Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Next week are finals...at the beginning of the year i was dreading it; i thought they would be hard because everything in college is evidently supposed to be hard. I have three finals...all are open book! I know, easy. I was relieved but thought that for a couple I would have to study since it would cover all the material from the semester. My politics review was interesting. My professor gave us all the questions that would be on the exam; they were fill in the blank. After he gave us all the questions, he gave us the words that go in the blank! So basically he read all the questions from the test with the answers; when it comes to exam day, all i have to do is copy and paste...WAHOO!

THe Envelope System

I am taking a finance class once a week to get a glimpse at...everything! Somethings make sense, others I have no clue what we're talking about. This week we were encouraged to use cash instead of plastic. They encouraged us to use an envelope system. What you do is divide your paycheck into categories that you need: savings and tithing are a "must envelope". Other than those two you can split it up however you like (gas, food, personal, etc). After you spend a certain amount, you write where you spent it and your new balance on the envelope. Once the money is gone from the envelope, there is no more spending in that area until the next paycheck. I think I can do it...we'll see how it goes! :)

My Jesus

I keep hearing this song, so that means one thing...im supposed to share it with you :) If you are really interested, you can listen to it at lyricsmania.com. Its called My Jesus and written by Todd Agnew...enjoy!

Which Jesus do you follow,Which Jesus do you serve
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,Why do you look so much like the world
Cause My Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars,
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
or do we pray to blessed with with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sands
My Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars,
He loved the poor and accosted the rich,
So which one do you want to be
Who is this that You follow,
This picture of the American dream,
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side,
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet
holy
Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion,
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins,
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part,
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him
My Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these,
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable,
So which one do you want to be,
Cause
My Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet,
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
And,
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud
I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
I want to be like my Jesus
Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means to be likeYou Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I wanna be like you Jesus
I wanna be Like my Jesus

cool huh? :)

Without God

Every one of us wouldnt say that we've never had one of those crazy hectic weeks (especially coming to the end of the semester!) When we are crazy busy, we sometimes forget what is most important; our relationship with God. We just look at our week as Sunday through Saturday with no time for relaxation. Our goal is to keep our head above water and if we dont mess anything up, we have succeeded. Well, when keep God out of our lives, our week should look a little something like: Sinday, Mournday, Tearsday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, and Shatterday. Think about it...ITS SO TRUE!
Sometimes we go through the motions, are calloused towards our sinning habits and may even not realize that we have put God to shame. Therefore, we go on without asking him or others we have hurt for forgiveness.
When things go wrong, we always ask why. We seldom come across the thought that maybe our trials are a result of our sin and God may try to be getting our attention back where it should be.
We waste so many hours in our lives doing nothing worth while. Just think of all the time you spend on the computer, texting, watching tv, etc. Then think about how much time you spend with the one who created you.
When we go without God for a period of time, if we are truly striving to become more like His Son, we have that thirst for Him. The feeling of regret that we've been gone for so long, and the yearning to hear from Him.
Sometimes we are so bitter and selfish that instead of doing what God has willed for our lives, we turn the other way. We think that our way is better because we know what's best for us. HA! We all know that NEVER works out in the end.
After pushing against God for a period, our lives eventually shatter. We cant take it anymore, life is too hard on our own, we throw in our white flag and give up.
Thankfully God is always there waiting us to come back to Him. He compassionately welcomes us back because He knows what is best and knows that we cannot do anything without Him.

Its the Little Things in Life...

This week an ear infection decided to pay me a visit unfortunately. As a result, i have not been able to lay down flat for the past three days...meaning that i have slept on the couch those three nights. I can honestly say I MISS MY BED! I miss the spacious mattress, I miss that once you turn off the lights they actually stay off, and i miss my beauty sleep not being interupted by kitchen lights or the ice machine, or clanging of spoons against cereal bowls. Whenever i have gone to bed at night, i dont necessarily think about how nice it is to have a dark and quiet room and that i get to sleep uninterupted. Thats all :)

A Health Proposition

So my mom has done a lot of researching lately on seizure/migraine triggers and many things have come to the surface. In short, my diet will soon change here in a couple of days :) A lot of the migraines that I have are caused by what I put into my body; we have found through research that MSG is a big trigger. She was given a website to read and I just read it. Before I looked at it, she told me there were some food items on the website that contained MSG, and if I wanted to be as healthy as I could possibly be, it would be in my best interest for me not to eat those items. Well let me tell you, that was one long list! However, migraines are NO fun, and I can definitely sacrifice some food for comfort....I think.
Hence the list of MSG-infected food:
Hamburger Helper Microwave Singles® (targeted towards children)
Doritos®
Campbell's® soups - all of them
Pringles® (the flavored varieties)
Progresso® Soups - all of them
Lipton® Noodles and Sauce
Lipton® Instant soup mix
Unilever or Knorr® products - often used in homemade Veggie dips.
Kraft® products nearly all contain some
Gravy Master®
Cup-a-soup® or Cup-o-Noodles®
Planters® salted nuts - most of them
sausages
processed cheese spread
supermarket poultry or turkeys that are injected or "self-basting"
restaurant gravy from food service cans
flavored ramen noodles
instant soup mixes
flavored potato chips
restaurant soups made from food service soup base
gelatin hydrolyzed plant protein (found in canned tuna and even hot dogs)
yeast extract
soy sauce
Splenda
Worcestershire sauce
dry milk and whey powder
King Arthur, Heckers, and Gold Medal flour
body builder drink powders containing protein
Parmesan cheese - naturally high in free glutamate
mushrooms - naturally high in free glutamate
Medications in gelcaps - contain free glutamic acid in the gelatin
So.....some will be hard to not eat, but after reading the website, most of these items I wouldnt even classify as "real foods" after reading all of their ingredients.
For all of you out there who are "healthaholics" here are just some easy tips for eating out that will lead to A LOT healthier lifestyle:
AVOID all CHICKEN items
AVOID all SAUSAGE items
AVOID all PARMESAN products
AVOID all Ranch dressings - stick to oil and vinegar Italian
AVOID Croutons
AVOID KFC altogether
AVOID Dipping Sauces
AVOID Gravy
AVOID TOMATO AND MUSHROOM soup
AVOID McDonald’s fries
Ugh, hopefully I can remember what I can and cant eat :) More importantly, hopefully it will help me stay healthy and prevent my migraines.
Also, another plug in that the grass fam is now doing...my mom has found that if you store leftovers in glass containers rather than tupperware and plastic, it is healthier. Studies have shown that microwaving food in plastic containers may cause breast cancer. Even though glassware is much harder to store in the fridge, it is WELL worth it!
Well thanks to all of you who read my health rant, and feel free to ask how well Im doing at eating what im supposed to and staying disciplined in this area :)

A Day in the Life of

At work this week I have been taking care of a VERY LARGE patient......700 lbs to be exact. No I am not exaggerating; I looked at the kilograms, converted it, asked a nurse if it was right, and was confirmed. Yeah, interesting to say the least. In the hospital it is a rule that you should turn each patient every two hours. It usually only takes one or two people, but this time it took ten of us using every single muscle we had. We had to order a special bed and gown for her also. Everything you would do with a normal patient, the difficulty level was magnified like 700 times! It was sooo hard to really do anything which is frustrating at times, but oh well. Two days later, her bed deflated and we had to order a new bed. We could not get her from point A to point B so I was told to call the fire dept. so those hefty guys could come move her, and it took seven of them. We took a dietary survey of what she eats; JUST FOR LUNCH she eats 10 double cheeseburgers from McD's! Well, she'll be in the ICU for a while which is sad, but everyday i learn something very intriguing. Just another day in the life...