The Weight Update

Well, I am back on track with Weight Watchers and I am doing their new PointsPlus system. I joined online last week and have been religiously tracking my points. I have lost some, but I am not sure if it is really the best plan quite yet. The focus is now on low-carb choices. You no longer use calories in calculating points. The new system is based on fat, carbohydrates, protein, and fiber. My main issues thus far are the fact that I get 40 points a day. Yes, 40. On the old plan I got 26. Certain foods have increased in points, so I am sure it all evens out in the end, but it seems like way too many points to be losing weight. I am also mad that wine has gone from 2 points per serving (they say 4 oz., which is like a gulp) to 4 points per serving. Anyway, not sure if that makes me an alchy or not, but it seems a little excessive points-wise.

I will be starting Week 4 of the Couch to 5K plan tomorrow, and so far I LOVE it! I never ever thought I would say that, but I have really enjoyed it. The podcasts from www.runningintoshape.com make it fun and easy to follow. They are so fun I have actually had to fight the urge to sing out loud, clap, or smack my butt on certain songs. I also have found myself giggling when I realize that I have started strutting on the treadmill when Britney Spears "Gimme More" comes on the playlist. Within the first week or so my knees were really hurting, but they have gotten better. So all in all, things are going well.

God is in the details

I have heard people say this before.... that God is in all the details of our lives, no matter how small and seemingly insignificant. I feel like God has really opened my eyes to this lately by making these moments unexplainable other than the fact that He truly is in all the details.

I was reminded of this last Tuesday morning. Two weeks ago I decided to go ahead and take the day off on Tuesday because I knew I would be up late watching the BCS National Championship game Monday night, and my mom was going to be keeping my two nieces on Tuesday because my sister was still going to be in Arizona, so I wanted to spend time with them. We ended up being out of school on Monday because of snow and ice, so I considered cancelling my sub for Tuesday, but decided not to later Monday. Robert (my brother in law) had planned to keep the girls Tuesday after all, so I was going to hang out with them and mom was going to go into work. Well, early Tuesday my mom came in to wake me up and let me know that my dad had been in a car accident on his way to Atlanta.

The details:

• I was there, so all I had to do was throw on some jeans and a t-shirt and I was able to ride with mom to the hospital in Anniston where dad was. We left about 15 minutes after she woke me up.
• Robert was there to take care of the girls, so that wasn't an issue.
• The car dad hit had hit a retaining wall on the interstate and spun out. It was horizontally covering the middle lane. When dad hit the driver's side, the driver had just gotten out of the car to check on the damage. Had he been in his car he would have been critically injured. Both cars were totaled.
• Dad called mom complaining of chest pains, so we were expecting the worst. Thankfully we were able to leave about 15 minutes after we got to the hospital because he had only suffered some bruising. They were able to give him something for the pain and discharge him.

I have no doubt that my God was in the details that morning. He provided protection for what could have been a horrible situation and for that I am beyond thankful!

It's Great To Be A... National Champion

Well folks... we did it! We finished the season perfect, undefeated, and unbelievable. Here is the 2010 season of the Auburn Tigers by the numbers:

108 - The combined score of the Auburn vs. Arkansas game (highest combined score in SEC history)
72 - Number of times I told my sister I was bitter that she was going to Glendale, Arizona for the National Championship game without me
'57 - The last year Auburn won the National Championship
24 - The greatest point deficit we came back from (against Alabama no less)
22 - The number we started the season ranked as
16 - The number of pounds I gained during football season
14 - The number of games we won this season
4 - The number of games we won this season thanks to our field goal kicker, Wes Byrum
2 - The number of our CAMazing quarterback AND the number of years Gene Chizik has been head coach at Auburn University
1 - Our rank at the end of the year

War Eagle! It's great to be a National Championship Auburn Tiger!

Rivalry

I had someone tell me that my previous post towards Alabama fans was a bit intense. Here is a profile picture I saw on facebook earlier. Yes, that is the Alabama emblem... in Oregon's colors... who Auburn will play a week from today for the national championship. I also saw a kid at school today (that is a huge Alabama fan) wearing an Oregon sweatshirt, which his Bama fan parents obviously spent $45.50 on in order to make a statement of "We hate Auburn enough to search on Google for an Oregon sweatshirt." I didn't make comments about what tacky fans Bammers are (this time) because this time last year I was probably making status updates about "Hook 'em Horns" and looking for a Texas t-shirt myself. (For those of you that know nothing about SEC football it is quite possible that 97% of this post went right over your head.)

New

I love new things... new clothes, new friends, new experiences, etc. so over the past few years I have really grown to love January as the start of a new year. It is an opportunity to learn from the past, correct mistakes, try new things, and resolve to do everything bigger and better in the upcoming year. I have been creating a list of all of the things I want to do before I turn 30 in August (that I will share in a later post) and I am excited about the possibility of doing some of these new things this year. I have also been looking at scripture that uses the word "new". Here are a few of my favorites:

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things." - Psalm 98:1

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17

My prayer for you is that you will strive to make 2011 your best year yet by seeking God's guidance as we begin this new year. What can you do differently this year? What can you do better? Happy NEW Year!

And, just in case you were wondering, I used the word "new" 16 times in this post.

Let's Do This!

I have been thinking about doing Couch to 5k for a while and today I finally bit the bullet and committed to give it a go by buying me a pair of running shoes. Above is a picture of my new kicks. I am going to the YMCA with my friend Myra (who is also going to do Couch to 5k) after school tomorrow to start Day 1 of Week 1 of the 9 week plan. Let's do this!