My virtues, and the Blubber Butt Chronicles!

Project 31. Day#9

What virtues do I value in myself?

Well...not to toot my own horn but.....

I am honest.

I am dependable.

I am loyal.

I am a follower of the Creator of the Earth.

I am a princess (read more about that here).

I am determined.

I am me.

And in other news:

It's another edition of...

We were in a much better mood this Monday than last Monday and so it was much easier to get into the whole let's-see-how-much-weight-we-lost-thing.

I was feeling optimistic this week because I had done a really good job eating well and exercising the past week. The treadmill and I developed a great bond and L and I put in some great workout time after work.

SO I was really excited when I stepped onto the scale and saw 138.2 on the scale! Woohoo me!!!!

I am finally back into the 130's. It's been a long time since the scale read those numbers!

L also had a great week and was somewhat disappointed to find that she only last 1/2 a pound. But I was so proud! I know she felt discouraged but that's still a LOSS in weight and not a gain. So we both discussed what we could do this week to challenge ourselves. I decided to reluctantly give up my 250 calorie Jif on the Go peanut butter cup that I enjoy everyday for lunch and only eat it on Wednesday.

Boo.

BUT I'M IN THE 130's!!

So here we go again this week. I had a salad for lunch and chicken and veggies for dinner.

I have to admit though. For the first time ever I feel free from the bondage of food. I no longer plan my life around food. I am starting to plan food around my life. It's amazing what can happen when you give God control of something. Even something as simple as dieting!

So here ya go. Pictures...and yes we are in our workout clothes. Enjoy.

A beautiful tip:

Project 31. Day #8

A beautiful tip.

Oh wow, this has definitely been the most challenging day of the Project 31 challenge so far.

When I first started thinking about what to write I panicked! I don't really do anything special to myself to be "more beautiful". There are tons of hair-styling videos and make-up preparation tutorials already all over the web and to be quite honest, I wear the same makeup and generally wear my hair the same everyday.

Soooooo I'm probably not the one to be asking about beautiful tips.

But THEN!

I had an epiphany.

I do have a beautiful tip to share!

Are you ready for this?

SMILE!

I am amazed by all the people who go through life NOT smiling. What a great way to make yourself look better, and it only takes a second!

Not to mention smiling makes you feel better on the outside.

So there you have it.
My beautiful tip.

:)

Project 31. Day #7: A blog about you...

Hey, you!

Yes that's right, I'm talking to you?

You are beautiful!

No, really, you are.

When I saw you for the first time I thought to myself

Wow. I wish I could look like that. I wish I could have such amazing beauty surround me everywhere I go.

Your glow about you is infectious

and everyone's head turns when you walk into the room.

I am so jealous!

What do I have to do to become as beautiful as you?

Exercise?

Eat less?

No?

Wait, what do you mean?

You don't do any of those thing?

You do what!?!?

So you are telling me that if I walk in faith

show compassion to everyone around me

live thankfully

pray daily

seek God's will constantly

worship continuously

and love deeply

I can be as beautiful as you?

Hmmm...I think I can manage that!

You deeply inspire me to do all those things.

Will you help?

I long to be as beautiful as you, my friend.

Dedicated to all women out there who need to strip off the outer expectations of beauty and learn to strive for beauty on the inside!

And especially dedicated to one woman who does all of these things and more. A beautiful daughter, a beautiful mother, a beautiful friend!

Love ya, sis!

J-j-j-jaded

Okay, so I am loving this Project 31. challenge that I am participating in.

It's quickly becoming the highlight of my evening.

After the laundry is done, and the dishes are washed I love to sit down and check out the next's day challenge and think long and hard about what I want to write about.

(I do my posts the night before that way it can go out on my email subscription list. Not subscribed? You should)

Anyway, I digress.

The question for the week was about jaded beauty and if the world's definition of beauty has ever jaded me.

This started me thinking.

What does "jaded" mean?

Other than the name of a fantastic Aerosmith song.

So I looked up the word all scholarly like and this is what I found:

jaded:

1. fatigued by overwork

2. made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience

So, in response to this question?

YES!!

Turn on your t.v. Alright it's probably already on. Now, count how many skinny, beautiful, flawlessly skinned, women you see in..oh.10 seconds.

And you wonder why I would feel jaded.

I get so tired of wondering what I could do to be more beautiful. If I watch my food intake enough, exercise enough, tweeze my eyebrows enough, bleach my hair enough, MAYBE I will measure up to an ounce of what those women look like.

It's so tiring!

Luckily, and through much prayer, God is teaching me that I am beautiful all in my own way.

I read a book with some of my kids at school about a bluebird who bragged to everyone he met that he was the most beautiful animal in the forest because he was the color of the sky.

He ended up making a mouse feel like crap because he was gray, not blue and therefore not beautiful.

He made a flamingo feel ugly because she was pink and not blue, so again, not beautiful.

So one day he goes up to the Wise Old Blackbird and begins to strut his stuff and flap his jaws about how beautiful he is, blah blah blah.

What does Blackbird say?

He reminds the bluebird that the sky is not always blue. Sometimes the clouds are gray and casts a beautiful sky over the Earth, and sometimes, when the sun sets it sends the most beautiful pink colors stretching across the horizon.

The lesson?

We are ALL beautiful and we all have our place in this world.

It doesn't matter if this girl can't compare to Miss Carrie Underwood over there. I AM BEAUTIFUL!

So I encourage all you beautiful women out there to rest easy. God created you in an image of Him. We can't be anything but beautiful!

Will I still be jaded at beauty sometimes after I post this? Of course. Beauty is exhausting.

I guess at times like that I will just have to re-read this post and remind myself.

You are beautiful. No matter what they say.

(Thanks Christina for such great lyrics)

Project 31. Day #5: A letter

Dear Father,

When I think about someone who has made my heart come alive, how can I not think of you?

You knew me before I was even born.

You breathed life into my lungs.

You quite literally, made my heart come alive.

But God,

You are so much more than just my Creator.

You are my Savior.

I can't begin to tell you what it means to me that You are on my side.

Just this week I have seen Your presence in my life providing for me and protecting me.

How can I not be amazed when I step outside and see all the beautiful snow on the ground and know that You created each snowflake that falls from the sky.

I praise You Father.

I praise You for loving me enough to sacrifice Your Son for me.

I praise You for loving me enough to bless me with parents that are the most compassionate, God-fearing, people I know.

I praise You for knowing that I would need an older sister to talk to about things I don't feel comfortable talking to others about.

I praise You for a husband who seeks your face on a daily basis and has such a compassionate tender heart.

I praise you for being you and creating me to be me.

Thank you for creating me and giving me this life that I can be proud of.

Thank. you.

Love,

Me

Project 31. Day #3: Beauty Inspired

Day #3: Who is someone you know who inspires beauty?

Can I have two?

Good.

These two people greatly inspire beauty in my life:

growing up in my parents house was like most homes.

We had our ups. We had our downs.

But one thing was a constant.

God was the center.

Not many people can honestly say that they saw their parents seek God's advice in everything that they did. And they still do.

I learned a lot from my parents.

The most important thing in the world is family.

Family things stay in the family.

God has a plan for our lives.

Never go to bed mad.

I also learned that I was beautiful in my parent's eyes no matter what.

There was never pressure to be a certain size or look a certain way in our house.

We didn't always make the best choices nutritionally but I was never afraid of coming home if I gained a pound or thirty :S

That doesn't mean that my parents didn't want us to be healthy growing up, it just wasn't an obsession.

I'm grateful for that.

I learned that a sense of humor is a necessity in life. There were times growing up, and especially now in my adult life, laughing was the only thing that kept us from losing our mind.

I am thankful that my parents became "parents" to all of my friends.

I am thankful that my parents follow God and everything He asks them to do. Even if it meant stepping out of their comfort zones. I only hope I will follow God with such commitment.

I also learned never to accept hand-outs but to work for everything you want. To tithe on a regular basis, and to expect God's blessings. EXPECT THEM!

They love their kids, they love their grandkids, and even their grand-dogs with an unconditional love.

I could go on and on and on about my parents. I love them so much and I think that it's because of them that this little gal even stands a chance.

If beauty had a picture beside it in the dictionary, it would have a picture of them.

I have been blessed.

Mom. Dad. I love you!

Project 31. Day #2: What makes me uniquely me?

What makes me uniquely me?

Man that's a loaded question...

I think one of the things that makes me uniquely me is that I am an open book. Any emotion, any thought, any fear is written plainly on my face. This is also one of the things I detest about my dang self. I can't keep anything secret.

I also think that my heart makes me unique. Most days I am extremely vulnerable. I am way more affected by things you say than I will EVER let on. Other days I am a rock and I let things fall right off my shoulders.

I am a family girl.

There is no other place I'd rather be than spending time with family. I have especially grown in this area since moving away from mine. I have learned a whole new area of respect and appreciation being 3 hours away. It's never easy knowing that your family is making memories without you.

I love to sing, but am afraid of where it might lead.

There was a time when I would give anything to stand in front of a crowd and belt my lungs out. Now I freeze up just at the thought of being asked.

I don't know where it came from?

I only hope that God can continue to help me work through it.

I would love to go live in Savannah, GA.

It's pretty much paradise.

I could drink Peach Tea all day.

Enough Said

I'm a princess.

No joke. Really I am.

Royalty.

Minus the tiara, although one day I will wear a crown.

Don't believe me.

Check it out:

Galatians 4:6-7

You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.

(See, told ya)

My dog is human.

Seriously.

Just ask her.

And that's me.

I'd say I'm pretty unique, wouldn't you?

:)

Project 31.

I was so excited to wake up this morning, drink my tea, schedule my day, and then hop on my computer to check out what's going on in the world.

God really rewarded me when I saw a new blog segment called Project 31. that I am stoked to be participating in!

You can click on the link above to find out what Project 31. is but in a nut shell it is taking 31 days, based on Proverbs 31 and detailing what it means to be an extraordinary woman. Each day I will be blogging on different topics. I can't wait to get started.

So...why wait!

Day 1: What does beauty mean to me?

Our whole lives we have heard people say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I guess that's true, but the older I get I am finding that I care more about my beauty than any one else does. I am the one criticizing every wrinkle and speck on my face or every roll on my body. I am the only one who is responsible for my lack of self-esteem; even on my best days.

Over the last few years (blame it on getting older, I guess) I have learned that in order to be a truly beautiful person, it takes more than makeup and cute clothes. People could care less about the outside; they notice the inside WAY more.

Think about it this way? In your social (dare I say gossip?) circles that you find yourself in on a regular basis do your conversations center around what another person looks like, or do they center around another person's character? We hardly ever attack someones appearance.

If the saying is true that I usually notice the flaws in people that I know are areas of concern for myself than I have a long ways to go.

True beauty lives in our souls; you know, where Jesus lives. But sometimes the world starts pushing Jesus out and takes root itself. This is when our "beauty" becomes less beautiful. Compassion, gratitude, love, these are the pieces that make up a beautiful body in Christ. These are what we will be judged on one day when we stand before the Lord to answer for how we live our life. Don't misunderstand, God isn't going to be happy if we destroy our bodies and what He has planned for us over something as fleeting as food. And God also created us in His image, so to Him we are the most beautiful creatures ever anyway. But it is what's inside that counts.

I guess my point here is that I long to be beautiful in God's eyes, not just in the eyes of the world. And I can't help but think that the more I increase in the first area, the more beautiful the world will see me too!