He is Risen.

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'Til on that cross, as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied.

For every sin on Him was laid,

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground, His body lay

Light of the world, by death was slain.

Then bursting forth that glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands, in victory,

Sin's curse has lost it's grip on me.

For I am His, and He is mine,

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter, celebrating with loved ones. 

I am thankful that I have been made righteous through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

He has conquered death.

He is risen indeed.

I spent the day with one of my best friends, and her awesome family.  We ate a delicious breakfast, went to church, and then my nieces enjoyed hunting for Easter eggs.  It was lovely.

Finding My Stride.

Okay, lovely readers, I have a short post for you about weight loss.  The dreaded term.  The battle of most women.  The ups, the downs, the cravings, the willpower, the fight. 

You can check out some of my past posts here.

Recently, I took up running.  Understand, I am not a runner…yet.  I think I can only average slightly over a quarter of a mile, nonstop, at a steady pace.  It’s not much, I know. 

And yet…

At my current weight,  I never thought running was something I could do.  I was concerned about excess weight on my knees, injuries, heart rate, etc., etc., etc.

I wanted to run, though.  Sometimes, I have an overwhelming urge to run.  To feel the freedom of childhood.  The sound of feet pounding the pavement.  The feel of the wind blowing against me.

So, with the encouragement and sound advice from some great friends who are HARD CORE runners, I began doing walk/jog intervals.  I’ve increased my distance, my stamina, and my terrain range.  I’m kind of proud of myself.

To those who live here in beautiful San Diego, specifically North County, you might be familiar with Lake Hodges, and the bridge that crosses it.  A hard core runner may look at the bridge and say, “easy!”  I can say that in regards to walking it.  But, running?  Forget it.

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This last week, I mastered the bridge run.  Additionally, I ran from my parked car which was up the hill.  My legs were killing me, and my lungs felt like they’d burst at times, but I found my stride, concentrated on breathing through it, and did what I set out to do. 

I ran the bridge. 

I see it and feel accomplishment.  I see it and know it’s the first of many steps of becoming a runner. 

Running has proven to add extra weight loss to my typical Weight Watchers regime.  But it also provides stress relief, mental clarity, physical benefits, and, most importantly, for me, it’s something I enjoy.

In regards to physical activity, I’d like to encourage you, as I was encouraged, to push yourself.   Step outside of your comfort zone, be safe, and

be brave

(believe me, it takes bravery for me to run along a busy road where I can be seen by so many people.  I am still very self conscious about how I look while I run). 

The first step is the hardest. 

Get past that, and it’s cake…

…Mmmm…cake….

{wink}

xoxo

Unearthed Treasure {A Personal Post}

Today, I found this:

I almost forgot about its existence, for it has been packed safely away for so long.

Oh, this little journal. 

I think journaling is a great way to record experiences, emotions, thoughts, hopes, and the like. 

I’m just not very good at it.  I’ll get excited about the notion of journaling, then will lose interest.  In fact, most, if not all, of my journals have been thrown away over the years.

Except this one.  This one is meaningful. 

It starts on July 21, 2006.  It ends on November 24, 2008.  Its small pages are filled with sporadic entries that covers 2 years of my life.

Those years, specifically the first one, were pivotal for me in my walk with the Lord.  My heart had been deeply broken, and I began to fully pour out all that I had to Him.  The funny thing is, in reading some of the entries, I never really expressed in writing my prayers, or blessings, or any of the process of growing in the walk.  Rather, it is very situation specific.  It simply documents events, and my thoughts about them. 

This book speaks clearly of a time in my life that happened.  I can almost read it objectively now, (though not completely without a stab of pain) as enough time and healing has passed.  And I am better for the experience.

I look at it, and though it holds no words of my strengthening walk, I can see it written all over the place. 

God brought me comfort, and drew me close to Him.  He soothed my doubt, healed my heart, turned tears into laughter, and matured me in a way I was never expecting.  I remember my prayers at that time, and I can say in confidence that He answered them.  His answer was to my question was no, but He helped me understand that it was for my own good.  I asked for His will to be done, and it has.

Today, I unearthed a small treasure. 

A simple reminder of God’s unfailing love and grace. 

A reminder of growth and healing. 

Life is funny.  I needed this reminder now, more than ever. 

“Memory…is the diary we all carry about with us.”  Oscar Wilde

The Aqua Wall.

What a weekend! 

(And Monday...and Tuesday...oh, look it's nearly midnight...so Wednesday as well).

The move went very well, and I have most of my unpacking completed. 

The apartment layout was completely different than what I had envisioned, but I love it.  I do have my pink living room wall, and the color really makes me happy.

I opted against painting in the kitchen, but there was a wall that just needed to be painted pale aqua.

Behold:

The stats:

Red rolling cart:  thrifted/refurbished

Clock, mirror, and cupcake liner jar:  graciously gifted

Fabric:  JoAnn's Fabric

Vintage floral pitcher and egg cups:  gifted

Vintage fawn:  antique shop

Frame and ribbon:  Michaels

Dorothy picture:  a card I received in the mail

I'm a little bit in love with it.  Of course I took the picture before making a trip to the farmers market, where I bought a lovely bouquet of flowers, so just imagine that the floral pitcher is bursting with spring flowers.  Oh, and the pictures were taken in natural lighting, so the color is slightly different.  I think it's much bluer in person.

I loved the Dorothy card so much, I framed it, and hot glued ribbon to the back of the frame and hung it up.  I'll be adding a few other small pictures as well.

There you have it!  The small aqua wall space, jazzed up with fun finds and gifts.