All posts by harkey12

Barkbox Arrival

Daily Life!, ,

Something exciting happened in the Harkey Household yesterday – Mac’s September BarkBox arrived in the mail!

photo(81)Sometimes I think mommy gets more excited than Mac does for the arrival of his BarkBox each month.

For those of you that aren’t familiar, BarkBox is a once-a-month mailer for your furry friends that helps to benefit rescue groups. I signed up for the first time this summer and we’ve gotten this fun box of treats monthly right on time!

They usually include some treats, toys, and other random dog goodies. I love it because they include things that I wouldn’t typically buy, but Mac ends up loving them!

photo(80)They also always include notes about each product and the vendor (where you can purchase more of each item, etc.). This month’s box included 2 types of treats, a liquid bandage spray, and an awesome toy that is twice the size of Mac! But he still loves it and carries it around the house anyways.

photo(88)See that wagging tail? He was crying the whole time I was opening up his stash of goodies. He could smell those treats from a mile away, I swear!

photo(79)His favorite part was the large Koala toy. It was long and flimsy (no stuffing!) with 2 squeakers and a rope toy inside! Shockingly, he hasn’t pulled out this rope toy yet, but he has a long history of tearing up stuff. I’m sure it’ll happen tonight.

I was completely intrigued by the treats in the green box. They were organic Cheese Pizza flavored doggie biscuits! They smelled just like the pizza-flavored Pringles to me. He thoroughly enjoyed them!

I believe we have 3 more months on the current BarkBox subscription, but it’s something that I feel is well worth the money when you love your furry family members as much as I do! Plus getting packages in the mail is always fun, even if its not for you.

I hope you’ve had a great Hump Day! I’ve had a crazy week at work, and I finally have the night off tonight. Hopefully chat more later while I get some baking done!

Rainy-Gloomy

Fashion, Workouts, ,

This morning I awoke before my alarm that was set for 5:15 AM. Seriously, who naturally wakes up at 4:58 AM?! I’m a pro at quickly dressing and making it to my gym by 5:30 with my 5:15 wake up time. So today I had a few spare minutes in the gym, and I even left a few minutes early which felt nice!

When I opened my garage door, I was thankful for my perkier-than-normal mood. It was pouring and cold out there! Rainy-gloomy weather was definitely the forecast for the day. I made it the gym and ran from my car to the door to find a smaller than normal crowd on the machines. I can’t blame them. When it’s pouring and icky outside, getting up at 5 AM is not always doable. Sometimes our bodies just need the extra rest! But I was still cruising along like normal.

Workout

My workout this morning started with 2 miles on the treadmill with some slight interval sprints to help wake up my body and pass the time.

I then completed a lower and upper body workout, which mostly included 3 sets of 12 reps of each move. I started with leg presses and inner/outer thigh presses. Then moved onto my upper torso, which including chest presses, lat presses, bicep curls, and some tricep work. Since I had extra time, I tried to do 2 out of 3 sets super slow with about 5 more lbs of weight. I can definitely feel the extra burn today! I tend to fall into ruts where I don’t push my body as hard, so this was a nice little change of pace for me.

I finished out my workout with another light run on the treadmill and 10 minutes on the Elliptical.

A common theme throughout the morning was the gloomy weather. I always watch the morning news when I’m on the cardio machines, and it seemed like that’s all the reporters could talk about. It looks like we are in for a few more days of rainy-gloomy weather here in Springfield. But I like the rain, so this doesn’t bring my spirits down too much. The real highlight of today’s news-watching?? It’s only 5 days until Fall officially begins!! On Sept. 22, regardless of the warmer temps, my fall decor is going up around the Harkey house without any guilt. I have several small pumpkins and a fall wreath with a scarecrow that are just dying to come out of the spare bedroom closet! 🙂

Breakfast

Breakfast, once again, was sad and quick once I made it to work. Although I did try a different type of yogurt this morning and really loved it!

photo(76)I had a coupon for the Yoplait Greek yogurt that I used this past weekend. This particular cup was a mixed berry blend with strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries! I definitely approved as it was full of real chunks of the fruit.

I followed this up with my Target find – chocolate peanut butter protein bar.

photo(74)Yummy for sure! I also had a banana and 90-cal Fiber One snack midmorning. My tummy has been extra grumbly today! My morning workouts do make me pretty ravenous, but today is extra hard. Trying to drink lots of water and tell my stomach to cool it!

Wanna know one of my fave parts of this time of year? The changing wardrobes…

Scarves are back!
Scarves are back!

Yes this is me today! It is chilly and rainy, so it was a great day to break out one my scarves. They are so easy to pair with different outfits; plus, a good scarf can make a great outfit! My outfit today would be rather plain if it weren’t for my fun polka dots. My next guilty pleasure? Pulling out all my fall/winter boots 🙂

Hope you’re having a great Tuesday!

Jazzercise, Work, Jazzercise

Daily Life!, Food for Thought, Jazzercise, ,

My Mondays tend to be a little overwhelming, schedule-wise. I begin by teaching Jazzercise at 5:40 AM, then I rush home, shower, and make it to my office by 8 AM. I then have the typical work day til 5. This is then followed by me rushing home to spend time with Mac and have a quick snack before heading off to teach my 6:45 PM Jazzercise class. By the time I make it home around 8 PM, I don’t have much energy and I tend to hit the sack by 9.

Sounds insane, right? Well it’s only 1 day a week that I agreed to have this schedule, making the rest of my days seem slow and unproductive (even though that’s usually far from the truth!). Plus, I love what I do, so one day of craziness is well worth it! Today’s schedule stayed right on track, and I am now in my post Jazzercise stupor. I am still in slight recovery mode after running the 5K with a belly full of Mexican food this weekend, but after today I should be back at full speed! I ate fairly lightly today to help ease my sore tummy. So let’s back up a bit…

Breakfast

Breakfast was my typical grab-n-go, so I’ll spare you the boring pictures. I enjoyed some cinnamon roll flavored oatmeal with a banana and some Greek yogurt on the side. Light and filling!

Lunch

Lunch started with a quick salad that was basically half romaine and half sugar snap peas. I was craving my green veggies I think!

photo(71)I was then SUPER lazy and grabbed a Lean Cuisine that had been hibernating in the freezer a little too long.

photo(70)This little baby ended up being the best Lean Cuisine I’ve had in a long time! It was part of their ‘Spa Collection’…whatever that means. And it was amazing. I will definitely be on the hunt for sales on these from now on!

photo(69)The plus? It actually looked like the picture on the box! The chicken was yummy and it had tons of veggies to fill me up.

Dinner

I kept dinner tonight light because I snacked quite a bit when I got from work at 5. I decided some Italian style veggie soup would suffice.

photo(68)Isn’t it funny how it resembles the minestrone soup from Olive Garden, especially in the festive bowl I chose? I got a kick out of it, and it made my meal feel fancier. I also had some steamed veggies on the side, which I severely overcooked. Oops!

So most of my food today was packaged and not the freshest. But I guess we can’t be perfect everyday. I’m just ready for bed after having that big bowl of hot soup!

I hope your Monday went well! I’ll catch you all in the AM after we get some rest!