6 A.M.

A time I haven't seen in quite a while. On normal days, I set my alarm for 6:30. Even then, I'm pressing snooze until at least 7, most of the time, later. Not this morning....I woke up at 6:00 wide awake with full energy! I laid in bed for a few minutes thinking "I'll just lay here until 7 and see if I fall asleep again." Nope, God wasn't having it. He wanted me up! Normally, if I get up at or before my alarm, I'm falling asleep during my Quiet Time and end up taking a morning nap. Not today! Man, God is good! I had an incredibly sweet time with my Savior this morning and still feel energized. I guess this detox is working! Even last night, I was able to walk 1.3 miles, read, cook some roasted potatoes, eat dinner, and watch some TV. Then, I went to bed around 10:30 when my body was feeling tired. Today, on day 4, I'm realizing the effects of this detox - more energy, bad breath (that goes away soon!), freezing all the time(I read this is an effect because your metabolism is working so fast to get rid of toxins that it can't keep you warm?-maybe?), and fewer headaches. Don't worry, I'm still imperfect and quite selfish. I find myself wondering how much weight I might lose instead of thinking about how I can treat my body even better. This is a learning and growing experience. My prayer is that as I detox and cleanse my body, God would detox and cleanse my heart and mold me into more of His likeness. Would you join me in praying this?

1 Cor. 3:16

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you?"
I started memorizing this verse this semester for staff development. Little did I know that God would use it to convict me majorly! (His Word is LIVING and ACTIVE) I knew of this verse but it had never hit me before like it did this spring. God has shown me that I am not taking care of my temple or honoring it in a way that is glorifying to God.

I'll start by saying I don't think food is bad. I think the opposite of that - it is YUMMY! However, when I'm only consuming things that aren't the best for my body instead of good things, it can become bad. My love for coffee and diet coke led me to not drinking much water. My love for sweets and fried foods and convenience led me to not eating many fruits and veggies. As I noticed this, I felt led by the Spirit to change my habits. As I prayed about it, God revealed to me the Daniel Fast/Diet/Detox. I'm calling it all 3 of those things because that's how I am approaching it.

I started this on Monday and it hasn't been easy. Yesterday, I wanted to give up and call it quits! Today, I'm feeling much better. I know this is going to be a tough rollercoaster with God, but I'm excited about the journey He is going to take me on.

My menu:
Drinks: only water (I've had some mega caffeine headaches!).
Foods: only fruits, veggies, and whole grains. It's kind of a fun challenge to come up with recipes that are filling and nutritious with only fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. For breakfast, I've had fruit smoothies with almond milk (no dairy on this diet). Throughout the day I eat a variety of fruits. Today, I had a spinach leaf salad with oranges with EVOO for dressing (olive oil is allowed). For dinner I've made guacamole and added corn, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro and I eat it with natural corn chips. Some recipes that I look forward to trying are: onion stuffed mushrooms, stuffed peppers, a black bean and rice mexican dish, tomato and spinach soup, roasted potatoes, and others that I've found.

Exercise: walking 1-2 miles a day. Since my diet is changing, I'm not doing any drastic workouts. I just want to be active on a daily basis to increase my metabolism and to create healthy habits.

My purposes behind this fast/diet/detox are:
1-To practice self-control by denying selfish cravings.
2-To get rid of the toxins in my body and to lose some weight to create a healthier temple.
3-To increase my reliance on Christ for complete satisfaction throughout the day. (Matthew 4:4-"It is written:'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'.")
4-To gain a healthier perspective on food and portions and cravings.

Don't get me wrong, when I've completed this, I plan on eating sweets and burgers again. I plan on drinking coffee and diet coke. But, I'll have a new, healthier perspective of all of it and I will have created healthier exercise habits.

Project #3

All my projects are complete!! My apartment is officially decorated and finished. Ahhhhh - it feels great! Tonight, I made a curtain to cover up my movie shelf. I don't sew, so I just ironed on some hemming tape and it's good to go. I'm sure a professional seamstress would absolutely DIE over it, but I'm not a professional seamstress and I'm proud of the work I did with some tape and an iron :)

Before.

After!

The cabinet to the right with the blankets will eventually be covered...the door is broken so Chandler is going to fix it for me! (such a sweet, handy-man brother!)

I already feel like I'm on my way to becoming a more well-rounded woman, even with the little knowledge of crafting I have. Even if my crafts aren't perfect, I still feel accomplished :)

Project #2

I knew this week would be productive! Monday night I went shopping for fabrics for 2 more projects and came home equipped. Last night, I went walking, read quite a bit, and completed project #2 for the week. This bench is my mom's (thanks for letting me furnish my apt with it!) and we've had it for a while. It's gone through a lot of sitting/storing/using so the original fabric was pretty dirty (it was in a boys room before I rescued it!). The original fabric also didn't match my colors so my mom said I could re-cover it. So, here you go! I started and finished last night :)

Before

After! The leopard matches my animal print pics and wall decor.

The finished product!

Project #3 is on the to-do list for tomorrow night. Once I accomplish that, all 3 of my final projects for my apartment will be complete! Then onto...replacing my spark plugs in my car (that sure would make me well-rounded! I'll probably just supervise Chan....). A girl can dream, right?!

Super Girly

I used to be a nail biter. My nails were always short and rarely painted. Until last summer. While I was in India, 2 of my friends had beautiful, long nails and it inspired me to grow mine out and make them beautiful (thanks Hayley and Nicole!!). Since then, I've kept my nails long and I love them. Also starting last summer, I fell in love with nail polish! :) I've always liked painting my nails but couldn't do it in high school because of cheerleading or college because of Nursing School. Well, now I'm not a cheerleader or a practicing nurse, so I have them painted ALL the time! I repaint them in a different color about once a week and I love to try new colors. I'm not a picky brand person. I love the 99 cent small bottles at Sally's, the $2 NYC at Wal-Mart, and the $8 OPI. Today, I'm going to share with you my new favorite colors, my seasonal classics, and my randoms. Enjoy! :)

These are my fall/winter classics:

 From L to R: OPI You Don't Know Jacques!. Sally Hansen Red Zin, OPI Java Mauve-a.

 These are my summer classics. I wear them on my fingers or toes!!

 OPI Pink Flamenco (HOT pink!!) and Pure Ice Siren.

 This is a random winter color. I wouldn't call it one of my classics, but it's fun to wear every now and then. It's a dark, dark purple.

 Pure Ice Scandal.

 These are my random summer colors. I don't love them but every now and then I get the desire to wear them.

 From L to R: Love my Nails Flirty Pink (it's kind of corally and not as hot as OPI), Rimmel Tequila Sunrise (orange), and NYC 108A( it doesn't have a name! It's pale, pale pink).

 These are my new FAVES!!!

From L to R:  Sally Hansen Strobe Light. It's GLITTER! It's a clear polish with sparkly glitter so it can go over any base color. I LOVE it! Next, Sally Girl (it doesn't have a name). It's a neon purple (kind of hard to see in the pic). On the right, Sally Hansen Jade Jump. It's mint green! Very springy!!

 This is a must if you paint your nails often! I used to always mess mine up right after painting them (and if you're like me, it takes a while to paint them, so it's super frustrating to mess them up) but not with this stuff! Paint your nails, wait 1-2 minutes, put this on, they're dry in 30 seconds! And, it makes a great top coat so it helps from chipping and makes your nails shiny!

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

Lastly, I love this little tool I found recently! It has 4 sides. Side 1 evens out your nail bed. Side 2 smooths the nail bed. Side 3 buffs the nail and side 4 shines it. I use this every time I take my polish off, before I put on new polish. It helps make them smooth for the new color. And, if I choose not to repaint them right away, it makes my natural nail shiny!

Sorry this post was so long! I just love nail polish and painting my nails and being girly! Hope it brought out the girliness in you :)

Project #1

Today, I had a high and lofty goal of starting and finishing 4 projects. However, due to Wal-Marts lack of resources, I only finished 1. This week's goal is to finish the remaining 3 after going to Hobby Lobby and a different Wal-Mart.

Project #1: Repainting my dining room table.
In college, Cameron made me a painting for my apartment so I painted the tile on my table to match. That design didn't match this apartment's decor, so it needed to be repainted. That's what I did today!

Before (it's been scratched up over time).

After! A bright, golden yellow.

To see the finished table with my place settings, see the previous post that includes my decorations!!

Finally Here!!

That's right....I finally took pictures of my decorations and they're ready to show! Enjoy!

My bed from my bedroom door.

Desk and Bookshelf on the same wall as the door.

Bench as you enter bedroom. Recovering this will be a future project (hopefully this week!!)

Bathroom.

Love my kitchen!!

Dining Table.

Place settings.

Living Room (taken from kitchen).

Taken from the front door.

TV area. (Future project-making a curtain to cover the movie shelf).

Window/front door.

 Hope you love my apartment as much as I do!!!

New Look

I spent A LOT of time on my new look today...it's finished and I love it!!! I wanted something with softer colors and more "me" in it. Now, if I can only figure out an easy way to use a custom font in the posts and to add sidebar tags, i'll be set!!....any ideas from fellow bloggers?!

Thought I'd Be Better....

When I started this venture, I thought I would be better at blogging. With my last post being February 17th, I have proven that I am not very consistent. So, when I do update, I'll try to make it interesting! :) Recently, I've been decently disciplined. I've definitely become more balanced. Instead of focusing everything on cooking, I've cooked a little less, worked out more, hung out more, read more, and gone to the store less.

I'm trying to work out consistently. My apt complex has an INCREDIBLE gym - tons of treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, weight machines - everything you would need to get in shape. Still, my heart's desire is to run outside during spring, so I'm hoping to get my joints strengthened to allow for this. (I have terrible joints due to genetics and cheerleading so jogging hurts. However, if I lose a bit of weight by other means first, it is more tolerable). I enjoy the elliptical and the weight machines. I also downloaded some 5-minute workouts on my phone - abs, butt, arms. The ab workout KILLS, but I can tell it's working - not by sight yet. First, I gotta get some of the extra skin off the top of my abs first :). I'm enjoying working out. I want to lose quite a few pounds and tone my muscles so I'm trying to get better/more consistent at working out, eating healthier (I'm eating lots of fruits and I'm down to 1 diet coke/day on most days), and I'm cutting out sweets. THIS IS HARD!!! I love me some cheesecake, froyo, brownies, cupcakes, and all!

Another discipline I'm focusing on is reading. In 2011, I've already completed Harry Potter 3, started and completed Harry Potter 4, and I'm a quarter of the way into Harry Potter 5. I've also completed a novelette (is there such thing?!) by Kay Arthur. And, last night I finished "A Busy Woman's Guide to Prayer." This book CHANGED MY LIFE!! This book does an incredible job of describing the power of prayer, the purpose of prayer, and of laying out practical ways to get better at praying and to pray even when busy. I have a brand new perspective on prayer and each day I find myself longing to talk to God throughout the day and bringing a lot more to Him than I used to. I highly recommend this book for every woman to read!
Tonight, I'm moving onto a new book. I am going to start "So Long Insecurity" by Beth Moore. I have heard wonderful reviews of this book and I'm excited to read it. I dont' necessarily struggle with daily insecurities but I know there are things I do that stem from insecurity and I'm just not aware of it. I'm excited to read and be freed.

I'd love to hear back from you what workouts you enjoy/how you stay in shape! I will probably adopt your ways to add variety to my routine. I also love book recommendations - feel free to leave some ideas in a comment! I would also love to pray for you - if you have any requests, email me at morgan.tedder@ymail.com and I'll add you to my prayer list.

Love you all :)