Flooring-removal of carpet and padding

We recently purchased a new home that was in dire need of floor updates.  Our home is wall to wall carpet, fully broken in by the previous owner's dogs....if you catch my drift. Yuck!  So, up must come all the old carpet.

Check out the stairs....just a small sample of "the lived in look" of creme colored carpet.  Those light spots are not the light hitting it but the cleaner portion untouched by dogs and people.

This picture doesn't quite show all the dirt and how worn it looks, but I assure you it was do for a proper burial.

Here are the stairs, soon after was a labor intensive removal.  By labor intensive, I am referring to the 40 + yrs of staples I had to pry up and attempt to pull.  About 80 per step.  Good times and sore fingers.  First you have to get under the staple and then try to ply up.  I used a small flat head screwdriver to get under it and then needle nose pliers to pull out.

Here are a few more pics of carpet removal from around the house.

P90X.....

I started P90x last Sunday.  The first video was a nightmare for me.  It was chest and back.  After completing this grueling first video...I found I was very grouchy and eventually nauseous.  It is nothing but push ups and chin/pull ups.  I didn't have a hanging bar for chin ups/push ups so I had to skip those parts. I did do all the variations of push ups and by the end, my arms were D.O.A.  Fortunately, my husband did it with me, so I had some support, but he wasn't sore at all......(not fair)

Afterwards, we showered and went to the grocery store.  On the way there, I started to get car sick.  I've always had issues with car sickness, but it never set in so quick.  Then at the store I was nauseous and couldn't wait to leave.   It felt like a bad case of being hung over.  Once we got home, I crashed on my bed and didn't wake up for another 3 hours.  That is how effective P90X is.  I also forgot to mention how sore my arms were afterwards.  I know it's because I put my all into it.  111 push ups.  This was a 1/4 of what they were doing on the video.  I couldn't do nearly as many in the amount of time you are given.  That's is a lot of push ups for someone who hasn't done a single push up in years.

By the next day when I was scheduled to do Plyometrics, I couldn't bend my right elbow without intense pain.  It felt like my tendons had been cut in half and couldn't stretch far enough.  I had to keep my elbow bent in order to stretch it out and use it.  If I didn't keep it bent, it would get stiff and start throbbing all over again.  I've never suffered muscle soreness like this before, but then again, I've never exercised quite so strenuously.  

Needless to say I took 4 days off to recover.  Now I'm back on track and motivated again.  Bring it!

Sunday Inspiration and Motivation

Fitness

  I would like to start a new journey to a healthier me.  I came across a friend on FB that I haven't seen in over a decade.  She looks AWESOME! Seeing her made me realize that I need to get out of my rut and start doing something with the body God has given me.  I have not done it justice but continually chosen to fail it.

 Doesn't she look fabulous?

She was always thin but now she is strong.  Kudos to my friend for having the courage to   be stronger!

From seeing her and talking to her again, I have already begun eating healthier and cleaner and exercising.  She is the face that I think of to keep motivated and inspired.  So to you Rachel-I am inspired in the the 49th :)