alex and ani and 5 Words to Live By

apparently blogger has made some changes in the past few weeks and I am unable to post a picture of myself that I wanted to.

first of all, I just want to say "Bienvenidos a mis nuevos amigos"

September has been a big month for my personal life and my faith.

I became a Eucharistic Minister on Wednesday and spent Friday at a retreat to further my ministry as a missionary. I am BLESSED to be able to share my faith each day with my students and continue my journey as a missionary and as an educator.

one thing I left with on Friday afternoon was this. what 5 words do you live by that define you? this is what came to mind for me: Love God and love One another.

for me, LOVE truly defines how I should act each day.  from this, everything else happens.

I have posted a few pics of a few alex and ani bracelets. I have the Mother Mary medal and I have JOY. love these and what they represent. they are a physical reminder to me.

Commitments and Changes

Today I pulled out and dusted off my clean eating cookbooks. I will turn 40 in November and in January I made the commitment to change my eating habits and lose weight I had gained during both of my pregnancies. I lost 17 pounds. I am halfway there. However, the scale has been creeping back up in the wrong direction lately. Sooo, it was time to reaffirm that commitment I made in January. I have been re-reading my Marilu Henner and Tosca Reno cookbooks,making a HEALTHY grocery list and changing my ATTITUDE about eating. I am a pretty healthy eater overall, however I have a weakness for frozen yogurt and carbs. Not that there is anything wrong with carbs, it is just that I eat the unhealthy ones more than I should. So tomorrow I am putting on my running shoes and running my first 5K with my friend in a 9/11 memorial road race.

Fall Noonday Collection

{All images are from Simple Thoughts. The nights are getting cooler and darker faster and it is back to school. And tomorrow, Tuesday September 3rd, is the launch of the Fall Noonday collection. For those of you who do not know, my beautiful friend Paige Knudsen who blogs over at Simple Thoughts is a consultant for Noonday. Noonday's history is pretty amazing. It is a fair trade company focused on helping artists struggling and living in third world countries be able to make a better life for themselves and their families. And please check out Paige's blog, Paige is an incredible woman with an incredible family. She touches the hearts of many through her blog, her photos and her words.

Read Well, Live Well::A classical online book club - life{in}grace

Read Well, Live Well::A classical online book club - life{in}grace:

September has arrived and it is back to school time, change of season and of course, book club time. I am so excited to start this online book club focusing on the classics with Edie from Life in Grace and several hundred other bloggers. I am off to do my homework of reading the first 12 chapters for our discussion on Friday, September 14th!