Pieces of wisdom and a new take on things..

Last night I was really excited to get to attend a Women's Conference with my friend Lindsay at her church.

The night was full of great little snippets of wisdom and faith talk but one of the things that the speaker said really stuck with me.

Maybe it's because of this road I have been on with my dieting and giving up almost all of my former junk food addictions.

Maybe it's because it was a slap in the face from God Himself.

Probably it was a mixture of the both, but either way I thought I'd share it with you.

The speaker gave the illustration of a mother and father slaving over a hot delicious gourmet meal. The parents went into the living room to call their kids to dinner only to find them cramming Twinkies and Cheetos and pure junk down their throats. When they told them to come eat they responded, not surprisingly, by saying "I'm not hungry!"

In the same way, if we fill ourselves up with the junk of this world (lies, addiction, lust, self-pity, laziness, etc), we will ALWAYS approach the throne of God and His Word with an "I'm not hungry" attitude.

That just really stood out to me.

The conference was great and it is one more reason that I am so glad God put someone like Lindsay in my life.

I've also been really busy this week trying to reorganize our life a little bit. While on vacation it hit me that I am just NOT happy with the pace that our lives have been running at lately. It seems like my to-do list keeps getting longer before I even have a chance to cross anything off.

So, the hubby and I sat down and had a talk. What can we do to organize our everyday schedules and routines and condense things down to make them more manageable and more realistic.

Thus the household cleaning list and monthly meal calendar were born.

I got the idea for the household cleaning chart from an article that I read in the paper. Basically, I created a form that details all of our chores (from daily all the way to yearly) and then included a check-off box next to each chore. Then I stuck it in a 8x1o photo frame so that we can use our dry-erase markers to check off each item everyday. This will not only keep me accountable but also help when one of us might not be here to make sure everything gets done.

I won't share all of the chores on our lists but our daily and weekly chore list looks like this:

Daily Chores:

Make bed

Tidy Up

Laundry (1 load a day)

Dishes

Wipe Down Counters

And Weekly Chores:

Monday: Coupons, dust,

Tuesday: Floors

Wednesday: Bathrooms

Thursday: Windows

These were things that I was doing every week anyway I was just usually running around on Saturday hoping to get them all done. Now, hopefully we can enjoy our weekends and get things done a little at a time throughout the week.

The other thing that we did was create a monthly meal planner calendar.

Earlier this week I rounded up a bunch of our recipes, categorized them, and then decided which night of the week to designate to each category. I rounded down my categories to:

Sunday: Family dinner (we always eat out with family after church)

Monday: Crock pot

Tuesday: Date Night

Wednesday: Quick and Easy

Thursday: Family Faves

Friday: Pasta Night

Saturday: Grill or New Recipe

Then I just mapped out the different meals we wanted on the calendar.

After I got this all organized I created a shopping list and went through my shopping plan (which I will detail next week).

I thought that since you guys have been so awesome, and in celebration of my first full week offering blog sponsor spots I would treat you guys with a free printable version of the Meal planner that I created for ourselves.

So here ya go!

And if you decide that you would like me to customize it for you in anyway I would be happy to do so for a $2.00 fee. This would include any customizations you desire as well as pdf copy of the file to be used whenever you wish!

You guys have been so stinkin' awesome and I am so excited to see where the future of this blog may be headed! Thanks for all your kind words and encouragement and I hope to hear from you soon!

14 Days of Love-Day 4-A cup of tea for my sweet-tea!

Holy moly,

it has arrived.

The stomach virus that is.

I thought I had avoided it.

WRONG!

Luckily, I had an epiphany in the shower last night and was able to whip up my day 4 gift for the Mr. before I went to bed. I definitely would be struggling to do it today.

But anyway, enough woe is me.

I thought I was pumped about all my other gifts so far.

And I was.

Really.

But now, I am so incredibly uber-pumped that I just can't see straight.

It doesn't help that I already gave the gift to Landen this morning and he was so proud that I came up with the idea all on my own.

I told you that he liked tea right?

Well what better for a gift than a cup of tea!

or several cups of tea in a cute little sandwich baggie with cute little matchbox covers! Woot!

I got the basic idea from over at eighteen25 by using her tutorial; you can find it here. I changed my dimension from 3" wide and 5" long.

Then I scored lines 1 inch from the bottom and then 2" up. I stapled my tea bag into the cardstock

and then added just a little adhesive to make a matchbook cover.

Then came the label!

Oh how I love the label!!!

It's simple but how cute! Sweet-tea, not sweetie, get it? I'm sure.

I whipped these up on photoshop, cut them out, and stuck them on the front of each tea bag.

Next I made a sandwich bag topper using the same design as the label, filled my baggie, and stuck it onto the top with some staples, and wha-la!

I super cute gift that he can enjoy for 11 days and it cost me zero dolla.

Woohoo for me!

He has already called me from work to tell me that he has his cup sitting on his coaster with his tea already made. I love impressing my husband. It's the small things.

And as a special treat to you I am including both the printable for the labels and the baggie topper. Happy 4th Day of Love!

Just follow the links below to download!

Full sheet of labels

Sandwich baggie topper

Have a project of your own? Link it up below!

Now if I move from the couch to my craft desk maybe I can continue working on the giveaway prize that one lucky blogger will be receiving on Valentines Day!

14 Days of Love-Day 2

Hello everyone!
We are still covered in snow and ice here so I have been cooped up all day...AGAIN!

I had one person link up to the Challenge yesterday and I loved reading about how she posted on her husband's facebook how much she loved him.

So sweet!

Landen LOVED his coupons and couldn't wait to get started using them. It was nice to see him light up over something as simple as printed cardstock!

I am really excited about my gift for him today too.

I try to thank him on a regular basis and tell him how much I appreciate him, but I think sometimes the little things can slip by. So I decided to try and figure out something I could do that would stop him in his tracks and show him I love him all at the same time. So, I came up with this:

I typed up a list of just a few of the reasons I loved him and then printed it on some cardstock. I trimmed it down to fit my 8x10 frame and then stuck some ribbon on the back.

Guess where it's going to go?

I used one of my suction hooks and it will be hanging eye level as soon as he walks up the steps.

(Excuse my horrible posture in the reflection but I did risk my life out there to take these pictures!)

Anyway,

hopefully this will show him just a few of the reason why I appreciate him so much.

At first every little piece of information had a little heart beside of it but for some reason when I printed it only one of them showed up. Funny how it is the one that is telling him how much I love him for supporting me in counting calories. Haha.

I also decided to keep a blank version of the file for you to use and customize for your own special person.

If you use it please, please. PLEASE, take pictures and post them so I can see how they turned out!

So don't forget to grab my button over on the sidebar and link up!

And check out the other people who have linked up too.

What better way to show someone you care!

14 Days of Love-Day 1

It's here!

14 days of Love Challenge Day #1 is finally here and I am so excited!

I have a few things to share with you including my own 14 days of love project and a sneak peek video at the item that will be given away to one lucky blogger on Valentine's Day itself! Woohoo!

Just a reminder of the rules.

The goal of this challenge is to show someone that you love them each of the 14 days leading up to Valentines Day itself. This could be a spouse/parent/child/pet, whoever, but SHARE THE LOVE PEOPLE!

And if you miss day 1,2, 5, or even 10 I STILL want to see your ideas so please don't hesitate to jump in whenever!

Then...

Check back here daily to link up your project.

Use pictures or writing to show us your project but just LINK IT UP!

Add my button to your blog so others will check it out and link up too:

Cruise around some of the other bloggers and make nice sweet comments on their mushy gushy love posts.

<center><a href="http://theobanions.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="LifeonaMarquee" src="http://i886.photobucket.com/albums/ac70/aobanion8628/14daysofovebutton.jpg" /></a></center>

So..... without further delay

my first 14 Days of Love project:

I hopped on Photoshop and created these super cute love coupons for my husband. There have been so many variations to these things and you can find them pretty much anywhere but I wanted to include things that I knew he would enjoy.

I used:

1.Free night of cuddling

2. A get out of trouble free card.

3. One round of golf.

4. I'll let the dog out in the morning.

5. You ask, I'll do.

6. A back rub.

7. Dinner...your choice.

8. A lazy day on the couch with no honey-do's.

9. Breakfast in bed.

10. A long bike ride together.

I printed them out, inked the edges, punched a hole in the corner and then added some ribbon (football, of course!)

And there you have it!

No literally!

I'm not going to leave you hanging.

I created a printed version like mine and then a BLANK version that can be customized to say anything you want! And they're FREE.

the blank version

the printed version

I only have 10 coupons in mine but you could print as many copies as you like.

And lastly,

here is the sneak peek of the gatefold 14 Days of Love scrapbook I am creating for one lucky blogger to be given away on Feb 14th.

So link it up below! I will be checking back later tonight to see your ideas!

Oh and I won an award!!!

Thank you Carolynn from MakinCuteBlogs for this awesome award!

About that verse...and a free printable!

I recently shared with you here about a verse that God had placed on my heart regarding my gluttonous, slothful, self. I know, I know, you are probably saying "don't be so hard on yourself!" or "You look fine!".

Lets.get.real

I have grown a lot since I married my best friend almost 4 years ago. I have grown spiritually, I have grown mentally, and I have grown a LOT physically!

But that's the beauty of God's Holy Inspired Word!

Just when you think you are about to give up, or that your healthy self is as old as your marriage license, God gives you that really cool little nudge in the right direction. The funny thing is, His instruction may have been there right in front of your nose (or on your nightstand) all along. All you had to do was open it and spend time with it and learn from it. (I'm talking about the Bible here, yo!)

"Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food"

Holla!

Verse, where the heck have you been all my life! Have I really been destroying the work of my Lord one Cheese Puff at a time!? Well crap!

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 answers our question

Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

What does this mean? It means that every time, EVERY STINKIN' TIME, we do something to our body or put something in our body that is not healthy we are slapping God in the face!

God sacrificed a lot for this 141 pound girl. He sacrificed his SON...his CHILD! his ONLY child. (you know the verse, John 3:16) for us. So when we do something that isn't pleasing to Him we are pretty much saying "Thanks anyway God, I appreciate you sending your Son for me, but it's my body and I will do with it as I please! You know the answer for that? Heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes. Don't get me wrong, God doesn't punish us by placing diseases like this these in our lives. He knew that our bodies weren't perfect and therefore He knows that if we treat our bodies as a temple to Him we will be rewarded with good, healthy, temples. When we begin to defile the temple that's when we begin to see the consequences. God never intended for us to make ourselves literally sick with food. We did that to ourselves. He created perfect bodies made in His own image. We are the ones who ate the stupid forbidden fruit. We are held fully responsible for our screw-ups.

On the flip side. As Christians (you know, children of the King of Kings), we should want to have a temple that is Holy before the Lord. We should want to only put good things in it and have it pleasing in God's eyes. When I care more about what I am putting in my body than what my body is putting out for God, I have a problem. And this is where I have been for the last 4 years. It's been more about the food and less about the body and what it should be doing for God.

I can't explain how my mindset has changed since God put this verse in my life. It has totally changed my outlook on why I want to lose 30 pounds. I still have worldly desires, I want to look good, wear my skinny jeans, and not feel like every skinny girl is making fun of me behind my back at the mall (slightly paranoid, I get it!) It's more about wanting to feel good so that I can be used by my Lord to do His work.

I hope you can be inspired by this awesome verse too.

And another cool thing:
A FREE PRINTABLE!

I whipped this thing up in Photoshop to display in my scrapbook/office and I though "Hey, others might want it too." It's 5x7 so you can put it in a frame, on the fridge, or any place that will remind you that God has bigger plans for you than just satisfying your sweet tooth.

*And if you download my free printable, please leave a comment on my blog so that I know people have put it to use. It might encourage me to put some more freebies on here in the future!*

Romans Bible Verse