New Blog
Housekeeping February 17th, 2009
Located at http://mandygrace.wordpress.com.
We Shopped Till We Dropped
Holidays, Life, shopping December 30th, 2008
I had the most amazingly fun day today. First of all, my sister left early this morning with my aunt to go for a long drive down to the central valley. My sis needs a few more driving hours before she can get her license, so they decided to go meet our cousin for lunch.
After they left, my mom and I went to the mall to go after-Christmas shopping! We didn’t just go to any mall either. We went to the nice mall with tons of stores with huge inventory (way more than our local mall has). I had some serious big bucks to spend after all the gift cards I got for Christmas. We shopped till we dropped and had a blast!
Read the rest of this post (with pics) at my other blog…
Christmas 2008 Recap
Christmas, Holidays December 27th, 2008
My family and I had a nice Christmas this year. I decided today that I better post a recap here before the year slips away altogether.
On Christmas Eve we spent the morning at home doing things around the house. I vacuumed and dusted my room after breakfast. No matter what the holiday, I feel so much more able to enjoy it when my room is clean and I don’t have to worry about mess. Neatness and order brings peace, and after all - Jesus came to bring peace on earth. The two are connected, what do you know?
Also that morning I finished up the chocolate snowball cookies I had whipped up the night before. They needed a final rolling in powdered sugar. Once that was done we put cookie plates together and took them to our neighbors.
The plates contained sugar cookies, peanut butter crinkles, molasses crinkles, meringue bars, chocolate snowballs, butternut snowballs, chocolate fudge, and an assortment of wrapped chocolates.
A little after lunchtime on the 24th my parents, sister, and I left to drive up to our grandparents’ house for the usual celebration with Dad’s side of the family. Sadly this year we were the only ones who could go, but it was good to see them at least. We had dinner, did presents, and hit the road again, arriving home around 8:30 or so at night.
We all ended up staying up very late that night. At the very end of the day I got in bed and took some time (a lot of time) to write in my journal. I ended up turning my light out around midnight. I never stay up that late!
On Christmas morning we, of course, opened presents first thing. Here is our tree…
Here I am with my new awesome texting phone:
And here is some of my awesome loot!
I got:
-Aeropostale gift card
-Kohl’s gift card
-Borders gift card (from my sister)
-Macy’s gift card (from my boss)
-iTunes gift card
-Cash (from my grandparents)
-Pantech Matrix cell phone
-Body spray and body wash from Bath and Body Works
-Earrings
-A sweater and shirt from American Eagle
-Slippers
-Beyond Stateliest Marble by Douglas Wilson
-The Princess Adelina by Julie Sutter
-What is Biblical Femininity DVD by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin
-A pink leather journal
-A Moleskine weekly planner for 2009
-Soft Pastels kit (from Vision Forum)
-The Everyday Vegan by Dreena Burton
-Necklace (from my sister)
-Fluffy socks (from my sister)
-Vera Bradley notebook, folders, paper stack, and key chain (from my grandparents)
-A sweater dress (from my aunt)
-The Essential Guide to Gardening Techniques by Susan Berry (from my aunt and uncle)
-Stocking stuffers: pencils, gel pens, lotion, a bookmark, maple candy, fruit suckers, nail polish, eye shadow, gum, hand sanitizer, ponytail holders, post-it notes, a pink purse
Ummm, have I forgotten anything? I think that’s it. It? I don’t mean it that way. I am so blessed by my generous family. :-)
On the afternoon of Christmas my two aunts and uncle came over for dinner and presents. We had honeybaked ham with all the fixings. Yum.
Overall this has been an enjoyable holiday, and now the memories are preserved for years to come.
I wish you all a happy New Year!
Merry Christmas
Christmas, Holidays December 24th, 2008
To my readers:
On this 24th day of December, I want to take the opportunity to wish you and your families a very blessed and merry Christmas. I appreciate each one of you who reads my blog, and I thank you for all your comments, support, and prayers. If I had the money for shipping, I would love to send each one of you a package of my homemade Christmas cookies, but sadly that’s just not possible. I trust that wherever you are, you’re indulging in some holiday treats already. After all, Christmas only comes once a year (so go away ED).
Our Christmas Plans:
Every year on Christmas Eve we get together with my dad’s side of the family to have dinner and exchange gifts. We alternate hosting, and this year it’s at my grandparents’ house. That’s where we’ll be going later on today. I just love being in a family that gets two Christmases every year - one on the 24th, one on the 25th. It rocks. :-)
For the past week I’ve been busy making all different kinds of Christmas cookies… peanut butter crinkles, molasses crinkles, meringue bars, sugar cookies, and chocolate snowballs. My mom has also made fudge and butternut snowballs. This morning before we leave we’re going to deliver cookie plates to our neighbors. We haven’t done this for a few years, so it should be a fun surprise.
We’ll, that’s all I have time for in this update. I’d encourage you (as I remind myself) to keep in mind the reason behind the holiday - the Father sending His Son to earth in a human body so that He could suffer and die for our sins. I see new meaning in Christmas this year because of ED. May you also refresh your memory of that sweet, old story, and have a very merry Christmas!
Tired…of Ed
Life December 22nd, 2008
The other day I read a very inspiring post by Jenny at This Winding Road about ED recovery. Her words got me thinking about my own journey this past year.
The year 2008 brought Ed into my life. In January I started out with the best intentions to be healthy. I gave up almost all sweets and junk food. In part I was forced to because eating them made me sick. I was also forced to cut out dairy and wheat from my diet. Because of my stomach issues, it was easy for me to give up those things. But it was so many restrictions… as the year went on, it only got easier and easier to restrict.
I exercised every day. My dad and I walked around the lake each morning for a half hour, rain or shine. In addition I took full advantage of our big trampoline and exercise bike. Exercise made me feel so good, both mentally and physically. It was a great stress reducer and a way to clear my head. I got some of my best writing ideas while trampolining in our backyard.
I thought I was doing my body good. I thought I was taking care of myself as the Lord’s temple. Somehow I went too far… Losing weight became practically effortless for me. It was so easy, and I liked how I looked.
Ed took everything away. I had to stop walking around the lake when summer started. My body did not have the energy to make it all the way around. I used to be the one who always tried to get my dad to walk faster. But now I was the one who was trying to keep up.
In the spring I planted the flower and vegetable gardens in our yard by myself. In my effort to exercise as much as possible, I pushed myself too far. I did a lot more shoveling, rotatilling, and manual labor than I should have. By the end of the summer, my mom took over watering because I didn’t even have the energy to go outside and lug the watering can around.
I’m so tired. When a person loses a lot of weight, they lose muscle in addition to fat. What’s the main muscle in the human body? The heart. I am constantly tired because my heart is small. Do you know what Ed tells me now? He says if I have more energy than usual, or if I don’t feel tired, then I must have eaten too much. Ed is a slave driver.
I am tired of Ed. I want to have a healthy heart filled with the joy of life. I don’t want to get osteoporosis. I want back all the things Ed has taken from me. I am in the process of recovering myself, and I will get through. 2009 will be a better year.
Lord, empty me of Ed, so I may be filled with you.
Christmas Tree Day
Christmas, Life, Photos, garden December 11th, 2008
On Tuesday this week my parents, sister, and I headed over to the nursery to pick out our Christmas tree. We were greeted by an abundant variety of different kinds of firs and finally decided on a Noble. Noble’s have the best branch layering for hanging ornaments.
Here I am in front of the one we chose. The weather was gorgeous out.
Of course, we had a special reason for going to the nursery to get a tree instead of to the usual Young Life tree lot. You see, way back in summer a little birdie told us that the blackberry plants arrive around Christmastime. Now I can say that we are the proud owners of blueberry plants and ollalie berry vines!!!
Dad also picked out a bunch of asparagus plants. The majority of my family is not partial to asparagus, so I’m not sure what we’ll do with it all, but oh well. If the rest of us got berries, we can let him get his asparagus.
Only two weeks till Christmas!
Update on My Week
Life, Nutrition, books, work December 7th, 2008
This week has gone okay for me. I guess I should say LAST week, since technically Sunday starts a new week. Anyway, I’ll backtrack for you.
Yesterday I had to work in my dad’s office, as usual. My to-do list was miles long, which was a really really good thing. The atmosphere in our office for the past month has been extremely stressful. Job security has been a huge worry issue for everyone. That plus the chaos of packing and moving offices has just been too much. So when business picks up and makes me busy, that’s a turn in a very good direction. Yesterday I even had to stay a half hour later than usual, and you know what? I didn’t mind. Now that shows you how much things have changed. :-)
On Friday my family and I drove up to my sister’s school. We hadn’t taken a trip together in ages, so that was a nice switch up from the daily grind. The weather was gorgeous there – sunny and warm. What a treat. Before we started the long drive home, my dad even bought us each a book from Barnes and Noble. So fun. I picked out Twelve Extraordinary Women by John MacArthur. I’m sure that will be an edifying read.
Let’s see, on Tuesday I had an appointment with my nutritionist. That went okay. My weight is down, but I expected that. She blind-weighed me, so I don’t know what my exact number is, but she did tell me what number it was below. We talked about food related fears and how to avoid being in an ED mentality.
When a person’s weight gets too low, then it’s hard for them to be rational and be able to get themselves out of that pattern of thinking. When you get too low, there comes a time when you can’t even help yourself. Options then would be hospitalization or outpatient treatment. I don’t want to get there, so we talked about ways to avoid that. I showed her my food diary and she made suggestions about what I can do to increase my calories, so I’ve been trying to do better.
Tonight my mom and I have our very last book club meeting of this year. Last week we finished Around the World in 80 Days, so tonight we’re watching the movie! It’s 3 hours long, so hopefully I’ll make it through. Let’s hope we start on time.
The Case for Christmas
Christmas December 6th, 2008
Only 19 more days until Christmas! Christmas is my favorite holiday for many reasons. Let me tell you about them!
One is because it’s a holiday that seems to last forever. Our local mall had decorations up before Thanskgiving. Now that might be a little much, but I’d say the whole month of December is worthy of celebrating the holiday in. I think most people would agree.
In days past, my family and I used to go cut down a Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. We would wait to put it in the house and decorate it until sometime in early December. There was such anticipation of getting the boxes of ornaments and decorations out of the attic in the garage. My sisters and I bugged our dad until he would do it so we could decorate. If we didn’t make the house festive at the beginning of December, we felt cheated out of a shorter holiday than everyone else was getting.
Another reason I love Christmas is because of all the happy memories I have of Christmases as a little girl. So many memories of family get-togethers, feasts, gifts, games, and laughter. I have hundreds of wonderful Christmas memories, and I couldn’t even begin to describe them all. This time of year brings those sweet thoughts to the forefront of my mind and gives my family and I lots of conversation and “Remember whens…” throughout the whole month.
Reason #3. The songs… Singing Christmas carols in church and playing Christmas cds in my room and throughout the house. My favorite Christmas cd is the one made by Point of Grace - it’s so pretty. And don’t forget The Nutcracker ballet soundtrack.
Reason #4. The decorations that bring beauty to the eyes and wonderful aromas to the nose… fragrant green Christmas trees, ornaments, twinkling lights, garland, candles, stockings, wreaths, red bows, nativity scenes.
Reason #5. The movies… What would the month of December be without watching all the Tim Allen Santa Clause movies, White Christmas, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Polar Express, or Home Alone?
Reason #6. The books… One Wintery Night, A Christmas Carol, the Christmas Story of Luke 2.
Reason #7. The focus on the birth of Christ and God’s great love towards us.
I could go on and on, but I’ll stop there. So tell me… what do you love about this time of year?
Does Truth Hold You?
Articles, Bible Study, Biblical Doctrine, Scripture, truth November 26th, 2008
Boy did I turn on my radio at just the right time this morning! Every so often I like to listen to the Thru the Bible radio program by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Right now the “Bible Bus” is going through Proverbs. Today when I tuned in, I caught the last part of the study on chapter 2. At the very end of the segment, the announcer posed the following question: “Does truth hold you?”
I thought, Wow, this applies to me perfectly right now. Is the truth holding me? In my life, am I bound and protected by God’s truth from the wickedness in the world and from Satan’s lies?
Proverbs 2:10-11 says, “When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee” (KJV – emphasis mine).
In the NIV, verse 11 reads, “Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.”
I encourage you to read these two verses in the context of Proverbs 2:1-15 for yourself. The gist of it is that if we seek God’s wisdom (found in the Scriptures alone), and if we really work hard to put the truth inside us and allow it to permeate our lives, then that wisdom will protect our lives, minds, health, and sanity. We will be saved from evil men who try to lead us astray into sin. We will have a defense against lies that the world tries to make us believe.
This is a subject I’ve really been studying lately, so it was neat to see how God brought this passage to me to see in a new way this morning.
What about you? What are some of Satan’s lies that you’re believing right now? Is it that…
-You have to look a certain way for people to like you
-No one understands you
-God doesn’t love you because you’ve sinned too much
-Going to college and pursuing a career is more important than homemaking
-You’ll never be able to break your sinful habits no matter how hard you try
These are lies! We need God’s truth and wisdom to cleanse our minds and purify our hearts. Proverbs 2:9b says that “…knowledge will be pleasant to your soul” (NIV). If we increase our knowledge of God, it will satisfy us and make us happy! Not only that, but it will bring glory to God because we will be delighting in His wisdom.
You know what? With wisdom comes victory (Pr. 2:7). There is victory in recovery. Find victory and freedom in Christ.
For more on the topic of God’s truth versus Satan’s lies, I’d encourage you to check out the book Lies Young Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh.
Does truth hold you?
Over the River and Through the Woods
Holidays, thanksgiving November 23rd, 2008
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is only a few short days away? At this time last year my family and I were getting ready to drive up to Idaho to spend the holiday at my grandparents’ house. That was the first time we got to see their new home. By the time we arrived, a blanket of snow had fallen and covered the town, making it look just like a wintery scene out of a movie.
Snow is pretty to look at, but right now I am thankful for the sunny days we’ve been having here. Speaking of which, this is a good time of year to reflect on what we’re thankful for. Here is my list…
At this time in my life, I’m thankful for:
-My job
-Good health insurance
-Good doctors
-My R.D.
-Being on the road to recovery
-Journals and notebooks
-Blogging friends
-Family
-The many different versions of the Bible that I posess to help me understand the Word better
-Grace, mercy, forgiveness
-My space heater :-)
-Hot tea on cold mornings
-Our home - a safe haven in these troubling economic times
-Decreasing gas prices!
-Whole Foods shopping trips with Mom
-Being able to work in the same office as Dad (almost) every day
-Watching horseback riding lessons with Emily
-And so much more
What are you thankful for?
