My Journey Part One

We all tend to judge things by successes and failures. But true success is measured by our failures. Let me explain. If someone never fails then that means they never tried. Don't be afraid to fail. A successful person isn't someone who has never failed. They are someone who NEVER GIVES UP!

You might be wondering WHAT "success" I want to talk to you about today. After all, I do run a successful kid care and preschool and have for MANY years. I've been married to the same wonderful man for over thirty-three years. I have given birth to four children and raised two of them to adulthood and the other two are about to embark on that journey, one in a year and the other in three. Those are all things a lot of people would count as successes. I know I do. But those aren't the ones I am here to talk about today.

Today is for a different type of success. One that is just as challenging and rewarding as the ones mentioned above. But this one is a personal journey that is just about ME. This is about my fitness success. Those who know me understand that when I say FITNESS I am talking about more than exercise. Fitness is exercise, diet, our mental fitness and our spiritual fitness. Sometimes those get off balanced and we have one on track but the others fall to the way side. Balance is important when it comes to fitness.

In order to tell you about where I am today on my fitness journey, I need to give you some background on where I started. I was born in the mid 60's. I was not a chubby child, in fact in some of my pictures I look kind of like a stick before hitting puberty. I was an extremely active little girl. I was always outside running around, riding my bike, climbing trees or playing on the swing set. In the summer I was ALWAYS at the public pool. My grandparents spent a lot of time on the golf course so I was doing that, too. I've looked back to try to figure out when that changed and why. It may have been because school got more involved and harder. It could be because I spent more time watching TV. It may have been because puberty changed my attitude and I just got lazy. We were required to do sports and PE in school instead of recess and that may have made it seem less "fun". I'm not sure what the commercials were back then but they COULD have been the beginning on the body image issues that plague us still today.

I grew up in a time that the new aerobic fade came around. Fitness Centers for women were popping up in the late 70's in our small city.. I don't know if women always worried about their weight or if it didn't matter as much because they worked hard around their homes to take care of their families and didn't have time to think about it. But I remember that my grandmother was unhappy with her size 14 clothes and struggled to lose any weight until she got in her mid 70's and 80's and the weight just wouldn't stay on her body. I was not a thin girl after I reached puberty but I wasn't really big, either. But I FELT like I was. It bothered me that I wasn't as small as I "thought" I should be. I can tell you right now that those thoughts were very harmful to my self worth and it has caused me many challenges over my lifetime. I don't remember if I had other people say things to me about weight or if I saw things in movies, TV shows or read it in books. But somewhere, somehow, I got the idea that I was FAT. But when I look back at pictures of myself during those years...I was NOT fat. I was NOT overweight. I was NOT unattractive. I have read my old diaries from my teen years and I was dieting and trying to lose weight ALL.THE.TIME. The more weight I put on the more diets I tried. I lived a yo-yo life with my weight.

My journey just got harder and more complicated as I got out of high school and got married followed by children. Check back for Part Two of the story.

Helping Transform Lives One Day At A Time

10 Tips for Living Fit in a Busy Life

My friend, Nicole O'Dell has written a wonderful blog post about 10 tips for Living Fit in a Busy Life. I don't know about you but my life IS SUPER BUSY! Most people I know would say their lives are busy. And that tends to get in the way of them doing the things for themselves. They don't realize that we could better serve in the areas we are called to, be it a wife, mom, friend, employee, etc. if we make that time for ourselves. I read her article and just couldn't help asking her if I could share it with you. So here you go....

By Nicole O'Dell @ Fit and Busy Life

10 Tips for Living Fit in a Busy Life.....

I’ll be the first to admit that living fit is difficult when you’re smack dab in the middle of a busy life. You already know how busy I am. I have five kids still at home, a full-time job, church activities, grad school, book writing, blah, blah, blah. All the day’s minutes? They are used up. Your story may be different than mine, but I’m sure you feel no less busy than I do. So how do we find time to make things like working out and eating healthy food possible?

I’ve learned by trial and error how to prioritize fitness in a way that doesn’t make me feel guilty or selfish, and so it doesn’t get pushed aside in the hustle. By making it work, I feel healthy and invigorated, which translates into more productivity and better moods throughout the day. Everybody wins!​..........

Follow this link to see the entire article. 

Helping transform lives one day at a time.

New Game Plan

The past couple of months have been crazy busy in almost every area of my life. It usually is but I'm talking really crazy busy. I've been working on my kid care business, doing my best to fill the open spots and the ones that will be opening this summer. I have 6 wonderful kids graduation from our school. That will leave a huge hole in our hearts as well as our income, unless I get them filled. I do special things for the kids that are graduating and I have been getting those things together. I was also working really hard with those 6 kids to make sure they finished up the reading lessons before the end of the year. I am proud to say that they can all read, plus one 4 year old that isn't graduating until next year. If you know of anyone looking for kid care or a good preschool, send them to my website. 

Last week, I started a challenge to drink 1 to 2 ounces of NingXia Red every day. That stuff is wonderful. It has helped me keep down the cravings for foods I shouldn't have an abundance of. I have more energy. I don't feel like I am ready to call it a day after lunch. I feel like I could just keep going and accomplish so much. It is so worth investing in it for all the benefits you get. If you are interested in that, just let me know. I love my YL and my NingXia Red!!! We have been using our oils and our household products like crazy and loving the lifestyle with less chemicals and a healthier us. If you want to read more about it, you can check out my fb page here. You will find lots of great articles plus links to find out more about the products and company. 

I have let some personal areas of my life go during the past several months and it is time to get back on track. I know from experience that when I am eating right, sleeping enough and working out my whole day goes smoother. Sunday afternoon my youngest daughter and I cleaned out the cabinets and fridge before heading to the store for groceries and supplies. We got a few items to help organize our kitchen better and lots of good foods to make. I really had no rhyme or reason to what I bought, other than I wanted only good foods in my home. My oldest daughter came over on Monday and helped me in an enormous way. She knows how to prep and precook foods and plan meals for the week. She does it all the time for her and her man. She is also MY Beach Body coach. 

Together with my younger daughter, we managed to prep, store and plan for every meal this week, including the meals we serve the kids. We portioned out salads for me for lunch and made a HUGE bowl of salad for my husband and teens to eat. We made a huge bowl of mixed fruit and portioned it out for me but left a huge amount for the family and preschoolers to eat during the week. Extra fruit was washed and bagged to be eaten by itself when we need a little something or don't want the mixed fruit. My hubby grilled chicken and burgers on Monday. I made a huge bowl of rice and mixed in green onions, carrots, green, red, yellow and orange peppers. Each day at lunch I take three cups (1 for my hubby and each teen) and reheat it with some olive oil in a skillet. Today I added some boneless pork chops that I sauteed with olive oil and spices to make a main dish with veggies included. Other options this week for the rice will be seasoned hamburger meat or grilled chicken. We made the salad dressing from scratch. It is a bit tangy so we might work on that or just use less. My lunch is the salad with two hard boiled eggs for the protein. I am staying away from a lot of grains right now. I am making our bread to keep us away from all the added ingredients and I may or may not have a small slice with dinner from time to time. But I am limiting myself to that amount IF I feel the need to have a slice. At least I know it is healthier than the things we used to purchase all the time.  

For snacks we have fruit or nuts, or a healthy granola. I started dinner around 5 before heading into the den for my Turbo Fire workout. Some options for dinner this week are baked salmon and asparagus, steak and new potatoes, skillet pizza, and spaghetti. Any leftovers are put in a container or a baggie and available to add to one of the other meals. At the end of the week we may decide to have a combo meal with everything we have left over so it doesn't go to waste. 

I will be doing my shopping on Saturdays and my food prep on Sundays late in the afternoon each week, when time allows for that. I am going to be flexible when needed. Depending on the time I make it to the store on Saturdays, we COULD grill the meat and some veggies on a Saturday afternoon and then I would prep it to put into meal plans on Sunday afternoon. 

 I set timers to go off on my phone all day long. I had a timer for each meal and snack, for the workout (I need to change the time because I really like working out earlier rather than later) and for cooking. It was GREAT! I stayed ON TRACK, I ate well and I got my workout in. I know for me, planning and prep is KEY. I HAVE to have that, always. Today, the first day of this plan, went off like clock-work. My family ate the food I put on their plates and seemed to enjoy it very much. 

If you are interested in learning more about meal planning or Shakeology or great workout videos, let me know! I would be happy to help you any way I can. If I don't have the answer to something, hang on, I will ask someone higher up and let you know. I am super excited about this journey to better health and I would love for you to join me. If you want to check out my fb page on fitness it is here. 

Now for a really cool surprise.....drum roll please...... 

I decided to become a Beach Body coach. I did it for several reasons. I know a great deal when I see it. I get 25% off my BB products by being a coach. Who wants to purchase full price on something they purchase every month? I sure don't. I don't have all the details yet, but when I do, I will fill you in. While you are waiting, why don't you check out my pages and let me know if you have any questions about anything. We have monthly online and in person YL parties to share more about different oils. There are monthly challenge groups for BB that keep you inspired and excited. 

My goals for the rest of this year are pretty simple. I will get into a size 8 jean/dress again. I will get back to running in fun races all year long, maybe one a month, maybe more in the cooler months and less in the really HOT months. I will become an expert at every Turbo Fire workout PLUS PiYo. I am looking forward to the NEW Cize workout that is coming in July!!! I can't wait to get my hands on that one. I know my younger daughter and I will have super fun with that because she is my dancer. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my update. I hope to share with you more often, as my life allows. I love the fact that it is full. When my teens are all grown, I don't think I will enjoy the quiet and I will miss them deeply. 

Changing my life one day at a time.

All or Nothing

I'm what you might call an all or nothing kind of person. I throw my whole self into what I am doing or I don't do it. That is really a big problem for me at times. I know this about myself and if I feel I can't put my all into it, I just won't start it. My life is full of many things and I have even MORE that I need to be doing.

I am a wife so I have a home to take care of and run. I am the mom to four children, three living at home right now. I homeschool my two youngest children, grades 5 and 7. I review books and other Christian products. I work in many ministries at my church on Wednesday nights. I work with my family at an apartment church on Sunday mornings AFTER we go to church and Sunday School. I love to sew and scrapbook. 

Right now there are MANY sewing and scrapbook projects that I am behind on. I KNOW I need to get busy and do a little each day or at least pick a day a week and work on one of them. But I am not good at doing that. Remember...I am an all or nothing kind of person. If I can't throw myself into it and work on it until I am done, I tend to avoid it. 

My main focus right now is my kids school. That takes a great deal of my time and mental energy. We spend a huge portion of each day during the week getting our lessons done. Some days we are busy in the afternoons with outside the house homeschool activities, like sports or a group get together. Once a month we have Friday off because of a group meeting and an outing to CiCi's Pizza with our group. On those weeks we combine our Friday work during the rest of the week so we don't get behind. We have done so well with that this year. I'm very proud of the kids and myself. After all, if I didn't stay on track they wouldn't either. I know that from past years. It was easy for me to let them have an extra day off if I felt lazy. I refuse to let myself do that this year. This is week 10 and we have stayed the course! 

The next main thing that consumes me is the running of our home. Making sure laundry gets done, meals are made and the kitchen cleaned up. I have to admit that on weekends I am lax in those areas. Monday's usually are filled with playing catch up. I am fortunate that I have my kids to help me. They are learning how to get household chores done so that when they are in a home of their own they will know what to do. As part of the meals for the family, I am cutting coupons and cutting back our expenses at the store. Partially because of necessity. We have to cut back because we have less to put towards it. We are trying to pay off debt so we need to put less towards food and more towards bills. We are not going without food even though we eat less fancy and eat out less. We are learning to make due and eat what we have at the time. 

So while I know I need to get my pictures in scrapbooks and out of containers and I need to get my fabric pieced into quilts for family members, I walk by it daily without touching it. My goal...always...to spend some time working on it each week, if not each day. Maybe I will find motivation to get to it soon. It is my hope.

Until next time...blessings to you!

What's My "Job"?

Do you ever ask yourself that question? As a stay-at-home mom who also runs a business out of my home I sometimes can get caught up in the worlds way of looking at things. I don't know how many other moms have that happen but I can't imagine that I am the only one.

In my quest to honor my husband one of the things that has been brought to my attention is the house and laundry. I know my husband feels proud and happy when the house is clean and organized so that he can find things when he is looking for them. So I have been praying for the desire to get things done and the energy to do so.

When we went to a marriage retreat last March I purchased a few books. There are always so many great books for help and encouragement with marriage, parenting and other great topics. The one I picked up today that I have been reading through in little bits is Celebrate Home, Encouragement and Tips for Stay-At-Home Parents. It talks about going from a job outside the home to the one in the home. And how it is a calling as well as a job. I agree with that, although sometimes I have forgotten that it was true. Shame on me.

Today I opened the book up to Chapter 5 Your Agenda: A Stay-At-Home Mom's Daily Duties", page 134. The title of the section was Cleaning House: Do I Really Have To? Boy did that catch my attention. Of course, I knew the answer was yes. She put some scripture verses in a section about doing the work but not liking it attitude. They really spoke to me. I would like to share them with you.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." Colossians 3:23

She mentions that it doesn't say "whatever you do that you really like to do." That is very true. I never looked at it like that before. Really makes you think about it.

"God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7

She mentions that we are "giving" continually as homemakers. Giving of our time, talents and energy. More than we care to think about, at times. As a mom we have committed to so many jobs and as people say "we wear so many hats". It can be very tiring. And sometimes we are not the least bit cheerful.

"Do everything without complaining or arguing." Philippians 2:14

She mentions that again it isn't "do just the fun things without grumbling or disputing." And that even though we try so hard to teach our children to do things we ask cheerfully we don't always set the best example. How many times do we gripe because of the chores we have to do, the laundry that has piled up or the lack of help with any and/or all of the chores that we have to do? I know I have been guilty many times.

So if I can give these things to the Lord and admit that I fall sadly short in this area and take the steps that the book says I should take to get a grip on it : Organize, create a workable plan and delegate, then I know that God will be faithful to bless my efforts.

It does talk about how we are to not sacrifice our time with our babies when they need rocking and read stories while they want to be read to. We need a healthy balance. We just need for things to be workable and orderly for us.

"Let everything be done in a fitting and orderly manner." 1 Corinthians 14:40

So even though I can't do things perfectly the Bible does encourage me to find a fitting and orderly way of doing things. So as my days go by I am going to work towards a goal of finding a way of doing things that will line up with what Scripture instructs me to do. I know I have so many goals but they all seem to point to one big goal that each of them lead to: Bringing glory to God and pointing all successes to Him and reasons for getting up each day. The Bible teaches that "God's mercies are new each day." So we can rely on that. If we mess up one day then we can start over and begin again. We are to forget what was yesterday and face a new day with hope. I need to remind myself of that so often at times.

I hope that by my sharing what I have learned and am learning that it has encouraged someone else to keep their chin up and their eyes on Jesus. He is the only One that can give you the hope for each new day. Being a homemaker is a very important "job". One that the world has decided is beneath us and not worth our time. That is one of Satan's lies. Don't believe him. Chose to believe God's Words to us instead. They hold the key to true peace and happiness.

Until next time...blessings to you.

Spiritual Warfare

Just when you start to grow, Satan begins his attack. When you are ready to grow in your relationship with the Lord and/or the relationships that the Lord says are important to maintain, he starts throwing things at you to get you off track. We each have a choice to make at that point...let him stop you in your tracks or... tell him to leave you alone and put your focus back where it was before. How do I know this? Because I have lived it many times and am living it now.   As a lot of you know, there is a 30 Day Challenge to Honor You Husbands that I am a part of. I am trying to stay focused on that challenge and Satan is throwing all sorts of things my way. I have not slept well for the last few days. I think I am feeling the pressure of our trip coming up so soon and not having anything ready yet. Nick, who has been doing so good for so long had a small but bad meltdown yesterday. That really made me feel depressed for most of today. Satan has done a job on me in that area for many years and he knew that would bring me down faster than anything else would. He was right. It tore me down. The meltdown wasn't very big and didn't last very long but it made me feel as if the whole world had come down on top of me. The weight was enormous. I have tried to push those feelings away all day but some kept lingering. I think I had to have the chance to get on here and put my feelings down so that I could let it go and move on. My day has been so busy with kids that I have not had a chance to do this.

So now that the kids are in bed and all the daycare kids are gone, I can sit down and spend some quiet time praying and reading encouraging words to build me back up to where God wants me to be. I have spent so many years, yes years, letting his meltdowns bring me down. I could be postitive about anything else and look at the bright side of things. But not that. I just couldn't see past the pain I felt. For years I have heard and believed, except for this situation, that "God doesn't give you more than you and He can handle together". I felt like it was a lie in this situation. I would shout to Him that I couldn't take anymore. That He was wrong if He thought I could handle it. The problem was that I was trying to handle it on my own. I kept taking it back and trying, like most moms, to "fix things". But I can't fix this. I can only give it to the Lord and leave it in His hands and be comforted in knowing that He does want the best for His children and does not want us to suffer for nothing.

I know these things and have for many years. But sometimes we have to be reminded of what we know. God is growing me in this and someday I know I will be able to offer some kind of support for someone else that has had to go through things like it. If I come away from all this learning nothing then it was for naught. I do not want that. Of course, no mother wants her children to suffer for any reason. I am no exception to that. I have watched my son suffer for many years now and feel the pain because of it.

I am looking forward to seeing him happy more than sad for a change. He has actually been pretty happy the last few weeks. I pray that returns for our vacation so we can build some good and happy memories for all of us.

Until next time...blessings to you.