Welcome to a new week! I thought I would start the week off with my monthly Currently post. This link-up happens the first Wendesday of each month which means, with my posting schedule (on Mondays and Thursday), I am either a day late to the party or rather early. I typically chose a day late (and a dollar short) but not this week. I am ahead of the game this week…or at least I can feel that way for one day of the week!:) Let’s jump right into the prompts for this month. Currently, I am….
loving – the pretty days, weather-wise, that we have had scattered throughout the past couple of weeks. One day was completely spring like but even with temperatures more in the 50s (rather than 70!), the days have been so nice. I have loved the chance to get outside – especially for walking. I have (FINALLY) been hitting my 10,000 steps a day goal..and, yes, I am loving it! My Fitbit goes off with fireworks which sounds silly even as I type it but, I can’t help myself, it just makes my heart happy!! I don’t really get into all the badges and however else they (my watch!) try to encourage me but I do look forward to those firewords each day:)
Also loving: my smoothie for lunch every day, my new moisturizer (mentioned that last week), a girls day out with a bestie last week, telling the story of Balaam in Junior Church (always a fun one!), and driving to church last night while it was still light outside!!
looking forward to – jumping onto the sourdough bandwagon! Yes, I am whoa late to join the craze. I usually am…but I’m okay with that. Someone is going to share their starter with me on Wednesday (it is this close to being ready!) and I should be making bread this week. Everyone seems to make this “hobby” look not only fun but also easy. Let’s just see how I can complicate it – lol! I am a teeny bit concerned that it will all be wonderful….and there will be regular loaves of bread coming out of my oven. That could be a mixed blessing, to be sure:) If you are already a sourdough pro, I would love for you to share your favorite recipe with me!! Please do.
trying to be romantic by – um….. This one was a bit tricky for me – which is a little bit sad to say. I did put a few hearts and cute signs out. I even added ribbon to my oatmeal jar. Surely, that counts. And we do have some valentine-inspired placemats (think pink!) that we use in February but, honestly, that is about as deeply romantic as it gets around here!! Our church has a Valentine banquet each year but we “outgrew” and stopped going to that several years ago. I’m not sure we are even going out to dinner this year. Goodness, we really are old fogies. I do like this kitchen towel that I found a few years ago. It makes me smile:)
In my defense, I do have quite a bit of fun with the Junior Church kiddos for Valentine’s Day. We will all kinds of pink, red and chocolate fun next Sunday!! Such a fun “holiday” with little ones!
changing – my approach/opionion/thought process regarding nutrition, diet and/or weight loss. In 2022, I did Keto for ten months and I lost (a significant amount of) weight. While I did feel good, I was never convinced that it was the healthiest way to eat nor that it was something I could do forever. Of course, last year I was going through treatment and Keto fell by the wayside. Truthfully, there were days that I blamed Keto for comprisming my health…and,well, for being the enemy. Not sure that is 100 percent true but, all that to say, here at the end of my treatments, I am back where I started (that signficant amount of weight is no longer lost – definitely found it!) but I do not think Keto is the way I want to go again.
I am one week into a new approach….and I am very excited. I’m not one for sharing weight loss stories and adventures; however, I might share more about the lifestyle changes in the month’s ahead. But, let’s see how it goes for a few weeks/months first.
celebrating – a new haircut. Well, I HOPE to be celebrating. The haircut is tomorrow and I typically enjoy any trip to the salon. A fresh new cut always is worth celebrating…but this is the first one in over a year and the first since my hair started growing back. I’m not exactly sure how much will actually be snipped off but I am hoping to tame these curls (yes, it has grown back very VERY curly) and hoping to start giving it some shape. I’ve never really had super short hair and I will probably just let the stylist do whatever she thinks will work best. At this point, I have low expectations. Truth be told, it will just be nice to go the salon again!!
I am also celebrating good scan results last week. And by celebating, I mean giving God all the glory! I’m not sure I do that often enough here on my blog…but I hope anyone who knows me/talks with me/reads what I write will know that I give the Lord all the praise for not only healing me but also walking with me thoughout each day of last year. And into this new year – whatever that might include or where it might lead!
Thanks for reading friends. The rest of the link-up can be found on Wednesday and I will link it here. Have a wonderful week!!
Hi Jennifer. I just wrote my Currently post this morning and have it cued up for Wednesday. I really enjoyed your post. I’m so glad your treatments are complete and that you had good scan results last week. I hope your salon date will be so fun. So your hair has grown back different than what it was? I’ve heard so many people say that. Mine really didn’t change much when it grew back. It was fairly straight before and is still straight today. I think in the beginning it was a little darker, but that’s really about the only change. Going through all those treatments and losing your hair, sure makes me happy for every day I get. God has been so good to me and I know from your post, He has been good to you too. I’m looking forward to hearing about your nutrition plan, if you decide to share and I want to hear your thoughts on the sourdough. Have fun!
That is wonderful about the scans! I love how you give God the glory for everything :). I think your attitude about giving God the glory really does shine through whether you say if often or not. I love that dish towel! It is absolutely adorable. Have a great Monday!
Yay for good scans and new hair! Funny enough my changing is actually a hair style/cut. I just had mine done this afternoon so I’m still not 100% sure I like it yet but I know I’ll get used to it after I style it a few times myself. Wishing you the best of luck with sourdough; I only tried once and I could not keep the starter alive… I wasn’t great about measuring and remember to feed it every day (plus I was scared it would take off and what on Earth would I do with a loaf of bread each day?).
So pleased hear that your scan results were good – that must have been an anxious time for you. I hope you thoroughly enjoy your visit to the salon, I am sure you will appreciate all the pampering! I do enjoy eating sourdough bread but have never made my own. I think it has to be more digestible as there is no yeast involved.
Looking forward to hear about your new healthy eating regime. You mentioned the Jamie Oliver ingredients in your comment on my blog – yes that was quite a long description of bacon! I think our rashers of bacon are quite different to yours. We have two types, the ‘normal’ type is predominantly meat and little fat, in the shape of a number six so you have a circle of meat with a tail of fat. Streaky bacon is similar to that which we saw when we went to the US, a long thin strip with stripes of fat between the meat. So recipes always mention if you need a more fatty cut (streaky) or the lean rasher. Does that make sense?!! The higher welfare bit refers to pigs that have been allowed to roam freely in the outdoors rather than factory farming.
This was a very interesting read. Thanks for sharing Jennifer. I am so glad the scan gave a good result. Wishing you many blessings in 2024 and in the years after.
Oh, Jennifer….praise God for the good scan! That’s wonderful news! I’m a bit late getting around this week but I’m so glad that I stopped in today to see this wonderful news!
And a trip to the salon! That’s such a blessing that your hair has grown back out enough that you need it to be shaped, etc,
I always enjoy my visit with you.
i’m loving all those sparkling hearts right up top, Jennifer. and yes, you’re making me recall my sourdough days! i hope you’re having a lovely week … and i’m celebrating those scan results with you.
Hello! I am so happy to hear your scans were good! What a blessed feeling for you! I need to do something with my hair, but I am currently in between salons. I am weird like that! Have a cozy evening, my friend!
I am also enjoying the nicer days this week. It’s supposed to get up to around 60 tomorrow and I cannot wait.
I’m belatedly catching up on my “Currently” reading. I’m thankful with you for good scan results. And yes, a haircut is always something I look forward to but I can see why you’re especially looking forward to this one!
Thanks Natasha!! Glad you stopped by and appreciate your kind comments. Hope you are having a good week!