Thursday, March 31, 2011
First Blog Post of 2011!
I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a blogger. I often think to myself that I should post about something particular that has happened in my life, but then life gets in the way and I forget..and it never gets posted. I struggle with consistency in my life BIG TIME. And it is sooooooo frustrating! I start out exercising and then I get bored with it and quit for a week. I decide to count calories and do so for breakfast and my midmorning snack, but then forget for the rest of the day. Consistency is just not something that comes naturally to me. I guess I'm what you could call a "fly by night" (or the seat of my pants) sort of gal. I like spontenaity and variety! Lately God has been convicting me of some things in the area of consistency. One of the areas is in my finances. I have always had a budget, but could never figure out how to follow it. Even at the beginning of this year I was determined to have a buget into place and follow it to the T. Even if it is boring. Well, I good for about a week and then it fell by the wayside and I eventually forgot about it. Just recently I decided to recommit to a budget. I even went so far as to track our expenses from the previous month...and was so shocked to find that I had spent $586 on food! And I had budgeted $300 for the month! I had even shopped for good deals and clipped coupons! I was really embarrassed and convicted to get our finances in order once and for all. I researched different software, made numerous spreadsheets, and even asked a frugal friend how she stuck to her budget, trying to find something that I could stick with long-term. I also prayed that God would reveal a plan (His plan) to me. And He did. So as of last week I started using the envelope system for some of our buget accounts like food, clothing, gifts, etc. and it's working! I don't feel overwhelmed about it, but excited because I know that we are being good stewards of what God has given to us, and that we are actively working towards our financial goals. It's amazing that I will spend 3 months struggling with setting up a budget and asking advice from friends and all I needed to do was ask for advice from my Heavenly Father and voila! I have a plan. When will I learn? lol So in order to stick with my grocery budget of $300/month, I am still clipping coupons. But this time I make sure I'm choosing great deals and I'm constantly on the lookout for rock bottom prices. And since I'm working with cash instead of using my debit card, I have to be cost-conscious and make decisions more wisely. For example, I have about 10 deodorants in my stockpile right now...so I will not run out for at least another year...or two! However if I find deodorant for FREE (like I will tomorrow at Walmart) with a coupon, then I will buy it. But if it's costs money, then I won't because that money could be used for something that we need more. With that being said, I plan to start posting my deals on here so that you can also benefit from my findings! I also want to start posting recipes that I find that are quick and easy, but also healthy and uses items that I find for a great price! So stay tuned...this may just make a blogger out of me after all! :)
Friday, October 29, 2010
Remember me?
LOL I cannot tell you how sorry I am for blogging so sporatically! It seems I do well with blogging, and then some other part of my life falls to the wayside. So I stop blogging in order to pick up the pieces of the chaos that has occurred and here I am...a month later....posting a blog. I really do appreciate you following this blog...you are more faithfal than I am! lol
It has been a rough and busy couple of weeks. It all started with the flu. One Friday night my two older kids came home from spending a few hours with grandma and all was well. Approximately 2 hours later as we all had just headed to bed, my son (who had stated that his stomach wasn't feeling too well) darted to the bathroom and the throwing up began. While I checking on him, my youngest comes downstairs to announce that "sissy" is throwing up upstairs in her room. I thought she was joking because she had never mentioned not feeling well. Upon arriving in her doorway, I witnessed firsthand that Allie was most definately telling the truth. As my wonderful hubby visited the Land of Nod, I cleaned up vomit from all over the toilet and off the bedroom carpet, then proceeded to shampoo the carpet. I have never wanted to Lysol my entire body like I did that night! And yes, hubby slept through the entire thing. (Why is it that God gave that ability soley to men anyways?)
After the puke-fest, everyone slept peacefully and felt better come morning. The following night, we went to a friend's house along with 3 other couples who were mutual friends for dinner and a night of intense laughter. The next morning is when IT arrived. By IT I mean Creeping Death. It started with Kailyn throwing up again, then my husband, then myself. It was NOT fun, nor was it pretty. Three of the 5 Snyders were down for the count and there was only one thing left to do: Call for backup...aka my mother. When my mom arrived, she found Jeremiah on the couch, and Kailyn and I camped outside the bathroom moaning. Did I mention I love my mother? We were pathetic. lol She ended up spending the night with us and by morning we were able to keep some toast down thank goodness. It took me a good 4 days before I felt somewhat back to normal. I would not wish that flu on anyone. The worst part of it all, is that of the 3 families we visited the night before, at least 1 family contracted the same illness. I hope and pray they invite us the next time they have a gathering! lol
The weekend after the Snyder Flu Epidemic, we took a long weekend vaca to West Virginia that was really nice. It was much needed, but certainly not long enough! We drove through the mountains (where I once again started feeling ill, but not due to a virus...mainly due to my slight fear of heights lol) While we were there, my husband started experiencing some pain in his knee and developed a bump that was getting redder and more painful as the weekend went on. By Tuesday he was limping. A friend of his stopped by and looked at it and told him he needed to go to the ER. Long story short, it was a staph infection. He received a Rx and is now feeling better. I thank God for that friend convincing him to seek medical attention, because he sure wasn't listening to me when I'd say the same thing!
This week seemed to be pretty uneventful until Wednesday, when I received a call from my mother saying that my grandma was not doing well and I'd better come now if I wanted to see her alive. By the time I arrived at her house, she had perked up a bit and we had a nice visit. Since then she has had a good day following by a bad day today. Hospice has said that she will probably not make it to see the holidays. I feel so overwhelmed by it all. I want to spend time with her, yet I hate seeing her this way. I want to learn from her wisdom and hear memories from her childhood, yet she is so confused most of the time nowadays that I feel like the window of opportunity for those things has passed. It saddens me. She has been my grandma for 31 years but there's so much about her I don't know. I want her to leave a legacy for me and my kids. It is also sad to see my mother having to going through losing both of her parents in a 6-month time period. I cannot imagine what she is going through right now. And I don't know how to help her.
So that is what has been going on in my life and why I haven't written in a month. On a good note, hubby and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 23rd and had a nice evening of wine tasting and dinner, followed by a trip to Walmart. Romantic, huh? lol I used to look at anniversaries as something that are a given. As newlyweds, we'd talk about what we would do on our 5th anniversary, our 10th, as if nothing could stop those special days from coming. Since having gone though some hard times in our marriage, I now look at each anniversary as a priviledge and with thanksgiving. God has blessed us with another year together and I am so thankful they He is restoring us a bit more each year.
Another high point in my life involves my goat. She is due to have babies any day (although I've been thinking that for the past month) and I cannot wait to meet those little goatlings! Each day I eagerly visit her pen to look for signs that she may deliver soon. I do this so often that I think I will go insane from analying her belly, rear, actions...anything really. And there are some days that I'm certain that she's not pregnant at all. So hopefully I will be able to announce that they've been born on my next post!
And I'm still running! My running buddy Jenny and I are trying to conjure up a winter running wardrobe...and we are REFUSING to wear TIGHTS. End of story. My current weight is around 172, which means I've lost a total of 13 lbs! I'm still not satisfied with my progress, but people are starting to notice the changes in my figure, which is always nice! And I actually had to shop for new jeans since mine were all too big! And I'm proud to say that I tried on a pair of size 12s and they fit great! I'm starting to feel skinny! I am planning to run another 5K in two weeks, which will be my third one in three months! Go me!
It has been a rough and busy couple of weeks. It all started with the flu. One Friday night my two older kids came home from spending a few hours with grandma and all was well. Approximately 2 hours later as we all had just headed to bed, my son (who had stated that his stomach wasn't feeling too well) darted to the bathroom and the throwing up began. While I checking on him, my youngest comes downstairs to announce that "sissy" is throwing up upstairs in her room. I thought she was joking because she had never mentioned not feeling well. Upon arriving in her doorway, I witnessed firsthand that Allie was most definately telling the truth. As my wonderful hubby visited the Land of Nod, I cleaned up vomit from all over the toilet and off the bedroom carpet, then proceeded to shampoo the carpet. I have never wanted to Lysol my entire body like I did that night! And yes, hubby slept through the entire thing. (Why is it that God gave that ability soley to men anyways?)
After the puke-fest, everyone slept peacefully and felt better come morning. The following night, we went to a friend's house along with 3 other couples who were mutual friends for dinner and a night of intense laughter. The next morning is when IT arrived. By IT I mean Creeping Death. It started with Kailyn throwing up again, then my husband, then myself. It was NOT fun, nor was it pretty. Three of the 5 Snyders were down for the count and there was only one thing left to do: Call for backup...aka my mother. When my mom arrived, she found Jeremiah on the couch, and Kailyn and I camped outside the bathroom moaning. Did I mention I love my mother? We were pathetic. lol She ended up spending the night with us and by morning we were able to keep some toast down thank goodness. It took me a good 4 days before I felt somewhat back to normal. I would not wish that flu on anyone. The worst part of it all, is that of the 3 families we visited the night before, at least 1 family contracted the same illness. I hope and pray they invite us the next time they have a gathering! lol
The weekend after the Snyder Flu Epidemic, we took a long weekend vaca to West Virginia that was really nice. It was much needed, but certainly not long enough! We drove through the mountains (where I once again started feeling ill, but not due to a virus...mainly due to my slight fear of heights lol) While we were there, my husband started experiencing some pain in his knee and developed a bump that was getting redder and more painful as the weekend went on. By Tuesday he was limping. A friend of his stopped by and looked at it and told him he needed to go to the ER. Long story short, it was a staph infection. He received a Rx and is now feeling better. I thank God for that friend convincing him to seek medical attention, because he sure wasn't listening to me when I'd say the same thing!
This week seemed to be pretty uneventful until Wednesday, when I received a call from my mother saying that my grandma was not doing well and I'd better come now if I wanted to see her alive. By the time I arrived at her house, she had perked up a bit and we had a nice visit. Since then she has had a good day following by a bad day today. Hospice has said that she will probably not make it to see the holidays. I feel so overwhelmed by it all. I want to spend time with her, yet I hate seeing her this way. I want to learn from her wisdom and hear memories from her childhood, yet she is so confused most of the time nowadays that I feel like the window of opportunity for those things has passed. It saddens me. She has been my grandma for 31 years but there's so much about her I don't know. I want her to leave a legacy for me and my kids. It is also sad to see my mother having to going through losing both of her parents in a 6-month time period. I cannot imagine what she is going through right now. And I don't know how to help her.
So that is what has been going on in my life and why I haven't written in a month. On a good note, hubby and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 23rd and had a nice evening of wine tasting and dinner, followed by a trip to Walmart. Romantic, huh? lol I used to look at anniversaries as something that are a given. As newlyweds, we'd talk about what we would do on our 5th anniversary, our 10th, as if nothing could stop those special days from coming. Since having gone though some hard times in our marriage, I now look at each anniversary as a priviledge and with thanksgiving. God has blessed us with another year together and I am so thankful they He is restoring us a bit more each year.
Another high point in my life involves my goat. She is due to have babies any day (although I've been thinking that for the past month) and I cannot wait to meet those little goatlings! Each day I eagerly visit her pen to look for signs that she may deliver soon. I do this so often that I think I will go insane from analying her belly, rear, actions...anything really. And there are some days that I'm certain that she's not pregnant at all. So hopefully I will be able to announce that they've been born on my next post!
And I'm still running! My running buddy Jenny and I are trying to conjure up a winter running wardrobe...and we are REFUSING to wear TIGHTS. End of story. My current weight is around 172, which means I've lost a total of 13 lbs! I'm still not satisfied with my progress, but people are starting to notice the changes in my figure, which is always nice! And I actually had to shop for new jeans since mine were all too big! And I'm proud to say that I tried on a pair of size 12s and they fit great! I'm starting to feel skinny! I am planning to run another 5K in two weeks, which will be my third one in three months! Go me!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Where has the time gone?
This week is flying by! I can't believe it's already Thursday. And the worst part is that I really don't feel like I've accomplished very much at all and it just makes me frustrated. I always seem to have a mile-long to-do list of which nothing gets crossed off. Have you ever felt that way? When I haven't crossed anything off that list, I tend to feel crappy about myself. It's silly. When I sit back and relflect on what I did this whole week and what made me busy, I see:
1. Monday - worked on bookkeeping and dinner prep in the morning, and ran some errands for hubby in the afternoon. Also shopped for new workout clothes while I was in town. I ran in the evening.
2. Tuesday - worked for the business all morning, did some dinner prep, made lunch, then met two friends for the afternoon. Also went to the chiropractor.
3. Wednesday - tried to get caught up with laundry (my dryer is broken and I have to hang all of my clothes outside to dry), did mass quantities of dishes all day long, made a snack for small group today, made breakfast muffins. Also visited with my MIL over lunch here, and tidied and vacuumed the living room, swept and mopped the kitchen, bathroom, and foyer floors. Also helped hubby do invoicing in the afternoon. I then made dinner, and went for a run.
After looking that the details of my "busy-ness", I realize that I HAVE accomplished things! I've nurtured my marriage, my children, and my friendships. I have also nurtured myself. I guess I've been busy doing good things. My goal is to now start finding joy in those daily mundane tasks! lol
Now that that is all off of my chest, I will give you an update on my weight loss journey. Last week I weighed in at 178, and this Monday my weight was 176.8, so I'm down 1.2 lbs! Not as much as I was hoping for, but I am still struggling to get my eating under control...not that I eat too much...just that I tend to eat junk in carb form instead of the fruit and veggie options that are sitting in the fridge for me to enjoy! I am noticing that all of my clothes are getting too big. And just yesterday I put a pair of capris and a pair of shorts into the Goodwill bag because they are too big and just plain annoying! If I keep them around, it's like I'm telling myself that I MAY need them in the future when I gain the weight back...AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
I talked to a couple over the weekend who, a year ago, had been enjoying a healthy eating lifestyle of no flour, no sugar. The husband had lost 50 lbs and felt great, and the wife had lost some weight too. I had not seen them since last year, so I asked them how things were going and they admitted that they'd fallen off the bandwagon. But they were planning to start again on Nov 1...after football season, because the husband is a football coach. They also admitted that just feel yucky because of the unhealthy foods they are eating. The wife even admitted that her gall bladder has been hurting again...and the pain had completely gone away when they were eating healthy foods! They also had more energy and could sleep better. Although I was elated to hear they were recommtting themselves, I found myself wondering, "why wait until Nov 1?" Why not make the choice to start TODAY? I want to find an eating style that is a LIFEstyle. When LIFE gets in the way, I can still eat the same way.... there is no Plan B. I can't imagine choosing an eating style that you know makes you feel worse, have less energy, and in some cases, more pain. But then again, here I am eating unhealthy foods every day...but yet, I haven't experienced the benefits of healthy eating because I've never done it. It's time to take my own advice and start TODAY!
As far as my exercising goes, Jenny and I have decided to incorporate 1-2 longer runs each week. We normally run 3 miles for our short run (who would have thought I'd ever call 3 MILES a short run?! lol) For our long runs, we plan to run either 4 or 5 miles!! I'm really hoping the number on the scale continues to go down with our increased mileage. We have also decided to run another 5K next Saturday. This one is described as having "a competive course, with rolling hills and beautiful scenery." Translation: it is going to be difficult! We have decided to not really run it to win, but just to run it. We will run together and at a slower pace than the last 5K we ran.
With that being said, I need to wrap this post up and get going on my day. I've been up since 5:30 am and have currently baked 14 dozen monster cookies! And yes, I've eaten about 8 of them. ugh
1. Monday - worked on bookkeeping and dinner prep in the morning, and ran some errands for hubby in the afternoon. Also shopped for new workout clothes while I was in town. I ran in the evening.
2. Tuesday - worked for the business all morning, did some dinner prep, made lunch, then met two friends for the afternoon. Also went to the chiropractor.
3. Wednesday - tried to get caught up with laundry (my dryer is broken and I have to hang all of my clothes outside to dry), did mass quantities of dishes all day long, made a snack for small group today, made breakfast muffins. Also visited with my MIL over lunch here, and tidied and vacuumed the living room, swept and mopped the kitchen, bathroom, and foyer floors. Also helped hubby do invoicing in the afternoon. I then made dinner, and went for a run.
After looking that the details of my "busy-ness", I realize that I HAVE accomplished things! I've nurtured my marriage, my children, and my friendships. I have also nurtured myself. I guess I've been busy doing good things. My goal is to now start finding joy in those daily mundane tasks! lol
Now that that is all off of my chest, I will give you an update on my weight loss journey. Last week I weighed in at 178, and this Monday my weight was 176.8, so I'm down 1.2 lbs! Not as much as I was hoping for, but I am still struggling to get my eating under control...not that I eat too much...just that I tend to eat junk in carb form instead of the fruit and veggie options that are sitting in the fridge for me to enjoy! I am noticing that all of my clothes are getting too big. And just yesterday I put a pair of capris and a pair of shorts into the Goodwill bag because they are too big and just plain annoying! If I keep them around, it's like I'm telling myself that I MAY need them in the future when I gain the weight back...AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
I talked to a couple over the weekend who, a year ago, had been enjoying a healthy eating lifestyle of no flour, no sugar. The husband had lost 50 lbs and felt great, and the wife had lost some weight too. I had not seen them since last year, so I asked them how things were going and they admitted that they'd fallen off the bandwagon. But they were planning to start again on Nov 1...after football season, because the husband is a football coach. They also admitted that just feel yucky because of the unhealthy foods they are eating. The wife even admitted that her gall bladder has been hurting again...and the pain had completely gone away when they were eating healthy foods! They also had more energy and could sleep better. Although I was elated to hear they were recommtting themselves, I found myself wondering, "why wait until Nov 1?" Why not make the choice to start TODAY? I want to find an eating style that is a LIFEstyle. When LIFE gets in the way, I can still eat the same way.... there is no Plan B. I can't imagine choosing an eating style that you know makes you feel worse, have less energy, and in some cases, more pain. But then again, here I am eating unhealthy foods every day...but yet, I haven't experienced the benefits of healthy eating because I've never done it. It's time to take my own advice and start TODAY!
As far as my exercising goes, Jenny and I have decided to incorporate 1-2 longer runs each week. We normally run 3 miles for our short run (who would have thought I'd ever call 3 MILES a short run?! lol) For our long runs, we plan to run either 4 or 5 miles!! I'm really hoping the number on the scale continues to go down with our increased mileage. We have also decided to run another 5K next Saturday. This one is described as having "a competive course, with rolling hills and beautiful scenery." Translation: it is going to be difficult! We have decided to not really run it to win, but just to run it. We will run together and at a slower pace than the last 5K we ran.
With that being said, I need to wrap this post up and get going on my day. I've been up since 5:30 am and have currently baked 14 dozen monster cookies! And yes, I've eaten about 8 of them. ugh
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