 a case I feel bad that they keep dying. My husband says not to worry since the company spends about $0.10 to build them.

In the end I LOVE my lifeproof phone case. I am not sure how long they will keep sending me new cases. At a life span of a new case every 3 months I don't think their generosity will last much longer. I feel like the value of having a case that is durable and does it's job is worth the cost.

Lifeproof cases are life proof they just are not toddler proof.

I have not had as good of luck with my iPad mini 

Lifeproof iPad mini case: a tale of sorrow

Back in January I bought a lifeproof case for my iPad mini and my iPhone 6. The sorrow of the 6 case can be found here.

Let me start by saying that I loved my iPad mini case. It had this super cool cover that kept the screen fairy protected from scratches.  It couldn't stand up on it's own but hey other than that no complaints. There was a cool strap (remember the strap it comes back to haunt me) so I could put it on my shoulder like a purse. Best of all it was water proof. Having a 2 year old in the house means that everything being water proof is usually just a good precaution to take.

Things were fine till one day the 2 year old decided it would be super cool to pull out the yellow seal from the flap that opened to protect the charging port. I found it and put it back. I even super glued it back into place and she removed it again. I decided whatever it isn't like the iPad was going near a toilet or pool it will be just fine. Then the cover broke off. I paid $35.99 on amazon for the cover and $44.95 for the case. It just falling apart in 8 months seemed ridiculous. Since my case no longer passed the water proof test (and either did my phone) I placed a claim on all 3 items.

Guess what! They did not ship a replacement cover. They also shipped the WRONG iPad case. I noticed the cover was missing as soon as they sent the shipment so I sent in an email inquiring about the cover. The representative noticed the error and decided to send out a mini case, they even overnighted it!

So here I am with my 2nd iPad mini case. The world is a happy place. It is water proof and all shiny and new. Still no cover. I sent 3 emails inquiring about it. No luck. I filed another claim and nothing.

Wednesday I asked my dear son to go get it for me from upstairs. He decided to grab it by the strap and it hit my husbands steering wheel and pedal stand. The impact hit on the case. You know that case that is supposed to be shock proof. GUESS WHAT.. it isn't.

See that TINY scratch next to the home button??

It caused this:

Rest in peace sweet iPad. You lasted a whole 2 years. At $400 that is $0.55 per day. I supposed I got my $0.55 a day out of you. (To repair the iPad it would have cost $150 at an aftermarket not apple store)

I gave Lifeproof a call and spoke with the most amazing representative. He was great. Unfortunately they don't guarantee the shock proof status. He sent me out a new case and FINALLY the defective cover replacement.

We drove to the apple store where they gave me $100 for my broken iPad. I bought a new iPad air 2 because my husband is amazing and takes wonderful care of me. We had planned to buy a new iPad in the future (in a few months). The plan was for dear son to get the min and me a new iPad since Osmo was on it's way and that would be super cool to use on a larger device. Well now we will just be sharing the snazzy new iPad which will be guarded and handled with kid gloves.

So here I am with the husband being given the brand new iPad mini case and beautiful cover. A Lifeproof case I can't use and an iPad that is all naked.

Can you feel me twitching from it's lack of safety?? Fact of the matter is no matter what case you put your iPad in is it really ever "safe". Lifeproof is supposed to be shock proof and it wasn't. It definitely wasn't toddler proof.. oh wait it was the 6 year old who broke it. It has apple care and I hope that will be enough. (*note* the mini did not have apple care since it started it's life as my husbands and he dislikes things like apple care.)

#ipad #ipadmini #lifeproof 

Osmo is Amazing!!!

This is when I disclose the emabrassing full truth. I totally saw a Facebook advertisement at 1 am, I seriously thought a friend had shared it, and went down a rabbit hole. I didn't realize it was a rabbit hole of amazing and I am so glad I fell down it. I found a few youtube videos of kids trying it out and knew that we had to have it! I hate that Facebook targeted me and I fell for it hook line a sinker, but maybe just this once I will be ok with it. No more clicking Facebook targeted adds.

I quickly learned that if I bought one I could gift one to my children's homeschool academy. I patiently waited 7 days to participate in the buy one gift one program. That says a lot since I suck at patience and it would have been so much easier to just run down to the Apple Store and buy one. We both win so it was worth the wait.

Shipping was pretty quick considering it came from California to Florida in 7 days. It is an amazing time we live in. Not as quick as Amazon Prime but worth the wait.

I love the packaging! All the boxes magnet to each other. The boxes themselves have a magnet in the lid. There is a place for everything to be neatly put away. It is nice and compact and easily fits in my mom bag. 

So what can it do? A better question would be what can't it do. There are many features we haven't even explored yet. I have briefly browsed the teacher curriculums. Even though we haven't tried every single feature I am absolutely in love with this product and so glad I purchased it for my children. They want to play with the words and are excited to build puzzles. Having children that range from 2-10 this is a product I see myself using for years to come. Osmo is rated through 6th grade. It is something I enjoy sitting down with my children and playing with them. I may have played tangrams while they were sleeping. <shhh don't let them know>

First impressions:

THIS is what it is all about! Do you see that face? It is the face of joy associated with sneakily working on letters. No way learning and having fun?!

Osmo is not made for tiny people. I was trying to figure it out and the 2 year old decided she needed to try. 

I absolutely love all the different word levels. It isn't broken up by grade specific levels. It allows a child to sit down and build words and solve for missing letters without being labeled into age but rather skill level. 

The tangrams starts off at easy and builds out into a tree of super cool shapes to build. I played around in the medium level which takes away the color and goes to just black shapes. The kids really love the tangram puzzles! 

We had a meet up with other homeschool kids and I let them give it a try. Everyone who touched it really liked the things it had to offer. 

Concerns:

The different word levels are a little confusing. I haven't fully figured out how to get to exactly what I want on the first try. I eventually find it though. I am hoping (and the documentation says it will) that different levels will work well for a wide range of ages.

There is downloadable content to work on small 3 and 4 letter words but I would LOVE to see more content added that focuses on each letter sound. So far all I see is A words. It would be also great if they created a pre k level for learning letters. Since all the letters are already there it would be fairly easy to add content for early letter sound learning.

Users! There really should be log ins for multiple users. I can see issues with children doing the tangrams and getting upset that puzzles have been unlocked by siblings and they have lost their place.  My 10 year old opened most of the levels. Now it is odd to load up and be unsure where "you" last left off for the 6 year old.

My daughter had trouble with the art tracing. I think it is something you just have to practice with.

The adults even gave it a try tracing cursive letters (that is hidden and I haven't found it again). Once you let go of having to be "perfectly" inside the lines it is much easier.

Ready to buy one for yourself?? You won't be disappointed. <ok maybe you will be but I am in love!>