Fun summertime dresses and skirts
photo from Mariannan
photo from Cupcakes and Cashmere
L’Occitane Lotion
This is my favorite lotion in the whole wide world. My skin was in desperate need of moisture after a long day of fights and delays and L’Occitane was the first store I saw with lotion. I have kept this stuff in every purse and drawer in my house since.
Shabby chic decorations for the home
photos from Pinterest
Sorry about the light posts last week. I kind of fell off the blogging wagon. Never fear though I have lots of posts planned for this week to cover for my absence last week.
I just wanted to let everyone know about these cute flower pins that my best friend Jamie is making to raise money for her trip to Africa. They look cute on a t shirt, tank top or in your hair. She’s making hair clips, broaches and magnets. They are not only adorable but are for a great cause. If you want to see more choices or want to place an order let me or her know through here, Facebook or email and I can hook you up.
Here’s this weeks plan.
Tonight: spicy beef stir fry
Tuesday: sauteed chicken and lemon thyme rice
Wednesday: chicken spaghetti
Thursday: take out
Friday: date night!
If you know me at all you would know that I am a little high maintenance (ok, very high maintenance). I like my hair products and tools, make up and my Tempurpedic mattress. So when I was asked by my best friend, Jamie if I wanted to go on a missions trip to Kenya to do women’s ministry I initially laughed it off and went on my way. Then something got a hold of me.
The night before Jamie asked me to go, I was laying in bed thinking about how fed up I was with Christians who were quick to judge and tell people what they were doing wrong, but wouldn’t back it up with their actions. I was begging God to change me and to open new doors for me to act on my faith and really do something worth while. I was thinking he would open a window or something, NOT A GARAGE DOOR! A couple of minutes after Jamie asked me to go I felt God remind me of my prayer, and then this unbelievable desire to go to Africa washed over me. I am so excited to have the opportunity to do something few people get to do and bless others in the process.
I will be going with Firewind ministries to Kenya in January to minister to the women in the Maasai tribe. We will be showing them how to deepen their relationship with God and teaching them the Word. Also, we will be giving them some tips and tools on how to keep a clean and healthy home and village.
Here’s where I’ll need help. First, I need your prayers. Like I said this is something new to me, and I already have some doubts and fears that I know are not of God. Please pray for my peace of mind. Also, I need help financially. I know that this is in God’s will so I’m trusting that the money will come from somewhere. I will be doing quite a few fund raisers to get the money, also a big part will come from donations from wonderful people like you. Not only would you be contributing to my trip but you are also be pouring into these women that I will be ministering to. My prayer is that God will lay it on people’s hearts to help me raise the funds to go on this adventure. If you would like to help I would greatly appreciate it. If you need any more information I will be glad to let you know all that I know; also, if you need my contact information I can get that to you through email. You can email me at mandy (at) mandyandjace.com. Thank you all in advance and I will keep everyone updated on my entire adventure here on the blog!
A couple of years ago when I started to lose weight I decided that I didn’t want to “diet”. I knew if I did one of those fad diets where I deprive myself of the things I love I would fall right back after it was done. So I decided to make a lifestyle change. I started counting calories and gave myself 1500 calories a day. The first 6 months or so was killer. I was used to eating pizza, chicken fried steak and burgers for lunch and that just wasn’t going to cut it. Just one of those dishes exceeded my daily amount. I ate cereal for breakfast and salads for lunch but those got old pretty quickly. Soup became my best friend. I would either eat canned soup or if I had time I would make a big pot at the beginning of the week and eat it all week. I allowed myself one snack in the afternoon so I wasn’t starving before dinner. At dinner I went ahead and ate what I wanted just small portions and lots of veggies. I found by not depriving myself I didn’t binge when I actually did get to eat it.
It took about a year but I lost 12 lbs and now the 1500 calorie limit isn’t a problem anymore. I see foods in calories now. That juicy burger looks like 600 calories to me. That venti mocha frappuccino that I would get every day after lunch now looks like 500 calories. I was super organized back then but I kind of slacked off in the last 6 months. So I decided in order to lose that last 5 pounds I needed to get organized again. Now, at the beginning of we week I make, package and label all of my daily food except for dinner. I put everything in Tupperware or baggies and label the front of them with the calories, meal, day and time that I need to eat them. I give myself a little wiggle room if I go out to lunch with friends but otherwise I don’t eat anything that is not labeled for that time.
I have also started running. I am doing the Couch to 5k app on my iPhone. Hopefully at the end of this I can accomplish one of my goals and run a 5K. I have never been a runner so It’s a slow process for me but I’m doing well and between the organized food and running I have already lost 3 pounds.
My goal is to be healthy and fit. I only have this one body that God gave me and I feel like when I fill it with bad stuff I am not respecting Him. I read something the other day that I can’t get out of my head. He said, “It was on that day that I began to understand that I am a steward of the body (temple) that God has given me…and how I take care of it tells the world what I think and feel about Christ.” Talk about a slap in the face! You can read the rest of the article here and here.
I know my methods won’t work for everyone but I feel like you may be able to take little tidbits here and there and create your own healthy lifestyle. Remember it doesn’t happen over night. It took me a full year to lose some weight and get used to the lifestyle. I promise though, it is worth it. You will feel and look so much better and you will be so proud of yourself.
I had so much fun doing last years goals list that I have decided to do it yearly. I feel that if we don’t keep learning and accomplishing things we can become stagnant and that’s the last place I want to be. Once again I encourage everyone to put together a goals list for themselves. I promise you will be amazed at the things you can accomplish. I do have a couple of tips for you guys if you are just starting to think about a yearly goal list. First, share it with others. Nothing like accountability to push you to reach your goals. I didn’t want to have to tell everyone that I didn’t try to didn’t get to one of my goals. By telling all of you, it pushed me to get to them quicker and better. Second, don’t make them all too hard. If you try to accomplish all of your hard life goals in a year you will get bogged down, pick a couple of hard ones and several fun, easy ones. Third, have fun! Don’t take yourself too seriously. You will feel like an idiot sometimes when you are learning new things. You might even look a little silly, laugh it off, learn all you can and have as much fun as possible!
Here is my 2011 goals list
Learn to drive a standard transmission (back on the list from last year).
Get a new tattoo.
Learn more about nutrition.
Be more grateful for the things I have been blessed with.
Run in a 5k.
Take about 15-20 minutes a day to do nothing.
Just like last year I will keep you updated as I go through these. Good luck!
