Well Done

There's a song that's played on K-Love called 'Well Done.' I heard it one morning on my way home from the gym and it just hit me. Like a ton of bricks, a flashing light, and all other metaphors you can think of. There's a line in the song that says:

I'm gonna run this race

To hear You say well done

I know that I fail on a daily basis. Sometimes I even think I set myself up for failure by expecting too much of myself and others. My personality is a bit extreme where perfection is concerned. I KNOW I drive my husband and kids crazy at least daily if not more, with this trait. I'll blame my parents... Just kidding mom and dad {kind of}.

As I sat one morning watching my 10 yr old spread peanut butter on a piece of bread, it took everything I had to not get up and do it for her because she doesn't do it my way. REALLY MOLLY?! Get a grip is what I'm thinking to myself. Why do I have such a hard time letting go of the reigns and letting people do it their own way? I need to be saying 'well done' instead of 'that's not good enough.' I'm going to make it my own personal goal to start giving more praise and less criticism.

I've been having the worst internal struggle lately. I have things I've stuffed deep down that I haven't even expressed to my husband, which never happens. I've got to stop beating myself up so bad over the littlest things, and sometimes just pat myself on the back and say 'well done.' We're all hard wired to need praise and affirmation, I need to do a better job at remembering this as a Christian, wife, mother, daughter and friend. Sometimes being everything to everyone is a little exhausting, and I need to just flat out admit that I can't do it all, and that's OK!

I want my girls to know I laugh all the time, and not know a mom that's so serious and uptight. I pray that I can start letting things go and lighten up a little. To learn to go with the flow a little more instead of always holding on to the reigns so.darn.tight.

Our Weekend in a Nutshell

Sometimes I feel like we have weekends where we totally overextend ourselves. Labor Day weekend was definitely one of those. We were go, go, go from Friday evening to Monday evening. We enjoyed lots of outdoor time, Gerrad's friend from work had a big clay pigeon shoot at his house in Nebraska, so we made the trek across the border for that. Sunday we spent at the lake with some of our friends. Monday we cleaned pretty much all day, and ran some much needed errands. It's so nice when G is off on a weekend so we can all be together.

My dad thought it would be a good idea to let Macie shoot a small handgun this weekend. I nearly had a panic attack and could barely watch. She did great and loved it, but this mom was not too thrilled.

Playing outside and watching dad and Grandpa shoot guns all day is super exhausting!

Kristen and I at the lake. SO glad for another gorgeous day to finish out lake season.

Love these two!

I found some Honey-Do projects to keep Gerrad plenty busy while he's off this week. Here is one of the things I found on Pinterest that I'm patiently waiting for him to make me for the kitchen.

And another thing I'm waiting for- I want to frame the tv in our bedroom that's on the wall. Hopefully it turns out as cute as this one!

This coming weekend is going to be another busy one. Chiefs football starts, and we're leaving at 5:30am to start on our tailgating adventure- cannot wait! I'll make sure and take lots of pics.

My Weight Loss Journey

For quite some time, Gerrad and I have been discussing trying to lose some weight, and try to improve our overall health for ourselves and the girls. We wanted to set a positive example for our daughters, and also feel better about ourselves in the meantime. Sometime in June some friends of ours at church started the Advocare 24 Day Challenge. They had such great response, of course it sparked our interest. Gerrad took Advocare during college when he played football, so he was plenty knowledgeable about the product when it came to muscle gains, but he wasn't aware of all the trim/active lines that Advocare offered. We started researching it, and decided to give it a go. On July 1st we started our journey to a new 'us' and haven't looked back since.

Over the winter I had put on some weight, like most of us tend to do over the holiday's and when it gets cold outside. You wear baggier clothes, and just really don't notice a few pounds here and there. I hadn't stepped on the scale in quite some time, and decided in February enough was enough, so I hopped on the scale and saw a number I've NEVER seen before (except when I was pregnant): 165 lbs. I'm going to be completely transparent here for everyone. I know I'm not the only female alive who has struggled with weight. I've always maintained my weight/size going between an 8 or a 10 for the past 10 years or so. Over the winter I had gotten to a 12 and decided that was enough. In March I started cutting my portions, and occasionally walked around the neighborhood, but nothing too serious. I got off about 15 lbs or so doing that. When we started Advocare July 1st I was weighing in around 149-150 lbs. My weight as of today is 137.8 lbs. I lost almost 30 lbs over the past few months, and couldn't be more proud of myself!

Overall I just FEEL so much better, and it doesn't hurt that I feel like I look so much better as well. I'm currently wearing around a size 6, some 8's depending on the store. I've NEVER in my life seen a 6, even in high school I wore about an 8 and was fairly average size. My goal is to not lose anymore weight, because I feel like I look healthy right where I'm at, but just to continue to tone up- which is hard, I'm not gonna lie! Toning this mommy tummy has been nothing short of a constant daily struggle.

This is me around Christmas, I really notice a difference in my face when I look at old photos...

This is Easter...

This is from just a few weeks ago...

Here are my before and after photos from day 1 of the challenge to day 24...

I've been taking a product called Catalyst that helps build lean muscle, and I've been working my arms like a mad woman, trying to get rid of the jiggle. Gerrad's friend and I were goofing off a few weekends ago comparing muscles, and let me just tell you how excited I was that mine were more defined than his...

For those that want to know what I've been doing besides the challenge, I've been trying to get into running, but it's definitely a slow start. I go to the gym with one of my girlfriends 3 mornings a week, and try to do some things at home also. I know how important cross training is when you're running, so we do a ton of ab, arm and leg workouts. There are SO many great resources on Pinterest... here is the link to my fitness board that has a few of the workouts I've been doing. We've also converted to a clean eating lifestyle. No fried foods, no dairy, no sugar, we're trying to avoid white flour if possible, and I haven't had a coffee OR soda since July 1st. That's a miracle for anyone who knows my former love of Diet Dr Pepper. It's embarrassing how much soda I used to drink, GROSS!

I'm definitely not trying to shamelessly self promote here, but I know quite a few of you are trying to work off a few extra pounds, and I'd love to hear from you, and help motivate you if needed also! There are so many of you that inspire me all the time to stay on this fitness goal!