Thankful Thursday

It's beginning to look like summer, so many things to love about summer season right?!

THANKFUL THURSDAY #778-792

• The ability to go tanning
• Getting several opportunities to do fun things on my blog
• A side money maker that will allow me to become a marketing specialist and engage in social media promotional fun
• Pink lemonade for quenching my thirst this week
• Logging some miles while out running this past week
• Trying new recipes, hello bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos (your our new grilling friend)
• The anticipation of a fun day with friends boating down the river
• An evening of relaxation and grilling
• Sunday evening filled with yard work and jokes
• The budding happiness from a new and growing friendship
• Watching my savings accounts grow knowing financial security looms in my future (although I hate having to save I know it'll be worth it in the long run)
• Learning new tips and techniques in my photography classes
• Garden growing
• Watching the puppy roll around in the grass
• Relaxing evening laying in the hammock reading

The Good Life: 5 Must Follow Blogs

Seriously, I'm so blessed and surprised with the amount of you that are linking up with us! I love learning about your different lives and the fact that it's a link-up that isn't the same every week means I get to learn something new about you guys as well every week!

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5 Must Follow Blogs

Well it's hard for me to choose just 5 that are must follows, I've gotten to know so many lovely ladies lately that I am breaking my own rules and may go over just a tid-bit. Oh, and Suzi from Chores & Chandeliers is an obvious daily follow so no need to sum her up ;) But, my main reason that I cannot give you my daily reads is because as of right now I'm following 151 blogs via Friend Connect. And YES I do read all of them, I use that handy little news feed below my main screen on blogger to catch each and every new post they add. And yes, on Monday's I do scroll all the way down to catch up on all the posts I missed over the weekend. Time consuming but I don't want to miss a thing! Here's my edited list of must follows: 

1. Stephanie from Bourbon & Glitter- She's straight up hilarious  Like, giggling at work while others stare at you and you act like you're trying to stay on topic funny. She's a daily read and often, I connect with her outside of commenting on the blog. I love that she's always doing randoms like me and she also has this sweet new link-up dedicated to crazies like us who party a lot. Don't. Judge.

2. Lauren from Tennessee Honey- I've always been a follower of hers, but I can't help it. She's just so sweet and sassy! She's always posting pictures of herself or her adorable kiddos and the fact that she posts recipes makes me feel like turning into a Betty Crocker for the occasional evening. 

3. Chrissy from Prayers & Pearls- Ok, first off, I love her blog name. Like, had I not taken the dare you to keep up with me route I quite possibly would have stolen something cute like this. But, I'm not as creative as her. Did I mention that I'm straight up obsessed with her blog design? Oh how I love for my blog to have a flow-y design that looks great and is function. She's just fun and always full of encouragement. I love reading her daily updates about life too!

4. Sarah from To Be Mrs. Collier- I was originally buddied up with her for the Cara Box exchange but since then, she's been a friend who I cannot wait to connect more with. We've taken it upon our self to do a book exchange. I'm lazy and lacking on finishing a book to send her, so it might be held off for awhile. But, she started up a Tennessee Bloggers Link-Up once she saw us playing this fun game. You Go Girl! :)

5. Brin from Bold, Butter, Baby- That girl gets me rolling. No joke, she's just as funny as Stephanie. And, I kind of have a soft spot for her because she's a fellow NEBRASKA blogger. Go skers! She's straight forward and the fact that she can talk about personal things yet make you laugh really makes for a good read on a crappy day.

6. Amanda from The Barstow's- I have become friends with her and she's the very first blog buddy that trusted me with her cell phone number. Winning?! I'm connected on pretty much all platforms of social media with her and although I'm sad she decided to get rid of internet and blog from nasty public computers I'm still excited to see her mini updates from locations like Instagram. She rocks and I hope she comes back to The Good Life soon!

And I can't forget these ladies that I follow as well:

Every Girl Like Me

Audrie Is

Faith, Love & Babies

Eleven Sixty

Going With The Flow 

Chasing Happy

Rachel's Country Roots

So there you have it, I didn't cheat anyone and I would love to add umpteen more to my list of daily reads but I'm trying to eliminate and reduce. If you want a full list of the blogs i read go over to my profile and check it out. Now, give me your list! Who are the must follows and why? Are you into specific blogs or just in general anything that strikes your fancy? As you can tell I have a TON of ag blogs on my news feed but I have some of the off the wall-ers like myself that I read up on too!

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Rules:

1. Follow the hosts:
Kelsey from Keeping Up With Kelsey
AND
Suzi from Chores & Chandeliers 

2. Write a post pertaining to this weeks "theme"

3. Link-Up the LINK (not your whole blog)

4. Hop around and check out other's posts
5. Add the button so other's know you're linking up with us!





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Next Week's Theme:

Career Day -Explain to us what your career is, anything exciting or fun? Let's play career day and you get to dress up in your normal duds and give us a little insight as to what your routine in the work environment is like!

Work-Out Q&A

So, I have a couple questions. I hope you've noticed I've been doing this running thing lately and I've ran into a couple questions that I figured would be easiest answered by asking for your suggestions. Here goes:

Sports Bras- Any go-to brand that are better than the other? Right now I'm LOVING this Colosseum brand bra because the pocket makes it perfect to throw my phone into and zip it up so it doesn't go bumping out. I love it for race days because it holds my car key, my phone, my id and spare change I might need. The only thing that stinks (besides me when I get done running) is that they're kind of pricey. They're tough to find right now, a lot of places are sold out so everyone else must be loving them as much as I do! Good luck finding another brand of bras that have a zipper front pocket, I've searched high and low for these puppies! But, is there any brand that I should look into for functionality? I've got a couple Nike's, Adidas and Under Armor's but I always take this lady with on race day.

MP3/Phone Armband- Do you have one? What brand do you use? I'm wanting something that will hold my Droid 4 but my biggest issue that I run into is that when I'm running I usually pull my phone out to check my stats. Right now I'm using the above sports bra for race days and the occasional run but I'm still mostly just holding my phone when I go out running. Suggestions!??!

Running/Training Apps- My go to app is RunKeeper (add me as a friend!) but I also have MapMyRun. I like RunKeeper and the commands I can select for it to tell me while I'm running. I haven't used MapMyRun for almost two years now but yes, it's there. I also like that RunKeeper syncs with my GymPact account. I've found GymPact especially useful in that I can earn money and it also motivates me to keep moving because I don't want to lose $10 a workout. And what kind of workouts would it be without some kind of jams to listen to? Yes, I use Pandora and no I don't mind the occasional ad because its free and easy to use while running. So, you're probably thinking, ok Kelsey, seriously, you've got enough apps running on your phone while you run, buuuut, I want to bring up one more app that I use. It's this super awesome app called Charity Miles! This one is easy and it works in the background while I switch between RunKeeper and Pandora. I love knowing that my miles are being donated to a good cause!

Heart Rate Monitors- This is a whole new subject that I'm wanting to find out more about. I've never used one, but I feel the want/need to get one. I've seen others use them, I want one. I just do not know anything about them so I don't know what brands to get and what to look for in one. I'd prefer to go the cheapest route to see if I really use it and then invest in a better one later but if you have an idea of how they work or what works and what doesn't please let me know!!

Energy Bars/Treats- Anything you like? I haven't discovered any super yummy goodies yet. I just try out all the new bars and treats I get from my StrideBox subscription.

Shoes- Yup, I've got about a million pair of running shoes but I want to know what works for you and why you like them? I've always been an avid Nike runner but I tried a pair of Adidas kicks on and haven't taken them off since. I've been dying to try out Brooks but have yet to purchase them.

So there it is, anything I'm missing or anything you suggest? I'm all ears about finding new ways to boost up my running experience! I'm not into the weights thing obviously, and I don't do gyms, so anything at home workout related I'm ears for listening in on! Thanks for all the suggestions!!

*Eeek, I totally forgot to ask about actual workout clothing gear. Any must-haves? I prefer cheap so anything that's cute and cheap make sure to send me the links to!