Rainy Days and Mondays

Well, it has been raining today, so we are enjoying fun and games inside. Yesterday,all day long, it looked like it was going to rain any minute, but it never did. It was cloudy with a cool breeze blowing and the smell of rain was in the air. It was kinda nice. I sat on the front porch and visited with my neighbor, as we watched our children play together back and forth between our front yards.

I have such a blessing in my friend and neighbor, Datha. We watch each others houses, feed each others fish and get the mail for each other, when one of us is out of town. The day before we left for our vacation to Denver, Mark's car broke down, so we let him borrow our other car while we were gone, and he returned it washed, waxed, and vacuumed out. We help each other out, and genuinely enjoy one anther's company. I know we may never find that again. I will miss them so much when we move. I mean how many friends can you sit and share prayer requests with and everything else from recipes to books and advice on jobs, husbands homes and children.

We were all going to go to the zoo together today, but, it did actually start raining. So we have been playing cowboys and Indians. We have a small set that are like the little green army men. The set was a gift from my aunt Karen to Trey and it came with a mat, tee pees, boats wagons, and horses. We sat in the floor for an hour playing. We also used the face painting set I had for Anna Grace's birthday party this last weekend. We didn't have a chance to use it, so we opened it up today. We've gone to the gym and played with their friends next door, and now the babies are watching Elmo's Christmas Countdown. Yes, I realize it is July, but, sometimes you're just in the mood for a little Christmas music, (right Ashley?!)

Vacation Bible School was so awesome last week, and I'm so glad I got to be apart of it. I had the preschool class, and everyday my class grew bigger and bigger. On the last day I couldn't even fit all the children in my class, so we went outside for our lesson and story time. Three children at VBS accepted Jesus as their personal savior last week. Praise the Lord!!!! That might not seem like a lot for VBS, but we have a very small church. We probably had 75 kids at the most in the whole program for the week. I was so proud to see Trey and Anna Grace learn their first couple of scripture verses. I thought Hugh was going to cry when they came home and said their verses to him. You can't help it. It is so sweet to see your little ones growing in the love of the Lord.

Now that VBS is over, however, I am back in the gym. We are down to the wire, with a year left before we go home, and I will not go back over weight. Hugh and I had done so well on weight watchers, and I have to be honest when I started having all the trouble with my step-father about this time last year, I started eating emotionally again. And I gained it all back and then some, so now is the time to let that weight go and all the yuck it represents in my life. Off with the old and on with the new, as they say. I've made a few attempts in the past year, but, it was like my heart wasn't in it. I was still holding on to too much yuck, and when I don't feel very good about myself, I self medicate with food. Even though I know this it's going to be a hard habit to break, so that's why I'm giving my self a realistic goal of a year, to change my life style and eating habits. Slow and steady wins the race. So, I'm going to be back in the gym everyday, except Sundays, and I have a good support system in my husband, my friends Heidi and Datha, and my sister Demetria, who all are going to be encouraging me everyday and keeping me accountable. I am also looking into a couple of new things health wise, just for me.

My cousin, David, was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. We've never had cancer in our family, and it was a scare, let me tell you. But, we prayed him through it and the Lord took care of him through his surgery, and he is now cancer free. Well, when I saw him in Denver, he looked better than ever. He told me he is running everyday, and that he and his family have moved to a vegan diet. Since we stayed with him a couple of nights while we were visiting, we eat they way they did. And I liked it a lot. Now, am I becoming a vegan? NO. But, I am adopting a few things and incorporating it into my lifestyle.
1. I am going to make sure I am eating more whole foods. -LOTS of Fruits and Veggies.
2. I am going to stay away from processed foods, as much as possible. Now this is going to take a little getting used to, only because it is going to take a little more time and effort on my part to prepare meals, snacks, ect. As we all know anything in a box is much quicker and easier, but, unfortunately, not as healthy.
3. We already eat whole wheat pasta bread, and of course brown rice. But, I would like to buy, as much as we can afford, organically, or naturally and locally grown as possible. And I'd like to be able to but "free range" meat, because it isn't pumped with as many chemicals. It's more natural. (This is one thing I know will not happen for a while, because of the simple fact of finances. But, it's something I want to read more on and look more into.)
4. For me, and me alone, I am going to try to slowly eliminate dairy from my diet. I was dairy free for a little over a week, and I couldn't believe the difference in my energy. So, maybe that is the way to go. I could use more energy with two toddlers. The hardest part is going to be cheese. I love cheese. But, I went a week with out it and I substituted rice milk in place of my dairy milk, and it went really well. For a whole week I ate granola cereal with rice milk for breakfast, and eliminated all other dairy, and it was kinda startling. As far as the difference in the way I felt. So, I'm gonna go with it. I will keep you updated. So, that's my new plan for the year. That and exercise, exercise! Well, I'm off to clean the kitchen, while the babies nap! Hope you have a wonderful day! ~Blessings!