Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Growing Forward!

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined."
~Isaiah 9:2

"[The light of Christ] shines even in our darkest moments. And it is that light that calls us out and into better things: Love instead of Hate, Hope instead of Despair, Gratitude instead of Bitterness, Compassion instead of Judgment. I hope we all feel that light shining upon us, a light built into our very souls, and that we can find a way to share it with the world." ~Mara

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."
~Isaiah 43:18,19

"Those who become Christians become new persons.  They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone.  A new life has begun!"
~2 Corinthians 5:17

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
~Lamentations 3:22-24

"Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him."
~Hebrews 11:6

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
~Galatians 6:9


Today, I am thankful for new beginnings! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Better in God's Hands

Happy New Year's Eve!  I'm actually kinda tired, so I'm gonna take a mini-nap before meeting my friends for a fun dinner and party at Chet & Karli's!  But I wanted to round off the posts to be an even 70 for 2014, so here's one last nod to the past, then a pic of the cookiecake for tonight... cuteness!

"For a moment, all the world was right. How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye? And now, I'm glad I didn't know the way it all would end, the way it all would go. Our lives are better in God's hands. I could have missed the pain, but I'd have had to miss the dance!" ~The Dance, Garth Brooks 

(I change "left to chance" to "in God's hands," as that's much more true for me.) But I love the heart of this song and the idea that the beautiful parts of a relationship don't disappear just because the ending was painful. #eternalsunshine 

It makes me nostalgic and thankful. When I look back, I want to do so with discretion and gratitude, knowing that there was beauty and purpose in every season. But I want to spend far more time looking forward than back this coming year!! So cheers to that! ;)


"May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance!" ~Jude 1:2

Have a wonderful, hope-filled, happy New Year!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Building the New

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." ~Socrates

So true.  I'm in a good, restful place lately -- my word for 2014 has been light, and God has been faithful to lighten the emotional load I'd been carrying as well as shedding much-needed light on my future path!  I'm thankful and I'm hopeful.  I always love the hope and fresh start of a new year!!  

*This = my 1500th published blog post, but I've narrowed the past posts significantly to give myself the dignity of a totally fresh start here, laying aside things that trip me up or "easily entangle" me and moving forward!!  As the new year approaches, I am determined to focus more on building new habits than breaking old ones.  That will naturally follow as I put on my new nature in Christ and live the life He designed me to live! Get excited!

*Today (12-28-14) = the one year anniversary of our trip to pick up the world's cutest puppies!!

Finally, here's a group pic from our Sound of Music Sing-along Night on 12-21-2014!! =)  It was Chet's first time to see the movie, so that was exciting. And we really did sing along with all the songs, which was awesome... what a fantastic movie! And Maria is such a wonderful, strong character! 
(Same group from the Sam n' Ella's Road Trip... 8-9-2013!)

With each step, I am more certain
Everything will turn out fine!
I have confidence the world can all be mine!
They'll have to agree, I have confidence in me! ;)

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, friends!! ❤

Here are a few pics from our family Christmas festivities & a through-the-years 250-picture Christmas Flipagram slideshow that I LOVE...




















This year we had our Christmas Eve dinner at Cheddar's (so much better than Santa Fe) then did presents and pictures at the Parrishes (#alliteration lol). Christmas morning breakfast was at the Parrishes, then Dad and I saw Night at the Museum 3 at Warren Theater, then we had a big family dinner at the Peavler's (where Nancy had a "photo booth" of sorts set up)! =) I'm very thankful to say it's all been light and fun and good! And Rach gave me an unexpected and super thoughtful Christmas gift (creatively decorating and writing out 52 favorite memories, quotes, inside jokes, etc.) - I really love it! #thankful

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! ;)

Monday, December 22, 2014

Motivational Monday!


"There is nothing that you are presently doing that you did not have to learn... You can learn new ways of relating and functioning.  This is the essence of the personal power God wants you to have!" 
~Boundaries, Cloud & Townsend


"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble... God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns." 
~Psalm 46:1,5


"Whatever we don't value, we don't guard. When Christians begin to value getting well, recovering, and developing themselves into the image of God, a shift occurs.  They begin desiring a return on God's investment.  Taking care of themselves becomes more important."
(~Boundaries)


This doesn't really go with the motivation post, but here's a fantastic pic of my beautiful sister (#profilepicworthy) and handsome nephews, Carter and Triston, all ready for their CHA Christmas program! Love it!!
Merry almost Christmas - it's coming crazy soon!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Reflections, Recap, & Resolutions!!

Coming Soon:

Get excited!! I know I'm a little early with the year-end-style post this year, but that's okay!

REFLECTIONS - Top 10 Favorite Memories this Year:
  1. My 30th birthday brunch at Mon Ami Gabi in Vegas - great friends, great food, big day, favorite city! :) Followed by a random "pool time" hang out then a super-awesome double Bellagio fountain show (Whitney's Star Spangled Banner + Time to Say Goodbye)!!
  2. Being asked to take pictures and being there as Frankie held his newborn son, Diesel, for the first time... awesome!
  3. Five Guys + Pitch Perfect movie night - fun times all around, and the beginning of a new movie obsession for Chet! lol
  4. Mom and Dad's anniversary dinner at KD's - the fam + Bill and Jill is always lots of fun!
  5. Seeing T-man get baptized (by his dad!) at LifeChurch!
  6. Chet's birthday celebration - Sam n' Ella's road trip (meaningful discussion + tasty pizza + fun rowing video), then the ice cream bar and "judgment-free" night swimming at Gare-Bear's! lol
  7. Swimming at JoBug's - holding precious, happy Missy K and watching Josh and Chris throw the boys back and forth - they were all loving it! lol
  8. Captivating Retreat - the moment John Eldredge showed up to teach, being the first one Stasi came and introduced herself to, and my last morning quiet time (listening to worship music looking out at the Colorado mountains)!
  9. Andolini's Pizza + OneRepublic concert with JEM and Chettles... awesome food, friends, and concert... yet oddly, my favorite memory that night is sitting in the hallway with the boys - talking, laughing, and people watching! :)
  10. Tulsa State Fair night with the Fosters, Laura, and Channing - awesome fried food + really fascinating petting zoo!!
*Honorable Mention: Kyndal Faith's adorable 1st Birthday party! Talking to the Fosters (and them praying with/for me) after the Peace in the House craziness. MiMi's parking lot conversation with Tara Lynn (both feeling very refreshed and hopeful). The amazing and encouraging prayer night at the Wilsons'! Cupcakes at the Linnaeus Gardens with Kelly Marie. Jace and Chet's hilarious first meeting at Wes Welker's. And of course, TV time with the girlfranz (reclining couch + gray fluffy blanket + two puppies on my lap + Office reruns). =)

RECAP - My 2014 from Start to Finish in 2 Happy Songs:




Hooray for Flipagram, my favorite new app this year -- it makes it so easy to create these slideshows from any FB album + any song on your phone. Fun!


1SE (One Second Everyday app) Videos:
(This could be really awesome if I were better at remembering to take video - so many days, I forgot and had to video the puppies or use text instead. lol Oh, well. I think I'm giving up on this idea for 2015 and sticking with Flipagram. Also, there are two 1SE videos because I dropped and broke my phone about halfway through this year, but thankfully I was able to save "Part 1" on Youtube.) 
The pics and videos are all chronological. I will update this post and add everything through New Years' Eve when we cross that bridge! :)

RESOLUTIONS FOR 2015 (Amended Top Five):
  1. Pick one person each week to pray for and tangibly encourage in some way.
  2. Lose a grand total (counting this year's starting point) of 77 pounds by the end of the year.
  3. Write a book and send in a book proposal!
  4. Get eight hours of sleep most nights!
  5. Set one mini-goal at the beginning of each new month!
    *January's = Pray (speak it out loud) the Eldredge "Daily Prayer" every day of January.
MY "WORD" FOR 2015:
BALANCE

I doubt this needs explanation - my desire is for better balance in basically every category: Emotions, nutrition, managing my schedule, getting enough rest, relationships, blogging, etc. No extremes - just balance.

2015 VERSE:
May appear to be a cliche choice, but it feels fresh and real to me right now...
Forget the past and press ahead toward the call of God and His Kingdom... YES!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Food: A Love Story

Listening to the filler-filled Voice Finale, waiting for them to finally announce the winner... and decided I'd take this time to blog some fun quotes from Jim Gaffigan's book, which I finished earlier today!
I like Jim's comedy, and this title and cover pic made me laugh before ever opening the book, so deciding to buy it didn't take long. Maybe it's sad that I read a book about food from cover to cover, but I definitely laughed a lot and identified with it - #thestruggleisreal - so I'd say worth it! :) 

*I'll go ahead and acknowledge the irony up front that I'm writing this right after my Motivational Monday post and that I read this book right before I'm starting Reshaping it All by Candace Cameron Bure! lol Whatever, I'm full of randomness sometimes. The next book review will be inspiring - but this one will make you laugh! =)

Okay, now for the quotes (all funnier if you can imagine him saying it):

(Cover Flap) 

"Have you ever finished a meal that tasted horrible but not noticed until the last bite? ...Does the presence of green vegetables make you angry? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are pretty pathetic, but you are not alone... Food: A Love Story is an in-depth, thoroughly uninformed look at everything from health food to things that people actually enjoy eating."

Intro:

What are my qualifications to write this book? None, really. So why should you read it? Here’s why: I’m a little fat. …I wouldn’t trust them skinnies with food advice. When a thin person announces, “Here’s a great taco place,” I kind of shut down a little. How do they know it’s so great? From smelling the tacos? Overweight people have chosen food over ap­pearance. When a fat person talks about a great place to get a burger, I lean in. They know. …What other credentials do you need, really? Stop being a snob. Read the book already.

On always being full:
When I don’t want to eat something, I assume I’m sick and most likely dying. When the instructions on medication say, “Never take on an empty stomach,” I think, Not a concern of mine. I’m sure your mother told you not to go swimming until an hour after eating. This is a virtual impossibility for me. Technically, I should never go swimming.
 
On pre-dinner prayer:
My wife likes to pause before the meals with our kids and say grace. While I think this is a great opportunity for our children to learn to appreciate the gifts that God has given them, I view grace as kind of the “On your mark, get set…” and the “Amen” as the “Go!” I am pretty sure that’s the way God intended it.

On witnessing a stranger drinking a cup of gravy:
I love the rare moments when I’m truly surprised by American eating… Now, in full disclosure, I love gravy. Who doesn’t, really? But even in my most private moments with gravy, I’ve never contemplated taking a swig.

On seafood:
There is a reason why Red Lobster and the exterminators have the same image on their signs. Shellfish are bugs… there is not a nickel’s worth of difference between a lobster and a giant scorpion.

I don’t even understand how mankind started eating oysters. How hungry would you have to be to make that leap?
Man 1: Hey, I found a rock with a snot in it. I was thinking of eating it.
Man 2: Um, okay. Go ahead.
Man 1: (slurps up the oyster)
Man 2: What does it taste like?
Man 1: Pneumonia.

Now the octopus delights people as high-end cuisine. Eaten, of course, after carefully boiling the octopus properly to rid it of slime, smell, and residual ink. Yum!

On Healthy Eating:
I hate when I try to order a salad and my mouth says, “I’ll have a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese.” It’s like I have autocorrect in my mouth.

I go through different stages of healthy eating. First, it’s the “I’m only eating salads” phase. Then I’ll get to the “I’ve eaten salads for half a day straight – I should treat myself to a hamburger” phase. Finally, I get to the last phase, which I’m in right now, the “I don’t give a phase.” If you are like me, when you enter this last phase, you begin to justify things. Then all your food choices quickly become an endless stream of irrational rationalizations. “Well, I’ll allow myself to eat that because I had a salad a month ago. Well, I’ve earned that because I took out the garbage. Well, I’m starting my starvation diet tomorrow, so I really should have five hamburgers.”

Organic is probably the biggest scam of the century. For those of you unfamiliar with it, organic is a grocery term for “more expensive.” There are people who eat only organic food, and then there are people who don’t have tons of money to waste.

Supposedly, there are good fats and bad fats. I like to think of myself as a good fat. It helps my self-esteem when I look in the mirror.

Can we just settle down with the farmers’ market enthusiasm? Instead of going to a grocery store and getting everything I need, I can stand outside and buy some dirty vegetables on the street from absolute strangers who supposedly live on a farm…

It’s hard to eat healthy. It’s too expensive: Should I have this salad for twelve bucks or these five hamburgers for a dime?

On Fruit:
(Chapter titled “Nobody Really Likes Fruit” followed by “Even Fewer People Like Vegetables. lol)

Even when people seem excited to see fruit, they are really just relieved it’s not vegetables.

Once a friend excitedly asked me, “Why don’t we go apple picking?” Because I’d rather die. You have to pay to pick apples? “Okay, how  much do I owe you to work for you for free? Don’t rip me off. I’m no dummy.”

If honeydew melons disappeared from the planet, would anyone even notice?

At some point during the turn of the last century, it became acceptable for people to send cut fruit arranged like flowers. I’d like this to stop.

On Vegetables:
Think back to the last time you ate a vegetable. Did you WANT to eat the vegetable? Congrats on that healthy choice, but don’t confuse a healthy choice with a desire to eat a vegetable. I mean, I don’t want to be fat, but I want vegetables less.
 
Parents dishonestly announce how good vegetables are in front of young children, hoping that because of the young­sters’ absence of life experience and sheer stupidity, they will be tricked into liking them.

It’s staggering, the exertion that is put into making vegetables appealing. At their best, vegetables are the sidekicks. The opening band you didn’t come to see at the concert. The asparagus next to the steak. The expectation is that the entrée is so good you won’t notice that you are eating mutant blades of grass.

Probably what makes cooked bell peppers so special is that they can ruin the taste of any dish they are in. Green, red, yellow, or orange peppers—you can change the color, but when I see one, I prepare for dis­appointment. 

On vegetable trays:
Occasionally, raw, naked, unenhanced vegetables are shame­lessly presented as if they are actually desirable. A tray of veg­etables at a party almost makes me sad. The only thing that raw vegetables have ever been good for is the careers of hummus and ranch dressing… “Who is throwing this party? A nutritionist? Peter Rabbit? Is this a party or a Weight Watchers meeting?” You know they are just there for decora­tion. Who doesn’t want to look at pretty colors while scarf­ing down pigs in a blanket.

On eating salad:
To me, salad eaters never seemed happy. It’s a well-known fact that it’s impossible to have a good time when a salad is placed in front of you. Why would someone voluntarily eat lettuce? Possibly the most impressive thing about a salad is that you can eat tons and tons of it and never be satisfied. After I’ve eaten a salad, I always feel like I’ve earned something, like a meal, or at least maybe I’ve raised money to fight cancer. “I will finish this salad if you sponsor me for five dollars a leaf.” A salad for me takes so much effort. That’s why on the rare occasion I’ve had a salad as an entrée, I feel less like I’ve made a healthy choice and more that I’m being punished. Without a heavy dose of salad dressing, I feel like I’m eating a bag of yard work.

I have eaten salads. Whenever I get a steak, I always order a salad, thinking that will somehow balance it out. “Twenty pounds of meat, two leaves of lettuce. That should cover it.”

A salad bar just doesn’t make sense to me. There is virtually no difference between the germ levels of a salad bar and a kiddie pool. And why would someone want to make his or her own salad? To make matters more confusing, the salad bar usually only has small plates. “All-you-can-eat salad…off this drink coaster.”

My favorite type of salad has to be the taco salad… taco salad makes no effort to live up to the healthy perception of a salad. An edible, deep-fried bowl to hold a “salad” that is mostly cheese and meat.

Random funny-and-true one-liners:
Granola is considered healthy, and we know this mostly because it tastes like gravel.

Chopsticks are fun, but I’d rather eat than play Operation.

Nostalgia is the only thing keeping Peeps in circulation.

To me, ducks are a little too adorable to eat.

A cheeseburger a day keeps the feelings away.

Some people make fun of White Castle, and these people are called everyone.

In Wisconsin, they have deep-fried cheese curds, which taste like French fries and heaven had a baby.

The food served on Super Bowl Sunday is all handheld and makes the Thanksgiving meal look like a health shake.

I think we can all agree turkey bacon was a valiant but failed experiment. Some believe 70 percent of all disappointment we feel in life is from turkey bacon.

While many of us associate hot dogs only with happy times, there are the party poopers who get all caught up in the facts. Hot dogs are like strippers, really. Nobody wants to know the backstory.

I’ve come to the conclusion that hot dogs could be made up of just about anything and I’d still eat them. Well, anything but kale. I have some boundaries.

I don’t follow the logic sometimes presented to me: “Hey, you love food, so you must enjoy cooking.” I also enjoy sleeping, but that doesn’t mean I like making a bed.

I love going to the grocery store. For me it’s like going to an art museum of food I’ve eaten. Ah, the work of Frito-Lay... What a lovely exhibit.

On cheese:
When I’m lying in bed thinking about cheese, which is usually every night, I’m typically thinking about Cheddar cheese. When I say Cheddar, I’m talking about sharp Cheddar. I don’t understand why “mild” Cheddar even exists. It’s like the nonalcoholic beer of Cheddar.

On eating outside:
I know people love an outdoor barbecue, but to me it just means “Let’s make the food more accessible to insects.” I mean, I enjoy the wind blowing a plate of potato salad onto my shirt as much as the next guy… but eating, cooking, or even being outdoors just feels counterintuitive to me. There’s just too much standing.

On fast food:
I truly enjoy the societal outrage directed at McDonald’s: “McDonald’s food has no nutritional value! There are no vitamins!” I always imagine McDonald’s’ confused reaction to be “Um, excuse me? We sell burgers and fries. We never said we were a farmers’ market. Heck, our spokesman is a pedophile clown from the ‘70s. What do you want from us, America?”

Wendy’s Frosties, like the White Witch in Narnia, are dangerous. They are too thick to be a shake and served in a cup so that we can deny we are eating six scoops of melted ice cream.

It seems Taco Bell will do just about anything to get people into their restaurant, or more specifically, their room with a microwave in it. None of the food is cooked at Taco Bell. It’s reheated and assembled on-site. Taco Bell is fundamentally one step up from an office break room. For a while, there was a commercial actually promoting the “Taco Bell Diet,” which I’m pretty sure was constructed on the belief that once you eat Taco Bell, you won’t want to eat again. If you are going to Taco Bell for your diet, you have a bigger problem than your weight.

Arby’s is like the cousin of the other fast-food places, but it’s that weird cousin you never see, and when you do, you always think, Oh yeah, you exist.

When Sbarro recently announced that it was filing for sbankruptcy, I was sbad. I wasn’t sburprised, given that Sbarro is a pizza chain that doesn’t deliver pizza. That doesn’t seem sbmart.

On ketchup:
There really isn’t any condiment competition for ketchup. Mustard, the closest competition, is the Mets to ketchup’s Yankees. Mustard has its fans, but there really is no comparison.

What is with the single-serve size of those ketchup packets? I’m not saying I need a gallon of ketchup, but maybe enough for more than one fry. Tearing open twenty packets with my teeth, I end up looking like a heroin addict. Most often, fast-food places give you two or three packets, and if you go back up to ask for more, they make you feel like you are trying to score drugs.

Sometimes the packets will have printed on them “Not for resale.” I didn’t know this was an issue… were people looking at ketchup packets and thinking, eBay, here I come. Ca-ching! If you are in a position where you have to sell ketchup packets, I don’t know if anything written on the packet is going to hold you back.

On cake:
Cake is how life is celebrated. Birthdays, weddings, and retirements are honored with cake… Cake is a social food. It must be eaten with someone else or in a group. There is something profoundly sad about eating cake while you are all alone. Believe me, I do it all the time.

A helpful visual aid:

Chapter title: Breakfast: A Reason to Get Out of Bed

Every table in IHOP is equipped with its own caddy filled with an assortment of syrups. Each of the syrup containers is personally licked by a similar assortment of five-year-olds.

If you’ve never had the chance to visit a Waffle House, simply imagine a gas station bathroom that serves waffles. That sums up the atmosphere pretty well.

A heartfelt closing:

My advice to you, dear reader, is to eat well and eat frequently. Our time here is pretty short. It’s filled with disappointments and drama, and food can make it better… it’s important that you enjoy your life. That’s why a decent cheeseburger is always a good decision… I hope your worst eating experiences are behind you. May you enjoy only great meals, mostly with family and close friends. I hope your coffee is strong, your cheese is sharp, and your guacamole is chunky. 

Back cover:

Monday, December 15, 2014

Motivational Monday! :)

The Sweetheart Run 5k is exactly two weeks from yesterday (on Valentine's morning). So I'm starting the C25K 8-week app, and planning to run with the Runner's World beginners group as often as I can! An added side benefit of training for something is that I naturally want to make healthier food choices. So get excited! I know the new year is still a couple weeks away, but why wait? Today is a new beginning with a clean slate!!

Hearing this quote in the movie made me remember how much I loved it in the book. It's true on so many levels, especially with emotions and sin struggles!! 

A happy collage to remind myself that:
A) My size 10-12 goal is not the impossible dream!!
B) It may take a while to reach my overall goal, but looking and feeling much better is not that far away!
C) I looked better than I realized at the time all these pics were taken - so I want to appreciate and enjoy it more when I get there again!!
D) Yes, please to runners jackets, long-sleeved t-shirts, turtlenecks, and dark jeans!! :)


Sooooo true for me... the work would be worth it for the emotional benefits alone!


True story... wish me luck as I start training again!

Friday, December 12, 2014

12-12 Photo Friday!

Just FYI, tomorrow = 12-13-14, which is the last "sequential date" for the next 20 years (until 1-2-34)! I feel like I should do something fun to celebrate it!! lol We'll see. :)
(It was the last of the super cutesy dates that I'd imagined myself getting married, but there's always 7-7 or 7-17 of whatever year I might eventually get engaged.)

And today is 12-12, which is also fun. Here's a photo Friday collage from the 12-12-12 Lifegroup Christmas Party hosted by Mindi and I two years ago today!! =)

Also, here's a fun "day of the dozens" coupon for anyone craving Krispy Kreme today... plain glazed is kinda boring to me, but some might feel differently! :)
There has been a sad, sad drought in Hollywood lately - no movies worth seeing for the last several weekends, and still, I'm not very excited about anything this weekend either. Perhaps that's a good thing, as tonight = my last night of homework for a month!!! Which is fabulous and exciting! And another reason to celebrate tomorrow. =)