Friday, January 4, 2013

5QF!

Good Morning!

I started a blog hop yesterday, and would love to have you add your motivational posts-so far it's just me and my lonesome!  =)  If you have something to add, please click here!

On to the 5QF!

1. Have you set any goals/resolutions for 2013? Yes!  I do every year!  I actually posted on this the other day.  Losing weight and buying a new house are two things on my list-both of which should happen.  I'm down 30 pounds with 20 more to go!  If you would like to see a picture, click here!  

2. Have you made any travel/vacation plans for 2013? No, although I talked to my daughter about going to a ladies' retreat in Texas this spring.  Not sure if that will happen after all.  Not sure.

3. What room is never cleaned in your house?  Since we moved to a house that's about 1,000 square feet smaller than my last home, my bedroom ends up the room for storage, which makes the room hard to keep cleaned up consistently.  No laundry room to store my clothes, and no office to store my ebay stuff!

4. What food must be in your house at all times?  Coffee creamer and milk! lol

5. Are you a hugger or more of a hands off person?  I hug regularly, but get claustrophobic if I'm in tight quarters for too long.


Happy New Year!  And have a great weekend!  =)


Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I've Got Plenty Of Time


I'm looking with anticipation into 2013, and am excited about the things I am working on, the goals I am reaching for, and the results I expect to see!

A lot of goals seem to fall short because we feel we lack the time to work on them.

But do we really?

In 2013, we will have 8,760 hours to work on whatever things we are hoping to accomplish.

When it comes to time, if most of us were honest, it isn't time that we lack-it's motivation.  There are some people who do run a very tight, busy schedule, but then there are many of us who give in to the feelings of the moment. Instead of pushing ourselves a little bit, we comfort ourselves with many evenings of just vegging out because it was a hard day at work, or a busy day at home, and we're tired.  Yep!  I'm guilty!

But maybe we have convinced ourselves that we don't have time.  Just take a closer look to make sure.

Just for an example:

A full time job with a 30 minute drive to work each way would equal  2250 hours a year-less a two week vacation.

Eight hours of sleep each night equals 2920 hours a year.

That still leaves us with 3590 hours left in the year.

Is there much we can do in 3590 hours?  Absolutely!  Because this is just a general estimate, you may have a bit more or a bit less, but you will still have many hours to work towards some of the things you want to do in life.

If you calculate your own "free" hours in the year, but are still feeling left with very little, even tho the numbers prove you wrong, you may just need some help with organizing your time in a better way.  Learning to do errands all on the same day, become more efficient in your household skills and habit, or even getting your sleeping hours on a better time schedule can make a huge difference.  I'm learning this myself, as I venture in to doing freezer cooking, so I have a freezer full of meals while cutting down cleanup time each day because of less pots and pans from preparation.  More to come on this!

So, at the beginning of 2013, look at your schedule and realize you do have time to reach goals you've set out to accomplish!

Leftover Candy Canes? A Yummy Treat!

Leftover candy canes from the holidays?  I found this Pinterest (follow me!), and made these for our church family-pretzels dipped in melted vanilla chips, with crushed candy canes sprinkled over them!



I am going to give the link where I found these-I didn't take pics of each step, so I'll give the link where I found this delicious dessert!
CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS!
* The original link used a block of white chocolate, grated.  I used Wilton's Vanilla Candy Melts instead of a white chocolate block shown in her link.  These were at Walmart with the candy for the holidays, but may be in a different location since the season is heading for Valentine's Day.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, I will be sharing a chocolate bouquet or two, so be sure to stop back! It's been a while since I've added any new ones!  My bad!

And one more thing!  Are you joining my blog hop tomorrow?  If you have a motivational post to share, please stop by and share it here!  Each month will have a new theme, so please come back regularly to see what we're up to!

Snack on!  =)

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

What Are You Doing In 2013?

Happy New Year!!!

What are you doing in 2013?  Are you like me-making a goal list and seeing what you can accomplish?  I do it pretty much every year.  I can't say I always do great, but I like making the list anyway.  =)

This year I am going to try harder to reach my goals!  I have some big ones, and I've already gotten started on one or two of them, so I didn't wait until January 1st to try to get started.

Just a few are:
1.  To buy a new house in our new town.  We own a house that we need to sell first, and then, it's house shopping for us!  I've found a few I want to look at, so we'll see what happens!  Here are a few pictures from one of the ones I really want to see:

 Nice, open space!
 Lots of elbow room!
 Master bedroom!
Master bath!  Wow!

2.  Hit my goal weight.  I'm not going to say exactly what that is, and I'm good with it fluctuating a few pounds, but I will say that I have about 20 pounds to go.  I've already lost a little over 30.  Go me!  And to keep moving in the right direction, the family joined a gym, and I can proudly say that I've had several one-hour workouts already!  Over the holidays, we've neglected the gym, but with such a strong start, I'm confident we'll be back on track real soon!


3.  See if I can't get this blogging thing down pat!  I took a looooong break from blogging, but really, I enjoy it, have already put a few years into my blog, and don't want to quite give up yet.  I want to focus more this year!  Less surfing, more purpose online!

Changing my theme from mostly light-hearted stories, into a blog that covers more areas of family life, and a little bit of pastoring life, and some of this and that.  So we will see!  I have 38 followers thru Google right now-I'd love to make a short goal of climbing to 100!  Care to help me out?  =)

What about you?  What are one or two of your biggest goals for 2013?  Leave me a comment and let me know!  Then stop back on January 3rd and join my Motivational Blog Hop, or read the entries!

Sunday, December 30, 2012

A Prisoner In Your Own Mind

Being a pastor's wife has some very rewarding moments.  Many Christians partake in the joy of seeing a life change-the heavy burdens lifted, the feelings of hope restored, and new, never before experienced joy happening in the lives of people we've prayed for, spoken with, and encouraged.

Sometimes, though, the pastor and his wife see much more than the casual observer will see. Sometimes we are blessed to see deliverance from fears that no one ever knew about.  Or to see the battle won over something that threatened to destroy a child of God.

But sometimes we also bear the heavy burdens of the heart that are hidden.
Sometimes we see the hidden scars that have never been healed, and the deep secrets that have never been shared publicly.  We're often reminded how cruel the devil really is.

Recently we had a woman call who is a prisoner in her own home.  An elderly woman living in fear.  Desperately needing hope, and desperately needing someone to care.  She shared that she is ashamed to leave her house because she is so ashamed of her looks-because she feels she is so ugly.

Can you imagine the sadness that we felt, hearing this?  Needless to say, we are not going to let the story end this way.

We're living in such a day and age that youth is worshiped, and if you are in your 70's, and you don't look like you are only 50, you feel shame.

Ladies (and gents!), this OUGHT. NOT. TO. BE!!!

I'm in my 40's, heading for 43, and guess what!  I'm not crazy about getting wrinkles, but it's part of the aging process!  I have not worn make-up in over 25 years-since I was a teenager.  This is my every day face:

Yes, I'm getting wrinkles. Yes, I have a scar or two that I wish would disappear.  No, I don't look 20.

But should I be ashamed of how I look?

No.

And neither should you.

A big part of our problem is that we allow Hollywood to define beauty to us.  Don't forget that many of these women look just like we do, when they have no make-up on, or have not been surgically altered.






Just like those of us who are not famous, there are those who age well, and have barely changed since they were 20, and then there are those like me, who look my age.

But if my face looked 20, and I was stunning in my appearance, what would that be worth if it was all I had to say for myself?

Cleanliness, proper grooming, clean, ironed/non wrinkled clothes-these are all things I consider important, and speak to others how I feel about me..  And these are things I think all of us should care for.  But staying 20 forever is not.

The real achievements of beauty we should strive for are the things that are pleasing to God--a pure heart, a meek and gentle spirit, compassion, love for mankind, being His faithful child, and many other things that eyes alone cannot see.

Don't ever become a prisoner of your own home because you feel like your appearance is a burden to society.  If you have more to offer than your face, please come out and be a part of society!  We need folks that are willing to give a word of encouragement to the discouraged, to lend their skills to a friend in need, to show the younger generations how it is done.

Don't let glamour magazines and movie stars set the standard.  I would rather be an Abraham Lincoln, who changed the lives of MANY, than the most glamorous women on television who has had 2 bad marriages and has nothing to offer to society, except a bad example of how to live everyday life.

Won't you join the rest of us?