Week 2 - Update 1

1. Lose 20 Pounds . . . And Keep It Off for a Year
I have lost 3 pounds so far. I have not had any real moments of cheating other than a little piece of pita bread when I made delicious greek chicken and homemade tzatziki. I feel a lot better than I did just 9 days ago and can already feel that my middle area is getting a little lighter and tighter!

Hopefully I can keep it going!

2. Pray Every Day
I have started using A.W. Tozer's Pursuit of God book to help me get my thoughts ready for prayer. Also, after each chapter of the book there is a prayer written by Tozer which is very helpful when you, like me, feel your prayers are a little uneloquent. I haven't yet managed to get a really great prayer accomplished every day but I feel like it is becoming less foreign to me again. With school starting I am worried that this is going to become less of a priority as I go back to my routine of finishing and beginning my day with a textbook in my hands and head. Maybe I should be taking that religion and the constitution class after all?

3. Blog at least Once a Week
Again, I'm awesome at this one.

4. Stop Biting My Nails
So far so good. Only problem is that now my nails are starting to get longish and I keep scratching my face on accident when I try to push up my glasses or tuck my hair behind my ears. I am treating myself to a manicure tomorrow so I can get them trimmed up and looking nice for school starting on Monday!

5. Stop Cussing
This one has been the hardest because it is often a subconscious reaction to things I find funny or frustrating or painful. (like the scratching myself in the face with new long nails). But I think I am making progress because instead of just remembering after I say it, I am remembering as I say it. I currently am a half-cusser. I say a lot of shi-take and fu-dge. But I feel like I am getting there.

6. Make One Frugal Decision a Week
Not sure what that is going to be yet. I haven't made any spendy purchases this week but I also haven't really had a chance to be frugal.

7. Go on Dates
Bobby and I were supposed to go look at dogs at Petsmart on Saturday. We mutually rescheduled for Sunday after Bobby had to go into work and I needed to get some work on my draft. So on Sunday we went for a nice little afternoon date to Petsmart and the Scottsdale mall. At Petsmart the Humane Society only had two dogs but one of them was Bobby's dream dog. Kravitz, not a very cute name, was a very cute dog. He was a seven month old siberian husky mixed with a labrador. As soon as the Humane Society volunteers opened the door on his crate, he ran out jumped up and started licking Bobby's face. It was like a scene from a movie. So we played with Kravitz for just long enough to seriously consider how cruel it would to make him live in an apartment. And then we walked away and Bobby made this face:
8. Expand My Pallet
Since I only have to do one thing a month, I am okay on this one too. Bobby did make me eat a bite of his lunch that had olives in it but it was pretty well disguised by cheese and arugula so I couldn't really taste them. Phew. I really hate the taste of olives. We never ate them in my house growing up because my mom didn't like them either. Funny thing about that though is that my mom likes olives now. When she started liking them she said it was because she was officially old. I don't think she is old, but it does make me wonder how much stuff I can make myself learn to like.

9. Be More Emotionally Honest
I decided this week that part of being emotionally honest with other people starts with being emotionally honest with myself. My pastor has this saying that "What you know trumps what you feel." He applies this to mean that emotions can be tricky and fleeting so when you are feeling discouraged or feeling faithless you should remember what you know. You should remember that you know who you are in relation to God and that everything else you know and feel should sort itself out based on that. Therefore knowing who you are in relation to God is what keeps you even-keeled and allows you to weather any storm, no matter how emotional it gets. I think this is very good advice and I try to remind myself of it when I feel my emotions are getting the best of me. However, part of my problem is that I push feelings so far aside that I don't deal with what made me feel that way in the first place. So, I am practicing trying to ask myself what I want. Because what I want determines how I feel. (I realize that I sound incredibly Confucius-like and it is either because I am over-thinking this whole resolution or I have been watching too much of the old NBC show Life which features a cop who practices the art of zen) For example, if I am feeling disappointed about something it is because I wanted something that didn't happen. Or if I am feeling angry it is because something that I didn't want, happened. Therefore to understand and be honest about how I am feeling (angry, disappointed) then I need to know what I wanted (or didn't want). So, I am trying to figure out what I want. And that is a very hard question.

10. Be Available to Friends and Family
Sent some correspondence and a housewarming gift to one of my best friends who recently moved in with her boyfriend; called my mom; cleaned a friend who went away for winter break's apartment before she arrives home; and answered all phone calls (even the ones with mysterious numbers that I didn't know) today. For me, that is success.