Do It As Unto the Lord

I invited my sister Jill over for lunch today. It made my day that she came to eat lunch with me. We just had vegetables: squash, roasted green beans, steamed kale, corn on the cob and sliced fresh tomatoes. Squash cooked whole in the microwave then cut up and topped with a little onion powder and butter is unbelievably good. For dessert we had Greek yogurt with honey with slices of frozen banana. You should try this because it tastes like a nice gooey dessert --so good! While I was preparing the meal I was thinking about how the Bible tells us to do everything unto the Lord. This led to the sweetest thoughts about preparing a meal for Jesus. What a wonderful thing to think on whenever cooking a meal for anyone. I really hope I can begin showing more Christian hospitality.

I've started memorizing Scripture again which has re-awakened my love for it. God's Word is invaluable and so rich in beauty and encouragement. I don't see how people can choose not to read the Bible. Maybe they need someone like you to tell them wonderful things about God's Word. I'm memorizing a long passage from 2 Peter Chapter One beginning with verse three. Verse three says we are called "to glory and virtue" I did not even know that this was in the Bible and it is so exciting to find it! I told my sister about this and recited 2 Peter 1:3-4 for her. We had a great conversation about it.

Jill: "What do you think virtue means?"

Me: "I think it's all the great things about being a Christian."

Jill: "That is a beautiful definition."

I told Jill I remembered her son memorizing this Scripture when he was younger:

2 Peter 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. KJV

He's a senior in college and has done wonderfully. I said I bet this scripture has something to do with it!


I've been convalescing nicely lately. I'm wearing oxygen almost all of the time. I'm not walking for very many blocks but I'm building up gradually. Saturday I took a walk and didn't have to make any rest stops. I was thinking --wow,this is a lot of walking. I've started an exercise routine besides walking and it makes me feel great. I need those endorphins exercise gives me, which makes me feel great. The endorphins plus getting my heart beating faster help me feel like doing the things I need to do. Getting things done is a major plus and is great for my mood.

A Lovely Day

Today has been a beautiful day. I went swimming at an indoor pool where I have a membership. The inside of the pool has been totally redone. It looks so nice. It was great to be swimming again! I want to start swimming a lot and taking lots of walks too. There are many good reasons for doing this, one of which is to help me sleep better.

When I was returning home I met my mom and stepfather walking Drew, their Scottish Terrier. Drew got all excited when she realized it was me in the car, when she recognized my voice. Although she's a dog she has a big wonderful personality.

I keep getting ideas for cooking using yogurt! So far I made a marinade/sauce for grilled salmon with plain yogurt and just a few other ingredients. I like it. I want to make some yogurt cheese and use it to make chicken dip, and maybe some chicken enchiladas. Yogurt cheese tastes kind of like a cross between sour cream and cream cheese. I'm not fixated on yogurt-- these are just some good ideas I think and I really want to try them and see.

I had a really nice visit with Mom this afternoon. We sat on the porch until it got too hot. Drew, Mom's Scotty, wanted lots of love and attention. She's like that when it's been a while since I visited.

I'm looking forward to church in the morning. I've already picked out my clothes and even chose which makeup and earrings I'm going to wear. Having these decisions already made makes getting ready a lot easier.

Pollen!

I was almost beside myself because I love to walk this time of the year but wind, heavy pollen and contact lenses just don't mix. Ouch! One year I lost a contact lens when pollen got in my eye. It was almost impossible to resolve to go walk indoors at the gym or the mall during this lovely spring weather! I decided to go shopping and see what kind of goggles I could find. I'm so glad I found a pair of tinted swim goggles that look like regular glasses, because the plastic around the eyes is clear. These are great because they keep all the pollen out of my eyes! Problem solved.

I've been busy in the kitchen. I made some more of my healthy brownies. I've had good self-control and have been limiting myself to two brownies a day, which is included in my daily alotted calories. I froze the brownies and some red beans and rice in single servings. I made a wonderful green salad which I ate with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

My mom trimmed my hair today. I was so glad to get it trimmed. I've been using shampoo for redheads. It covers gray but seems to be damaging my hair. The shampoo smells like hair color so it must have some of the same chemicals. At the roots my hair is salt and pepper gray and I think I'm just going to let my hair turn this color naturally by stopping using the shampoo for redheads.

A Lovely Spring Day

I had a wonderful two mile walk this morning. The temperature was a brisk sixty degrees this morning, a beautiful overcast day. I saw heavy pollen falling from a tree all over the road. My stamina and breathing during walks is still improving! I can't wait to bump up my walks to the 2.5 mile then 3 mile levels because I get to see more beautiful scenery and really lose weight when I do this.

I had lunch with my parents and made grilled wild salmon. My mother liked the way I fixed it. I was glad because I've been encouraging her to eat salmon for the great health benefits.

I fixed some delicous healthy brownies, with organic wheat flour and honey, this afternoon. I'd been eating a little Lindt 85% cocoa dark chocolate everyday, but decided to try something less expensive. I know dark chocolate has health benefits and I'm hoping that these brownies, made with three-fourths a cup of cocoa, will be just as good for me. I had to learn how to have self-control in eating dark chocolate, and now I want to exercise the same self-control with these brownies. I cut the brownies into 200 calorie servings and ate one a few minutes after they came out of the oven. For supper I ate two brownies. From now on though, I just want to eat one each day. I froze the brownies in convenient individual servings.

I had wanted to jump in on housecleaning after I cooked the brownies but I was tired. I got on the computer for a while. After I was rested I cleaned the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, vanity area and mirror. This wasn't a whole lot of housecleaning, but each little bit that I do lessens the number of chores that need to be done, which encourages me.

Quiet Rainy Monday

Sunday my mom invited me to lunch and served garlic shrimp over angel hair pasta and T-bone steak. I brought some asparagus and steamed it. I'd love to learn to cook shrimp and steak as well as my mom does. My mom is such a good cook.

Sunday evening I had a really nice walk. It seems like I'm getting back to the fitness level I had previously. I'm so glad! This is so important to me and I'm excited about it. I'm hoping to swim a lot this spring and also want to start doing yoga again.

Insomnia has been threatening my diet because normally I'd be sleeping instead of getting hungry late at night. Something like this is exasperating because I really want to do well on my diet in order to lose weight. I just realized that one of my medication's has the side effect of insomnia, so I'm going to take it in the morning instead of at bedtime. Hopefully this will make a difference.

It's been raining all day today. Mostly today I just took a long nap and did my Bible reading. I finished the book of Revelation today. I read four chapters of Proverbs today (29-31 and 1). Usually I just read whichever chapter the day of the month is but I didn't want to skip four chapters. I use Professor Horner's Bible Reading System and I'm on my sixty-fifth day. It was a struggle to do my reading consistently at first but I'm doing better at it now. I completed twenty days out of twenty-eight this month and hope not to miss any days in the month of March. I love reading God's Word and had an awesome time in the Word today.

Sunny Cold Day

We didn't get any snow last night and it's been a cold, kind of windy day with nice sunshine. I slept really late this morning but I got plenty of sunshine today so this should help me to wake up earlier in the morning. I've tried setting alarm clocks to get up earlier but they really don't do any good unless there's somewhere I have to be. I walked about a mile and was pleased with how well I did. There's still a lot of improvement I'd like to make. My perspective is that I'm happy I'm doing as well as I am now; progress is welcome and will make me even happier.

I had a nice nap after my walk. Then I got up showered, cooked supper, cleaned the kitchen and began working on memorizing more Scriptures. While I'm memorizing the Scriptures I surf the internet too.

I like quinoa and just tried it for the first time yesterday. It's classified as a grain but it's really a seed of a spinach like plant. I like it cooked in the microwave with just a little salt, Splenda and cinnamon. I was eating it last night without drinking water along with it and it got stuck in my esophagus. This was really scarey and painful but thankfully didn't last very long.

I'm about to turn in for the night. Sweet dreams everyone.

Better Now!

I'm feeling so much better today and eating pretty normally too. I'm so thankful for this. It's a marvel of creation how food is digested and nourishes our bodies, instead of just sitting in our stomachs and spoiling, unless we're sick. There are so many things about our bodies' function that are wonderful-- which we take for granted.

The weather has been chilly again today with 1-3 inches of snow predicted for tonight. It's doubtful that the snow will stick since the overnight low is 35 degrees and tomorrow's high is in the fifties.

Mom visited for a little while this morning, which is kind of rare since I usually visit her. We both want warm weather again. I said that it's nice Spring isn't too far away, atleast for people like us living in the deep South.

About all I've accomplished today is grocery shopping. I enjoyed this. I ate at Subway at Walmart. I got a oven roasted chicken sandwich with lots of veggies and no cheese. I love these!

Great Warm Weather

I've enjoyed my day inspite of problems I'm having. Taking a walk in the bright warm sunshine was nice. The warmth lifted my spirits and has me happily anticipating spring. I would have liked it even better if I didn't have to pause fairly often due to getting winded. I still enjoyed being outside and the sunshine was beautiful. I'm not out of the woods with my back yet. I enjoyed spending about an hour neatening up my home. It looks so much better. I can tell my attitude towards housework is majorly improving. I'm quite happy about this. The time I spend doing housework adds up and I see the beginnings of the progress I want so much. My latest Scripture acrostic is really changing my outlook for the better. I love the effect God's word has on me.

This evening I went out to eat catfish with my mom, stepfather, aunt, uncle and his sister and brother-in-law. The catfish was really good. The golden glow of the sun setting through the woodsey country side was so pretty. They were talking about eating cake after returning to my mom's home. I thought about it but came home and had a no sugar added popsicle. I've found that if I want my diet to continue, I can't resume my dieting fast enough. Most of the time when I eat something out of the ordinary I'm careful to make sure I count calories to make it fit into my daily calorie allowance.

An Early Start to the Morning

I woke up at about 1am this morning. I went to bed at 7pm because I was tired. Six hours of sleep is a decent amout of sleep for me. One thing nice about to waking up really early like this is that it helps you get a nice early start to the day. I woke up thinking about Philippians 4:8, which is one of my current memory verses.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things. (NIV)

It struck me that I should really start doing this. I did this while I lied in the bed until about 3am and it was great.

When I got up I got some pinto beans on to soaking. Beans cook so much faster when they're soaked and I'm going to try to make chalupa soup. I want the beans to cook up nice and tender. I've eaten my aunt's chalupas before and they're really good. I started thinking about this yesterday and called her to get the recipe, but I thought chalupa soup would be really good. I don't know if anyone has ever made chalupa soup before! If it turns out good I'll post the recipe.

We got lots of snow Friday and it stayed on the ground for over 24 hours, which is so rare in the deep south. Yesterday I went to look at the park and a lively snowball fight was going on. I didn't get to see much of the action because most of the commotion stopped when they saw me. I heard the action begin again when I was walking back to my apartment.

When I lived on the Gulf coast, I could count on spring to make it's glorious arrival by the end of February. All the azaleas would be beautifully in bloom. Now I live a little farther north, but it's still the deep south. I keep looking at the ten day weather forcasts hoping to see a warming trend. Instead the opposite has been occurring, so I'm quite curious as to when we'll see some spring. I love the four seasons though. Winter used to be my favorite season because I loved walking in the bracing cold air. I'm a little more careful about exposing myself to the elements now. Really wind and dampness are more what I have to be careful of to try to avoid getting sick.

I'm about to do my morning Bible reading--now in the book of Exodus and 1st Samuel. I read chapters from 10 different books of the Bible. It's great.

So Cold!

It's so cold today. I just about froze going to the gym today. I was planning on going grocery shopping but decided not to when the temperature dropped. The wind chill was 28 degrees! This is good sleeping weather. I took a long nap this afternoon, after a wonderful lunch with my mom and sister. My mom fixed beef stew, corn bread and sweet potatoes.

I walked on the indoor track at the gym for about a mile this morning. I took a walk a few days ago I had to stop every block or two to catch my breath; I have a lung condition that causes flare ups like this sometimes. Today I'm really proud to say I walked about a mile without stopping! It was a great work out! I love making progress in physical fitness. When I was swimming this week I thought it was great when I could tell my lungs were working better. I love it when I can surge though the water as fast as I want to-- so exhilarating. I still took a rest break after each half lap (only when swimming the crawl) but hopefully my fitness will keep improving. I'm excited thinking about all the calories I can burn walking and swimming now that I'm getting fitter.

Nice Day but Would Like to Feel Better

When I was leaving my 9:30am appointment this morning my stomach started bothering me. I went and got something my doctor had recommended and it helped. After lunch it was bothering me again a little bit and I though some frozen yogurt would help things. The sugar free frozen yogurt was yummy.

Then I went to Marshall's and found such a cute skirt and scarf, all for about thirty dollars. At Albertson's I got lucky because my doctor had already called in a prescription I needed. I also found some baby cucumbers, which I like to make California Rolls with; they're really pickling cucumbers, but we'll see how they do in the sushi. I went to Books A Million. I love their "Dream by the Fire" hot tea, which I drank while looking at some books and a magazine. I also bought another one dollar book today-- "The Fall of Frost"; it looks like a good book. Next I went to Walmart for some grocery essentials.

I got home and the yellow and white cat greeted me. He has been hanging out at the apartments apparently nonstop. Yesterday the guy who was taking care of the grey cat paid for the cat's adoption ticket-- that is he paid for the cat to be spayed and for her shots, so if anyone wants to adopt her they can free of charge. This hopefully will lead to her finding a good home soon.

I'm glad to be back home with the groceries etc. put away. I wish my stomach get back to normal.

Birthday

Yesterday was my youngest sister Jill's birthday. Jill, Mom and I went out to eat at Sake Sushi. They have great food. I got Jill a really nice journal for her birthday. I'm glad she said she likes to journal. After we went out to eat, we went to a bad part of town trying find some metal stairs, which Jill said someone told her they had seen, and that weren't in use. We found the location but the stairs weren't there. Then we went to Jill's house to see some home renovation projects that are in progress.

I just brought home some great books from the library and also bought produce at a great sale. I eat a lot of fruit in the summer. To me summer fruit is extra good. I don't usually buy that much of it at a time because you can't always be sure that you are getting good peaches etc. So when I bring home fruit it doesn't take long for it to disappear. I got some green grapes and pluots (a cross between a plum and an apricot) for $1.00/lb. today.

I've been feeling like I could be getting sick for the past few days but I think I'm just about over it, which I'm thankful for.

I've Been Bitten By the Dieting Bug

Mom invited me over for lunch today. We had baked chicken and she also made the best fried eggplant, green tomatos and portobello mushrooms I think I've ever put in my mouth. I'll try to make oven fried eggplant. This afternoon I went to the bake shop to get a cupcake and when they didn't have what I wanted I ended up getting what must be the most fattening thing there-- a brownie tower. But the good news is that now I think the dieting bug has finally bit me. This is the only way I know how to describe it. I've been wanting to diet again. However there's nothing like being enthusiastic about it, which helps me to be zealous and successful. I weighed myself yesterday and I've gained about ten pounds. I hope I can stay on this diet for a long time and avoid regaining any weight. It's so needed and would be wonderful for both my health and appearance. I hope I break my pattern of mistakenly thinking that I can get off of my diet for a meal and get right back on it. What happens is that being off my diet for a meal, turns into being off my diet for days and weeks or longer-- in other words good bye diet. This is so sad because the dieting bug doesn't bite often and when my good dieting mode is lost I just can't seem to recover it. So I end up not losing the pounds I so need to shed and even putting on more weight. I think it would wise for me to just not get off my diet.

I took a short walk late this evening. It seemed like I had more pep in my step. I'm glad for this and think it's due to walking more regularly, at least a few times each week. It's so nice that it really cools down in the evening before the sun goes down. This is such a nice time to take a walk. It's amazing to me how significantly the the length of the days changes throughout the year. A few months from now I'll be taking evening walks about three hours earlier, an hour of which is due to daylight savings time.

Two things that really stand out to me at this time of year are hummingbirds and the last of the good watermelons. My mom and stepfather have hummingbird feeders in their yard but I haven't seen any hummingbirds myself yet, but my mom says she has seen them. I'm looking forward to seeing them too. We had some really good watermelon this week--the best of this summer. Half of it is still in the fridge.

May Scripture Memory, Per Request

I think I'm becoming quite a tea drinker. Today at Starbucks in Krogers I had some wild sweet orange tea which was so good. This evening I've been drinking apple cinnamon and honey vanilla chamomile.

My mom, stepfather, and my sister and I had a lot of yummy veggies with lunch today. My mom and I both cooked. I'm so glad that when I was craving ice cream yesterday, I decided what I really wanted was some good veggies. The ice cream cravings still occur. I keep trying to remember to get some bananas and freeze them. Frozen bananas taste kind of like ice cream to me-- they're good!

While I've been drinking my tea this evening, I've been memorizing the first few verses of John Chapter 3. On my
computer, I color code repeated words in the scripture and type the scripture over and over, which primes my mind so I can memorize more easily. My mother requested for me to memorize John 3. I'm happy that she asked me to. For the Living Proof Ministries (LPM) Siesta Scripture Memory Team I've committed to memorize the first eighteen verses for this month, but I'm hoping to really work on it and memorize the whole chapter as soon as I can, since I'm looking forward to when I can recite it from memory to my mom. I'm memorizing it in the New King James Version. For LPM I'm supposed to memorize one scripture twice a month but I like the challenge of memorizing a lot of scripture. Memorizing scripture tightens my grip on the sword of the Spirit-- which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), then I can recite it like I'm a warrior princess!

I'm off to write this month's scripture in my spiral index cards.


John 3:1-18

You can read John 3 in the New King James Version here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203&version=50

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. KJV

Am I Seeing What My Eyes Are Telling Me I'm Seeing

Rain is in the forecast. It rained for a little while this morning. The sun is shining now although it keeps getting overcast. Watching the nuances of the weather is so interesting. I was looking out the glass doors to my patio and I saw something, which I thought was probably a squirrel, climb to the top of the lattice. Then I thought, how can a small stuffed tiger toy be on top of the lattice? Then I saw that it was a squirrel from the side view.

Today I'm baking some bread with100% organic graham wheat. It smells so good and it's not even in the oven yet. There is a lot to baking bread but it's something I enjoy doing. This weekend my sister said she remembered watching me roll out bread dough and shape it into loaves and that I looked so cute.

My sister invited me to dinner Friday night and we ate ate a sushi restaurant, which was only my second time eating there. I decided to try the California rolls. The California rolls are great. Are they considered sushi? From there we went to the closing session of my sister's church's statewide women's conference. It was wonderful.

I was late for church yesterday and it really couldn't be helped. I didn't get to hear the youth choir sing. Our pastor's message was wonderful and really inspiring. It was about being Easter people in our everyday lives.

I've gotten a lot more in shape over the past two weeks, having worked out 8 of the last 14 days. Fitness is such a blessing. My back is kind of stiff though. I'll probably do some yoga. I've been wanting to be fit enough to do yoga. I like the "Yoga for Dummies" book. I like to do the first set of yoga for beginners, which takes only five or ten minutes and it makes my back feel so good.

There is Sunshine in My Soul

I've been singing some hymns this morning, including "Sunshine in My Soul"-- which has given me a blessed frame of mind to begin my day with. Click on the link for lyrics:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/u/sunshine.htm

I've been thinking about my cooking. We have a local restaurant which serves BBQ stuffed baked potatoes that are really good. I decided to try to prepare these at home. I usually just eat sweet potatoes at home because they are less fattening, according to my Sugar Buster's book. I absolutely loved sweet potatoes stuffed with chicken, topped with BBQ sauce, and plain yogurt (like sour cream without all the calories). The other day I invited my sister for a lunch of BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes; she was busy-- but she and her husband came over for supper. My sister loves trying new things and I love it that she and her family have liked my creative recipes. At the dinner table she told my brother-in-law "put your chicken in your sweet potato with the BBQ sauce and sour cream; it's real good like that". To me this is a cute quote. : )