(Semi) Wordless Wednesday

This is just a typical evening at home. Sitting on the couch in comfy clothes with slippers on. And we're either playing something on the PS3 or watching something via Netflix on the PS3. =) I love our everyday "routine".

Cindy

30 Day Photography Challenge - Day 8

**For the month of June I'm going to be participating
in a 30 Day Photography Challenge
hosted by White Peach Photography.
Visit the blog here for more of the details.
To see my other posts in this challenge click here!**

Today's photo is of a bad habit. It was hard for me to come up with something for this but I realized as I'm sitting at my desk with my hand on my face that that right there is a bad habit. I am constantly touching my face and picking at any little blemish I may have. It's really bad for my skin and is probably the reason I get little blemishes. So there you have it, my bad habit for the day (trust me, it's not my only bad habit).

Leave me a comment if you're participating in the challenge! I'd love to see your photos. What are some of your bad habits? Is there anything you've tried to break and just feel like it's too hard to do?

Cindy

Resolutions are Hard

Here's the thing. Everyone always talks about their New Year's Resolutions and they make all these grandiose plans of things they want to change, weight they want to lose, things they want to add and they always fail. Or maybe not always but more often than not. It's as if we're all just setting ourselves up for failure. I don't like making a New Year's Resolution for that very reason. However, I do think it's important to have resolutions, to have things that you need (and want) to change about yourself. It's important to always be striving to make yourself a better person, always be striving to be more Christ-like. I just think it's kinda silly to put so much importance into trying to achieve your goals at the beginning of a year instead of starting it whenever.

That's why this is hard for me to write about. I have things about myself that I need and want to change. Things to make me a better person. But I feel so hypocritical doing it now, at the beginning of the new year. I suppose these aren't necessarily new things I'm striving for, I've been struggling with these for a while, but I'm just now really heavy-hearted about it.

I want to be a better person. I need to be a better person. For myself, for Collin, and most importantly for God. There are a few things I struggle with. I tell myself all the time that I'm going to do it, I'm going to succeed this time but then I end up failing and I get frustrated and think to myself that I can't do it anymore, that once I've failed that's it, there's no way I can do this. I look at myself as a failure and a loser because I can't seem to get the simplest thing right. I've said many times "I'm going to work out regularly to get in shape." But then I exercise three times in a row and I miss a day. Well, missing that one day just completely changes my attitude about the whole thing and it's easier and easier to miss more and more days. And so it's been 2 weeks since the last time I exercised and I feel like a failure. I think to myself, "why try again? I'm just going to keep messing up and I'm never going to get the results I want." This is a horrible attitude! It is not the attitude I should have. Everyone fails. I know that in the back of my head but I don't really feel it in my heart. It's so personal to me. I hate being a failure and it's much easier for me to just not exercise at all than to say I'm going to and not do it.
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
4 Let perseverance finish its work so that
you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1 (NIV)
Thank God for His word. I read this passage yesterday and it hit me that this is what I need to be focusing on. I need to be focusing on the joy of my failures; the joy of my trials so that I can develop perseverance. Right now by giving up and thinking that I can't ever achieve my goals I'm dishonoring God. I'm not being very mature and I certainly am only relying on myself to achieve these goals. And that's just silly since I know I can't do anything on my own. However, I can do anything with Christ on my side (Philippians 4:13). What I really need to achieve my goals is an attitude change!

So from now on, it's me and God doing these things. I know that I'll still fail, I am human after all, but with God's help I can pick myself back up again and I'll reach my goals. It won't be easy, I also know that, which is why it takes perseverance and patience. At least this will be a growing and learning opportunity!
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials,
for we know that they help us develop endurance.
4 And endurance develops strength of character,
and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment.
For we know how dearly God loves us,
because he has given us the Holy Spirit
to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5 (NLT)
From now on God and I are going to work on me. Together we are going to change my attitude and I'm going to achieve my goals. I'm going to be a better wife. I will treat Collin with all the respect he deserves, even when I'm upset. I will exercise regularly and get myself into shape. I will look at all things in a positive way and bring joy to everything I do. I will wake up each morning ready to get out of bed. So here goes nothing. Pray for me to not get discouraged and quit when I fail. I know that when I have achieved these things I will be a much happier and better person.

Cindy

Wake Up, Little Cindy

Found here

I have a confession.  Mornings are hard.  Granted, once I'm up and moving about I'm fine, but actually waking up and getting out of bed is hard.  And it's not an every day thing.  It's only on days when I have to get up before 7:30.  If it's after 7:30 I'm good to go.  But the big problem is, I have to be at work at 7 so every week day my alarm is set before 6.  This does not bode well for me, especially since the sun isn't even up yet!  I think there should be a rule that you mustn't rise before the sun.  =) 

Anyway... this not waking up easy thing isn't good.  Especially when you have a husband who jumps out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off.  The nice thing about our alarm clock is we have an iHome so we don't (always) have to listen to annoying beeping.  Unless we forget to put one of our iPods on we wake up to music.  But it doesn't matter to me.  If it's too early the music won't get me excited to get up.  But back to what I was saying, it really bothers Collin that he gets up with the alarm and I linger in bed when he doesn't have to be at work until 10 (most days, some days he has to be there at 7).  So I've promised him that I would do better, that I would get out of bed right away instead of being lazy.

This morning I succeeded.  The music went off; I had purposefully picked an upbeat song that I knew would excite and energize me.  After the song was over I got out of bed and went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.  I then went downstairs and did a little bit of exercising and then headed upstairs to shower.  I got dressed and ready for work.  You would think that by getting up earlier than I ever do I would be in great shape time-wise for getting to work.  WRONG.  I was running a HALF HOUR behind.  How did that even happen!?  I don't know but it almost doesn't seem to be beneficial to get up early if I'm gonna be even later than I am when I lay in bed until 6:20.  No no... that's not true, it is good to get up on time but I just don't understand how I could run so late this morning.  Irony is such a weird thing.  Maybe like Collin said I should pick my clothes out the night before, but how will I know what I will feel like wearing the next day?  Some days I don't even know what I feel like wearing for that day, much less the next!

Anyway... do any of you have any tips on how to make getting up any easier in the morning?  I did succeed today and I must admit I was quite giggly and energetic, maybe it was the music (thanks Taio Cruz!) or maybe it was Collin rubbing my back during the music, but it was kinda fun being happy at 5:45 in the morning.  lol  I just want to know how to be happy every morning at 5:45.  =)  I think Collin would like "happy-morning Cindy" much better than "grumpy-morning Cindy".

*sigh* Changing habits is HARD.  At least this is a good habit to change to.

Cindy