X-treme!

As I mentioned before, Brandon and I have committed to a work out program. So far. So awesome. The program we are doing is called P90X. And it is NOT for the faint of heart or those who do not like to sweat. It takes commitment, gumption, courage, and a strong will to get fit and eat right. I highly recommend this program. BUT. And you gotta hear me on this. BUT, you must do this as a team with your spouse or best friend if you truly want to succeed!! We are succeeding because we work as a team and we encourage and push each other in a very positive way. This past week we busted our tails every day for six days (the 7th day is a rest or stretch day; we opted for rest!). We began our program on Monday, so our rest day was on Sunday, which is of course perfect for us. It's a 90 day program. For 90 days we will bust our tails, guts, arms, abs, backs... and we will eat really well. Once the 90 days are over, we will post our before and after pictures. I will say right now: my before picture is horrible. I did not realize I looked like that!! All those bulges and dimples!! Oh, my! After only one week, I have lost almost 3 and a half pounds. If I keep that up for 90 days, I'll lose about 40lbs, which is about what I would like to lose. BUT, we are also building muscle. So, if I only lose about 25lbs, but am totally ripped-out in muscle, then that is OK by me!! AND, after one week I FEEL so much better! My stomach and body feels tighter. I have had NO lower back pain. (Before P90X, I was having bad lower back pain, mainly from just not using my muscles, muscles tightening up, etc.) We have been sore, but a good sore. We have not pulled anything, or knocked anything out of joint! Praise God! You can also go on YouTube and search for Tony Horton or P90X for videos. Some of the videos are from the second stage! So don't freak out! and Don't get scared off! Tony, our fearless, ripped-out, X-man is always stressing to "do your best, and forget the rest!!" Our first week, our goal was to do our best to get through the videos. There was puke and tears, but we learned NOT to over work ourselves and to be proud of our small accomplishments! Today started off our second week, and I have to say... I am very proud of us! We had better form, did a few more reps, and finished our work out with a sense of improvement and accomplishment! Yay us!!!

By discipling ourselves to do this program, the WHOLE program, including the nutrition part, we are:

• establishing good lifestyle habits.
• eating high quality foods often to keep up our metabolism.
• EXERCISING our WHOLE body!!
• learning about and building muscle in our upper body and back!!
• learning portion control
• drinking more water!
• learning new cooking methods.
• learning that better foods are a bit more expensive, especially high quality meats, but it is worth the expense to put good fuel in our bodies, fuel that will build muscle!
• neither of us have had any back pain since beginning our work outs.
• sleeping better.
• building a since of team spirit and working together to accomplish our goals!
• establishing a healthy home and living lifestyle which we will pass on and teach to our children.
• creating better self image and self esteem!!
• not feeling "old", which is: tired, weak, poor self image and self esteem, aches or pains, medical issues....

If you have any questions about this program, please feel free to leave a comment or email me! I'd be glad to answer all I can!


On a side note: We leave for Warsaw, IN this Saturday May 31st. We are leaving our stuff in storage down here in KY, and will be living with grandparents until we find a place to live, which I am believing God for only about 4 weeks or less! Pray with us about housing! It's all a bit scary, but exciting, and we are faith filled!!

Ripped 'n Fit.

We are done with the talkin'... it's time for the walkin'. No more "I should work out...." or "I should eat better"... We have woken up to soft, squishy bodies... and we'll have no more of it!! Quality of life is being fit and active, good rest, spiritual closeness to God, and multi-generational relationships. We do really well, except in the being fit part. Now is the time. No more "well... I should but..".

Tomorrow morning, it begins. Brandon and I begin a serious work out regimen with a serious tweak in menu. I don't say we are on a diet, because it is not a diet, with the negative connotations and the "I can't eat this...." and "I can't eat that...". It is a course in how to make wise and healthy eating choices, training that we both need, training for the rest of our lives. What I like about this menu is that it is balanced. It does not leave out breads or fruits or even sugars. Things are removed, then reintroduced. We are taught portion control, which I think all Americans have lost the ability to truly evaluate WHAT a true portion size is, ourselves included.

Soap Box time: One of my biggest pet peeves is when people, women especially, say things like the following: "Oh, I can't have that. I'm watching carbs."; "I was good today; I only had one piece of bread." ; "I really should not have this, but..." ; "Oh, I gave up _____. I don't eat that any more." And the list goes on and on. Big hairy deal! NO body wants to hear other peoples' issues with food, self esteem, weight issues.... Just get your food and deal with it. Don't make excuses for yourself!! It's all about balance and moderation! While on this new menu, I will NOT say any of the previous comments. I CHOOSE to change my eating habbits and refuse to subject others to my cans and cannots. I will quietly make the proper decision, and feel good about it. With out complaint. With out whining. I will be grateful for each and every bite of food I do or do not have. I don't need nearly as much food as I think I do! So there!

Ok. That said. Moving on.

So, yeah.. Tomorrow begins our boot-camp-of-sorts training. I am actually looking forward to changing my body. I can and will control that. Brandon and I have taken "before" pictures... which will NOT be posted until AFTER we have completed our training in 90 days. We also took before measurements. Yes, this was all humiliating and mortifying. I am extremely furious with myself for letting my body "go.." (Yes, it done went.. and I gotta hunt it down and find it...), but that's the past. I'm gonna do my BEST and forget the REST. So, tomorrow it is. 7:00 a.m. over an hour of bust-yer-ass moves that will whip me back into shape! Whoo hoo! Bring it on! I'm ready to get Ripped 'n Fit!!

The Great Adventure!

"Saddle up your horses! We've got a trail to blaze!
Through the wild, blue yonder...with God's amazing Grace!"
-Steven Curtis Chapman

The words to that song ring clear to me. Brandon and I are always living an adventure. A life of crazy faith IS a life of adventure. Even though it is scary sometimes, it is also very exciting!! We have set a moving date: May 31st. We plan to put our stuff in storage her in W'burg, then pack my car with what we can, including two sedated kitties, drive to Warsaw and live with grandparents until we find a house, which God has prepared for us. I've wrestled with living with grandparents. No an easy thing. But, God told me to chill out... that I need to show them God's love, serve and bless them. Once we find a place, then we will drive back down here and pick up our stuff to haul back to Indiana. I do love Warsaw. For 5 years I worked, lived and recreated there, diving head-first into wonderful relationships with church family, students and family. I have many, many wonderful friends there whom I have missed greatly since being here. Since we have been living here in Williamsburg, we have quite literally lived as hermits. We have not gotten involved in a church or relationships with people... Leaving is still difficult though. We do NOT want to leave my family. We have had a wonderful year living close to them, developing a deeper, warmer friendship with them. AND, we hate like the Dickens to leave the mountains and the gorgeous weather here!! The "winters" are so mild compared to up north. I don't think we scraped our car off once this past winter!!! But, God's plan and purpose is divine and beautiful.. We will go, grow and prosper. Babies will be coming soon! It's a Great Adventure that I am privileged to be a part of!

We greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we move. Much love to all our friends and family who read this blog! And now, I'm off... to saddle up the horses!!

Gatito Fuego Update

My mom does not read my blog. She has not mentioned me setting the cat on fire, the use of flames in my home, or any other such warnings. And, other than having the hair on one side of her tail shorter than the other, Mareth-Dale is doing just fine!!! =]

On the Road Again.

We have set a moving date. We plan to move May 29th. It's a Thursday. We have no idea where we will live, yet. Yes, I know I have said and do believe that God has a house for us... it's just a matter of finding it... or having it revealed to us. I know the house is there.. but, where? We will be living with grandparents for a little bit, which falls under the mantra of "whatever it takes" to do what we need to do to serve God. (I plan to post on this soon... ) Our lease is up June 1st, so we plan to just get on outta here. Brandon will start teaching summer school on June 16th, again.. so, we might as well just go. We'll see what happens. We've made an offer on a house, but have not heard anything thus far. We have another game plan and will work on that... Other than that, I'll be packin' like a mad woman for the next 3 weeks!!

Cinco de Mayo

We spent last week in Warsaw. It was 80 degrees when we left KY, so I packed sandals, capri pants and shorts. When we got to Warsaw, they must have been having Blackberry Winter!! It was cold and I froze all week!!! We spent time at MCA, and enjoyed the kids and fellow teachers and look forward to a great year next year!

Still no housing, yet! God has provided us a place, it's just a matter of finding it...

We are working in our home office today. This is short, but more will be coming this week! I can't believe it is May already!!!