Finally Catching Up

I am really good about taking pics of stuff on my phone but I am TERRIBLE about sharing any of them! So thought I would play a little catch up today....

Last week was my nephew Whit's birthday.. And we were so lucky to get to attend his party at Chuck E Cheese?? Oh I just love Chuck E Cheese... About as much as I love mopping floors and scrubbing toilets... But Whit and all his little friends and the girls had the best time!

My nephew also started football this week! So our Friday nights are now being spent cheering on the Elkmont Red Devils again! Not gonna lie though... I may have cried at his first game the other night. He's a senior this year and I just can't handle it! I'll really be a basket case when my kids get to that point! 

Please ignore Hadley's deuce and duck fav in every single picture... It drives me nuts!! 

I caught the girls playing so nice together one morning... I love when I catch them doing this but don't worry-- it doesn't last long! 😊

I hosted a baby shower for a couple at church Sunday afternoon but the new mommy was having contractions so she headed to the hospital while we showered her sweet baby girl! That was definitely a first for me it but we still had s good shower!

But back to the grind this week! Looking forward to a long holiday weekend and football!! 

What I Read - Radical

I have just recently discovered audio books and I must say that I am so glad I did!  And better yet, I can rent them from my local public library for FREE!  I can download these books on my phone and computer and listen whenever I want.  I spend over an hour in my car every day going back and forth to work and I have recently been listening to these audiobooks during this time.  So I guess instead of saying "What I Read" I should say more like "What I Listened To" but o-well!

I just finished up Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt.  This is my second book to read by Platt and it was just as challenging and moving as the other.  Platt really challenges you to think about your life and your possessions and how you spend your time and money and look at it in a way that God wants us to look at our resources.  He challenges you to think more about the world and all the lost and needy people and think about what are you doing to help them?  Or are we too busy trying to satisfy our own worldly wants and needs to take the time to even think about these people, much less sacrifice something in our own lives to further the gospel?

I could never put into words all the great things I got out of this book, but I do highly encourage everyone to read it.  You can find out more information about the book and the study that accompanies it at this website. 

http://www.radicalthebook.com/home.html

  

Friday Favorites - Three Day Hair

So I have always hated washing my hair... or more so drying it than washing it to tell the truth.  It just takes so long and makes my arms tired and I just don't like it.

I was "blessed" with extremely thick hair which I am very thankful for until it comes to washing and drying it.  I used to think that I had really oily hair and had to wash it every single day or it would be yuck.  But after doing a little research and browsing, I discovered soooo many women who were going several days between washes and figured I would give it a try.   

 

 

My friend suggested Living Proof products to me.  They are kinda pricey but she just kept raving about them so I bought the travel size to give them a try.  These products have seriously made the biggest difference for me.  They don't leave my hair feeling gunky or oily and the smell is great.  I use the shampoo and conditioner from the Perfect Hair Day line.  There are several different lines so you just have to pick whichever is best for your type hair.  After washing my hair, I spray the root lifting spray and comb the Perfect Hair Day styling cream through my hair while it is damp.  I then just blow dry it upside down.  I usually either style with a curling iron or round brush on day one and may mist it with just a tiny bit of hair spray.

I sleep with it down because my hair creases very easily with a ponytail.  On Day 2, I usually shower with my shower cap (don't laugh at me because I promise it helps).  I then apply some Tresemme Dry Shampoo to my roots and hit it with the blow dryer for a second to give me some volume.  This is the best dry shampoo I have found so far (although Living Proof just came out with one so I may have to give it a try). It does seem to leave a bit of light residue if you have darker hair though.  I run a little John Freda Secret Weapon Touch Up Creme to tame any crazy hairs and then re-curl with the curling iron or throw in some hot rollers to style.  I finish with a bit of hair spray.  I like the Kenra 14 because it is a "working" hairspray and doesn't leave my hair sticky or stiff.      

Once again, I sleep with it down and then shower with my shower cap (seriously stop laughing at me).  Day three, I use the same products as day two but usually either pull it up and wear some type of braid (braids do wonders for hiding "dirty" hair -- you can find some great tutorials here and here) or an elastic head band.  I love the cute head bands with my hair pulled up in it.  It makes it look like I really did something special when it really takes like a whopping two minutes to do.

I am definitely not a hair stylist or have any type of hair education but this is just what works for me lately and I love it!  I used to think I could never go more than a day between washes but turns out, I was just using the wrong products and the more I washed my hair, the more oil it produced.  Some of these products are a bit pricey and some are super cheap so it all works out.  You can buy them all at Ulta .  

Anyways... this routine has seriously made my life so much easier so just thought I would share!

Happy Friday my friends!

No Store Shopping??

As I have mentioned several times before, I am really trying super hard to trim my bad spending habits and really focus on getting out of debt and saving up for some special events coming up.  One of my worst spending habits is going into a store for a couple of items and leaving with a buggy full of stuff -- um helloooo Target?!?!  So for the next month or so, I am making a goal to never step foot in a store.  No Walmart. No Target. No Costco. No Mall. No nothing!!

Yes, I know that sounds absolutely crazy and un-doable but I really believe I can do it with some extra planning and self control.  And why am I sharing this here?  For some accountability of course!  Between Walmart's grocery pick up service, Target's free Red card shipping, and my Amazon Prime account, I can get everything I NEED (not necessarily want) without ever stepping foot in a store or paying any extra shipping fees.  It may take a little more self control to not just click away and buy whatever I please online but it will definitely keep those unneeded items from coming home with me.  I am really looking forward to this and anxious to see how much my bank account benefits from it as well!  

Testimony Tuesday - Heather

I've known Heather since high school but I didn't ever really get to know her well until our girls had dance class together last year. She is a stay at home to two precious little girls and a passionate Beachbody coach. Heather is super sweet and friendly and so motivating and inspirational! I am so glad I finally got to know her better and am so excited to share her story with you!

I have had a very blessed life, however it hasn’t come without my share of struggles, just like you…

 

I grew up in the small town of Athens, AL and was blessed to have two loving, Christian parents who took me to church, not just on Sunday morning, no I was one of those southern Baptist kids that was there every time the doors were open, and I wouldn’t have it any other way! My childhood is full of wonderful memories! A traditional southern home, everything from fried food on the table each night to Friday nights watching the local high school football games and Christmas parades downtown! We were immersed in small town life and it was fabulous! Both of my parents even worked in town at the local accounting firm and hospital!  I say all this because I never realized how special it was until I grew up, and wouldn’t you know God blessed me enough to be raising my family in the same town!!! 

 

Now to the struggles, my main struggle: 

 

I began struggling with my weight from a very young age.  Around 4th grade I realized that when I looked down my thighs were bigger than most of my friends, and I seem to have a belly they didn’t have! This was just the beginning! I was short and the writing was on the wall that I wasn’t going to grow much more! Time ticked by and nothing changed. I only became more self-conscious and more embarrassed to not look the same as my friends, who were soon wearing two-piece swimsuits and getting attention from the boys! However I didn’t have a clue how to change things! Finally at an all time high weight in 11th grade I was formally diagnosed with ADHD and began taking Adderall to help me! While the medicine was great for my academics it left me with no appetite, which allowed me to honestly forget to eat and the weight started to drop off!  I loved how that felt, all of a sudden I was fitting into the trendy clothes and even the boys were starting to pay attention to me! This left me with a very unhealthy outlook on food! I had always thought that “skinny” was literally just something you were either born with or not, and I was just not so lucky! I began to equate eating with being fat, I would eat very little and even after moving to college and being on my own would punish myself after a splurge by maybe not eating for a whole day, even though I knew this left me lightheaded and hungry! Anything to stay skinny! 

 

Well God is good and this sweet, cute guy I met a few years ago on a mission trip in Arkansas named John came back into my life and, well we started talking again as we had both recently become single – you know you remember instant messenger!!! After a couple of months talking online we decided since I was in Auburn and he was in Atlanta finishing up his engineering degree at Georgia Tech we should actually spend a weekend together, no romance discussed! Well low and behold that Valentine’s Day weekend was when it worked out and yes…we started officially dating on February 15, 2003! I was just 18 but I knew this was the man God had for me!! 

 

Happiness set in! I was thrilled to be in a healthy relationship and IN LOVE, but along with that came weekends where we ate tons of comfort food (aka junk) and laid around watching movies together! Well our love of being lazy together continued and we both managed to gain about 10 to 15 pounds over the course of our first year together! One of my favorite things became cooking for us! John was tall and very thin so the weight was good for him, not so much for me! However I did manage to start paying attention enough to maintain, although it wasn’t the healthiest ways still! We walked down the on December 18, 2014 and from there the happiness went up but so did the scale! 

 

We got pregnant when I was at my heaviest weight to date but were so excited, however unfortunately that ended in miscarriage! What a hard time this was for me, but God used it for His glory! As a 23 year old freshly graduated elementary teacher at her first job God used this as a wake up call to remind us that we were NOT in control and it wasn’t just about our plans.  He was the one in control and we needed to be in His will for our lives! Through this loss we became closer as a couple, we became closer to God, and we realized that “the john and heather show” needed to step back a bit! I was blessed to have been hired just a month prior to teach kindergarten at a local Christian school, and while I hadn’t shared my pregnancy or miscarriage (which all took place within a weekend basically), many ministered to me unknowingly through those tough months! God always places you right where you need to be! He has since used this experience for John and I to minister to others going through the same thing! What a blessing! I’m so thankful for this wake up call, even though all I had ever wanted to be was a mother, this was not the time AND God wanted to bless me with the experience of teaching kindergarten for 4 years and the bonus of coaching JV and Varsity volleyball for 5 years and SO much more! 

 

I did have a blast teaching and coaching through those years and John traveled a lot with his job as well, about 60% of the year he was gone so this was a wonderful way to grow personally and be so blessed in the process! In 2010 we felt that God had prepared us for a child and so in that vision I quit teaching and sure enough became pregnant that fall! We welcomed a healthy baby girl, Shyloh, to our family in June of 2011, and while we were thrilled our lifestyle was one of fun and horrible health choices, well about the time we started to maybe think of getting healthy in the fall of 2012 we became pregnant again! We were overjoyed, but once again less than healthy! I knew then what had to happen, so I began even while still pregnant to prepare for a huge lifestyle change after baby was born! We welcomed Penelope to our family in July 2013 and it was on!! 

 

Now with two beautiful baby girls 25 months apart whom I didn’t want to grow up and experience any of my insecurities or poor eating habits and horrible body image issues it became my mission to change! Not only to change my outward appearance, which needed drastic help, but even more! It became my mission to live out a daily example of food that was not viewed as a hobby, but as God’s gift and way of fueling the body He had gifted us!  It was my mission to show them that being active should be a daily part of life! Whether working out in my living room or running around the yard with them, swimming or walking around the neighborhood they would know that I valued exercise! This is when Beachbody entered my life! They knew what it was to have balance, and no magic pill or gimmick! Through my coach I learned that accountability was key and from there I began to embrace clean eating and daily workouts and see that they could revolutionize not just my, life but my whole family!!! My passion became helping others find what I had found, and wouldn’t you know that it falls right in with what I loved to do before I had my girls, teaching and coaching!!!! Now God is just showing off! I’m getting to live both of my dreams at once! A stay at home mom who gets to help others achieve their health and fitness goals! 

 

Over the past two years I have maintained a 35 pound weight loss and I’m not finished yet, and my husband has maintained a 15 pound weight loss!   Most importantly though is our girls know that we should use food to fuel our bodies and not eat just junk! They will even hold me accountable and ask if I’ve done my workout, or best of all jump right in and do parts of it with me!

 

This is just a short blip of my life and how God has richly blessed me, even through the valleys! I would be more than happy to connect with you if you have questions or are maybe going through something that you’ve seen mentioned here!  Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I pray that it has encouraged you in some way! May God bless you!

Thank you Heather for sharing your honest and inspiring testimony! 

What I Read - Angels Walking

As I've mentioned before, Karen Kingsbury is by far my all time favorite author. I honestly have loved every single book that I have read by her. I bought the first book in her Angels Walking series a while back but have just now gotten a chance to read it. And as usual it did not disappoint! 

It's a fictional story about two angels who come down to earth to "help" some people in need. The Angels help a minor league baseball player find his way back after he suffers a career ending injury by sending an old lady in a nursing home to strike up a peculiar relationship with him. The book is full of faith and love and all the wonderful things every Karen Kingsbury book is full of! A great light read to inspire you!

Love Saturday

Jarrod went deep sea fishing this weekend so we've had a great little girls weekend! 

Hadley had school yesterday morning so Hunt and I had a busy morning running all our errands. I really love my one on one time with each of my girls!

And today we went to visit MeeMee and Nancy! Hadley was soooo excited to get to pick out their clothes!

It's seriously impossible to get a good picture of these two! 

The girls have loved getting to sleep in "Daddy's spot" but we are so excited for him to be home soon!

Testimony Tuesday - Kathie Lee Gifford

I never imagined I would be sharing this person on my blog series but I was so touched and encouraged by this that I just had to share.

As many of you know, Kathie Lee Gifford's husband Frank passed away last week and she shared this when she returned to the Today show. I am so encouraged to hear that there are still a few Christians in Hollywood that are not afraid to share their faith. My favorite thing about this story is that as a young child, Frank's parents taught him about trusting and putting your faith in Jesus Christ and now almost 80 years later, his story of his faith is reaching the whole country. 

http://www.today.com/popculture/kathie-lee-gifford-returns-today-outpouring-has-been-extraordinary-t39066

We never know what kind of impact we are having on our children! Bringing my kids up in church, knowing and loving Jesus, is one of the most important things to me as a parent. I pray every day that they learn to trust the Lord and have faith in Him so they can be great disciples of his word.

My Heart, Your Home

I recently jumped on the bandwagon and finally gave in and joined Amazon Prime.  I had no idea what all it included -- way more than just the free shipping I thought it was.  Anyways.. with my Prime membership, I get access to Amazon Prime Music which is absolutely wonderful.  It is full of a ton of great songs and playlists that I can listen to anytime.  Amazon has prepared some really great playlists that I love to listen to.  One of my favorite is the Top Prime Christian songs and I discovered this beautiful song while listening to it the other day.  I don't think I had ever heard this song before but it just really struck me.  Not only was it a beautiful song, the lyrics are just wonderful.  I hope my life reflects this prayer. 

Our homes are one of the most important places in our lives.  So much happens there and we take great care and pride in our homes.  It's where we share our most wonderful moments as well as some of our most heart breaking moments.  It is where we are most comfortable and content.  It's where we make things our own and is part of who we are.  I pray that I make my life and my heart a place where God can make himself at home with me. Where He can come in and totally take over my heart to make it his home.  

My Heart, Your Home by Watermark

Come and make my heart Your home
And come and be everything I am and all I know
And search me through and through
Till my heart becomes a home for You

Come and make my heart Your home
And come and be everything I am and all I know
And search me through and through
Till my heart becomes a home for You

A home for You Lord, a home for You, Lord
Let everything I do open up a door for You to come through
And that my heart would be a place where You want to be

Come and make my heart Your home
And come and be everything I am and all I know
And search me through and through
Till my heart becomes a home for You

A home for You Lord, a home for You, oh Lord
Let everything I do open up a door for You to come through
And that my heart would be a place where You want to be

'Cause you are my portion, filling up everything
You are the fortune that's causing my heart to sing
That it's amazing, that You could make Yourself at home with me

With me Lord come and make my heart
Come and make it Your home
And come and be everything I am and all I know
And search me through and through
Till my heart becomes a home for You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOSrSVghKDY

Back to School!

Today was Hadley's first day back to preschool.  She is in Mrs. Mandy's 4-5 year old class this year at Little Tots and was so excited about going back this morning.  She could not wait to see all her friends and her teacher!  Mrs. Mandy is the sweetest teacher and Hadley just loves her so much!

I can't believe how much she has grown since her first day last year and it completely blows my mind that she is five!  We decided to hold her back and I can not express what a good decision that was for her.  Glad we get one more year before "real" school starts!

And on another note, Hunter Claire did soooo good at dance tonight!  I knew she would love it!

Testimony Tuesday - My Wonderful Sister-in-Law Amy!

When I married my husband, I was blessed with the BEST in-laws!  I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for his family.  One of those wonderful in-laws is his sister Amy that I am sharing today.  Amy is a real life Army wife who I have watched give and sacrifice over the years for her family.  She is super hard working and one of the most helpful people I know and  has become one of my very best friends over the years.. not to mention she is also an amazing mother to two super great kids as well!  The only bad thing I can say about her is that she cheers for the wrong team but I guess I can get over that little flaw :)  

 I was raised in church by two of the best parents in the world!  We were in church every time the doors were open and I have had Christian influences in my life from as far back as I can remember.  As I grew into my “tween” years, I started feeling like I was missing something.  I knew what it meant to be a Christian and that it would be the most important decision of my life. Our youth group went to a youth rally (or youth revival) at Athens High School and that night I made the decision to ask Jesus into my heart and was baptized shortly after.  In my high school years, I strayed a little but still spent a lot of time at church with great friends in our youth group.  We tried to stay out of trouble; but we may have gotten into a little mischief too. J  Nobody is perfect, right?!?  When I graduated high school, I moved to college and lost my way.  I still drove home for church on Sundays but during the week, I put God on the back burner.  After a couple of years, I moved back home, rededicated my life to Christ and got involved in serving in the children’s ministries in my church.  

Found my way again. 

In 2000, I met a handsome, brave soldier who swept me off my feet.  We were married and I moved to Ft. Polk, Louisiana where we lived for two years.  There, we visited a Baptist church on Sunday mornings but never got involved, just went thru the motions.  On September 11, 2001, my world changed forever.  Kevin went to work that morning and I didn’t know if I would ever see him again.  I sat in our small apartment in Leesville, Louisiana and prayed for God to be with Kevin and keep him safe.  I was so scared that our precious baby (whom I was carrying at the time) would never meet her daddy.  Thankfully,  he finally came home and I cried and thanked God for bringing him home.  I don’t think I realized before that day that God was truly in control and I just had to have faith in Him.  I let Christ in, I mean really into my heart, and I have never felt alone since.  In the aftermath of the days’ events, the only thing left to do was wonder “when” he would get the call to deploy. 

A few years down the road, it was time for another move.  We found out that we would be stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  We were super excited!  The excitement dwindled quickly.  That dreaded day that had been hovering in my head since September 11, 2001 had arrived.  He was told that immediately after reporting for duty, he would be deployed to Iraq.  My heart sank….There are no amount of words to describe the pyramid of emotions going through my head.  GOD IS GOOD, we DID make it through those years and in hindsight, I realize that this was the turning point of my spiritual life because one of the first things I did after finding out about the deployment was turn it over to God and ask Him to be with us during this time and to keep me strong for Kevin and Alli.  He comes through for you and will never leave you alone!   

Currently, I strive to be a good Christian influence on my kids and give them all of the experiences in church that I had as a child. One of the proudest days of my life was the day my daughter asked Jesus into her heart and it makes MY heart smile when I hear my son singing VBS songs in the car and tell us about his SS lessons. 

There are times when the devil throws a kink in my plans but God always prevails.  I know that I am a work in progress but I ask Him every day to guide and direct my path.  I hope I didn’t bore you to tears but that’s my story and I hope it will touch someone. 

There is nothing I love more than seeing God move through my own family!  Thank you Amy for sharing your story!  

Summer's End

I'm The last week of summer has officially come to an end.  We have had the most wonderful summer filled with all sorts of fun stuff and I am so sad to see it come to an end.  I love getting to spend time with family all throughout the summer and it makes me so sad to think about how much they will grow before next summer.  But I love to watch them learn and grow even though it makes me super sad how quick it all goes by.

My family has a "Back to School" get together each year so we celebrated that earlier this week.  But it was absolutely impossible to get a picture of all the "students."  When HC doesn't want her picture taken... she reeeallly doesn't want it taken.  Like literally falls out on the floor in refusal but I did try to sneak in a few pics.  

We started back to dance this past week and little sister even got to go.  Bless her heart though, she tripped and face planted on her way in so pretty much just cried the rest of her class begging to go.  But when it was time for Hadley's class, she cried because she couldn't go in and stay with her.  Maybe next week will be better because how stinking adorable are these little ballerinas?

Thursday night, Hadley got to go to her preschool and meet her teacher (who just so happens to be the same teacher she had last year).  She is sooo excited and cannot wait to go back to Little Tots and see her friends!

We had a huge rain all day Thursday and our neighbors got a nice little puddle in their ditch.  So, the girls asked if they could splash in it.  That little splash turned into two completely covered muddy girls!  You would've thought they had found the best thing in the whole world based on the way they were laughing and playing... even our sweet neighbors had to come out and watch all the fun.

Friday, we had little girls day running errands.  Jarrod grilled us steaks and we just enjoyed playing outside and enjoying the little break from the heat.  

Sunday, we celebrated Papa's 70th Birthday!  The girls really love their Papa so much!  

We also attempted to get the kid's pictures made in their Elkmont clothes for the football program but that was a huge flop.  However, I did get a few good ones ... just not all together.  Thank goodness for photoshop, right?

We had a back to school bash at church Sunday night and the girls had a blast playing on all the water slides and inflatables.  Jarrod somehow even got talked into getting in the dunk tank!  Even though it was 9 million degrees, we all had a great time!

Sorry for the picture overload but we've had a full week to share!  What a great way to end our summer!