A Healthy 2008

Sorry I haven't had a chance to post lately. I've been so busy! This afternoon I was working on my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Business Website, which goes live tomorrow! I'm so excited about it! It looks so much nicer than the old site, and there is so much more you can do with it. I've been playing all afternoon! Please check it out tomorrow and let me know what you think (I welcome constructive suggestions for improvement!).

Then this weekend, I was working on a 3 x 3 valentines swap that Candace is hosting. This is my first swap, so I'm very nervous. Of course, I decided to do some dry embossing on the card, which is taking a LOOONG time on 11 cards! Next time I'll have to think things through! I'll post the cards when I'm finished them all so you can take a look.

I was also spending a lot of time this weekend praying and thinking about what I would like to change this year (I'd call them New Year's Resolutions, but then they'd be doomed to fail! LOL!). I really need to get healthy this year, so I made this Health Journal to help me stay motivated and focused (I know, any excuse to play with my stamps)! I read in Good Housekeeping that the biggest determinant of people losing weight is whether or not they journal what they eat. So, I thought I'd give it a try. For this journal, I thought I'd keep it simple since I'll be using it all year (at least that's the plan!). I covered it with Ginger Blossoms paper, then stamped the title with the Best Friends Alphabet in Ruby Red on Very Vanilla. I matted this on some Ruby Red cardstock. The flower is stamped from Embrace Life in Ruby Red on Groovy Guava, then cut out and adhered with a dimensional. For the center of the flower, I cut out a flower from the Ginger Blossoms paper and stuck it in the middle. I finished it off with a strip of Bravo Burgundy wide grosgrain ribbon.

At first, I was going to focus just on losing weight, but then I thought that I should really look at my over-all health. So with a lot of prayer, I've come up with some goals. I need to eat healthier and exercise at least three times a week (I want to lose 30 lbs and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight!).

For my spiritual goals, I also need to spend time in prayer and in the Bible ("...man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." - Deuteronomy 8:3b). I plan to study a book of the Bible each month, starting with Daniel, and spend time in prayer each morning before the kids get up.

I also have some social goals. I've become a bit of a hermit since I had kids! I've decided to phone at least one friend a week just to chat and invite someone over for dinner at least once a month.

Then I thought I should have some marital goals to keep my marriage strong. I know a few people who recently decided to separate or divorce after many years of what seemed to be happy marriages. It's probably best to keep things strong and communicate! So we're going to start having a regular date night, "couch time" every day when he gets home from work (this is where we sit down on the couch and talk about the day for a few minutes) and do a weekly couple's devotional to keep us connected with God as a couple.

Well, that's a lot of things to work on this year! It's only the first day, so hopefully I can stay focused! I typically do well for a few weeks, then fizzle out, so I'm really hoping that doesn't happen again!

So has anyone else made any goals/resolutions? I'd love to hear them! Please leave a comment and let me know what you're planning for this year.

Wow, this is a long post! Thanks for "listening" to my rambling. I wish you all a Happy and Healthy 2008!