Staff Retreat!!

Bro. Bill, our pastor, is taking the staff on a retreat to Branson! One of the staff guys has a time share he's letting the church use! I get to go! yeah! the "men" left yesterday and the ladies are leaving tomorrow morning! i'm pretty excited. We are going to be doing to "team building activities", fun stuff, prayer and worship time and EAT of course. You all know that i've been trying to lose weight and it's going very slowly. but i have a plan for the trip. i'm not expecting to lose any but do not want to gain. i plan on running/power walking while we are there too. Brian and i will not be in the same room which we aren't excited about but it'll be a good time for me to bond w/ the ladies i work with.

probably wont' post till next week! i will update my "exercising" blog before i go! until next week.....

a can of worms

i have a thought for my friends that read this blog to ponder. i was listening to a christian radio station program a week or so ago and a man was talking about how he and his wife do not believe in birth control. i heard him say, "we trust God in everything else why not this area". Brian and i were talking about this and his comment was, "then why can a woman be able to get pregnant at certain times of the month. God made our bodies. He orchestrated that aspect of a woman's body." so i was like yeah you're right. if our bodies hadn't been created w/ this "ability to know when" then we could get pg ALL THE TIME know matter what. i'm not on the pill right now just b/c i'm too lazy to go to my doctor and ask for it. we use the calender method. i wasn't on the pill when i got pg w/ Mattie but soon after she was born i got on it. i have no problems w/ "the pill" as long as it isn't the kind that cause abortions obviously.

just wondering what you think about that man's comment. interesting i must say.

something, Easter, and exercising

hadn't posted in a while and thought i'd post something. so i did. something. haha. lots going on just can't think of anything to "say". had a great Easter weekend. spent it at home w/ my family! me, connie, levi, and brian hid almost 150 eggs - real and candy filled plastic ones. it was fun to see all 4 of the kids running around trying to find them. we dyed 3 dozen on Friday and while we were doing that my dad was videoing and asking the kids about Easter and why we celebrate it. it was neat to hear their answers. good times. then we spent Sunday w/ Brian's dad in saline. Ryder LOVES is PawPaw and Poppa! he got to bond w/ both of them this weekend. and i exercised friday, saturday, and sunday. i'm impressed w/ myself i must say. i didn't gain any and actually lost over the holiday. and i didn't deprive myself either. i'll say it again...EXERCISING and eating in moderation is the key. i'm sure this isn't all that intersting to my friends that have just had babies and are gonna have 'em soon. i didn't worry about trying to lose the "weight" until a few months later. but it actually took 2 1/2 years this time. oh well. like i said before I LOVE TO EAT! you can't be from the south and not love it.

inches not pounds!

i've been loosing inches more than pounds. i am now able to wear my shirts comfortably w/out a jacket to cover up the rolls:) i can wear my jeans more comfortably too. just a little frustrated that the pounds aren't coming off. i'm committing to ride my bike more than i have been. anyway, that's my "weigh down" update.

Correction...Oprah is being USED by the evil one!

oprah is evil!

if you are an avid watcher of "her" show it would be a great idea to STOP watching her. Brian studied for about 5 hours yesterday on this "teacher" that "she" has on her show every monday. it is anti-christ teaching.

Below is an e-mail that i received last week. i didn't read it but brian had gotten the same one and he walked into my office yesterday angry over the things that he had read. this is all TRUE...............

Folks, I looked on Oprah's web-site and with a little searching, I did indeed find all that is said below to be true. This is one of the most dangerous things for our country and even the world because of her vast following and influence. If you are a believer of the God of the Bible, you really need to read the following.

You really need to read this 'Oprah and Friends' to teach course on New Age Christ.

Many of you, like me, have probably been Oprah fans for a long time. This is very discouraging news to hear about one who has such tremendous influence on the general public. Please ask God to show Oprah the real Jesus Christ.

Just to make sure this was true, I went on Oprah's website and there it is. The below article is very interesting, so I thought I would share.

Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 4:50 PM

Subject: Oprah joins false prophets Bible warned about

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/smith-oprah.htm or

'Oprah and Friends' to teach course on New Age Christ

Jesus Christ being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed and, this false New- Age Christ teaching is about to make huge inroads into the world, with the help of the queen of television talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Winfrey, beginning January 1, 2008, on her daily radio program will offer a year-long course on the New Age Christ , in a lesson a day and completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles 'Workbook.'

Listeners will be encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course, and an audio version, recited by Richard (John Boy Walton) Thomas will be available on compact disc.

Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset-a New Age worldview that include the beliefs that there is no sin, no evil, no devil. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life, and, bluntly states: 'This is a course in mind training' and is dedicated to 'thought reversal.'

The Course in Miracles -in reality-is the truth of the Bible turned upside down. Oprah told her television audience that Williamson's book, A Course in Miracles was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah's endorsement skyrocketed Williamson's book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list .

A Course in Miracles is allegedly a 'new revelation' from 'Jesus' to help humanity work through these troubled times. This 'Jesus'-who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ-began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman.

One day Schucman heard an 'inner voice' stating, 'This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.' For seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this voice that described himself as 'Jesus.'

Here are some quotes from the 'Jesus' voice of A Course in Miracles :

· 'There is no sin . . . '
· A 'slain Christ has no meaning.'
· 'The journey to the cross should be the last ' useless journey.'
· 'Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.''
· 'The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray.'
· 'The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.'

· 'The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.'

Popular author Wayne Dyer told his PBS television audience that the 'brilliant writing' of A Course in Miracles would produce more peace in the world.

The Course in Miracles-based book, Forgiveness, continues to be sold in Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral bookstore as Schuller prepares to host a January 17-19, 2008, 'Rethink Conference' at his Crystal Cathedral.

2 Timothy 3 (King James Version)
King James Versio n (KJV)
2 Timothy 3

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

It's not surprising at all that Oprah Winfrey is supporting Barak Obama!!!

Christians.....Take heed!!

And PLEASE pass this one on.....if you never forward anything else! .

Girls...pass this on. this is scary. this seemingly "good doer" woman is dangerous. her influence is world wide. beware!

finally friday and fam...

the past few days have been stressful. so glad it's the weekend! me, brian, and the kids are going to m'ville for Easter and i'm ready to get there! We'll leave next Thursday and stay till Saturday evening. Mattie's gonna stay and go home w/ Aunt Connie and Ryder's gonna get really mad but he'll have his chance in May to stay w/ GMaw and Poppa. They are going to take Jules and Ryder for a few days!!! When i pick up Matt from being w/ Aunt Bobby:) i'll pick up her other cousin, Chandler on the way home and she'll stay till Sunday. I'll get Bailey on friday and he'll stay till Sunday too.

now that y'all know all the "goings on" of the Britt/Earp Family:)

hope y'all have a spendicious weekend!

My strategy....

yesterday i did very good. i'm going to be pretty strict for a week just to kick start my weight loss. Like i've mentioned before i learned when i was trying to lose weight after having Mattie that if i ate less than 1000 calories a day i could lose a pound a day. i did that by replacing 2 meals w/ a bowl of Special K cereal and eating hardly nothing for the other meal. i bought veggies, cut them up, bagged them in snack snize baggies, made fat free veg. dip and that's what i'd snack on. also for a sweet snack i would eat toast w/ calorie free spray butter and 1 tsp of sugar. it worked. i think i was way more determined then. for some reason it's not as vital that i lose all the weight this time. evidently b/c Ryder is 2 1/2 yrs old and i'm still "trying".

The Strategy.....
eat as soon as i get up in the morning to jump start my metabolism.
work out for 15 - 30 minutes Monday - Friday right after bfast
replace lunch or supper w/ cereal and eat sensibly for the other meal
drink more water
NOT deprive myself of things i like ......eat in moderation!
eat healthier snacks

i'll be updating daily!

It is on!

I've had it w/ my weight. it is absolutely rediculous that i am as big as i am. and all you people out there that say "oh you look fine...your gut doesn't make you look like your 6 months pg." can just stop the lying cause it does and i do. i literally walk in fear when i go to wal-mart or somewhere where they don't know me b/c i'm afraid someones gonna ask, "so when are you due". like i told the wal-mart check out girl when asked about "my baby" after patting her flat skinny as a rail stomach, "no i'm just fat". This picture is of me 1 year after mattie. i was down to 126 lbs. but it hasn't gone like that w/ ryder. monday night we bought a stationary bicycle from w-m. so far each morning i hop on it after mattie gets on the bus. yesterday i rode for 15 minutes and today it was for 18 min. my goal is to ride m-f for 30 minutes and take off on sat and sun. i talked brian into replacing a meal everyday w/ a bowl of cereal. he only eats twice a day so we'll probably eat cereal at night and eat sensibley at lunch. i've done it before and I WILL DO IT AGAIN! the people at our church only know me as chunky. i want them to know me as slim.

let's see i'm 155 lbs now and i want to be 135 lbs so i only need to lose 20 lbs. shouldn't be too hard. (well last spring i got down to 140ish but through the winter i piled on the pounds.) i've got to change my mind set about eating or i'll gain it all again next winter. eat in moderation.

here i go on another soap box....God did NOT make me like this. i made myself like this. I'm what they call an "emotional eater" i eat based on emotions alot of times. and i flat out find joy in eating. i love to eat bottom line. but i choose to eat and eat and eat. even when i'm not hungry. now i do know there are medical/mental conditions that cause people to eat and gain weight and they can't help it. i have a good friend that has crohns (sp?) disease and the meds that she takes causes her to gain weight and she can't help it. i understand that and i truly feel sorry for her b/c she does want to lose weight. anyway, ....BUT there are millions of us out there that eat and eat and eat b/c we WANT to. it doesn't have to be that way. we just have to eat in moderation. we don't have to go on some stupid "only can eat just carrots and celery w/ water" diet. eat sensibly. we don't have to deprive ourselves. stop eating when we're full. don't finish our plate save it for the next day. we need to do something active. I HATE to excercise. but everyone needs to do some type of it. some how some way.

there now i just got to practice what i preach huh.

scorched....

yesterday was NOT a good cooking day for me. brian had bought some frozen chicken patties and french fries on saturday so we could have a quick lunch on sunday. well, i'm sure they would have been great if i hadn't burned 2 of the 5 patties. then i burned the next 2. the fries were great. i LOVE my family and obviously there's not too much they won't eat.....Mattie said, "it's not too bad". brian said," it's better than wendy's huh?" to which i replied, "NO!" and i hate Wendy's. yuck. ryder had nothing to say, he was too busy eating:). i said, "this is the worse meal i've ever fixed." but brian reminds me of the "4 ingrediants or less" meal i cooked a few years ago. i really don't need to expound on that anymore...what can be good w/ 4 ingrediants or less. THEN sudnay night rolls around. i fry up some sausage for my red beans, sausage and rice meal....add the beans and water everything is going good. i check it occasionally then brian says, "i smell something" yes, you guessed it i had forgot to add more water as it was cooking and the WHOLE pot of beans and sausage was ruined.. burnt smell everywhere. my wonderful husbad was so hungry that he ate it. then he threw the rest of it out to the dogs. i'm assuming it was eatible to them b/c i saw no traces of it this morning.

anyone have a worse story than that.

8 fabulous years today and counting!

a bouquet of flowers!

i would like to encourage my friends to by a bouquet of flowers. they cost $4 at wal-mart. i bought some daisies two weeks ago and they are still pretty! i've got flowers here at work and some at the house. they brighten your day.

food for thought:)