SS Sundays....a day late....

Welcome to Stats Stink Sundays where everything is random because noone reads it anyways...Mine is a day late -- so sue me...

1. The Choir did a special worship service Friday night and 2x Sunday. It was AWESOME! Get to do it one more time tonight with the prison ministry.

2. Saturday night my church had a dinner for everyone who went to Tahlequah, OK for the building mission. Food was awesome. They announced they are expanding missions to overseas. I put in my bid for Africa. Just sayin'...

3. Women (and unavailable men) keep complimenting me on how great I look since I've lost all this weight. I joke around a go...yeah, when are the guys going to notice...but secretly I get all warm and fuzzy inside. One of my favorite women at church told me I looked "stunning" on Sat night. Noone has EVER said that to me. Thank you, Jenny. :)

4. I went shopping and spent a whopping amount of money on a new dress because I looked hot wearing it and because it is officially the SMALLEST size I've purchased in something like 14 years. I cried when I put it on and realized how perfectly it fit.
5. Went back to school Thursday night. Taking a lit class called Modern Short Novels. Love it, love the teacher, loved the material. Should be a good semester!!

6. I'm moving to Riverview, which will take me really far away from my current church. I have found another church, but I am going to miss FBL like crazy. Change is good, but I resist it strongly. I'm moving in with a friend of mine, and it will enable both of us to hit some significant financial goals over the next year or so. I'm excited, just sad to be leaving my church. They are like family to me, and have been soooo supportive over the past 5 years.

7. I have something going on every night this week. I think I will keep next weekend free of any plans. After this week things should settle down. Looking forward to it.

the promised weight loss blog...

A lot of people have approached me lately asking how I lost so much weight. Getting the total from the doctor last week was so cool! 64 lbs is a small child.

After my ex moved out, I knew I needed to take time for myself. I desperately needed emotional and mental healing. Living with an alcoholic for 11 years takes its toll on your psyche. I decided to join a Bible study called "Get Thin, Stay Thin". The premise of the study is that we all have a silent hunger that only God can fill, and we try to fill it with other things: Food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, smoking -- you name it. I recognized that in myself, and went to work on three things:
1. Eating only when I was truly hungry. Yes, this meant waiting until my stomach was absolutely growling before I would eat.
2. Stopping when I was comfortable. This meant eating slowly and paying attention to my body.
3. Turning to God and praying through the negative emotions so I would not stuff food in my mouth when I didn't need it.

There were some things that naturally happened as a result in the changes to my lifestyle. For instance: Every weekend we would hit a bar, pig out on fried foods, and drink. We also had deep fried take out at least once or twice during the week. After he left, I stopped doing that. Not that I avoided fried foods completely, but it was a once-in-a-while occurrence, rather than a daily thing. I cut alcohol out of my life completely (it has a high sugar content) which has been a huge help to the weight loss.

A lovely woman at church gave me a book called Fit for Life. I picked it up in January (I was approximately 40 lbs down at this point) and decided it was a bit extreme. I intended on trying it for a while and seeing how it went, but I always seemed too busy to follow the principles. One thing that did catch my eye, though, was the promise that it could alleviate allergy symptoms. On February 27, after being diagnosed with yet another sinus infection, I decided to go for it.

Primarily my diet is now fresh fruit and raw vegetables. I eat very little bread and meat, although pasta is still part of my daily diet (more for convenience than anything else). I have lost approximately 20 more pounds since switching, and I feel a LOT healthier. I have lots more energy.

I threw my bathroom scale in the dumpster when I moved out of my last apartment. I don't want to measure my success in terms of pounds, but am choosing instead to just, well, let it be. I feel good that I am losing weight, especially since I have dropped 5 clothing sizes since last summer. Ultimately, though, I feel a lot better about myself. The weight loss is just a by-product of that. I am in a "safe" environment now, and God is working wonders in my life.

Here are some more pics that represent the journey.


June 2008


January 2009

April 2009

July 2009
Now:

SS Sundays....

It's stats stink Sunday. The idea is since stats stink for blogging on Sundays, just post a bunch of random thoughts in bullet points...Here's my week in reverse.

• Set up my "new to me" flat screen hdtv. its SWEET! I've been living with a monolith (11 yr old tube tv) for a year, so purchased a used tv at a good price.
• finally got home after a day of running. church, lunch, super walmart, etc...it was an emotional day, so i'm tired.
• Saturday was a Women's prayer ministry meeting, hanging with Nana at micky d's while a friend changed the oil in my car, and church with cheryl and mike.
  
• friday i left work, picked up my new to me tv, stopped for oil and a filter, stopped at cheryl and mikes and let the dogs out (woof woof), went to a friends house for game nite. Go word games!! I LOVE WINNING. (hehehe)
  
• New tires on my car on thurs. Yay. Car rides much better.
• Wednes I felt like I was in the middle of a perfect storm. So many things went wrong. Everything seems to have righted itself, thank God. I appreciate good friends who are willing to be a shoulder for me to cry on.
• I am looking forward to a more integral role in youth ministry. More than anything I want to fulfill God's purpose in my life.

That's it for now. I'll post a more detailed weight loss blog tomorrow night. :)

Postive Post Tuesday

I've lost 64 lbs since 8/21/2008.

Then:

Now:

Ninjas took my wallet...and other items I found this weekend

Friday night I was going out to The Garden for a 40th birthday party. In preparation, I emptied my license, ATM card, credit card, and miscellaneous health care cards out of my ginormous wallet into my tiny purse. I threw some makeup and my blackberry in the bag and took off for the Garden. It was an AWESOME time!!

Saturday, I got up and went to breakfast with Nana. I looked absolutely adorable (smaller clothes -- that's another blog) and I had everything I needed for the morning. When I got home, I changed for tailgating at the Rays game, and went for my wallet, but it was gone. Now, I have an extremely small apartment, and I was secure in the knowledge that I had that wallet in my hand, inside my apartment on Friday night. So I searched methodically, starting with my recliner, because I was pretty sure I put my lazy behind in my comfy recliner while I was going through my wallet. Nothing. Thirty minutes goes by, no wallet.

I texted my friends and let them know my predicament: my ticket to the Rays game was in that wallet. Otherwise, there was no reason I would bother to look for it, or miss it. I checked my car three times. I tilted my recliner up to see if it fell underneath. I searched my laptop bag, unzipping all the front pockets. Nothing. I felt sick. One of my friends texted me back that she had an extra ticket and was leaving for the game, so I jumped in my car and met her there.

I had a great time at the game. When I got home, I looked some more. No wallet. I could only conclude that either I was overlooking something obvious, or ninjas had broken into my apartment and taken my wallet, leaving my laptop, jewelry, and all of my outdated electronic equipment sitting there. They were SO good, they even LOCKED THE DOOR BEHIND THEM, Y'ALL!!

Today I got home from church, reached down next to the sofa and grabbed my laptop bag. It was heavier than it should be. Suspiciously I reached into the pocket that holds my laptop and pulled out the missing money holder. Amazingly enough, the NINJAS had broken back in and REPLACED it...they KNEW I was on to them...

Also recovered today: my missing sleeping bag and tools from my trip to Tahlequah. The story is this as follows:
While in Tahlequah, I gave my sleeping bag and tools to Sam to put in the church van on the return trip so I would not need to carry them on the plane. When the church van returned a week later, Sam told me my stuff was probably in the Student Ministry building. I found Kyle, our youth pastor, and asked him if he had knew where the stuff was, and he denied all knowledge. Sam concluded that my tools and sleeping bag had gotten thrown into the church's trailer, which was now in its "garage". There isn't enough room in the garage to open the trailer, so I was going to have to wait until they pulled the trailer back out to get my stuff. No biggie -- just a minor inconvenience.

Imagine, then, my surprise today when Kyle pulls a box out of his office and announces an "Auction". There, on the top, I recognize my sleeping bag. Sure enough, it was in a box in his office for the last three weeks. The part that remains unclear is who had it from the time it disappeared out of the church van, until the time it appeared in Kyle's office. Since he is the Absent Minded Pastor (or really busy -- depends on who you believe), he left it there until it started bugging him. Thank God he didn't pull that box out last week when I was busy singing with the choir in both services, and wouldn't have been there to lay claim to my stuff.

So there you have it. Ninjas broke into my apartment TWICE, and they ALSO broke into our Youth building. Go figure.

SS Sundays....

So, it seems like the only posts I do anymore are the bulleted SSS posts...

Busy weekend.

1. Friday night was a birthday party at The Garden in St. Pete. Live jazz, good food, lots of fun.
2. Saturday morning was breakfast with "Nana", looking at apartments, and then the Rays game. Same people who were at The Garden were at the Rays. Some interesting, and enlightening conversations took place. I am still considering whether or not to blog them, and how to do it.
3. Sunday I was up early to prayer walk at the church, stayed after to help one of my kids from youth group babysit while her mom sat through a financial peace class. Then took a tour of a brand new construction site and decided that's where I want to live. A little pricey, but it will be worth it. Florida is so hot, and I felt so sticky and nasty that when I got home into the air conditioning, I decided to stay put.