January goal

I can hardly believe that January is nearly over.  Usually, January sort of drags for me.  It is a long month with lots of rain and darkness.  But we made it.  I have spent the last week thinking about my goal of limiting sugar and if I was successful or not. 
Last weekend was definitely not successful and I had a tummyache to prove it.  But, it was a PMS week and I just didn't care what I ate.  Although, I should say I still ate less junk than I normally would have.
Overall, I ended up with about 5 sweets a week.  I was shooting for 4 but it seemed on Sundays I would give in with just one more.  But you know what, that is okay with me.  Because I did have lots of successful moments.
Like having an open box of See's chocolates sitting next to me at work all week and not having any.  None.  Zip. Zilch.  I opened the box.  I even smelled them.  Boy did they look good!  I don't get stuff like that b/c of my son's allergy so it would have been a real treat.  But I refrained and it was hard!
And last night my husband sat next to me while we were watching a movie and opened a bag of Red Vines.  The smell called my name.  I love Red Vines, especially with movie watching.  But I didn't eat any.  And it was hard too!
Or when we went to my father in law's and where I usually indulge in lots of great things, hot chocolate topped with ice cream, M&M's, mints, and lots of pop.  But I held back and I think ended up only having 1 dessert and 1 pop.  Pretty good I would say.
It helps that I relost the 5 pounds I had gained over Christmas.  I didn't do anything extra but eat less sweets.  I honestly haven't weighed this much since way before my son was born and he is almost 8.  Seeing the scale drop definitely helped me keep on task. 
But the weight wasn't really what this was about.  I wanted to really see what hold food had on me.  I wanted to start the new year off on a semihealthy note.  I wanted a break from sugar. 
What I learned is how often I reach for sweets.  I didn't realize how much sugar I ate.  I knew I ate some but I have never been the binge kind of person.  I don't eat a whole package of cookies or tub of ice cream in one sitting.  So I never really thought it was an issue for me.  I just reach for them when I am munchy, or stressed, or in between meals, or stressed, or to tide me over when making dinner, or when I am stressed.  See the pattern?  This past month, whenever I felt emotional or stressed, all I wanted was sugar.  Especially at the beginning.  I will say this decreased some as the month went on and reaching for sugar was more out of habit. 
I am going to contine this into February.  I am not sure how long I will do it.  I am going on a month by month basis here and it happens to fit into my February goal.  I really want to change my habits and I think it will take longer than just one month to do it.  February might be hard.  It is Valentine's month.  We already have candy out at work, the kids will be getting lots of candy at school and their sitters, plus it is my youngests' birthday.  So wish me luck or better yet, keep praying.
I will share my February goal next time.

I am feeling a little behind

I have a lot of things running around in my head that I want to write about but I am just too tired tonight.  I know I need to post the calender my hubby did and thanks to my friend Marta, I think I can figure it out but it's not on my laptop so you are out of luck tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
My hubby and I spent all evening working on a Disneyland trip and it is truly exhausting, add to that a poor nights sleep and I honestly should be in bed. 
But, I know there is a lot going on out there.  I have some friends hurting right now.  Some things are transient like having a virus and some are long term heartbreaks.  And I just wanted you all to know that I am praying for you.  It is always comforting to me to know someone is thinking about me so I wanted to put that out there.
And one prayer request for my family. We have had to make the difficult decision to put our kitty to sleep.  We are not sure yet when we are going to do it but she has cancer, is jaundiced and dehydrated and the vet felt she was suffering which is the last thing we want.  We have kind of talked to the kids but I know it is going to be hard for them to say goodbye.  So prayer for words to say, and healing from the grief.  They still talk regularly about missing our precious Maggie that we had to put to sleep almost 2 years ago and that was when my youngest was 2!  So clearly it makes an impression on them.
Plus, we have had her for almost 13 years.  She is part of the family and will be great missed! 
And if there are any other specific prayer requests that you would like from me, please let me know.

One of my new favorite blogs

This is one of my new favorite blogs.  She is so funny and honest.  Seriously, you should really check her out.  Plus she just posted a ton of tips for Disneyland and we just started planning our first trip there.  I am planning on using a bunch of her tips, they are awesome!

Oh boy does my husband love spreadsheets and how it benefits me

I probably haven't put on here how much my husband loves to organize things into spreadsheets.  If he has a list to be made he puts it in a spreadsheet, if he has a pros/cons to go through - spreadsheet, for the budget, for camping lists, when we refinanced our house...spreadsheets.  He loves them!
Me?  I have no idea how to make a spreadsheet.  I can read them, and even add things to them, but create them?  No way.
How does his "gift" help me?  If I need something in spreadsheet form, he's the man.  Occasionally, I need one and don't even realize it.
For example.  Last year I used this daily planner from Motivate Moms and I really loved lots of stuff about it.  For $8 you can download it and it is really complete.  I used it faithfully.  For 5 months.  Then, I got distracted.  Then trying to go back to it, it just didn't quite work for me.  One thing is I am not home every day of the week.  I am gone 3 days a week and home 2 days and my husband is home one of those days I am at work.  So that gives us 3 days a week to get everything done.  So I considered buying this one instead this year because then I could see the whole week and mark things off as I did them.
But, I also considered making my own and tailor it to my needs.  But, it ended up being in my mile long "to-do" pile and forgotten about.  So when I mentioned to my husband that I was thinking of that.  He immediately offered to do it for me.  What took him just a couple of hours, would have taken me days probably.  And I think it looks pretty good. 
I know that there will be some changes to it as we think of things to add but I think it is going to work for us.
And as much as I would like to post a link to it here to show you how amazing it is.  I have no idea how to do that.  Apparently I am not as computer savvy as I like to think I am.  If anyone can direct me to how to do it, I would love to show it to you guys.  Otherwise, you will just have to imagine it's awesomeness! 

Maybe it's the weather

I've been a little grumpy lately.  Not really sure why but I am definitely sick of the gloom.  I get that the rain makes everything green and beautiful here but I get tired of the clouds for sure.
So what is the best way to get over yourself?  Praying for other people. 
So if anyone has any prayer requests, please please share.  I really could use a distraction from my sorry self!

Had to share this

I just had to highlight Lainie's post today because it is so awesome.  She is someone from church and has a lot of wisdom.  It was very timely and convicting to me I was wasting time on the computer today.  But not only was in convicting, it was reassuring.  I love how God's grace comes through her words. 

January goal update

I don't really feel like I am failing but I wouldn't say my avoidance of sugar has been hugely successful.  I have allowed myself cheats and I will have to admit I went one over last week if you count my frosted miniwheats for dinner one night.  So that was last week.
Yesterday was the beginning on week 2, I really wanted a mocha.  There goes cheat 1, then we had pizza and I really wanted root beer, cheat 2.  So 2 down in the first day. 
Today, I inadvertantly tried my daughters cotton candy.  I really wasn't even thinking.  But I am not counting it.  I don't care, it was a miniscule bite.  Really, really small.  I am only disclosing this b/c I feel the need to come clean.
So that is how my avoidance of sugar is going.
But, there are some successes.  Usually when we go to my father in laws, I eat a lot of junk.  Ice cream, desserts, candy, pop, hot chocolate topped with ice cream (yummy!), you get the picture.  Lots and lots of goodies.  I had one dessert and one can of pop on my way home.  That was it!  So even though I went over a cheat last week, I did really good to control myself over the weekend even as I watched them eating my toffee that I brought them (so good!).
I will admit one more thing though, I felt kind of lousy monday.  After eating just a couple of things, it just didn't settle well with me.  Making me realize more and more how sugar affects me in a bad way.  Plus, it is making me see what a hold food in general has over me.  Something, I really want to conquer.  Because, I do like my sweets.  I am not doing this to give them up permanently.  Maybe I should but I really just want to get a handle on things.  I think some in moderation is key for me with all food.  And that is what I am trying to figure out.