stay focused

One parent in a housing apt, one moving to the Villa Nursing Home I pray temporarily. One daughter graduating this year and since we homeschool, it's up to me to be sure everything is ready. One son desiring to go to college in Sydney, AU but it seems that we cannot get his college fund to climb no matter what. More stupid insurance billing issues at work, when will that ever be normal? Taxes are ready, we owe so much I could scream. I could let these issues ruin my week or I can remember the fact that I am an overcomer. My focus is what's on the other side of these mountains: My parents healthier and back together this spring, my beautiful daughter taking college courses and working towards the business she wants to have, my son increasing in his talents and writing music to become the man God has called him to be, both kids learning to lead more effectively & staying involved in the music & youth ministry that they love. And the Medicaid billing will work better this year! It has to because I cannot have another high-stress year like 2008. It's not worth it. and taxes...I'll consider the money as seed planted. I know it will come back a hundred-fold.
Basement tonight for my workout. That has been wonderful for relieving stress! So have my Goldens, they're like sponges. They snuggle into you and everything just melts away! My cat is curled up like a little pod over my arms in front of the keyboard purring away, what a little punky love! But I have to get ready for work now. I'm glad to have a job. Yes, I am.

Think Spring

As the temps still hover in the single digits, I decided to turn my thoughts to spring projects. I have a nice list made but one of the most enjoyable that I am looking forward to is our upcoming Salsa Garden.
In it, we will grow:
Tomatoes
Jalapeno peppers
Sweet peppers
Onions
Cilantro
Oregano
Garlic

There's a very large pine tree that needs to come down by the garden shed that is way too big and blocking too much sun. Since we have about one million other pine trees on our property, I figured I'd plant a Lilac bush there in it's place. I am looking forward to a good growing season this year!

YAY! The snowplow came!!!!

I'm up early, we all were. The kids are trying to get a couple more hours in. The fuzzbutts heard the city snowplow. They get excited. They thought the whole house should get up and be excited too. Well, we weren't with the exception of the cat. Now she's full of it. Really, she's literally bouncing off the walls. The plow is gone. The dogs are now snoring. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Dang this coffee is good.
I worked out last night. Same routine.

I'm enjoying a fast right now and of course, "CHOCOLATE" has entered my mind a few times. I found a few little tidbits about chocolate; thought I'd share. Enjoy!


Q. Why is there no organization such as Chocoholics Anonymous?
A. Because no one wants to quit.

Q. How do I get two pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car on a summer's day?
A. Eat it in the parking lot.

Q. What is a balanced diet?
A. Equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, unless your dietician prescribes equal amounts of bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate. If your dietitian is out of town and unavailable for a consultation, use both regimens for a week at a time, alternating.


If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

Clearly, chocolate is a vegetable. Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. A bean is a vegetable. Wait! There's more! Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Therefore, chocolate is a vegetable.

Chocolate-covered raisins, -cherries, -orange slices and -strawberries all count as fruit. Eat as many as you want. Fruits are an important part of the Food Pyramid.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off Your appetite and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.

Money talks. Chocolate sings.

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, chocolate is therapeutic.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

"You look like you've lost weight..."

It's already Thursday, wow! It's -22* and the windchill is -46*....I wonder if my car is gonna start? It didn't want to yesterday. I cannot imagine it wanting now!
This week, we walked Monday but not from Tuesday on because of the cold temps. I got a good workout in Tuesday night. Same routine plus the Roman twists and leg presses. Tonight's workout may be lame. I didn't sleep all that well; I tossed and turned and broke out in a sweat and slept like crud. But nontheless, I will torture my muscles and work myself to the point in which I cannot do another and then I'll be satisfied. I received my very first comment yesterday that it looks like I'm losing weight! :) I love the fact that all this hard work is becoming noticable! it's soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo exciting!

another workout in!

Got a full workout tonight + over a hundred leg presses and 100 roman twists. I am feeling it. It's so good.

Nott 2 BaD..

This week's exercise rated kinda on the lame side BUT at least I did some!
I walked at lunch over a mile on M, T, TH, & F. (Wednesday I did NOT feel well and I did nothing, nada) anyway I worked out really well on the weight machine last night. I'm a little sore today. I've been stretching daily also. That's my week so far. Good thing I stil have tonight and Saturday for a little more ;)

a spicy day!

I'm getting ready to get back to the grind! whooooot! I was thinking (happily) about my promise to myself about no more overtime. Working 8-4 M-F is plenty enough and I wanna keep it that way. I'm thankful to have a job, it's a good job. I'm thankful to have had the last 11 days off, 7 of which were paid days off! It felt good. I needed that so badly. So I have a mammogram at 9 am. Hopefully my parents hear from their ins company today or I gotta buzz over there after work and call again. Nikki and Mike are going there today to clean for them.
I'm forcing the kids to stay home tonight forgetting there was bible study so maybe we'll all go to that. They start school up again today. I ordered some more stuff from Christian Book Distributors:
The Weather Identification Handbook
Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations
Charcoal Drawing
Pencil Drawing
Accounting Lifepac 3: Analyzing and Journalizing Transactions
Accounting Lifepac 4: Posting to the General Ledger
Consumer Math Lifepac 1: Creative Arithmetic
Consumer Math Lifepac 2: Fractions, Decimals, & Percent

Nikki needs the Consumer Math to graduate. She should have a foreign language too but I can't swing it right now. I think there are some internet resources I can tap into. I'm gonna have to look more into that this week.

That's that! Oh ya, my workout tonight too. ;)


Matt 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men." That was Jesus speaking. He basically is saying, Stay spicy. Stay in my Word, stay filled, stay with Me....the world is watching, if you fizzle, you're no good for the Kingdom or the world. That's the way I see it anyway. Stay spicy!

Tonight's workout

I just got done working out and it's kinda late and now my adrenaline is flowing and I'm not sleepy anymore but I really need to get some sleep but I feel like running a mile or two but it's blowing snow out and I don't have a treadmill so I can't but I got all this energy and since others are sleeping I have to be quiet but I feel so WIDE-AWAKE! whew! so ya, that's what. I had 4 workouts this week but a couple were a kinda weak, tonight's was good but a little shorter than usual. It was still good though! I am thinking progress.......speaking of: I did FIVE of those leg-lift ab thingies!! Five, I can't believe it! I was so stinking happy!!! Oh, and the butterfly exercises are still tough but I can do more now. cool. I ate very healthy today too. I had a cup (ok, big mug) of yummy Starbucks coffee tonight with my big bro, Danny. He's gonna bring his heat gun over to strip my x-country skis down and re-wax them. I'm getting ansy to try them out. I think I will get on them tomorrow. I got my boots ready and found Michael's golf shoes. I got to thinking about my weight loss and how I'll be able to swing my clubs better after my, um.... chest gets smaller :) lol Well, it's true. So that's another perk. HAHA!! get it? perk, ugh ok I need sleep.

My day today

Workout today
Charter dude coming
My brother Dan is coming to visit
waxing my x-country skis
luving muh new hair
cleaned the house already~YAY!
eating healthy
getting ready for a SNOWSTORM! :)
putting on the teacher's hat for awhile
paying the bills
buying some Lifepacs for NikNak and maybe something artsy
planning muh 'coffee/oxygen bar-totally cool gift shop' business lol actually don't laugh; I got a PLAN!
planning a winter firepit! But I'm not inviting the whole church. This is going to be by invitation only, not to be mean but it's 'what is is, Na na,na-na-na-na-na'

Happy New Year!

I love the excitement of a new year, a new beginning, new opportunities! I have so much to hope for, so much faith, so many expectations. I am traveling down a new path and when I hit the fork in the road, I'm going God's way for me whether it makes sense to others or not. I'm ready now; I know God has a wonderful plan for my life that I have been preparing myself for. Every decision I made thus far has brought me to where I am today. The difference between then and now is that I have been learning to hear the Holy Spirit lead, I've learned to rely on God instead of my feelings. I keep a tight relationship with Jesus Christ. The difference between this year and years prior is that very fact. It's exciting!

Today's exercise
What a weak workout tonight! I'm so stinking tired! I'm not used to such late nights! I did get my workout in but it was shorter than usual because I just didn't care! I'm sooooooooo tired now. I went through it but skipped a few leg routines. I took my supplements, ate part of a salad, and now I'm fighting sleep. I'm going up to bed with a book very soon. I'm glad I exercised though. I would've felt guilty and bad if I would've missed it. I've been working way too hard very consistantly.
Happy New Year!