Today I Gave Grace

In May I had planned on doing another round of May Mingle. I even had a few people tell me that they would be happy to do a guest blog for me. The months before and after flew by and I completely spaced it. My friend Katherine sent me her blog and when I couldn't open it on my phone, I decided to open it later on the computer. And that didn't happen until today. And honestly after reading her beautifully written blog, I can't help but wonder if the timing is perfect.

Katherine and I were "forced" friends. Our husbands have been best friends since childhood and so saying that we married into the relationship is a great way to word the start of our friendship. Over the years, Katherine and I have formed our own bond and I consider her one of my closest friends. It's an honor to share this blog that was on her heart.

Today I Gave Grace

Any mom knows the problems encountered by trying to teach their children responsibility.  You're all familiar with the nagging, begging, cajoling, and frustration associated with homework, chores, and just about anything else child-related. And let's not forget the shameful times that I've lost my temper with my children. Mentally raise your hands if you relate to this. Yep, thought so. I know I'm not the only one!

This day was another one of those days. It was a Saturday and I had my list of things to get done.  My two-year-old was busy undoing everything behind me that I had just accomplished. Silverware was on the floor, clothes were pulled out of the dresser and strewn on the floor, throw blankets had been pulled out of their baskets and trampled on, and couch cushions were in disarray. And the books! Oh, the books everywhere!!! Needless to say that my dishes and laundry chores were taking much longer to complete. I needed my boys to help and I had fun things on the list to do with the kids after we were all finished.

But my two boys, ages 7 and 9, had other ideas. They decided that it would be much more fun to turn room cleaning into an all day event. Something which they had perfected through much practice.  Somehow putting away a basket of laundry that I had already sorted and folded was akin to slave labor. Emptying the garbage can? Impossible without somehow spreading half of the trash all over the kitchen. That I had just swept and mopped. I kept hearing the sounds of harmonicas, toys, and other noises that distinctly indicated cleaning was not happening at anything resembling speed. Multiple check-ups on the boys to redirect, refocus, and attempt to motivate seemed fruitless. Finally after taking away several toys and privileges the boys found the motivation to complete their chores. I was beyond worn out and honestly wanted nothing more than to send them to bed. Some peace and quiet sounded like heaven! And surely the boys needed to contemplate their actions to learn from them. With my patience worn thin, my mother's heart was not sympathetic at this point.

Until my precious 9 year-old reminded me of something. At long last, with their room done, my children came to me to make their report.  My oldest asked somewhat sadly, “Mom, we probably don't deserve to play video games, do we?” And this is extremely hard for me. Beyond hard. I'm a justice person. I see things in black and white, right and wrong. I see the need for people to learn consequences of their actions. I'm all about teachable moments. Not kidding when I say that one of my fears is that my kids will grow up being irresponsible! So it comes without much guesswork that I didn't want to reward my children for the actions of the day.

But then I saw the correlation to my own life. How many times have we been given things by our loving heavenly Father that we don't deserve? How many times have we worn his patience by disobeying, and needing constant direction? How often has God had to remind me to stay on task, to trust him, to complete what we've been working on? But he still gives us grace, the gifts that we don't deserve. So I gathered my boys into my arms (something that's getting progressively harder as they insist on growing taller), and asked them if they knew what grace is. If they knew that God loves them unconditionally. We had a conversation about the amazing love of an awesome God. That love doesn't excuse disobedience and sometimes consequences cannot be negated. But that doesn't diminish the love.  That day my heart was softened and taught a lesson. And I got the privilege of passing on the blessing to my children. The timer was set and we played games together before tackling the next project on the list together.  My children do need to keep working on responsibility and work ethic. I need to learn consistency and patience. And we all need to learn more about the grace of God.

 Today, I gave grace. Something our Father always gives.

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.

Where are you at?

Good morning readers! I hope you guys are having a fabulous Friday.

Just thought I would check-in with ya'll to see how you all are doing with your own resolutions for the year and let you know where I am at with mine.

My first goal was to work-out 4-6 times a week and I am so happy to say that I have done this every week! Some weeks have been super busy so squeezing in 4 work-outs was a major stretch, but it definitely has gotten easier. Losing weight has been a slow process, but that is because I am gaining muscle in the process. Even so, I have lost 6.4 pounds since Jan 4 which is the day before I started my work-out goal. Since January I have lost 7 inches in my waist alone so I know I am making better progress than the scale wants me to think.

Thinking patterns are so hard to change. Honestly, I have spent some time praying for Adam and the girls, but could still use a ton of improvement in this area. I haven't been working near as hard on this as I would like. So, this goal needs to take a higher priority in my life for sure.

As far as the daily life goes, keeping the house picked up comes in phases depending on our busy schedule. I have done alright. The toys are always picked up before I sit down to relax at night. The dishes and kitchen floor have been the bigger struggle. It simply depends on the day and how exhausted I am. I am not giving up though! In January I went to extreme efforts to stay in budget and I went over by $4 because I had bought some snacks at Target that I forgot I had bought and since Target is not my usual grocery spot, I didn't even think about that receipt having groceries on it when I was calculating how much I had left in Jan. In February I stayed in budget, but it was a shorter month. March is in full swing. Not sure how the month is going to go. Especially since I am trying super hard to eat better foods and that can get pricey.

Overall, still finding the balance in all of these things.

How are you guys doing? The year isn't over! So, if you have found that your goals are already a thing of the past, you can dust them off and start again today! You can do it!

New Year's Resolutions and What Not

Well, new years has come and gone.

But I still have a ton of resolutions for this year. When I look at my list, it is much more than my usual 3 items, but I am not overwhelmed by it.

This year I am also taking on a word. My friend Annie does this every year and this year the word "balance" kept coming to me when I thought of my resolutions.  I need balance in so many areas of my life. Those areas are where I have my resolutions as well.

First, is health. I want to eat well and feed my family nutritious foods, but also enjoy food that may not be nutritious. I want balance in not going to one extreme or the other. My personal goal is to lose 15-25 pounds by my anniversary in June. Adam and I have been married for 10 years this year and I want to look my best when we celebrate. I also want to work-out between 4-6 times a week all year. Now that I have 1 5K behind me, I want to continue to run. My first 5K of the year will also be my first 5K with my parents. After a lot of conversation and convincing, they have agreed to do this run with me and I am extremely excited to have them join me. My resolution is to run 2+ 5K's this year. Ultimately, I want to finish the year feeling good in my skin.

Next, is my spiritual walk. My thoughts tend to be "glass half-empty", pessimistic, and negative towards others around me. I want my thoughts to be more focused on God and that of Philippians 4:8. This one leads to my next goal of praying for Adam and the girls on a regular basis. I also want to find more joy in my children and to laugh and have more fun with my family. These things are important to my spiritual walk because God has blessed me with this little family and since He is the giver of joy, I know I need to look to Him for this.

Lastly, is daily living. This last year I struggled to stay in budget. I hope to stay within budget on groceries for 9 out of 12 months this year. Something else that seemed to get away from me was my house. I want to keep up with it better, making time for quick clean-up every night and quick deep clean once a week so it stays clean overall.

What are some of your resolutions and goals for 2015? Do you have a word for the year? 2015 is going to be a good year. Looking forward to sharing it with all of you!