Don't Quit.

I wanted to share this great poem that came to my attention at work recently. I was typing it up for our president who needed it for something he was doing and I stopped to really read it and thought, we all need this reminder from time-to-time. And so I give you the 'Don't Quit' poem:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
- Author unknown

So for all of you who have had a couple tough weeks like me, don't quit. Stick it out. We've got this!

Love,
B

Encouragers.

This is my first season watching The Biggest Loser. I know, I know, I'm incredibly behind the times but recently, it just seemed appropriate to start watching, and now I'm really attached to each of the contestants (except Lisa - I never liked her). One of the contestants, who made the final four last week, Ada, is the inspiration for this blog entry. Ada came to 'the ranch' without a support system. Every one else had family back home willing them to succeed (or even deciding to lose weight themselves), but Ada's family was not only unsupportive but downright absent! When the rest of the contestants received letters from home, Ada's family declined to write to her.

I was heartbroken for her. I shudder at the very idea of being without my family as my support system. Life is plenty hard enough with them behind me.

I was encouraged when the rest of the contestants rallied around her and let her know that not only did she have a support system in them, but she had a family. That's what I wanted to write about today. Your family, whether the one you chose or the one that chose you, and the people who encourage you. We all crave and need encouragement from the people we love. To know that when nothing seems to be going right or we just feel downright lost in life, there's someone there who believes we'll figure it out and come out on top.

This year I've become increasingly aware of what an incredible quality it is in a person that they are an encourager. I'm lucky to have one in my older sister, Rae, who has believed in me every day of my life and in each and every endeavor. For being the person who knows the most about my flaws and mistakes, she's still always been my biggest and best support. She lifts me up when I'm down. She's always believed that I will be great. I have needed that faith more times than I can express here.

Over the past 4 years I've also found my best friend Candy to be an incredible encourager! I can come to her and tell her what an epic failure I've been at something and she always finds a way to tell me that I'm doing great, I'm headed in the right direction, and that I will get there. We laugh, I sometimes cry, but I never hang up the phone with her without feeling better. She's been my cheerleader through a hard couple of years that I wouldn't be on the other side of without her.

Unlike poor Ada, I do have a great support system in my family. I shared breifly before that I recently had a 'date' with my Dad over Thanksgiving vacation. I teared up as he praised my hard work at setting up my life here in Florida and my first year as a homeowner (which is coming to an end this month). He has supported me, advised me, encouraged me, and helped me through my first 2 years as a real adult, out in the big bad world somewhat alone. My Mom and my baby sister, Ruthie, have been big supporters as well.

There are plenty of others, I could go on forever. Nancy, Bryn, and the rest of the Huhta fam who have become my Tampa family and helped me through buying a place, moving in, even buying furniture off Craigslist (scary). My bible study girls. Pastors and leaders from my church. My coworkers who are incredibly supportive. I really could continue forever...

What these realizations have brought me full circle to consider is this, am I an encouragement to those around me? Do I spend enough time telling the people I care about most how special, talented, incredible, and beautiful I think they are? Truth is, there aren't enough hours in the day to say everything that could be said about the fabulous people the Lord has blessed my life with - but I've purposed this year to spend more time than ever before telling the people I'm crazy about why I am just that. As you may have noticed after almost 2 years of blogging now (and the few video blogs I've posted along the way) I'm much better in written word than I am at articulating aloud my thoughts and feelings. So I've set aside time to write more thoughtful notes this year and in a few cases, even praise them here for you to see.


One neat way that I've been able to encourage people has been this blog. I was touched over the last few weeks by several comments about ways I've inspired and encouraged some of you throughout this year. Several of my readers are now challenging themselves to read more, and setting goals for 2011, similar to my '50 books in 2010' challenge of this year. A few of my readers are now on the journey to better health with me, which has also opened up more opportunies for me to be cheerleader to some of you as you tackle tough but attainable goals. One of my favorite recent messages came via facebook and she said that my positivity about life brightens her days - what an incredible compliment. I hope I don't let her down when she realizes I am occasionally a real downer. ; ]

Each of you is an encouragement to me and I hope that as time goes on I will have chances to be that for you as well.

I hope this entry inspires you all to voice the great things you think about the people in your life. We all need encouragement.

Love,
B

Inspiration & Before/Afters.

Inspiration. I think every person should have their go-to people when we’re lacking inspiration. Someone who’s been where we have been or maybe is just doing what we do, better. I laughed when one of my guy friends told me yesterday that I’m his ‘muse’, that he’s inspired by the way I live life and being around be always pushes him to want to be more or do more. I love that!

Though admittedly I have a long way to go in a LOT of areas, I don’t mind being that for someone else. No one’s perfect right? But we can have a take it or leave is approach to where we find our inspiration, right?

This year one of the people I’ve found inspiring on my journey to a healthier (read: smaller) me has been Jennifer Hudson. With a powerhouse voice, a chart-topping career, a new family (kid and fiancée), and weight watchers – this girl has really kicked some butt lately. I love a girl who can do it all and be beautiful, confident, and fashionable along the way! So here’s my official props to her – get it girl.

I had 2 failed attempts with weight watchers back in the day. By failed I mean I was the failure, not the actual program. They gave you so much flexibility with what you could eat, I just kept flexing a little too far. I’m an all or nothing girl, I can’t have too many options. Sad, but true. For me the ‘biggest loser’ mentality has really worked quite a bit better.

I swore to myself I would never do an unflattering before and after of myself on this blog…but some rules were made to be broken, right? So here ya go lovies.

6 months and 50 lbs ago...

And now, to date and minus those 50lbs. : ]






Here's to seeing what the next 6 months might hold. : ]

Love,
B

Buckle up.

I have laughed, joked, and even experienced a few growing pains with you all as I've strapped myself in to this Financial Peace class. Determination to not continue the vicious cycle of living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of what I hope will be my long life. But I had a long way to come friends. And though I have worked hard and come a long way in a short amount of time - I still have a long road ahead. My friends would have said all a long that 'compared to them' I'm good with money. For my age, I admit I'm a bit ahead of the game in that I've gotten myself out of debt and I'm really 'making it'. BUT I'm raising the bar to include being financially responsible. Not just living in 'survival mode'.

Here are a few notes from my recent experiences that I wanted to share with you all - that I hope will encourage you towards peace in your own financial life.


This will make many of you laugh - but I tried couponing for the first time this week. At first it was horribly overwelming so if an over-enthusiastic friend tells you it's easy: they're lying. It's mildly terrifying at first. My friend Jen and I (who are taking the class together) bought the paper for 2 weeks before we actually cut and used a coupon because we were overwelmed. We've been using a site called http://www.southernsavers.com/ although the class recommends 'the grocery game'. But I don't want to pay money for a membership, to save money. That seems mildly counter-productive.

The purpose of using a couponing site is that it does the leg work for you. I saved right around $100 my first week of couponing. Between CVS, Walgreens, and Publix (grocery). The drama and trouble of couponing may not be worth it for 5-10 bucks but for 100?...hand me the scissors!

I will confess that I was having a little bit of a pride issue with this whole couponing this so the first time I went, I went at 10 at night (to Walgreens). There was no one there so it wasn't as awkward or weird - and by the next day I could coupon in broad daylight! : ] Success.

I have a guest blogger that will be posting soon about her own site to help people save money - so be excited for that in the future!

Having been on the completely plastic plan for a few years now - I just reexperienced carrying cash. For the first couple days I had a hard time even remembering that I HAD cash with me. Sad? Perhaps. But a week into I know for a fact I've spent less money than I did in the weeks prior, simply by not swiping a card and disassociating my actions with 'spending money'. I feel a little lighter after confessing that.

I was confessing to the girls in my bible study that now that I finally stopped just praying that God would provide for me and start realizing he was providing for me - I was just doing a poor job of managing his provisions I feel relieved! And inspired. I keep revising and revising my budget to save more. The success really is a great feeling. I wish it for everyone.

I had to skip class this week to work a Tony Dungy appearance in Clearwater, FL (I blogged about that yesterday) - so I missed the lesson on dumping debt. But I will be doing the the reading this weekend so I will share with you about that soon.

Love,

B