The Blessing

John Trent wrote "A Place Called the Blessing" to help people relate to the message of his relational classic entitled "The Blessing". It is the story of one young man's search for acceptance and love in a world where he has only known hurt and rejection. Josh grew up moving from foster home to foster home, separated from his two older brothers, the only people he felt safe with. They ended up in a children's home after Josh was the cause of a terrible accident. After Josh's older brothers were adopted, he was left at the children's home until the day he turned 18. His search for love, acceptance, and trust starts as he learns how to survive in the world on his own.

"A Place Called Blessing" is a book full of emotion and truth. Trent incorporates the five elements of biblical blessing (From his previous book, "The Blessing") into the story quite well, and also includes a chapter by chapter study guide in the back of the book so that you can more deeply apply the elements to your own life. I personally enjoyed the story of Josh and his brothers, and I would recommend this book to an individual looking for a good read/devotional as well as to a small group.

I received this book free through www.booksneeze.com

The Barbarian Way

I just finished reading a book titled "Unleashed" by Erwin Raphael McManus. I have to admit that in the beginning, the book didn't seem to catch my attention. The author seem to be we writing in circles around what he was really trying to get at. But then I realized that I needed to pay closer attention to what I was reading.
This book, which was previously released as "The Barbarian Way", is a book about living the way God intended us to live. Our society tends to offer Christians a nice and easy, safe and carefree way of living. McManus points out that the Bible doesn't and never has called us to that. In fact, the bible calls us to be Christ followers, which means trusting in God ALWAYS, even when we don't know where He is leading us, or what His plans are. 'Unleashed' is about finding your inner barbarian and going against what this society says we should do but seeking Christ instead.
McManus offers a simple read with challenging content in his book. He urges and encourages us to change our hearts and mindset to that of the barbarian way. If you are looking for a life changing book that can make you feel more alive*, I would recommend this book for you.

*You must decide and commit to the change before it can actually take place in your life. The way to do that is to commit EVERYTHING to God, and to follow Him fully, no matter the cost.

I received a free copy of this book through booksneeze.com

Work out? What!

So, it's been a while since I have written a blog covering my weight loss journey. And to be honest, so far, it hasn't been going too well. The hardest part is definitely the diet -- or should I say, what I am consuming (because eating healthy is not a diet... its normal!). I would like to chalk it up to the fact that these last couple of weeks have been hectic and stressful. These two things together are never good, especially for an emotional eater, like myself. But I can't sit here and make excuses about why I am not losing weight, because to be honest, I think that working out and eating healthy are two things that would help me deal with the stress better than a dozen peanut butter cookies would. :P

Current weight: 181
Goal weight: 150

So, here's the plan for this week:

*Get my eating back on track
*This has been going well the last two days, and I already feel better for it!

*Do physical activity every day
*This has also been going well... I have done push ups and sit ups for the last two days in a row (Which Josh is helping me with) and Josh and I are also on the
church softball league, which helps me stay active each week!!

I really would like to fit into my summer clothes this summer, because I am super excited about the sunshine!!!!!

Raising Up Children

The book "Secure Daughters Confident Sons" by Glenn T. Stanton is an information packed book about raising our children in a healthy way. He talks about how to bring our children into adulthood in a way that makes them independent and confident in who they are, even when this society tries to tell them something different.

Stanton breaks the book into two parts; Part 1 is about boys' and girls' needs and how to help them grow into healthy adults. Part 2 is aimed more at why our children need mothers and fathers to grow up confident and secure.

Being a new mom myself, I enjoyed reading about the differences in boys and girls, as well as the different roles moms and dads play in their childrens' lives. The author writes clearly and in a way that is understandable. I would suggest this book to any new parents, parents who are struggling to bond/communicate with their children, or couples thinking about having children.

I received a free copy of this book through Waterbrook Multnomah publishing company.

Week 3

Well, last week has been interesting to say the least. But I managed to lose pounds and gain a ton of God-given patience!

previous weight: 183
current weight : 179

Last week I also went for my first run of the summer, which I thought was going to kill me. But, thanks to my wonderful, supportive husband, I got through it running more than I thought I could! I don't even think we ran a mile, but it surely felt like 3 miles (oh wait, I have never run 3 miles at one time EVER :P). Josh has been really helpful and great to me, encouraging me when it gets tough and helping me to not eat everything I see :P

This last weekend, we did the 30 Hour famine with our youth group, which is where the patience from God comes in... the biggest challenge for the adults was getting the kids to be respectful and to listen. There were many times we wanted to throw them into a pool full of sharks, but thanks to God and the other adults, we all made it through, and it was quite rewarding! We ended up collecting a TON of food, water, and blankets for a food shelter in Saginaw, and we also did some road clean up here in Kingston!
Here is part of the stuff we collected :)

So, I am doing a thirty day challenge this month: walk a marathon in 30 days. In case you didnt know (because I didn't know, exactly), a marathon is... 26.2 miles, I think. So that is my challenge this month is to walk that far in 30 days. I have gotten on mile down already! ( I started yesterday) I didn't walk today because it was really rainy and cold out, too cold for the baby to be outside, but tomorrow is mile 2!

Week(ish) 2

Here we are, week 2 of my weight loss journey, and I haven't really done much.

The FACTS:

previous weight: 183
current weight: 183

Well, I haven't really done much to make a change... It has indeed been difficult getting motivated to get started, but I didn't really set many goals for myself last week, either. Also, with Easter being last week, it was difficult to control my eating... Josh and I were not at home from Thursday to Saturday, and that makes a huge difference in the way that I eat! Because at Grandma's house, there is always sweets and soda... some of my favorite things!

This week, my goal is to be active for at least thirty minutes a day, starting today. Josh and I are going for a run today (Which means a power walk for Josh... I am not a strong runner, and he is very supportive and helpful! A couple times when we've run before, he would jog a mile with me while I ran, and then he would go run a few more miles after he dropped me off at the house :P)

In other news:

This weekend, our youth is doing a 30 hour famine. They have been raising money this month for the organization called World Vision, to give food to those who don't have enough. Then, this weekend, we all come together for 30 hours and fast, to give them a feeling of how it is not to eat for more than a day. Its a pretty cool event, and I am pretty excited for it!

Aurelia is getting bigger each day: She is probably close to 12 pounds now, which is very exciting. She is 3 months old today! And she is practically all grown out of her 0-3 month sized clothes :) She is starting to hold her head and shoulders up when she is on her belly, and I am sure she is very close to rolling from her belly to her back. Oh, and I think she is going to learn to giggle pretty soon!!!

I am looking in to getting my four wisdom teeth removed, and if all goes well, it will be happening this next month. I have kind of been putting it off because I am a bit nervous to be on strong pain killers while taking care of Aurelia, but I know that the sooner I get it done with, the sooner I can go on with life! And besides, I know that there are a ton of people willing to help out with Aurelia and other things while I recover :)

That is most of the newest news from Kingston... God is good, and we have been so blessed and are blessed every single day :)

Some encouragement for the week: Keep on pushing yourself every day, to be better than the day before. And finish strong -- God is with you and He will be your strength if you let Him :) Because, well, God is AWESOME!!!

A New Me... Or Something

I feel like a lot had changed in my life in the last two and a half years... Started dating my first boyfriend, first kiss, got engaged, got married, moved out of state, moved back to MI, got pregnant, had a baby.... yeah, its been two and a half pretty epic years... :P

In the midst of all that, I joined weight watchers and lost about 16 pounds, and lets be honest, I gained so much confidence in myself with that weight off! Well, I gained it all back when we moved to Painesville, and then getting pregnant added some extra weight on top of that. I was pretty self conscious during pregnancy, and while I lost 30 of the 40 I gained after Aurelia was born, I still carry that extra weight. And now you are probably wondering why I am telling you this, because this kind of information is usually pretty personal stuff, and I would never usually share this on a public blog. On the internet. Where ANYONE can read it.

I've been watching the NBC show "The Biggest Loser" lately. If you've never seen it, it is a pretty inspiring show where 22 very obese people come together and lose weight. They have personal trainers, and while many people think that their diet is handed to them, they actually cook and make their own meals and snacks. Anyway, the last nine contestants alone have lost over 1,000 lbs in about 15 weeks.

This motivated me. These obese people stand up in a sports bra and spandex shorts in front of America and get weighed on a HUGE scale. I guess that is one way to get accountability! This is why I am writing this. From here on out, I would like to try and give you weekly updates, revealing it all.. eating habits, weight losses and gains, frustrations... everything! My goals are within sight, and I want you all to be able to hold me accountable for my actions, so that I can get to said goals! Just by typing this blog, it holds me accountable because now you all know my secrets! :) I will also include pictures throughout this whole process, to show progress!

So here are the facts:

CURRENT WEIGHT: 183 (just before I had Aurelia, I was 213!)

GOALS: First Goal: Pre-pregnancy weight (173 lbs)

Here are a few starting photos of myself...The top on is my trying to be all dramatic like the people on the weight loss info commercials... It was fun :P