Gettin' down on the farm

We had SO much fun with our bestest friends in Luverne, Alabama. We went with the intentions of staying for one night and did not return for three days! We are seriously SO blessed with the most amazing group of friends possible.

We four-wheeled, built bonfires, played board games, made up our own games, watched some World Cup, went on an adventure to the river, discovered an old, abandoned trailer park, stayed up and watched the sunrise, and laughed our BUTTS off.

We had a little issue with our Daniel Fast. I am ashamed to admit that we had to take a break. We originally planned to stay only Friday night so we only took a very small amount of food. We took two veggie burger patties, some peanuts, raisins, blueberries, and hummus. We ate that the first night when everyone else tortured us by eating Waffle House! The next day we had decided to stay and realized we were out of food. We just HAD to cave and eat some real food. Being outdoors all day in 100 degree heat with no sleep does not go over well with no protein!

I surprisingly felt like crap after eating real food and very happily started back on the fast this morning. We are planning to add two days to the end of the fast.

Here is a little picture tour of our weekend in Luverne:

This was our meeting place. The Big Cat. lol

Gorgeous sky on the way into camp

This is what they ate on the first night...

And this is what we ate... =(

Three a.m four-wheeler ride to the haunted trailer park

This is how I had to drive the four-wheeler because it was burning my legs so bad

My favorite boys!

Me and my best friend in the world! (check out my outfit haha)

Gorgeous sunset behind the house on night 2...

Me and my awesome cousin, Griffin =)

Our huge fire we built outside. It was a lot bigger than it looks!

Overall, the weekend was a huge success. Nothing is better than good times with good friends.

Fast Update

Just thought I would give a quick update about the Daniel Fast since it has been awhile. We are on Day 9 and are doing great! Hard to believe we are almost half way done.

This weekend is going to be difficult because we are going to a friend's hunting camp for the weekend with 7 friends! It is going to be hard not to eat the delicious burgers and hot dogs they are planning on grilling =(

We are taking our own veggie burgers (which are surprisingly really good!) and praying that the Lord will grant up some serious self control.

The devotions are AMAZING. It is definitely the thing I look forward to the most about the fast everyday. Susan Gregory has some serious writing skills. Her topics are so interesting and really make you think! Last night it was about being politically correct. Not politically correct like we are used to talking about- but being politically correct for the Kingdom of God. Lots of neat metaphors.

The workouts have been killer as well. Last night I attended a kickboxing class at the gym and am so sore today! CJ at Gold's is an AMAZING instructor and I can only imagine what she would be like as a personal trainer. Yikes.

Anyway... heading to Aaron's hunting camp in Luverne, Alabama this afternoon for a weekend of fun with my greatest friends ever =) Me, Pat, Miley, Chris, Aaron, Hannah, and Griffin. Yay!

Will have pics when I get back on Sunday! xo

Blessed beyond words

Sometimes it just hits me how amazingly blessed I am. Today, it hit me. I have a husband, a family, and friends that are by far the most amazing people I have ever met. How is that I get so lucky to have ALL of them when some people have no one? I wish everyone in the world got to experience the love and kindness I receive from these people everyday. Sometimes it brings me to tears that they don't.

Here are some pictures of some people that I have been blessed to have in my life:

These awesome people

My awesome new grandparents

My other awesome new grandma and uncle!

My two new brothers

This sweetie, Andrew

This cutie, Alex

My new mother and father in law

These beautiful girls

This amazing husband

These amazing grandmas (and mom)

And the best parents a girl could ask for

Thank you, Jesus, for giving me these people.

Zaxby's sounds sooo good

So... for the first time today I had a major craving for some real food. Like fiesta lime chicken, or Buffalo Wild Wings, or ZAXBY'S. The Diet Coke headaches are back...which stinks. I have concluded that those things are lethal. I am NOT going back to drinking them when we are done (or atleast I'm gonna try really hard). Other than that... things are ok. Running out of creative meal ideas. Any ideas anyone??

ANYWAY... no more food talk. It's making me hungry.

Yesterday our devotion was called Five Smooth Stones. It was a GREAT devotion. It was referring to the five smooth stones that David used to kill the giant Goliath. The devotion was saying that we all have giants in our lives (busyness, laziness, finances, lust, addictions, etc) and we should constantly refer to scripture in order to defeat them. We are picking our "five smooth stones" of scripture tonight and we are going to put them on index cards and keep them where we can refer to them when we are "facing our giants". She encourages you to recite them daily and even memorize them if you can. I am excited!

What are your five smooth stones to defeat your giants?

Daniel Fast Day 2

We are the majority of the way through the 2nd official day of our Daniel Fast. So far it has been great! I know it is only the second day so I am not gonna go to crazy about how great I feel (minus the caffeine withdrawal headaches). Ask me again on day 10 or day 20 and I may have a different answer.

I have actually been 4 days without caffeine and the headaches seem to FINALLY be decreasing. I must say... as much of a Diet Coke lover as I was, I have not craved one yet! The constant glass of water with lemon has become quite addicting (not to mention delicious!)

Along with the partial fast diet, we are also doing a daily devotion, reading the book of Daniel, and participating in some form of daily exercise. Right now I am still in the excited phase... I am feeling good! Hummus and peanut butter have been saviors for protein. We have enjoyed having them for snacks on celery, etc.

Breakfast has been easy because I have either just eaten fresh fruit or whipped up a quick smoothie with unsweetened soy milk, one whole banana, a cup of strawberries and blueberries, a pinch of cinnamon, and a couple of ice cubes. YUM.

Yea... it's good =)

Day 1- I had a smoothie for breakfast. I had celery with hummus and a tomato with salt for lunch. I had a peach, some almonds, and some raisins for snack. For dinner we...

Cut up a bunch of zucchini, squash, and onions and sauteed them in the skillet...

Cooked some whole wheat pasta and put the vegetables on top! YUM again.

Day 2- We woke up and immediately did our devotion for the day. We drank fruit smoothies while we discussed the devotion. For lunch we had a cup of broccoli and carrots, a veggie burger wrapped in lettuce with hummus and salsa on the lettuce, and fresh blueberries.

YUM AGAIN.

After lunch we headed to the gym and had a great workout. I have been a little worried about the lack of protein from meat. I do not feel sluggish at all yet.

As great as the diet and stuff is for the Daniel Fast, the purpose is not for weight loss. I know that I have mentioned that before but as I am reading the book I am much more knowledgeable about what the actual purpose IS. Basically, fasting was a common routine for many spiritual leaders in the Bible including Jesus, Daniel, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Esther, John, Moses, Samuel, etc. A "fast" means to abstain from food and/or drink for a spiritual purpose. There are three different types of fasts mentioned in the Bible. The Daniel Fast is a partial fast where limited foods are acceptable and only water is acceptable. Throughout this experience we are to be in constant prayer and participate in daily devotions and Bible reading. The purpose of the fast is to draw nearer to the Lord, practice self-control from worldly things (excessive food and overeating!), and to focus on things that are important in life (our relationship with Him).

I promise not to bore you guys with lists and pictures of what we eat everyday. I will occasionally update everyone on how things are going, how we are feeling physically and spiritually, and maybe some interesting things we have eaten. Pray for us!

Until next time...

DANIEL DIET DELAY!

There is something about waiting that just kills me! We are in the zone and ready to start the Daniel Fast but we are still without the book. Now I know we could just begin the eating habits today but the sole purpose for this fast is the devotions and spritual aspects. SO, with that said...

When this arrives on my doorstep (which should be soon because it is late!) we will be ready to begin! Bring on the fruit and veggies!

The greatest happiness is family happiness

Pat and I had the privilege to spend two nights with the entire Ryan clan at a very bright, pink, beach house in Fort Morgan. It is the trip of the year for their families and everyone looks forward to it for the whole year. The number usually ranges between 16-20 people. I have had the opportunity to be there for the past three years and it is always a blast.

This year we got there on Saturday afternoon and spent the day on the beach before the rest of the families arrived. We were greeted by a very excited carload of kids ready for the pool! We spent a couple of hours with Kelly, Cotton, and Jenna Kacy playing categories and throwing them around in the pool.

We headed back to the house in anticipation of a delicious dinner, soothing showers, and a night of fun and entertainment. To our surprise, a massive storm came through Fort Morgan as we were finishing dinner and…we lost power. Not only did we lose power, but we lost it for THREE HOURS!

Now, I know losing power in a house full of people in the beginning of the summer sounds pretty miserable. We had hyper children, tired adults, and some teenagers in need of entertainment with NO lights and NO air conditioning. As awful as the circumstances sound, it was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. No TV, no phones, no distractions. Just time with my new family.

We told stories, sang songs, tried to watch Jenna dance in the dark, pigged out on gummy lifesavers, and laughed until our stomachs hurt. As we lie on the tile floor all sharing pillows, I realized that we desperately needed some pictures to document the time we spent in the dark. Here is what came out of our little “photo shoot”:

Attempt 1

Attempt 2...scarrry

Attempt 3...we suprised the camerawoman =)

Attempt 4...who knows??

And the winner!!

The power finally came back on at 10:48 (I know this because we celebrated!) and we all realized what a great time we had. We hit the bed so we could have another beach day on Sunday. We had another pretty day, delicious dinner, and a great annual trip to Scoops.

We were sad to leave yesterday- but we had to come back and do married people, adult, stuff (like school and work) Booo!