The Feminine Touch

I was watching TLC's "The Lottery Changed My Life" while doing some laundry today, and this thirty-something millionaire bachelor was showing the cameramen the house he upgraded to. He told them he liked his house--he thought he had made good choices in designing it--and that he was "very neat", but he conceded that it was lacking "the feminine touch". He would gladly have a woman in the house to spruce it up a bit. :)

My house--or apartment, rather--is not fit for a millionaire, but I would like to think that I am learning to add those feminine touches. I have some flower arrangements around our place that I decided to update, and this is what I came up with:

This was something I had in my kitchen with some coffee beans and similar flowers, only in blue. I didn't put them away very well when I decorated for Christmas, and my husband unknowingly threw them away. :) Now this is in my main bathroom that has some orange in it. I like it for the color and for the scent it gives (French vanilla roast!). In the kitchen, the smell of the coffee beans was kind of lost.

Originally, I had one, large, light blue lily in here, but it was starting to fade and I didn't think the color was saturated enough anyway. It's hard to pick up all the different colors in here, but I really like the color and the added fullness of this arrangement.

This is my personal favorite. Again, pictures don't do all of the little color variances justice, but I found this hydrangea and fell in love with it. It took me quite awhile to decide on the filler to go behind it, but I think it really fits together.

I also picked up these but still need to find a shallow bowl for them to go in so they can be the centerpiece on my counter.

On another note, I lost another 1% (yay!) and worked out for three hours and 15 minutes last week! The dieting is going really well during the weekdays, but I will admit that weekends are proving to be somewhat of a struggle. Ah, discipline. :)

Well, It's A Start

I promised you I would update you on our challenge, and update I will. I don't know why, but I have been feeling anti-internet lately, and stayed away from facebook and blogging for the past week. :-/

I have been super excited about one of my birthday presents--Zumba for our Wii console.

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It has been fun and challenging to start working out with this game. It is fun for me to try something that is upbeat and makes me learn new things. And I think that even when (or if) I become competent at the dance moves, I will still enjoy the challenges they give you of "increasing your party energy" to get to the next stage. I am glad to be able to say that I went from zero workouts per week to four. :) I hope that I can stick to that number! For now, I am doing 20-minute workouts, but my goal is to build up to (Oh, Lord, please help me) 60-minute workouts.

I am also "dieting", by which I mean that I am making healthier food choices and decreasing my caloric intake. I abhor diets that completely cut out a food group. Moderation, right? I was hoping to see a decrease of 2% this week, but only saw 1%. ...However, it was the first week, so I am not too bummed. Someone at work told me that I should take measurements of myself so I can see what I lose in inches, which is more telling, but that does not sound like a fun evening activity. :P

How are you all doing on your goals? Having a plan is the first step!

Competition

I have seen a fair amount of resolutions thrown about lately. Some of them are valid and based on real goals that can be accomplished. Many of them stem from truthful challenges. Some are...well, unlikely to be seen through to the end. Personally, I wasn't thinking about any resolutions for this year. While I think that "turning over a new leaf" is a noble sentiment and sometimes needs to be done, I don't like being guilted into things. I tend to make promises to myself that I do not keep and later feel sorry about.

However, we have a little--or not so little--competition starting at work this Friday. The employees within our company have been challenged to a "Biggest Loser" competition!

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Those who wish to participate will "donate" a certain amount of money to "the pot". The winner of the challenge will win the entire collected amount; also, our location is competing with other locations for a supposedly sweet trophy.

I am getting pretty excited about this prospect. If there is anything that I would say I need to work on most, it would be discipline. Discipline in my daily devotions, in my exercise, and in my housekeeping habits. I tend to roller coaster or yo-yo between "running a tight ship" and being extremely lackadaisical. I think it is an awesome reminder that the word "discipline" has the word "disciple" at its root:

dis·ci·pline 

noun, verb, -plined, -plin·ing.

–noun

1. training to act in accordance with rules; drill: military discipline
2. activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training: A daily stint at the typewriter is excellent discipline for the writer.
3. punishment inflicted by way of correction and training.
4. the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity, etc.: the harsh discipline of poverty.
5. behavior in accord with rules of conduct; behavior and order maintained by training and control: good discipline in an army.
6. a set or system of rules and regulations.

First Corinthians 9:24-27 states it this way, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

In this chapter, Paul speaks of giving up his rights for the sake of the gospel. He knows that the ultimate goal is to glorify Christ and help people to understand His good news. Here, he uses the analogy of the athlete who sacrifices immediate gain or pleasure for a future goal. So the disciple of Christ must do--learn to exercise self-control toward the distractions of everyday life, preach to himself everyday before preaching to others, and develop a single-mindedness toward his future goal, the imperishable wreath. Which, of course, is the "Well done, good and faithful servant" he longs to hear from his Father.

I plan on participating in this challenge. Every week, I hope to update you on my progress (and I have a lot more to say about that, but I'll save it for another post). But as I discipline my body, I pray that God will use it as a parable in my life as to how I can better run the race He has set before me. I think that is a resolution anyone can make.

My Little "Nephew"

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of finally meeting my little "nephew", Jaden.

It was a little difficult to get a good picture with him, since every time I turned toward the camera, he would turn his head in the other direction. Funny little guy, huh? It was fun to hold him, but I have to give some major props to his parents because not only did I get tired, but I had no idea what to do with him when he got tired of me!

You Are More

Christmastime is over! How sad.

However, I like to think that the holidays continue from Thanksgiving, through Christmas and New Year's, to my birthday (this Monday). That's why my Christmas decorations are still up. :)

It is rather odd for me to contemplate being in my late twenties (or is 27 still mid-twenties?). I think I'm starting to understand what it must feel like to see your age increase in number but not necessarily in other ways. I still don't know what I am going to do for my birthday or anything. Always celebrating in the winter has somewhat limited my options--although, I have gone skiing, which not everyone can do on theirs. What better way to celebrate the years of your life than to risk them? ;)

Today, at work, I was contemplating things like age and my life, and I was reminded of this video, which I thought I would share with you all:

Hope you all had a good holiday!