Workout Tuesday pm, Wednesday, and Thursday

On Tuesday I took another walk after Little Britches went to bed. In total, I walked 5 miles on Wednesday.  On Wednesday I took another spin class.  Love it!  This morning I walked 3.5 miles.  All the workouts have been good.  I am trying to back off my sub 15 min. mile pace walking so I don't jar my neck too much.  The last thing I want is to not get better!

Brave!

My adorable Little Britches as a mullet.  She doesn't mean to, it's just that her hair grew out in the back much faster than the front is growing.  I try to get around this fact in one of two ways.  I either put a huge bow in her hair or I put her hair in pigtails.  See examples below:

See, it helps.  Right?  When I put her hair in pigtails it hurts a little bit as I twist the rubber band around.  I have started telling Little Britches that she is so brave as we go through this process.  Now when it starts to hurt a little she will say, "I so brave, I so brave!"  I thought of this as I listened to the introduction of our new Bible Study on Wednesday.  The name of the study is Brave: Honest Questions Women Ask.  As I look over the study I can tell there are times I will want to shy away from the deeper issues because that may hurt a little, but when those times come I am going to say to myself, "I so brave!" and just dig deep anyway.  Who knows it might be the catalyst  of change in my life- change that could transform something even more dreadful than a baby mullet.  It could change my heart and mind for His glory.  That is my prayer for the next 7 weeks.  I will let you know how it goes.   

Workout Tuesday pm, Wednesday, and Thursday am

On Tuesday I took another walk after Little Britches went to bed. In total, I walked 5 miles on Wednesday.  On Wednesday I took another spin class.  Love it!  This morning I walked 3.5 miles.  All the workouts have been good.  I am trying to back off my sub 15 min. mile pace walking so I don't jar my neck too much.  The last thing I want is to not get better!

MRI / Tuesday workout

I had my MRI today. I usually have no problem with these types of things. I think the only MRI I have had was when I was about 13. Maybe I was smaller then, maybe it didn't hurt to lay still for 25 min, maybe there was music, but something about today was not good.




I bee bobbed into the room all ready for a "no big deal test". The lady had me lay down with my head and neck in this form on the table. Then she put ear plugs in my ears and told me she would talk me through the test. I got into the machine and could barely hear her when she would talk to me. The first segment of the test lasted 3 seconds, no big deal. The next segment of the test she told me was going to last some amount of time but I could not hear her. When the test started it was LOUD, and the whole machine shook with the noise. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. I took deep breaths and prayed. I tried to say the name of Jesus out loud. By this time my arm was completely tingly and hurting a lot. I was getting very hot and sweaty in there and I didn't know if she said the test was going to last 6 minutes or 16 minutes so I squeezed the ball to tell her all was not well with me. She pulled me out of the tunnel and I told her about my arm hurting. She said we could try again with more padding under it or with pain meds, but I would have to come back another day. My husband was home with our daughter. I didn't want to waste his morning off by not getting the scan done, so I started negotiating for the things I needed: to move down on the table so that form was not pushing down on my shoulder where it hurt so much already, music, my socks off, and as much information as possible during the test. These changes definitely helped. My arm still hurt. I counted my breaths, prayed, and sang, but at least it was a bit easier with the distraction of music and being able to actually hear what she had to say.



Next time I hurt myself remind me to hurt my toe or foot so I can go in feet first and let my head hang out.



I won't see the doctor until April 21. I will start physical therapy April 15, though, so hopefully I will be getting better soon.



Oh the MRI center is right next to my gym, so I worked out and then went to have my MRI. That was a good way to squeeze in some exercise!

Workout Monday

I like getting my week off to a good start: Morning run, afternoon walk. :)

April Fool's Day

I am not a big trickster.  I was in college, but it was girls dorm stuff, nothing truely mean spirited.  So I don't get into April Fool's Day, but a friend from MOPS had a GREAT April Fool's Day joke for her hubby.  It has made me smile all days, so I thought I would share...

I will change these girl's names since I did not get permission to share:

The lady at my MOPS table, Melissa, is married to a big jokester, so she planned the ultimate joke.  She had another lady from our group, Sally, who is 9 months pregnant take a pregnancy test and give it back to her.  Melissa then took it home and told her husband she was pregnant.  Being April Fool's Day he did not believer her, so for proof she produced the positive pregnacy test.  OH MY GOODNESS!  That took forethought!  Melissa is a very cleaver trickster who knows her husband well.  hehe!

Workout Thursday

I went on a walk this morning with a friend and meet another friend at Body Jam tonight.



I did see the doctor today who said I most likely have a herniated disc in my neck. I need to get an MRI to confirm diagnosis, go to physical therapy, reduce impact activities, and wait 6-16 weeks. So tonight at Body Jam I did not jump around much. I am glad to know what is wrong, but sad it has such a long recovery time. I guess the 3 weeks that have passed since this first happened should count in my recovery time, so I am down to 3-13 weeks!

Workout Wednesday

I ran 3 fast miles and did spin class.  I see the doctor tomorrow for my shoulder and wanted to make sure it was good and hurting. ;)

21 Months

Little Britches is 21 months old!  She is growing up fast!  She is not too cuddly or kissy.  She has a pretty independent spirit.  (I have no idea where she gets it. haha)  But we did get a few cute and cuddly pictures after church on Sunday.

Workouts/ Health Challenge

Friday and Saturday I was at a retreat that had a packed schedule, so I got in very litte "exercise" but I did have a friend there that is doing the health challenge with me so we managed NOT to each peach cobbler and brownies!  Go us!  I have been faithfuly tracking my calories since last Wednesday and have lost 1.5 pounds, which is a step in the right direction.  I am just reminding myself that small daily choices add up to big long term results.

Workouts:

Sunday- walking with family

Monday- run with friend in the am, walk with friend in pm

Tuesday- squats, crunches at home

Today- I plan on spinning again, but it will depend on my husband's arrival home

I press on towards the goal! And I see the doctor tomorrow about my shoulder.  Hopefully I can get back to running soon.

Boss Your Heart

I have fallen behindon my Bible reading.  I did catch up some this weekend and have dedicated each of Little Britches naptimes to reading until I get caught up, but I did write a devotional for Lorranin over at All Are Precious in His Sight.  Enjoy!

 

"Peacock Park"

We went to play at Mayfield Park.   I often think we have found most of the free fun things to do in Austin, but we had not been to this particular park, which is often called "Peacock Park" because there are some free roaming peacocks at the park. 

Little Britches liked the peacocks, but she DID NOT like the sound they make, so our trip was mixed with alternating smiles and tears.  It was an emotional day.  Daddy works close by so he come over to the park for a picnic lunch!  That was a treat.  Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

Note:  I have tried to upload photos to this post 3 times!  Just posting it for now without photos.

Me and my buddy enjoying a sunny day!

The beauty we saw all around us

Telling Mommy where to go

Glad Dad came to join us for a picnic lunch

I do NOT like the way those peacocks talk!  It is too loud!

Sleep Begets Sleep

I read once that for little ones sleep begets sleep.  That has seemed to be true for Little Britches for sure, but right about the time the time changed we got off and have not really gotten back on.  She has had multiple days this week where she has talked and played in her crib for hours without napping when I just minutes before she was barely able to keep her eyes open.  Advice?  Help?  Words of Wisdom?  I am open to suggestions!

Workout Week

I have hurt my shoulder some how and so my workouts and postings have been a little lacking, sorry.  I have seen the doctor who has refered me to a specialist who I can't see until NEXT Thursday.  Until then I am buying stock in Advil.  I am staying active, I just can't run much.  It really hurts.

Sunday- ran at the gym, but my arm was killing me, so I rode the bike

Monday- walk/ran with my friend doing her couch to 5K and walked with another friend in the afternoon

Tuesday- walked with my sweet family around Lady Bird Lake- my favorite type of exercise!

Wednesday- walked for 30 min. with a friend at 9pm.  Some how the day got away from me on Wednesday

Thursday- walked with a friend in the am and danced with another friend at the gym in the pm

Okay that has been my week so far!  On Wednesday I started a "challenge" with a few girls.  The challenge is to track your calories for 30 days.  If you track them for all 30 days then we will get together and go get pedicures.  If anyone fails to track then they have to buy everyone coffee after the pedicures.  Why is it that I need accountablity to do what it is that I know I am supposed to do?  It works!  I have lost 2 lbs already this week.

Workout Wednesday

It has been a LONG time since I have been to spin class, but tonight was the night.  I had an friend from church who wanted someone to join her for spin class.  I thought it was a good excuse to get back in the saddle.  Boy was it tough, but in a good way.  What a great way to get in shape!  I hopoe to spin some more soon. 

Dino Fun

Last week we sold one of our cars, so we were down to one car until late yesterday.  If you want the full story click on over to my man's blog and check it out.  So we had to decide who got to drive the one car we had until we found another one we liked and could afford.  Since my husband is the one who goes to work so we can eat, we decided he should take the car.  Good choice, huh?  That left Little Britches and I home or at the walking-distance park or coffee shop.  But yesterday my sister came to visit.  She so kindly offered to drive us to our MOPS playdate, which was at the Dino Park.  Little Britches had a blast at the Dino Park, but not in the way you would expect a kid to enjoy a Dino Park.  Most of the kids liked looking at the life-like dinosaurs and looking for clues on the treasure hunt, but not my girl.  She LOVED slowly walking along the path picking up every big rock she saw.  Then she wanted to show all the trees and dinos her rock treasures.  This took a long time.  She also loved the playground.  So we paid for her to pick up rocks and play on a playground, things she can do five feet outside our door.  But it was fun and we enjoyed spending the day with my sister and our MOPS friends.  Here are a few pictures.  (By the way I didn't get a workout in on Tuesday except walking at teh Dino Park)

What is this?

A dino?  Well I think I will investigat this a little more.

Love me some Aunt Brooke!

Love me some playtime, too!

Workout Monday

Sorry about the absence.  Don't know what happened, but last week was crazy.  I did work out most days, but just didn't make it the computer to report. BUT there is nothing like an exciting workout to get me back to the blog.  Today I headed out with the whole crew: Little Britches and the family dog, Cecilia.  We went for a run that includes a part of our neighborhood's hike and bike trail.  There is part of this trail that goes around our neighborhood's lake.  On the backside of the lake it is pretty low traffic, so I often let our dog off her leash to run free.  While she was running free today she almost ran over a HUGE snake.  I hate snakes and I had both the dog and the little one so I did not get close enough to get a good picture, but here is what I got:

Do you see it?  It looks like a long rope?  I know bad pic, but really it made me run a bit faster for sure!

The crazy thing is that when we turned around to run back the other way and not disturb this snakes sunning we saw another, altough smaller snake slither away.  I will not be running back here without my husband for awhile, that is for sure.

20 Months Old

Our Little Britches turned 20 months old.  Here are a few recent pictures

Update on the Bobbin War

Here is proof I won the bobbin war on Sunday and have been winning ever since.  I hope to have the top of the quilt sewn together by the weekend.  Right now it is just layed out so I can be excited about how close I am to actually making progress.

Workout Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Last Sunday my regular workout partner and I got a late start to our workout so instead of driving half an hour to the gym we decided to walk the neighborhood.  We saved time and gas!  How green of us!  It was a great walk and we got home just in time for the good part of the Academy Awards.

Monday I met a mom friend who is training for her first 5k.  We run/walk while her daughter is in dance at a studio in our neighborhood.  It is so much fun seeing someone take on a new challenge.  The run was a 3 minute walk, 5 minute run, 3 minute walk, 3 minute run, 5 minute run, 3 minute walk.  I also did Body Pump on Monday with my regular work out partner.

Tuesday was family day.  We took our dog on a walk.  It was about a 45 minute walk and our doggie was happy.

Wednesday night came and I had not worked out so I drug myself to the gym for my interval workout.  I am glad I did, but I didn't really want to go at first.  I ran 400 meters 10 times with a warm up and cool down.  All in all it was 5.5 miles. 

I want to continue to make choices that bring about change.

It's me verus the Bobbin

Okay I am working on a quilt that I started a year ago, and the bobbin ran out.  No problem, just wind some new thread and keep on keepin' on. Right?  Wrong!  I was stopped in my tracks the other night because the bobbin would not wind properly.  I now have a napping baby (a HUGE improvement over this time yesterday) and a date with my machine.  I will win!

Workout Saturday

My workout on Saturday was pretty much nonexistent.  We played with an out of town friend and had lunch there.  We rushed home and tried to take a nap- fail.  We went to meet Papa and Bella for a quick hello.  We went to Austin Nature Center for more playtime with another friend and dinner.  After a great day of friends and family we arrived home after Little Britches bedtime, got her down quick and I was not far behind her on her trip to dream land.

Workout Friday

We had a playdate this morning at a park that has a trail around it.  We parked at the trail head and jogged to the park.  It was about 0.8 miles.  After playing we jogged back to the car to finish the loop. I don't know how far the backside of the loop was, but it was much shorter than the front part.  After Little Britches went to bed a friend came to walk with me.  We walked 40 minutes, but it only felt like 5.  No matter how much I run I will always love a nice brisk walk and talk with a friend.  Thanks, friend!

Baby Sign

Our Little Britches loves her baby sign.  She has dropped a lot of signs since her vocabulary has increased so much, but she does still use the sign for Thank You instead of saying the words.  I don't really get that, but hey I will take any form of manners I can get.  Here are a few pictures we took for her Daddy's Valentine's Day gift.  She is signing "I LOVE YOU!", not the short one hand version, but the long, three seperate signs version.

Workout Thursday

Oh my did I work out today!

I started my morning by going on a five mile run with a friend I used to run with weekly, but due to a sickness in her family we have not gotten to run together in a very long time.  The run was good, but the fellowship was better!  I also got to attend Body Jam with my regular gym partner this evening.  Good workout day, indeed.

Nap Time, Oh Nap Time

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my Little Britches?  Oh my goodness!  She is pretending and "reading" and just loving life- maybe a little too much.  Nap time has been so hit and miss lately.  Some days I will put her down and she goes right to sleep.  Some times I put her down and she ends up spending over an hour trying to get to sleep.  I do not really know what to think for sure, but I will say that if she poops before her nap she is MUCH MORE LIKELY (my husband would have this figured out to a percentage if he were at home) to get a good nap in for the day.  So what does this mean?  Is she ready to potty train?  Does she need a later nap time?  I am not sure, but today was a poop day and therefore a good nap day, so I have the time to even pose the question. 

Workout Wednesday

Today was a crazy busy day for this momma.  I had Bible Study this mornin, tutoring this afternoon, and church tonight.  I did have about 20 min. between the time I arrived at church and the time I needed to be at my meeting, so what did I do?  Workout!  I walked around our church's parkinglot.  I walked 1.5 miles in 21 minuets.  So today's lesson: Exercise when you can, even if it is just a little.  It is better than nothing!

Workout Tuesday

I went to the gym and did my interval workout today, which included a 1600 m fast run, a 400 m recovery run, a 1200 m fast run, a 400 m recovery run, an 800 meter fast run, a 400 m recovery run, a 400 m fast run.  I met my friend at the gym and in the 5:00 hour at the gym two treadmills side by side is a miracle.  Of course we did have to choose to use two treadmills in the Cardio Cinema, which I am not a big fan of.  First of all, does it seem dangerous to anyone but me that there are people on top of machines with fast moving parts in the total dark?  I had to use my ipod to find the start button- seriously.  Oh well, it was a good workout!

Workout Monday

Today was a GREAT day in the activity department.  Nothing too intense, just a nice active day.  I first met a friend for part of her "Couch to 5K" training.  It involved walking, jogging, abd running intervals.  That was a nice start to the day. Later MGM and I walked to the park to run and play.  Later in the afternoon the whole family walked over to the other part of our neighborhood to see where a friend was buying a lot to build on.  All in all today we walked/ran 5.5 miles.  My husband also went to get his car inspected today and walked home, then walked back to pick it up.  I love it!  Now if we just would not have eaten out twice today the scale might have moved.  Tomorrow is a new, fresh day with the possibility of new activity and new eating decisions.

Crock Pots vs Microwaves

As I mentioned before I am using a crock pot more often.  That got me thinking about my spiritual journey.  Click on over to All Are Precious In His Sight to see why.  And I noticed no one left me their favorite crock pot ideas.  I would really love to hear yours!

Workout Sunday

Sunday afternoon MGM and I decided to go for a walk.  We were going to take our dog down to the lake and let her chase the ball.  We had gone about 0.6 miles and got a text from my husband saying that his parents had just arrived home from their trip to Denver.  MGM and I decided to walk over there instead.  I turned on the map my run app, but something happened and it didnt' stay on the whole time.  Oh well, I just went to good 'ol http://www.mapmyrun.com/ and mapped my run/walk.  It was 2.6 miles from our house to grandmas.  We did have to go on a very busy road, but not for too long.  Once we got in front of the highschool we went through the parking lots, avoiding the roads. It was fun to go somewhere while exercising!

Workout Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Okay here's how I have been:

Thursday- because of a little miscommunication on my part and my hubby and I helping our neighbors move I did not get a work out in.  BOO!

Friday- The neighbors were supposed to leave Friday morning, but were still needing some help, so I helped as much as I could then went for a walk/run.  I kept going around and around in a smallish cirlce in our neighborhood watching for the neighbors to get ready to pull out so I could say good bye.  My hubby came home first.  A funny thing happend on our run, though.  It was a nice day so there were people sitting out on their porch.  Finally after we passed by them for the third time they called out to us that they were curious about something.  We stopped to see what they were curious about.  They asked what our dog had around her neck- poop.  When our dog poops on a run I do my doo doo duty and pick it up in a doggie bag, but I refuse to carry it.  I tie it on my dog's collar.  You think this would discourage her, but no, it doesn't.

Saturday- We got up and got dressed for run, but it was rainy this morning.  We had to spend an hour at the bank this morning with my parents signing some papers etc, so after lunch with them it was nap time for MGM.  After nap time we headed to Lady Bird Lake for a run.  WHOA, there was A LOT of traffic downtown.  We FINALLY got to the trail and got in a 5.3 mile run.  I am not running as well as I want, but I am making improvements and am doing it DAILY, so I know it will get better and better.

Our Little Girls

Someone today posted this article.  I don't often get my information from Redbook, but the last paragraph of the article really tugged at my heart.  It reads like this:
  
         My daughter, Louisa, is beautiful to me, breathtakingly so. It was the first thing I said when she was  
         born, and then I cried because I was so happy to see her. I still feel that way. Every morning, I'm just
         so delighted to see that little face, those strong, chubby limbs. We call her The Viking because she's so
        exuberant, so gung ho. The idea of her some day comparing herself to Cinderella, or Barbie, or some
        simpering teen queen on TV and finding herself lacking — too fat, too skinny, too loud, nose too big,
        lips too small — and trying to compensate with store-bought sexiness breaks my heart. I don't want
        anyone to take that light out of her heart or out of her eyes. My goal then, I suppose, is to teach her to
        see herself as I see her, and to love herself as I love her, as someone who already possesses everything
        she needs.


When I read this I realized at the same moment that I felt this way about my daughter and God feels this same way about me.  In him, I already possesses everything I need.  Thank you, Jesus!

Workout Wednesday

Today was a busy day, but I did squeeze in half an hour of a run/walk this afternoon.  I had downloaded the Map My Run App, which was working great until my phone died. :(  I will have to try it again soon.

Workout Tuesday

Today MGM, Cecilia and I headed out for a 45 min. walk/run.  It was great!

Valentine's Day

I have just had THE BEST Valentine's Day.  My sweet hubby surprised his sweet girls with a day off!  We all went to breakfast.  Then we dropped MGM off to the grandparents.  My sweet husband then took me to Gruene for lunch and antique shopping.  It was GREAT!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Workout Monday

I ran 3 miles today and did Body Pump at the gym.  DAILY makes a difference, even if it is Valentine's Day!!

Church Shopping

This week marks week 3 of trying a different church.  We have been visiting the church that meets right behind our house.  Do we like it because it is so close or because it is actually a good fit for us?  We are trying to discern.  Part of me wants to belong to a church that does things so differently than how I grew up in church, but then part of me likes the comfort of familar things.  The good things MGM sees some of the kids from this particular church at Wednesday Morning Bible Study and MOPS, so she is not going into a room of strangers. Well, here we go again.  Casting our nets....asking God to show us what to do.

Workout Saturday/Sunday

I did not work out Saturday.  My sweet husband was helping a neighbor fix his car ALL DAY LONG, so MGM and I headed out to my parents.  When we go out to my parents we park at their house and walk all over the camp where they live, so I was active on Saturday, despite not getting in a "workout".  Today I will at least run 6 miles.  My training schedule calls for 9 miles, but considering I am still ramping up my miles I think I will tackle 6 first.  I am thinking if I have time I might walk the extra 3 in the beautiful weather we are going to have today. 

The Park

We love spending time at the park, but today was a rough trip.  It is the first pretty day we have had in a while so the place was busy!  There was a little boy a bit older than MGM playing with rocks today.  He was loading them into a tunnel.  MGM first approached him to join into the fun, but he put his hand out and yelled no.  We decided to play on another part of the playground for a bit.  After some playing MGM noticed that the boy had some playmates join him and she wanted into the group fun.  It seemed like the boy had finished the construction part of his project, so I thought he might not be as offended at her presence.  She walked over and bent down to look in the tunnel with the boy shoved her down.  Now my daughter is a sensitive child.  If you tell her, "Be gentle with the dog."  She sometimes cries.  So you can imagine, a rude shove sent her over the edge.  I told the little boy that pushing was not allows and we stayed in the area with MGM crying her eyes out.  I tried to tell her she was okay.  I encouraged her to ask if she could play with the boys.  By then all the crying got the attention of the other moms.  The mom of the boy who shoved came over.  She asked if someone had pushed.  I told her yes, one of the boys pushed, but I had told him that pushing was not allowed.  She asked if it was her son and I said yes.  As she began to ask her son to apologize, which he did not, I found myself saying that my child was sensitive.  After I said it I regretted it.  I don't want to excuse away who my child is even if it is awkward.  Part of my reaction was my insecurity.  There were a group of moms standing around at the park when I got there.  I wanted to join in the conversation because I so want to make friends in the neighborhood, but the park was crowded and MGM is not really old enough to play safely on her own at on the park equipment especially when there are lots of older kids running about, not paying attention to where they are headed.  So the only time one of them talked to me was because my child was crying her eyes out over what would probably be a "love tap" in a house full of boys.  I felt like a bad mom.  I want to help MGM stand up for herself when she needs to and to always show love and respect, yet I don't feel like I stood up for her or respected her personality.  Well, the good news is the park will be there tomorrow with another opportunity for me to be a better mom.  I love my little sensitive girl.  I know God will use each part of her personality for His glory!

Thursday's Workout

Well I had another killer workout on the books yesterday, but due to time constrants I only got half of it done.  Really the workout called for 9 miles!!  To me, that is a long run, not a mid-week run, but I trust the experts at the FIRST Institute know more than me.  I was supposed to run a 1 mile warm up, 2 miles at tempo, 1 mile at easy, 1 mile at tempo, 1 mile easy, 1 mile tempo, 1 mile easy, 1 mile cool down.  WOW!  I ran the warm up, the 2 miles at temp, 1 mile easy, 1 mile tempo, then cool down.  All in all I finished 5.5 miles in 60 minutes. 

What shall I do today?  Zumba? Walk with my family? Workout video?  The options are fun to think about.

The Crock Pot is My Friend

Since I have started tutoring two days a week I have also started using my trusty crock pot two days a week.  This works out well.  I drop MGM off to play with her cousin, and within about an hour her daddy comes by to pick her up.  While I am still tutoring they have a hot dinner waiting for them and can start in on evening fun right away.  Today I am making Lasagna, but I would love to hear from you.  What do you like to cook in the crock pot?

Workout Wednesday

I went and joined at friend at Body Flow, which is a bit of yoga and a bit of pilates.  Then I walked for  bit on the treadmill doing a mountain climbing routine that took me to a 30% incline and then to a -3% incline. 

Monday and Tuesday's Workouts

Monday I attended PUMP class
and today I did an interval run.

The interval run was tough, but not too tough.  I had to warm up for 10 min.  I then had to run 200m fast, 200 meters at regular pace, 400 m fast, 400 meters at regular pace, 600 m fast, 400 meters at regular pace, 800 meters fast, 400 m at regualr pace, 800 meters fast, 400 m at regular pace, 600 meters fast, 400 meters at regular pace, 400 m fast, 400 m at regular pace, 200 m fast, 200 meters at regular pace and then a cool down.  With the warm up and cool down I covered 6 miles in 1 hour and 5 minutes.  I am training for a 10K, which is just over 6 miles.  I would like to finish the 10K in under an hour.  I have 9 weeks to get there, so I have a bit of work to do, but I know it is possible.  I will get there one workout at a time.

Bossin' Our Hearts

I am a guest over at All Are Precious In His Sight.  Lorraine decided to do devotions only once a week, alternating between Mr. Kirsten Walkup and I.  It will give her more room/time to blog about her precious family.  If you haven't taken to the time to get to know this sweet family via the blog, then you should.  You will be encouraged and challenged. 

Pound- lbs

I was helping a math student the other day and we came across a word problem about weight. The problem used lbs to denote pounds. The student paused while reading the problem, not know how to say "lbs". As I was telling her that is how we denote pounds I remembered my own lbs experience.

I don't recall exactly how old I was, but I know I had to be in second half of 6th grade or older than that because this story took place in Palestine, TX, and we didn't move there until the second semester of my 6th grade year. While in the grocery store one day my mom told me to go and pick up 5 pounds of sugar while she picked up something else. As I turned to walk away I said, "Oh you mean 5 libles." As you can imagine, her response was, "What!?!" I explained to her that when I package said lbs it meant libles, which was equivalent to a pound. Where did I come up with this? I have no idea, but it was firmly planted in my head. Did I mention that I was a "Gifted and Talented" student, and made straight A's at this point in my life? Yeah, being good at school is not the same thing as being smart, in case you ever wondered.



Every time I think of this story I laugh. It is just funny! So next time you go to Rudy's and ask for your turkey, just tell them to give you a 1/2 a lible. I am sure they will know what you are talking about. (hehe!)

And if you are wondering why lbs stands for pounds instead of pds, look here. 

Workout Week

Oh it has been COLD!!!  Like not above freezing for days, cold! (This is highly unusual for central TX.) I did get in a great workout Sunday and Monday, but Tuesday and Wednesday have been push ups and sit ups.  My goal today is an old fashion workout video during nap time since it is still so cold!  I can't wait for it to warm up to exercise!  The weather cannot be an excuse. In life sometimes the circumstances aren't perfect, but we can't let that stop us from experiencing God's best for us.  We just pursue Him anyway.  The same is true in exercise.  So here's to Walk Away the Pounds wtih Leslie Sansone.  On a side note I have lost 4 pounds.

19 Months

On January 28 Little Britches turned 19 months old.  Here is what our day looked like:

We were running early to a meeting, but there was a park near by, so we stopped to play

We left the meeting a little early to go meet Daddy for lunch

 at Whole Foods, his favorite place

 after a nap we met Aunt Brooke for a little play time at another park

 Daddy came and met us after work

and we all played.  Then we went to dinner.  What a fun day!

Workout Wednesday

I had about an hour between tutoring sessions today so I headed to the treadmill for some intervals.  I ran 4.5 miles in 48 minutes.  I did 1/2 mile intervals after a warm up and followed by a cool down.  I forgot a hair rubber band. (boo!) But it was a great run.  Then I couldn't remember the combination to my lock and had to have it cut off by the gym staff.  Nice!

Boss Your Heart Devotional

Today's topic named in honor of my candy-lovin' husband, but really has nothing to do with candy.  It has everything to do with Algebra and how God uses what he is teaching us now AND later! Click here if you want ot read.

Work Out Tuesday

Okay, today was a crazy day.  Little Britches usually goes down for a nap at 1 and is up by 3, but today she went down at 1:30, did not go to sleep, needed a diaper change at 2:30, fially went to sleep at 3:20, woke up at 3:40.  There went my exercise time.  Our evening was already booked, so there went the day.  I did do 2 sets of push ups, 2 sets of sit ups, and 2 sets of abs before bed.  Our naps have been a little tough lately.  I am praying that we are not dropping our only nap of the day.  We will try again tomorrow.  No matter what I have workout time built in tomorrow because I tutor at 3:30 - 4:30 and not again until 6:15, so I should get in a good workout in between.

Let Your Net Down on the Other Side

I love the story in Luke 5 about Jesus calling the first disciples. I love it because Jesus met the men where they were in their everday life- fishing. I love it because, though these men were professional fishermen, Jesus knew more than them about everything, including fishing. I just love the story.




Isn't it so true that we get comfortable with the knowledge we have in a certain area of life. We just put it on auto pilot and do whatever it is we already know how to do. My family and I done this, we have all done this, and most of the time there is no problem with it. The problem comes if Jesus is telling you to do something that seems to go against your expert knowledge. What will you do? Will you "let down your nets on the other side of the boat" or will you stand on shore explaining to Jesus why that would never work? The result of Simeon letting down his nets was not only a catch of fish that almost tore the nets to pieces, it was so plentiful, but the result was also recognition of how amazing Christ is and worship was the outflow of that recognition.



For a little while now my family and I have sensed God telling us our time as members of our church was drawing to an end. We didn't want to rock the boat, I mean I was on staff, my husband's parents go there, I speak every week from the stage, I coordinate Kid's Camp, blah, blah, blah. We were on the shore telling Jesus that we knew how to do church better than he does. Finally in November I went to our pastor and told him we needed to be obedient, to let down our nets on the other side. He said January would be a good time to tell the church and proceed. The very next week my husband and I experienced such a joy and freedom in worship. Simply knowing we were taking the steps to be obedient allowed us to recognize Christ at work and worship him.



Now we don't know where we are going, or who will be there when we get there, but we are ready to set off on an adventure with Christ. I am looking forward to being Cameron's wife and "the lady who speaks". I am looking forward to being Mayzie's mom instead of "the lady who does camp with that cute girl". I hope I find moms with little girls to play with, I hope we find friends we can share life with, I hope we find a body of believers who push us to be more than we are in Christ. I want all this and more- I want to follow Him, wherever He leads, to His glory!

Work Out Monday, January 24, 2011

Goal: Make intensive exercise a daily habit
         Train well for Spring Races
         Build Strength
         Build Relationships
         Encourage others to move towards their goals one step at a time

I will be attending Body Pump with Jackie.  I will be using a big plate for warm up, all three plates for squats, a big plate for chest, a big and a medium for back, a medium and a small for biceps and triceps, a set of medium for shoulders, all three for squats and two bigs from lunges during the lunge song, and a medium for abs.

I will also take Cecila and MGM for a walk this afternoon.  I will maintain a 15 min/mile pace or better for 30 min.

Racin' Racin'

After much thought I have decided not to do a half in the spring, but instead do a 10K really well.  I am going to do the Blue Bell Fun Run 10K, then the next weekend I am going to recover at the Zooma 5K, which a bunch of friends from church.  Those races are both in April.  In July I will start training for The Chosen (Half) Marathon for Adoption.  That is what I am going to do.  I am going to Daily post about my workouts so that I have a log of what I did and did not do.  I want to start my race posts with the stated goals so that I will not forget why I am doing what I am doing.  Okay, here is to daily training!  (I just do so much better when I am signed up for something.)

Craft Club January

Once a month a group of ladies I used to teach with get together and talk for 3 hours  craft.  Last night only two of us could make it because one lady was swamped with family stuff and the other one was out celebrating the news that her 2nd born child will be a girl!!  Here are the results of last night's craft night.

What I learned was that when attaching small things that need to be lined up- wonderunder is a necessary step.  The e is slightly lower than the v.  It is not quite as "off" as it appears in the second picture, but still it is a bit lower.

Bossing My Heart

I am guest blogging over at All are Precious in His Sight.  I don't want to have crust and crumbs!  Head on over to see what I am talking about.

 

Baby Its Cold Outside

I like the song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside".  I think I like it because I  romanticize  the cold in my mind.  I am not one to go on and on about the weather like my beloved husband, but it has been cold and rainy!  And I don't like to be cold or wet!  Last winter, right about this time I started training for a half marathon with a small group of friends.  I posted about our fun a few times, here and especially here.  I am sorely aware of my lack of fitness fellowship.  Last week, when it was pretty and sunny I got out and ran or walked everyday in addition to going to the gym twice.  This week- nothing- no walking, no running, no gym, no P90X, nothing but eating and feeling fat.  I am a fair weather exerciser that is for sure.  I have got to make an adjustment, that's for sure.  The forcast is calling for rainy, chilly weather through the weekend.

It is amazing to me how I can so quickly go from "I've got it all together" in a particular area, to "I am falling apart".  It just goes to show you that DAILY really is important.  No one day makes or brakes you but a habit of daily doing something can make a difference- a big difference.  I am working towards a 30 pound difference- one day at a time.  But I can't deny I wish I had my running buddies to help me out.  I miss those girls!

Boss Your Heart Devotional

Hey!  Where has the week gone?  It has been busy around here.  I hope your New Year is off to a great start.  I am featured over at All Are Precious In His Sight today.  Head on over, if you want to check it out. 

Happy Wednesday!

Boss Your Heart Devotional

I have a guest post on All Are Precious In His Sight.  Check it out here. 

Have a great Wednesday!

Boss Your Heart

You may remember that last spring I was praying for Chrissie, a little girl from our church who had a heart condition.  Sadly, Chrissie went home to be with Jesus last May.  (See this post).  During Chrissie's fight her mom, Lorraine, told her to "Boss your heart."  You can read the story here.  Lorraine has taken the "Boss Your Heart" message a step further.  She has encouraged those around her and on her blog to boss their hearts through God's word.  She has encouraged people to take the "Boss Your Heart Challenge"- to read through the Bible this year.  I have taken the challege!  I am reading through the Bible chronologically this year.  I am excited about what God will teach me through this fresh reading of his word.  Lorraine asked me to write weekly devotionals for those who were following the challenge.  They will be posted on her blog, and I will link them here, just in case you want to take the challenge, read along, or just be (hopefully) encouraged.   

Happy New Year

On this New Year's Eve I asked my husband if he was going to make any resolutions.  He said to get a 6 pack, but earlier today he said he was going to quit working out and eating right and get fat, so I am not sure where he will come down on that decision, but I know what I hope he does. (hehe!)

I don't make resolutions, but I do like to reflect on the past year and thing towards the new year.  This year I am going to chose a word.  A word to remind me of all God is doing in my life and all I need him to do.  My word for the year is daily.  There are a lot of things I need to do that overwhelm me because they are such huge task, but if I take a little bit of the task daily then it won't be so bad.  I also know that exercising and eating right daily makes a difference.  You can't eat right and exercise every 3rd day and expect to see results.  What is true in our physical disciplines is also true in your spiritual disciples, so I want to read God's love letter to me daily and talk to him daily.  Daily- it can be a powerful thing.  I think my theme song will be "This is the Day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it."