Wow. I can't believe it's been almost 100 days since I last posted an update. Sorry to all you faithful followers (yeah right)!
So since this started out as a quit smoking blog, I'll start with the fact that I'm still a quitter! I never did go back to smoking. Who wants to go through all of that more than once?!?!?!
In other news, since my last post, we found out that we are expecting our second child in September. It was really nice this time around to not have to quit smoking while pregnant by the way. Double whammy on the hormonal thing with the first pregnancy, but I didn't have to deal with that this time! =)
Because I don't really even think about the fact that I used to smoke anymore, I do believe I won't be updating this blog in the future. I think it served it's purpose as an outlet for me, and I hope that by leaving it out here in cyberspace I can help someone on their own quit journey.
I am starting a new blog here:
http://stewartx4.blogspot.com/
This will be our family blog and will be used in much the same way as this one, with the exception of me constantly talking about quitting smoking. That’s not exactly my focus anymore, so I’m moving on. Won’t you join me? =)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Day 252 - Year in Review
This has been a pretty big year for me...........
I started going back to church regularly in January!
I quit smoking in April!
I lost 15 pounds (then gained it all back when cycling season ended)!
I stopped speaking to my sister!
I managed to make it through several rounds of layoffs at work!
I stopped going to church regularly when summertime hit!
I flew to Dallas for 7 Rangers games with my family (the look on Jackson's face when we're there is just priceless)!
I made it to two OSU football games!
I refrained from killing my husband when OSU lost the Bedlam game!
I started going back to church again!
I started speaking to my sister again! =)
I lost a friend to cancer!
Indeed 2009 has proven to be an important year in my life. As always, I have had times when I've done nothing but whine about EVERYTHING going on in my life. But in the end, I can look back on this year and say that I've truly learned from my experiences. Considering everything that has happened this year, I can look at some situations and think "will this really matter in 10 minutes?" I am still a work in progress, as we all are, but at least there is progress. However small it may be, it is measurable, and that is what matters.
I'm not going to make a New Year's Resolution, because I think that's just cheesy sounding. But I will set goals for myself in the coming new year. Now that I have kicked the smoking habit, it's time for me to become serious about getting in better shape. I need to eat a little better and exercise a little more. When something comes up and I miss all of my scheduled workouts in one week, I need to jump right back in the next week rather than just throwing in the towel and giving up becuase I'm 'too busy'! My parents always told me that people make time for the things that are really important in their lives........and that's the truth.
What will be important in your life in 2010?
Here's to the new year!
God Bless,
The Quitter
I started going back to church regularly in January!
I quit smoking in April!
I lost 15 pounds (then gained it all back when cycling season ended)!
I stopped speaking to my sister!
I managed to make it through several rounds of layoffs at work!
I stopped going to church regularly when summertime hit!
I flew to Dallas for 7 Rangers games with my family (the look on Jackson's face when we're there is just priceless)!
I made it to two OSU football games!
I refrained from killing my husband when OSU lost the Bedlam game!
I started going back to church again!
I started speaking to my sister again! =)
I lost a friend to cancer!
Indeed 2009 has proven to be an important year in my life. As always, I have had times when I've done nothing but whine about EVERYTHING going on in my life. But in the end, I can look back on this year and say that I've truly learned from my experiences. Considering everything that has happened this year, I can look at some situations and think "will this really matter in 10 minutes?" I am still a work in progress, as we all are, but at least there is progress. However small it may be, it is measurable, and that is what matters.
I'm not going to make a New Year's Resolution, because I think that's just cheesy sounding. But I will set goals for myself in the coming new year. Now that I have kicked the smoking habit, it's time for me to become serious about getting in better shape. I need to eat a little better and exercise a little more. When something comes up and I miss all of my scheduled workouts in one week, I need to jump right back in the next week rather than just throwing in the towel and giving up becuase I'm 'too busy'! My parents always told me that people make time for the things that are really important in their lives........and that's the truth.
What will be important in your life in 2010?
Here's to the new year!
God Bless,
The Quitter
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Day 237 - Another angel has joined the kingdom of Heaven!
My friend, Stephanie Bradley, has joined the kingdom of heaven after a long and hard-fought battle with cancer. She was, and will continue to be, a wonderful spirit. I believe with all of my heart that God put her on this Earth to accomplish something. She apparently has fulfilled her duties and has been called home to Him. I'm not entirely certain what her purpose was in life, and I'm sure that we're not supposed to know....after all, that's what blind Faith is all about. But I do know what Stephanie meant to me:
She isn't the reason that I quit smoking, but she was my motivation. We found out that her oral cancer had metastasized to her lungs in April of this year, and my last cigarette was on April 24th. I had already made the decision to quit, but had not yet committed to a date or made a plan of how I was going to accomplish this goal. Once Stephanie heard that I had decided to quit, she reached out to me and offered her support. This is a woman who has never touched a single cigarette in her life, now suffering from cancer that has spread to her lungs, giving me encouragement! Wow!!! How could I continue to play Russian roulette with my health when Stephanie had done nothing to harm her body and was now suffering from such a horrible infliction? This was the turning point in my life where I decided that the addiction to cigarettes was not going to control me any longer. Thank you, Stephanie, for being a constant reminder and a source of encouragement during my journey to quit smoking.
Other than being a great friend and a source of joy, Stephanie also brought my relationship with God back into the forefront of my life. Watching the way that she and Warner handled the situation with which they were dealt made me realize that I wanted that same strength and peace in my own life. It was amazing to see them in action. Although I cannot imagine how hard it was for them to put a smile on their faces, they did it each and every day. I never once heard a single negative comment about their situation. I took a step back and looked at my own life and how I have a tendency to make the smallest thing into a major deal. Is this really who I want to be? The answer was no. I wondered how it was that these two were able to make it through these past 2 years without just completely falling apart at the seams. I mean, I can be brought to tears sometimes just by coming home from work and realizing that the sink is full of dishes and that I forgot to start the dishwasher the night before! That seems extremely petty when you’re constantly faced with the positive attitudes of close friends who are going through such an ordeal. I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point along the way, I realized that Warner and Stephanie had something that I didn’t at the time; an inner peace and otherworldly strength that can come from none other than a close personal relationship with Him. Once I had this epiphany, I made a vow to myself and my family that we would re-prioritize our lives around God and make Him the forefront of our daily lives. I wish I could say now that I have done this completely and without effort, but I can not. Often times the best and most rewarding things in life are not attained easily. But I can say this; I will strive each and every day to become a better person and servant of the Lord, and I have Stephanie Bradley to thank for that.
We will miss you dearly my friend, but I am comforted to know that you will no longer suffer as you have. You are now safe in His arms; rest in peace.
Here’s to constantly being a work in progress,
God Bless,
The Quitter
She isn't the reason that I quit smoking, but she was my motivation. We found out that her oral cancer had metastasized to her lungs in April of this year, and my last cigarette was on April 24th. I had already made the decision to quit, but had not yet committed to a date or made a plan of how I was going to accomplish this goal. Once Stephanie heard that I had decided to quit, she reached out to me and offered her support. This is a woman who has never touched a single cigarette in her life, now suffering from cancer that has spread to her lungs, giving me encouragement! Wow!!! How could I continue to play Russian roulette with my health when Stephanie had done nothing to harm her body and was now suffering from such a horrible infliction? This was the turning point in my life where I decided that the addiction to cigarettes was not going to control me any longer. Thank you, Stephanie, for being a constant reminder and a source of encouragement during my journey to quit smoking.
Other than being a great friend and a source of joy, Stephanie also brought my relationship with God back into the forefront of my life. Watching the way that she and Warner handled the situation with which they were dealt made me realize that I wanted that same strength and peace in my own life. It was amazing to see them in action. Although I cannot imagine how hard it was for them to put a smile on their faces, they did it each and every day. I never once heard a single negative comment about their situation. I took a step back and looked at my own life and how I have a tendency to make the smallest thing into a major deal. Is this really who I want to be? The answer was no. I wondered how it was that these two were able to make it through these past 2 years without just completely falling apart at the seams. I mean, I can be brought to tears sometimes just by coming home from work and realizing that the sink is full of dishes and that I forgot to start the dishwasher the night before! That seems extremely petty when you’re constantly faced with the positive attitudes of close friends who are going through such an ordeal. I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point along the way, I realized that Warner and Stephanie had something that I didn’t at the time; an inner peace and otherworldly strength that can come from none other than a close personal relationship with Him. Once I had this epiphany, I made a vow to myself and my family that we would re-prioritize our lives around God and make Him the forefront of our daily lives. I wish I could say now that I have done this completely and without effort, but I can not. Often times the best and most rewarding things in life are not attained easily. But I can say this; I will strive each and every day to become a better person and servant of the Lord, and I have Stephanie Bradley to thank for that.
We will miss you dearly my friend, but I am comforted to know that you will no longer suffer as you have. You are now safe in His arms; rest in peace.
Here’s to constantly being a work in progress,
God Bless,
The Quitter
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Day 229 - When debate turns into a fight!
Anyone who knows me well knows that I really truy hate politics. I've never been one to sit down and debate the merits of this candidate versus that. I do my research at election time, make the best decision that I can given the choices, and then move on down the road.
I'm not saying that those who choose to engage in discussion over politics are somehow doing something wrong, I just don't enjoy it.
Why?
Because I have never seen a single political "discussion" that didn't turn into an all out brawl (unless you count the discussions I've witnessed between my husband and brother-in-law, but those don't count because they agree on most, not all, political and polarizing topics).
I don't agree with my husband on everything. We even disagree on a few very polarizing and important issues, but we've managed to be able to either work through a discussion, or leave that particular topic completely off limits.
I guess what I'm trying to get at people is that we can have healthy debate in this country without going at each others throats all the time. Why is our initial gut reaction always to lash out at someone who holds a different opinion than our own? I'm not saying that I'm perfect....far from it in fact. But when I see something that needs fixing, I try to fix it. And the nature of some "discussions" I have seen as of late need fixing. =)
Let's all start working towards being part of the solution rather than constantly contributing to the problem.
God Bless,
The Quitter
I'm not saying that those who choose to engage in discussion over politics are somehow doing something wrong, I just don't enjoy it.
Why?
Because I have never seen a single political "discussion" that didn't turn into an all out brawl (unless you count the discussions I've witnessed between my husband and brother-in-law, but those don't count because they agree on most, not all, political and polarizing topics).
I don't agree with my husband on everything. We even disagree on a few very polarizing and important issues, but we've managed to be able to either work through a discussion, or leave that particular topic completely off limits.
I guess what I'm trying to get at people is that we can have healthy debate in this country without going at each others throats all the time. Why is our initial gut reaction always to lash out at someone who holds a different opinion than our own? I'm not saying that I'm perfect....far from it in fact. But when I see something that needs fixing, I try to fix it. And the nature of some "discussions" I have seen as of late need fixing. =)
Let's all start working towards being part of the solution rather than constantly contributing to the problem.
God Bless,
The Quitter
Monday, December 7, 2009
Day 228 - So ridiculous!!!
I just ran across the following article:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34288353/ns/sports-golf/
I really wish I could have been looking in a mirror while I read this to see my changing facial expressions.
For example, this excerpt:
"Thankfully, Tiger, you didn't marry a black woman. Because if a sister caught you running around with a bunch of white hoochie-mamas," one parody suggests in song, she would have castrated him.
Seriously? We are all human beings! We don't react differently to situations based on the color of our skin! And the fact that they used the term 'hoochie-mamas' shows their level of intelligence.
Then some blogger stated that if Tiger had cheated on his white wife with a BLACK woman, that the whole situation would be "barely a blip in the blogosphere". WHAT? This has made major news because he's extremely famous and he cheated.....not because of WHO he cheated with.
Then a 26-year-old black woman from NYC said that she doesn't care that Tiger's wife and mistresses are white because he's "quote-unquote not really black". Just what is the definition of black anyway? And more importantly, why does it matter?
This same woman stated later in the article that she would have thought twice about voting for Barack Obama if he had been married to a white woman!! Really? Well it's nice to know that people are out there voting for the Presidency based on who is married to whom!!!
This article is a disgrace to the human race and frankly these people should be ashamed of themselves.
I really hope that one day we as a human race can rise above this, but unless something changes drastically, it won't happen.
God Bless,
The Quitter
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34288353/ns/sports-golf/
I really wish I could have been looking in a mirror while I read this to see my changing facial expressions.
For example, this excerpt:
"Thankfully, Tiger, you didn't marry a black woman. Because if a sister caught you running around with a bunch of white hoochie-mamas," one parody suggests in song, she would have castrated him.
Seriously? We are all human beings! We don't react differently to situations based on the color of our skin! And the fact that they used the term 'hoochie-mamas' shows their level of intelligence.
Then some blogger stated that if Tiger had cheated on his white wife with a BLACK woman, that the whole situation would be "barely a blip in the blogosphere". WHAT? This has made major news because he's extremely famous and he cheated.....not because of WHO he cheated with.
Then a 26-year-old black woman from NYC said that she doesn't care that Tiger's wife and mistresses are white because he's "quote-unquote not really black". Just what is the definition of black anyway? And more importantly, why does it matter?
This same woman stated later in the article that she would have thought twice about voting for Barack Obama if he had been married to a white woman!! Really? Well it's nice to know that people are out there voting for the Presidency based on who is married to whom!!!
This article is a disgrace to the human race and frankly these people should be ashamed of themselves.
I really hope that one day we as a human race can rise above this, but unless something changes drastically, it won't happen.
God Bless,
The Quitter
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Day 215 - Oh the things our children can teach us!
Sorry I haven't blogged in almost a month. Shame on me! I'm not going to type up a bunch of excuses here though.....just didn't get around to it.
Not a lot has happened since I last blogged. I've been out of town for work twice (YUCK!) and accidentally sat at the bar where smoking was allowed in an Outback steakhouse at the airport in Cincinatti (open seating and everything else was full). It really was awesome to sit and smell everyone's nasty smokiness while trying to eat my dinner. Even when I was a smoker I didn't appreciate others smoking while I was tyring to eat. So gross!
Anyway, Jackson's behavior has been just terrible for the past few weeks. Probably because I was out of town and he's trying to punish me. It could also be because he hasn't been feeling well for a few days.
But even with all the crankiness and attitude problems, kids can still find time to teach their parents a few things.
On the way to work this morning, we drove past a construction site. The following is our conversation regarding said construction site:
Jackson: "Mommy, what is that?" (pointing to the construction site)
Me: "It's a construction site."
J: "What does it do?"
Me: "It doesn't do anything, but the tractors and big trucks dig up dirt and rock."
J: "Why?"
Me: "So they can build the foundation for the building that they're putting in."
J: "Oh, I remember, and Jesus is our foundation!"
Me: (slightly surprised as we have never really discussed this with him in detail) "Yes he is."
J: "So did God move all the rocks to build Jesus for us?"
Me: (smiling proudly at my 3 year old) "Yes he did."
This conversation opened my eyes again to the fact that if we put God first, He will make sure that everything else just falls into place. Life will still be hard, but we will have the ability to handle anything because of Him.
God Bless,
The Quitter
Not a lot has happened since I last blogged. I've been out of town for work twice (YUCK!) and accidentally sat at the bar where smoking was allowed in an Outback steakhouse at the airport in Cincinatti (open seating and everything else was full). It really was awesome to sit and smell everyone's nasty smokiness while trying to eat my dinner. Even when I was a smoker I didn't appreciate others smoking while I was tyring to eat. So gross!
Anyway, Jackson's behavior has been just terrible for the past few weeks. Probably because I was out of town and he's trying to punish me. It could also be because he hasn't been feeling well for a few days.
But even with all the crankiness and attitude problems, kids can still find time to teach their parents a few things.
On the way to work this morning, we drove past a construction site. The following is our conversation regarding said construction site:
Jackson: "Mommy, what is that?" (pointing to the construction site)
Me: "It's a construction site."
J: "What does it do?"
Me: "It doesn't do anything, but the tractors and big trucks dig up dirt and rock."
J: "Why?"
Me: "So they can build the foundation for the building that they're putting in."
J: "Oh, I remember, and Jesus is our foundation!"
Me: (slightly surprised as we have never really discussed this with him in detail) "Yes he is."
J: "So did God move all the rocks to build Jesus for us?"
Me: (smiling proudly at my 3 year old) "Yes he did."
This conversation opened my eyes again to the fact that if we put God first, He will make sure that everything else just falls into place. Life will still be hard, but we will have the ability to handle anything because of Him.
God Bless,
The Quitter
Monday, October 26, 2009
Day 186 - Halfway to a Year!
So day 182 was this past Friday, October 23. This day was significant for two reasons.
1) I took the Professional Engineers licensing exam in Edmond. I will find out in 12 weeks if I passed.
2) Marks 6 months of being smoke free.
When I left the testing site for lunch, I didn't realize it, but I had just reached a major milestone. Not in my profession, but in my personal life. 182.5 days is half of 365 days. So basically I've been smoke free for over half a year at this point.
I never would have thought it was possible, but I did it. It feels amazing!
God Bless,
The Quitter
1) I took the Professional Engineers licensing exam in Edmond. I will find out in 12 weeks if I passed.
2) Marks 6 months of being smoke free.
When I left the testing site for lunch, I didn't realize it, but I had just reached a major milestone. Not in my profession, but in my personal life. 182.5 days is half of 365 days. So basically I've been smoke free for over half a year at this point.
I never would have thought it was possible, but I did it. It feels amazing!
God Bless,
The Quitter
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