story time with amanda

Today I was really hit hard by God. It wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world (the sword of conviction is painful), and mostly it made me want to scream, “Okay, God, I get it. Point made.” But it did make me appreciate an amazing God who has amazing love, kindness, and patience for pathetic sinners such as me. So, I thought I’d share. Here is the story:

For the last few months I have been training for a half marathon. All of the running and working out has become a constant in my life. If I miss a workout in the mornings I am usually disappointed and slightly antsy.

Today I was jogging along listening to my mp3 player when the Holy Spirit said, “do you put as much time and effort into studying God’s word as you do running?” Instantly, my response was, “but I listen to Christian music (sometimes) when I run. And I pray (sometimes) while I run.” To which the response I got was, “that’s not the same and you know it; it’s just a lousy justification.” I then put the conversation in the back of my mind, slightly ignoring it, and finished my run.

This evening at small group I was scanning for a passage in my Bible and happened to come across 1 Timothy 4:8 “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

I just started laughing to myself. God just does not give up! I try to disregard him once, so He comes back for round two...so this time, instead of paying no attention, I decided to dwell on it for a moment (I don’t want to know what round three would entail)...

Am I training to be godly? What kind of person would I be if I spent as much time obsessing over God’s word as I did obsessing over my speed? I would then truly be a woman after God’s own heart. What if I spent as much time fulfilling God’s plan for my life as I do putting in mileage? Could I light the world on fire?

No, running in and of itself is not a bad thing. But, I need to be careful not to make it an idol and put it before God.

I am so thankful for a God whose perfect love does not depend on my faith being perfect.

Moral of the story: God doesn’t tell us what we want to hear, He tells us what we need to hear. Are you listening?

what i'm eating now...

this is a totally random post and you probably don't care, but food and the discussion of it has consumed my life lately (mostly because my friend, trupti, is in cooking school and making all sorts of fun and fancy things).

anyway, since cooking for one is mostly depressing and completely non-motivating, i've been keeping my food choices fairly simply and aiming for mostly healthy.

Breakfast choices* (i eat after i shower while i get ready for work so it must be fast, simple, and filling):
1. plain chobani greek yogurt with fiber one cereal, honey, and wheat germ
2. protein shake consisting of strawberries, almond milk, protein, flax seed, and wheat germ
3. oatmeal with honey and cinnamon (except for this weekend when i ate it with a mix of melted chocolate chips and peanut butter and it was delicious)
*note: i eat a banana pre-workout and most often either post workout or once i get to work so two bananas is usually part of my breakfast

lunch choices (packing a lunch is almost as bad as having to pick out an outfit- two things idespise doing and must do the night before work or my mornings are miserable):
1. turkey with jalapeno hummmus (i'm seriously obsessed with sabra jalapeno hummus- LOVE it), carrots, heart to heart crackers, baby bell cheese, apple
2. brown rice with either green giant vegetables or a light campbell soup

snack choices:
1. clementines
2. smuckers uncrustables pbj
3. kellogs fiber plus antioxidants or fiber one granola bar
4. almonds

dinner choices:
1. brown rice and black beans with added spices and onions
2. tilapia smothered with peppers, mushroom, onion, cheese (and avocado if i have any)
3. sweet potatoe topped with cheese
4. recently added: boca burger

dessert choices:
1. peanut butter delight (mix of fat free ricotta cheese and pb)
2. danon light and fit yogurt
3. banana "ice cream"- frozen banana, peanut butter, and honey mixed in a food processor

so, there you go, my basic foods are simple and straight forward. i do have more options in my life than this, but these are my default choices of the moment. i do more cooking on weekends when i'm not walking in the door after an hour commute and have some more time and motivation.
by the way, i am well aware of the fact that i eat a lot of food. and i'm aware that there is a lack of greens on the list- i love spinach but don't like buying it because it tends to go bad before i can eat it all and i love asparagus but never think about it

i promise i'm not opinionated

but, for the sake of everyone's sanity, i came up with a few guidelines for the gym:

Please wear appropriate attire:
• a bra is required. this is NOT OPTIONAL- even if your top comes with a shelf bra and especially when it doesn't
• a shirt is required
• shorts that cover your butt cheeks are required
• jeans, polos, and flip-flops are not okay
• cowl-neck cashmere sweaters and oversized jewelry are not okay


There is such a thing as too slow:
• If you can play your Nintendo DS while walking on the treadmill, you’re going too slow. Or if you can talk on your cell phone the entire time
• If you are on level one of the elliptical and only going 2.0 miles per hour, you are going too slow
• If you’re on the bike and going negative miles per hour you might as well go home
• Less than five minutes spent on a machine provided you no benefits


Things I should not see while at the gym:
• Lifting your shirt to rub your stomach in the mirror
• TMZ or the history channel
• Children running around wildly


Other notes:
• Strong odors are offensive.
• Not working out is not okay- if you are just going to bounce up and down on the yoga ball and take pictures of yourself with your legs in the air then go home
• When a boy glances at the treadmill of the girl next to him, increases his speed to match hers, and then ends up falling off the back, it is hilarious


*side note: i have moved my workouts to the morning and have found it a lot less frustrating. i just need to start going to bed earlier to make up for losing sleep in the morning.

speaking of frustration: i may never be allowed to shop at target again... last week i bought and returned four pairs of headphones. i'm not picky, i just don't want ones that fall out of my ears or are uncomfortable. and, to make matters worse, i spent tuesday night adding a ton of music to my mp3 player and on wednesday morning it died after half a song. luckily, best buy took it back (i just bought it in november) and they had a pair of headphones megan recommended that actually work. so, after fours days of irritation i have a working mp3 player and headphones that don't fall out of my ears.

random side note #2: if carolyn sends me the pictures she took when we went skiing i'll post them, but don't hold your breath.

my day today was so impressive i think it deserves some recognition:

• Got up at six and worked out

• Took a nap from nine to eleven

• Made beef taco nuggets for lunch then cleaned my apartment

• Took a nap from three to four thirty

• Worked on my BSF and made snickerdoodles

• Now I’m about to prepare a Sunday School lesson for tomorrow (gotta love last minute notification) and then GO TO BED!

Thank you, Smitten Kitchen, for the best brownies I've ever made:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/01/best-cocoa-brownies/#more-5631

I may never make boxed brownies again.

What makes this recipe so perfect?
1. it has everyday ingredients
2. it took just the right amount of time (long enough that i got to feel like i used my kitchen but no so long that i got impatient)
3. they are absolutely delicious

a season of change...

to make a long story short, last week i got wind of a potential opportunity to change job roles and move back to dallas.
lots of stress ensued as i didn't know what i wanted to do. i prayed about it, talked to other people about it, tried to ignore it...

yesterday i still didn't know what i wanted to do and i knew that i had to have a decision by today. being slightly ocd and needing to feel like i have a little bit of control over my life, i decided to make a decision. i cut my hair.


i took these pics right before work this morning (hence the scarf and coat since it was snowing)

four inches off the front:



it is just longer than my chin:

he took 6-8 inches off the back and stacked it. it looked a lot better when he styled it, but i'll eventually figure it out.

it is not easy to take pictures of the back of your head





in case you were wondering: i've decided to stay in boston.

i can't really explain exactly why i decided to stay except that i didn't really have a peace about leaving.

God is in control and i am here for a reason.

we'll see what happens next...

Psalm 46:10 - "Be still, and know that I am God."

so simple, but why is it so hard?

a texas christmas...

I went home to texas for the week of christmas. The last time i was home was for 2 1/2 days in May. This time I got to stay for almost eight days. In summary: I had a wonderful time. It was nice to wear shorts and a t-shirt for a couple days. Dad, mom, and I went to Cabellas (greatest store ever). Lindsey and I went to half price books. I got to catch up with Radhika. I got to see my boys and give them piggy backs around the yard. Phil, Megan, and Haley all come home (great game nights). Last but not least, I ate TONS of great food (sushi loco, sonic, chicken fried chicken, mercardo juarez, blue bell) <-- that list right there gives a whole lot of insight into why i have a weight problem.

Best of all, I had eight days of NO WORK.

I was too busy having a great time to take many pictures, but i took a few on Christmas.

I asked for a WARM Christmas, not a white christmas (the 26.6 is the outside temp):



Brax in the hat I got him:

Brock in his new camo blanket (he really wanted a snuggie but Nate would've killed me, so this is as close as i came):

brax:

brock:

gator golf, curtesy of phil:

lincoln logs. i should've been an engineer (except that ry and i spent forever building the houses and then brax knocked them over five seconds after we finished):

best. game. ever. duck hunt with a duck that flys and you shoot it down:

stealing ice cream while making ice cream snow men:

finished product. almost too cute to eat:

in all his new texas gear (meg got him the sweatshirt and i got the hat):

i. LOVE. these. boys. LoVe!