Thursday, January 6, 2011

Inspiring Thoughts

I've had a rough few months recently, and along with the Bible helping me get through, I've found inspiring thoughts just randomly "hit me" at the right time, and today, I got two in a row!

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato (from my daily calendar)
- I've been working on my issue with patience, especially with people who I feel make my life more difficult, in whatever way, and I find myself either being short with them to their face, or complaining about them behind their backs. This simple little quote brought it all to light for me in one statement - you may be frustrated with this person, but remember that you're not the only one with problems, and you don't know what this person is going through. Definitely something to think about.

“Re-examine all you have been told…Dismiss what insults your soul.” – Walt Whitman (on my Celestial Seasonings tea bag tag)
- Part of my rough past few months includes a lot of mental and emotional issues where I had constantly been told (in not so many words) that I had screwed up so much that I could never be "good" again and that I was having trouble forgiving myself, even though others had. This quote just made me realize instantly - All those thoughts, motions and words that hurt my soul...just forget them. They don't have any place in my life and they can only bring me down. It's in the past now - dwell on the things that will uplift your soul.

So even though they weren't bible verses, they "spoke" to me...and it just seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear.

No more "negative" thoughts - Phillipians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

Success!

First of all, let me share an adorable picture - When I come home for lunch during the week, I let the dogs out and let them sun themselves by the front door. They LOVE it!! And today, they all piled up by the front door and cuddled. SOO CUTE!!!

And...I've already had success on my resolutions!!
So far, I've already changed my blog design from the "Fall" theme to something far more relevant to me - sparkles!
And, I've already done my allotted "one page a month" of scrapbooking!! I have taken a picture for proof:
Not my best work, but I've been out of practice for a while. Whew...that really took it out of me!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 New Year's Resolutions

So I got a kick out of reading my blog resolutions from last year (found here). It was actually pretty interesting to see that I kept 2 of them and didn't keep the other 3!! That's progress for me - the previous year, I didn't keep any and before that I didn't even make any because I didn't want to feel bad about breaking/not keeping them.

I was able to lose almost all of the 30 lbs that I wanted to (about 22 total) but I felt and looked great and was able to fit in a ton of my old clothes! And that loss was due to another resolution, which was to eat healthier and try new recipes! I joined Weight Watchers, and it worked and the rest is history!! However, since I lost that weight, I've gained back about 8 lbs in the last 3 months. NOT good.

I feel like it's only appropriate to make some more, and to make sure I include those from last year I wasn't able to keep. So here goes!!

1. Clearly, I need to redesign my blog theme and heading. Oops.
2. Save money!
3. Scrapbook at least 1 "event" a month. I have quite the backlog, and 1 page a day or week is a little lofty.
4. Read 1 book a month. I just got 4 new books in the last week, so I definitely have a good start! No excuses!
5. Lose 10 lbs to get back to my Weight Watchers weight. And keep it off!

Happy New Year!