Accountability

The physical act of writing out your goals makes them real. Once they are written down, you can be held accountable for taking the various steps needed to reach them. It's a form of accountability  You are holding yourself accountable.

ACCOUNTABILITY:  the quality or state of being accountable; an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one's actions.

Accountability. That's exactly why I've started this blog & exactly why I've chosen today to share it with my friends and family! 

That being said, here's an update from our first full week of starting a healthier lifestyle. E has dropped 3 pounds & I've dropped 5! Such a wonderful feeling especially since neither of us have started incorporating exercise into the mix just yet [unless you count chasing Wrigley down before he escapes into the woods by our house]. 

I love to cook, and all of the recipes we tried last week were amazing; we were happily surprised! The zucchini lasagna and white chicken chili tied for first, they were amazing. I'm working on our next meal plan [[fail to plan, plan to fail]] & am super excited to keep experimenting in the kitchen. 

While I'm currently a stay at home wife while we're in North Carolina {only because I don't think it's fair to an employer to get a job only to turn around and quit a couple months later} I've been researching licensing requirements for the state of California so I can hit the ground running when we finally get there. It's been a irritating frustrating challenging & eye-opening experience. Social Work licensing requirements in California are different than any other state and [long story, short] If I were able to start immediately upon arriving in California and everything was absolutely seamless, which we all know would never happen in the real world, I would only be licensed for a few months before we would get our transfer papers and be moved somewhere new. This all seems like not that big of a deal since at least everything would be done and I can just take that license with me right? Wrong. All of that work would give me a license in California that is no good in any other state. 

At first I was extremely frustrated; why can't all states have the same requirements?! Then my frustration moved to sadness. I couldn't help but focus on the fact that I won't be able to land my dream job without that license. 

I prayed about it last night before going to bed. I prayed that God would help ease my mind and help me find acceptance and understanding instead of focusing on the negative aspects of this situation {and ultimately all other situations}. Well, it's a new day and I'm doing my best to just let it be; trying to control an uncontrollable situation is only going to make me want to pull out my hair for no good reason. 

One of my largest struggles in my faith {because I'm an absolute control freak} is just letting things be and fully trusting that Jesus has everything under control. He has a plan for me and my life, so what is the point in pulling out my hair? Easier said than done, well at least in this girl's life. BUT - I've been blessed with a new day, I'll keep trying. I can't wait for the day that I'm fully able to let go, it will be a truly wonderful day and I'll be a better person and a better Christian for it. 

Writing down my goals and the journey I'm taking to achieve them makes it real for me. Having my other half joining me in my journey is a complete blessing which helps solidify the fact that I married my best friend. We're both excited to continue this journey together to see where it will take us!