Mini-Me Friday #7ish

A month? Seriously? I haven't blogged in a month? Hmmmm. I guess that must be right!

Wellll, a lot can happen in a month, as we all know. Things like traveling to Albuquerque for a long weekend, Thanksgiving, your first "baby" turning six years old. (Ouch. Still hurts to type that one.)

I am happy to report that although I have been MIA over here, I have NOT completely derailed myself from my weight loss efforts. It is actually amusing for me to report that I actually went jogging...me, jogging, I said...on Thanksgiving morning to "earn" my big ol' meal! I mean, people -- JOGGING. On Turkey Day. This is big change. Big.

So.

Basically, here's the update. I found this program through word-of-mouth from a great friend (who has a blog but no actual BLOG there or I'd hook you up -- subtle hint that I would like her to blog, isn't it?? she knows who she is.) and downloaded these podcasts to my iPod. So now I jog with good ol' Robert 3 times a week. I did day one of week 4 this morning and Robert -- whoo, he had me questioning whether or not this was such a good idea. BUT, I did it.

And, for all of you Biggest Loser fans out there -- I am pleased to tell you that both Vicky and Heba are good for something, after all. I just pictured them running on either side of me and told myself two things: (a) if THEY could run, I could run and (b) if I quit -- it would be a bad omen for Michelle, so I had to keep running if I wanted to give her some mojo. And guess what? I did it. So. Those two evil, scheming *ahem* women (this is me not cursing at them) actually kept me running this morning...who knew?

Okay. So we have one week left for our group before this session ends. I weighed in last night for the first time in 4 weeks -- I missed because the kids were sick, I was sick, Thanksgiving, and a snow cancellation -- and I was down 5 lbs from my last weigh in! This was very exciting to me because...

It means that I am only 1/2 pound over the weight that I was when I got pregnant with Mason and have now lost 38 pounds since having him! Yay!!!!! I'm also only 17 pounds over my lowest weight -- that was right before I got pregnant with Miss G, so June 2005. I'm so happy about that!

My first goal is 7 lbs.
My second goal is 17 lbs. I'd love to do this by April, as I am in my best friend's wedding and will be in a strapless gown.
My ultimate goal is 37 lbs. This seems more within my reach now that I realize I've already lost that much. Funny how your brain needs little things like that. Or my little brain, I should say.

I am just taking it one day at a time and trying not to be too crazy or obsessed. I'm also trying to be realistic about things. For instance, I have a date night tomorrow with my husband. We have a Christmas party at one of his co-worker's houses and will probably end up out for drinks with friends or by ourselves later. So...my typical Friday cheating will not be happening. Nor have I had a glass of wine while I cooked dinner this week. (My favorite thing!! Love to do that.)

Anyway- there's the update. Have a long way to go but am proud of myself for the hard work I've put in so far. I'm giving all the glory to God though -- He has certainly provided me with a team of loving, supporting, encouraging people to cheer me on, and most importantly -- the strength and courage to do what I need to do.

He is so good. So very, very good.

Mini-Me Friday #6

I know I skipped a week. Here's a recap: started working out, didn't do so good on the eating front, gained a half pound.

Fast forward to this most recent week. Our "homework" from group was to pick one of the 9 commitments (prayer, attendance, scripture reading, verse memorization, encouragement, exercise, Live-It -- eating plan, the Commitment Record -- food journal, and Bible study) that you needed to really improve on and just go for it. I picked the Live-It (eating plan) and the CR since they go hand-in-hand and since I'd completely blown it the week before on both of them. When you draw a big ? on two days worth of the CR simply to avoid having to actually SAY what and how much you ate...probably not a good sign. At least there was plenty of room for improvement.

So. I had a GREAT week. I made it to the gym four days this week and can say that I worked hard the entire time I was there. Sore, but not TOO sore...just how I like it. I also just decided I'd write it all down. Good, bad, ugly, whatever. I know I'm loved and supported in my group, not judged or shamed AT ALL, so that wasn't it. It's all about me. Just overcoming my "stuff" of which there is a LOT to overcome. Shooo-weee. Lots of it. Funky junk in my emotional basement that needs some cleaning out, if you know what I mean.

Anyway- I can just tell you this. I went out to dinner twice, had four glasses of wine, stayed up late one night munching on snacks with the hubster, ate my way through a big ol' tub of frozen yogurt and STILL lost 3.5 lbs!! That was the most victorious feeling I've had in quite some time, and I am telling you now -- God is in charge of this whole thing.

HE gets my butt outta bed at 5 am. I mean, really - it's my nursing boobs, but come on. Who invented those? :) I jam my way through my workouts with some great praise and worship music -- my "God Rock" as Chris likes to call it. I get some major prayer time in while I'm doing situps and pushups. Mostly just calling out to Him to help me do 2 more. Okay, two MORE. Alright, two MORE. (Welcome to the inside of my head during workouts...scary, huh?)

Seriously. Between that, completing the Bible study for my group, sharing at the actual meetings with those amazing women, and my fantastically supportive hubby - it's hard for me not to give all the glory for this to God. He has pretty much set me up for success by giving me the tools and people in my life that I need in order to be on the right track. I'm sure that sounds hokey, but it is a fact for me.

So. Guess what happened when those 3.5 lbs came off? Two things.

1. Maternity clothes are being packed up FOR GOOD (I mean it this time!!) today.
2. My old "skinny jeans" fit on Wednesday. Thank goodness for stretch denim, I say. I didn't say they fit WELL, but I wore them out in public because everything else was still wet from the washing machine. I didn't get booed or whispered at, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

All in all, a very good week for me. Like many of you, it was a pretty emotional week with the whole pre-and-during-and-post election "stuff". It felt nice to have some peace amid all of the turbulence.

Okay, can't give you my memory verse for this week because I didn't memorize it. (I continue to have a lot of commitments to pick from in the room for improvement category.) Instead, I will leave you with a link to a song that I seriously can JAM OUT with. I saw her do this song live at the Women Of Faith conference in September and got hooked on it. I am not kidding and being entirely serious when I say that on Wednesday morning, I had to restrain myself from flat out DANCING on the treadmill. Lucky for you, I have found the song, complete with dancers!! This song just speaks to me and makes me wanna get funky. Pretty much, picture me as these kids on the treadmill. Only less coordinated and a lot older. And bigger. And really tired with 5 am ponytail hair. Hmmmm...maybe I should get some camo sweat pants and just go for it? Yeah, probably not.

Enjoy my new fave: "Shackles" by Mandisa and have a wonderful weekend!!

Mini-Me Friday #5

Okay, I skipped a week. Sorry - my husband was gone for almost an entire week, so I passed over a few things. Cleaning the house and blogging were two of them. ANYWAY...

Last week, I lost 1.5 lbs -- which I highly suspect was more than that, since I am betting I had previously gained something -- and this week, I lost another 1.5 lbs. SO...I am down a total of 5 pounds so far. I'm happy about that! Only 15 more to go and I'll have met my goal for this session of our group meetings. I think I figured out I needed to lose about 1.5 per week to make that happen, so I am on my way!

One thing that I've done for myself this week is...I JOINED A GYM!!! Hooray! I am so stinkin' excited about this, I just cannot even TELL you! A woman in our group said that they were having "blowout" prices for memberships right now. I used to belong there - it's an all-women gym, which I absolutely love...so I went to check it out. She was right -- it was a great deal! (For starters, they were taking $100 of the $125 registration fee off, if that tells you anything.) I could have gotten an even better deal if I'd signed up for three years, but I am having some FAITH that we are going to sell our house this spring, so I only signed up for one year and am hoping to have to join a new gym next fall.

As for when I'll be going...well, I'm gonna be back to my crack of dawn workout ways. The gym opens at 5:30 am and I plan to be there waiting for them to turn the key! Chris doesn't leave most days until around 7:00, so that will give me time to workout for at least an hour and run home to get everyone going. On the days that he needs to go in early, he will just come home by 7:30 so that I can work out before they close at 9:00 pm. I think it is going to be just fine, actually. Not only do I want to avoid paying the daycare costs, but ya know - my kids are around enough germs as it is...no need to push our luck.

So. There ya go. Did MUCH better with sticking to my eating plan this week and I exercised 4 times, even before I joined the gym. I feel like I'm starting to turn the corner and am excited about making more progress each week. By the way - if any of you are hoping to downsize yourselves, feel free to join me and do some Mini-Me updates of your own!

Here's my verse for this week...
Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Mini-Me Friday #3

So, I'm not very Mini, I'm guessing. I had to skip my meeting last night because of a stomach "issue" which has since resolved itself, but it was a bad week.

I am working on not eating everything in sight, even if it's not such a bad choice food-wise. Having to write it all down and see the number of exchanges I have allowed for the day go clicking off just well, it stinks, pretty much. I like to eat. I'm hungry a lot. So, now I'm trying to figure out if I'm REALLY hungry a lot or if I'm just bored. Or tired. Or worried. Or sad.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out what is motivating me to be so hungry. (And before you suggest it, I've allowed plenty of breastfeeding calories.)

So. There ya go. I still like food. I still like a lot of it. Sort of a problem in the mini-me category.

Oh, and I worked out twice last week. We dealt with sick kids but that's a whole different Oprah so I'll just leave it at that.

My verse this week was Proverbs 20:4 "May He give you the desires of your heart and make all of your plans succeed."

I have to laugh...this week, the desires of my heart involved macaroni & cheese, chocolate, pizza, etc. Probably a good thing that they weren't given to me in the literal sense. Ha!

Mini-Me Friday #2

Well, this week I neither gained, nor lost. To me, that is a victory because mid-week, I was a cheese eatin' fool! Seriously - I went on, of all things, a cheese eating streak. It was strange. I also know that I didn't eat my snacks that day, so it was right before dinner and I just snarfed it down. I'm sure that's what did it, but I truly was relieved when I saw that I didn't gain anything back.

As far as exercise goes, I did better this week. I exercised 4/7 days, which felt great to get back into. I'm not having to totally kick myself to get it done and I totally thought I would be. I'd like to improve the pace that I'm able to walk at, but I know that will come with time.

In thinking about my week, I can tell you that I did LOTS better eating-wise on the days when I kept my little food journal thing WITH me and was able to write down exactly what and how much I had eaten right away. The days that I didn't have it or remember to do it at all until the next day pretty much got away from me. (Cheese night is a good example. If I would have known how well I'd stuck to my plan at that point -- I probably would have figured out how much I *should* have, cut it up and put the rest back. Instead, I just kept that big ol' brick of cheese right next to me while I made dinner and snacked away. Oh - and got some grapes while I was at it -- one of my fave combos to eat together, grapes and cheese.) Anyway - I have noticed that one, so a goal this week is to keep my CR (food journal) with me all the time.

One thing I've done that's been absolutely fantastic for me is the meal planning. Seriously - that has been amazing. It has saved me a bunch of time at night, a bunch of food has been saved from being wasted, and we've saved in our food budget BIG TIME.

I'm about halfway done with my meal planning for the rest of this month, so I'll put that on the sidebar again when I finish. It's actually been kind of fun...I always talk about trying new recipes or making ones we've enjoyed again but then I get into the middle of a hectic weeknight and just make the same ol' stuff because it's there. Now I can actually TRY those recipes and make those things again that I've only made once but that we really enjoyed.

Yesterday I picked out two cookbooks and two magazines that I knew had a bunch of recipes I'd been wanting to try. I needed 27 more meals for October, so I made a list of 6 chicken/turkey, 6 seafood, 5 pork, 5 beef, and 5 vegetarian dishes. What I now need to finish is actually putting them onto the calendar and making a shopping list for each week from the recipes, based on what we already have in the freezer/pantry and what I'll need to pick up for those meals. Then, I'll be all set. LOVE it. Absolutely love it. The other thing I still need to do and will probably just do in batches is figure out the food exchanges for each recipe. If I know how many are in each serving, it will really help me during the day and stick to my eating plan better.

So, there ya go. My weight loss week in a nutshell. Goals for this week: keep my CR with me and add in some different exercise, not just walking. Even if I don't get a DVD or something in there, I want to make sure I add some easy strength training and stretching in every evening.

My memory verse for this week was Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint."

Yes, and some do it with cheese!

Mini-Me Friday #1

Yes, it's back. Well, I'm back. Hmmm - well, my efforts to slim down a bit and get healthy are back.

I gave myself the 6 weeks after the baby to let my body heal without getting too crazy, and lucky for me - the very next week my First Place group started up again! (It's basically like weight watchers, but is a christian group - so therefore, not much like weight watchers at all, I guess. Well, hopefully you get the point.)

So, last week was our first meeting. Let me tell you, for some reason - it's more motivating to me to eat well when I know that someone is going to be reading about everything I put into my mouth. Why it's not just as motivating to me that MY body is going to look/feel better instead of that someone else is holding me accountable, I will never know - but that's the way it is for me. At least at this point, anyway.

Week #1 - I've done pretty well. I set my goal at 20 pounds for the 13 weeks of this session. I figure that is attainable and not too crazy. Oh - and before any of you get all over me about not dieting and breastfeeding, I'd like you to know that not only did I add 400 extra calories onto my plan for breastfeeding, but that I sought and received my doctor's approval before I began, so there ya go. Besides, really all I've changed is the quality of what I'm eating -- not really even the quantity too much.

We had our meeting last night and I lost 2 pounds this week, so I feel like I'm off to a good start. Yesterday was the first day that I was able to work out. I'm okay with that because I did get a major handle on changing my eating habits this week, and I had a pretty stressful week with MUCH less kid-free or reduced-number-of-kids time than I anticipated having. It's hard to exercise with all 3 of them around. I think I'll put my exercise log in the sidebar again, that helped me stay on track last time.

Georgia got sick last week and then this week, we had a strange deal with hand, foot & mouth disease. You'd think that Miss G would get it, but it was actually Mitchell who showed up with it. Luckily, he only had sores in his mouth and not on his hands or feet, but they were pretty painful. They are almost gone, thank goodness. For 3 days he was talking like he had just been to the dentist for a filling and we had a pretty limited range of foods that he could eat without pain. We've been really, really trying to keep it away from Miss G and Mr. Magoo -- hopefully they will be able to escape it. So far, so good.

ANYWAY - having him home from school, keeping him away from the baby, keeping the other two from fighting, etc. - a good challenge for me in the ol' emotional eating department. Oh, and did I mention that Miss G is giving up her nap? Yeahhhhhh...sigh...sad, but true.

I started really paying attention to myself with regards to eating because I try to write down what I eat the minute I eat it, otherwise I'll forget. I noticed that whenever I would be talking on the phone to someone about what was up with us these days or right after the kids were stressing me out with fighting, I'd end up standing in front of an open refrigerator looking for something to munch on. The good thing is that I had really set myself up for success. I made a menu and planned our meals -- side dishes and everything -- for two weeks before I went to the grocery store so the only groceries I bought were things for our lunches and dinners and healthy snacks. Let's just say that I have eaten a lot of cucumbers and celery with roasted red pepper hummus this week...which feels like a good change from goldfish, chips/salsa, or some ice cream.
(By the way, two tablespoons of hummus is actually quite a bit!)

So, there you go. Emotional eating in the wake of the first week of mops (and all of that yummy food!), a 5 year old hand, foot and mouth victim, a semi-nappy two year old, a boob-loving newborn, a hubby with a stressful, very important week at work, a dinner date and concert, and a women's conference -- that was week #1. I feel BLESSED to have come out 2 pounds lighter at the end of all of that, now that I read it that way.

I think I'll end each mini-me update with the memory verse that I learned each week, since for me - the beauty of my First Place experience is that weight loss is pretty much a bonus. It's what it does for the WHOLE me, not just the chubby parts that I love. This first week I got to pick my own verse, and it sort of sets me in the right frame of mind. I am His, this body is His.

Romans 6:13 (NLT) "Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God."

Mini-Me Friday #10 - A Biggie!!

So...I expected to get some questions as to why I hadn't been updating my Mini-Me stuff, but I guess you were all just assuming that I'd already fallen off the wagon or something. Naughty people! You're supposed to be holding me accountable over here!! *wink*

Well, I can tell you this. I am going to be changing the focus of Mini-Me Fridays from a weight loss journey to a weight gain journey. You see, sometime near the end of July, there will literally BE a Mini-Me. Or a Mini-Chris.

Look what I found last Monday:


Yep! Baby Number 3!!

Yep! Total surprise!! (Yes, we know how it happens, by the way.)

Yep! We're excited!!

Nope! Don't have a preference for what we're having!!

Yep! Feeling pretty good -- nausea off and on, but otherwise just fine.


So, there ya go. The biggest Mini-Me update yet. Oh, but in case you're wondering -- I still plan to exercise throughout this pregnancy. I think it's funny that *I* of all people am actually excited to get the 3 new pregnancy dvd's that I just ordered this week. I am sure that I have already gained back all 8 of the pounds that I lost...I have been an eating MACHINE this week. I think that the brakes have been applied though -- last night was my first big food aversion and it was a biggie. I'm feeling more queasy today than I have pretty much all week, so I'm guessing that I'm entering "that phase".

Well, anyway -- there's the big news! *big, deep breath* We are looking forward to seeing all that God has in store for us with this newest little blessing.

Mini-Me Friday #9 - and a Me-Me

This is gonna be a quickie while I'm waiting for my hubby to get home. If I end abruptly, now you know why! I choose him. Yay!

So, I lost one pound this week. I can't remember who asked, but someone asked how much I've lost. I've lost 9.5 lbs so far, which makes it 10.5 lbs away from my first goal of 20 -- and I have 5 weeks to get there. (That's the end of my first session with First Place.)

I feel good about things and know that I can do better. I *will* do better. I think this week was about more than weight loss for me, and the fog has lifted. I feel more energized, more joyful, and more confident in myself -- I finally feel like things have clicked in on this journey and I'm doing it the way that I need to. I'm more about the whole package than the scale, and it's been a LONG time since I could say that.

So, there ya go. The long and short of it.

Bethanne basically dared anyone who reads her blog to do a Me-Me, and because we were united in our tween angst of being Annie-haired-freaks, I will go ahead and oblige her. I'm tagging anyone who needs something to blog about and has seven wacky facts to share. (Basically, that's about 75% of my audience, I'm guessing.)

Okay -- here ya go. 7 (probably lame) things you might not know about me:

1. When I was growing up, I *hated* playing Barbies. This got me into many little squabbles with friends who were Barbie-a-holics. I wanted to play house. Or store. Or teacher. Or some sort of role-play game. (Yes, I was a five year old control freak -- started early, girls. What can I say?)

2. I am PHOBIC of lightning. I'm not talking "I don't like it" or "It scares me" stuff. I'm talking I go into almost hyperventilating, shaking mode when it gets bad. I will NOT go outside if I see it anywhere REMOTELY close. (This is where my definition of "remotely close" usually drastically differs than 99.9% of the population.) This whole lightning "issue" drives my husband nuts.

3. I had stick straight hair before I had kids. I know some women's hair falls out. Mine all stayed in, but it got curvy. Yes, curvy. Not wavy, not curly -- curvy. The first time I got my hair cut after I had Mitchell, my hair stylist accused me of cheating on her -- she thought I went and got a bad perm. Not so much. She right then and there appointed me the posterchild for what hormones can do to someone's hair. Oh -- and it gets worse -- it's only on like the bottom half of my hair -- not bottom half as in one piece of hair -- but as in thickness. So the top to middle of my hair is sort of straight and it gets crazier as ya go deeper. Not pretty. Not. Pretty.

4. I don't wash my face at night. I know, I know. I'm an alien. With a bad skin care regimen.

5. I do this thing that Chris has nicknamed "The Tara Shuffle" and it is off-the-charts in the nerdy department. Basically, my arms are stretched out straight in front of me and my legs are stretched out straight behind me and I run in place that way. Yes, it's quite a sight.

6. When I sit and watch TV, I don't realize I'm doing it, but basically I rest my hand (in sort of a loose fist) against my chin and my pinky goes against my upper lip. Chalk up another "drives the hubby nuts" thing.

7. Every hanger in the closet has to face the same direction. HAS. TO. As in NOT up for discussion. (By the way, the hubster just got home and helped me with these last two and suggested a &, *, !!! for this one. I'm a bit freaky about it.)

Okay -- done. There ya go. Happy weekend!!

Mini-Me Friday - Check In #8...ANNND...A recipe!!

First things first -- thank you for all of the kind words, support and encouragement. I think that the scale just sort of was the tip of the iceberg for my bluesy attitude the past few weeks. I'm happy to report that I'm not feeling so "funky" anymore -- and that was even before the good news I got at my weigh in last night.

Yes, I said good news. I lost 1.5 pounds this week...so basically, I undid the last three weeks and am now back and ready to keep on truckin'.

I feel good about my efforts in all of my 1st Place commitments and know that I did the best I could this week. The funny thing is, last night after my meeting, I came home and had that "bottomless pit" feeling. I just wanted to eat. And eat. And eat.

And eat.

So, I sort of did...but not on anything that I felt horrible about and nothing that put me over on my daily exchanges, so I don't feel guilty. (And let me tell you what a great feeling THAT is to not lug around today!)

I also finally busted open the motivational cd's that came with my starter package and have listened to them the past few days. There really was some good stuff on there, and I've had lots to think about.

Okay -- I have to go clean up the house from today now that the kids are both snoozing away. I'll leave you with the recipe for my dinner. Jennifer's Veggie Stew (which, by the way, made me giggle because it has a roast in it! How awesome is that??) inspired me to make some vegetable soup, so this was my quickie, off the top of my head version. I'll put the "recipe" (ha!) below. Enjoy -- and Happy Friday, friends.



Quick And Yummy Veggie Soup
1 cup whole grain pasta (I used mini penne)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 yellow squash, chunked
1 zucchini, chunked
1/2 red pepper, chunked
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Whatever seasonings you choose, I used about 1 1/2 tbsp of this salsa seasoning mix
2 cups vegetable broth (1 can) - I only used half a can because that's what I had, but it didn't make a whole bunch of broth.


Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, squash and zucchini and sautee for 3-5 minutes. Add red pepper and tomatoes, and seasoning. Sautee 5 minutes longer. Add vegetable broth and cooked pasta. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5- 10 minutes. (This is also the part where if I would have had it, I would have added some fresh basil.)

Enjoy!!

The blahs...and Mini-Me #7

I got 'em. And I mean I have GOT 'em. I haven't been in a very bloggy mood lately -- I think it's because every time I think about writing something down, I get all blah-ish again. I'm blue. Funky blue.

So, the Mini-Me part of things -- not so mini. Up another half of a pound. This time, I seriously (and I mean SERIOUSLY) had to talk myself out of bawling my eyes out in front of everyone. I stepped right off of the scale and had to go to the restroom and compose myself. My leader that did the weigh in was very sweet (sigh -- AGAIN) and understanding, but I'm pretty sure that she might think I'm a bit nuts at this point.

I didn't say a single word during the Bible study. Not one word. And that's just not me. Well, it is, actually -- when I get upset, discouraged, frustrated, etc. -- I clam up. So, there is your explanation for my MIA bloggy status. I just don't have words.

The thing is, I know that I'm doing the right things. I can honestly say that I have nothing to be ashamed of this week. I fulfilled all of my commitments. I was accountable to myself and to others. I not only did my Bible studies, scripture readings and memorizations - I did them joyfully.

Which is why it really stinks that I let myself get down and not participate in the Bible study when I had the chance. I let "him" win again. I was right where he wanted me, even though I was *really* right where the Lord wanted me to be. I missed it because I got distracted by thoughts and feelings that I know in my heart are nowhere near what I was meant to be feeling. The upside to being quiet is that I heard some pretty great discussion from my fellow group members and even though I was a complete non-participant, I left feeling blessed anyway.

I think that's the thing. I need to stop looking at this through my own eyes -- that leads to seeing what the world sees, what the enemy wants me to see. My own eyes don't show me what I need to see. I need to start looking at this through His eyes.

Okay -- really. I'm such an idiot. Guess what I just thought of? My memory verse for this past week...want to know what it was???

I Samuel 6:13 "The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart."

Ummmm, yeah. I get it. I. GET. It!!! Can you say slow learner??

As my thoughts turn to THIS week's verse...

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

Okay. Guess I have my game plan then. I have a devil to resist, friends. Oh, and there's more. I read these two thoughts while doing my Bible study tonight. It hit home in a major, MAJOR way for me, particularly given the verse that I put on my fridge last week.

"The devil enjoys placing before your eyes the things that are your greatest temptations. Images of food appear when you are hungry, images of bed and/or rest appear when you feel too tired to exercise, images of all you have to do appear when you are pressed for time and you haven't done your Bible study. All these images lead you away from God and what He wants for you."

"Satan is working overtime to make sure temptation is everywhere."

So, there ya go. That's where I am. That's where I've been. That's where I'll be.

I promise, I'll be back. I just need to go inward for a bit. Do some thinking. Let these thoughts rattle around a little longer. Love to all of you, my bloggy friends.

Happy Friday.





p.s. Earen and Renee, thank you for your check-ins and encouragement...they are like big, warm hugs and I can't thank you enough. I thank the Lord for both of you and the priceless gift of your friendship.