Happy 10 year Anniversary

I would think that 10 years of marriage makes me a professional. If not, at least I'm educated. The past 10 years of marriage have been fantastic. Brian and I have always gotten along and typically have the same vision for our family and when we don't, we work it out.

In the beginning we had a good marriage. But that's it. Just good. Brian left me to my own decisions and sins in order to avoid conflict and hurting my feelings. After attending Step Studies, our relationship evolved. Brian would confront me over my sins. Now, this has never been pleasant for either of us, still isn't, but I have to take what he says, weigh it, find the truth, and repent. I know he doesn't enjoy this part of the marriage, but I must say I welcome it. It grows us in our faith. We are rooted in Christ. We both have our hope in Him alone. We both seek to do his will and pray for ours to be changed where they don't align.

Our marriage has always been good, but I can say now that with the help of Christ through sanctification, it's great.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.-Proverbs 27:17

My 4 Hour Body Workout

This is what I have chosen as my 4 Hour Body Workout. Quick. Easy. Has proved effective thus far too. It's kind of a nice change too since it's way too hot in my opinion to run.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Do it before breakfast and since you're "suppose" to eat within 30 minutes, I roll out of bed and workout.

Flying Dog This shows how to do it--do 15 reps

Glute Raises This video is terrible, but all I could find. Bend your knees when you do it and push from the heel, not balls of feet.

Hip Flexor stretch 30 seconds each side

50 Kettle Ball Swings

Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday

10 burpees I go down into plank position and don't jump at the end, however, maybe I need to for now on. Nah. I squat, jump into plank (then I do a jumping jack with my legs while in plank), jump back, stand up, repeat.

Scroll down on both of these links to see how to do them. He calls the myotatic crunch: Cat Vomit Exercise

Myotatic Crunch

Plank and Side Plank

There you go. Your morning workout. Now go eat protein.

4 Hour Body Recipes

Here are the 4 Hour Body Recipes we use. Since you do Slow Carb for 6 days, we have 6 recipes and are putting them on repeat.

Steak Stir Fry (no rice-we served on fresh spinach)

Chicken Stir Fry (no rice-served on spinach and made the sauce from previous recipe because this one didn't have any)

White Bean Chicken Chili

3-4 Chicken breasts cooked: shredded

16 oz Picante Sauce

1 can chicken broth

3 cans Great Northern White Beans (do not drain beans)

¼ tsp Cumin

Cook 2-3 hours in crock pot on low

Bachelor Stew

1 lb ground beef

1 can Ranch Style Beans

1 Can vegetable soup

Cook beef, drain. Add beans and veggie soup and simmer for 30 minutes.

Another option:

1 lb ground beef

Frozen Mixed Veggies

Beef Broth

1 Can Ranch Style Beans

Follow same recipe as above

Honey-Lime Grilled Chicken with Grilled Asparagus

Yes, I used honey. It was good :)

Salad-think Chipotle

Black beans, hot sauce, grilled chicken, stir fry green bell peppers/onions/jalapenos, cilantro

God and Tornadoes

Abbie sat crying from pure fear about the tornado that "might" come. I consoled her reminding her God is in charge of everything, even the storm. I promised her I would take care of her and protect her and that we had to trust God. She wanted to know what would happen if our house was gone. I reminded her again that God would provide. All truths that were just too tough for my 5 year old to grasp and feel peace about. As I put them to bed I prayed over her; that God would remove the fear and give her peace and this his protection would cover us. Then tucked them in only to have Brian come in a few minutes later yelling, "Get the girls! Something's coming." We gathered out littles in the bathroom where we sat waiting this "something" to come when Brian yelled for me to come look. This is what I saw:

Brian and I chanted please go away. I sat in wonder at this amazing weather. It was hard to take my eyes off it, while contemplating it's ability to totally destroy. The tail spun up into the cloud and it was gone. God was in charge. He did protect. He answered our prayer.

Not only that, but I believe this is a glimpse of the glory of God. Something so amazing. Powerful. Just like he is. A speck inside his ability to have all power. To do as he pleases. I am not only praising God for his protection, but also for getting to see something that actually leaves you speechless. When the words return, it's all about Him.

For Now

Bullying seems to be making the news more and more but part of me wonders if this is media's way of finding something else for parents to worry about. I am sure bullying truly is an issue and does need to addressed, but I think there are boundaries that need to be considered and observations need to be made on part of the bully and the bullied.

Bullying is a learned behavior. For those who bully, have counselors etc looked at the home life of the bully? Are there two parents? Is there divorce? Is the home stable? Is there a positive adult influence in the home? Are the bullies left to TV, movies, video games, or older influences? I think that is key in starting the process into the bullies mind. Kiddos will act out, even in the most horrendous ways, for attention. Are we paying attention?

For the bullied. Parents, it is your job to protect your child. Are you willing to do whatever it takes? I get so frustrated with parents who blame the teacher, administration, anyone but themselves. Stop deferring the safety of your child to someone else. Stand in the gap for your kid. What would that mean? Transfer to a new school, home school, or yes, even move. Are you willing to sacrifice for your child? I don't think you, or them, would ever regret that. Times are tough, I get that. Downsize, make sacrifices, but don't be idle waiting for someone else to intervene. You start the process: eat dinner together, make family time a priority, no matter the cost, make sure your own kiddos treat their siblings with respect and speak kindly to each other, and make sure they know they are loved, valued, and of worth.

Unfortunately, there are folks who don't hold Jesus as Lord and make the gospel central. Heap burning coals on their head, turn the other cheek, a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger; these truths seem "old" and therefore irrelevant for our time. But I think if it's in the bible, we need to think upon, dwell upon, and apply. If more folks held these principles to be true in their life, there would be radical change among our kids.

As adults, what messages are we sending our kiddos? Do spouses bully one another? Make them do something they don't want to or berate them? Do you use your status or strength on the game field or intellectual "superiority" in dealing with others? Have you ever lost your temper with your own kiddos and used fear as a means to obedience (guilty as charged)? Perhaps on further introspection, it would be wise to evaluate our own lives to see patterns/habits that might set our kiddos up to be a bully.

Perhaps even in my own life, there is a little bit of a bully in me. By the grace of God he will squash it, conforming me to his image, that I might have soft answers for my kiddos in times of trial. Continual confession, repentance, and making amends will be a constant. And hopefully by doing this continually, my girls will see first hand Godly sanctification.

*this is my opinion as of today and am free to change it on a whim depending on how I feel or if my child is being bullied or I learn they are bullies

(failed) Detox

I took the Cinch 5 day fast forward challenge to shed the rest of the baby weight. I went into this thinking it was the answer to all my problems only to find my heart revealed.

Spinach, eggs, almonds, raspberries, and almonds are good to eat, right? I like them individually but found on day 2 that I would actually begin gagging at the thought of eating these items and finally chose hunger over eating. Yup, lasted two days. I just couldn't do it. I wasn't happy with the way I was so detox was the answer only to find I wasn't happy with that either. Now, those two days were successful and I am back in my pre-maternity clothes (yay!) and to think if I had stayed on the full 5 days, I might have seen even better results.

The deal is, I am trying to fix my self image problem and failing. This past weekend's message was about as humans we try to fix things only to make another problem instead of trusting God. Convicted. I am not fully trusting God. I do with my mouth, but not my heart. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, a woman who fears the Lord-she is to be praised, my imperishable beauty should be a gentle and quiet spirit. Praying that these verses aren't just knowledge, but belief.

I will say that good or bad, the Lord will let me know, it did make me feel a bit better about myself but my identity can't come from a number on scale or on my pants.

My focus should be to be a good steward with the food I eat and the body I've been given and to thank God that he provides.

I might be a loser for quitting, but I am a 4 lbs lighter loser :) And that is something I can live with.

Linguini with Meat Sauce

This recipe is AMAZING. It makes a heap so you might bake and freeze, have friends over, or I used it to make our family a serving and took the other half to a mom who had a baby. It is oh-so good!

Linguini with Meat Sauce (Southern Living Magazine)

2 jars of spagehtti sauce (I just use Ragu)

2lbs lean ground beef

1/2 onion- chopped

2-4 cloves of garlic (I did three large ones)

~Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic until completely cooked and then add both jars of sauce

16oz package linguini cooked, rinsed, and drained

1 handful of chopped green onions

1 pkg cream cheese (I used light)

16oz sour cream (I used light)

~When noodles are done add cream cheese, sour cream and green onions and stir until everything is melted.

Spread noodle mixture in the bottom of greased pan then pour meat sauce on top. Top with (a bunch of) mozzarella or cheddar cheese and bake at 350 uncovered for 30-45 mins or until cheese is bubbly.

Happy Eating for real! :)