Category Archives: Faith

GOALS: Week Two and counting

Second week of January. Typically “resolutions” wax and wane about 3-4 wks in and by mid-February the gym is back to its regular clientele. Since adopting the “GOAL” method rather than resolutions, my mental outlook is far less stressed and overwhelmed. I don’t feel the need to do it all at once, but rather slowly and methodically approach my goals in a fashion that I can reasonably and realistically weave into my life routine.

And thus far, here’s the update:

Finances. Moving along nicely. Paid bills the other day without all the general anxiety that accompanies that task. Hubby and I are going to look into Yodlee or Mint to have everything in one place and have a snapshot “real-time” look-at-a-glance rather than update the Excel sheet monthly.

Quiet time in prayer. Continuing with my Daily Readings, however, that’s a several-years-old habit; more attention to working toward picking which spiritual book I’d like to work on in addition to my Reading time in the morning. This week I have an interview with Pat Gohn on Among Women and have some retrospective digging to do prior to the interview; THAT will be some intense mediation time!! So this week is covered. Moving on. One day at a time.

Healthy eating/exercise. I’ve hit the gym twice this week. Hard. So sore. Walked twice. Pilates video for an hour with sore core following. Incorporating oatmeal and fruit (working on protein) for breakfast, and additional fruit/vegs during the day. (Taking this Clean Eating slowly…) Not rocket science and I’m not dropping lbs like crazy, however, these are good solid habits that I can live with and that’s really the important thing. If I can see some progress over the next few weeks and definitely by my annual check-up in February that will be motivating. Baby steps. One day at a time.

Last night we went to 6 p.m. Mass followed by a concert by Steve Angrisano with the kids. What a tremendous family time. Even our “very-14”, 14 year old was enjoying himself within 15 minutes much to his surprise. (The only downside was, in hindsight, perhaps we should have either left the girls home or saved Mass for this morning…they were absolutely melting down by the end…WAY too tired. Wish I could say I was gracious about it, but not so much……) Either way. Great show and bed time was a breeze!

Off to take the girls to church and their Faith Formation class and I’ll be walking, catching up on podcasts, and praying.

***images from the web

Winding down and gearing up…

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As we wind down Christmas and our tree accelerates the dropping of the needles daily as ornaments desperately cling to crunchy branches, my mind turns to the coming of the new year. While I’m not big on making/keeping “Resolutions”, I DO always seem to become reflective on things I’d like to improve upon in the coming year. The New Year is always full of promise and hope, like new school supplies….unsharpened pencils, reams of paper, crisp folders; ready, willing and able to be molded to our choices.

Even though I am quick to claim I don’t make “Resolutions”, the truth is, of COURSE I do. I just realize that I am only good at keeping them for a couple of weeks. Since the gym is generally crowed until about February, I also know I have a lot of company in short-lived resolutions. However, in the blissful, wide-eyed moments of promise and hope to come in the New Year, I feel propelled and motivated, especially after reading “5 Keys to Making and Keeping Your New Year Resolutions” @ The Hill House.

My course of action for 2012 includes a few things:

Eating more healthy and exercising. Quite the popular one. Of course I’d like to lose weight, but the reality is that I’m not getting any younger and as my patients tell me daily, “It’s a B**** getting old!” I want to be in a good place to face those physical challenges getting older brings. I want to run and bike and play with my kids and BEAT THEM in their games–yes, sometimes I AM competitive! Therefore, in keeping with “defining the win”, my workouts will primarily occur at lunchtime, 3X a week and my eating will consist primarily of clean-er eating and learning how to ditch the processed stuff AND incorporate that into my family’s diet as well. A HUGE task for sure, but some truly astounding payoffs as well.

Just as the story of Daniel (Daniel 1:8-15) shows how eating clean makes for stronger, better, faster, it’s also indicative of the fact that everything we need to be properly nourished and strengthened is provided by nature, not Publix.

More focused “Quiet time” in prayer and seeking time with Christ. While my morning routine begins with The Daily Readings, it often ends there as well. Since I am trying to cram EVERYTHING into my mornings (Quiet time, Exercise, Writing….) there is no singular focus on any one of them. My quiet time has long sustained me, given me strength, peace, clarity and guidance; it’s time to return, focused and un-hurried to that precious time. When I begin my day in prayer and focused on His will for me, everything else seems to fall in place.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Reintroducing hubby to the finance side of the family and tightening up. As we can finally begin to dig out of debt with his job adding to the household income, his TypeA personality will be crucial to my tendency to slide…..it’s a team effort for certain and certain to experience growing pains, but we will be able to balance each other as well as the budget along with becoming better stewards of all that God sees fit to bless us with, and bless us He has. Abundantly.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

In reaching for my main goals this coming year, my writing may or may not blossom. Time will tell. However, as this has always been more about keeping in touch and therapy for my heart, I’m sure I can always find time to bang out a post now and then; it’s just not a huge priority. Yet.

Friday….or the day before vacation starts!

Expectations.

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As your life is likely as busy as ours this time of year, I’m sure you are familiar with the reality of things not always working out as expected. It’s life. The planets are NOT all aligned for every event to occur without a hitch and if one can’t practice some flexibility in life then it’s going to be one bitter horsepill to swallow on a regular basis.

This weekend I was sure that we were fairly open in our schedule sans for two events: 1. Walk through Bethlehem on Saturday evening 2. Children’s Christmas program at our church Sunday afternoon. Now, in hindsight, one would think my spidey senses would have been tingling…ERROR, ERROR, ERROR at the complete ridiculousness of an “Open” schedule at this point in December, however, they failed me. My calendar, the one right on the wall of the kitchen. The one that we write our life on. The one I pass a million times a day. Yes. That one would have reminded me of all that was planned this weekend. And that would require looking at it. live and learn. live and learn. Fortunately, I did look at it Friday night, so I had a few hours to mentally prepare:

Routine Saturday chores, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc…..AND get our youngest to her liturgical dance practice. It is the 3rd Sunday (Family Mass) and they perform a little dance and have practice the day before. Oops.
“Happy birthday, Jesus” annual lunch with my grandparents. At our house. Menu???? Oops.

So, though it wasn’t a lot of extra activity, the activities DID require time management, organization and calm. We pulled it off (because generally I work better under pressure, not so great for my stress level, but TREMENDOUS for my focusing abilities).

Amid all the flurry of activity, the biggest disappointment was our Walk through Bethlehem. Having never been to this particular event, nor had I spoken to anyone who had an idea of how it all operated, we went in blind. Sadly, we made the call to exit the line after realizing we were looking at least a two-hour wait before we got it. We don’t do lines well. When we are ill-prepared for the line, it’s even worse. However, we regrouped, and drove around to look at Christmas light displays and ate cookies in the care (Dad totally rocked on THAT little preparation!!). So Plan “B” was a hit. Mostly. At least it restored harmony to the family. Mostly. And we were able to salvage the evening. Mostly.

The Roman Soldier casing the place…the only part we sa

Some of the lights from our drive

And because we weren’t busy enough, the baking bug hit me Sunday. Between Mass and the Christmas program, we baked away: Poppy seed bread. Chocolate chip cookies. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. and our family favorite, Buckeye Balls. I’m done. done. done. done. done.

Good lessons learned this weekend: Check the calendar. Always. Twice daily when it’s December (or May). Roll with it and be prepared to modify the “Plan”. Expectations are destined to fall short. Flexibility is king. Have plenty of preparations on hand. Or a decent time frame whilst the bread is baking to make an impromptu trip to Publix to re-stock. Enjoy. Every. Little. Moment. It will be January before we know it!

The way to their heart…..

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I love this hutch. It’s not super fancy, but it holds some of my favorite things: my cookbooks. Of course, if you look closely, you’ll see my apron (which I don’t always remember to wear, but I absolutely ADORE…thanks Brite!), our nod to our beloved FSU ‘Noles, a jar of lifesavers for the “I’m hungry, mom…but dinner is 5 minutes away moments”, pie tins ready to make something delish, baskets to deliver with, bug spray and Benadryl (mosquitos love us!), and a left-over mustache from Halloween.

I have a lot of cookbooks and at some point I’ve used them all. I think. But it seems I have my “old standbys” that I always go back to. And maybe I should just remove some and de-clutter a bit, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

These three are my most solidly used books. The folder is a collection of friend’s and family recipes over the years. I had a separate one for desserts and sadly one Christmas shopping trip to Publix it was left in the cart with no one turning it in. BOY, did they SCORE!! The green and white book is a smaller collection of F&F recipes from when I started putting them on cards and they became too overwhelmed by the volume, however, I add all the Publix Apron meals cards in there. And my Tallahassee, Junior League“Thymes Remembered” has some standard recipes and family faves that I practically know by heart.

My apron. Still has some dough from last week’s Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. Still have some in the freezer. Yum! Soon to be sporting some Peanut butter from our holiday tradition of making “Buckeyes“ for my friend’s Annual Cookie Exchange.

I may not have a cooking blog site, or show on Food Network, however, I love cooking. I love cooking for my family and my friends. It brings our family together at dinner most nights of the week so we can share our day and our “Hi’s and Lo’s”. It might keep me fluffier than I prefer, but I absolutely love trying new things and filling their tummies with love. Baking is the best, but sadly just not enough nutrition to fully sustain us, so I try my best to keep it to a minimum, but ‘TIS THE SEASON, BABY, so watch out!!

One of the way to their hearts is through their stomachs and I am happy to oblige and love on my family!

Galations 6:7 A man reaps what he sows.

I hope I am sowing a loving and happy family with full tummies!

making the trek

Trekking through life: Faith, family, friends and a whole lot of coffee!