so tired... but blessed!

I'm sooooooo incredibly tired right now and feeling like a zombie coz I'm not quite awake yet.... ummm and kinda don't want to be yet. Slept at 3 this morning... that's VERY late for me. lol. Anyway, I was writing a very important e-mail that took me ummmm... only 11 hrs to write... on and off!!! Yeah, I know! As I've said, it was an extremely important e-mail.

Anyway, I'm so tired this morning that I didn't feel like reading my Bible... being lazy but I really wanted to spend time in God's Word. So I googled "daily audio devotions" and found this website: www.oneyearaudiobible.org. You get to listen to scripture and a bit of commentary online! That was neat. Actually, I do have this Bible but it not my preferred version. I like my King James Bible. Anyway, I was really glad I found it. It's an alternative on days when I just want to listen instead of reading (lazy days) like today! =)

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p.s. I didn't lose this week. =( Ugggghhhh! But I didn't gain so that's good... kinda. Anyway, didn't workout this week so kinda expected the no weight loss part. I was really drained this week, had no energy and by 5 p.m. I was just about to crash. I think was coming down with something. Anyway, been pretty good food wise... need to continue to work on it tho! lol. I'll just keep plugging along then.

my sister

I was missing my sister a lot lately. We've never been too far from each other until now. We were always together during our childhood not always by choice. lol. I must've been a pain but she never let on. lol. Even when she went away for University, I visited often since her school was only an hour or so away. But having moved here to Michigan from Canada, we can't just visit whenever we wanted to since it takes 8 hrs to drive and a whole lot of money for gas!

I've been missing her very much lately. I miss our little dates and realized that we haven't done a lot of those in recent years even before I moved away. I realized we haven't really been spending time and nurturing our relationship. I don't even know if I've been REALLY there for her. In the busyness of juggling a job and my own family, I think I might have failed to take time to be what she's always been all my life, a great listener. And that made me real sad. Now that I don't just have her around the corner, I realize how much I've taken her being there for granted. Like I would have all the time in the world to spend with her.

So I'm going to be more intentional in my phone calls, e-mails and even letters to my dearest sister. To let her know how much she is loved, thought of and appreciated. And we're going start having our sister dates again as soon as I move back. =)

May we always remember to appreciate our loved ones while we still have them around. May we cherish them and take every opportunity to spend time with them out of our busy schedules. May they always feel accepted, loved and supported no matter what they are going through.

I LOVE my sister!

finding treasures

I was surfing this morning on Facebook. lol. Checking out pictures and status updates when I stumbled upon a link that was shared by a great mentor. =) I decided to check it out. The link brought me to a blog for PW (Pastor's Wives) and I thought hmmm... this might be interesting. And it was! I was pleased to find out these women were around my age group and have funny (and not so funny), real and uplifting stories. The blog's title is Clutch... for Clutching to God and all that is good. =) I like that very much. This was my little blessing this morning!

so....

I missed yesterday's workout... which should be my day 1 on Sin6 week #2. boooo me! AND to top that off, I didn't count calories yesterday. I enjoyed my veggie sinigang (Filipino soup dish - my hubby's fav) with 1 cup of rice very much. Funny thing was I still measure my rice! LOL. At least I got that habit down pack! =P

I will not miss my workout to day tho. I WILL log into beachbody.com and press "start now" on the SuperGym! Ummmm... after I have my breakfast and devotional. lol. Also, I'm going back on routine with measuring and counting. I'm looking forward to the day when I get use to all this work just to eat. lol.

Anyway, I didn't weigh myself this week purposely! I'll update my weight chart next week. I know... bad but I just didn't want to know. I stayed POP (perfect on plan) for about 3 1/2 days out of 7. I suppose that's better than nothing AND it's my first week so I just need to keep working at it. Also, I got my total calories for the day mixed up... arrrrgghhh! Turns out I was having too much... so I have fix that this week. =(

Well, my goal this week is to stay POP for the entire week or at least 5 days in a row. =) I WILL keep my calories counted, stay very hydrated ;), workout 6 days (meaning will have to workout after sundown on Sabbath) and cut down my rice from 1 cup to 1/2 cup. The last one makes me real sad but I've done it before and I can do it again! =^

Oh and good news on the workout department. Start It Up is the 1st level workout in the Slim in 6 program. I've done it several times before (during the time when I was pretty active) and it is merciless on my arms and thighs! But since getting sick in November, I haven't really been active. So when I started last Monday, I DIED!!! I could barely keep my arms up the entire video and had to take breaks. But as the week progressed, I felt myself getting stronger and stronger! On Friday, I kept my arms moving and up almost the entire time! =D Woooohooo! The plan is to stay on SIU (Start It Up) for another week then move on to RIU (Rip It Up), which, from what I've heard from my workout buddies, is a KILLER. So, we will see.

Determined to stay POP today!

Why do I worship God?

I worship God because...

-He LOVES me

-He keeps me sane

-He gives me incredible lasting joy

-He give me comfort

-He is good and just

-He is patient and loving

-of how much He loves us

-of how much He continues to reach out to each of us

-He LOVES my son

-He gave me His ideal husband for me

-He kept my husband and I together

-He turned my life around

-He picked up the pieces of my broken life and pieced it all together slowly and carefully

-He made beauty out of my brokenness

-looking to Him is the only thing that keeps me hopeful

-He is what is good in me

-He is my Father who disciplines me with love

-He NEVER leaves me

-He ALWAYS listens

-He ALWAYS has time for me

-He KNOWS me yet He still wants me to be with Him

-He's so extravagant in His love for all of us

-He's knows everything that I need even when I think I know better

-He's saved me from myself

-He's food to my soul

-He sacrificed His son for all of us

-He patiently listens to me when I'm upset, angry, and bitter even if it's towards Him

-He forgives me

-of the way He provides for my family

-of His great faithfulness

-spending time with Him calms my nerves, gives me clear perspective, gives me hope, and gives me a cheerful spirit

-He is the Creator that created me and everything

-He is merciful

-He doesn't demand

-He is my great great love

I was asked why I worshipped God. I came up with several answers and I realized that I could keep going. There are just so much... endless reasons why I worship Him. Why do you worship God?

Answering His call

For the past year or so, my 11-year-old son has been asking a lot of questions about baptism and what it means. He's been thinking about getting baptized for several months now but he's been hesitant because he didn't like that it was so public. He's very scared about being in front of a congregation. So for the past 6 months, he's been conflicted between his desire to fully accept Jesus Christ and be baptized and his fear of being up in front of the entire church. During many altar calls, he would say that he's not ready mainly because he's scared to go to the front. We didn't pressure him and knew this had to be a decision he needed to make on his own.

Well, this past Sabbath, my husband was singing at Pioneer Memorial Church (PMC) which was the University campus church. It's a very large church around 1,000 people every Sabbath. Anyway, so we (my son and I) hopped from our home church to PMC to be with my husband for Divine Worship. The preacher at that particular Sabbath was wrapping up the theme for the Week of Spiritual Emphasis. He spoke about how we needed to be wise about how we spend our time and how we need to spend time with God on a daily basis. Anyway, at the end of his sermon, he made an altar call for anyone who'd like to commit themselves fully to Christ and make that a public commitment through baptism. I noticed my son was paying careful attention to the speaker and, after deliberating for several minutes whether I should say anything, I asked him if he wanted to go and that I would go with him. He said that he wasn't ready but I noticed this wasn't the same "I'm not ready" that he usually says. He seemed to be really conflicted. So I started praying. Praying that the Holy Spirit continue to call to him to set his fears aside and answer the call of Jesus. The Pastor kept speaking... making the appeal then a vocalist in front started singing "Come to Jesus". I would look over to my side in between prayers to sneak a peak at him. I watched my son minute by minute moving ever so slowly... inch by inch toward the aisle. I continued to pray for him and others that Lord is calling to him. Just when the song was about to end, I looked over to my side and saw him gone... he was no longer beside me. I looked up and I saw him standing in the front with his Dad beside him!!! Oh I couldn't hold back my tears of joy!

My husband later told me that he too was praying. He said that he noticed that our son moving closer and closer to the aisle and so he stepped aside to let him through. He was equally surprised when our son took his hand to go with him up in front. =)

I've never been so happy for him. So happy that he experienced following Christ even if he's so scared. It was proof that the Holy Spirit is stronger than any of our great fears. To think this was no small congregation but a huge congregation. The Holy Spirit moved him so strongly that (as our son later explained) he "just had to go up there".

What a blessed Sabbath morning that was! Praise be to God!

update...

Ok update on the scale... I'm down 2 POUNDS!!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! =D

I started counting calories again... and watching fat in take. But since I'm vegan, I realized there isn't too much fat intake other than my almonds, ground flax seed, and oils. I also started jotting down everything that I eat which really helps me from grabbing something that I shouldn't eat. I also realized since writing my food down is that I had been SNACKING way tooooo much! And they aren't good snacks either. =(

With regards to working out, well... double boo for me! Yup, didn't stick to the plan. =( And I was hoping by the time February comes around, I'd be into the routine of working out every day because I start going to the gym again this month! Well, I just gotta keep making that commitment on a day to day basis.

I'm still on the WATER challenge coz I suck! lol. I don't hate water but I just need to remember to drink it. This is bad because I don't drink anything else so that would mean I'm not drinking anything! (a cup of Soymilk doesn't count!) So I have to consciously drink my H2O! =P

Anyway... don't know if I'll make it to my goal weight by May but I'm hoping to at least lose 10 to 15. My goal is important but it isn't the most important thing in this journey. =) Forming good habits is more important coz if I'm consistent with that then weight will automatically drop. =)

Well... here's another day... another chance to make good choices and develop my habit of drinking LOTS of water!

my perfect gloves

Over the holidays, we visited my family in Toronto. We had finished our Christmas shopping a month in advance so we didn't have to go shopping but my Mom hadn't started hers yet and it was the day before Christmas Eve. My son wanted to go shopping too because apparently, he didn't appreciate how we (his Dad and I) bought gifts and put his name on it when he didn't buy it! lol. I told him that it was from our family not just Dad and I. He insisted that he had $20 and he wants to go shopping with my Mom and I (and he hates shopping... like me! lol).

As we made our way from store to store, different malls and shopping places, he patiently waited for us after he finished browsing through the stuff in case he wanted to buy something. When we got to Walmart, he wanted to buy a remote-controlled car for his baby cousin but he didn't have enough money. He asked if I could help him out. I asked him what happened to his $20 because that would cover all of it. He said he had only $14. I suggested that he find something within his budget (we had been teaching him how to budget his money so he'll only spend what he has). He was really disappointed because there wasn't any cars that was remote-controlled that was less than $14. I couldn't take seeing him so sad and, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to help him out (didn't help my Mom was giving me looks to just give in!) but I reminded him that we (as a family) are putting into practice principles that are important and he needs to keep in mind when he goes shopping what he can afford.

Well, what I didn't know was that at one of the stores we visited earlier that day, he had bought me gloves! He knew that I didn't have gloves and so he wanted to buy me one. I was so surprised and touched on Christmas morning when I opened my gift from him. It's the best Christmas present I've ever received! I told him that I loved my gift and that it was extremely thoughtful of him. He told me that was why he didn't have $20 for his cousin's car. =)

!What a blessing it is to witness such kindness and generosity in spirit

Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City

During the past long weekend, we headed up to Traverse City for a mini-getaway at the Great Wolf Lodge. I would love to visit Traverse City during the Summer. It's beautiful!

After a four-hour or so drive, we just wanted to chill in the room. =) As you can tell Lil' Allen was checking out the whirlpool... he was itching to get it going. lol. But we wanted to check out the Lodge first.

Lil' Allen's favorite spots were the Arcade room and the ice cream shop! lol. He got his ice cream... but what he really wanted to do was get in the whirlpool! lol. So we headed back to our room just to chill. It was a nice evening of just relaxing in the whirlpool while watching a movie and playing a game.

The next day though, we hit the water park and had loads of fun. =) Lil' Allen posing in front of Fort McKenzie. This water blast/gun thing and Fort McKenzie were among his favorites.

His dad and him enjoyed this a lot. =) I enjoyed watching them (and so did others!). You can't see lil' Allen and I but we are somewhere in the Fort. We got our bucket filled with water and waiting for someone to walk underneath so we can dump it on them! lol. We were hoping Dad would come by. =D

Lil' Allen and Dad. =) At the top of Fort McKenzie is a large bucket that would fill up with water and top over. The kids of course LOVED this! lol. It's fun watching them!

The Lodge had this cool story time place in the lobby. It's really neat... they really made it look magical. They had this whole Magic Quest game on the 2nd floor which lil' Allen wasn't interested in participating but I WAS!!! lol. But I guess it would look weird if an adult was playing the game without any kids around to at least make it look like she was helping them. LOL.

Traverse City! What a beautiful place. =)

It was a short trip but we had a good time. It was nice getting away from the stresses of school and just chill together. With my hubby finishing up his Masters soon, I'm guessing we won't have much chill time with him when he's done. But we'll definitely plan our "family time" more deliberately from now on (getting into the habit and all). =P

Looking forward to visiting Traverse City again!