Nothing like finding a roundabout in rural western Nebraska!

A day to celebrate my husband!

Today my husband celebrates 20 years with his current employer. When he first interviewed for this job I wasn't sure it would be the right fit for him and to be honest we had dreams of opening our own business. But after we drove halfway across the state, met with his future employers and looked around the town we began to change our minds.
It was one of the best choices we've ever made. I say we, because he has always included me in on the decision making progress when it comes to major choices. We work as a team. I've come to realize that's kind of rare in a marriage.
This has been a great place to raise our children and he has totally loved his job. I can not stress how important it is for a man to get up in the morning and want to go to work rather than dread it. Yes, he has those days... but I don't think he's ever regretted taking this job.
He is blessed to have an employer who treats their employees like family. They have been very good to him over the years.

Laying Aside Every Weight- part 2

It has come to my attention that it's time to clean out my hobbies. I have supplies from things I haven't touched in years and they are taking up space.
For instance: When I was first married another gal from our church taught me how to do counted cross stitch. It was quite the rage in our little group. Over the years I did make a lot of projects and actually finished them, . But I haven't cross stitched in years. And now my eyes are getting weaker, cross stitch just isn't so enjoyable but more of a chore. So it's time to find a new home for my cross stitch supplies. I have books, magazines, aida cloth and floss, floss, floss! It's time to find a new home for these where they will get used and loved.

Rubber stamps! Yeah, I may have a few of those. or a couple hundred... I really enjoy stamping, or I used to. I really can't even remember the last time I used them. I think maybe it's time to find them a home where they will be used and enjoyed rather than just sitting in drawers.

And then there's fabric, quilting patterns, half finished quilts, and sewing patterns and fabric scraps because for some reason I just can't throw them away!!!!

Oh and don't forget the scrapbooking supplies which I haven't used in 8 years. I know that because the last time I scrapped was at a January retreat where I made a page with wedding pics of my youngest daughter and her husband.

I have half a room full of hobby supplies that I rarely or never use. So it's time to lay aside this weight. When I see these things I feel guilty because I'm not using them, but I can't get very excited about doing something with them either. I guess I have moved on. So it's time to find a new home for most of this STUFF. I will keep my scrapbooking stuff and the quilt projects that I've started. But I'm thinking most of the rest of it is going out the door. Hopefully to a place where it will be enjoyed and not just sit in closets.

Just thinking about freeing up the space makes me feel lighter already. Now it's time to find some boxes and get to work!

Laying Aside Every Weight- part 1

I bet you thought this was going to be a diet and fitness post didn't you?

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."

Last week when I was at the Plexus event, (nope, still not a fitness post) one of the speakers talked about the way that we talk to ourselves. This got me to thinking about who I am, who I used to be, what happened to the old me....and how do I get her back. I'm not talking about the 20 year old mom who weighed 120 pounds a week after she had her baby, although I wouldn't mind that either. (smile) I am talking about the person who used to smile more, who used to laugh, who had hope about the future rather than being bogged down by the today. I started thinking about how I talk to myself and I realized that I really am not very nice to myself at all. I have told myself that I don't deserve things that I want. I have told myself that I am boring and nobody wants to be around me. I have told myself that if I truly love my family I will deny myself of everything for them. I have told myself that I can't do so many things that I have given up all hope and felt like life was just going to be this way forever.

Now, while it's true that we are to be unselfish and servants to our families, I don't think God wanted us to give up our dreams and aspirations because sometimes those dreams come from Him. And I don't think God finds us very godly when we  become joyless just so that we can make someone else more comfortable.

So today I am deciding to lay down the weight of meeting other people's expectations. I am laying down the weight of self loathing and I am going to find the me that I use to like and find ways to feed her and help her back to a healthy person. I am hoping that if I can find her again then maybe I can also encourage others in my life to do the same. I am hoping to smile more, laugh more and love more.

Two weeks into 2017

I started the Blogilates workout with my daughter. Folks, this is a tough challenge! I am so out of shape and it's not funny! But I am hanging in there. I have been sick this week with a sinus infection so I haven't done all my workouts, but I am trying to be consistent and sticking in there.

Last weekend I went to Denver with some other Plexus gals and attended Super Saturday. It was fun to finally meet the ladies in my upline and listen to stories by women who had been helped by Plexus.

I bought a car while I was there, so hopefully this will solve our vehicle issues for awhile. We also got our van fixed and are planning on selling it. Our driveway looks like a parking lot!

I read two books in the first two days of the year, but I've been distracted with other things and haven't read since.

School has been going fairly well. It's always hard to get back into a routine after taking time off. Next week we will be studying the Revolutionary War.

Yesterday my son asked me what Martin Luther King day was about. It gave us an opportunity to talk about the civil rights movement and prejudice. It gave me a good teaching moment about how we treat people who are different from us whether that means race or physical and mental handicaps. I have learned that it's important to take these opportunities when they are curious. They seem to listen better.

I hope everyone is having a good month so far. There is a big storm headed towards the midwest so I'm hoping it's not as bad as they're predicting. If you live in the path of the storm please stay safe.

Why I like Plexus

https://backoffice.plexusworldwide.com/kristuttle/media/shareables/triplex-video-teaser.html

When I first head of Plexus Slim it was on Facebook. I was seeing people rave about how this was such a great drink and how they felt so much better! I figured it was just a new gimmick to get you to spend money. But then an acquaintance kept posting about it over and over.  This was a lady that I actually knew. This gal was someone who I knew and I could trust her integrity, and she had been diagnosed with MS, slowly getting worse and worse. I have to admit her facebook posts were getting a little annoying but then she started posting about being able to climb the grain elevator for the first time since she'd been diagnosed. The next thing I knew she was posting about doing cartwheels! I was amazed, So I decided that maybe I should try this "pink drink" and see for myself.

You see, I actually knew about the importance of "gut health" long before everyone started posting about it on Facebook because we have a son who was on some very harsh medicines at a young age and when I started looking for answers on how to help him with his developmental problems, gut health and leaky gut were commonly mentioned. That is when we started to change his diet and that is when we started to see improvements in his behaviors. So I already knew about the link to an unhealthy gut and good health, but I hadn't adopted better choices for myself. In the years since the boys had come to live with us my health was quickly deteriorating. I attribute much of it to stress but it was also the fact that Coca Cola was my beverage of choice and the fact that I had gained fifty pounds in ten years. I hurt all the time. When I got up in the morning the first thing I did was take four Ibuprofen and again at night when I went to bed. I was miserable and cranky according to my husband. (smile) The inflammation in my joints was causing a lot of pain, all the time. By early afternoon I was exhausted and usually needed a nap to get through the day. At night I hurt so much I never really slept well. I was pretty much a disaster.

To be honest, I didn't think Plexus was going to really help me but I really wanted to find a way to lose some weight and helping to balance blood sugar with the Pink Drink seemed like an easy way.
I knew that to see any changes in my health I needed to commit to at least 3 months of trying something and I knew I needed to be consistent. See! I already knew all of this I just didn't do it!
In June 2015 I took the plunge and ordered my Plexus. I didn't tell anyone, except my daughter because I ordered it through her. I wanted to see if I could lose some weight without making a big deal about it. I committed to using it for three months and was very nervous because I had tried all those shakes and meal replacement things before and after a few days I could barely get them down without gagging. So...

I took my Plexus Slim every morning when I got up with two Bio Cleanse. At noon I took two Bio Cleanse. And right before bed I took two ProBio. Now I know that I should have slowly scheduled in the BioCleanse because when you first start taking it the cleanse part really works! The amazing thing was that I didn't mind the Slim drink at all. I didn't get tired of taking it and I actually looked forward to it in the morning. I wish I could say that the pounds just magically melted away but they didn't. In all fairness it took me years to accumulate them so I couldn't expect a miracle drink to wash them away just like that. But slowly I was seeing some miraculous changes in the way that I felt. About two months in I realized that I didn't hurt when I got out of bed. I had quit taking the Ibuprofen. And I hadn't had a headache in weeks. Another big thing I noticed was my stomach problems were gone. I had struggled with stomach issues for all of my adult life, mostly nausea almost every evening often keeping me awake late into the night. I was feeling enough better that I felt it was worth it to keep taking the products.

Fast forward 18 months later and I am feeling better than I have in twenty years! For me Plexus has truly been an instrument to better health and maybe winding back the clock a few years. I am slowly starting lose to weight, and I am okay with that because I know a healthy way to lose is to do it slowly. I am moving without pain, the pain in my joints is gone. I can take my wedding ring off with ease, maybe too much ease as I'm worried I might lose it someday. And sometime last summer I realized that I was no longer feeling tired in the day. I couldn't even remember when I had taken a nap. It was all kind of subtle but it was big! That's when I realized what a big deal a healthy gut really is! I have two busy preteen boys that I need to keep up with, Now I finally feel like I can do just that!

So why am I telling you about this? Because I wish everyone could take charge of their health and feel better. If telling people about a way to regain good health helps just one person to feel as good as I do then I will shout it to the moutaintop!
Recap:
No joint pain
No pain relievers
No headaches
No fatigue
No indigestion every night
An overall feeling of better health!

Is this for you? What if it could change everything!

Here is a link to our catalog if you would like to know more about Plexus. If you have any questions then please email me at kristuttle@outlook.com  I would love to help others.
https://backoffice.plexusworldwide.com/kristuttle/media/shareables/plexus-product-catalog.html

2017 Goals

I couldn't even write the title of this post without forgetting that it's now 2017. It's a good thing that I rarely write checks anymore, I would certainly get those wrong!

I mentioned in my last post that I don't make resolutions anymore, mainly because I would make unattainable resolutions and then give up on them feeling like a failure. At my husband's job they are to make work goals each year. That made more sense to me. As a homemaker I have learned that when I make goals in different areas of my life then I am more likely to move forward in my work. These are some of my goals for this year with notes and reminders to myself.

Health Goals-
Cut down on sugar and processed foods. Completely eliminating them would be fantastic but don't be unrealistic.
Get moving! Blogilates or walking every day. Those joints get rusty easier every year.
Go to the doctor when you need to, quit finding excuses to put yourself on the back burner.

Personal goals-
RELAX!!
Memorize Colossians in 2017, here is a link for a printable.
Find a way to connect with friends so you're not home all the time with the boys, you need to have fun!
Work on your reading challenges every day! This is your relaxing time!

Homemaking goals-
Stick to the housekeeping schedule- it works if you stick with it.
Plan menus each week with the sale ads.
Keep working on decluttering, you know a neat house makes you feel better.

School goals-
Consistency is the key.
Finish well!
Find a plan for next year that everyone can be happy with.

A New Year, A New Word

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. We had a quiet evening here while my husband introduced the boys to the Three Stooges marathon. I later sent a text to my daughter that I was in Three Stooges hell, as I find them incredibly annoying and silly. BUT, it was heart lifting to see the boys laugh and giggle like little girls as they watched it!
This morning finds me sipping my coffee and thinking about the coming year. One of my boys is sick so he and I stayed home from church. It's giving me some time to think about the coming year and what I want to accomplish. I don't really set resolutions but I do try to make goals. I will write about that in another post.
I try to adopt a word each year that helps me strive for a goal of spiritual maturity. This was last year's word and my thoughts on it:
"EXPECT- my happiness and contentment is often controlled by my expectations. I have resolved to expect great things but also to keep my expectations within reason so that I do not live in chronic disappointment."

This years' word is kind of a follow up to last years. This years' word is :

"Enjoy- I strive to relax and enjoy life more in 2017. My goal is not to get stressed about little details but to enjoy the things that God has given me, big and small."

My goal is to take the time and opportunity to live in the now, enjoy what's around me instead of wishing I could change things, regretting the past or setting unattainable hopes about the future that just lead me to disappointment and frustration.

Do any of you adopt a word for the year?