>> the story of my newfound health - part one

If you're like me, you love food. You eat even when you're not hungry. You eat because it tastes good, and food is a means of comfort for you. If you're like me, your metabolism in college and young 20's was fast and always had your back. Like, girl-you-don't-even-have-to-go-to-the-gym-your-metabolism-is-so-fast kind of having your back.

I should have known that even though my metabolism had already slowed down before I hit 30, when I came down sick on my 30th birthday, they weren't kidding when they said, "It's all downhill once you hit 30." Gone were the days of easy.

This is when we separate the boys from the men. This, my friends, is 30.

On Tuesday, January 14, I stepped on the scale. My work had decided to start an 8-week fitness challenge which would require each participant to put $10 in the proverbial pot, weigh in every Tuesday morning, and record their percentage of weight lost.  My start weight, as recorded on January 14, was the highest number I had ever seen on the scale. Ever. It wasn't something I could be okay with anymore, and with a potential monetary prize on the line, I decided I was going to give this my best shot.

Here I sit, 2.5 weeks into this thing, and I am feeling good. Like, I've-never-felt-this-good-before kind of good. Like, I want to stand on a podium somewhere and tell other food-loving, clothes-aren't-fitting-so-good-anymore women such as myself: "If I can do it, so can you." Like I'm so overwhelmed with how life-changing this is going to be that I don't even know where I want to take this blog post.

But I will start by sharing with you what I've been doing.

I haven't worked out at all in the past 2.5 weeks (because I hate working out), but I have lost 6.4 lbs as of right now just by changing how I eat.

I'm not keeping track of my calories, but if I had to estimate, I'd say I'm keeping it in the 1200 daily range.

Every morning I indulge in peanut butter & honey oatmeal and orange juice. It's delicious, gives me something to look forward to eating, and holds me over until lunch.

When it comes to lunch and dinner, I have been incorporating a protein with fruit and veggies. No flour, not even whole-wheat. No sugar. And I drink water for the rest of the day. I get my sweet fixes by eating fruit. I might eat 2-3 clementines in one day. For my afternoon snack, I mix and match a protein such as cashews or roasted chick peas with either a fruit or a cheese stick.

Week one was tough. My stomach was in shock and growled all the time, even while I was eating. It was as if it was literally asking me where all the rest of the food was. But I endured it because I was motivated to not mess up this fitness challenge in week one. I lost 4.2 lbs.

Week two was a different kind of tough. I was still hungry a lot of the time, but my desire to binge was almost irresistible. I would sit on the couch and envision stuffing my face with pizza dipped in ranch dressing, and chasing it all back with a big Pepsi or Cherry Coke. Then I would get off the couch and calmly peel a clementine and eat it slowly. Once I realized I was strong enough to resist the urges to binge, I gained confidence that I could really do this. I lost 1.6 lbs in week two.

Now I'm halfway through the third week, and although weigh-in day is 4 days away, I cheated and weighed yesterday to discover I had lost another 0.6 lb in two days. The urges to binge have become virtually non-existent. My body feels lighter and cleaner on the inside. I feel happier and more energetic. It's like all the crap and chemicals I was filling my body with are disappearing and my body is thriving. I even feel like I'm taking deeper breaths.

My advice for people like me who love junk food way too much but have the desire to change: do what you have to do to be motivated, whether it be joining a fitness group, promising yourself an awesome reward to look forward to, or hanging a picture up of yourself in your prime to remind you every day of where you want to be. For me, I wasn't motivated until I was part of a competition with money on the line.

And although the money would still be nice to win, that's not my motivation to stick with this anymore. Somewhere along the way, I started genuinely caring about myself enough that my improved health and self-control were prize enough.

>> free chalkboard printables

We are currently in the midst of another cold, snowy day here in Arkansas. All these housebound days have given me lots of time to work on de-cluttering and decorating my home. That has been a big focus of my Christmas break. 

We closed our flea market booth, and I have been working to sell all of my leftover inventory. With the money I make from selling unneeded clutter in my home, I am buying new decor that fits my evolving taste. 

I have also been spending a lot of time on Pinterest, pinning inspiring ideas. My decorating budget is very tight, so when it comes to wall decor, I try to recreate a lot of what I see with DIY projects. That said, I have specifically been wanting something new to hang above my oven, as well as in my laundry room.

Drawing inspiration from Pinterest, I created two chalkboard printables. I have already hung the conversion chart above my oven in a frame from Hobby Lobby that I already had. I just created the laundry printable today and will get it printed as soon as the weather clears up.

I am sharing these printables with you because I know it's hard to find affordable wall decor, and sometimes the free printables we come across on Pinterest aren't sized properly to be printed in a clear resolution. These are already sized for 8x10, and you can get them printed on photo paper through a place like Sam's Club, Walmart or Walgreens, or you can have them printed on card stock through an office supply store such as Staples.

To download the 8x10 kitchen conversion chart, click the image above or click HERE. Downloaded image will not have a watermark on it.

To download the 8x10 laundry chalkboard printable, click the image above or click HERE. Downloaded image will not have a watermark on it.

Here is a picture of the kitchen conversion chart framed and in my kitchen. I hope you enjoy finding the perfect spot for these printables in your home!

>> Edit: I um, I made another chalkboard printable. This one is for my guest bathroom. It is also an 8x10.  I mean, what else am I supposed to do??? It's snowing outside.

Click the image above or HERE to download your (un-watermarked) copy. I promise I'll lay off the chalkboard printables for a while before this starts getting really awkward.

>> the best christmas

For no outlandish reason at all, this was the best Christmas ever. Just like a little kid, I slept so lightly the night before in anticipation of this special holiday. I probably freaked my husband out because as soon as his alarm went off, he opened his eyes to see my crazy face excitedly smiling at him. A few times, he'd drift back off to sleep then open his eyes again to my eagerly awaiting stare. 

First things first, we read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible. Then we let Simon open his stocking, which contained a new bone, as usual. He is always so sweet on Christmas morning. He plops himself down right next to us and chews on his new bone as we open our gifts.

After our morning ritual, we got ready to go, loaded the truck up with presents and headed to Siloam Springs for Christmas with my in-laws.

Like always, we started at Nanny's house with extended family. After stuffing ourselves on delicious food and pie, we sat around the living room and opened gifts. Then we went across the street and opened presents with my husband's immediate family. I feel like every time I talk about my in-laws I have to stress how blessed I am by them. They have truly embraced me and treat me as if I'm their daughter. In the family picture above, I asked them to get together with the boys for a picture, and my mother-in-law told me to join in, too. Our time with them is always precious and we literally never want to leave once we get over to their house. But we had to cut the visit a little short this time because for the first time ever we were celebrating both our families' Christmases in the same day.

So to my sister's house we drove, truck loaded down with presents. I was thankful once we arrived that all my family members had stuck around and waited for us even though they had already opened gifts from each other and enjoyed a Mexican-style lunch.

I loved watching my nephew open his gifts. His face lit up for the toys, and he would scowl and throw down any cloth item, i.e., clothes or hats. The Veggie Tales DVD we gave him was a big hit. He had to watch it right then while the rest of us opened gifts. It was sweet to get to be a part of both my nieces' first Christmases too. They pretty much just ate and slept their way through it, but they sure were pretty doing so.

My favorite part of the night was when my mom surprised the boys with beanies she had crocheted and fingerless gloves for the girls. My favorite gifts to give were the monogram frames that hubs and I made together for my sister and brother.

This day was so special and just felt so full. Getting to celebrate with both our families on the same day was busy but perfect. Starting the day off with the focus on the birth of our Savior and a prayer really set the tone for a day where the blessings surrounding me were evident and in the forefront of my mind. I soaked in the laughter, I was more intentional with how I hugged people and I let the excitement of such a magical holiday light me up from the inside out.

>> cookie exchange party

Today I am having one of those days when I just can't get down about anything because I'm way too aware of all my blessings. Sometimes I catch myself having a secret little pity party because of the things I don't have. (Apparently, with all the undeserved blessings I've been given, a sense of entitlement has come along too.) I have to mentally put a stop to these thoughts as soon as they enter my mind.

This morning my church had a Christmas celebration. There was a full band and choir up front, so the music was absolutely beautiful. I looked around the theater (because we meet in a movie theater) and felt so blessed by all the friendships surrounding me. I can honestly say I love so many people in my church. My heart is full, but never runs out of room. 

I say all that to get to the point: I am blessed in so many ways -- especially in my friendships. I treasure my friends at this point in my life because growing up, I never had true, lasting ones. This is the first time in my life I've been fully excepted and included by such an amazing, supportive group of women.

We got together last night for a cookie exchange party. It doubled as an excuse to see my friend Chrissy's new house. Each of us brought individually wrapped cookies and enough recipe cards for everyone. As with any other gathering with these ladies, there was so much laughter and great conversation. We each brought an appetizer and spent a good while eating and catching up with each other. Then after a good long tour of Chrissy's house, we each got a gift bag and filled it with cookies and the recipes that went with them. My sister came along and brought my baby niece with her, which was an added bonus!

>> ho ho homicide

Last night we braved the icy roads to go to our friends' annual Christmas party. The theme this year was a murder mystery. A couple of weeks ago, we got the invitation along with the description of the characters we would be playing. I had never been to one of these parties before, so I was super excited.

The name of the party was "Ho Ho Homicide." Our host friends were Mr. and Mrs. Claus; there was a mailman named Holiday Wishes, and the rest of us were either elves or reindeer. Hubs was Dasher, and I was an elf named Jangle.

It was hilarious to watch everyone stay in character all night. At one point, the lights went off and an elf named Jingle fell down to the ground. That was when the "murder" took place, and we were all handed an envelope. My envelope revealed to me that I was the killer but I had to keep it quiet and focus my attention on accusing everyone else. I must have played my part pretty well because when it came time to vote on who we thought the killer was, only one person suspected me.

It was definitely another awesome Christmas party for the books. The first few years, we always celebrated with an ugly sweater party. Then last year we did a cheesy game show theme followed by this year's murder mystery theme. They just keep getting better and better. Next year, we're already planning a Christmas Vacation theme, where we all come dressed as characters from the movie.

>> i love snow days

We got our first snow of the season! It started yesterday with sleet that turned to snow later on. By the time it stopped snowing this afternoon, we had close to 9" in our back yard.

It's times like these where the big kid comes out in me and I want to run around outside, build snowmen and slide down a hill in a cardboard box. But these activities are awkward to partake in all by yourself, so I enjoyed a quiet day spent mostly inside.

Wearing my cuddl duds and one of my husband's shirts, I cozied up on the couch and indulged in some of my favorite classic chick flicks. I could watch old Meg Ryan movies all day long. It's weird, but the way I feel when I watch movies like You've Got Mail or When Harry Met Sally could be equated to the way chicken soup warms your soul. For me, it's about as quality as "me time" can get.

>> deck the halls

Yesterday I hauled out my over-abundance of Christmas decorations and got to work decking the halls. This year, I stuck to subtle colors and lots of burlap for a simple woodsy feel.

When it comes to home decor, I've always liked bright colors. But I literally woke up one morning a couple of weeks ago and wanted all the bright colors in my house to be replaced with olive, gray and burlap textures. So in keeping with my new-found obsession with all things neutral, I spray painted our silver JOY stocking holders with a dark oil-rubbed bronze.

Even though I'm still really proud of the stockings I made for us last year, there's a small part of me that's bothered by the bright red chevron. I'm wishing they were lined with a dark olive and I'm actually debating making new ones - something I swore I'd never do again. Stockings are not fun to make. And who knows what I'll like next year. There's going to have to come a point where we use the same stockings year after year for the simple sake of tradition. And don't even get me started on Simon's flashy stocking. I am literally going to make him a new one. It's just time.

I love the warmth Christmas decorations add to our home. I always wish they could stay up year round, but I guess if they did, they wouldn't be as special.