A New Day - A New Start

This weekend has been a new start and new time of transition for our family.... no we didn't change jobs or get a new house, but instead we started a new journey...okay we started two new journeys... a debt reduction journey and a healthy lifestyle journey.  As we begin this journey we want to share some of struggles and victories along the way.  We are going to be transparent... which is challenging and humbling but we feel that it will give us accountability as well as invite others to be encouraged and start their own journeys.

Though most people begin changes like this at the new year mark we just didn't have the time to sit down and really work through what this would look like.  After our Frugal Vacation to Florida and back we had lots of time in the car to discuss, to set boundaries, and to read up on some of the beginning baby steps from Dave Ramsey.  Though we won't be following him exactly I am sure you will see many similarities.

The other journey is healthy eating and healthy choices for our bodies.... if you know my husband and I - you know that we love food - I mean really who doesn't.  And we have put our physical health second to just about everything in our lives and it shows.  I can make all the excuses I want and many of them are valid - having a baby, a autoimmune disease that doesn't allow me to exercise like I used to, a restaurant that sells fried food (which is so yummy) - the list could go on.  All that to say - when I step on the scale I cringe but more importantly when I look at my eating and exercise habits I know that I need to change.

So this weekend we made a few changes... budget for the month is ready and underway.... I am excited and already feel freedom - which seems a little weird because one of the reasons we didn't have a budget before was because we thought it would take our freedom away.  We know it is going to be tight and we know that 140,000 of student load and house debt isn't going to go away overnight but we need to start to make a dent in it.  For Joel the challenge will be not eating out - for me the challenge will be not wanting to stock up every time I see a sale and have a coupon.

As far as the healthy living part - today I exercised - volleyball - though I am rusty it felt so good to do something.  Also added more water to the list of things to drink, and the other change of the week - use smaller dinner plates and leave the food at the stove and not on the dinner table.  Small but mighty changes.

If you think of us - please pray that we would be faithful to reducing not only our debt but our unhealthy eating and exercising habits as well as our weight!

Resolution Series #7 and #8

So the resolutions continue and what's great about this whole series is that I have now sucked one of my other friends (Jeanne) into doing the same - she is doing 31 resolutions and blogging about it. She even admitted that she is going to copy some of my resolutions. But that's cool imitation is one of the best compliments!

Anyway - so resolution number #7 could be one of my hardest resolutions to keep, sad to say, but it is the truth. I hate flossing my teeth!!! I am not sure why - my mom actually loves it - she is obsessed with it - she flosses several times a day - she even keeps floss in her pocket! For Christmas I got her an electric flosser - I didn't even know that they made such a thing - but it is true and I am sure my mom loves it. So back to me and my flossing issues, every time I go to the dentist they ask me about flossing and I have to tell them that I don't floss and they tell me I should and then proceed to rip my gums apart with floss. You would think that that alone would be a good reason to floss, I always have good intentions but bad follow through. So here is the deal - like all my resolutions I have decided not to go overboard and say that I am going to floss daily - because I won't, but Mondays are now my flossing day. I figured if I floss 52 times a year, that is a lot more than one or two days a year. GO ME!!!

Resolution #8 - Since 8 is my favorite number I thought I would resolve to do something that involved one of my favorite things....Raspberry Ice Tea - I love it - I could drink it everyday for every meal....I especially like the Rasp White Tea - thinking about it makes my mouth water, however it is full of sugar and all that stuff that is not good for you. So last night as I was enjoying my first Rasp tea of the new year, I decided that I would limit my tea intake to once a week. I actually love Rasp tea so much that I gave it up for Lent last year, not because I feel that I have to give up something, but to see if I could do it. One of my friends thought it was so silly to give that up that he would put bottles of Rasp tea in my car, on my porch, in my fridge, just to try to get me to budge! But I was strong and I made it, so lots of water for me and little tea - that is the theme of the new year.

Updates on my resolutions so far....not bad so far...accountability - last night - good times had by all. The water thing - I definately need to drink more but I have been drinking it daily. The bible thing - need to do that tonight! The journal thing....need to do that tonight as well. Celebrating the good days....that is today - it is a beautiful day and it is a shot day but I feel pretty good!! AMENNNN!!!! I think I will celebrate with a nice walk in this 60 degree weather. Know when to rest, listen to my body - I think I may stay home this weekend instead of going skiing again...although I have not made that decision yet.