A New Church Family

Last Sunday, I officially joined a new church.  For the past 4 years, I have been searching up and down and up and down for a church since I left a small town in Mobile area.  I knew that the new church was the place where I can see myself grow in faith and love with others.  I thank God for this new church family.

catching up...

Hello blog readers (if you do exist)!  It has been a while since I typed my previous entry.  A lot of things have happened since that time.  I passed all of my grad classes and the toughest GACE Deaf Education certification test (they happened while raising a toddler!), received a Master's degree, got "promoted" to 1st grade teacher, moved out of my preschool classroom, drove to Florida to visit my good friend for a few days, took my 18-month-old son and dad to Missouri to visit our extended family, mowed my parents' yard almost every week, spent a lot of quality time with my lil man and other loved ones, and so on...maybe I need to stop for now.  But hey... I am still losing weight by getting into Zumba moves with my friends/co-workers every Tuesday and Thursday and joining a local gym with my roommate a few times every week.  Hmm, I still like to eat sweets.  :( As of now, I weight at 197 lbs - from 208 lbs last March...I am very positive about new changes coming this year!

Let me share a passage with you...I came across it when reading throughout my old journal books.

From "When God Winks At You" written by Squire Russell -
"In the Bible, David never suggested we could go around the valley or over it, we all have to go through it.  But the nice thing about valleys is that there is an end to them.  No matter how dark it seems, there is a time when it will end to them, and you will break into the sunshine.  And that is the concept you need to hang on to - that there is an end to terrible times, to the feelings of loss of control and to the total absence of suitable remedies.  Valleys also have signposts.  All along the way, God provides winks of reassurance for you to see.  Just like on the darkest interstate, a signpost every once in a while is a welcome message of reassurance - a reminder that you are on track, to keep going."

In this world, we have faced devastating news (recently, a local mother accidentally left her daughter in a locked car for a few hours a few days ago, no justice for Trayvon, etc.).  However, I have reminded myself that I am grateful for God - with Him, there will be plenty of sunshine while we walk through valleys!

Motivation

This morning, I decided to weight myself in...when I stepped on a scale, I was almost in denial.  I was NOT proud to say that my eating habits were horrible.  And, I did not exercise very much; however, I exercised once a month, which was not consistent at all.  The stresses of my teaching job and graduate school combined with raising my 14-month-old son have always guided me to eat more and more.  That was how I dealt with my stresses.  Before I met the love of my life, I was at my best weight and felt so GREAT.  I wore size 8.  When I met him, we went out to eat almost every other night and I fell in love with him so that I forgot to exercise.  Then, I got pregnant with Jax.  During the pregnancy, I gained 20 pounds only because I managed my diet carefully and walked faithfully.  After Jax's birth, I started eating whatever I wanted to and stopped exercising consistently for almost a year.  Yikes...here I am at 208 lbs and wearing size 16.  

Reasons why I want to lose weight - 

1.  I want to be happy about myself.  

2.  I want to honor God by taking care of this body.  

3.  I want to go back to my pre-preggo clothes. 

4.  I want to keep up with my students' energy! 

5.  I want to set a good example for my son.  

6.  I do not want to deal with headaches.  

7.  I do not want to deal with body aches. 

8.  I want to look sexy for my man (even though he has always said that he loves me no matter how much I weight)!  

9.  I want to have a lot of energy. 

10.  I want to have a healthy lifestyle, so I can enjoy every moment with my loved ones.  

11.  I want to buy cute clothes.  No more Lane Bryant clothes. 

12.  I want to feel confident in myself when I walk anywhere...in a hallway at work, at church, on the beach, at Wal-Mart, etc. 

13.  I do not want to deal with sluggishness.  

14.  I want to wear bikinis.  

15.  I want to feel GOOD!  

16.  I do not want to feel embarrassed!  

Ok, I will start My Fitness Pal tomorrow morning.  Anyone is going to join me?  :)