Randomness: Edition #642?

I like connecting with you guys, but man, oh man, I'm grappling for material.  Okay, so there's plenty of material in my life, but just how much I really want to share with the world is still being debated in my head.

So... I think we're going to go with the nifty little list, just to keep the blog up-to-date and to get something, ANYTHING, out there.  So here are few random things happening with me.

1.  I have refused to acknowledge that it's fall.  Granted I've been waking up to temperatures in the 30's here in good ol' Indiana, but I don't like fall.  I love summer.  It's warm in summer.  There's lots of daylight in summer.  You don't need a coat in summer.  Thus, I love summer.

2.  I am enjoying Twitter.  I know I've mentioned this before, but I believe it bears repeating.  I enjoy Twitter!  I've learned the most interesting behind-the-scenes stuff about my favorite bloggers.  And FYI... I would avoid Alyssa's home.  They have the stomach bug going around over there.  I think she may be the only one in her family who hasn't come down with it yet.  Poor thing!  And... Lisa B. is tweeting from a Women of Faith conference sitting in the RESERVED SEATING on the FRONT ROW with PATSY CLAIRMONT.  Where else but on Twitter are you going to get that kind of live feed?

3.  You need to read the novel Providence by Chris Coppernoll.  When you do, I can almost guarantee you will start delving into your memory about relationship issues of both past and present, hopefully with the intent of viewing them through spiritual eyes.  It is a story of heartbreak, but it's also a story of grace.  I read the book with a friend, which I highly suggest.  You're gonna want to have someone to discuss it with and to be a sounding board for each other.  The book has affected me like no other novel EVER has.  {Synopsis}

4.  The bouncy creme is doing its job.  Enough said.

5.  Is anyone watching The Biggest Loser?  This is the first season that I've watched religiously, and I've really gotten into it.  Does it make you cry?  Oh my!  Almost every week at the elimination I'm trying to stifle the crying, so my husband doesn't laugh at me.  And Heba, Vicky, and Brady?!?  SOMEBODY TAKE THEM DOWN!  Even Amy C. seems to have an attitude going on, and I used to like her.  I think I'm favoring Colleen, but I do like Michelle, too.

6.  This is a shout-out to Candy, who I hadn't seen in years until Wednesday.  She came by the church to pay me a visit the other day, bearing some Starbucks love, I might add.  She wasn't sure if she had the right church until she saw "THE SIGN". Who knew the sign would be so instrumental in identifying my location?

7.  Another week has passed, which means it's time for the First Place weigh-in tomorrow.  Last week I was down a pound, which was a pleasant surprise.  Don't know what I'll have this week.  My expectations are fairly low.

8.  I'm lamenting that I don't love correctly.  I've been reviewing God's standard of love in 1 Corinthians 13.  I wish I could get even close to His standard.  I find my love is selfish.  I want to get it right.

The End.

Nothing, Really

I haven't really got much to say.  It's been dreary here in Indiana with lots of wind, a sporadic rain/snow mix, and colder temps in the 40's.  (Ready or not, here it comes.)  And I'm not ready at ALL.

For some reason I've just felt sluggish all day long.  I couldn't get myself together at work, although I did actually accomplish things.  But it was like pulling teeth.  I thought once I got home and ate lunch I'd perk up, but I continued to feel the same through the rest of the day.

I'm ready to hit the pillow.  Sleep will bring a new day, and maybe this feeling will be gone in the morning.

Lips That Shine & A Healthy Body

Thanks to Philosophy® Not the Pits Cherry Cola lip shine, I now look fabulous.  Or at least my lips look fabulous.  Or maybe they'll just be moisturized all winter, and that alone would make me happy.  In any case, Judy took me to the mall today so I could pick up last week's exercise incentive, and I like it because Philosophy® Not the Pits Cherry Cola lip shine not only makes your lips shine, it also tastes EXACTLY like cherry cola.  I am so not kidding!

In case you weren't around, deleted my posts from your feed reader, or just can't remember what happened yesterday, here's the scoop.  I really needed to kick my rear into gear on my weight loss plan.  I determined after gaining some post-birthday weight that I would hit the treadmill 5 days in a row.  The incentive I chose to work for was this very expensive lip shine from Philosophy.  And the end of story is...

I earned it!

...and I'm losing weight, too.  Woot!

*I am in no way affiliated with Philosophy® and receive nothing for endorsing their product.  I'm just a gal in love with their scents.

Officially Tweeting

I just finished my first whole day of tweeting on Twitter.  (See?  Tweeting?  I'm totally catching on to the jargon.)  I've decided that it's pretty cool.  I didn't understand it before, but that's because I was following only like two people.  Now I'm following several girls whose blogs I frequent, along with one friend I know IRL, so tweets are much more interesting now.  I wish I had some other IRL friends who would tweet with me.

I told you yesterday that I downloaded that twhirl tool, and that is key right there.  Having that on my desktop is as good as my little email messenger service, alerting me to new messages.  Every 20 minutes or so I hear a little *bing*, and I know I've received another tweet.  I don't get much email, so I get pretty excited when I hear the Twitter notification.  (Humor me.  I don't get out much.  And that's an entirely different story for another day.)

Alright, you guys.  That's pretty much all I had to say about that.  How 'bout you come tweet with me.  'K?

God's Love

After a recent heart-to-heart with a friend, God opened my eyes to the way I've disregarded His love for me for a long time.  That's not to say that I didn't believe God loved me.  I think it's that I didn't acknowledge His love for me in a way that it influenced the way I responded to things happening around me, as if I just didn't take His love to heart.  It's really easy to believe something in your head and not embrace it in your heart. There's a difference.

When God spoke of His love to my heart last week, He did it repeatedly.  It would come to mind many times through the day, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.  I've been praying that He will help me see His love demonstrated throughout the day and that it would become my greatest comfort.  He's surprised me in the various ways He's been doing that.  One such act of love was pretty amazing, so I have to tell you this story. 

Before I took my vacation in August there was a small matter at the church office that I should've taken care of.  Our phone business plan contract was ending, which meant our long distance cost was going to go up.  Well, let's face it.  I'm lazy, and I didn't want to call the phone company to talk about a plan.  I ignored the notice, and I figured, How much can it really increase?  It's not going to be that expensive.  It'll be fine. 

Shows how much I know.  When we got the bill in September I just about fell off my swivel chair.  It was almost double.  DOUBLE.  Uh-oh!  E-LIZ-A-BETH, what have you done?  (That's how my mother would address me when I was in trouble, so I guess that's how I rebuke myself in my own head.)  I dialed the phone company, hoping there was an error on their part because letting our business plan expire could not POSSIBLY have been the reason for such a hike.

Unfortunately, the increase was most undoubtedly due to my negligence.  Yeah, it made THAT big of a difference.  So the nice man found me a new plan and got it set up pretty quickly, in fact, quick enough that I wondered why it ever would've been such a big deal to have called in the first place when I was supposed to.  Live and learn.  Someday I might.

You're probably wondering by now where the love of God comes through in this story.  Well, I'm getting to that.  The other day I was opening mail, and the next phone bill had come.  I was sure that our new plan hadn't kicked in by the time this billing would've already been started, so I expected another high bill.  Do you know what?  It was $25.25.  Yes, that was twenty-five dollars and 25 cents, in case you didn't think you read that correctly.  They had credited our bill for the previous amount. 

That credit was just for me, not the church, but for me - a demonstration of God's love.  Nobody else knew about the bill.  Just me (and the Lord).  It filled me with such gratitude to know He loved me that much.  Isn't His mercy so great, that He would provide something that I did not deserve?  He corrected my wrong.  What love!

That's only one example.  I could go on, but this post will become too long if I did that. 

When was the last time you acknowledged God's love for you?  Do you see see it daily, or do you take it for granted?  Watch for it.  He'll amaze you.

Ephesians 3:16-19... that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  (NKJV)

Don't You Love Topical Variety?

Just a few things...

I downloaded the twhirl Twitter application, at the advice of Jo-Lynne, in order to... ya know... use Twitter.  I think I'm getting the hang of it.  I wasn't sure how to find people, but now I see that if I visit my favorite blogs, I'll find their Twitter links.  Just another way to connect, I think.  I've got mine up now on the blog, and it's staying up.  I've had it up and taken it down a few times because I wasn't sure I was going to use it.  Now that I "get it", I think it'll be left up.  (By the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm afunnygirl72.)

I also have changed my blog design yet again.  Nothing fancy right now.  I like butterflies, but I wasn't excited about the box-y-ness of the previous design's post area, as well as the odd layout of the tabs.  I think the design had some bugs or quirks or something.  And just in case you didn't know this about me... I am THE most fickle person you will probably ever meet, especially when it comes to my blog.  So don't blink, or you might miss the next time I change it.  I guess if you're reading this in a feed reader, it won't make any diff to you.

Is anybody going to do NaBloPoMo?  Last year I had just gotten into blogging and didn't even know what that was.  By the time I finally figured it out, it was already into November, and I was way too green back then to blog under such pressure.  I'm not sure I'm up to posting every single day right now.  I can hardly get out a post once every 3 days as it is.  What are all of you doing?

I'm back at the treadmill this week.  I haven't set any crazy goals, like 5 days straight.  I do intend to put in 3 days, though, which should be a normal plan for me.  Last week I was just sort of kicking my weight loss into gear by boosting my workout, eating well, and drinking my water.  It sure worked because I'm down 3.5 pounds since last Monday. 

I haven't gotten my lip gloss incentive yet, but maybe this weekend.  I'll show it off once I have it, but I sure wish there was a scratch-n-sniff feature on Blogger.  You'll be missing half the presentation without the cherry cola scent.  Definitely missing it!

Catch you guys later...

Accountability: 5 days done!

I did it!  Today I completed the last day of my personal 5-day treadmill challenge.  After not feeling so well yesterday I wasn't sure what would happen this afternoon.  No problem, though.  I walked for 16 minutes and ran for 14. 

Tomorrow, bright and early, is First Place and the weigh-in.  I'm always nervous about it when I know I've put in extra effort or successfully escaped many food temptations through the week, unsure as to whether it will result in a loss.  I really want a loss.  BADLY.  I always have to keep my feelings in check, though, because I've been told numerous times it's not about the number.  It's about your heart.  Eventually, I'll "get it."

You're welcome to keep track of my progress here on my blog, over there in the sidebar to the right.  I have a Traineo button up that tells how much weight I have left to lose.  {But if you thought it would display my actual weight, you must be out of your mind!}  I'll be updating it tomorrow afternoon when I learn what my weight is.

Oh...by the way...guess I'll be heading over to Sephora to pick up the lip gloss that I perspired my little heart out for.  I'll bet you thought I forgot.  {wink}

Accountability Check-In

I was back on the treadmill this afternoon.  I decided I would only walk for 30 minutes, rather than doing any running.  I also chose to read a book while I walked. 

It worked out pretty well for about 20 minutes.  I was distracted by the book, which made the time pass quickly.  Only problem was, once I was 20 minutes into it, I started feeling ucky.  I tossed the book down and walked the last 10 minutes without distraction.

(I'm not sure you're aware of this, but I have dizziness/motion issues and have to be careful with things that can set it off.) 

I never did recover from the ucky feeling.  When I walk I feel a little dizzy and just *bleccckkk!*.  It even makes me want to eat a little crazy, too, but I'm not falling to that temptation.  I've worked too hard this week to succumb to a silly craving that is basically "smoke and mirrors". 

It seems this feeling should subside overnight.  I don't even know that I'm feeling it completely now.  We shall see what happens tomorrow and whether I will get back on that treadmill or not.

My husband has reminded me repeatedly today that if I don't get on the treadmill tomorrow...NO PHILOSOPHY LIP GLOSS.  It's funny how perspective changes.  I'm not even sure that would bother me.  I know the work I've put in this week by exercising, sticking to my food boundaries, and drinking 8 glasses of water a day.  All of that success is confidence-building.  I doubt I need the lip gloss incentive now.

I'll let you know how it all works out.

Tagged: "Got the Picture"

I've been tagged again, which hasn't happened in quite some time.  My bloggy friend, Ronnica over at Tale of a Kansas Girl, wanted me to post with this photo meme.  So here's the deal:

• Go to your sixth picture folder, then pick your sixth picture.
• Pray that you remember the details.
• Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

This is the picture I found in the specified folder.  It's my dog Dixie, who is the doggy love of my life.  There's really no story behind the photo.  I just enjoy snapping shots of my dog, and this one is particularly sweet.  She's sort of tossing her head back, so she appears a tad glamorous.  Don't you think?

I don't feel like tagging anyone today.  If you want to post this one yourself, then go for it...and leave a link to your post in my comments so I can check it out.

Accountability

I thought it would be good to stay accountable here and let you know I'm still on track with my fitness goal this week.  I spent 25 minutes on the treadmill today, and I've stuck to my food boundaries and water intake.  Things are looking good.

A Small Incentive

I've been trying to lose weight since last November (at least officially), but it hasn't happened very fast.   Obviously, since this is October.  I still have the last 10 pounds to go, which will at least get me into my healthy weight bracket. 

But that little birthday I had?  Kinda got me off track.  I basically started excusing myself from eating well for the rest of the week, and I ended up gaining weight, or so that rotten-good-for-nothing scale told me this morning.  {sigh}

Saturday is gonna come quick, and I'd really like to avoid crying my eyes out when I have to weigh in at First Place.  I decided to kick it into gear and get back to work on this thing.  I've recorded all my foods today, I've already had 8 glasses of water, and I did the treadmill thing this afternoon - 15 minutes of running and 20 minutes of walking.  Would you believe I even got out my weights and did some upper body training?  Oh yes I did!

Since I know I am about as disciplined as a 5 year old, I thought maybe a small incentive might be in order.  I set a goal to exercise Monday through Friday this week, which I have never done before.  If I achieve the aforementioned goal, I will be getting my cute, little self right on over to the mall to buy myself a present.

Are you familiar with Philosophy?  I had heard of it but never experienced it in person, until I was at Sephora this weekend.  Their bath gels, lotions, and lip shines smell out of this world.  I found this Not the Pits Cherry Cola lip shine and started yearning for it.  It smells EXACTLY like cherry cola.  EXACTLY.

I just couldn't justify spending $12 for lip gloss.  I'm just not that hip and trendy and all makeup-y.  Ya know?  But I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I fell madly in love right there in Sephora.

So...

If I keep my exercise commitment, I will be rewarding myself with this fabulous lip shine, even if I don't lose any weight.  (Although, a loss of 2 pounds would just be icing on the cake.)

Uh... maybe I shouldn't use food metaphors. {ahem}

A Day at the Office

I'm not sure you are aware of this, but I enjoy making videos.  Of myself.  And looking back at the one I did for my blog mission statement... OH MY WORD - it was awful!  I'm not linking to it, just so you won't go look at it.  It didn't show any of my personality at all.  And my hair?  Awful!

Okay, so feeling truly inspired by other bloggers who recently did their own little videos for Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee, I just HAD to do my own.  Because, like I said, I LOVE doing videos.

This probably won't be the last you see of me...

Liz at the Office from Liz on Vimeo.

*If you're viewing this by email or a feed reader, you might need to go to my blog to view the video. 

 

A Spiritual Milestone

Do you know where I was three years ago?  I was an upstanding member in my church, the pastor's daughter, church pianist, church secretary... questioning my salvation, wondering if I even belonged in church anymore, full of pride and perfectionism, and feeling like everyone around me had gotten on my last nerve.

Not a pretty picture, is it? 

And then the scariest thing happened.  My dad scheduled a Life Action Ministries team to come in for three weeks and hold a revival summit at our church.  Why was that so scary to me?  I was afraid of what God would reveal to me about my heart.  I was afraid of change.  I didn't want to find out I wasn't okay, even though I already knew I wasn't.  I didn't want to walk an aisle and reveal to my church family that I wasn't okay, either.

Those three weeks would change my life!

You see, I accepted Christ as my Savior as a young girl and grew up in a Christian home, attended a solid church, and even spent 14 years in a Christian school.  Much of the time I spent doubting my salvation, though, mostly because I never stayed committed to spending personal time with God.  I was what you'd call a "good kid".  I learned to live by the rules and condemned those who didn't, and that was plenty to build up years' worth of pride in my heart.  Enough to make my life miserable, too.

When Life Action entered the picture, it was pretty much a "do or die" deal for me.  As the Lord started speaking to my heart from the very first message I heard, I believed I had to grab onto whatever they threw at me, as if it were a life preserver, and hang on with all my might.  I truly felt like I was drowning spiritually.  My relationship with Christ felt dead, and I wasn't sure who I really was anymore.

What I learned is that I hadn't been pursuing a relationship with God, nor truly worshipping Him.  I had been waiting for a feeling to sweep into my heart that would bring about a communion with Him naturally.  That's not how God works.  He must be pursued, worshipped, and glorified actively by a choice of my will, not because of a feeling! 

That first week the evangelist asked us to commit to having a quiet hour every day for five days, which included praise, supplication, reading Psalms, reading other scripture, thanksgiving, and singing.  So I committed myself.  I didn't know how I'd ever fill one hour talking to God, let alone 20 minutes, but I did it the first day.  I didn't feel a passion or a great desire to be there, but I knew I was being obedient.  So I did it the second day.  I continued on for the five days and beyond that.  I just kept going until it became a craving, and I couldn't wait to get out of bed in the morning to see what God would show me in my quiet hour.  There were mornings I never wanted to leave my quiet room, and an hour wasn't long enough to spend with Him.

As God became intensely real to me in my quiet hour, He became real to me throughout the day, too.  I would think of Him often and found myself basing decisions on the knowledge of His presence in my life.  No longer was I just worshipping Him in church, or just during a quiet hour, but all day, every day.

And that's how my spiritual life drastically changed.  I chose to actively pursue God by abiding in His Word and in prayer faithfully, and I've been pursuing Him ever since.  At the age of 33 I had finally grasped the type of relationship with God that I had only heard other people experienced and never believed I would have. 

As that all began on October 3, 2005, I have once again passed a spiritual anniversary that is very much worth remembering.  I pray I'll never forget.

One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. ~ Psalm 27:4

Birthday Wishes Come True

I wanted to say thanks to the people who were sending out happy wishes to me for my 36th birthday on Monday.  Whew!  I made it to 36...and I'm still alive. 

I shopped my little heart out and got some good bargains at an outlet mall, and I am gonna look GOOOOD this fall.  You just gotta love buying a pair of pants at the Gap for less than $13.

I also visited the South Bend Chocolate Cafe and had the biggest slice of Chocolate Layer Cake you have ever seen, so one of my many birthday wishes came true.  Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting was on my list of "must haves" for my birthday.

Not only did I have a birthday, but I also just passed a special anniversary in my spiritual life.  I'll be back later to tell you about it.

So... I'm Having a Birthday

Do you know what?  I'm having a birthday tomorrow.  I've never been one to hide or lie about my age, so I'll just tell you.  I'm going to be 36.  Yes, 36!  I can barely fathom that, although the root job I need to cover my gray right now is a pretty good indicator that I may actually and truly turn 36.  It just seems like a strange number to me, and I'll explain that in a moment.

I am of the opinion that after I turned 30, anything older than that is just extra.  You see, when I was in the 6th grade I got it into my head that Jesus would be coming soon at the Rapture, and I would never see 30.  I'd be in Heaven way before that.  I also never thought I would see the year 2000.  But here I am, it's 2008, and I'm going to turn 36.  That's w-e-i-r-d.

I don't feel 36.  What does a 36-year-old feel like anyway?  Yes, it's getting more difficult to get out of bed in the morning.  I assume that's part of the aging process.  But I do think that because I don't have kids it makes it hard for me to gauge how old I'm becoming.  I just don't have milestones that mark the years or children rolling their eyes at me for saying something lame because I'm just "so old".

Okay, now getting back to the reason 36 is a strange number.  I found that 35 was perfect in that it was directly between 30 and 40.  A gal of 35 is considered pretty experienced and has been around the block a time or two.  She's got some wisdom under her belt.  So 35 is a pretty cool year.  But as I turn this corner to embark on 36, I'm suddenly faced with 40 looming down the next street.  I'm only 4 years shy of the big 4-0.  Do you know how fast 4 years can fly?  Fast!  And I must say... 40 LOOKS MIGHTY SCARY. 

Please don't misunderstand me, all you 40+ readers.  I'm not knockin' your 40 years.  I know it's just a number.  I just don't know what to imagine I'll be at 40 years.  I guess it's a fear of the unknown.  And you know what else?  They make 40-year-olds get mammograms.  Oooh, something to look forward to.  Uh, NOT!  Next thing they'll be wanting to schedule me for a colonoscopy, and we all know how well I cope with that.

Alright, so I know what you all are thinking.  Liz, why can't you just enjoy 36 and not worry about what might be 4 years from now?  Yeah, I know.  You're right.  I should do that.  I'll work on that.

But I'm pretty sure Jesus is coming back any day, though, and I'm planning to spend 40 in Heaven.

And Now My Dog Will Do A Trick

I don't know if any of you dog lovers watched that reality series "Greatest American Dog", but we did and loved it. I hope they bring it back again in a few months. We enjoyed watching the dogs and their owners compete in various tasks and challenges. Those dogs were amazing.

On the finale, one of the judges did a "leave it" command with a Boxer by placing the treat right on his paw, and it intrigued me. Ever since then, we've been practicing "leave it" with Dixie. It's crazy the way she does it. We set the treat in front of her, tell her leave it, and she gets up and walks away, all the while looking at the treat out of the corner of her eye. It seems to be such a great temptation that she feels like she has to walk away from it.

So I tried to capture that on video for you, but with my hand full of treats and the camera on, she was quite distracted and didn't perform exactly as she usually does. Here's what I was able to get out of her, and you'll notice she quickly reverts to her old standby trick of roll over. She may not be the smartest dog, but she is so stinkin cute!

 

Dixie - "Leave It" from Liz on Vimeo.

If you're reading this in a feed reader, you may need to go to my blog in order to view the video.

I Missed Out!

I am so disappointed that I did not get in on the I See What You're Saying carnival over at 2nd Cup of Coffee on Tuesday.  I just didn't have time to get my own video recorded, although I tried.  I have had webcam issues*.  I love doing videos, so this would've been the perfect carnival for me to get involved in.

Well, even though I didn't get to make my own video, I have been checking out all the other videos that entered.  You have GOT to go check them out for yourselves.  They're HILARIOUS! 

There wasn't a theme or anything.  It was basically introducing yourself and talking about anything you wanted to.  I didn't know there were so many funny bloggers out there...you know...besides Big Mama, Ministry So Fabulous, and Discovering Liz.  {Oh, I jest!  That's my blog.  And I'm not that funny.}

So if you're ready to meet some new bloggers and laugh a lot, go over there right now and then tell me which one is your favorite.  I have only seen a handful, but right now my favorite is His Girl's Blog.

*Webcam Issue - If anyone knows how to get the sound to record at the correct level on the Cyberlink Youcam software on my HP Pavilion dv2000, I'd be ever so grateful for the knowledge.  It records muffled, no matter how high the volume is up.  Stinky!

Wondering...

Has anyone ever died from being too tired?

I stayed up too late last night, and then I overslept this morning.  Woke right up out of a dream, looked at the clock, and I saw my radio had been on for 8 minutes and never heard it.  And THAT'S a pleasant way to awake, let me tell ya.  I crawled out of bed, looked into the mirror through half-open eyelids, and decided that "yes, I do need to wash my hair this morning or else I won't be able to do a thing with it."  Ugh!

Okay, so I admit to being overly dramatic with my "dying" comment.  I'm nowhere near dying, but I do feel yucky, which makes sitting here at the computer at the office a less-than-enjoyable experience.  I'm pretty sure it's a tiredness thing.  I've already had coffee, but I feel no effects of the caffeine.  I took a Tylenol and feel no effects from that either.

Oh, how my pillow is calling to me.  We definitely have a date this afternoon.

{Yaaaawn}