Wednesday, June 30, 2010

iFellowship link up @ Seeds of Faith!

iFellowship
It's that time again! I am late, as usual, but my out-of-home work schedule has not been allowing for much time online! Be sure to stop by and check out all the wonderful ladies who have linked up today! I am getting ready to meet me some new beautiful women! 

PhotobucketDon't forget to visit the newest Homeschool Blog Hop, Hip Homeschool Hop! Sue and Meghan are the best, wouldn't ya agree? 

I Love the team over at Seeds of Faith and I know you will too so STOP BY!

The Everything Wedding Etiquette Book Giveaway!


Hip WeddingsFor those who don't know... I am a MOH. (Matron of Honor) My little sister is getting married in March 2011 (sniff, sniff) and the planning has started and is going full force. I am blogging about this giveaway for a chance to win "The Everything Wedding Etiquette Book" for my sis! So click here to check out the giveaway and if you are a bride-to-be or know one, then enter!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Get back up again...

I failed yesterday. It had been a month since I had emotionally or stressfully eaten, and yesterday I blew it. I am not going to go into the details of why, let's just say that I am one of those people who loves to have a plan, and when a wrench gets thrown in, I lose it. (Is there a name for us?)

So, the wrench was thrown in to my planned out week yesterday evening, and soon after I had a meeting with a waffle cone ice cream. And this normally would not have been a problem, except, instead of praying or pulling out my Bible because I was frustrated, I went to food. It wasn't long after this mistake that I realized what I did wrong, and talked to God about it. And the great thing was, he forgave me. Yep, I felt a peace about the situation right then and there. (not to mention later on today I found out that my plans were most likely back on!)

Isn't it great that when we fall God picks us back up, dusts us off, and lets us try again? I found grace, and mercy in my time of need yesterday.
Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
So yes, I failed yesterday. But I didn't dwell on it. I asked forgiveness for my weakness, and asked God for strength to overcome the next frustration that arises. I got back up.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

I want to be my own photographer...

I got tired of scheduling then rescheduling photo shoots just because we didn't have the extra money to spend, so I started reading about photography, and gathering all the tips I could find! Please share if you know of some great sites or blogs where I could find more direction!

A few shots from today...

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Tip the Scales Thursday - 1 month weight loss total

Well... This past week was pretty uneventful. I have done great with my eating, got in a little more exercise than usual, and drank a lot of water. But this past week was that certain monthly "hormonal " week, so, there is no telling what the scale is going to do this morning. I have had a big problem with my allergies this past week. I should have lost five pounds just in the liquid constantly draining out of my eyes and nose. (Yuck, sorry.) I am still doing my courses at The Lord's Table, and they are going well. Sometimes I get lazy and don't feel like answering every question, but I push through it anyway and usually end up learning something about myself that I wouldn't have realized had I not made myself be honest and answer those pesky questions!

I was a little bummed this past weekend. I had entered to be a contestant on a new weight loss competition at Win, Lose or Blog, and I was not chosen. There will be more seasons after this initial one, so hopefully I will be a future contestant. Take a minute to check out the blog, and cheer on the ladies who were picked as contestants for this first season. I am sure they will appreciate it!

Now, onward with the weigh-in...

As always, 
a reminder of last week's weight
 277.8

And this week's weight is...
(Ack, I don't wanna look!)
 276.5
(-1.3 lbs)
Making a total of 11.4 lbs lost in the past month!!!

Thanks for reading, and PLEASE leave a comment! :)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

iFellowship! Better late than never!

iFellowshipI have been working at my out of home job a lot more than usual, so I haven't been on the ball with my blog memes this week. But this is one I have to share! If you are a Christian mom, or woman, you have got to stop by and check out the women at the Seeds of Faith iFellowship link up! You won't regret it!

Monday, June 21, 2010

YUMMY. Awesome new recipe! Mexi-Turkeyloaf

I decided that I needed to use the pound of ground lean turkey in my fridge within the next couple days, or it was going to have to meet the trashcan. So, I got online and input my ingredient list into a few different websites, but never got a recipe that sounded good to me. So I went about it alone... 

(Insert horror music here)




I call this... Mexi-Turkeyloaf (Please, no applause.)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1 egg
2 very toasted pieces of bread, or 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
1 can of Ro-tel drained (I like the kind with Cilantro and Lime)
1/2 - 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
Garlic powder to taste
Lime juice if you so please

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Mix everything together in a bowl. (I am not about to tell you to mix it with your bare hands, because I didn't. Yuck.) If you need to make your own bread crumbs, grab your two slices of bread and toast them, and I mean toast (but don't burn) then just pinch the toast up into breadcrumbs, easy, right? So, mix all that together, and press the mixture into a lightly greased loaf pan. I sprinkled a bit of cheese over top of mine, just because I believe everything should be topped with cheese. Ha! Place your loaf in your heated oven and bake for around 45 minutes.

Before:
After:
Oh so yummy! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

I need a Christian accountability partner!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New King James Version) 
Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Some of you may know that I was recently delivered from an addiction to food. Food controlled my life. I was putting food before God and it was damaging my health and my relationship with Him. I recently started a course called The Lord's Table and it has really helped me realize my mistakes, and given me great advice and scripture to use against this bondage that I was being held by. My relationship with Christ has grown by leaps and bounds! (And I have lost 12 pounds!)

I am still doing The Lord's Table course to help me continue to overcome this addiction. Today's course suggested I find an accountability partner. The course suggests that this person be a Christian, who is not currently having the same issue. I know that many of you lead very busy lives, and may not have time to help me with this sort of thing, but you may know someone who can. There would not be much involved other than praying for me and being there when I need to talk, or seeking me out to help me stay accountable. All the correspondence could be through email. Or if my partner prefers, some days could be over the phone.

From the course:

Here are some guidelines to follow when you initiate accountability with your partner:
  1. Agree to openness and honesty. Bondage to overeating brings deception with it, and some of us have been deceptive for years. If we want to escape from our slavery to sin, we must start with honesty, even if it is humbling. If your accountability partner asks how you are doing, and you have just fallen into sinful eating, you must honestly admit it.
  2. Agree to prepare and share with your accountability partner your plan for overcoming sinful eating habits. (This means looking for areas of possible temptation and developing a plan to flee them.) Ask your accountability partner to help you by making suggestions to your plan and holding you accountable to it.
  3. Agree to give your partner freedom to ask the hard questions, without taking offense.
  4. Agree to initiate communication daily for the first 30 days, as far as is possible. One important thing to remember is that your partner will, at some point, fail you in some way (Jesus Christ is the only one who will never fail us). It's critical to take the initiative ourselves in providing our accountability reports. Simply get in touch with your partner and say something like, "I’m just letting you know I'm free from overeating today. I exercised and I'm seeking to enjoy the Lord." Don't wait for your partner to ask you questions; initiate the process by keeping him or her informed as to your condition.
As you can see, being my partner would mean having daily contact with me. I am asking that the person(s) who agree to do this be very serious about this. Again from the course:
"My friend, an accountability partner who loves Scripture and cares for your soul should be able to detect when you are about to fall asleep in the land of enchantment—that is, he or she can tell when you're struggling with sinful eating habits. An accountability is there to "wake us up" when we're at risk of falling back into our old ways. This is an indispensable part of finding freedom."
I am praying that God will send this person along my way. I hope that if this seems like it could be you, that you would pray about it first and be sure that this is what God would have you do. Please comment here if you feel like you could help me, or email me at kjrobinette{at}gmail{dot}com. Thanks so much for reading!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Tip the Scales Thursday

Wow, this week was really trying. I did not get in as much activity, but my eating was great. But I got back into one of my old bad habits: scale hopping. And by yesterday morning, it had me discouraged. I kept thinking, "What am I doing wrong?!" But I keep forgetting that every week is not going to be a 3 or 4 lb week. So, plan for this week: NO MORE SCALE HOPPING! (Somebody hide the Wii Fit Board!) And I also plan on getting in more activity. I am working a lot in the evenings, and there is a beautiful park very close to where I work, so I plan on taking my lunch there and getting in a quick mile! Sounds like a plan, don't you think?
 
The lessons at the Lord's Table have been really encouraging this week. One of the lessons was based on Ephesians Chapter 4:22-24.  
" that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."  
So my prayer has been for God to give me strength to leave the old Kimberly, and all of her bad eating habits, behind and put on the NEW me, which God has created righteous and holy! 

Okay, so enough rambling, you wanna see a weigh-in, right?? Okay, let's do this!

Just to remind you of last week's weight...

279.3

And this week's weight is...

277.8
Not a huge loss, but hey, it's a loss!
(-1.5 lbs.)

Thanks for stopping by this week, and as always, please leave a comment, it really encourages me!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I love iFellowship! Please join us by linking up!

iFellowship

This is my favorite day of the week! I get to meet new Christian ladies and read awesome new blogs! Come on over to Seeds of Faith and link up with us! If you are stopping by from iFellowship, please be sure to leave a comment!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Do you have a homeschool space in your home?

Come to my homeschool blog and share what's in it! I need all the ideas I can get! :)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Are you a homeschooler?

Come check out my new homeschooling blog! 

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Homeschool Village

PhotobucketIt's that time again!

This is our first year homeschooling, so I am still fresh, BUT, I look forward to reading what many of you other homeschool moms do to get that fresh feeling back between years or sessions.  Thanks for stopping by today!



Check out all the other homeschool blogs that have linked up by clicking the Homeschool Village button!

Forgot to add my featured HS blogs!

coahbutton 

1. Confessions of a Homeschooler - I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my computer back from the repairman so I can download her A-Z PreK Curriculum... Can't wait! :)







2. Preschoolers and Peace - Even though she is on a break for the month of June, there is tons of reading to be done in this blog!!








 3. Being Refined as Silver - One of my new favorite bloggers. She is an awesome woman of God and I love reading her Truth for Thursday posts.

Tip the Scales Thursday Weekly Weigh-in

This week has been trying. My birthday was Saturday and Christ-Like Daddy took me out for an awesome meal at Olive Garden. (Thanks again to my friend S. for the gift card!) Then on Sunday my parents took us out to a wonderful Italian Cuisine restaurant, where I played it safe with a veggie calzone, and I only ate half, but the waiter found out it was my birthday and brought out a big slab of cheesecake. Between Little Monkey taking a chunk out of it, bare handed, and splitting it with my mom I only ate a few bites. Tuesday my parents had a cookout at their house. We had everything from babyback ribs to kielbasa. It was delish, and I tried to cut down calories by not eating any buns, but there was a lot of grease and salt. I did, however, workout more this week. Monday night I attended a Zumba class with my sister, and worked out on my Wii Fit more than usual. But I wasn't looking for a huge loss this week, cause I can tell I have been retaining some water. But, the scale pleased me this morning. So here we go...

As usual I will start with last week's weight just as a reminder...



And this morning's weight is...
:-D *Insert huge smile here* :-D
I am out of the 280's today! 
That is a loss of 2.9 pounds Yippee!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

iFellowship time!

iFellowship

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to leave a comment if you are a new follower and I will come visit you back! :)

Have an awesome day in Christ!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

My child was accepted into pre-school, but we are homeschooling. And here's why...

I have heard that this certain elementary school was a highly sought after school for preschoolers. So other moms would be ecstatic right now, but not me.  I want to homeschool my children. And unless it just does not work for us, I am going to homeschool. I do not want my children to be exposed to all that goes on in public school. You may be sitting there, sighing, thinking that public schools aren't that bad, but if I remember learning about sex in second grade from other kids 18 years ago, then I can only imagine what they are talking about now. Sure, we could enroll Little Bear in a Christian school, but right now, financially, that is not possible. (And for the sake of argument, I know that a Christian school will still have bullies, and talk that shouldn't be in any school.) I am really not trying to start a debate between public schooling and homeschooling. I know some awesome teachers. One of whom is in my family. If all the teachers were like her, a beautiful Christian woman who is caring, observant, and very detail oriented, then I would send them off on the big yellow bus without a worry. But unfortunately, that's not the case. 

I want my children to have a much better education experience than I ever had. I disliked school. I did not want to go, most days, especially in high school, I didn't. (Which got my parents and I a meeting with the truancy board.) I was highly interested in certain classes and activities but wouldn't dare participate if my friends were not participating. I joined the band in 6th grade. For many months I held the first chair in the clarinet section. I was good. But my friends made fun of me, and I was bullied by one of the flute players, so I quit. I know that what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, but I don't want my children to base their decisions in school on what others think. My parents were very supportive and pushed me to be the best. My dad often encouraged me to, "walk to the beat of a different drum." But when a child is surrounded by their peers, they are likely to follow the crowd, unless they are the leader. I was not a leader, I was very much a follower. I regret so badly not staying in band. I regret not staying in trade school where I might've graduated with a trade that could have been useful to my family today. I know, it's not good to dwell on the past, and to have regrets, but these are things that I feel, no, that I know would have been different if not for the peer pressure, and lack of direction, or support from teachers.

So now I bet you are thinking, "just because these things happened to her, it doesn't mean it will happen to her children." No, they probably will not experience the same things I experienced in school. So that brings me to the biggest reason I want to homeschool. We are Christians. Prayer is a big part of my life. And prayer is already gone from school. I will not have my children getting in trouble if they decide to bow their head and give thanks to God during lunch. I will not have my children being taught that homosexuality is genetic, or that a person was born gay and they can't help their feelings, so it's okay. I will not have my children being taught that sex before marriage is okay as long as they use protection. I will not have my children being exposed to drugs and alcohol in school. I will not have a teacher mock my child for our beliefs. (Yes, people, it happens.) 

I hate that I feel I have to defend our choice to homeschool. So may people around me have already commented that our child will miss out on so much if we homeschool, or they will not be properly socialized, or they will be a wimp because they won't have the events at school to help them learn how to cope with bullies or hard situations. I know that I am not going to be able to guard my children from all of the bad things in this world. But I believe that by keeping them initially at home, then eventually (possibly) in a Christian school I can shield them from a good percentage of it.

Now, I am getting down off of my soap box. Feel free to comment, but please do not bash my decision or my beliefs.

The winner of the Scentful Saturday Giveaway...


The winner of the Scentful Saturday Giveaway is comment #20..
QueenB said...
@mamatomjr follows you already
Congrats QueenB, I have contacted you via email! Queen B has 48 hours to respond, or I will pick another winner! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

My new weight loss weapon


How many diets have you tried?? I have tried more than I care to list here. I figure I have spent at least $2500 in gimmicks, materials, videos, etc., to try to lose weight. All this time I was doing the WRONG things! A great twitter friend of mine, @AprilLooWho suggested an online resource at Setting Captives Free called The Lord's Table. (And the best thing is, it's completely FREE!)
"The Lord's Table is not behavior modification with prayer assistance. It is not a 60-day diet plan, pills that guarantee weight loss, programs that focus on food, or methods that require us to count calories, fat grams, carbohydrates or sugar. We are about setting forth Christ as our soul's satisfaction, about calling ourselves to repentance from habits of overeating, and about maintaining accountability. This results in our developing habits of eating in a disciplined manner which produces weight loss and long term lifestyle changes."

It wasn't until just recently that I realized the my overeating was an addiction, an actual eating disorder. I just thought that I was a person that really enjoyed food, but that was so wrong, I was addicted to food. When I got stressed out, I ate. When the kids were being particularly ornery, I ate. When I was bored, I ate.  Many of you read my post on Thursday the 27th about my struggles. Like I posted, I was not including God in my daily struggles. Instead of turning to him when I was overwhelmed or depressed, I turned to food. And that has gotten me nowhere but extremely overweight. This course at Setting Captives Free has helped me tremendously over the last week! I never realized how much "diet" advice was in the Bible. Now when I feel the urge to binge, I have been feasting at The Lord's Table instead of stuffing my face, crouched in front of the refrigerator door.
"Feasting at the Lord's table" is a bit difficult to wrap words around, but let's try! Feasting at the Lord's Table is more than just reading our Bibles, it is a term to express the fattening of our souls in Jesus Christ. It means that we are sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing His Word and believing, for the purpose of implementing the truths into our lives. It means we are receiving spiritual nourishment and that we are delighting our souls in His grace and truth. This can be done reading our Bibles, hearing God's Word preached, interacting with others, studying through this course...etc. This definition is at least a start, more is explained in the course."
I have learned that I was trying to lose weight for all the wrong reasons. Sure, it is great to want to buy smaller clothes, or "look good," but those things really do not glorify God. The first day of this course helps us to realize what the right reasons are for losing weight.

Another thing about this program that I love is that you are assigned your own Christian mentor who emails you after each course to comment on your progress and provide extra personal support if needed. My mentor, Liz, has been a blessing to me. She constantly lifts me up in prayer, and encourages me daily. 

I encourage you to browse around the Setting Captives Free website. They have courses for many different addictions/struggles. They also have a simple Bible Study program if you feel you need a little more of His word in your life!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Bubble Chocolate Winners

Congrats to all 5 winners who each won a milk chocolate and a dark chocolate bar of Bubble Chocolate. I will be contacting you soon via email! It may be an hour or two, I just got home from work! (Cut it close!) If a winner does not reply to my email within 48 hours a new winner will be chosen. 

56 -  MelissaStuff  said...
    Like you on FB

5 -  I♥thesecrazykids  said...
    Following you on twitter
    bcgood83@yahoo.com

33 - Deal Daddy  said...
    I follow Bubble Chocolate on Facebook

17 -  lindseyloo  said...
    following bubble chocolate on facebook...
    lindsey d.
    linds727@gmail.com

62 - ♥Cari♥  said...
    I tweeted!
    http://twitter.com/ThisLittleFam/status/15388617198
    carissa.sutton(at)gmail.com

Friday Follow - My birthday is tomorrow!

It has been a while since I have done a Blog Hop on a Friday so I figured, why not?! 

So if you are stopping by from Friday Follow be sure to comment I will follow you back! Also while your here, don't forget to enter my giveaways! There will be 5 winners on the Bubble Chocolate giveaway, be sure to enter! Tomorrow is my birthday and is also the last day of the Scentful Saturday Giveaway! I am offering 2 hanging fresheners as well as a $20 gift certificate to celebrate! Be sure to enter! Tell your friends! :)

friday-follow

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Win, Lose or Blog!




I just applied to be a contestant on this season of Win, Lose or Blog! Check out their website for more information! I am so excited, and will follow along even if I am not chosen, but I would be SO excited to be a participant!

Tip the Scales Thursday Weekly Weigh-in

It has been a good week for weight loss!! Thanks to all of the friends who stopped by last Thursday to offer your encouragement. I have gained a few weight loss buddies, and even joined Laura at Inspiration for Moms for a "lose 10 lbs by the 23rd" challenge! Great motivation!

So without further ado:
This week's weigh-in!
The weight I posted last week (283) was apparently way wrong, I have no idea where I got it from, because when I checked the weight chart on my Wii Fit yesterday I saw the following, so this number stands as last week's weight.

Can I get a drumroll please?
This week's weight is...
WOOT! A loss of 5.7 lbs! 
Now, I am sure a lot of that was water because when it comes to retaining water, I am a pro. But still, that is HUGE!

Thanks for stopping by, and if you did drop in just to check out my progress, please comment! Your kind words of encouragement really do help!

Homeschool Village

Photobucket


Even though we are not officially homeschoolers, yet, I asked Stef, and she said I could participate! WOOT! So for the month of June we don't have anything official planned, we are still browsing through Pre-K curriculum (we will probably use AOP Horizons) and working on our letter & number workbooks. I foresee many trips to the library in our future this month! My little man is loving him some alphabet books! :)

I have been impacted by so many homeschooling moms so far! I have received many ideas, advice and encouragement from these sweet ladies. So here are a few whose blogs I couldn't go a week without reading!


I have many more bookmarked that I read, but unfortunately my computer is at the doctor and I am borrowing a friend's, next time I will share some more of my faves!!
Thanks to Stef for getting this all together! :) <3

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

It's time for iFellowship! Link up!

 Seeds Of Faith For The Christian Mom

I love Wednesdays! Wednesdays are normally my day off, I get to spend time with the kids, go to church, and it's the day of the iFellowship link up! I can't wait to meet new Christian moms! Please leave a comment if you stop by from iFellowship! :)

Mystery bumps... Help me moms!

Little Bear spent the night with his mamaw and papaw Sunday night and came home with these bumps on his arm. They don't seem to be bothering him much. But if it doesn't clear up soon, off to the doc he goes. What does it look like to you?
(Sorry for the cruddy cell phone pic, my camera is dead.)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Would Jesus follow your social page?

I just had a funny moment. A notification was sent to my email that I had a new Twitter follower. The user name of this new follower had something about Jesus in it, and as I quickly read the subject line I read, "Jesus is now following you on Twitter!" I did a double take and then giggled. How silly of me! 


But then I got to thinking. Would Jesus follow me on Twitter? Or even here on my blog? Sure, it seems silly to think of Jesus being linked up to all the social networking sites, and maybe even checking in on an iPhone. But if He were here, on Earth today, don't you think that would be the case? And if so, how would you feel about Jesus reading your blog? I was recently disappointed in the number of so-called Christian blogs and twitter accounts I chose to "unfollow" because of vulgar, or un-christian content. Another Christian friend of mine commented that she too was doing the same thing, and was sad because some of these users were "Christians".

So, take a look around your blog or twitterverse today and see how you would feel if Jesus was a follower...
Even though He is not in your followers list, He is keeping up with the latest news! ;)



Scentful Saturday Giveaway! SPECIAL BIRTHDAY EDITION!

Welcome to the Scentful Saturday Giveaway!
Click here for more information and for the giveaway rules

I am a Scentsy Consultant and I thought it would be fun to do a monthly giveaway, and promote my business at the same time. The items up for grabs will vary from month to month!
I will use a random number generator to pick a winner. Please make sure I have your email address so if you win, I can easily contact you. If I don't hear from you within 48 hours, I will pass the item to someone else! 
For the month of June I am offering two (2) Blueberry Cheesecake scented Hanging Fresheners! These are perfect to hang in your car on your rear view mirror, in a closet, bathroom or other small space!  
This giveaway will end on Saturday June 5th.  I will announce the winners on Sunday 6/6. Comments submitted after midnight EST will not be accepted.
(Wait a minute... Why does that date ring a bell?)
Oh yea, it's my birthday
The winner will also receive a $20 gift certificate to my Scentsy website! 
(Items must be purchased through me!)
Click the logo to visit my Scentsy website!
 
How to enter:
Please leave a comment for every entry you qualify for...
Mandatory entry: Follow my blog  (Please be sure to follow publicly! Already a follower? Just leave a comment sayin' so!)
  1. Follow me on Twitter (@christlikemommy)
  2. "Like" me on Facebook!
  3. Blog about the giveaway (supply a link please) 
  4. Include my Scentsy Website link in your blog post (www.kimberlyr.scentsy.us)
  5. Place an order on my Scentsy Website - 5 entries (must include order number in your comments) 
  6. Sign up for the Scentsy newsletter on my website - 1 entry
  7. Enter my other giveaway for 2 bars of Bubble Chocolate Ended 6/4
Thanks and Good Luck!