I am attending my first ever blogger conference, The Declare Conference, next week! As a fun way to get to know the other bloggers before we attend we are doing a 4×4 link-up of some questions about ourself. Hope you learn something new about me! 🙂
4 Things about me:
1. I grew up in Oklahoma where my parent’s started Picture in Scripture Amphitheater the year after I was born! I had the honor of returning home last week and snapped these fun shots of me with some of the animals.
Me overcoming my fears and riding Samuel the Camel 🙂
Me with one of the tortoises name Spike.
A picture I took while watcing this years play “The Man Who Ran” (the story of Jonah…and yes there is mechanical whale that swallows my dad who plays Jonah!)
2. I have 3 beautiful children here on earth and one more in heaven. My son, Zeke, was born on my birthday which was part of the healing God brought me after my miscarriage.
3. I turned 30 this year! My sweet friends and family threw me an amazing, surprise birthday party. My sister over at Life {Sweet} Life made this 30 photo collage for me that I will keep forever:
4. I LOVE to workout! Not to be skinny but because of the challenge. I have been teaching group fitness classes for years and always take advantage of putting people through workouts, like I did with my sister Sarah last week when I visited:)
4 of my Endearing Quirks:
1. I am a rule follower.
You will notice that I followed the 4 things that were listed in exact order and I will get 4 things on each…even if I have to reallllyyyy reach to make one fit.:)
2. I love even numbers. I am so crazy about this that if the radio or tv volume is on an odd number I change it. I have even been known to make my husband switch me seats in church so I can sit in the even seat….oops that might have been TMI, I have now entered crazy land. 🙂
3. I am a cross between introvert and extrovert.
I love to be a social butterfly and go places I have never been and meet new people. However, I NEED my quiet time. Even my kids and husband know to let me have my space when I get a little moody. 🙂
4. God speaks to me in pictures. Because of this I see and do life in pictures. If you can’t tell from this post with all the picture overload. I would try to apologize for it but than I would just be apologizing for being me! I will be the girl who has her phone out, ready to take a picture of any and everything at the conference…get ready for those selfies girls 😉
4 Things about my blog & writing:
1. I started this blog because I heard God clearly say “Don’t worry about what to write or how to write…just write!” So here I am a few months later still trying to figure out how to add buttons, linkup and connect to other bloggers. There are days I wonder what I have gotten myself into then I just remember what He spoke to me and all is well with my soul. You can read more about my start here.
2. I have a heart to see women be confident and courageous and live life outside of their shell. I used to be soooooo shy! Anyone who knows me from when I was younger to who am now just shakes their head in disbelief at how far out of my shell God has brought me. It brings me such joy to give HIM all the glory for who I am today. I want to pass my freedom on to others!
3. I also have a heart for health & wellness and love to share my tips/tricks with people in taking care of yourself God’s way. I gained a lot of weight during all my pregnancies and the best styles of workouts I did and taught were 3/2 Intervals. Meaning you do 3 minutes of strength followed by 2 minutes of cardio. The science behind this is that you use all your immediate energy stores for the strength portion so when you do the cardio you must utilize fat for energy. Plus getting your heart rate up and back down(active recovery with strength) is a great fat burner too. Here are a few of my favorite short workouts I have written for mommies with little time but want good results using only your body weight:
4. I used to think food was my enemy. However, when my husband went to chiropractic school we began to implement new ways of living into our lifestyle and I found that food was my best friend. It can be used to bring healing and health to our bodies. Our family strives to eat organic, minimally processed, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. Because of this I really enjoy playing with recipes. Here is one of our all time favorite healthy side dishes:
4 of my Favorite Things:
1. The Beach!! We went to Maui in March and are headed to Florida in a few weeks. I would live at the beach if I could.
2. My Church. We have attended Gateway Church in Southlake, Tx for 7 years now and it has been life changing for my family.
3. My family. I know this sounds like one you have to add under favorite things but it’s true…there is no place I would rather be than hanging out with my family.
4. Deep talks. I got my Bachelors in Exercise Physiology and would one day love to get my Masters in counseling. I just have an innate desire to get to know everyone on a deeper level. Because of this people in my life often come to me for advice.:)
Alright, that is WAY too much about me! Would love to hear about you…leave me a comment!:)
Rachael, what an adorable family! I'm local too and look forward to meeting you next week. I linked up my 4×4 here: http://kimstewartinspired.com/2014/08/01/declare-conference/. Have a great day! Kim
Nice to meet you! And welcome to the 30s…so much better than the 20s. 🙂
Good to meet you! Looking forward to seeing you there!!
Reading this makes me wish you were my next-door neighbor, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person next week!
Rachael! Love your heart and how "wildly obedient" you have been in starting this blog. I'm enjoying getting to know you and look forward to spending more time with you in the future. So thrilled you are coming to Declare! Blessings, Kristin
Thank you Kim! I look forward to meeting you too! Where do you live in DFW? We live in Denton:)
Thank you Stephanie! 🙂
You too, Marina!
You are too sweet Patti:) Looking forward to meeting you too!
Thank you Kristin! I am so happy that God aligned our paths!! 🙂
Such a FUN post – love this!! So excited for you and your conference…proud of how obedient you've been in this process, too! 🙂
So many similarities in our lists! I was just in OK yesterday for the first time. So pretty there! I think your parents place sounds so cool! I love that they did that. And I love the collage your sister made you! How thoughtful. Glad you're keeping it. 🙂
Can't wait to meet you in person and have a deep talk!
Yea for rule followers ;-), the beach, and Family.
It was fun visiting your blog and learning a bit about you. I look forward to personally meeting you in a few short days.
Blessings,
Cherie
http://thewerners.org/2014/08/01/factoids-about-me-as-i-prepare-for-declare/
Good to meet you, Rachael. I visited your blog a few weeks ago and learned about your healthful eating habits. I began seeing a doctor for integrative medicine back in January and it's been amazing to start the process of healing my autoimmune disorder.
I so look forward to meeting you next week!
Fun to learn some fun facts about you! Looking forward to meeting you very soon.
So nice to meet you Rachael, what a gal! This will be my first blogging conference too and I am so excited. Hoping to meet you face to face. Safe travels and see you next week!
Connecting with you on several things! I have a sister who blogs as well (http://www.hopeskitchen.info) as a result of her daughter's extreme gluten & nut allergies. God puts me out there with people often, though I often want to just sit quietly in the back ground. He keeps me from staying inside a shell. 😉 I totally get the pictures thing too. God speaks to me visually quite often. Lastly – girl I just love that your parents have that ministry! Sounds hard but fun.
Rachael, you are so cute. I really want to go to your family's place in OK after all the pictures. Maybe we will have to make a weekend trip up there next season. We love Gateway have great friends at the Frisco and Grand Prairie locations. Looking forward to working out with you on Saturday.
Rachel, I hope we can meet at Declare. It will be my first conference and I can relate to the "just write" calling. I've always been a writer but not in this way. It's both scary and exciting. I'd love to talk about food and exercise. I've always been an athlete of one form or another but at 48 I'm struggling a bit. I'm also a student (again) working on my Master's in Counseling. Hope our paths will cross next week! If not, I look forward to getting to know you here!
I would love that Stacey! And yeah for your Master's in Counseling! 🙂
Rachael, I too was called to write although I wasn't looking to start a blog. You'll figure the buttons and stuff. Oh and I too am the introvert/extrovert. I've since learned it's called ambivert and many of the women of Declare are the same way. Looking forward to meeting you at Declare.
Plano 🙂 See you tomorrow!