A Great Time to Give Thanks

In honor of the month of November, which boasts a most wonderful holiday, I'd like to encourage all of you to join me for the 2nd Annual Giving Thanks Challenge! All you have to do is post one thing you're thankful for each day somewhere on your blog. It doesn't even have to be an actual thought-out post. Just start making a list on your sidebar - somewhere you can see it every day to encourage an attitude of thankfulness. If you would like to participate, just click on the button in the side bar.

I know it's not November yet but I thought I might just go ahead and say that I am Thankful for prayer. I know that it's something that I don't do nearly enough but I know that my parents and grandparents have been faithful to pray for me since before I was even born. And they continue to do it every day. (My grandmother says that it's the only reason she can name all 13 of her grandchildren by name, and she's right! I never remember her calling me by anyone else' name). I truly believe that because they have been so faithful our family has been blessed beyond anything we could ever imagine.

What are you thankful for?

I LOVE the blogging world.

A couple of months have gone by since I started blogging. As time has gone I've discovered other blogs through friends blogs and must say that there are some really great bloggers out there. Some people make me laugh. Some make me cry and others just tick me off. (Not many, though) I love finding a blog where someone is sharing their experience and as I read I realize that they are not that different from me. I love it when this happens because I can learn from others and also see how they've come through something that has strenghtened their faith. I am encouraged by these posts.

But today I want to share a post that I came across that was funny.

Today as I was taking my lunch at work I was cruising through some blogs of friend's friends and stumbled upon this little post that actually made me laugh out loud. Just thought I'd share.

Holiday Giveaway!!! Christmas might be coming early...

I found out about this giveaway going on over at The Palm Gifts from my friend, Kristin's blog.

They are giving away monogrammed Christmas aprons. And cute ones at that! They also have tons of other great gift ideas for the holidays. Even if you don't enter still go check out the website.

Go check out there website and email them your favorite item under the Christmas section.
To enter:
1. Email them at info@thepalmgifts.com and put APRON GIVEAWAY in the subject line
2. Tell them your favorite item from the Christmas section
3. Mention that you heard about the giveaway from my blog

My New Favorite Toy

This past weekend Will and I had the privilege of watching this little one while his parents were out of town for a wedding. He really is the best baby I have encountered so far. (Sorry Bailey, Ashley and Steven) He only cries when he wants something and the rest of the time all he does is this...

We took him to the nursery at church on Sunday and Miss Laurie told us that he is spoiling Will and I to think that all babies are that good. He was a joy! I can't wait until we get to watch him again.

You can't help but fall in love with him.

This is a hard post but I feel like it's got to be done...

Let me give you all a brief back ground on my weight loss story. I'll first start by saying that this is one of those topics that is always on my mind but I really don't like to talk about it with anyone. The reason I am bringing it up now and for all of you to read is because I am looking for encouragement and accountability. I WANT to be successful. I WANT to be healthy. I WANT to be able to encourage someone who might be experiencing the same things that I am. I don't want to put any numbers out there because that's not what this is about for me. I do know that I need to lose some weight but that is not my main goal. My main goal is to be happy with who I am, as I am. To know that I am whole and complete just the way God made me. Not once I get down to a size whatever or I weigh however much.

I really can't remember a time in my life when I didn't feel like I needed to drop some weight. I remember being as young as 8 years old and looking down at my thighs as I sat in a chair and becoming embarrassed by how big my thighs looked. Now, was I a fat kid? Not at all! I wasn't a skinny kid either but it was not nearly as bad in reality as it was in my head. Nonetheless, it still stuck with me. I started playing sports at about the age of 5 or 6 so I was usually a pretty active kid all the way up past high school. I do know that the happiest times in my life were when I was playing sports. I loved that part of me. It was something that I was naturally good at. It also helped keep me active. During those times I still was conscious of my appearance but it was easier to do something about it. Shortly after moving to Florida I joined a co-ed softball team in an effort to continue some level of physical activity but it just didn't work out and after the season ended I didn't join another team.

At this point in my life I am the least active I have ever been. As a result of that, I have managed to add a *ahem* few extra pounds. So, since adding on some extra cushion and really just getting to the point where I hate to look at myself in the mirror or in pictures I decided that it was time to do something. I was ready to make a conscious effort to rectify the situation. I joined Weight Watchers. I joined along with my mother-in-law last September shortly after getting married. While attending meetings in the first few months I lost some weight but then I lost my motivation. The holiday's came around and I kept telling myself that after this or that I would get re-motivated. But it never happened. I ended up gaining back all the weight I'd lost and then some. And on top of that I felt worse than ever before. The one thing that I wouldn't do was quit. I was determined to stick with Weight Watchers until I became motivated. I continued going to my meetings even when my WW Buddy quit. Nothing was changing, though. It was all in my attitude and it was starting to show in other areas of my life. I was grumpy a lot of the time. I didn't like going to work. I didn't want to get dressed up to go out anywhere. Nothing looked right on my and the sour look on my face because I was not happy with myself really didn't help at all. I didn't want to be like that forever! That's not REALLY who I am.

So, about two months ago I started my journey all over again. I changed meeting locations and immediately fell in love with my new leader! A co-worker of mine has joined me which has really been helpful. And above all I have changed my attitude. I have already been successful in losing weight but have a ways to go. Running has been great for me! It has given me a chance to become active again and on top of that I have a running buddy to keep me moving but more importantly keep me company! I feel better because I've chosen to move. I've chosen to not sit around and feel sorry for myself. I've chosen to not give up if I feel a little discouraged. I also realized that I need to learn to love myself the way God loves me now, as I am, because it's not like a magic light switch is going to be flicked once I reach my goal and then I'll automatically love myself then. It just doesn't work that way.

The last and most important thing that I've learned in all of this is that it's not something I can do on my own. Some people have the will power but I am not one of them. This is my vice. Food and laziness are my foot-hold. I have to pray my way through this experience and ask for God's strength to keep moving forward. I know that with his help I can move past the negative outlook I have on myself.

I have come to a conclusion

I am a terrible blogger. I have left you all hanging for quite some time now. It's not that I don't care or I don't have anything to blog about. It's just that I'm a perfectionist. I have some updates for you along with pictures and I just haven't had a chance to edit them. As soon as I get the pictures to a place where I approve of them I will share them with you. Until then I will leave you with this...

I know that I've posted this one before but I'm hoping that you will ooh and ah over my dear Eeyore until I can get back to you with my real post.

Stop and smell the roses..... I mean hibiscus.

This past weekend before all the Daytona ladies hit Jacksonville, Will was out working on our yard. He pulled me away from running around the house like a maniac trying to get everything ready and pointed out these pretty flowers to me. I immediately ran in and grabbed my camera so I could show you the same thing that I saw.

Then I looked a little closer...

And I thought about how awesome God is. He created this for me to stop and enjoy on this busy day.