All the Excitement!

If you only knew what was going on around here.

What if I just left it at that? Would that drive you crazy? 

Here is the truth: Not Much 

I am trying to get the house cleaned up.

Breaking News: Christina's house is a mess. There are toys around and about. There are weights on the floor. There is an ironing board in her living room. There are four (FOUR!) large tote bags just inside her front door (A new record!). There are little pieces of yarn all over the house (All over! What's with the yarn?! Who gave her children all the yarn?!) (Green yarn! Pink yarn! Yarn!).

The big kids have been attending a summer program at our church, and I am so grateful. Not that I don't LOVE having them home all day, but while at this program they are not near one another for any extended period of time. They are not bickering. They are getting worn out playing and swimming. And they are hanging out with some pretty neat people. 

And people who may be just a little on this side of cuckoo? These amazing folks sign up to watch over a lot of children, even while said children are swimming. Who does that? Lovely college students that the Lord puts in our life, that's who. 

My laundry pile? It is dwindling. This is cause for great celebration. But no celebrating that generates any unwarranted laundry, please. Thank you. 

I had a very tiny soda yesterday. I was tired. I had been craving a vanilla Coke for at least two weeks. I went to Sonic and got an itsy bitsy one (which I thought was going to be half off during Happy Hour, but it wasn't, because it was kid sized? What? I was peeved.) (This may have affected my drinking experience negatively. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Literally.), and it wasn't that great. It was...meh. This was a tad disappointing, but also a tad encouraging. Maybe my mouth doesn't like soda anymore? Even though it wants it? What is wrong with my mouth? It's so wishy-washy.

I have no problem eating milkshakes, however. Or salsa.

But not together.

Speaking of together, how is this blog post holding up? All over the place? All righty then. That must mean it's time to exercise. I've got to squeeze it in before the end of the day. Good thing it's only a twenty minute video.

How are you staying busy this summer? What are your projects? Vacation plans? Sleeping-in plans? (Those are my favorites!)

A Little List

1. The pool was closed today when we went by in order to meet someone for a late afternoon swim time. 

2. I got Wendy's hamburgers for dinner since I was not planning on cooking tonight. I figure I was going to spend $15 to get in the pool, and then another $15 easy for food while there, so $6 for dinner was less money than I would have spent otherwise. 

3. Mike doesn't get my logic most of the time. 

4. I got a lot of laundry done today. 

5. The Rangers are losing the ballgame tonight.

6. I need to exercise. (See #2)

7. My kids are practicing Latin vocabulary.

8. They are also bickering. The vocab is from the gospel of John. I'm pretty sure that fighting while doing Bible-related activities is not a productive way to spend one's time.

9. I am ready for my kids to be in bed an hour ago.

10. They worked through their difficulty, and are cooperating again. Maybe I should put them all to bed while we are ahead...

Fitness Friday: Food

Things are going well. I have been taking it easy the last couple of days as far as exercising because two nights ago when I showered at the end of the day, I felt a little pain on the inside arch part of my right foot. It wasn't terrible, but I hoped that if I just slowed down (I've done some form of exercise every day for the last month and a half) then it would repair and not get worse. I don't want to damage my feet so that I have to stop altogether! 

Tonight I thought I would share something that has surprised me. Pleasantly! I have been eating almost whatever I want during this time, especially the last month, after my initial all-in hard core efforts. Some of the things I have made recently are:

-Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice (this one is going in Recipe for Disaster...just wait) (not because the recipe is a disaster, but because I am, of course)

-Korean Beef in the crock pot

-Spicy Barbacoa Soft Tacos in the crock pot

-Pasta Carbonara

These have all been great recipes. I even ate some of the Carbonara, which is made with whipping cream and bacon. I just had smaller portions than I normally would. I have found that dinner calories are the hardest to keep track of. 

And for all you grammar nerds out there, I would have written "the hardest of which to keep track" but that sounds so unbelievably weird and pretentious that I just couldn't do it. 

It's easy to measure out (roughly) a serving of Greek yogurt or to know how many calories are in a cheese stick and a handful of crackers. Knowing how many calories are in dinner dishes? Forget it. I just eat small portions and drink a lot of water. So far, that seems to be working well enough. 

Here are some other things that I have enjoyed:

-Smoothies made with yogurt and frozen fruit

-Dried cherries and a few dark chocolate morsels (like Hershey's or Ghirardelli's)

-A slice of bread with Nutella and a small glass of milk (A serving of Nutella is 2 tablespoons...do you know how big that is?! A little dollop [much less than 2 tablespoons] spread on one slice of bread is plenty for a chocolate fix.)

-Strawberries with a teaspoon of Nutella

-A teaspoon of Nutella

Do you sense a pattern? I discovered Nutella recently, and found that it doesn't have hydrogenated oils, it isn't outrageously high in fat (if you eat a small amount, which is plenty) (Did I seriously just say that?), and it is DELICIOUS. What is Very Exciting is that I have not used store-bought frosting for a long time because of the Bad Ingredients...well, I see no problem with using Nutella to frost a cupcake or seven.

Of course, I would never eat all seven. Not now, no sir.

Maybe just three. 

For real, though, I have had little treats here and there, and this time, for whatever reason, I have been able to keep them small, and to stay on track. For me, the treats are not "getting off track." Just once did I have a melt-down kind of night, after a day of emotinal ups and downs (mostly downs), and I very deliberately made a giant milkshake and very deliberately ate every bit of it. With only a smidgeon of remorse. Much later, I was mad at myself, but I just had to move on. 

I wanted to share something that a blog friend, Kara, shared with me in a very encouraging email. She said,"What you're doing is such a far cry from who you were, but it's who you're becoming! And the longer you make healthier choices, the more the old Christina will be a far cry from who you are. Your transformation is such a testimony to the power of God because that change doesn't just happen. It's taking a heck of a lot of work from you and intervention from God. Puts real life persepctive to 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'!"

This was such an amazing reminder! I love how she put it..."it's who you're becoming! And the longer you make healthier choices, the more the old Christina will be a far cry from who you are." Isn't that just what we are promised?! 

Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

I needed that reminder. I have also been thinking a lot about how much better I would be doing, in general, if I put as much effort into my spiritual health as I have put into my physical health. I have seen what a big difference such an effort can make, even in a relatively short period of time, for my body. How much more so would that be with my heart and spirit? I know the answer! 

So, there is some food for thought...I can enjoy my meals and even some desserts, and I need to feed my soul just as much as I do my body. I'm looking forward to the next leg of this journey. Thank you for letting me share it with you.

Fitness Friday: Fight

Ever since the 5K fiasco, I have been in a battle with myself to keep up the exercises I had so faithfully started. This week was better, although my knees feel odd some days, so I have not been as diligent with the video as I was when I first began it. I believe I followed the video all but two days (and it may have just been all but one...my mind, sometimes it fails me), and I jogged every day (one day, it was so hot that I did a pretty short loop, and another day it was so hot that I took off on my jog, but had to walk much sooner than I usually do). 

I got back on track with my eating. I am trying to eat a high protein breakfast, and then small, mostly protein snacks. I allow myself some indulgences, because...hello! I'm Christina! If I said to myself,"No sweets for you!" well, the next thing you know, I'm at Sonic with a milkshake in each hand and a whipped cream mustache, looking like a deer caught in headlights. I bought some dried cherries at Sam's (I read online that dried cherries are really good for you after a workout, so it must be true), and I eat a small (less than 1/4 cup) portion with a tablespoon of dark chocolate morsels mixed in. Seriously? It's like eating chocolate covered cherries, but I actually think it's better. I also had about a tablespoon of vanilla ice cream a couple of times, with blueberries on top. Delicious!! Overall, I think I'm behaving.

I officially started the 30 Day Shred over tonight. Since I finished the first 30 days, I have been skipping around, doing Level 1 and then Level 3, and maybe Level 3 two times, and then taking a day off. This time, I am going to take some measurements (I didn't do that last time) and see if there are any more changes. As I said before, I know I've lost inches (an inch?) (I really don't know exactly) because I can wear pants that I could not even pull up six months ago. I am talking about couldn't pull up past my thighs, and now I can pull them up, button and wear them without looking like I am headed to audition for Jersey Shore.

(Truth: I would definitely need [How to put it?] some surgery in a particular upper area if ever I were to go that route.) 

I hope none of that sounds obnoxious. I don't mean to be. I am excited because there have been changes, and I have worked pretty hard for them. If I spent as much time cleaning my house and doing laundry as I do exercising, then there would probably be some changes around the outside of me that would benefit us all. On both counts, it's going to be a fight to the finish. I hope I'm the last one standing. And my biceps are bigger. 

I've Taken Pictures But Haven't Written About Them

I take photos and think,"I'll write a quick post about today," but inevitably I get distracted. Or more accurately, I watch baseball. 

Now I am going to post picture after picture after picture. It will be fun for the grandparents, if no one else.

Mike and I have been playing a couple of word games against one another. He's winning. He always says how I'm crushing him, but...the records show that he has been the victor much more often than I.

Smarty-pants.

Christian = builder

Eliana = ham

She spent a long time trying to stand up on the swing, and finally accomplished her goal.

Have I mentioned that she is persistent? Sometimes, that is a good thing. Sometimes? It drives me half-past insane.

Christian likes to pretend that he's tough.

And that he doesn't like for me to take his picture.

He secretly does.

This is her Elvis impersonation.

Or she was trying to wink. Yes, that is probably it. 

I just like taking pictures of her. 

I can look at her sweet face at the end of a day and think,"All right, in spite of the fact that she is...hmm, persistent (read: a STINKER), she is precious."

What says summer like a wiped out kid on the couch in the middle of the afternoon, with scraped up knees and rosy cheeks?

See how darling she is? 

Especially when she's sleeping...