Year 39!

I know it has been ages (well really like almost 2 months) since I have last blogged, but I have needed the break.  I have enjoyed not having the pressure of always coming up with what to write and how many people will read and will it be any good and blah, blah, blah.  Well today is my birthday and I am turning 39.  My last year before I turn the dreaded 40, which honestly does not really bother me at all.   So I have decided that this year I am going to blog my year! I am just going to journal my year.  I am going to write for me and take the pressure off of who else reads and if no one else likes it then OH WELL!  

Today is also my 8 year anniversary with my handsome hubby Cliff.  He never gets the excuse to forget my birthday or my anniversary!!!

Today started off with a trip to the chiropractor for my adjustment and then off to Starbucks for my free birthday drink.  And of course, I got a Venti because, well DUH it was FREE!

Then it was up to Bloomington where we went to the Half Price bookstore and then to my consult at the IU Health Spine Center.  I was very impressed there and left feeling positive that I may be able to get some non-pharmaceutical treatment to help my back pain!

Then we went to Olive Garden for my birthday/anniversary dinner. I ate light with just soup and salad so I could enjoy splitting this tasty black tie mousse cake with my hubby!

Then we headed to the theater to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was really good!!!  And now we are home sweet home and I got to give Cash his new squeaky toy I bought for him at PetSmart today! He is in heaven and the boys are loving it while they try to watch the Pacers game! Lol!

I had a very good day! I am so excited to see what year 39 brings to my life! 

Today's Bible Verse:
But may all who search for you be filled with joy and gladness in you. May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout, "The Lord is great!"
Psalm 40:16 NLT

Sending you all love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Top 10 for November

I can't believe it is November already. This year has flown by. I am excited for a new month to use it as a fresh start for some of the goals that I have. I have really been slacking on lots of things over this past year. I have lots of excuses (some of them valid). And I am learning that sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to actually uses excuses. I will be posting more on this another day. 

So for today, I'm going to share my top 10 goals that I want to work on for November.

1. Post something every day that I am thankful for.

2. Be more conscious about my nutrition. Pay attention to what I am eating and when I am eating. I have been bad about not eating most of the day and then binging.

3. Get back to the gym. I am happy that I'm starting back with my personal trainer tomorrow.

4. Be more consistent taking my Plexus products. I've been slacking on that to lately.

5. Be more consistent with my blogging. 

6. Spend more quality time with my boys. 

7. Step out of my comfort zone. Do the things I know are right to do without worrying about what everybody else will think about me.

8. Incorporate my Young Living essential oils into more parts of my day.

9. Cook and eat dinner at home at least six out of seven evenings per week. I did a lot of meal prep this weekend in order to meet this goal. 

10. Live each day intentionally and filled with JOY!

The next two months are my favorite time of the year. I love the holidays and the joy and happiness during the season. I'm excited to get back to living my life each day with the goals of being happy and healthy.

I hope that you are all doing well.

Sending you all love and happy, healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari

Share a goal you have for November in the comments. 

In His Image!!!

Happy Monday friends!

I wanted to take a minute and tell you all that have stuck with me through my quiet periods how much I appreciate all of you!

Life with 3 teenagers is so busy, hectic, and crazy.  I felt like making time to blog was becoming a chore.  So I decided to just take a short break.  I am back now and have a brain full of ideas and thoughts I want to share with all of you!

I have also really been thinking about “why” I wanted to blog and how my “why” has changed over the past few years.  When I started, I was dead focused on weight-loss and dieting.  I was excited to share those weekly numbers with all of you.  I still think that is important, but my primary focus shifted when I started gaining some weight back and realized a very important fact; I HATED myself!  Like not just a little bit, but in every way imaginable.  I had lost over 100 pounds and I still did not like who I was.  Maybe weight loss was not only what I needed to feel better about myself.  Now, I know it is important to eat right and move more in order to be physically healthy and I am still working on that.  But what would be the point of losing the 288 pounds I want to lose and still not like who I am, still not want to leave my house, and still wait on something else to make me feel good?

So this blog is going to be morphing alongside my changing “why.”  I think it is so important to learn to love ourselves so that we can take care of ourselves.  I will tell you right now that I do not have all or even a few of the answers to this, but I want to share what I am discovering along the way.

During the month of September, I had the privilege of teaching the 3^rd-6^th graders in out KidZone on Sunday mornings.  So much of the material we covered was so relevant to what I was working on.  It was definitely a God thing!

Our verse this month was from Psalms 139: 13-16 (MSG):

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

What powerful words.  Knowing that I was formed together piece by piece by God makes a huge impact on how I view myself.

Yesterday, we were discussing how God created man in His own image.  We were put on Earth for a specific purpose.  And the end of that passage it says that:

God looked over everything he had made;
        it was so good, so very good! Genesis 1:31 (MSG)

He made me, He made you and HE SAID THAT IT WAS GOOD! If God says it is good, then how can I say I don’t like myself, something He created in His image?

We were not created by some random chance, some flipping of a coin.  It is time that we learn to love the person God created us to be!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

Sending you love and healthy wishes!

Keep Losing,

Kari