Stress

Have you ever really thought about what triggers stress for you? Or how stress affects your mind or body? Well I sure haven't... until the last couple weeks. My stress level these days is dramatically lower then it was nine months ago but I hadn't really really thought about how to control stress in my life and how it affects me. I figured that I handled stress just fine.

My stress was due to a rocky season in our marriage, job loss, unemployment, job searching, moving, and frustration with not being able to get pregnant. ... all at once. Compounded with a desire to care for people around me and I stopped paying attention to myself. By the end I kind of physically fell apart.

When we moved I was finally able to stop long enough to realize I was having some physical issues that needed to be addressed. There were signs a few months prior, but honestly with packing and moving I didn't really think anything of them. Physically, I was EXHAUSTED! I was taking 2-3 hour naps daily. My vision was blurry and I really noticed my weight gain. I had officially stressed my body out, and because my stress levels were gradually going down I was taking time to notice my body and all the weird things it was doing.

So last week I started reading a book my mom gave me on balancing your blood sugar which in the long run will help with energy, weight loss and hopefully taking inches from my waist. But honestly what I really hope for is to just feel beautiful again. To not avoid mirrors or the scale. To keep up with Cadence. And just maybe this is what my body needs to get pregnant. 

I am not a dieter. Never have been. I am not going all crazy with this book: literally reading a little at time and changing one meal at time (I eat six times a day with this new lifestyle). I am exercising again and trying new foods. I have my good days and I have my bad days. I eat at home more (unless of course my in-laws come in town!) and I am looking at new recipes. I have lost four pounds in the two weeks – a small step that I am excited about. I am seeing a little more energy and feel a little less shakiness between meals. Also, I am sleeping better (finally!).

It's crazy what stress can do to you. I got through the last year with God, my husband, my family, and my friends.
Now though, I need to take care of me. One day at a time.

No Spend July with an update

Daddy's favorite team!

Well I had a "No Spend" post good to go, but my husband didn't edit it and then we moved so it didn't get posted! [editor's note: I have no memory of such a request. Carry on.] So here is how it went for us...

We weren't able to get all of our Emergency Fund finished but we were able to get most of it. Not spending was interesting; I'm hoping that next year when we do it I can be a little more diligent and organized. For instance, I think it would've helped a lot to get cash out for the whole month. Now don't get me wrong, we didn't spend anything – no eating out or do anything else that cost money. I just kind of felt weird when August 1 came and we ordered a pizza and there was no guilt with it!

Overall, I think it was a success and maybe we'll introduce a "no spend week" into other months, which will probably be easier since our lives are about to get crazy and we'll have little time anyway!


As for the update...

We are all moved into our rental house. It was a long two days as we emptied the Campus House apartment, cleaned it, unloaded it all into the new house and unpacked by ourselves. We were exhausted when my family showed up on Saturday to hang out for the weekend. But we have a house (with air conditioning!), fast internet and are no longer sharing a room with Cadence! Overall a successful move!

We are a few days from the student Leadership Team Retreat and then move in weekend. I think we are all ready for some craziness and for the real work to begin. We've had a wonderful summer of relaxing, learning and planning with the whole staff for the next year.

We have also made it to about $600 of the $1,000 a month we need support-wise.

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Watching the train

A lot has changed in our family this summer, but I think we've come to a place where we can have peace again.  A time when we can think about the past but not dwell on it. A time to dream about ministry again. A time to remember what God has truly done for us. A time to be a family and enjoy the small things in life.