Thankful Thursday #122

"They sang with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD: “For He is good; His faithful love to Israel endures forever.” Then all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s house had been laid."  ~Ezra 3:11

Today, I am thankful for:

1.  Catching up with Sarah Elizabeth over a four-hour lunch at Chick-Fil-A last Wednesday... and randomly running into Chet Lee + Teresa and Michael and Baylee there!! ❤

 

2. Building and sticking with good habits through the first three months of 2021 (intermittent fasting, working out 6 days a week, daily meditation, etc.)

 

3.  My active, athletic niece and nephews... all represented on this awesome wall.  Mom put a lot of thought and time and effort (and $$) into making their rooms a really fun space for them, and they all turned out great!  (I made the trip down to help her with C&J's room on Monday this week.)

4. Best. invitation. ever. ❤  Miss K went inside as I was about to leave, then popped back out and ran to my car door to hand me this post-it and tell me to please come to her first grade class event in a few weeks.  There are times I just wanna scream at how cute she is, and this was one of them! lol

5. I'm thankful that vaccines are widely available now.  I went back and forth for a bit, but I'm glad I decided to get it in the end.  I fully support everyone having the right to choose whether or not it's right for them, and I understand both the strong reservations and the strong relief/excitement many people are feeling about it.  I'm on the "you do you" page - I will love and support you either way!

6.  Being able to choose between several uplifting Peloton instructors and ride to great music and fun coaching!  (This one was Alex's "2000s ride" with lots of Kanye, Usher, Justin Timberlake, P. Diddy, etc. - yes, please - the whole playlist reminded me of Rach's burned CD collection back in the day!)

7. Cultivating resilience and soul care!

Happy Thursday and Happy 1st day of April, friends!!  (Be on guard for April fools jokes today.)  Hope it's a delightful month ahead for you!

March 2021

 QUOTE OF THE MONTH:

"When you were raised to be a peace keeper, your roar may be muted.  Give yourself permission to reclaim your voice.  Silence and smiles are not your only options in the face of disrespect... As you heal, you no longer feel the need to rearrange yourself to make others comfortable." ❤

~Dr. Thema

MARCH GRATITUDE LIST

• Seeing the fam in Tulsa during Spring Break week
• More restful days and time off work than usual
  
• Fun belated birthday gifts from several friends
  
• Lunch or dinner chats with Elizabeth, Sarah, Kristin F., Tiffany, and the Wilsons and Shoemakers
  
• Getting my first dose of the COVID vaccine
• A precious invite from the Miss K to her class's Author's Tea event
• My first jury duty experience
  
• Watching March Madness games with Mom and Dad (I'm thankful to have that and other sports back this year - I care about that more than I would've thought)
  

What was life-draining this month?

• Attempting 75 Hard on my own and falling short pretty quickly 
• Feeling unseen, underappreciated, and unheard as I'm working on speaking up more often - it's a process changing my own internal dialogue and the way others perceive and treat me
  
• Navigating boundary issues
• Seeing people I love hurt by the ripple effects of selfish choices made by others

What was life-giving this month?

• Slow Flow yoga classes + Meditation (Peloton)
• Continuing the strength training calendar
• Finding the "75 Easy" group on Facebook and having much more success with that (a modified version of 75 Hard + community support)
• Every time I felt truly seen and appreciated
  
• Finally dealing with the oil stains on my driveway
• Getting my first hot stone massage since the pandemic began
  
• A cute new haircut (photo below)
  
• Collecting inspiring photos and quotes
  
• Crying my way through the final episode of WandaVision
  
• My entire Gratitude List above! ❤

HAPPY LISTS

I Read:  Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Amplified Bible)

I Listened To:  Two Audiobooks:  Getting Unstuck by Timothy Butler, Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, + the usual blogs and Facebook posts
The 10 podcasts mentioned in January!

I Watched:  Gilmore Girls, This Is Us, and Spotlight (a movie about corruption in the church that deserves its own post soon)

I Made:  Canva Design photos and quotes for my Board of Empowerment ❤

*This recap was inspired by Emily Freeman's The Next Right Thing Journal, and I'm writing one for each month of 2021!

Feeling Empowered

 Empowerment:  

• The process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights
• The state of being empowered:  the power, right, or authority to do something
• The capacity to take control of circumstances, exercise power, and achieve goals
• A process by which, individually and collectively, people are able to help themselves and others to maximize the quality of their lives
  
• The act of empowering someone or something:  the giving or delegation of power or authority

^^Yes, please, to all of the above!

I'm having so much fun collecting pictures and ideas for my "Empowerment board!"  Hopefully I can have them printed and put them up within the next couple weeks.  *I'm also thankful for the Canva design website where you can collage images and text and choose from several free templates and fonts.

Robin is my second-favorite Peloton instructor... she is fierce and fun and motivating.  She says this at the end of many of her classes, and I love every word!!! ❤

 

 

This verse is to help me stay on guard and remember the coming Kingdom... to remind me that I am redeemed and forgiven and a valued part of the Kingdom of Christ, where darkness no longer has any power over me!

Aditi is my favorite Peloton yoga instructor, and I love this quote by her!

This one may come across as arrogant, but it's meaningful for me, so I'm going with it.  I love the beginning of this poem by Lord Byron... the idea of being beautiful like a starry night and the line "all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes."  I LOVE that.  The dark seasons and hard parts of our lives give us more depth and substance and make us more beautiful... and it makes the Light inside us shine that much brighter (like the stars).  That's possibly my fav pic of myself, and one that will hopefully "inspire me" to go with the brighter lipstick and curl my hair more often! lol

 

Tunde is my fav Peloton instructor for arms toning... ouch!  I love her story, as well - she's been through a great deal of loss and grief, but she found the inner strength to push forward and focus on health and strength training, and she lost over 80 pounds and got a job training and empowering others at Peloton!  She says some version of this... "It's a great day to..." at the end of each of her classes. =)

It's possible that I went with the cursive script fonts too often. lol  Anyway, I love this quote by Robin - a reminder that when my soul needs healing, I need to keep moving and not get stuck feeling sorry for myself!

Jess Sims is powerful and encouraging, always reminding you that it's okay to modify ("No ego, amigo!") and to keep trying and pushing forward because "you can do hard things!!"  That's been a motto for me since Ashley Campbell posted about it a few years back.  It's so important to keep a growth mindset - the idea that we can continually try new things and learn and grow and change - and this simple quote helps me with that!

Of course T-Swift is going on the board. lol  There are a thousand lyrics I considered, but when I saw this quote, I decided to go with it instead.  I want to care for my heart and live a life characterized by LOVE, joy, hope, and fullness, with or without a spouse!

I've been getting into more of Alex's classes lately - I really love his mindset and his story and how thankful he is to be a Peloton coach.  He's intense about taking responsibility for yourself, and I love what he says about there won't always be someone to clap for you, so clap for yourself and validate your own greatness! lol  He'll just start clapping after a hard climb and encourage others to do the same -- "Validate that!  Yes!!"  And I do.

This is the end of my favorite quote from Stasi, along with a photo of me with her at the Captivating retreat in Colorado.  Full quote: "Christianity is not a promise to enjoy a life without pain, nor to be given a shortcut through it. It is a promise that pain, sorrow, sin – ours and others – will not swallow us, destroy us, define us, or have the final word. Jesus has won the victory. And in Him, so have we!”

Love Lily James and this live Cinderella movie. Love and adore the simplicity of this quote/motto. ❤

CODY RIGSBY!! lol  He's still the favorite mostly because he's FUN -- he keeps the classes entertaining with funny stories and ridiculous dancing and opinionated commentary on life and pop culture, and he's positive and encouraging in a way that's endearing rather than overboard to me!  He ends every class with "Bye, Boo!" which is how the #BooCrew got it's name and why everyone calls him "Boo."  He's also good at reminding us to be fierce, fun, flirty, fabulous, etc.  Anyway, I'm gonna cut this one and make it two separate pics, and I'll make at least one more with a longer quote by him. =)

Love this one too.  The ultimate goal for me is not hitting a certain number on the scale or reaching a certain dress size.  The day-by-day goal is pursuing strength and health in every area of life - being a person who is strong, healthy, secure, and confident, inside and out!!  Yes, please!  I've made great progress in shifting my old quick-fix, weight-centered, shame-based mentality here, and I'm super thankful for that!!

Dr. Chelsea Jackson Roberts is another yoga and meditation instructor that I love... yay, Peloton!  She ends every class with the phrase, "May peace be with you," and that feels encouraging and hopeful! ❤

Hannah is a great Barre instructor, and she has some fun country rides, including one with all Shania songs!  She says this a lot, and I like it!

My favorite Biblical blessing verses:

All my hashtags + me with my XOXO Cody t-shirt, Legends of Fun water bottle, and #BooCrew headband! lol

YESSSSS to this quote!!  I love Christine's mellow energy and encouragement and the way she gets into the music.  Her Pentatonix ride was amazing!

Emma Lovewell, the "Crush Your Core" instructor and the only one to offer several Disney music rides... so great!  Here's some excellent advice from her + her Live, Learn, Love well sign-off that always makes me smile!

Ally's Whitney Houston ride and arms toning classes were awesome! 🔥  She ends all her classes doing the peace sign followed by the T-Swift heart (right pic) saying, "Peace and love, Peloton!  I'm Ally Love." ❤

Finally, my verse for 2021.  A fantastic reminder that love casts out fear, and that God created me to be powerful, loving, and emotionally stable!! ❤

That's all I've got for you today.  A little preview of some of the quotes/pics on my board... most of it will be pictures, but I wanted a few of these phrases thrown in there too!

Hope you're having a lovely Tuesday and feeling strong and healthy and empowered! ❤

Beautiful, Beautiful Zion

I'm approximately 22 years late to this party, but how great is Lauryn Hill!?

You may know her as "Rita, diva with a 'tude" from Sister Act 2. lol  I was watching that when the Wilsons were here a couple weeks ago, and I was talking about how fun it was that both Lauryn Hill and the lead singer from City High were the lead vocalists for their 1993 high school choir in that movie.  When Chet asked who she was, I was a little shocked. lol

She's crazy talented and she won five Grammys in 1999, setting the award for the most Grammys by a female artist AND the first Album of the Year award to any hip hop artist (it was presented to her by Whitney Houston - fun).  She started her acceptance speech with "Thank you, God - thank you, Father!" and ended it with "Know that God is great, and He conquers all."

I've known and loved a few of her songs for years (Doo Wop (That Thing), Killing Me Softly, and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You).  All worth looking up!

 

 

 Thanks to two Peloton rides (Robin's 9-11-2020 ride where she tearfully announced her first pregnancy after years of trying + Tunde's 3-17-21 Ms. Lauryn Hill artist series ride - both great), I am now a big fan of the song "To Zion," written for her firstborn baby son (who is, of course, now a grown adult with a child of his own).

 

She had an unplanned pregnancy and was encouraged to terminate the pregnancy or give the baby up... but she turned to God instead.  She writes about that, about feeling angels telling her to pray, about feeling chosen to be his mom, about him being a reflection of God's grace, etc.   

 

"Whoa, this crazy circumstance

I knew his life deserved a chance

But everybody told me to be smart.

'Look at your career,' they said,

'Lauryn, baby, use your head.'

But instead, I chose to use my heart..."

 

When she hits the line, "Now the jooooooy of my woooorld is in Zion," it's so genuine and emotional -- I've listened several times and still can't get through it without tearing up.  Might be partly because of remembering Robin's joyful announcement during that song... so fantastic.

 

"See, I know that a gift so great

Is only one God could create,

And I'm reminded every time I see your face."   

 

Anyway, I really love it, so I decided to share that here.  Enjoy.

Song of the Week = To Zion by Lauryn Hill

 

  

 

 ❤❤❤

Celebrating Past, Present, and Future Victories!

Get excited - I finally got a fun display thing for my race medals:  

• 2009 Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa (November)
  
• 2010 OKC Memorial Relay Marathon Team (April)
  
• 2010 Route 66 Quarter Marathon (August)
• 2010 Route 66 Half (November)
• 2012 OKC Memorial Half (April)
• 2019 OKC Memorial Half (November)
  

 

 

Crazy that this little spot represents a decade of my life.  I want to add one more to have a grand total of 7 medals -- you can't stop on 6 -- so I need to complete one more big race (Half or Full - most likely Half) before my 40th birthday.  Then I'm probably done with long-distance running forever.   I can do the occasional 5K, but for the most part, I'll stick with Peloton!  The lower-impact cycling classes + strength training + walking + yoga is really a better combo for me all around!  But I'm excited to train for one more big race sometime in the next couple years!

I'm really proud of the progress I've made this year... both internally and externally.  It's March 20th and I've already hit 5,000 minutes with Peloton in 2021.  I'm enjoying the workouts, and that's an awesome shift.  Today is the 79th day of 2021, and I've been faithful with the 5-8 hour window intermittent fasting all but 3 of those days.  So yay for new habits and small changes that put me on a better trajectory and lead to great results!!  

 

Obviously, no one else will ever fully understand my journey or care as much as I do about my progress, so I want to step it up and be my own biggest cheerleader here - to create an atmosphere where I feel seen and motivated and empowered!  I'm honestly so over the idea of trying to motivate myself with anything negative or shame-based - that has never been effective for me.  I want to be kind to myself and focus on getting stronger in body, mind, and spirit!  I am worthy and ready and powerful.  I have the gift of some extra time since I am single, but that does not minimize or invalidate my accomplishments!  It's hard work, and it's a daily choice, and I give myself full credit for that. I'm excited about where I'm headed... I love who I am, I have tons of grace and compassion for who I've been and what I've learned through every stage of life, and I love who I'm becoming.  I've added in lots of strength training over the last couple months, and I can tell that my body composition is changing - I'm growing stronger and more confident and feisty!  Those extra workouts are also making me hungrier, and my eating habits have not been good... so I'm focusing on nutrition and following the WW plan as I move forward.  I've come such a long way in developing a healthier mindset around food and exercise and body image, and I want to stay on a good trajectory there!  

 

Someone posted this, and I thought it was good (for women and men).

I'm working on collecting pictures (I have over 250 so far) to redo the huge bulletin board and make it a Board of Empowerment... inspiring quotes and pictures of Peloton instructors (who feel like friends now), real life friends, family, celebrities, moments when I've felt powerful, places I love, etc. -- really anything that feels inspiring or encouraging or empowering to me!  I'm gonna LOVE it, I can already tell!!!

This delightful fountains pic will go somewhere near the center. lol

Along the lines of feeling empowered to keep changing for the better, here's a short post from 2016 that's just as relevant and encouraging today! ❤

“Changing ourselves and our habits is the most powerful tool we have to change the world... The most dangerous thing we can believe is that we do not have an impact. For better or for worse, we are all changing the world.”

“There is a profound difference between a weight loss plan I take on because I care about my body, because I want to feel good about myself, have more energy, and supercharge my creativity; and the weird crash-diets I’ve done because I look at myself in the mirror and can’t stand the sight of the reflection staring back. Setting goals from a place of self-hatred rather than self-love will rarely work… As you think about your goals and resolutions, ask yourself first: do I want that for myself because I love myself so much, or because I will hate myself until I achieve it?”

“Our only hope for creating real, lasting change in our lives is to change in the deepest parts of ourselves—our thought patterns and ideas about the world… We have to be willing to let go of the idea that getting the thing we want will change how we feel about ourselves. It won’t. Although changing how we feel about ourselves will, more often than not, help us get the thing we want.”

~Allison Fallon (Full post HERE)

I love Allison's gentle spirit and powerful writing, and I found her thoughts above very encouraging as I press toward new mindsets and healthy habits. It is 1,000% true that our motivation and heart toward ourselves matters when we set our goals.  Whatever your goals may be, I hope this is encouraging to you today, too!!

Spring Break 2021

Happy Saturday!  So I already filled you in on my jury service Monday and Tuesday.  I have since realized that I actually did know one of the defense attorneys -- a distant connection from years ago, but I totally didn't realize that at the time.  Oh, well.

Anyway, Judge went to Amarillo for Spring Break week, so I had some time off.  I slept in and had a lovely restful day on Wednesday, then the fam came to visit on Thursday -- well, Mom and Dad and the Parrish kids -- Rach was at work.  They came by my house for a minute, then we rode together to the Jenks Aquarium!  It was surprisingly crowded, and we had to wait in a long line outside in the crazy cold wind to get in, but all was well once we made it inside.  This turtle was probably my favorite thing we saw there. I like that he's kinda giving Carter the side-eye in this pic. lol

 

Carter and I trying on some hats in the gift shop! =)

The shark tank!  Jace so badly wanted to scuba dive in and meet the sharks for real. lol

I will only ever think of Steve Irwin when I see stingrays now.  Rest in peace. 

The Miss K was looking like a treat for this shark who headed right for her.  😬

Mamaw and Kyndal admiring the glittery piranhas.  They look so innocent and sparkly for having such sharp teeth!

Me and my turtle friend who waved for the camera. ;-)

 

 

Fun fact:  The Parrish kids had all been to this Aquarium before, but thanks to long-term memory not forming until you're a bit older, none of them really remembered it.  Tiny T&C came down with Rach and Josh way back in 2010... then J&K came with them in Spring of 2016. Here's the evidence. lol

Anyway, Kyndal and Carter and Jace rode the mechanical shark, which was pretty entertaining... then we grabbed lunch at The Brook South.  Yay, nachos and mac n' cheese!  We came back to get my car, then we stopped by the courthouse so they could see my workplace.  Oh, sooooo many questions about court cases - what's the funniest, the saddest, the most horrible, the scariest, etc.  Definitely didn't answer all of those fully.  Not for tiny, precious ears.

Showing them the courtroom and office was fun, though (and slightly stressful since Jace nearly pressed the panic button to call the Sheriff's Office). lol  Laura joined us and took this lovely family pic of us in the jury box! =)

Jace headed straight for the bench, and his very first question was, "Where's the banger thing!?"  (The gavel - fortunately, Judge doesn't keep one on the bench.)  Some other Jace questions included:  "Do people ever boo the Judge when he makes a ruling?" and "Do we get to go see the jail!?" and "Have you guys ever had a case with a spy from China!?"  His imagination fascinates me. lol

Dad and Miss K playing a game.

Judge Triston Michael

And Judge Carter Lee

A silly-face pic that only a few fully participated in. lol

 

 

The fam headed back home after the courthouse tour, and I went home and took a nap. lol

 

Friday night, I joined the Wilson fam for dinner... we got Pei Wei to go and ate at their house.  We got caught up on each other's lives and families over dinner, then we watched The Office (the episode that inspired these 3 fashionable purchases back in 2008 -- still funny and quotable!)

 

Tate tried to talk me into sitting on the floor with him, emphasizing how comfortable it was. lol  He's cute and feisty and entertaining and sweet!  Here he is with Baby Snowman and Kitty and Bun-Bun.  He also built a pretty awesome magnetic block tower, which I think he called a cake, and I support that kind of imaginative thinking! lol

Spring Break went by too fast, but today is the actual first official day of Spring - HAPPY SPRING, friends!!  I'm loving the longer daylight hours!  I went for a walk at Crescent Park this morning and it made me happy to see the trees starting to bloom.  If we could just avoid the tornadoes and bugs, I'd be such a fan of Springtime. lol

Hope you're having a great weekend! ❤