My Big Life Change!

Picture taken by Abby Austin of 1000 Miles on my own two feet.



MY GOALS FOR LIFE!

To transform my life, with God's help of course, one step at a time.

1. Get healthy & honor God with my body

Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter


2.Become at least 50% sustainable with emphasis on doing our part to take care of God's planet.


3. Live life as an adventure, experiencing new places, things & people.
18 out of 150 bucket list goals accomplished


4. Become debt free & build security for my family, so we can then bless others financially also.

5. Continue to grow closer to God, building My family's faith & sharing the Gospel with those we meet, by using the talents and gifts God has provided us.

6.Continue to make money by creating and sharing my thoughts and beliefs through artistic expression: all the while hoping that my art will impact others. "Holly Kennedy

: All I know is, if you don't figure out this something, you'll just stay ordinary, and it doesn't matter if it's a work of art, or a taco, or a pair of socks! Just create something... new, and there it is, and it's you, out in the world, outside of you, and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it... and you know a little more about... you. A little bit more than anyone else does... Does that make any sense at all?" Quote from PS I LOVE YOU

Friday, April 26, 2013

Adventure list redone

It has been 3 years since I have started this blog! To celebrate I have updated my adventure list for your viewing pleasure!

This is an updated list of my old adventure list. I have moved some and added links to all of the adventures I have accomplished. I have 12 spots left that need adventures. I need more ideas. I will add to the list if I get more than 150. So comment with ideas if you don't see one on here. I also took my time limit off of the website. Some more adventures are coming soon!




1. get purple hair (accomplished 5/12/2010)

2. ride on a fourwheeler (accomplished 5/15/2010)

3.get legs professionally waxed (accomplished 5/26/2010)

4. shoot a bow (with ABBY) (accomplished 5/30/2010)

5.be in a food fight (accomplished 7/10/2010)

6. Mystery gift exchange with Layla (accomplished 8/25/2010)

7.  visit my grandma (accomplished 9/3/2010)

8.  walk on eggshells (accomplished 1/15/2011)

9. Finish Financial Peace University! (accomplished 1/23/11)

10. Watch a scary movie that John picks out (accomplished 2/27/11)

11. learn to make balloon animals (accomplished 4/23/11)

12. hold a tarantula (if you know me at all, this is scarier then sky diving)(Accomplished 11/12/2011)

13.Write a song ( accomplished 12/25/2011)

14. Get my passport (accomplished 02/07/2012)

15. enjoy a dinner theater show (accomplished 2/12/2012)

16. prepare a meal for a friend in their home.(accomplished 3/18/2012)

17. ride on an elephant (accomplished 3/25/2012)

18.Eat Sushi(accomplished 12/10/12)

19.get a henna tattoo(accomplished Sept. 28th, 2012)

20.go for a long hike with Abby (accomplished April 4th, 2013)

21.go on a cruise (accomplished 1/25/2014)

22.stay the night on a moving house boat

23.stand on a street corner with a sign for an hour that says "honk if you love Jesus"

24.Learn to make cheese. 

25.go mudding in a big truck

26.Dig for gems

27.Catch a fish

28.dress up like a rodeo clown for a fair or festival

29.squish grapes for wine and help in a vineyard for a day

30.Go to IHOP(International House of Prayer) with Toni

31.Get debt free and speak with Dave Ramsey on the radio

32.go hunting for an animal (but not a deer, I could never shoot Bambi) something small gopher?

33.milk a cow

34.work on a cattle farm for a day

35.take a motorcycle riding course (doing this only for my biker babe)

36.make homemade butter (churn it myself) sounds exhausting

37.ride on a seadoo

38. go geo-cashing

39.sheer a sheep

40.Make a starter bread and make a loaf out of it 

41.John buys me an outfit and I must wear it one whole day

42.go noodling 

43.take a cooking class 

44. Go Mud Wrestling

45.play golf

46.learn to say hello in 50 different languages

47.clean house for an elderly person in need

48.try to water ski

49.ride a mechanical bull

50. eat a chicago dog

51.learn to play bridge, p-nuckle, and canasta

52. carve my name in a tree

53.learn origami

54.make beef bourguignon

55.sumo wrestle in blowup suits 

56.Ride in a horse drawn carriage.

57.learn to drive a tractor

58.take a glass blowing course

59.go sailing

60.hand glide

61.take a self defense class

62.grow crystals

63.build a radio

64.clean and cook a fish

65.build a rocket and shoot it off

66.play paintball 

67.learn to throw a baton and catch it

68.ride in a blimp

69.go on a zipline

70.go zorbing

71.take a dance class

72.go to an Oktoberfest 

73.make a quilt 

74.wash a dog at a dog wash

75.go to a fashion show

76.catch a greased pig

77. get certified to go into the prisons

78.take a hip hop dance class

79.learn to juggle

80.go cave climbing

81.offer a stranger a ride

82.touch an ostrich (terrified of these)

83.go on a Ghost tour!

84.make a model ship

85.make a doll house for Joslyn 

86.throw a mystery party

87.learn how to salsa dance

88.spend a day volunteering at an orphanage

89.make a scrapbook for Joslyn 

90.go to a really big food festival

91.stay at a monestary for one night

92.float the talequah river with my husband

93.go white water rafting (hope Sharla will go with me)

94.flock someone(put flamingos in someones yard)

95.learn to snorkel

96.write a childrens book

97.go rock climbing

98.Inspire 10 other people to do an Adventure List (4/10)Kristi,Chad,Stephanie,Tiffany A.,

99.make a stained glass window

100.make 100 new recipes from around the world

101. go snow skiing (terrified of this)

102.take a log rolling lesson

103.take a honeymoon with my hubby

104.make a piece of pottery

105.get my fortune read

106.Sky diving (thank you Andrea)

107.take a yodelling course

108.go kayaking

109.see a broadway play

110.build a chicken coop

111.start and maintain a garden

112.ride in a hot air balloon

113.go to marti gras

114.see 100 musicals 

115.learn to wind surf

116.swim with dolphins

117.ride in a race car going over 100 miles per hour

118. go parasailing

119.take a helicopter ride

120.Ride one of the ten largest roller coasters

121.visit a haunted house

122.ride a unicycle

123. go to the top of a volcano

124. bungee jumping

125. take a surfing lesson

126. participate in a Hanukkah celebration 

127. read the entire Bible 

128. fast for 48 hours 

129.  go to a native american ceremony

130. go to a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show

131. learn to sew  

132. be a part of a flash mob 

133. go kiteboarding 

134. gutting and clean an animal, and then eating the kill  John's choice

135. learn make beer

136.put together a 10,000 or more piece puzzle.

137. Go on a mission trip with my children.

138. run a marathon

139.

140.

141.

142.

143.

144.

145.

146.

147.

148.

149.

150.Get a tattoo (only if I get 100 followers) with my sister

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Dirty Microwaves



Do you have a microwave? I know that most of you probably do. I love my microwave! It is so helpful when you have 2 children. I don't know what I would do without mine. But when it comes to cleaning my kitchen I often forget the microwave. It sits there on my counter and I will wipe the counter down in front of it and around it and even the front of the microwave I will wipe down. But it doesn't occur to me how dirty it is until I open it up to use it. It can look so clean and even brand new, but if the inside isn't clean it is not useful.

That is just how we are as humans. So many of us only pay attention to the outside. Our bodies are important don't get me wrong. But if you have a beautiful exterior and a dirty interior no one will want to be around you for long. It's our hearts that make true friends, our spirits that determine where we will go, and our minds that help us figure out truth. But if our hearts are dirty or broken then who will want to be friends with us? If our spirit is sour or bitter from not forgiving or from past hurts, then we will be stuck and can't move forward. And if our minds are full of junk, then won't be able to see the true path we are supposed to be on.

Jesus is better than bleach when it comes to cleaning our hearts, minds and spirits. He takes away the grime and grease and old stuck on food particles and removes them. He scrubs us down to the surface and although we may feel bare and vulnerable sometimes, He can make us shiny and new again.

I don't know about you but I would use an old, worn microwave as long as it is clean and works good. But a brand new shiny microwave that is broken or dirty on the inside, I have no use for. So what do you do if you have a broken down and dirty machine? Get to work on cleaning it.

Celebrate Recovery is a 12 step program that takes all dirty machines and all broken machines and sets them on the path to becoming fixed and clean. Jesus is the only on who can mend the broken, heal the sick, and find the lost. There is a movie out today in theaters that explains what CR can do. Would you consider going to see it? Did you know that no matter what state you are in you can find a CR?



Let's get those microwaves clean people!!!!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A baby must learn to stand before he can walk.




I'm trying to work with Jaxon on sitting up. I will sit him upright and he will lean forward and stay that way, for about a second. Then he topples over this way or that and I pick him up and start again.  I think that is how my relationship with God is. He sets me up and with hands at the ready, waits for me to fall and learn. Then He picks me up and we do it again.

There are so many things in life that I want now. I want my food addiction to be gone. I want to be skinny. I want to accomplish all of my adventures. I want my freedom and 8 hours of sleep back. I want a house with a backyard. I want to be debt free. Yet in all of these things God is making me wait. I have to take each one step by step. It is hard for me to wait. I want to see the fruits of my labor now. I want to eat dessert without eating first my veggies. I want to cross the finish line without running the race.

Much of my problem with waiting is that I am lazy. I don't mind working for something if I know that I am going to get paid for it. But hard work has never been in my plans. I could never be a construction worker, or a farmer. Hard physical work isn't in my jeans.  Working 14 hours on a puzzle or an administrative problem is more up my alley.

I think that is why I don't want to change certain things, because it will require work. But God is slowly teaching me patience. He is teaching me that I have to put one foot in front of the other and learn to balance before I can stand.

Balancing is very hard to learn. At first we need help balancing. Using tools to keep us upright.  I am learning that you can't have play time with out the work.  How there is time for hard work and if you skip that then you are skipping the blessings that come from hard work. And yes, hard work is tiring but the Bible says.
 in Isaiah 40:31:


 
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.


This is my new favorite verse. I also like 1 Corinthians 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

So I am going to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Gaining my balance. Slowly learning to trust in God, that His timing is perfect and that this season of waiting and work is going to reap a huge bounty.


How about you? What are you waiting on? What is the Lord teaching you right now?