oh, life. oh, mister.

Life happens, does it not?

I haven't been here with you much lately for a couple reasons...

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know who to be...how to start my sentences...nor if I really want to be a blogger who blogs to gain followers...

No, I don't want to be that. Not at all. I started to let that drive me, but that's not what I want..

I also have been just kind of not in the mood to sit and write. A lot of wonderful things have been happening, and I felt that if I got on to write, I'd be too tempted to talk about what I don't feel I can yet...and I'm still not going to tell you (hehe), but I will eventually...I'll let you have a hint though. it has to do with a mister. And a really good story of how this he came to be in my life...

Anyway. I have a game plan now. I'm going to blog regularly, I promise. And even if I don't, it's okay. I don't care about the page views or being noticed by other bloggers...I just want to share my heart, hobbies, and everything else.

I am quite excited for march, though. It's going to be better than February, for many reasons. One being it may actually brighten up around my town, get some life...

Okay. I'm done now. Off to write a few more posts for the week....since I have another two hours to kill while I'm babysitting...

xoxo,
Ruthanne

matchmakers at work.

have you ever gotten a feeling that two of your very best friends, who are dating each other, are trying to set you up with one of your other very best friends, who just so happens to be single?

yeah. got that feeling right now. It's kind of funny, actually....because I knew it was going to happen...and bam. Here they go, trying to play match maker. 

I'm greatly amused by it, you see, because they both would vehemently deny it if asked...oh, the world we live in.

but you know what? i don't really object to their silliness. I quite enjoy it :-)

Oh, and, I wanted to let you all know something.....

I wore converse for the first time in over 2.5 months.

you can go ahead and be stunned, now. Feel free. 

Also. Look at how cool my best friend and I are, I mean seriously. :) 

Kidding. 

music monday.

So I know everyone does "music monday". but I like it, it's a good way to start the week. :)

Fell in love with this music video. Oh my word. I love it :)

this man. my word. looooove.

and I fell in love with Casey the year he was on Idol....then he sang "Daughters" while in the top three. Can we say "Ruthanne is in love"? Yeah. 

Happy monday, friends!

so, basically...i'm gonna get healthy..

So, this post isn't about losing weight...but about getting healthy. See, there is a difference. 

I have soooo many bad habits right now, it's ridiculous. This is basically how my day goes: wake up at 7:30/45, slowly get dressed, eat a carb filled breakfast, do school, but not nearly enough for the time I spend on it, eat a crappy lunch, if I'm lucky, waste my afternoon away..and then my evening...and then don't get to bed until 11 or 12....

This is so sad. SO.

I'm going to start going to bed before 11 every night. I'm aiming for 10:20 - this is huuuuuge for me, too, because I literally have a problem with going to bed early...

I'm going to start easing myself into early rising...which, again, is huge, cause I'm not a big fan of leaving my warm bed. we have a serious connection and I hate breaking it. Seriously. 

I am going to eat more every day. This is basically what I eat in a day: 

a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast (if not that, than nothing)

coffee between then and lunch. on really good days I eat a yogurt.

a couple slices of some sort of meat for lunch, or left overs, if there is anything good.

maybe a piece of fruit, or a handful of pretzels, or something else small for a snack.

dinner...unless it's sunday or wednesday, cause I rarely eat dinner those nights cause I'm gone at church.

Do you see how unhealthy that is for me? I mean sure, I haven't gained any weight but man, guys, I calculated/kept track of my calorie consumption for a few days a couple weeks ago, and I should, for my height, weight, activity level and age, be eating 1750 calories a day. 

Do you know how many I actually eat?

1000 - if I'm lucky I can sometimes break 1200.

But you know what's terrible? I tried eating more - healthy foods, mind you - and I still couldn't get past 1400...my body just doesn't like that much food! So, this week is my challenge to eat a strong breakfast every morning - like eggs (scrambled make me sick, though...so none of those), or oatmeal, or something. To have a good lunch, and a better portion at dinner. Yikes...this may prove to be difficult. These snacks will help though :)

I'm also going to exercise more regularly...again, not to lose weight, but to stay fit....I'm thinkin' five days a week. (Again) I found this on pinterest, and loved it.

I can do that! It's not that I have a hard time working out, it's that I have issues just doing it and not getting out of a groove!

I am going to get more school done. I AM. I am also going to try and finish my senior year by the end of this year....legitimately. I want to just be done and be able to go to jr. college if that's what I want to do, or work more, or something. I dunno, but it'd be nice to say "i'm doooooone!!!!"

I'm going to keep my room perfect cleaner. Yeah.

I'm going to finish more sewing projects. 

I'm going to spend more time in my bible and studies - it's sad how little of my day I devote to that. I want more time! :)

I want to challenge you to make one change in your routine this week, too! What's it gonna be? :)

bigger.

Oh, my sweet King. You are truly incredible. 

Yesterday, while at the thrift store, I bought the book I kissed dating goodbye by Joshua Harris. I read that book about a year and a half ago, per my mother's request - and was in love with it and the ideas set out in it. It's pure genius and should be read by every Christian woman - young and old. 

The book is not all about dating - but more about how our relationships should be glorifying God in all their ways, and how that should look. Whether it's a romantic relationship or a simple friendship. 

So anyway - I saw the book, sitting on the shelf, priced $1.50 - brand.new. And the tag was yellow, making it 50% off - so all in all it was $.75....and as I picked it up I knew God wanted me to read it with one of the girls at youth group who is younger than me. So in my mind, I made a mental list...of all the girls I thought it would be appropriate to read it with. It consisted all of the 8th graders who are graduating into high school this year, as well as a few freshman girls whom I worked with last year...the list was about 5 girls long...and so I began praying about which one of them needed the fellowship, support, and study time with someone older but not too much older than them. Namely, myself.

Step back a week. Last week at youth group, we finished the book of Acts, and this week, we had our last "life groups" session for that book - a time where the girls and guys split, and are directed by the leaders in a discussion about the last three weeks...so we have a night like this every 4th week. It's quite wonderful.

We ended up heading in a direction of sharing what God's been weeding out of our lives - pride, lust, gluttony, etc, etc. And one of my girls from last year, who's a freshman this year, (I refer to all of the girls who I've been a leader to while they've been in jr. high as my girls...) - who was also on my list - opened her heart up in front of all 20+ of us - and as she was talking, I got a little tug on my heart saying "you get to minister to her."

Well. funny story - this girl never liked me really - I always bugged her last year because I was so very open about my opinions on dating in high school just to date, gossip, lying, etc. I never tell my girls something just because it's what they want to hear....but even though she hated what I had to say, she kept coming back. 

My heart skipped a beat. "Oh no, God, not A...this is not going to go over well...please don't do this to me."

I could hear God laughing in my head....imagining Him saying "do what to you, missy? I'm blessing you with this opportunity, now take it and be a light."

*gulp* "Okay, whatever you say....", I thought back to myself....

We prayed for A, as a group, and then I went over (not before taking a big breath and putting on my big girl panties) and sat down with her - told her about the book, how I felt God telling me to go through it with her...and you know what she said, through tears?

"I would love to read it with you. Thank you." And she hugged me. Hugged me.

Oh, my word. That did not just happen.

God is so cool.

So, I'm going to be re-reading the book over the next month or so - so you can probably expect some posts about what I'm learning or talking about with A. This is just the first of many, I'm sure.

Thank you Lord, for being bigger than our hardened hearts.