some soul searching

today was day 6 of my book Woman After God's Own Heart. i am really loving it, and already i can feel changes occurring in my heart and see changes occurring in my home. this week has been so exhausting, but so fulfilling. i get up at 530 every morning to spend time reading this book and my Bible. i do it first thing in the morning so i can focus on only it and i don't have 10000 things from my day running through my mind trying to ruin my quiet time. hannah gets up shortly after i finish, and we have breakfast and get ready for our day. i have been making my lunch EVERY day, with healthy, good-for-me foods. i used to just grab a frozen meal for my lunch and maybe a bag of cheese its or something, but i am trying to eat better. smaller portions more often throughout the day to keep my energy up. and i have to say, i feel so much better. my body likes the smaller portions, and eating several times throughout the day seems to keep my brain awake. i even have been cleaning the kitchen every morning before i leave the house so when i have to start dinner later, i can just start dinner! our evenings are pretty laid back, with dinner and books and puzzles and snuggles on the couch and lots of play time as a family. we take hannah back to her room about 830 to read a final book and she goes to bed, then i hit the treadmill. again, i am exhausted by then, but it's been so fantastic. i seem to be running out all the stress from the day, so i shower and am sleeping better than i have in a long time. so even though i am sleeping less, it's still better. then, i am ready to get up at 530 and start the whole day over. i really am feeling so good, and am working on a "clean spirit, clean home, healthy body" and it all seems to be working together for me!

we are in the process of becoming debt free. we still have a while, but i like these changes that are taking place as well. we are eating out less often, which means we are eating healthier just by doing that. we try to use cash for things because we seem to be less likely to spend cash than if we are using our debit cards. our house seems less cluttered because we are getting rid of junk we don't need, and not spending money on silly things we don't need. a lot of thought goes into every dollar spent now, which has been great!

ok, i talked about posting some stuff from our summer, but there is so much i think i am going to have to break it up. i will just start with ballet camp that hannah did back in june. she had so much fun, and she is so ready for actual ballet classes! she followed instructions very well and really just loves to dance! she made some friends and just really had a great time doing it! it was a mommy and me class, which of course means the mommies had to act pretty silly, but the girls didn't care, and didn't even know that we felt silly! they loved the interaction!

and there's never been any doubt i have a ham of a child, so posing for the camera was always part of any activity we did! i love that she loved ballet! when she starts in the fall, i will definitely have more pics!

happy friday! have a wonderful weekend!