Time To Change Things Up A Bit!

Well, hello!  It's been a while since I've written a new blog.  I've been dealing with some pretty low moods lately, and when I get that way, I have no interest in doing much of anything.  That all seems to have changed with the change in the weather, and as I sit here on St. Patrick's Day in shorts with the windows open, listening to the birds sing outside, I am having a hard time believing it's still winter!  But I'll take it, if it means getting me out of my funk and in a better mood (I'm sure hubby will, too).  I'm hoping this beautiful weather is here for a while, but I don't believe that the cold weather is gone for good just yet.

Thanks also to the weather, my thoughts over the past week have turned to gardening.  Hard-core.  I am eager to begin a new garden for the year, and be able to enjoy delicious fresh veggies from my backyard.  On the plan this year will be corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, and of course, asparagus.  I had hoped to see an asparagus shoot poking its little head out of the ground when I went out to look yesterday, but alas, nothing yet.  I'm sure I'll see something soon, though.  Hubby and I went to the home of a coworker/friend this afternoon who was offering to give us some lilies that she had split from her garden, and she also gave us some black-eyed Susans to replant, too.  They are sitting on our back patio right now, but hopefully they will be in the ground by tomorrow.  I'll take pictures once they start growing and blooming.

Ingredients for Candy Bar Cake--NOT on the WW plan.

My thoughts have also turned to losing this extra weight (I'd call it winter weight, but honestly, it's about three winters' worth of weight, so it would be a bit of a misnomer).  Hubby and I broke down, after not having much success or motivation trying to manage our diets on our own, and purchased a Weight Watchers membership.  So far, it's working well, especially for hubby, and it's only been a week.  It's not a bad plan, but I think I'd rather go back to counting calories.  Once the membership expires (in May), I may go back to doing that, since I should be back to within my normal weight range by then.  Not down to my goal, but at least back to acceptable.  So, I went online and printed out a bunch of recipes from the website, and I plan to begin trying them over the course of the next several weeks.  I will also review them on here, and if they are good, I'll post them for you to try as well.  I figure, even if you are not trying to lose weight, why not eat healthier anyway?  I went on Pinterest and did a search for Weight Watchers recipes, and found quite a few that sounded good.  You can also just do a Google search and find them.

Since we've started the Weight Watchers plan, I admit that I feel like I'm not eating enough.  According to them, though, I am.  I just feel hungry all of the time!  I know that it's for the best, though, if I want to be healthy.  It's nothing compared to what Jesus experienced in the desert--He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights!  If that's not hunger, I don't know what is.  Just the fact that He was able to go without food for over a month shows that He was more than human.  When the devil came to tempt Jesus to turn stones to bread to eat, and prove that He was God, Jesus replied, "“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’" (Matthew 4:1-5).  Jesus could have done it, but it wasn't the reason that He was fasting to begin with.  Maybe when I'm hungry, I should turn to the "soul food" that God offers each one of us every day through His word in the Bible.  Hmm.  Food for thought.

January Comes and Goes...

And things don't change much, really.  It seems that January is usually a slow month, but this month has felt like it's gone by quickly.  We finally had a decent snow over the weekend, and everything has a nice white blanket now.  It's not supposed to last long, though.  What an odd winter!  We've had more rain than snow.  Oh well.  I have no control over the weather...yet.  Bwaaaahaaahaaa!

But I digress.  Or do I?  Bwaaaahaaahaaa!

A few weeks ago, we got a lot of rain overnight, and it caused some ponding on the back roads that I take to work.  The water had mostly subsided by the time I left work, and the roads were almost completely dry.  As I was driving, I came up behind an old man in a PT Cruiser, who came to a near-complete stop for some very shallow water that was coming across the road.  After getting through the death-defying water, he would go no faster than 35 mph down a road that was 55 mph, so I decided to pass him when there was no oncoming traffic.  As I passed him, he decides to flip me off!  I don't know why, because I had been patiently driving behind him, but I guess I offended him somehow.  An old man!  Old people aren't as nice as they used to be, I swear. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be extremely mad at him, and I was a little of both.  I won't tell you what went through my mind--that's between me and God.  I just figure that he was being a moron and I was right, and that's all there is to it.  The end.

Hmm, what else is going on?  I've been lacking motivation lately.  In fact, at times I feel as though I border on depression.  It's hard to try and be excited about doing things I don't want to do.  My husband and I are trying to get back into shape and eat healthier, so that's been a plus.  We've both lost a few pounds so far (I type as I stare at the large peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-cookie on the plate next to me--you can't deprive yourself of everything, right??) and we've been exercising every day during the week.  I finally have my craft room arranged and useable again, after purchasing two large storage cabinets for my craft supplies.  It's nice to be able to use the room again, and have room to work in there.  Both cabinets are white, so it brightens the room up in the dull winter daylight.  I'm very happy with it.  As a result, I'm working on some new items for my shop.  I got the raise at work that I should have gotten last May, but that raise timing coincided with the pastor who hired me getting assigned to a new church, so it didn't happen.  My husband received a glowing review from his boss at work last week, so we're happy about that.

Well...I guess that's it for now.  Another Sunday gone, and another case of the Mondays is about to set in.  At least I have a few delicious cookies to cheer me up this week.

I know you're jealous.

It's easy to feel alone or forgotten in this world.  Life is tough!  Here is a Scripture verse from Isaiah 41:10 that I find encouraging: "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."  I hope you find it encouraging, too!