Day Five

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier. Not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to perform it increases." -- Heber J. Grant

Day Five from Crystal's website is just like day four.  Continue with the previous tasks.  The key to this 30 day challenge is consistency! By being consistent, you will help create good habits. She does say for today to focus on renewing yourself spiritually. She says to start to include this challenge in your prayers, especially if you are struggling. Pray for others that may be doing the challenge as well!

Penny :)

Day Four

“We speak of the power and influence of habits and often excuse sinners because they are the victims of bad habits. I would like to say to you that good habits are just as powerful to control the actions of men and women as are evil habits. Oh, that men and women would learn in youth to serve the Lord and to establish good habits, virtuous thinking, righteous acting, honesty and integrity! If they did this, when they came to the time of their strength and power, instead of using the major part of their strength to correct the evils of youth, instead of battling to conquer that which ought never to have come into their lives, they would use that strength in going forward to “build more stately mansions, oh my soul!” Men and women do not go far wrong in an instant. It is by slow degrees, step by step. It is a blessing that it is not with rapidity that men can depart from the path of virtue to become immoral.” -- Melvin J. Ballard


Crystal's website day four and five as catch up days.  These two days should be used as days to just focus on all the previous tasks up to this point.

• check in with your buddy
• drink the lemon water and milk
• read your affirmation statement
• spend some time in your prayer journal
• spend some time in meaningful prayer

The only one thing that she wants to add for Day Four is something quite fun! Turn on some upbeat music at some point in the day & dance for 10 minutes straight! What a mood lifter!! I love music and dancing around the house just for no reason at all, so this task will be super simple for me!


So far things are going well! I do feel like I am creating good habits and I'm having a really amazing time blogging about it!

Loving my life!!

Penny :)

Day Three

"Self-discipline requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results." -- Gary Ryan Blair

Day three from Crystal's website is all about breathing! The task for today is to continue with everything up to this point, but also print out the PDF for the breathing exercises and try them out.


download PDF


Penny :)

Day Two

"No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. There is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. There is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place."--James E. Faust, "The Lifeline of Prayer," Ensign, May 2002

I can honestly and humbly say that this is an area that I struggle with the most.  I was taught as a child to be extremely independant and solve my own problems. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am taught to give it over to Heavenly Father.  Not that you don't have to take care of business and do for yourself  BUT................we should seek guidance from our Heavenly Father always and in all things.

Day two from Crystal's website is all about the Prayer Journal!



Her download for the prayer journal fits right into my little planner and I love it! The idea is to focus on things throughout the day and write them down on the sheet so that you can have more direct meaningful prayers.  I need this!

A little note: day one, last night went really well! I completed my 30 minute close out of the day, drank my warm milk, my buddy called me, I said my affirmation and prayers! Looking pretty positive so far :)

Penny :)

My Inner Pioneer

Okay...... so if you know me at all, you know that I am completely obsessed with the Pioneer Woman! Her show on Food Network, her cookbooks, her website! So why not blog about it, right? I think this is probably for my own amusement, but that's ok, I'm fine with it! :)
I guess I'm a little obsessed with cooking in general, but trust me, if you haven't discovered Pioneer Woman as one of your favorite chefs, you and your man are missing out!

So over the next couple of months or longer, I am going to blog about my cooking exploits and see if I can find my own inner pioneer woman ;)


Tonights dinner - Fried Chicken Tacos (I'll post about how yummy tomorrow :))


Penny

Day One

"As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life & create something of beauty & helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you." -- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I had a really interesting conversation with one of my good friends and also sister in-law Lindsay  this weekend about our obsession with starting new things! :) Yes, we both are very very good at starting new things.  We buy all the right food, clothes, pens, paper etc.  Whatever is required, we do it............ The problem comes in when we have to stick to something long enough for it to really work! Now don't get me wrong, she has stuck to things before, like running, and it worked beautifully for her, and I also have stuck to things in the past, but for some reason lately.................not so much!

So here is where we flip the switch!!!

I believe whole heartily that this 30 day challenge is different because it focuses on the inside out! It focuses on being balanced in all the areas of your life and I think that this is where I have gone wrong in the past! I have focused just on one thing, like eating, or working out, or scripture study.......but really I needed to start with my inner self and then work from there!

Day one to do list from Crystal's website is to:

• Complete the Prework tasks
• Download the Affirmation statement and begin reading it once in the morning and once at night to yourself in the mirror

My morning routing: (of just the things that Crystal has covered up to this point)

• Buddy wake up call - check (even though she was already up for probably an hour :) lol)
• Warm lemon water - check (interesting, I felt VERY tired when I got up, but felt extremely alert after drinking the water!!)
• Read affirmation statement - check (I can honestly say that reading this to myself in the mirror made me feel silly! But I can also say, by the end of the affirmation statement however, I felt POWERFUL!)
• Prayer
• Now on to my "to do" list - some scripture study, laundry and whatever else I can get into :)

Loving my life!
Penny :)

final prework :)

"The Word of Wisdom does not promise you perfect health, but it teaches how to keep the body you were born with in the best condition and your mind alert to delicate spiritual promptings."
--President Boyd K. Packer; Ensign, May 1996, Page 18

Today's final prework from Crystals website is about specific drinks that she has found very helpful in her life, warm lemon water in the morning and warm milk or almond milk at night, both with a little honey and a pinch of cinnamon. She goes through the benefits of each one of these items on her website and I'm very excited and curious to see these benefits for myself.

Tomorrow will be the beginning of the 30 Day Challenge for me!!! I'm ready and willing to see new habits begin!