Wheel of Life

I've been taking wellness coaching classes for about a month and a half now, and one of the things I've learned is how important life balance is. I had read this in books before, but I can see what a difference it really makes when I'm putting deposits in all the different areas of my life. Obviously, physical and career are big areas of focus right now, but I'm also trying to put time into my spiritual growth and financial health. (Justin and I started Financial Peace University last week.) I am trying to remind myself not to ignore any of these areas. This is one of the things I'm going to emphasize when working with my clients on wellness. For example, you can be in the best physical shape of your life, but if you and your spouse are having problems, you will still be unhappy and stressed, which could lead to problems in other areas of your life.

Discovered the Culprit

I haven't posted in forever, and this still isn't going to be much of a post, but I had to share a small victory. I have finally identified my archnemesis of this summer, the army worm.

I've been dealing with these critters for a couple of months, both in their catapillar and moth states. They keep getting in my house and after finding them in a corner of the bedroom yesterday, I told the hubby I was nearing a mental breakdown if he did not help me deal with these things. He asked around at work and found out these are army worms. I tried to explain to him, I like Army Wives, not army worms.

Based on what I've found online these things love to eat grass and are taking over the Mid-South this summer. (Thanks, I noticed.) Other than spraying the yard with a pesticide I bought at Lowe's, all I can do is keep praying that God will end summer and send these creatures back to Satan. :)

Food Buzz- Bacon Cupcakes

A girl I work with recently visited California and brought back some bacon-topped cupcakes. My immediate reaction was "Eww," but being the food adventurer I am, I had to take a closer look and now I'm curious. I googled bacon cupcakes and found that the Food Network has their own recipe. This sounds like something that is right up Tyler Salyer's alley. I'll probably hold off until someone slims down the recipe or I get really curious and do it myself.

Friday morning with Candace Cameron

Justin has a work event and is working 7a-9p yesterday and today, so I'm a "single" gal for a couple of days. Instead of watching the news this morning, I caught an episode of Full House. (Sidebar: Just wanted to mention that they don't make good, clean TV shows like this anymore. Cute, family-oriented, moral. I loved that show. Really all the TGIF shows.)

Anyway, I was looking for something fun to watch to kick off my Friday while I was putting on my makeup. I saw Full House on Teen Nick and couldn't pass it up. I watched Full House a lot growing up, and DJ Tanner was my favorite character. She was the character closest to my age and I thought she was so pretty and smart.

Now Candace Cameron has grown up, and as it turns out, I like the woman more than DJ Tanner. Candace is in her early 30s, has 3 kids, is still an actress (on ABCFamily's Make it or Break It), is a Christian and volunteers for several organizations. Of special interest to me is that she's also passionate about health and is writing a book that is due this fall. (Hello preorder!) Candace is beautiful inside and out and such an inspiration to me.

Pass on cheap shoes

I am queen of being cheap and trying to save a penny where I can. However, sometimes it bites me in the butt.

I must say, I love Payless Shoes. They have great deals and cute shoes. But I have learned the hard way (many, many times) that their shoes are for short trips like going to dinner, not wearing all day. Unfortunately, each season I forget how uncomfortable their shoes are and trying wearing a pair to work all day. My feet aren't too happy with my bad memory.

Lesson for me: I'm going to have to spend a little more money to get more comfortable shoes if I'm going to be wearing them all day. My favorite thus far: Aerosoles. For the most part, they are the most comfortable and cutest I can find for dress shoes. I've also heard good things about Clarks, but I don't think they're as cute.

Learn the lesson from me-- whatever shoes you wear all day, make an investment in them and save your feet some misery.

Another reason to love OB- Target

I realized that I hadn't posted in a long time and decided to blog about something random that is making me happy right now. Some of you may not know that Target is located about a mile away from my house- dangerous, I know. It has only been open since 2007, so it is a pretty nice store. And to my utter delight, last Thursday our Target opened their grocery section. It's not really a Supercenter, but it is great, all the same. It looks almost exactly like the picture on the left. Target is so much better than Walmart-- they're in different categories. (I just realized that I need to go to the grocery tonight; wonder if I should try Target instead of Kroger.)

The other reason I love our Target is that they have a Pizza Hut Express at the front of the store. Pizza is a weakness for me. It is one of my favorite foods, but getting a large stuffed crust is a no-no for anyone trying to lose weight. So my solution is Pizza Hut Express. They sell little personal pan pizzas and breadsticks. So Justin and I usually split a personal pan pizza (about 320 calories) and have a salad on the side. It's the same great pizza I've enjoyed since I was in school enjoying my Book-It rewards :), but in a small portion that doesn't leave me feeling guilty afterward.

Gotta say that I love living in Olive Branch and love my Target.

Jumping Out of the Boat

Watch out Peter! I just jumped out of the boat. Now I just have to keep my eyes on Jesus so I don't sink.

I have a lot of respect for my manager at ALSAC/St. Jude, so yesterday I let him know that I planned to resign my position in July. (By then, I will be a certified personal trainer and able to be hired by a health club.) He asked me to go ahead and submit my letter of resignation, so my department will have as much time as possible to figure out who will be taking over my stuff and give them extra time to start recruiting my replacement. I prayed about it yesterday and talked to Justin, but still felt uneasy because I like to have everything planned out before I make a move, and as of today, I don't have a job guarantee.

I prayed again this morning and asked for God to give me wisdom and discernment. This morning I came to work and reviewed by Blogger dashboard. Julie Hadden, a former Biggest Loser contestant, Christian and someone I really admire, had a new post on her Guideposts blog. She was writing about change since her and her husband are relocating to a new city for the first time. A line in her blog flew off the page: "We need to have confidence in ourselves and believe in ourselves and our ability to do what we've committed to do, with God's help."

So July 9 will be my last day at St. Jude. At that point, I will be a certified personal trainer employed by a health club (claiming this now) and about to start classes to get certified as a wellness coach. Just trusting Jesus and knowing he will do BIG things.