How It All Began

When Adam introduced himself to me at school, I thought he was handsome, but little did I know he would one day be my husband. 

Adam invited some friends and me to visit him my first summer at school. On the way out to Indiana I got super nervous about seeing him, but didn't really understand why because I wasn't even sure that I liked him more than a friend.

Over the course of my visit, Adam talked with me and asked me to pray about dating him. I had made the decision to be single all summer so that I could spend some time focused on myself and my relationship with God and I appreciated that he respected that decision.

Over the next few months, I worked through my own self insecurities and struggles while praying constantly about Adam. 

When school started back up in the fall Adam came to me with a necklace that he had made. This necklace was made of 3 cords and he explained that if we worked together with God that we could handle anything. He gave me the necklace and told me that if and when I wanted to date him I could simply wear the necklace and then he would know that I was ready. 

On September 2nd, after Adam's basketball practice was over, I put on the necklace. My best friend Meggan almost broke my neck when she helped me yank off my other necklace and put his necklace on.

Exercise Is Not My Thing

When people say that I should find something I enjoy and do it when referring to exercise,  I simply smile and nod.

I enjoy sleep. And unfortunately that doesn't count as exercise.

Not many of the things I enjoy doing would count as exercise.

So if I waited until I found something that I liked there is a chance that I never find anything that would count as exercise.

That is one of the reasons I chose to run. It's quick. Mindless. Focused. And burns calories.

For me, I had to just choose something.

Because in order to be healthy, I need to be active. And being active means doing more than sleeping.

Sunday, I ran my 1st 5k of the year. The Graffiti 5k. My bestie Annie and I found a pretty good deal on groupon and grabbed it while we could. My Dad decided to join us as well.

I have to say how proud I am of my Dad. He made time to train for this race and like me has never been a runner nor enjoyed running. He lost 20 pounds during the training! He pushed himself the whole race even when he was super parched. He finished strong. I know I said it a thousand times, but Dad I am so very proud of you and I cannot wait to hear which race you sign up for next.

My bestie Annie also impressed me. She is about 18 weeks pregnant and still ran. That first trimester is so exhausting and yet she stuck with her decision to run and kept up the whole time. Proud of you too, Annie!

This race was super fun and charged with energy. There was not a moment that I was bored or dying and wishing for the end. Other than needing more water stations during the race, I have no complaints. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I enjoyed myself. It was such a fun time. If you are thinking of trying out running for yourself, I highly recommend a color run as your first race.

With all of that being said, instead of waiting to find something you enjoy, I say "Get up and do something!" You may not enjoy it. You may hate every moment of it. But your body needs it. Your body wants it. Get up off of the couch. Don't waste another second. You won't regret it. Get up and do something!

Don't Say The "D" Word

10 years ago around this time Adam and I were finishing up our premarital counseling in preparation for our quickly approaching wedding.

So for the next 10 weeks, I am going to be sharing about the last 10 years.

Today I want to share about one of the most important pieces of marital advice we received. Our pastor and his wife that did our premarital counseling were great. They did their best to share not only from their own experience, but also share from the Bible and what God says about marriage.

What was this great piece of advice?

Don't say the "D" word.

Divorce.

When you fight.

When you are angry.

When you are hurt.

When you are at your wit's end.

When you are joking around.

Don't say it.

When I decided to marry Adam, I decided to marry him for as long as I live. I told him so. In front of about 200 of our closest family and friends. This commitment that I made to him and with him was also a commitment that I made to God. A covenant.

Our marriage is not perfect.

We fight. And things get heated.

We get on each other's nerves. And disagree.

But "divorce" has never been a part of our vocabulary.

Our 1st Anniversary

21 Day Fix

For the last 21 days, I did the 21 day fix and it was awesome. The program is based on the concept that it takes 21 days to form a habit, giving you 21 days to form good habits.

It is by far the best program I have ever done.

Since the healthier eating was going to be something I knew I would struggle with, I decided to get the challenge pack through beachbody that included Shakeology. Shakeology is their meal replacement shakes. I got the chocolate and really liked it. I added spinach to it and it helped me get some veggies in for the day and it really didn't change the flavor at all.

The workouts were amazing. I love the 20ish seconds between workouts to get water and I love that Autumn is so encouraging and pushes you to do more. She is constantly saying "you can do anything for 60 seconds" and she is so right. The workouts were difficult and I was constantly sore and sweaty which are both great things in my opinion.

The eating plan was so easy to follow and while I missed my sweets at first, I really didn't struggle with cravings at all. I did cheat a little in that I had 1 tablespoon of creamer in my coffee everyday in spite of them saying not to. I skipped the nuts and seeds too. Since my goal wasn't to torture myself, but to change my bad habits and make a better eating lifestyle for myself, I kept my creamer and skipped the seeds/nuts.

My results were pretty great in my opinion. I went down two pant sizes in the short amount of time. I lost 7 inches overall and 5 pounds.

After some debate, I decided not to post my before and after picture here. However, if you are interested in knowing more about the program and would like to see the picture, send me a message on facebook and maybe I will send it to you.

I loved every aspect of this and I will be doing this again in a couple of weeks. My first 5k for the year is coming up and I need to train for that, but once that is behind me, I will start doing this again because it definitely brings results.