13 in 13

Resolutions, I've tried them.  I am filled with good intentions, but I don't follow through.  Why is that?  Routine is so much easier than change and transition.  It takes much less effort.  This year I am not looking at it as a resolution because clearly that does not work.  I want to be more intentional in some areas of my life and that is where I am going to focus.  Instead of setting unrealistic resolutions, I'm going to pick 13 things I hope to do in 2013.  Some may be similar to resolutions, but I am going to be intentional about them, more realistic.  So here is my 13 in 2013.

1. Be more intentional in my personal relationship with Christ.  I want to read the Bible more and focus on quiet time with Him each day.

2. Focus more on being healthy.  I want to make working out a part of my weekly routine.  It's not just about working out, but taking better care of my body and making time to build my confidence.  My goal is to lose 20 lbs. and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. 

3. Try to keep my house cleaner.  It's no secret, men are slobs.  I want to try to make it a priority to clean up after myself and encourage him to do the same.  I want to take more pride in my home.

4. Try to cook at least three times a week.  Yes, I know 3 is low, but I struggle to even hit one night nowadays, so I figure three is realistic.

5. Paint the master bathroom and guest bedroom.

6. Use the old window I bought and frame a photo.

7. Try 10 new restaurants around our city.

8.  Start couponing.

9. Learn more about photography and take time to build a hobby of it.  Less lazy time, more learning.

10. Be more intentional on doing small things that honor my husband and show him I care.

11. Be intentional in my friendships.  Keeping in contact and making effort to build these relationships with women who build me up.

12.  Make a budget and stick to it.

13. Run a 10k.  Hopefully, the Cooper River Bridge run. 

Color Me Happy

On Saturday, I participated in my first 5k, the Color Run!!  It was so amazingly fun!  If you haven't heard of the Color Run, it is a 5k run that has color stations along the route.  At every station volunteers douse you in colored powder.  By the end of the race you look like a rainbow!  Brandon and I got to run it with another couple from our small group from church and one of their family members.  We are so blessed to have amazing friends who made this so much fun.  

I got my colorful socks ready, my sweatband, and my clean white shirt just waiting to be colorified.  The start line is a huge dance party and the run was also a lot of fun.  There were a lot of hills along the route, but hey it was a great workout.  At the finish line we headed to the color party, which is essentially a huge dance party.  Every 10 minutes or so they do a color throw.  Each runner got a packet of colored powder.  On the signal everyone throws their color in the air to create a huge colorful cloud that rains down on you.  In one word- Fantastic!!!  This was the most fun I have had in a long time.  Next on our list of runs, the Electric Run in April.  So pumped!! 

Before

During

After

 It really is the happiest 5k on the planet!!!

Feed Me

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Okay friends, since I have been sick for over a week now my diet has completely been killed.  I haven't been able to work out and with Brandon taking care of meals we haven't been eating well at all.  That's why we decided to go on a major healthy living spree starting Monday.  The problem is I am not a creative cook.  I'm not really much of a cook at all, but I like to learn.  It's easier for me to eat well and cook when I have a plan of attack.  With that being said, we do not have very many healthy recipes.  That's where you come in.  I would love to learn some new healthy and delicious recipes for all meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Post your healthy recipe(s) on your blog and send them my way by adding your link below.  I can't wait to learn some yummy recipes.  I will work on posting my own sometime this week.  Thanks for feeding me healthy!

Will Power

Lately Brandon and I have been working on getting back into shape and eating right.  We have been making a conscientious effort to cut calories, go to the gym more often, and encourage each other in the area of physical health.  As a married couple we encourage each other emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, but not so much in the area of taking care of our bodies.  Brandon just completed an 8 week fitness challenge at our local YMCA and he did a amazing job.  The challenge was to go to the gym 4 times a week and try a new activities at least once a week.  I was so proud of him and he definitely saw the results.  He lost 8 lbs., cut 10% of his body fat, and added 20 lbs of lean muscle.  It has been amazing to see him so dedicated and it has definitely served as motivation to me.  I didn't officially take part in the challenge, but I did tag along with him unofficially. 

For me, it is more about being healthy.  Yes, I want to lose the weight and feel good about myself, but more than that I want my heart and soul to be healthy for years to come.  I also find this an exercise in will power.  The Lord created our bodies as a temple, but He also gives us free will to choose.  Normally, if I'm not going to a group exercise class, I find it extremely difficult to workout on my own in a vigorous manner that really makes a difference.  I am quickly finding that I need to push myself.  As a sit here in a sweaty stupor I reflect on what I just did.  I just finished running 3 miles straight and I never thought I would be able to run that far on my own will power.  The Lord has given us amazing bodies that we can decide to push.  It's all mental folks.  Your body can do so much more than you think it can.  It is overcoming your mental blocks to reach that potential.  As I continue to run and my legs start to ache I have to tell myself just one more minute.  Then I reach the minute and pick a new goal.  As Christ believes in us and sees our potential, we too need to see the potential in ourselves.  Not only is this about encouraging one another to stay fit, but it is an exercise in spiritual health.  Every day I have a new appreciation for these amazing bodies the Lord has equipped us with.  Now we just have to learn their true capabilities. 

21 Day Challenge

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This time of year, most of us tend to think...ok, starting January 1st, I'm going to lose ______ pounds, eat healthier, take time for _______, do this and that. There is nothing wrong in any of those things, especially in setting goals for yourself.  The only problem is, at least for me, I set these goals and have no one to encourage me, no accountability and they just end up by the wayside.  I'm sure this is not a problem for anyone else, right?  That's what I thought.  We all struggle to hold strong to our goals and resolutions that the new year always brings.  That's why I am partnering up with 2 beautiful women (who are also NC State grads, can't go wrong there :) to offer you the opportunity to join us in the 21 Day Challenge.  I, along with Leslie from The Dearmans and Amy from Fit New Mama, are linking up to pose the 21 day challenge to work on holistic goals, including spiritual and physical health.  This is an opportunity for us to join together as one community to encourage each other in 2012!  Doesn't that sound like a fun way to start off the new year. We can all do 21 days...that is only 3 weeks!

First and foremost, to start off our new year, we need to seek our Lord. This past fall, Leslie went through the book How to Pray in 28 Days by Kay Arther and it sparked the idea behind this whole thing. She began thinking of the importance for us to pray, pray specifically, pray correctly, and pray together as believers. I am also going to work on this through the new year.  Praying for each other and praying consistently are two things I definitely want to work on.  In order to do this we have formed a group through youversion.com that we would love for you all to join. It will include 21 days of scripture that focuses on prayer, whether through examples or by what Christ has to say about prayer. I can't think of a better way to bring in 2012 than by praying specifically for our walks with Christ, our family, our friends, our nation, and for others to know Him.

Secondly, lets get our bodies in check, physically and nutritionally. I'm not asking you to lose a pound or stop eating _______, but to serve the Lord in this aspect of your life. Whether you are a mom, sister, friend, wife or whatever, we all have a reason to live a healthy lifestyle. We will be using myfitnesspal.com. You can set your own goals whatever they may be and make it a priority to be healthy.  After all, we all know what a marriage does for our waistlines, just me, ok fine.  

Who knows maybe we will be one strong accountability community!!!

Ok...so you are in right???

All you need to do is leave a comment including your name and email address to show us that you are interested in joining us for this 3 week journey through spiritual and bodily health. Feel free to list this on your blog as well to get others involved and be sure to add our button to your post, found above. No matter where you are in life, let's bring in the New Year together!  After all it is only 21 days . We can encourage each other for 21 days right??  I will send you all an email on December 31st with links to join our groups. Woohoo!

*Partnering with Amy at Fit New Mama and Leslie at The Dearmans.*

Work It Out Girl

With no job and no schoolwork, I've had a lot of time on my hands.  This means I need something to do.  I am the type of person who gets very bored, very easily.  I need to be on the move most of the time, I need something productive to fill my time.  That being said, I have been focusing a lot more on fitness and working out.  I have always loved being active.  I grew up playing sports three seasons out of the year and spent the summers at summer camps and on the go.  Now that I am all grown up there are no more summer camps and I have to be diligent in staying fit.  So, what are my activities of choice you may ask.

I love, love, love step aerobics.  It is a great cardio workout and it also works your mental capacity through choreography.  I go to a step class at least once a week at the YMCA, my favorite is on Tuesday afternoons.  I much prefer going two or three times a week.  Step can be very intimidating for first-timers, but I promise I looked just as goofy my first time and it definitely gets better with practice, so keep at it and you will be doing the most complex choreography soon.  So, if you have access to step aerobics group classes, give it a try you might surprise yourself.   

Now, I am by no means a distance runner.  I can run about 2 miles and that's about as far as I go.  I just love the feeling and the challenge of running.  It is such a mental exercise because your body can always do more than you believe it can, so you have to train your mind to be in accord with the body's capabilities.  There is definitely a lot of self-encouragement going on when I go running.  I try to run outside at least once a week.  I either drag Brandon along or I bring my trusty Ipod.  I'm hoping to get Piper to be my running buddy as soon as she is big enough.  I usually pair running with some toning exercises like an ab workout or muscle toning and of course a nice stretching episode.  My goal (which is a lofty one for me) is to run the Cooper River Bridge 10K in Charleston next year and possibly the Warrior Dash in August.  I really should begin training, haha. 

This one is waaaay out of my comfort zone, but I love it.  In case you aren't familiar with Zumba, it is a high-energy dance workout that features Latin (i.e. salsa, meringue, bachata, etc.), reggaeton (my favorite), hip-hop, belly dancing, and any other kind of dancing you can imagine.  The goal of Zumba is to have a fun experience while burning calories.  I used to go to Zumba on a weekly basis, but then stopped going because I got busy.  I went to my first class in a while today and it was amazing.  There were about 100 people there and the energy was off the chart.  It doesn't matter if you can shake it like Shakira or you move like a white girl (like me).  All that matters is that you let loose, have fun, and get a great workout.  It is freeing as a woman to be able to embrace your sexy side and power as a woman.  I challenge you to try a Zumba class at least once, you might find you have moves you never knew you had.  

Finally, my favorite activity is softball.  I have played softball since I was 8 years old.  I played throughout school and continued with intramurals in college.  Now, I play on a rec league team with some people that I grew up in church with.  We play a game once a week and I absolutely adore it.  Even though it isn't fast-pitch it keeps me in the sport.  There is something about being on the field that makes me feel at home, fulfilled.  It indulges all of my senses.  I love the ping of the bat from a solid hit, the feel of the dirt between my cleats, the smell of the dirt and leather on my palms, the sweat on my brow, the breeze and sun on my cheeks.  It is a feeling I can't explain.  For that hour once a week I am free, I am at home.  Do you have an activity or hobby that gives you this feeling?  I hope you do. 

I love being active and try to make a part of my weekly routine.  Sometimes, working out can become a burden or something that is easily given up.  I try to schedule it into my daily routine as if it is an appointment that I have to go to.  It is one of my self-care activities and I not only benefit physically from it, but mentally, emotionally, and psychologically.  Also, having someone support you and hold you accountable is important as well.  I encourage you to find the workout routine that works for you.  It might be yoga, cardio, lifting weights, dancing, whatever gets you moving.  So, what are some of your favorite fitness activities?