My Journey through 2013...my year of self discovery.

We are now over 8 months into 2013. I decided that rather than wait until December and write my "year in review" post I would start now. This blog post will eventually end up on a scrapbook page I am sure but for now this was a great place to put down my thoughts. Someone asked me this morning on Facebook what my original goal was in my current weight loss journey and I realized that my goal started out as just wanting to move more and eat less....but it has become so much more than that now. This afternoon I saw this quote on Pinterest and thought it totally described my year so far. Nothing could have prepared me for the twists and turns that this year has brought and yet I must say I am grateful for everyone of them.

January 2013 dawned with excitement at our house. We were expecting our first grandchild. I made plans to take vacation after the baby arrived so that I could be there when sweet little Kaden was born. He was perfect in every way. I arrived just the day after he was born and I was totally in love with this sweet little guy. I stayed the week and then went home. I hated to leave but knew that it was time to come home.  I was home a week or so and then the first "Plot Twist" entered my life. I had a routine colonoscopy and they found a mass in my rectum and I needed surgery. Talk about yelling "PLOT TWIST"!!! I was screaming! Fortunately for me I was surrounded by amazingly wonderful family and friends who supported me through the whole journey.

Sweet Kaden at 4 days old.

In March I was able to go and see my sister on another weeks vacation where I had an absolute blast. I looked at my sister and her amazing transformation from overweight to a remarkably fit woman having lost 30 pounds and I was instantly impressed and proud of her for doing it. I attended a couple of Zumba classes with her and realized that I really could move more and at that time I made up my mind that once my surgery was behind me I would embark on a journey of my own. I kept it to myself and continued to ponder about it as I prepared for surgery. I found myself even before the surgery trying to eat a little bit better.

Fast forward to after my surgery. I won't say the whole experience was a piece of cake because it totally wasn't. But I was guided along the way by a loving Father in Heaven who buoyed me up and carried me when I didn't think I could go on. Family supported me, friends rallied...words cannot express how

Loved hanging with my Sister, Linda.

Ready for Surgery

wonderful everyone has been. I was off work for two weeks. Believe me I needed it. While my surgeon was right it wasn't a painful surgery, I got tired very easily and found that resting as much as possible was important. I joked that I became an HGTV junkie. I watched all kinds of shows on that channel while I was recovering. By the time I had my one month post-op appointment I was back to work and feeling pretty good so I started to walk for exercise. Mostly just my neighborhood. One day at work my manager asked me how far I was walking and I said I wasn't sure probably about a mile. She told me about Map My Run, a free app I could get for my phone that ran off GPS and could track and record my exercise. Well let me tell you...that was all it took. Never in my wildest dreams did I think a silly app on my phone would inspire me to walk on a regular basis. I'm not very competitive by nature but now suddenly I was competing with myself through this app...I wanted to walk longer, I wanted to walk faster than I had the day before. Between Map my Run and my decision to post every day on Facebook to help keep me accountable I was off to a good start.

Today is day 50 of my walking. I have not missed a day. Some days I walk longer than others but even if I don't feel like it I do it anyway. At first I was afraid if I took days off I might not continue.
Besides, for years I had heard that it takes 21 days to develop a habit and I wanted walking to become a habit. So that was my first goal. It just kind of went from there. Especially when I saw how far I had walked. In July alone I walked 60.6 miles!!! I have branched out from my neighborhood. I am walking other neighborhoods.  I have been walking the beach on Saturdays when I have a little more time. Last Saturday I even walked extra...I got a little over zealous and got two miles away from my car before I realized I would have to walk 2 more miles back to my car. OOPS. I survived tho and while I was a little bit worn out the rest of the day I was thrilled that I could say I had walked 4 miles!

I finally got into the cute white
jeans my sister gave me.

My long term goal at this point is to do a Color Run like my sister. It looks like so much fun....my goal is to run as much of it as possible. There is one here locally in May of 2014...just in time for my 60th Birthday...I can't think of a better way to celebrate. I am sure as the weight comes off running will become easier. In the mean time I am just going to keep on keeping on. I feel so much better, . I have grown spiritually, physically and emotionally. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

Truly the last 50 days has been AMAZING.  I have accomplished so much more than I ever thought possible. The weight is coming off. I have lost 20 pounds. While I can attribute some of that to surgery and not eating for nearly a week before and after the surgery....I have taken off much of it on my own. I am for the most part eating healthy foods. Not too much junk and really not even wanting it either, which for me is really weird. I have always had a sweet tooth but since my surgery I haven't craved sweets quite so much. So I am running with that as long as it lasts! lol I also am eating, per Doctors orders, lots of fiber and drinking lots of water. I've even cut way back on my diet coke consumption.

I have learned so much about myself in the past 50 days....I have discovered I am much stronger of a person than I ever thought....I have learned to rely on the Lord when I simply can't do it myself. I have discovered that I have so much determination when I really put my mind to something...yes I guess you can teach this old dog some new tricks...So what will the next 50 days bring....more walking, for sure, more healthy eating, definitely, more weight loss, I certainly hope so....and maybe, just maybe some new, better fitting clothes. =)



Fun in the Sun...a perfect day

It was such fun to have Jeremy and Holly come and visit last week. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some of the pictures I took of my sweet, adorable grandson. One afternoon we went down to the beach for an hour or so. It was a perfect day. Beautiful sunshine, watching my boys goof off in the waves and introducing Kaden to the beach. As you can tell from the picture Kaden loved it. Now if only they lived closer. =)

I used Teresa Collins "Stationary Noted" for this layout along with awesome sketch #96 from Sketchabilities. I am totally in love with their sketches. Check them out next time you want a great jumping off spot. www.sketchabilities.blogspot.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERESA!

What a wonderful lady....in honor of her Birthday she is giving away all four of her new collection packs! How cool is that...all we have to do is share the news....so I'm sharing everywhere I can think of. As you know I totally LOVE all things TERESA COLLINS. So head on over to her blog here. www.teresacollins.typepad.com and read up on all the details! Thanks again Teresa for the chance to win.

Enjoy the Journey

I love the Sketchabilities blog. It's such a great place to start when I am looking for inspiration. This is my interpretation of Sketch #95.

This year has indeed been a journey for me. From being a first time Gramma, to having surgery to finally deciding it was time to get healthy and loose weight.  I have only lost 12 pounds but I am amazed at how people are noticing.  It does a girl good to hear that she looks good. More than that though is that I feel so much better. I am doing things I never even dreamed that I would do. I am jogging. I have always hated running but no more. I am walking/jogging daily and most days I really enjoy it.  I have a ways to go to get to where I want to be but I have made up my mind I am going to enjoy the journey along the way.

 

A Surprise from Sketchabilities

WOW....I am so jazzed. I just happened to stop the Sketchabilities blog today and lo and behold there was one of my layouts in their header as one of their "featured" designers for Sketch # 93...how cool is that? I guess their Mr. Linky keeps track of how many hits my blog had for my layout and I was in the top 5....pretty darn excited, can you tell?  Thanks Sketchabilities. Your sketches ROCK!

Life has been busy lately, I am continuing to train in Hearing Aids at work. There's lots of stuff to learn but I am totally enjoying it. I have managed to get in some scrapping lately so I thought I would share. Have a great week everyone....and hopefully I will be blogging more often. =)

Love these photos of my adorable grandson!

I'm really serious about this getting healthy thing!

I love now and then photos on the same page especially when
they tell a story.

LOVE these ladies...we had a great time at our Tea Party.









Today is a Gift

It's been a long few months. Now that my surgery is behind me and I am well on the road to recovery maybe, just maybe, I will blog more often....and scrap more frequently. With the stress of the surgery, my scrappy mojo kind of went out the window. I scrapped but every page seemed to be an effort. The page I just finished wasn't that way thanks to  Sketch  #93 from Sketchabilities....so I think I am on my way to finding my mojo again.

Jason was so sweet to hang out in the hospital with me while I was there. I really appreciated him staying with me. After all I have been though the past few months today certainly felt like a gift. =)

It's been a while.

So many things have been going on with me in the last few months...my poor blog has suffered horribly. At first I didn't even know if I wanted to share all that I have been going through and I'm still not. However, that hardly gives me a good excuse not to blog at least once and a while. I've been wanting to put my feelings down for a while now but just haven't had the words. In church today we sang all 7 verses of How Firm a Foundation. Verse four really struck a cord with me.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow,
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

I am having some health issues. A tumor to be exact. They found it when I had my colonoscopy. It's in my rectum. I will be having surgery in a little over two weeks. I am feeling that all will be well. Yet it is still stressful. I have always been healthy so to have something somewhat major wrong with me is very new to me. The doctor says he would be surprised if the tumor was cancer. It's soft and he seems to think once I have surgery I should be just fine...I am grateful for that diagnosis....it's what I am holding onto as I prepare for this "event". It gives me hope...and I need that right now. You see the biggest issue is I don't do hospitals for me, I only go visit other people in the hospital. I didn't even give birth to my own children for heaven sakes. So it's kind of the whole fear of the unknown that is getting to me right now.

 But then I think of all the great examples I have. The first one that comes to mind is Jeremy when he had his surgery back in 2004. The poor boy was in major pain for a long time before we got approval for the surgery for his pectus carinatum. Never once did he complain. He was a trooper. I look back at photos of him before the surgery and realize that those "thoughtful" looks I thought I was capturing on film were actually looks of pain...he was so brave....can I be any less? You always think that your children will learn from you, but in this case, I am certainly learning from him.

 When I first learned that I was going to have surgery, a very dear friend said something to me that I have been carrying with me ever since. When I think of Christ and his atonement I always think of being forgiven for the wrongs that I do. There is so much more to the atonement than that. Christ will take on our problems when we cannot handle them. I know this to be true as He has certainly made my burden much lighter by knowing that He is by my side walking this path with me and helping me to cope when I absolutely think I cannot. I am so grateful for this knowledge. I have also felt the power of prayer in my life. I have many who are praying for me. I truly believe that it is another one of the reasons I feel peaceful about this whole thing....for as scared as I am, I am uplifted by the prayers of others and I so grateful for all of you who have been keeping me in your prayers. Thank you so much.

Through all of this I have continued to scrapbook. At first not so much but then little by little I found that it's the little things in life that can bring one joy. We have this beautiful new grandson and I have quite a few photos that have been crying out to me to scrap. So if you have managed to get this far along in this blog post I figure I ought to leave you with a layout or two. Thanks for letting me ramble. I will keep you all posted.