Day 60 - Finally

Finally indulged myself by picking up the Galaxy Tab 10.1.  Really interesting so far. I'm going to have to get used to touch screen.  Should be fun and hopefully I'll find some cool stuff.

Day 59 - Intercultural Letter of Goodwill

So I'm doing an assignment for my business communications class.  I decided to have a little fun with it.  Check it out:

"Distinguido Lic. Costillas:

     It was such an honor to meet you and your lovely family.  The dinner that you gave in our honor was wonderful and the cuisine you ordered for us was most excellent. Mexicali is a beautiful city and one that I hope to spend more time in soon. The state-of-the-art soccer stadiums and sports teams were a very exciting part of our trip, too.   I especially enjoyed the time we spent with little Huesito.  I hope that the soccer tournament that we discussed while watching Las Aguilas went well for him and that it was enjoyable for you, as well.  Please, greet Señora Costillas, Seca, Agrietada, and the rest of your family for me when you see them this evening." 

It amazes me what academia believes goes on in the actual world of business when there isn't much practical experience behind it.  The thousands of emails I have written, read, and seen rarely ever come to the level of formality that is seen in some of these online assignments. Yes, there are times when formality is of the utmost importance but it is a rarity UNLESS you are an executive director or a member of the board.  

Some of the descriptions that I've read of the "way things are in business" have never been seen in any of my time in collections, telecommunications, e-commerce, restaurants, car sales, retail, client services, or insurance.  Makes me wonder how much hands-on experience some of these college professors have.  I also have a pet peeve with teachers that expect perfection in correspondence and yet they put out emails and announcements that have myriad errors including misspellings and grammatical errors.  All I'm saying is that if you constantly preach perfection you had better be perfect yourself.  Give a guy a break.  LOL

Day 56 - Sick but Happy

I woke up feeling worse today than I did yesterday but thank God for his grace and mercy.  Finished off some more homework just now and I'm exhausted.  I started out the day on a good note and I'm happy to say I have lost a total of 7 lbs. since beginning Bod 4 God and tracking my eating and exercise with NOOM.  My calorie intake for today was a lot lower than usual.  Didn't feel that hungry because of being sick.  Can't miss work tomorrow so here come the meds and hopefully a restful evening.  Night night! 

Day 55 - Cinco, Money Money Money, Let Us Pray

Well it has been a very interesting week.  We started out last Sunday eating at Abuelo's in Abilene and it was pretty much our last big hurrah before we started hunkering down for Bod 4 God.  We've bought a lot of fresh new foods and have moved away from the sweets and started exercising more.  All great things.  My big moment came this morning though when I got on the scale and like Emeril says, "BAM!"  I have lost over 5 lbs in the first week through diet and exercise.  My body feels better and I'm having to adjust.  People who say they don't have time are making excuses and I made excuses in the past.  It's all about priorities.  What takes precedence in your life? Working exercise into your daily routine is as easy as doing it before you go to work, right after work, doing it during your lunch break, or setting personal time aside.  There has to be a way to work it in.  Since I'm not watching TV and I don't spend hours perusing Facebook I have opened up more time for other things.  It also helps that it has been nice outside.  Walking for 30-45 minutes a day really has helped me.  Yesterday I walked a mile during my lunch break and I have to say it wasn't easy.  Pushing through the soreness isn't easy but in the end it will be worth it. 

These changes I've made this year are making an impact in my life.  I feel more spiritually sensitive because we are making efforts to read God's word and pray consistently.  The fact that I've gotten rid of other distractions also helps me to focus more on things that are more important. I also think our relationships are becoming stronger.  Now we've got the exercise, dieting, and losing weight thing started and we need to work on one more area: Finances.  I think we need to assess where we have been and where we would like to go.  We started the tithing challenge but that is only one aspect.  How can we best use what God has provided to us for his honor and his glory. Debt doesn't glorify God and I think it takes our joy and our ability to give (more generously) away.  Our next family goal is to start getting out of debt and to reduce monthly payments.  We need to knock out a few and start working on the big ones.  It is going to take some time but I think It can be done.

Please let me know if my family can pray for yours.  I know that people come into my spirit and mind all the time and when that happens I pray for you.  If you need prayer though feel free to ask.  We are glad to do it. 

Day 54 - Weekend woo

So exhausted from the week and now feeling a bit under the weather as the rest of my family is.  I have walked a bit every day this week.  Today I walked over a mile during my lunch break.  BOD 4 GOD!  Just want to keep going in the right direction. 3 lbs lost so far in less than 5 full days.  I'm happy about that.  So glad the weekend is here.  Still have tons of schoolwork to do.  Just finished posting my position on whether the Chinese military is a threat.  Really?  Are they a threat?  YES most definitely.  'Nuff said.  Well my paper was a little bit longer than that. 1 reason is technology, including abilities to disrupt and/or destroy satellites,  stealthy new aircraft and subs.  Others are desire for natural resources as well as the desire for spread of Communism.  Interesting to say the least.

Day 53 - Improvement

Well I'm getting better grades now that I have gotten more adjusted to working and school all at the same time.  SO glad about that.  Just exhausted. We went grocery shopping last night and didn't get into bed until after 11pm last night.  The 4:50 am alarm sure comes early.  Thanks be to God for sustaining us.  I had lab today and I walked early this morning before work.  It was a very productive day at work today and for school.  Time for bed. 

Day 51 - Workin' It Out. . .TO MUSIC! Sweet Christian Music.

Wow the last couple of days have been great.  Eating better, exercising (just walking so far) and feeling better too.  Well I like to workout to music.  I can use a beat to pace myself by.  We looked into some streaming workout stations and had them blaring in the house a couple of weeks ago.  That is until the EXPLICIT lyrics came on.  WOW.  Really?  Does everything have to be explicit? I decided that I would make it my mission to find something uplifting that I could also pace myself with and wouldn't you know it? AMAZON had a great deal on 100 Workout Christian Hits.  For about 10 bucks I got 100 songs that are praise and worship            centered.   Be forewarned these are NOT original artists.
  Since we are trying to make Bods 4 God why not keep our minds and spirits on God while we work out?  The truth is that there is so much filthy workout music.  Sexually explicit stuff that clogs your spiritual arteries and leads you to temptation and sin.  Didn't need or want that.  The other cool thing is that on the track with the title the beats per minute are listed.  BPM has a good range on it. Listening to one right now that is 154 BPM!!! WOW. There are songs that are very fast and then some that are cool down songs.  It is also just another good way to learn the words to the songs too.  I'm not familiar with all these songs.  I thought a lot about Bethany when I was listening to these because I am almost certain she's probably heard a lot of these at Chi Alpha.  If you don't like techno beats this will not be good for you.  This is high paced and has a lot of techno stuff.  Time to discipline the body and also keep the mind in check.