My Health and Fitness Goals

For quite a while, I have been neglecting my health, and I want to do better about taking care of it.

In this list, I am including goals for mental, physical, and spiritual health, and I feel that they are all inter-connected, and very important to my well-being.

So, without further ado, here are my health and fitness goals:

• Go for 30-minute walks at least 3x a week
  
  
• Get 8 hours of sleep every night
  
  
• Improve my posture
  I slouch a lot, and have done so for years. I really do not like how it makes me feel and look, and I want to work on this.
  
  
• Find a skincare routine that works for me, and keep up with it
  
  
• Find a hair care routine that works for me, and keep up with it
  
  
• No screens an hour before bed
  
  
• Figure out a good balance in the things that I eat
  
  
• Drink enough water every day
  
  
• Spend some time every day in nature
  
  
• Journal at least 2x a week
  
  
• Read my bible every day
  Beginning January 1st, I have been doing a Read the Bible in a Year challenge, and have been doing well so far. I want to keep that up!
  
  
• Pray every day
  I am very bad at this, and very seldom pray. I want to do better with this.
  
  
• Ride my bike 2-3x a week
  
  
• Listen to my favorite music at least an hour a day  
  
  
• Go to bed by 11 pm each night
  
  
• Wake up by 9 am each morning
  I am NOT a morning person at all--I am a huge night owl, so going to bed, and waking up at a decent hour every day is going to be very hard for me to do, at least at the start.
  
  
• Eat a healthy breakfast every morning  
  
  
• Have a self-care day/routine every week  
  
  
• Talk to my friends on a more regular basis  
  
  
• Learn how to cook better, and cook more meals for myself  
  
  
• Complete some type of puzzle every day
  (Sudoku, Mahjong, word search, jigsaw, etc.; I LOVE puzzles, and would love to incorporate it more into my everyday routine.)
  
  
• Lose around 40 pounds, and gain more strength  
  
  
• Learn a few foreign languages
  I love words and languages, and would love to learn Spanish, Italian, French, and Sign Language.
  
  
• Take myself out on regular dates  
  
  
• Do a digital/social media detox at least once a month  
  
  
• Take more photos/learn how to take better pictures 
  
  
• Learn how to meal prep
  
  
• Be more organized
  
  
• Try out a new hobby for a month
  
  
• Take one long bath or shower a week
  
  
• Relearn how to play the violin, and learn to play one new song a week (or every two weeks)
  
  
• Do something active every day
  
  
• Learn how to love myself
  

I may add to this if I think of any more, but this is a good starting point for working on my health. I am definitely going to take it slow, and only start with a couple things at first, and then add more as time goes on.

Have you set any health and fitness goals for yourself? What do you want to do, to take care of yourself?

My Week at Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2023: Days 5 and 6

Well, it's on to days 5 and 6, the last two days of camp.

On Thursday, we had our usual STM morning devotions and prayers, and breakfast afterwards.

After breakfast, we had an accessible worship, where those who wanted to, could come up on stage to sing along with the leaders. It's always a favorite of mine, watching the accessible worship.

After that, the other sweet shop people and I helped set up the sweet shop for the women's lunch that afternoon. When we were done with that, we were given the rest of the morning off, to relax.

I decided to sit in on morning programming again, with the high schoolers.

When I got there, they were putting aluminum foil on, to look like the armor of God, and then they made a keychain/bracelet/necklace with mini shoes, to represent walking in the truth.

Again, I was allowed to make my own shoe keychain, which I enjoyed making.

We then had lunch, and afternoon activities.

While manning the sweet shop, the person that was in charge kindly gave me the rest of the afternoon off, so I first went down to see the horses that the campers get to ride, and then sat on the beach for a while.

Once I got back to the main area where most of the others were, I saw one of the leaders on the lawn, with a kiddie pool filled with a bunch of those water bead things. I decided to hang out with her for a bit, while I decided what else I wanted to do.

While there, the behavior specialist came by, and I asked her if I would be allowed to do at least one of the activities that were available.

She said yes, and took me down to where the ropes course and the zip line were, and I decided to try the ropes course first, as I had never done one before.

So, I put the harness and helmet on and started climbing up to the first level (there were two levels, but I only wanted to do the first one).

I am very afraid of heights, so I actually started to get scared, and started shaking a bit. I started to slow down as I got closer to the platform, and when I looked down, I saw that two of the main leaders had come by to watch me, which I didn't mind. 

I eventually gave up on the ropes course, because I got too scared, so I climbed back down. I do plan on trying again, though, the next time I'm at camp!

After sitting down for a few minutes to calm my nerves, I decided to go on the zipline. I went on it last year, so I knew I could do it again. 

One of the leaders that came down to watch me, filmed me doing the zipline, which I'm glad she did! I love having these things to look back on.

After the afternoon activities were over, we had dinner, and then a talent show.

That lasted for about an hour and a half and is always fun to watch. After that, we had the sweet shop open, which I helped man with the others, and karaoke in another room.

Then came Friday, the last day of camp. I was NOT ready for it to be over!

We didn't have morning devotions, as it was the last day, but we had breakfast, a closing ceremony where the families and campers got to share their experiences, and then the families left. There was a final STM debrief after the families left, but I couldn't go, as one of the families offered to drive me home.

They overheard me telling one of the other STMs that I couldn't find a ride home, and kindly offered to take me home. Which I am so thankful for, as it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders (I don't have my driver's license yet, and I do plan on getting it one of these days).

While I was waiting to go home, I decided to check out the gift shop that they had in the lodge (which is where I was staying while at camp). I bought a small blue and purple teddy bear, as well as a bracelet that says Grace on it.

I also purchased a few things from the bookstore that was in the sweetshop: a drawstring bag, a Joni and Friends keychain, a bracelet with this year's camp theme on it (Fearless), and one other thing I can't think of at the moment.

Overall, camp was amazing this year!! I hope I get to go again next year, as well. It is such a beautiful experience, that I am so thankful I took the chance to take.

My Week at Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2023: Days 3 and 4

Part two of my week at retreat is of Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tuesday, the STMs had morning devotions and prayers, then it was time for breakfast. I am not a fan of these early mornings (We have our devotionals at 7:40 am), but for camp, I am willing to put up with it for a few days!

After breakfast, me and the other sweet shop volunteers made a few more batches of brookies to sell. I am now known/famous for the brookies, as people kept coming up to me, saying that they really enjoyed them. I suppose that's a good thing!

That took about an hour or so, and we were able to have the rest of the morning off. I went to my room to rest, before lunch.

After lunch, me and the other sweet shop people were in the shop for the afternoon. There were supposed to be fun activities for the campers/families, but it ended up raining, so bingo was set up in the sweet shop for those who wanted to play, which made it quite a bit busier for us on a Tuesday, than usual. Which is a good thing.

We then had dinner, and then there was a square dance, as well as a petting zoo. For the first time ever, a race car driver brought his race car for us to check out. I'm not really into racing, but it was pretty cool to see the car.

I was going to sit out on the square dance and just watch, but a couple people convinced me to join in. Which, to be honest, I am kind of glad they did. I am a very shy person, so I don't always join in on things on my own.

There was a horse-drawn carriage ride that evening, and when I got off, I got my picture taken with the horses. As I was standing next to the horse, I saw him move his head toward me, as if I was very interesting to him.

On Wednesday, we had the usual STM morning devotions and prayers, and then breakfast.

After breakfast, I was given the morning off, so I went and sat in on the morning programming. There was worship songs being sung, a couple games, and then everyone split up into groups based on their age.

Everyone was allowed to request a song to have sung, and I wanted to request Amazing Grace, as it was my mom's favorite song. I was too shy to speak up, but someone else had requested it, which made me very happy.

When everyone broke up into their groups, I went with the high schoolers, as the leader that was in charge of that group was/is one of my friends. 

For the first half of the class, she taught about lies that the devil may tell us, and how we can defend ourselves against those lies by putting on the armor of God.

She had a couple crafts, where everyone wrote lies on pieces of orange paper shaped like flames, that the devil would tell us, and glued them onto sticks, where they were then stuck into a shield. Then, they made arrows, that represented the truth of God, and a piece of paper with a Bible verse was tied onto the arrows.

I was able to make my own flames, and arrows, which was pretty cool.

We then had lunch, and afternoon activities. It was actually a nice day for the activities, which was nice. Then, the sweet shop people and I helped set up for the parents dinner, and I was able to relax afterwards, and eat dinner as usual in the dining hall.

After dinner, we had our usual dance (not a square dance, but one with pop and rock and roll songs), and then the STMs had our Wednesday evening debrief.

So, days 3 and 4 were great!!

My Week at Joni and Friends Family Retreat 2023: Days 1 and 2

Family retreat has now come and gone, and I had an amazing time there!! I so needed this week at camp.

I wish I was still there, as the week went by too fast. I have decided to break this post up into 3 parts, so that it won't be too long to read. This post will be about days 1 and 2, Sunday and Monday.

I was in the sweet shop again this year, which I was very happy about. This year was my fourth year at retreat, and every year I was in the sweet shop.

For a while, I wasn't sure if I would be able to go to retreat this year, but things turned out in my favor, and I got to go.

I did week 2 (Sunday, June 11 to Friday, June 16) of this retreat again, like I have every year (there are three weeks total), and I arrived a day early, on Saturday, with a friend who was also doing week 2 (although she was also staying for week 3 and couldn't drive me home).

Sunday, the STMs who weren't there already arrived, and we then started training. Training was basically how to handle situations that may arise, how to treat the campers/families that are coming, as well as the different types of disabilities.

The woman I was rooming with for the week was in the sweet shop with me, as well as another woman who I roomed with for the 2 years previously, which was pretty cool!

We had an hour of training, then lunch, then more training, and then dinner. After dinner, those who were a buddy to a camper/family made posters to welcome them to camp, and we had ice cream in the sweet shop.

I had brought some supplies with me, to make a poster of my own to honor my mom. The theme this year was Fearless, and the decorations that were there were of superheroes, and when I read that we could dress up as a personal hero (or do something to celebrate a personal hero), I immediately thought of my mom.

I put a picture of my mom in the middle of the poster, put My Mom My Hero around the picture, then added some images of things that she liked around the rest of the poster. I also added the words courageous and strong in one corner, and love split up on either side of the photo (L and O on the left side, V and E on the right).

I am very happy with how it came out, and others have said they liked it, as well.

Monday, we had breakfast, lunch, and some last-minute training before the families/campers came.

I went to the sweet shop at one point during the day, along with the others that were in the sweet shop, to make some brookies (part cookie, part brownie; they are sooo good!!) to sell to those at camp.

I was struggling with things during the family arrival time, and I was allowed to go the sensory room that they have on the campus. I think it took me about half an hour or so to calm down. I am so thankful for the sensory room!

Once all the families were there, we had dinner, a welcome ceremony, and then an ice cream social. 

Once the ice cream social was over, we had some free time before the STMs had a debrief at around 9:15 pm.

While I was sitting at one of the outdoor tables, waiting for the debrief to start, one of the leaders came over to sit with me, and started asking me about my faith and my relationship with God.

I told her that my faith isn't where I would like it to be, that I want to deepen my faith as well as my relationship with God. I also said that I had been wanting to do both for years, but never really knew how to go about that.

She then asked if I wanted to fully accept God into my life right then, and to start my journey to a stronger faith. I was a bit surprised by that question, but I said yes, as I really wanted to do this, and that I was in the right place for this journey to start.

The leader then prayed for me, and then she helped me pray to God for helping me in my journey, and to fully come into my life.

Once we finished praying, she asked me if I wanted to share my decision with the other STMs at the debrief, and I told her I didn't feel comfortable with telling them myself. She then asked if I would like her to start out, telling them about our conversation, and then have me say one sentence about my decision, and I was fine with that.

When the debrief started, she asked me to come up, and as I did so, one of the other leaders came up as well, to support me while I stood in front of everyone. I was surprised by that, but very happy that she was there, as I would not have been able to stand there on my own. 

When I told everyone my decision, they all stood up and cheered for me. Yet again, I was surprised by that, but it made me realize that I made the right choice, and that everyone at the retreat supported me, and that they truly cared about me.

So, even though there were a few bumps at the beginning, the start of retreat was going well, and I was feeling so loved by the other volunteers!

I so wish I could travel back in time and relive retreat. It was the best week of my life, and I so needed the time I spent there.

Part two of this post will come on Monday, and part three will be on Wednesday (at least, that is what I am planning).

I so hope that I get to go to retreat next year as this is always my absolute favorite time of year. I have made so many amazing friends, and have some amazing memories that will last me a lifetime. That is something I would never trade for anything.