30 days!

For the past several months, I've had a Holocaust trip countdown on my desktop computer at work. Today marks 30 days! Last night, part of our group gathered for a pre-departure meeting at Union University. We had the chance to meet many of our fellow travelers while also learning important information about our trip. Dr. Carls put together a handy booklet filled to the brim with all we need to know and more. Being at that meeting and talking about the trip made Casey and me so impatient and excited about going! I know it'll be here and gone before we know it, but that doesn't change the fact that we wish we were leaving today!

After the meeting, Casey and I enjoyed a relaxing and decadent dinner at Olive Garden. Both of us agree that Olive Garden is our favorite restaurant, and we did not hold back. We got bread sticks, bread stick sauce (which I had never heard of...goes to show how much I get to go to OG), appetizers, salad (Casey skipped out on that), and then we shared our entrees. Oh and to top it all off, we each enjoyed a 25 cent Roscato wine sample. Yum-ME! After dinner, we rushed over to Dick's Sporting Goods and Target before they closed. It was a whirlwind shopping trip, but we both found goodies to pack in our suitcases next month!

April Update

Just wanted to stop in and update my dear readers on what's new with us. April is going to be an extremely busy month, so I may not get another chance. Let's see...

-I decided to defer my UTK enrollment until Fall 2013. I've had senioritis lately, and the thought of immediately starting a new program after I graduate with my MBA this fall just stresses me out. I think taking a semester off will be just what I need for a fresh start in a new program.

-James is really struggling with nursing right now. I don't want to share too much before we know anything for sure, but it looks like he may need 3 more years to finish instead of 2.

-My Holocaust travel study is in 45 days!

-I finished reading Working It Out by Abby Rike yesterday. It's such a great book about life, tragedy, fitness, faith, and hope. Abby was on The Biggest Loser during Season 8. I had the opportunity, thanks to my dear friend Brandi, to attend a Healthy Woman event at UTM on my birthday where Abby was the keynote speaker. She has an amazing story to tell, and I felt so honored to hear it. Afterward, I got to meet Abby, buy her book, and get it signed. I watched Season 8 of The Biggest Loser on Netflix during the next few weeks so I could see Abby's transformation. After sharing my experience with my family, they showed interest in getting to hear Abby too. So for Mother's Day, my mom, sister, and aunt will be attending another Healthy Woman event in Clarksville to hear Abby!

-I know most people (like my mom) think that I am "skinny enough", but one of my New Year's resolutions was to "exercise more and eat healthier". I have been doing just that since the beginning of the year. In fact, I have lost 9 pounds! My goals are not necessarily to be skinny but to be healthy. Eat better, lighter, and less. I tend to overeat at most meals, and I normally don't practice self-control. In the past I have tried different things to create better eating habits, but I only ended up on a roller-coaster ride. The yo-yo effect, if you will. Most women spend their entire lives caught up in the yo-yo effect. My goal is to not do that. I want to be able to create healthy eating and exercise habits that last. This time around, I am taking tips that I've heard from The Biggest Loser about making better food choices and am exercising 3-4 times a week. I also use a calorie counting app on my phone called My Fitness Pal. It's not always fun to log my calories, but it really does help when trying to eat better. Obviously, it's working!

-Good Friday is tomorrow and Easter is Sunday! This is such a reflective time in the life of a Christian. It's just amazing to realize that Jesus gave it all so that we could have the hope of eternal life. The following is a quote that comes from Abby's book:

"Hope is many times equated with 'wishful thinking' from our society's viewpoint. But the Bible's meaning of hope is totally different from from society's meaning of hope. The word 'hope' in the Bible carries with it the meaning of: 'Confident expectation; joyful anticipation; a firm conviction about the future.' If we know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we not only have hope, meaning, and purpose in our lives on this earth, we have confident expectation, joyful anticipation, a firm conviction that we will see our loved ones one day. That's the hope that the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us today."

Excerpt by Tim Watson from Abby Rike's book "Working It Out"