Working Willingly With My Hands

YEAH! It is amazing how much the trashing my dress has really changed my life!

Ever since I starting thinking about idle hands I have been motivated to FINALLY do things I have been wanting to for a while. :)

The other day, I finished my first project. I HAD NO PATTERN! (You have no idea how excited I am!) I saw something I liked, and set out to imitate it. Now, of course, I had to settle. I was really wanting this to be longer to fold in half, but I did not realize to factor in the pocket in my measurements. NO PROBLEM! I just happily settle for one side instead of two! :)

I also did hearts along the top (although they are upside down, something I need to correct in the next version). Beloved pointed out that the hearts compete with the pattern in the fabric, so I will prolly leave those out next time.

I have NEVER done ANYTHING like this before! I am way excited!! And it turned out so cute!!! Now I have my own organization for my crochet hooks! YIPPEE!!! (And as you know, when you are a Momma of a little one, they are just as excited about your projects as you are! LOL! Baby JJ's hands were anxious to get a hold of my new project! LOL!)

Working on Finances

SO this week of my plan I decided to work on finances.

Last week, working on health, I lost 7 lbs and dropped 2 inches off my waist! I do not expect those results to be typical, as when you first start eating healthier, you usually do lose a large amount of weight fast. But progress is progress is progress! YEAH!

So for this week on finances, the plan is not to spend any money. No money on gas (I might have the pleasure of taking a friend to the airport, but would not need to fill up on gas). How to do this?

Firstly, STAY HOME! :) Every time I go out, I seem to buy something. Usually because I am going out to garage sales or thrift stores. I am addicted to thrifting. I so enjoying paying a small amount of money on something. Even if that something is something I don't need. And no going to garage sales! LOL! If I have done well without it for this long, I can do well without it for even longer. :)

Secondly, use what I have. Each meal will be made with stuff I have filling my fridge, freezer and pantry. My posts this week will most likely happen in the evening so I can share what meal we had. :)

Tonight's meal consisted of a bag of frozen chopped onion and peppers, and a bag of frozen veggies (broccoli, carrots, zucchini, squash), some frozen corn, a can of black beans and Mexican Seasoning. I LOVE to cook in cast iron. Whenever I make my Mexican meals, I always squeeze a little lime juice on top to make it sizzle and give it a bit of a kick. The girls LOVE it. I bring the pot to the table and put on a hot plate. We have our taco shells and toppings (shredded lettuce, salsa, cheese, etc.)ready to go and have a taco bar at the table! It is GREAT! We did not have taco shells, so we just used up our corn chips! We made a taco dip instead of tacos. :) It was yummy and fun.

Lunch was frozen waffles with syrup and breakfast was cereal. Snacks were the fresh fruit we always have in a basket on the table.

I also need to be more creative about using what I already have. Sometimes I think I really NEED something, when really it is more of a want. If I look closely at all that God has blessed me with, I am usually able to find a way to use what I already have to get what I really want. :)

Active Hands

"She...willingly works with her hands."
Provers 31:13

This whole trash your dress has really gotten me thinking about why I am so out of shape. Yes my body has changed a lot since the pregnancies and birth, HOWEVER I have seen women whose bodies have changed and yet through diet and exercise got it back to even better than before! THERE IS HOPE! :) (Oh Rebecca - LOL! - if there is hope for me there is hope for you!) :)

I remember watching a 20/20 special sometime back. It was done on a doctor who was studying if it really was metabolism that kept us skinny. What he found was that metabolism didn't matter. (Shock you? I know it did me!). What mattered was the amount of activity a person had a day. Those who were skinnier had 2 hours MORE of activity a day than those overweight.

The doctor had changed his office after this so that he walks SLOWLY on a treadmill throughout the day. It is his computer "desk." And everyone who works for him has the same kind of set up. He even insisted that his interview be done while he was on his office treadmill. And you could see him doing computer work while walking, his secretary answering the phone and writing while walking. It really was amazing.

And while yes, a Momma is a very busy Momma, I had to ask myself how much ACTIVITY I was getting. I mean, after all, I was asking my daughters to run upstairs and grab me diapers instead of getting them myself. And while cooking, I was asking the girls to get objects out of the pantry for me. And I do spend a lot of time on the computer with research (and reading blogs, which can't I call that research too?! :D ) I read a lot, but that is always sitting.

So I started thinking about what the Bible has to say about idle hands or working hands. Maybe my idleness ...ok, not maybe. My idleness WAS a huge contributing factor in me being and STAYING overweight. I will post my short Bible study on this tomorrow.

SO what are something things I can do with my hands?

I have FINALLY gotten off my duff and made each of the girls pillowcase dresses/nightgowns! I have collected SEVERAL vintage pillowcases that I plan to make into dresses for family as well as possibly sell in the craft fairs around town. I really want to sew more. My husband has decided (and I agree with him) that the clothes out there are just too hoochie mamma for our girls to wear. And while we have been buying clothes that are bigger sizes, they just don't fit them right. I have a link on this here.

I can clean. And I don't mean just the decluttering that I have been doing lately where I basically shove everything in a drawer so it is out of sight or in a box to sell. But actual cleaning. Vacuuming more often (I really should be for the health of the carpet as well as the health of my family). Dusting (living in CO where you don't have an air conditioner, your windows are open 5 months out of the year, that let's in a LOT of dust!). And just beautifying my home in general.

Gardening. I have been wanting to do this for a while, and just as we had gotten our garden started at our old house, we had to move. My husband is wanting to build me a green house. And I really want to re-landscape the front yard for a flowering garden that I can cut flowers to bring in to beautify the home. I found a WONDERFUL short read on Growing A Cutting Garden from Elizabeth's Flowers and a few other things (Rebecca and Nancy, you will LOVE this blog!)

Cook and bake. I need to do more of this from scratch. I was reading a blog (please forgive me for not remembering who you are) about how where she lives there is NOTHING premade. So everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) is made from scratch. All her seasoning mixes, her tortillas, her bread, etc. I think it would be wonderful to have the girls help bake cookies and take them the the shut in's around town (or even in our neighborhood).

I can reach out to those in need. I think my girls are old enough now to start working with organizations that help the poor (or those in a children's hospital, or nursing home). There are also the older generation in our neighborhood that we can go and clean their house, or bring them meals. We can also make meals for new mothers (even if it is 17th child, she's still a "new mom").

I can crochet and do other handiwork. While it is true that it is not as active as running, I am still using my mind and hands in a creative way. And if nothing else, it will keep me from being lazy and keep my mind sharper. I have noticed that those who continue to DO with their hands tend to not have Alzheimer's. But that is a whole different subject. :)

We've Only Just Begun

SO today begins my just under a year long journey to trash the dress!

This week I am going to try not to drink water until noon. I read somewhere that that is a good thing to do - it allows your body to fast longer (as that is why breakfast is called breakfast, you are breaking your evening fast). I am not sure if I will do this past the week, but this week, that is the plan.

This month I am doing a green smoothie cleanse. I have a group for Christian women wanting to learn more about raw foods. And a lot of us have decided that we are tired of the unhealthiness!

In the files section, there is information about the green smoothies and the benefits of it. It is written by the author of Greens For Life, Victoria Boutenko. She and her family are 100% raw foods. After being on raw foods and experiencing WONDERFUL results (her son's diabetes was cured, more energy, etc.) they started slowing down in their results. They knew it was not raw foods, so she began digging.

What she found was that because they were doing so much juicing, they were missing out on the fiber (as well as who knows what nutrients found therein). She also realized that while she was eating salads, she was putting so much FAT on them (avocado, nuts, oils, etc.) that she was getting more fat than greens. Enter her research and the green smoothie.

After instituting the green smoothie, her family once again starting seeing the results that they had originally when they FIRST started the raw foods diet. They did a study where regular people (even people who ate meat) went on a 30 day green smoothie challenge (I am calling the one at HealthSeekersForum a cleanse because in the past people complained about it being called a challenge and was therefore to difficult to complete) and experienced WONDERFUL results health wise. A lot of them lost their cravings for sweets (OH how I need that one! I remember that happening last time I did the cleanse). Most of them lost weight.

So those will be my main focus for this week in the plan to trash my dress. I plan on taking at least once aspect from each part of the plan and adding it a week. By the end of the month, I should be working on at least one thing in each area!! :) Next week I will start to work on finances. EEK!

I do have measurements so I can track how my body changes through this. And I am taking before, during and after pictures. I will try to post those soon.

Motivation To....

The great thing about trashing my wedding dress is that I have a LOT of motivation to get off my franny and start doing the things I have always wanted/needed to do.

OK, so let's make a plan. Of course I can add to the plan and will follow along in the blog with the benefits and such.

LOSE WEIGHT
-drink more water
-as my brother in law Jeff says "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels." - he is an inspiration for me to lose weight
-eat more raw foods (at least 85%)
-no late eating (try not to eat after 6:30)

GET INTO SHAPE
-use T-Tapp
-walk more (having a new dog is a GREAT reason to walk more!)
-take SuperMom Vitamins

SAVE MONEY
-Declutter more (garage sale, ebay, craigs list stuff we no longer want/need)
-Stay away from garage sales, flea markets, Goodwill unless I have a need, and then only go in for that need
-All cash and ONLY cash - no cash, no buying!
-Put more money into ROTH's and change bank to one with higher interest rate for savings

PLAN RENEWAL (tears just filled my eyes)
-where and when
-who to invite
-what kind of renewal

PLAN TRASHING THE DRESS
-ride on rides - can I do that in the dress or not for safety reasons?
-will it just have to be a beach trashing?

Trash The DressTrash The Dress

Being a submissive wife is not always easy. Sometimes I am asked to do things that I just cannot see the reasoning behind (isn't it also that way with the Lord? Maybe that is why I am supposed to be submissive to my earthly husband so I can better submit to my heavenly Husband). :)

But usually (and not always right away), I will see the wisdom in my beloved's decision.

His current request? That I trash my wedding dress.

I must admit when I was standing over my husband's shoulder as he asked me to do this and he was telling me about the site, I was thinking that wedding dress means so much to me. Trashing the wedding dress is something someone who is divorced does. Those with happy marriages keep their wedding dresses, sealed in protective plastic just like mine is. Which also happens to be hidden away in a closet somewhere.

But after he explained to me about what exactly trashing your wedding dress is, and showed me some of the cutest pictures of women trashing their dresses, we decided to go for it. Hey laughed and gave me a high five, so I know this means a lot to him.

Now of course, most of the ones who do this are newly weds (you can tell by the pictures).

BUT, who says this has to be for newly weds!?! Next year, for our twelve year wedding anniversary, we have decided I am going to trash my wedding dress. That gives me one year to get into shape and be able to fit back into my wedding dress and one year to save up for the big event. (There are even photographers who specialize in trashing the dress photography.) You can follow my journey by clicking on the label Trash The Dress.

We will be having a vow renewal (something I thought my beloved would NEVER do, but he is going to buy and trash a tux with me) followed by the trashing of the dress. We are going to spend the day at Disneyland going on all the rides IN MY WEDDING DRESS! Then out for dinner IN THE DRESS! And then to the beach IN THE DRESS for a walk in the sunset along the beach (and maybe some rolling around too - scroll half way down to see my FAVORITE picture or trashing the dress by rolling in the sand!).

Why trash the dress? Because I love and am committed to my beloved. I have no use for a wedding dress anymore. And I am tired of stashing it away in a closet not to be seen or enjoyed. And just like I did not wear my mother's wedding dress and my mother did not wear her mother's wedding dress, the likelyhood of any of my daughters (or future daughter in laws) wanting to wear my dress are slim to none. And rather than having it be just one more things my children have to weed through when I die, why not let it be a living testimony to my children NOW about the commitment their father and I share with each other. Yes, the vows are enough. But why not turn the dress into a work of art to remember the day we took our vows? A work of art to remember our commitment to each other.