love-geek

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” ~ Philippians 4:13

Life gives us many obstacles, doesn’t it? People question all the time as to WHY they must go through these hard times and trials. It’s because this mortal life is a TEST! We are given those obstacles to exercise our trust and faith in our Heavenly Father. We either stand up and strive to push forward with life or we crumble to become overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, worry and disbelief. I used to feel so helpless in my trials but now I feel the opposite when something challenging comes my way. Instead of expanding upon the stress or negativity of the matter, I search for a PLAN, a strategy to help guide me to not be so quick to give up or become so disarrayed by whatever It may be. Our Heavenly Father will NEVER give us more than we can handle. He knows our thoughts and what is within our hearts and has a plan for each and every one of us. I pray that others may not harden their hearts away from the happiness of life even when those hard times fall upon us… and they do. They will. It’s part of life. Like there is good, there is also bad. There is always an opposite as there is good and evil - back to Adam and Eve! Life is an endurance test of our faith! Face those trials with a steadfast and immovable faith.

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!!! Sheesh, I remember when we brought in the New Year of 2010 and now we only have a few short months left until ANOTHER New Year will come upon us. With this month comes Labor Day, October is Halloween, November is Thanksgiving and December is Christmas! I have felt WONDERFUL today!!! I got up and did the resistance band workout DVD plus a few other misc exercises before getting Katie up, fed, ready and set to watch a movie! Thank goodness for Netflix and the Children and Family section! I try to limit her TV time to about ~2 or so a day and sometimes not at all! Anyhow, she was set so I got on the bike! Wowie, my thighs are really sore but I’m SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT. That is one area I definetly need to tone so just gotta keep workin those thighs! I did 13 miles in 22 minutes, which, I can usually do 13 miles in 20 minutes but I had to push extra hard because my legs were sore but I GOT IT! I’m always soaked after the bike workouts and I looove it! I enjoyed my h2O and protein bar then switched out Katie’s toys for “new” toys! She has a BUNCH of toys so I change them up every once in a while since I don’t want to have a ton of toys out at once. I got a shower then fed Katie a snack before letting her see her “new” toys and she was occupied for the next 45 minutes! I started my online work then rocked the babe a few minutes before putting her down for nap. Of course — once again, she threw a big ole screaming tantrum when I put her down but TOO BAD! I don’t mess around, lol. I had to go tell her to lay down 2-3 times before she finally gave up, rolled around and went to sleep. My lunch was soooo good. I ate a veggie burger and I usually toast my bread but today I decided just to leave it as is and I actually like that a lot better than toasted! My lunch “combo” today was veggie burger with light mayo, mustard and spinach leaves paired with a small spinach and boiled carrot and brussel sprout salad (the only thing I add to this salad is a little black pepper and spray butter! I haven’t used salad dressing in a long time!) and OF COURSE a…. PEACH!

Brad had a meeting at work so he didn’t get home for his lunch break until a little later. I had already finished my lunch and was working online. It felt GREAT outside this morning so I had the windows open and our floor fan in the living room but then It got REALLY warm around 4PM this afternoon so I had to turn on the air but plan on opening the windows again once It cools off for the evening. I FINALLY HAD A SMOOTHIE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON! I haven’t made one in forever! I’ve had lots of protein shakes but not a smoothie… until today! I blended ice, spinach, 1/4 cup blueberries, half a nanner, half a scoop choco protein powder and voila! I used to put tons of artifical sweetner in my smoothies! The only thing I added to this one was a little light brown sugar and It was actually REALLY, REALLY good! WHOOP WHOOP! After Katie got back up this afternoon, I continued online work and have had 2 other snacks! My usual cereal/cottage cheese/apple/carrot/cinnamon/sugar free maple syrup mix and I just ate french toast not long ago. I’m going to snack on some turkey slices while I fix dinner here soon!!!

Just had a thought… I haven’t been on the treadmill all week but will be tomorrow since I can’t run outside with Katie. Well, I could attempt to run with her in the stroller and I’ve done it before but sheesh, jogging with 30 extra pounds is not exactly a joy ride, lol. I love my treadmill too though!!!

I look forward to dinner, dessert and RELAXATION tonight - going to study scriptures at some point too and I hope everyone has a great night!

NO WAY… today is the last day of August? This year is really going by quickly but as the years go by time has seemed to speed up that much more. The weather these last few days has been GREAT — so great that we haven’t been using the air AT ALL! Brad found a screen to put in our living room window (since they were missing) and we’ve opened up the window and put our floor fan in here to get some air circulating and It’s been working well! Before I get into my day so far, I wanted to show off the car we got from our church friend! It’s in excellent condition but doesn’t go into reverse.. well, It works every once in a while so we need to get a new transmission and It’ll be good to go!

Reminds me of my next door neighbor when I lived at home with my Mom. He LOVES Mazdas so I’m sure he’d find it awesome that we have one now too. Brad bought some new air freshners to go in it so now it smells like pineapples!

That running wore me out yesterday and I had to make sure to eat enough. We studied our scriptures and eventually watched another episode of The Tudors! I was sooooo tired afterwards so I think I went to bed around midnight but Brad wanted to stay up. Apparently he stayed up until 4AM, ha! I woke up at 7:40AM this morning but went back to sleep until 8:30AM then finally got up and fixed breakfast. I went ahead and did my Wii Active workout and see, I have 2 Wii Active games. The first one and the More Workouts game. I can say that the first game has more intense exercises or atleast I think so! My legs think so anyway, lol. I did a full body workout to work both upper and lower body. My legs are a bit sore but that is GOOD TO ME! I got done, woke Brad up, got Katie up and then Brad fed her and tended to her while I HEADED OUT AGAIN! It was good to get back out on that road to RUN! I had it set up this time… I would run 8 minutes one way and 8 minutes back to the house. I love it so much!!! I was almost back home so I sprinted as hard and as fast as I could until I got to our mailbox. Overall, I think I ran around ~1.7 miles or so give or take. I came inside to fix a choco protein shake and have a piece of bread with a little banana and peanut butter. Got a nice shower and fixed my hair. Brad got to tend to Katie all morning… potty training and everything! SOUNDS AWESOME TO ME! He also washed dishes this morning which made me extra happies! We loaded up and went out for the usual Tuesday food shopping! If I’m hungry enough, I grab a protein bar to eat on the way home so I had this lovely bar of awesomesauce!

The carmel in it is delicious! NOMNOM. We had the sunroof and windows down on the way to the store but the sun and inside of the car were quite hot so on the way home we put up the windows and turned the air conditioner on. In our last vehicle the air didn’t work so this is NIIIIIICE! Brad brought in the groceries then I fed Katie a little snack before putting her down for a late nap.

Put away groceries, got our chicken all seperated and ready for meals this week and now here I am! Brad just finished mowing the grass and is about to get ready to head out for his church meeting. I’m going to fix a snack here soon and just relax a bit before It’s time to get Katie up then dinner and her bath+bed and all that!

I’m thankful, grateful and blessed! I think about how far The Gospel had led me and changed me. I’m thankful that I opened my heart and mind to God and His ways for they have led me to a much better, peaceful way of living and life.