Guess who's back?

Ok, so I'm well aware that this was a much longer break from blogging than I ever intended.

There are things happening in my non-blog life that have drawn me away from the screen for a while and I'm ok with that. Life is to be lived, and not merely observed, so if a break is needed, so be it.

Me and My Great Aunt - she's doing awesome for early 90's!

Recently I have talked to a number of people in real life who actually read this blog (hello out there!) and they have noticed my absence. Which is nice of them really. So I thought maybe it was a good time to reward their persistent loyalty with an update of sorts.

I wrote out my Personal Mission Statement at the beginning of the year and once a month or so I look over it. I am still working on every aspect of the goals I set, at varying pace, but I am pleased that I have been able to help others more with meals and practical help than I have in past years. I think this is due to a number of organisational steps I will explore in a later post.

Quiet time with God: I am still using this system to work through scripture, prayer and reflection on God's grace. It's a good system and it does work well, when I stick to it. My goal this year was not to get frustrated when I missed days (or weeks) of quiet time, but to just get back into it the next day. I have been keeping a record using stickers in a diary, of when I have quiet times. January was definitely the best month. But I am starting to get back on track now.

Food: I am still trying to work out how to balance my *love* of food with my need to eat well and treat my PCOS body kindly. Sadly I have put on even more weight this year, mainly due to inactivity and anxiety. But some recent health scares in my extended family have made me reevaluate my priorities, and I am trying harder to get back on track with food.

Decluttering: I undertook some big declutter missions since my last post on the subject. Our bathroom, laundry and kitchen are all flowing well and I don't have piles of stuff with no place to put it. My wardrobe has had one of its twice-yearly clean outs, and I hosted a clothes swap with some friends to help repurpose some items of clothing - it was actually a lot of fun! I can put all my clothes away in seconds and I now really only have the clothes I actually wear regularly and really need. I have to thank The Minimalist Mom and Small Notebook for their inspiration here, as I am naturally a bit of a hoarder!

One thing I have abandoned is my 366 days photo project. I found that I constantly forgot to take a camera with me most days and remembering to take a photo was another thing all together. I'm proud that I managed to blog a month of photos. Maybe I'll do a December round and we can see how the year started and ended...

Awesome and I are walking well together. Well, we call God our 'bungee cord' in that he holds us together when we try to pull away in frustration! We have been praying together most nights, which is not quite a bible study together, but its a start for us! We have been trying to make an effort to have regular date nights, but as we are out a lot, some times its easier to stay home and just be around each other.

Overall, even though things have been a little nuts this year - and its not the year of stillness I was craving, it is still a year of being intentional in many ways, and I'm thanking God for that!

My Personal Mission Statement

The structure of the statement is based on this post by Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking, and from the material provided in Women of the Word, Fisherman Bible Study Guides "Becoming a Woman of Purpose", by Ruth Haley Barton. Thanks to these ladies for their wisdom.




My Mission Statement


1. To be a person of grace, committed to pursuing Jesus in every task, thought and word.
2. To be a wife of noble character, who serves her husband faithfully and well to affirm his leadership a partner with him in serving the Lord and others.
3. To manage a hospitable, peaceful home, and offer love and refreshment to the people who God brings in to our lives.
4. To live intentionally for God's Kingdom. To have clear, well-seasoned speech and prayer for others, to be influential in grace.
5. To be a worker of moral responsibility, set apart, a noticeable difference in my work and leadership.

My Goals and Disciplines

Relationship with God
Goal: Taking time each day to read God's Word, being faithful and consistent in prayer.
Discipline: Ensuring time every morning to read God's Word and to pray. Going to bed at a reasonable time each night to ensure this. Going to church and small group weekly.

Marriage
Goal: Time to talk and reflect on how our marriage is going. Reflect on my conduct as a wife and supporter and grow in knowledge of how best to serve Awesome.
Discipline: One-on-one time to talk with Awesome every day. Date nights together twice a month. Read 4 books each year on being a Godly wife.

Work
Goal: Gracious service of my staff and clients, going the extra mile, to be set apart in word and deed.
Discipline: Not engage in gossip, pray for work each work day, going the extra mile for each person, not swearing - letting my conversation be seasoned with salt.

Church and Community
Goal: To build intentional relationships with others, to be friendly and welcoming to others, to be faithful in prayer.
Disciplines: Seek out new comers. Take time to nurture relationships with others. To take prayer requests and offers seriously, write them down and follow through.

Physical Health and Well-being
Goal: To be well rested and physically able, to maintain a healthy weight and get adequate exercise.
Disciplines: Go to bed at a reasonable time, eat healthy and nourishing foods, exercise daily (15min+).


Home and Recreation
Goal: Well organised household, food and meals available to nourish our family, help others or feed visitors.
Disciplines: Menu plan where possible, manage finances to ensure extra giving is possible, have ingredients on hand to make food when needed.

Personal Development
Goal: Extend on my knowledge of God's love and the practicalities of being a Christian.
Disciplines: Read at least 10 Christian personal development books this year on a range of topics (eg. hospitality, prayer, being a Godly wife. Read at least 10 books on God's Word this year.


These are not a list of things I already do to show you what an awesome Christian I am and make you feel somehow inadequate if you don't tick all the boxes. This is a list of the things that I actually struggle with the most. Daily. This is what, in God's grace, I want to do about these things this year. And I will need to check in regularly to ensure that I have made these things a priority. Four years ago I wouldn't have thought it possible to do all these things at the same time, but God is slowly changing my heart to show me that it is possible when I intentionally rely on Him and make efforts towards change.

Seeing the Big God in the Little Things.

These moments...

These are the moments that make a marriage... 

Lemonade, pizza, snooker and bookshops.


What makes your love? 

Handling Anxiety

The Olympic Venue where I did my first Triathlon

Sometimes I get anxious.

Pretty anxious.

Ok, very anxious.

I have stress related anxiety that pops up mostly when things get difficult. It can be pretty isolating. Having feelings of anxiety is different for different people. One of the things that helps me cope with anxiety is exercise. Only, there is one problem.

I get anxious about turning up for exercise.

I had a gym membership. I went 3-5 times a week and enjoyed it. Then I had a slight injury and didn't go for a couple of weeks. Weeks turned into months as I convinced myself that people at the gym would judge me for not showing up. Or maybe they have closed the gym. Or maybe they have changed the hours. Or moved the machines...

It's easier to just not go...

I paid that membership for 12 more months before I finally got up the courage to go and cancel it - and only then because I found someone to take it over. The feelings I experience aren't logical, or have easy answers. People at the gym might say "Hey, haven't seen you for a while" or they might say "Hey, its good to have you back." Or, if I'm really unlucky, they might say "Hey slacker!" I could check the website to see if they are still open (which they are...) and if the hours have changed (which they haven't), and if the machines have moved... I'll be ok! - the reality is - I can actually cope with all of these things... but I have already convinced myself that its too risky.

So I don't go.

I joined another fitness club (while still paying for the first!). This offered set class times with an online weekly timetable (no changing times to wiggle out of), and casual rates (so I wouldn't get stuck if I didn't stick in the contract).  It was an awesome and encouraging community who got me half way to my current weight loss goal.

But then stress at work started to take over, and after 6 very successful months, I started to have the same thoughts and feelings I have experienced in the past. Suddenly I stopped going 3-4 times a week and just went once. And then not at all.

Its been a month. My weight is creeping back up. My PCOS is getting worse, and above all, I have no physical outlet for my anxiety (after a class - I feel great for days and can handle my anxiety with more perspective and realism).

I'm putting this out there because I need to start getting honest about my life and the things that I find hard.

I'm going to post a couple of posts on the things that I am trying to do to handle my anxiety. I want to explore ways of exercise to help me build my confidence back up to go to a class. At the same time I will be seeing a counsellor to address the cognitive and emotional reasons behind my anxiety.

I'm hoping at the very least that blogging my experience will help me to work through it. Maybe I might help someone else in the process.

Opposites Attract: Separate Holidays

  

March is always one of the busiest months in my work. Things never slow down until April fades into May. I look forward to Easter break every year for a couple of days to relax and just be. 

I love to spend time with my family and friends. I'm a people person and a few days chatting, eating and hanging out is like a recharge for me, so I try to get away every Easter for a short break with friends or family. 

Enter Awesome.

Awesome's idea of a great long weekend is hanging at home getting some stuff completed and perhaps meeting up for a game with some mates. 

So for the last few Easters... we've had 'separate holidays'. It sounds a bit sinister. It sounds a bit like this: 

But it actually works. I get time to visit family and friends and to go fill up my days with chatting and visiting and Awesome gets peace and quiet and time to concentrate. 

Does it work for everyone? Probably not.

Is it a chance to get away and talk negatively about your husband and everything that bugs you? I used to think so, and coming back from a break like this led to feelings of resentment and fight-picking. But nowadays   I have adjusted my attitude to complaining and find that I miss Awesome and look forward to coming home and seeing him!

Will we always holiday like this?  No. We don't right now either. We are in a position of only being able to take short breaks at a time with our work, so we have most of these together in a year (2 weeks or so a year). We also each go away on a separate men's/women's conference each year, giving the other a few days at home. Other than those conferences and Easter, the rest of our holidays are spent together. We probably won't always do this, especially if we have children later on, but for now it works very well. 

For us, it is a chance to recharge in the ways that suit us best without one of us having to compromise - or both. Because we are polar opposites in everything, we compromise... all the time! That's ok, but it is nice to sometimes have time to do what works best for each of us, so that we can give each other a more balanced version of ourselves!

Opposites Attract: Practical Points for Living with Your Opposite

I think God has been getting me ready for a marriage to my opposite for a very long time. Years ago, I went on a Bible camp when I was in high school. My room leader was in her twenties and about to get married. We were asking her lots of questions about it all, what she was looking forward to, what she feared etc. I remember her whining loudly about the fact that she wasn't going to be able to cope with her husband-to-be's habit of squeezing the toothpaste, as she liked to roll the tube... 

After the 3rd time she told the story, I suggested that why didn't she just buy two tubes of toothpaste? 

She thought I was a genius... 

We actually share a tube of toothpaste. But we do buy seperate margarine/butter, sometimes eat slightly different meals and roll up our own socks becuase we like them done different ways. 

The thing I have found most useful in my marriage is to "resolve" issues.

At a pre-marriage course we attended they explained that there are 4 main "fight styles"; Win, Compromise, Pull Back and Give Way. 

Win - this is like a shark, you go after the win at any cost. On our course there were a pair of lawyers getting married - they both described themselves as 'win'! Long-term arguments there!!

Compromise - like a fox - this sounds good, you express your opposing values then find middle ground. Problem is that most of the time both people end up feeling hard-done-by. Long term, this could lead to resentment for both parties. Or if one person is 'win' and the other 'compromise' then you can see how this is going to go.

Pull Back - think of a turtle pulling their head in at the first sign of trouble! This person doesn't even express their feelings, just pulls back and lets whatever will be, be.  Never expressing your desires will leave you always feeling powerless and out of control.  

Give way - This person can express what they would like to happen, but the reality is that they end up just giving way to the other person, like a soft teddy bear, thinking they are being more loving by just letting go. 

After analysing ourselves, we discovered (well... it wasn't anything new really!) that Awesome is a Shark and I am a Turtle.  We tried living this out for about 12 months when we got married. 

Dis-as-ter. 

Shark would win, but feel bad that Turtle was so sad. Turtle would try to pretend that it didn't matter, but things would keep building and building and next time a small arguement started, World War 3 would break out, until Turtle pulled her head in again... on and on it went. And it wasn't good. 

Then we finally caught on to what the marriage counsellors at the course taught as the 'best practice' for a healthy marriage. 

The Owl. Resolve.

Instead of fighting over the details, resolve the problem completely. They told the example of a couple who wanted to paint their house. One wanted pastels, the other bright, bold colours. Instead of fighting about it, they hired an Interior Designer to create a colour scheme they could both live with. 

For us it looks like this, I need to eat fish 4 times a week for my health. Awesome hates fish. I eat 2-3 fish meals for lunch at work during the week, but occasionally need to get one or two in at home. Rather than forcing Awesome to eat fish just because I need to, and rather than never having fish for dinner because he doesn't like it, once or twice a week, I buy a nice piece of steak for him and a piece of fish for me, cut up some vegies and have 'separate dinners' (can you start to see a pattern here?!).

For my diet, I don't work well with biscuits or chocolate in the house as I just snack and snack. So I got rid of them. Except that that isn't really fair to Awesome who is an adult and can choose what he wants to eat. So he has a snack box of his own, and he can put whatever he wants in there. And I can't have any. It works. 

We have different methods/levels of cleaning in the house. We were getting grumpy that one of us would do some housework and the other would do nothing for a few days.  So we sat down and worked out our priorities. I love a clean bathroom - he loves a clean kitchen. So we split things up. I have found that we now keep 'each others' spaces a little tidier of our own stuff because we respect that when the other person does it for us.

Does it always work? No. 

Are there still arguments? Yes, but they are not as frequent and we recover better. They are not World War 3 either. 

Does it always have to be this way? Probably not. We occasionally swap jobs when we are a bit over it. Or we do the other person's job when we want to surprise them or show them some practical love. 

God created us different for a reason. There are sensational times to be had encouraging and spurring your 'opposite' on in life. Get the practical things right and out of the way, and you can start to focus on the things that you love to do together! 

So, what could you Resolve with your partner today? 

Opposites Attract

I am married to my opposite. 


He is a night owl, I am a morning person. 


He loves indoor activities and hates the beach. I love being near the water and being outside. 


He likes margarine. I like butter. 


Can it work?


We we got engaged, I wasn't sure it could work. Lots of people weren't. Lots of people told me that marrying your opposite was hard. It wasn't for the feint-hearted. [they were worried I was feint-hearted]. 


They were right. Sort of. 


It has been hard, its not for the feint-hearted. Turns out I'm not feint-hearted :) 


Over the next few days I want to explore some of the rubber-hits-the-road aspects of being married to your opposite. For the good and the bad, there are lessons to be learned!


As the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding so eloquently puts it.  "You have apples, and you have oranges, but in the end, we are all fruits" 

My First Mini-Mini-Mini Triathlon

150 meter swim, 5k bike, 1.5k run = 36 mins and addicted!

Fitness Update!

Here is an update! 


I have been working out as part of a group fitness program for 6 weeks now. 


I have just started to loose some weight (now 2kgs from the beginning of the challenge - which isn't a lot, but given everything going on with my family and the addition of PCOS, its pretty good start!) - but I have lost cm everywhere!! I will have my half way measurements to post shortly. 


I have been enjoying getting out in the mornings and doing new things like boxing (sooo hard but great!) and fitball (hilarious!) as well as lots of cardio/running and interval training.


Here is this week's fitness plan:


- Monday 6am Strength/Boxing
- Tuesday 5:45am Cardio/Outdoor Interval Training
- Wednesday Rest Day
- Thursday 6am Fitball/Core and Stretch
- Friday 6am Shunt Cardio/Weights 6:30pm Zumba Class (I did this with friends a few weeks ago and loved it!)
- Saturday 6:15 am (90 mins) Outdoor Boot Camp 9am Dance Teaching (2.5 hours)
- Sunday Rest/Quiet walk


Hmm... looks from that like I'm some fitness nut gym junkie! Not the case. I am usually always last in the running, shuffling along at the end of the line. Back row struggling to figure out the coordination! I have always danced but these movements are all so different to dancing!! The biggest thing is that I am enjoying it! Even the hard stuff. I'm loving being outside and pushing myself.  


So what am I working towards?  Well... there are a number of things:


1. Stabilising my weight:
I have let my weight fluctuate dramatically over the last 5 years and its wrecked havoc on my health and PCOS symptoms. 


2005: 60.5kg
2006: 70kg
2007: 78kg
2008: worked to bring back to 72kg in time for...
2009: Wedding weight 72kg
2010: July - heaviest ever weight of 83.5kg


As a percentage of my lightest adult weight - I put on over 30% body weight in 2 years. The effects of this have been enormous. My PCOS symptoms have become more pronounced, and I am a very good candidate for Type 2 Diabetes right now. But its not about getting back to my 2005 weight.
At 60.5kg, for my height, I was quite underweight and suffered low blood pressure, dizziness, headaches and constant muscular and back pain as I had very little muscle to protect my skinny frame (and at the time I thought I was huge!! Isn't silly how we berate ourselves!). So I have no desire to be back to that unrealistic weight. 72kg is my current goal and one that I will be able to maintain. 


2. Honour my husband by being the woman he fell in love with.
Now, before I get flamed for that sentence, can I please point out, that my husband loves me even more today than he ever has. He has always been 100% supportive and appreciative of my no matter what the size or shape of my body and he has seen me at every weight above. He has never 'weighed in' on what weight I should be, but supports my goal to be healthier to support my PCOS and to hopefully avoid a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes. I want to honour him by having the energy and vitality that I had when I was not overweight.  


3. Lessen the symptoms of PCOS and infertility
Its not something I blog about much, but one of the effects of the PCOS has been infertility.  Along with trusting that God has a plan for our family, I have been pursuing the 'natural' methods of dealing with PCOS such as cleaning up my diet, eating more LowGI wholefoods and loosing weight. I am hoping this will also help with cycle regularity and hirscitism. 


So... I don't want to look like this: 



At my heaviest



At my skinniest (58.5kg in 2003)


But healthy like this:

At our wedding!




I am going to slog it out hard over the last 5 weeks of the challenge and I will post a photo of my progress!

Completing Him Challenge Week 7

I am really enjoying this series on Completing Him from Women Living Well. It has helped me to take intentional time each week to focus on the little things that help improve our marriage and has reminded me to spend more time focused on discovering what God wants for me as a wife and a woman!


Here's this week's challenge:Support his vision. Discuss his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. Share with us how you let your husband lead.


We had a quiet conversation about this during the week.  It surprised me how quickly and easily Awesome was able to articulate his vision for us. Some of the things that he mentioned included:


- Taking time each week to be intentional in hanging out together
- Save money so as to be able to pay off a large chunk of our mortgage when our fixed period is over
- Spend time now becoming healthy and waiting on God's plan for our family
- Use the jobs and time we have now to help us prepare for whatever God has next, be it Bible college, mission work, studying in our current fields or continuing in our current jobs


It's nice to know that even when I get busy or worried about what the future has in store for us, that God has chosen this man to lead me, who has such confidence that God will keep things together. 

Thanksgiving Tuesday: The Lists

Counting One Thousand Blessings...

For inspiration and information on the Gratitude Community, please click here.

• One to Twenty
• Twenty one to Fifty 
• Fifty one to Ninety
• Ninety one to One Hundred and Twenty
• One Hundred and Twenty One to One Hundred and Fifty Three
• One Hundred and Fifty Four to One Hundred and Eighty Four

July At Our Place

Here are some of the July Happenings from our place. 

White board messages from my guy :)

Awesome Ironing while we visited a friend in the country 

Visiting Western Plains Zoo

Little Friends at the Zoo

Baking

More Baking

Love

Happy half-year! Can you believe its has gone so fast? 

Thanksgiving Tuesday - December 2009 List

121. Inquiring minds focused on God's plan
122. Faith that God works through all things to His glory
123. Sweet Christmas foods
124. Thoughtful encouragement from a Pastor
125. A reliable car
126. Cooling summer rain
127.Wonderful friends at church
128. Satisfaction in knowing God is at work
128. Bosciola chips!
129. Nacho pizza
130. Date night with my boy
131. Wise decisions from my husband
132. Prayers committed to faith in God's plan
133. Sleepless nights
134. Early nights
135. Wisdom of older women
136. Soft spikiness of his cheek
137. Firm touch of his hand
138. Dinner date night
139. Chilled out music
140. Moisturiser for dry hands
141. The will to study the Word
142. Made-up bed
143. Wonderful moments to treasure
144. Lifetime friends who know
145. Thousands crowding for carols
146. Candle light in the night air
147. Bat silhouettes
148. Clothes that still fit
149. Deep kisses
150. That last deep breath before their tears stop
151. Time to explain
152. Family loudness
153. Quiet fishing

Admiring Mr. Awesome!

This week's Completing Him Challenge is to admire your husband. It is so easy for me to focus on all the things that didn't go my way, or to pick apart the tiniest of flaws.  Today I'm going to be counter-cultural and tell you some things I admire about my husband. 


Things I think are Awesome about Mr. Awesome!


His maniacal laugh, his faith, his gentleness, his serving nature, the way he just gets on and gets the job done, his jokes, the way he would do anything to see me smile, his independent spirit, the way that he supports me in anything I choose to do, his BBQ skills!, his patience, his sense of humour, his hugs, the sense of deep loyalty he has for those around him, the way her perseveres when things get tough, his sense of determination and the strength with which he undertakes hard tasks, the warmth he has in his eyes when he sees me, his amazing intelligence, his practicality, the way he grins... 


Mr. Awesome... I love you!

Demonstrating how to be a red STOP light man. 

30 Excellent Books Update

Back in January I decided to read 30 excellent books in 2010. The point was to stretch my mind and spend time focussed on things that would pull me forward, majorly in the areas of Christian living and spiritual discipline. Its time to review the list and see how I'm doing!

I originally only chose 21 books so that I was open to reading other books that crossed my path throughout the year. It seems that so far I have read more "other" books than those on the original list! 

My 2010 30 Excellent Books List (in no particular order)

1. Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes
2. A Call to Spiritual Reformation by D.A Carson
3. According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy
4. From Clutter To Clarity by Nancy Twigg
5. The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace
6. The Lion Handbook to the Bible by David and Pat Alexander
7. The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick
8. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
9. Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartin
10. Power of Praying Through the Bible by Stormie Omartin
11. The Plight of Man and The Power of God by Martin Lloyd-Jones
12. How Should We Then Live by Frances A. Schaeffer
13. Guidance and the Voice of God by Phillip D. Jensen and Tony Payne
14. Knowing God by J.I. Packer
15. Knowledge of the Holy by A.W Tozer
16. The Pursuit of God by A.W.Tozer
17. Commentary on Romans by Martin Luther
18. My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
19. The Cross by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
20. Spiritual Blessing by Martyn Lloyd-Jones
21. Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
22. Sheet Music by Dr. Kevin Leman
23. The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman
24. How Women Help Men Find God by David Morrow
25. Finding God by Larry Crabb
26. Home Court Advantage by Dr. Kevin Leman
27. Hungry for God by John Piper

Some of the reason for my slowness has been the difficulty of finding the books I originally set out to read - most of these were recommendations so I didn't actually own them (note to self: next year I will pick all the books on my shelf I haven't read yet!). I also have had a number of work related books to read this year which have devoured some of my time and energy. I currently have about 4 of these books on the go (I have a very distractable personality so I like to have different options at anyone time!!) and I intend to blog about several of these that I have recently finished reading also. 

I thought it was probably also time to have a quick reflect on the goals I set for 2010. 

• Find time to have quiet time with God everyday - I am still working on this but at the moment I am managing around 3-4 days a week
• Use less internet each day - create stillness in the home - hmmm..this one needs work...!
• Have less junk in my life - physically and spiritually -physically I have been through 3 of the 6 rooms in our home so far and have been ruthless in riding us of the excess junk we just don't need - typically I have saved the harder rooms for last!!
• Read 30 excellent books
• Complete the first level of the Preliminary Theological Certificate - I am hoping that now that work has settled down I will be able to enroll for the next intake of subjects in the series.
• Plan meals to manage the budget more effectively - we are finally starting to save more effectively through managing our budget and particularly our food. I am learning to use my freezer and slow cooker to help keep the costs down and not throw out so much food. 
• Memorise Ephesians this year- oh dear - this is one I haven't even STARTED yet!
• Remember more and forget less! hmmm.... only those around me can tell me if this is working! I am trying very hard to return phone calls emails and messages in reasonable time frames and to remember the things that I promise people I will do for them! 
• Complete sewing projects for gifts and for the house - is a sewing list ever complete? I think that's a whole blog post in itself!

Overall, I have perhaps been a little ambitious in my goal setting for this year - but on the positive side we are only half way through! Praying that God will give me the strength to prioritise. 

How are your goals going this year? 

Link Love...

I read a lot of blogs, and I am always loosing track of inspiring links to posts that motivate me.  So I am putting them all down in one place as a ready reckoner for me to come back to time and time again. Things I have been encouraged and challenged by lately...

Spiritual Discipline


Occasionally it all gets a bit much and I need to take some time to focus. From The Worn Out Woman I learnt about Retreat Days, and now every 5-6 months or so I use my RDO to take a little time to retreat and reflect.
Recently I also tripped over here and here and have been very encouraged - thank you ladies!

Marriage
Sometimes its really hard to trust that things are in someone else's control... especially in marriage. This post helps me think on this...
All of Ann's posts on marriage have spoken deeply to me and help me to focus on what's important. Each post is listed at the bottom of this one.
There are many things we are concentrating on to build our marriage and we have been trying to organise semi-regular date nights.

Nourishing Foods and Dealing with PCOS Naturally

Because Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is often linked to Insulin Resistance, food plays an important part in managing the issues involved. I am starting to make some very small inroads with looking at Nourishing Foods. These websites have helped me get my head around the basics:
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/
http://www.naturallyknockedup.com/
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/

In preparation to see a Naturopath about the symptoms of PCOS, I realised I needed a way to chart my cycles and be specific about what I was seeing and experiencing each day. I have read Taking Charge of Your Fertility and am now using their software to chart my cycles so see if there are any patterns. I think its worth the fee. I am also considering taking this e-course towards a more natural approach to life. I think this also helps when it comes to the real matter at the heart of it all...

Organisation?

Do I really need to be more organised? Maybe I'm making this too hard on myself...
I recently "made under" my closet in a similar sense to this, and I am loving the easiness of putting things where they belong each night! Only days before this post I did the same thing and asked Mr. Awesome to be my "eyes" - and it was soooo much easier to part with things when I had someone else saying "Ahhh.... no."

Living in an apartment - space is at a premium - so I am so thankful I'm not the only one who struggles a little to give stuff away I might need later - its good to know that there is no shortage of so many items....

What is it that is taking up your headspace today? Do you need to write out some link love to help you clear it?

Thanksgiving Tuesday - November/December 2009 List

91. Back pain
92. Chiropractors
93. Family-in-law
94. Natural healing and health
95. Time to pray
96. A husband who leads
97. Packed lunch
98. Bathroom scales
99. Intimacy
100. Two souls becoming one flesh
101. Drops of water on glass
102. Wedding ceremony
103. Sister bridesmaid's tears of joy
104. Hair curls
105. Exhausted husband snoring
106. Chipped nail polish
107. Wedding dances
108. Wedding speeches
109. Declarations of love
110. Early mornings
111. Season of advent
112. Surprise Bible study!
113. Quick freezer food
114. Fellowship with friends
115. Tired laughter
116. God's provision of food
117. Singing God's praises as a family
118. Challenging words from 1 John
119. An interesting drive time conversation
120. An inspired husband

By today's count I am at 334. Just 1/3 of my way to thanking God for 1000 gifts.

Thanksgiving Tuesday- November 2009 List

51. Birthday messages
52. Thai dinners
53. Birthday cuddles
54. Movies that make you laugh
55. Sunflowers
56. Air conditioning on hot days
57. Birthday cards from loving aunts
58. Team members who try to see positives
59. Alarm clocks with soft music
60. Hungry tummies that tell us when to eat
61. Opportunities to serve
62. Dirty dishes in the sink
63. Job interviews
64. Unfinished to-do lists
65. Fading flowers
66. Empty lunch box on bench each day
67. Piles of bills to be paid
68. Unmade bed
69. Hungry bellies who love breakfast
70. Tired mind
71. Unfolded laundry
72. Busy schedule
73. Dancing with friends
74. Singning
75. Husband at church
76. Newborn babies safe arrival
77. A gift of new pyjamas
78. Hotel rooms with city views
79. Trains to come home on
80. A brother to rely on
81. Sore feet
82. Tired muscles
83. Lightning
84. Going to the gym
85. The motivation of dresses that don't fit!
86. Making luch for my husband
87. Sleeping next to my best friend
88. Leaking taps
89. Vegemite toast
90. Job interviews