[First of all, a big HI and HELLO to my friends from the writing workshop on Tuesday night! Yay for bloggy talk and author talk and talking too much about car repair blogs! (This is your cue to say hi back in the comments, workshop friends.) Seriously- what a PLEASURE to meet you all and I hope to hear from you a lot in the future! Thanks to Denise and Shari for inviting me to speak.]

And yes, bloggites, of course I talked about you. And you. And obviously, YOU.

In case you’ve forgotten [you haven't, I won't let you] I’m involved in this Get Fit Challenge thing. And so I’ve been going to the YMCA a lot more.

Here’s the thing about the Y in middle Tennessee. It’s a BIG DEAL. Like, everybody in the whole city [ridiculous exaggeration] is a member. And in Nashville, there are probably 8-9 YMCA facilities within 20 minutes of my house.

I like.

So you can either join ONE of the Ys or you can get a CITY-WIDE membership that is, understandably, more expensive TOTALLY AWESOME. Because then you can go to any Y- you can take a spin class from Marisa at the East Nashville Y and then meet Lyndsay at the Green Hills Y for a Zumba class.

[Nope. Not in the same day. I'm hard core, just not THAT hard core.]

But, because I live on a budget, I’m a one Y member. Just Green Hills. I joined about 10 months ago and have always and only been to the Green Hills Y, though the others have beckoned me from a-near [opposite of afar, obviously].

And as I was perusing the YMCA website the other day, I saw that the Downtown Y had a water aerobics class called Aqua-Burn. To which I said, “Thank you sir may I have another” because I heart water aerobics.

Problem = it was at a different Y. So I called and they said I can come ONE TIME AND ONE TIME ONLY to try the class.

I walk in and the man scans my card. I go into a lengthy diatribe [shocker] about how I’m visiting because I may want to get a city-wide membership and I know I’m young but water aerobics is actually fairly challenging…..

He stops me, points at the picture on the screen and says, “Is that you?”

To which I reply, “Uh, yeah, it’s me. I had a great hair day that day and it was summer so I was tan and…”

“Ma’am. You already have a city-wide membership.”

“What? No, I don’t. I’ve been a member for 10 months and I’ve always just had a membership to Green Hills.”

He laughed and said, “well, you’ve actually always been a city-wide member.”

I’ve been wrong. For 10 months. I believed that I had to live with limits that were not mine.

And in some crazy way, God has used this to bring up a lot in my heart. How many areas of my life do I live under false limits because I believe something that is not true?

And I’m reminded of how Jesus set me free.

And I’m going to go to a different YMCA every day simply BECAUSE I CAN.

I am free.

In so many ways.

First of all, I am watching Jimmy Fallon and he has reunited the cast of California Dreams. And if you think I’m clapping and singing along to the theme song, you know me well. I’ll admit, I have serious questions about the current life status of some of these cast members, but if they would have known ME in 1988, they would have so questions about my current life as well. So.

I have a favorite soup. That is actually good for you. And absolutely ridiculously easy. And with winter ending soon [please, God, can winter end soon?], I thought I better offer this recipe to you now while you still have the chance. Cause it’s March, people. It might be about time to dust off your flip-flops.

I’m going attempt to avoid writing another pointless paragraph and just give you the recipe.

[By the way, I just went to the kitchen to get the family cookbook and came back with a bowl of granola and milk. I sat down at the computer and realized I grabbed a snack and forgot the book. Classy.]

CAULIFLOWER SOUP

[Now, you may love or hate cauliflower, but I promise you will love this soup. Trust me. It's cheap and easy to make. If you hate it, oh well. Not a lot of time or money lost.]

Ingredients:

• 2 bags of frozen cauliflower
• 32 oz box of chicken broth
• 3 T ranch dressing mix

[Seriously. That's like $8 maybe. Sheesh.]

Combine all the ingredients. Cook until tender. Puree with an immersion blender.

[Seriously. That's like 12 minutes maybe. Sheesh.]

It makes 4-5 servings that are each like 80 calories. That. Is. Crazy. Low.

When you are done, it looks just like potato soup- it has the same consistency. That says one thing to me– “ADD CHEESE PLEASE.”

So I usually do. Add a little cheese, some turkey bacon, and you’ve got yourself a great low cal meal.

Speaking of low cal, there’s a new post up at the Annie Gets Fit blog. We are 6 weeks in and I can’t tell you how much I’ve lost, but you better love me while you can, cause I am disappearing in front of your very eyes.

Happy Friday. Heart you, bloggites.

While I’m hanging out with my peeps at home, I wanted to let you know about a couple of things.

• I have a new article up at (in)courage. It’s all about the song “There’s A Hole In My Bucket.” Obviously.

• I wrote a new post on the ole Annie Gets Fit blog.

• There is a new video on the Get Fit page- my friend Annie and I are making a bean salsa medley thingy. Very healthy and very tasty. Watch the video HERE and then the recipe is RIGHT HERE. And though there is no cheese in the recipe, there is much talk of cheese. Per usual.

[The other option is to watch the video right here. It's larger and easier to see and I really do want you to try this recipe.]

• Thanks thanks THANKS for your prayers about my foot. It has healed well and I am back to exercising on it. [Not that I HATED having a day off or anything, but I am glad to be back to my workout regime.]

[Things I never planned to say: "glad to be back to my workout regime."]

See y’all tomorrow.

I don’t usually post on the weekends. It’s a boundary thing. It’s a give-the-people-a-break-from-Annie thing.

But I’m gonna today.

Because I think I need your prayers.

For some of you long-suffering bloggites, you may remember Fall 08 when THE CANKLE happened.

[And can I have a moment to rabbit trail here? As I found this post to link to it, I re-read some of the comments and realized that some of you have been putting up with my crazy for a long time. It kinda moved my heart. Thanks for still being here. I heart all of you readers out there. For realz.]

About a week before THE CANKLE happened, I wrote this post about how clumsy I had become as of late. Little did I know that I was about to fall off my porch and tear every ligament in my left ankle.

Which brings us to today. Or, actually, yesterday.

I was helping assemble a desk and dropped the drawer of the desk onto my right foot from approximately 3 feet up. Directly onto the top of my foot. [And I did not say one ungodly word, thank you very much.] Because I am a wimp, I complained about it all day Friday. But to be fair, it hurt a whole whole lot.

And today it is swollen and red with a bruise-ish outline. Not good.

DOUBLE not good since I’m supposed to workout EVERY DAY.

I’m gonna shoot you straight, bloggite. I’m not surprised. Because I know deep in my knower that this whole Get Fit Challenge thing is a big deal- for me personally and for those of you out there who need to watch this journey. I’m not ignorant of that fact. It’s not like I forget that people are watching. This isn’t a private Annie thing.

This is a God thing.

And so freak injuries, frustrations, lies running through my head like the Polar Express? They have a source. And according to John 10:10, that source is an enemy (Satan) who wants to steal, kill, and destroy.

I heard whispered encouragement to quit after my weigh-in. But I didn’t.

I heard whispered reminders that I’m too weak to do this. But I’m not.

I heard whispered threats that I’m going to fail in front of God and everybody. But I don’t think I will.

I heard whispered ideas that I should quit if it hurts, if I don’t see a change in the scale, if I don’t feel good. But I won’t quit.

So the fact that an injury was next in line? I. Still. Won’t. Quit.

And I’m telling you today because I need you to pray for me- for protection (physical, emotional, spiritual), endurance, wisdom, determination. All that jazz.

I’m not scared. But I am aware. And as this journey deepens and more people begin to understand the JOY of living your story in the light, the more I need to be covered.

So please pray.

But don’t worry. I’m not quitting. Cause I think the end of this story may be really really good. And I don’t want any of us to miss it.

[I'll be meditating on Psalm 91, a family favorite, this weekend. I invite you to do the same.]

Confessions of a Get Fit Challenge Star: I cheated.

A few days ago, I was at Lyndsay and Lauren’s house. Strangely enough, someone had delivered a King Cake to their place. Now, these girls are from Chicago, so they really haven’t experienced a true Southern Lent Season Kickoff [also known as Mardi Gras]. The basics, like what a King Cake is and what is inside the King Cake [small plastic baby] were things that the girls didn’t know.

Me being faithful to the Get Fit Challenge and all, I was not intending to have even a bite of the King Cake. Because hello CHEATERS NEVER WIN. And I want to win.

But then, the girls left me alone in the kitchen. With the forks. With the King Cake. A talking King Cake that says things like, “You are so pretty. Eat one bite.” and “No big deal, Annie, you exercised today.” and “Look me in the face and say you aren’t in love with me.”

What’s a girl to do, I ask you. I’m not superwoman. I can’t be expected to be stronger than a PASTRY COVERED IN ICING!

I pulled out a fork, and making a solemn vow to never mention this cheating moment, I scooped out a little cake and a LOT bit of icing.

[I'm betting you can guess what happened next....]

I put the fork in my mouth, savoring every high calorie moment, quickly and quietly so the girls don’t know. Until I bit down. On something hard.

THE. BABY.

I mean, seriously, y’all. What are the chances that I sneak ONE BITE and it is the ONE BITE containing the baby?!?

I had some options:

1. I could rinse the baby off and return it to the cake, no harm no foul.
2. I could throw the baby in the trash can [or maybe swallow it because shame knows no boundaries]. The girls don’t know anyways.
3. I could confess to my friends, have to not only explain WHY there is a plastic baby in my mouth but also what that means and how I now have to purchase the 2011 King Cake.

You know me well enough to know that I would THROW UP if I tried to swallow that plastic baby with its legs and arms all flailed about. So I confessed.

And they laughed. A lot.

Then took a picture.

[My face in this picture says, "I'll take this picture because it's funny. But more than funny, I'm mortified. Amen."]

Y’all have a great weekend. And please. Be strong against high pressure pastries. Or this could be you.

I make jokes when I feel awkward and uncomfortable. Like now, in the blog title. Talking about the Subway Get Fit Challenge.

I’ve had more conversations, face to face, about my weight in the last 3 weeks than I ever dreamed. I’ve looked in the eyes of my friends, knowing they know THE NUMBER, and had to remind myself that they love me anyways.

But an old [Biblical] truth has again proved true: when light invades the dark, the dark is no longer so scary. So I can have these conversations and email exchanges, and watch as my weight is part of my title across the bottom of the screen, because something is slowly changing.

This private shame is becoming a public piece of art.

Or something like that. Whatever it is, I’m growing to be okay with it. Keep praying, friends. Your prayers are my courage oxygen.

Enough serious talk. Sheesh.

The best thing about being on TV [the list is long, my friends, because I don't know if you have heard, but hello I've always wanted to be on TV] is that in the same studio where we film our segments is the studio kitchen.

So.

You can imagine.

I made many recommendations to my friend Jenny (the producer) on how and why she should give me a cooking show. Or just any show in general.

Then I proceeded to take this photograph.

I think you AnnieBlogs local yokels know that look on my face. That look says “Give me time and I’ll be standing here for realz.”

That look also says, “I’ve got a plan a-brewin’.”

Be afraid, Channel 4 producer Jenny, be very afraid.

And since More at Midday is not online, I get really technical [yeah right] and flip-cammed my segment today. So enjoy.

Some thoughts:

1. I think Jennifer (the host) and I are going to be BFFs.

2. Why the drum-roll when they show my weight? Wrong sound effect, dudes. I would have preferred something like a “whah whah” or a tugboat horn or a slot machine. Or a crowd of gasps.

3. “I can walk just to walk”? I am nothing short of profound.

4. I like that she called me an author. Cause that makes me seem way more legit than “Annie has a lot of jobs.” Though, technically, both are true.

5. 4:37 = awkward lean in. I don’t know why I did it.

Check out the Annie Gets Fit blog today for a new post where I get possibly too honest about this whole journey.

Have a great day, y’all. I’m more grateful for you than you could ever know.

Much love.

Reba reference? Anybody?

I’m totally going to answer [most] of your Grammy questions. So leave some more if you got ‘em. You bring the Qs, I’ll bring the As.

Sadly, I’m about 12 minutes away from losing the internet at Current House. The cable guy is meeting me tomorrow at Future House, so I have to take all the gear over there tonight.

The full move to Future House will be complete Saturday night.

And it cannot come soon enough. Because moving? In the rain? At night [It's Thursday night... oh tricky auto-posting]? With a Toyota Camry as the moving truck? It’s less than ideal.

Be back ASAP.

[By the way, there's a new video up on the Subway Get Fit Challenge page.... hope you laugh. Cause truly. I'm a dork.]

Oops. They haven’t posted it yet…. I guess check back later? I dunno…. maybe Monday. Whah whah.

I don’t know what to say.

I didn’t read the comments much during the day yesterday. But last night, around 11:30pm, I finally sat down and read them all. Every. Last. One. Of. Them.

And I don’t know what to say.

[But let's be honest. That has never stopped me before.]

Thank you. To those who commented and to those who didn’t. To those who understand because you’ve been here, you are here, or to those who don’t totally get it.

The whole time I was in LA, I kept looking at my friends and saying thank you. It felt weak. It doesn’t fully express my gratitude. Because I did NOTHING to deserve the kindness that I was shown, getting to go on that trip and experience the Grammys [which I promise I'll talk about soon].

And in the same vein, I have done NOTHING to deserve your support. But I am deeply grateful.

So thank you. I am moved beyond belief. I am challenged by your hope.

It’s really weird to talk about this. I don’t think it’s gonna get any easier. I’m learning so so much and I’m making mistakes and forming new habits. But I want you to know that every day I’m trying my hardest to make good choices and fit in exercise.

I won’t be blogging much here about this journey- it was mostly be over at Annie Gets Fit, so make sure you’ve bookmarked that or subscribed if you want to read along. Because though this is a big part of my life, it is NOT my life. My identity isn’t in my body or my blog or my high fashion sense [I hear snickering. Rude.] or in my friendships.

My identity is in the One who makes all things new.

Here at AnnieBlogs, we’re going to stick to the important topics, like how to fold things [next up, a bad hand!], what music we should be buying, how Jesus changes my life, and the fact that I am moving to a new house in Nashville in four days and I have approximately four boxes packed.

Aye carumba.

Be ye not concerned. Tomorrow you shall receive a full, detailed, photos-included recap of my time in LA including, but not limited to, THE GRAMMYS.

[Preview: It. Was. Awesome.]

But first. Something important and serious and personal.

My weight.

Even now, my stomach hurts and I’m hating this post. In fact, I just rolled my eyes and said, “hating this post” out loud as I typed it. [Totally a Kathleen Kelly/You've Got Mail thing to do.]

But you are my people. The handful of you friends that show up here every day deserve to know what is going on. And truth be told, I feel like this is a big part of what God is doing in this next season of my life. So, here’s the story:

I saw a commercial a few weeks ago about the Subway Get Fit Challenge. Many local NBC affiliates are hosting it in their town. Including Nashville. It’s like a local Biggest Loser- 10 finalists, all weighing on TV, working out, eating right, being interviewed through the whole process. The contest ends in May.

In some stroke of insanity, I applied. They would be taking 10 finalists but hundreds would apply.

I made the top 15. And because I love you and I love God, I’m not going to repeat what I said right when I found out. Because shock makes people utter things that they normally would not utter. Forgive me.

I’m not going to go into the details of the emotional roller coaster that was the next few days. It involved telling some people. Doing an interview at Channel 4. Then waiting four days to see if I made the cut to the top 10.

I did.

And today, we aren’t going to talk about the emotional heart side of things. Bear with me. I just can’t. It’s really hard.

But, instead, I will give you some instructions. Because HELLO I AM ON TELEVISION AND IF I CAN FORGET THE WEIGHT PART I AM THRILLED.

Across the top of this page is a ANNIE GETS FIT tab (if not now, soon, I promise!). That will remain here throughout the contest. That will link you directly to my personal page on the WSMV site. There you will see some facts about me [which please, don't bring up. Seriously. I know in my head that you can all see my weight on that page, but I'm pretending like you can't. Maybe that's crazy. I don't care.] You will also see a new blog video every Friday and a new blog post once a week.

Also, here’s the main website so you can see my competitors. They are all great. For realz.

Here’s what you may want to do: subscribe to the ANNIE GETS FIT blog. Leave comments there or here or anywhere. I get ‘em all.

Also, for your viewing pleasure- HERE is the first segment that ran on Nashville TV. My friends in Nash? They are amazing.

There’s a lot to say about all of this. A whole whole lot. I’m grateful that I got picked because I’m excited about this journey. And terrified. And embarrassed. And honored. That’s a mess of emotion that we’ll unpack in the future.

But here’s the thing I need from you: just. pray. Pray I don’t quit. Pray I honor God. Pray I work hard. Pray that when this is all said and done, that no matter what the scale says, God will have received the glory. ALL the glory. This isn’t just about me. As Donald Miller says, this is a story about the forest and I am just a tree.

A chubby tree. For now.

[I know this post is long. Sorry. But this is a huge deal for me and I just needed to type it all out. Forgive me and check out the links. Thanks.]