30th Update

Well, I have not been updating like I had planned. A definite sign that I have not been on track!! I do have some boxes of things to donate, but they have been sitting in my hallway now and have not made it out of my house yet. Two weeks ago I exercised 4 days. The last day was with a personal trainer - and I could barely move for the next 3 days so I didn't exercise at all. Not a good idea, because I haven't worked out since and my next appointment with her is this Thursday.

I have been doing a much better job at reading my Bible and praying. I have also improved on praying for my husband over the past week.

I was going to post a picture of my living room or kitchen counters to show my progress in the cleaning department, but that would be WAY too embarrassing at this moment.

Basically, I have a lot to go in the last 4 days of my 21 day plan!

I did start to read a book I am enjoying called, The Clutter Diet by Lorie Marrero. I am only a few chapters in but the book is making a lot of sense. The goal is not only to de-clutter and get organized, but to determine what the reasons are for the problem in the first place so it doesn't just repeat itself. I would love any tips or recommendations on de-cluttering and organizing if anyone would like to pass some along.

Now I need to get back to work and clear my counters!

Bikini Season

For the past few months I have been noticing the bathing suit section has made its way back into all the stores. This has got me thinking. Every year when the bathing suits show back up and the weather starts to hint that the snow is going to melt and warm weather will be coming soon I start to hear lots of talk of “Bikini Season”. Women start to worry about losing those extra pounds from the winter so they will be beach ready.

This got me thinking: who are we trying to impress? Many wives allow themselves to gain weight over the winter months when we are bundled up in huge sweaters and bulky coats. Then when bathing suit season and shorts weather is around the corner there is a huge panic to lose the weight to be ready for the summer clothing. What about our husbands who look at us all year round? The man who sees us with no clothing, not just little clothing. What message are we sending to the man in our life when we let our bodies go, even just a little, when they will be the only ones looking? Then warm weather hits and we stress to exercise and tighten things up a little so we can feel confident in our bathing suits.

Think what good we could do for our husband and our marriage if we worked to keep ourselves in shape all year. If we didn’t have those 3 or 4 months of feeling bad about the way we looked and less confident with our husbands. Think of how much more we could enjoy things and our husbands could enjoy us if we focused on looking our best for him instead of the rest of the world.

I know some people think that our husbands shouldn’t be so shallow and that he should think we look good no matter what. But to be perfectly honest, I know my husband appreciates and enjoys my body more when I am not holding onto the extra weight. And part of it is that I feel slightly more confident and let him enjoy it more when I feel better about myself.

My husband should be the one person that I am working to impress. I have realized the past few months that I have gotten sloppy. I clean as a job right now and so my clothes are ugly comfortable jeans and a company t-shirt. Some days I end up wearing this all day long, even when I am home and could easily change into something my husband would like. I also end up with my hair in a ponytail and no makeup. I feel gross. Sometimes I don’t work until the end of the day but I end up looking like this all day anyway or I get home and shower and have my pajamas on right after dinner. This is not the way I should look for my husband. This is not the effort that he deserves from the woman he is going to be looking at for the rest of his life.

He deserves better and I am going to give him better!

30th Update

Well yesterday was ok, but not perfect. I have been getting in my morning quiet time. I have been working on reading through the book and study guide for the Bible study I am doing at church, Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer. I found some old toys that my mother-in-law if going to take and I have a box of them to take to donate. I also got in my 30  minute workout.

For my daily 5 cleaning tasks I came up with my list, but did not complete them all. Here it is:

1. Wash and fold at least 1 load of laundry
2. Have all the dishes and pans cleaned up after dinner and a clean sink at bedtime
3. File away all the day's papers
4. All toys picked up at bedtime
5. Make all beds in the morning

So some of these tasks are being completed by the girls, but we are going to together work on keeping this house clean!

30 is Right Around the Corner

Well, my 30th birthday is just 21 days away! How is time going by so quickly? My life is nothing like I would have guessed 20 or even 10 years ago. Some things have ended up so much better then I could have anticipated and some things haven't went quite like I thought.

I have been married to the man of my dreams for 10 years. He has been amazing and I am blessed to have him in my life. Marriage has been rough for us in the past and there are many things that I wish I could go back and do differently, but the important thing is that we are still here together working and improving.   

     



I have been blessed with three daughters. Each one is incredible and unique. I was warned that even though our 2nd baby was another girl that they would be so different and boy has that turned out to be true with each one. Having daughters puts a huge sense of responsibility on me to raise these girls into Godly women. To raise them to be modest and submissive in a world that is not.



There is so much I would like to accomplish. I use to be so organized and that flew out the window a long time ago. I have decided to get organized and goal oriented again and get life in order. So I am creating 5 goals that I would like to achieve by my birthday:

1. For the next 3 weeks I will exercise at least 30 minutes for 3 days a week and 15 minutes for 3 days a week. Sundays will be my day of rest.
2. Clear my kitchen counter and organize it so there is a place for everything.
3. Donate the girls old clothes and toys.
4. Spend at least 15 minutes in prayer and reading my Bible each morning.
5. Create a "Daily 5" of cleaning tasks to accomplish and then actually do them at least 5 days a week.

I will post my updates along the 21 days to make sure that I am staying on track.