Part I: Our house before....

Buying a house changes your perspective in life. There is no more calling the landlord when there is a leak somewhere. And there always seems to be something that needs to be done!

We bought a fixer upper. We love it and are so thankful for it. And we're so glad that we get to give it a budget friendly and simple makeover!

Before photos of the living room, dining room, and kitchen. We will keep our awesome wooden front door and the original hardwood floors.

You can't see it in this picture, but the previous owner had the dishwasher on the outside of the "L" part of the counter, next to the wall to the left. Yeah...clearly he'd never done dishes before.

The upper white cabinet to the left was facing the living room. Due to the fact that it smelled like cat urine because the family decided to put their cat's litter box there, we tore it out but left the lower cabinet and turned it into a bookcase facing the living room.

As you can see, to the right is the "shotgun" style room that was an "interesting" idea.

We call that shotgun room the Japanese Panda Bear room.

We have walled off that doorway, making it into a built in shelf. This is our master bedroom. We've painted it a blue/gray color with white trim.

A big bathroom with great original tile that we've decided to keep.

This 50's vanity will have to go, as it is even too short for me, and I'm 5'3"! And we'll probably paint the bathroom a nice clean color, like white or blue.

And now for my personal favorite room. This is on the other side of the bathroom. Each wall is a different color. With poop brown and fuschia trim and a matching ceiling fan.

Love. It.

As for our last room, it was painted a nice gothic midnight blue.

Needless to say, we did a LOT of coats on these rooms!

And now for the basement, a.k.a. the Man Cave.

These stairs go down from the kitchen.

There's a door to the left that takes you out to the garage.

And there's an awesome full bath with a stand up shower to the left.

Part II coming up soon!

Quick Honey Glazed Chicken Thighs

This recipe is A-MAY-ZING!!!! Super easy, quick, and delicious with spices like cumin, paprika, and garlic. Both Wesley and I really love it, especially because it is done with chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. Chicken thighs are so much more satisfying and delicious than chicken breasts. They're a bit higher in fat, but trust me, it's so worth it! And you can make it as spicy or as mild as you would like. Here it is....now go make it!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs 
• Cooking spray
• 6 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.
3. Combine honey and vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well. Remove chicken from oven; brush 1/4 cup honey mixture on chicken. Broil 1 minute. Remove chicken from oven and turn over. Brush chicken with remaining honey mixture. Broil 1 additional minute or until chicken is done.

Serve with homemade sweet potato fries and a kale salad and you're good to go!

Enjoy!

Diastasis Recti : Separation of the Abdominal Muscles

I'm back!

My apologies for being gone for so long. With the holidays, moving into a new home, and business booming more than ever, I have finally found some time to sit and write.

Today I wanted to talk a bit about what many pregnant women and new mommies are experiencing with their abdominal wall. During pregnancy, the abdominals begin to separate to allow for expansion of the ribcage and for fetal growth. This creates a small gap in the middle of the abdomen, creating a "line". This is called diastasis recti. There are many things that cause this to occur, such as a weak abdominal wall, pregnancy, hormonal surges, and studies have shown higher numbers of women having it who also had c-sections (another great reason to go natural ladies! :). Studies have also shown that 1 in 3 women get it from one or all of those causes!

Women develop this during pregnancy, and unfortunately it tends to stick around after the baby is born. So how can it be fixed? What things can be done to help strengthen the abdominal wall and lessen the diastasis recti? First, you need to see how big the separation is. Lying on your back with feet flat on the floor, lift up your head, not shoulders, bringing chin to chest. Now with your fingers pointing towards your feet, feel above your belly button for a dip. Try to see how many fingers you can fit in that separation. 

If you can fit 2 or more fingers, then do not do any crunches or sit ups of any kind, as those exercises make the separation worse. Instead, I found some crunch-free abdominal exercises that are low impact, very effective, and safe on your diastasis recti tummy. Try them out:

Doing these exercises 2-3 times per week will definitely help lessen the gap between the abdominal muscles, and also help strengthen the abdominal wall in general. This in turn will help lessen most back pain, increase posture, and decrease any risk for herniation in the abdominals. Once the separation becomes less than two fingers wides (as you should be checking your diastasis recti on a weekly basis), feel free to begin more core exercises such as these:

Plank 

Bridge 

(being sure to pull the abdominals in as you lift and lower)

Alternating Arm and Leg Lift

(keeping back straight with abs tight)

Sidelying Clam

(pulling abs in as you lift and lower leg)

Wall Squat with Ball

As the separation gets even less after doing these exercises, feel free to go back to your regular abdominal workout (crunches, bicycle crunches, full plank, push ups, etc).

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

Feel free to contact me at any time!

If you are in the Nashville area, I would love to work with you on your prenatal, postpartum, or general fitness needs and goals.

Thanks for checking in!