BLESSED SUNDAYS

Having a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Thanking God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon me and praising Him today.

Thursday

So wow!! What a busy season I am in.  I haven't had time to post since last Tuesday.  I have been so incredibly busy. Busy with work, busy with home, and I've still been sick with this cruddy junk.  I finally have my voice back but it is still scratchy.  I still sound like a raspy 3 pack a day smoker, but, it's getting better.  I have totally neglected my home keeping duties last week and this week.  I have completed the bare basics and that is about it. Shame on me.

I never did get back here last week to tell about our weekend get away.  We ended up taking Katie and Amber with us and the grand sweeties stayed with their other papaw. The girls wanted to get out and go and do something since their gentlemen were working all weekend.  We went North to Horn Lake, close to Memphis, on Saturday morning. Well, first we stopped off in Batesville for a classic car show they were having. We strolled around there for a bit and then we had a lovely lunch at one of the fabulous Mexican restaurants that is in Batesville.  After lunch, we headed to Horn Lake and did a little shopping or looking mostly.  We hit up Sportsman's Warehouse for the hubs, and Tractor Supply...again for the hubs. Then we walked around through some of the outdoor shopping outlet malls, hit up the Goodwill store (thrift store junkie here!!), then checked into the hotel and hubs and I started getting dressed for a concert we attended. This was an early birthday gift for my husband. His birthday isn't until early November, but since the concert was Saturday, I decided a couple months ago to surprise him with tickets. He loved him some Hank Williams Jr. back in the day and still does.  Hank Jr or Bocephus as some call him, was in concert there Saturday night along with two opening acts, Drake White and The Big Fire Band and Aaron Lewis.  I knew I had gotten good seats, but I had NO IDEA that I had bought front row seats until  a couple days before the concert when I looked up the seating chart online. I was blown away, as was my sweet husband. We enjoyed the concert but admittedly, we aren't as young as we used to be and by the time Hank Jr. started playing at 9:15pm, well, that's usually a little past our bed time haha.  We ended up leaving before the concert was over, which was probably a good thing, because it would have most likely taken us two hours to get out of that mess. After the concert, we had a late night supper at Chili's, though that wasn't our first choice, it was about our only choice. Why do restaurants in bigger cities not stay open past 11pm on weekends? That's crazy.  After that, we headed back to the hotel, where Amber and Katie had stayed in their own room. They had no interest in the concert, they just wanted to get away.  They had ordered pizza for their supper. PS...Papa John's rocks!!

Sunday morning, we slept in a bit, then went to the hotel lobby for a free breakfast...uggh...indian owned hotels, I don't care how clean and nice they are, they are completely cheap on their "breakfasts".  It is very difficult to find a hotel anymore that is not indian owned.   After breakfast and check out, we strolled a few more stores and then had a nice lunch at Red Lobster and then headed home. It was a great little get away and I'm glad Chris was pleased with his early birthday gift. I love that boy!!

I'll leave with a few pics from the event.

Me, all concert ready

Well, for some reason, I wanted this pic at the end and Blogger wanted it here, so here it shall stay. My handsome gentleman. Lunch at Red Lobster on Sunday. See why I wanted it at the end? Blogger will not cooperate.

My sweet gentleman

Ole Bocephus, himself

and the clock struck midnight and Cinderella turned back into the old hag that she is. Ha. Back to my comfort zone of t-shirts, yoga pants, barely there make up, hair up in a pony. Me 95% of the time.

Tuesday

Good Tuesday morning!!  I did not accomplish a single thing on my "to do" list yesterday, except for supper.  We spent the entire afternoon at a dr's appt with Katie and then at the pharmacy.  I got home shortly after 5pm.  No house cleaning yesterday. I will have to double up this afternoon.

  Today is                                    
       

Alex had his first test of the school year on Friday.  He finished his English PACE book and tested on that and made a 100!! Go Alex!! Poor kid then got sick that night with a tummy bug.  Bless his bones. He's feeling better now and has a few more PACES to test on today. Should be a light school load today.  Tomorrow will be his off day since I have my IV iron treatment and then Thursday and Friday he will begin new PACES in each subject. 

In other news.  Day two this week getting up early enough to do my Bible study.  I am hoping and trying and praying to not get behind this week.  

My Bible is certainly getting rather colorful.(though you really can't tell it in this picture.) I love the Bible Coloring that I've learned with Good Morning Girls. It really is relaxing and while I was skeptical at first, it really does help in digging in deeper into God's word.

Well, beautiful people, I need to get going and get some work done.  

~Blessings, Love, and Hugs~

Monday

Good Monday morning!! Today is the day that the Lord made and I shall rejoice and be glad in it !!

Despite my tooth hurting horribly and on day 6 of no voice.  Well, it's coming back...just very slowly. I sound like a  raspy 3 pack a day smoker at the moment. For the most part, I believe my cold is getting better, though.  Good thing, too, because the Mr. said last night that if I wasn't better by Thursday, we couldn't go on our weekend get-a-way. WHAAATTT???!! Oh heck yes we will...I paid wayyyy too much for his early birthday gift, we are going regardless.  Well, let me rephrase that...I know I am going regardless. Nuff said about that and more about that later. 

So, I had been or thought of writing about my "Blogging Through The Bible" with Good Morning Girls on Wednesdays, but I thought I'd change it up and do it on Mondays instead.  Wondering what in the world I am talking about?  Check it out here.

This week GMG is reading/studying through Acts 16-20 and this is the reading plan for the week.

This is the GMG verse of the day, which is also my personal SOAK verse of the day.  Wonder what in the world SOAK is? It is a method of studying the Bible that GMG uses.  You can also learn more about that here.  Sometimes, I do use the GMG verses of the day as my personal SOAK verse of the day and sometimes, there will be a verse that just speaks to me and I will use that one. That said, this is the GMG verse of the day as well as my personal SOAK verse of the day.

S(Scripture) - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household. Acts 16:31

O(Observation)- I believe that after Paul and Silas had spent much of the night singing hymns and praising God, even after being stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison, the jailer who was responsible for keeping a watch over them witnessed all of the miraculous signs  that occurred that night and he became afraid and he asked Paul and Silas what he needed to do in order to be saved. They answered with verse 31.

A(Application) - How might I apply this verse to my life?  I know and believe with all of my heart and soul in the Lord and I believe with all that I am that I am saved and I believe in the salvation of all of my children, grandchildren, sons-in-law, future sons-in-law, and future daughter-in-law.  I can also tell people of Jesus' saving grace. 

K(Knealing in Prayer) - Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Me. A sinner, so undeserving. I totally believe in you and your saving grace and I thank you for not giving up on me.  Lord, help me spread the joy of your word to others. In your precious and sweet name, Amen. 

I won't always do my SOAK's here, but thought I would today for an example. 

At Good Morning Girls, there is a discussion question each day to go along with that day's reading. I don't always participate in those, but I will post today's discussion question.

There are just too many instances and answers to this question, that I wouldn't even know where to start. I am blessed. 

On to what's for supper this week....

Monday- Meatless Monday - Sauteed Mushrooms, onions, and black beans with a cream sauce poured over bow tie pasta. 

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday (not every week...) - Tacos

Wednesday- Loaded Baked Potatoes

Thursday - Chicken, Cheese, and Rice caserole

Friday - Sausage and Peppers on Hoagie rolls with Onion rings.

And last but not least....

This is what my Home Keeping list will look like this week.

dAILY CHORES

MORNING:

·         Make bed

·         Load Washing Machine

·         Lay out supper

AFTERNOON:

• ·         LOAD DRYER
• ·         ALL HOME BLESSING CHORES FOR THE DAY AS WELL AS ZONE CHORES
• ·         FOLD/ PUT AWAY CLOTHES

EVENING:

·        Wash dishes

·        Clean counters, stove

·        Sweep Kitchen

·        Lay out clothes for next day

·        get to bed at a decent hour

HOME BLESSING CHORES

Can be done all in one day or spread throughout the week

MONDAY-  Dust the house. All flat surfaces, ceiling fans, knick knacks. Clean all windows and mirrors and glass in doors. Purge all old magazines, papers, materials that are laying around and no longer needed

TUESDAY-  Sweep small bath, L/R, and Laundry Room. Swish and Swipe sink/counter, commode

WEDNESDAY – Sweep front entrance, clear any clutter from counter/table, sweep front porch

THURSDAY -  Sweep Den and Master Bedroom

FRIDAY – Sweep Master Bath, swish and swipe sink, counter, commode.  Mop kitchen floor

·          5^th WEEK OF MONTH (or combined with area 4)/ FRONT ENTRANCE & LAUNDRY ROOM

·         MONDAY – CLEAR TABLE OF CLUTTER FRONT ENTRANCE/ CLEAR CLUTTER FROM DRYER AND CORNERS OF LAUNDRY ROOM

·         TUESDAY – CLEAR CLUTTER FROM UNDERNEATH TABLE FRONT ENTRANCE / CLEAN OFF WASHER AND DRYER AND INSIDE LIDS LAUNDRY ROOM

·         WEDNESDAY – CLEAN FRONT DOOR INSIDE AND OUT FRONT ENTRANCE/ CLEAN DRYER VENT LAUNDRY ROOM

  Easy week in this area. Can also do them on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or they can truly all be done in one day, in a matter of 30-45 min. total.  

  That's it for today folks. Catch yall later on in the week. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day. You never can tell with me. 

~~~Blessings. Love. Hugs~~

Friday

So, it's been a pretty good week despite Monday starting off as a true Monday and then me finally succumbing to that dang cold that is going around and then losing my voice the very next day.  On day 3 with no voice at all.  I'm sure there are lots of people really liking this, but, I'd like to have my voice back, please.  I guess I am the (hopefully) very last person to get this junk. It started with Jack getting it from daycare the week of August 17th.  Since then, he, Laila, Amber, Jake, I'm sure his parents and sister since they all live together, Kristen, Katie, Alex and Chris have had it and even my co worker got it ?? (his wife probably brought it home, she's a 2nd grade teacher) He even lost his voice for two weeks, but so far he and I are the only ones to have lost our voices.  Among those mentioned (though I'm not sure about Jake and his family), Amber, Laila, Jack, and Katie have had it TWICE.  All this time, I have germex'd, Lysol'd, bleach'd seriously EVERYTHING. I have usually had a WALL of Lysol or Germex around me at all times. Seriously. I'm that much of a germaphobe. Then sure enough, it was about Tuesday when I came down with it full fledged and overnight Tuesday, I lost my voice. Haven't found it yet :(  Hoping to be able to rest my vocal chords this weekend and not so much as whisper, maybe I'll just use a dry erase board to talk lol. Hopefully, I will be better by Monday.   Of course, everyone wants to call just when you can't talk. Very annoying. 

Oh, and Alex came down with a tummy bug last night. Yippie. I believe it is probably the same one that Katie had last weekend.  Tis the season....Prayerfully, he will be better quick. 

What am I doing today and this weekend.  After work, I am going shopping or looking for a blouse or cardigan to wear with a tank top to a concert next weekend. More about that later. Then home I shall go. 

For supper, I shall grill  fry in a black cast iron skillet, with lots of buttah, some nice big juicy steaks and to go with, some loaded baked potatoes, beefy beans, and garlic bread.  Yuuummmyyy!!!  For supper tomorrow night will be pizza. Sundays, the Mr. usually cooks, so we will see.  I usually make a dessert every weekend, but I think I'm gonna skip this weekend.  We have sweets in the freezer that need to be eaten  and Lord knows we gonna be eating next weekend. More about that later...haha. 

As for plans for the weekend.  I will be finishing up chores and laundry today and tomorrow just lots of reading and resting and Sunday will be church and grocery shopping.  

That's about all I have. I know. I live a boring life. I like it that way. 

Don't forget...it's 

So, be sure to reach out to a friend and nurture that friendship today. I think my form of communication today is going to have to be email and text lol.

~Blessings, Love, and Hugs~

Blogging Through the Bible with Good Morning Girls

I didn't do my Wednesday's Blogging Through The Bible post last Wednesday because I had gotten really behind last week.  In fact, I think I only did Monday and Tuesday's chapters. I'm afraid to say that it's happened again this week, thankfully, I'm only behind by one day.  Today, I am on Acts 12. I should be on Acts 13, but hopefully, I will catch up soon. 

Learn more about the Online Bible study here.  

Oh!!  I just realized that today is the first day of FALL or Autumn or whatever you want to call it.  I like Autumn, myself.  I just love September!! I love Autumn!! 

What's cookin on the old stove this week?  Well, Monday, the Mr. brought home supper that the father in law had cooked. Fried eggplant, and Chicken Spaghetti. Yum!!  Last night, I made smothered pork chops with gravy and onions, along with smashed potatoes, and mac and cheese (for Alex) and dinner rolls. Again, I say YUM!! Tonight, will be leftovers from last night.  Tomorrow and Friday have yet to be decided. I know...I know...very unlike me to NOT have a plan going for two or three weeks in a row now.  I am hoping to get together a menu/grocery shopping list/and shopping trip this weekend. Hopefully. 

Tuesday

It's Tuesday!! Yesterday was definitely a Monday!! I won't even go into it, but I rarely have a bad Monday, but boy howdy was yesterday ever a doozie.  Thank God, Monday is over.

On to Tuesday. Since I missed Monday blogging, I will post my homekeeping schedule for this week. 

This is what I'm working on this week. As usual, my daily chores will be posted at the end. I love my routine. As I have mentioned before, it is based loosely on another popular cleaning lady routine, I've just made a few tweaks to make it my own.  I've tried other routines from others but I find this to be the simplest of all.  Seriously, from to start to finish, my routine never takes longer than 30 min...most times even shorter. 

So, this is the 4th week of the month and that means I am working in :

·          4^th WEEK OF MONTH / LIVINGROOM, DEN

·         MONDAY – PICK UP, PUT UP, OR THROW AWAY ANY CLUTTER

·         TUESDAY -  CLEAN UNDERNEATH SOFA CUSHIONS

·         WEDNESDAY – CLEAN UNDERNEATH SOFA

·         THURSDAY – SPOT CLEAN WALLS/DOORS/LIGHT PLATE SWITCHES

·         FRIDAY – SWEEP/MOP

 HOME BLESSING CHORES

Can be done all in one day or spread throughout the week

MONDAY-  Dust the house. All flat surfaces, ceiling fans, knick knacks. Clean all windows and mirrors and glass in doors. Purge all old magazines, papers, materials that are laying around and no longer needed

TUESDAY-  Sweep small bath, L/R, and Laundry Room. Swish and Swipe sink/counter, commode

WEDNESDAY – Sweep front entrance, clear any clutter from counter/table, sweep front porch

THURSDAY -  Sweep Den and Master Bedroom

FRIDAY – Sweep Master Bath, swish and swipe sink, counter, commode.  Mop kitchen floor

dAILY CHORES

MORNING:

·         Make bed

·         Load Washing Machine

·         Lay out supper

AFTERNOON:

·         LOAD DRYER

·         ALL HOME BLESSING CHORES FOR THE DAY AS WELL AS ZONE CHORES

·         FOLD/ PUT AWAY CLOTHES

EVENING:

·        Wash dishes

·        Clean counters, stove

·        Sweep Kitchen

·        Lay out clothes for next day

·        get to bed at a decent hour

And my...

LAUNDRY SCHEDULE

MONDAY – REDS, PINKS, ORANGES, PURPLES, MAROONS/ COOLTO WARM WATER

TUESDAY – WHITES, ALL WHITES/ HOT WATER, BLEACH

WEDNESDAY – BLACKS, DARK COLORS, BLUE JEANS/ COOL TO WARM WATER

THURSDAY- TOWELS, UNDERWEAR  / HOT WATER

FRIDAY – ALL OTHER COLORS THAT DON’T FALL INTO ANY OTHER OF THE CATEGORIES / WARM WATER

SATURDAY – BED LINENS, PILLOW CASES / HOT WATER  - ALL COMFORTERS AND PILLOWS SPRAYED DOWN WITH FEBREEZE AND LYSOL AND PUT INTO THE DRYER FOR 30 MIN EACH TO FRESHEN AND FLUFF

As for ....

I have decided to slow down a bit with Alex.  This new grade is requiring a substantial amount more of work than in previous grades, and that is expected, of course. But, with having to cover such a large amount of material each day to keep up with our schedule of being done by the end of May, he is just not retaining what we are covering. Furthermore, I have noticed over the last couple of weeks that he has really lost a lot of his math and reading skills, despite us working a couple days a week on these skills. To his defense, we really didn't work that long each session, after all it was summer time. I've decided to go back to our original plan (of a couple years ago, that is) to just go with a year round schedule only a shorter schedule during the summer.  This will allow us to shorten our lessons each day, and add in a Bible reading curriculum. Hopefully, this will work a little better for him/us.  

Friday

Oh yes it is!! Thank you, Jesus!!  I guess today will be the last day of my birthday week, and me choosing what's for supper.  Since we did sandwiches Monday, baked potatoes on Tuesday, the Mr. brought home KFC for supper on my birthday night (Wednesday, just in case you didn't catch my post from Wednesday lol) and last night, the Mr. attended a homemaker's community club picnic with his mom and I was kind of wiped out from my iv iron treatment, so I didn't go. But he brought me a plate home. KFC again...lol. Only, that chicken was NOT fresh. It tasted as though it had been in someone's fridge for two days. But, hey, still, I didn't have to cook and that was my wish for my birthday week. Tonight, I am thinking chinese take out.

Plans for the weekend. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  I say that about every week, and it usually never works out. This time, I'm serious. Except for church on Sunday, I plan to go nowhere. Hopefully. I have a few chores to get caught up on from this week, if I don't finish them today and that is about it. I may stop at the grocery store on the way home today and pick up a couple of steaks for supper tomorrow night and then pick up Chinese and then go home and park the car for the weekend, except as I said earlier, for Church on Sunday.

Oh wait, I do have something to do this weekend, now that I think about it.  I have got to get caught up on my online Bible Study with Good Morning Girls. I have gotten behind this week. No excuses. Just have gotten behind.

I also need to look at Alex's curriculum and re work it.  It seems to be going a little more fast paced for him than he needs it to be. I may be considering going to a year round schedule with less of a work load each day and a lighter work load in the summer.

The eldest child is doing well in Arkansas. They have found a place to rent and hopefully, she will be able to get out and find a job soon.

Well, folks.  I'm gonna get off here for now.  Hope everyone has a great weekend. Thanks to those who called, texted, and emailed me some great Birthday Wishes and cards.  It's been a great week. I can't say my entire year was great, what with the knee injury, surgery, subsequent blood clot in my lung that came very close to ending my life, and all the issues that have come from all of that plus the thousands and thousands and thousands of medical bills that will take me FOREVER to pay off. But, I am claiming, in the sweet name of Jesus, that this year will be one of my greatest years yet...on all levels. Amen.

Oh and don't forget, it is

Do something, today, to nurture a friendship and encourage a friend. 

Thursday

Happy Thursday to ya.  One more day til the weekend. I missed getting on here yesterday.  Had quite a busy morning and quite a few phone calls, wishing me a 

Yep, yesterday was my

And it was indeed a very 

haha...ok, enough with the birthday graphics.  I did have a good day.  Had a few calls wishing me a happy birthday, a few texts. But, I can definitely tell how many folks depend on Facebook to tell them when it is someone's birthday. There were some that I expected to call or text, but they didn't and I am sure they are just like I was, I also depended on FB to tell me when someone's birthday was, well, for several folks.  Now, there are many more that I do remember...and some that I remember but they never remember mine...facebook or no facebook. I just let it roll off my back.

I love birthdays and I think everyone's birthday should be absolutely glorious and special and it is a day to be celebrated to the fullest.  I did have to work yesterday morning, and unless it has been on a weekend, I've never taken off for my birthday, but I don't mind that.  After work , I spent much of the afternoon in the pediatrician's office with the grand sweeties who had to get some shots and both were having issues with a bad cold and fluid in their ears.  Their mom got out of classes not too long after we had gotten to the dr., but I stayed with her and them,because my goodness...two kiddos couped up in a small dr's office exam room for nearly two hours...they were very restless. Especially Jack.  So, when we were done there, Laila decided she wanted to spend the night with me, so we went home and the Mr. brought home supper, KFC!! YUMMMY.  A great birthday supper.  He had given me a very sweet and beautiful card yesterday morning and an infuser water pitcher that I can put all kinds of fruits in to infuse my water with. He knows I love my water. He also had gotten some little hand fried apple pies from KFC and he put a candle in mine haha.

That was fun. Laila helped me blow mine out. I got some great birthday wishes from all of my kiddos.  I am blessed. Blessed beyond measure and beyond anything that I deserve.  I am so grateful and thankful to God for choosing to give me another trip around the sun and waking me to another beautiful day on this planet earth. Everything beyond that, is just icing on the cake. Yes, it is true, I am a very

Even Google wished me a 

See....

Okay, I promise I'm done with the Birthday graphics.  Can you tell that I REALLY, REALLY LOVE birthdays??!! 

I can't tell you how old I am now, a lady never tells her age or her weight haha. If you ask my kids, they are so confused, they really don't know how old I really am, they would say 37 or 38, because I decided at that age, that I would not be telling my true age any longer.  But, I'll give it away now...but keep it a secret please.  I'm the same age as 

and that's all I'm gonna say about that #.  I will also add, that I am now older than my husband. I am 48 days older than him. I'm not exactly proud of that, but it is what it is.  For some reason, I still feel like he is older than me.  

Groovy Tuesday

Home School

As I posted last week, we began our third year of homeschooling last Tuesday.  We schooled on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Everything is going good.  Alex is easing into the routine well. This week, we will start our full schedule after a week of a lighter schedule. Since we work on a 4 day/week schedule, I was hoping to make Mon-Thurs our 4 days and leaving Friday for catch up work or free time or whatever.  This week, it won't happen like that b/c of dr. appts, ect., so it's another Tues-Fri week for us. I am going to have to get into the habit of making all these appts for Fridays. But that is the beauty of homeschooling. You can work school around life, making your own schedule.  

This week, we will be working in Social Studies, Math, English and Science, as well as handwriting, (we practice handwriting by writing Bible memory verses for the week), Reading, Spelling, and Vocabulary. The following schedule is usually how we roll around the homeschooling day.

1. Social Studies
2. English
3. Handwriting on Tuesdays and Thursdays (Bible memory verses from each subject)
4. Vocabulary on Mondays and Wednesdays (Mon - Social Studies vocab, Wed - Science vocab)
5. Science 
6. 1/2 of Math assignments
7. Reading
8. Spelling City.com (new list of words every two weeks)
9. Rest of Math assignments

He takes a 15-30 min. break every 1 hr 15 min. So, assuming we start at or around 1:30 ish (the usual time since I don't get off work until noon and by the time we get home and have lunch, it is usually about that time), we usually don't get done until between 5:30 and 7pm...just depending on how fast or slow he is working in a given day.  Thankfully, Alex is maturing to the point and getting so much better in his reading level, that he is capable of doing a good bit of his work without me sitting beside him all afternoon. There are still some things that I do want to be there beside him with, just to make sure that he understands what he is doing.  But, I am able to leave him be for short periods and do my chores here and there and hopefully a work out too.  

Torch it Tuesday...

What is Torch it Tuesday, one may ask.  Well, I'm new to this one, too.  But from what I have seen around the www, I believe it is where folks post about their work outs on Tuesdays. ? There seems to other terms for the days of the week, such as Motivation Monday, Work Out Wednesday, and Fitness Friday. I have no idea what the term is for Thursday.  I will have to be on the look out for that one. I think it may be a good way to keep myself accountable for my work outs. I am the absolute most consistent inconsistent exerciser in the entire world.  I have been working out since I was maybe 15.  You would think with all these years of working out, I would be a perfect size 4 or 6. But noooo, I'm not. By far. I *might* be if I had been more consistent with my  work outs over the years AND combined the consistent work outs with proper diet.  As a result of my inconsistent exercising and yo-yo dieting/gaining/losing, I am now diabetic, something that I knew many years ago was a good possibility if I didn't change my wicked ways of eating and exercising.  I had gestational diabetes with the last 3 of my 4 children.  I knew I, as well, as they had a higher chance of getting diabetes later in life than the average person. I also knew that I had the power to CHANGE that outcome.  Now, I will admit that I DIDN'T know all of this with the first two that I had GD with, because I was not really informed too much about GD or the dangers to the baby, if it was not controlled. My last ob/gyn took this very seriously with my last pregnancy and he DID explain it all to me.  Still,  while I was always motivated and wanted to change my diet and work out more and lose weight, for whatever reason, it has just never happened. I am a total food addict. I wish I were addicted to working out like I am to eating.  Don't get me wrong, I actually do like to work out and I know that I always feel better afterward and while I may dread doing a work out, I never regret doing it. Exercise is so beneficial in so many ways. Yet, I somehow let life get in the way of my work outs. I will work out perfectly every day (usually 4 to 5 or 6 days a week) for 2 1/2 to 3 weeks, then miss one work out for whatever reason and it just spirals into missing a few days, then a few weeks, and before ya know it a few months have gone by with no exercise and then I'm suffering with back pain, hip pain, shoulder pain. I know good and well each of these ailments are always made better with consistent exercise. But sometimes, I am just exhausted...wiped out...do not have the energy to even think about working out, or am in too much pain to work out. Either I have to get up at 3:30am...seriously...because I do my quiet time with God from 5-6:30 and I am NOT giving that one up, because I need that more than I need anything else...or I have to do it in the late afternoons, which by the time afternoon rolls around, I have lost the energy, will, and motivation.

All of that said, I have been suffering with major back and hip pain the last few months. I figure it is because I was overcompensating, using the right leg/hip really since my knee injury in January and more especially since my surgery in April. I have worked out some during this time, but there are times that I can barely move to do anything.  I really really don't want to go back to my surgery dr., because I am so afraid he will want to do surgery and I do not want to go through that again. I can try a chiropractor, but honestly, we don't have the money to do that unless it is a last resort. I can't really take anything for pain, prescription wise, because I just don't tolerate pain meds well. I can't take OTC pain meds except for Tylenol and I might as well  take nothing, because Tylenol does NOTHING for me AT ALL.  So, my last option, really, is to try to ease back into a consistent work out again AND try to lose some weight.  I think the first will be easier than the latter. I don't know...we will see.

Yesterday, I started with some easy Yoga.  It wasn't that easy lol.  I had to make quite a few modifications, but hey, I did it...45 minutes or so of Yoga. Namaste.  Today, I WILL make time for working out...when, I don't know, but I will. When I get off at noon, I have the grand sweeties until 4,  and have school with Alex at the same time, that probably won't get finished until 6 or so, but somewhere in there, I do intend to do a little low impact cardio and strength training.  Wednesday, which will be about as busy, I plan to do the treadmill for about 20 min., Thursday, my schedule should be slower and I plan to do a total body work out video (about 45 min); Friday, I plan to do strength training;  Saturday, I plan to do a 30 min. full body stretch session; Sunday I plan to do a 20-30 min. "spiritual" walk. I won't be aiming for raising my heart rate, just some slow, spiritual walking, either outside or on the treadmill, listening to some good gospel music or K LOVE  and just breathing in God's beauty around me.

Those are my fitness plans for the week. Pray for me...

Tuesday

Somber Tuesday morning around these parts.  My thoughts and prayers go out to the students, faculty, and staff at Delta State University, a college that is not far from my home.  A professor, was shot and killed yesterday morning by a fellow professor, for reasons that we may never know.  It really doesn't matter what the reason was, it was uncalled for and not necessary. My prayers also go out to the professor's family and friends. From what I understand, he was an awesome professor and and an amazing person, in general.  The man who shot and killed him, is also highly suspected of shooting and killing his girlfriend in the early morning hours at their home, on the MS Coast, then drove the 300 some odd miles to his place of employment, Delta State, and shot and killed his colleague.  I cannot imagine what drove this man to do such an indescribable act of hate to these two people.  I am sure we will learn more about this man as time goes on.  My prayers are also with his girlfriend and her family and friends and also with the killer's family and friends as they will also be mourning his loss and trying to make sense of what he has done. As I said, since he took the coward's way out,  (he was finally caught late last night and during a chase, he shot and killed himself) we may never know his reasons. A sad sad day for so many. I was checking twitter most of the morning and afternoon for updates and one of the trending terms was "active shooter".  It is a sad time in this world when "active shooter" is the trending hashtag. This was the second shooting at a MS college in just a few weeks. MS State had a shooter on campus just a few weeks ago.  I don't think he actually fired shots, just threatened to.  Still.  Our country and its leaders and our schools desperately need Jesus.  All of these things happen because we have allowed them all to remove Jesus from our schools, our government, our lives. It is past time for Christians and Jesus to take this country back.
Father protect us all.

Monday

Man Crush Monday...

Today is  MCM!!  Today, which is the first time I have ever participated in this thing, my MCM is on two.  That's right!! I have a crush on two. Well, I think the more appropriate word is LOVE.

                                 

Is it appropriate to say that I have a crush on Jesus??  It's more than a crush.  I am in awe, in love, and on fire for this man, Jesus Christ!!

This man, right here!! Love him!! He's my heart and my soul!! He's big, tough, a little rough around the edges, very stubborn and hard headed, he's not perfect by any means, but he tries and he has a big, soft heart the size of Texas, he would do anything in this world for me and for that matter, for anyone that he cares about,  and he is a good God fearing, God loving man, and only God could love him more than I do. Well, his mama might love him a tad more, but it would be a close race there.  

  Oh and that's me and Katie in the the pic with him.