Making Progress

Hi, folks! As I've mentioned to some of you already, this year I plan to blog more frequently and more generally. In the past I've tried to limit my blogging to divine inspiration. I wait until I have something to share that God has shown me, or I've used it to share my praises of the Lord. I still intend to do this as it is an excellent way to glorify God and, hopefully, minister to others who may be going through some of the same issues I am. While I like this style of blogging, I've found that I often wish I could just blog about life in general. So, I plan to blog more regularly and just share about my life in general. As a Christian, God is involved in everything I do, so He will still be a focus of this blog. But you should not expect an attempt at a profound lesson or revelation every time you visit my site.

Moving on! I have been making some progress on my resolutions. I haven't made any huge changes, but I think gradual and small alterations are the key to long-term change. Here are the things I have done so far!

1. Plans are in the works for hanging out with our friends April & Waring sometime this month. April and I used to be super close because we worked together in the Office of Admissions and later took classes together in the M.A.T graduate program. Since she got married, graduated, moved to Pooler, GA and got a job in Savannah, we haven't been able to spend as much time together. I miss her and her sarcastic attitude that she gets away with because of her cuteness! :) And luckily we discovered that our husbands get along really well, too! They have a lot of the same hobbies and get to talk about manly things like guns and SCUBA diving. And they're both Christians so we often have inspired conversations and fellowship as well. I'm so looking forward to starting off my monthly friend time with them! :)

2. We aren't visiting any more family members this month because we just saw most of them during Christmas and New Years. We did start talking about our plans for February, though. I think we've decided that, if possible, we're going to go stay with my Maw Maw (great-grandmother) in Morrow, GA for a weekend to visit and also help clean up her house. She is 86 years old and isn't able to do a lot around the house anymore. When we were there for Christmas we noticed a lot of things that needed a good cleaning, such as her attic fan vent being coated with thick mounds of dust (which Scott cleaned while we were there). I'm very excited about this plan because she is such a wonderful and giving lady and I feel I've done very little to give back to her in my life. And I know she likes her house to be clean and it's probably driving her crazy that she's unable to physically take care of these things. Plus, she won't be around too much longer and I want to spend more time with her and I want Scott to get a chance to know her better. This will be a great way to accomplish the goal of visiting family once a month and also the resolution of giving more! :)

3. I've been drinking TONS of water! I drink it constantly at work, which makes me have to pee like once an hour at least, but I feel really good about it. I already feel healthier and more lively just from that alone.

4. I've been trying to get up and walk around some at work. I sit at a desk all day, so it's helpful to stretch my legs once or twice an hour. Getting up to pee a lot has helped. I have often gone to the restrooms on the far ends of the building just to get some extra walking in.

5. We've started making recipes from our new cookbook that offers healthy alternatives for tasty meals. Last night we made nachos! We used ground turkey, non-fat black bean dip, salsa, low-fat chips, low-fat skim milk cheese, and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I want to make a plug here for Greek Yogurt. I had never had it before, but it is nice and thick and really tastes a lot like sour cream! It has tons of health benefits like being super high in protein and full of probiotics that aid in digestion and colon health. Supposedly you can eat it like regular yogurt, though it seems too bitter to me. But as a sour cream substitute it's wonderful. It's thicker than regular yogurt or low-fat sour cream and has more health benefits. I highly recommend it!

6. I haven't devoted 30 minutes a day to God yet, but I have been spending more time in prayer and Bible study each day. I've also been reading a non-school book during lunch and before bed every night. It is one of my Grandpa's books: Knowing God: Knowing Myself. It's quite good, and also helps with the God-time, too!

That's it so far. In other news--tonight Scott and I are having a date night! We are going to Savannah after work, having dinner, and seeing Black Swan in the theater. After that, if we're not too tired, we may walk around River Street. I'm super excited! We're always together, but when we take the time to plan something different it's always extra fun and feels more special.

Good luck with all your resolutions, friends! Mine are certainly a work in progress, and I hope yours are coming along, too. Happy Friday!