I'm still here...

It's been a while since I've posted I know.  I've been keeping up with MOST of the goals though...

Physical goal (Weight loss)
At one point, I was down to 214, but I've gained some of that back.  I've been struggling with fitting exercise in with work. I really need to get back to working out.  However, when you consider that I'd planned on loosing 2 lbs a month and we're just going in to April, I'm still on track, just barely though.

Spiritual Goal (Read the whole Bible this year)
I've been keeping up with this one, I still have a few chapters of Matthew to catch up on, but otherwise, I've been sticking with the goal and reading every day.

Family Goal (Do one thing a week with the kids to help them come closer to God)
This is one that has been slipping.  We went to Winter Jam a few weeks ago and saw my daughter's favorite singer, Toby Mac and introduced her to a few new artists.  She got to learn the inspiration behind some of Matthew West's songs, which I really like.  Now that Easter is upon us, I made resurrection rolls with my oldest daughter this morning and I read part of Luke to her.

Personal Goal (Learn Java so I can write an app)
This one I've really fallen behind in.  But I really want the app I have in mind.  I spent several hours doing work that I could've used the app for today.  So hopefully I can learn what I need to write it.

Financial Goal
The new job is going well. I feel like I'm really helping out there. Hopefully they're feeling the same way!

So, wish me luck, I'm hoping we'll be able to settle into a routine once Easter's over and I'll be able to take some time for the other goals.

Financial Goal: Met!

I'm very happy to announce that I've met my financial goal for the year!  Today, I start my new job!  I'm still going to be testing software.  I'm actually hoping that I can help them automate the testing too, so that way I'll get a little bit of experience in that area, while I share my experience with adding Quality Assurance to the software development process.

I'm really looking forward to working for this company, although the commute has me a little hesitant.  I'm going to be going 40 mins each way.  So that means less time with my family.  I'm a little nervous, it's been 15 years since I've started a new job!

My husband and I have set some long term goals for our family financially, so hopefully this will help us get there.

Please pray that this works out.

New week, New verse

Our new Bible verse for the week is:

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11) 

This week, I'm giving my girls a "Heart Attack".  I'm putting a different heart shaped post it on their bead room door every night with something I love about them written on it. That way, they'll see it when they get up in the morning.  Things like: "I love your smile", "I love the way you play with your sister", etc.

Too often, we focus on what needs to change in our kids, and not on the happy things.  It's hard to get our kids to focus on happy thoughts, when we're not doing it ourselves.  I also think it's healthy to build our kids up.

It's not fair

Yesterday's entry in Made to Crave talked about "It's not fair".  A very timely entry seeing how my husband has lost more weight than I have, despite us doing similar amounts of exercise and my eating a salad every day in place of his sandwich and chips.

I've known for a while now that we have significantly different metabolisms.  It just makes loosing weight together really difficult.  Not to say though that I don't want to do it with him, it makes it easier when there's an accountability partner there.  It just makes it a bit frustrating.  I really need to find a way to channel that frustration into my exercise.

How do you cope with the difference in your husband's eating and your own?

Fitness Goal: Made to Crave

Have you read the book Made to Crave?

I picked up a copy last year and it has sat on the shelf unread for a long time. But with my Fitness Goal this year, I knew I would need more than just trying to stick to a diet and exercising.  Don't get me wrong, those are both important and helpful, I've already started to loose weight. However, I think it's important to think about WHY you eat.

In looking at how I eat, I realize, I rarely eat out of hunger.  Instead, stress and my brain get in the way. For example last night, I opened a box of cookies.  I cannot get those cookies out of my head, now that the box is open and I know it, I'm probably going to finish it.  I'm craving them. Made to crave talks about how to use God to overcome those cravings.  It's divided into 21 days and is designed as something you can do with a group, since there are discussion questions at the end of each day's reading.  But I'm reading it on my own.

Stress is another trigger that I have for eating.  The other day, I ate 3-4 pieces of candy before I realized what I was doing!  It's really more mindless eating.  So I need to start being more intentional with what I am doing and watch so that I don't get to those 4 pieces of candy without realizing it.  So, going forward, I'm going to try to stop and think about what I eat.  Am I eating for the right reasons?  Am I really hungry? or is it just that the food is on my mind?  If it's not for the right reason, I'm going to try to not eat it.  If I can't get it out of my mind, I'm going to turn to God for help.

I love Lysa's book because she's really upfront about it.  She starts out by saying that she still doesn't crave carrots.  The realism helps me realize just how much I DO need God's help.

Now I realize that some people are wired differently and they need to eat even when they're not hungry, just so that their bodies have the necessary nutrition.  I'm NOT one of those people.

Why do you eat? Any other tips to get past the cravings? Have you read Lysa's book?  Check out their website.

Family Goal update

The girls really liked the idea of the jar and proceeded to add two or three slips of paper each to it.  They've slowed down now that it's been around for a few days though.

So my next step in the goal was to introduce Bible verses, the girls know some verses and that's great, but they don't know many of them, and frankly neither do I. So my next step is to help us learn (memorize) more verses.  It's easier for their young brains than my older one, but I'm trying.  To help with it, I've asked my husband to pick a different verse each week for us.  And then I'm posting it on the sliding door in our kitchen, which is right next to the table.  I picked the first verse, just to get us started, but my husband has picked one for next week.

I'm hoping to find a frame or chalkboard that I can hang on the wall but for now, this is working. The girls have almost got this one memorized and it has only been two days.

I'm interested in hearing ideas on how you help your family get to know God better.

Family Goal

The last of the five goals is a family goal.  My goal is to do something with my girls, once a week that will help them become closer to God.  This week, I'm going to start a jar like this.  And allow each person in the family to put in papers with happy or good things that happen this year.

At the beginning of next year, we will open the jar and read all the slips of paper.  For now the jar is going to sit in the middle of our table.