To answer a few questions

Y'all. It's a struggle with me today. I'm in week 8 of 12 in my half-marathon plan and I am starting to get tired. I have the incredibly weird (but apparently, not too uncommon) problem of not being able to sleep after a long run. On Saturday, I ran 9 miles and was (obviously) quite tired by the end of that day (I burned 19 WW points. I only get 26 in a day.) (We ate oreos.), but I laid awake for hours and barely got 3 hours of sleep that night. Now, my body is trying to play catch up and it's losing. I've read a lot about possible dehydration or my core temperature being too high for sleep. I'm not sure on any of it, but I will try anything. (Suggestions? My runs normally are over by 3:00pm, so it's not that I'm running too late...)

ANYWAY! I'm sure you could care less about my restless sleep on Saturday nights. Since my post on my goals from 2013, I have had a lot of messages, texts, emails, etc about 3 areas. So, I thought I would elaborate on them to answer them to the best of my ability.

Bible Study
Several years ago, I felt a strong calling on my life to start an in-depth Bible study with several gals from our church. We met on Saturday mornings at our house and did the 10 week study by Beth Moore called "Breaking Free". It was a great time to be together and dig deeper in the Word. What started as 5 of us in my living room in our pajamas (it was 8:00 on a Saturday! Courtney was the only one of us who even took a shower first!) Since then, we (our pastor's wife, Jennifer, and I have taken turns leading) have had several large group Bible studies and have grown so much as women in our church. I have two favorite Bible study authors: Beth Moore and Kelly Minter.

Beth is basically the Billy Graham of women's Bible studies. She has written tons of in-depth studies and books, and devotions. My first Beth, I did at home, by myself, and no videos and just fell into such a deep love with God and His word (A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place). Last year, we did James, David, we've also done Esther, Jesus... My favorite one was called "Living Beyond Yourself: A study of the Fruits of the Spirit". Check the study length before you begin. Most of Beth's are 10 week studies. Daniel is a 12 week, James is 7. We started Stepping Up: The Psalms of the Ascent last night and it is a 6 week study.

Kelly is relatively new on the horizon and has incredible insight. Her studies are typically 6 week and don't have video sessions with it. I have done her study called Nehemiah that was literally life-changing in the way it taught me to do ministry and how to look at leadership. I started No Other Gods and will finish it whenever we take a break in our study routine.

There are lots of other wonderful authors that the Lord has blessed with insight and writing ability to reach us. Dig around and find one that you can connect with!

Money Saving
I have had a huge inquiry into how we have saved money, especially our grocery bill. My big "push" goal for 2013 was to be under budget each month at the grocery store. Our budget is $400 a month and last year, I was $376 under my yearly budget. (That doesn't include our $40 a month budget for eating out) (I know what you're thinking. "Wow. What a glamorous life they must live." It's true. We fight off the paparazzi every day.) We have made several cuts and decisions that have totaled up to be huge savings:

1) Making my own laundry soap
August 2012, I made a batch of laundry soap concentrate and it cost around $4. I didn't have to make any more soap until December 2013. (That's doing 1 load of laundry every day, some days, 2.) It's a simple recipe that I got from the Duggars. I put it in a bucket and reuse an old laundry soap dispenser. It works really well. There is also a powdered version to which I can't answer for, because we do liquid. (If you do powder, leave your thoughts in the comments for others, please!) I also have been making my own fabric softener: 2c hair conditioner, 3 c white vinegar 6 c hot water. I swear y'all, big savings. (I also make my own cleaning supplies when possible. White vinegar makes the world go round) I tried making my own dishwasher detergent and it was terrible. Recently, Good Housekeeping rated the Great Value brand (Walmart) powdered dishwasher detergent the best rated dishwasher detergent. We love it and it was $2!

2) Making a menu and store list and sticking to it.
After several years of going to work, coming home tired, biting each other's heads off about what sounds good for dinner, we decided to make a menu and a store list and making a trip once a week. As you can see by our huge restaurant budget, we rarely eat out. When we do, I typically have eater's remorse when I realize how little it took to make and how much I was charged. I get the Food Lion sales paper and start to make my menu according to what's on sale. I try to use multiple types of recipes to keep produce from going to waste. (Using lemon zest in a recipe on Monday night and lemon juice on Wednesday. Then clean my garbage disposal with the leftover lemon.) I also buy meats when on sale and bag and freeze (Ground beef 93% was on sale in the 3lb packs. I bought it, divided it into 3 bags, labeled and froze!). I use a ton of the Pioneer Woman's recipes and she uses a lot of spices and from scratch recipes. So much healthier and so much cheaper. (And any time I'm in the kitchen with my new knives, Pandora on, and my favorite soux chef, life is good.) We don't buy drinks besides milk, and coffee (Normally Seattle's Best #4) and no chips or anything like that. Our snacks are fruits, cheese sticks, etc. I buy store brand when possible (Especially on things like tomato products, zip-top bags, etc) I do use some coupons, but I am definitely not an extreme couponer. (If anyone has any ideas about how to save money on chicken, besides watching for sales, I'm all open.) I enjoy making my own bread, but I'm short on time often, so I LOVE the Food Lion brand whole wheat bread.

Running
When Lee and I first got married, we lived at the camp and literally couldn't run halfway to the gate. We were both active people, but Lee had messed up knees (soccer player problems), and I had a messed up mind (Past tense of "had" is used very lightly) and was convinced I couldn't run. So, I couldn't. It's funny how it works that way. After Nina was born, we decided to get down to it and start running. Lee started first and after I had lost 50 lbs after Nina, I started. (May 2011) I was TERRIBLE. We were at the track running (Lee was doing speed work and I was pushing a ten month old in a stroller), and I was so excited that I was able to complete a mile running at a 14:00 min mile (seriously the most I had ever run). I found a plan on weightwatchers.com that was a beginning 5k program that finally addressed my big problem: It wasn't that I couldn't run, but I couldn't keep the pace I was starting with. I have spent days trying to find this program that I used and can't seem to find it. Basically, you kept your pace at a 15:00 minute mile and did little spurts of a 12:00 minute mile and increased it. I ran that whole summer pushing a jogging stroller (It really wasn't as noble as it sounds; it was how I ensured her morning nap time) and ran a 5k in September in 29:43.

 Ever since, I have been a hit or miss runner. Last year, I trained for my first half-marathon using Hal Higdon's Novice 2 program. 12 weeks of gradually increasing your mileage to accomplish the 13.1. This year, I am 4 1/2 weeks away from the Myrtle Beach half-marathon and I'm using Hal Higdon's Intermediate plan. I am combining it with the run-walk-run program from Jeff Galloway where I run 4:00 and walk 1:00. My times are getting noticeably faster even with my walk breaks and I find that I don't get nearly as tired taking regulated walk breaks. (I was taking them anyway, may as well make sure I'm doing it correctly) I am in NO WAY a running expert. Honestly, I read a blog last week about how most runners are afraid of being found out that they're not a "real" runner. That is SO me. Dig into it! Running is guaranteed peace and quiet! The key to sticking to a running plan is to register for a race as soon as you select the training plan. Once you have money in it, you won't back out.

If you have more questions, leave them in the comment section so I can try to fully answer everyone's questions. I'm honestly, not an expert in any of these areas, this is just what I'm trying to figure out!

Happy studying, shopping, and running!