Crafting

Before I get started typing this blog, I just want you to know I have spared you what I REALLY wanted to blog (er, I mean complain) about.  Alas, people don't like complainers, and I must admit I am pretty bad about doing it ..... a lot. :(
Pray for me.  God truly is not finished with me yet!

Moving on....

I just wanted to share a couple of the latest things I have done in my crafting world.  I have been making some baby gifts and birthday presents.  I think I am going to do more of this for Christmas this year.  I have always appreciated a personal touch when it comes to gifts, but it is not required.  A personal, considerate store-bought gift is just as special.

Anyway, here are some of the things I've been doing lately.

Here's a name plaque for Madilynn Reese... my soon-to-be-born cousin!

A sleep sack for Madilynn made from her daddy's old dress shirt.  I also added a bow applique on the right hand side, but didn't take a picture after I did that.

Name plaque for Miss Chloe.  She is 2! She is also one of the most content children I know. :)

Decorated wipes case. Love these.  They are so easy and yet the possibilities are endless!!!  This one was for my friend's new baby, Shelby.

My first attempt at a chic and shabby bib for Shelby too.  And yes, it's supposed to look messy! :)

Homemade hooded towel I made for Callie.  I definitely see myself making some of these for Christmas this year! So practical, and it's easy to do on the sewing machine!

Present for my daddy for Father's Day from his grandchildren.  Callie's hand is the cow, Caroline's hand is the hen, and Silas's foot is the tractor.  Love this one so much. :)

If you would like any links to any of these things that I made, I could probably send you a link to the tutorials that I used.  I love crafting, but I must say that most of the time, I do NOT come up with all of the things I make.  My signs are originals, but the rest of the things I made I got from ideas of other people.  Most of the picture we made for my daddy is original, but I got ideas about how to incorporate the hands/feet into the picture.

I seriously think I need to have a Pinterest party soon! We could craft, cook, and just have a good girls time together if I decided to do it! :)



Facebook is really beginning to annoy, hurt, and yeah, hurt

As of late, I find myself getting more and more disgusted with some things and some people on facebook.

Am I alone in this!?!?!?

Please let me know if you have this problem too, but has being on facebook and being "friends" with people in church caused more strife in your church life? Or has it brought you closer together?

For me, it has been the first of those two:  It has caused me more pain than joy.  Aren't we supposed to be buildling each other up instead of tearing each other down?  I feel like some "friends" on mine have only one mission on facebook: to hurt people.

I am continually appalled at this.

But, then again, maybe I wear my heart on my sleeves..........

Call me crazy, but does it hurt you when someone "defriends" you for NO reason?  Especially if that person is a fellow member of your church? 

The devil is truly working so hard, and I KNOW that he uses facebook to defeat and discourage people.

So, here is my dilemma....

I have seriously considered deleting my account all together.  I have had my feelings hurt two times since yesterday about junk I have seen on there.  But only one thing keeps me logging in again.  It's those people that I actually like seeing what is going on in their lives, and those people who post encouraging words or Bible verses.  It's those people who I used to work with that became my other family, and facebook is the way I can catch up with them too.

What do I DO?

I don't feel as though I should delete those people who annoy me or post ugly or nasty things, because I do not want them hurt at me for the reasons I mentioned above.

At the same time, I don't want to delete my whole account, because then I would lose touch with some people I really care about and some that encourage me.

So.... what would you do?
Have you been struggling with disappointment from facebook too as I have?

Blog Title and My Long List of Excuses

Okay people.  So, here's my deal.

Yeah, it's been forever since I had a decent post on here.  Hence the reason, people do not frequent websites - lack of keeping it current.  :) My apologies to my 3 faithful followers.

So, I have a favor to ask.  I really wish I had a cute blog title.  Alas, my creative brain cells were ever so taken from me due to birthing 2 children.  Therefore, I depend on you all to help me come up with something creative that suites me and the purpose of my blog.  If it helps, here are some things about me that I like that might give you an idea of what to help me name this blog.  Please leave me a comment and give me all of your suggestions.  I want to hear them!

Purpose of my blog: Tell about my personal epiphanies, experiences, funny stories, food struggles, etc.
Likes: God, music, piano, singing, chocolate, and purple
Name and Nicknames: Brittany, BB
Other things about me: I am staying at home for now with my 2 girls. I have a husband who people say looks like Forest Gump and/or Mr. Bean.  I am certified to teach math, and well, that's about it.

There you have it!  Maybe together we can come up with something!
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Moving on.... here's my list of top 5 excuses as to why I have NOT been blogging faithfully.

1. My "sweet Caroline" (not sure if Neil Diamond knew what he was talking about when he sang that song.  My Caroline is not always sweet! :) ), has been sick off and on for months and we finally had it all come to a head.  Things are better for now thanks to medicine and most importantly the Healing Hand of God and sweet prayers on our behalf.  We are praying summer begins soon and that cold season ends quickly.

2.  I have been super busy.  Is it just me or do things really start kicking into gear after Spring Break?  There's Spring Break, then yard sales, birthday parties, end of school activities, and soon we will have vacation, VBS, more birthday parties, and sheesh!  I am getting tired just typing all of that.

3.  I am lazy and tired. Sometimes I take a nap when Caroline does, thus, greatly reducing my blogging time and cleaning up the house time.

4. Sometimes I just haven't felt like it.  I am woman.  I am entitled to say that. LOL

5. I have been feeling guilty because I have been slacking off on my food-watching!
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This is quite possibly the most random blog post EVER in the history of blogging, but I wanted to tell you about something I have discovered about me and what helps me stay on track with my eating.

Some people really don't like to do it, but let me tell you that I think counting calories and keeping a food diary are KEY in losing weight and keeping it off.  When I make myself count how many calories I put in my mouth and write it down and realize at 3:30pm that I only have 200 calories left for the day, then all-of-a-sudden I get serious!  I have tried phone APPS and tried writing it down, and keeping a little notebook where I write it all down is just the key for me. 

I don't know where you are with your food issues.  I hope that all of you reading this are your ideal weight, and you never have a struggle with food.  Unfortunately, I want to have my cake and eat it too.  Which is why I have to watch what goes in my mouth.  God didn't bless us all with super-fast metabolisms that just burn off calories as soon as they hit our tongue.

Even though, I have to work at it, my "issues" keep me where I need to be honestly.  You know, I can't do this healthy eating thing by myself.  I HAVE TO RELY ON GOD.  I have to pray for His strength to make healthy choices and to follow through with those choices.  Food, just like other unhealthy lifestyle choices, is a real temptation.  Having the willpower to tell your lips and your hips no is hard.  I don't always succeed, but I have learned that God is the ultimate source for my strength to do what I need to do, just like every other area of my life.

I will leave you with that thought.  Make sure that you include God in everything, and that includes the strength to say no to that twinkie and Dr. Pepper you know would just delight your taste buds, but afterwards leave you feeling sluggish, guilty, and defeated about your eating habits.  They are okay sometimes, but consumed daily, you know what will happen. :)

Let God be your strength.  I promise He will be. He said He would. 
Phil. 4:13, Isaiah 41:10

And by the way, this blog post was more for me than anyone else!

BB

P.S.  Have you exercised your body and your faith today? 

Still here!

To all of my bloggie friends.... (all 2 of you! LOL) 

No, I have not stopped blogging.

Yes, I think about the fact it has been FOREVER since I updated my blog.

I will try to update soon about my healthy eating journey.  I've had some success, but encountered some bumps in the road. 

More about it..... LATER..... :)

Who I Am

Good day to ya!  I figured I better get back to blogging about my healthy eating journey before I went plumb off the beaten path and went back to old habits.  You know, healthy eating is a complete change of mentality and change of lifestyle.  I have already had several times when I just wanted to throw in the towel (last week it struck once again), but I chose to stop throwing myself a pity party and do something about it.  I figure since it's such a huge change in my life, I also shouldn't beat myself up for struggling with it either!

Sometimes it's hard to keep eating healthy or making healthy choices when the scale is not showing a number less than what it did the last time you weighed.  I know this because that happened to me last week.  I was counting calories and had not been going over and eating more than I should, AND I had been keeping track of my fiber intake AND how many glasses of water I had each day.  And yet, when I stepped on the scale, it appeared as though I had gained 1.5 pounds.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but oh man.  When you already thought it was long gone and it shows back up again, then, as Tom Hanks said in the movie Apollo 13, "Houston, we have a problem!"

Last week, and even up until Sunday, I felt like I had been on some emotional roller coaster and I felt so defeated and discouraged about every thing in my life - literally EVERY thing.  Then, I told myself that having a pity party about what the scale said was not going to change it.  I determined I would work harder this week and keep going down this road of healthy eating.  Even if I don't see results on the scale, at least I know I am doing what's best for my body.  Like Lysa says, the numbers on the scale do not define us!

Recently, when I was reading the Made to Crave Devotional Book, I came across something Lysa said that totally struck a chord with me, and I thought it might for you too.

She writes, "Tying our happiness to food, skinny jeans, relationships, or anything else sets us up for failure. But tying our security, joy, and identity to God's love is an anchor we can cling to no matter what our circumstances may be."

She goes on to talk about what happened when she reached her goal weight.  She thought she would never have a bad day again.  I mean, when you are at your goal weight, what can go wrong, right? 

I have found myself so many times thinking that if I were skinnier my life would be easier.  I would feel better about myself.  I would be prettier.  Things wouldn't bother me as much.

Maybe you've thought those things and even other things like this.  If I were skinnier then....
- I would have more friends.
- More people would like me.
- I would have a better marriage.

or any of those other things I mentioned that I have thought myself.

The truth is, in Lysa's words, "I've had to accept... that my body size is not tied to my happy.  If I was unhappy when I was larger, I'll still be unhappy when I get smaller."

Wow! How eye-opening that was to me.  I realized that even losing weight would not make me happy.  That's not who I am.  That's not who we are. That's not what defines us.  We can't tie our happy to our circumstances or else our happy will be very topsy-turvy.

So, who am I? Who are you?

We are children of God who have been forgiven, set-free, accepted, holy, made-new, loved, confident, and victorious. (p.126) 

That's who we are.  That's what defines us because that's who GOD says we are if we are his children.  No skinny jeans, diet, or weight loss can satisfy us or make us happy forever.  Only our Maker can!

Be encouraged today!  Go take a walk and enjoy all of this spring weather!

Love,
BB

Pinterest Passion and other Crafts

If you know me pretty well, you know I can't resist a good craft!  I really have to stay away from pinterest because it just gives me way too many project ideas.  I wish I had the resources and more time to spend on doing such things, but I try to get away and do crafts and stress-relief projects whenever I can.

I thought I would just attach a few pictures of my most recent things I've crafted.  I have some more projects lined up, so maybe I will post those later!

I hope you are having a great day! 

Butterfly Hairbows

Wipes Case Cover (Front)

Wipes Case Cover (Back) I had to add velcro since my first attempt left me with a case that would not close!

Post-it note holders with encouragement.

Motivation Monday

Before I posted this, I will tell you I had VERY LITTLE motivation to exercise or really do anything to be honest! :)  Caroline is cutting her molars (poor thing) and so she kept me up for a portion of the night, but I am happy to say that after doing my 30-minute walk and knowing I burned 200 calories, I find myself a tad motivated.... :)

You know, exercise is very counterintuitive.  What I mean is that you would think that when you are tired and don't feel like exercising that you might as well just keep chilling on the couch, but when you actually get up and move you have more energy!  I have had to learn this, and it has been my motivator many times. So, if you are thinking, "Oh, it's Monday. I deserve a break."  I DARE you to move! :)  You'll feel better - I guarantee it!

So, here we go with the things in my healthy eating journey that I have been pondering on.  Here is my most favorite thought of recent from Lysa's book.

Every situation has both good and bad.  When I want someone else's good, I must realize that I'm also asking for the bad that comes along with it.

How many times have you glanced at those magazine covers while you are waiting in the checkout line at Wal-Mart or the grocery store and seen the beautiful bodies staring you in the face and thought to yourself, "man, I wish I looked like that," or  "I bet that my life would be so much better if I was that thin or that pretty?"

Lysa points out that when we get into this mindset that all of a sudden "what [we] don't have blinds [us] from seeing what [we] do have."  When we look at someone and wish we looked like them or had their lifestyle, we don't consider all of the bad that comes along with it.  Everyone has their own issues and that's for sure!

Proverbs 14:30 says "A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones."  This scripture reminds us that we should be thankful for what we have!  We are so blessed, even if we don't have that supermodel body.  And you know what, maybe it's just not God's will that we do.  After all, we don't know the "bad" that comes along with it!  All we can do is be a good steward of this body God has given us.

Be motivated today.  Get moving!  Make healthy choices!  You can do it!