Spring Piano Recital

Emily played in a Spring Recital on Monday night. She didn't want me to video it, she thought it might make her nervous. She did play her song beautifully. I just love how much she is loving music. These days, she'll sit down and play almost everytime she walks by the piano.



I do have the song recorded (did it at home) and I will

upload it here soon. To hear one that she has been

working on independently, go back to my previous post.

It is one that she has been doing in recent days just for fun.

She paid for the music herself and has been teaching it to herself.

I am thrilled to see her loving to "read" music and watch

her progress as her sight-reading becomes so much better.



New Song Emily Has Learned on the Piano

Emily has been working on a new song. She is doing great, I think.
So pretty.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G0S-LwMfhI

Fitness Challenge Flop?

Okay...so I have to admit...I've not done all that great with the fitness challenge this month.
My goals were as follows with my results in red

Daily Goals:
1) Eat less than 1200 calories per day
Did great the first week, not bad the second week, the rest...not even close.2) Exercise 5 days each week
Did very well most of the time...we usually always walk every morning unless it's raining.3) Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily (which I normally do anyway)
This one I did GREAT at...since that is mostly all I drink anyway.
4) No sugar and very limited bread
This one I did very well the first week, but failed miserably the rest of the month! :(5) Load up on veggies (these are practically free eating)
I did try to eat lots of veggies...and I did...but I also ate other things that I shouldn't have.
6) Eat fruit, yes, BUT not go nuts...these have sugar too (and before anyone jumps on me here, I know that fruit is natural sugar, but we are talking calories, not organic, and believe me, I have fought this weight thing my whole life, I KNOW about these things) lol
I ate some fruit, didn't go overboard but since I was eating sugar and bread, it didn't matter anyway :(7) No diet soft drinks (or limited to eating out--as a treat) ( because even with artificial sweeteners, your body still thinks it's getting sugar and will respond accordingly...it's better to leave it off)
I haven't drunk an overly amount of soft drinks, but I did drink some...as we ate out several times

Okay, so here are my excuses. The second week, we had achievement tests on Monday and Tuesday soI didn't get my grocery shopping done on Monday. (my usual day) Since I was unable to get my shopping done...I didn't have enough of the lower calorie foods in the house
I know, that is a pathetic excuse...but it's all I've got! lol
The next week, my baby girl turned 13! and she wanted to go to Pigeon Forge for a couple days. Since we were vacationing, it was very hard to be good...and guess what???? I wasn't! :(
But hey, we are not BIG vacationers...we don't go away often...so I decided to just enjoy it.
This is a pretty good excuse...wouldn't you say?
And the last couple weeks...well let's just say it's been hard to get back in the groove. We've had different things going on at church...we've got our ladies meeting coming up this weekend...and I've
just had so much going on that it's been hard to think about it all. So, hopefully, after this weekend, things will be somewhat back to normal. (atleast as normal as things are for us) lol
But hey, no one said it had to be done in a month. I do hope to change our thinking toward eating healthier...and not just for myself but for our whole family. So, we'll just take our little baby steps and keep trying.

Fitness Challenge

I can't say that I  have had the best week. All was fine until Monday.
We had achievement tests Monday and Tuesday. Those days I didn't
get my exercise. Eating was ok...

I did get to drink my water, no problem there. We ate out a couple of times.
The first time was pizza...didn't go much over 1200 (planned for it earlier
in the day)  Ate out again the next day... we've been doing a lot of running
around type errands....ate Chinese (this one is bad....there is just no
way--FOR ME-- to eat Chinese without blowing it...BIG TIME) I love
General Tso and Sweet and Sour Chicken but it's not the meat that gets me--it's
the Lo Mein noodles---which I LOVE---and the rice. These are just good
to pass up...but not best to eat if you're watching the carbs. (No, I am not
doing Atkins...I am just trying to limit the breads, carbs, and sugars--because
I lose better that way) So, I chalked it up to a "treat day". Trying to do better.
Haven't gained...but haven't lost. Oh well, if you want to make "life changes"
one has to be ready forwhat ever comes, deal with it, and then get back in
the groove.

And on a slightly different topic, I am excited. Next week, I hope to get
to meet a young missionary wife whose blog I have followed since I began
blogging. They are going to be stopping in at our church while on
deputation. I love this whole blogging thing! It's so fun.

What a Savior

Once I was straying in sin's dark valley
No hope within could I see
God sent from heaven a loving Savior
To save a poor lost soul like me

Chorus
O what a Savior, O hallelujah
His heart was broken on Calvary
His hands were nail scarred, His side was riven
He gave His lifeblood for even me

He left the Father with all His riches
With calmness sweet and serene
Came down from heaven and gave His lifeblood
To make the vilest sinner clean

Death's chilly waters I'll soon be crossing
His hand will lead me safe o'er
I'll join the chorus in that great city
And sing up there forevermore





Today commemorates the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.
The resurrection is what sets the the distinction between Christianity and all
other religions...we serve a RISEN Savior!

I've always loved this old song. It's not an old hymn, but the words are
beautiful to me. I can remember singing this old song in our little country
church as a child, with my Daddy leading the singing and playing his guitar.
This year, my Daddy made his crossing, BUT because my Savior resurrected,
so will my Daddy. I imagine he's singing in that chorus right now...

Have a wonderful Lord's day day! Celebrate LIFE! Life in Christ!

Venison Dinner

Dinner last night.

400 calories.

Venison strips, homemade potato wedges, and salad.

Tasty, pretty filling, and not too bad for my calorie count.

April Fitness Challenge

Last week, I started a new diet. ( I know, I know, it's the story of my life!) Anyway, a young
friend of mine and I decided we would start it together, weigh in on Tuesdays, and try to
encourage each other that way. (Since neither of us really have the extra money to join up
with any groups at present) Anyway, I began last week.

Susan, at http://bygrace3.blogspot.com/2012/03/are-you-up-to-challenge.html  issued a
Fitness Challenge for the month of April. It sounded like fun, so I thought I'd share it.

My Daily Goals:
1) Eat less than 1200 calories per day
2) Exercise 5 days each week
3) Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily (which I normally do anyway)
4) No sugar and very limited bread
5) Load up on veggies (these are practically free eating)
6) Eat fruit, yes, BUT not go nuts...these have sugar too (and before anyone jumps on me here, I know that fruit is natural sugar, but we are talking calories, not organic, and believe me, I have fought this weight thing my whole life, I KNOW about these things) lol
7) No diet soft drinks (or limited to eating out--as a treat) ( because even with artificial sweeteners, your body still thinks it's getting sugar and will respond accordingly...it's better to leave it off)

My ulimate goal is to reach the middle BMI range for my height....which means
I need to lose about 20 to 30 pounds. So, here we again.

By the way, I lost 5 pounds last week!