like getting my kids dressed, cleaning, reading my Bible, etc., but here I am nonetheless. I'm justr drained. I really think I am quite superb at keeping things in line and being balanced, but it's been quite chaotic this week. blah. Levi has been so sick and teething on top of all that. It's been awful. I've never had a baby require this much attention EVER and he's my 3rd! On tuesday I literally did NOTHING. We sat and cuddled with cartoons on, on the couch, for anhour and a half. then I rocked him for another hour while the girls played. He took a short nap and when he woke up he sat in my lap and we watched the bachelor. I really didn't want to go to Prayer Night after all that. I did WANT to go, but I didnt physically want to get dressed and look semi-human to go, BUT I did and I'm SO glad I did. I was around healthy people, who weren't screaming and demanding to be in my lap or on my hip and most importantly I got to spend time with the Lord and in fellowship with my church family and give the Lord all the things that are laying on my shoulders and heart. Sadly, I hate to admit it, but I am a work in process in learning to truly just give it to the Lord instead of trying to be on top of everything and not trusting Him. HELLO! It's GOD! HE CAN HANDLE IT! I don't know what my deal is :/
Today we are having our taxes done. Hopefully this lady will give me some tips on how to stay more organized throughout the year so I dont feel like a wreck on days like today.
The Shred is going fabulous. I have lost 3 lbs in 2.5 weeks. Slowly, but surely, which is fine by me. Amongst all the chaos I have still managed to squeeze in the 20 minute workout most days and I am religiously sticking to my calorie allowance. I definitely feel much better when I'm on a good workout schedule. And I've had less muffintop in my britches. woo!
Talked to Kathy from CHEPyesterday about getting all setup for homeschooling. She's mailing me a packet and we have orientation in April. I am VERY excited, so is Madison. I'm really excited for them to start all these new adventures! I'm learning more and more about the program and will probably have a whole blog dedicated to how we're going about homeschooling because there are many options out there and many people have questions. The girls are also starting dance this week as long they aren't sick tomorrow.
Our business has officially expanded to include pressure washing and blind/shutter cleaning. Can you say OVERWHELMING? Who knew so much went into sparaying down a place with water?!? We have to recalim the water, test the PH, pull out any gravel or like items, dump in appropriate places, etc. It's not the job itself, but just making sure we purchase all the right equipment to do the job efficiently. We need a truck or a work van. Definitely going to be praying about that.
The wedding this last weekend was an absolute blast. See more fb pics for details LOL
'nuff said.
That's about as thorough of an update that's happening right now. Hope everyone has a great day. As soon as my brain is less scattered, better blogging to come!
For the past 2 weeks I have been doing Jillian's 30-day shred. I have missed a couple days, but I have been extremely diligent with my calories. I actually have only lost one lb, but I can definitely feel a difference in the way things fit and the way I look. Very small differences, but I am not stopping until I reach my goal of at least 125ish. Last year I got down to 136 and it's crept back up slightly since then. Bummer, I know. BUT, I am extremely motivated and I am definitely making even more of a lifestyle change than I have in the past and not deterring from that. I am extremely motivated because a. summer is coming around. & b. I cannot confirm nor deny there may be a huge wedding for one of my favorite persons EVER coming up in the next 7 months that I'm not sure I'm at liberty to discuss, but I need to look fabulous nonetheless!
I've been in a cycle for a long time of losing weight, then gaining a small amount back, then I lose even more weight, then I gain a small amount back. I am definitely not pushing the 180 like I used to. Yes, you read correctly, 180. I liked dessert and coke when I was pregnant and not pregnant. What can I say? I actually gained alot in between babies 1 & 2 and then of course with 2 I gained even more. I was almost 190 the day I had her. OHMYGOODNESS! LOL
Anyway, I like sharing because many of us ladies share the same struggles, especially if you have had kids or even if you haven't. I'm not going to share my weight, like I normally do, but I am going to keep you posted on my slow journey from time to time. Maybe share new recipe's I try and so on. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!
Went out on Monday to get a dress for Pat's wedding and to spend my Nordstrom gift. Got the dress, didn't spend the gift card. I realllly wanted the new Pink Sperry's, but Matt Wandel confirmed that they did indeed look goofy on my feet, so I left them there.
Fast forward to Tuesday. I decided to hit the Nordstrom Rack in Chino. DUH! Why didn't I think of this before?? I find the most AMAZING treasures at the Rack. This time I happened to find ONE pair of tan Sperry's in the 64 racks of size 8 shoes (not exaggerating, ok maybe a tiny, but 8's definitely outnumbered all the other sizes put together). Call them old lady shoes if you must, but I love them.
And of course they were $20 cheaper bc were at the Rack! So yay, my gift card can now stretch to include a top as well! Woo! So I tried on quite a few, but the winner was this one, a cute knit buttonable (new word alert) vesty thing. If someone knows the correct term for this garment do share, otherwise, thats what were callin it!
There was one more shirt I loved, but they only had it in a large and I was swimming in it, but I HAD to have it. I was in LURVE! Since I believe in miracles, we went up to the checkout and asked if they had this shirt at another Rack. Then the heavens opened and the cashier said in her heavenly voice they had one in a small at the Ontario Mills Rack. HALLELUJAH! We hopped in the van, grabbed us some Chick-fil-a and headed to Ontario. At this point in the blog I'd like to thank my husband for driving all over Creation for this shirt I HAD TO HAVE. You are theeeeee BEST!! When we got there, the kids and husband went to the Rainforest Cafe to see all the goodies and I was on a mission! I found the shirt almost immediately!! YES! THEN, I found it in green as well, but I was good and only bought the one color I set out for. I cannot confirm nor deny I will go back for the other color at a later date... Here's the little beauty. May not be your cup of tea, but it's sooooo cute and flowing and will look awesome with leggings or skinny jeans and I heart the spring color!
I would love to take part in WIWW (what I wore Wednesday) LOVE her site and LOVE seeing your guys' concoctions of outfits, but I just dont think I'm diligent enough and I have a very similar 'mom' look most days that will not excite most people. We'll see.
In other news, our Van is almost paid off!! SOOOOOO looking forward to NO car payments!! Hopefully no later than the end of February. $2500 left! I have had a car payment since I was 17 and Josh has since he was 19. We've been able to make major strides last month and this month. Then we will slowly, but surely conquer the student loans. God has truly provided and blessed us in our business! January & February are typically the slowest months for us, but we've been blown away by the growth we've had this month and our customers that are ridiculously awesome and loyal. You all are AWESOME and so appreciated. Thank for all your prayers, too. We couldn't do any of what we've been able to do without the Lord keeping his hand on us and opening doors.
You really stink! Way to stoop to the level of the Chase's and B of A's, in my humble opinion. A $20 non-negotiable charge EVERY MONTH for having a business account?! HOGWASH! You've left us no choice, but to take our businesss elsewhere. I'm so disappointed that you, as a credit union, would start charging such an absurd fee. I have referred so many people to use your institution and I have taken advantage of many of your other services as well. I'm also not thrilled about your $5 a month charge for personal accounts, but at least that can be waived by using my debit card 5 times. Seems silly, but whatever. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because I have wanted to check out Perkstreet Financialthat Dave Ramsey is always talking about. They are going to pay ME for having an account. Sounds like a wayyyy better deal. Peace, business Altura!
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE worship music. And I loved that I just added a video to my blog. Go Me!
Philippians 1:23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far
So, are you ready for the Lord to come back? Do you want the Lord to come back right now? I know, it sounds like a strange question. But maybe you are like I used to be. "Lord, just WAIT til I can drive, I reallllyyyyy wanna drive." Then it was, "just let me get married, just let me nail down my soulmate then were good, all squared away!" Then it was, "Just let me have babies, lots of babies." And I'm sure I thought of things from there to keep the Lord's return at bay. BUT, I've changed my mind. It could definitely be slightly because I knocked out most of my prerequisites for the Lord's return...cuz he is totally on MY schedule, dontchaknow? lol Ok, but seriously I wanted to live an amazing life and the Lord return when I'm 90 something so I dont have to die, because death for some reason sounds terrifying to me. Not because of the actual dying part (although I'm not a huge fan of it), but the unknown and pain for my loved ones. Those thoughts are more than I can bear.
Ok, so I didn't mean for my blog to take Highway Dark & Twisty so we'll get back on track. My original point is that at the ripe old age of 25, I'm ready and I would be ecstatic for his return. And it's not because I hate my life or am miserable, I love*:*love*:*love my life. I love my husband, my babies, my family, my friends, my church family, our business. I love it alllllll! Everyday is a new opportunity, an adventure, a learning experience....it's NEVER boring or stagnant, I dont even understand the words or know the feeling of "I'm bored". I'm honestly just ready to meet my maker and spend eternity with those I love, praising my awesome King who saved me and all of mankind. To never have to go through the stress of seeing the raising of my kids all the way through, to have to see them suffer or experience pain in any way, shape or form, to never have to worry where they are late at night or what they are doing, well that just sounds AMAZING. I love my life and I know heaven is going to blow this life out of the water!
There are some "downsides", for lack of a better term, for the Lord's instantaneous return. I may not get see some of the earthly joys and triumphs of my pookies, but even that I know wont hold a candle to heaven. I guess the biggest drawback is that not all of our family and friends are saved. And even though we'll be in heaven and will feel no pain, they will feel horrific pain, darkness & loneliness. It will be their worst nightmare to the 10th power. Knowing that now gives me great sadness, but also spurs me on to be more bold in sharing Christ's love with others through the gospel message or however the Lord leads. Not always easy, tho. Many of the people you come across, unfortunately, have made very sure, vehement rejections of God's love, grace and forgiveness and chose their eternal destination. So many we know that were even brought up in truth, but over time the world won them over and the light goes out. It's heart breaking, but the Bible says in Matthew 12:30-32
"He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."
I'm going to go off on a tiny bit of a tangent and say that if you have walked away from the truth there is only one major reason why. It's not because you dont like rules or stopped "believing", there may be a handful of you that that was the case, but I believe all really boils down to is you lost sight of God's unfailing love for you. You didn't draw near to him in an intimate way so he could draw near to you. You didn't sit and really think about what he did on that cross for YOU. And me. He knows you, he formed you in your mother's womb, he knows how many hairs are on your head & the thoughts in your heart. The Guy KEEPS YOUR TEARS IN A JAR FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD. He love's you so so so so so much that he gives you the freedom to love him back or not. He's not going to make you, oh but if you do - Watch Out! Amazing things will start to happen and you will have his peace, love, grace, mercy, forgiveness. He's gonna be there for every joy & triumph, but also for every pain and struggle. You will NEVER be alone again. And when you fall madly in love with your Creator, you too, will be aching for the day you get to see him face2face and fall on your knees in worship and thank him for his Son and his love and forgiveness.
Romans 10:13 says "for he who calls on the name of Lord will be saved."
Call on Him, don't delay, because the Lord may not either. We do not know the day or the hour of his return or if we will even live another. And trust me, you dont want to live another second without him, anyway!
It is quite amazing how you're on your way in your happy day to go read your Bible and pray while the kids play at Chick-Fil-a. I'm sitting in the car and thinking about how awesome everything the Lord has made is and then BOOM!! Major Wrench thrown in my day. UGH. As Marlin in Finding Nemo said, "Good Feeling Gone." I have the hardest time not letting things like this really get me in a tizzy and ruin my day, but it's one of those things I have no control over at this point so I'm just going to deal. I'm going to go back to enjoying my day and forget it ever happened. I will just keep repeating to myself that I will NOT let it steal my JOY. So there :P
With that said, I have a lot to be joyful about. I am so in love with my husband. He's so handsome and he spoils me rotten every single day with love, compassion and always putting my needs above his own. He says things like, "I'm so glad I'm here in the mornings so you can sleep in." And when I do get up, the kitchen is immaculate because "I didn't want you to have to worry or stress about cleaning today." Seriously?? Who says that?? LOL He's the most amazing father to our kids. He never walks in and turns on the tv or does anything else to neglect spending time with them. He's always hands on and enjoys every second of it. If you've ever been around him for 2 seconds he is the BEST dad, hands down. Since we both come from broken families, we have that much more drive to stick together and make our marriage & family a priority and Josh definitely lives this out every single day. I just had to take a moment to brag and thank God for putting Josh in my life. We are such a perfect fit for each other and make an awesome team. Madison has begun telling us were gross when we kiss. hahahaha, I hope were "gross" til the day we die.
As far as the wrench thrown in my day, it's nothing compared to the life struggles others are going through. I follow the BLOG of a mom of 2 with a 3rd on the way who was married to an amazing man who just passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack at the age of 31. Here is a God-fearing woman forced to face life alone with 3 kids and I want to whine about my wrench. No way. I quickly reflected on the wrench vs. the nightmare Vee wakes up to every day and I made the choice to get over it and not let it ruin my day or get mad. When I read her blog, it really makes me put things in perspective. I know you hear it all the time friends, but don't take your loved ones for granted and recognize the blessing in your life. I'm preaching to myself, also. I put high priority on the least important things sometimes like cleaning and organizing [pish-posh] and let such petty things get my panties in a bunch and it's so not worth it. Sounds like a another resolution on the horizon: Keep thy undies from bunching and keep first things first.
I'm super stoked about getting going on my digital album for the Christmas season. I've already purchased the digital art I want, got my pictures organized and will begin the second after I hit 'Publish' on this post! Woo-hoo! Check out some of the new digital stuff Creative Memories has on my website. I am using the Very Merry and the Cheerful Winter additions in the StoryBook Creator 3.0 program! When I get some pages completed I will post them. Sidenote: ALL ALBUMS (including the digital albums), PAGES & PROTECTORS are 20% off in the month of January! Stock up! This is a fantastic Deal! Feel free to comment or email me if you have questions!
This year we'd like to pay off Josh's $50,000 in student loans. Seem crazy? I know! We may not succeed, but hey, what's the hurt in trying? Less debt? Sounds good to me! It's our only debt left with the exception of $3000 on our van, which will hopefully poof-be-gone this month. We'll see what doors the Lord opens to allow us to accomplish this.
Also, this year we are hoping to be FPU coordinators at our church. We're praying about it and meeting with Pastor Charlie and his wonderful wife Louise to discuss it tomorrow night. We love Lakeshore and look forward to diving in even more this year.
We definitely want to add more commercial accounts to our business this year. 2010 was a great year for our business and 2011 is off to a REALLY great start.
I want to lose those extra 15 lbs that NEVER seem to go away no matter how die hard I've been in the past. 15 seems like nothing, but also seems impossible. I know if I'm intentional I can do it. I've done it before and I can do it again! Of course, with fasting, I'm off to a good start LOL
It's so important to write out your goals.
The benefits to writing your goals down are threefold:
1. It forces you to clearly define what your goals are. It forces clarity.
2. It frees up room in your mind to take your thinking to the next level.
3. It incorporates all three learning techniques and stimulates creativity.
It's been said you are more than 80% more likely to achieve the goals you write down as opposed to the ones you don't. Welp, here are some big goals of ours! Feel free to hold us accountable!
going private. about 60% of the comments I receive to moderate are just mean and weird. I enjoy blogging and being candid. I honestly don't understand it. Who has the time to leave rude/strange comments with the intention of bringing someone down and then check back multiple times to see if they've read it?? It's foreign to me, but whatever. If I change the settings, it will be later on this week. I honestly hate to do that, but if it's not one person it's another. Some of the comments are so personal, it makes me suspect the people closest to me and that makes me feel uncomfortable and I'd rather avoid those feelings altogether. Get your email to me some how. comment/text/email/fb msg
