Loving Lent... or at Least Pretending

Why hello there, my dear megnificent readers, I hope you are lovely. Despite being slightly stressed by general life and work concerns I am doing well.

So, it just hit me that it's March? Ummm... what?! What happened to December? And why didn't anyone tell me it's 2010? Apparently, the date on all of my paperwork testifies that I have been clinging to 2009 for the last 2 months, how awkward.

Well, I can't believe I forgot to ask if any of you practice the 40 days of lent leading up to Easter Sunday? I would love to hear what you chose to give up for the time being. For a week or 2 before Ash Wednesday, I struggled with trying to find the perfect thing(s) that I could to give up. Every year I try my best to choose something that is truly and consciously hard for me to forgo and really push myself.


After days upon days of thinking, I decided to give up all desserts/sweets (I know you are all going to tell me that I don't need them, because I am already naturally sweet... right?!). As if that wasn't going to be enough of a struggle for me and my sweet tooth, I decided to throw in my snooze button just to make it ridiculously difficult for me to function. I can't be that hard, right? Umm, wrong.

Every single morning my alarm goes off and my puppy (Bella Louise Beast Porter) pops up and greets me with wet, sloppy kisses... Mmmm delicious. As if that wasn't enough to put me in the chipperest of chipper moods, the thought that I can't sleep for 5 more glorious minutes sets in. Ugh. In all reality what do I really think 5 minutes is going to do for me? Well for me, those extra 5 minutes worth of zzz's does wonders!



Usually I wake up in the morning thinking, "Oh my dear goodness! That beautiful 300 seconds of extra sleep has made me so well-rested and ready to begin my day! Time to conquer the world!"

Haha, of course I'm kidding, but a girl can dream!

In the first few days, the no snooze/sweets thing was pretty hard. Why of course someone would plan to bake and bring homemade cinnamon rolls the following Thursday! Of course I would stay up ridiculously late that Wednesday night and be tempted to snooze, but I didn't! There is no way I would let myself cheat on the first day, and I've found with every day since then I feel a little more self-empowered every time I resist. I really can do this, I can stick to my goals!

Just like I said in my initial New Year's resolution post, I am determined to stick to my commitments this year! Each day gets easier, and as the weeks go by I get more excited! I think it's very important to constantly evaluate progress with your goals, whether it's lent, resolutions or just because you can.

Speaking of my resolutions, a quick check-up on the years goals:

1) Increase savings
- Well on my way to growing this one - Almost to my first goal mark!

2) Lose 10% of body weight (lower BMI)
- Enrolled in a nutrition program, bought gym membership, and am already losing that weight! Hello healthier new me!

3) Start a blog
- I cannot tell you how encouraging and sweet it is to watch my blog readership grow! Thank you for publicly following my blog, this has truly become a passion of mine, and I am so lucky to be sharing it with all of you!

So, tell me about your goals. How are you doing? I would love to hear your stories and be inspired by your progress! Anyway, back to avoiding the massive butter cream frosted cake in the work conference room...

Hope your Tuesday has been terrific!