Sunday Share (a day late) ... Stress

OMG.
Longest day ever of cooking, laundry, email, homework and (soon to be) working out.
I am stressed out!!

I would like to know, what do you do when you're stressed out?
Here's some photos, videos and quotes from the weekend that were the opposite of stressful and are de-stressing me right now to recall :)

~ Friends ~

My twinsie Mel and I at the Tech football game on Saturday

Silly faces! This is what you'd call my "rocker" face lol

~ Nature ~

The last glimmer of sunshine peaking thru a lily
in my mom's flower garden

~ DeStorm ~

I discovered DeStorm yesterday with my brother and LOL this dude is hilarious!!
he had a gazzllion re-mixes and challenge videos on YouTube, go check him out :)



 Songs in Video:
1. Toy Story-You Got a Friend in Me
2. Mulan- I'll Make a Man out of You
3. Lion King- Hakuna Mattata
4. Aladdin- Prince Ali
5. Beauty and the Beast- Beauty and the Beast
6. The Jungle Book- The Bear Necessities
7. The Little Mermaid- Under the Sea
8. Hercules- Hercules

9. Lion King- Theme

4) Jesus
I read a chapter of my book, "Power Thoughts" this morning and MAN did I need to read this verse:

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing fear), but He had given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control." ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

"Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loves us." ~ Romans 8:37

Thank you Jesus!

------------------------------

That's it for Sunday share, sorry to post a day late... the long weekend had me thinkin' yesterday was Friday not Sunday. I'll try to do better next time :/ Now to finish my Machine design homework and hit the weights!

Goodnight :)
~ Ruthie

Required Reading

And we're back...

If you're reading this then you survived what was the first two days of classes for Montana Tech students. How alive are you really? Did your soul die a little knowing you'd be doing homework and tests for the next couple months? Are you dead tired? OR Are you lively and loving being back? (kudos to you if you're the latter!)

I am trying with every fiber of my being to be happy to back. And I am... really I am. What I DEFINITELY am doing is reading a book my mom gave me for my birthday, it is titled, "Power Thoughts" by Joyce Meyer.

The introduction reads:

"Does your mind wander? Do you have trouble trying to get something out of your mind? You may be stuck in a mental rut. Well, it’s time to get out!

In her bestselling book, Joyce will help you…

• Take principles from Battlefield of the Mind to the next level
• Learn 12 specific thoughts to positively affect every area of your life
• Learn how to think right thoughts on purpose
• Become decisive, confident and productive
• Enjoy the powerful life God intended for you"

Sign me up!
The jist of the book is 12 Strategies to WIN the BATTLE of the MIND. Each strategy is covered in a chapter, and there are four 'ground work' chapters at the begining to lay a solid foundation of the desirable outcomes, the common struggles, and the main power concepts. I am on Chapter 3 now, but I can't wait to get to the strategies :)

You can read a sample chapter online, just click the link. Here's a little sample section that proves the power of positive thinking it an amusing little tale :)

A Positive You Is a Powerful You

An organization once offered a bounty of five thousand dollars

apiece for wolves that were captured alive. Enticed by the idea of

such money, Sam and Jed eagerly set out through the forests and

into the mountains in search of the animals that could secure their

fortune.

They fell asleep under the stars one night, exhausted after days

of enthusiastic hunting. Sam awoke in the middle of the night and

saw about fifty wolves surrounding him and Jed—hungry wolves,

baring their teeth, with their eyes glistening at the thought of easy human prey.

Realizing what was going on, Sam nudged his friend and said

eagerly, “Jed, wake up! We’re rich!”

A positive attitude enables you to make the best of every situation,

and that gives you power over your circumstances instead

of allowing your circumstances to have power over you.


In case you were wondering I did follow up on my friend Kim's advice and start the reading and DVD 6 week plan for "Made to Crave." I am only on week #1, but this book has helped me immensely already.

I knew I had a problem with food... I thought about it ALL the time, I obsessed over when I could get my "cheat meal" or eat my favorite foods like oatmeal and peanut butter or protein powder, and celebrated like I won a car when Shannon put PB &J on rice cakes on my meal plan. It is 100% OK to enjoy food, love food, and desire food. God made our sense of taste and he knows how it works! He knows we will seek foods that taste good. The problem comes in when you seek food for pleasure, comfort, security above and beyond God. I shutter to admit it, but was in that place. I mean gees, I even wrote a post fantasizing about deserts! That should have been a red light right there. There is great irony in the fact that I knew I was "Purely Indulging" in food when I wrote the post because I even titled it that; but what I didn't realize was that that I was waging war on my soul by putting something above God.

But I am on the road to recovery! The first "Power Word" of the book is "EMPOWERMENT" (funny how the power thinking idea just keeps coming up huh? Maybe God really is trying to tell me something!) Lysa writes that we can make the mental choice to be empowered by our healthy eating choices, not feeling deprived by them. And I have found this to be absolutely true! When I overcome a craving and stick to my diet plan I am proud of myself, I feel empowered, I feel free, and I feel completely full!

I am happy to report I have not had a food binge or purge since starting the reading plan, which I had been struggling with under the strictness of my Bombshell diet plan, and the stress of moving, starting school, competing, and funding it all ($!). It's a dark and embarrassing struggle, but I am overcoming it and that's what counts! I have had the revelation that I don't need the things I crave to feel full and satisfied, I actually need to resist them to feel that fullness and satisfaction! ... and by "full" I mean the inner feeling of satisfaction and peace, not only the literal physical feeling of fullness after eating. I enjoy eating the right food and making the right choice to resist my cravings much more than the fleeting pleasure of messing up my plan and eating that scoop of peanut butter. I'll keep you updated on my progress as I continue to read both "Power Thoughts" and "Made to Crave."

Other books on my reading list this Fall include "Mechanical Vibrations," "Machine Design," "Process Control Instrumentation Technology," and "Energy Conversion" ... Courtesy of my professors. Yahoo, I am going to be so smart and so efficient at reading! Positive thinking, positive thinking ;)

I hope your return to school has been going smoothly!



Ruthie xoxo

Multi-Faceted

Yesterday I interrupted our regularly scheduled programming to post about my birthday and the tragedy of my teacher's death, so here's the picture post I promised...

Actually I'll start off with a video! Here's a behind the scenes video of my photo shoot with April Greer. She made it for my birthday. Isn't she just too sweet :) ?

I on the other hand am quite the piece of work... I guess I AM blonde ;p How many blondes does it take to get your name and state right? Find the answer below.

And here we have some of the fruits of my labor as a model. I only say "labor" because the cool shots always are the most painful to hold. All the flattering poses are extremely uncomfortable; which is definitely true for Bikini competition as well! I love modeling and competing though so it's no biggie :) April made the whole shoot really fun by having a great attitude and playing rockin' music.

"April Greer Photoshoot"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

On Monday, my fellow Techies and I start back at school. It's time to finish my quest to be a Mechanical Engineer!! I like how I ended my summer posts on this modeling shoot, because many people have only one perception of me...

Either they met me as an "engineer" and see me as scholarly, hard-working, perfectionist, home-work queen, study-maniac, sleep deprived. With the summer version of this being about the same minus the homework and studying.... OR... they met me at a Bikini competition, through Team Bombshell, or via modeling. To them I am a "bombshell" (at least I flatter myself as such he-he). They see me as competitive, gym-rat, skinny girl, weights and StairMaster queen, food-prep maniac....and again ,sleep deprived and perfectionist. Both "engineer" and "bombshell" are the same girl, but only a select few people know both sides of me.

Turns out, I'm multi-faceted. I'm just now finally exploring more than one side, and it's been overwhelmingly amazing. I encourage you to try taking charge of your joy and spending more time pursing that little thing you that makes you happy instead of just the things you are good at. You can always fall back on what you're good at if it doesn't work out, but what if you're actually really good at what makes you happy!? Only one way to find out...

Now that school is starting again you'll be seeing a lot more of the "engineer" side, and posts will probably be more of a mix of school, Team bombshell, God and scriptures (always!), and random life happenings. If you're headed back to school soon, good luck! Let's have a great year :)

I'm off to do workout #3 for today.... lifting back and biceps! I am stoked to use my new Versa Gripps lifting grips that my parents got me for my birthday (in pink :D)

Good night friends,
~ Ruthie xoxo


PS - I updated the "Competition History" page on my blog.

Overwhelmed

Time flies whether or not you're having fun... so have fun! I came to this realization lately as I was muttering my way through another long week of projects, deadlines, homework, tests and work. Where's the end!? I had just gotten back from an amazing trip in the Bahamas, on which I actually managed to make progress on some homework (airport and driving time management :D) yet I still felt sooo behind and not at all ready to be tested on all the information I'd been "taught." Wowzers.


So the remedy? Well, life isn't slowing down, and teachers may postpone tests (thank you Raj and Wahl) but next week yeah you still gotta take it. So BE HAPPY! Have fun in any circumstance. I know it sounds easier said than done, so here's some words of the wise to help inspire you to enjoy the gift of life. Feeling persecuted? In other words, is life just working against you? Have faith in the following words of Paul the apostle, from his letter in the Bible to the Romans.

"We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit."

 {Rom 5:3-5 NIV}

When he wrote to the church in Phillipi he told them the following, which reminds me of the benefits of sticking to the straight and narrow path when the world is trying to influence you to make poor choices:

"For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control." 

{Philippians 3:18-21}

Stay tuned, I have some exciting news to share with you guys

in the next post that relates to the quote on this mug... :)

Time To Get Started

Heyo friends,

Well tomorrow is the BIG DAY for all of us making the great migration back to Montana Tech for college. I just made my list of which books I'll be needed to "invest in my future" by purchasing. It's this time of the semester that I am so thankful I work for PSNS, because they give me a book allowance every semester. It really takes off the $$ squeeze that most students experience this time of the year. If you want to get in on such a deal, I encourage you to get your butt to some interviews this semester and find a summer internship! I started this blog talking about mine, and in May, I will return to Bremerton, WA to continue as a "co-op" for PSNS. 

To finish of my list of how I plan on Improving my Life in 2011, I saved the best for last: #3 ...  

(1) Exercise Regularly, and Add New Challenges. (more on this topic)
(2) Have More Fun with my Style (more on this topic)
(3) Grow Spiritually and Let God Lead - this post!

Because I had a lot of changes this last year, I also had a lot of new and stress-inducing experiences. Including: my first internship, a long distance relationship, my hardest semester to date at Tech (still got a 4.0 though, woohoo), family moving away, new jobs - blogging and reffing; all on top of all the usual. Many times I found myself overwhelmed and stressed or anxious. Whenever I turned to temporary fixes to help relieve stress: food, tv, computer, multitasking, procrastination; it never left me satisfied. I just knew there had to be a better way. Honestly, I did turn to God many times too... but I guess I was just too blind to see what was working and what was just habit.

I've always been a Christian, but this year I'm going to make a conscious effort to be in "conversation" with God throughout my day. Hey, He's the only one who knows the path for my life so He's the best one to turn to. Every time. Did you ever think about who God really is? I was thinking about this last night, and I saw thinks in a much different light. He is the expert on:

• Nutrition- what we should eat, and how to keep our bodies healthy are all the way they are because God designed us to work this way. The idea is simple: We all need to eat. Eat simply and only until you're satisfied. You may have heard the clean eating mantra: "Eat food. Not too much, mostly plants." by Michael Pollan. Nutritionists are just those who've discovered the ways to optimize God's design.
• Academics- Everything we study in school, stems from Creation. All the laws of science, physics and the universe were written by Him.
• Fitness and Exercise- He designed our bodies to be strong, efficient, and beautiful. He knows every muscle and curve because He designed it. Much like nutrition and nutrition experts: professional athletes, personal trainers, bodybuilders, ect are just the few people who've taken the time to optimize and perfect the creation God already had in place. By this thinking, anyone can improve their state of fitness.
• Happiness- I put this one on the list because alot of people forget God promise us that He always has our best interests in mind, and that He gives the gift of joy to those who believe in Him. So to train myself to trust God more, and "Live for Eternal Bliss... one day at a time." I have developed a game plan. Because a goal without a plan is just a wish!

I will finally read through the whole Bible in a year. I am using the M'Cheyne One Year Reading Plan to do so. From the YouVersion website:

"This plan is based on the M’Cheyne reading system, featuring four different readings for use in both family and personal devotions. Each day has two passages from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one from either the Psalms or the Gospels. In one year, you read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice."



My sister and I are both doing it, so I always know I am not alone in this. Knowing that someone is doing the same thing as me everyday helps me to not skip a day or quit. I've found out it takes me about 20-30min to read the 4 chapters assigned daily, so I either wake up that much earlier to do it, or do it right before bed.

To actually accomplish this goal, it's going to have to be convenient for me, so I downloaded the Bible app on my Android smart phone, and use either my phone, my ITouch's Bible app, or my good ol' hardcover Bible to read the assigned chapters. I like having a plan because it gives me a sense of accomplishment to check off the chapters I read every day!

Also, I can see my progress, which is a huge motivator. Today is Day 15 for me, and I am 3.8% done. That may seem like not much progress at first, but remember: in a year I'll have read the WHOLE BOOK! I know I will be proud of myself on December 27th (the day I finish) so I'm going to stick with it. This idea of making small everyday choices to affect a greater, positive, and lasting happiness and goal applies to our entire lives. I plan to discuss this more later because I found some really great and inspiring articles on the topic of Seizing the Day in a way that is positive for your future happiness.

That's all for now folks,
I'll see many of you tomorrow @ TECH... enjoy your last afternoon of break!

Ruthie