Our Easter Table

I love creating table scapes, I love pretty linens, napkins, flowers and fun dishes. When I thought about what I was going to create this month for Lifestyle Crafts an a fun Easter table came to mind. 

I decided to make some place cards for each of my guests, and some drink flags to top the paper straws I was going to use. Using some of their fun die cuts, embossing folders and pretty paper here's how it all came together. 

Products used:

Floral embossing folder

Petals Dies

Mini Fold Paper (white)

Party Flag Insert Dies

Using my Letterpress I put the mini fold card between the embossing folder and ran each one through. I love the designs on these and the texture is pretty fun too. 

After I did all my cards (I needed 6 place cards) I started working on cutting out the small flowers to add to each card using the Petals die. Using some of the textured cardstock in a few different colors I made my flowers. One of the things I love most about the new cutting platform is that it's magnetic! Your dies won't fall off or slip around, so handy while you're running them through the Letterpress.

Using the sticky thumb I placed all my flowers on top of the cards with their matching leaves. I didn't want to cover up the entire leaf as I wanted some of it showing so I could write my guests names on them. I also cut out some drink flags to top my straws with. 

Ready to see our pretty table? Yes! I let Ava pick out the flowers for the table. She loved going to the store with me and picking them out. 

You can see a close up of the fun texture on these cards when you use the embossing folders. You can scoop up any of these products with a 20% discount using code: WORLEYHOUSE at check out. Shop Lifestyle Crafts here.  

Do you love making your table pretty for special events? 

Travel Tip: Leave Your Kids' A Surprise to Open

It's been a couple years since I've done a solo trip, the last time Ava was just around 15 months old. She didn't really know what was going on and before she could even really miss me I was home. When I traveled to Chicago a couple weeks ago I knew it would be different. For starters, she's 4 now and four year olds observe a lot!

I started prepping her a few weeks out and reminding her that Mommy was going on a trip with her friends and would be gone. I also wanted to do something a little extra for her. I decided to leave her a little surprise to open for each day that I was gone. 

As you can see above the 3 packages I left for her. I labeled them for each day that I was gone and left a little treat inside!

Where did I get my little treats for her? I scoured the Dollar Spot at Target, and found a few things in the dollar section at Michael's and put them in little treat bags. This doesn't by any means have to be expensive, you can make it what you want though. 

I talked to Ava each day that I was gone, and each time she told me about her surprise she'd gotten. It helped to make the time away for her fun and exciting to open something each day. I didn't do anything for Zane this time since he's so young and wouldn't understand, but I think this is a fun option for older children if you have them. 

Have you done anything like this for your children before? What sort of treats did you leave them to open? 

Next time we go on a trip I'm for sure doing this again! 

My Fitness Journey: 1 Year!

Wow! I can hardly believe that a year has flown by already since I started my fitness journey and changed my life around to better my health. My own desire to change my life has spilled over into my husband and children. We're all eating better. My daughter loves to work out with me. And I've loved sharing this journey with them, and teaching them about why we need to live a healthy life and make the most of this one body that God has given us.

It's been a spiritual journey for me as much as a physical transformation. My perspective has changed so much since I first started in April 2013. You know what did it for me? I saw myself in pictures after Ava's birthday last year and I didn't like what I saw. I had a 3 month old baby, I was breast feeding too. I had already lost the baby weight that I gained with Zane by this point, from 190 to 158 pounds. I was still very over weight at 158 pounds on my 5'2'' frame. I knew things needed to changed. I knew I wanted to feel better about myself, I wanted to fit into clothing again and feel good about it. 

Before April 2013 on the left and on the right after the first 3 months (July 2013) of working and eating well consistently.

I wanted to rid my body of the sugar cravings I'd been having, I wanted to exercise more and learn to love it and enjoy it! I've never loved to exercise, it's never been a priority either. And I knew that needed to change. 

So I started. I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred everyday, from my living room. Sometimes with my kids screaming in the background. I remember how hard it was when I first started I could barely do the jumping jacks she wanted me to do. And I was cursing her the whole time. After 6 days, I thought maybe I can do this. It's getting easier. 

I also began to clean up my diet. I cut out all refined sugar, dairy and started to eat clean. I gave up a lot at first because I needed to. I just cut it out cold turkey. I started drinking massive amounts of water and gave up soda. I knew I needed to give up some time and retrain my taste buds. Can I tell you something? I don't even crave the same things any more. I don't even miss it.  

I did the 30 Day Shred for about the first 5 months and had great results with it in addition to my change in eating habits. In August 2013 I started running. I used the C25K app on my phone and started running. Three times a week and also still doing the 30 Day Shred on the other days I wasn't running. 

I kept pushing my body and trying new things. My body started changing. When I started this journey I wrote down some goals. At first all I wanted to do was fit in my size 8 jeans that had been sitting in my dresser for almost two years and I couldn't wear them, I wanted to wear them again and thought that was a good goal to attain. I wrote down some simple goals and now one year later I'm so excited that I've surpassed those initial goals I set for myself. 

The picture on the right is October 2013- back into a size 8. Today those pants are too big and I've surpassed my original size 8 goal!

I remember the day I slipped them on and couldn't believe that they fit. It was like a small miracle to me and a big thing. July 2013 I had finally been able to fit into my size 8 jeans down from my size 12s that I was wearing when I started this in April of that year. That motivated me to keep going and trying new things and pushing my body to do what God created it to do. 

I learned that God created my body to do amazing things. This machine that he created to be able to hike, run, walk all with ease. I decided that I have this one body and this one life and I needed to take care of it and honor God with my physical health and not waste it away and treat my body badly. This changed my mindset as well. It changed my outlook on myself and my confidence was boosted. 

One of the biggest high lights for me this year was running my first 5K with my husband. Something I never thought I'd do, I did it! 

On the left Before, on the right one year later. A work in progress but I'm so happy with the direction I'm taking.

I almost hesitated to share and talk about the numbers and results here publicly on the blog. But then I remembered how motivated I get when I see others results and how encouraging it is. I'm also very proud of what my hard work and discipline has done for my physical body.

Starting weight 190 pounds, current weight 124 pounds: 66 pounds lost

Starting size 12, current size 6

I've lost 4 inches and 1 cup size in my bust. 

I've also lost 10 overall inches. 

If you're on the fence about your own healthy journey I encourage you to JUST START! Start small, start somewhere! You'll never wake up and regret getting in that work out, never! I'm so thankful for the overall health journey I've taken this last year, it's made a huge impact on my life and my family's life as well. 

I love teaching my daughter healthy habits, I love that she likes to work out with me. My family is as much involved as I am in this journey. They have been supportive and encouraging and it's been a ripple effect on others around me. Let's do it together, encourage one another to reach our goals and live our best life. 

IF: TABLE

My friend told me about the IF: Gathering back in February. I sat in my guest room floor for hours watching the Live feed. In the dark with the lights dimmed, no one but me & Jesus. It was such an amazing time, and I really believe that the Lord spoke some clear things to me during that time. During that time they introduce something called IF: Table. 

Community has always been so important to me. In some seasons of live I've found community to come effortlessly to me, and in others it's been a real struggle to find community and connection with people. God has been teaching me over the last few years that I have to create the community I crave. 

In other words if I want community and a sense of being connected then I need to step out and make the effort to create that. It's been a challenge for me at times coupled with past hurts and being an introverted person by nature. 

So when the idea of IF: Table came up, inviting women into your home and sharing life around a table. 6 ladies, 4 questions, 2 hours. I thought to myself, that's so simple I can do that. 

I hosted my first IF:Table last night in my home. I invited some ladies from my church who I wanted to get to know better and share a more intimate time together. There's something so meaningful and special to me about opening your home and sharing life around a table. Building community and investing in each other. Jesus did this during the Last Supper. Life around the table, learning, teaching and investing himself in others. Creating community. 

It doesn't have to fancy. It can be simple. But what makes it special is when you are honest, vulnerable, real and intentional. That is where life happens. 

I want my home to always have an open door policy. I want people to walk in and feel comfortable, raid my fridge and know where everything is and make themselves at home. I want to use my home to bless others. 

It was such a special time together. A time of laughter, connection and most importantly building community. I'm excited to host these ladies again each month. I encourage you to do the same, reach out and build community. 

Isn't it better when we do life connected and together! 

if you'd like more info on IF:Table go here.

Coffee Date:: Healthy Kids & Thrifting Fun!

Happy Friday! Welcome to coffee date! 

If you follow me on Instagram (@andreamworley) you've already most likely seen this photo. This week I was heading out the door for one of my nightly runs when Ava asked if she could go running with me. We made it about two blocks and she said;

"Mom can we go home and do a work out video?"

Isn't that the funniest thing?! She makes me laugh so much. I love that she's interested in doing these things with me. It's a small reminder of how much I want to teach her about healthy habits and instill eating well and being active into her everyday life. She asked us for "running" shoes so that she could run with mommy. She also wanted to wear and tank top like me too. It also reminds me that she's watching us and taking in everything we do. 

If we were having coffee today, I'd tell you that I went thrifting this week. I haven't gone to thrift shops in a while. And every now and then I find some good deals! This week I found these Pottery Barn ornament frames. They were brand new with the tags and in the box. They are perfect, every year we take a picture in front of our Christmas tree, frame it and hang it on the tree the following year. It's fun to see how we've changed over the years. 

I got rid of 3 bags of clothing in my closet of things that didn't fit as part of my #40bagsin40days project. Losing weight is like a double edge sword, on one hand you loose weight but on the other you have nothing that fits. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining but I also don't have the budget to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. So this week while thrifting, I found some good deals on some gently used stuff. Banana Republic skirt, Express shorts and a Merona skirt all for $10! At those prices I can afford to add a few new things to my closet. 

So, if were having coffee today what would you tell me about your week? 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend friends. 

Linking up with Alissa from Diary of an Addict.