
Today I am sharing my Five Friday Favorites. If you don’t know what Five Friday Favorites is, it’s simply where I share five things that are making me happy at the moment. They are usually random, not always fitness related, and just something I enjoy sharing with you in case they make you happy too!
I try to post about my Five Friday Favorites once a month. If you haven’t seen my previous favorites, you can check them out here and here. I am linking up with Heather and Clare for today’s favorites!
Today’s Five Friday Favorites are all about getting published, some amazing new workouts, and new clothes! Getting published is hard work!
1. Hope in Every Raindrop
My husband just published his first novel called Hope in Every Raindrop this week! It is amazing! I’m not just saying that because he’s my husband 🙂
If you are a dog-lover or you want to read a clean romance that will touch your heart, then this is definitely a book for you!
Wes has been writing for as long as I’ve known him (which is about 15 years) and had a dream of publishing a book some day! I am so excited that the day is here and he has accomplished so much!

(That’s our adorable dog Story. Isn’t she cute?)
2. Beachbody On Demand
OK so I know I have mentioned this before in passing, especially on Facebook, but it is just so awesome that I HAD to share it as one of this month’s favorites.
I have been using Beachbody On Demand for a little over a month now to stream my daily home workouts. I absolutely LOVE it because I am able to literally do a different workout every day if I want to. It has some of my favorite workouts like Turbofire, ChaLEAN Extreme, Brazil Butt Lift, Hip Hop Abs, Insanity, and P90X.
I wake up more excited about doing my workout because I have so many options! Not to mention, it’s a super inexpensive way to get a great workout at home (and I love my home workouts…in my pajamas).
I wrote up a whole explanation of what Beachbody on Demand is if you’d like to check it out here!

3. New Workout Clothes
I don’t buy as many clothes as I used to, but my latest obsession is with workout clothes! That’s probably because now that I work from home, I practically live in them! Seriously, my day to day involves working out (sometimes I’m too lazy to change and just workout in pajamas), working on my computer most of the day, going on walks/hikes with the dogs, and climbing at the rock gym. I may change a few times during the day, but I am usually always changing in and out of workout clothing. Is that bad?
Either way, I just got some new workout clothes that I love!
I got two tops from Fabletics, a blue tank top and a long-sleeve top. I absolutely love the material of both of them! I knew I was going to like the tank top because I had ordered it before in a different color. I was really excited about the long-sleeve top though because I definitely need more of those now that I’m not in Florida anymore (Oregon is cold!).
I also found a cool pair of capri leggings at TJMaxx for like $14. I’m usually a plain kind of person and have tons of black and gray leggings, but I decided to walk on the wild side and get these space galaxy ones! What do you think?
As you can see, I’ve already worn all the new clothes!

(If you are interested in the Fabletics tops, the blue tank top is called
the Oula tank and the long-sleeve one is called the Eureka top)
4. Getting Published in The Huffington Post
I am still so excited about my recent feature in The Huffington Post! I wrote up my story titled “Why I Stopped Dreaming of Vacations and Made a New Life Instead” and pitched it to them and they decided to not only accept the post, but to make me a contributing blogger! How cool is that?!
If you’d like to follow my blogging over at The Huffington Post as well, head on over to my blogger profile and click the “Fan” heart at the top. You will be notified whenever another one of my stories is featured there!
I also want to thank Erin from Erin’s Inside Job for writing this article that was my guide for learning how to get published! You’re awesome!

5. Cize
Some of you may not know this because I often only talk about my outdoorsy side, but I once was a serious dancer and cheerleader. I grew up dancing from the time I could walk and then started cheerleading in middle school as well. I was never really the ballerina type, but I loved a good jazz or hip hop class! To this day, I will still jump at the chance to take a dance class. Dancing makes me happy!
That is why I am really excited about a new workout called Cize by Shaun T. It is a home-based hip hop workout!
It comes out towards the end of July and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Since my dancing skills are pretty rusty, I’m excited about being able to do some hip hopping in the privacy of my home. Who knows…maybe you’ll see me as a backup dancer for Beyonce after doing this workout routine! 😉

That’s all for this month’s edition of Five Friday Favorites!
Do you have any random recent favorite things?
Do you like to dance?
Congrats on getting published – that’s so exciting!
Thanks Stacie!
I have a new favorite! Have you ever heard of a Hydro Flask? They are insulated water bottles that keep drinks cold or hot for 24 hours! A friend had one at the beach last weekend and after a few hours the ice in my regular water bottle was melted and the water was getting hot, but the ice in the Hydro Flask was still solid. I just ordered a silver and blue one from Amazon for me and Joe. Guess what else! The Hydro Flask was launched in Bend!
That’s so funny that you mention that because Wes and I were at REI the other day and we saw them there. Good to know they work well, we might have to get one! There’s a lot of cool stuff in Bend, you guys should come!
Congrats to you and to your husband for both getting published! That workout looks great for my husband who is an incredible dancer but hates any other kind of fitness. I’ll keep my eyes out for it…thanks!!
Thanks Erin, and thanks for all your help! Oh then your husband should definitely try Cize! I’m sure I’ll be writing an update when it officially comes out cause I’m super excited.