Taking a break

Ohhhh, expecting Fat Friday weren't ya?

I'm skipping this week. Actually, more like starting over because I'm right around the zero mark again. This past week my nose was to the grindstone in more ways than one, and one of the things I sacrificed was my quest to eat well and exercise. If I'd already been in a good habit it of it, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But I wasn't.

SO I'm starting over at zero.

I have 68 more days until I leave for the conference. That equals 9 weeks and 5 days. *gulp* My goal was to lose 13 pounds... and it still is. That's less than 2 pounds per week and SO doable. I still have a TON to do before conference, and I'll be posting about that next week. In fact, I might make a series on it. "How to prepare to go to A conference" realizing that not everyone goes to or will be able to make ACFW.

My 13 pounds is not only for conference though. A week after conference ends is my hubby and my 10th anniversary, so a wee bit of it is so I can look nice for him too. I know, I know, he loves me no matter what, but still. When he puts effort into looking nice for me, it makes me feel SOOOO so good. I want to do the same for him.

Discussion: Where are you at on your Fat Friday Goals? Or alternate discussion if you'd like... who's going to ACFW?!?

Not Good Enough

You know those old TV shows that would poke fun using the whole "angel" and "devil" on your shoulder thing? Family Matters is one that pops into my mind, when the dad, Carl, would sit there and look at each of his shoulders. The devil would sit there and try to convince him to do "bad" things or NOT to do things he SHOULD do, and would pull out every trick in the book to make it work. The angel would fight with the devil and try to convince Carl to listen and do the "right" thing, or... not do whatever stunt the devil was trying to talk him into.

I don't remember, but it seems like he listened to the devil most often, and it always ended up badly. Which, considering even a TV show needs "conflict" to keep it interesting, there's no surprise there.

Do you ever feel like that? That you have this war going on within your head? I do... and way too often! But instead of trying to convince me to go be mean to Steve Urkel, it's telling me that I'm not good enough. It's showing me every fault I have and shoving it down my throat and convincing me why I will never succeed.

And I gotta tell you. It gets old after a while.

And a part of me gulps, because what if I'm really NOT good enough? I mean, we all hear to make sure our stuff is our BEST before we put it out there, but how come I can always find a way to make my stuff better? Will it EVER be my best? The best of authors say they are always learning and getting better... so how do we know when we are "good enough" to proceed?

So, while I don't want to give the devil any credence and would love nothing more than to take my little index finger and flick him off my shoulder, I have to wonder sometimes if it's really him talking or if it's God telling me to edit more, write more, learn more.

I'd love to tell you I have this GREAT awesome answer to this and have SEEN THE LIGHT.

But I don't.

Instead, I'd love to know the following: Am I the only one out there that struggles with this self-doubt? And if you do as well, how do you overcome? How do you differentiate between the devil's put downs and simply facing reality?

My apologies of late

I'm tired.

So very very very very very tired.

In my quest to finish editing LOL:Mission Jack before I start back on my newest book, I've missed sleep, neglected my friend's blogs for the most part, and eaten WAY too much food. (I'm a stress eater, and I eat when I don't sleep)

So this is my formal apology to my fellow bloggees whose blogs I haven't visited for a while. If it makes you feel better, I EVEN SKIPPED watching Bachelorette this week. I NEVER do that. (I still stick by my claim that I watch for pure research purposes....) In fact, I think Wes would make a GREAT antagonist in a story don't you?

Hmmmm.... there is SO a story there.

Fellow writer Jody (waiving at you girl) wrote a few weeks ago on her own blog about "sacrifices" we make on our writing journey. The above have been my short-term sacrifices to make a self-inflicted goal. (Short-term meaning I WILL be watching my show next week... LOL)

I think we all, at some point, need to learn to "prioritize" and sacrifice in order to achieve our goals.

Discussion: What have you sacrificed lately to achieve a goal? Doesn't have to be your writing goal, but any goals you set for yourself.

Is God funny?

My answer?

Definitely.

I write contemporary romance with a sprinkling of humor, and I like to think of Jesus sitting beside me, laughing, saying, "Good one, Krista" as I write. And many times, if not most of the time, he's the one whispering the really good lines to me.

I was having an especially "down" moment on Saturday, so picked up hubby's bible that laid on his dresser and flipped to the spot where he had a marker. It was the book of Numbers. Now, if any of you have read the book of Numbers, you'll know that this isn't the most, uh, humerus book in the Bible, although if you're a number's geeks like me it could be.

Anyway, I started to read the chapter but wasn't really getting a lot out of it, so I moved to flip the pages. But something caught my attention at the top of the page. The section description.

"Division of the booty"

Okay, dumb I know, but I laughed. Hard. It was just what I needed. I couldn't stop my wayward mind from thinking of a woman with a big ole booty going to a surgeon and asking for some of the "plump" in her derriere to be removed... thus... division of the booty. Right there in the Bible.

I tried to flip more in the Bible to get something SERIOUS out of it, but God just shook his head at me and said, Nope, I just knew you needed a good laugh.

Then I got to thinking about my writing. That's what I want to do. When Christians are overwhelmed with some of the realities of this life, sometimes the prescription isn't a mouthful of Christian platitudes that roll easily off the tongue, but is really some good ole solid laughter. I pray that God uses my work not only to prod people along in their faith (which I want Him to do too!) but to make people eek out a smile or even cough up a belly laugh when they need it most.

Discussion: I was tempted to ask you to tell me a joke, but decided to go another route. I'd love to know of a funny book you've read. I don't care what kind... it can be a book of jokes or a dramatic suspense that was so cheesy you laughed like crazy. Towards the end of the day, I'll come back and share some of my favorite laugh-out-loud books.

Control Freak

I had a revelation this past weekend.

God is a control freak.

I've always thought I had a problem with this, but God trumps us all, folks. Seriously, he wants 100% control ALL of the time, every day, with everybody. How dare he!

He dares... because he can. and he should.

Some days I have difficulty with this, the whole giving control over to God thing. I mean, think about it. We really don't NEED to give it to him. The dude can take it himself whenever he wishes. He'd just much rather us hand it over peaceably than to have to bring out the big guns.

But then other days, I hold out my hands and throw the control over to him, crying, "Please, Jesus. Take it. I don't want it any more."

I'm in one of those modes right now, probably because God has showed me his muscle a bit and caused me to remember the "big guns" in all their glory.

This weekend was one of really high, highs, and really low, lows. All around me I see marriages forming and others that are threatening to buckle. I see God giving birth to new, wonderful things, but then others being taken from this world tragically, much too early in the view of us humans. I feel euphoric at one moment, then frustrated enough to scream the next.

And that's when I drop to my knees and fling my cares upon God and cry out for mercy and peace. And guess what? I serve a very big, merciful God who wraps me in his arms and gives those things to me. He then, with his very gentle, loving voice, whispers in my ear. "I want to give you these things every day Krista. I want you to give me control every day so I can do things more wonderful than you can even imagine."

And I rest in Him, knowing that He plans to do just that.

Discussion: This one is getting a bit deep and personal, but don't you think we should get that way with each other sometimes? I'd love to hear something in your life that you've had a hard time giving God control of. It may be simple like finances or your writing career, but let's lay it all out and determine this day, to hand over the reigns to Jesus.

Fat Friday Week 4 + A TOP TEN!!!!

WOOHOO! I'm down some this week!

Let's see. Last week I was up a net of 1.2 pounds.

I've lost 2.8 pounds.

So I'm currently at -1.6 pounds from my starting weight of zero.

I did pretty good this week. Rocked the diet on Monday and Tuesday, but not so great on Wednesday and Thursday, but keeping today in mind helped me limit what I ate those days as well which was great!

Exercise? Did my thirty minutes Monday - Wednesday, skipped last night. But still, 3 days isn't bad. I'll try to make my 4 next week. I do feel like I've turned a corner finally.

To jazz up this post a wee bit and make it less about my poundage... I thought I'd do a fresh TEN THINGS list--weight loss style!

Ten things to avoid while trying to lose weight.

1.) Any buffet. (duh!)
2.) My ooey gooey famous brownie recipe.
3.) The South. (= fried chicken and barbecue and WAY too many homemade desserts!)
4.) My in-laws. (how come in-laws equal eating more??? It's not their fault. It's mine. But whenever I see them I eat, a lot. And I have nice in-laws... it's not like I'm eating out of depression!)
5.) Pregnancy. Need I say more?
6.) The Donut Palace. (although... I'm going there to get breakfast this morning since it's my day off.... DON'T YELL AT ME!! And don't copy me either!)
7.) Church Potlucks.
8.) Just the whole kitchen in general.
9.) My very comfortable rocking chair which pretty much erases ANY thought of exercise as you sink into it's cushions and life feels lazily good.
10.) Fat people like me. We're a bad influence, believe me. Hang around the skinny minnies and you'll do MUCH better!

Yummy ooey gooey brownies

As a rule, I haven't posted many things from my books on my blog. I'd rather you be able to read it in my book some day!

But alas, good friend Jennifer twisted my arm.

And... just so you know, this is probably one of my most favorite parts of my book. Okay, there are a few other things I like even more, but this one is near and dear to my heart.

Jenny's brownie recipe (by way of an e-mail to Jack who asked for the recipe)

Jack, thanks again for calling tonight. You caught me off guard,
but I enjoyed talking with you again. Looking forward to next Saturday night. The chicken casserole is a recipe I found online, so I’m including the link in this e-mail. Below is the recipe for the brownies. It’s important that you follow it step by step, and not mix up the order or anything. Otherwise they just won’t turn out right.
1.) Go to the grocery store and find the aisle with baking supplies.
2.) Find a Betty Crocker Brownie Mix and purchase it.
3.) Go home.
4.) Open the box.
5.) Follow directions on the back of the box (but add a pinch more oil than they ask for, and a pinch less water…)
6.) Put brownies in the oven and set the timer for ten minutes LESS than instructed.
7.) Viola! You should have perfectly made brownies! Wait five minutes, pour yourself a glass of milk, and enjoy.

There you have it. My famous recipe!
Have a good night, Jack.
In Jesus love,
JennyG