Week One- CHECK!

Well, the first week of our 5 Week Challenge has come and gone. And I'd say that overall, my roomie and I did pretty good! I did ab workouts 4 times, cardio 3 times, and stretched 2 times. I flossed and rinsed 6 days (mom... you know how good that is!), and practiced guitar 4 days for a total of an hour and 15 min. All my spiritual goals were met every day as well! Bedtime was a little sketchy what with being on duty and hanging with friends, but we definitely did better than previously! And the dessert rule was broken twice this weekend since we were at a retreat and the only snack during snack time was cookies. Otherwise, the food plans have been right on track!

So the only thing we are changing is that bed time will not be our number one priority. For example, if we have some friends over and are having a great time of fellowship, we might not kick them out right as the clock strikes 11. Another thing is we will not shorten our nighttime quiet times because it's "bed time." This was tempting to do at the beginning, but if we are having a great time with the Lord, what's a few lost minutes of sleep?

If we can do it, YOU CAN TOO! (Believe me, we really don't have very good perseverance!) :)

5 Week Challenge

READY?! Okay, so my roommate and I have decided to challenge ourselves over the next couple of weeks. We feel that change is needed in our lives, that habits need to be formed, and that with lots of strength from God we can do it! We decided to focus on mainly two aspects of our lives- spiritual and physical. There are a couple other things thrown in there as well. The things we decided to change/work on, are really quite normal, and are habits that should already be formed in our lives, but aren't. We aren't proposing anything outlandish such as sticking to the Atkins Diet, running 5 miles every day, or reading the whole Bible in a month. No. But we are proposing change in our lives, and as most of you probably know can be pretty difficult in general. But, we are confident that all things are possible through Christ!

So, here are the areas of our lives that we are going to be more intentional with:

Spiritual

Quiet Time: 30 min/day every day

Prayer

·      Pray together to start day (Mon, Wed, Fri when we get up together)

·      Pray impossible list every day

·      Pray for peers

Memorization: 1 verse/week

Giving: 10% or more, bless others

Physical

Exercise

·      Ab routine 5x/week

·      Cardio 2x/week

·      Stretch 2x/week

Diet

·      Drink water (water bottle or with meal)

·      NO dessert

·      Pasta no more than 3x/week

Dental

·      Floss 5x/week

·      Rinse once/day

Bed time: 11:00pm

Other

Facebook

·      30 min/day or less

Guitar

·      Practice 3x/week

And we have decided to do this until Thanksgiving break, so November 23... FIVE weeks from today! However, we do reserve the right to alter this plan, if need be, after one week's time. 

Life as an RA

Wow! SOOO much has been happening lately that I don't even know where to begin! I got back to school last Tuesday. Since then I have gone to my first RA camp... which included a mud hike (hopefully pictures to follow), lots of meetings, fun skits, and good camp food. I have also been an actor for the party room in "Behind Closed Doors," a training simulation for the new RAs. AND I have had the opportunity to use a fire extinguisher! (In training of course). I have also played countless games of volleyball with my staff... I know... Heather? Volleyball?!? :) But it's provided for some great bonding. My wing is all decorated and pretty, now I just have some nitty gritties and business type stuff to take care of. And of course MORE meetings!

I have 8 girls on my wing right now... one color guard, 2 internationals from China, and 5 cross country runners. They are all very nice and open! I got a chance to talk a lot today with a couple of the runners, and last night I talked with one of the Chinese girls for quite awhile. She even gave me a pair of very pretty chopsticks! It is her 21st birthday tomorrow, so I got her a cute little notebook and some fun colored pens and made her a card.

The freshmen move in on Sunday and everybody else on Monday and Tuesday, so this weekend will be busy with finishing up everything and getting final preparations done. I'm really digging my room setup this semester so far, and even though it felt like I had so much when I was moving in, I either got rid of stuff, or was just much better at packing it all in and my room seems much more clutter-free than it did last year. Today I took an hour nap under my mongolian blanket... so cozy! So it's been a relaxing afternoon FINALLY, after so many packed days. It's nice to just catch up on regular life a little! So that's  basically my life in a nutshell lately!

Time Well Spent

These last couple days have been a blur! (But a good one at that!) Friday I spent some quality bonding time shopping with my soon-to-be new brother! Then Danielle, Johnny, and I headed to the airport for a tearful yet happy reunion with the rents. And the last three days have been filled with shopping (found a dress for the rehearsal dinner), errands, food, wedding planning, movies, and conversations! It's been great to finally get to see, touch, and talk to mom and dad face to face!

I have started doing an in depth look at Romans, which seeing as I'm only on chapter one, has been really good. I also started reading "Set-Apart Femininity" by Leslie Ludy.... and the same thing is true with that! So I'm sure you will probably hear more about those later!

Alright, well I'm going to get off the computer and go spend some more quality time with the fam!

Last Day Plans

Well, it's weird to say, but I only have 4 more days of summer here at UWEC this year. So how am I going to spend them, you ask? Tonight my good friend Jenny from TeenServe is going to be in Eau Claire! So I think I will be spending some time with her, them tomorrow we are going to breakfast at 8am. I normally work at 9, but I'll just go in late. I'm so excited to see her! Then Wednesday I will probably be watching my summer show- So you think you can dance. Sooooo good! :) Thursday night my friend Becca is visiting Eau Claire and staying over in my room. Then Friday Danielle and I are headed to the cities! Woo! Sometime this week Danielle and I are planning on going tanning once before the wedding. And I am slowly working on organizing/purging my room somewhat so it will be easier to move over to Murray when I get back in August!

Reading goal for the week is to finish Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Should be more than doable since I only have a chapter left. It's been a pretty good read about the Holy Spirit.

Cleaning goal is to vaccuum, do all my dishes before I leave, clean out my fridge, and obviously pack for Friday.

Money goal is to put 90% of my paycheck (get paid Friday) into savings and give accordingly.

Ahhh, and now my week is so much clearer!

MIA... not anymore!

i've been off the blogging track for a little while now... life must be busy! or really NOT busy! :) you take your pick.

the last couple weeks i've helped my friend, Lindsay, find her wedding dress, ordered my bridesmaid dress, cleaned out my entire room, watched season 5 of "lost" (that was just in the last 3 days), read multiple books, started making some stuff for RAing this semester, finished an old journal and started a new one, watched countless movies, and played innumerable hours of card and board games with the fam.

so. its just been life. which is why i havent had much to say! you can click here to see the bridesmaid dress i'll be walking down the aisle in come june 26th. it will be in the "horizon" color... a vibrant blue. in other words, very pretty! so thats been exciting with all the wedding stuff. today i have a meeting with the other bridesmaids to plan the parties so that should be fun, but we're all teenagers who haven't really been to many weddings so it should also be interesting. :)

well, that's about all for now. i go back to school the 18th and start training the 19th. so i'm just going to enjoy these last couple days at home!

D-Ship

I love D-ship.
Discipleship that is.
What a great venue for love and emotions to flow freely.

Thanks ladies.
(Kara, that's you!)

Delicious.. a must try!

So... what makes a good night at UWEC?

RECIPE
10 good friends
1 serving of lo-mein from the caf
1 hour listening to life music in the "Cabin"
2 hours watching "Taken"

Start with the 10 friends. Add the lo-mein. Mix in the music, let sit. Add the movie and let it rise til 12:15 a.m.
Enjoy.

Listening to...

There's no other name by which I am saved.
Capture me with grace... I will follow you.