A Week...

So, it's been a week since my last post and I wish I had something exciting to write about, but I really don't. For the past 2 weeks, I have been going room to room in my house and cleaning it top to bottom. I mean this literally...I dust ceilings, clean baseboards, wipe down light fixtures and fans...you get the picture. I've also been touching up trouble spots with some white paint since not only do we have WHITE carpet (that's about to get a visit from Stanley Steemer because my steemer just isn't strong enough!), but all of our trim is WHITE. Ugh. So you can imagine what a few spots look like after a 2 YO likes to run into doors and walls full speed. Oh, all our window sills are white as well. And let's just say--we have 8 windows alone in our bonus room, 4 in the master bedroom, etc. Again, you get the picture.
Hayden is definitely good at being 2, but he's also just hysterical. Please read my Facebook statuses to see what he's been saying lately. He can definitely say anything he wants...and he does!
I really need to get better about adding pictures here. Sorry, that's makes for boring posts, huh? Alright, so I'm off to clean blinds. Don't you wish you were me?!
Embarrassing confession: I really like Selena Gomez's song "Who Says?" Yikes.

Jesus is Sad

We must be doing something right in our home. This afternoon Hayden was actually (gasp!) playing in his room by himself while I was cleaning and he came out and said, "Mommy, Jesus sad." I said, "What? Jesus is sad?" He nodded his head and quipped, "Yep." Then he showed me his Bible that he was apparently reading (yes!!). (I wish I remember which story it was.) Then he went back into his room and shut the door. About ten minutes later, Hayden reappeared and said, "Mommy! Jesus happy!" and showed me a new Bible story. He definitely already has his favorites!

David said that at bedtime last night, he mentioned Joshua and Hayden said, "March!" He loves the story of the battle of Jericho, especially the picture of the soldiers marching in his Bible. Yea, yea, yea!!!

Ground Turkey

I am so proud of David. He is very committed to getting back in shape; I have hoped for years we could do this together and now we finally are. It's a great testimony for Hayden to see us doing it together and as a family. Hayden eats superbly: fruits, veggies, you name it. Yes, he knows what cupcakes and cookies and pizza are, but we have limited his contact with those. US? Yeah, we haven't been as diligent in that task...until recently.

So how does my title incorporate itself into this post? We have purged our kitchen. I'm sure not every last little remaining thing is healthy, but for the most part, our pantry and cabinets and fridge are the "cleanest" they've been in our marriage! Our bodies are slowly stopping craving all that junk we've been justifying. Again, don't get me wrong...I'm not saying I don't splurge or eat badly every so often, but for the most part, I'm back to eating the way I did in college when I was able to lose 60lbs. Yep, 60. So you can see my unhappiness with sitting at my current weight. However, I was also working out 2 hrs. (min.)/day with a friend 5-7 times a week. After having a baby, a highly stressful job, and just not wanting to exercise, I gained a good bit of that back. I did lose 15 lbs. before school let out and that was just from counting calories.

Now David and I have a good system of going to the gym: he goes on his way home from work and then I go before Hayden's bedtime. I'm still not able to work out every single day due to other obligations, but I'm watching what I eat closely and I'm kicking butt on the elliptical! I've also added running back into my schedule. I was almost able to do a complete mile last night after having not run in pretty much 2 years. I was excited about that. Now the task is to keep it up! We're bombarded with food everywhere (those marketing folks sure know what they're doing!), and my personality is like the chick on the Yoplait cheesecake commercial where I justify what I can/can't eat: "I had tuna for lunch so a piece of cake won't hurt me." (that mentality)

Anyway, my title concerns the fact that I tried a recipe with ground turkey for the first time tonight. Yeah, so far not a fan. Maybe that will change!

New Direction

I've tried to keep this under wraps, so to speak, until I knew for sure this was the direction God was leading our family. I will not be returning to teach this fall. As most of you have noticed, this past year was extremely difficult for a number of reasons. David and I had thrown around many options as a way for us to improve my attitude and get me back on track. This included things such as moving, pursuing children's ministry again, and even completely changing careers. The answer came from an unexpected source.

A former co-worker who had her baby last October and decided to stay home walked into my classroom one afternoon. See, she is planning to open a preschool this fall and I had inquired about a place for Hayden (again, for various reasons). Anyway, long story short, she looked at me and said, "So, you want a new job?" I kind of laughed at her. But she was serious! So I will be a director at Peace of Mind Preschool. David and I prayed about this and really talked it out before we made any decision. I'll be doing either tutorial or long-term subbing until we're ready to open, so we're hoping for an early open date! I'm praying things continue to progress smoothly and all the pieces fall into place.

We will be needing personnel and a food service manager. I'm very excited and anxious. I'm so thankful David is supporting this new venture. Hayden will get to be with me every day and I'll work fewer hours. For our family at this stage or our lives, this is the best thing that could have happened. The week that Jessica walked into my classroom was truly an answer to prayer, and other things have just fallen into place since. Pray for us as we embark on this new adventure!

Making it Burn

Ahhhh...the gym! I can't tell you how excited I am to be working out again. I hit the weight machines tonight after my warm-up and it felt amazing to see those muscles moving. Since I was there in the final hour before closing, I didn't get to do quite as much as I would have liked, but I ran upstairs to hit cardio and get the heart rate going.

And since I'm working out in the evenings, the gym is nearly patron-free, so my self-confidence hits the roof and I go for it. Figured out a new machine on my own tonight that I had never seen before or tried, and I didn't feel weird trying to get it down because no one was watching! I would have like to do the circuit once more before heading home, but I was literally the final member in the gym (and the lights were off), so I went on out the door. I want to get (well, I'm not even exactly sure what they're called!) a monitor I can wear like a watch that counts the total calories I burn while exercising. This way I'm not just aware of what I've burned on the cardio machines; I can see the results of my lifting as well. I feel like a new person when I'm working out!