Belly Achin

My son turned one less than a month ago and I'm learning so much about my relationship with God through him. It's sort of strange considering he's my second child. I'm not sure what was happening when my daughter was this age..I may have just been too completely overwhelmed as a new mom to see past the actual circumstances. I'm not sure. Never the less, I'm learning so much this time around.

Recently my son has entered into a stage of increased fussiness. He is generally a happy little fella but not the last several weeks. There are many things that could be causing his angst. Things ranging from, switching from formula to milk, having his one year shots, molars breaking through, trying to learn to walk. Whatever the cause, this new season of grouchiness is enough to make this momma feel a little mental!! I'm not kidding. After about 4 hours of off and on (mostly on) crying, I want to lock MYSELF into an institution. But I muddle through the best I can and try to find ways to appease him.

In my moments of extreme weakness sometimes I {not so proudly} let out a loud..."PLEEEEAAAAASSSSEE STOP CRYING!!"  Which usually makes him cry more. ha That's what I get for losing my cool I suppose.

The thing is, I don't know why he's crying. He's been fed, he's been changed, I've tried holding him, playing with him, I've tried tylenol or teething tabs. I've tried snacks, bottles, giving him sharp object to play with (kidding kidding)....nothing seems to help in these moments.

I've concluded that most of his problem right now is that he wants attention..ALL THE TIME! He wants what he wants, and if he's not getting it.. he'll let you know by way of some serious BELLY ACHIN.

It's been a very trying time.

Today was another one of those trying days, where I've put out little emotional fires all day long and I'm left feeling pretty grouchy myself.
We are both doin our share of BELLY ACHIN

Today while folding laundry I started thinking about the Lord and my relationship with Him.

You see, I'm not so different than my whiny little one year old.

I'm an almost 30 year old wife and mom, who's needs have been completely met in every area and yet I can get lost in my fussiness. I can get trapped in my wants and unmet desires.
I can focus on my area's of sadness or discontentment.

Maybe to God I look much like my little guy who sits on the floor in the midst of all his blessings and whines for what he doesn't have.

I could certainly argue that MY WHINING comes from a deep place of longing within my soul of unmet desires..But to God, do I just look ungrateful?? maybe..

I'm not downplaying Gods compassion, because he certainly has more for me than I tend to have for my crying little fella. His compassion and mercy is always new and there for us. But I wonder if he ever thinks to himself...

It doesn't matter what I do for them...they are unhappy.

I can provide for them financially, and meet every physical need. I can keep their family healthy, and safe from harm. I can bless them with purpose and give them fulfilling relationships and yet....

There they sit....

Whining, crying, discontented.


I've learned that when Parker is in a mood, sitting on the floor with him works best.

If I go to him in the middle of a cry fest and pick him up. It doesn't stop his crying. He's in my arms, but he's upset. Nothing I try to provide or distract him with in that moment works at all.

But if I sit on the floor and wait, eventually he will come over to me, crawl up into my lap..and typically calm down, for a little while anyways.

I see Gods ways with us so clearly in this.

He has the ability to pick us up and carry us anytime he wants...certainly anytime we need. And he probably does. But when we're in the midst of our crying we can't be consoled. It's like we're too focused on being upset to bother noticing that he's working to comfort us.

I know many times in my life, after I've had a good pity party, I can just sense God near. He's not forcing me to stop crying or stop feeling sorry for myself..but he's waiting for me to come to Him for comfort. He doesn't just pick me up and try to force a pacifier in my mouth for a quick fix. He knows that if I really want to be comforted and see change, I have to choose to come to Him and let him do the consoling. When I crawl up into his lap, it's like the whole atmosphere changes for me, my attitudes change and his presence brings so much peace.

I don't want to be a 30 year old belly acher. I don't want to be a woman who sees the blah before the beautiful. I don't want to look like my whiny little one year old to God. Looking past the previous blessings and onto the next thing I'm "needing" from Him.

I don't know if you can relate to this at all. Maybe you're a belly acher. Maybe you just struggle to see the beauty before the blah.

In either case my prayer for us all is wrapped up in this scripture.

Philipians 4:12 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content and any and EVERY situation. Whether well fed, or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

May we all learn the secret of being content in ANY and EVERY situation.

Let us see the beauty in our messes, the beauty before the blah and stop our belly achin.

Be blessed today!! :)

So You Don't Do Halloween???

I love FALL....I love everything about the season. I love leaves and pumpkins and the weather turning brisk. I love hayrides and bonfires, corn mazes and hot cocoa. I even love playing dress up with my kids on occasion (not indicative of fall itself, more in general).

 Fall is a wonderful and beautiful time of year. But I don't do Halloween.

This is usually the part where people cock their eye brow and say...."What?? You don't do Halloween??"

Or the time when my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ roll their eyes and give me that "here we go with hyper spiritual opinions that suck the fun out of being a christian" grin as they quickly try to change the subject. :)

So rest assured the point of this blog is NOT to dissuade or condemn anyone who does choose to celebrate Halloween, for I've learned that is a useless plight. But rather, to share my reasoning and encourage the seemingly small handful of those who choose to NOT celebrate this holiday.

I want you to know, you're not alone, you're not nuts, and you're not "hyper spiritual". :)

It's not easy to choose to not take part in something that so many people around us are doing. Especially when it looks fun and innocent. I mean who doesn't want to dress their kids up in cute outfits and get bag loads of free candy, right??

It doesn't make sense to some, but I'm going to share my reasoning and the arguments I've encountered for not celebrating Halloween and hopefully it will encourage and affirm you in your convictions..if not, that's fine too. :) It may even give a pondering point to some who've been neither here nor there on the subject.

So, here goes....  

The first and most obvious,

 Halloween Glorifies Fear and Evil

Some people like being scared. I personally don't understand that because I do NOT enjoy being afraid. But some enjoy it. However, the Bible tells us that fear is not from God. 

2Tim 1:7- "For God does not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind."

Now, this scripture is directly referring to fear in sharing the word of God. But God is the same in all situations. If he doesn't give fear in one area, he doesn't give fear in another.

Fear brings anxiety, anxiety and fear are the opposites of peace. God is peace, fear and anxiety are not found in Him. If fear and anxiety is not from God than I conclude that fear and anxiety comes from the enemy. 

There is no arguing that evil comes from the enemy as well, but there is always question as to a christians involvement in being entertained by evil.

Psalm 34:14, 1Peter 3:11, Psalm 37:27 Are three different scriptures with the same theme

"Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."

If God put the same words in three different scriptures, They are worth closer attention.

This scripture implores us to turn away from evil, to do good, seek peace and pursue it.

It seems to me that being entertained by evil things, is not turning from evil and not seeking peace.

When we allow ourselves to "minimize" the effects and seriousness of Evil and Fear by allowing ourselves to be entertained by it, we are doing the opposite of seeking and pursuing peace. Rather, we are inviting fear and anxiety into our lives.

I've heard many say....." but WE don't do anything scary. We dress ourselves and our kids up as cute little animals or princesses. We don't engage in the "evil" stuff, we just like the candy, we aren't really celebrating halloween..."

Here's my take on that, and this is just my opinion. Halloween is known for fear and evil. I can't even walk through walmart without seeing scary and evil images. 

The weeks following up to halloween are marked by horror flick marathons and many people are dressing up their adorable innocent children as devils, witches, vampires, murderers...etc

Huge billboards with horrifically scary themes, line our highways promoting haunted houses{that, btw invite fear, :) } 

I may just be daft, but how can someone deny the evil connotations of this holiday??

Saying that halloween is innocent because you chose to dress up like a teddy bear is like saying that a piece of poo is dessert because you dipped it in chocolate.

It's kinda like saying you read playboy for the articles. :) C'mon now, aint nobody got time for that. 

Don't for one second think that the true enemy of our soul doesn't delight in people sugar coating the evil with cute little red devil outfits for the little ones.

Furthermore, if you aren't doing those innocent things as a form of celebration of halloween...why are you not doing them in, say....March?? 

Ok, take a breath and say... "I still love you Dayna." :)

ok, the second reason for me is...

I feel it teaches a contradiction to my kids

As Christians we are constantly trying to teach our kids about the "true meanings" of holidays behind the commercialism. Sure we engage in the Easter bunny and Santa..but if you're a believer, hopefully those celebrations are focused more on Christ's birth and resurrection than it is the images that are used to make a profit.

I can hear the conversations in Christian households everywhere. "Yes little johnny, the Easter bunny is fun to pretend, BUT the real reason we celebrate Easter is to remember Christ dying on the cross and raising from the dead. THAT is the most important thing about today."

Same is true for Christmas.

But when it comes to halloween, we switch sides. It's no longer about celebrating the origin of the holiday and the true meanings behind it. No, now we want to say..."well, little johnny, I know that halloween is used as a evil holiday and has origins in deep paganism..BUT, we just want to celebrate the fun commercialized version of this day."

I feel that is a contradiction to what we've been teaching them about holidays from the start. 

Are you still with me?? 

I hope so.. 

Thirdly..

I just can't shake the gut feeling I have about this holiday

 So, here's the thing. The first two reasons alone, without going into the countless testimonies I've heard and read of people coming out of satanism and what they have seen happen on halloween are reason enough for me to not be comfortable with celebrating halloween.

I'm not even for a minute saying that if you are a christian who celebrates halloween that you're sinning. So please don't think that.

You're salvation is through Christ, not whether you celebrate a holiday or don't.

I feel VERY strongly about this issue, so forgive me if I can't wrap my head your reasoning on the matter.

But know I'm not judging you for your decision. I'm really not.

I simply have to be true to my deep conviction over this area based on my experiences and knowledge.

James 4:17 says, "If anyone knows what they ought to do and does not do it, they are sinning."

So for me, I can't go against my convictions.

But I'll be honest, It's been harder since having children. It's hard to look at your little girl who wants to dress up like Cinderella  and get candy like her friends do and try to explain to her why we are not celebrating halloween as a family. 

I have been torn about it...not because my convictions are less about the holiday, but because she doesn't understand. 

It's tough making those choices as a parent.

Part of me wants to let her enjoy the innocent aspects, but a bigger part of me wants to teach her that not everything that looks desirable and fun or innocent is beneficial. (1 corin 10:23)

After all, is it really all THAT bad to let her dress up and get candy..

No, or course not. But I truly feel like the enemy just loves how we reason away our involvement in all types of things his hands are all over. 

There will come a time when our kids will have to make a choice between following Christ and going down a road that looks more exciting and that many of their friends are taking. 

If I cant teach her to make the choice over candy and costumes, I worry that she wont make the choice when her life is possibly on the line.

You never want to see your kids miss out on something they want to do, especially in these innocent years where to them...everything really is just, innocent.

But for me, this issue goes deeper.

Now, here's the deal. If you see us at the church fall party don't hastily come up to me and say..."I thought you didn't celebrate halloween". :) Which I know none of you would...right?? :)

Let me be real honest. I haven't completely figured out how we are going to handle church and school fall party activities. 

We have just entered into the school years and here we are two and half weeks til Oct 31st and I'm not sure what we plan to do. I'm still prayerfully looking for guidance on this issue.

My goal is not to force my kids to withdraw from all these things, but to teach her why we don't like halloween. That it represents all the things that God is not..{evil, scary, mean, death} and we don't want to glorify any of those things by acknowledging the holiday.

As she grows she will form convictions of her own.

I'd be lying if I said, we've worked it all out that far.

But, I want to encourage you if you are a family that doesn't really feel good about celebrating halloween. I know you feel sort of like an outcast through the month of October. Maybe you've been put down for being "too spiritual" or "looking for a demon behind every bush".

I know it's hard. But walk with God through your convictions. Following them only brings you closer in relationship to Christ. 

You're not alone, there are other families who feel like you, who hurt like you over telling their kids they can't go trick or treating or to halloween parties.

If you feel strongly, stick to your gut. Be true to what you feel God is leading you to do for your family.

and take heart...

NOVEMBER is ALMOST here. :)

 Your obedience will reap a beautiful harvest. 

Weight Loss Wednesday- Weight Watchers Snack Prep

Hello Friends, Welcome to another Weight Loss Wednesday

If you were with me last week you remember how last week I had fallen off the weight loss wagon and had made some pretty poor health choices.

I'm glad to report that even after an atrocious week of choices I was still down .4 oz on the scale!! That was a lucky break. I will not count on that being the case for next time, and YES there will be a "next time" because I know myself, and I know that every normal, LIVABLE weight loss journey includes splurges. If it doesn't it's a "diet" and it wont be something you stick with long term.

I was happy with being down .4oz

But Alas, with any fall comes the dusting yourself off and getting back on track part. So this week I'd like to share with you some of my Weight Watcher Snack ideas that help me stay on plan.

One of the easiest ways to be successful in your weight loss journey is to plan!

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!

I'm a planner, so I actually enjoy this part. But if you're not a planner, know that this step may be painful but SOOO worth it.

If you have healthy snack options already cut and prepared, it's way easier to chose them when you're in a hungry moment. Don't wait til you're ravenously needing a snack to decide what you will eat. That never turns out well, TRUST ME {refer back to my frosting container and animal crackers from last week. ;) not good}

Weight Watchers has assigned a 0pp value to almost all fruits and vegetables. So, naturally these are a great choice for snacking as well as meals.

I have a confession to make, I'm not really a veggie lover!! {boo hiss} I know, I know. Veggies are great for your body and so low in sugars and carbs and high in nutrients. But I just can't get my taste buds to be excited about them most of the time. Ok, that's not totally true. I'm good at eating them with dinner, but not so much throughout the day for snacking.

These are the snacks I prepared for this week.

Celery Sticks cut SUPER THIN

Cucumbers

Cauliflower

Strawberries

Bartlett Pears {MY ABSOLUTE FAV}

Bananas

Apples

Romaine Hearts

Spinach Leaves

Iceberg Lettuce

Frigo Low Fat String Cheese {1pt per stick}

Boiled Eggs{2pt per egg}

Oscar Meyer Oven Roasted Turkey Rolls {1 roll=1pt}

At the beginning of the week, I wash and cut and arrange my foods so they are easily accessible to me.

I cut up half a head of Iceberg Lettuce, 1 large romaine heart stalk, and about 2 cups of Spinach leaves and toss in a bowl for easy grab salad greens. I can then add cauliflower, cucumbers, or whatever else I'd like to munch on. I find it's easier to eat salads often if they are ready to just add toppings.

{tip; put a paper towel in with your leafy greens. It absorbs the moisture and keeps your greens crisp and fresh longer. I usually put one paper towel under the greens and one on top.}

I leave half of the Iceberg head whole, so I can use the large lettuce leaves for wraps. I can throw in some cooked chicken or turkey and I have a satisfying lunch option.

Boiled eggs are a GREAT GO TO SNACK.

I boil up at least one egg per day. 

I peal a few and have them ready in baggies for easy grab and go.

This is great for if I'm heading to the gym and need to refuel afterwards. Eggs are high in protein and assist in rebuilding muscle after a workout so they are a great refueling snack

Grab a baggie and throw it in your purse and you're good to go!!

Be careful not to go crazy on eggs though to keep cholesterol under control. :)

Turkey Rolls are one of my other quick grab and go's from the frig.

I take a few moments to weigh out 2oz sections and roll them individually, and place them in a separate container. That way I know exactly how much I'm eating with the correct point count.

Again, having the protein helps sustain me and level out blood sugars from the fruit I eat throughout the day.

Fruits have a higher level of natural sugars then veggies to it's great to pair them with some source of protein.

Such as Natural PB

Boiled EGG

String Cheese

Turkey Roll

I LOVE eating a medium sized banana with 1tsp of natural pb. AND it's only 1pt!!!!!!!

Can't beat that.

CELERY, CUCUMBERS and Cauliflower

I will be honest, Not a huge fan of snacking on these, but when I cut them very thin it's much more tolerable, especially with a low fat dip. :)

I know some people frown on dips, but for me..spending one pt on a little bit of dip is worth it to get my taste buds used to eating veggies I normally wouldn't be interested in.

Having fresh fruits and washed and cut veggies readily available will make your snack choices much easier throughout the week!! 

I know it's a pain to do the prep-work. 

doing all of this took me about 30 minutes. Put on some music you love and a yummy smelling candle and take the time to do something that is good FOR YOU.

It's a pain, but it's worth it!

As you wash and chop and weigh, just remind yourself that you are making healthy choices so that YOU can be the BEST VERSION of yourself that you can be!!

YOU'RE WORTH IT!!!!!

Happy Eating, and may the weight loss odds be ever in your favor. ;) 

The Moments We Wait For

It happened! Today it happened!!! A moment that validated all other moments. A moment that I'd longed for, hoped for, waited for.

 It happened. Today, it happened.

I was sitting on the floor with my one year old playing with toys when it happened. There wasn't anything unusual about this interaction, we often sit and play with toys..well to be completely honest, I sit and watch HIM play with toys. But we were sitting together on the floor just the same. And then, it happened.....

My sweet little one year old crawled over to me and all by himself climbed into my lap and rested his head on my chest. He gibbered and jabbered and I just KNEW he was saying, "I love you" in his own little way.

That was it, that was the moment.

As moms there are so many things we do for our children. So many things that feel unnoticed, that seem unappreciated at times. But we do them just the same. Everyday, without fail, we continue on. Do we do it to earn love? No. Do we do it to gain our kids respect? Probably not. We do it, because we love them, and it's just what we do.

So you may be wondering why this moment was of such importance...I mean, kids crawl on their moms all the time right? Yes, he does often crawl over to me, but this time was different. I didn't have any food that he was wanting, or a toy he thought looked fun. I didn't have anything that would benefit him in that moment, he wasn't hurt or in need of comfort....It was just me, nothing more. And he chose to crawl up in my lap and give me love.

It's a really special feeling when your child says I love you without any motives, without anything to gain. Just a desire to shower  you with affection.

Yep, that was a moment that validated all the unglamorous mommy moments. That was a moment all mommy's wait for.


I wonder if this is how our Heavenly Father feels sometimes??

It's so easy to run to God when we're hurting, when we need an answered prayer and of course he loves it when we come to him regardless of the circumstances. He absolutely wants us to come to him with our hurts and with our stress. When we need comfort and provision.

But I wonder if God, like me is waiting...hoping...longing for the moment when we come to him with no motives or requests....with just a desire to shower love on HIM because he's special. Because he's our daddy. Because he's been there in all the unglamorous moments.

When things are going good, it's easy to forget that we have a GOD who desperately loves us. Who's desire is to be intricately woven into every part of who we are. I wonder sometimes, if he feels bad that we carry on our lives without him. We over look him, and forget to show him love....just because.

We were created to be in relationship with God, to know him and for him to know us.

I've learned that because God is, well..... GOD he already knows the depths of who I am. But he doesn't just want to know things because he's all knowing...he wants to know it because I've shown him, included him and invited him in.

There is a love that is shown when a hurt, crying child runs to their mommy for comfort and something special happens in that exchange. But it's an even better feeling when our child chooses to bestow love upon us, not out of reaction or need, but out of affection for who we are to them.


I think just as I loved that special moment where my precious lil boy crawled into my lap to rest his head on my chest, God desires the same from us.



A moment hoped for.....longed for....A moment that even GOD waits for.

Own Your Ugly

 

I have a 5 year old daughter. As with most 5 year old little girls, our home is filled with laughter, silliness, drama, exaggerations and LOTS of emotions!!! Lots and LOTS of emotions.
My daughter feels things very deeply, when she gets upset she reacts as if her whole heart is bursting...even if it's over something trivial like not being able to find her lipgloss. She is VERY passionate about just about everything she does and is not very easy going...unfortunately. I don't fully understand her passion just yet, but I know God has plans for it somewhere in her future..if we both survive til then. :)

As with most mothers and daughters we have a lot of squabbles, when we squabble naturally Mckenzie acts as if her heart is broken...and if she's not in a "heart broken" state, her anger erupts. I'm not sure where her anger comes from...but boy does she have a temper.

The funny thing about kids is they are so transparent. When she's mad you KNOW it, cause you can see it all over her face. Her eyes get all grumpy and her lips pucker out, her arms fold ferociously and she hangs her head with a huff and puff. There is NO ignoring that she's mad or angry or hurt. She is an open book of emotion.

In those moments I can say..."are you mad?" And she'll let out a resounding YES! With another huff and puff.

When she's crying and heart broken I can say, "Are you sad?" and she'll let out a sobbing....yeeessss, behind her tears.

Whether she's had an emotional breakdown or a temper tantrum it's a rule in our home to take time to "calm down, and then apologize" followed by hugs and kisses.

There are times when she does NOT want to say sorry, and she most definitely does NOT want to give hugs and kisses. So we give her more time until she's ready. But in those situations I still see her heart...it's all over her face..I can see her anger, I can see her hurt. I can see how her anger is wanting to hurt us(her parents) in those moments.

Sometimes she will say sorry and give a half hearted hug just to not prolong the "teaching time" that her dad and I are trying to utilize. But her face, gives her heart away. We know immediately if she's sincere or not.

I call that "Her UGLY"- I have an "Ugly" as well, and so do you! We all have an "UGLY".

An "UGLY" is simply the area's within us that are harboring ugly thoughts or feelings towards another. Our spiteful places, our hurt places, and places of retaliation.

The difference between a child's ugly and an adults ugly is that adults are better at hiding their ugly...or at best, justifying their ugly. Kids don't know how to justify in the same way us adults do..they only know they feel awful inside and it erupts through emotions of all kinds.

I have a motto I try to live by.

"OWN YOUR UGLY"

No I don't mean hang on to your 1980's reindeer sweater from grandma...{although, those are handy for Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties...I may or may not have a few in my closet. :)}

But I mean, take time to identify and own your inward ugliness without excuses or justifications.

Yes, that girl may have mistreated you and deserves for you to hate her forever.

Yes, your husband who cheated on you deserves for you to slit his tires or at least inflict emotional torment on him by treating him miserably in return.

That family member who's been nothing but hurtful to you your whole life deserves to be alone on their death bed.

That pastor at that church hurt your feelings deeply and now you wont step foot in church because of those self righteous hypocrites.

There are a million and a half scenarios that could be listed here..but you get the picture and I'll bet your own scenarios are already coming to mind...Area's of your own personal ugly towards someone or something coming to the surface.

The thing is; we are good at hiding our ugly. We're really good at flashing a smile, engaging in small talk and playing nicey nicey to avoid conflict....Or you may be the person who doesn't hide your ugly at all, and you unleash an onslaught of Ugly to anyone and everyone who get's in the way.

Either way...Inward Ugly, is not cool. It's Ugly!!  And whether you hide it or not, or justify it or not..."UGLY" is a heart issue. It's an issue of unforgiveness, or denial, resistance to the holy spirit, or resisting surrender.

Jeremiah 17:9- "The human heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can understand it."

As adults, we typically want our outsides to look all put together. If I can come across as put together maybe people will actually think I've got a few things figured out.

If I can always treat someone well and stuff my emotions and hatefulness towards them, people wont know how ugly I feel towards them.

I'm not saying it's cool to just go blowing up at people all the time..but denying your ugliness wont bring healing..or forgiveness.

I have many memories of times I've acted ugly towards people..sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. Either way, after closer inspection and much correction from God, I've had to OWN MY UGLY and repent to God and that person for the way I treated them.

Sometimes, I've not treated anyone poorly at all, but my heart is so full of Ugly towards them, I've had to really repent to God.

1 Samuel 16:7 says; "Do not judge him by his appearance, for the Lord has rejected him. God see's not as man see's. For man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart."

It can be difficult to purge your heart of it's ugly. But I have found that if you can OWN YOUR UGLY first, by acknowledging that it's there...you can ask God to take away those ugly feelings. Tell God that you don't want to feel ugly towards them, even though they may deserve it, even though you feel justified in your feelings.

Here's the truth: Harboring even justified ugliness towards someone or something can poison your heart, and your emotions and your happiness.

I don't know what you may be holding in your heart today. I don't know if you've ever "OWNED YOUR UGLY". But I want to encourage you, that there is freedom in forgiveness and freedom in repentance.

Don't let your ugly define you or your actions!!!

Take some time, reflect, repent, forgive.....

OWN YOUR UGLY, then release it!!

Weight Loss Wednesday's OFF THE WAGON- Keepin It Real- Weightloss Style

FROSTING AND CUPCAKES AND PIZZA...OH MY!!!

~KEEPING IT REAL~

Hello All, It's weight loss Wednesday again and I don't want to be a total and complete hypocrite today so I decided this post would be about "keepin it real" Weight Loss Style.

So, I've been doing really splendidly as far as my weight loss efforts are concerned until this last weekend. In fact Thursday I weight and was dow 1.8 lbs this week so hooray. :)

Friday's are my hubby's day off, so that's usually our family "eat out" day. My daughter picked pizza..and in an attempt to take a step up from our buddy little ceasars we went to 

UNO's Pizza.

If you've never been to Uno's you are missy out one of the yummiest deep dish cheesey greasey wonders of the world....in my opinion. ;)

It's amazing on many levels....but the weightloss level is NOT one of them.

After enjoying two delightful pieces AND a cookie pan dessert...I came home and realized that my choices were less than point friendly...or calorie friendly if you count calories. 

Without going into much detail let's just say that out of my 26 daily points I am allotted..my pizza alone took up 30!!! YIKES..

Then of course was my lil mans bday party where I made cupcakes. So of course I indulged in those as well.

AAAAANNNNNNND,

 as I type I have an open canister of left over frosting that I may or may not have been dipping my sons animal crackers into...don't judge!! :)

So, needless to say, I've left MUCH to be desired in the good health and weight loss department the last few days.

But here's the deal.

No matter where you are in your weight loss journey, chances are you will have days like this...or in my case a (cough cough)few days like this.

It happens, it's not ideal, but you get over it, you move on and you get back on track.

That's the key, GET BACK ON TRACK.

No matter how far off the wagon you've fallen, it only takes one good decision to get you closer to being back on it.

So, Please be encouraged if you've had some days or weekends like mine.

It doesn't have to define your weight loss journey. Evaluate, and keep going!!

Make one good choice at a time...I promise I am putting away the frosting container and eating some turkey. :)

Messy Weight loss Days happen...sometimes.

 I promise I wont make them a habit, if you wont!!!

Deal?! 

DEAL!

Happy Losing! 

May your weight loss goals get closer this week.