Books!  Books! Books! I LOVE to read.  If I’m being truthful, I enjoy fiction more than non-fiction.  But either way, I love a good book.  

I thought I’d share my short reading list with you. These are a few of the books I want to finish in the next couple of months: 

Cookbooks: Master Your Metabolism Cookbook by Jillian Michaels and The Best Life Diet Cookbook by Bob Greene.  These shouldn’t take too long to go through. I'm hoping to find some good recipes.   I like these books because you can learn a lot about your body and a healthy lifestyle mixed in with the recipes.  

Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try Hard Life by Emily P. Freeman.  I read about this book on another blog and thought I’d check it out.

Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony.  I started this book and love it so far.  Looking forward to finishing it.  It discusses the importance of raising your kids with a passion and love for God that comes from within themselves, not just because of what we, as parents, teach them to feel.  Awesome.

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lisa Terkeurst.  I’m thinking about doing this as a 10-week small group at my church.

Relentless Hope by Beth Guckenberger (of Back2Back Ministries).   In this book, Beth shares short stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with lost, abandoned and abused children of the world.  (She also wrote Reckless Faith, which is an awesome book, especially if you have a heart for orphans... which I do.)  Very quick reads.

Another book that is not featured in my picture is Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers.  I was first introduced to Francine Rivers in Redeeming Love. Amazing book!  Her Mother’s Hope is a book about the tumultuous relationship between a mother/daughter. Looking forward to reading it.

I think these should keep me busy for a while.  I recently discovered downloading books onto my iPhone from my library (and sometimes Kindle).  This has opened up a whole new world of reading to me.  I can take it with me wherever I go.  Love it!     

I welcome book suggestions, so feel free to shoot them my way.

What are you reading?  

Gettin' Real With Ya

Ok Friends, I have GOT to do something about my weight. It's this thing that constantly hangs over my head.  It creeps up in my thoughts, and sometimes seems to suck away my self-confidence.

I've never been one to have a lot of self-esteem.  But when I was at a healthy weight I was definitely more confident.  I would take more chances.  I was more outgoing.  I didn't let anything hold me back.  But now, a husband, two kids, and a million calories later, my weight is the highest it's ever been.  I didn't even weigh this much when I was about to give birth to my children.  I never understood when I heard people say, "One day I looked in the mirror and I couldn't believe I weighed this much."  But that's exactly how I feel! It's like I woke up, really saw myself in the mirror and asked, "When on earth did this happen?!"  

I'm tired of feeling this way.  I don't want to go another summer trying to find clothes that hide all of my problem areas.  

I've seen all of these motivational sayings all over Pinterest:

I know all of these things are true!  I just feel like I'm missing the "magic key" to making the changes stick this time.  Does that make sense?

I want to make some changes.  I need to be healthy, for me, for my husband, for my kids, for my God: 

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 

I don't want weight to hold me back anymore!  I want to be healthy to serve God and my family with my whole self!  How can I fully and effectively do that if I'm unhealthy?  I'm not saying that you can't serve faithfully if you are an overweight person. I am speaking fully from my experience. I am often physically tired, my body aches, I get headaches, my self-esteem is low.  These things are a challenge for me. 

Soooooo, now that I have successfully brought you down with this blog post, I have two questions:

1. What has worked for you in creating a healthy lifestyle (food, faith, fitness, etc)?

2. What kind of sports bra and workout gear do you wear?  I have a problem.  I cannot find a good sports bra.  I know this may seem like an excuse, but let me tell you, I have searched and I cannot find one that holds the girls in place and it makes it very uncomfortable when I am exercising.  I need a larger size than I can find in the common stores. Any ideas where I can get one?

If you've made it to the end of this post, thanks for "listening".  I plan on posting more about this topic, but hopefully they will be more encouraging and celebratory. 

Blessings,

Heather 

      

     

Are you feeling tired?

Are you feeling weary?

Are you feeling like you can’t. take. one. more. day?

Here’s what God says about that:

“The LORD will fight for you;
you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:14

Our Day

It has been a busy week for me and the Hubbs, so we decided to set this day aside for the girls.  He's at work today, but the girls have off from school so we're spending the day doing fun stuff.  Typically, we'd watch a movie, do our nails and hair... you know, girlie stuff.  But the weather is so nice that we decided to do an outdoor craft - sidewalk paint!  This is all over pinterest and seemed easy enough, so we set out to make some of our own.  

Here's what you'll need: 
1 c. Cornstarch
1 c. Water
Food coloring 
Containers (some people use muffin tins.  I used Easter egg coloring cups)


Directions: 
Mix the water and cornstarch together. (I used my stick blender.  It was much faster.)
Pour mixture into your cup of choice
Add food coloring (as many drops until you like the color)


We ended using 5 cups of cornstarch and 5 cups of water and then divided them into 1/2 cup portions.  

  

The prep was easy and clean up was surprisingly fast.  It's a great project for kids to help with.  If you're a homeschooling mom, you could use this for a math, art, or science. 

After our painting project, it was time to move onto making these!  We just pulled them out of the oven and they look delicious!  

When Hubby gets home, we're going to have pizza and watch this.  

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Have you heard of this?  Do you have a Marcus Theater in your area?  If so, take advantage of the $2 movies!  Spy Kids 4 is playing tomorrow.  We're going to see it.  

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Do you have any exciting plans this weekend?  

  

Makin' Stuff

Today I did something I haven’t done in a long time.  I made stuff!  I made a few tubes of lip balm and some Tub Scrub. 

I got a recipe from a friend recently who says she makes a batch and cleans her tub while she’s in the shower.  Since my usual approach to cleaning the bathroom is “clean it when you notice it’s getting gross”, this style of cleaning appealed to me.  

I enjoy making my own products, so I was excited to try this one out.  It’s super easy to make and if you’re someone who regularly makes your own products, you should have these things on hand:

Tub Scrub Ingredients

Tub Scrub

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup baking soda
• ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp of liquid castile soap
• 1 tsp of glycerine
• 10 drops of Melaleuca
• 10 drops of Citrus Bliss (or another citrus scent you like)
• Mason Jar

Directions:

• Mix all of the ingredients together until you get a frosting-like consistency
• Store in a mason jar

I plan to keep mine by the shower.  I haven’t used it in the shower yet so I’m not sure how long that batch will last, but I’ll keep you posted.  I did, however, try it out on my stainless steel kitchen sink.  It has a great texture and made my sink so shiny!  It’s creamy and slightly abrasive.  I was tempted to rub it into my face! 

One of the great things about this scrub is that it’s non-toxic. That means my kids clean their own tub.   

frosting-like consistency

Lip Balm

There are several different recipes you could find for lip balm.  The trick is to find the consistency and texture you like.  Here’s a recipe I came up with that I really like:

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp beeswax (you can purchase at your local health food store)
• 1 tsp fractionated coconut oil (I use doTERRA brand)
• 1 tsp cold-pressed coconut oil (health food store)
• 2 Empty chapstick tubes or containers (you can purchase or use your old ones)
• Essential oil of your choice (the amount will depend on the strength of scent you want.  I’ve used wild orange, melaleuca and lavendar for our winter chapped lips, and also doTERRA’s On Guard blend to help our immune systems fight germs)

Directions:

• Melt all of the ingredients (except for essential oil) in a double boiler (I do not have one so I use a smaller pot tucked inside of a larger pot)
• Remove from heat
•  Add essential oil
• Pour into chapstick tube or container (this batch should make 2 full chapstick tubes with a little bit left over.  I have not mastered quantity yet)
• Let cool for 20 minutes before closing

  

Well, that’s all folks!  Let me know if you have any questions.  

Enjoy!