working towards my goals: get healthy

I set my goals for 2013 and one of my goals is to get healthy.

Healthy is so much more than a goal weight.

My first step was to cut out pop…This is a huge one for me.

I won’t even tell you how much diet pop I WAS drinking in a day.

It’s really embarrassing.

I am proud to say I have not had a pop in over 2 weeks. 

I recently got a membership to the gym in town.

I’ve been going about every other day.

I need to start going more and staying longer but I’m making progress.

I LOVE FOOD!!!!

I know it’s not realistic for me to say I’m not going to eat what I like,

so I’m really trying to just watch portions.

I know I have a long way to go….But I’m plugging along.

Last summer I was at the pool with a friend

and she told me she had lost a lot of weight.

I looked at her sitting in her bikini

(yes she is that skinny, she can sit in a bikini)

Thought to myself that she had no idea what it was like.

Well I was wrong.

 Although, now she looked fabulous with the long skinny legs and flat tummy.

She really did win the weight loss battle.

But she didn’t do it alone.

How did she do it????  Of course I asked!

She said that one day she looked at herself in the mirror and prayed.

“Lord I know this is not how you want me to be.

Please give me the strength/willpower/tools to be who  you know I should be.”

Ok I’m not going to lie,

When I first heard this I was disappointed in a way

because I was hoping she would tell me

she took a pill, ate a certain thing, or did a specific workout.

But I soon realized she is SO right.

I often think I can handle things on my own, but I don’t have to.

I have Gods support…why not use it!

Why do I feel like “I got this” when it should we “we got this”.

I know that he has given me to tools to be healthy!

Over the past few months my skinny mini bikini friend and I have became great friends.

We talk about weight loss and health often (duh we are girls).

She is a big supporter for my weightless and healthy changes **THANKS**.

I love it.  I think it is very fitting. 

It reminds me if I want to spend this summer NOT hiding behind 

cover-ups and beach towels I need to get in gear NOW!

I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

Family Pictures / Hallway display

We have taken a family picture every year since we have been married. 

I always use the picture on our Christmas card.

And then this year I decided to put up a display down our dark narrow hall.

I first painted white stripes down the hall

Then I found a mismatch of frames in the basement

and spray painted them all black

(the pictures and frames are all different sizes and I think it adds more interest this way)

And went down town to the sign shop

and had them cut out years 2005-2012 in black vinyl

(I now have my own cricut to cut them out myself)

I them hung them.

*Tip*

I put a small amount of sticky tack on all 4 corners of the frames

to keep them from shifting at all and getting crooked.

Here are our pictures through the years.

Awe...I LOVE PHOTOS!!!

I set up our photo every year and have someone 

(usually my little brother) take the picture.

 

2005

 

2006

 2007

 

2008

 2009

 2010

2011

 2012

How often do you take family pictures?

What do you do with your family pictures?

Coop upgrades

We are really enjoying having Chickens.

But as time goes by we are making adjustments to the coop.

First, we had to add more roosts for the chickens.

We originally just had a ladder and it worked great

for our little white bantams.

But when we added our red hens to the mix it didn’t work as well.

Not because there was not enough room

but because they choose to be segregated!

So we added some poles across the width of the coop.

They are actually composite deck spindles.

The hubs first built two like this.

Then screwed them into the wall.

They seem to like it already!

Our next project was a chicken feeder.

We had a typical feeder.

And our ladies always tip the feeder out and eat off the floor.

The old feeder was always filled with straw and poop…YUCK

I HAD AN IDEA!

So I went to town and picked up a 3 pack of desk organizers for $3.00

I simply screwed them into the wall.

I wanted them up off the ground to prevent the chickens from pooping in them.

Also since the nesting boxes are located over the feeders

I don’t have to worry about them roosting over them.

The ladies found them right away and started to eat.

Also in this picture you can see that the water is up on blocks.

This has solved the problem of dirty chicken water!

We did this a couple weeks ago

Should have done it sooner!!!

Here is the link to the original coop post!

GOALS

I never use to set New Years Resolutions.

I just never thought it was practical.

No one ever seems to stick to New Years Resolutions anyway.

So, Last year I sat down and wrote out goals for 2012.

Calling them goals seemed to have less pressure.

Something to work towards but without the pass/fail mentality.

I put them in an envelope.

About ½ way through the year I looked at them

and evaluated how I was doing on our goals.

By the end of the year….

I met some, worked towards some,

and some I did not even come close to meeting.

This year I did the same thing.

But this year, I’m going to share them with you all also

(to hold me accountable)

My goals for 2013 are…

Get healthier

·         I’m not going to set a number because my real goal is to be healthy

More quality time with the kiddos

·         Get out and enjoy the things they are interested in. 

More date nights with the husband

·         This is one we set last year that we didn’t quite meet :)

Create more

·         Paint, build, sculpt, draw, design MORE.

Make time for friends

·         New friends, old friends and meet more friends.

Be who god wants me to be!!!!

·         Be the women, wife, mother, and friends that I should be.

·         Make God visible in my household and family.