Road Trip!!!

We went on a trip this past week. Me, my brother, and my cousin. It was awesome. I took more pictures than you would ever care to see...so I am only going to post a few. In 3 installments. My sense of "few" might be twisted just a tad bit. 

We left around 7am.

The sunshine was (blindingly) gorgeous.

Spending 9 hours in a truck with these two was slightly interesting.

Our pile of junk.

Me and my brother Matt.

Matt's cover with a reflection in the window of the Act of Valor soundtrack. 

Cooooooffffffeeeeeeee!!!!!

SNOW!!!! (I love snow)

Caleb throwing snowballs at the air.

I love these two weirdos. 

Caleb took this picture and I actually really like it.

That was our trip up there. Stay tuned for more!!! :)

Blast From The Past

I honestly don't remember when this picture was taken, but I remember almost everything that happened within half an hour of when my Mom snapped it. I remember taking her out to the field behind our house. I remember her walking through the snow like it was nothing and being slightly disappointed that she didn't run and play. 

I remember saddling up and hooking the sled behind her. I remember sitting down in the sled. And then that beautiful moment when I told her to walk on, and she started off. That was the best 10 minutes of my life, I think. Why didn't I have her pull me around longer you ask? (insert smile here) Well, Missy was a slightly stubborn mare, and since I had never done anything like that before and wasn't sure how she would react if I pushed her, I decided to stop. 

About the time I did, Mom came out to take a picture. And then I hopped on Missy and rode her around a bit. I remember trotting away from Mom while she took a video, and then that moment when Miss tripped (okay, more like went down on her knees) and I almost fell off. And the bad part is that we got it on video. Oh well. 

Then we went for a ride down in the woods. And a tree grabbed my hat and pulled it off and we had to go back for it. I really don't remember anything else about that ride, but it was truly one of the best rides I have ever had. Now every time that I see snow, I wish that Missy were still here so that we could go for a ride. Missy might have been stubborn, but she was also the calmest, sweetest, most loving horse I have ever known.

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse open sleigh

O'er the fields we go

Laughing all the way.... 

White (almost) Christmas

This is the view that I woke up to this morning. Have I ever mentioned that I love snow?? I am up visiting my cousin and her family this week with my brother and other cousin. And I'm havin a blast! I've taken about 10,000 pictures (okay, actually not, probably more like a couple hundred) but because of the slow internet, I'm gonna wait to post more pictures till I get home. In the meantime, here's a quote for you. "We're twins except for the fact that you don't have curly hair" says Mary the 3-year-old. Hmm. I was always under the impression that I did have curly hair. Ya learn somethin new every day I guess. And as I am sitting here typing this, I hear Mary say "I'm putting on my vest cause I'm gettin a little hot." and her older sister Ruth (5-years-old) replies "Mary you put on a vest when you're cold not hot!"

Off to throw a snowball.....

The Scale: Friend? or Foe?

"Weigh yourself every day!" "Only weigh yourself once a week!" "Don't ever weigh yourself!" "It is incredibly important to know exactly what you weigh!" "Only weigh once a month!"

Does anybody else ever get tired of all this? The constant battle of people arguing about whether weighing yourself is a good thing or a bad thing? For a very long time, I was of the mindset that I had to know exactly how much I weighed to be "healthy/happy". The scale became an idol in my life. I didn't weigh myself every day, but I lived in constant dread/anticipation of that certain day of the week when I would step on the scale.

The day before I would weigh (I usually weighed mid-week) I tried to be so "good". To not eat as much, to get in a good workout, etc. And let me tell you, when I stepped on that scale, my heart was beating pretty fast. I let that chunk of metal decide whether my day (and sometimes week!) was going to be good, bad, or ugly. And I let it define me. 

Let me just say, that I am not going all "you're-beautiful-no-matter-how-you-look-so-you-can-eat-anything-you-want". I believe with all of my heart that God gave us our bodies to take care of. And that means (in my opinion) eating healthy, and being fit. But I don't think it means that you have to be a slave to the scale. What if I told you that you actually don't even need a scale? You would probably look at my like I lost my left eyeball.

Wanna know a secret? I haven't weighed for 2 months. I have found that my clothes tell me everything I need to know. If my pants aren't fitting right, I know I should cut back on my carb intake. And not only do my clothes tell me, but just the way I feel tells me what I need to know. And can I just say how freeing it is to not be prisoner of the scale? I'm not saying that you shouldn't weigh yourself. I am just saying what I have found to be the most helpful in my life.

What's you're opinion of the scale? Have you thrown it out? Or is weighing something that you do religiously?

Crazy Busy. Crazy Fun.

The last few days have been absolutely crazy. Crazy busy, and crazy fun. On Friday, I got to hang out with the other Beka, and then spend the night at her house. It was beyond awesome. 

Beka and her new teddy bear boyfriend. 

Late night snacks while watching "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "27 Dresses"

Random self portrait.

Today, I went and hung out with one of my other best friends and her two kids. 

 Mr. Wade helpin me bake cookies!

 I absolutely love this picture :)

 Miss Elsa with her Christmas present from her Auntie Rebekah.

 The finished results.

My beautiful, sweet, wonderful honorary niece. 

The school books are calling my name, so I must go. (I plan to have a new fitness post up in a couple days, so keep an eye out for it!)

Sense and Sensibility Quotes

Today I am working on writing an essay for British Lit. about Sense and Sensibility. And there are so many good quotes, I couldn't resist posting a few of my favorites here.

"I have not wanted syllables where actions have spoken so plainly."

"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!"

"I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself."

And the best one:

"It is not everyone,' said Elinor, 'who has your passion for dead leaves."

Pounds vs. Calories

I found this awhile back and just thought it was cool.

Pounds vs. Calories

0.1  lbs = burning 350 calories
0.2 lbs = burning 700 calories
0.3 lbs = burning 1,050 calories
0.4 lbs = burning 1,400 calories
0.5 lbs = burning 1,750 calories
0.6 lbs = burning 2,100 calories
0.7 lbs = burning 2,450 calories
0.8 lbs = burning 2,800 calories
0.9 lbs = burning 3,150 calories
1.0 lbs = burning 3,500 calories

Now go out and burn some calories!!