The Proof isn’t in the pudding….it’s in the picture

It’s Monday which means it’s time for some Encouragement to get you through your week!

It’s been awhile since I have blogged about fitness and for that I apologize! I have been a super crazy Momma over here! But, wouldn’t you know today is a School Holiday which means the kids are home and I have an excuse to be home as well!! This makes me happy so I decided I would catch up on my blog!

If you are one of my faithful followers (thank you for that) you will remember how I was all freaking about over month ago when school was in full swing with all the new sports schedules my children were participating in, along with me going back to work. I went through a few weeks of chaos and my gym routine was all out of sorts! I was on the brink of being discouraged and wanting to throw in the towel, but there was a big part of me that didn’t want to let go of all the progress I made over the summer putting lots of time into the gym. When your life is on a fast pace it feels easy to be taken over by fast food and laziness binges due to lack of energy from being so busy! Don’t give in to this because it doesn’t have to be that way!

I am happy to report that I was able to not allow myself to stay stuck in that rut I fell into for a few weeks. If you need a little push read this!

When your passion is in something specific and your will to see it through is strong enough, you will make a way! You will!

The secret is….You got to want it bad enough for yourself! It will not come easy, or over night, but it will come, it will play out, it will manifest into something beautiful if you just stay faithful and trust the process! All of your time, hard work, dedication, sweat, tears, discipline, efforts, they will pay off and you will be satisfied with your results!

This picture was taken on our leg day! I have be to be honest, I had no clue my husband was GYM CREEPING ME with his phone! HA HA But, I am really glad he decided to that day. He texted it to me while I was cooking dinner and I was surprised at how far I have come. For the first time in a long time I saw the woman I was striving so hard to be, Strong and Healthy. He didn’t know what he was really doing at the time but he helped encourage me, and push me to keep moving forward, to always find away to live out one of my passions.

I am going to take these next few blog post to share with you some tips that have helped me stay on top of my workouts with 5 kids and chaos! I hope these tips help you as well, if you are struggling with how to balance it all! I know, because I am doing it!

Beautiful Friend, it is very possible to be a good mother who loves her children and also loves herself. Don’t let yourself believe that if you spend any time on just yourself you are being a selfish bad mom! That is just a lie we have all been told and allow ourselves to believe! It’s very important for them and your husband to love yourself and too take good care of yourself! They will ALL benefit from this tremendously!!

Read FIGHT TO BE THAT MOM HERE!

Check Out my results from FASTED CARDIO HERE!

XOXO

Leigh Leigh

Follow my blog! Subscribe via email, follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks or Twitter @ash_leighharris

My Kids are Driving ME CRAZY

Ever have one of these days where you are asking yourself this very question?

Well I have some GOOD NEWS for YOU!

🙂

You can spot children out quickly because like everything you tell them to do, they will completely ignore! (This goes especially for my 4 year olds!)

And we don’t want to leave out the TEENAGERS and all their 5,487….(mood swing’s)

OR the Whining..

and the Tattle tailing every 5 minuets!!!

Dinner time will never be the same…

I mean seriously, I have yet to understand how a four year old can live off of lunch meat every meal….LUNCH MEAT!???????

Mommy TIME OUTS are regular part of your day and you better bet your bottom dollar you will enforce this rule..

But no matter how stressful and tired and run down they may have you feeling today, you can always guarantee some good ol’ love and hugs are in order!

Why?

Because they ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOU!

And this is why we wouldn’t change a thing about motherhood!! 🙂

Motherhood is AWESOME!!! 🙂

I hope this brought a smile to your face!

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

Follow my blog here, and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks , Twitter @ash_leighharris!

I would love to hear some funny Motherhood stories!! Comment bellow!

L’Oreal Paris Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Gelee- A MUST HAVE FOR FALL

Summer is over but that doesn’t mean your gorgeous summer glowing skin has to be! No WAY!!

Here are 6 reasons why I am in LOVE with L’Oreal Paris Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Gelee Medium Natural Tan!

#1 The price– $8.79! I believe Wal-Mart had it even a little cheaper. I bought mine in August so I can’t remember exactly how much I paid for it. My web search found the price listed above at Walgreens.com Here is a link to purchase! http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/l%27oreal-paris-sublime-bronze-self-tanning-gelee/ID=prod6053802-product

#2 It dries SUPER Quick! I like to apply mine after I shower and towel dry. I usually wait around 5 minuets before dressing. I go straight to sleep and wake up with a nice tan!

#3 It has a streak free formula!

#4 It smells “OK!” Sublime Gelee doesn’t stink as bad as other Self-Tanners I have applied to my skin in the past.

#5 The tan is beautiful and does look REAL! It develops a very natural color and glow!

#6 Compliments! My husband totally digs the color on me!

Here are some tips that I have learned about using this Gelee!

Make sure you exfoliate and shave in the shower before applying to skin! (I will not exfoliate my skin until the night of a reapplication. Over exfoliating after you apply Gelee can shorten the life of your tan.)
If you want to apply Gelee in the morning make sure that you wear dark clothes so that the tanner doesn’t rub on your skin and tint your clothing! It hasn’t stained any of my pj’s thus far! It washes right off in the wash machine.
Use sparingly on your knees, ankles, elbows, and feet!!
Apply daily until you reach your desired tan. I usually will apply three days in a row, and then I will go to twice a week! The more you apply and use the Gelee you will learn what works best for you!
It can go over Tattoos! I have a sleeve on my right arm. I have used this sparingly on the sleeve and it works just well with my ink!

This Just cracks me up! I found this image on Pinterest!

This will not happen to you if you use L’OREAL SUBLIME BRONZE SELF_TANNING GELEE!

See for yourself! Here is picture of my tanned legs!

Say GOOD BYE to pasty white FALL SKIN! Get your summer glow back!! 🙂

Disclosure: I was not asked to give a review of L’OREAL SUBLIME BRONZE SELF_TANNING GELEE. This is just my personal opinon!

xOxO

Leigh Leigh

Follow me on FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks or on Twitter @ash_leighharris!

When it Rains it Pours

Rain…. it’s so unpredictable, uncontrollable, and unavoidable to miss if in it’s path where you are planted.

Rain…..it’s light, it’s heavy, it comes in spurts, or buckets, falls hardily fast or softly slow.

Rain….it’s life giving, renewing, quenching, refreshing, full, and running over, satisfying, yielding to an abundance of growth.

*found on pintrest — * photo found on pintrest

Leviticus 26:4 ESV

Then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

As I am swimming in my very own sea of business, the rain brought relief. RELEIF! Relief of trying to be in three different places at once, the Relief of feeding my family before 8:00pm, a goal that seems so outlandishly accomplishable these days! The Relief of being a busy mother of 5 eating, sleeping, and breathing the balancing act of my children’s sports schedules, work, time with family, time with friends, alone time with my husband, time for myself, and of course exercise (my stress relief outlet).

This past month has been with out much deliverance. I have battled sickness, laid to rest a cousin of the ripe age of 18, experienced heart ache and disappointment, unwarranted DRAMA, set backs, negativity, and plenty of ADJUSTMENTS! Moments of failure and most definitely moments of being insecure in my ability to feel like I have it all under control! It has been a season of difficult times and hard lessons learned. I don’t remember feeling this down and negative in a very long time!

BUT SUDDENLY……….RAIN and lots of it!

In a mater of seconds a night that was to be completely consumed with a volleyball game, pop warner football practice and pictures, and a JV out of town football game……………..abruptly halted to rain cancelations! Completely out of my control. If losing control feels this peaceful then tonight I look up giving thanks and gratitude. Thank you for bringing rain.. peace, rest, relaxation, more time at home with my family, renewal of my energy, my mind.

Thank you Lord for reminding me that in an instant it can all change. Did the world come to an end because everything on Thursday’s agenda did not get completed? No

I am thankful for these Flash Flood Warnings and Watches. I am thankful for every inch that has fallen from the sky and every inch that is expected to fall way into the early morning hours. I am thankful for the sleepless night (last night) due to Loud out burst of Thunder and beautiful flashes of light. Waking up from a dead sleep to sit side by side with my husband in the garage as we marvel over how amazing and magnificent the lightening really is as it brighten the dark purple nights sky. It is now a memory I will hold on to forever.

This Rain has brought me back to what’s most important. Being dependent on something bigger then me, trusting that with my life, and letting go of the control.

* photo found at http://manofdepravity.com/2013/06/jeremiah-29-11/jeremiah-29-11/

As I struggle to keep my head above such active waters I surrender to you as I lay my burdens at your feet. I do trust you Lord and I know that even though the load seems to heavy to carry some days, or in my case not enough time in the day for it all, this is a season that I am in for a reason. A GOOD REASON and a prosperous reason!

We can plan out our whole lives down to the very last detail, but we are only wasting our precious time, efforts, and energy if we are not mindful to keep our relationship with Christ growing. I will admit, my mind has been distracted by life, and often times I felt my spiritual well drying up, like a withered flower on a scorching hot summer day, parched from lack of moisture.

Hosea 6:13 ESV

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Here is to acknowledging my dry soil, taking time to nourish it with God’s love, and expecting lots of colorful, beautiful blooms! This rain is a reminder of God’s love for me, and his desire for me to grow in his love.

I am thankful for all the blessing’s in my life which are disguised as my children who keep me running on my toes like a crazy woman. I just don’t want to loose focus on the one who gave me those blessings! ;0) He deserves my attention, my time, my devotion, my energy, my praise, my worship!

Are you in a dry season or is this a season of overflowing rain and blessings? I would love to know! Comment below if you would like to share! 🙂

XoXo

Leigh Leigh

BACON …dog (recipe your children will love)

Being very short on time these days with various sports activities keeping us out of the home all but one day during the week, meals have become quiet monotonous to say the least! Today I got a wild hair and decided to put a spin on the children’s beloved Hot Dog! Since dear Son was my taste tester I let him name it!

Let me introduce you to the

…………………………………………………BACON DOG!

Things you will need:

1 Package of your favorite hot dog weenies

1 Package of your favorite bacon

1 Package of your favorite shredded cheese

16 tooth picks

1 deep baking pan

Prep time: 7

Bake time: 20-25 minutes

Oven Temperature: 350

Using your knife cut a slit through weenie from top to bottom.

Next, take your shredded cheese and begin to stuff the inside of the weenies with your cheese.

Using both hands poke the bacon with your toothpick at the top of the weenie. Wrap the bacon all the way down the weenie and secure the bacon with another toothpick. I was able to use two toothpicks per weenie.

Now it is time to put these little bacon doggies in the oven. Remember to use a deep baking dish as the bacon grease will be oozing off the bacon as it bakes. I baked mine at 350 for about 23 minuets.

Ta Da! PERFECTION! The Bacon Dog is ready to be dressed up on the hot dog bun!

Now it is time to serve! My son likes his Bacon Dog with Ketchup and extra cheese! I did have chili to put on top, but we didn’t use it tonight!

Top your Bacon Dog to your likening! (mustard, pickle relish, chili, ketchup, extra cheese, onions)

YUMMMMMMMY! Oink Oink, Wuuf Wuuf!

Jett gives it a big Thumbs UP and your kids will TOO!!

Oink and Wuuf!

Leigh Leigh

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Encouragement for the set back you ran into

It’s Friday morning and I just dropped off the last little to school, so you know what this means….I survived the first week of school chaos! WHOOOOOOOOOP! However, it was not without much disappointment but you will have to read on to find out what happened!

I Just wanted to drop a little encouraging note for you on this fabulous day to just keep going!

You see I made my plan, being the control freak that I am, and illness hit! You can’t really control that sort of thing! Last week I was feeling like a Rock Star. I was waking up around 5:10am to go run 1-2 miles, depending on my motivation and the time frame I had to work with. I felt like I was really doing something AWESOME. I was going to be on top of the routine when School started and get use to waking up early! I also too started back at my job. By 5:00pm I was exhausted but making it! No time for rest, only dinners to be made, laundry to be washed, and children to taxi off to practices. I think we made it in the gym two evening last week! Way off from my 4-5 evenings a week over summer! But mind you again, feeling like a Rock Star because my cardio was on! I was even walking in the evenings on a few night with my husband!

I guess stress must have got the best of my immune system..sending me to the doctors office this Monday and leaving with strong antibiotics to swallow for the next seven days! Come Monday morning I was in pain and running wasn’t even going to be an option for me! I became really down and frustrated!!

WHY? I was thinking! Seriously..why get sick now!? I was on my way to making a good habit of getting up to go run before the sun came up, thinking to myself even if I didn’t make it to the weight room, I at least invested some good solid time on myself, my body, my heart, my health. (BUT I REALLY KNOW BETTER THEN THIS!)

Come Thursday morning I was hit on the head with some clarity and of course my whole PERSPECTIVE changed. I was just on my way home from droping off my son at school when the thought just popped up out of no where. I admit I was pretty down and in a bad mood. I was using my running time to pray and listen to my worship music (a nugget of alone time and good conversation with my maker). I knew for one it had to be the Devil trying to interrupt this time I had set aside on purpose. I believe all things happen for a reason and I believe that they are likely for my good if I roll with it and trust God. But wait! What if I was just giving the devil too much credit? Maybe it had nothing to do with evil, but protection?

Maybe I might have twisted my ankle, chased and attacked by crazy dogs, or even worse, struck my a car? I mean I seriously doubt that extreme, but you just never know. Maybe an illness that took me down for 1 week was going to be way better then being down and out for months due to serous injury! I decided in that moment to not look at this week long set back as something negative which was my first instinct, or wasted, but to look at it as an opportunity to appreciate the time I do have and use it wisely, taking full advantage of my youth and my health!

I was telling my husband, we are so blessed and so oblivious to how awesome our bodies operate when we are healthy. Just one little bug, one little cold, one little infection, can cause some serious hang ups and us in lots of pain. We, or I, take my good health for granted every day.

So maybe your like me and something of the sorts like this happened to you this week. The way I see it we both have two options.

We can….

Option #1 Cry about it…and give up!

We can cry about it and feel so sorry for ourselves and question why do these things only always happen to us? I guess I shouldn’t even try, what’s the point, I don’t have time and when I do I just get sick or something else stupid tends to get in the way.

Or, we can….

Option #2 Forget about it and move forward!

Yup, forget about it. Put this week behind us and learn something from it! Learn that each day you are healthy enough to go for a walk or a jog, or play basketball, or bike ride, or work out, move, etc.. just do it! Take full advantage of the body God gave you and put it to good use.

The worst thing we can do is allow ourselves to be stuck in a negative mentality believing we will never change, or have the opportunity to change the way we feel about ourselves.

I for one am not perfect and I don’t make all the perfect healthy choices, but I don’t intend to stay stuck in those bad choices when I slip up and make them out of weakness and lack of self control! Nope, today is a new day! See you later donuts and depression!

I AM OVER NOT GETTING MY WAY!

It’s Zumba at the Y this morning and you better believe I am going to be there!

So what are you going to do today? Are you going to be stuck in your old ways, or is Today a day to try something new?

Same actions get same results!

Love your self, Love your body!

Be Beautiful,

Leigh Leigh

Are you following me on Facebook!? http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks 🙂

Let’s just call you what you are.. A PRETTY LITTLE LIAR

Yes………well you and me both!

I wish I knew statistically how much one actually lies to themselves a day. I did come across an article via the world wide web that explained that the average person will tell 4 fibs a day, with the most common fib to be “I’m fine.” But I have a suspicion that this calculation is based on the lies we actually speak out loud. But what about the ones that we don’t say?

Confused yet? Don’t be.

We defeat our own selves before we even begin.

Example:
“I can’t wear that, I look too fat.”
“I can’t run fast, I have been slow my whole life.”
“I have NO self control, and never will.”
“I can’t find the time.”
“It’s just too hard!”
“No body cares or even understand the struggles I am facing today.”
“No one appreciates anything I do.”
“There is no use in even trying, when I know I am going to fail.”
“There is someone out there better qualified then me, no use in putting in my resume today.”
“I am too old to be trying something new.”
“Other people are going to judge me if I …….”
“My past defines my future.”
“I am not worthy to be loved.”
“My kids probably wished they had a more fun Mom.”
“I can do it tomorrow.”

Get the point I am driving home now? We need to stop being pretty little liars and become pretty little truth tellers. Speak TRUTH into your soul. Speak Truth into your life. Be a blessing to someone else and Speak Truth to others.

I know I am so quick to realize when someone is criticizing their own self and speaking negativity about themselves. Why is it so hard to recognize my own negativity towards myself? I do struggle with this, but I am praying for sensitivity to my own lies I tell myself, so that I can quickly realize it is not the truth, it’s only deception to keep me where I am, not allowing myself to become better.

When you hear someone lying to themselves about themselves to you, STOP THEM IMMEDIATELY!

Speak TRUTH into their lives. Help them realize they are only deceiving themselves.

Ephesians 4:25 states this:
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. (NIV)

*image found on pic2fly.com

You have ears to listen to what you say, so don’t act like you excused from speaking or thinking lies to yourself, because you are not!

What a man believes in his heart, so he is. ( Proverbs 23:7)

Don’t go turning your heart ugly with your own deception!! 😉

Love yourself!

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

Back to School CHAOS

Confession Alert! I am a CONTROL FREAK! Ugh, and I absolutely HATE being a “Control Freak!”

My summer time routine is about to come crashing down under a title wave of BACK TO SCHOOL CHAOS! This wave will include two Sons participating in football, one daughter cheering and playing volleyball (fingers crossed), me going back to work, and husband taking on more hours at the office due to a project at work. (Calculate the math and you will soon realize this puts me on side line cheering pretty much every night of the week!) This wave will most definitely crush my awesome summer work out routine as well! BUMMER!! You see we have five children ranging from 15 to a 4 years old. I will be trading in my gym time for football time!

When life shifts, my mind tends to shift as well but not the way it should, actually the opposite. I begin to feel this insane amount of pressure to CONTROL every change that is coming my way, or soften the blow for anything hard coming to mix things up. Yes, I try to makes my chaos controlled, if there was really such a thing possible!

It starts with my obsession over my calendar, marking and highlighting every school holiday, every practice, every game. Not all of the sports schedules are out yet causing more anxiety to the obsession! ha

But I got this!? Why you ask, because silly I am SUPERMOM! (Just kidding, Just kidding!)

Actually I got this the same way you got this! The way I see it, we are all in the crazy rat race together.

A new school year brings chaos to all families! So I actually can breath in and breath out, knowing that I am not alone in my Crazy Chaos. This, just like every other busy season in my life will soon pass, and I will be looking ahead to new chaos and wondering the same thing I am wondering now,” HOW AM I GOING TO DO THIS ALL AND REMAIN STABLE!?”

Let’s start with finding a healthy balance. Priorities are important when trying to achieve this balance. This balance will also however require more self control and discipline.

Instead of focusing on what I think I am going to be losing in the chaos, I need to remember what all I am actually gaining. Memories with my children who will be grown in a blink of an eye. This year is important for my seven year old! Oh my gosh, his first year ever to play football! And to think, I could be raising the next Tim Tebow! The last year with little Kenna at home with Mommy before she starts the BIG World of Public SCHOOL, tear! My step daughter cheering for the very first time! Something that was just a dream what seems like was just a month ago when she was so small, now her reality. My step son, duking it out on the field in hopes to be able to say he plays Varsity as a Sophomore!

Highlights and heartbreaks, achievements and failures, joy and pain!

These are the years that make our children grow and become stronger little people. I don’t know what this Crazy Chaos of a new year will unravel but I know that through much prayer, mercy, and grace, we will get through it and come out better because of it!

I need to stop living life so afraid and so worried I am going to screw something up!!

Embrace Chaos, the unknown! It changes us, rearranges, and does exactly what the good Lord wills for us all!

XoXo

Leigh Leigh

Brain FREEZE no ICE CREAM NEEDED

Insecurities of writing have paralyzed my fingers from typing.

I (HEART) blogging, but these past few weeks I have been at a complete stand still.

My mind races in the middle of the night with words to tell stories, but I wake with only the remembrance of something great, yet I am just blank.

Life is shifting, creating chaos, unbalance, disorder.

I am evolving as a wife, a mother, a woman, a person.

I am a creature of habit, changes corrupts my stability.
I Love a challenge….. Bring it LIFE.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
When life gives you football games, lots and lots of football games, Cheer Loud.
When life gives you chaos, embrace a change.
When life gives you events, games, practices, appointments, deadlines, make a schedule.

Philippians 4:13

xoxo
Leigh Leigh

follow me on twitter http://www.twitter.com/ash_leighharris or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks

*featured image found at http://sweeps.piqora.com/spirithalloween

What do we want? Sleep! When do we want it?

…………………..NOW!

It has been the topic of several conversations lately…SLEEP, or should I say lack there of!

We are now counting down the weeks until school starts which means waking up at the crack of dawn. BOO!! With that comes sleep adjustments or just anxiety and not being able to fall a sleep due to all the upcoming back to school chaos!

I for one have enjoyed my late night Netflix binges, but unfortunately, this must come to an end. 😦 Why? Because I am a WOMAN and if I don’t get a good 7-8 hours of sleep, I am a very easily aggravated cranky WOMAN! Going to sleep late and waking up early is not going to work at all for me. I needed a plan and I was going to have to find something to aide me in this process.

I have never been a very big hot tea drinker! I am a southern lady who LOVES her cold sweet ice tea! So when I heard about herbal hot teas I wasn’t too thrilled about the thought of actually having to drink hot tea! Seems unnatural for a TEXAS gal! I recently received some TAZO tea in a gift, which I do need to blog about here later. It’s amazing stuff that picks you up and gives you copious amounts of energy. I figured if they had tea to take you up, they would have to make tea that brings you down. So I off I went to search for sleepy tea in my local grocery store. There it was, neighbors with all the other teas.

I am a sucker for packaging. The cute little sleepy Momma Bear sold me!

Okay now that I am looking at it, maybe it’s a Daddy Bear? Either way the bear is sleeping so peacefully. I was thinking to myself, “Man that is some good stuff if she couldn’t even make it out of the recliner with out passing out!” Wait recliner? Okay I must come to grips that this must in fact be a Daddy Bear!

Here is what the box says about this tea:

Nothing promotes physical and mental well being like a restful evening. So if you’re wondering how to sleep better or just looking for something to help you unwind, try a cup of Sleepytime Extra^®. This relaxing and delicious herbal tea starts with the time-honored blend of chamomile, spearmint and other soothing herbs found in our beloved Sleepytime herbal tea. We then add valerian, trusted as a natural sleep aid since the days of the Greeks and Romans because of its mild sedative properties. The result is a tea with the trusted calming effect and great taste of Sleepytime, plus just a little “extra” to help you rest.

You can get Sleepytime tea, but I went ahead and purchased Sleepytime EXTRA because, well, I really wanted this to work! I Didn’t want to take any chances on it not making me sleepy!

This is also caffeine and glutton free! You can purchase Sleepytime Extra for $3.18 for 20 Bags.

Here are the Steps on how to brew Sleepytime Extra Tea!

First you want to brew your water. I just use my Keurig, but you can boil water the old fashioned way on your stove top, or microwave.

Then you will want to remove a tea bag from the box and place it into your boiling hot water.

Next you will want to steep your tea for 4-6 minuets.

Dispose of your tea bag and if you fancy add your favorite sweetener.

Mix it up until the sweetener dissolves.

Now here comes my favorite step! Drink up!

This has a very strong spearmint and dill pickle taste to me. This is why I flush that out with the sweetener. It will definitely take a few cups to get accustomed to. I like to drink this in bed with my Netflix show on. About 30-40 minuets into my show, my eyes are growing heavy and I am catching myself falling a sleep before the show is even over! No more worrying about getting sucked into the next episode and staying up another hour! Nope, I am dreaming away!

Now the awesome part about this Sleepytime tea is I get a good nights rest and I don’t wake up with a fat head or a bad mood. I wake up well rested and feeling great!

I sure hope you at least give this a try if you are having problems adjusting to a new bed time routine! I believe you are really going to love it!

*This is strictly a review of my own opinion.

You can’t be beautiful with out a good nights sleep!

XoXo

Leigh Leigh

Follow me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks or on twitter http://www.twitter.com/ash_leighharris

#mycurrentsituation

Have you ever read this hashtag; #mycurrentsituation on a friends social media sight under one of their pictures?

: #mycurrentsituation Her Daddy is about to have a heart attack in his new truck!

I always get a good laugh out of the ones that pop up in my news feeds because like myself, most of my friends are mothers and so their #mycurrentsituation pictures usually consists of a humongous mess that they are left to clean up! It’s a sympathetic laugh not a mean laugh!!

For instance, you may see a picture of an adorable little girl who looks like she is auditioning to be a clown after playing in Mommy’s makeup while Mommy was busy cleaning house. How about the one with Walls and baby covered in black sharpie? Sometimes there are even photos of big boo boos, and broken or spranged bones.

Maybe it is a bigger situation that requires Immediate Medical Attention, Or maybe it’s so personal, so upsetting, so emotionally damaging and deep you would never hash tag and post a picture of it.

#mycurrentsituation Sick baby girl day before vacation!!

If you are having a #mycurrentsituation that seems to be lingering into what feels like a #mylifesituation, cheer up my friend! Let me encourage you with some words of #TRUTH!! 🙂

Remember time is fleeting! Psalm 89:47

Seasons in life are temporary. 2 Corinthians 4:18

This, whatever you are going through, will soon just be a distant memory.

Human feelings and emotions are fickle.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. ~Proverbs 3:5-6

Our desire to want is way more then our desire to be content with what we have, leaving us unstatisfied and incomplete.

Hold on, trust God, believe in hope, and have a little faith in whatever your #currentsituation may be.

Excuse yourself from being the Healer, Fixer, Mender, Doctor and take your #mycurrentsituation to God. He can clean up any mess that we or anyone else for that matter may have gotten ourselves in today!

xoXO

-Leigh Leigh

Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter so we can stay connected! http://www.facebook.com/leighleighspeaks http://www.twitter.com/ash_leighharris

“Working Out” My Transformation Story (pics)

Good Morning on this Fabulous “Fit” Friday!!

You may have already checked out my Body after Baby post, if not you should check it out now!

Today I wanted to share with you how working out has changed my perspective on the way Faith operates in my life! But Before I share this with you take a look at some physical evidence for yourself!

In the photo to the left I am 20 years old Mother of zero kids and I was probably if I could guess around 136 pounds. I am also five foot 6 inches in case you were wondering. The photo to your right was actually taken about a month ago. I am 29, 128 pounds a Mother of two Children that came from my belly. I am actually a mom of 5 but I can’t take credit because only two came from this tummy! As you can see from the two photos there is quiet a bit of difference going on with my body.

I actually made this photo collage for a Friend’s Facebook Page “God’s Fit Girl.” I was hoping to link her page her to my blog, unfortunately at this time she has taken a break from Facebook and deactivated her accounts, therefore I can’t link. I would like to come back in the future and try to link her up here.

She was giving away a God’s Fit Girl Tank to the first 5 transformation stories posted to her page. I was her first one! I have to admit, besides putting up before and after pictures on my blog for the world to see a few months ago, I have never been brave enough to do this and was freaking out a little to go through with it. Free Cute Tank Tops have that power over me! 🙂

The reason I wanted to share this Transformation with you today is not just to inspire you to work out or take better care of your body, of course those are a given, but today, rather I would like to share with you how working out has helped me understand how faith works and proof that I can trust God.

First of all let’s define Faith, shall we!?

¹faith

noun \ˈfāth\

: strong belief or trust in someone or something

: belief in the existence of God : strong religious feelings or beliefs

: a system of religious beliefs

Merriam-Webster.com

There are so many beautiful scriptures on Faith in the Bible. I do suggest a Web search on Faith scriptures.

In my human mind I tend to be wired to be skeptical and analytical by nature. I also have a flesh that wants instant gratification! This desire for instant gratification has grown with my ability to access the Internet and all of it’s information in the palm of my hand, 24/7.

When I began working out I didn’t seem to acquire the results I wanted because I had no faith in what I was doing and didn’t trust the process. We all think if we go on a diet for a week we are going to lose the weight we put on over a long period of time. It DOES NOT WORK that way!

As I have been praying for a way to get this across to you so that you can understand it I have been dealing with a challenge. But I am going to try my best so here we go! Faith is a belief; something that we commit to fully, and we trust. But we can’t see it. This confuses us because we want to see tangible evidence that faith actually works and can be trusted.

I ran over 2 Peter 1:5-7 a few years ago in my bible. Something about this scripture just ingrained in me that there is a natural process that occurs when we step out in faith and keep digging in. Our Faith, Our Hope, Our Knowledge, Our Desires, Our Character, etc.. they all GROW!

2 Peter 1:5-7 “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control;and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

I actually remember writing this out on card stock and posting it on my dresser mirror so that I would continue to read over these words so that they would start to stick.

While this scripture was helping me grow in my Faith in Jesus and encouraging me to stay in his word and pray for knowledge, self control, kindness, it was also inspiring me to test this theory so that I would be able to see transformation take place physically!

We know that when we give our hearts to Jesus he fills us with his Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit produces fruit in us. Here is a reminder of the fruits of the spirit: LOVE, PEACE, GENTLENESS, PATIENCE, FAITH-FULNESS, SELF-CONTROL, GOODNESS, KINDNESS. I know that I have access to all of these “fruit” and were I lack, I can pray and ask God to develop these fruits in me!

In my mind I took the scriptures from Peter and I connected them to my life style change.

Since Faith was going to represent my Body this is what I ingested from this scripture.

“make every effort to add to your faith goodness”

(Make every effort to add GOOD things to my body; water, protein, fruit, veggies, complex carbs)

“and to goodness, knowledge”

(Make every effort to add knowledge about Working out and making my Body healthy) I would ask questions about weight training, portion control, cardio, realistic goals, how to burn fat, calorie intake, etc.. Knowledge goes A LONG WAY!

“and to knowledge, self-control”

This was and probably still is my biggest obstacle! SELF CONTROL! I was going to have to put in the effort to practice self control on what I put in my mouth, and how committed I would be to a work out routine! Self control will always be a work in progress!

“and to self-control, perseverance”

Good old perseverance! Just when you think you have the self control down, you actually have to continue to keep the self control, continue, to practice the self control, continue to live out that self control! Whew!! Persevere through those hunger attacks, those negative comments from others, preserve through those days when you feel like it’s not working, you don’t have what it takes, you will never accomplish your goals. Persevere through insecurities you have established along the way own your own or by others. Persevere through the pain of getting through your first cardio class and you think your body if fixing to fail you.

“godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.”

Godliness! I just took from this that God did design my body, it was made for his glory not mine, and I should take really good care of it so I can be around in good health to complete the mission he has set before me here on Earth! Brotherly kindness, eh well motivating my friends and my family to fight the good fight of self doubt and no hope of achieving success with their Weight struggles! I need to be kind to my body as well! I should intake healthy foods, drink plenty of water, and get a good amount of sleep each night. Showering is also good too for my hygiene! 😉

Finally LOVE! I should absolutely LOVE my body! This ties in again with taking care of what God gave me to begin with! I should not only love my body, but My soul as well! Working out increases endorphins which make you happy! It reduces stress, and helps you tire out so you can sleep if you struggle with not being able to sleep at night! Working out has a magnitude of perks, just look them up for yourself!

Now back to the Fruits of the Spirit. I know first off, I can do and accomplish all things in Christ who gives me strength, Philippians 4:13. Did you notice that when I am building my faith I actually use some fruits of the spirit? Love, Kindness, Patience (to persevere), Goodness, and of course Faithfulness.

When I started to focus on my Body and use all these tools found in 2 Peter 1:5-7 guess what? My BODY STARTED TO CHANGE! It started out with small changes, but after time, dedication, commitment, and faith in myself, trust in the process, my body started to change! My chunky tummy started to shrink, My legs began to get firmer, for once in my life I could actually see that I did in fact have some muscle under my skin after all! I could lift more weight over time, run farther, and I had so much more energy! My clothes dropped sizes, and the pounds of weight dropped as well.

IF I COULD TRUST THIS PROCESS in 2 Peter 1:5-7 TO WORK FOR MY BODY AND ACTUALLY SEE PHYSCIAL EVIDENCE THAT IT DID INFACT WORK, I COULD BELIEVE THAT IF I COMMITED MY LIFE TO CHRIST IN MY FAITH I COULD TRUST THAT ALL THE PROMISES THAT GO ALONG WITH LIVING MY LIFE WITH CHRIST WOULD BE EVIDENT IN MY LIFE!

Hebrews touched my heart when I learned with out faith it is impossible to please God, because he wants us to have faith;trust in him and his word and what he commands us to do!

If you have been struggling with your weight or your faith in Christ, can I just challenge you today to test the theory!? Maybe you have little faith or are weak in your faith and you need physical proof? Use your body as a test. Start focusing on the challenge to change it through the process of working out and eating healthy. Maybe you don’t need or want to test it that way. Then use 2 Peter to build your faith in the Lord. Seek him through bible study, prayer, but friend you must, must, have a little faith, dig in, be strong, be kind, love, have patience, endure, preserve, and fight the good fight of Faith in Christ Jesus!

Maybe you have little doubt or feel like your faith is too small! Let me leave you with another life changing, faith building scripture.

Luke 17: (NIV)

⁶He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

I didn’t just transform by body, but my mind, my faith in Christ, my hope for a good future, and my love for others. I can’t give God enough thanks, praise, and credit for all the good things he has done within my heart and my life! I pray the same for you reading this!

Transforming YOU is a BEAUTIFUL thing!

Be you, Be Beautiful!

–Leigh Leigh

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It’s Monday which means it’s time for some Encouragement to get you through your week!

When your passion is in something specific and your will to see it through is strong enough, you will make a way! You will!

Sharing is Caring!

Ever have one of these days where you are asking yourself this very question?

Well I have some GOOD NEWS for YOU!

You can spot children out quickly because like everything you tell them to do, they will completely ignore! (This goes especially for my 4 year olds!)

And we don’t want to leave out the TEENAGERS and all their 5,487….(mood swing’s)

OR the Whining..

and the Tattle tailing every 5 minuets!!!

Dinner time will never be the same…

I mean seriously, I have yet to understand how a four year old can live off of lunch meat every meal….LUNCH MEAT!???????

Mommy TIME OUTS are regular part of your day and you better bet your bottom dollar you will enforce this rule..

But no matter how stressful and tired and run down they may have you feeling today, you can always guarantee some good ol’ love and hugs are in order!

Why?

Because they ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOU!

And this is why we wouldn’t change a thing about motherhood!! 🙂

Motherhood is AWESOME!!! 🙂

I hope this brought a smile to your face!

xoxo

Leigh Leigh

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Summer is over but that doesn’t mean your gorgeous summer glowing skin has to be! No WAY!!

Here are 6 reasons why I am in LOVE with L’Oreal Paris Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Gelee Medium Natural Tan!

#2 It dries SUPER Quick! I like to apply mine after I shower and towel dry. I usually wait around 5 minuets before dressing. I go straight to sleep and wake up with a nice tan!

#3 It has a streak free formula!

#4 It smells “OK!” Sublime Gelee doesn’t stink as bad as other Self-Tanners I have applied to my skin in the past.

#5 The tan is beautiful and does look REAL! It develops a very natural color and glow!

#6 Compliments! My husband totally digs the color on me!

Here are some tips that I have learned about using this Gelee!

Make sure you exfoliate and shave in the shower before applying to skin! (I will not exfoliate my skin until the night of a reapplication. Over exfoliating after you apply Gelee can shorten the life of your tan.)

If you want to apply Gelee in the morning make sure that you wear dark clothes so that the tanner doesn’t rub on your skin and tint your clothing! It hasn’t stained any of my pj’s thus far! It washes right off in the wash machine.

Use sparingly on your knees, ankles, elbows, and feet!!

Apply daily until you reach your desired tan. I usually will apply three days in a row, and then I will go to twice a week! The more you apply and use the Gelee you will learn what works best for you!

It can go over Tattoos! I have a sleeve on my right arm. I have used this sparingly on the sleeve and it works just well with my ink!

This will not happen to you if you use L’OREAL SUBLIME BRONZE SELF_TANNING GELEE!

See for yourself! Here is picture of my tanned legs!

Say GOOD BYE to pasty white FALL SKIN! Get your summer glow back!! 🙂

Disclosure: I was not asked to give a review of L’OREAL SUBLIME BRONZE SELF_TANNING GELEE. This is just my personal opinon!

Sharing is Caring!

Rain…. it’s so unpredictable, uncontrollable, and unavoidable to miss if in it’s path where you are planted.

Rain…..it’s light, it’s heavy, it comes in spurts, or buckets, falls hardily fast or softly slow.

Rain….it’s life giving, renewing, quenching, refreshing, full, and running over, satisfying, yielding to an abundance of growth.

Leviticus 26:4 ESV

Then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

BUT SUDDENLY……….RAIN and lots of it!

Thank you Lord for reminding me that in an instant it can all change. Did the world come to an end because everything on Thursday’s agenda did not get completed? No

This Rain has brought me back to what’s most important. Being dependent on something bigger then me, trusting that with my life, and letting go of the control.

* photo found at http://manofdepravity.com/2013/06/jeremiah-29-11/jeremiah-29-11/

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Here is to acknowledging my dry soil, taking time to nourish it with God’s love, and expecting lots of colorful, beautiful blooms! This rain is a reminder of God’s love for me, and his desire for me to grow in his love.

I am thankful for all the blessing’s in my life which are disguised as my children who keep me running on my toes like a crazy woman. I just don’t want to loose focus on the one who gave me those blessings! ;0) He deserves my attention, my time, my devotion, my energy, my praise, my worship!

Are you in a dry season or is this a season of overflowing rain and blessings? I would love to know! Comment below if you would like to share! 🙂

Sharing is Caring!

Let me introduce you to the

…………………………………………………BACON DOG!

1 Package of your favorite hot dog weenies

1 Package of your favorite bacon

1 Package of your favorite shredded cheese

16 tooth picks

1 deep baking pan

Prep time: 7

Bake time: 20-25 minutes

Oven Temperature: 350

Using your knife cut a slit through weenie from top to bottom.

Next, take your shredded cheese and begin to stuff the inside of the weenies with your cheese.

Using both hands poke the bacon with your toothpick at the top of the weenie. Wrap the bacon all the way down the weenie and secure the bacon with another toothpick. I was able to use two toothpicks per weenie.

Now it is time to put these little bacon doggies in the oven. Remember to use a deep baking dish as the bacon grease will be oozing off the bacon as it bakes. I baked mine at 350 for about 23 minuets.

Ta Da! PERFECTION! The Bacon Dog is ready to be dressed up on the hot dog bun!

Now it is time to serve! My son likes his Bacon Dog with Ketchup and extra cheese! I did have chili to put on top, but we didn’t use it tonight!

Top your Bacon Dog to your likening! (mustard, pickle relish, chili, ketchup, extra cheese, onions)

YUMMMMMMMY! Oink Oink, Wuuf Wuuf!

Jett gives it a big Thumbs UP and your kids will TOO!!

Sharing is Caring!

It’s Friday morning and I just dropped off the last little to school, so you know what this means….I survived the first week of school chaos! WHOOOOOOOOOP! However, it was not without much disappointment but you will have to read on to find out what happened!

We can….

Option #1 Cry about it…and give up!

We can cry about it and feel so sorry for ourselves and question why do these things only always happen to us? I guess I shouldn’t even try, what’s the point, I don’t have time and when I do I just get sick or something else stupid tends to get in the way.

Or, we can….

Option #2 Forget about it and move forward!

Yup, forget about it. Put this week behind us and learn something from it! Learn that each day you are healthy enough to go for a walk or a jog, or play basketball, or bike ride, or work out, move, etc.. just do it! Take full advantage of the body God gave you and put it to good use.

I am a creature of habit, changes corrupts my stability.
I Love a challenge….. Bring it LIFE.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
When life gives you football games, lots and lots of football games, Cheer Loud.
When life gives you chaos, embrace a change.
When life gives you events, games, practices, appointments, deadlines, make a schedule.