The Living Spree....part 1..."simplicity...happiness"

Upon turning 29, I oozed with excitement! I felt this feeling in the atmosphere that life was only about to get better from this moment on.  This feeling wasn't necessarily stemming from the notion that turning 29 would mean my life would be better merely because I was turning 29. It was more like I was finally starting to step into a new realm of appreciating the life I have been given. Now don't get me wrong, I still have my fair share of problems, issues, short comings, etc. etc., but I owe this all to my perspective of life.

In Philippians 4:12, Paul says "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation..." He then goes on to say in verse 13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me".  Philippians 4:13 is a lot of people's favorite Biblical verse.  We reference it when facing any difficult situation and quote it religiously. Some get it tattooed on their bodies or use it as an e-mail signature, etc.  But one thing I've noticed is that when these two verses are truly coupled, applied, and understood, it's powerful!  To be honest with you, up until maybe last year, I had no idea what verse 12 even said! After reading the whole passage, I felt renewed, refreshed, and powerful to boldly state verse 13 knowing that with anything I face in life good or bad, happy or sad, I have strength to endure with Christ by my side!

One of the things that I envisioned for myself for the rest of my life is to be on a "living spree".  I would take time and stop and smell the flowers. I would appreciate the small things that could grant me so much joy if I would just allow it.

Today  I was talking to my best friend and she was expressing feeling like she's in a funk right now.  I was trying to help my bestie shake her "blah" feelings and I suggested to her to do something that makes her happy that's independent of anything and anyone.  Sometimes we have to dig deep and find something that can be so simple, yet makes us so happy.  I figured I'd follow my own advice and today, I chose something super simple to make me happy.

When I got home from work, I decided that I would curl up in my bed, listen to a new station on Spotify radio that I had never listened to before, read my O magazine (which by the way Jurnee Smollett-Bell looks absolutely beautiful!!), and enjoy a glass of red vino in my favorite Hokie inspired wine glass! As you can see, this is so simple, but everything I chose to do made me happy! Even down to choosing that wine glass to sip from! I don't drink wine as much as I use to, so enjoying some today was definitely a treat! And as you may recall from a previous post, I love love love music! This moment is part of the living spree because I'm truly enjoying it! I'm appreciating the life God has blessed me with and not complaining! I'm finding SOMETHING to bring me happiness regardless of any outstanding circumstance. 

What do you find to be simple, yet makes you happy? 

"...let's go on a living spree..."

Workout and Worship Wednesday 3.20.13

Hello everyone!! Happy first day of SPRING!!! I'm so excited about a new season!! I'm even more excited about the weather warming up!! I'm sure we're all looking forward to warmer weather! :)

This morning, I had almost forgotten that it's Wednesday and that I needed to do a post! I was trying to figure out what song I would use, what verse I would use, and what kind of workout. I was drawing a blank especially because I wanted to post something that would be motivating.  This process of working out, eating right, and getting in shape or getting that dream body you've always wanted is such hard work! It takes a lot and it's not easy! Dedication and consistence is so key to achieving these goals we set for ourselves. I also know and recognize that with all the hard work we are putting in, this process can be highly DISCOURAGING!!! There are moments when we just want to give up! We're not seeing results, the food is bland, can't shake those cravings for all the foods that we know aren't helping us, the inconvenience we face, and just those feelings of defeat that come around so often!

I was in the shower and I said: "Lord, give me something to share that will be encouraging today"! I feel like God answered me in such a profound way that I hope all of you will receive and be blessed with!

Today's verse: Proverbs 17:22 says:

"a happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones". 

Really let that marinate in your spirit today! We think being healthy is all about working out and eating right, but we neglect to remember our mental health!! Throughout this process, our mental health can determine our success!! How many times have you quit because the devil told you "this isn't working", "just give up", "you'll never reach your goals"?? You have to get your mind right and truly rebuke the devil and those thoughts!!! Have fun with this!! Laugh! See if you can find a workout partner who can make it fun to work out. Find someone to hold you accountable with your meals! Get creative with the food and try new foods that might surprise you with how delicious they are! The key is to keep your mind in good spirits! Discouragement and feelings of defeat will totally tear you down and claim victory over you and we're not here for that!! 

Today's song is Encourage Yourself by Donald Lawrence and the Tri City Singers! This song came on shortly after I asked God to give me something that would really be beneficial to you all! I LOVE this song!!! It's sooooo true!!!! If you've never heard it before, just listen to it and let it minister to you!!! If you've had a rough day, week, month with all of this, there is always tomorrow to get back in there and try again!! Encourage yourself! Speak victory during the test!!! 

Today's workout is a 45 minute full body workout! It incorporates strength training along with cardio! You want to make sure you're doing both!! If you're merely doing cardio, that's cool, but if you want stellar results, you're going to have to pick up some weights or at least do body weight training! Here is the workout! Try this at least 3 times throughout this week and see how you like it! If it seems too easy, remember add more weight!!

Have a wonderful, Wednesday!! Thank you for reading! Be blessed! :)

Retail Therapy!!!

I've been doing my best not to do any shopping since I've started this weight loss journey, but it's sooooooooooo hard!!! Especially when the end of season sales are practically giving the clothes away for little to nothing!!

After telling myself that I would no longer do any shopping until I had reached my desired weight loss goals, I messed up and started following this blog of a girl who my Bih suggested I follow! Well thanks for the recommendation Bih, because this girl has awesome taste and the ones she features in her blog are super affordable!! Y'all know I love a good bargain (never pay full price)!! Any who, she mentioned a new line of clothing that was coming out at JC Penny and I was hooked!!! You can check her blog out here.

So one day after work, I had some time to spare and I just so happened to float on over to the mall and JC Penny had several racks of clothing on sale!! I'm talking $4 racks!! Yessssssss!! That's better than Good Will prices!! I'm talking I got 2 shirts, a skirt, 2 pair of running shorts, 2 pair of jammies (pj, pajamas...yeah that), and a jacket for....y'all ready for this.....$33.00!!!!!! Annnndddd what was even more exciting is that everything I bought was a size medium or a 10!!!! Woooohooooo!!!! I'm currently wearing a pair of pants that are a size 14 that used to fit me perfectly.  My shirt is a size large and I can see the little holes in it where I used to have to pin the blouse together so that my bra wouldn't show through the gaps in the button up due to me being really busty!!!

I told myself I would no longer purchase my current size and if I was sooooo inclined to buy anything, it'd have to be the next size down. Everything fit like a glove!! I wish I would have taken pictures in the dressing room or something to share these fabulous pieces with you all, but I didn't...booooo!!

Either way, I've been coveting some of the things that are featured on their spring line (new designers and so many bright colors), but I will refrain from buying anything else! I've gotten my fix for now and I'll try my best to only go shopping again unless it's truly necessary.  By the way, these purchases were necessary because my old running shorts are starting to fall off while I work out..#nobueno. My clothes have also gotten ridiculously big so I do need to start buying smaller pieces. 

I wanted to hit the gym after work, but I had a parent conference which caused the window of opportunity to hit the gym to be too slim before my next commitment for the evening. But please believe, after getting into those size medium running shorts, I will be making an extra effort to hit up a workout DVD when I get home tonight!! Now that it's out there, I'm holding myself accountable to doing it!

Until next time...thanks for reading!! *muah*

Oh My Meal Prep!!!!

Whew!!!! Ok so it's Sunday and Sunday means: MEAL PREP DAY!!!! Oh how I have a love/hate relationship with meal prep!! I love it because during the week it's so easy to just grab and go and not have to think about what I'm going to eat! I hate it because, well...it's time consuming! I have been cooking for the past 3 hours and that does not include clean up (the dishes are still staring at me on the counter...and the dishwasher is full...oh joy).

Either way, this week's menu was planned out yesterday and it includes:
- tilapia with quinoa and cabbage
- spaghetti squash with marinara sauce, chicken and sauteed mushrooms and onions with broccoli
- chicken with 1/2 of a sweet potato and broccoli or cabbage (whichever tickles my fancy when it's time to eat it)
I still have a tuna and cranberry recipe that I want to make, but that might have to wait until tomorrow.  I also planned to make egg muffins, but I used all my onions which leaves me with only mushrooms to go in them (blah) so I'm going to have to hit the store for more veggies before I can make those.

So let's begin! This week I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried 3 new items to cook! 1. cabbage (yes, this was my first time making cabbage in life)! 2. quinoa 3. spaghetti squash.  Everything else was pretty much something I've already had or made before so no biggie on how to prep.
I wasn't sure how to make ANY of these foods since it was my first time, so I utilized the best thing to learn how to do just about anything...YOUTUBE! A childhood friend of mine and a few Facebook friends helped with how to prepare the cabbage.

Cabbage is amazing!! It's super cheap (I got mine for $.26/lb #eatcleanonabudget) and it's super yummy!!! I seasoned my pot with pepper, basil, a little sea salt, and a little chicken broth! I boiled mine as well. I think I now have enough cabbage to last me for the next 2 weeks!! One head will yield a large harvest!

Next up is the quinoa! I got tri-colored quinoa from Whole Foods since it was the cheapest! I had never tasted it before so I didn't want to pay too much for it and risk not liking it. Quinoa is a grain that essentially cooks like rice.  You boil 2 cups of water and add 1 cup of quinoa to the boiling water. Let it simmer until the water is completely gone and viola! The thing with quinoa is that you have to rinse it off first. I decided I would pour mine into a colander to do the rinsing and all of the little tiny quinoas started coming out of through the holes of the colander!!! PANIC SET IN!!! "I bought this stuff from Whole Foods" is what I heard myself shout as I try to quickly stop the quinoa from falling through the holes all over my counter top and into the sink...then down the drain!

So I had to find something else to use....and I found this little (literally) contraption to rinse my quinoa in.  Talk about comedy!! And tedious task because that thing is only big enough to maybe hold a spoon full of quinoa. If you look closely, you can see the quinoa on the sink...those pieces didn't make it into the pot! I poured a little chicken broth into the pot of quinoa to give it a little flavor...I also do this with my rice. My review on quinoa is that it's not bad. It's not the most exciting thing, but not terrible. I'm not sure if the "tri-color" had anything to do with taste or not. Again, this is my first time cooking it and/or eating it.

Spaghetti squash: Ok this was super easy to make as well and it taste really good!! I didn't get a chance to really eat it, but I was able to taste a little bit of it after it finished "roasting".  I learned how to make it via this Youtube video. 

Before

Cut squash in half and clean out all the seeds and pulp in the middle. You can do this with a spoon. 

This was after it was cooked. I'm not sure why it was recommended to put seasoning on the outside of the squash, but whatever..I did what I was told. 

Final product!!!

 Looks just like spaghetti right!? I added the sauce, chicken, mushrooms and onions after I snapped this pic! 

I now have several different dishes to eat for the week! This is when I love meal prep (especially when it's over) and I'm super excited about trying new things! 

Clean up on the other hand....

And this is to put it mildly...I tried to do some cleaning as I was cooking.  Geez...where is Halle Berry when you need her to help with clean up (from Boomerang)????

And now it's time for dinner..and yes...that's a glass of red wine. Meal prep has driven me to drink! LOL j/k! One glass went well with tonight's meal. P.S. I had already started eating before I snapped the pic! 

And all of this has me badly in need of manicure....nail polish chipping like crazy!!! 

So that's this week's meal prep and all it's splendor!! Until next time!! Thanks for reading! 

New Changes

If you haven't noticed already, I've made a few small, yet significant changes to my blog!! I'm really excited about it because when I first started blogging, I didn't think it would be something that would become so important to me! For starters, I decided to change the name of my http address! Romantic Comic was the only thing I could come up with initially, but since I've been blogging for about about 3 months now, I decided it was time to change it to something that was more significant to the actual blog contents.

New name....www.station4inspiration.blogspot.com. I was on the phone with my Bih trying to come up with something different and it seemed like everything was already taken! It was quite a challenge coming up with something, but finally we found a winner!!! Yesssss!!! Not that clever, but whatever, it fits with what I'm trying to do here so there ya go! :)

I also added some enhancements to the overall layout...you like?

Bih provided me with some much needed feedback and said she really liked yesterday's post because I had more pictures and not as many words. I am totally aware that I can be really wordy and some of y'all aren't here for all that! I'm working on it....promise! So expect more pics in the near future!

I also especially liked including my 5 moment memoir in yesterday's post so I will share that with you all every time I post...but just for one day! I initially thought I would catch you guys up and post all my 5 moment memoirs from days that have passed, but Bih told me that was over kill and shut the idea down. See, I need this feedback people! I want y'all to be inspired!! Not overwhelmed with a lot of words!


Yesterday's 5 Moment Memoir...

1.  I sent Ange a thank you card in the mail today for being such an awesome big sister! I can't wait for her to get it! 
2. I took a walk around my neighborhood today while listening to Juanita Bynum station on Pandora. That was my first time taking a walk while listening to gospel music (I'm usually listening to something ratchet to ensure my heart rate stays up...smh). I loved it!!! The sun was setting and the music was really speaking to me! I think I want to start making that a regular thing! 

      3.  Yesterday I signed up for Oprah's 21 Day Meditation Challenge and I love it! I spent my Friday night catching up on my meditations while sipping some red wine. Awesome Friday night-in for me!

      4. I bought a bottle of wine today. First time I've done that in months!! 

      5. I met someone new today who happens to be one of my sorors and a fellow educator! 

Playing catch up

OMG it feels soooooooooooo good to finally have a free moment to catch up and write a post!!! Since my internet/social network fast, I have had so much to blog about!!! Since the fast ended, I have been a little busy this week, but now I am devoting some time to check in with you guys and give you some updates!! 

Ok where shall I begin?? Umm....ok let me say that the fast was amazing for me!!!I will admit it was really hard and I had some moments that I had to use the internet for some business related things, but overall it was so hard because I wanted to get on and blog and update you guys on my Facebook and Instagram account with all the happenings! The first night was extremely tough because I was bored out of my mind. I had to find something to do, so this became my favorite past time...

I think I did more reading in that week than I've done all year! I mean when you have a lot of time on your hands, you've got to do something to entertain yourself, so why not better yourself? I also caught up on lots of my old magazines that I never seemed to have the time to read.  Funny how when you cut out social networking and internet you have so much time on your hands...hmmm. 

Anyway, it was truly a great week because I spent tons of time with God! I signed up for 2 new reading plans on the Bible app on my phone, I finished Monday Morning Choices (finally), and I'm almost done with Be Anxious for Nothing by Joyce Meyer. I plan to finish that very soon...perhaps this weekend! I found some really awesome gems while catching up with my O magazines as well! I'm so thankful that my sister got me this subscription! I never would have thought to subscribe on my own, but Oprah's magazines are such an inspiration! I highly recommend you getting a subscription! In the February issue, there was a segment called "The "Ahhhh" Moment": A Practical Guide to Creating Inner Peace, A Saner Routine, and More Space for Things You Love.  One of the entries that I found to be extremely powerful and I'm including now in my own life is a segment called The Five Moment Memoir.  A girl named Sarah Beauchamp came up with this and it is basically what she describes as her "simple exercise for keeping the faith".  She forces herself to write down five things that happened each day; the highlights and the low lights. Here's an example of my Five Moment Memoir for March 7, 2013:

1. Another snow day and day off from work.
2. The gym was empty today! I love when that happens.  I also burn 702 calories by doing a new workout routine that I found in one of my old magazines!! #score
3. My birthday present from Valena came in the mail today and she got me something extra! A new sermon notes journal!! :)
4. Young Adults Ministry got cancelled tonight due to the snow. I was really looking forward to going too!
5. I finished reading Monday Morning Choices! My next book will be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. A great quote that closed MMC: "The bottom line is that whatever you have learned, whatever you posses, is not yours to keep. It is yours to pass on". "Be willing to share what you know and to mentor those looking for the pathway to success".  Those two quotes really inspired me to keep helping people get fit and eat right! As I learn, I share and encourage others to reach the success that I'm reaching! 

Another awesome thing I stumbled across in O's magazine that I couldn't wait to use the internet to do is the Life Challenges!! Each month it's something different! Right now there is a 21 day Meditation Challenge that I highly recommend you guys signing up for if you haven't already! I've done the meditations for the past 2 days and I have felt so relaxed, at peace, and serene! Here is the link to register so you can get the daily e-mails! 

This week has also been a really awesome health week for me! I had a physical on Monday and my proudest moment was when I got my blood pressure taken! Now I've never been diagnosed with high blood pressure, but my pressure is always higher than most without being considered "high blood pressure".  A typical reading for me would be like 140/90.  I was always told "oh you just have white coat syndrome" or "you work at a school, of course your pressure is up".  But little did they know, that was always the reading and it had been like that for years! I knew it wasn't normal, but no doctor ever considered it a "bad" thing. Although it might not have been bad enough to diagnose, I knew I didn't want it to stay that way.  When the nurse took my blood pressure, it was 122/70!!!!!!!! I was sooooooooooo pumped and proud of this!!! I've also lost a total of 20 pounds since the end of October!!! My doctor was very pleased with my overall physical. It made me feel so good to have a good health report especially since Monday would have also been my mom's 66th birthday.  I am motivated to be healthy and keep my health in tip top shape for as much of it that I can control because I know deadly diseases run in my family. 

On Monday, I asked my girlfriends to wear purple to spread awareness for Pancreatic Cancer in honor of my mom. And of course they supported me and the cause! I'm so thankful for good, supportive friends!! 

Thursday was wear orange for World Kidney Day to spread awareness about kidney disease. My best friend, Jaime's dad died from kidney disease last year so I had to support the cause! 

It's truly been a blessed 2 weeks! Now that I'm back to blogging, I'll be sure to get back on to the regular scheduled program of fitness updates, Worship and Workout Wednesday, and any other thing that happens in my life! Stay tuned......

Much love to you all and thanks for reading!!! 

Workout and Worship Wednesday 3/6/13

Today's Workout and Worship Wednesday is inspired by a Bible verse I read this morning. I am currently doing a plan on the Bible app on my phone to read the whole Bible in one day! One of the passages from today's reading comes from Luke 5:27-39.  I wanted to focus more closely on verse 29-32 though. In the text, Jesus sees a man named Levi who is a tax collector and tells Levi to follow him. Levi agrees and hosts a big dinner at his home in Jesus' honor. At the dinner, Jesus is seated among many other tax collectors and other guests. Tax collectors back in Biblical times were viewed to be bad people. When the Pharisees see this, they question why a man like Jesus would have anything to do with these tax collectors and why is he sitting down to dinner with them? The Pharisees are outraged, appalled, shocked even! They say "why do you eat and drink with these tax collectors and other sinners?" Could you imagine the way this came out of their mouths?? Nose in the air, face scrunched...a look of disdain is written all over their faces. Jesus then says in verse 31 and 32 "healthy people don't need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn't come to invite good people to turn to God. I came to invite sinners"  That is such a powerful point right there!!! Some people believe you have to be wearing your holy halo in order to fellowship and come to God! They think that they are too bad, too sinful, too far gone to ever be accepted. That's not true! God loves you just as you are! Over time and with consistent fellowship, worship, and prayer, you will be transformed! Come as you are and give God a chance in your life! He loves you more than you'll ever know!!

Today's song comes from Tonex.  It's called Make Me Over. I looooove this song!!! Every time I listen to it, it truly ministers to my soul!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!! 

And today's workout comes from another great Pinterest find! A friend of mine pinned it and I loved it! It's a great workout to tone up those legs!! We have about 2 more weeks until spring and the legs will be out to be shown off!! I'm so excited for warmer weather that I can hardly contain myself!!! Leg Workout.

I'm signing off for now! I'll get back to you guys next week!! Have an awesome day!!