My Progress so far...

Hello all...

It's been about six decades since I last blogged. I was looking back over my last few blogs and I realized I haven't given an update to the weight loss plans. Well, back in May, my husband Kev and I had a long heart-to-heart and we talked about how we both needed to get in shape and get our eating habits under control. Kev shared with me how he was worried about me and my health, and he couldn't express enough how much he wanted me to get healthy. I tearfully agreed and our "together" health quest began. We started on a weight loss program called Suddenly Slim. It's not a gimmick, it's actually a body detox for 10 days, followed by healthy, balanced eating. It's very do-able and practical.

Then, June 3rd, me, Mandy, Sarahbeth, her friend Shelbi, My sister-in-law Rebekah, and her sister-in-law Taylor all started a boot camp program. Let me give you a tad bit of insight into this concept: up until this point, I did not run unless I was being chased. The first day of class we did a PT test to see what we were capable of. We did as many sit-ups we could do in one minute, as many push-ups in one minute, as many tricep dips in one minute, etc. Mandy and I held in there for those, and then Jason, our instructor said, "Now when you go out here in a minute and run your half mile..." My brain shut down...RUN HALF A MILE???!!? We walked out to the starting line and I literally felt like I was gonna puke. We started running, and I gave it my all, but only was able to run about 1/8 of the way and I had to start walking, and pretty much walked the rest of the way trying to catch my breath. It was really embarrassing and I was the last one to finish. At one point, I was praying for oxygen and asking God to keep my heart going. (I'm serious) It was rough. I got in the car with Mandy and said, "Mandy. I'm gonna quit." to which she responded, "Really? I'm not." That was exactly what I needed to hear. I am a naturally competitive person, and hearing that my best friend wasn't going to quit made me not want to give up, even though it was the hardest thing I have ever done. That was 7 weeks ago, and we have one week left before we take the PT test again. I KNOW I have improved. Since then, I have lost 25 pounds and I feel really good. Aside from occasionally being sore, I am really enjoying it. I can tell this is a lifestyle change and I plan on keeping up the job of working out three times a week on my own. One of my goals from this is to come back to Jason and Jarah a few boot camps from now, having accomplished my goal, and telling them thank you for not giving up on me. More than that, I want to say thank you to my best friend in the whole world, Mandy for not letting me quit. I don't think she realized in that moment how impactful her statement was, but I am so grateful to her for choosing to say it.

Smooches,
Jessica "25 lbs. lighter" Spencer

Desk Prettiness!!

Occasionally the craftiness within me bursts through the mundane of my daily job and I hafta make something pretty. Yesterday I cleaned out my desk and I decided to line the drawers with shelf paper. Here's what I made:







And now my desk is "Jessica'd", I think I will move onto my ultra boring, state-issued light fixture!!

YAY!
Jess

I decree and declare...

...this year, I SHALL get into shape and have good health in Jesus' Name! I've decided, after reading several testimonials, that I am going to blog my healthy journey. It all started in December 2010 when I was praying about what I should do about my weight. I've known for a long time that I've got to get it under control and not only that, live a healthy lifestyle. I've tried all the diets, diet plans, and blah, blah, blah. Nothing works if you don't make it your life. Soooo, I was praying and seeking God on what I should do, because more than anyone else, He knows me and what I will stick to, and I felt like the Holy Spirit told me to start working out and to change something about my eating habits every two weeks. Even though that makes for a slow change, it makes it my lifestyle. In my experience, going cold turkey on foods hasn't worked. All I end up doing is craving those foods I am not allowed to have and then I just fall off the wagon. Which makes for quite the unsuccessful lifestyle. I started on January 3rd going to the gym for 1 hour a night, 3 nights per week with a friend and at the same time I cut out all sodas/soft drinks/cokes, whatever you wanna call 'em. Now I have added in that I must eat fruits or vegetables with EVERY MEAL. This is not all about taking away, I've gotta add in the good stuff. In two more weeks, I will make another change.

So far I am enjoying the gym. I can already tell that it is helping my energy level and stamina. I also feel better (for real) since I haven't had any sodas. I weigh myself once a week and so far I haven't lost any pounds, but I can tell a difference in my body since the working out. I know it's not going to be a sprint, it is going to be a marathon and it's one I intend to win. I've got too many things to do on planet earth to leave this life early because I refused to take care of this earth suit God has given me. I have an awesome athletic husband to keep up with, and I eventually want to have a healthy little baby and I know keeping that baby eating healthy will start with Kev and I establishing good eating habits now. God is so good, and I am so thankful to Him for being patient with me and giving me good health all my life, even when I've been stupid with my eating. I look forward to sharing my feelings, my goals, my victories (big and small), and my mistakes on here and I hope it inspires someone that they can do it too. :)

Smooches,
Jess

"I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:12-13

Snow, snow, wonderful snow!!

Well, It's been a while since I've blogged (as usual). I wish I could think my blogs and they magically write themselves! haha. Anyway, shocker of the year, we got like, 6-7" of snow yesterday. It's so pretty! The only thing that sucks about this is, I had to work today and Kev got to stay home. Booooo! I wish I could be on the couch with him watching a movie with a fire going. That would be wonderful on this grey and snowy day. Oh well, I get to see him soon enough! No matter where you are today, make sure you look out the window and enjoy!!

Smooches,
Jess

10/12/10: It's been so long!

It has been FOREVER since I last blogged (June, to be exact)! My life has been insanely busy the last few months between work, church, craft fairs with the Ladies, concerts, road trips, etc. So here in a nutshell of mostly pictures, are the last few months:

GIRLS NIGHT OUT 2010

This is the tent that Mandy, my Mommasita, and I put together. We wanted a more "intimate" feeling this year, so we all sat in the tent for the message! GNO was August 27th and it was my first time to speak at it. The girls were all very receptive and we had a blast! Can't wait til next year!

KNITTING

It was one of my goals this summer to learn how to knit, and I did! It took me a couple of hours to get going, but now I can knit, purl, and even stockinette! So far, I've made a Sherpa hat, and I'm working on another!


Kev liked my hat so much, he wanted to model it! (Check out his B.A. Baracus face! haha)

CONWAY CAMPUS - CRAFT NIGHTS
CPC is opening a new campus...in Conway! Since Krystle is so dang crafty, she volunteered to start a small group at her house in Conway that is centered around the Bible and crafting!! So far there have been two meetings and it has grown already!


Krystle made a cutesie baby hat with teddy bear ears on it, and her roommate's dog, Ms. Dinkus was the PERFECT model for it!

CPC CRAFT FAIR
Our church did it's first Craft Fair and even though it was small, it was a great success!


Mandy and I crafted it up in true craft fair style!


Krystle's second mom, and cake teacher, Carla came and displayed some of her A-mazing cakes:


This one was my favorite. If you look closely, you can see the little yellow flowers have baby's feet for leaves! I love silly little details like that!


I consider this one the perfect Sweet 16 cake!

9th ANNIVERSARY

In September, my Sweet hubby and I celebrated 9 amazing years together! He truly is my best friend, and I love him SO MUCH! As part of my gifts he got me these lovely roses!


He knows I like unusual colored roses, that's why he got these!

HILLCREST HARVEST FEST

I don't know how we had never heard of this event before. One of our crafty friends, Tara told us about this, and we happened to get our foot in the door and do a booth. It was the best event we have done so far! Here are a few pics from the day:


Yep. That's a man. Wearing a kilt. Nope. We aren't in Scotland. Central Arkansas, people. I have to admit tho, he rocked it out.


It got a little chilly towards the evening time, so Mandy and I broke out our Sherpa hats and held down the fort from the wind!


We also found out that the Hillcrest/Kavanaugh/Heights area is a little more "Bohemian" than we expected. Haha. There was a LOT of interesting people. These two guys were interesting to say the least.


MUSE CONCERT

And finally, October 8th, Jordan (of HL) and our friend Jessica went to see one of my favorite bands in the whole world, MUSE in Oklahoma City at the Ford Center!!


Our tickets right after I bought them. We thought they were gonna be funky seats, but they ended up being really good!


Waiting in line outside the Ford Center...the anticipation was almost too much!!


We got our seats!!


And Muse was SO AMAZING!! I have better pics on my camera, but this is all I had on my phone. It doesn't do it justice, but take my word for it, they were awesome!!


And, we stayed with some of Jessica's friends after the concert. I took a pic of it right before we drove away, I didn't want to be a creeper and walk around taking pics of people's house that I just met, but their house was SO CUTE, even Elsie would be jealous of it!!


Well, that's pretty much the major events of my life for the past few months. It's been busy, but it's been fun too!

Smooches!
Jess

06/17/10: Short and sweet.

Just a quick note to say I'm still alive! I have been so busy lately I haven't had a free moment to blog anything. There's been a TON of stuff going on with the River Market, the Variety Show, etc. I'll try to get some pics and info soon!

Smooches,
Jess

06/02/10: The boy of my dreams

I'm having one of those, "I love my husband days". I know I haven't blogged about Kev a lot, but I'm going to start, and I want to start it with the fact that I have the best husband in the world. He is quite literally my best friend, and I love hanging out with him. Last night, we just hung out at the house, didn't do anything particularly spectacular, but we did nothing particularly spectacular together and that's what counts! :) He's silly, yet serious, immature, yet mature, funny, sexy, smart, anointed, and I love him sooooo much! Just wanted everyone to know, I married up!

Smooches!
Jess