A Month of Firsts

As a mom, do you sometimes feel like you've lost yourself to this perfect little person, who captured you body and soul from the moment you knew of his existence? Over the past year and a half that I've been a mom, I've struggled with balancing the role of motherhood with who I was before this little boy stole my heart. This year I am going to learn how to have balance in all areas of my life, not let one area take over all the rest. One of the things I am doing for myself is exercise. And not exercise just to lose weight or to try and get my pre-pregnancy body back...let's get real. That's never going to happen. But I do want to get healthy; make it a way of life. My exercise of choice these days is running.

Running seems to have taken over my life in one way or another for the month of February. But let me make it clear that I have always hated running and would be the first one to tell you that I do not have any stamina or endurance. I like the way running looks though. Runners always seem so motivated, and let's face it, they usually have great legs. All that running must really tone the muscles.

At the beginning of the year I decided I would start walking again to lose some weight and tone everything up before Summer gets here. Inspired by my sister, I added a little running in there to burn more calories. Against all reason I started to love it. I love pushing myself and seeing what my body can do. Yesterday I ran a mile for the first time in my life. It doesn't sound like a very big accomplishment when I look at it here, but trust me, it was HUGE! That last lap was pretty rough. But I am planning to do a 5k in March and I would love to be able to run the entire race. Right now, I can't imagine running 3 miles straight though.

I am also "running" in my Mary Kay business for the month of February. I am involved in a challenge from National Sales Director Allison Lamarr called the 30 Day Sprint. You can sprint in any area of your life where you feel frustrated and are ready for things to change. A sprint is defined as a race or move at full speed, especially for a short distance; a burst of speed at any point during a long race, near the finish line. We are in the last part of our seminar year and I am nowhere near where I wanted to be by June 30. So for the month of February I am going to sprint. I am going to do something in my business I've never done before: 30 faces and 10 interviews. It will put me in such a great position to finish the year.

God has been revealing lots of life lessons to me as I run. I've been leaning on my scripture for the year, 2 Timother 1:7, to push me in running and as I begin this sprint in my business. Self-discipline is hard, isn't it?

Fearless in 2010!

I mentioned in my last post that I would talk about my goals for 2010 this time. I think goal setting is so important. If you aren't working towards something, you will probably be in the same place you were last year. If you have a goal, you may not reach it, but you will be further along than if you don't shoot for anything at all. Being in the same place as last year just isn't okay with me anymore. I don't believe God called us to live lives of complacency. I believe there is always room for growth. And I need to do a lot of growing!

In Mary Kay, we are always talking about goal setting and how to reach your goals, but this year it really hit home with me. We were asked to make a goal poster, detailing our goals for the 4 main areas of our lives: spiritual, personal, career and family. I didn't want to just flippantly put something on there. I spent time in prayer and asked God to lead me in what my specific goals should be for this year. I also asked him for a verse to help lead, encourage and keep me focused this year. The verse he gave me helped me formulate goals in each of the 4 areas of my life.

My verse this year is 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline."

Fear. The word in and of itself is scary to me. Before I had a child, I would tell you that I wasn't a fearful person. I wasn't scared of dying. I knew where I was going. And just for the record, I still do. ;) But becoming a mom instilled a new fear in my heart. The fear of my child dying, the fear of my husband dying, and the biggest fear of all: me dying and not being able to be a part of my baby's life as he grows up. I had nightmares about it and still do sometimes. But God has given me this verse to remind me that fear is not from God. We all belong to him; Taylor, me and Logan.

I also deal with a fear of change. Change is hard no matter which way you slice it. Even good changes are hard for me. You have to train yourself to live in a new reality. I'm a planner and not really big on change. But guess what? Life is all about change. Nothing stays the same. I am trying to embrace it this year because there are several areas in my life I want to change.

One of those areas involves my spiritual goals for this year. I want to grow closer and have a more intimate relationship with my creator. Isn't it awesome that he even entertains the idea of a relationship with us, even more, he desires it?! So I have specific goals around this. Our church is reading through the New Testament and Psalms twice this year. I want to successfully complete this challenge. I've never once completed one of those type challenges. I also want to read books that inspire me and challenge me in regards to my relationship with God. I happen to love Max Lucado's writing style and the fact that his books are Biblically based. I want to read six of his books this year, one every two months. I also want to be more involved in ministry. I'm currently working on a lead in this area that I am very excited about, but not ready to blog about quite yet.

I think that is about enough for one night. I'll let you in on my other goals later. What are your goals for 2010?

What happens when you lose your link to the world?

My life has been crazy since the holidays which would be one reason for my lack of blogging. The other reason would be the fact that my computer crashed a little over a week ago and has been in the shop. My link to the outside world was gone, just like that. I just got it back and finally feel complete again. That's sad isn't it? My computer has become so much a part of my life that a week without it felt like a part of me had been amputated. Thankfully I had my trusty iphone so I could check email and even check up on facebook now and then. I don't know what I would have done with no email for a week!

However, the lack of a computer gave me time to do other things. You know rather than reading all of your wonderful blogs, updating mine, or becoming engrossed in facebook nonsense, I got back to my work out routine and started reading some new books. I think this lack of computer time taught me a lesson: I need less computer time! Don't get me wrong, I want to be able to get on the computer and update things, check email and even from time to time just mindlessly stare at facebook and catch up with old friends. But overall, I don't want to majority of my time spent with the computer in my lap.

I do plan to update my blogs more often because I love writing as an outlet and just for the fun of putting my thoughts out there somewhere. I'm guessing there are some of you out there who read my ramblings. ;)

My next blog will be about my goals for 2010. Not resolutions mind you, but things I really want to work towards in the new year. Stay tuned....

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I love the Christmas season; such a fun time with family and friends! And for me, it helps bring my focus clearly on the reason for the season, Jesus. Thank you Lord for sending your only son, as a tiny baby, that I might be reconciled to you. He paid a debt I truly could not pay and gave me a gift I could never deserve.

The gifts are fun too, but really just the icing on the cake. With a child, Christmas is so much fun! Last year, Logan was only 6 months old and didn't really care about much. It was fun, but a long, tiring day for all of us. This year, Logan was so excited about opening his presents and playing with all his new toys. He is very blessed to have 4 grandparents and 5 great-grandparents plus Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Needless to say, our house now looks like a toy store. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our Christmas celebrations:

The singing Handy Manny toolbox. One of his favorites!

4 Wheeler from Gran and Pop

After Santa left. He knew Logan would be getting a lot of big gifts from family, so he kept it more low key this year. ;)

Handy Manny table and chairs from Mama-J and Neal (Do you sense a theme here? L is obsessed with Handy Manny!)

Cars couch/fold out bed from Nana

Play kitchen from Nana. This has given us hours of fun already!!

We went to see Santa!

L was so excited when Santa got there! He kept wanting to run up to him before it was his turn. It was so cute! Of course when it really was his turn and Taylor put him in Santa's lap, he just looked at him, then cried when they tried to take his picture. I think he liked the idea of Santa much better than actually being held by him.

Our first look at Santa this year:

The "official" photo:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We are getting ready for Christmas at the Thornburg house, which hasn't left me much time for blogging. Logan is at such a fun age and I know he is going to just LOVE Christmas this year. He talks all the time and it is actually getting to where we can have little conversations. I just love it! He is still obsessed with the word "no" and now feels the need to repeat it several times to make sure you get the point. This week starts Christmas gatherings for our family. I can't wait!!

War Eagle

Auburn finally won a game, so L wore his Auburn outfit to church last Sunday. It was so cute I just had to get some pictures of him in it!

Cheese!

Trying to get his paci back.

Pouting.

Finally got that paci!