I thought this past Saturday would have been a great day for an outdoor fitness adventure. I have 3 boys- 8, 6, and 8 months. I really have to fit things in when I can. Some days I get it in, some days I don't. I try not to stress about it. On this lovely Saturday though, the oldest boys were at my parents and it was just me and the baby. I figured this would be an ideal time to get the jogging stroller out. We drove down the road a bit to a shady, side-walk lined neighborhood. I was pumped because I knew I was going to get a great workout running and pushing a 20 pound baby in a stroller! After a warm-up walk I started to run and after a few steps the stroller began to shake. Weird. Must have hit a stick or something. Let's go. Again, after a few steps it began to shake again. OK. Maybe this sidewalk is too uneven. One more time. Same thing happened! Ugh. The tires didn't look flat. I was somewhat disappointed because I knew I was feeling good. I decided I would briskly walk the rest of the way back and then try to run on the track at the stadium where I was parked. That was about a mile and a half. Moving is better than not moving so I was ok with that. Once I got to the track I thought I could run another mile on the smooth pavement. The dang stroller did the same thing and shook the baby like a polaroid picture. I am anti-shaking babies so I knew I had to just let it go. Just walk another mile. We'll add some air to the tires and see if that helps. I am not giving up on that stroller. With fall around the corner it will be a great workout and the baby really seems to enjoy it. I might even sign up for a race and do it with my running buddy!
Before I left I wanted to get something with a little more intensity in...so I ran some stadiums! Not too many. Just enough to make me shaky.
When I got back to my car there was another girl on the grass doing some planks and some stretching. There was also some perv old man walking his dogs and watching her. Yuck. Reason 32, why I'm glad I'm not all hot and stuff. Keeps the pervs away. He left shortly after I got there. Sorry to ruin your fun, dude.
Oh great God Be small enough To hear me now There were times when I was crying From the dark of Daniel's den I had asked you once or twice If you would part the sea again Tonight I do not need a Fiery pillar in the sky Just want to know you're gonna Hold me if I start to cry
Oh great God Be small enough to hear me now Oh great God Be close enough to feel you now (Oh great god be close to me) There have been moments when I could not face Goliath on my own And how could I forget we marched Around our share of Jerichos But I will not be setting out A fleece for you tonight Just wanna know that everything will be alright Oh great god be close enough to feel me now
All praise and all the honor be To the god of ancient mysteries Whose every sign and wonder Turn the pages of our history But tonight my heart is heavy And I cannot keep from whispering this prayer Are you there?
And I know you could leave writing On the wall that's just for me Or send wisdom while I'm sleeping Like in Solomon's sweet dreams But I don't need the strength of Sampson Or a chariot in the end Just wanna know that you still know how many Hairs are on my head Oh great God (Are you small enough) Be small enough to hear Me now
Today has been a munchy kind of day. Not the healthiest either. Blah. I had big plans to take the boys to the park this evening. I was even going to break out the jogging stroller and everything! My middle boy has said all day that he doesn't feel well. If you know the middle, then you know how very busy he is. He could not keep up with himself today! So I knew the park plans were not gonna happen. As for the munchies, when I got to work this morning, there was a breakfast casserole! I love casseroles and I am a big fan of all things breakfast. I couldn't pass up a square considering someone went through the effort of making it and sharing it with me. I had to use my good manners. Anyway, later on I had some light yogurt. I've been on a yogurt kick lately. I'm trying to figure out what yogurt is best for me in the long run. All the lowfat, flavored yogurt has artificial sweeteners in it. I am trying to cut back because I consume a mucho amount of artificial sweeteners...and high fructose corn syrup too. I've tried the Greek Yogurts. Lots of good protein in those but a very thick texture, almost like fruity sour cream. I love sour cream so I don't mind the texture. Yummmm. Anyway, while still at work, a friend had gotten a Papa John's pizza. It smelled so good...I love me some Papa's. Once again, I was offered a piece and I just can't say no, to anyone, ever, especially when it involves pizza. Jennifer is to pizza as Homer Simpson is to donuts. Mmmm...Pizza. Just one piece though. I have some control. Maybe. I haven't eaten too bad since then, just nothing nutritionally beneficial either. Thank goodness tomorrow is another day. I will be adding some new foods to my diet soon. I plan on eating more oatmeal. Not the instant packages, just the plain, old-fashioned, boring oats. I hope to jazz it up with some new nut butters. The Peter Pan Honey-Roasted Peanut Butter is fanfreakintastic...but probably not the best for me. I also need to desperately add more fruits and veggies to my life, pronto. I feel so much better when I do. I'm just the worst about buying them and then letting them rot. It's almost like I want to collect them in my crisper and keep them there forever. It's like that show about Hoarders but it just involves the fridge. MTV Cribs would not want to look in there. Ask my hubby. He gets a tad angry and throws rotten tomatoes at me! Not really, but I bet he's wanted to. Anyway, I don't know if we have that many readers yet, but if you made it this far...what are some of your favorite healthy foods?
Little inside joke with my sis about the title of this blog. Anyway, I thought I would share a bit about my life and where I came from and where I am now. I KNOW my one follower is interested! ;) I have never really sat down and described my fam before and I'm excited about it. This may turn out to be a few separate blogs. Ha! We didn't grow up with tons of money or anything like that. I remember asking my Meemaw one day if we were rich and she said, "Well I don't know about all that but I do know we are rich in love." Boy was she right. I wouldn't change my childhood for nothing! Such good memories. I'm glad we weren't rich cause I wouldn't be who I am today. I could give a crap about materialistic things...well most of the time. :) Let me just tell you about my parents. They are not the same people they were when they fell in love. Jesus saved them and I'm so grateful. I grew up baptist. Loved our church and made lifetime friendships there. So did my parents and my sister. It's where I met my love. That church did so much for me. I went through my dumb teenage phases there and I matured there. The church we go to now is a bit different but we love it! Growing up baptist you would hardly see a hand raised in church. Back to my parents. One Sunday service Michael and I walked in late while the music was still going. Right when we walked in I saw my dad on the back row...worshiping. Raising his hands to the merciful God that changed his life from what it was 30 or so years ago. I had never seen my dad raise his hands in worship. Some people get caught up worshiping the worship rather than the God who is to be praised. I'll be the first to admit that I am guilty of that. That day I saw my daddy, like the verse says in John 4, worship in spirit and in truth. He has been set free. I'm so proud to call him my daddy. I'm proud of who he is as a husband to my Mama and who is as a daddy to me and my sister and who he is to his son in laws and who he is to his grandkids and future grandkids. But most importantly I'm so proud of who he is and who he has become in Christ. My daddy is a logical man. He could have chosen the life of a non-believer because he is the kind of person who needs things to make sense and he wants proof. He chose faith and faith chose him. Praise God! I look up to my daddy and I hope he knows how MUCH I love him and need him in my life. He is a great example to me. My mom has come a long way as well. She and I are a lot alike. I get my OCDness from her(or from her daddy). I eat lunch with her everyday and I hope she realizes she helps me through my days. We like a lot of the same music. Praise and worship mainly. :) My mom would do ANYTHING for me. I can always count on her. When my hubby and I were sick with a stomach bug not too long ago she was taking care of my sick Papa. She took the time out to leave him for a bit just to bring us chicken noodle soup, popsickles, and gatorade. Love her. She has always encouraged me and steered me in the right direction. I trust my Mama with anything. Then there is my sister my friend.(little inside joke there as well) Let me just say we HATED each other growing up. She mainly hated me cause I was the annoying little sister. We are seven years apart. We didn't become friends until she got married and moved out. Now we are best friends and JUST alike. I'm grateful for the relationship we have now. I always know there will be several belly laughs when we get together. I hope she knows that I love her and STILL look up to her. She has taught me a lot about motherhood and I hope I will be able to enjoy that sooner than later. Then there was Mikey. My one and only. I seriously don't think anyone else could put up with my shenanigans. Our love grew pretty quickly. We said I love you after two weeks. This November we will have been together for SEVEN years! Wow! We just hit our two year wedding anniversary. He is such a blessing and I can't imagine my life without him. He's a good little balance for my high maintenance self. One of the first things he did when we got to know each other was make me laugh. I mean hard. We still laugh and I hope that lasts as long as our marriage does. :) I pray for him daily. I hope he feels those prayers. I'm not a perfect wife but I always try and life him up. That's so important people. I'm excited to see what the future holds. 2011 is going to be a good year for us. :) Well, I think that is about all I'm going to be able to write tonight. I'm going to have to write about other folks in another blog soon. Hope you guys enjoyed. I did. I like to think about all the love that surrounds me. Sorry if I'm a little scattered. It's late. Peace.
Hello blog world! I can honestly say that up until this week I had no desire to have a blog. I'm not a writer or a reader and I thought I would get real bored with this. I still may but I hope I don't. The longing for a blog came just the other day when I walked into my house from work and saw the mess my dogs left me. It wasn't pee or poop but my last wonderfully soft green pillow had been destroyed. They ruined the other one as well. I snapped a picture of it and thought how that would be funny to put on facebook. Mainly for my close friends and family to see because I know not everyone would get a kick out of it like they would. The next day I came home and there were two little critters in my living room or so I thought for a split second. They were my dogs toys that never stay inside and in the same day they decide to bring in the squirrel AND the chipmunk. It made me jump! I snapped a picture of those as well cause I thought those close to me would get a kick out of me thinking I thought the dogs toys were real. After taking the pics I thought how it would be neat to start a blog because clearly I like to document things. This blog won't just be about what my dogs destroy. It will be random and simple so if you aren't in to those then this blog won't be entertaining to you. I'm not the best speller either so if that bothers you then out ya go! After my sis had seen that I had posted on facebook that I wanted to start a blog she came up with the idea of us starting one together. This is her third attempt at a blog so hopefully she will stick with it this time. :) She came up with the name Jenn and Juice. How funny! Jenn is obviously short for her name and Juicy is a nickname I used to have when I was little. My daddy called me that along with Squirrel. Ha! Who knew I could talk about squirrels TWICE in my first blog?! Anywho this had just been a random entry and most of them probably will be like this but we'll see I guess. Until next time!
This is my third attempt at starting a blog. I have been wanting to revamp my old one for a while now. My old one had a measly two posts, so don't think you were missing anything. Anyway, I wanted to gear a new blog more towards my attempts at a healthy lifestyle and all that is included in that. I just couldn't come up with a catchy name. This morning, while I was at the gym, I spent my whole time on the ellipticle thinking about a catchy name. Nothing. I had remembered my sister mentioned on facebook that she wanted to start a blog. Well, growing up, one of her nicknames was Juicy...sounds like Julie, her real name. Then it hit me that we could contribute together and call it Jenn and Juice. Isn't that hilarious??? This blog should cover a wide, random variety of topics. Being 7 years apart, we are in two different places in our lives. I've been married for 10 years and have 3 children. The Juice has been married 2 years and has 2 dog babies. I'll let her tell you more about herself in her posts. We are very different but very much the same and we think we are extremely funny. Maybe you will too...or not...but that's ok. We'll laugh at each other. I do want to do a quick post about my attempt at a healthier lifestyle. I'm not really dieting but trying to incorporate healthier foods into our menus. Let me show you some examples from today. For breakfast: That is an egg on a whole grain english muffin. The green stuff is some guacamole, which is fabulous! I never liked guacamole until I was pregnant with my third child and I have continued my love affair with the stuff. I'm trying to consume a little more of what people consider "good fats". It is a very satisfying breakfast, especially post workout. Speaking of workout: I worked out for the first time in about a month yesterday. Before my hiatus I had been running and was building up to 4 miles. Yesterday, I did a mile and my body was somewhat confused.It had gotten used to not having to exhert itself too much! I also did some intervals on the elliptical machine which is my favorite thing to do. I'm excited about starting back. I'll discuss working out more in another post. One last thing,I do have a picture of dinner last night too: My husband is not a big crockpot fan but he just has to deal. It is just necessary sometimes! So, this is Italian Chicken cooked in the crockpot (2.5 pounds of chicken, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 packet Slowcooker Italian Chicken Seasoning, and a jar of sliced mushrooms). I also added steamed broccoli and some long grain and wild rice. Not too shabby! All in all it was a decently healthy day. I did have some cookies at a little party I went to last night. Like I said though, this is not an attempt at dieting, just to add in more good than bad. A girl needs her cookies sometimes!
I might even sign up for a race and do it with my running buddy!
Before I left I wanted to get something with a little more intensity in...so I ran some stadiums! Not too many. Just enough to make me shaky. 
