Preparing for Lent

Happy President's Day! I'm enjoying this beautiful, sunny day off from work. It's been a great day so far. My husband and I both have the day off from work so we took our little man to the park and met up with my friend and her little girl. A person couldn't have asked for better weather. The Baby Monster had a blast!

Baby Monster having a blast.

My week has been thrown off a bit because I had the day off and it wasn't until a mama friend reminded me that I realized Lent begins this Wednesday! I really enjoy Lent. In my adult years I have begun to appreciate it as a time to refresh and renew my faith. I feel like it always comes when I need it most- right when I have hit a wall and feel like I cannot do it anymore.

With cancer diagnoses in the family, mom's very long visit in the hospital, and some other things I just feel like I can't do it anymore. Well, life gets in the way because that's what life does. It's on going, never stops and I can't wait for it give me a break to catch up. Sometimes I wonder if I feel like this because I haven't been as strong in my faith as I have been in the past. My husband even mentioned that he still misses the woman he married- the one who was positive and never gave up.

Usually I give up things like bad food, sweets, coffee, ect. I wanted to do something different this year. The topic of Lent came up in my favorite mom group ever and one of those moms posted this link: https://www.osv.com/Portals/4/documents/pdf/OSV130207_InFocus.pdf. I looked it over and feel more prepared than ever for Lent and I am looking forward it.

So here is my "1-1-1" plan:

One Sin- I am going to concentrate on Envy. I have been unhappy lately and it's because of envy. I hear myself say, "I'm so jealous!" a lot; even when I'm joking. A lot of the times I don't know if I'm really joking anymore. It has crossed my mind more than once that perhaps I am too jealous or envious. I know it's not right.

One Add-In- For me this is reading a Gospel and going to church more often. Currently going to church is difficult because of our schedule and going to church with the Baby Monster is mighty difficult when having to do it alone. I'm going to set aside time to read and make more an effort to attend church. I feel better when I go.

One Give Up- I knew exactly what I wanted to give up after reading this pamphlet more. I am giving up complaining/excuses. This goes back to not being happy. I can fix many of the things I complain about by just stopping the complaints and the excuses. I think this will be hardest for me because it's become such a habit. Honestly, I can't remember when it became such a habit, but I'd like it gone.

I'm praying for strength and the ability to follow through. This is my promise and I want to successfully adhere to my plan. I believe that this will make me a better person. I hope it benefits others as well. My goal is to a be a ray of sunshine, to help others, to make others happy and to be a better Christian. I want to do good in the world.

If You're Angry and You Know It Raise Your Hand!

CANCER! I hate it. It's a despicable disease and I'm trying to understand why it even exists. Honestly, there are enough horrible ways to pass away that cancer doesn't need to be one of them. If I have to learn about one more diagnosis I think I will scream. Why does something that can look okay one day and then drastically different the next, to the point where it severely cuts a person's life expectancy rate- have a hold in our world? The disease boils my blood.

The fear of cancer is beginning to crush me. At every turn there is a new threat looming. Don't eat those cupcakes with that low calorie sugar because you'll get cancer. Deodorant may cause cancer. You have to let that sweat out! Some of these warnings aren't even a proven with science, but it doesn't matter because in the back of your mind it picks at you with the, "What if?" I'm pretty sure that the next thing we will be warned about is breathing! Taking in too much oxygen just may cause cancer, folks.

Why am I mad? Since December I have learned that 4 people I know, three of those people being related to me, have been diagnosed with cancer. I can't help but wonder if I'll be next; especially with my family history. Preventing the nasty disease from making itself at home in my body seems near impossible. I'm scared. And being scared makes me mad because it is starting to rule me. That is not how I want to live.

Right now I am trying to eat better and exercise. My next step will be going in for screenings. I try to help out with raising money for research and other services through the American Cancer Society by participating in Relay for Life. With all of that, it doesn't seem like enough.

Be vigilant, fight back and if you get angry about it like I am right now; take that anger and use it to help power your will to put cancer in its place. There has to be a cure one day. I have to believe that.

Do you feel that, cancer? That's me being OVER IT!  You're going down!

It's A New Year So Let's Try It Again

I'm late to the party, but here it is: Happy new year to you all! I didn't realize how much I was looking forward to 2014 getting out of the way for 2015. 2014 had some amazing highlights. One of them being it marked a full year that my hubs and I were parents. Another one is I finally became an kindergarten teacher. I also lost 43 pounds. Oh, and I found out at the very end of the year that I'm going to be an aunt!  However, there were some downs and I'm ready to leave them in the past.

My blogging has not be consistent and I am sorry to say the reason for that is that I have done NOTHING. I don't  even know what to share because my little family got into such a routine that we got into a rut. This was my life for the past couple of months and it near drove me crazy! Ready for the snooze fest?

Wake up and get ready for work.
Go to work.
Come home, play with Baby Monster, get dinner ready, eat dinner and play with Baby Monster some more.
Get Baby Monster ready for bed.
Baby Monster goes to sleep.
Catch up on work that I wasn't able to finish at work.
Go to bed.
Do it all over again.

Are you catching z's yet? There is nothing wrong with this schedule or my life. I really do have it good. I have a great job, a great husband and a great kid; but I was beginning to realize that my family was sitting on the sidelines as life was passing us by. Maybe I desire too much, but I want my day to vary with some fun and exciting things. That's why I know 2015 is going to be our year, and it's going to be filled with many more exciting and wonderful moments than last year.

We ended 2014 with a bang by visiting Disney for Christmas, spending time with my family and having friends over for New Year's. I want to keep that momentum going. This is going to be the year of DOING. My husband and I both wrote down our New Year's goals and shared them with one another. We both want to achieve similar things and I think we are finally ready to really tackle them.

I haven't been this excited since waiting for my son to be born. I can feel the positive energy for this year pushing me and God letting me know I'm strong enough to make the changes I want to see. Yup, I'm going to rock 2015!