What a crazy weekend! We were busy busy busy! But, I'm glad it's Monday. I'm ready to be back in a routine. My parents where here over the weekend and normally when they're here, we end up with a lot of leftovers. So, my menu this week will include a lot of leftover meat and things. There are only a few things that I'll have to pick up from the grocery store. I like weeks like this! Monday- Chicken Salad. We have leftover baked chicken and Aaron and I have both been craving chicken salad so I'm going to fix more and we'll go light tonight with chicken salad sandwiches. I use chunked chicken, halved grapes, chopped pecans, diced red onion, and chopped celery. I use a little bit of Miracle Whip light and some pepper. It's soo good! Tuesday- BLT's - We have leftover bacon, so I figured why not have BLT's. We love them and they are E-A-S-Y! Especially if the bacon is already cooked! We don't like tomatoes, so we really only eat BL's. I'll only have to get some lettuce and we'll be set! Wednesday- Wednesday we'll be eating at Chick-fil-A. Thursday- Grilled Chicken. We've been eating a lot of grilled chicken this summer. I love it, and I've got a ton of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer, so I'll probably do grilled chicken kabobs. I marinate it in Italian dressing and grill away! I'll get some fresh veggies to grill with it! Friday we're having a girls all nighter at our house and the guys from the youth group are going to play laser tag. I haven't decided yet what we're having. I don't really want to have pizza, but I'm not sure yet. We just had a super busy weekend and we're heading into a super busy week! Eek!
0 Comments
I think I said this last week, or maybe even the week before, but man the weeks are flying by! It's Friday again already. Before we know it we'll be getting ready for Christmas! Well, we've had a busy week here at the Wainscott house. But, I've had a great week and the weekend only seems to continue the trend. So, here are 5 of the highlights from my week and upcoming weekend! 1. For those of you who've followed my blog, you heard by Wilderness Story. On Sunday evening, that chapter of our life will finally close and Aaron will recieve his District License from the Indy District. We're thankful to have made it to this point and greatful that God has carried us through it. :-) 2. On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to go to a baby shower for a friend at Church. She's expecting her second baby, and we had the priviledge of showering her and spending time laughing and enjoying each other's company! 3. I'm planning on trying to get out to the Farmers Market tomorrow morning. I haven't had the opportunity yet this year and I'm excited about the possibility. It will be nice to get some fresh produce. The bad part is that we've been so affected by the drought that prices of fresh stuff is sky high! 4. I've had some great runs this week! I was a little aprehensive heading into this week of training, but I nailed it. If we weren't busy tonight, I'd consider adding an extra night of running into my schedule. Perhaps I'm starting to enjoy it? I'm getting more excited about the race in Sept! 5. My best friend is getting married next week! I'm so happy that she's happy! Wish I could be there with her, but I know her special day will be awesome. :-) I'll get to see her in Sept when she and the new hub come to run the race with me. 6 shorts weeks! I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pins from Pinterest this week... This is truth in my house. Pinned here. This would be nice! Pinned here. If ever there was a dream house, this would be it. This picture was almost taken directly from my imagination! Pinned here.
On Tuesday night, a friend of mine mentioned something that she decided to do for herself. She said it was 30 by 30. Basically, she made a list of 30 things she wanted to do/accomplish by the time she turned 31. I thought it was a great idea when she mentioned it but the rest of the night I didn't give it much thought. Then yesterday I couldn't really get it out of my head. I've never been much of a goal setter and I'm seeing now that part of maturing (at least for me) is setting a goal and holding myself accountable for the outcome. So, I decided I'm going to make my own 30 by 30 list. I'll turn 31 on Sept 28th of 2014. I figured that 26 months is a pretty good chunk of time and if I really set my mind to completing my list, I can do it.
As I come up with things to put on my list, I'll share them with you. Maybe not all of them, as I'm sure some of them will be personal, but there are some that won't be. Ok, so here are a few I've already come up with: Be at my goal weight by my 30th birthday. That gives me a little over 14 months to lose 130 lbs. Finish a 5k- hopefully I'll be doing that on Sept 8th. Get out of debt. Finish a sprint distance triathalon. Take the honeymoon cruise Aaron and I never went on. Pay cash for new furniture. Pay cash for a new (to us) van. Ok, so these are just a few of the ones that I came up with off the top of my head! As I come up with some more or complete some, I'll share posts about them. I'm excited about this and I hope that some of you will join me or at least make a list of your own! It's Monday again! Man, I feel like the weeks are going so fast! Although, ask me again on Wednesday and I might not feel like that. This week is going to be C-R-A-Z-Y! We have something going on every night but Thursday. My folks are coming in on Friday though, so I'm sure Thursday will be plenty busy. Because my parents are coming on Friday, I only meal planned for Mon - Thurs. Aaron and I will be at a youth function on Fri night so my folks will figure out what they will eat. Then once my folks get here we'll work out something for Saturday and Sunday. They're also watching thier calories so we'll all be eating healthy! Monday- Green Beans, Sausage, and Potatoes- This is one of Aaron's favorites and I like it because it's a crock pot meal! Tuesday- I'm going to be at a baby shower for a sweet friend at church on Tuesday, so Aaron will be taking the girls out for dinner for a Daddy/Daughter date night! Wednesday- Turkey Sandwiches- Wednesdays are always exceptionally crazy. Aaron comes home from work and picks us up and we head straight to youth group. Normally, I feed the girls before we leave and then I make sandwiches for Aaron and I to eat on the way there. Thursday- French Onion Burgers - I figured we need to have at least 1 regular meal this week. I like french onion burgers. They are an easy take on hamburgers and they are yummy! I just fix hamburgers in a skillet on the stove. When they're almost done, I add a can of low sodium french onion soup and let them simmer for a few mins. Plop on a bun, add a slice of cheese, and ta-da! Since it's a rather simple week, I was able to do all of our grocery shopping for about $65 dollars. I did some shopping at ALDI like I always do, then we hit up Meijer where they were doing the 10 for $10 sale. Then I finished up at Walmart. Disclaimer! Always make sure you check your prices before you jump feet first into 10 for $10 sales. If you aren't brand specific, a lot of time store brands are cheaper than the $1 price (ie- We got Meijer brand pudding for $.86 instead of $1 for Jello brand). Also, Marshmallows at Aldi were only $.76 cents instead of $1 at Meijer. The concept of 10 for $10 is great and we did get some great deals (Aunt Millie's Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins for a buck!) but sometimes it's deceiving! I'll leave you with this recipe I found on Pinterest this week. (Pinned here). I think this might be my post 5k reward after my race in Sept. It looks soooooo good! It's a vegan recipe too! I'm not a vegan, but I know there are great benefits to it. So, you can't really go wrong with this right!? Closing out the weekend with a little crafting. I'm making these for a baby shower we're having for a sweet friend at Church on Tuesday. As you can guess by the pictures, she's having a girl. I'll be putting flowers in these and making a burlap garland that says "Welcome Adalynn" to use as decorations as well. I'll try and get some pictures at the shower! I hope you all had a great weekend and I'll see you back here tomorrow!
I know today is supposed to be My Favorites Friday, but, I didn't get that post written and I don't really have time to do it now. But, I'll leave you with this, which probably would have made the list anyways...
I had a great run last night. I wasn't sure if I was going to get on in. Aaron worked super late plus we got a really bad thunderstorm. It rolled in just about the time I wanted to head out. But, wouldn't ya know, when it was over and the hubbs walked in, it was a nice cool 75 degrees (compared to the 100's we've been having) and perfect for a run. I had to be careful because there was mud in some places that I almost slipped on, but other than that, it was perfect conditions. I was pushing myself to get back to exactly where I was when I stopped running 3 weeks ago. I ended up doing a 1:30 run to 1 min walk. At about min 16 I did a 1:30/1:30, but picked it back up to 1:30/1 until the end. That's the first time I've ever (almost) completed it. So, last night's run was actually better than any of the ones I did 3 weeks ago. I ran more than I walked. A year ago, I would have laughed at this possibility. As I was running I was telling myself... your body can do this. It's your mind telling you to stop. Take control of your brain and stop listening to all the can'ts. Just do it. I would get a few seconds out from starting a run and I would just have to tell myself... just do it. Just go. And I did it. I think last night was the most satisfying night of running. I proved to myself that I can be in control and I can do it as long as I just push myself to. Nobody was out there yelling in my ear and no one was going to pat me on the back when I was done. And when I finished that last run it felt darn good! I know to some of you distance runners our there, this might sound somewhat silly. But remember, I'm a XXXlb person that hasn't run in years! This is a huge accomplishment for me! A few weeks ago I posted about the snowman candleholders we made for my mom for her birthday. We needed to make something super cheap, and I realized I had everything I needed for this project so it would be free. My mom loves snowmen and anything Emmy or Macie make for her, so this worked out great! I started with an empty jar, white tissue paper, my homemade decoupage medium, orange felt,red felt, black felt, and black construction paper. Emmy helped me rip the tissue paper into big pieces so we could glue them to the jar. Coat the jar with the decoupage medium, then place your tissue paper on the jar. Then give the tissue paper a good coat of decoupage. Repeat the process with the rest of the tissue paper, overlapping each piece until the jar is covered. I had to add an extra layer of tissue paper so it wasn't ultra see through. Make sure you cover the mouth of the jar as well. Once all the tissue paper is on, take the black construction paper and cut 2 circles for eyes and small circles for the mouth. I used a whole punch to make the small circles for the mouth. Decoupage the eyes and mouth onto the jar. Mine eyes didn't end up sticking so I had to glue them at the end. The rest I don't have pictures for, but I took the red felt and cut a strip about an inch thick for the scarf to go around the bottom. I cut a strip of back felt for the top, to look like part of a top hat. I used the orange felt and cut 2 equal size triangles for the nose. Once the tissue paper was completely dry, I used my hot glue gun and attached all the felt. Emmy and I made the first one, then I decided I wanted to do a tutorial so I did a 2nd jar, that's why there is 2. Emmy was so excited about them, she spilled the beans to my mom about what they were before she even opened the gift.
I feel a little bit on overload right now. In a spiritual sense. Our trip last week was awesome. I had a great time serving with our youth group kids, but it really opened up my eyes to how closed my eyes have been. I want to eventually write some posts about the things God has been showing me, but, I have to get it all organized in my brain in a blog post sort of way. Right now it would just tumble out in a nonsensicle mishmash.
But, one thing I will share that God is showing me- I love blogging. I love sharing with people and I really feel like this is an outlet God has provided. BUT, not at the detriment of my life. God's really been working on me with being more prioritized and scheduled. I feel like my brain is still somewhat disengaged from last week so I've had a hard time jumping back into things. But, I know God has his hand in that because I want to reengage the right way. Some friends make fun of me for being the queen of to-do lists and spread sheets, which may be true, but none of those things will help me if my life isn't in the right order. So, I've said all this to say- I love this blog. I love sharing with you. But, right now God is rearranging my life and I'm not positive where the blog falls on His list. I know it will be on the list, just in what spot I'm not sure. So, right now, that means they may not be posted first thing in the morning. I might miss a day. Until God shows me exactly what place this blog has in my life there might be a little bit of blog craziness. But I'm ok with that and I hope you are too. I wasn't absolutely dreading this AM's weigh in because I knew I'd lost so much water weight over the last few days. But, I was suprised when I stepped on the scale and it said -3. That's the lowest I've been since I started this whole process. And it's 10 lbs lost since Sunday. Obviously, a lot of that is water weight, but still. My run last night was pretty good. I started off really strong. I got new running shoes which made a huge difference. I was going pretty strong with the 1:30 run then 1:30 walk. I was able to do that until about the 22 min mark. Then I went to 1 min/1 min. I did one cycle like that and went back to the 1:30/1:30. I'm pretty pleased because that's almost exactly where I left off 3 weeks ago. Tomorrow I'll do all 1:30/1:30, and then hopefully on Sat and I can 1:30/1. Then next week I can start the 2min/1min. This is going to get deep for a min so hang with me... I've realized over the last few years that I'm a people pleaser. It's not that I haven't always known that, but until recently, I didn't realize the depth of it. I'm so concerned about letting people down that I normally quit half way or just don't do it (whatever IT is) to begin with. Prime example.... I've been so nervous about not being able to finish the 5k. And I know, in reality, even if I have to walk it all, I'll finish. BUT, I'm training to run it, not walk it. And I just feel like people would be so dissapointed if I didn't run it. And I started stressing about that, so I started making excuses and just stopped training all together. Then I got stressed out because I was behind and now it's crunch time and I really may not be ready. Last night as I was running I was thinking about all the people who would be proud to know I was at it again, but I had to stop myself and ask who I was doing this for. And the honest answer is, I don't really know. Yeah, I'll be happy when I'm skinny and healthy and can do things I haven't been able to do in a while and God calls us to be healthy and live physically in a Christlike way, but is that my true motivation or am I doing this because I want people to be proud of me and approve of me? Pinned Here.
But it's about the paint. We heard these words over and over again while taking part in the Refresh Project, 2012 in Toronto. Aaron, myself, 2 other adult sponsors, and 5 teens from our church packed up and loaded up with 100 others from the Indianapolis area and headed to Canada. 12 hours later we met up with another 250 people (from MI, IL, WI, and other parts of IN) to take part in a week long mission trip. We were there working with Emmanuel Nazarene Church and thier community center, Ephriam's Place. For the sake of keeping this post from being extra long, I'll just tell you to head to thier website and read the story about how Ephriam's Place got started.
Below is just a recap of the painting we did. I'll do another post on Wed about all the awesome things God did and showed me while we were there. I put pictures at the bottom of the post. We arrived on Sun night. We headed straight to the church where we got a basic rundown of what we'd be doing. After leaving the church we checked into our hotel and rested up for the next day. We had no idea what was in store. Monday, we headed to our site which was about 45 mins from our hotel. We were in the city of Missisagua just outside of Toronto. We joined with 2 other churches that had smaller groups of kids, and between our churches, we had enough kids to create a girls group of 9 and a guys group of 7.. Our girls group (GG for times sake) was one of the last groups to be assigned to a unit. The boys group (BG) had a unit and got painting right away. Our workday was supposed to be from 9-4. At 10:30 we finally got into a unit and started painting. There ended up being about 23 people in a small apartment. We had the opportunity to work with another group of students that were part of the boys and girls club of Toronto. After we painted, we cleaned up at the hotel and headed to the church for dinner and a service. They provided Jamaican food for us. It was actually really good! After the service we went to Walmart so the kids could pick up some snacks. Tuesday we headed back to the same sight but we painted down the street at some townhouses. We painted the living room, kitchen, 2 flights of stairs, 2 hallways, and 1 bathroom. The family had a little boy named Enrique. We enjoyed playing with him while we painted! After showering at the hotel we went to a local mall called Vaughn Mills. The kids had the opportunity to shop while the adults sat and ate at a really nice restaurant. We went back to the hotel and played some games before bed. Wednesday we were back at the apartments. We worked with a nice man from Pakistan, Haza. We painted his kitchen, dining room, living room, entry way, hallway, 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and 4 closets. It was basically every wall in his house. He fixed us a very good (and VERY spicy) chicken and rice dish. We enjoyed painting for him. He even gave us ice cream when we were done! We had the opportunity to work with a few of the boys and girls club members again and one of the members of the worship team from Olivet on Wed. Later that night we headed back to the church for dinner and a service. We had Korean food for dinner. YUM! It was really good! After the service we headed back to Walmart for another snack run. Thursday we (GG) worked in a townhouse again. The site leaders approached us on Wed and asked if we'd be willing to paint in a townhouse that had some special circumstances. The family that lived there included a 12 yr old autistic boy and they were sure exactly how the envoirment would be. We agree to paint it and headed out on Thurs morning. We got into the house and were overwhelmed with the smell and condition of the house. Dirty would be an understatment. But, we got to work! We painted the kitchen, living room, 3 hallways, 1 flight of stairs, 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. By this time we'd really gotten into a rythm and we were able to finish by 2:30. We had the opportunity to paint with some of the BG on Thursday, which we hadn't done all week. After cleaning up we headed back to Vaughn Mills Mall. The kids enjoyed shopping again. After that we headed back to the hotel and played some cards! Friday was our free day. Kinda. We got to sleep in and headed to our site for a BBQ. We helped load up all the supplies we used throughout the week and then headed to the church. We had a debriefing and then headed into downtown Toronto for a Toronto Blue Jays game. The baseball game was totally unimpressive but being there was fun! We got back pretty late from that and tried to get as much packed as we could. Saturday morning we loaded up and hit the road about 8:30. We made it home in almost exactly 12 hours! |
HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|