God Fixes Everything

Ok friends, you know how I was telling you on Saturday just how things went on Friday? Well now today is Monday and I want to share with you this morning.

I got on my bus route as usual and my mind is going 1,000 miles a minute. Why does my boss want to talk to me about my route. I, again, was working myself up into a fit. So, I started to pray. I said the Lord's Prayer first, then the Serenity Prayer, and finally I just flat out asked him to take the situation and  bestow upon me the right attitude and words. Well......

I got to school and I waited for my boss, she was talking with another driver, and she explained to me what was going on. There was a reason the route was being driven the way it was and that it really needed to go back that way, because of "this" situation. I'm thinking, "Oh my Lord in Heaven, You are my Savior and here you are, again, saving my soul from the black pit of despair. I just explained the situation from my end and she understood and then after hearing her end, well, I understood. Back to the old way I go. It's a headache but I would rather keep my job then lose it over something as trivial as what it really was.

God showed Himself to me all weekend. My husband was so loving and supportive of me with the new life journey I am on, and He handled Saturday morning. I think my husband is proud of me for sticking to my gun yesterday too. Ok, let me finish what I started and I will tell you what happened on Sunday.

As I continued on my route I kept asking God to take it and He did. He truly fixed what I was about to screw up.

Peace, Love, and Joy to you all
Laura

Emotional Eating

Well today I have a question for you. Have you ever been so upset that instead of talking it out you ate it out?
I can honestly say, that was me on Friday. Let me begin at the, well, beginning.

It all began on Thursday night. I came home from work and attended a couple of parties I had going on online. One I was hosting for a dear friend and the other she was hosting for me, She's Thirty-one and I am The Pampered Chef. Having parties online is great! I finally found a way to be in two places at one time. Anyway, just as I was finishing up the parties my lower legs, mostly my feet, started to cramp. Real bad. Feet going in one direction and toes in awkward directions. All very painful, nonetheless.  I tried to eat a banana and drink water and take some Ibuprofen, but that didn't work. Finally I asked my husband if he had anything that I could use and he offered me one of his muscle relaxers. Nurses and Doctors reading this don't go crazy. I know that I shouldn't do that, but I was desperate. Well it worked and the muscles in my legs calmed down and I was able to sleep. Yey me!
Okay, let's move to the next morning.

It is very hard for me to get up in the morning. My alarms start at 4am and go off until I get up at about 5:30am. I told you it's hard for me to get up. lol Anyway, I kept turning off my alarms and when the last one went off I didn't get up. I was so tired. Because I took the medication and didn't go to bed until after 10pm, I didn't want to wake up so I didn't want to get up. I cracked my eye open and about jumped out of bed as the clock read 5:55 and I really needed to be out of the house by 6am. Funny right? I still needed to make my breakfast, as I had been doing very well on my diet, no lifestyle change, and I could have really used a shower but I had to forego that and there was no way I was going to have time to fix breakfast. My thought process was that I would just stop at Hardee's for breakfast. Just once would be ok, right? My gut was like, no, you're going so well on this, do you really want to take a step backward now? My stomach and I drove right past Hardee's and I got on the bus and did my thing. I thought, okay I'll finish my bus route and hopefully the fieldtrip is an 8:45 pick up and I can go home in between and fix me something to eat and throw something together for a lunch. But wait, I had a food voucher for the park and didn't need lunch. Ok, cool, that gave me a more open window of time because it doesn't take long to make my breakfast. Nope, that was not going to happen. It was an 8am loading and I don't get to school until 8am. Well no breakfast for me. Okay, I can handle this. This started my day off on the wrong foot because I didn't even have time to take my medicine. I take medicine for depression and anxiety. Living in the past and worrying about the future. I am learning to live in the present.

Moving on, I arrived at the first destination, on the field trip, with the students, teacher, and chaperones, and I'm sitting on the bus. Okay I'm still good. They reboard and we head to the second destination. I decided, along with my friend, that we would not go into the park. It was raining and cold and that is a combination that I do not do well. So, I'm sitting there playing on my tablet and reading my book and receive a phone call. When you hear "we need to talk" from someone, do you automatically cringe inside? I do. Oh crap, what have I done now? What is this all about? Well I had to put the meeting off until the next day, Saturday, and that gave me about 20 hours to think about it and work myself up into a real good fit. Later that afternoon I had to call my boss and ask a question and she said "I need to talk to you about the way you are running your route in the afternoons. We'll talk on Monday". Okay, now I have this to worry about, and I try and try to "let it go", yes I said it. I got so upset that I thought, "okay, that's it, I have had enough. I quit". Well I did have the time to stop myself and really look at things, I had not had a good night sleep so I was tired, and I had not had my medicine for my anxiety. So I was overreacting and overthinking things. Okay, lets get home and close the door, vent to my husband, poor thing, and eat PIZZA. Again I had that conversation with myself about backing up a step and I didn't stop on the way home. I came straight in the house, took my meds, and fixed my dinner. I am real, real proud of myself for those two acts. Yay Me!

After calming down I went to bed early, 7:30, and just relaxed. When I woke up this morning I felt much better. My husband and I went to the meeting and everything was great. A couple of questions asked and answered and the air was cleared and the day brightened up. I am not even worried about Monday, Monday will take care of itself.

So, with all of that being said, emotional eating can be changed. You can take control of your life. You don't have to get caught up in the "whirlpool" of life. It might be hard to swim out of it but you can do it. You can have a life where your emotions do not control you but you control them. I guess what I am trying to say is that, I am there and if you are here with me, in the boat called life, and you feel that you are alone in this. I am here to tell you that you are not alone. Love and support is available, you just have to be willing to seek it out. I hope that you are learning that I love all my friends. The ones I have now and the ones I have not met yet.

All of these thoughts brought me to another awareness, another light bulb moment if you will. I am reading another book by Romi Neustadt, "Get Over Your Damn Self: The No-BS Blueprint to Building A Life-Changing Business". I'm only in the first chapter two and the title of it is "Why Are You Here? She asks "What is your motivation to becoming a CEO of your own company"? "What is your WHY"? Some said that they wanted to earn back their investment in their business and that was it. They really just wanted the products and she would coach them and ask them to dig a little deeper. She said that your why will make you cry and she was right. My lightbulb came on when I was thinking about everything and my why, right now anyway, is I want to work for myself because I can do it my way. I can learn the tried and true and then tailor make it into me, add my personality. I don't want to be the gruntman anymore. I don't want to be doing all the hard work, sweating my butt off while someone with a college education sits in an airconditioned office and pushes buttons on a computer all day. I don't want to take orders from someone else. I am tired of not being good enough. I realized that I am good enough for me. If I do something in my business that doesn't work that's fine, I'm not going to berate myself or make myself feel bad about it, I will stop, back up, relook at the tried and true and see where I went wrong and fix it. Me! I have myself the authority to succeed. There is no one to sabotage my road to happiness but me, and if I trip, I can always pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again. I'm not perfect and I am going to make mistakes but with God's loving hand I will get back up.

My love and support to you and Happy Cooking
Laura

Feeling a bit bummed today

I have to tell you, being that I am getting into full confession, that I am behind in the payments to the gym. I was real excited yesterday because I was able to workout. Even though I was behind they let me in. Today I give them a call before I go, I don't want to get embarrased, and I ask them if I can still come in and workout, I have a promise to pay set for the 20th, they said that I needed to bring in some money first and then I would be allowed. Well, I don't have the money right now as I went to the store this morning and bought some more healthy food items that I am allowed to eat this week. So I just told them I would wait until then to workout because I don't get paid until then. Guess to get my points I am going to have to go outside. I hate outside and it's raining.

Okay, with that being said, let's find the rainbows.
1. I have 2 new yoga workout video's I can do.
2. I have my fit board I can do.

Well right now that is all I have. Unfortunately Pollyanna doesn't live here.

Switching Gears
I would really be selfish if I didn't share this with you. Let me ask you a question. Are you married to your job? Do you ever miss out on your children's or grandchildren's important events because you are at work? Is there never enough money left at the end of the month? Well let me share this with you. I am not here to sell you products. Say what! Yeah, that's not what I am here for. I am here to help you get your family back. I am here to help you get more time with your family. I am here to help you have a delicious healthy meal without spending endless hours in the kitchen that you don't have. The images below will give you a small insight into what the earning potential is in this company and what you can get in the small kit. I will give details on the kits, there are 3

The kits are amazing actually


This is the Ultimate kit. It has over $1,000 of product
in it but you only pay $249. If you host a party with me
you can get it for $199.


The deluxe kit is a $650 value but you only pay
$159. Again, host a party with me and you could
only pay $109.


Here's the starter kit. Everything you need to have
a successful show, or several successful shows is
here. It has a $450 value but you pay $109. Again,
host a party with me and you could start that day
for as little as $99.

Now I know that I told you that I am not here to sell you anything. I'm not. I am just letting you know that there is another alternative out there. Also according to www.cnn.com there are 8 benefits for children when they eat dinner together as a family.

Supper can be a stress reliever
Believe it or not, if you have a demanding job, finding time to eat with your family may actually leave you feeling less stressed.
In 2008, researchers at Brigham Young University conducted a study of IBM workers and found that sitting down to a family meal helped working moms reduce the tension and strain from long hours at the office. (Interestingly, the effect wasn't as pronounced among dads.) Alas, the study didn't take into account the stress of rushing to get out of the office, picking up the kids, and getting a meal on the table.
Health.com: Secrets to a stress-free family
Kids might learn to love their veggies
A 2000 survey found that the 9- to 14-year-olds who ate dinner with their families most frequently ate more fruits and vegetables and less soda and fried foods. Their diets also had higher amounts of many key nutrients, like calcium, iron, and fiber.
Family dinners allow for both "discussions of nutrition [and] provision of healthful foods," says Matthew W. Gillman, M.D., the survey's lead researcher and the director of the Obesity Prevention Program at the Harvard Medical School.
It's the perfect setting for new foods
A family meal is the perfect opportunity for parents to expose children to different foods and expand their tastes.
In a 2003 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, children were offered some pieces of sweet red pepper and asked to rate how much they liked it. Then, each day for the next eight school days, they were invited to eat as much of the pepper as they wanted. On the final day, the kids were again asked to rate how much they liked it.
By the end of the experiment, the children rated the pepper more highly and were eating more of it -- even more so than another group of children who were offered a reward for eating the pepper. These results suggest that a little more exposure and a little less "You can leave the table once you finish your broccoli!" will teach kids to enjoy new foods, even if they don't like them at first.
Health.com: 20 easy meals for families to enjoy together
You control the portions
Americans spend more than 40% of their food budget on meals outside of the home. Eating out can be convenient but it's also caloric -- portion sizes in restaurants just keep growing! The average restaurant meal has as much as 60% more calories than a homemade meal. Studies show that when we are presented with more food, we eat more food, possibly leading to our expanding waistlines.
Healthy meals mean healthy kids
Studies have shown that kids who eat with their families frequently are less likely to get depressed, consider suicide, and develop an eating disorder. They are also more likely to delay sex and to report that their parents are proud of them. When a child is feeling down or depressed, family dinner can act as an intervention.
This is especially true of eating disorders, says Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, who has studied the impact of family meal patterns on adolescents. "If a child eats with his or her parents on a regular basis, problems will be identified earlier on," she says.
Health.com: 10 things to say (and 10 not to say) to someone with depression
Family dinners help kids "just say no"
Eating family dinners at least five times a week drastically lowers a teen's chance of smoking, drinking, and using drugs. Teens who have fewer than three family dinners a week are 3.5 times more likely to have abused prescription drugs and to have used illegal drugs other than marijuana, three times more likely to have used marijuana, more than 2.5 times more likely to have smoked cigarettes, and 1.5 times more likely to have tried alcohol, according to the CASA report.
"While substance abuse can strike any family, regardless of ethnicity, affluence, age, or gender, the parental engagement fostered at the dinner table can be a simple, effective tool to help prevent [it]," says Elizabeth Planet, one of the report's researchers, and the center's vice president and director of special projects.
Better food, better report card
Of teens who eat with their family fewer than three times a week, 20% get C's or lower on their report cards, according to the CASA report. Only 9% of teens who eat frequently with their families do this poorly in school.
Family meals give children an opportunity to have conversations with adults, as well as to pick up on how adults are using words with each other, which may explain why family dinnertime is also thought to build a child's vocabulary.
Health.com: 10 habits of healthy families
Put a little cash in your pocket
In 2007, the average household spent $3,465 on meals at home, and $2,668 on meals away from home, according to the national Consumer Expenditure Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When you take into consideration that the $2,668 spent on meals away from home only accounts for about 30% of meals (according to historical data), that's about $8 per meal outside of the home, and only about $4.50 per each meal made in your own kitchen. You do the math! (http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/25/living/family-dinner-h/)

Kudos for Me!

Well I think today I can do a little happy dance. I cleaned out the refrigerator, which has been need for a while, got the trash can to the street. AND went to the gym!

As I was doing my bus run this morning I was thinking, yup I'm going to the gym this morning. I am going to earn my fit points for today. Yey, I did it. I did the treadmill for 30 minutes and walked a little over a mile. I am not going to put any stock in the future because tomorrow will take care of itself, but today I feel great.

I have also did well, yesterday, with my meal matrix. I ate so much food yesterday that I still fill full. lol. But my goal each day is three balanced meals and no skipping. Skipping is very bad for those of us a little older then some. I don't bounce back as good as I use to, imagine that.

I even took the time to say a prayer this morning. I made sure that I thanked God for everything He has given me, and boy is there a lot, and I asked if he would help me handle my route this morning. My boss still got upset at me for a minute, and I am a little worried that I won't be released from my contract for next school year, but I am giving it my all. I'm not really a mean person. Granted I still have a lot to learn about handling the public. I have never really had a teacher in this aspect of life and I am having to learn on the fly. When I was a customer service manager at my local Wal-Mart I wasn't ever taught how to handle customers.

But since I have begun my business, and with the lessons I have learned at my school, I am becoming a person I would like to be friends with. I still love my students and my kids are a blessing.

I am actually reading a great book, written by the CEO of The Pampered Chef, Doris Christopher, about the humble beginnings of the company as well as 10 of the success stories of the top Executives within the company. Each person began scared, nervous, and each one took a leap of faith. They began their own business and it grew and grew. As I was reading the stories I realized that they all had a couple of things in common. Each one had a strong faith and each one were trained for something else. Like me, they didn't have much sales experience, if any, with the exception of the Executive that came from HP. But even then she didn't have any satisfaction in selling computers to businesses. All of them have children and all of them have a strong family base and support system. So do I, and thank you for that. But I read one story today that stepped on my toes a little. She asked her daughter if being exposed to this kind of business has influenced her in anyway and the daughter replied YES. I learned that the work must be done first and then you can go play and if you do this everyday like you are supposed to, when you go play it is much more gratifying and fun. 

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Another thing I learned is that we are not here to sell products but to teach. We teach. We teach busy parents who to get a well balanced meal on the table but they don't have to spend countless hours in the kitchen cooking a meal their mother's would be proud of. This can be accomplished by teaching them a few tips and tricks to make things easier and faster in the kitchen. We are their to help them bring their families back to the table and reconnect to each other. 3 meals a week at the dinner table keeps our children safe and healthy.

God Bless and Happy Cooking

Laura

Whirlpool of Life

The whirlpool of life can be a vicious cycle. If you don't swim hard enough you won't get out and you will be sucked down the middle into the abyss. I wanted to begin a new chapter in my life and I am finding out that it is very very hard to change. I can tell you that I failed tragically the first week. I lasted exactly one day. I told myself that I had to wait until payday so I could get the proper ingredients to do this thing right. Payday came and went and I never made it to the store. I got real busy with my life instead. I looked for any and all opportunities to do something else other than going to the store.
For some of us this vicious and unforgiving cycle is all about weight loss, but I find that it also translates into how I work my business. I start out strong and then one thing happens that side tracks me and I say, "I'll get back on track tomorrow. I just don't have time today". Dugh, there is no such thing as tomorrow. By the time it's tomorrow it's already today. The whirlpool of life is also called a catch - 22. Now ask yourself what is the definition of a catch - 22.

Yep, that's what they say. And then they say that if you keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results you are insane. Well I guess those of us that don't give up and expect that change are insane then. Or are we just refusing to let go of God's hand, and we keep getting back up and trying again and again.

If we never give up, and each day is a chance at a new beginning, than I would say I am not insane, I just have a tendency to do what Peter did when Jesus asked him to have faith and get out of the boat. He took Jesus hand but he let go, he lost his faith. When things don't go right in my life I want to give up and retreat into my cave. Then the regrets and self loathing comes in. I swear I am my own worst enemy.

I started with the decision that I needed to lose some weight because since I had my back surgery I have become very lethargic. I don't do anything but go to work, come home and either read a book on my tablet, watch tv, play games on my tablet, or work on the computer, and even as easy as that is I don't always do it. It's easy, I just sit here, type what comes to my mind and publish. Type and click a mouse. lol easy right. Then why is it so hard for me to get up and do it. Why is it so hard to stay on a program that is to assist me in losing the weight that I have gained over the years, and furthermore, why is it so hard for me to work my business, and take the steps I need to take to be successful. I think I am afraid of success.
Simple answer: I lose faith, I self-sabotage, I always say I'll do it later, procrastination is my best friend, one that I really wish to lose as a friend. I hate my mind and what it does to me and I will be deep in prayer to change it. There are answers I just need to look for them.

Choose to be happy,
Laura

It's okay to be a kid

How many times have you felt like the above picture. lol. It always makes me laugh. But because we are adults and we have responsibilities we continue to drag on and get it done. We are a persistent lot, aren't we? I was asked a question the other day, "What does it really mean to be an adult"? Well, you are able to pay your bills, you drive a car (responsibly), you own/rent a home, you might have children so you have to worry about taking care of them, making sure they grow up to be responsible adults. That's it, I quit! I don't want to adult! There is too much responsibility!
Look, STOP, breath, step back a minute, shut your eyes and breath. One, remember that you are first and foremost a human being. You don't have everything perfect. If you do than you don't belong down here, you need to be in heaven because the only one who has it perfect is GOD. You are going to make mistakes, kids don't come with instructions, and you need to take time for yourself. I know that might sound a bit selfish to some but everyday is the same. You have to get up and go to work, get the kids ready for school or daycare, if you have them, take the dogs out (again, if you have them), fix your lunch, decide what to have for dinner that night and get it out of the freezer. If you have a baby most likely he/she is crying, wanting Mommy's attention. Stop and cuddle, feed, and diaper. Oh, don't forget to do the laundry, dishes, clean the bathroom, wash the car, give the dog a bath, vacuum the house, put away the kids toys, chase the dust bunnies, do the shopping, cut the grass, weed the flowerbeds, fix the dinner, give the kids a bath, read bedtime stories. Oh, Lord, the list could go on for days. I digress.
What I am trying to say is that it is perfectly okay to take a day off and act like a kid now and then. Take the kids to the water park or a park period. Go to a theme park, a picnic, a pool, somewhere and let go. Let your kids see that you can have fun.
I forget to do this sometimes. I have the most fun jobs though. My first job, other than being a mother, is a bus driver and I love taking the student on their field trips. It doesn't hurt either that I get into most places for FREE. My second job allows me the time for this acting like a kid thing. The Pampered Chef is MY BUSINESS, and I can choose when and where I want to work. I am not chained to a desk or locked away in a room with no windows for 8 hours. I see the sky God made, the flowers, the grass, and all the beauty in the world. Not everything is as bad as the news would have us to believe. YES, no doubt, there is plenty of ugly out there but we have to look within ourselves, our little worlds and decided what we want to see. Is the sky blue or gray. Are the flowers blooming or sleeping. If we let the whole world in at one time it become so overwhelming and it a wonder we aren't all in a rubber room. Stop and look at your house. Gather your family, close the door, turn off the TV and radio, and find your glory in HOME.

In God's love and happy cooking
Laura

Family Time

I know that when an individual takes on a day to day blog it's important to keep it up and alive, but there is something that is a lot more important. I didn't post this weekend, or on Monday, because I had my granddaughter with me all weekend and I didn't want to miss a minute of that precious time, and my other job had me running from place to place all day, lol. Something ​that had been forgotten in the rush and hurry world is the meaning of family time. I am currently reading a really good book about the beginning of the company I work for "The Pampered Chef" by Doris Christopher. One of the things that Doris buts great emphasis, when she decided it was time for her to reenter the workforce, was that she didn't want to lose her family time with her husband and her two girls. She and her husband decided that it might have been time for Doris to start her own business. Long story short she did and it is a HUGE success and she never had to sacrifice her time with her daughters or her husband and is excited to help others achieve their goals. What an inspiration!
Many women (and men) run into the very issue when deciding to go back to work after having children and I am no exception to this rule. I don't have a college education, I didn't attend a trade school, and the only thing my mom taught me was how to be a wife and homemaker. No offence to my Mom, she's great, the best cook in the world and I am blessed that she is still here with me on this earth. It's just that in today's times a person (woman) can't get a good paying job unless she is willing to NOT have a family or she makes sacrifices that she really doesn't want to make with her family such as lost time, lost memories, lost conversations, lost "I love you Mommy's".
So with all that being said, and having worked for "the man", I decided that it was time for me to do the same for myself. Stop working to pay the babysitter and work for myself. Now there is a lot more to my story than is here. My children are 22, 20, and 15. Yup they are grown. They often tell me that I am the best Mom ever and there are no regrets for them. They never felt deprived or neglected. My husband and I did work opposite shifts so one of us was always there for them, and there is the sacrifice. My husband and I didn't spend a lot of time together. We would frequently get into arguments because our child rearing ides were different as well as our housekeeping ideas. It wasn't until later in our lives, about 15 to 16 years ago that we really started to work together. The arguing stopped and life got real good. Money was always tight, it still is today, but that's ok. We learned that we really did love each other very much and that love continues to grow today.
The family time kinda gets lost as our lives go on. We worry about so many things when it comes to our children. We worry about their health, their quality of life, and we spend our time working so hard we forget to listen to them. We push them into sports, we push their academics, and we push the extracurricular activities, and the family is forgotten. Of course there is always the other end of the spectrum and we don't push at all and that, unfortunately, that ends up being the single parent or both parents are so driven they don't pay attention.
As humans I think we have a lot to fix in our lives and trying to find that balance is very, very difficult. But it can be done!

With God's love and happy cooking
Laura