Tuesday, April 28, 2009

I did it!

I finished the OKC Memorial Half Marathon!!

Follow this link to read all about it and see my official time!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ks/okcity09/jwhitepksi

Friday, April 24, 2009

Marathon Weekend!

Well, this is it. 2 days away from my first ever 1/2 Marathon. I'll be running the Oklahoma City Memorial 1/2 Marathon to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with the Team in Training.

It has been a great experience and I'm so excited for race day. Time to see if all my hard work has paid off!! I'll post pictures and my results here after we get back from OKC.

If you would still like to donate- click the Team in Training button on the right!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

What's the story, Morning Glory?






Photographic evidence that I am not completely devoid of a green thumb! I planted some Morning Glory seeds in planters on my front porch to grow up the supports and vine around them. They are starting to come up along with the strawberry plants (50 of em!) that I planted a week or so ago.
Now if it will just dry out enough to get the rest of my garden tilled up and planted. Stupid Kansas spring!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Alert

Dictionary.com defines "Alert" as:
a⋅lert 
1. fully aware and attentive; wide-awake; keen: an alert mind.
2. swift; agile; nimble.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (New International Version)
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

I know that I am not always as "wide awake" as I could be. I tend to be flaky, disorganized and stumbling through my day. The funny thing is, in my work life, I'm responsible for organizing a successful financial management practice. I have calendars and checklists and goal tracking sheets. But ask me when the last day of school is, or when Punky's next doctor appointment is and I'll have to dig through a pile of papers, check my email and wrack my brain for 6 days before I can give you an answer.

When it comes to my faith, I feel like every day I am waking up a little more. I learn more each day and I am striving to become a woman of courage, to be strong in my beliefs and the way I choose to live each day.

My challenge to myself is to become more alert in my personal life. Better organized, more "in the moment" with my girls and less distracted.

If you haven't seen the FlyLady's website- check her out. www.flylady.net She has great organizational tools for getting your house in shape as well as other areas of your life. I used to be an avid follower and when I was, my house looked much better and I felt better. So, back on the wagon I go!

Welcome!

I've moved here from www.theunlikelyhousewife.blogspot.com due to the fact that someone else had a very similarly named blog. In fact, check her out here: http://theunlikelyhousewife.com/

I'll get everything up and running soon!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Happy Birthday Punky!

How do they go from this...to THIS...in a year??



Thursday, April 16, 2009

Continuing Education

I just finished an 8 month long bible study at church and have been debating whether to get into another class or take a break for a while. In the back of our book is a list of character traits to work on on your own schedule and I think I'm going to concentrate on those for a while and not jump right into the time commitment of another class with school getting out soon.

So, today's trait is Accountable. The dictionary defines accountable as:
ac⋅count⋅a⋅ble   /əˈkaʊntəbəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-koun-tuh-buhl] Show IPA
–adjective 1. subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable.
2. capable of being explained; explicable; explainable.

Matthew says:
Matthew 12:36 (New International Version)
But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

Another verse:
Romans 14:12 (New International Version)
So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Accountability is something I think we all struggle with. We know what we need to do but are we holding ourselves accountable to actually do it? I can put the laundry off a little longer and watch TV. I can put off doing the errands my husband asked me to do so that I can have lunch with a friend. When we're not accountable to the responsibilities we have and the promises we make, we disappoint the people around us. And more importantly we dissapoint God who knows the great things we are capable of accomplishing. At the end of the day, if you had to report directly to God about how you spent your time, what you chose to do, and the things you said- would it make a difference in the way you went through your day?

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Garden Extravaganza 2009- The Beginning!

Here's the "Before" shots of the backyard. "After" shots to come gradually as I make progress!

Our yard has been very neglected for a long time and allowed to get way too overgrown. It was bad when we bought it and between deployments, floods, marriage, pregnancy, and baby...well, you can see it hasn't been a high priority. No more!

The simple things...








Why do we buy hundreds (thousands?) of dollars' worth of toys?


Thursday, April 9, 2009

Garden Extravaganza 2009!

Coming tomorrow!!

We are getting the tiller from my mom and dad. Flowers, veggies & fruits will be planted. Brush will be burned. Photos will be posted...stay tuned!