Even Me: devotions

4.11.2013

March Recap & Fashion Fast Update

It's April!
Winter is over!

Well, sorta.
This is Iowa.

We definitely had more sunshiny days versus cold ones and I'm glad to say things are finally turning green with the rains of this month.
Even though the rain never stops.
I'm not complaining.
Sorta.

March came and went so fast. I literally blinked and we were 2/3 of the way through the month.
However, I did manage to meet some of my goals:

- Run 100 miles this month: I made 111 miles in the month of March! This turned out to be a goal that kept me sane during this busy month. You can follow all my training on dailymile (I have a widget on the sidebar)
- Finish War & Peace: I'm still reading. I have less than 500 pages to go and a few days to finish. I'm hoping to wrap this up mid-month. I have now checked this out from the library 4 times....

- Send out wedding save the dates: DONE!

- Make some progress on baby Gwen's blanket: About halfway. I didn't have as much time to work on this during March as I would have liked, but it'll get done in April.

Here is a little update on the rest of my goals for 2013:

- Spend time in the word and prayer more

Thanks to some amazing She Reads Truth plans for Lent and Holy Week, this has been easy. Our small group also started back up and I'm feeling very encouraged and blessed by the things I'm reading in the Bible. I think this is the first time in my life that I really WANT to read the Bible. All of it. Over and over. I want to be one of those people that can relate real-life scenarios to a Bible story.

I've been trying to pray more often and more effectively. She Reads Truth plan for post- Easter is all about prayer and I'm learning so much! Mornings with devotions and prayer has really become a special time for me.

- Stop over committing (rule of 2)

This has been pretty easy. I think I'm getting better at saying 'no' and not having a license sort of makes it impossible to do just do whatever, whenever. I'm really, really, looking forward to tax season being over so I can spend time reading and sitting on my patio writing.

- Get simple (fashion & spending fast)

I broke down.

I forgot I scheduled a Stitch Fix box for the last week of March as a reward for not buying anything for the first quarter. This was before I decided to not buy for the whole year.

Of the 5 things, there were 2 shirts I really liked.

So I caved.

See? how could I resist? I'm calling it an early birthday present and I made myself get rid of 4 shirts as penance. #balance

As for other spending, we booked a trip for our birthdays and I hired a painter for my house...so yeah. I see the trip as a good investment and treat for us. We are seeing one of our favorite bands and visiting lots of friends. It will be a really good time and probably the only trip we take this year. Also- we paid cash for it with bonus/tax money so I didn't charge anything.

- Eat (mostly) vegan

I think I've mentioned more than once how my sugar habit is out.of.control.

Jami did a #whole30 and is now all hatin' on sugar. Like the sugar police.

(I kid, I kid. She's awesome and I live close enough to her we could be real life friends. That may just happen.)

But anyway- it inspired me to be more mindful about my sugar intake and QUIT FEEDING MY FACE WITH DESSERT.

Seriously.

I haven't broke myself of the chai or the latte (I love that creamy spiciness), but I do sugar free when I can and I'm considering a pre-30 years old 30 day clean up of me. In honor of getting old.

At this point, I'm picking one day a week that I get a treat on. This varies because things come up. Last night I had this.

I split it with T and it has vegetables in it so it basically doesn't count and makes up for the vegan peanut butter cup I had on Monday.
Right?

Obviously, I have work to do here.

Use the #imoversugar hashtag on Instagram to share your healthy eats. It's super inspiring.

Also, check back Saturday for a Homemade Larabar Recipe.

- Give priorities priority (more family, regular volunteering, scheduled write sessions)

I got to spend a lot of time with family this month.

Maybe it doesn't seem like a lot but we aren't the 'see each other every week' kind of family, so a birthday dinner, Easter celebration and whole day with my nieces was a special treat.

Volunteering is going great. I love, love, love serving food to my people downtown.
I'm actually signing up for more days and hoping that I can get to know each one of them a little better.

My scheduled writing sessions have been damnear impossible during tax season, but I expect that to change very soon.
I can't wait.

- Rest in the big picture

You know, T and I have had so many talks about our upcoming marriage and what our future will look like. I was dealing with my old house this month (finding a renter which came through- seriously, Praise Jesus) and we had a serious discussion about our future living arrangement and fears with being in such close quarters together.
We love each other. A lot. But we also love our alone time. It was good to admit that and talk through all those things we might be feeling a little nervous about. And also, to remember that we get to be married. To each other.
It's pretty exciting stuff.
Our future is so bright and the big picture in front of us is an adventure I can't wait to start.

Goals for April:
-#imoversugar: Give this a real shot. No excuses
- Finish War & Peace: i swear. this time. for real. I WILL FINISH.
- Blanket: It's going to be too warm for blankets by the time I finish if it's not April. So this one is getting top priority.
- RELAX: #restisbest Tax season is coming to a close. Bike season is starting. Taco Tuesdays!! Yesssssss.

How was your March? Can you believe 1/4 of the year is OVER??

What goals do you have for April? What is your favorite thing about spring?

Talk to me, people.

9.19.2012

Sunday Seven 9-16-12

I may be 3 days behind on this post.
BUT...if you've read this blog for any period of time, you know that 'timeliness of blog posts' is not my strong suite. :)

But I digress....

1. I was looking for a dessert to make for dinner with friends on Monday and I found these. I haven't attempted them yet, but I'm thinking Sunday morning breakfast may be a lot more tastier.
Anyway- I didn't have the ingredients to bake them so I made this instead:

Apple crisp. Nothing says fall like brown sugar (or molasses if you don't have enough brown sugar and are trying to improvise), oatmeal and apples.
Considering the random ingredients I had to make it- turned out pretty fantastic.

My veggie chili did also.

Yeah- I'm on a cooking frenzy.

2. I did my longest run to date this weekend. 22 miles.

That's right.

I said 22 MILES.

It's almost a marathon.

I looked like this when I finished.

And I felt that rough also. HA

3. I was glad to have it out of the way though. T's best friend B was in town from DC. We took him to the fattiest, most delicious restaurant for dinner on Friday, Zombie Burger!

We had jalepeno poppers, burgers, fries AND split a shake. It was madness. But also excellent carbo- loading for the big run I had the next day.
Then Saturday night, we partied. Hit up all our favorite night life spots and the boys got some quality time in- don't they look like a fashion ad?

We also had some silly time too....

I found this gem on my phone. HA.

4. I think I mentioned last week how 2 friends and I started a weekly bible study called
She Reads Truth. It's been pretty amazing. I feel closer to my friends and closer to God. I also like how my friend Emily brings me amazing baked goods to eat at 6 AM.

Yup. That's how we roll. Coffee and vanilla spice cupcakes for breakfast.

5. Last week was also the 11th Anniversary of 9/11. My friend Mandy and I were on a run in the dark (she's a teacher so we go EARLY) and talking about where we were the day it happened. And what we thought. And how strange and different the world was after.

6. On Wednesday, I participated in the United Way Read to Learn program. It's just crazy to me that governments plan the size of their prisons on 4th grade reading levels. This program focuses on reading skills for third graders- preventing kids from getting lost in the system and becoming a statistic.
I went to a local school and did a reading activity with a 3rd grader. My 3rd grader Veronica was a great reader and had a vivacious imagination. It was a blast.