I made myself a 30 day to a healthier me promise, read my promise to myself HERE.
Sooo...
I meant to recap after week one, but obviously that did not happen. Well better late then never...right?
Week 1- I was really good about my goals this week! I only missed my daily exercise once, I mostly kept up with my GRE practice, I don't think that I missed reading the Bible once, I definitely ate more vegies and did not do well with drinking more water. I am very proud that I did not have even a tough of chocolate!!! I did decide that as my one cheat I would have frozen yogurt, not quite ice cream...which is on my no eat list, but I had to have something sweet lol.
Week 2- (over on monday)- I have drank more water, exercised almost every day, kept up with the vegies and increased my water intake. I have still not touched chocolate (I have really wanted to) and have avoided the other items on my do not eat list. I have completely forgotten to do my GRE practice questions...something to improve upon. Yet, I have kept up with reading the Word almost every day.
Moral of the story...
I'm not perfect but I am trying to make these improvements. I feel healthier in my mind and my body. My husband has even said I look thinner, which was not really my goal but it is a nice plus!!
I challenge everyone who reads this to commit to give up something or add something to your daily to-do list to make yourself a healthier person :)
1. Pumpkin Carving with my Hubby- We had such fun this year with our pumpkins! I think they really brought out our personalities and I just love em'!
2. Coffee Pressed Coffee- I am in absolute love with my coffee press! Now that I have mastered making a good cup o' joe with it I could not be more pleased. Every morning with just a little brown sugar and soy creamer and I am off to take on whatever the day may hold :)
3. Sriracha- I admittedly went through a bottle of this stuff in a month. It is by far the best hot sauce out there and is awesome on everything from eggs to soup! YUM! (PS- it is pretty hot but has a nice flavor)
4. The Hunger Game Trilogy- If you have not yet read them I highly suggest you do. You will not be able to put them down! I just finished "Mockingjay" today in about 48 hours. If you have already seen the movie I still recommend picking up the first book, there is so much more detail in it that I think you will still be on your toes!
5. Vintage Chunky Sweaters and Shorts- With it being about 60-70 degrees here all the time I am just obsessed with shorts and sweaters! Most days you can find me in my new favorite Izod sweater I found at the thrift shop and my favorite Gap shorts (which were also a thrifting find)
...I have been planning this post for a few weeks now and avoiding committing myself to actually doing it. Since Calvin and I got married a few months back and went on our roller coaster of an adventure, and as we continue that said adventure I have not been taking care of myself very well. With all the craziness and adjustment I may have turned to food more then once (or twice...) for a sense of comfort.
Lets just say our lives have been ticking time bombs for change since the moment we said "I Do." I have never appreciated change very much, even though my life seems to always be in constant life changing change mode.
As I sit here writing on this old and worn out laptop, typing with a hand that has just stopped hurting from all the typing and searching the internet for jobs, I feel drained. In all of those jobs I have been applying for I cannot say that even one of them feels like it would "fit." I will admit that I have even ignored a few "704" local numbers that have called my phone today. I feel like a stubborn toddler.
You see, deciding to major in Psychology was a tough decision for me, and I feel now in this moment that it was the wrong decision. The life I dreamed of before that decision was full of Fashion, money, traveling the world, and being what I deemed to be "perfect." At that time my schooling was easy, honestly the classes were so fun that studying was often reading the latest Elle or Vogue. Then reality hit. My life took a turn, due to my stupidity one summer and it changed me.
Really God changed me.
He turned my life from being "me" centered to Him and with that I struggled with the dream life that I knew I could be headed for. God always knows what you need so he brought me a friend, really a mentor, to open my eyes. She too had a difficult life and it brought her to help others, really to share her story and live as an example. Her story is really amazing and she even wrote a book about it! She helped me to see that my past, being unique yet relatable could really help others. She even threw around the idea of us writing a book together! But at that point I was too young, and fragile in my faith so I didn't see the value in that awesome offer.
Very long story short(er) I ended up in Psychology longing to find my place with helping others yet still not really diving into my faith. Now as I am graduated, married, and looking for a job in a place that both my husband and I feel we are suppose to be, I am discouraged. Affording graduate school seems at least a few years off and finding a job in anything resembling helping others seems almost impossible. While there are some jobs available here in Charlotte, almost all of them seem to have nothing to do with what I feel called to do.
Its times like these that the stubborn side of me wants to throw my hands up in the air and crawl into a corner. Trust me, I am good at pouting. But this time it seems that God is maturing me. For the first time, at 22, after a little pouting I am able to pick up His word and try to find a bit of hope when I just feel like crying. I know its pathetic, I can obtain a good job with decent pay and my husband and I will have just what we need, but I am afraid that I will feel as though my time is worthless.
So here I am, praying that the Lord will provide a job that I will find some joy in. That I will feel as though in some small way I am making a difference. Here I am throwing up my hands and letting God take the wheel.
I knew in this time that I needed to read and meditate on those words, but where to start? I remembered our pastor saying a few Sundays ago to start in John when you don't know where else to go. So to John I went.
As I read it occurred to me that the Lord came to this earth to be an example and to pay our debt. He is the example of love and grace, patience and hope. This is the example I need to follow no matter where He puts me. I've already decided that I will be a woman of integrity in this job search, I will be honest about where I feel called (which is graduate school when we can afford it), since most of the company's want career minded individuals I know this may hurt my chances. I truly believe that the Lord will provide a job that will be where HE needs me. Not always necessarily where I want to be, but He will have a purpose for me and that is what I need to strive for.
Plus, I always have this blog. Which I love :) The song up top I came on pandora while I was meditating on what I read in John and it really spoke to me. I know that the Lord is holding my heart and that to me is quite a comfort!
We will never forget the time we were able to spend in San Francisco. We learned so much about ourselves, life, our marriage and what is truly important to us. I am sure we would still be there if Calvin's mother's cousin had been able to accomodate us during Calvin's internship. It is such a beautiful area (especially in the south bay, where the sun shines everyday :).
Alright...So when I created this blog I told myself that I would post atleast once a week. Ok lets get realy here people. It seems to have been a month or more since I signed my little butt (ok big butt lol) in and gave you some details of the awesomeness I have been crafting up!
Some wedding crafts. Some to keep my sanity. Even some baking! I could tell you all the lovely details of what I learn in class on a day to day basis...but seriously. I WANT you to read my blog! Not scare you off with all the craziness the Psychology world has to offer!
Alright. Lets start with an awesome craft I did before I got engaged...yes back in April-ish... I made my aunt these awesome magnets!! Pictures and How-to...
I think that the biggest lesson Calvin and I have learned since we have gotten married is that "your plan" in life is not always the actual plan. God's plans may be tricky, but He does know best! We figured the move to San Fran would be permanent (at least somewhat) but that was not His plan for us.
We found out the hard way that the only way to move pass the amazing opportunities in San Francisco was to go there, figure out that it is impossibly expensive there for a newly wed couple and move on to next plan that the Lord had for us! We were so blessed to have such a great friend to stay with there. Natalie was absolutely amazing, understanding and patient with our crazy situation. She was such a doll and we are so so blessed to have her in our life!
Moral of the story is sometimes you just have to give things a shot. We do not regret our decision to give Cali a try, and I think if the opportunity presents itself in the future we would definitely consider going back, but next time we will be fully ready for the crazy cost of living there and the unique environment :)
We are happy and slowly getting settled in Charlotte, NC. We are buying cheap furniture to refinish and getting our crazy separation anxiety dog settled. Who is currently barking at thunder (boy do our neighbors love us right now) but in time I am sure that we will be very happy here. Minus the bugs. The bugs have to go. But that story is for another day :)
I have completely neglected this blog for much too long. Moral of the story is planning a wedding where you want ever single thing to not only be affordable, but most of all memorable takes ALOT out of you. Lets just say there were mental breakdowns in that line of work. Oh moving across the country in a U-haul takes a little bit of time too lol.
