Your body, Your temple.

I'm on a journey to be healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually. I haven't been super successful so far but I am trying. When you are working toward a big change, at some points, all that matters is that your not giving up.

I have been reading my bible and trying to work on my relationship with The Lord. I recently read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body."

Wow. I have been a Christian my whole life. I was saved at a young age, grew up in church. I was raised by Godly parents. My dad is the chairman of the deacons and Sunday school director and my mom taught Sunday school and was the women on mission director. I have done many bible studies, listened to hundreds of sermons, and even read this verse a million times. Never did it sink in until now.

I have a new perspective.
My body is a temple. The Holy Spirit lives in my temple. My temple does not belong to me, it belongs to The Lord. I am to glorify The Lord through my temple.

Is that fatty, greasy food I just ate glorifying The Lord? Is it helping nourish my temple so that I am strong, confident, and ready to serve The Lord in whatever He may call me to do? Is it pleasing to The Lord that I am over weight and unhealthy? No. I am destroying my temple with my bad choices.

My new motivation is the thought of what amazing things God can use me for if I prepare my temple. What wonderful things can come from the strength and confidence I will gain? The possibilities are endless!

25 again

Today is my birthday. I am 25, again. Yes, again. I refuse to be over 25 for at least the next 10 years, then I guess I'll be 29 for a while.

This really is the best birthday I have ever had. I haven't done anything exciting, or received any amazing gifts. I just feel good. I feel complete. I have an amazing husband who loves me so so much. He doesn't mind my flaws and accepts me for exactly who I am. I have two beautiful, smart, healthy little girls who make me the happiest mommy in the world. My parents are so supportive and are great grandparents. I have a job I love, good friends, good family, good everything. I feel that I am right where God wants me to be. So, being 25 for the second time isn't so bad...

Don't blame it on ya mama! -a lil rant.

"Everybody in this place has a story...Your momma and your daddy gave you life. That is all they were supposed to do. No matter how good or how bad the life is... It is up to you to make something of it!"-Madea

You cannot change who your parents are or how they raised you. But you can choose who you are going to be. YOU are responsible for living YOUR life. You must take responsibility for YOUR choices and actions and accept whatever consequences may go with the decisions you make.

I am so tired of adults blaming their choices and actions on not having a perfect family. - you are not a victim unless you choose to be.

Cleanse/detox

I have had several health problems lately. Not taking care of myself or getting the rest I need is catching up with me and Im feeling like crap. I have been to specialist and had test done but no answers. I'm tired of it...

So I have decided to try a diy cleanse/detox this weekend. I don't have a structured plan or diet, just gonna wing it! I did at least do a little research and did a little picking and choosing from what i read. I decided to go with a salt water and lemon juice cleanse with raw foods.

As soon as I woke up I had 33oz water with 2tbs lemon and 1tbs salt. Ran. Now I'm working on another 33oz water with 2tbs lemon. I will continue downing the lemon water throughout the day and only eat raw fruits and veggies. No dairy, no meat, no nothin!

So... Ill let you know how it goes!

About me...

1. I love Jesus.
2. I like to talk. A lot.
3. You know on American Idol auditions when the person starts singing and your like this is a joke, right!? And the judges send them out and they are dead serious ..saying "this is my dream, Simon don't know real talent!" .... Yeah that's me. I.can.not.sing! But I love to!
4. I hate laundry. To the point that until last week I had a mountain of laundry hid in my spare bathroom so I wouldn't have to fold it..
5. My husband thinks I'm the most obnoxious person ever.
7. I judge people based on what their hair looks like... Don't act like you don't do it!
8. I enjoy making fun of people way more than I should..
9. As you can tell by #'s 7 and 8 I'm kinda mean,.
10. I truly have the best of both worlds. I make my own work schedule so I'm able to stay home with my babies! I'm so blessed to have that opportunity.
11. I LOVE my job! I'm a hairdresser of 7 1/2 years and I have loved every second of it! It's a surprisingly stressful job but very rewarding.
12. I'm addicted to sugar and sundrop,
- it's bad...
13. My husband is the best dad ever. Seriously. He is amazing with my girls. He may not be the best husband but I absolutely adore him.
14. I'm so cheap that I will figure out how to make anything if I think it cost too much to buy it.
15. I'm super artsy-craftsy but I never finish what I start making. - I refinished end tables 4 years ago and they still don't have a sealant on them but they look super cute!
16. I'm brutally honest. You don't even have to ask for my opinion..Ill just let ya know how I feel!
17. I don't have a lot of friends, but I'm ok with that. I'd rather have a few real friends than a lot of fake ones!
18. I don't know what I would do without my iPhone. I use it for everything.
19. I literally lay in the bed at night and stare down the hallway expecting to see an axe murderer. Then I play out in my head what Im going to do if there really is a murderer in my house one day.
20. I enjoy reading blogs and realizing that I'm not the only one struggling with weight loss, or trying to raise a toddler, or whatever else may be going on. -some of the things I read just make me feel better about myself in general!


And here's my hair and me and my hubby :)

Finish The Sentence- Link Up

This is my first link up! I'm kind of starting to get the hang of this blogging thing!


1. People always tell me...I look like Miley Cyrus -ughhh no I do not! And even if I did, I'm older than her so SHE looks like ME! I also get told I talk country and everyone tells me how cute my hair is! :) I'm a hairdresser so yeah... I have super cute hair.

2. In the movie based on my life...Would be a comedy. It's always something with me!

3. Typically, I end up regretting.... Eating things I shouldn't, not finishing what I started, not going out when I have the chance.

4. I always ask to leave off the..... Mayo! Idk why fast food places insist on putting a giant gob on mayo on my sandwich! I have to waste at least 2 fries to scrape it off!

5. Kim and Kanye...I really hate to love Kim! I'm amused by her being famous for nothing. And Kanye... He musta climbed off one of them "star ships" Niki Manaj came on.

6. My parents always reminded me... "Remember whose you are" meaning remember I'm a child of God and behave like one. If dove me nuts bc my mom always said it before I went out with friends.. Like a super annoying guilt trip that would stop me from doing anything bad.

7. Every single day I... Go to bed thinking I'm going to be so much more organize and eat so much better and work out more and be a better mom and be a better wife and work harder and do everything so much better the next day.

8. This one time in college...nothing... I didn't go to college :( p

9. My grossest habit is..... Picking my kids nose! I have convinced her that there is a worm up her nose and if she sticks her finger up there it will bite her! So she doesn't pick her nose - best thing ever! So she always has big gross boogers and I can't stand not picking them! Gross I know.

10. My latest white lie was...probably something to try to convince my two year old to sit still and smile while having our pictures taken today.. Totally wasted a lie bc nothing worked!

11. I know all the words to...song I shouldn't know all the words to! Like the Fresh Prince song.. In west Philadelphia born and raised on the playground is where I spent most of my days ......

12. When I grow up...I want to be a better person. I'm already a wife and mother. I have the job I always wanted.. I just want to be better every year.

13. Sexy time is... Ha! Sexy time only exist if we're lucky enough to get both kids asleep at a normal time.


14. I will never, ever...not color my hair.

15. I think it's hilarious... to hide things from my husband.. Him not so much!

Weigh in Wednesday

I would totally do weigh in Wednesday but.. I don't own a scale! My reason is I want to be more concerned with how I feel and look than how much I weigh. "Healthy is the new skinny!"

I do weigh myself if I am at someone's house who has a scale just because I can't stand not to. I still want to know if I have lost any,. But it's usually just 5 +/- so it's no fun anyways.

I dont want to be so focused on a number that I am doing unhealthy things. I want to recognize the changes in my body, and see and feel the results of a healthy lifestyle.

Since my pants are still giving me a muffin top and I refuse to buy new ones.. I am focusing on drinking more water and only water- hoping it will flush out some of this spare tire! My next post is going to be all about water :)

L❤ve story

So I started this post a few days ago and my phone died and deleted it! 😵😠😩

Let's try this again! It's going to be long...

So, in 8-9th grade AIM was the big thing. I talked to this guy SeXyShAnE123 (or something like that) -he had a bleach blonde bowl cut.. Gag!- My cousin and I went to watch him play football one day and I was supposed to meet up with him after the game but that never happened because my cousin started some drama with one of the cheerleaders.. Well, a few weeks later I moved and never talked to the guy again.

In my new town I dated a guy named Johnathon off and on for 5 years. We were engaged for a while and had a bad break up after I finished hair school. I decided to leave all the drama and move back to my home town.

After being back in town about a year and dating plenty of losers, I started working at the salon I went to growing up. The owners son hang around all the time and would bring his loser friends in all the time. One day Shane walked thru the door. -You know how they say when you know, you know? Well I knew!-

I tried to talk to him a few times and he wouldn't even look at me! I asked the salon owner about him and she told me he had a girlfriend and that I didn't have a chance with him because she was a model. -like the kind that plays Fiona from Shrek at Disney world? 😂- So I kinda left it alone until I heard they finally broke up. So the next time he came in for a haircut I told him some friends were going to see Little Big Town and I was the only one without a date and told him he should come. Well he came.... With a skank, I mean date!

I was so mad! Especially since every time I looked his way he was staring at me! He added me on Facebook a few days later and asked me on a date. We went to Applebee's and then to a friends house to watch American Idol lol.-lame!- The next week -jan 18, 2007- he asked me to be his girlfriend.

March 5, he piled up pillows and blankets in the bed of the truck and we parked out in the field so we could lay and look at the stars. He said "hey, you wanna marry me?" And put a ring on my finger. 😍

January 18, 2008, we got married!
After we had been married a few months I was playing on his old computer at his parents house. AIM popped up and I realized that I knew my husband a lot longer than I thought!

I have been happily married to Sexy Shane for 5 years now! We have been thru the Marine Corps, a miscarriage, and plenty of hard times, but we are blessed beyond measure. We are best friends and worst enemies. We make each other crazy and keep each other sane. We're complete opposites but we complete each other. He is a wonderful husband and a amazing father. I'm a lucky girl!

This is my lifffeeee

I have been in the worst of funks the past few weeks. Sick husband, sick kids, sick mama! I was too busy taking care of everyone else to get any rest and take care of myself... Such is life when your a mom. Not complaining.. it just took me a little longer to get back to 100%.

Now that I am feeling much better.. And not consumed with caring for a man child and two babies.. I am attempting to get back into routine. Except.. I don't have a routine. Yes, I know routine is very important for children. Do my kids have a routine, nope. Bed time? Nap time? Nope. Nothin.

My goal this week is to figure out a routine that works for us and start the adjustment of enforcing it. This should be interesting!

My two year old, Audrey, it the most stubborn child I have ever met. She has quite the personality. Yesterday she got in trouble. I fussed a her and she threw her little hands up and said "this it twazy!" And ran to her room and slammed the door! Yes, I said she is two, not fourteen! As if that wasn't bad enough.. She opens the door and yells "this is my life!". I couldn't help but bust out laughing. What does that even mean, and where did she hear it?
Ill never have to worry about her letting people walk all over her, she is too much like her mama already- tells you what she thinks. And she's such a diva!

Turdsday

I feel like a fat lazy turd today. It's 10:30 and I'm still in my Jammies watching jake and the never land pirates. I did do my fAB workout and fix breakfast so far but still.......

I was so excited Tuesday because I put on my new workout clothes and decided to go to the park with my mom and kids. I had it in my head that I was going to run around the lake while mom walked with the kids. This was going to be my first attempt at running since highschool track. So I started running.. And I started peeing! Haha just a little tinkle, I decided I better stop before I wet my pants! Thank you two big beautiful babies I birthed! So I guess I will be buying some poise pads before I try again. So sad. 25 years old and no bladder control.
At least I looked cute in my spandex!

Speaking of those big beautiful babies, my oldest (Audrey) is fully potty trained! Praise The Lord!! It's been a long time coming and I am so proud of her. She is even keeping a dry pull up over night! So she is having a "potty princess party" at cherry berry very soon. -fun fact about me, I can turn anything into a party-

Update- it really was a Turdsday! I did horrible with my eating. So bad that I ate something I NEVER eat. McDonald's. I only ate fries and a coke but how gross! I worked until 8:30 so we had sake for dinner, I ate every bite of my hibachi steak and half my fried rice. I just decided eating clean/no cheating could kiss it for the day. I even had a glass of wine before bed.

fABruary!

I started this blog a few months ago. It was originally a "how to" for parties, showers, weddings, sewing, photography and whatever else I like to do. Recently I have started attempting to meet some goals for my life and I decided to use this blog to document my progress instead of all the how to crap. (Ill still throw some in tho!)

I deleted all the how to mess and renamed the blog "By the Grace of God". I am a proud Christian. I know that if not for the grace of the good Lord I would not be where I am or who I am today. He has blessed me beyond anything I could ever deserve.

So, I guess I should begin by saying if you are looking for a well written blog with correct grammar, you can just keep looking. ✋Ain't nobody got time for that!

I am going to set my long term goal, and some monthly/mini goals.

My long term goal originally was to loose weight. Fast. I have realized lately that my goal is actually to just be HEALTHY! To exercise, eat right and just make healthy decisions. When I do that, the weight will take care of itself. I will feel good and make lifestyle changes that will stick. I want to be the woman God created me to be. I want to be a good example for my children, and a confident, attractive wife for my husband. And I wanna look good! 👙

My mini goal for this month is something my friends and I are doing. It's called fABruary! Or Fab Ab February. It's a daily challenge of sit ups, push ups, and plank. By feb 29 I should be able to easily do  100 sit ups, 25 push ups, and a 2 minute plank. I will have some FAB ABS! The other challenge we are doing is to eat clean, no cheating for the entire month of February. I might die. No chocolate, no alcohol, no nothing. My weight goal for the month of feb is 10 pounds. My spiritual goal is to do my devotion daily! I struggle with this, but my hubby got me a kindle for Christmas, i already downloaded a bible on it and I plan to find a good devotion and stick with it! I'm praying for motivation this month. I'm sure gonna need it!

I plan to post my progress weekly!