A New Me!

Hello Friends on this lovely Monday afternoon. Today's money saving Monday post I wanted to share a little from my life, that in many ways will save me money, but in other ways will save me much more than this.

I need to be better. I really do. I got to get out of this weakened stage of trying to set goals and then kind of fading out back to lazy unproductive ways. My husband officially finishes his classes this week for this year, so starting next Monday on through till January I get him to myself in the mornings before he goes to work in the evening. I am so excited to have more time with him and we can do more productive things together.

We have talked about starting to work out better once he is done with classes, since he has been so endlessly busy he just really REALLY hasn't had any time for it with school and work coming out of his ears. I am excited to have a work out buddy, I think it will make things go smoother and have that much more of a commitment system. But I also feel that I still need a commitment all on my own. I need to be willing to change even if I couldn't have my husband to be my workout buddy.

This was us on Independence day. I love that we all look happy and that this was such a fun happy day. But I don't like necessary like how I have been feeling lately. When I was pregnant I was still busy with school and work and my internship so I had things keeping me busy and keeping me walking good long distances around town. I felt fit and healthy. I think this helped me so much in loosing my baby weight so quickly, but once I had my little girl my life of productivity came to a crazy halt and the only thing I had going on anymore was just taking care of my little girl and help my husband maintain his sanity. I rarely had reasons to leave the house and my willingness to be active at home was slacking. So even though I don't look terrible in this picture, I want to look and even more so FEEL better. So I am making a commitment, I am going to be better, I am going to feel better. Since I am home with just me and the girl a lot and I can't get a better one for the moment, the above picture is sort of my "before" picture, and I am determined to look and feel better in an "after" picture later on.

Here's to a new me. I am going to eat better (although I am going to still leave a little room for slip ups, I love sugar, and especially chocolate too much to completely deny myself it, I know it would be an accident waiting to happen, I will just need to control and maintain my cravings better!!), I am going to be better at drinking water, I am going to excise 5-6 times a week, I am going to read my scriptures better, I am going to pray better (these really help in making my days feel better).

Yes, I am going to be better. I have heard many a times that if you write things down in your goal process, it helps to be more committed and helps you to see where you have come. I have also heard that if you "report" to someone it makes you that much more willing to keep up, so I am going to put my little updates here, to make myself be more committed.

As of today: My waist is 31 1/2 inches, my thighs are 21 1/4 inches, my arms are 13 inches, my hips are 39 1/2 inches and my weight is 160lbs. I know this isn't a true measurement and way of telling how well I am doing in my goal to FEEL better, but I know that all these areas could be minimized a good amount to being at a more healthier level.

Also as of today: I currently read for 5 minutes of scriptures, and I constantly fall asleep when I pray, but I have been fairly consistent at praying morning and night. I eat three meals a day, but probably one too many servings for each meal, I snack off and on throughout the day on animal crackers (they are just so yummy) and I try to eat a fruit or vegetable with each meal, but doesn't always happen. I make all our bread and I make it about 75% whole wheat. I try to cook with brown rice, lentils, beans and wheat for our meals, but I could be a little more consistent at this. I haven't counted it very well, but I probably drink about 3-5 glasses of water a day. For the past week I have been doing trampoline workouts, crunches and push-ups for about 10 minutes tops, but today I ran/walked a quarter of mile in the park for about 20 minutes with an additional 10 minutes of warm up and cool down ( I really need to get better at this). This is where I am at, and I really could be at a better level in all these areas as well.

 Overall I need more consistency in my life, I need to be better!

Here is our "Jacob Gym" that we put together earlier this year when it was super cold out and it was almost impossible to do any outdoor exercising. I wasn't the best at taking advantage of it, but again, I am going to do better.

 We have the lovely trampoline (which is my favorite to use), a tread mill and a work out ball. Then it isn't pictured, but we have a yoga mat, jump rope, and "perfect push-ups".

 I put this wall decor together to add a little color and life to our little gym. The four squares are foam and I just glued scrapbook paper to them, then also gluing the white paper lines.

 Then I made these word signs, to have a reminder about keeping my body healthy

 and remembering that this body was a gift from a loving Father, a loving Savior, and I should take good care of it.

 The middle picture is one I took some time ago of our backyard, and I entered it into a local picture contest and won first place in the adult division. I like to have this picture on the wall as a reminder that I am not a failure, that I am capable of things, great things, if I would just give myself the chance. As I mentioned in other posts I greatly struggle with feeling a sense of my self worth, so this picture is a nice reminder that I am important and I can do great things.

So this post may kind of appear pretty jumbled and random in thoughts of just trying to be better. Well I mentioned in the beginning that this would help save me money and also some other things. Well to get back to those thoughts, what has really got me thinking about wanting to be better, to have a greater change is thinking about my Momma. Today is her birthday. If my brain is working correctly and I am thinking straight, if she were here today, she would be 58 years old. If she were here maybe we would be having a fun party celebrating her and the great lady she is and all that she has meant to me and my family (well maybe not entirely this one, since I am Idaho, and I think she would still be living in Arizona, so it would have to be a long distance celebrating). If she were still here I would have called her and wished her a happy birthday, chatting and talking about things we both have going on in our lives. I would let her talk to my little girl on the phone, let her listen to her crazy squills and load babbles and adorable little self. I would have sent her a card or an email expressing my gratitude for the blessing she has been in my life and thanking her for all that she does.

 This was the last birthday she had here on earth. She was so happy, or at least she put the show that she was- she was probably in a lot of pain this day, like most days on her last days on earth.

I really miss her, some days more than others. She had cancer. She died from pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadliest out there. I don't know exactly what caused her to have it, but I want to be better now, so that I can help save myself a little longer for my family. Maybe I will die young too, you just never really know what life will bring. But I can at least do my part to be as much healthy as I can to that much help keep myself here a little longer for my family, for myself. They say our health is 50% genetics and 50% lifestyle. Even though there is still 50% I can't control, there is still a good 50% I CAN control, and I want to be better.

So to a new me- Happy Birthday Momma- I want to be healthier to hopefully give myself the years on this earth I need to live up to her legacy, to be the person God wants me to be.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget that the "50th Venture Celebration Giveaway" has started today, and will be open for two weeks, go HERE to enter and check out details of it. In case you hadn't heard about it, I will be giving away 15 free alligator clips. And I am starting to work on making some clips, so I will share what I got going to give you some ideas of what can be done with them- so come join the fun and thanks again for coming by! :)

Until next time! . . . . .