What to do???

If you have read through my old post or have been following me for a little while you may remember my post about fast food/take-out well I need to modify that goal but I'm not sure how so HELP!

I'm driving up to Minnesota a few times a month, and I do enjoy McDonald's. I've already taken some steps toward healthier choices but I need more. For example I have granola, fruit leathers and other healthy snacks in my car so that when I go to fast food places I only need the burger, at least it has some nutritional value. I also go into the restaurant and order so I don't get the bag and a huge wad of napkins just the burger and a napkin or two. Plus if I get a drink I can fill my sigg bottle instead of a paper cup, straw, and lid.

I know one idea would be to pack a sandwich but to tell you the truth I'm not a big lunch meat fan. So help, any ideas for eating healthy on the road while not stacking up too much waste?

Interesting Morning

I learned two interesting things yesterday morning:


1) My TMJ appilance is a wonderful thing! I forgot it one night and I was more restless, irratable, and of course more sore and sick feeling. That is after just one night! How have I made it through the last 4 months?!?


2) Green smoothies are a wonderful thing. Again I didn't have one yesterday morning and I was craving sugar all day and I gave in a lot easier. Interesting...for more information about my green smoothie adventure go here http://happyfoody.com/2008/02/13/the-happy-foody-green-smoothie-challenge/ This is my friend Sara's web site and really she is the one who convinced me to try to better my life by being greener (not only for the environment but more or myself and my health.)

So what have I learned? Sleep with my TMJ appliance in and drink a green smoothie in the morning!

I can't believe it!

A few days ago callers started telling me "happy thanksgiving" before they hung up. It seemed so early but now that I look at the calendar I realize its not that far away...I can't believe it!





So that got me thinking about the many things I have to be thankful for this year. When it gets closer to Thanksgiving I'll name a few but for now I just want to mention one:





I am sooo very thankful for my faith. I've said it a thousand times over the past few years but it remains true. I know many of you have heard this explanation before but for those who haven't here is my most recent (although now its almost a year old) epiphany. I realized the past few years that the reason my Faith remained strong through the hard times was because my faith was not based on what God could do for me. My faith is this pure and simple "I'm a sinner and there is nothing I can do to change that. There is nothing I can do to get to heaven. Only Jesus can save me from the punishment I deserve. " Since that is the basis of my faith that means when the storms come nothing changes, I'm still a sinner and Jesus is still the only one that can save me.



I'm so thankful for my salvation and I hope and pray that you all have the same reason to be thankful.

Accountability

So I joined a Bible Study while I'm down in Iowa and I'm really excited about it. The topic is Romans which is great, and the girls are nice too. I thought since it was on a Thursday night it would bring some consistency to my spiritual life (since I bounce between Iowa and Minn on Sundays) and I was just excited to go through Romans!

So here is where I need some help, I'm not always the best at preparing for Bible study. I'm better than I used to be but still not great. So from now on I'm going to post my revelations and summery of the chapter (or verse section) we are going through that week. So that means this Wednesday, Nov 19th, I will be reporting on Romans chapter 6.

Long time no Type

Well I kinda stopped blogging when I got my new job but we go again.

I know a lot of people think I fell off the planet after I stopped updating Marks health blog so I'm going to change the point of this blog from solely green things to just my life in general (which happens to be somewhat green.)

So here is the last few months in a nut shell:
I'm currently in Iowa living near the family. I work for a really cool company that does interpreting via video phone. They are amazingly flexible with my schedule so that really helps since I keep driving back up to Minnesota. Why you may ask, well to visit my boyfriend. I realize this may be a shocker for some of you but God has blessed me with a truly amazing man who, loves me, looks out for me, and somehow understands what I went though with Mark.

While I'm down in Iowa I get a very interesting experience. My mom jokes that we are just trying to be the next evening sitcom. I live next door to my parents (literally) and my brothers fiance lives with me and my brother lives with my parents (until their wedding next June.) It has been a lot of fun, and pretty crazy, but that's just how we are.

Well that's it in a nutshell.

Still in HIS Grip,
Amber

Use it all up Challange

How many of us have multiple bottles of everything in our bathroom?

Well I do and It took two boxes to move all of that. What better way to de-clutter our lives than to use up all the stuff I already have. So here is my challenge to you (and myself:)

Don't buy any new lotions, soaps, or shampoos until you use up ALL that you have. Go through your stash and throw out anything that is expired or that you will never use, and get rid of some of the clutter in your life.

I'm going to take this a step further myself, I'm going through my whole house room by room and throwing out anything I don't need, or use. Now this is strange for me because before I moved up here I did the same thing. But now that I'm here there are boxes in my basement that I haven't even opened so obviously I still have more stuff than necessary. Its amazing how many things we think we need but really we don't. I hope that by the time I move back up north I've significantly cut down on my clutter and also my desire for "stuff."

The Compact

So I must admit I'm a bit of a chicken, I can't commit to the compact for a whole year, But I am going to commit to it until I move and hopefully I will extend it till I get my new house in Iowa.

What is the compact?

Well to tell you the truth I don't know all of the gory details... but basicly it is a commitment to not buy anything new, you can buy used, hand made, or nothing for a set amount of time. (excluding food)

How is this green?

Obviously we are not causing anything to be manufactured soley for me. I understand that I, doing this on my own, won't actully affect the manufacturing industry. However if I did it longer I could possiably and If others do it to...

Other benefits?

Used is cheaper and buying nothing saves a TON of money!