Saturday, November 6, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Refreshing Almond Milk . . . Julie's Review
Recently my sister texted me asking if I'd ever tried Almond Milk. I asked "No, Why? Is it good? It sounds good." She responded, "I don't know. It does sound good. I've never tried it, That's why I'm asking you."
I went to my friend Ellen who does not drink dairy and asked her. She said she had tasted it, but didn't really remember what it tasted like. She said, something like, "it's like drinking soy milk. It's not milk."
So today I tried it myself. And here's my review:
Almond Breeze Vanilla flavored Almond Milk . . . A little nutty tasting. But in it's defense I think the name warns you of this. Not very sweet. But again the package does does say unsweetened. Can't really taste much vanilla. But I'm the one who loves scones due to their not being overly sweet. My final review. ... Oddly, I think I like it. Yes, I think I do.
I went to my friend Ellen who does not drink dairy and asked her. She said she had tasted it, but didn't really remember what it tasted like. She said, something like, "it's like drinking soy milk. It's not milk."
So today I tried it myself. And here's my review:
Almond Breeze Vanilla flavored Almond Milk . . . A little nutty tasting. But in it's defense I think the name warns you of this. Not very sweet. But again the package does does say unsweetened. Can't really taste much vanilla. But I'm the one who loves scones due to their not being overly sweet. My final review. ... Oddly, I think I like it. Yes, I think I do.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Edit Hoopla!!!!!!!!
Hi all,
The blogger in me is going to go on a little hiatus from writing the blog this month. In November I took part in an international program where I wrote 50,000 uneditted words in 30 days. In April the same organization does something they call Script Frenzy where they write a script in 30 days. In that I'm not a script writer and I've still not editted my book, I've decided in support of my friend doing Script Frenzy I will be dedicating this month to getting down and doing some serious editting of the book. I've named my project . . . Edit Hoopla!!!!! During Edit Hoopla I will edit 120 pages of written work in 30 days . . . you can do the math from there. I'll stop in from time to time, but for now, I must edit!!!!!! I promise I'll continue in my efforts to pray often, eat better always and workout more as all are important if I'm to do well during Edit Hoopla. Thanks in advance for your prayers!
Blessings,
Julie
The blogger in me is going to go on a little hiatus from writing the blog this month. In November I took part in an international program where I wrote 50,000 uneditted words in 30 days. In April the same organization does something they call Script Frenzy where they write a script in 30 days. In that I'm not a script writer and I've still not editted my book, I've decided in support of my friend doing Script Frenzy I will be dedicating this month to getting down and doing some serious editting of the book. I've named my project . . . Edit Hoopla!!!!! During Edit Hoopla I will edit 120 pages of written work in 30 days . . . you can do the math from there. I'll stop in from time to time, but for now, I must edit!!!!!! I promise I'll continue in my efforts to pray often, eat better always and workout more as all are important if I'm to do well during Edit Hoopla. Thanks in advance for your prayers!
Blessings,
Julie
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Is it OK to vacuum today?
Cleaning has never been my strong suit. Over the years I've gotten better at continually purging stuff to make it easier to clean, but still, cleaning itself is definitley not going to win me any awards.
I was watching Hoarding, Buried Alive, and I panicked. I thought, am I a hoarder? I mean, I step on toys all the time. Then I realized, no, I'm not a hoarder for I actually rejoice in both throwing stuff out and donating items. I am, however, a mom w/ toys and little socks found constantly around the house which I need to be better at getting picked up. Me, I'm simply messy.
Years ago I started to realize, too much unused stuff can overwhelm me, but my issue was I needed to not assign memories to every single item. This realization has made getting rid of stuff much easier for me. This and the fact if I have a perfectly good item I'm simply storing when someone else may actually need it, I ask myself, shouldn't I let it go of it. If I really struggle with items such as with the kids continal abundance of artwork, I take a picture of the piece which is much easier to keep. The amazing part to my great surprise is my kids are actually ok with this. It tells me fortunately I have made sure not to pass on attachment to stuff issues to my kids, so that does my heart good. When I catch myself about to question my kids giving something away, I stop myself now. For I am glad they have giving hearts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless. I don't get rid of everything. Far from it. I simply choose my favorites, often items the kids love, too, and those are the ones I keep and enjoy. My house is in fact a gallery for my kids artwork. It is their artwork I happily frame and place on my walls.
I want to be clear, I'm not making fun of hoarding as I know it is a very real issue for people, but I just wanted you to know this show helped set me into action mostly where cleaning is concerned. Knowing it bothered me so much not to be organized I knew I needed to get better at weekly cleaning and redding up instead of just worrying about it. Yes, I said redding up, I'm a Pennsylvanian through and through. Redding up, the act of picking stuff up and putting it in its place especially before you have company. :)
But back to the main point I want to make today. To hear me talk you'd think perhaps it's completely messy around here, which it is not, still the daily clutter around the house makes me a little this side of crazy. There's also the constant paper trail which follows the mail, school handouts, medical bills and on and on. This is what made me realize, it's time. Like all organized areas of life, I must get a plan. If you do deal w/ some of the having too much stuff areas I mentioned above, you might want to work on those areas of your life first because ultimately this will make the cleaning steps easier to do, but one step at a time. Start where you are. Me, I'm at the cleaning step.
With the help of my friend, April, who suggested she had a daily chore schedule she follows, I got myself organized in this area. For two weeks now I have followed the attached plan. This plan was adapted from April's personal family schedule. I changed it to meet the needs of my own family's schedule.
What does this have to do w/ getting healthier. Well, a lot. For one, there's less dust and dirt around here. That has to be healthier. But that's not all. When I am organized in any area of my life it seems to help the other areas as well. Makes more time for other things I enjoy which are also good for me. When I go out for a nice walk, I don't feel guilty. I'm not letting the house go, for I know what I have to get done and it's do-able. OK, you got me, I never feel guilty about going on a nice walk, but it does make me feel more relaxed as a whole. I feel relaxed knowing my house is in order and not going to overwhelm me when I return.
You see my biggest fear w/ feeling God is finally putting down some roots for our family is if you aren't moving often, things can get messy and fast. Now if only I could get Jesse and Lilly completely on board. Josh, he's amazing in this area and a role model for me. Scott, he's got a lot of books and has a "clirty" pile, clothes that aren't clean, but aren't quite dirty, yet either. Only Scott. He's also the one who came up w/ the term "De-Crap-ifying," getting rid of your crap. But all in all, Scott does ok. With the little ones I just want to try and model better cleaning behavior and teaching good lifelong habits and hope and pray for the best w/ them as they grow.
I will tell you as w/ all things Graubard, this, too, brought humor to our household. Josh loves to tease me about the list which is posted for all to see in the Kitchen. "Um, Julie, did you mop today? Today is mopping day. Ah, I'd take the trash out, but it's not trash day. Oh, I see Lilly cleaned up her toys today. Is that why they are still everywhere?" You get the point. This, however, has served as a motivating factor for me to prove to him that we can and will do it! Jesse is a little harder to motivate, but he likes lists and rules, so this is in my favor. Lilly, likes to clean, but also likes to drop things all over the house wherever she goes. But as I said, time and discipline on my part will help as Lilly does like to copy mommy and Jesse does ultimately like to please and dislikes being given other chores to make up for the ones he forgets to do. So pray for us. We're a work in progress, but all in all, we're doing it!
Yesterday, we had a close call, however. I had my back turned and Lilly picked up a bowl and promptly dropped it on the kitchen floor breaking it in pieces. But it was ok! It was Vacuum & Mop Day! So all is well in our world and nobody had to step on broken dish pieces.
Just in case you want to get better organized, too, and want a starting schedule I've posted mine below:
Weekly Cleaning Goals:
Monday - Laundry, clean bathrooms, Josh take garbage out, Jesse pick up Jesse & Lilly laundry items in living room
Tuesday – Vacuum, Mop floors, Lilly pick up her toys
Wednesday – Dust, Clean kitchen counters and refrigerator door really well, Jesse pick up laundry in living room
Thursday - Laundry, Josh take out Garbage
Friday – Vaccum, Wash towels and bedding, Lilly pick up her toys
Saturday – Sort mail on counters, Sort school flyers
Sunday – Josh & Jesse all laundry in the laundry bin, Lilly pick up her toys
Here's a few other side notes. It may seem I went easy on the kids, but their rooms are still to be cleaned regularly and when I need to I say so or help. I also let Lilly or Jesse help whenever they want no matter how their performance is at a job. It's the only way they'll learn. This one is hard for me. Actually both of those areas I just spoke of are challenges for me.
It's also important to know dishes are a good one to schedule different kids for daily as April did, but this is one of my sanity jobs. I like doing them, so I didn't schedule kids here. Counters and dishes should be done daily, I simply decided I should do a more thorough cleaning once a week to get under the toaster, clean sticky hands off of refrigerator door handles and the like.
Another great tip came from my sister. She told me touch things once, meaning put papers where papers go as you get them as much as you can or hang coats up or whatever. Do not make it so you have to go back and move things due to laziness the first time. Still I felt I needed the paper trail to be on my schedule to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. You get the point.
Lastly, if you do in fact break a bowl on a day that is not Vacuum Day . . . You should still vacuum.
I was watching Hoarding, Buried Alive, and I panicked. I thought, am I a hoarder? I mean, I step on toys all the time. Then I realized, no, I'm not a hoarder for I actually rejoice in both throwing stuff out and donating items. I am, however, a mom w/ toys and little socks found constantly around the house which I need to be better at getting picked up. Me, I'm simply messy.
Years ago I started to realize, too much unused stuff can overwhelm me, but my issue was I needed to not assign memories to every single item. This realization has made getting rid of stuff much easier for me. This and the fact if I have a perfectly good item I'm simply storing when someone else may actually need it, I ask myself, shouldn't I let it go of it. If I really struggle with items such as with the kids continal abundance of artwork, I take a picture of the piece which is much easier to keep. The amazing part to my great surprise is my kids are actually ok with this. It tells me fortunately I have made sure not to pass on attachment to stuff issues to my kids, so that does my heart good. When I catch myself about to question my kids giving something away, I stop myself now. For I am glad they have giving hearts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not heartless. I don't get rid of everything. Far from it. I simply choose my favorites, often items the kids love, too, and those are the ones I keep and enjoy. My house is in fact a gallery for my kids artwork. It is their artwork I happily frame and place on my walls.
I want to be clear, I'm not making fun of hoarding as I know it is a very real issue for people, but I just wanted you to know this show helped set me into action mostly where cleaning is concerned. Knowing it bothered me so much not to be organized I knew I needed to get better at weekly cleaning and redding up instead of just worrying about it. Yes, I said redding up, I'm a Pennsylvanian through and through. Redding up, the act of picking stuff up and putting it in its place especially before you have company. :)
But back to the main point I want to make today. To hear me talk you'd think perhaps it's completely messy around here, which it is not, still the daily clutter around the house makes me a little this side of crazy. There's also the constant paper trail which follows the mail, school handouts, medical bills and on and on. This is what made me realize, it's time. Like all organized areas of life, I must get a plan. If you do deal w/ some of the having too much stuff areas I mentioned above, you might want to work on those areas of your life first because ultimately this will make the cleaning steps easier to do, but one step at a time. Start where you are. Me, I'm at the cleaning step.
With the help of my friend, April, who suggested she had a daily chore schedule she follows, I got myself organized in this area. For two weeks now I have followed the attached plan. This plan was adapted from April's personal family schedule. I changed it to meet the needs of my own family's schedule.
What does this have to do w/ getting healthier. Well, a lot. For one, there's less dust and dirt around here. That has to be healthier. But that's not all. When I am organized in any area of my life it seems to help the other areas as well. Makes more time for other things I enjoy which are also good for me. When I go out for a nice walk, I don't feel guilty. I'm not letting the house go, for I know what I have to get done and it's do-able. OK, you got me, I never feel guilty about going on a nice walk, but it does make me feel more relaxed as a whole. I feel relaxed knowing my house is in order and not going to overwhelm me when I return.
You see my biggest fear w/ feeling God is finally putting down some roots for our family is if you aren't moving often, things can get messy and fast. Now if only I could get Jesse and Lilly completely on board. Josh, he's amazing in this area and a role model for me. Scott, he's got a lot of books and has a "clirty" pile, clothes that aren't clean, but aren't quite dirty, yet either. Only Scott. He's also the one who came up w/ the term "De-Crap-ifying," getting rid of your crap. But all in all, Scott does ok. With the little ones I just want to try and model better cleaning behavior and teaching good lifelong habits and hope and pray for the best w/ them as they grow.
I will tell you as w/ all things Graubard, this, too, brought humor to our household. Josh loves to tease me about the list which is posted for all to see in the Kitchen. "Um, Julie, did you mop today? Today is mopping day. Ah, I'd take the trash out, but it's not trash day. Oh, I see Lilly cleaned up her toys today. Is that why they are still everywhere?" You get the point. This, however, has served as a motivating factor for me to prove to him that we can and will do it! Jesse is a little harder to motivate, but he likes lists and rules, so this is in my favor. Lilly, likes to clean, but also likes to drop things all over the house wherever she goes. But as I said, time and discipline on my part will help as Lilly does like to copy mommy and Jesse does ultimately like to please and dislikes being given other chores to make up for the ones he forgets to do. So pray for us. We're a work in progress, but all in all, we're doing it!
Yesterday, we had a close call, however. I had my back turned and Lilly picked up a bowl and promptly dropped it on the kitchen floor breaking it in pieces. But it was ok! It was Vacuum & Mop Day! So all is well in our world and nobody had to step on broken dish pieces.
Just in case you want to get better organized, too, and want a starting schedule I've posted mine below:
Weekly Cleaning Goals:
Monday - Laundry, clean bathrooms, Josh take garbage out, Jesse pick up Jesse & Lilly laundry items in living room
Tuesday – Vacuum, Mop floors, Lilly pick up her toys
Wednesday – Dust, Clean kitchen counters and refrigerator door really well, Jesse pick up laundry in living room
Thursday - Laundry, Josh take out Garbage
Friday – Vaccum, Wash towels and bedding, Lilly pick up her toys
Saturday – Sort mail on counters, Sort school flyers
Sunday – Josh & Jesse all laundry in the laundry bin, Lilly pick up her toys
Here's a few other side notes. It may seem I went easy on the kids, but their rooms are still to be cleaned regularly and when I need to I say so or help. I also let Lilly or Jesse help whenever they want no matter how their performance is at a job. It's the only way they'll learn. This one is hard for me. Actually both of those areas I just spoke of are challenges for me.
It's also important to know dishes are a good one to schedule different kids for daily as April did, but this is one of my sanity jobs. I like doing them, so I didn't schedule kids here. Counters and dishes should be done daily, I simply decided I should do a more thorough cleaning once a week to get under the toaster, clean sticky hands off of refrigerator door handles and the like.
Another great tip came from my sister. She told me touch things once, meaning put papers where papers go as you get them as much as you can or hang coats up or whatever. Do not make it so you have to go back and move things due to laziness the first time. Still I felt I needed the paper trail to be on my schedule to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. You get the point.
Lastly, if you do in fact break a bowl on a day that is not Vacuum Day . . . You should still vacuum.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
God Can Part Your Red Sea
Today I read a really great message from my daily devotional. I knew I needed to share it w/ you as it's full of great stuff, so here are a few excerpts from it. Keep this in mind when the seas seem too big to cross. He is in it w/ you:
Glady's Aylward, missionary to China more than fifty years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yuncheng. With only one assistant, she lead a hundred orphans over the mountains toward free China. During the journey she grappled with fear. After passing a sleepless night she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A thirteen-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much-loved story of Moses and the Red Sea. "But I am not Moses," Glady's sighed in despair. "Of course you aren't," the girl said, "but God is still God!" When Glady's and the orphans made it through they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can still trust Him.
Sometimes God calms the storm, other times He lets the storm rage and calms us. Either way, He sustains us and brings us through. We always have a choice: either we give the burden to God or we try to carry it ourselves. "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you." - Psalm 55:22 (NLT)
I loved all of this for my family and I have crossed what has felt like our share of Red Seas. Anyone in their 40's, like myself, has most likely not only crossed their share of Red Seas, but has also watched many of their friends and family do it, too.
Sometimes I cross them w/ grace trusting Him most of the way. Other times I have in the midst of them hysterically cried out "I feel so alone, I want to know you're here in a very real way, because I know you're out there somewhere." And other times angrily I have pushed everyone including my husband away and said, "Look, I know this is my problem, for I don't feel anything. I'm not even letting myself feel. And I'm angry for I don't think God has forsaken me, it's me who has forsaken Him." During those times I pray desparately to get back in touch w/ Him.
All these emotions are called living life. It's a fallen world, we're a fallen people, so the emotions are real and they are strong, but He is out there and He will take care of you and me, too. Sometimes not in our timing. But as my husband said to Jesse, my little boy, once when he was praying to make a soccer goal, "God always hears your prayers. Sometimes He says, 'yes.' Sometimes he says,'no.' And sometimes he says, 'not yet.' But He always hears your prayers." So simple, yet so true my friends.
A really important message you need to take away from this is He is always there. Of course, we all love the times when we're walking through life and we feel His grace all over us. It's not quite as fun when we are crying out to Him and yet we can't feel Him. And it's definitely not fun to walk through times when we go into protective mode not letting anything or anyone, including God, in. But in all three instances, no matter how we feel. He is there. As my friend, Denise reminded me the other day during a conversation, the reason I know He's always there is because it's not about a feeling. It's about a truth. The Bible speaks the truth. I rest in that truth.
I want to leave you w/ this. I love Moses. When I was walking through breast cancer the first time in the midst of it I felt this annointing on me. I knew God wanted me to touch others on this journey. That others were watching to see how our family would go through it. Would we still hold God's hand. During that time, this scripture spoke to me:
11But Moses said, " Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?"
12God replied, " I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt." - Exodus 3:11-12
You aren't parting the Red Sea yourselves, my friends. If He has a Red Sea for you to part. I assure you, He is there w/ you. All you have to do is let Him in. But remember it's not always about a feeling . . . it's about the truth.
Glady's Aylward, missionary to China more than fifty years ago, was forced to flee when the Japanese invaded Yuncheng. With only one assistant, she lead a hundred orphans over the mountains toward free China. During the journey she grappled with fear. After passing a sleepless night she faced the morning with no hope of reaching safety. A thirteen-year-old girl in the group reminded her of their much-loved story of Moses and the Red Sea. "But I am not Moses," Glady's sighed in despair. "Of course you aren't," the girl said, "but God is still God!" When Glady's and the orphans made it through they proved once again that no matter how inadequate we feel, God is still God, and we can still trust Him.
Sometimes God calms the storm, other times He lets the storm rage and calms us. Either way, He sustains us and brings us through. We always have a choice: either we give the burden to God or we try to carry it ourselves. "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you." - Psalm 55:22 (NLT)
I loved all of this for my family and I have crossed what has felt like our share of Red Seas. Anyone in their 40's, like myself, has most likely not only crossed their share of Red Seas, but has also watched many of their friends and family do it, too.
Sometimes I cross them w/ grace trusting Him most of the way. Other times I have in the midst of them hysterically cried out "I feel so alone, I want to know you're here in a very real way, because I know you're out there somewhere." And other times angrily I have pushed everyone including my husband away and said, "Look, I know this is my problem, for I don't feel anything. I'm not even letting myself feel. And I'm angry for I don't think God has forsaken me, it's me who has forsaken Him." During those times I pray desparately to get back in touch w/ Him.
All these emotions are called living life. It's a fallen world, we're a fallen people, so the emotions are real and they are strong, but He is out there and He will take care of you and me, too. Sometimes not in our timing. But as my husband said to Jesse, my little boy, once when he was praying to make a soccer goal, "God always hears your prayers. Sometimes He says, 'yes.' Sometimes he says,'no.' And sometimes he says, 'not yet.' But He always hears your prayers." So simple, yet so true my friends.
A really important message you need to take away from this is He is always there. Of course, we all love the times when we're walking through life and we feel His grace all over us. It's not quite as fun when we are crying out to Him and yet we can't feel Him. And it's definitely not fun to walk through times when we go into protective mode not letting anything or anyone, including God, in. But in all three instances, no matter how we feel. He is there. As my friend, Denise reminded me the other day during a conversation, the reason I know He's always there is because it's not about a feeling. It's about a truth. The Bible speaks the truth. I rest in that truth.
I want to leave you w/ this. I love Moses. When I was walking through breast cancer the first time in the midst of it I felt this annointing on me. I knew God wanted me to touch others on this journey. That others were watching to see how our family would go through it. Would we still hold God's hand. During that time, this scripture spoke to me:
11But Moses said, " Who am I to go to the king and lead your people out of Egypt?"
12God replied, " I will be with you. And you will know that I am the one who sent you, when you worship me on this mountain after you have led my people out of Egypt." - Exodus 3:11-12
You aren't parting the Red Sea yourselves, my friends. If He has a Red Sea for you to part. I assure you, He is there w/ you. All you have to do is let Him in. But remember it's not always about a feeling . . . it's about the truth.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Can a Ho Ho curb your appetite?
Dinner conversation is always amusing at my house. I try to talk. Scott and Josh try not to take me seriously and point out my faulty thinking. Jesse laughs. Lilly steals my food while all this is going on. Last night was no different as I brought up the interesting topic of eating a piece of fruit before dinner.
Scott and I have been trying to eat healthier. Scott tends to eat few carbohydrates. I tend to cut calories as a whole. But either way this theory I learned from an article my friend shared with me seemed to be a win. She showed me an article which suggests if you eat a piece of fruit before each meal there is something that goes on in your body causing you to be full and thus eat less at the meal. Now I realize at this point my scientific reasons for this were vague and there in lies the problem when sharing the new found information. I guess you could say I went in unarmed w/ good information. My mistake.
I brought this information up as dinner conversation with Scott. I said, "Scott, I don't remember the reason why this works, but in an article, April, shared w/ me it stated if you eat a piece of fruit before each meal, you will then for some chemical reason eat less at the meal because you will feel satisfied sooner." At that point I should have just said, "Let the bantering begin!" for it did.
Josh, who never misses anything I say with flaws, instantly replied, "If you eat anything before your meal you'll be fuller and eat less!" Scott agreed, "He's got you there. Could you eat Ho Ho's before the meal? That would fill you up." The joking went on quite a bit from that point. I finally tried to end the conversation with an exasperated, "Fine, eat Ho Ho's!" still on it went. I think, however, my favorite moment in this conversation was when Lilly ran into her playroom and came running back in delight w/ her stuffed monkey saying "here's Hoho! Her Hoho is a little white monkey character on one of her favorite shows, Ni Hao, Kai-lan. Isn't it obvious, the fun never ends at our dinner table.
So it seems if you have a good tip to share w/ your family and your family likes to point out where there might be flaws in that tip, come prepared w/ the reasoning behind the tip as well. I'm not sure it would have mattered in this family where I, believe it or not, play the straight man to their humor, but it might help my credibility just a bit.
For now, I say eat a piece of fruit before your meal, because that sounds better for you than eat a HoHo or a Hoho before mealtime. But if it's snacktime, I suppose I say eat responsibly and don't over do it. I have no scientific backup information to go with this advice. It's just my theory.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Sunshine!
Is it me or does the sunshine bring a little feeling of hope? I've always felt I was one of those people who had a little seasonal disorder as overcast winters can be hard on me. It truly was my greatest fear moving back north since winters in the south are generally good. I love the sun. So today it does my heart good to see the sunshining outside after a dreary sunshineless day yesterday where I found myself having a case of the blahs.
When I first moved to Florida I thought it was the beach that was calling me loudest of all. That I would feel life would be wonderful living near a beach. "The water calls me," I would say. "I see God all over the water." And that was and is still true for me. I took many strolls w/ Jesse at the beach in the very same jogging stroller I now tote Lilly in today through the snow. It was glorious. Make no mistake, while I've always said a lake is not the beach, I have changed my view and will find my way to various lakes this year. Perhaps not to swim after swimming in Caribbean waters, but definitely to walk w/ that stroller through the beautiful parks of Western Pennsylvania.
At some point I thought it was the heat I loved. I would say, "we all have a choice where we want to live, so why not choose to live in a warm climate year round." I know this isn't for everyone, but it certainly had been a dream for me. As an adult in my twenties and thirties I could hardly enjoy the Fall for I couldn't get past the fact that it meant Winter was near. Even though I love the continent of Antartica for I feel it's often the forgotten underdog of the seven, I've never been a fan of freezing. And I have a problem in the winter. It seems at a time when you should move your body the fastest of all, you can't. Everything slows down. All I can say is since I've moved north . . . Praise God for hot flashes for I've actually been ok with the cooler temperatures. I will say since being back I have not had the issue of the ol' nose hairs freezing, but man, I can't wait for that. Can you hear the sarcasm? But overall the heat in Florida was nice and winters became my favorite time of year.
But oneday I realized it. It wasn't the beach. It wasn't the heat. It was the sunshine that I loved about Florida. I knew it was the sunshine for one Sunshiney Fall Day in Philadelphia while visiting up north I thought how beautiful it is here! I asked, "Is it always sunny here, for if it is, I could take the cold." Hands down, it's definitely the sun that I loved about living in Florida. I must admit, while I loved it in Grand Cayman, it was so hot in Grand Cayman I did find myself looking for shade. Particularly w/ the hot flashes mentioned above. I'm no longer a suntan kind of girl after 8 years in the sun and freckles on my lip line I fear look like a mustache. I no longer lay out like I did in my teens and early adult years, but I so love the sun. It feels happy to me.
I now know I loved Florida and Grand Cayman for at the time it is where God wanted me. I feel so blessed for they were both desires of my heart. But today I am in Greenville looking outside at that same sunshine. And I'm seeing the beauty in the locale. It tells me I can see there's always hope for that sunshine when it's where the Lord wants me to be at any given time. With that brings more than happiness, but rather joy. Joy that prevails even when it's overcasts and I have to pick myself up by my bootstraps to go out for a walk in the fresh air even though the sun is lacking. Still I enjoy every sunny day that comes and I go back to my rule quite appropriate here "Never clean on a sunny day. Go out and play." I don't care how warm it is outside. The sun is shining!
So today if you see it. Open your shades. Enjoy it. It brings with it a bit of happy.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sometimes you've got to eat "The Steak Salad"
I didn't blog earlier today because honestly I felt I had nothing blog worthy. I didn't get out for a workout. I didn't eat spectacular. I didn't eat poorly, but I was coming off a night of not feeling as strong in my resolve to eat better. I didn't really even blow it. I just didn't feel like I did anything worth writing about. But then again, some days are like that. Those are the days you need to cowboy up and keep on keeping on with the goals anyway.
Tonight after eating very little all day mostly due to being busy, but also planning ahead due to dinner plans, Scott and I went out to eat. I'd decided w/ my kids away w/ my Mom for the weekend, I was not going to waste this dinner date w/ my husband by eating soup and a salad. Nope. I went for it. I ate The Steak Salad . . . Western Pennsylvania style. Now if you've never lived in Western PA I'm pretty sure you don't know The Steak Salad I speak of. Perhaps this bad boy has made it's way slightly beyond Youngstown and into Northeastern Ohio, but The Steak Salad I speak of is the one and only in my book. It's sort of what the Philly Cheesesteak is to Philadelphia. No matter how much a restaurant brags on it in other areas of the country, it's not the same unless you get the real deal in Philadelphia. And so it is w/ The Steak Salad of Western PA.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you've never lived anywhere but Western Pennsylvania, you probably aren't even aware of the fact that it's not the same elsewhere. So you see tonight at dinner, I was definitely planning to enjoy The Steak Salad.
So often we decide we'll diet and we take all the fun out of life. It usually works for awhile, but is it really a lifestyle you want to live. One you can maintain. I'm not talking go out and eat wrecklessly. I'll always say choose wisely. Do you really enjoy it or are you just mindlessly eating. Is it worth it. But I really believe to be a success in eating healthier as a whole and getting yourself in the best shape for your particular body, thus helping you to feel your best, you need to allow yourself times where you enjoy your favorites now and again. Give yourself some wiggle room. Everyone likes to wiggle.
So tonight I did that. I enjoyed The Steak Salad that Western PA does so well. Real steak not steak-ums. Who came up with those anyway. Really?! Explain please. Real steak, cheese, hardboiled eggs slices, and the french fries, yes, the french fries on top. Ahhhhh, a dream come true. Totally worth it. Welcome Back, Kotter. It's good to be home.
Tonight after eating very little all day mostly due to being busy, but also planning ahead due to dinner plans, Scott and I went out to eat. I'd decided w/ my kids away w/ my Mom for the weekend, I was not going to waste this dinner date w/ my husband by eating soup and a salad. Nope. I went for it. I ate The Steak Salad . . . Western Pennsylvania style. Now if you've never lived in Western PA I'm pretty sure you don't know The Steak Salad I speak of. Perhaps this bad boy has made it's way slightly beyond Youngstown and into Northeastern Ohio, but The Steak Salad I speak of is the one and only in my book. It's sort of what the Philly Cheesesteak is to Philadelphia. No matter how much a restaurant brags on it in other areas of the country, it's not the same unless you get the real deal in Philadelphia. And so it is w/ The Steak Salad of Western PA.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you've never lived anywhere but Western Pennsylvania, you probably aren't even aware of the fact that it's not the same elsewhere. So you see tonight at dinner, I was definitely planning to enjoy The Steak Salad.
So often we decide we'll diet and we take all the fun out of life. It usually works for awhile, but is it really a lifestyle you want to live. One you can maintain. I'm not talking go out and eat wrecklessly. I'll always say choose wisely. Do you really enjoy it or are you just mindlessly eating. Is it worth it. But I really believe to be a success in eating healthier as a whole and getting yourself in the best shape for your particular body, thus helping you to feel your best, you need to allow yourself times where you enjoy your favorites now and again. Give yourself some wiggle room. Everyone likes to wiggle.
So tonight I did that. I enjoyed The Steak Salad that Western PA does so well. Real steak not steak-ums. Who came up with those anyway. Really?! Explain please. Real steak, cheese, hardboiled eggs slices, and the french fries, yes, the french fries on top. Ahhhhh, a dream come true. Totally worth it. Welcome Back, Kotter. It's good to be home.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
My Legs Hurt, My Legs Hurt . . . Woo-Hoo!
What a great week it's been. The sun has been shining, the snow has been melting and the weather is just right for starting to work out again.
Greenville is a beautiful place w/ a beautiful park in walking distance from our house. The only issue for someone slightly out of shape, is it's not flat terrain. After several years in Ohio, Florida and then Grand Cayman, other than a short stint in the very hilly Wooster, Ohio during my single days, I haven't spent great amounts of time walking and running on hills like this since I was in high school living in Beaver County. In high school I always thought these hills were to our benefit making us that much more fit for the crosscountry courses we'd run in competitions. Of course, the issue there was everyone else in Western Pennsylvania was training on the same hills. Still I always knew it was some sort of secret weapon of strength building.
Well, I'm back in Western, PA again and the hills are plentiful. Did I mention our home is at the top of a big ol' hill? A big enough hill that sometimes in the winter not only did the busses need to enter our neighborhood from the other flatter entrance, but so did we even in our four wheel drive Sportage. You heard me, right. We are the king and queen of cool owning a Kia Sportage that usually can weather the hills. But seriously people, the hill is a climb. So this must be taken into consideration when not only running, but also walking while pushing a jogging stroller w/ what I thought was a light Lilly, of which now I question.
After several days now walking from our home to the park about a half mile away, then around the park and back, I've learned to prepare mentally for the climb home. It's fine going to the park, downhill all the way. A little hard on the shins and feet, but not bad. But coming back, you can't help but feel the burn! I actually have stopped, relaxed my muscles, taken a drink of water, and a breath of fresh air and continued. Not once, but twice, during the last stretch up our hill. I'm not a wimp! This is not an easy walk. But it's great!!!!! My muscles are sore and my smile is large! I am walking my way back into shape. As a college friend used to say if you told her you hurt after a workout, "good." She knew that meant I'd worked out hard. By that standard, I'm doing good as my legs and hiney are feeling it. Not to mention my arms, who are pushing Lilly up and down those hills.
I have another skill out there on the path I've acquired after years of training which still seem to be intact. Twice, once in 2005 and once in 2006 I walked in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. That's walking 60 miles in 3 days. A hard, but incredible journey of a walk. You know what hurt me at the end of the walk. One guess. My throat! Most people had blisters. I had a sore throat from talking! Surprise!
Well, my cousin helped me get in shape vocally yet again, yesterday. I was on a speedy little walk trying to get more mileage in before returning home quickly to feed everyone and get them on their ways for different activities. In the middle of the walk my cousin called. I can't pass up a call from one of my favorite cousins! No way! So I answered the phone and try as she did to get off the phone several times so I could concentrate my walk, and lets be honest, so she could get back to what she was doing, I just kept proving I could still do both. Just like in high school when I could talk through a race and still place in the event! I don't believe there's anyone who knows me who would have questioned this skill of mine. But just in case. Never fear. I can still walk and talk w/ the best of them.
So if you're working out and it hurts. Good. Eventually it will hurt less. Then you will work out harder and before you know it, perhaps you, too, will be training to enter the new Olympic Sport I am going to recommend called "Talking through a Run!" Train hard, because I'm going for Gold, baby!
Greenville is a beautiful place w/ a beautiful park in walking distance from our house. The only issue for someone slightly out of shape, is it's not flat terrain. After several years in Ohio, Florida and then Grand Cayman, other than a short stint in the very hilly Wooster, Ohio during my single days, I haven't spent great amounts of time walking and running on hills like this since I was in high school living in Beaver County. In high school I always thought these hills were to our benefit making us that much more fit for the crosscountry courses we'd run in competitions. Of course, the issue there was everyone else in Western Pennsylvania was training on the same hills. Still I always knew it was some sort of secret weapon of strength building.
Well, I'm back in Western, PA again and the hills are plentiful. Did I mention our home is at the top of a big ol' hill? A big enough hill that sometimes in the winter not only did the busses need to enter our neighborhood from the other flatter entrance, but so did we even in our four wheel drive Sportage. You heard me, right. We are the king and queen of cool owning a Kia Sportage that usually can weather the hills. But seriously people, the hill is a climb. So this must be taken into consideration when not only running, but also walking while pushing a jogging stroller w/ what I thought was a light Lilly, of which now I question.
After several days now walking from our home to the park about a half mile away, then around the park and back, I've learned to prepare mentally for the climb home. It's fine going to the park, downhill all the way. A little hard on the shins and feet, but not bad. But coming back, you can't help but feel the burn! I actually have stopped, relaxed my muscles, taken a drink of water, and a breath of fresh air and continued. Not once, but twice, during the last stretch up our hill. I'm not a wimp! This is not an easy walk. But it's great!!!!! My muscles are sore and my smile is large! I am walking my way back into shape. As a college friend used to say if you told her you hurt after a workout, "good." She knew that meant I'd worked out hard. By that standard, I'm doing good as my legs and hiney are feeling it. Not to mention my arms, who are pushing Lilly up and down those hills.
I have another skill out there on the path I've acquired after years of training which still seem to be intact. Twice, once in 2005 and once in 2006 I walked in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. That's walking 60 miles in 3 days. A hard, but incredible journey of a walk. You know what hurt me at the end of the walk. One guess. My throat! Most people had blisters. I had a sore throat from talking! Surprise!
Well, my cousin helped me get in shape vocally yet again, yesterday. I was on a speedy little walk trying to get more mileage in before returning home quickly to feed everyone and get them on their ways for different activities. In the middle of the walk my cousin called. I can't pass up a call from one of my favorite cousins! No way! So I answered the phone and try as she did to get off the phone several times so I could concentrate my walk, and lets be honest, so she could get back to what she was doing, I just kept proving I could still do both. Just like in high school when I could talk through a race and still place in the event! I don't believe there's anyone who knows me who would have questioned this skill of mine. But just in case. Never fear. I can still walk and talk w/ the best of them.
So if you're working out and it hurts. Good. Eventually it will hurt less. Then you will work out harder and before you know it, perhaps you, too, will be training to enter the new Olympic Sport I am going to recommend called "Talking through a Run!" Train hard, because I'm going for Gold, baby!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A Most Unconventional Workout . . . Cleaning up Dog Poop
You heard me right. Yesterday my workout came in a most unusual package. I had planned to go out for a walk, but that plan got botched when I realized we needed an early dinner due to an early evening meeting for Scott. Seeing there was not enough time to go out for a walk yet still wanting to get Lilly and I outside for a bit, I decided we would go outside to try out a new present Scott brought home for the family, a pooper scooper. A very nice one I might add. Yep. My workout was scooping poop.
If you say this isn't a workout, you're wrong. You've obviously not seen a spring thaw after a winter w/ lots of snow on the ground. I don't know what I thought was happening out there. Perhaps on some level I thought the snow was causing the dog waste to disintegrate into the ground and would be gone by spring. Well, just in case you're unaware and have a dog and the snow hasn't melted yet, that is not what happens. I deserve some kind of break for my confused thinking because for the last 8 years dog waste has simply dried out and gone away. Not the case here. Apparently what happens is it is kept on ice until the big thaw so we don't have to miss out on the clean up job. But enough about that and more about the workout.
Lilly and I both felt the need to get outside and breath in the fresh air and so I decided it was a good time to be the first one to use the new deluxe pooper scooper. It's so deluxe for half a second I thought maybe I could be the new neighborhood Pet Valet. In Westerville, Ohio we had a man called the Pet Valet, a retired man who used to come once a week and scoop our dog poop for money. No worries, early into the job that thought passed, for I preferred paying the Pet Valet much more than being the Pet Valet. But alas, I'm a stay at home mom now so I will continue to do this job myself.
This job took a half hour, involved a lot of lifting (arms) and going back and forth to the trash can (endurance training), jumping out of the way of flying poop when I flung too hard (aerobic) and yelling Lilly "don't walk in the dog poop", much like a mom saying "don't touch anything!" in the public restroom (vocal strengthening). So it may be unconventional. It may be slighty unusual. And it may not be my favorite type of workout. But I assure you, it was a workout.
If you say this isn't a workout, you're wrong. You've obviously not seen a spring thaw after a winter w/ lots of snow on the ground. I don't know what I thought was happening out there. Perhaps on some level I thought the snow was causing the dog waste to disintegrate into the ground and would be gone by spring. Well, just in case you're unaware and have a dog and the snow hasn't melted yet, that is not what happens. I deserve some kind of break for my confused thinking because for the last 8 years dog waste has simply dried out and gone away. Not the case here. Apparently what happens is it is kept on ice until the big thaw so we don't have to miss out on the clean up job. But enough about that and more about the workout.
Lilly and I both felt the need to get outside and breath in the fresh air and so I decided it was a good time to be the first one to use the new deluxe pooper scooper. It's so deluxe for half a second I thought maybe I could be the new neighborhood Pet Valet. In Westerville, Ohio we had a man called the Pet Valet, a retired man who used to come once a week and scoop our dog poop for money. No worries, early into the job that thought passed, for I preferred paying the Pet Valet much more than being the Pet Valet. But alas, I'm a stay at home mom now so I will continue to do this job myself.
This job took a half hour, involved a lot of lifting (arms) and going back and forth to the trash can (endurance training), jumping out of the way of flying poop when I flung too hard (aerobic) and yelling Lilly "don't walk in the dog poop", much like a mom saying "don't touch anything!" in the public restroom (vocal strengthening). So it may be unconventional. It may be slighty unusual. And it may not be my favorite type of workout. But I assure you, it was a workout.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Introducing the Family to Healthy Baking
I like to bake. Truly prefer it to cooking, so I decided last night I needed a snack. And I wanted it to be one the kids might enjoy. You see I'm all about eating better, not keeping yourself from completely banning all sweets. I think moderation is key and using healthy ingredients is a definite bonus.
After consulting w/ Josh on what I should bake he agreed to try Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins. I had all the ingredients right down to the fresh blueberries. And I'd been waiting to try out the whole wheat flour I'd added to my baking supplies last month. So Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins it was. My kids all eat whole wheat bread. In fact they prefer it. This summer while staying with friends one of my friends picked up some white Wonder Bread for my kids. My kids could care less about this wonder surprise. It was I who grew up on white bread. So I'm the one who enjoyed eating grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches one after another on this bread. But my kids, they actually prefer 100% whole wheat bread as it's all they've ever really known at our house. It's generally all I keep in the house. This said, surely they'd enjoy whole wheat muffins, right?!
Now I did noticed one of the recipes did not call for sugar at all. I knew this was a leap not even I would do well with much less my kids, so I went w/ the recipe that called for a half cup of sugar. Still not overly sweet, but just enough. Or so I thought.
I happily brought the warm batch of muffins from the oven. In not waiting to try one I burnt my mouth on steaming blueberries but did not care. By the way, on a side note, why is a berry so delicious fresh, yet so tasteless in a muffin. I know if I bought the sugared up canned version it would be sweet, but alone when baked it seems to me like all sweetness is baked right out. Just a comment.
Anyway, I brought my warm yummy muffins out and offered one to Josh. He took a bite instantly making a face saying they had no taste. Now, Josh and I have always had a conflict on what is and what is not sweet enough. I love fresh whipped whipping cream even if it has no sugar at all or very little. I love scones, which Josh refers to as "tasteless hockey pucks." So his reaction and my new favorite Josh quote should not have surprised me "these taste like scones had a baby w/ a bag of flour," he ranted. I even begged him to try them w/ butter to no avail. Keeping in mind, however, I don't think a good muffin even needs butter. But I was desperate for approval! At least he tried them. Perhaps one day he'll agree less is more in the baking department. And then again, perhaps I'll always get the whole batch to myself.
Scott does not eat much in the bread department at all, so he didn't try them, but rather just laughed at the adventures of Josh trying them. Jesse would never even try something like this at all, so he passed. Lilly eagerly tried one. Handed it over after spitting a blueberry in my hand. Then tried another. And then handed that one over. Both she, Jesse and Josh finally decided on ice cream.
Perhaps this won't encourage you to try them, but I say "give them a chance." In spite of my kids' reactions. I personally not only love them, but love them even more today. It's like they taste sweeter after sitting over night. I have no idea if they are or not as noted above I'm not a fan of the overly sweet.
At any rate, I'm basking in another sweetness today. The whole batch is mine to enjoy over the next several days. I hope you'll give them a try. Maybe you'll like them!
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. white flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. chopped nuts
1 c. blueberries, frozen or fresh
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat egg; stir in oil and milk. Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan. (Grease bottoms of muffin pans if cupcake paper isn't used.)
Enjoy!
Monday, March 8, 2010
What's getting in the way of your Freedom?
So today I want to get a little serious on you. Yes, even I can be serious. This weekend I've been deep in thought over some issues that hold us all back and so I'm going to take this time and share.
Before I talk about this, I want to clear up some confusion. Do you know the difference between being a "Believer in Jesus" and being someone who makes Him "Lord of your life?" People in their Christianese language talk about this all the time, but often don't explain it. Being a Believer means you perhaps believe Jesus does in fact exist. You Believe He is the Savior of the World. However, making Him Lord of your life takes it a very important step further. When people use terms like "Born Again." What they are referring to put simply is they have declared they have died to self, praying they want to lay down their life, and want to be born again in Jesus. An example prayer might go something like this:
"Lord, Jesus, I confess on my own I am a sinner. Today I want to lay those sins down at the foot of your cross and die to self. I ask for your forgiveness of my sins and thank you for dying on the cross as punishment for them. In it's place I want to give my whole life to You and to let You take the lead, continually leading me from sin and closer to You, Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
Now you can do this all by yourself if you've not done it before. But I would encourage you to do it w/ a friend. Another believer, who will pray with you and encourage you to continue on this journey that is only beginning. I promise you my friend, it's a great journey. It doesn't mean you'll never have another mountain to climb, but it does mean you'll never ever go it alone again.
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 New International Version of the Bible (NIV)
My whole life I believed in Jesus as my Savior. I never doubted His existance. But it wasn't until about 11 years ago that I gave Him my whole life. Turned it all over to Him. And oh, what freedom that has brought. If you're a skeptic. I'm ok w/ that, humor me and read on as I talk of the freedom this brings and how this has to do w/ getting in shape and taking better care of yourself.
I want to share with you what got me thinking a great deal this weekend. It started w/ a friend sharing her testimony with me. While she was a faithful follower of the Lord, like all of us in one way or another, she continued to have to fight sin in her life. My favorite part of her testimony is that she can see how God never stopped pursuing her. Why you ask? Because He loves us. Sins and all. He doesn't request come to Him clean. He requests come to Me and I'll clean you up. He desires us to come to Him as we are and He'll take us from there.
I thought hard on the idea of Jesus pursuing me sins and all. When I was in my twenties I did everything on Julie terms. I was a good person on the worlds' terms. But I decided for myself that God was all about love and so He'd love me no matter what. True. But with a flaw. A big hurtful flaw. He did love me. But He loved me so much He wanted me to let go of the sin in my life. That sin that no matter how I tried to justified it was harmful to me. Yes, I could have a sleepover at my boyfriend's house. Yeah, I could hope to find real love w/ that boyfriend or a new one. But like most sinful behavior it always left me hurting more. And each time I'd sit in my hallway of my apartment crying out to the Lord. Saying something like, "I know you are walking with me, God. But I can't feel it right now. And if in fact you are taking this boyfriend from me because he's bad for me, then please take the feelings for him, too." Sure, I believed in the Lord. Still I did not let Him take the lead. Following a prayer like that whoever the boyfriend was would come back and I would go right back to searching for love in the wrong place. I'm not someone I would consider lived a very promiscuous life. In fact, I was loyal, way too loyal to bad boyfriends, but it was still wrong. More importantly it would never satisfy. Even when I found myself dating men who were actually very kind to me, I still found I idolized finding love in another person and it never worked for it never satisfied. In fact it wasn't until I completely gave my life to the Lord asking him to take the lead in my life that I did in fact find healthy love with Scott. Scott was someone who loved me, but loved Jesus first. My brother-in-law put it best in our wedding sermon when he said, "There are three persons in Scott & Julie's marriage. They choose to keep God in the middle." Let me tell you, the best of marriages are hard sometimes. The Lord is what keeps us loving even the days when we don't feel like being loving.
The freedom I found in making Jesus Lord of my life is so big. It helped me to see myself more through the Lord's eyes and less through my own. If you see yourself as unworthy. It's not surprising you might sabatoge your own attempts to take better care of yourself. I could write a whole blog on feeling unworthy. But I promise you holding onto your own view of yourself will only continue to sabatoge your geting in shape. You won't feel worthy and that saddens me for I promise you - you are worth it!
This is just a little bit of my discussion on how I found freedom as I feel it would do it an injustice to share it all in one blog, but I want you to know. This is simply one example of giving up the world and it's sinful ways to make life simplier and in turn to start to feel better about yourself. Its a start to bringing freedom from Bondage of the past. Not having that freedom can cause all kinds of roadblocks in your life.
Is Jesus Lord of your Life? If he's not and you want to talk w/ me about it, I would love to talk w/ you. I would love to pray with you.
My friend always felt God pursuing her. I'm not sure I was as aware of His pursuit while going through it, but I can look back now and see He was always there. There in that hallway when I desired to cling to Him when I felt hurt. For years He pursued me. He's pursuing you, too. Give Him your Life. He loves you so much.
Before I talk about this, I want to clear up some confusion. Do you know the difference between being a "Believer in Jesus" and being someone who makes Him "Lord of your life?" People in their Christianese language talk about this all the time, but often don't explain it. Being a Believer means you perhaps believe Jesus does in fact exist. You Believe He is the Savior of the World. However, making Him Lord of your life takes it a very important step further. When people use terms like "Born Again." What they are referring to put simply is they have declared they have died to self, praying they want to lay down their life, and want to be born again in Jesus. An example prayer might go something like this:
"Lord, Jesus, I confess on my own I am a sinner. Today I want to lay those sins down at the foot of your cross and die to self. I ask for your forgiveness of my sins and thank you for dying on the cross as punishment for them. In it's place I want to give my whole life to You and to let You take the lead, continually leading me from sin and closer to You, Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen."
Now you can do this all by yourself if you've not done it before. But I would encourage you to do it w/ a friend. Another believer, who will pray with you and encourage you to continue on this journey that is only beginning. I promise you my friend, it's a great journey. It doesn't mean you'll never have another mountain to climb, but it does mean you'll never ever go it alone again.
33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 New International Version of the Bible (NIV)
My whole life I believed in Jesus as my Savior. I never doubted His existance. But it wasn't until about 11 years ago that I gave Him my whole life. Turned it all over to Him. And oh, what freedom that has brought. If you're a skeptic. I'm ok w/ that, humor me and read on as I talk of the freedom this brings and how this has to do w/ getting in shape and taking better care of yourself.
I want to share with you what got me thinking a great deal this weekend. It started w/ a friend sharing her testimony with me. While she was a faithful follower of the Lord, like all of us in one way or another, she continued to have to fight sin in her life. My favorite part of her testimony is that she can see how God never stopped pursuing her. Why you ask? Because He loves us. Sins and all. He doesn't request come to Him clean. He requests come to Me and I'll clean you up. He desires us to come to Him as we are and He'll take us from there.
I thought hard on the idea of Jesus pursuing me sins and all. When I was in my twenties I did everything on Julie terms. I was a good person on the worlds' terms. But I decided for myself that God was all about love and so He'd love me no matter what. True. But with a flaw. A big hurtful flaw. He did love me. But He loved me so much He wanted me to let go of the sin in my life. That sin that no matter how I tried to justified it was harmful to me. Yes, I could have a sleepover at my boyfriend's house. Yeah, I could hope to find real love w/ that boyfriend or a new one. But like most sinful behavior it always left me hurting more. And each time I'd sit in my hallway of my apartment crying out to the Lord. Saying something like, "I know you are walking with me, God. But I can't feel it right now. And if in fact you are taking this boyfriend from me because he's bad for me, then please take the feelings for him, too." Sure, I believed in the Lord. Still I did not let Him take the lead. Following a prayer like that whoever the boyfriend was would come back and I would go right back to searching for love in the wrong place. I'm not someone I would consider lived a very promiscuous life. In fact, I was loyal, way too loyal to bad boyfriends, but it was still wrong. More importantly it would never satisfy. Even when I found myself dating men who were actually very kind to me, I still found I idolized finding love in another person and it never worked for it never satisfied. In fact it wasn't until I completely gave my life to the Lord asking him to take the lead in my life that I did in fact find healthy love with Scott. Scott was someone who loved me, but loved Jesus first. My brother-in-law put it best in our wedding sermon when he said, "There are three persons in Scott & Julie's marriage. They choose to keep God in the middle." Let me tell you, the best of marriages are hard sometimes. The Lord is what keeps us loving even the days when we don't feel like being loving.
The freedom I found in making Jesus Lord of my life is so big. It helped me to see myself more through the Lord's eyes and less through my own. If you see yourself as unworthy. It's not surprising you might sabatoge your own attempts to take better care of yourself. I could write a whole blog on feeling unworthy. But I promise you holding onto your own view of yourself will only continue to sabatoge your geting in shape. You won't feel worthy and that saddens me for I promise you - you are worth it!
This is just a little bit of my discussion on how I found freedom as I feel it would do it an injustice to share it all in one blog, but I want you to know. This is simply one example of giving up the world and it's sinful ways to make life simplier and in turn to start to feel better about yourself. Its a start to bringing freedom from Bondage of the past. Not having that freedom can cause all kinds of roadblocks in your life.
Is Jesus Lord of your Life? If he's not and you want to talk w/ me about it, I would love to talk w/ you. I would love to pray with you.
My friend always felt God pursuing her. I'm not sure I was as aware of His pursuit while going through it, but I can look back now and see He was always there. There in that hallway when I desired to cling to Him when I felt hurt. For years He pursued me. He's pursuing you, too. Give Him your Life. He loves you so much.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Frozen Blueberries . . . Who Knew?!
I'll tell you who knew. Lilly. How did she learn this you ask? By mistake. Or should I say Gramma Kay learned by mistake.
Many of you know Scott & I were in Florida recently. For 12 days to be exact. While we were away my mother, Gramma Kay or as Lilly refers to her, Gramma Candy, stayed w/ the three kids. Gramma Kay is very good to the kids. So good, she doesn't say "no." This came into play on one of her many trips to Super Walmart w/ Lilly.
In the produce aisle. Lilly, who likes to say "I wish I had a . . . ", said she wanted some blueberries. She convinced Gramma she liked blueberries. The fact that Gramma believes Lilly knows what's best is debatable. But that's a whole other issue and at least it was a fruit. Convinced though, Gramma bought Lilly the blueberries. As I've mentioned my frugality, this may never have occurred unless there was actually a sale had I been along. But I'm so glad the purchase did happened.
Turns out to Gramma's surprise, Lilly, who to my knowledge has never had a blueberry, did not like them and therefore would not eat them. Frustrated, my mother's friend had told her to freeze the blueberries so they didn't go bad. Happy mistakes!
One night when I first got home I opened the freezer and to my surprise I saw a frozen container of fresh bluberries. I thought to myself "What a great idea!" Yes, my thoughts were that happy. You see the only food that has ever satisfied me even close to my favorite food ice cream is the frozen grape. For years I'd heard, and surely you've heard it, too, "Try frozen grapes. They're a great snack." One day I finally tried them and I've been in love with the frozen grape ever since. Try them, if you like grapes. I promise they don't disappoint. They are especially nice if you get hot flashes as I do or you're experiencing hot weather. But back to the blueberry.
I grabbed the container of frozen blueberries, thinking my mother was a genius and sat down to enjoy them. Lilly soon saddled right up beside me and said, "I love these mommy" and began to share them with me. She then told me they were hers. In talking w/ my mother I learned the above story, so turns out true. They were Lilly's and she does in fact like them . . . when they're frozen, of course.
Last night the hot flash and a need for a snack took over, so I got out the frozen blueberries and sat happily eating them. One issue. The hot flashes last only a few minutes. However, winters up north last for months. Ultimately the frozen blueberry eating contest I had myself in ended in my being freezing. But take heart as I did. The dishwasher was nearby and it was on the drying phase. So just as I sometimes open the front door for a moment to cool off. I opened the dishwasher and leaned over it for a minute to warm up. My hair was a little disheveled afterwards, but I warmed up quickly. All better.
Try the frozen blueberry. No, wait, try the affordable frozen grape first. Then move to the blueberry. If you like fruit I promise you they don't disappoint, but if it's winter in your hometown. Make sure the dishwasher is running.
Many of you know Scott & I were in Florida recently. For 12 days to be exact. While we were away my mother, Gramma Kay or as Lilly refers to her, Gramma Candy, stayed w/ the three kids. Gramma Kay is very good to the kids. So good, she doesn't say "no." This came into play on one of her many trips to Super Walmart w/ Lilly.
In the produce aisle. Lilly, who likes to say "I wish I had a . . . ", said she wanted some blueberries. She convinced Gramma she liked blueberries. The fact that Gramma believes Lilly knows what's best is debatable. But that's a whole other issue and at least it was a fruit. Convinced though, Gramma bought Lilly the blueberries. As I've mentioned my frugality, this may never have occurred unless there was actually a sale had I been along. But I'm so glad the purchase did happened.
Turns out to Gramma's surprise, Lilly, who to my knowledge has never had a blueberry, did not like them and therefore would not eat them. Frustrated, my mother's friend had told her to freeze the blueberries so they didn't go bad. Happy mistakes!
One night when I first got home I opened the freezer and to my surprise I saw a frozen container of fresh bluberries. I thought to myself "What a great idea!" Yes, my thoughts were that happy. You see the only food that has ever satisfied me even close to my favorite food ice cream is the frozen grape. For years I'd heard, and surely you've heard it, too, "Try frozen grapes. They're a great snack." One day I finally tried them and I've been in love with the frozen grape ever since. Try them, if you like grapes. I promise they don't disappoint. They are especially nice if you get hot flashes as I do or you're experiencing hot weather. But back to the blueberry.
I grabbed the container of frozen blueberries, thinking my mother was a genius and sat down to enjoy them. Lilly soon saddled right up beside me and said, "I love these mommy" and began to share them with me. She then told me they were hers. In talking w/ my mother I learned the above story, so turns out true. They were Lilly's and she does in fact like them . . . when they're frozen, of course.
Last night the hot flash and a need for a snack took over, so I got out the frozen blueberries and sat happily eating them. One issue. The hot flashes last only a few minutes. However, winters up north last for months. Ultimately the frozen blueberry eating contest I had myself in ended in my being freezing. But take heart as I did. The dishwasher was nearby and it was on the drying phase. So just as I sometimes open the front door for a moment to cool off. I opened the dishwasher and leaned over it for a minute to warm up. My hair was a little disheveled afterwards, but I warmed up quickly. All better.
Try the frozen blueberry. No, wait, try the affordable frozen grape first. Then move to the blueberry. If you like fruit I promise you they don't disappoint, but if it's winter in your hometown. Make sure the dishwasher is running.
Friday, March 5, 2010
I admit it . . . I'm a potluck guilt eater
Today I thought I'd share something that is way too near and dear to my heart. My friend once said "Life is too short to do something you don't want to do." Now make no mistake. This friend, who we'll call, Lynne, cause her name is Lynne, is a very kind friend. She does a lot for others all the time. But her statement is based on the fact that so often we do stuff we're not even called to do because we feel this certain obligation. Obligations nobody,not even God, put in our hearts.
I've always admired that in Lynne. My husband, Scott, has this ability to say no as well. What Lynne and Scott are capable of is decifering when enough is enough. I often go to Scott and say "ahhhh, I don't want to do this or that, but I don't know how to get out of it without hurting feelings." I spend hours sometimes on this guilt. He knows me well and therefore is very quick to point it out when he can see the guilt shining through. He's also quick to point out that sometimes I feel that I'll hurt someone's feelings when in fact they might not even truly care.
That got me in a lot of trouble in Grand Cayman. I found Jamaican people as a whole were much more forward in asking for things than Americans. This isn't to make fun of the Jamaican way. On the contrary, in some ways I would prefer to be more like this. Jamaican people will say things like "I'm going to borrow your computer for the night." Yes, that actually happened to us. While the American often will say, "um, ok," and they say it uncomfortably I might add which goes completely over the Jamaican head. Next we say to our friends, "can you believe he had the nerve to even ask." That would be me if you couldn't read between the lines. Scott often would say "well, if you didn't want to lend out your computer than why would you say 'yes.'" Exasperated "Well, I don't want to hurt his feelings." Logical Scott, "Then you have no right to complain." True. Can you say passive-aggressive w/ a big "P" and a big "A." Making me sometimes a big "P" in the "A." Sometimes this just comes to me. Call it a gift. ;)
The reality of this situation is when we did actually tell our Jamaican friend he could use the computer at our house, he said, "ok." He found another way and didn't use it at all, but he was fine with it. Not angry at all. Time and time again, my Jamaican housekeeper told me "Julie, if you want something done differently, just ask. I won't get mad." She was true to her word never taking it out on me, simply changing her way of doing whatever it was showing no bitterness. But it took me a long time to learn this and, in fact if I'm honest, I'm still learning it.
What does this have to do w/ food? What? Oh yeah, food. I'll tell you. I'm a guilt eater. I am very active in church activities. I'm also active w/ my kids and at family functions, etc. A lot of food comes out at these events. A lot of sweets and fattening foods. Yummy foods. But the truth is rarely do I want to taste them all. I simply feel like "oh, nobody tasted that yet. I don't want them to feel bad." Or "I'm sitting w/ her, I better try her dish." Guilt eating. When they might not even care. In fact, maybe their kids are home praying nobody eats the chocolate cake so they get all the leftovers.
My Mom is a love baker. She loves to bake and loves when you enjoy her food. But the truth is if I didn't eat her foods. She'd simply eat them herself or share them with someone else who would also enjoy them. The guilt is my problem. Not hers.
So a suggestion for you. Next time you go to a potluck dinner or a school function. Enjoy what you like. You can even compliment the other dish if you must. But you don't have to try it. If they really insist. Perhaps the problem is theirs. Another option if this is too big a first step is take a small bite and say you're cutting back. If they want to sabatoge your eating, again, this is their issue not yours. So be polite, but you don't have to eat it.
I'd say if they jumped off a bridge would you? But some of you may be smart alecks like I always was, answering, "Is everybody jumping? Because if everybody else is jumping off I want in, because who would be left!" But seriously folks. Make up your own mind and in love answer "no, thank you, even though it looks mighty fine."
I'm off to an All You Can Eat Pancake Dinner tonight. I'm trading my sausage for the fruit cup. Why you ask? Because, I am turning a corner and will not guilt eat and sausage is not my bag, baby. So I shall trade Scott for his fruit. Win-Win.
Happy Weekend all! Get out for a nice walk this weekend! And eat what you like, not what you feel you must.
I've always admired that in Lynne. My husband, Scott, has this ability to say no as well. What Lynne and Scott are capable of is decifering when enough is enough. I often go to Scott and say "ahhhh, I don't want to do this or that, but I don't know how to get out of it without hurting feelings." I spend hours sometimes on this guilt. He knows me well and therefore is very quick to point it out when he can see the guilt shining through. He's also quick to point out that sometimes I feel that I'll hurt someone's feelings when in fact they might not even truly care.
That got me in a lot of trouble in Grand Cayman. I found Jamaican people as a whole were much more forward in asking for things than Americans. This isn't to make fun of the Jamaican way. On the contrary, in some ways I would prefer to be more like this. Jamaican people will say things like "I'm going to borrow your computer for the night." Yes, that actually happened to us. While the American often will say, "um, ok," and they say it uncomfortably I might add which goes completely over the Jamaican head. Next we say to our friends, "can you believe he had the nerve to even ask." That would be me if you couldn't read between the lines. Scott often would say "well, if you didn't want to lend out your computer than why would you say 'yes.'" Exasperated "Well, I don't want to hurt his feelings." Logical Scott, "Then you have no right to complain." True. Can you say passive-aggressive w/ a big "P" and a big "A." Making me sometimes a big "P" in the "A." Sometimes this just comes to me. Call it a gift. ;)
The reality of this situation is when we did actually tell our Jamaican friend he could use the computer at our house, he said, "ok." He found another way and didn't use it at all, but he was fine with it. Not angry at all. Time and time again, my Jamaican housekeeper told me "Julie, if you want something done differently, just ask. I won't get mad." She was true to her word never taking it out on me, simply changing her way of doing whatever it was showing no bitterness. But it took me a long time to learn this and, in fact if I'm honest, I'm still learning it.
What does this have to do w/ food? What? Oh yeah, food. I'll tell you. I'm a guilt eater. I am very active in church activities. I'm also active w/ my kids and at family functions, etc. A lot of food comes out at these events. A lot of sweets and fattening foods. Yummy foods. But the truth is rarely do I want to taste them all. I simply feel like "oh, nobody tasted that yet. I don't want them to feel bad." Or "I'm sitting w/ her, I better try her dish." Guilt eating. When they might not even care. In fact, maybe their kids are home praying nobody eats the chocolate cake so they get all the leftovers.
My Mom is a love baker. She loves to bake and loves when you enjoy her food. But the truth is if I didn't eat her foods. She'd simply eat them herself or share them with someone else who would also enjoy them. The guilt is my problem. Not hers.
So a suggestion for you. Next time you go to a potluck dinner or a school function. Enjoy what you like. You can even compliment the other dish if you must. But you don't have to try it. If they really insist. Perhaps the problem is theirs. Another option if this is too big a first step is take a small bite and say you're cutting back. If they want to sabatoge your eating, again, this is their issue not yours. So be polite, but you don't have to eat it.
I'd say if they jumped off a bridge would you? But some of you may be smart alecks like I always was, answering, "Is everybody jumping? Because if everybody else is jumping off I want in, because who would be left!" But seriously folks. Make up your own mind and in love answer "no, thank you, even though it looks mighty fine."
I'm off to an All You Can Eat Pancake Dinner tonight. I'm trading my sausage for the fruit cup. Why you ask? Because, I am turning a corner and will not guilt eat and sausage is not my bag, baby. So I shall trade Scott for his fruit. Win-Win.
Happy Weekend all! Get out for a nice walk this weekend! And eat what you like, not what you feel you must.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
It always comes back to carrots
Just the other day I posted on facebook. "Carrots for for a snack . . . yum . . . do you hear the sarcasm from here." This got me 33 responses. Some cheering on the carrot. Others sharing other snack ideas not quite as healthy as the carrot.
I have a friend who eats baby carrots everyday as a mid-morning snack. She actually enjoys it. And she herself mentioned one of her friends eats them in place of chips. In places of chips! And they had two friends and so on and so on. And I get it, but it's never completely kept me from eating something I craved more. It's never completely sastified my hunger or my craving. It does keep me busy, so I'll give it points for that. But it never ever satisfies me like say, some homemade cookies might. I did, however, learn a tip the other day that helped. HUMMUS! Yes, someone suggested Hummus and I could hear the singing in my head! Hummus my new answer for making carrots fun yet keeping them healthy.
With the new hummus idea in mind I realized perhaps baby carrots are for me as well. I mean, it's not like when we were kids and had to actually cut the regular carrots up. No, with baby carrots on the market we can be lazy! All we must do is open the bag. And it helps that my little Lilly loves eating them. My little encourager. Surely I must be missing something great about them.
So the last two days as I determined, perhaps out of my cheapness not wanting to waste them, to give carrots a chance. So I've been eating my baby carrots, keeping hummus near by if I need it to rescue me. But I'm mighty proud to say, I've enjoyed them and they have in fact curbed my appetite. I am three days into eating better and the feelings that come along with doing something good for myself.
I left for church last night for our Wednesday night teaching feeling really good about my wise food choices and how little I had craved other snacks for the day. However,in my forgetfulness as we ran out the door, I left the bag out on a table in the living room. We came home to learn that one or both of our dogs is also watching their waistline. The bag of carrots Lilly and I had left on the table was destroyed. They didn't eat them all, but it seems they tasted and had a little gnaw on most of them. Perhaps going from carrot to carrot to see if the next one tasted better. Seems my dogs are skeptics as well. Perhaps next time I need to leave them a little hummus for dipping.
Give carrots and hummus a try. As I tell my kids. You might like them.
I have a friend who eats baby carrots everyday as a mid-morning snack. She actually enjoys it. And she herself mentioned one of her friends eats them in place of chips. In places of chips! And they had two friends and so on and so on. And I get it, but it's never completely kept me from eating something I craved more. It's never completely sastified my hunger or my craving. It does keep me busy, so I'll give it points for that. But it never ever satisfies me like say, some homemade cookies might. I did, however, learn a tip the other day that helped. HUMMUS! Yes, someone suggested Hummus and I could hear the singing in my head! Hummus my new answer for making carrots fun yet keeping them healthy.
With the new hummus idea in mind I realized perhaps baby carrots are for me as well. I mean, it's not like when we were kids and had to actually cut the regular carrots up. No, with baby carrots on the market we can be lazy! All we must do is open the bag. And it helps that my little Lilly loves eating them. My little encourager. Surely I must be missing something great about them.
So the last two days as I determined, perhaps out of my cheapness not wanting to waste them, to give carrots a chance. So I've been eating my baby carrots, keeping hummus near by if I need it to rescue me. But I'm mighty proud to say, I've enjoyed them and they have in fact curbed my appetite. I am three days into eating better and the feelings that come along with doing something good for myself.
I left for church last night for our Wednesday night teaching feeling really good about my wise food choices and how little I had craved other snacks for the day. However,in my forgetfulness as we ran out the door, I left the bag out on a table in the living room. We came home to learn that one or both of our dogs is also watching their waistline. The bag of carrots Lilly and I had left on the table was destroyed. They didn't eat them all, but it seems they tasted and had a little gnaw on most of them. Perhaps going from carrot to carrot to see if the next one tasted better. Seems my dogs are skeptics as well. Perhaps next time I need to leave them a little hummus for dipping.
Give carrots and hummus a try. As I tell my kids. You might like them.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Laughing my way Healthy!
Hi all,
This is the first of many posts to come meant to encourage those around me to commit to working to live healthier lives by eating better, working out and encouraging one another through prayer and sharing of ideas.
My goal is to help others embrace taking care of their God-given bodies better. I'm not a Dietician. I'm not an Aerobics Instructor. I'm just a girl getting in shape. Oh and one more thing - I promise you - if nothing else - you will laugh your butt off a long the way!
Thanks for following me on this journey. I pray it helps you, too!
Blessings,
Julie
13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out. - 1 Thessalonians 5:13-15 - The Message
This is the first of many posts to come meant to encourage those around me to commit to working to live healthier lives by eating better, working out and encouraging one another through prayer and sharing of ideas.
My goal is to help others embrace taking care of their God-given bodies better. I'm not a Dietician. I'm not an Aerobics Instructor. I'm just a girl getting in shape. Oh and one more thing - I promise you - if nothing else - you will laugh your butt off a long the way!
Thanks for following me on this journey. I pray it helps you, too!
Blessings,
Julie
13-15Get along among yourselves, each of you doing your part. Our counsel is that you warn the freeloaders to get a move on. Gently encourage the stragglers, and reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet. Be patient with each person, attentive to individual needs. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to bring it out. - 1 Thessalonians 5:13-15 - The Message
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