Last night, Mark and I had the opportunity to be inspired again. Inspiration is breath for your dreams. It’s the lifeblood of your hopes.  The funny thing about inspiration though is that you must act upon it immediately for it to have any effect on your dreams or else it becomes a cold wind of despair and dried up bones…just a hope that cannot possibly become a reality. Inspiration can even become bitterness – “how can they be so successful at it and not me?”.

So, what am I going to do with this beautiful thing called inspiration? I’m going to hide it in my heart and make 3 changes today:

1. Pray more
2. Practice more
3. Love more

It sounds simple, but really, these are the things that I neglect everyday. I know that if I’m faithful to do these things, the Lord will direct my steps and my works to align with His will. Be inspired today and make a change now.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the rest of my life. Maybe it’s because I have a daughter, maybe I’m getting older, or maybe I’m becoming more mature.

However, I think this type of forward thinking is beneficial. My knees hurt because I’m out of shape at the age of 25 – so I think, “how will they feel at 40?” I struggle with my weight after just one child – how will I manage with two or three? We live paycheck to paycheck, and I wonder will we ever have a real savings account.

This type of thinking makes me want to change my life. Make it better now so my daughter can have the very best of me.

How do you feel when you think about the future?

Here’s the thing about blogs…you write it in hopes that someone will read it.

Only…when a certain someone tells you they have read your blog (which is what you want, right?), you immediately take a mental inventory of what’s on your blog to ensure there’s nothing too damaging or revealing on your blog.

Then, inevitably, the next blog post you write is tainted because you are trying to write for your readers and not for yourself.

This is why twitter wins sometimes.

Do you ever notice that every magazine, every commercial, and every piece of mail has the claim for free giveaways. In all my life, I’ve never registered to win, and I’ve never heard of someone in my life who’s won something.

SO – I’m conducting an experiment. I will register to win for every opportunity I see to win a prize for a YEAR. It’s going to take a lot of time and dedication – but gosh darn it…I’M GOING TO WIN SOME STUFF!!!!

I never truly understood the fullness of God’s love.

Until…

I had the love of my life – my daughter.

His love yearns for me
His love protects me
His love wants the best for me
His love wants me to accomplish great things
His love never fails

Now I know

OK folks – I’m a believer! In just 4 days (6 if you count the loading days), I dropped 10 lbs. It’s incredible. I haven’t been hungry at all because of the drops. The cravings are really intense, but they are starting to let up. It’s definitely a mental and emotional battle. For example, I thought June was sick on Saturday. I was so upset about it, that I ate 2 oreo cookies – talk about an emotional eater!

I’ll keep this updated with my weight loss. 50 more pounds to go…

June is now 4 months old, and I still haven’t lost ANY of my baby weight. The whole idea of the weight ”flying off” because of nursing didn’t really pan out for me. I’ve become increasingly self concious about my weight, so I decided to take the bull by the horns and do something about it!

I’ve started the HCG diet. I actually started on Monday with 2 days of “calorie loading” or “gorging”. It was pretty funny how unsatisfying it was to eat myself into a coma – I thought it was going to be a wonderful treat, but I just ended up feeling bloated and even worse about myself.

It’s now day 2 of eating very low calories and taking the HCG drops. I’ve lost 3 pounds after the first day and I’m so excited to weigh again tomorrow.

I’m writing this all down so I can look back for inspiration and encouragement. I can do it. I’ve done it before. I can do it again. I’m not quite ready to share my starting weight with the internet world, but I will tell you that I have 60 lbs to lose!!!!

Here’s to the new me!

Since being a mommy, my whole Internet experience has changed. Here are some of the google terms I’ve used in the past 6 weeks:

Green poop
Mucous thick spit up
Eye goop
How much should a newborn sleep
How much should a newborn eat
Newborn bath
Hip newborn clothes
Gassy newborn

Ahhhh…motherhood!

The last 6 weeks have been a wonderful, dream state blur. Words don’t come close to describing the emotions and love that we have experienced.

For now, here’s a quick list of things that We are learning and experiencing:

Burping, farting, pooping and peeing are celebrated on a semi-hourly basis.

There are not enough burp cloths in the world.

Losing a pacifier at the wrong time is devastating.

Hearing my baby cry isn’t stressful.

You can become an expert at many new things in less than 6 weeks with daily practice. Case in point: diaper changing.

Being a mommy has rewards that outweigh stretch marks, 3 am feedings, and 30 extra pounds.

Praying never felt so good.

Check out junejett.com to hear about June’s adventures!

Mark your calendars people!

Mark and I are planning on inducing on July 20th. I’m so excited that I’ve peed my pants several times…