Sunshine. A free day ahead of me. What could be a better thing to wake up to? I don't know, because that really rings my chimes.
I started it off (after a day of juice fasting yesterday) with my beloved a.m. coffee and quiet time - prayer, bible reading and bible study. I sooooo love it when I don't have to rush and today I could really take my time. I'm preparing right now to teach our ladies bible study group from church on the 15th. We've studied various books over the years, but right now we're studying THE book and my heart is singing over it! We're studying the book of Phillipians with no agenda or timeline. The portion I'm preparing is Chapter 1, verses 12-30. Meaty.
All of us in the group have also been challenged to memorize Phil. 4:4-8. So - here goes (I promise I'm typing from memory - it just wouldn't be right to cheat, especially when it comes to the bible, now would it?):
Rejoice in the Lord, always! I will say it again - rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble...
and that's how far I am. Awesome verses, by the way!
After being down with a cold for a few days last week, I was very glad to get back to exercising. I'm doing the Wii 30-day challenge as a kind of re-entry into the exercise world. Taking a "comfort food" day last week (i.e. all the worst stuff picked up and brought home from the Cracker Barrell drive-through, like Chicken and Dumplings, Hash Brown Casserole, Mac and Cheese, Fried Apples, not to mention a huge candy bar) wreaked total havoc on my "eating well" plan. Boy, did it ever - and the scale showed it this morning. But, I'm not going to let that upset me - I'm just learning from it. For instance, Clean Eating actually put out a "Clean Comfort Foods" magazine and I'm going to actually READ it and put up a few things from there for next time - even though I haven't been sick in a year. Still.
AND, I got out for a walk on this glorious February day. Right now I'm getting used to walking just the driveway round trip (that's 1/2 mile total). It's getting easier all the time. I still have a bit of a limp left over from the hip replacement, but it's only been 5 months. I know it will work itself out.
I also met my new neighbors as I was out. They have 3 kids (a 7 y/o boy and 4 y/o twins, a boy and a girl). It will be different having someone there. But a good kind of different...
And, finally, I've started a new online class called 30 Days in Your Journal given by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, who's work I've always loved. And this is an art journaling class. I've been SO driven to get into art journaling the past year or so. And I've made some attempts. I think it's one of those things where I see, it LOVE it, but I just can't quite make what I love come out of my head and onto the paper yet. But, I'm getting there. Here's a page I started a while ago - I had done the background and loved it and then just recently added the words:
That's beginning to get where I want to get to.
But this class! Wow! I can tell already that it's going to be AWE.SOME! Here's just a little bit of what I've done so far:
Both of those are my own improvisations on the particular technique being taught on this day. LOVE how they both turned out. Here's a shot of the whole 2-page journaling spread:
I think there's another 2 or 3 days of technique/teaching before this particular spread will be done. I can. not. wait! I'm just so excited about this class. Every day that I have a bit of free time, I will be running to my next (online) class. (Yeah, luckily I don't have too far to run!)
All of this fits very nicely with the "One Litte Word" that I've chosen for this year - CREATE!
Well, one more thing. I just want to share a fun little photo collage I made (using Picasa) from our latest Friday visit with Maggie (she comes here while her mom and dad are working on Fridays). Chris got to romping with her on the couch, and then the floor, and she was ALL giggles. SO adorable!
(click image to make larger)
And here are a couple more from the day:
peek-a-boo!
One of the first questions she asks me when she comes in is, "can I play your iPod?". I just hand it to her and she can turn it on, find the folder she wants on the page she wants and then the program she wants. She plays games, looks at videos, looks at photos, finds kid's books, etc. I try to limit her time on it, which she doesn't like, but I don't want her to be a total nerd. She IS a total genius, though, and that's okay... ;)
That's enough for this sun-shiny day! It's time to make (a healthy!) dinner!
