Project 365 - Pictures Week 4

January 22: Today's jewelry.


January 23: My motto for the day.

January 24: Creativity.


January 25: Lunch.


January 26: My "Spring" during Michigan winters.


January 27: A 42-30 win for the lady falcons! (23 belongs to me)


January 28: Control.

Thanks Giving Inspired Fridays: Week 4

Here is a recap of what my #365Thanks tweets were since last week's post.

• Jan 20: Today I'm on day 20 of 21 of the #DanielFast and I'm thankful for the focus God's given me during it. #365thanks
• Jan 21: Heading down to South Bend to watch the oldest throw at Notre Dame. Thankful for clear roads. #365thanks #GoState #MSU
• Jan 22: Today I'm thankful for family time. #365thanks
• Jan 23: Thankful for God's protection for a dear friend today. #365thanks
• Jan 24: Today I'm thankful for children who don't hold back from sharing Christ with their peers. #365thanks
• Jan 25: Oh no! I just realized that I forgot this day but I know it would have been "today I'm thankful for the support of christian girlfriends"
  
• Jan 26: I'm thankful for people that speak kind, encouraging, and uplifting words to my children. #365thanks

Linking up here:

Ephesians 1:11-19

This morning's scripture was Ephesians 1:18-19

18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,

Something that stuck out to me was "eyes of your heart". It seems to me so often, as women, we are accused of not seeing clearly because we are lead by our hearts. I love that we need to have the "eyes of our hearts" enlightened to know hope.

Linking up here:

Project 365 - Pictures Week 3

Week 3 is looking much more organized. In case you are wondering all of the pictures are taken with my iPhone and usually edited/posted to Instagram and Flickr.


January 15: Christmas gift from a girl in my HS youth group. It makes me smile.



January 16: Ready to dig in.

January 17: Hanging out with me while I'm on the treadmill.

January 18: A beautiful bow made by a beautiful friend for my beautiful daughter.

January 19: I'm on day 19 of 21 of a Daniel Fast. I made tacos for the family and here is my version. Corn tortillas, hummus, guacamole, black beans, roasted tomato, and lettuce. They were yummy.

January 20: Brrr!

January 21: "A great day to be a Spartan." Zack set a new PR (personal record) of 61' 7" with the shot put. That mark makes him 2nd in the Big 10 and 8th in the nation.

Thanks Giving Inspired Fridays: Week 3

Here is a recap of what my #365Thanks tweets were since last weeks post.

• Jan 13: Snow day fun! #365thanks

• Jan 14: Today I'm thankful to have had all 6 of us around the dinner table. #365thanks
• Jan 15: Today I'm thankful that God gave me the perseverance to run an hour. #365thanks
• Jan 16: Today I am thankful that my salvation began with God choosing me first. #365thanks
• Jan 17: I'm thankful for a reliable, safe vehicle to drive my family to and from on wintery Michigan roads. #365thanks

• Jan 18: Today I'm thankful that God lavished the riches of his grace on me. #365thanks
• Jan 19: I'm thankful for a husband that takes the time to shovel the front walk and driveway before heading to work. #365thanks

Linking up here:

Ephesians 1:1-10

I've started studying Ephesians with Good Morning Girls. The study uses the SOAP tool to really dig into scripture.

What is S.O.A.P.?
S.O.A.P. stands for Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. It is a way of getting more out of your time in God's word.

This morning's scripture was Ephesians 1:7-10.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,

10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment–to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

The word that really stuck out to me was "lavished".

Definition of LAVISH: 1.more than enough 2.expend or produced in abundance 3.using or giving in great amounts

The thought that God has lavished the riches of his grace on me is humbling!

Linking up here:

Project 365 - Pictures Week 2

I am a little behind because I'm just starting this week but I am going to attempt 365 (+1 for leap year) days of pictures.

Here is where I am at so far...


January 10: Anna's basketball team getting ready for their game. Anna is #23.


January 13: An "Emily day". She is loving the easy to peel Mandarin oranges.


January 13 (again): Zack's first indoor track meet of the season. He went in with a goal of 18 meters and his furthest throw was 18.01. Good day!


January 14: They were both "dog tired" and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

A sporadic first post but hopefully by next week I will be in full swing.

Be Blessed!

Thanks Giving Inspired Fridays: Week 2

If you want to join in head over to to InspiredRD and read about the Project 365 Thanks.

Here is a recap of what my #365Thanks tweets were since last weeks post.

• Jan 5: I'm thankful for the opportunity to attend kickboxing class at my church. #365thanks
• Jan 6: I'm so excited for a weekend with girlfriends and thankful that I'm able to go. #365thanks
• Jan 7: A view from my run this morning. Gorgeous! #365thanks
  

• Jan 8: Today I am thankful for a husband that let's me go away for the weekend while he cares for the kids. #365thanks
• Jan 9: Thankful for a husband that will stand firm in his faith. May God continue to use/bless him. #365thanks
• Jan 10: Today I'm thankful for the sunshine. We don't see much of that during the winter in Michigan. #365thanks
• Jan 11: Today I am thankful I was able to run in this unseasonably warm West Michigan weather before the snow hits tomorrow. #365thanks
• Jan 12: Today as I pray for discernment between wants and needs I am thankful that God ALWAYS meets my needs. #365thanks

Project 365 Thanks

Do you remember this?
It inspired me to make this...

We still have the journal and just had it out on the counter during the month of November. It is a blessing to read back a couple of years and see what everyone was thankful for as we continued to add to it.

Which brings me to Project 365 Thanks.

Alysa at InspiredRD has started Project 365 Thanks. She got her inspiration from reading reading the book 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. The book came about from Ann's own journal of 1000 gifts.

Alysa is challenging us to live with a thankful for heart and to post something daily for the entire year that we are thankful for.

"Stopping to give thanks will slow down the hurry, and bring my attention to where it needs to be. As Ann says, 'Wherever you are, be all there.'" -Alysa

If you want to join in head over to to InspiredRD and read about the Project 365 Thanks.

Here is a recap of what my #365Thanks tweets have been so far.

• Jan 1: I'm thankful that West Michigan is finally getting snow. #365thanks
• Jan 2: Today I'm thankful for a teammate that offered to bring Z back to MSU and save us part of the drive on the snowy roads. #365thanks
• Jan 3: Today I'm thankful for the opportunity to care for my niece 2 days a week. She is a blessing. #365thanks
• Jan 4: I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to be a youth group leader and spend time with some amazing girls! #365Thanks

Be blessed!

Running goals for 2012

Just because I need it in writing to hold myself accountable I thought I'd better post some goals.

Last year I logged 193.61 miles into my Nike+ app. I know I actually ran more than that since I don't always use the app while I am on the treadmill. I am going to guess that I actually logged about 250 miles in 2011.

I'm going to go for a 20% increase for 2012 which, if I did the math correct, puts me at a goal of 300 miles.

Another goal for 2012 is to run a half marathon. That is 13.1 miles. That is an overwhelming thought for me during these cold winter months but I think it's doable come spring or summer.

Finally, to overcome my "it's to cold outside to run outside" attitude my last running goal is to not let more than 7 days go by without getting a minimum of a 30 minute run in outside.

Feel free to hold me accountable these, please.

What are your goals for 2012 running or other?

Perseverance

Last March the leader of our women's ministry asked a lady at our church, Marie, who teaches aerobic classes if she would consider holding a class for the women at our church. She said yes and she also used it as a giving ministry for herself and donates part of money to mission trips to Haiti. It is still going and has become very popular. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays for an hour of kickboxing/bootcamp class.

Marie has done a great job of motivating us to get healthy. One thing that she does that I really enjoy is she will introduce us to something new and then re-visit it a couple of weeks later. I like this because you get to see how much stronger you are getting.

One of these is planks. Do you know what a plank is? It is like a push-up but you are on your elbows and you just hold the position. It sounds easy. Try it. It is really hard! It is excellent for building your core. When we started the class most of the women, me included, struggled holding the plank for even 15 secs.

As I started getting stronger I seen something about "plank wars" on Twitter. You challenge people to see who can hold a plank longer. Here is a picture from June of us having a plank war on the deck.


At that time I still had to really work to hold it for a minute. Imagine my surprise when I timed myself the other day and made it to...

2 whole minutes! It just shows what perseverance can gain you. I'm having so many "God moments" and lessons through the training I have been in.

"As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." -James 5:11

Pinterest

Have you heard of Pinterest?

Are you on it?

Are you addicted too?

I introduced my daughters to it and they love it to. It has provided a lot of entertainment and discussion for us. The latest of which involved our poor dog. We ran across this picture of the "Most patient dog in the world"...

Source: chubaandcompany.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

So of course we had to see if our sweet Allie was as patient...

Anna getting it started.

Kaylyn figuring out how to get the bones under her lips.

Allie trying to lick the bones. TOO FUNNY!

She is waiting patiently to be done and yes, drooling.

If you aren't on yet and you need an invite just holler.

One year Anniversary

Do you remember this post "My first 5k"? Today I ran this same race again. Last year I couldn't even run the entire time. This year was a different story. Not only did I run the entire race I hit my goal of running it under 40min. I haven't seen the official time yet but I think it will be around 38:13. I am already planning on running it again next year and have set my goal at 32 min. It's time to "train my weaknesses" which for me is speed. Stadium stairs and hill work here I come!

Here is my running buddy Karen and I after the race. We started our "running journeys" together with this 5k last year and continue to spur each other on. She placed 3rd in our age division today! Obviously speed is not a weakness for her. We both want to do a 1/2 marathon. We are looking into one for next April. Feel free to start praying for me now.


This run was especially fun because we ran it with a group of ladies from our church's women's ministry. Be sure to check out Kim's post about running the race with her daughter.

Wordless Wednesday - One Happy Senior!

They killed the suspense by adding "Admitted Student Information" on the outside of the acceptance letter. But they sure made Anna happy.

See other Wordless Wednesday participants at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Resourseful

Doesn't everyone use their school issued laptop as a light box?