Thursday, May 8, 2014

clean and strong

Well friends. We're doing it. We started Monday and it was not as hard as I had expected. Sure there were some moments of weakness, but I didn't give in. Because the result will be worth it: Clean and Strong. That is the motto for May. To let you know how serious we are, Abby and I are using the bathtub and bicep emoticons to encourage each other this month - get it? Clean and Strong :) We're proud.

So what is this journey we are taking? In a very small way, it is a journey back to the basics - away from processed foods and toward healthier living. No dairy. No meat. No white flour. No alcohol. No sugar (well except fruit). Similar to The Daniel Fast but with a few changes of my own. For about 2 milliseconds, I thought about enforcing the "No coffee" rule and then I laughed and decided I would just drink it black and see how it goes (it's going well, thank you). We are using few spices and seasonings and working to enjoy food the way it is naturally. I'm not gonna lie - I did grocery shop at Walmart this week for my fruits and vegetables, but it was 10:30 on Sunday night and let me just tell you that the shopping options were limited...
Enter Lesson #1: Planning ahead. Eeeesh. I know I'm not a great meal planner, but the last few days have shown some serious needs for improvement in this area. For the last (little ish) while, I gave up planning ahead and decided that running through Taco Bueno or Chick-fil-A was going to have to do. Doing this every once in awhile is great - I am definitely not anti-fast food, but I want it to be the exception, not the rule. So I will be training myself to plan. (Yes, Ali, I will be taking any advice you have to offer, oh wise and thrifty meal planner extraordinaire...)

Growing up, my mom always said that it takes 21 days to form a habit. So that's what we're doing: Changing our habits. For 21 days, we are simplifying and refocusing and fasting. We are learning and hopefully these lessons will stick (ish - I'm not hoping to become crazy - just smart. And clean and strong :)
I guess really this all started because of reading Jen Hatmaker's book, 7. I love the way this book is written: She is not saying that everyone should do her "experiment", but she is encouraging people to look at their lives and see where they've missed the point or gotten off track. Basically her 7 experiment was to focus on a different area for each month of 7 months and fast and dig deep to the root of all of the excess. For example, during food month, she only ate 7 different foods; then in stress month, she paused 7 times each day to pray; during clothing month, she only wore 7 items of clothing and so on. The book is convicting and hilarious and absolutely not judgmental or pointing fingers. She admits we're all apart of the never ending cycle of more until we stop it. I so appreciate her take on all of this. So, when Abby asked if I wanted to simplify for a little bit, I easily said yes...
Today it's fine. Tomorrow maybe, maybe not :)
But there will be grace and encouragement along the way...



Thursday, May 1, 2014

so it's been awhile...

i didn't think anyone was still checking this blog, but it turns out that someone is - my blog status page shows that one person checks each day - even after months of no blogging whatsoever. so for that faithful viewer (and for you others who received the email notification saying "COMING OUT OF THE WOODWORK IN HER (2nd) BLOG DEBUT, KATIE, THE GIRL WHO NEVER WRITES ANYMORE!" haha)...

so i have been wondering how to re-enter the blog world - do you address the long absence? do you need to write something that will change lives? do you ignore the fact that you haven't written publicly for 6 months? these are the questions and the problem is that i don't have answers. honestly i am not sure what happened. I had been so faithful - blogging about thanksgiving every day and then i missed a day and then one day turned into two and three and four and so on.... this type of things happens to me occasionally so i shouldn't be to terribly surprised...
"I am going to be a runner!" you announce to the world. so you train and run a half marathon and then a year goes by and looking back you can (shamefully and quite literally) don't need a full hand to count the number of times you ran...
"I am going to eat Paleo!" so confident, so sure... well maybe i'm going to eat Paleo on weekdays (weekends are so hard) but Friday counts as the weekend right? and my favorite day of the week is Thursday so my weekends sort of begin then. but Mondays are just so hard anyway so probably i shouldn't add to that stress. i mean is Paleo really worth it if i only eat it two days a week? probably not... hey Katie, do you want to go to Chuys? Mr. Chopsticks? Chick-fil-a? Roosters?..... why yes, yes i do.... i'm sorry Paleo who?

not that i don't ever stick to anything - i guess maybe it has to really matter to me. and i'm not saying this blog doesn't - but maybe that i forgot that it mattered? ya maybe that's it...
for the most part, i do consider myself a loyal person - for example i am incredibly faithful to (and defensive of) my family and friends. because honestly i have the best ones around. and when i look at the last several months, i am overwhelmed at how they have been there for me in difficult times and in times of celebration. one will call just to check in on like the worst day i've had in awhile. one will schedule a 2 hour phone date so we can (finally) hear what is going on with each other and then she'll ask questions that tell me she knows my heart and cares so deeply for me. one will help celebrate small victories (because she knows that for me, they are not small). one will cry over the phone because, even a couple hundred miles away, she simply knows. one will call to see if i'm going to Bible study and when i say no (for no good reason), she'll show up to pick me up. several will meet me for breakfast, lunch, happy hour, coffee, dinner, dessert, wine, or whatever works because we don't want life to pass by and us forget to know each other. they will sit with me on patios, in restaurants, at my apartment, at my mama's house, by the pool, in a coffee shop and they'll ask and then they'll listen. gosh. one thing i know for sure is that i am blessed by the people around me.

so what has been going on in the last several months? well in some ways it has seemed like the longest stretch of time there has ever been. and in other ways i feel like it absolutely flew. isn't time bizarre? 
well i moved, had a sweet family Christmas, went to California by myself (best trip ever - maybe more on that later, but i'm not making promises...), went to Abilene (a couple of times), went to Galveston, celebrated many birthdays, went to OKC, went to Canton, started my own business with Mary Kay (WHOA - talk about a whirlwind), celebrated my childhood best friend getting married, celebrated the first "four blonde" baby (and the second on the way EEEK!), applied for new jobs, found out about several babies on the way (please let ONE of them be a girl!!), celebrated engagements, studied the book of James with incredible women, joined a home group (who am I?), laughed a ton, cried a ton, drank more coffee than anyone should ever, read several books (goal for the year is to read a book a month and i'm happy to say i am well on my way :), listened to new music (thanks, Jenny!), caught up with blogs i love (one of which reminded me yesterday that the purpose of her blogging is to document life - like her own little scrapbook - thanks, Shay! - which is what this originally was for me anyway...) 

i will say that i am so happy that it is May :) warm weather in the afternoons and cool evenings is heavenly. i plan to spend the better part of this month outdoors - either on a patio or by the pool or walking around Canton (see you Saturday!) i have plans to spend time with good friends and am gearing up for summer which is my favorite time of year. (hello, Fourth of July!!! ...visions of fireworks dancing in my head.... yes, fireworks dance, okay?) so thanks for hanging in there with me and thanks to my incredible friends and family for just being there - sometimes "there" is all i need :)

happy May Day, team!
here's to new beginnings!

ps if you haven't heard, Starbucks is so excited about May, they are bringing back Frappy Hour! Half priced frappes from 3-5 on May 1-10! :) you are welcome.