Happy Birthday Friend

In the journey of life, we all need community. We all need a friend.

Some of those friends come and go. But some find a special place in your heart.

A place that could not be filled by any other person.

Camille is that kind of friend.

My heart has a special place for her that no one will ever be able to occupy.

She knows how to encourage me.

She speaks the truth even when I don't want to hear it.

She points me back to God.

"As iron sharpens iron,

so one man sharpens another."

Proverbs 27:17

May we always sharpen each other with the love of Christ.

Happy Birthday Camille!

One More Year of Life

Today is John's birthday and I am so glad I get to celebrate it with him!

He is a gift and a blessing.  

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."
Isaiah 43:1-3


My dear, I pray that the Lord will continue to guide your path
and that your heart will remain ever so obedient to follow the Lord your God!

P.S. I hope you are ready for some surprises!

Work Out Update #1

John and I completed week 1 of our work out ... only 11 more weeks to go!

To tell you the truth, I still cannot see much difference as far as looking or feeling more fit. However, I don't remember the last time I felt so much muscle soreness. My least favorite routine in the dumbbell lunges. I have to pray in order to get trough it all and my legs feels like jello after I am done.

We are starting to do some of the exercises in the morning - before work - which happens to be very early in the morning, but it feels great to not have to be in the gym for an hour at the end of the day when we are already tired.

Tomorrow is going to be one of those early mornings.

Stay tuned for another update next week. I hope to inform you that the soreness is gone and that I a muscle machine ;)

Pesto Making

Last year I did my best to grow as many herbs as possible in a few pots right outside my kitchen door. This year, I planted mint everywhere and decided I am going to let it grow wild. John really enjoys mint ice tea - and we will probably never need to buy mint ever again. However, I missed having basil - better yet, I missed making pesto. Remember this post from my first pesto making experience?

This year I made a trip to Cash & Carry and bought a giant bag of basil! The smell of basil filled my car and I headed home excited to make pesto. That is just what I did all afternoon on Friday.

The result was fantastic and I am already excited for dinner. I don't even know what we are having yet - but pesto will definitely be a part of it!

A Princess

This morning, I got to spend some time with a little girl who calls herself a princess.

She could hardly be more beautiful and I agree with her - she is a princess!

Teamwork

Picture by Robert J Martin

I am a lover of teamwork. Once you learn to be efficient while working with others, there is little you cannot accomplish. However, learning to work together is no easy task. It takes patience, perseverance, grace, optimism, more patience, determination, sense of humor, trust, hard work...

I got to witness all these things as I watched my husband play a game of baseball with his coworkers. John works with people from all over the world and many of his coworkers did not have the opportunity to grow up playing baseball - or even watching it on TV. This lack of familiarity did not stop 20 men from getting together to learn, teach, encourage each other and have fun while attempting to play baseball.

I watched from a distance with a smile on my face as I heard team members shout out:

"Good Swing!"

"Try again!"

"Way to go!"

"Good job guys!"

I was encouraged just by watching them being encouraging to one another!

P.S. My husband is awesome at being athletic. He is pretty much everything I am not.

I Could Eat a Cow

This is day two of the 12 week Body for Life exercise program John and I are doing.

Let me start by saying that this is REALLY hard for us. We had not been exercising regularly and we are definitely suffering the consequences of having to get back in shape. But I know this will be worth it!

So far we have very sore upper bodies - from lifting weights.

Today I got on the treadmill to do 20 minutes of intense running and I pretty much could not do it at the intensity I was supposed to. It started pretty good and 2 minutes later I started having trouble breathing (I am not very good at breathing). I tried to focus on breathing in and out to get used to a comfortable pattern...but my legs were cramping. I slowed down for a while before speeding up again and then I slowed down again...you get the pattern.

I am extremely hungry at the moment and definitely need to eat more than I am used to in order to keep up with the exercises. Seriously, I am so hungry I feel like I could eat a cow by myself!