Thanksgiving

What's thanksgiving without a blogpost? Boring, right? Well, in all honesty, this year's been pretty tough. I'm thankful for so much because a year ago, I don't think I could've imagined living in this town. I'm uber thankful for my family because even though the chaotic move, they stayed pretty strong. My family knows how to make me laugh like an idiot and smile like I have forever to be happy. I couldn't be more grateful, seriously. I'm also super thankful for my friends in this town and in the previous one. They seriously are the best. I'm verrrryyyy grateful for the Stuart family. They took care of me for 6 weeks while my family was living in my new town while I remained in the old. They are the sweetest people and they took me in willingly. That was a super stressful time in my life and they were just fantastic. I'm super grateful to live in a country where I can worship my God freely. I'm also beyond grateful for our forgiving God. I know that I screw up a whole lot, I mean a lot. God loves us unconditionally even when we really don't deserve it. We don't deserve any of this, I mean he sent his son to die on a cross for us. Y'all, we are sinners and he loves us so much. I'm just really blessed. When times get tough, we have loving people in our life and an amazing God. It's truly amazing how things work out in the end because God sends so many people into our lives who love us. Just remember that you're loved by the people around you and by our God. Happy Thanksgiving!

Emma Jane

Health Tips for the Holidays

So, as you probably would've guessed, the holidays are just around the corner! To people like me, that's pretty terrifying because all I see are the many calories floating around everything, shrinking my clothes. If you're a health nut like me, I say we try to make ourselves accountable for what we eat. My only solution to this health-bombing holiday season is to really record everything you eat. I use the app "My Plate" to record nearly everything I do. If you're too lazy or don't have a smartphone, go to the store right now. I'm not joking. Buy yourself a spiral notebook and on the very front cover, label it "FOOD I'M EATING" or something along those lines. Keep that notebook with you at all times and write down everything that you put into your body. I found out that our bodies work like a well-oiled machine. Whatever we put into our bodies determines how we perform with them. Make sense? If I eat 3 slices of apple pie, my near softball game probably won't be played as well as if I had eaten carrots and hummus. (This is hypothetical because I don't play sports) You see what I mean, right? Also, to stay fit during this holiday season, HIT THE GYM UP. If you're not part of a gym, youtube workout videos work wonders as well. I prefer the yoga ones. Always hit up Jillian Michaels. If you find yourself at walmart because you need the notebook, go into that little section of the store nobody likes-the workout gear section. Jillian has plenty of DVDs to choose from. I like the 30 Day Shred one, but that's just me. Also, to stay fit during this calorie-infused month, plan ahead. Plan your meals way ahead of time and already have what you're going to eat written down somewhere (preferably the notebook or app) create a menu for the day filled with high-protein, low-carb food. Trust me, if the food you want to eat isn't on your personal daily menu, don't eat it. For extra motivation, type up your menu for the day along with the calorie count on each food item. Then, print several copies of that menu and put it all over your house. Especially on the fridge. As humans, we're impulse eaters and we like to grab things from the fridge and not think about them again. THIS IS NOT GOOD. Impulse eating is a cause of weight gain. Speaking of, holiday movies are all the buzz right now, am I correct? When you're watching tv, it's almost an instinct to want to be eating as well. Ask yourself this question: are you hungry or bored? Try chewing gum while watching tv (pick that up at the store when you're there as well) Also, to make this calorie counting (or food tracking) thing fun, write stuff down in fun colors. Grab different colored markers, pens, crayons, or colored pencils and create a fun menu to look at. You could even make veggies one color, fruits another, proteins one, and so on. That way, you can see what types of food you're constantly eating. Remember, everything is good in moderation. If you find your menu full of pink (lets pretend pink stands for carbs/ bread/ sugary stuff) then CHANGE it. Maybe try adding in some greens or blues or reds or yellows. You feel me? Make your menu look like a rainbow, not a black and white movie. Speaking of rainbows, eat colorful foods. Specifically, brighten your plate up with fruits and vegetables. While you're at the store anyway, check out that produce man! Usually the store Aldi has really great prices on produce, and Walmart will price match. This way, your body and budget stay clean for the holidays. If you tend to go to holiday parties, offer to bring a dish full of health benefits. Place it on the snack table, get a few treats, and then get AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from that little table. People can consume up to 1000 calories by mindlessly grabbing food off of that devil table. Find old friends to catch up with, play on your phone, read a book. I don't care, but stay away from the food. Make only ONE plate. Snacks aren't meant for second helpings.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Have a happy healthy holiday! :)

Emma Jane

Decisions

We've all made some pretty bad decisions at one point or another. Am I right? Decisions are like dominos. When you make one, it influences what happens next in your life. For example, If I decide not to study, I'll probably fail the test. If I make the decision to study and do my homework, I'll probably pass. Every decision that you make in your life is an important one, whether you realize this or not. It's a scary thing how much impact the smallest things have on our lives. In the world of dieting, If I decide to eat a cookie or two every day for a month, I'm most likely going to gain some weight. If I decide to run two miles every day for a month, I'll probably be in better shape. Most decisions aren't extreme either though. We decide what we put into our bodies every day. It's scary and a sad reality that sometimes what we inject into ourselves isn't good for us at all. Did you know that sugar is 8 times as addicting than cocaine? Yeah, I know. It's pretty scary. Sugar is an addiction people! If you decide to overdose, your body usually doesn't get very happy. OR you have a "sugar high" and then crash. Hmmmm I wonder where the term "sugar high" comes from??!? SUGAR IS LIKE A DRUG. Okay, sorry for the little rant there. It's just some scary stuff. Decisions, yes, that's where we were here. First off, don't do drugs. Avoid them at all costs. Ya'll I'm not joking. Please decide not to do any kind of illegal drugs, that is for sure not a good decision whatsoever. A good decision is going to church though. If yall wanna get high, get on that Jesus high. Praising God is never ever a bad thing. I love being on a Jesus high because you never have to get off. Jesus' love is eternal and he loves you sooo much! "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) I don't know about ya'll, but that's pretty fantastic. Did you know he sent his only son to come down and DIE for our sins? Now think about this, would you send your son to be killed??? (If you don't have a child yet, think hypothetically) I probably wouldn't- hypothetically speaking. I'm only a teeanger with lots of words in my head, children are wayyyyy down the road for me!

Also, with this whole decision thing. Good decisions lead to dreams coming true ya'll. If I was like "screw it." and got drunk every weekend- how would that help me get into UNT or UTD or Concordia???? You see, that bad decision would lead to destructiveness and counterproductivity. I feel like yeah, it's high school- you're going to screw up a few times, but don't do stupid things on purpose that will only hurt your future. I know that I make some poor choices sometimes, but guess what? I have a forgiving God! It's amazing how that works.  So yes, overall, just make good choices because your future will be bright and Jesus loves you always.