Southern girl...at heart

 

     Those that know me well, know that I do not like to drive in snow and I do not like to be cold.  Sure, snow is beautiful as it's falling lightly on Christmas day or a Saturday when you can stay in the house, curled up on the couch reading a book.   The fact that I do not like to be cold became more clear to me after losing 85 pounds.  I do not have the extra "coats" to help keep me warm.  Since losing weight, my body seems to have forgotten how to regulate my body temperature, which simply means....I'm almost always cold.  Summer was a piece of cake this year. Not literally, of course.
     Last summer we took a family vacation and stayed a week in Clearwater, Florida.  The day after we got home, Jason and I were both online looking at houses in Florida on Realtor.com.  But, having a son who had just graduated and was waiting for his call from the Air Force to leave, a daughter who had her senior year in high school left (not to mention a steady boyfriend) and another son who still had 6 years until graduating high school, we put the house search on the back burner and tried to get on with our daily lives dreaming of the day we could seriously think about moving to what we feel is paradise.
     Then, a few weeks ago, a little over a year after our family vacation, a training course came up for Jason's job....in Fort Myers, Florida.  He booked his flight with his company and I booked my flight myself and off we went for a week in the sun....in NOVEMBER. 
     As I stepped off the plane (I flew a different airline than Jason since he booked his flight through work) I could smell the wonderful smell of salt water in the air.  The Ocean!  I took a deep breath in and then smiled.  I was home.  If only for a week.  The very next day as we were taking a drive up the coast and walking hand-in-hand on the beach, the topic came up again.  We want to live here.  Wake up to that ocean air every morning.  Hear the waves crashing against the fine sand on the beach.  Wear flip flops all year.  But then, reality hit and we decided it was still not the right time for us.  But this didn't stop us from visiting an open house of a home right on the canal and looking at the homes on realtor.com, once again. 
     This week, as Jason and his co-worker went off to their class each morning, I thought of what I was going to do for the day.  If you knew me 15 years ago, you know that I was an extremely shy person who hardly ever left the house alone.  And now, I was alone in my hotel room deciding whether I wanted to take a bike ride (alone), head to the beach (alone) on a water taxi (alone), or sit by the pool (alone).  When deciding whether I should come with Jason on this trip, he expressed that he was concerned I'd get bored.  Boy was he wrong!  We stayed at a beautiful resort with three swimming pools, bikes to borrow, a wonderful workout room (again...if you knew me even three years ago I would have walked my overweight self right by the workout room and sneered at those people sweating and EXERCISING!) I have spent my days doing all of those things I mentioned (alone) and have enjoyed every second of it.
     As I lay on the beach, surrounded by all the people, the sound of the waves rolling in, and the feel of the warm sand beneath my feet, I put together in my mind reasons why I love this tropical paradise.

                          So here is my top five reasons why, some day, we WILL live in Florida:

1.  There are all types of people here.  Sizes, colors, speaking different languages, young, old, etc.  As I sat eating my lunch on the beach I watched all these people going about their own lives...I was amazed and blessed to see the couple in their 80's, both in their very skimpy swimwear with their skin hanging, the woman's swimsuit having no straps, walking hand-in-hand on the beach.  And the two (not-so-tiny) women sitting next to me in their two piece swimsuits completely comfortable in their own skin.  And the young couple with two small girls who were probably getting to see the ocean for their first time.  And the couple in their 50's sitting in their beach chairs on the other side of me speaking in another language that I did not understand.  All these people of different sizes, shapes and ages, in their swimwear walking around doing their thing...not worrying about who was judging them. This actually brought a tear to my eye as I sat amazed by this sight.  I was completely blessed by this sight and realized this is what we need more of in this world!  I do not think I can find this freedom at the pool in our neighborhood back home in Colorado. 

2. The weather.  I love warm weather.  The coolest, average temp here in the middle of winter....50's, and that only lasts a few days before it warms up again.  Yep, I can handle that.  I even like the hot, humid weather in the summer. 

3. The amazing beauty of the ocean.  The feel of the fine sand between your toes on the beaches.  The seashells, like the people, of all sizes, shapes and colors.  The majestic sound of the waves rolling in.  The brilliant colors of the sunset in the cool evening breeze coming off the gulf waters. 

4. The relaxed, yet active, lifestyle of those that are either visiting or call this place home.  Everywhere you look their are people walking, biking, jogging, etc. But then, you look again and see the people lying on the beach or all the outdoor patios of restaurants where people are relaxing, enjoying outdoors with the many sights, smells, sounds and tastes.

5. Never-ending sightseeing opportunities.  Their are swamp lands, islands, endless beaches, big cities, quaint little towns, amusement parks, etc.  So much to see and do and enjoy!

When we tell people that we want to live in Florida some day, most peoples' reaction is:  "what about hurricanes?"  Yes, there are hurricanes.  That's when you board up your house and head north for a week's vacation and then head home when it's gone.  We've lived in the south, and have endured our share of hurricanes.  If we lose our home in a hurricane, then we rebuild and move on.  It's all material things that we will only have on this earth. 
             
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21



Beautiful People!

 

It's all His!  Thank you God for your abundant blessings of beauty!
             

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1:1

American Soldier

On my way to work this morning, Toby Keith's, American Soldier came on the radio.  As I drove and listened to the lyrics, my eyes filled with tears.  It got me thinking about how military members aren't given the credit they deserve. 

Yes, we thank those that have just arrived back after serving over-seas.  Or thank someone in uniform in the store occasionally, but do we truly know what it means to serve in the United States military.  It doesn't matter which branch.  One is no better than the other.  They all serve a purpose and without them, we would not be free. 

I remember Jason saying when he was in the Air Force that he felt like his job wasn't as important since he worked in an office in a military hospital.  But there were sacrifices he (and we as a family) made because he signed his name on a dotted line to serve.  Just like our bodies, each part is important to make the body work.

After making that choice to join the military, that person's life is not really their own any more.  From that moment on, until they sign their discharge papers, they are told when, where and how.  They aren't allowed to just take vacation when they choose.  They have to get permission.  And if they have gotten permission, that could change at the last minute if their superior chooses.  Just watch an episode of Army Wives and you will see that this is true.  I know, Army Wives is on television, but they did a great job showing how military families have to live.  Don't get me wrong, military life can be wonderful.  I miss it a lot.  But there are definitely sacrifices and we as Americans need to be aware and grateful to those who serve.

My son is now serving in the United States Air Force and I could not be more PROUD of my boy for making that choice.  It's hard.  For him.  For us.  For his girlfriend.  My heart aches daily knowing that I can't hug him when I want. He's been gone for almost a year and has not been allowed to take leave to come home.  For so many young people his age, they are going to college and get to spend the summer at home.  Or at least visit for holidays.  It's hard knowing he won't be coming home whenever you wants.  We look forward to Christmas when, HOPEFULLY, he will get to come home for a few weeks. 

Military life is a wonderful life!  Let's remember their sacrifice and thank a United States military member for the choice they have made for our freedom.  Even if they are working in an office in a military hospital or a crew chief on the flight line.  They will be there when and if the call comes for them to go and fight for our freedom.  As Toby sings:

You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dying's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free

THANK YOU to all those military men and women who have served, who are serving, and those who will choose in the future!  THANK YOU to my amazing husband, to my wonderful son, to my sister-in-law, to all our other friends and family who have, are or will serve!!!! 

AMERICAN SOLDIER
I'm just trying to be a father,
Raise a daughter and a son,
Be a lover to their mother,
Everything to everyone.
Up and at 'em bright and early,
I'm all business in my suit,
Yeah, I'm dressed for success from my head down to my boots,
I don't do it for money, there's still bills that I can't pay,
I don't do it for the glory, I just do it anyway,
Providing for our future's my responsibility,
Yeah I'm real good under pressure, being all that I can be,
And I can't call in sick on Mondays when the weekends been to strong,
I just work straight through the holidays,
And sometimes all night long.
You can bet that I stand ready when the wolf growls at the door,
Hey, I'm solid, hey I'm steady, hey I'm true down to the core,
And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price,
I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,
Oh, and I don't want to die for you,
But if dying's asked of me,
I'll bear that cross with an honor,
'Cause freedom don't come free.
I'm an American soldier, an American,
Beside my brothers and my sisters I will proudly take a stand,
When liberty's in jeopardy I will always do what's right,
I'm out here on the front lines, so sleep in peace tonight.
American soldier, I'm an American,
An American,
An American Soldier 

God Spoke

This morning I woke up feeling pretty OK about the day.  I didn't have to work, I got 9 hours of sleep (which I needed since I haven't slept well in over a week), and I had the day to myself.  I made a mental To-Do list in my mind as I made the bed and headed downstairs. 
First, I need to fix my breakfast.  You see, I have reached 81 pounds lost....with only 10 to go to reach my lowest goal weight.  They say the last 10 is the hardest to lose so they (the counselors at Slimgenics) have put me on a week long plateau breaker to speed up and revamp my weight loss.  One of the most important things is to eat my protein (which in my case is 2 eggs) within 30 minutes of waking up.  But, today is my weigh-in day and I don't like to eat or drink anything before I weigh.  So I cooked up my eggs, poured myself a giant bottle of water, and headed out to go weigh...taking my eggs in a Pyrex bowl to eat as soon as I was finished weighing. 
I weighed.  I gained 1/4 lb.  I wasn't overly shocked considering I had just spent a wonderful weekend on a couples' retreat and had to eat whatever was served...which was "eggs" smothered in greasy cheese, French toast smothered in cinnamon and sugar, bacon, etc, and this was just breakfast.  Needless to say, I didn't eat my healthy food that I'm used to eating. 
As I walked out the doors of Slimgenics and headed to run a few errands; and eat my eggs,  I could feel my mood plummet.  Amazing what a 1/4 pound weight gain can do to my day!  So I finished my errands in a funk and headed home...straight to the couch.  As I sat on the couch pouting and looking through Pinterest at all the wonderful ideas for weight loss and fitness, God shook me and said,
     "Jenni, why are you pouting?  Are you going to let 1/4 pound defeat you?  Have you forgotten that you have lost 81 pounds and went from a size 18/20 to a size 6?  Have you forgotten that you have worked hard to get where you are and that it isn't all about the scale?  Get off the couch and do something positive for yourself instead of sitting there sulking!"
"WOW!  OK God.  You got my attention."  I immediately went upstairs, put on my cute little workout shorts and tennis shoes, turned on my XBox Kinect and got a great Zumba workout in.  But that still wasn't good enough and I knew the weather was about to change outside to cold and snow so, since I was already warm, I grabbed my iPod and headed out the door.  I found my worship songs play list and off I went, determined to lose this lousy mood.  There is NOTHING like taking a good, long power walk with Jesus as my workout partner! 
So now I am home, with a renewed energy and willpower to get through this week, with His strength and power leading me! 
Moral of the story:  If you are ever having a bad day, there is nothing like a kick ass workout (pardon my French), and a good long walk with our Savior to brighten a gloomy day! 
As I type this, the clouds are rolling in and I can see the snow moving across the mountain tops heading our way.  But I WILL NOT let the gloominess outside ruin my sunny mood! 
Thank you Jesus for the "gentle" nudge and wonderful chat this morning!

Proud Moments

Today has been filled with such wonderful, proud moments. I'm bursting!  What a blessing it has been.

Our son, Cody joined the US Air Force 8 1/2 weeks ago.  There were some challenging times in his teenage years and we had some struggles and wondered if we were doing things right as parents.  This morning, we got up at 5:30 am and stood on the side of a road at Lackland AFB in the drizzly fog waiting to see a glimpse of our "man" as the squadrons and flights ran past us yelling cadence.  What a proud, proud moment when I first saw him running past.  He spotted us, smiled and gave us the Hawaiian hang loose, or what's up sign as he ran past us.  Ugh, the pride that filled us is unexplainable!  That was SO Cody to do that!!!  But we still were unable to hug him or talk to him.

Next was the coin ceremony.  This ceremony symbolizes these young men and women going from Airmen Basic (trainees) to Airmen.  Anybody who is, and was in the US Air Force are considered Airmen.  Including my handsome hubby!  This is a huge accomplishment for these Trainees.  The ceremony was very touching and wonderful to watch.  At the end, the spectators (mostly parents, grandparents, wives and girlfriends) were dismissed to Tap Out our Airmen.  This is where they stand at attention, and we get to walk up to them and tap them on the shoulder so they can relax.  Yea, there was NO tapping on the shoulder.  It was mostly mom's bawling and yelling and hugging and sobbing.  Another amazingly proud moment for us as parents.  To walk up to your son, while he is standing at attention and getting to hug him for the first time in 8 1/2 weeks is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. 

Since he left, I have been working really hard to lose as much weight as possible.  As we were walking to the car, I was walking ahead of him and he said, "dang Mom, what do you weigh now.  You are like anorexic."  It was an exaggeration, but I took it as a huge compliment.  :)

Another proud moment:  We were driving in the car, just talking and listening to him tell us stories of his time at Basic Military Training or BMT.  He said, "I haven't told you this before, but I have to tell you now.  THANK YOU for raising me the way you did and teaching me to have manners and have respect.  There are guys here that you can tell didn't have the parenting they needed.  Even teaching me and making me do laundry and stuff."  WOW!  What a proud moment that was.  All the struggles and questioning as parents these past years was just answered in those two words.  THANK YOU. 

That smile on his face.  Our son in a USAF uniform.  The respectful way he talks to those around him.  Hearing him say, "I love you Mom!"  I am just bursting with pride at this young man, this hero God has blessed us with, and allowed us to raise.  Thank you, GOD for these three amazing children you allowed us to have and raise.  ONE VERY PROUD MAMA!

AMEN!

2013~ Here's to a great year!

It is now 2013!  Wow!  I look back and reflect on 2012 and all that happened. 
Some highlights:
Our oldest son graduated from high school in the spring of 2012. 
Our daughter got her first job working at a day care.
She is also officially legal to drive by herself!
Our youngest son got to play baseball and football.  He is Mr. Sports so we all had a blast with this!
I got a job.
I finally got into a size 12 jeans.  Then they became too big....into a size 10, then they became too big.  Now, HELLO size 8!
We bought a new car.
Our oldest son left for Air Force basic training on Nov. 27th. 

Let's start with the last highlight. 
Our son is gone!  I think that was the hardest thing I've gone through in my life!  Throughout his middle school and high school years we had our struggles. To watch him swear in as an Airman of the United States Air Force, as a man, made both Jason and I SO proud of who he has become.  The caring, loving, sweet man that I have loved for over 19 years!  We have said that he is a turtle....Hard on on the outside, but soft and squishy on the inside.  :) 
Christmas was really tough this year with him gone.  I tried as hard as I could to be the happy person I usually am, but could not find my "happy place".  I was really depressed over the holidays and am happy they are over.  Now, only 17 days until Jason and I travel to San Antonio to hug our airman!
Oh, our sweet daughter is growing up also.  She got her license and is now driving herself to work and school.  As nerve racking as that was, I know (because the bible tells me so) that worrying does me no good so I am trusting God to keep her safe in her travels.  It's actually been really nice to not have to go get her from school and work! 
Our youngest son.  He is just full of spunk and personality.  He keeps us laughing all the time.  When did my baby get so big?  He'll be 12 in April! 
So, now it's 2013!  I have officially lost 77 pounds.  I'm feeling great and am only 10-15 pounds from my goal.  (I have a goal that I KNOW I can reach and a goal I WANT to reach, which explains the 5 pound difference)  :) 
Things to look forward to in 2013:
Seeing my son in 17 days in his Air Force uniform and giving him a hug after 8.5 weeks away from him!  Spending 4 whole days with him.
Our daughter will become a senior, and our youngest will enter middle school. 
Wow, when did this all happen?
To those young people out there, BELIEVE it and DO IT when OLD people tell you to enjoy life because it'll pass before your eyes!  It's the truth!
THANK YOU JESUS for the blessings of 2012 and the blessings You already have in store for us in 2013! 

Dashing through the....Holidays.

My THIRD holiday season that I've been on some kind of weight loss/control program.  It's getting old, but will all be worth it in the end. 
Halloween candy.  Had just a few pieces of taffy that night.  Otherwise, didn't touch the stuff! 
Thanksgiving is next.  Pumpkin pie, gooey sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, oh my.  I have already decided that since I'm cooking it all, I can tweak the recipes a little and make them all a little healthier this year.  Am I supposed to be eating most of it while on my "plan"?  No.  Am I going to eat it, YES! 
What I'm learning through all of this.  Life is not about food.  In fact, I really hate food.  I wish I didn't ever have to eat.  Life would be so much easier.  I hate the fact that we HAVE to eat every day, and to make the choices of what to eat every day.  If I had my way, I'd never eat.  I know, I'm totally opposite of the majority of people.  I listen to friends talk about their food addictions and I just don't understand.  This is one of the many reasons I love Slimgenics.  They tell me what I have to eat each day, and each day I check them each off.  No, they don't give me specific foods to eat, but I get to pick from a list.  I like this!  Makes eating a little less of a chore. 
As of now, I am officially down another 15 pounds....65 total from two years ago at this time.  Two years ago if you would have asked me if I thought I'd ever be in a size 10 jeans, I would have laughed and said it was not likely.   Now, as I sit here in my loose size 10's, looking at the BMI calculator I realize for the first time in years, I'm officially out of the OBESE category.  (Not sure who makes these calculators, BTW).  Yes, it's been worth the struggles and frustrations.  It's been worth passing up on the goodies. 
On a totally different subject:  My baby (who will be 19 on the 20th) will leave us on the 27th.  Reality is setting in, and as the days get nearer, I get sadder.  I can't believe my son is leaving, and will most likely never come back for more than just a quick visit.  Not exactly sure how I am going to deal with this when it comes.  :(
BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS and NEVER forget the true meaning of Christmas!  Jesus IS the reason for the season.  Thank you Jesus, for with you, ALL things are possible! (including diets and grieving) ;)

Up I Climb

I'm climbing this mountain, one step at a time.  There are challenges along the way, but I'm working hard and defeating them.  I have lost over 6 pounds so far (I haven't weighed in today).  I'm so excited and never before did I imagine that I could weigh less than I did in high school.  I am officially 10 pounds away from what I weighed on our wedding day.  If when I make my goal, I will weigh what I did in Grade school.  I also was able to buy a size of jeans that I haven't been able to fit into since grade school!  And they fit!  I just want to turn my jeans inside-out and wear them like that so everyone can see the size. 
I have been watching the "pounds lost" graph on Spark People that I get to update (almost daily) and it is rapidly moving downward.  How exciting!  I also made the board TWICE at my weight loss clinic for losing over 3# in a week and hitting my 5# mark.
A new challenge.  I'm leaving for a week to do a little travelling with my mom.  Travelling = restaurants and not so healthy foods.  If you read my previous post, I'm a planner.  So, as best I could, I have researched restaurants and their foods and have made a plan of the kinds of foods I can eat and which ones I should stay away from.  I am taking lots of my snacks, sweeteners, and other things to help me along also. 
I can do this! 

Can't wait to come back after the week and weigh in....or maybe I can wait.  :(  I just need to never lose focus on God's strength!