Project #walk365 {October}

You guys! I'm still walking!

Seriously. This is kindof a big deal!

My original goal was to walk 365 miles in 2015, an average of one mile a day, obviously. At the beginning of the year, the other part was to walk every day. I'm taking weekends off now, but I'm also growing another human, and I passed the 365 mile marker back at the beginning of October! So the goal has changed along the way, but the point is that I'm still walking!

1. Oh look--feet! I've decided to set my October goal to 1 1/2 miles 5 days a week. Hope that will keep me motivated but not overwhelmed.
2. Just an early morning walk with a rafter of turkeys. That's Idaho!
3. Bam! 365 miles complete! I'm not quitting my walks quite yet though! (It just so happened that this milestone was on my 40th birthday!)
4. I'm having to walk later in the day because mornings are cold and dark. Glad I have a schedule that allows for that!
5. We live by a tree farm and it's fun to see the colors en masse on my walks.
6. Same tree farm as yesterday. Still pretty!

1. Aren't the clouds cool? So was the weather. Should have dressed a little warmer, but it still beats being hot!
2. Old MacDonald's barn is my turn-around spot these days. (Seriously, that's the name on the mailbox!)
3. My, what long legs I have! The bump is getting more prominent.
4. The hills are highlighted with yellow and orange!
5. I love fall! We've been having frosty nights and warm days with plenty of sunshine. Wish you could see the mountains better.
6. Not a bad view on my walk today.

1. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! 380 total miles this year!
2. We showed the boys the joy of geocaching today! It was great for the first three caches but the fourth had us scaling mountains and watching out for bears! We never did find it.
3. Sunset over Lake Pend Orielle (part of the geocaching adventure).
4. We got rain last night so the sky is clean and the grass and trees are sparkling.

1. I want to walk down this road to see where it goes! Sadly it's private property.
2. It was 39* when I left for my walk with frost still in the shade.
3. Did you know there are deciduous conifers? I just learned about tamarack trees this week. They're pretty!
4. It was still frosty and a cold 34* at 8 AM and I had to bundle up for my walk!

1. There's snow on the mountain behind the clouds!
2. The rain has greened up the grass, even as the leaves are falling.
3. On a whim we tried the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake. When you start at the lake there will be climbing involved to get to said viewpoint! Climbing is hard when you're 34 weeks pregnant! The view and the feeling of accomplishment were worth it though.
4. Celebratory selfie at the top of the Viewpoint Trail at Priest Lake.
5. Thankful for a break in the rain for my walk today. I like rain but not getting wet.
6. There was finally another break in the rain and I got my 1.5 miles in! Technically it's November, but I need one more for October, so I'm counting it! Also, more snow on the mountains!

Ok, so my last October walk was really in November, but I'm totally justifying it. Both Friday and Saturday were really rainy and really busy, and I just couldn't make myself walk in the rain. That brings me to a total of 33 miles in October, and 396 miles total for 2015. Yay!

My goal for November--taking into consideration that it's weeks 36-39 of my pregnancy, there's Thanksgiving and the weather might just include snow before the end of the month--is one mile a day, five days a week. That's only 20 more miles! I will take December off (hello, baby!) and slowly ease back into walking in January, if the weather allows.

Have you kept your exercise goals for 2015?

My Kitchen {Moodboard}

So there's this house.

I love it. My husband loves it. It's perfect for our family and is even the right price.

But we're not ready to buy a house yet!

If we DID buy it though, it would need some work--part of why it's perfect for us. Just for fun, I created a moodboard of what I'd like to do in the kitchen. Because some day!

That kitchen in the center? Love it! I want to include so many things from that kitchen! It's a Fixer Upper kitchen, so of course it's dreamy. I like the gray lower cabinets with white uppers, the island shape and size, the stools, the range hood and the shape of the pendant lights. I might choose something less glam and shiny though.

The backsplash in the main picture is amazing, but it's not really me. I would prefer beadboard for the backsplash. Our upper cabinets would be plain white, not beadboard, so there's the balance.

There are two windows in the kitchen of the house we're not buying. I would add bamboo blinds. I love how the color warms up the gray. There are wood floors so that would warm it up too. I love the look and practicality of butcher block counter tops, but I'm not sure I'd want them with the wood floor. Suggestions?

I've wanted a farmhouse sink forever, and I like how it looks with the gray cabinets. We have a black fridge that is brand new and the house we're not buying has a black oven. I'd love to build, I mean, I'd love to have Gary build a hood over the stove like my inspiration picture!

The rustic shelves are just perfect. I'm not sure they'd end up in the kitchen, though they made it to the inspiration board! Gary has been wanting to build us a farm style table and I like the mix of the metal Tolix chairs and benches.

So now that it's all planned out, all we have to do is wait! For the right time to buy, for our baby girl to join the family, for winter to pass, and for the house to still be available. Right?

A girl can dream!



To give credit where credit is due, here are the sources for the pictures I used above:

Bamboo blind: Young House Love
Farmhouse sink: HGTV {Fixer Upper}
Table and chairs: Apartment Therapy
White and gray kitchen: HGTV {Fixer Upper}
Rustic shelves: Our Vintage Home Love
Butcher block counter: Newlywoodwords
Black oven: Navy Bean Lane

Baby Girl's Nursery {Moodboard}

I'm just a little bit thrilled to be dreaming of all things PINK. For me though, I prefer pink as an accent color. Here's what I came up with as a starting point for our baby girl coming this December.

Baby J's Nursery by ellie1005 featuring Circo

My main goal in putting this room together is to keep it simple. I'd love to go all-out and create this perfect baby girl oasis that can easily grow as baby does! But we're renting with plans to buy in the near future, and baby's room is tiny! 

We'll see how things progress. For now it's fun to imagine the pink and lace!

Have a great day!

Project #walk365 {April}

I'm way behind in blogging about my walks, but I'm happy to report that I'm still walking! Even when life gets crazy, the weather is bad, I'm super tired or don't feel well, I still walk. That's an accomplishment I'm proud of!

I'm not going to take the time and recount my impression of or mileage for each walk here. If you'd like to follow along, you can join me on Instagram at gibsongirl365. I do want to point out the beautiful spring we had this year! It seemed prettier than last year, but maybe it was because I was out in it more, looking for it!

My goal for 2015 is to walk an average of 1 mile a day, hence #walk365. So far I'm keeping well ahead of my goal. In April I walked 42 miles, my best month yet!

I even managed to walk every day while our family flew to another state for business with my husband! Yes, I logged mileage in the airports, but Gary was keeping track on his Vivo Fit and airport days were over two miles!

My second goal is to walk every day, and I kept that this month. Yay me! In fact I've gone something like 14 weeks without skipping a single day!

As the weather warmed up during April, I found myself taking kids to the park more often. Hey, it's a mile and a half round trip, they get to burn some energy and have fun, and I get my walk in!

Project #walk365 {March}

What a difference a day makes! Sunny, 40 degrees, no wind or snow. Missing two layers that I needed to stay warm yesterday. 1.5 miles.

Just out doing my thing. 1.6 miles today.

My walk tonight was cold and windy! 25* with 15 mph wind. 1.06 miles. 

1.12 miles today. 28 degrees and sunny but that breeze is cold! 

I didn't even notice my walk yesterday brought me to the 80 mile mark! Tonight I walked 1.22 miles in 25 degrees. Looking forward to warmer weather! #walk365

Walked with my sweeties today! 1.21 miles, warm and sunny. 83+ total miles this year. Today completes an 8-week streak! 

My boys, MIL and two dogs were my walking buddies in the Ozarks today. 1.4 miles in 60 degrees and mud!

My MIL and I walked a mile down the road today. Our motto was to just get it done!

Can you see the path? I walked 1.19 miles in the woods following a path my FIL made. Kinda cool now that he's gone.

The Ozarks are ready for spring. 1.25 miles today.

I only went .68 miles today, but it included raking off the path in the woods. That's hard work!

My walk yesterday was a quick jaunt up and down Main St. in Salem, MO. My .6 miles brought my total to 90 this year!

I followed my middle boy and our dog along Grandpa's path in the woods. 1 more mile of #walk365. Today also marks 9 weeks without missing a day!

We're having a heatwave! It's 80 in March. Our 1-mile walk was hot and sweaty!

I didn't get to my walk until 8 pm and it was only mostly dark! One more mile toward #walk365

Wednesday's walk involved sunshine and a good chat with my friend! 2 more miles of #walk365.

One in the stroller, one walking, three on bikes. Sometimes walks with the kids (mine + daycare) kill two birds with one stone! 1 mile of #walk365.

Just me and 5 kids on my #walk365. 2 miles on a beautiful spring day!

Today's walk was with the whole family and in perfect 70* weather. It's also the century mark for me, and completes a 10-week streak! 100 miles of #walk365!

I so enjoyed my walk today! A good chat with my friend, warm sunshine on our faces, and signs of spring in the neighborhood! 2.5 miles.

It's a gray day out, but I took my boys on my walk with me to look for signs of spring. We found daffodils, crocuses, and this magnolia in our own backyard.

The benefit of putting off my walk until late was I didn't have to be out in the rain! One more mile of #walk365.

The grass is turning green! My 2+ mile walk was cold, but such is spring. #walk365

Two shorter walks brought my total to two miles today! Both times it was something I'd normally drive to. Yay! #walk365

There are plenty signs of spring, but these white specks aren't dandruff! #walk365 1.5 miles today, 111 miles this year.

Enjoyed the sunshine on my 2 mile walk today. This completes 12 weeks of walking every day without missing! 

Enjoying the heat of a jungle! Counting mileage at the zoo is totally legal. Runkeeper didn't keep up, but MapMyWalk figured it to be over 2 miles. I'll take it. 

I ended up taking a short walk yesterday because the kids got an invitation to play in a friend's backyard. That's important too! 1/2 mile of #walk365.

Last walk of the month! I'm somewhere around 43 miles in March for a total of over 120 miles this year. Runkeeper won't update. 

Reading Nook {Moodboard}

I've been thinking lately how nice it would be to have a spot to curl up with the laptop or a book and have some quiet time for reading or getting online projects done. This could be a corner of a master bedroom, a guest room with a sitting area, a nook at the top of the stairs, or a finished section of the basement.

Here's what I came up with.

I love "natural" textures and finishes, so I chose a leather chesterfield loveseat, a grass green rug, a tree stump table and several live plants. I selected a leaf print as art, along with a few other favorites to make a gallery wall. I kept the area neutral other than the natural green and brown, and focused on adding texture. I added the room divider to help separate the nook from traffic or another section of the room. I like how it adds privacy too.

This is a first for me, and I haven't been compensated, but I was asked to put this moodboard together by Chairish, an online store for vintage furniture. I based my design on the Grass Green Abrash Turkish Rug. I found the wood and bronze floor lamp, as well as the leaf print, French farmhouse pillow, and bronze pouf at Chairish too. Chairish is an exclusive, curator approved, online marketplace for vintage and used furniture and accessories. It's a lot of fun to browse their website!

Do you have room in your home for a reading nook?

Project #walk365 {February}

I walked 40.1 miles in February! (Pictures in order for the month.)

This brings my total for the year to 75 miles! If you remember, I set a goal in January to walk 365 miles in 2015 (#walk365). There are 59 days in January and February, so I'm 16 miles ahead!

I know this year will bring some challenges. We're looking at moving again in early summer (don't know where yet), there will be sick days and busy days and who knows what else! To not let myself off the hook and start falling behind in my mileage, I challenged myself back in January to be a streaker.

Ha! Not like that! It just means I plan to walk every day in an intentional way. I don't own a Fitbit or similar device but I do use Runkeeper on my iPhone. To count as a walk, I have to be intentional and actually turn on my app, not just count accumulated steps during the day, though if that's what you're doing, you're totally awesome!

So far I've gone for a walk each day for 7 weeks! 49 days in a row. Go me!

February in Lincoln, Nebraska, has been COLD. I've mastered the art of layering and try to walk in the afternoon when the weather is the least cold. Not warm, just less cold. Walking in the afternoon is only possible when my husband (a student) is home with the boys, and there have been many nights that I don't get my walk until after the boys are in bed.

I've walked in single-digit temps, with windchill in the negatives, in the sun, under the moon, by the light of the streetlamps, in the snow, over ice, with my kids, with a friend, at the mall, past my church, around a lake, extra laps while shopping, always with a good book on Audibles!

Yesterday's walk was something I'm especially proud of. I have a little more time on Saturday afternoons when Gary is home, so yesterday I decided to walk around a small lake we live by. It's almost a 4-mile loop from our house and while I've always been capable of walking that far, I would be very tired and my back would hurt. Not yesterday! What's more, it was 25* with snow flurries, and a 10-mph wind that made it feel like 12*. But I got to see ice fishermen as the lake was almost totally frozen over, I saw geese flying sort of south, and ducks swimming in an open spot in the ice.

I got back to the house and checked my mileage and saw my total for the month was 39.6 miles. No! I quickly put my coat and shoes back on and went around the block. Ha!

If you would like to join me in my #walk365 project, use that hashtag or follow me on Instagram. I'm GibsonGirl726.