love this

Today was awesome. Nicole and I got to spend some great quality time together while supporting a great cause. Nicole wore hers to the event, and I grabbed my own pair. A pair of awesome and comfy shoes for me = a pair of awesome and comfy shoes for a kid in need. How great is that!

Everything we have is His and sometimes what we get to have is a blessing to others as well.

updates again!

So much has happened since I've last blogged:

1. I moved into a new apartment.

2. I booked standby tickets to California.

4. I finished up my part of my class.

5. I detoxed (yep, see below) off sugars, dairy, and grains.

and...

6. I made it safely to the states on all of my first choice flights. What an amazing ten plus days! I will start updating soon. Thank you so much for your prayers and support- this has been such a cool month.

Here we go....again

I am sick of sugar and red meat (I type as I just ate some M&Ms and received another bag as a gift a few minutes ago). My system is over all of this stuff, so I am starting to detox tonight at about 10pm. A small "secret society" of three of us will be detoxing for the next, oh, week or so. We're going to hold each other accountable, encourage each other, and get the junk food sugars, simple carbs, red meat, etc out of our system. I want to be in good condition when I see Dr. Shannon in a week or so. If you live in So. Cal by the way, and have yet to see her, you have to go- it will change your life (see my diet blog for more info).

So anyway, this time around I'm really excited about detoxing. I've OD'ed on sugars and red meats and am definitely ready. I've also dealt with some spiritual issues this past week, but today was a day of confirmation that I'm on the path God wants me to be on, or that I'm at least doing something pleasing to Him. I feel like I'm in a good place in that sense.

The reason I mention this is that when someone fasts or detoxes, there can be a ton of spiritual and mental craziness that happens as their body releases all of the toxins and viruses. Detoxing can and will make a person physically and emotionally sick (actually, we stay sick when we have all of that stuff in our system, and we just don't really realize it). I think that I'm ready to endure the few days of that followed by many, many days of staying on track and feeling awesome. I am hoping to get back on my lifelong diet (aka way of eating) again, even though it's so hard to do on Guam and will be kind of hard when I get home for a short time. All I know is that I need to go back with a clear head and clear physical standing.

My detox will include:
60+ oz water daily
8 hours of sleep per evening
1-2 hours exercising a day
Tons of veggies and fruits and poultry/fish
Oatmeal
Squash and potatoes
olive oil
vitamins (at this time, whatever I have- mostly calcium, vit. D)
Green and white non-sweetened teas

My detox will exclude:
soda and juices
refined sugars
red meats
giving into eating whatever I want
breads and breaded things
DAIRY

I do this about 4 times a year because I'm such a yo-yo'er.  When I'm in California, it's easy to stay clean longer. Guam has been challenging, but there's too many factors and that's for another day.


If you pray for me, pray for my two friends and me as we go through about 7-10 days of some hard stuff. Pray I am satisfied in Christ rather than in sugar. And for those of you who've sent me sugary things, I still thank you greatly and love you! Seriously, M&Ms are my favorite, and are always welcome in a care package. Birthday cake is my other favorite, but it just so happens that birthday cake and M&Ms have been a daily thing for too long and now I need to go back to moderation. I'll update you as I go along.

*Check out my blog from the last time I did this, and really, the last time I struggled with food as an emotional and physical thing together (which is really good!) 12 Steps

Bear B.

 

This is Bear, Sarah, and me. Sarah is my new roommate and Bear is our addition. We have been too blessed with this little guy and can't wait to have the company (security) of having a dog on Guam. Even though he's more responsibility, having him gives us so much more freedom as women on the island. 

Our friend Libby made this cute collage.

Leadership

  I started reading the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell this past week. I am really excited about this book, as I'm trying to develop my leadership skills. This has been a great read so far, for the Christian and secular world. I have had many leadership positions practically my whole life. I think it started when I was two or so, in dealing with my baby sister and my pets up until training people in restaurant positions and teaching. I know that many of us are natural born leaders, but there is so much to be said in dealing with people the right way, in a way that makes them want to follow. Being here in Guam, I've realized the responsibility of a leadership role and how much comes with it. I've also learned to back down and let other people lead, and from what I'm learning right now, a good combination of leadership skills from the strengths of a group of people (as our Student Life Team was described).

I have been trying to refine my leadership skills to be more Christ-like (which thankfully I have the Bible as the perfect reference). The older I get, the more I realize I really don't know anything, and there is so much left to learn. Thank God that I am learning through His gospel and that I am challenged on a daily basis.

If you're interested in checking out these laws, such as the Laws of Navigation, Respect, Solid Ground, etc, you can click on the book and it'll take you to Amazon.com. I'd also love to bounce what I've learned off of people and have accountability in applying my strengths and developing my weaknesses.I'm not a competitive person when it comes to success, but I feel like I need to keep up with myself and constantly challenge myself. This is my goal for the next two semesters (and lifelong, really).

I'd also love to suggest

5k

I woke up super early to do a 5k for the Army National Guard with (left to right) Jeff, JJ, Scott, and Sarah) and had an awesome time! I can't wait to do it again- Guam has them all the time, and I'd be up for frequenting them and probably running one sometime in the next few months. I try to run but I'm just not there yet. I feel like I've done so much with my day already, and supported a good cause in the process.