the new me

Okay, so apparently the word is out about my new exercising habits. New habits = I'm actually exercising. Yes, it's true. For those of you who know me...this is insane. Seriously. I don't know what motivated me to do it: the fact that I had an elevated cholesterol level a few weeks ago on my blood work, or the fact that Brett set this "goal" for us. This was the goal:

1. For me to exercise at least once a week for the next 6 weeks.
2. For Brett to exercise at least twice a week for the next 6 weeks.
3. At the end of the 6 weeks we would evaluate and see what our 'next step' would be.

Some of you may think this is quite rude of my husband to force these goals of exercise on his 'oh so good looking wife', but it was out of a heart of trying to be healthy (weight loss is not the motivation, but if it happens, it wouldn't be a bad thing).

So I agreed to the goal and the first week I exercised 4 times! I think I had this fear that if I didn't continue to do it every day, then I would lose the rhythm I was in. I then realized that is probably the beginning signs of an addiction so I stopped doing it every day (who am I kidding, it's not like it was SOOOO many days...it was only 3 consecutively).

Regardless though, I am extremely proud of myself! Brett and I will probably work out together most of the time, but my best friend Kelli is also trying to exercise more so we are going to take a Zumba class together on Wednesdays! We had our first one last week. We had the intention of being able to "hide in the back" since neither of us had ever done Zumba before...but when we got there, there were only like 7 people in the class, so there was no hiding to be had. It was quite hilarious.

Goodbye elevated cholesterol level and HELLO to the new me!

Kim

P.S...I may never actually be able to say goodbye to the high cholesterol considering it runs in the family (lame) but I'll do the best I can :)

random things

This has been a really fun week, but I couldn't think of any one thing to blog about...so here is a random compilation of what has made my week fun!

1. Brett and I cooked dinner together (steaks) on Monday for Valentine's and stayed in and watched the movie Salt.
2. My niece (1 year old) went to the zoo last weekend and while petting a goat at the petting zoo she got knocked over by another goat...HAHAHAHA! I wasn't actually there for this but I couldn't NOT share it because it's hilarious.
3. I slept in on Saturday AND worked out! First time in months. Literally. I hesitated whether or not I should put that on here....
4. I got a late Valentine's present on Wednesday from Brett...an infinity scarf! (the kind of scarf that is just one big circle, it doesn't have ends)
5. My dad had a birthday so we talked on the phone for a long time which I always enjoy!
6. I watched the Grammy's which we had recorded and decided that I will take a stand on whether or not I like Justin Bieber, and the answer is that I DO! Glee helped with this decision.
7. I had an old roommate dinner with my best friends Kelli and Megan. I love getting to connect with the 3 of us and hang out like old times.
8. We finally got Brett's car back from the shop! (we had been living off of one car for almost a month now)
9. I 100% did NOT want to wake up to teach the 4 and 5 year olds at early church this morning. I mean I think I used the words "my eyes will NOT open and I will die if they do" to Brett this morning as he tried to wake me up. I woke up and church was really good :).
10. We paid off one of our student loans!!!!!!!! If I were doing this in order of excitement, that would have been # 1.

Well I promised a picture, so here is Brett and I before our Valentine's date :) Hope you have a good week!

weekend update

This weekend was laid back, but really fun and productive! Friday was a FULL day with students after our staff meeting which is unusual...so by the time I got home I was exhausted! We spent Friday night catching up on all our shows. These include: The Office (hilarious as always), Grey's Anatomy (yes I still watch it), and American Idol (I really like the new judges and I already have favorites).

Saturday my sweet friend Katie had the wonderful idea of hosting a Valentine's Tea Party for all of the staff kids! I think they really enjoyed feeling so special and getting to party without their parents around. We may or may not have given them WAY too many sweets. It was so much fun! Saturday night Brett took me out on our Valentines date. We went to Triple J and really enjoyed the live music that played some old favorites which included: James Taylor, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, and of course, George Strait. It is such a fun and upbeat environment there! If you are in Lubbock and have never been, I would recommend it. It can be pricey but it depends on what you get. They definitely have reasonably priced things on the menu.

Today, we did the whole church thing as usual (teaching the 4-5 year olds for the first service and attending the second). After church we made some lunch and then packed up our computers to camp out at Barnes and Noble for a few hours. This is a big deal because I sacrificed my Sunday afternoon nap. If you know me, you know this is not normal. But Brett and I had a lot of fun working on some things that we needed to get done and goofing off in the process :) After B & N I even went grocery shopping with Brett! If you are a follower, you know that this is also not normal because Brett usually does the shopping. But we were already out and I figured it would go quickly. Considering it was a Sunday and it was Wal-Mart...I'd say we got in and out in a reasonable amount of time! We had small group tonight which we really enjoyed. We started on some new material and we talked about Creation today and how being made in the image of God effects us and our relationships.

Sorry for the boring post, but I don't always have a ton to write about. Thought you could just catch a glimpse of my everyday life. I'll make sure to add some pictures next time :)

Kim

prayer

I have learned a TON about prayer these past few months. Well really I haven't learned that much, but I have learned one main thing: God answers prayers. Such a simple concept but the Lord is gracious with me and my slow realization of something so important. I used to pray just to pray...maybe because I thought that's what a good Christian is supposed to do. But I noticed that I was not believing that God would actually answer. I was doing it out of habit, out of obligation, but not out of a heart that loves God and believes He will hear me. Well let me just tell you how I have seen the Lord answer 2 big prayers:

1. Back in October I began praying that I would get to see a student accept Christ with me. My ministry with Cru is not all about seeing results, but I was eager to get to watch a student trust Christ and figured I'd pray for it! A little over a week ago a girl that I met last semester and shared the gospel with told me that she trusted Christ! SO SO SO exciting! I am now beginning to meet with her and teach her how to walk with the Lord. 
2. One of the dorm bible studies in our Cru movement has not had a lot of people coming around, and it seems that the students in that dorm are spiritually uninterested. There has been virtually no guys all year at this study. Our staff team has been praying for this dorm and the leaders all year. This past Wednesday my friend Misty and I specifically prayed that the leaders of that bible study would be faithful to meet new students and that they would have new people come to their study. That very night there were 2 new guys AND the leaders had gone into the dorm to meet new students!

These are just 2 out of tons of answered prayers. When I used to hear other people talk about God answering prayers, I would be the person who secretly though it was a coincidence but wouldn't ever dare say it. The Lord has shown me otherwise. I think He will show you otherwise too. Try it :)

Kim

cold cold cold

It's cold outside. Probably the coldest weather I've ever experienced (at least that I remember). Lubbock did not get hit with as much snow as they were expecting though, so it was still a work day for me! Yesterday, Brett and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary!! He surprised me in the morning with breakfast in bed, which was absolutely delicious.

Yummy breakfast in bed :)

Later in the afternoon we went shopping at Old Navy and Target (probably my 2 favorite places to shop). I had giftcards from Christmas to both places and ended up getting some new clothes from Old Navy...including some cute new gray boots that I love! We ended the night with an amazing dinner at Texas Roadhouse (Thanks Uncle Al and Tracy for the giftcard) followed by an hour of reading at Barnes and Noble. It was a perfect way to celebrate our marriage.

My new sweater and boots!

Tonight I decided to make a baked chicken noodle casserole. I've been wanting to make it for a while but kept forgetting to have Brett get sour cream at the store (yes, Brett usually does the grocery shopping). Anyway, I've been frustrated with trying to cook because I'll experiment with new things and they usually end up really bland or I just don't like them. Tonight was different though...we both REALLY liked this one, and it makes a TON! So we'll be eating this casserole for the next 3 years or so.

Just remember that looks can be deceiving...it actually tastes good!

And I can't leave you without the recipe, so here it is! Hope you have a nice WARM week!

Kim

Click here to go to AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• butter
• olive oil
• 2 cans chicken broth (1 optional)
• 12 ounces egg noodles
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1-2 cups sour cream (to taste)
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. 1.Saute chicken cutlets in large saucepan in olive oil and butter until well browned. Remove chicken from pan, add 1 can chicken broth to saucepan and scrape up browned bits in bottom of sauce pan and mix into broth. Add chicken cutlets back to saucepan, cover and cook on low until done, about 10 minutes.
2. 2. While chicken is cooking mix other can of chicken broth with water in pot to boil noodles. Cook as directed on bag and drain.
3. 3. Cut chicken into small pieces, and mix with noodles.
4. 4. In a separate bowl, mix together soups and sour cream. Season with salt and pepper. Gently stir together cream soup mixture with the chicken mixture. Place in a 3 quart casserole/baking dish.
5. 4. Melt butter in a small saucepan, and remove from heat. Stir in bread crumbs. Stir in shredded cheese. Top casserole with the mixture.
6. 5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until heated through and browned on top.