Still Memorizing Scripture

Here's the next Scripture I am adding to my repertoire. Do you ever read Scripture and ask yourself, "has that always been in there?" I do it all the time :0) This is one of those times!

Jeremiah 15:16 in the New International Version says:

"When your words came, I ate them;

they were my joy and my heart's delight,

for I bear your name,

O LORD God Almighty."

Catching Up....

It has been super hard for me to blog lately. I've squeezed a few in here and there, but it was a stretch. PLUS, I just know I missed some good reading as I quickly skimmed through my reader.

I have been so out-of-balance in my entire life. My work was just running me, and quite frankly, I was just as responsible....because I allowed it. Last week, I hit a wall. I at one time loved my job and for the last couple of months, I was thinking I was burned out. However, after a few rash attempts at finding another job, God let me know that I was to STAY PUT for a bit. I was a little mad at Him....but then I started looking at the things I love about my job. Last Tuesday, I had a moment of clarity. I decided to set some boundaries and routine into my job. When I started this process (just deciding in my mind), I began to feel some freedom! Officially, I start this routine on July 20th (am out of town next week....more on that later). But, as I talk to folks and make phone calls....I plug them into my schedule. Only in extreme situations would I veer away from my schedule. At any rate, I have NO APPOINTMENTS on Fridays, which is when I will catch up on paperwork and such....and attempt to have meetings with my supervisor or staff meetings. If I have to have something (meeting, doctor appointment, etc.), then my regularly scheduled "slots" will have to skip a week. I don't know if I am even making sense, as I try to explain this to you....but the short story is I am feeling much better about my job and excited to have these boundaries!

I've mentioned before how I am revamping my way of eating. It is still unfolding as I discover all that I've been missing in the area of nutrition and all that has been empty nutrition and even harmful. I have been striving for 51% raw foods, although I don't have any way to measure this. I do avoid refined sugar, wheat, yeast, caffeine, and cow's milk. But things are still unfolding for me, and don't know that this is going to be my forever regimen. I've even considered starting a new blog JUST for my adventures with food, as I continue to come up with a way of healthy eating for myself, that blends in with my family (there are ways for them to enjoy healthy eating, too). However, I struggle with keeping up with one blog....not sure I want to do that. So, I plan to add more about my food adventures in with this here regular blog of mine. I've shared here one little old tip....now I'd like to share with you another! ICE CREAM!!! I haven't had ice cream for at least 10 weeks, because I couldn't find one that didn't have ingredients I was avoiding....until now! For the July 4th holiday, I went looking for a couple treats for myself and found this:

This is YUMMY stuff!!! Coconut Bliss has very few ingredients but they are good ones! They all have organic coconut milk (which is made up of organic coconut, water, and guar gum), and they all have organic agave syrup (also known as agave nectar--a natural sweetener--it is easier on your system than sugar....some diabetics can even tolerate it). I can't wait to try the other flavors, I tried vanilla island....and my whole family tried it and liked it!

Finally, my hubby and I are starting a Dynamic Marriage class in September. (If you aren't familiar with this, it is a marriage enrichment class created by Family Dynamics.) He and I went through this class in 2004 and are now trained facilitators. This is a Christian program and it is so powerful. It can make good marriages great....it can energize stagnate marriages....it can help heal hurting marriages. I love watching God bring couples to us from various places. It is coming together and so exciting. We make no money from this but we get a front row seat to watch God work in marriages, so our reward is better than money, don't you think?

As I continue to achieve balance in one or more areas, I hope to have more time to write and more to write about. Balance is happening with my eating (and subsequently, my health); balance is happening with my work. So, next my home and finances. Hubs lost his full-time job back in April and we are currently waiting to hear back from a local high school that seemed promising. Prayers would be nice here, if you don't mind!

Easy Bible Verse

My newest Bible verse is fairly easy to memorize but says it all....at least where I am right now!

"I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."

Psalm 40:8 (New International Version)

101 Things to Do Update--Part One

My 101 Things to do in 1001 Days countdown is well on its way. As I am writing this, I have a mere 775 days left. Yikes!! But I wanted to comment on many of the items, so I am updating in several pieces....

FAMILY
1. Walk together as a family for at least 10 minutes, 3 times a week

I tried this at first and the kids loved it. It was so much fun and was really to stop everything for a bit and go outside for a walk. Although I haven't done this regularly like I'd hoped (I put way too much, too fast....oh well, live and learn), I would like to revisit this.
2. Play outside together as a family at least 1 day per week

As a family? Not done it much at all....although I try to get my kids outside most days. Life today is so much different than life when I was a kid.
3. Have meal together with family at least once a week

Ok, for real? How hard SHOULD this be? But alas, we haven't done this much at all!
4. Plan family time together that includes physical activity, at least once every other month (swimming, longer walk, etc.)

This has not been deliberate....I think I need to take the list and put together a better plan. We have done a few things, but I do need to be more intentional
5. Go to Disneyworld with family

Life has a way of slowing things down financially. Hubs lost his job in April and has only been working part-time and we've dipped into savings...by the time we save up for a trip...the kids may not give a rip about Disneyworld. They are 12 and 14 right now and don't seem so disappointed about Disney being put off....
6. Have a family night every month

My family is great about occasionally doing things together, but we again haven't done it intentionally (at least not as part of mom's ginormous to-do list)....it is very possible that if I went backwards, I'd come close to having met this one "by accident"
7. Come up with a cooking plan, with meals that are diet/family/budget friendly

My "diet" has completely changed and still....I want to incorporate mine with with rest to have a good plan
8. Update will

Listening to Dave Ramsey the other day, I learned about a way to do this for only fifteen bucks! So, although we haven't done this JUST YET....it is close!
9. Have one on one “dates” with the kids again, him one month—her the next—then a family “date”

Gosh! I hate to admit that life and stuff have gotten in the way and we were better at this BEFORE me coming up with this BIG-O list! Gotta get this one on the calendar again!
10. Find a geocache

I just don't really know if this will become a hobby for my family....kinda hoped it would....we'll see....doing this is just a sample for us to try! We haven't done it yet, though!
11. Hide a geocache

See # 10
12. Paint ceramics with family

This cost MOO-Lah which we are short on at the moment....but I can foresee us doing this before the end of 2009
13. Do Wii Fit at least once a week

I haven't done this perfectly from the beginning but I have done it weekly to keep up with my weight if nothing else :) And, we have added another game/tool to the mix....and it was fun at first (sorta lost the momentum temporarily....at least I hope it was temporarily)
14. Do Wii Sports at least once a month

NOT! We haven't done this ONCE....not once I tell ya!!

So, as updating goes along....in pieces....I am going to take it a bitty bite at a time. I am going to take these 14 things and work on them for a week...so I'll update the rest later.

I am just working hard not to get frustrated at myself (and my inner perfectionist) and keep plugging along!

Crazy Eights!

Valley Girl tagged with with this little "game", so here it goes:

Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. Hubs getting a full-time job....woo is this one ever causing me some stress :-(
2. Picking my kids up from camp--it is always a blessing to hear how their week went!
3. Going to Hot Springs for a mini-vacation with the family!
4. Going to "real" (no more minis) vacations with the family, hopefully starting next summer!
5. Finishing my clinical hours in January 2010, so I can take the big ole test!
6. Taking AND passing the Licensed Clinical Social Worker exam in January or February 2010!
7. Starting my own private practice as a counselor!
8. Paying off our debt and calling Dave Ramsey's show to scream (this one won't be for a few years, but I AM looking forward to it!!!)

Eight things I did yesterday:

1. Went to the Holocaust Museum in Dallas
2. Cried (see #1)
3. Ate Mexican food with JUST the Hubby (kids are at camp)
4. Tipped fairly big at that Mexican food restaurant
5. Saw my kitty after being gone a couple days...and I snuggled with him
6. Watched a movie that I will likely never watch again....it was just so-so
7. Snuggled with the Hubster
8. Was generically lazy for most of the day (a day off work, we mostly traveled)

Eight things I wish I could do:

1. Shop at Whole Foods Market regularly--we found these while we were in the Dallas area....I LOVE THEM!! As it stands, our local health food stores are very limited (read: puny) and the closest Whole Foods is in the Dallas area (over 100 miles away)
2. Grow my own garden
3. Identify flowers and plants and birds
4. Do a push up or two
5. Jog or even run
6. Fix up the house (it needs so much)
7. Know where my husband will be working and when (did I mention the stress?)
8. Play piano or guitar

Eight shows I watch:

1. Obsessed (a new show on A&E....pretty good, although I am watching it from a mental health practitioner's point of view....not sure what the rest of the world thinks)
2. Monk (I think it only has one season left)
3. Secret Life of the American Teenager (there! I said it! I think this show is for teenagers, but it has sucked me in!)
4. The Office
5. That 70's Show
6. George Lopez (the re-runs are on Nick at Nite at 9 p.m. and it time to wind down)
7. The Muppet Show (been watching these from Netflix with the kids)
8. Friends

Jennifer Kennedy Dean and Scripture

It is time once again to share what passage of Scripture I am adding my memorization project. The Scripture I chose is from a Bible Study I am currently doing by Jennifer Kennedy Dean. A friend of mine did this study with the video series and loved it. She gave me the workbook and said I could do it on my own, with only the workbook. I have to say it is quite a study....it has given me so much to think about....and I have just started. Why DO we pray? Can we change God? If we can change God, is He sovereign? If we can't change God, why do we petition him in prayer? I don't have an answer....I am struggling with it....but I think I am supposed to....at least at this point in my life. The first week (which I am still in) we are reading this passage over several times, each time slowly going over it and emphasizing different words or phrases, listening for God to talk to us. Since I am reading over so much, I wanted to add it to my list of Scripture I am reading. Sure my motivation is partly that I already have it pretty much memorized, but too because it is becoming quite meaningful to me.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5, NIV.

The Weekend's Coming

Summer is always crazy busy, yet we look forward to it because it is a bit of a break from the hectic. What a cycle, huh? This weekend, we are doing some fun things. First...tomorrow (Saturday), my family is attending a ball game. The hubster is a HUGE fan of the Texas Rangers and we try to go to (at least) one live baseball game each year. And for the last 3 or so years, we have tried to go when our college has a mini-reunion they call "Meet Me at the Ballpark." It turns out to be a pretty good deal that includes dinner, a program, and a tour of the baseball museum (as that is where we all meet....they block it off just for us)....and it is always interesting to meet up with some old friends...and make some new ones (as it isn't directed at any one year but to all alumni...so a variety of ages come).

We are staying in a hotel that night so that the next day we can drive our kiddos to Abilene to drop them off at camp. They have each gone to this camp since the summer after 3rd grade. They also attended one or two years of the day camp while Hubs and I were group leaders. This

is a fabulous camp which we both, with our experience as group leaders, know that God does amazing work in the lives of the campers. They have 3 camps, one for 3rd-5th graders, one for 6th-8th graders, and one for high schoolers. And this year, they are both in the second group (which is called MPulse). It is really exciting to see them after their week...there is always a transformation and it gets better every year.

After dropping them off on Sunday, we head back to Dallas to stay again in our hotel. So on Monday, we can (as a couple) go to the holocaust museum. This is on my big to do list, but it is also something the hubby really wants to do. He is a history buff (and teacher) and while he has never pushed it to go to this museum....I just have "promised" I'd go with him for years and then seem to avoid it. After all, this is not something you really enjoy....at least I don't expect to. What I do expect is a feeling of heaviness and a quiet ride home.

All in all, it will be an action packed weekend. And it is always good for me to take time off work and get away. I did this last weekend to attend my nephew's graduation and the stress just left my body.