Buying in Bulk, Saving Money

Here is a follow up post to yesterday's video blog.  We buy in bulk to save money.  Then, we come home and split up the meat into smaller packages.

Check out the video to see how we do it. 

Have a Great day!
~Sherie~

Menu Planning

This week's theme is........

MENU PLANNING

I have not been much of a menu planner lately.  We have been eating out 2-3 or more times every week.  Well, in order to become millionaire's we cannot do that.

Plus, my weight loss goal is shot at the moment, because of course I love all of the fattening foods at the restaurants, and not any of the skinny foods.  UGH!

So, in order to help take some of the burden off of me this month, I have developed a menu for every single night of the month.  Then, I will take some of the leftovers to work for lunch with me the next day. 

Most everything I will be making is gluten free, or I am making it as close to gluten free as I can.  Noodles will be gluten free noodles (except egg noodles, and I am not sure if they are gluten free or not.  I'm thinking not, since it doesn't state it on the package.  I have not looked at the ingredients, so am not for sure.)

Here is the menu:

I do not know why the menu is sideways....... Computers............

So, without further ado, here is my menu planning video. 

Let me know what you think!  And please subscribe to my youtube channel.

~Sherie~

Weigh in Day

Not much to say today except, I am down 2.2 pounds!!!!!!!  My goal was 2.5 pounds, so I am calling it a WIN for this week!

47 more pounds to go!  I can do this!!!!!

JAWS

No,  I am not talking about sharks.  I am talking about this photo of me.

Look at my JAWS!  How did I get this way??????? 

 I know, I have been eating whatever I want, whenever I want.  Well, as of June 1st, that has STOPPED! 

I am on a mission.  We are planning a family vacation for November.  And I plan to be down 50 pounds by then.  That means, I have to lose 10 pounds per month, that is 2.5 pounds per week.  I can do this.  I have done it before, I can do it again.

How am I doing this?  Well, I have cut out as much gluten as I can (I am sure some slips in every once in a while).  I am exercising on the treadmill an hour each day, increasing my speed as I can.  And I am cutting out eating out to one time per week.

Seems simple, huh?  Well, its not.  Its is a struggle.  But, I am determined to do this.

So far this week, I have lost 1 pound.  So, I only have 1.5 pounds to go for the week. 

Yes, 50 pounds is a BIG goal.  But, I am a BIG girl and will get there. 

This year was our 25th anniversary.  I told my husband that this would be the last year he is married to a fat girl.

This was me 5 years ago on our 20th anniversary.

I was close to the weight I want to be.  See how it doesn't look like it hurts to smile?  Now, look at the now photo.  I look like Elvis in the later years.  It always looked like it hurt him to smile.  I'm not old enough to have seen him in person, just looking back on the videos.

Anyway, Here I go!  I will be sharing things that I am doing to cut out gluten out of my diet.  Such as, Tuesday night we had sloppy joes.  Well, I wrapped mine in iceburg lettuce instead of using a bun, and it was DELICIOUS!  Bye Bye Gluten!

Bye Bye Fat!  Hello skinny!  I can't wait!

Until next time!

The Past is Repeating Itself

I think I learn more than my children do in history class every day.  LOL!  Honestly, we didn't learn this stuff in public school 30 years ago.  I don't even think we would have learned it in the Christian school I went to before the public school. 

I love Mystery of History!  It brings the secular world and the Christian world together in ways that you can't get from "real school" (as my kids call it).

This particular lesson has shed light on a subject that is in the forefront of newscasts today.  Lesson 50 of book 2 of Mystery of History is about the Coptic Orthodox Church.  I know, I know, you are thinking, that is not at the forefront of newscasts today......

But, this is.

Did you know that "in 642 the Arabs invaded Egypt with such fierceness that they almost obliterated the Copts?  The muslims made it difficult to NOT convert to Islam."  Is this starting to sound familiar now?

Back then, if you did not convert to Islam, then you were taxed at a MUCH higher rate.  So high that the families that chose this barely made it, and a lot didn't make it.  They starved to death.

Fast Forward to 2014, well before that, but last year we started seeing reports on the news of beheadings and killings because Christians were not converting to Islam.  Children being cut in two because they would not bow down to Mohammed.

Have you ever learned about this time in history?  Its not in any of the history books that I ever remember studying.

Turning to God

When faced with a life changing circumstance, who do you turn to?  I turn to God.  He answers my questions, He puts my mind at ease, He hugs me like no other person can.

Today, I am doubting everything.  I am doubting who I am, what I want to be, and how I got here.  I know, as soon as I turn it all over to Him, He will make it all clear.  And honestly, I have known this was coming for some time, I just kept pushing on thinking everything was going to be ok (in other words, I was stubborn).

Did you know that doubt is a silent killer of your faith?  You think, why has God done this to me?  Why am I here?  Why should I continue turning to Him, when all I get is grief and things are taken away from me?

It is understandable to have feelings like this after a terrible loss.  It takes time to come to terms with the situation that has destroyed you in every possible way you can imagine.  However, God works in, and through every situation we face.  Nothing takes God by surprise.  He can make good out of an impossible situation (even if you think nothing ever will be good again).   In cases where something awful has happened, God is so patient with us.  He knows it will take a toll on us. And He is the answer to getting us back on our feet through hope and faith. 

In times of doubt, turn to God.  He will guide you in the way He wants you to go.  And we must be humble about it (I am preaching to myself here).  We cannot expect God to work in our lives if we are bull headed and only want things the way we want them. 

It is absolutely imperative to understand that God has a plan for us, even if we have to go through heartache to get to the goal, He is with us. 

It is never ever fun to go through tough times that threaten to knock us out for the count.  God sees the Big Picture and knows exactly what he is doing.  We cannot see that big picture, therefore we MUST trust in Him to show us the big picture.

I hope this is speaking to you.  I know, I have to put this out there because I cannot keep it bottled up inside much longer.  Yes, I am going through this and am working my way to the Big Picture through God.  I pray many times a day for Him to show me the route in which I should go.  And I can honestly say, He is guiding me in some directions and not in others.  That just tells me that those other directions that I don't feel God's guidance are ways I should not be going.

I pray that if you are going through grief and depression that you will turn to God for guidance and not try to go through it alone.

~Sherie

Depression........

Depression is the worst thing in the world for a business owner to experience.  Last Monday, I lost a significant portion of my income.  So much so, that it has thrown me into the deepest depression I have ever been in.  Can you see my depression on the outside?  No, I hide it really well.  My family probably doesn't even know that I am experiencing it.  It feels as if you have run into a brick wall and cannot push your way past it. 

What am I doing about it?  I am turning to the most powerful person I know.  I am turning to God.  I started my Bible studies back up.  I also am doing a Bible study with my boys and let me tell you,  today's devotion for the boy's, really spoke to me.  I am also researching every possible means of income I can.  You have to be passionate about what you do, so I am looking at things and thinking to myself, can I be passionate about that?  If the answer is questionable, I strike it off the list.  If I am leaning more to yes, I write it down.  Once I get my list down, I will be praying about it.  Then, I will go back and take a second look at things and eliminate more.  Then, I will pray again.  And repeat, until I know what I will be passionate about going forward.

I'm going to share with you the verses of the Bible that touched my heart today.  Yes, they are ones you have heard before, yes you probably memorized them when you were a kid, but they still speak to people as if you are reading them for the very first time.

Matthew 5:1-10  - "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.  And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying;  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:43-48  - "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes his sun rise and the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just  and on the unjust.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you ding than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.?

Matthew 6:24-34  - "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.  Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air:  they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying What shall we eat?  or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear?  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 7:7-12  - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?  So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

Matthew 7:24-28  - "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell, and great was the fall of it.  And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching."

1 John 4: 7-8  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

I hope these verses speak to you like they spoke to me.

~Sherie