these are a few of my favorite things...

i may be a complete idiot and/or failure, but i have decided to give up TWO things for Lent this year, to make up for the lack of discipline i have shown in the past few years for Lent. I feel like I am a much more disciplined person these days- you kind of have to be when you are a full-time student, have 2 jobs, involved in a youth ministry, try to maintain and strengthen a long distance relationship, and still try to fit some time in there to work out! So that is why I have decided to give up two of the things i love most in the world....

1.

and

2.

I have tried and miserably failed at giving up diet coke for Lent for the past two years. I used to drink 2-3 a day, so it was doomed for failure from day one. However, I have decreased my diet coke (and soft drinks in general) intake to around 3 or 4 per week, so I am pretty confident I can do this now. As for the bread, that may be a different story. I go to Panera a few times a week to study, and I get soup and salad every single time. Of course with the meal comes a nice, warm french baguette to dip into my creamy tomato soup...my stomach is growling just thinking about it. It has become without a doubt one of my favorite meals. SOOO.....this is going to be a challenge to either: find something on the menu that doesnt require bread as an option (panera is a bakery, so that should be easy...NOT), or skip out on Panera all together. Since it's freezing outside right now, and Panera not only has a fireplace in every store but also free wi-fi, it doesnt look like I will taking option #2 anytime soon. Im gonna be doing alot of praying at the cash register it looks like...I'll keep you informed on how it is going. It's only 39 more days....I can so do this. right!?