Well, it's here! The last day of 2012. It feels so crazy to me to type that. I feel like my natural reaction is to type 2000 or something. I have no idea where the time has gone! I know that 2013 will go just as quickly!
Tomorrow I'll be posting my New Year resolutions. I don't really like that word, but I guess that's what they are. I prefer goals. I won't be starting all of them tomorrow, so it's more a general "Things I'd Like to Accomplish" list. But, today it's time for Menu Monday! I only planned through Friday as I'm not exactly sure what our weekend might look like. Aaron finally starts the 2nd half of his training for work on Wednesday. I know he's thankful to be getting back to work and I'm ready to get back into a routine. I haven't had to grocery shop yet and I don't plan on doing it until later this week some time. We've got enough to carry us through until next weekend. We might run out of staples, but for those I'll just make a quick trip. Alright, here we go... Monday- Taco Salad. We're having friends over for dinner tonight and their son has a gluten allergy. I'm not really voiced in the way of gluten free cooking, so after conferring with my friend, his mom, we decided to go with Taco Salads. Tortilla chips are gluten free as well as most all of the things you'd put on a taco salad, including ground beef. So, that's the plan! Tuesday- Chicken N Noodles. This is a carryover from last week. We were supposed to have it for dinner yesterday and I didn't end up cooking at all. So, we'll have it tomorrow. It's delicious and easy! I enjoy most any crock pot meal. Wednesday- Chicken Pita Pizza- this was also a carryover from last week. We ended up having so many leftover last week that I didn't cook as much as I planned on. So, on this week's menu it goes! Thursday- Shepherd's Pie. This is one of my childhood favorites. It's simple and hearty and everyone in my family eats it! Friday- Pizza! I know that after a few long days of training for Aaron and getting back into the swing of things for me, we'll both appreciate a delivery night! So, there ya have it! Pretty simple menu this week. Next week's menu will look a little different as it will relate to some of our New Years Goals in the house! Hope you all have a great and safe New Years Eve!!
0 Comments
#1. Last Saturday we were able to start a new tradtion (hopefully) that we had so much fun doing. We made sugar cookies, decorated them, and then delivered them to some families in our Church while we were singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas. The girls had so much fun doing it and so did we. Emmy was all about the singing until we got to the door, then her 1 oz of shyness kicked in. But we had so much fun and I wanted to be able to start teaching the girls that Christmas is not about getting, it's about giving!
2. Christmas!!!!! How Could I do a My Favorites Friday post and it not include Christmas. Since we're still in transition between Aaron's jobs, money has been a little tight. We decided a while ago that we weren't going to go crazy and buy the girls tons and tons of gifts that #1 we didn't have money for and #2 they didn't need. We also went back and forth about doing Santa, and we decided we'd do 1 gift to both of them from Santa. We addressed this all season and reinforced the fact that Christmas is about Baby Jesus, Santa is just a bonus. Anyways, the girls had so much fun opening a gift each from us and then the one for both of them from Santa. In that last week, we've had so much fun playing with them! 3. On Christmas Eve we were able to head to the Children's Museum here with some friends. This picture is of Emmy digging for dinosaur bones. We'd never been and it was open for 4 hours for free so we decided to head over there. I've heard the free admission days are a little crazy, but honestly, I didn't feel it was that bad. It was busy, but not insane. Well, my kids were.... Yes, we were those parents who had kids laying on the floor throwing temper tantrums. I spent a good portion of the day standing in a back hallway with a screaming child. Oh well. It happens. We didn't get to see everything we wanted to, but we'll make a trip back sometime soon! 4. My winter mantle isn't necessarily MFF worthy, but I love it. I was having a hard time coming up with something that I liked. I moved the stuff around about 30 times and decided just to leave it be and maybe some more inspiration would come to me. Yesterday we were at the store and all of their Christmas decorations were 50% off so I grabbed the white and silver candle holders. You can't tell my terribly grainy picture, but the shiny silver candle holder looks like bark. I love it. So once I got those up there I liked the placement of things, but I knew it needed something else. So, I sent my gracious husband out into the snow to trim some branches off of the dogwood tree out front. I love the way it came together! The New Years subway art is from here. 5. There's no picture for #5. I don't think it's possible to have a picture of it. But one of the best things about this week has been being together as a family. We've been blessed to have Aaron home this week as he waits to finish his job training. They pushed back the original date until next week, and I can honestly say I wasn't super dissapointed. I know the girls have enjoyed having him home for almost 2 weeks. And I won't lie, I have too! I mentioned last week or the week before that one of the original reasons I started this blog was to chronicle my weight loss journey. Last January, as a typical new year resolution, I made the decision that I was going to lose weight. Once and for all. I'd gained a significant amount of weight after I got married and tried unsuccesfully to lose that weight over the last 5 yrs. Add having 2 kids to the mix and things got out of hand. So, as I said, I decided it was time to be serious about it a year ago. I can say that I made some very good choices last year. I wasn't as successful or committed as I'd hoped to be, but I did start running, ran 2 5k's, and lost 20 lbs. To me, the first 2 are huge. Never in a million years did I think I'd run. On purpose. In September, the climate of my life changed. My priorities changed and I lost sight of the reason I was choosing to get healthy. Thankfully I didn't gain back any weight during these past months. But I did stop running and I know that I've lost much of my "physical fitness".
I've struggled over the last few weeks knowing that I absolutely have to get back to it. I WANT to be healthy. I NEED to be healthy. But, let's be honest. Eating whatever you want and not exercising is easy. It's the easy way out of things. Also, I've used food to medicate myself my entire life. I've noticed over the last 6 weeks that when I'm upset or stressed out, I just want to eat. Even if I'm not hungry. And as soon as I do, I feel better. I'm pretty familiar with dependencies of all sorts and the scientific studies and facts behind them, but it's hard to relate that to yourself. Especially with food. But, as hard as it is, I know that I've used food as a "feel good" drug my entire life. I've used it to mask and medicate pain and emotions. This last year, I was able to fight through those things. Not address those issues, just control them, long enough to create some healthy habits and lose some weight. But when the going got rough, that addiction, that craving just became too strong. It wasn't something I could control anymore. And I gave back into the comfort of food. So... I'm resolving again that in 2013 I will lose weight. I'm not going to put big numbers on it. I'm not going to set outrageous goals. I do have goals set, and I will share them in a minute. I want specific things to work towards. BUT. My big goal this year is to take away the power I've given to food. To address the pain, and the feelings, and the stress. Deal with the root of the sin. Because really, that's exactly what this is. It's sin. So I will address that sin and give it over to the One who's promised to fight for me. The One's who's promised to make all things possible through Him. My entire life I've compartmentalized this problem. This weight issue. And I will never be successful at it if I don't see it honestly and deal with it the only way it can be dealt with.... With God's help and direction. A Pastor friend of ours said something in a sermon a few years ago, and as soon as he said it, I wrote it down. It's been a quote that has impacted me greatly the last few years.... "Sin is not a pet to be tamed, it's a dragon to be slain."- David Morris This year I'm not going to tame this sin of food addiction. Of pain medicating. Of stress handling. I'm going to stand on the promises that God has given me and I'm going to overcome it. So... now onto those goals.... - I'm going to start running again. Aaron and I decided that with the financial gain we'll have this year with his new job, we're going to just bite the bullet and get a gym membership. As much as we'd like to use that money to pay off our debt, we know that this is the best thing for us right now and we're willing to make adjustments for that. So, with that being said, I'm starting the Couch to 5k program over again. - I'm going to run 2 5k's this year. Aaron's said he wants to train with me. So, we're going to register for the Indy 500 Festival 5k on May 4th. After that, I'm planning on doing one of the races I did this year- The Relay for Life 5k. It supports a great cause and it will be a great opportunity to see how my time has improved not only from this year, but from the spring to the fall of 2013. - I'm only going to drink 8 oz of pop a day. I love pop. I drink WAY too much of it. I'm going to replace 90% of what I drink with water. Right now these are the top goals. I'm going to be calorie counting to actually lose the weight. I'm hoping to be able to hit the ground running and maintain a 1.5 to 2lb weight loss each week. I know that's a tad bit on the high side, but I know I'm capable of it and it's pretty close to what I was able to average this last year when I was committed to it. I intend on using Wednesdays as my blog update day and Friday as my weigh in day. Stick with me through this. If something I've said today has struck a cord with you, leave me a comment or send me a message. I don't want to do this alone and I don't want you to do it alone either. Support from each other is one of the best aids of the process. I would love to support you through this but I want you to be real and honest. Masking the issue or diminishing it isn't slaying the dragon, it's taming the pet. Christmas is without a doubt my favorite holiday. I love the family and friends, the parties, the celebration, the joy.... and I love the hope that this holiday represents. The hope of a Savior. The hope of a future. 2000 years ago a baby came and brought hope and life to a dying world. And every single day since then, God has come, pursuing us relentlessly.
Steven Curtis Chapman has a song that I love because it states clearly the truth of Christmas. This is the chorus from The Miracle of Christmas... "...And the God who spoke is speaking still And the God who came still comes And the miracle that happened Still happens in the heart that will believe And we see the miracle of Christmas..." If you don't know the God who wrapped himself in flesh and came to earth in the most humble way- He's looking for you. He's pursuing you. He's jealous for you. HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!!! And He left the glory and splendor of Heaven and gave His life just to offer you salvation. And this Christmas, He wants to give it to you for free. It's His gift to you. Merry Christmas! Oh man, what a great weekend we had! And unfortunately I have an extreme lack of pictures! Saturday we took the opportunity to start a new tradition with our kids. We had a yummy dinner of just appetizers and then we baked and decorated cookies and delivered them to some families in our church along with a Christmas carol or two. We had so much fun! The girls liked delivering the cookies and seeing familiar faces and Aaron and I were glad to be teaching them that Christmas isn't all about recieving! I'm looking forward to being able to do this every year with the girls! Yesterday we had a great simple Christmas service at Church and then spent the rest of the day relaxing as a family. I know I said this on Friday but I'm overjoyed at how our holiday season so far has been simple and relaxing. It's given us the opportunity to focus on the important things. Today!!! It's Christmas Eve! This is my favorite day! Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but the anticipation of Christmas Eve is my favorite. We're taking advantage of free admission at the Indianapolis Children's Museum and meeting friends there for a day of fun! Then we're heading to a Christmas Eve service at a church here in town. Then home so I can go on a wrapping spree! We've kept no wrapped gifts under our tree because, well, they wouldn't stay wrapped very long. So, that's what I'll be doing tonight! Menu MondayI planned meals for Tuesday through Sunday. After Christmas we'll be getting into our new normal routine. Aaron starts his regular work at the Post Office and we'll have more of an idea of what his schedule will be like. Emmy's out of school until early January so we don't have to worry about packing lunches right now, so my grocery shopping was rather easy. I did a stock up shop this week so the fridge and cabinets are full!
Monday- Spaghetti. I figured I'd fix the girls favorite dinner on such a special day. Tuesday- We're having chili with Aaron's family during our Christmas celebration so we'll probably just end up making sandwiches for dinner. Wednesday- Taco Salad. Aaron found a new recipe in one of our Weight Watchers cookbooks so I'm trying that. If it's good or if I change it up a little, I'll link it up on my recipes page. Thursday- Chicken Pita Pizza. Also another recipe Aaron suggested out of the Weight Watchers cookbook. This one is a little out of the box for us so we'll see how it turns out! Friday- Green Beans, Sausage, and Potatoes. A staple in our house. And easy. Perfect winter meal. Saturday- Sandwiches. Easy easy. Sunday- Chicken N Noodles. Another family favorite and total comfort food. We're supposed to get a pretty big snow storm sometime this week, so I figured I'd max us out on the winter food this week! I hope that everyone has a great Christmas Eve! Ok, so I don't think I have to do a true confession for you. It's pretty obvious that my week gets away from me. Before I know it things get crazy and I've only posted once or twice in a week. It's not my intention, trust me. I just need to work out a little better schedule in the day so I can get a blog post typed up. Anyways, back to My Favorite Fridays.... 1. Aaron and I were able to go to Emmy's Christmas party at school yesterday. She loved having us there and we loved being there. She was excited to show us everything. They played games, made some crafts, read some books, had a snack, at attempted playing musical chairs. A great time had by all! I'm so thankful that we've found a school that Emmy loves and that Emmy loves in return. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Kelley. It made me a little sad knowing that Mrs. Kelley wouldn't be her teacher next year. I told myself not to think too far ahead, there's still half a year to enjoy this class. And I'm positive that next year will be just as good. And next year we'll have 2 kids there instead of 1! 2. I read a short devotional early in December this year about complicating Christmas. We often say Jesus is the Reason for the Season, but that never seems to keep us from packing our schedules full, traveling cross country, buying stuff we don't need, and stressing every minute about every detail. I knew we didn't have travel plans this year for Christmas, or many plans at all to be honest, and I purposed that this Christmas would be a simple one. Simple in many ways. Low stress, more time making memories than making plans, and being an open example to my kids about what the miracle of Jesus birth is really about. And I can sit here right now and say in honesty that I'm so happy with how the last few weeks have been. Last night we were able to STRESS FREE walk through the mall and enjoy the holiday cheer and being together. We've had the opportunity to sit and watch Christmas movies together as a family and eat popcorn and snuggle. We've been able to pile in the van and just spend some time enjoying Christmas lights a few times just this week. It's been one of my favorite Christmas Seasons to date. At least in the 5 yr history of our little family. 3. Aaron started his new job this week! He had two and a half days of training at the begining of the week. He seems pretty excited to get started and I'm so thankful he's got something to be excited about again! He starts back on the 26th. I know he's glad to have some time off, but he's also ready to get things going. 4. This last Tuesday we had our Women's Christmas Tea for Church. This was our third year doing it and our first year hosting it on our own. It's one of my favorite events that we do at Church and I was so excited about it again this year. The last 2 years we've LOVED going to some nearby Tea Rooms, but we knew we'd be able to do it a little more inexpensively this year. Due to the nasty flu that's going around, it was rescheduled once and the location was moved last minute but it still turned out great. I'm planning on doing a bonus post with more pictures today or on Monday. We had a great time and the food was excellent! 5. One of the best things about this week is that the flu is over!!! It's finally out of our house and the house is clean and degermed! Here's to hoping we're protected from it for the rest of the season! My prayer for you over the last few days of this Christmas season is that in the rush and craziness of the last minute, that you would stop and take some time to reflect on what Jesus coming to this earth, taking on flesh, living, and then dying -for you- means to you right now. At this point in your life, whenever you are in your marriage, your situation with your kids, your relationship with your friends and family, whatever your struggle, hurt, or pain is... What does the birth of that baby mean to you?
Consider it. Write a few things down. Post them somewhere. That way when the craziness of the next few days peaks and your mind is going a mile a minute and wrapping paper is coming out of your ears, you have a reminder right in front of you of your specific "reason for the season"! I know I'm a little late with this post today. Two reasons for that - It's Menu Monday and I've got no menu planned and quite honestly, I just wasn't sure where to go with today's blog post. I've seen many other bloggers that have shared the same sentiment. After the heartbreaking events of Friday, it's hard to just move on to normal life. I think partly because it's not "normal" anymore. Not how we knew it. I can't pretend to even understand how friends and families and residents of Newtown are feeling and I don't want to make it seem as if I do. I've lost loved ones, never in such an immediate violent way and I've obviously never lost a child.... But... I do know this- GOD IS FAITHFUL! And He stands behind the promises He's made us! Psalms 147:3 says- He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Thank you God for that promise! Let's continue praying for the families of Newtown, CT. Let's continue praying that they will cling to God's faithfulness and the promises He's made us. Even when it doesn't make sense. Even when it hurts. Even when it's hard. Alright, well... back to it. So, you read that right earlier- I've got no menu planned. All I know is that tonight we're having breakfast for dinner. We've been battling the stomach flu like crazy over the weekend and we're all still on the mend. And quite honestly, the thought of thinking about food or going to the grocery store still kind of makes my stomach turn. So, tomorrow, I'll be back with maybe a menu and hopefully something else a little more inspiring or creative!
It seems that this year, more than ever, I've heard Christmas messages, Bible studies, and just comments in general leading us from the Manger back to the Cross. We spend these last few weeks of the year celebrating the Baby who was born. And rightfully so. But, do we take enough time to think about how that Baby was the one who came and willing gave himself to save us.
I've refused to turn the news on today. I don't think that my heart could contain it. Just the few scant details I know have already broken my heart. I'm angry. Furious actually. I don't get it. All I can think about are those gifts already wrapped under the Christmas tree that will never be opened. The Christmas cookies that will never be baked. The Christmas pajamas that will never be worn. By kids. By helpless children. And I weep. I weep for thier parents and families. I feel helpless. And yet somehow, I feel that it's no coincidence that I've heard so much over the last few weeks about how that Baby, that little helpless child- the man who willing took on my anger, and my hurt, and my frustration and died because He loved me more than I will ever understand. That little baby is the same God who's holding those families now. Carrying them when they (probably very literaly) can't stand. That baby is the same God who will love and grow and hopefully heal those other children who experienced this sensless evil today. And that Man, that very same Baby will one day defeat evil. He will crush it under His foot. Do not discount that Baby this Christmas season. Do not discount the love and strength and power that was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And then pray. Pray for those families that were so deeply wounded today. I've linked up my White Chicken Chili on my recipe page! It was a huge hit in our house, check it out!
Ok, so big annoucement! Well, kind of. If you follow my husband on Facebook, this is not new information to you. But, if you don't, I wanted to put this out there because there are big changes coming to the Wainscott house!!! And no, I'm not expecting. But, Aaron and I have been praying dilligently (along with loads of other people who've been praying for us) about Aaron finding a new job. This has been a prayer that we've prayed for a few years now. And I'm glad to annouce that IT'S HAPPENED!!!! He will be starting training for his new position with the United States Postal Service on Dec 26th. We've known for a little over a week, but some information was coming in slowly about where he would be located. Currently, his daily commute is about 50 miles and we were hoping that he'd be able to work out of the Postal Office that's about 3 miles from our home. You can imagine what a 6 mile daily commute would do for our gas budget, compared to a 50 mile commute. So, we've been praying that we'd be excepting of what God's will was for his location, as he could have been located in any postal office in the city of Indianapolis. We found out yesterday that God had answered another prayer! He's working out of our local office! His last day of work at his current job is next Tuesday. There's a small possibility that he'll start his training on the 19th instead of the 26th. If not, he'll have about a week of work off. It will be so nice to have him home with us for those few days if it works out! We'll be able to celebrate Christmas stress free! Thank you to everyone who's prayed and prayed and prayed for us during this time. Keep the prayers coming though! Aaron's training process will be extensive and we're praying his transition is a smooth one! Alright, well, if you've followed my blog from the begining, you might remember that Wednesday's were originally intended to be update days for my weight loss journey. Well, yeah. As you can tell, that stopped happening months ago. Last night Aaron and I decided that it was time to get started again. I took some time off from counting calories and running, and I can tell! Especially over the last few weeks I've felt unhealthy and very blah! My body is telling me... yuck! Start fixing me again! I have yet to put some goals on paper and get everything planned out, but, it's coming. So keep your eyes peeled for it!
I'd like to open this up to you as well- if you're thinking of starting (or continuing or restarting) your weight loss journey, why don't you join me! Leave a comment or send a message and we can get a group started for support and encouragement. I've learned it's nearly impossible to do alone. I've sucessfully lost 20 lbs so far, and I didn't lose a pound of it alone! Together we can learn how our food choices can be pleasing to God and what HE says about who we are, not who or what the world says we are! It doesn't matter if you've got lots of weight to lose, or no weight to lose and just want to make healthier choices- lets do it together! I look forward to hearing from you! |
HEY, I'M JESSICA!
Christian. Wife. Mommy. Daughter. Pastor. Friend. Saved.Redeemed. Beloved.
Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|