Family Secrets

This week I want to talk about YOU! 
Talk about Your Faith, Your Family, Your Food, Your Fitness, and, well, my Finances (I’m not one to share financial wisdom)

Your Faith - I hate to get too personal (actually if you’ve spent anytime with me you know I am very personal), but what are you doing spiritually to fill yourself?  Reading spiritual blogs? Reading spiritual books?  Going to church/synagogue/mass?  Watching inspirational shows?  Running? Swimming? Biking? (oops – that’s me again)  Really – I want to know.  Are you being the mom/wife/daughter/child/woman you were created to be?  Or are you just being?

Your Family – What do you wish your kids knew about you and your dreams or desires?  What keeps you from telling them? What would you take away or add to your family this week if you could?  What is stopping you?

Your Food - This week, take a good long look at what you are putting into your body.  Is it natural?  Was it created as fuel?  Or is it therapy/medication/artificial substance to cover something bigger?  I’ve done a lot of reading regarding food as fuel and have found that my relationship with food is sporadic, but getting better.  PMS tends to bring out the glutton in me – however strength in recognizing what is pure (few ingredients) and what is artificial (ingredients you can’t pronounce) is huge when it comes to loving the body I was given.  I challenge you (all 5 who read this blog) to STOP DRINKING POP IMMEDIATELY!!!  Do it for a week.  Take note of how you feel after the week is up.  Pop is poison.  Seriously – there is NOTHING natural about soda.  It’s going to be hard so prepare for what you will replace the pop with – water (best choice), raw milk (my fave), teas (if you need caffeine), pure fruit juice (if you need sugar), etc.  You can thank me later. 

Your Fitness - Seriously girls.   We gotta love ourselves in order to teach our children to love themselves.  Walk.  Bike.  Swim. Run.  Skydive. Climb something.  Rollerblade.  Have sex.  Dance. Ski. Whatever.  Just love your awesome body that has sprung forth life.  That has carried you through the highs and the lows.  That takes you to the pot of coffee every morning.  
I’m so excited for spring because I’m ready to start training mommies again.  To spend time with those who want to get stronger.  To hang out with those who believe it’s impossible to run a 5k and those who have run one and are ready to do more.    Make it fun. 

My Finances - I have spent some money in the last week.  $9 on a book.  $29 on a new watch band. And $7 on a calendar.  The book is a study I am looking into titled Faith at Home.  The watch-band is a must – if you know me, you know it’s part of my wardrobe.  The calendar?  Well, I currently have a April-March calendar from last year’s Bolder Boulder.  It runs out in 20 days. 

That’s about it.  Hope you’ll join the journey to “Fit”.

Have a great weekend! 

Be Fit Friday - a sneak-peek of the upcoming week. 
Faith, Family, Fitness, Food, and Finances.

Faith - last week, while reading my Bible study, I came across “you will be given greater responsibility in heaven” and I started crying.  Not out of the joy of what heaven will be.  Or out of the greatness that is God.  But because I read it as “you will have to work harder than you do now.  you will never get any rest so just give up already!”  Sad uh?  I saw the word ‘responsibility’ and freaked!  You see, I’ve been responsible all of my life – give or take a few college years – and I’m exhausted.  The thought that there would be MORE made me cry.  I’ve talked with a few friends and realize that it could mean something completely different.  This week I’m going to find out what God has in store for me.  What is greater than what He promises?

Family - obviously was sick last week.  You can tell by my previous pitiful post.  This week is full of birthdays of my two favorite guys that I happen to live with.  Surprise party for the 40-year-old and a drivers permit coming for the almost 14-year-old.  It’s a big week.  In an effort to recognize our gifts we are doing an activity with the kids that asks us to write down every gift we have been given (academically, creatively, personality, etc.) then write down each other’s gifts, noticing how unique we are in our own four walls and do our best to take those thoughts outside of the four walls.  We hope our children find their own worth instead of using others to define it.  We’ll see – I’m 41 and still struggle.

Fitness - it has been non-existent for the last two weeks.  Seriously.  I am running a half-marathon in 2 weeks and the farthest I’ve run since November is 7 miles.  If I would have known I was getting the flu I would have prepared. Yeah right.  Who knows they will get the flu?  A nurse friend said, “you should have gotten the shot!”  I replied, “Why? Did they get it right this year?”  Anyway, now that my body does not feel like it’s been run over by a big truck – just more like a bicycle – I’m going to be hitting the road.  Today I am hoping to get 7-8 miles in and then somewhere between 10-11 next weekend.  I’ve read of the 10% rule – increasing your mileage by 10% during training – but I throw most rules out the window when it comes to training.  I’m more of a “gotta get __ miles in NOW!” because a race is coming up.  So, the plan for the upcoming week is my long run today, 3-5 on Monday, 3-5 on Wednesday & another long run next Friday or Saturday – see how strict I am with my training? 

Food - I just purged the refrigerator of all of the remnants of the most recent birthday party in preparation for the upcoming birthday party.  The sugar has stopped (other than birthday cake) the bread came to a halt yesterday, and the milk has been increased.  Both of the kids want to give sugar up for lent this year.  I want to support them.  We are going to talk about the health problems caused by sugar – thank you Dr. Oz – and then have our final bite in celebration of 14 years.  

Finances - ugh.  I want to cry.  Not that I have a bought a thing for myself – I still have 27 days to go in my spending freeze – but so many difficult and fun things have come up.  I wish it were free to take care of termite damage – or fix leaks – or fix cars – or have birthday parties.  But, I believe, they all were important and HAD to be done.  Does my husband HAVE to have a birthday party? No.  But do I want to celebrate him in every way possible?  Thank him for being the BEST dad and husband in the world?  Show him that I there are so many people who love him? and Make it known that he is old like me now?  YES!!!  So, I balance the checkbook and move forward knowing that turning 40, getting a new transmission, replacing walls, and fixing faucets is part of life.  When I die none of the money will go with me.  None of the savings, retirement, walls, or leaks will matter.  Thank goodness.

Be Fit Friday is a sneak-peek of the upcoming week. 
Divided into 5 areas: Faith, Family, Fitness, Food, and Finances.

Faith - mmmm…so good.  loving my study right now.  loving what He is showing me.  loving how we are preparing to use it for our family-night.

 Family -  The other night, as I was walking through the kitchen, I asked my guy, “Hey. Could you turn on the dishwasher?” He responded by turning around, looking at me and saying, in his deepest/sexy voice, “Hey there dishwasher. How you doin’?” *wink* Works for me!

Fitness - Done. Done. and Done.  Have gotten in all of my workouts and am preparing to head out for a 6-7 mile run with my husband.  It’s nice.  We can talk about our plans and prepare for a long weekend with the kids.  It’s parent-therapy as far as I’m concerned.
On a different fitness topic – the more I exercise the better I look.  Not in the fit, tight, body kind of way, but in the my hair-skin-and-eyes-look-brighter kind of way.  I’ve noticed this before when I do not work out as much.  I start to see myself in the mirror ”YIKES!” instead of “Nice”.  I had been in the “YIKES!” mode for about 4/5 weeks and just reentered the “Nice”.  Thank goodness.  I really couldn’t take another day of it. 
Working out is good for your skin, hair, and eyes too.  It’s proven.  By me.   

Food - I got nothin’.  I ate a lot of sugar – valentines treats – difficult work week.  I haven’t done the menu.  I haven’t made a shopping list.  Really.  Nothin’.

Finances - Feeling guilty – a little.  Bought my very first lipstick EVER – in a desperate move to recapture my youth (I guess I believe I’m younger with lips the color of toffee-coffee).  So, I ask – is lipstick a need or a want?  Never before has it been a ‘need’ in my life.  Last week I ‘wanted’ it.  Now, I put it on and I like it and I feel pretty.  Need?  8 weeks down – $8 spent.

That’s it.  Hope you all have a great week!

Be Fit Friday is a sneak-peek of the upcoming week. 
Divided into 5 areas: Faith, Family, Fitness, Food, and Finances.
*edited for “YAY ME!” moment*

Faith - this week I’m working on just getting back to a little quiet time.  A little peace and time listening.  I haven’t done that in the last week.  I miss it.

Family – I love them.  What can I say?  Of course I have to admit that I love them even more tonight because our daughter will be attending a slumber party & our son will be at a lock-in.  NO CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE FOR 11 HOURS!! (if you get what I mean *wink*)  Of course that only counts for 11 hours out of the upcoming week.  Family also includes a baby shower for a friend, a music concert, and hopefully a full week of school without any snow-days.  I LOVE having my entire family home – but I feel conflicted when I have time to get caught up on work and they are all out trouncing (?) around in 17 inches of snow.  My brain is happier with just one responsibility at a time.

Fitness - It is here.  Let the training begin.  As I have mentioned, I am going to run a few more 1/2 marathons during 2011.  I have two on my radar but I have to check my abilities first.  One is a little earlier than the other (by 6 weeks!) so…my training will either hit a wall tomorrow morning or be a great beginning to a nice long training plan. 
The plan thus far:  Friday – 6 test miles (have only gone 5 since my last half in November *Yay ME! Did it – and it was super easy! guess I’m doing my next 1/2 in 5 weeks!)  Sat/Sun - Rest days(unless the weather looks good – then all bets are off)  Mon-4m at half-marathon pace  Tue - cross-train   Wed – 3m easy   Thur - cross train  — I have learned a lot about my body over my years of running. 1. It’s happy when I take breaks.  2. Running more than 3-4 days/week causes me injuries.  3. If I try to follow a plan that requires more time than my schedule allows, I’m less likely to follow it.  
I believe fitness is important for every single person on this planet.  If you don’t believe you can do it then I have something to show you:

Just sayin’.

Food - I wish someone would come over to my house and slap the cupcake right out of my hands!! But darnit – school keeps getting cancelled and kids are home and mommy wants to eat sugar!!  Okay – so I’m dramatic.  The point is.  I’m failing miserably.  But I’m going to keep trying.  Promise.  You don’t deserve to listen to me fail week after week – you want to hear about SUCCESS!!!
Friday - KIDS ARE GONE!!! Who cares what’s for dinner??
Saturday – A lovely valentine meal provided by Sacred Heart Catholic Church – no kids allowed!
Sunday - Our Family Valentine meal – Grilled chicken over garlic mashed potatoes with sautéed cherry tomatoes – salad – red velvet cake (darn!).  This is one of our traditions in our home.  We drink sparkling juice out of wine glasses, eat by candle light , and go around the table listing what we LOVE about our family (awwww – HA! – farting, rock music, and eating in front of the TV have been listed in the past). 
Monday - Taco Salad
Tuesday – Chicken & Biscuits (see recipe HERE)
Wednesday – Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese
Thursday – Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches (super easy)

Finances - still doing very well not spending money.  It’s starting to try my nerves though.  I’ve made it 6 weeks without spending any money on myself unnecessarily.  yay. However the HUGE home needs and kids needs continue to keep coming.  Some of the changes we made to plan for the *surprise expenses * was to double our emergency fund and require the kids pay for things they want out of their own allowance (that’s what it’s for).  I have also, personally, started to show our son our monthly bills – insurance, utilities, groceries, gas, swim team fees, etc.  Though I don’t believe it’s his business to know how much money his dad and I make, I do believe it’s important for him to understand why we work and why we won’t drive him to Subway for a ‘snack’.  Maybe next month I’ll show him the mortgage payment when he asks for a new triathlon bike for his birthday!

Be Fit Friday is a sneak-peek of the upcoming week. 
Divided into 5 areas: Faith, Family, Fitness, Food, and Finances.

Faith – It’s been a good week.  Even though just about everything that costs a lot of $$ has happened – I feel amazed that I was provided the insight to be on a spending freeze.  Always a surprise to me when stuff like that (being prepared) happens.  So this is what stuck with me this week – Suddenly many activities, goals, and even problems that seemed so important will appear trivial, petty, and unworthy.  The closer you live to God, the smaller everything else appears.

Family - check. check. and CHECK!  Plenty of family time during the 2011 Blizzard.

Fitness – am in the process of creating my own 1/2 marathon plan.  Hoping the calendar agrees with my goal date.

Food - * NO SUGAR! * drink 2+ glasses of raw milk per day *  why raw milk??  My blood pressure was out-of-control a couple of months ago.  My body does not work well with preservatives, added crap or taking all of the ‘real’ stuff out and replacing it with man-made stuff.  PS – my blood pressure went from 152/102 – 117/69 in a matter of two weeks and has stayed consistently low since changing that part of my diet.  
MENU FOR THE WEEK 
Friday - Shrimp Scampi (super easy – tons of raw butter, garlic & sea salt with shrimp served over noodles)
Saturday - Big Brothers/Big Sisters fundraiser - Cooks & Corks.
Sunday – Super Bowl Food
Monday - Community Choir Chili Feed
Tuesday - Lasagna
Wednesday - Grilled Cheese & Soup
Thursday - Quesadillas

Finances – I don’t  want to go there.  You get the picture.  It was a rough week – and I only shared the transmission with you.  You’re welcome.

Here’s to a great weekend – time with my family – time with a cause we believe in – and time to relax with friends!