"Unofficial" Weigh IN

Yesterday was a holiday so our WW meeting was not held. I was on-call for work so I was at mom and dads house too. I had went shopping earlier today to get some pants that fit and was super excited that I was down another size!!!!WAHOOO!!! I got four new pair of cropped pants but mom still had to hem them. Anyhow, I weighed in on moms at home scale. I stepped on it FIVE times to make sure I had the right weight. I was down 1 pound!!!! So now my total is 44 pounds!!! Cant wait to get to 50 pounds!!!! I am on my way :O)

Keep Losing!!
J-Tru

Weigh In...

Today was a good day. We had a fun filled weekend with lots of yummy food. Yesterday I completed the WW 5k Walk-it Challenge. I completed the 5k in 35:14!!! This was exciting for me b/c i had finished my last one around 45 minutes. So each time, I am getting faster and faster!!! My legs are telling me I walked a little too fast today, but NO PAIN, No GAIN :O). I weighed in today and guess what!?!? I stayed the same!!!! WHEW...thank goodness it was not a gain. I was excited b/c this showed me that I can still go out and do things but its all in making good decisions. So my total for weight loss is 43 pounds!!! We don't weigh in next week due to Memorial Day but I will try to on a scale at home so I can see what my results from this week will be!!!

Keep Moving!!
J-Tru

Praying for Precious Naomi

Rob and I have been attending Cornerstone Community Church for about a year now and we have met some wonderful new "family" members. One of our families in the church needs our prayers. Their precious little 3 year old is in the fight of her life. Her daddy, Chris Johnson, is our worship leader at Cornerstone. Please join us in lifting them up to our heavenly Father.....here is Chris' blog where he is updating her progress each day.....

http://ez37.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/update-on-naomi-day-4/


Praying for continued healing for this precious one...
J-Tru

CLR Alumni Brunch and Open House

CLR—Camp Longridge is the best place on earth. I grew up there. Since the age of 7(yes I know you are supposed to be 8 to attend) I have been going every summer—yep every now I go visit at least once. Today was the first CLR alumni brunch and then an open house followed for people in the community to come join in and see what CLR is all about. Rob had never been but he always hears stories about camp and how much I love this place. So we decided to attend the alumni brunch and open house. We arrived and were greeted by sweet, smiling faces of the new staffers and also my favorite person, Erica. There was a huge sign that said “Welcome Alumni of CLR” and also a banner for use to sign under the years we worked….that was a lot for me. From the years of 2000 to 2008, I worked at CLR. I was a staffer from 2000 to 2004 and 2005 to 2008 I was the secretary for the camp and Frank Shivers Evangelistic Assoc. I loved every moment that I spent on the grounds of CLR. Some years were better than others but I grew each summer in my walk with God and made some long, lasting friendships. I introduced Rob to some important people (or at least I feel that they are)…Mark, Scott, and of course Frank—but he had briefly met him at our wedding, there was so many people there though it’s all a blur :O). After some introductions, more staff started to arrive. There were lots of hugs, smiles, and laughs. It was great to see people I had worked with in 2000 and also those in 2008. We ate brunch---biscuits with sausage gravy, breakfast casserole, and cereal. After eating and mingling at the tables, Warren sang, Tasha spoke and also Hillary. They spoke about what CLR means to them. After the formal speeches, Scott prayed and then we closed out the prayer with “I love you Lord” like we did in the summers after each time Frank prayed on Monday mornings getting ready for campers to arrive. The singing ended and now it was time to tour the camp and see the renovations. Rob and I went to Cabin 1 (which was my first cabin and also the cabin that my home church sponsors.) Many memories on that front porch came flooding to my mind—some good, some not so good. We went in and saw the foyer area had been tiled and also the bathroom…it looks great. I told Rob about the extra showers being added in the past years, and also how they bunks had been painted since the “graffiti” was taking over. The graffiti was where kids had signed their names—including myself as a camper. I am a little sad that is gone but the cabins looks great. After looking at Cabin One we walked on down to Clark Lake. As we walked I told him about the bathhouse being renovated for support staff to live in. We headed on down the dreaded steps and I showed Rob where the old aluminum slide use to be and how it was not fun when you cut your hands on it. We got to the bottom of the steps and he saw the Lake. He thought the slide was awesome and of course the blob. He walked out onto the dock and he thought it was funny that he would make it sway from side to side. He then took a nice siesta under the swing/sitting area. I of course mingled for a bit and then sat with my hubby. We talked about the lake and if I had ever swam across it. I had, to the cross and back, several times. After a while it was time for lunch so we headed back up the hill to the dining hall. We had lunch—hamburger, hot dogs, baked beans, slaw, and cake. After eating with Julie and her crew on the Orange table, it was time for Rob and I to head back to the O-burg. We said our good-byes and headed home. It was a great day. :O)

A little sunburned,
J-Tru

Inching closer and closer to 50!!!

Weigh in this week was awesome!!! I was hoping for at last one pounds so I would be at 40 pounds. Not only did I lose one pound but also three more!!! That is right folks, 4 pounds gone this week!!! I am now at 43 pounds lost since starting my journey on Weight Watchers!! :O)

I am a LOSER and loving it!
J-Tru

Our kitchen may be haunted...

I think everyone, from time to time, encounters some sort of event that is simply unexplainable. Things that defy the old adage of "I'll believe it when I see it". Things that happen but seem to have absolutely no discernible or logical reason for having taken place. Like when Jerry O'Connell married Rebecca Romjin, for example. How does the chubby kid from 'Stand By Me' wind up with her? We live in a world where Mystique can hook up with a guy who's possibly best known for starring in a movie opposite a computer generated kangaroo, for crying out loud. If that isn't proof that certain things in this world happen even though they make no sense whatsoever, I don't know what is.

Along this same line of thought is an event my wife and I experienced a little more than a week ago. We were in the process of going through our morning routine - she'd just gotten out of the shower and I was about to shave (a practice I persist in doing because it is expected of me despite my generally loathing it; I am deeply bothered by the fact that people just can't seem to accept the awesomeness that is a beard in all its glory, but that's a blog topic for another time). My wife left the bathroom in her robe & towel turban (a description of her post-bathing attire included for the sake of thoroughly capturing the occasion, naturally) and went to our kitchen, which is where our stack-able laundry unit is located.

Our laundry unit is your typical washer-on-bottom/dryer-on-top combination. Like most people who live in homes where storage space is at a premium, such as ourselves, we make use of the top of our dryer (Er, bottom? I have the image in my head of it having been turned upside down in order to have been stacked even though I know that's probably not right.) as an area where we sit materials like detergent, dryer sheets, and what have you. Being the thrifty shoppers we are, we tend to opt for 150 ounce containers of liquid laundry detergent as opposed to smaller offerings that don't offer as much clothing cleansing for your money. The jug-o-detergent, as it were, goes on top of the dryer as this surface presents a stable position from which we may easily access the container's spigot. To save myself some keystrokes (and your eyes the strain of having to read the results of said keystrokes), instead of describing the rest of this region of the kitchen I've prepared a visual aide.

The Geometry Kitchen Collection from Ikea

The only other elements of our kitchen which bear pointing out in this context are our cereal dispensers. They're each capable of holding just shy of an entire "family-sized" box of cereal (bought for the same reason as the laundry detergent; I'm not going to buy a 20 oz. box when I can by a 40 oz. box for less than the cost of two 20s) and dispense crunchy, sugary breakfast-time goodness by way of a rotating knob at their base. Think of them as feed-pellet dispensers for humans, if you must.

It's about 7 AM on this particular morning and my wife has gone to the dryer to get a garment she'd left inside of it. She opens the dryer, grasps the desired article of clothing, closes the dryer, and begins to walk out of the kitchen heading back towards our master bedroom. At this point in time, I'm still lying in bed watching the morning NBC news broadcast when suddenly I hear a calamitous racket coming from the kitchen that sounds like every pot and pan in the joint was simultaneously thrown onto the floor. Like I said, I'm still in bed - as such, my first reaction was to say to myself, "You're still asleep, just ignore it...It didn't actually happen if you don't acknowledge it." Sadly, it did happen, which was confirmed when I heard my wife say, "Oh...My...God!", as I was on my way to the kitchen.

There are a few situations where, as a man, you want to hear your wife envoke the name of God, but this was not one of them. I see my wife standing just outside of the kitchen and she has an expression on her face that could very well replace the definition of the word "shocked" in the dictionary. There was no sense of terror in her face, rather she was startled on a level I'd honestly never seen her. I found out why as I rounded the corner and entered the kitchen to find the floor nearly covered in blue, viscous laundry detergent, the contents of the cereal dispensers, and several pieces of the cereal dispensers themselves which had broken apart.

Confronted with the sight of the mess before me, I couldn't help but laugh. This particular container of detergent was practically brand new (meaning it was better than 90% full) and I'd just recently refilled the cereal dispensers. I guess if you're going to have a mess, then by God you might as well have a really big friggin' mess.

I wound up spending roughly the next 2 and a half hours cleaning up the kitchen. (I handled the task solo as my wife had to leave for work.) I began by picking up the pieces of the cereal dispensers, putting them into the sink for cleaning, hoping that I'd be able to re-assemble the things later on after they'd been washed. (Fortunately, they weren't as badly damaged as I thought they would be.) I very nearly dislocated my pelvis while trying to walk on the wet floor; my wife made a genius suggestion that I put on a pair of socks as they would soak up detergent with each step and provide more grip.

After putting on socks (I was still wearing my pajamas as I didn't see the point in changing into decent clothes for this operation), I swept up the detergent and cereal using a broom and dustpan. (Note to self: Invest in a wet/dry shop vacuum...) In order to get up all of the detergent I had to pull out the laundry unit and clean behind it. If you've never looked behind your laundry equipment, I dare you to do so sometime - you'll either find a treasure trove of lost socks and loose change or a bunch of garbage and the carcasses of dead bugs. In this case, what I found included a piece of an old broom, a metal rod (used for what, I have no idea), a broken pencil, 55 cents, a pair of socks I didn't recognize, and a whole bunch of dust bunnies. I felt fortunate to have moved the thing and not been confronted with a spider the size of Shelob.

Have you looked behind your dryer lately?

The broom and dustpan routine got old quickly but it was mostly effective. I'd swept up most of the detergent and cereal, however there was quite a bit of liquid still on the floor. I grabbed some towels (the good ones we got as wedding gifts - yeah, those) and wiped up the remnants as I figured it couldn't do much damage to them. I was cleaning up soap, after all, which in the grand scheme of fluids to have to clean up is fairly desirable. As I mentioned to my wife, at least it wasn't raw sewage we were dealing with. I think if a spill involving the contents of "poo creek" happens in your home, you should just go ahead and burn down the house because I don't see how one could recover from that, physically or emotionally.

After the towels were spent, I attempted to mop the floor with warm water. This was possibly the most frustrating part of the whole process seeing as how I was making progress but at the same time I was creating a whole bunch of suds. Not only that but the socks I was wearing were thoroughly saturated, having become caked up with detergent and bits of cereal. (Interestingly enough, I inadvertently discovered that laundry detergent, when mixed with pulverized Frosted Flakes and Apple Zings, will take on the consistency of partially dried Elmer's glue.) I persevered nevertheless as I finished mopping then went back over the floor with another set of towels to try and dry up the suds, and was finally able to push the laundry unit back into place.

To be perfectly clear, I do not hold my wife responsible for what happened. I have lived in this house for more than 3 years and have kept detergent in the same exact spot that entire time. I can say without a doubt that I have opened and closed the dryer door with more force than she did this particular occasion. The laundry unit is level and it is quite stable. All these factors considered, I have absolutely no idea how in the world the detergent container wound up where it did. It's as if the thing was shoved or otherwise willed off of its perch, following roughly the flight plan seen below (we also inadvertently discovered that laundry detergent containers are incapable of unassisted sustained flight, oddly enough).

The thing basically did a swan-ton bomb off the top of the dryer onto the cereal dispensers, rolled out of it and then went for a BME from the lid of the washer to the floor. It was an absolutely absurd scenario is what I'm getting at. But how did it achieve such momentum? As I mentioned earlier in this piece, the container was better than 90% full; it was heavy enough that a fair amount of effort would've been needed to move it. Have you ever looked at this variety of jug? They have wide bases, meaning they're made to be stable and difficult to tip over so as to prevent spillage. All things considered, my leading explanations of what happened are:

1) We experienced a very localized earthquake - as in so localized that it affected 3 square feet of our kitchen and none of the surrounding areas

OR

2) Our kitchen is haunted

As ludicrous as it may sound, I'm somewhat leaning towards the latter. Reason being that not long after I moved into this house I experienced a similar incident. One night while I sat in the living room I heard a crash from the kitchen. When I went in to investigate I discovered that a knife rack/cutting board combination that I had sitting on one of the counters had fallen to the floor. Much like this laundry detergent container, the knife rack was not in a position whereby it would've just tipped over the edge - it was a good 6 to 8 inches back from the ledge of the counter, yet it was in the floor. How? I do not know, but I think I have cause for concern seeing as how we seem to be dealing with apparitions who like to throw things.

Oprah was inspiring today

Today I was off from work so of course I was able to watch television shows that come on usually while I am at work. Now let me go ahead and tell you that I am not an Oprah fan but today I did watch her show. It was about people who had lost weight and their inspiring stories. The majority of the audience had lost at least 100 lbs each and they had maintained it for now. One little girl who is 11 was on the show and she was a "fat" little girl but then she asked her mom for some help when she saw her mom lose weight for a triathlon. She had lost weight and she is now competing in a triathlon for kids at Disney. I guess her story was so special to me b/c growing up I was just like her. From when I can remember to present, I have been overweight. When I was a little girl, I remember being the "bigger girl" on the softball team and the tap/jazz recitals. Even though it never really made me feel bad about myself, it still was there in the back of my mind that I was bigger than the other girls. My parents were supportive in me eating well and being active, yet at times the choices were not there. I loved debbie cakes, sweets, and any candies. Mom would make meals that were good for me but I think at times the ones that were convenient took the front seat and they might no have been the best choices. I cant ever remember being in a size that was a single digit and I don't want that now. When I was 12/13 mom and I were going to WW then and I was losing weight. In fact I lost a good amount and was doing great---this was approved by my doctor b/c if you are under 18 you have to get permission from a physician. Also at 14 something happened in my life that completely turned it upside down. My sister passed away and then the eating started happening again. People brought food over for days and I didn't care what I was eating as long as I was happy. I just didn't really care anymore. I was going to be me and if I was 100 pounds or 200 pounds, you would accept me as I am or get lost. Well as we all know that is not healthy but I really didn't care what people thought anymore. I never shied away from putting on a bathing suit with the itty bitty girls around, I had confidence but I think it was a masked confidence. I was me, but not a healthy me. So again for years I would eat and gain more weight. So not until I was in my early 20's did I care again about what I was putting in my body. I of course needed to eat better but the one thing that made me want it more was that I wanted to find the man of my dreams, have babies, and live happily forever. So, I joined WW again and lost weight, not so much this time but I think it was at least 20 pounds or so. So I definitely wanted to keep it off but things happen and I went on vacation and gained weight. Then I met the man of my dreams and we started planning a wedding. Well I wanted to be slimmer but I knew it wouldn't be overnight itty bitty but I did lose weight and was smaller than before. It was great. As many know, the first year of marriage is full of eating and not worrying about what it is you are putting in your mouth. Well January of this year, I got sick of looking at myself in the mirror and decided its time to make it happen. I was tired of yo-yo-ing and I had some news from the doctor that made me want to change. My g-ma was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and I learned this can be from too much fat in your body. So this scared me. I went to the doctor and she told me that I was pre-diabetic and if I don't make a change now, then next year when I come in I may be put on meds. Well that was the kick in the butt I needed. So I jumped on the weight loss train and have been going full speed ahead since then. Not only is it health that I am doing this for but also my future children. I just want to be around for my kids and give them the life they deserve. So that was a lot but that was why Oprah resonated with me today.

For those who are battling weight loss, I feel your pain and know what you are going through. Just know that the end result is so worth it!!

Happy Losing!
J-Tru

sooo close I can taste it!!! :O)

Today was weigh-in day and I told Rob last night that I would like to lose at least a pound this week to be closer and closer to 40 pounds. Rob said I looked like I had so I was a little excited. Each day though when I go to weigh in I get anxious b/c I want to do well. I want to lose this weight so that I can be healthy. So at noon I headed to the weigh-in. I weighed in a different scale today but I was certain it would be a positive result. It was!!! I was down 2.6 this week!!! So that is right, I have now lost 39 pounds!!! I am inching closer and closer to my 50 pounds goal for the end of the summer. I am going to keep on working out and eating well, counting my points, and making better decisions.

I <3 being a loser!!
J-Tru

Celebrating Our Mothers and Grandmothers :O)

Mothers day weekend was packed with lots of traveling and eating.....but most of all we were able to spend time with the women in our lives who molded us into the people we are today. Saturday Rob and I loaded up into Agent Orange and headed up the road to Lancaster. We arrived around 10:30am and were greeted by Chew--the wonder dog and my awesome mother in law. We went inside and greeted Grandma, Debra, and Ed as well. The whole family was there to celebrate Grandma and Barbara. We sat in the living room for a while and chatted, watched television, and grandma finished getting ready. We watched the movie on tv, The Skeleton Key, then headed out to Catawba Fish Camp. It is a rule that you cannot go to Lancaster without visiting Catawba Fish Camp....its sooooo good!!!! The whole family headed out to the fish camp and we enjoyed some yummy fish, hush puppies, and sour slaw---ok i just enjoyed the yummy boiled shrimp, scallops and a piece of tilapia....oh so good!!! After eating we headed back to the house and some of the crew took a nap while others just lounged around and watched tv. Rob started to nod off but b/c I was laying on him, his snoring was getting on my nerves so his nap was nixed :O). After a while Debra and Ed left to head back to St Matthews and it was just the four of us. Rob and I went upstairs and watched tv with his mommy while eating PB&J sandwiches. We talked for a while then grandma needed some Rob time so he left me upstairs and went downstairs to hang out. After a while he came back up to the bedroom and then it was time to get some sleep.

Sunday morning, I had a cute puppy wake me up. Chew had come into our room and he was whining on the side where I was sleeping. He told me it was time for me to get up....so I did. I got up and then went into the kitchen with Rob and his mom. We made breakfast, I had an omelet, Rob has cereal and toaster strudels, and I am not quite sure what my mother-in-law had. After eating, I went back to the room and it was time to get ready to head to Lugoff to spend time with my mommy and g-ma. After hugs and maybe a few tears, it was time to hit the road. We headed south to Lugoff. We arrived at my gmas house around 12:30pm and g-ma was holding miss Abigail, John was browning some bread, and everyone was trickling in from church. We all had some fun talking, eating, and playing with the baby girl. It was nice to spend time with the women who have raised me--both gma and mom. I love them so much!!! After visiting for a while we headed back to Orangeburg to get ready for the week ahead.

So thankful for my g-ma and mom. When I was a little girl Gma was the one who would be home when we got off the bus and she would have debbie cakes waiting. We would do our homework and then go outside and practice our cheer leading moves for her. She always had time for me and she still remembers listening to our cheers and building tents in the living room with blankets. I love her so much and am so glad we were able to spend today with her. Not only am I thankful for my g-ma but my mother. My mom is the most amazing woman I know. My mom has dealt with so much in her life and she keeps pressing on. She has given me the tools to be the woman I am today. She wiped my tears, kissed my boo boos, cheered at my ballgames, curled my hair for my dance recitals, and gives the greatest hugs to show you how she proud she is of you. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to be my mother. God truly blessed me with the best one!!! I love you mom!!

Happy Mothers Day!
J-Tru

so thankful for "mean" moms :O)

Mean Mother

A mean mother never allows candy or sweets

to take the place of a well balanced meal.

A mean mother insists on knowing

where her children are at all times,

who their friends are and what they do.

A mean mother breaks the child labor law

by making her children work. . .

washing dishes, making beds, learning

to cook and doing other chores.

A mean mother makes life miserable for her offspring

by insisting that they always tell the truth.

A mean mother produces teenagers

who are wiser and more sensible.

A mean mother can smile with secret delight

and pride when she hears her own

grandchildren call their parents "mean."

What the world needs now are more "Mean Mothers."

So thankful for my mom!!
J-Tru

WW Update

Today, I was a little uneasy about getting on the scale. This weekend was our FIRST wedding anniversary and of course we had to have some of our cake. I did have one slice, that is all I could take. So I got on the scale today and I was DOWN .4, no not four pounds but four tenths. I am ok with this though because its a loss and that is what I wanted. So my total thus far in 16 weeks is 36.4 pounds!!! That is so much more than I had ever expected and I am loving the new me. I got a new charm for my key chain today for attending 16 weeks of meetings----YAY!!! :O) I also bought my new pass for the next couple months so this way I will stick with it. So excited to see what else is in store with WW the next couple of months.

My new goal is to be down 50 pounds by the end of the summer. So I am going to stick to it!!! Cant wait to see the new me :O)

I am a loser!
J-Tru

Our First Wedding Anniversary!!! :O)

WOW, I still cannot believe that its been a year since Rob and I got married. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband. He is truly my best friend. We decided that since our anniversary is on Sunday, we would celebrate yesterday. We got up early and went to the gym like always, bought groceries and then came home. Rob wanted to get some lunch so since we both love sushi, ok technically its cooked, we went to a local Japanese restaurant and got some. After that we came home and watched our wedding video. It was so funny watching the day go by and we could remember half of the things that we saw on the dvd. I was nervous that day but not my hubby, cool as a cucumber. After watching the video, Rob played some video games while I finished up my part of the couples bible study we are doing with our home group. We went to Cracker Barrel for supper, yes I know its not an expensive, fancy restaurant but its special to us b/c we had our first date in the one here in Orangeburg and that's where the wonderful journey of our life together started. Of course today we will eat some of our cake from the wedding. I will hopefully post pictures later.....no promises though.

We do have a HUGE trip planned for our anniversary but we opted last year to go in November. We are going on a 7 day cruise to Belize, Isla Rotan, Cozumel, and Costa Maya. We cant wait!!!

Something we have learned is that COMMUNICATION is the key to making every relationship work and of course keeping GOD first at all times.

We cant wait to see what the second year of our marriage has in store.....

Happy Anniversary to Us!!
J-Tru