#FitByFirst, Day 22- But this has very little to do with that

Well the invasion of college kids has turned into a wonderful time.

Scotty is like a son to me, 
best friends with my oldest since 2004 I've watched this guy grow up.

He is Aubry's "bubby" and always a welcome addition to the house!

Not only did he go away to Virginia for college but his parents, who are our dear friends, moved there as well; so school breaks when he wants some FL time he bunks with us!

He left a week ago but what a precious picture of he and Aubry.

Speaking of Aubry May;

she and I filmed our first video podcast!!!

Crazy fun- I know!!

While I am sure of what a video is I am not sure technically what a podcast is? 

It seems like a compound word so can anyone break that down for me?

But whatever a podcast really is-- we shot one,

I will get that up here soon.

Its just a quick review of a super fun find we nabbed last week.

#FitByFirst 

oh what a fun few weeks we had.

#FitByFirst has gone to the wayside.

Your e-mails are sitting in a pile somewhere with all my old gym memberships.

Lost, never to be found or used again.

OK so maybe that's not true.

#FitByFirst kick started me, again, to making better lifestyle choices.

I need that push sometimes.

That push into not eating sweets,

that push to get outside and move more,

that push to love the hard to love,

to think outside myself,

to do what's hard...

see how one push can cause a domino effect...

I have been being mindful of what enters my mouth

and seeking every day to focus my thoughts,

my self-talk,

my downtime

on worshipping God.

Singing worship music.

I have a playlist right now of about 5 songs.

Over and over.

The same 5 songs

each one packed with truth of who God is.

Ascend the Hill has a great worship album.

All the old hymns,

with a sound I like.

If you asked me what 1 album I listen to the most right now, that would be it.

So life is peaceful and fun right now.

Looking with anticipation and excitement for the Christmas season this year ( I wrote this before Christmas and we had a relaxing day).

Beginning now to thank God for a year of provision in 2015, we are stepping out in faith in 2015 and so I give each step and decision of this upcoming year to Him, the Ancient of Days. And fear, may the perfect love of God drive out any fear that starts to creep into my mind, my heart, my life.

Well, we are driving to Ocala today to see Aubry's bio-dad's family; 

and him.

It's weird.

It's like a divorced family,

sort of,

not really.

But it's good,

and healthy.

Some think I am crazy, 2 hours.

Some say they should come here.

I say: a nice little roadtrip with my man and my girl- um, yes!

I say: family is worth it and Aubry May brings love and joy and noise and bossiness wherever she goes.

How can I deny that to this group of her gene-sharers?

Stay tuned for podcast.

xoxo

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 14

Sweet pickles!!!

Back at it today.

Walked twice with two different friends.

I am loving the brisk walks with friends to have conversation and fellowship,

encourage and build one another up. 

Tis the season for college break and so with one college kid settled in the bottom bunk, another I am picking up at the airport tonight. As for my own children...they show up now and then ;)

Today's fitness challenge was

100 high kness

25 hallow rocks

25 jumping jacks

for time.

I did it.

4 days of rest, if you can call it rest...

my time was 8 min 47 seconds!!

Well off to iKea and the airport!!

xoxo

-m

#FitByFirst, Days 12 and 13

I blinked my eyes and poof Friday and Saturday were here and gone!

I have done nothing on my #FitByFirst challenge since Thursday.

Friday had me busy with wedding set-up 

then Aubry's school Christmas party.

Yesterday was my debut at a local craft fair...

and...

I learned a few lessons.

One being that my artwork is not craft fair material.

I will try my hand at an art fair in early 2015 as well as take them to a local home decor store that features local artists.

However, today I rest.

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 11, i think

my dining room last night

last 36 hours:::

signs, signs, everywhere signs, blockin up the scenery...

In the last 24 hours I have painted 22 signs.

22.

2 large,

6 medium,

and the rest are small tags.

so that is pretty much my life.

oh and cleaning up after a two-year-old who loves to paint, and cut and glue and paint... you see where this is going.
We did get crafty with painters tape, check out the picture.

thrilled to not be eating ice cream or cereal 

so thanks @loswhit for #FitByFirst challenge,

I'm hanging in there on grace, returning soon.

now off to rest before wedding set-up tomorrow

LOVE IT!

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 10

Day 10!

Yes, I love it.

Why and I doing this?

I wanted the motivation.

It is my natural tendency to be active.

To do: hike, swim, run, jump, hang, explore.

But somehow, 
somewhere in this journey,
sometimes I get in the rut of not moving.

I also get in the rut of eating too much, being good in the daytime hours and then after all the day is done I can find it very easy to sit down and binge on cereal or ice cream.

I mean my philosophy on cereal is: "Cereal is best eaten in bowls of 2"

I don't wanna binge on anything but God.

So this #FitByFirst struck my fancy because it hit on two things I was struggling with, moving and nutrition.

I just needed the push.

So 10 days in!!
I feel great,
am getting more done, of course more needs to get done,
and realized how much I think I need and love sugar.

So 10 days!!

On the Business Front
With a wedding on Saturday, I have 12 plus signs to paint and chalk!!
btw: that makes 2 weddings in the last month :D
Add in a craft fair this Saturday and my house looks like a hot mess.
I just love it!

please note Aubry's play road on the right hand side of the photo

I gathered every pallet sign in the house for Saturday's selling, now pricing them
and also
have wedding chalkboards getting freshened up before new words of happiness fill their voids.


*************************************
today's notes...

WGIMM
been doing good at this, eating more cauliflower than I want and somehow ordered more in this last delivery-- so cauliflower it is again this week

I'll probably post recipes over on the Cooking Blog- haha, it's just an online venue for me to house my weekly meals -- sometimes.

PRAYER
With my girlfriends we can slack on praying together. We nail it some weeks and others we don't. Goal to change that.
Spending time in prayer, whether it be while the kids watch Curious George or when all is quiet in my world; communining with the Almighty, Ancient of Days changes a day, a mood. Oh may I quiet myself more and more each day in the presence of my King. 

MEMORIZE:
from memory
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both, one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body."

Alrighty,
that's it for me
-m

#FitByFirst Day 9

Sorry I didn't get to posting this until this morning.

I have been busy with pallet sign and it seems like we have made every possible mess we can make in the house this week.

We've dumped explored all the bean play station has to offer.

We've painted all over ourselves, a board, the table, our face, paper, the chair, the bike, our face.

And by we or our, I mean her, and by her I mean Aubry.

We've built rockets and worms from play-doh.
Washed every dish in the sink with a more than necessary amount of soap.

I didn't do all so great on getting my heartrate up

and yesterday workout--

50 burpees for TIME!!
my time 3min 11sec

Crazy awesome!!

So watching my grandkids today;

then painting (I also have a Saturday wedding I am busting our signs for),

walking

and another timed workout.

I'll post more later today and get back on a before mid-night posting.

xoxo

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 7 & 8

Aubry helping wash windows at Chick-fil-A

Yesterday was good,

played with Aubry a decent amount, the weather was nice; Steve spent the day with boys doing whatever boy things they all do so it was just Aubs and I. 

I ate decent,

low on cash so no grocery money-

instead it's eat what we got.

Good thing we have some decent healthy stuff

and

so thankful for my weekly veggie and fruit delivery service --shout out to Front Porch Pickings!!--

if you give them a try, tell them I sent you!!

Today's eating... the same as yesterday, except a Stavros salad for dinner!! Yum.

tomorrow's #1 goal-- GROCERY SHOP

once more GROCERY SHOP

Exercise today--

well our #FitByFirst challenge was to get out and do something on our feet,

I have spent the last two days 

on.

my.

feet.

at this house;

preparing for the flooding of college kids about to happen.

3 house guests this season; boys get bunk room, aka Pink Room 

girl gets Daybed Room, aka my girl-cave.

Let me just say there has been a lot of furniture and chair moving,

as well as pallet sign gathering and box going-throughing.

My goal of simplifying, is coming together.

Gathering my pallets together because I will be at the Christmas Under the Palms Craft Fair THIS Saturday in Edgewater.

Come on out if you're local and pick up a sign.

I have been busy making some smaller signs

as well as...

some bigger ones!!

I have a few unique pieces.

Check out my work at Vintage Sheet Designs

prices $8 - $200

**********************************

This is just the beginning to her Chick-fil-A skills

todays' notes...

I revisited my monthly goals and they were:

1.) #FitByFirst

2.) WHAT GOES IN MY MOUTH

3.) DANIEL PRAYER
4.) MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE

#FitByFirst

got moving but didn't get my heart rate elevated enough

small squat and arm routine

WGIMM- I need to improve on this

I like salad, I like veggies, I like veggies

-I am catching myself wanting to pick at my nails, thinking, just one little pick-- self-control Michelle

PRAYER

I've never really been public like this in my prayer life, but I am wanting to "up" my prayer game, and I have been and perhaps you could use the encouragement to do the same. Join me in whatever way fits you but just pray more, pray scripture. I am currently praying for Steve and his business, also and always for my children and grandchildren.

Today Aubry and I prayer-drove.

Some girlfriends of mine are returning at I type this, back to FL from an inner-city Detroit mission trip! They stayed at the Detroit Love, Inc. building and I just love that!!

I have faith that the seeds they watered and planted in the name of Jesus will grow and flourish in that city.

Anyway...

Detroit got me thinking about prayer-walks and prayer-drives and since I was thinking this as I was driving by a friends house, so Aubry and I prayed for that friend.

MEMORY (and not the Hasbro version)

so far from memory, "Everything is lawful for me, not everything is helpful. Everything is lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both, one and the other." 

--- that's it so far, it's the beginning of 1 Cor 6:12-20

I corrected my original from memory of the scripture and went back and edited it for publish. I did however bold the words or phrases that needed correcting, Lord will by end of the month I'll have it down with no bold marks!!

Well see ya tomorrow

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 6

Weekend!!

Today's assignment was to get out and have fun moving.

Went with a friend on a walk to a local park pulling 3 kids in a wagon,

ok so said friend took her turn at pulling them too!

Tonight was Illana's birthday party and what fun it was. 

The tables were set up so cute and the cake was de-lish!!

I had the privilege to make some signs for the party and Steve was in charge of the campfire.

I took just a few pictures but I think you get the idea- I just love the tee-pee

tee pee on left- so cute

Blogging every day has been a challenge.

I like it though.

Blogging every day

and

the challenge.

I will most likely take Sundays off from blogging this journey so if you don't hear from me don't worry I'll be back on Monday.

********************************

today's notes...

FITNESS

I moved, see above

FOOD INTAKE

good, healthy, green today---

except for the cake, and pizza (only one small piece)--- hey it was a granddaughter's birthday party!!

Oh and I had sweet tea-- yummy but not a good thing for me to have....

...sweet tea just seems to call my name, well scream it

and

I can't seem to stop drinking it once I start.

BAD HABITS

NO MORE SWEET TEA

Well, happy Saturday

I hope to have a night full of tv watching.

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 5

Happy 4th birthday Illana!!

Today is my granddaughter's birthday, so a huge shout out to her-- whoot, whoot!!

Here she is with her great-great-grandmother on a recent roadtrip to Virginia!

#FitByFirst Update--

today's challenge was another short and fun one.
4 rounds of:: 
30 second plank and
10 push-ups
2 minute break and repeat.

I like the short and sweet, I didn't want to move much today after my morning walk 
had to p-e-e-l  myself away from Netflix to do today's workout---
but---
I DID IT!

********************************
today's notes...
FITNESS
walked and pulled a kid in a wagon for 30 minutes, boy does it feel good to just get out and move!!!

also did above #FitByFirst assignment


SPIRIT
there is something freeing about being outside again in the cooler air and being active, 
it is peace for the spirit and soul, 
it's being in God's creation, I love it!

Summer thru mid-fall can be brutal in Florida,
you know--- the Sunshine State! can i get a witness?

Living grateful,
thankful,
with all the glory going to the God in Heaven.

BAD HABITS
funny how i never really realized how much i chew and pick at my thumbs,
silly
i know;
but as i catch myself thinking, "one more pick" (sorry if I'm grossing anyone out)
as i catch myself my thoughts turn to God and the fact that He wants my physical temple to be healthy and not mangled.

plus i have been smoking cheap cigars lately, an old habit i've picked up and set down over the years, i don't ever really feel like it rules me but it has a time and season...

EATING
i don't wanna forget to PAY ATTENTION to this!
i love food and eating.
i love all types of food.

Today was a good. healthy, green eating day; however i had breading on my cauliflower, but hey, check out the recipe for Buffalo Cauliflower.

-m

#FitByFirst, Day 4

Aright,

day 4 of #FitByFirst

today's fitness challenge was awesome.

I am sweaty, have labored breathing and I can tell sitting on the toilet will be painful tomorrow- you know anything requiring a squat!!

The challenge was to do as many reps of these as you can in a 10 minute time frame.

I just really like our new playhouse

::15 squat jumps

::30 jumping jacks

yes I did that over and over again for 10 minutes...

and....

my score is 7:11; 

7 reps and 11 squat jumps before the timer went off.

today's notes...

FOOD INTAKE

have I mentioned how much I love refined sugar and carbs? I tend to forget that until I can't have them. 

fruit bowl and egg for breakfast- score!

FITNESS

dropped Aubs at school and went for a quick 30 minute walk and listened to this podcast. You should check it out.

then home and did the above squat jump/jumping jack 10 minutes of hell

then another 43 air squats #gohard

SPIRIT

The podcast started and I immediately knew what scripture I was to be memorizing. ---- 1 Cor 6:12-20 ----

Also paying attention what goes into my mouth, I have this nasty habit of picking at my thumb nails; simply handing that over to God has allowed me to be more mindful of it and I did better today than yesterday.

that's it, I am enjoying the daily blogging
-m

#FitByFirst, Day 3

rock climbing- great way to MOVE

OK, so today is the last day of the free intro part of the #FitByFirst challenge I am participating in. 
Today I was encouraged to MOVE for fun!

I commit to journal this whole journey as a form of accountability to myself. I will write about each day as it happens and then post each night.

I also have a few other goals beyond the #FitByFirst that I'd like to work on over this month.
#1- practice self-control in what I put into my mouth and body like binging on food, nail biting and smoking
#2- Daniel praying, this is what I call it. Scheduled, set aside prayer times. Just me and God. Daily. Multiple times.
#3- memorize scripture

My next 7 days of cleansing will look like this--
- no dairy (i will miss you cheese, yogurt, milk and cream)
- fruit and veggie diet (not a veggie fan, but i can do this, i like veggies, i like veggies)
- water, water, water (i thoroughly enjoy water)
- black coffee (black coffee seems to be very spiritual to me)

****************************************
today's notes...
it was a great day today; however, I didn't pay attention to what went into my mouth, for some reason I can get on autopilot with Aubry -- lunch time away from home gets me
remembering that Grace Already Won

FOOD INTAKE
water, water, black coffee, black coffee, water, water, water...

Darn it! I ate 3 strawberries
Front Porch Pickings delivers my fruits and veggies each week to my house---- and today----
THERE     WERE     STRAWBERRIES.
Out of habit I ate 3 and even craved breakfast sausage in the fridge thinking "nope, no eating" all the while chewing away of the red, juicy sweetness of a strawberry- yikes!

Darn it, I drank a kids size chocolate shake too, not a good day today~ got offered a free one, declined it, then had one made for me, 
said thanks and drank out of courtesy~ errr... 

FITNESS
Did 42 air squats 

The challenge was to have fun moving so I pulled Aubry around the yard and house in the wagon, we made a rock border around our new butterfly garden and planted some milkweed sprouts from a friend.

SPIRITUAL
meditating on what scripture to memorize

So that's today
Tomorrow,
His mercies are new,

xoxo
-m

Fit By the First

Biking and walking with Vaughan and the girls

December has me participating in Carlos Whittaker's "Fit by the First" challenge.

Basically I will commit to doing daily workouts
and eating healthier.

I started Monday with timing a baseline set of exercises,

40 air squats

30 sit-ups

20 push-ups

10 burpees

My time was 3 minutes 48.56 seconds.

Starting today I along with 2 other girls friends will be fasting from all food for 24 hours. I will continue to drink water and a cup of morning black coffee. Following that we are all participating in our own style of a week long cleanse.

If you've never fasted or would like to learn more then I encourage you to this podcast over at Desiring God.

After my fast I will be following the AdvoCare 10 Herbal Cleanse.

I just like their plan and a dairy fast is good for this dairy junkie!

I'd encourage you to join me and my girlfriends in this journey, I promise you'll be pleased.

running with Spud

MOVeMENT 

Today I moved more than I did yesterday.

Today my girlfriends and I clocked 4.4 miles.

Tomorrow... I plan to move again

and

then again. 

The official Fit by the First challenge starts on Thursday and you can join by going here. You can find him @loswhit on twitter, IG or FB.

Happy day, happy way

-m

Moment Rescued

I really wanted to share this moment with you all that I had while in Orlando for my 40th birthday last month.

As Steve and I rode on one of resort buses two couple who were vacationing together, their deep-southern accents and Disney t-shirt gave them away. 

So these two couple are conversing and the one dad says to the daughter in the other family ,"boy you're white" and he continued to made comments on her pasty white skin.

I felt uncomfortable, even Steve was aware of the awkwardness.

So I spoke up saying something like, "Yeah I love how Madonna does the pasty white, she really looks great and so young and makes it nice for the rest of us whiteys."

Carlos and I back in 2008 at a Blog Party

The girl cracked a smile and the mom chimed right in agreeing and smiling, I could tell she was feeling less like slugging that guy but still sure she'd never vacation with him again.

The mood lightened,
the mean mouther turned his head and shut his mouth,
I made a few new friends on a bus at Universal Orlando
and I believe
a moment was rescued.

My friend, Carlos Whittaker, wrote a book about Moments and making them, well great!

It was after we got off the bus that night last month that I realized what a moment I had just been a part of.

Jesus was all about rescuing moments.
He was all about making moments and making each moment count.

I have an extra copy of the book Moment Maker if you want to swing by and pick it up or it's worth the cash, go buy it on Amazon.

Just wanting to share a smiley story with you.
Coming soon.... my Fit by the First challenge journey.

XOXO
-m