A Fresh Start

So what do you all think about the new layout and header? Guess what….wait for it…I MADE IT! Yup, I designed my header on Photoshop Elements 9, which my wonderful husband bought for me for Christmas. It’s very new to me, so I’m still figuring out how to use it, but I’m learning a lot and having fun making new things.

I wanted a new design on this site because I felt like I needed a fresh start on here. I haven’t been a very consistent blogger, but eventually I’d love to do it regularly. Right now the time issue is really holding me back. I will be done with my practicum in about four weeks and after that things will slow down considerably, so I’m definitely looking forward to that.

I have a pretty free weekend, so I plan on doing some more writing then. I figured out a great smoothie recipe and found a great new product (agave nectar), so be looking forward to a post about that. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week! Enjoy the snow that has randomly come our way recently….

Two weeks in…

Photo Credit

I don’t think I’ve written about this, but this is my second week (out of a total of four weeks) of doing a no sweets/desserts fast. It’s been difficult at times, but overall I’m holding pretty steady. I decided to do this for several reasons, but the number one reason was because I had been doing a lot of reading about the addictiveness of sugar. I started researching and talking to people about sugar and the effects it has on your body and I started to realize that I was addicted. Every day after lunch or dinner I would just craze something sweet. And even when I was trying to eat healthy, I always gave into my cravings. SO, I knew that I had to do something drastic in order to get over this. For that reason I decided to start a 30 day fast with no sweets or desserts. For me, this was defined as sugary coffee drinks, candy, cookies, and other such items.

In addition to the addiction, I found myself reaching for sugary items whenever I had a bad day. I could rationalize almost any situation and convince myself that it was ok to stop and grab a bag of candy at a gas store or buy a cupcake at Jones Bros Cupcakes. As I’ve been doing some recent soul searching, I started thinking about my reaching out to something other than Jesus for comfort. Now, before you go off on me, I’m not trying to be legalistic and saying that if you have a bad day you can’t go out for icecream, but for me, this was a habit, and was not something that was healthy for me physically or spiritually.

So where am I at, 2 weeks into this deal? Well, I am actually feeling really well physically. I feel strong and healthy. Although I still am crazing sweets, it’s not an everyday thing anymore. I think that my busy semester is actually helping me a ton because sometimes I don’t even have time for dinner until 8 at night! I’m not very good at keeping commitments like this, but I think it’s been really good for me so far and I’m excited to finish strong.

Snow Day!

It’s winter here in Nebraska, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. The third (or maybe this is the fourth) storm of the season has hit and tons of places have closed down today. Even though the place where I’m doing my social work practicum is open today (it’s open 24/7), I decided not to risk my life to go. Instead, I’m going to stay inside in the warm, get caught up on my homework, and RELAX. This past week was absolutely crazy busy and by the time I got home yesterday I was exhausted. I laid down on the couch to watch ‘The Bachelor’ and couldn’t even stay away to watch the ending to see who he kicked off the show. I slept on the couch until 10:30 and finally got up and dragged myself to my bed.

This morning I got up with my husband, made him breakfast, kissed him goodbye, and slept for another hour. It felt great and now I feel refreshed enough to do some homework. Even though there’s always housecleaning to do, I’m going to try to refrain from doing much so that I can really get rejuvenated to make it through this next week. I’m gonna focus on what needs to be done, and then forget the rest for the day. I might even watch a movie…So here’s to today!

Hope

I’ve struggled with this blog for a long time now, for several different reasons. Although my hope has been that I could blog several times a week, time has been a major issue preventing this from happen. A bigger issue involved, however, has been at play

What if people don’t like what I write?

It seems like every time I sit down to write a post about my recent weekend or something that the Lord has been teaching me, there is this overwhelming feeling of…I don’t know even know how to describe it…I’ve been caught in this trap of comparing myself to everyone around me that I’m afraid to write…I’m afraid to joke…I’m afraid to be vulnerable…I’m afraid to speak…

Today in my practicum I was proofreading bible memory cards and came across a verse I’d never read before. Isaiah 26:3, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Ahhh, perfect peace? Doesn’t that sound wonderful? My heart has been so full of anxiety as of late. I’m just trying so hard to stay on top of classes, work, teaching, my practicum, taking care of my health, and spending as much time as possible with my husband despite my busy schedule. I find myself laying in bed thinking about the next day and anticipating how exhausted I’m going to be at the end of yet another 11-12 hour day. This of course is no help to me as I drift off to sleep and continue thinking about scheduling and everything I didn’t get done and everything that I will have to do the next day. In the past month I cannot remember the last time I slept through the night. My mind simply will not turn off to allow my body to relax and sleep. I’m so restless…

So here’s where I’m at: exhausted…But Isaiah 26:3 brings me hope. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you…”

Where’s my mind been lately? It’s been on my schedule…it’s been on my to-do list…it’s been on cleaning the apartment…it’s been on trying to be healthy….it’s been on everything else EXCEPT the Lord. It’s no wonder I’m at the end of my rope!

So father, here I am, full of insecurities and anxiety. May I keep my mind on you.

I have an idea

So I really struggled on the last post. How do you sum up a year in just one blog post? And how the heck am I supposed to remember everything that happened? Well, my newest idea is to do a post about every month. I’ll update pictures and summarize the fun things that I did. This will be a good way for me to get some use from my brand new camera that Josh got me for camera. This is what it looks like:

Since Josh knew that we were going on a secret vacation the week before Christmas (it was my present to him, which is why it was a secret), he gave it to me a little early so we could use it on our trip. Well, we went to Colorado and the camera was awesome! I really want to get into photography in the future, so having a nice camera to practice with is going to be helpful!

On another note, I just found out that the Hope Center is closed again tomorrow for a second snow day in a row. Normally I would be ecstatic, BUT I really need the hours at work, BUT I know that the Lord is faithful and will provide financially for us. Hopefully I can take advantage of the time at home. I did about 4 or 5 loads of laundry and cleaned the whole house today. Tomorrow maybe I will work on a budget and get a workout in

Happy New Year (a week late): My Year in Review

It’s strange to me that it’s 2011. It seems like this year went slow at some points, and really fast at other times. I can most definitely say that this was a growing year. The Lord brought me through some of the toughest challenges of my life. I think I came out of it much stronger in my relationship with God, and for that I am grateful. The spring semester at UNO was pretty tough, but this past fall semester wasn’t nearly as bad. I ended up with 3 A+’s and 1 A-.

This year I am full of expectation of what the Lord is going to do. I will be graduating in May with my bachelor’s degree in Social Work. I’m not really not sure what will happen after that, but I am at peace, knowing that God is in control. I’m really looking forward to whatever life holds after college.

This coming week I will start at my new internship. It’s at a transitional home for women coming out of jail and/or rehab. I will be working/volunteering there about 35 hours of week, working at my current job at the Hope Center 7 hours a week, and taking 5 credits of classes at the University. I will also continue teaching piano lessons to my four wonderful students It’s most definitely going to be a busy semester, but I am definitely looking forward to it.

Anti-Procrastination Christmas Break

This year I have 4 whole weeks off of school. I’m so thankful not to have any finals either. I’ve been thinking about all the things I’m going to do with my spare time. Here’s what I have so far:

1. Organize my recipe book: Josh’s grandma and mom made us this GREAT scrapbook recipe book last year. Since I’ve gotten it I’ve added a ton of recipes, but I have a lot of loose recipe cards because there’s not enough pages in there to hold them all. I’m gonna get some more pages and organize it so it’s easier for me to find things.

2. My other goals concerning my recipe book is to try all the fabulous recipes that Josh’s grandma and mom passed on to me. Usually I’m very conservative when it comes to cooking and I don’t branch out too much. I’m so just afraid of wasting my time and money on something that turns out horrible! Anyways, this Christmas break I’m going to work on trying some new recipes.

3. My next goal is to complete my wedding scrapbook. It’s been a lovely year and a half of marriage, but I still don’t have a scrapbook to show for it! I have a REALLY good start though, so if I just buckle down I should be able to do it.

4. This goal is to complete my Japan scrapbook. Oh my. It’s been two and a half years and I don’t have a scrapbook to show for it! Eeek! I did get a good start on ordering pictures and organizing categories, but this is gonna be a pretty big project. It will be fun though to have it actually done!

5. Clean house! This apartment needs some deep cleaning!

That’s all I can think of right now, but I’m sure I’ll be quickly adding to this list. Enjoy your Thursday friends!