What Can You Do in 21 Days?

For the most part, I would consider myself a "healthy" person.  I've been on a clean eating journey for the past few years, have cut out wheat & dairy, pop, sugar {especially refined sugar!}, drank lots of water & exercised regularly.  Healthy, right?  Well, in February, I did something that made me realize I wasn't quite as healthy as I thought.  I embarked upon a 21 Day Journey of health & fitness.  It was a program called the "21 Day Fix."  It came complete with portion control containers, an eating list of approved foods, dense superfood shake & exercise videos to be done daily.  It rocked my world, to be honest!

I realized that my portions were out of whack, I ate too many carbs and that I wasn't exercising enough.  And, I didn't eat as well as I thought.  My proteins & veggie portions were lacking, I wasn't eating often enough and my exercise wasn't as challenging as it could have been.  So, I stuck with it for 21 days & am hooked!  I learned better eating habits, to exercise {really exercise} daily & how to take care of myself!

Curious about the results?  I bet you are....drum roll, please!!!!

I lost 5 pounds & 10 inches in 21 days!!!  WHOO HOO!!!  Since a picture says 1000 words, here you go -

Side Before

Side After

 Front Before

Front After

So, that's what 21 days can do for you!  All in all, I learned a lifestyle change that will help me be a better wife, mom & better me.  I can't believe how great I feel after just 3 short weeks!  If you're interested in hearing more, let me know.  I'd love to answer any questions you may have!

Holding?

Wow.  Hello there, I apologize I haven't written since November.  I suppose it's a classic sign of busyness, which I hate.  I once heard busy stands for Buried Under Satan's Yoke.  I suppose it's true, for when busyness happens, other things get dropped or neglected.  Each time you say yes to something, you say no to something else.  But, I digress.....

Do you like to be on hold?  I don't.  In fact, it drives me nuts.  Nothing worse than calling customer service for somewhere to be placed on hold.  What about waiting in line at the store?  No thank you!  Grrr.....I suppose it's because I'm a strong type A personality.  {I took a quiz online that said if you got 12 or more yeses for answers to their questions, you were a strong type A. I think I got 100% on that quiz for being type A.  Digressing, again.....}  So, I am impatient.  I don't like to wait.  I don't like to be on hold.  And, I don't like the process of waiting.  I like closure.  I like deadlines.  I like defined dates, times, spaces.  You get the picture, I think.  But, ambiguousness, not my thing.   Waiting, not so much.

I liked having planned c sections because I knew when the baby was coming.  {Now, that I think about it, even knowing that the baby would likely come in 9-10 months would suffice now.  Maturing, aren't I?}  I like moving dates when you move, because you know when you are going from A to B.  I like knowing when school breaks are so you can plan accordingly.  {Control freak?  No comment.}  I like to know what is coming next & when it is coming, please.

However, I am learning to get better at being on hold.  I don't like it, but I'm seeing the value in it.  I like my meat well done.  If I went to eat & ordered a well done steak that came to me red, I would send it back. The cooking process wouldn't have been complete for me to eat my steak the way I like it.  My kids do crafts and when they rush the process of letting their craft dry, it  ruins the craft.  I'm seeing the value in waiting & letting things come to fruition.  And so it is with us.  One of my favorite verses is Philippians 1:6 ~ "he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it."   So I need to trust that He will complete my work.  I can't rush it.  I have to wait it out.  Kind of like when I get a pedicure & am in a hurry, rush out the door with shoes on & what happens?  Yup, I end up back at the salon because my impatience smudged my toes.  Sigh.

I'm starting to see that letting things come to completion in their own time, not mine, is good.  The process can be beautiful.  The trick is to learn to enjoy it and be present in the moment.  I have spent so much time thinking "when this happens, then __________."   "When my kids are in school, I will have more free time," was a big one.  However, thinking that way, caused me to miss out on some really sweet times with them not in school.  Years I won't get back.  Or, "when summer is here, we will have so much fun outside."  Why can't we have fun outside in the spring, fall or winter {that last one is really dicey, here in SD though!}  The key is learning to be content and seeing the beauty in the circumstance.  It's easy to wish away the now focusing on the future.  But, you don't get that now back once it's over.  Being on hold has allowed me to be present in the moment and appreciate what I do have, not think about what is ahead.

It's easy to put things on hold & think, "when the kids are older, I will take better care of myself."  {Guilty of that one too.}  Or, Wwhen we know about the promotion, we will go on vacation."  Why not take care of yourself now?  Why not plan the vacation now?  Get insurance & change it if you have to.  Not the end of the world.

I'd like to close with a great quote that hopefully sticks with you - "today is a gift, that's why it's called the present."  ~ Alice Morse Earle

What are you doing with your present, friends?  Hopefully living to the FULL!  Enjoy today!

Update....

Hi all, I realize it's been forever since I have written.  What can I say - life has been full, we have been a little under the weather & just lots going on.  My apologies!  Here's a quick update since September for you:

September was good, I was on a leadership team for a retreat with our church for a weekend which was awesome!  God showed up in a powerful way & met the ladies which was great!  At the end of the month, I went back to Illinois to see my girlfriends there, which was a blast too!  I love those girls & it was so great to see them after being gone for almost a year.  All of them have either had a baby or gotten pregnant since we left.  Many of them with their 3rd!  If we stayed there, I may have felt the pressure too, lol!

October was also good, what immediately comes to mind is Halloween.  And, my mom came to visit too. The kids had a blast, Lauren was Cinderella & Landon was Scooby Doo.  Landon didn't get to trick or treat {lost that privilege} so he stayed home with Chad & handed out the candy.  {Which he loved!}  Lauren loved running around the neighborhood collecting candy from the neighbors.  It was fun to see her come out of her shell as she got more comfortable.  By the end of the night, she could have gone solo.  {Not that I would have let her, but.....}

November was great - Chad & I had our 10 year anniversary, so we renewed our vows.  It was an awesome, special day with our family!  Lauren was a flower girl, Landon was the ring bearer & our pastor officiated.  Our mentors were there as well, so it was a nice intimate ceremony followed by brunch at the Pancake House.  I've been fighting off a sinus infection, so that's crummy, but I'm getting better, so that is good!

I continue to love my job & be a part of what God is doing in women's lives worldwide.  This week we had a fundraiser to raise money for one of our artisans in Haiti for a new home.  I'm blown away by God's faithfulness & feel so humbled to be a part of what He is doing there.  I LOVE it!  I love being a part of Vi Bella jewelry.  {www.vibellajewelry.com}

God's up to more, but I will have to share that later.  This is more of a quick update since it's been so long.  Hope all is well in your corner of the world too!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Do you see it?

Do you ever see things going on around you that you can't believe you are seeing?  Things that seem so "normal," so common?  Things that you didn't notice before, but now all of a sudden you do?  And, then once you see them, they seem absurd? It has been happening to me, so I'm curious if it is happening to others as well.  There are a lot of things I'm seeing differently, so I will just list a few here.  I'm curious if this is happening or has happened to you too?  If so, please share.

* Yard sprinklers.  One morning, I was driving to work and I noticed several neighbors {including us} had sprinklers on.  Then I realized we have the ability, freedom, whatever it is to sprinkle our grass freely here, but in some countries, people don't even have access to clean drinking water.  What in the world?  Do we need to have green grass?  Why?  At what cost?  What if we would not water our yards and send the money we would have spent on that to countries to help people get clean drinking water?

* Enough?  It seems like we just don't have enough here in America.  Enough anything - time, money, things, technology, you name it.  We are always going for more, more, more.  Why?  We are always trying to earn more money, buy more things....for what?  Are we so busy striving and trying to keep up with the Jones' that we have lost sight of everything else around us?  We are so busy trying to get more that once we do get it, we don't have time to enjoy it!  Or once we do get it, there is a newer one that comes out that we "have to" have.  What in the heck is going on here?  We are discontent and it is ugly and robbing us and our families of life.

* Busy-ness.  This is a tough one for me.  I was the queen of busy.  Anyone would ask how I'm doing, and I would THRIVE on saying "I am so busy."  I'm not sure what I was busy doing, but I was busy.  I heard once that busy stands for Buried Under Satan's Yoke.  I feel like I'm seeing this a lot more now.  We are so busy things are happening around us that we are unaware of.  Decisions are being made that are affecting our children, our families, our food, our education and we don't know because we are so busy to be involved and know what is going on.  What if we weren't so busy and we were aware and in touch with what was going on around us.  What would our world look like?  What if we were active and involved instead of bystanders letting things happen?  What a force for good we could be then!

* Lack of voice.  I was talking with someone last night {who shall remain nameless}.  They were brought up in a family where the mindset was "it could be worse."  As a result, they learned that it could be worse and not to address the feelings they had, because it could be worse.  Yes, I agree, it could be worse.  No doubt about it.  However, I think it is also good to address how we are feeling and work through those emotions.  Long story short, as a result, I believe this person lost their voice.  They didn't see the point in speaking up for something, because it could always be worse.  My comment was "that is right where the devil wants you.  If you address your feelings and do something about it, you could be a change agent.  Isn't that what we are called to do as believers?  Speak out against injustice, poverty, help the orphans, widows, etc.?"  But if we don't have a voice, we are unable to do it.

What are you seeing differently?  I feel like I have a new set of eyes, based on just these few things I've listed above.  There are more, but maybe I will share them another day.  The question now, is what is God calling me to do with this new set of eyes?  Blessings!

An update in the life of us....

Well, our oldest has started school and it is very interesting around here.  I'm finding that getting up and out the door before 8 isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Really.  I was worried about doing that 5 days a week, and it has been ok.  {We were doing preschool at 9 am 3 days a week last year, so this seemed like a stretch.}  I think we are all adjusting pretty well.

Our little guy misses his big sister during the day, but I think we are enjoying some one on one time together.  {We both are.}  I also enjoy when school is out, the house is full of playing together and happiness to see each other, not fighting.  It is nice.

Personally, I also enjoy that I have some "me time" during little man's nap.  {Thus the blog updates!}  It is a nice routine for us all, I have to say.  I did hear last week that when a woman has children ages 0-4, those are the most pressing times during her life.  Why didn't I know that when both kids were in that window? That would have helped a ton!!

So far so good, to school! :)

Rockin?

I was thinking of titling this post "how to rock it as a mom," but then I realized I have no idea how to rock it as a mom.  I know how to rock other things, freezer cooking, facebook, laundry, for example, but motherhood is completely something I will not rock.  And, I'm ok with that.  I think God created motherhood/parenting for us to lean on Him to be our rock.  So maybe it is good that I'm not rocking this motherhood thing, because I am letting my Rock lead me in it.....What do you think?

How the devil is like keys.....

I was on a walk a while ago {before school started, actually}.  The kids were at the gym's childcare and my keys were in my side pocket.  As I was getting started on my walk, the keys didn't seem to bother me.  I knew they were there, but they were not really impacting me.  However, as I continued on my walk, they started to poke me and become a nuisance.  I got frustrated with them after a while, so much so, that I moved them.  "Ahh, that's better, I thought."  Walk continues......the keys then got so annoying that they had been moved to the place they started at.  So I put them back in side pocket mentioned above.  Again, they didn't seem to bother me.  "Why did I move them the first time?"  "They weren't so bad there," are some of the thoughts I had.  Then it hit me, that is just like the devil!  You see, he isn't bothering us enough to do anything so we keep putting up with him and his tactics.  {Leaving keys in the pocket as above.}  Finally, we get to the point of needing to take action/do something so we do.  {Move keys to new place}  We are enjoying the freedom, the deliverance, the obstacles that have been removed, until it happens again.  We get comfortable and think "that wasn't so bad, why did I think that was such a problem before?" {Put keys back in original place}  So, we continue down the path we had been on {gossip, over-eating, idolatry, whatever it is}, only to realize we have had enough of it, again!  What does it look like to live a life of keys where they need to be?  Where they don't bother you?  What does that look like for us - to live a free life?  To be really free?  "So if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed."  ~ John 8:36  What are the "keys" in your life, friends?