Jesus is Alive!!

Happy Easter everyone!!! I just got done eating breakfast and I’m about to start getting ready for church. I will spend the rest of the day celebrating with Ryan’s family before we hit the road and head back to our school. I just wanted to stop by real quick and wish everyone a fantastic Easter!

It is so awesome to know our Savior lives and is reigning! This is definitely the most important holiday for Christians! You can read much more about what this holiday means to Christians in my latest Faith in my Friday post.

What are your Easter plans?

Are you planning on eating any yummy meals?

Strength Run

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of their weekend! I started out  my Saturday with a 4 mile strength run. Yesterday was my rest day so I was in need for a good workout! I was really in the mood for a run, but I knew I needed to throw some strength training in there so I went for a four mile run, and after each mile I stopped and did three different exercises. So here is what my workout looked like:

1 mile run

10 burpees, 10 push-ups, 30 mountain climbers

Repeat 4x’s.

This ended up being a really good workout, because once I finished my 30 mountain climbers I was breathing pretty heavy, but I had to immediately start on my next mile. My first mile came in at 8:10, my second mile was 8:16, I didn’t see my third mile, and my fourth mile was 8:13. I was very happy with my times, and I already feel like I am getting faster for the Forever Fitness Challenge. Just a reminder, one of my goals is to get my time down for my longer runs to about 8:05-:10, so my times today were pretty close to that!

Here is a picture of my Garmin Forerunner 310 XT after I finished my run. I absolutely love this watch! Ryan gave it to me for Christmas last year, and I have used it so much!

Afterwards I enjoyed breakfast with Ryan’s parents when Ryan was still asleep. Ryan’s mom made some yummy pancakes with bacon.

I topped them with some pure maple syrup. Now this was just my first plate. I was still hungry, so I went back for seconds. 🙂

This time I put some natural crunchy peanut butter on my pancakes for a little extra protein and not so much sugar.

 

But this has to be a quick post; we are about to head out for a busy day of shopping, wedding planning, and just good ol’ family time!

I am trying to get better at curling my hair; what do you think?

Enjoy your Saturday!

 

How do you curl your hair?

What was your Saturday morning workout?

Any fun plans this weekend?

Men’s Basketball Championship

Okay, I have to brag because I am one proud fiancee. Last night Ryan’s men’s basketball team won our school’s men’s intramural championship! Ryan has won a lot of intramural sports in the four years he has been in college, but this was the first time his team ever won the men’s basketball league. He was so happy, and I was so proud! He played AWESOME! Plus, his team dominated the other team! Here is the final score:

The game wasn’t even close, but since it was Ryan’s team that was winning by so much it was really fun for me to watch. 🙂

This is Ryan and one of his roommates and friends, Ryan Woodward (I usually refer to him as Woodward or Wood). Ryan and Wood actually went to high school together, so they have gone from playing high school ball together to intramurals. Pretty cool that their friendship has lasted so long! Oh and extra cool fact, Wood and Marlee, my best friend and maid of honor, are dating so Ryan and I have fun hanging out with them. 🙂

I’m pretty sure our guys couldn’t have won without Marlee and I as their cheerleaders all season. 😉

After their game Ryan and I left for a long road trip to go stay with his parents for Easter. To give us some energy for our late night trip we stopped by Sonic for some drinks! I enjoyed a small cherry slush.

Sorry for the super bad picture with horrible lighting!

I drove for the first couple of hours, but then Ryan took over. I tried to stay up while he was driving, but I am horrible at staying up late and I fell asleep. Luckily though, Ryan is a super awesome driver so we made it safely to his parents’ house at about 4:30 in the morning. After a quick hello to his sweet parents who got out of bed to tell us hi, Ryan and I both went to our separate rooms and fell right asleep. I cannot sleep in for the life of me though, so I was up by about 8:20 in the morning. I know, I am crazy. I can’t help it! But I did wake up hungry, so I helped myself to some yummy cereal.

This is a mix of four different cereals. I put in some Cascadian Farm organic granola cereal, some Nature’s Path organic Pumpkin Raisin Crunch cereal, a little wheat chex, and a tiny bit of honey nut cheerios. Next I chopped up about 1/2 of a banana in my bowl and poured in some milk. Hit the spot!

I love going to visit Ryan’s parents. It is always so relaxing, and we have a great time. I can always count on good food too! Brownies are always a must here! 🙂

And yes, these brownies tasted just as good as they look in this picture. 🙂

Tonight Ryan, his parents, and I went to the Good Friday service at his dad’s church and then we went out to Mexican food. The service was great and so was the food! We enjoyed chips, salsa, and queso as an appetizer.

Now, I don’t really have a sweet tooth, so I don’t usually have a big problem with desserts or sweets, but chips and salsa are my weakness! I love them! For my main entree I ordered something I had never had or heard of before. The waitress told me it was good, so I trusted her and decided to try the Ensalada de Pollo, as it was called on the menu. This actually wasn’t a salad at all, but was chicken in some type of sauce, onions, tomato, pineapple,and it was all put in one half of a pineapple. It looked beautiful. I had to take a picture. Feast your eyes on this masterpiece of food!

It was delicious, and I ate every bite! No shame 🙂 Great night with my man and his parents!

Have I mentioned how much I love this guy? 🙂

We are just now starting to watch the movie, Taken 2, and I have never seen it before so I am really excited!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Good Friday and has a great weekend!

Did any of you go to a Good Friday Service? How was it?

If you saw the movie, Taken, did you like it? What about the second one?

Any of y’all play any recreational sports for fun?

I love playing any recreational sport when I get the chance!

Faith in My Friday-Good Friday

Yay for friday!! Today is actually a very special Friday, because as I’m sure most of y’all know, today is Good Friday. This Sunday is Easter, which for Christians is probably the most important holiday. It celebrates that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and is still living today. Good Friday is celebrated because this is supposed to be the day that Jesus was crucified and died for our sins. Because Jesus died for us, we have the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven with our Lord and Creator. How amazing!

I really wanted to take today to talk about what exactly I believe as a Christian. First, I believe that “God created the Heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). I believe that God created absolutely everything on this earth, including all people. God is the Almighty Creator, and this shows how mighty and awesome He is.

I believe that all of us are sinners, and God loves us so much that he sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die for us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. (John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)

I believe that Jesus is the one and only way to Heaven. (John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”) In the Old Testament people had to make sacrifices to God for their sins, but we don’t have to do that anymore because Jesus suffered the ultimate death for us. His blood covered all of our sins! How awesome is that to think about? Jesus, who had absolutely NO SIN, died for us, a bunch of lost sinners. He was absolutely perfect, but he humbled himself and died the worst death possible. If there was any other possible way for us to get to Heaven then Jesus wouldn’t have had to die such a horrible death. So the only way for us, as sinners to receive the Holy Spirit and get to spend eternity in Heaven with God is to give our entire lives over to Jesus and let Him take control. (Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”).

This is seriously the only way for us to get saved. It doesn’t matter how good of a person you are, how many times you go to church, how many times you pray a day, or even how much money you donate to good causes. If you have not confessed that Jesus is Lord and given your life over to Him, you are not saved. And only the saved will get into Heaven. Now you might be saying, “Wow, Becky, you sure are being harsh”. I am not trying to be harsh; I am just being honest. Jesus did not come to Earth and tell people exactly what they wanted to hear to make them feel good; he told them the Truth. After all, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”).

I believe that if you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”)

Jesus does not promise that following Him will be easy (Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’.”). We are called to give up the things of this world and follow Jesus. Because this is not easy, not many people will want to give their entire life to God and give Him control (Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”). Even though not many people will follow God, we need to try to remember that this world is only temporary, so things of this world are not worth living for. God is eternity, so we need to live our lives for Him! Instead of trying to build up treasures on earth that will not last, we need to build up treasures in Heaven that will never be destroyed! (Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”)

We serve such a mighty, awesome God, and it is still mind blowing to me that He loves us so much, He was willing to die for us!! I sin so much every single day, yet God still loves me so much! I know I can’t even comprehend His love for me and everyone else! I can’t comprehend the concept of eternity or what Heaven will be like one day. I just know it will be really, really, really AMAZING, MAGNIFICENT, AND AWESOME!!

I wanted to share this today because like I said, Easter is probably the most important holiday for Christians, and Good Friday is so special. I wanted to make sure everyone knows exactly what I believe and what my faith means to me. I made sure I included a lot of Scripture to back me up because I do not want anyone to take me for just my word, but I want people to go to Scripture for the Truth. I also do not want readers to think I am making any of this up.

Now, I want to make sure everyone knows that I AM NOT PERFECT! I sin every single day, and I struggle with some of the same sins every day. Like Paul said, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst.”   1 Timothy 1:15. No person is better than anyone else. We all struggle with different things, and we should encourage one another and help each other overcome our struggles. (Hebrews 3:13 “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”) Who are we to judge since we are all sinners? (Luke 6:42 “How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”)

If you have any questions or comments about anything I have just wrote about I would love to hear from you!

Ryan and I are spending the weekend with his parents for Easter. I can’t wait to officially be a Billups! I am truly blessed to be marrying into such a great family and to be getting such great in-laws! I know this weekend will be a blast!

What are you Easter plans?

Do you have any fun Easter traditions?

Sprints and a Sugar Detox Challenge

Today has been a super busy day, but a productive one! I went to class from 9:30-3:00, met with my thesis advisor for an hour, taught a six pack cycle class for 50 minutes, and then did my own sprint workout. The good thing about days like today is they seem to fly by!

When I woke up this morning I was really craving some cereal so I put together this big bowl of deliciousness.

Good cereal takes some preparation. That is why I used a little bit of everything in this bowl.

I mixed in some Kashi Go Lean cereal (my favorite), some off brand cheerios, and some off brand shredded wheat squares. Then I chopped up half of a banana and two strawberries to put in the mix. Next came a few chopped walnuts, followed by a spoonful of Smucker’s natural peanut butter. Then of course some delicious Silk unsweetened almond milk. Boy, it was good! For lunch I had the rest of my leftovers of the chicken, sausage, potato mixture I made last week. For a snack was some yummy Chobani pineapple yogurt. I mixed in a chopped strawberry and a few shredded wheat squares.

I used to hate yogurt, but I have grown to love it and I am so glad! It is a great snack and full of protein so it keeps me full. I used to eat snacks like Special K 90 calorie bars, and I thought I was being healthy. I eventually learned those are nothing but empty calories. Since they don’t have any nutrients they won’t satisfy your hunger, which will make you end up eating more, consuming more calories overall. So basically, always choose food that gives you some nutrients. Lower calorie is not always good.

Workout

Now for today’s workout. First I taught six pack cycle this afternoon. On Wednesdays I always do a circuit of three minutes hard on the bike and three minutes of abs on the floor. We go through this circuit for a total of three times. I know it doesn’t sound like a bunch, but trust me, it is a good workout. All of the people in my class always leave tired! For the three minutes of abs I always have us do six different exercises for 30 seconds each. Here are the exercises we did today.

• Plank In-n-outs (You need to be in a plank position on your hands, like you are about to do a push-up, and then jump your feet in and back out. Do as many as you can in 30 seconds with good form.)
• Bosu ball sit up to stand up (check out this video to see what this is. Also, how awkward does this man look in the video? Haha, made me laugh 🙂 )
• Bosu ball swimmer (works lower back)
• Elbow to Hands plank (I explain it more in this post)
• Medicine ball toe touches (start out on your back, holding the medicine ball over your head. Raise your right leg up and bring the medicine ball to your toes. Lower your right leg and bring the medicine ball back behind your leg. Then raise your left leg and bring the medicine ball to your toes on your left foot. Continue to do this for 30 seconds)
• Russian twists with medicine ball (video here)

 

Sorry, I know my explanations aren’t very good. Workouts are just hard to explain without actually seeing it. So I am going to get Ryan to take pictures of me doing these workouts so I can post pictures soon to better explain them!

After my cycle class I went to the indoor track to do my first sprint workout for the Forever Fitness Challenge. I was a little nervous since I haven’t done sprints since high school, but I ended up being very happy with my workout! Today I did six 400 meter sprints. Now, I am being honest, I am most definitely not a sprinter, but for not sprinting in a while I thought my times were decent. My first 400 time was 1:35.

And I am happy to post the next picture which is my sixth 400 time.

Yup, that’s right! My sixth 500 was one second faster than my first! Okay, ya I know, it was only one second. But that one second made me so happy! It’s the little things in life that make me smile. 🙂 Overall I was really consistent. Here are my times.

First 400- 1:35

2nd- 1:36

3rd- 1:36

4th- 1:34

5th- 1:35

6th- 1:34

I have never been fast, but I have always been consistent. My coach used to always tell me I couldn’t sprint fast, but I could sprint at the same pace forever. I guess that is still true!

I left the gym feeling tired, sweaty, and accomplished!

Sugar Detox Challenge

So I am excited to say that I am going to take part in Laura’s Sugar Detox Challenge that she is hosting on her blog http://www.mommyrunfast.com.

The challenge will last from Monday April 1st to Sunday April 7. You can choose to either do level one of the challenge, which is just eliminating all added sugars, or you can do level two, which is eliminating sugars and processed foods. I am going to do level two of the challenge. I know this will be hard, but that’s why it is called a challenge right? If you are interested you should go to Laura’s blog to read more details about the challenge. 🙂

I think this detox challenge is a great idea. I love taking part in challenges with other bloggers and getting to know them better. Plus, this challenge is only for one week so it is definitely doable! I highly encourage everyone to take part in it!

We are getting closer and closer to Easter, and I am very excited because Ryan and I are going to see his parents and stay with them for the weekend. So fun!

What are your Easter plans?

What kind of sprint workouts have you done or enjoyed?

Who is going to be brave and take part in the sugar detox challenge?? 🙂