My Dancer

Last year, after attending a ballet camp at her studio (Light of Life Performing Arts), Madi's teachers told us that she was made to be a dancer and had great potential.  They said if she wanted to, we should get her involved in dance as much as possible, and that she could make a career out of dance.  We already knew Madi loved to dance and had a true passion for it, so she very readily agreed that she wanted to devote her time to it and didn't mind not doing other things like softball or gymnastics if she could take lots of dance classes.  Of course, all this occurred around the time Mike lost his job, so we were unable to pay for classes and decided as a family to call on the Lord and pray that He would provide what He wanted for Madi.  Not even 2 days later, we were told by her dance teacher that an anonymous donor offered to pay Madi's tuition for unlimited dance classes.  This past year of classes has been amazing for our girl.  She has blossomed and become more confident and more passionate about dance.  Even in tap class we saw the biggest improvement... which was unexpected because the mechanics of tap just didn't make sense to her and the coordination to do the steps was not getting from brain to foot.  At her dance show this past weekend, we watched a confident, gorgeous girl do a full tap routine with her class and she ROCKED it!  I was so proud. I could tell her hard work and the work of her amazing teacher had truly paid off!  She also did lyrical/modern, jazz/hip hop, and ballet.  She memorized all of the pieces and smiled and sailed through them.  (With the exception of one small flub in her ballet piece... she slipped and fell, but recovered quickly and even smiled!)

Madi is in the middle group on the left side.  This is her tap piece "Choo Choo Chabogie:

A back stage look at her lyrical piece done to "I'm After Your Heart" by Kalanie Gloeckler (Jesus Culture)

My gorgeous girl in her ballet costume.  She is growing up!!

I don't know how we are going to afford next years classes, but I am praying for a full scholarship to come through for her again, or a good job for Mike!  But I know the God that has provided for the necessary and unnecessary will come through again because I believe He was very pleased with his girl dancing her heart out for her King!

Shut the front door...

Day 8
After 6 months of eating virtually no carbs, working out way more than I want to, and trying so hard to lose weight, I finally did!!!!  As of this morning, I lost 7.4 pounds.  SEVEN!  I'm ecstatic!  I really expected this stuff to not work.  But it did.  I actually have to admit, I didn't exercise at all this past week.  And I didn't eat perfectly.  I ate more carbs than I usually do (though still grain and mostly sugar free).  In these last 6 months, I haven't been able to lose any weight due to my diabetes meds, and I was starting to get very discouraged.

Mike and I have decided that my weight and health is worth the expense of this stuff, so now we just need to decide if I am just going to buy it, or become a distributor.

I haven't posted my thoughts the past few days because we have been so very busy with rehearsal week for Madi's big dance show, but basically it was more of the same... although I have determined the slightly nervous feeling, or fluttery feeling my stomach is something else.  My supply of Plexus Slim was for 7 days, so today I didn't have any and I still had that feeling... not sure what it is, but its not a big deal.  I also realized that the appetite suppressants really did work in this stuff.  I was able to feel full MUCH quicker and I also didn't snack as much, which I tend to do even without thought.  The extra energy boost was also very nice and lasted a long time without a huge slump after it was over.

Mike hasn't been working at all this week.. which is a major setback financially, but I know God has it under control and He will be faithful to provide!  Im trying not to focus on the bank account and the bills and just trying to give it to the Lord and rest in Him.

Day 2

Day 2

I took my Plexus Slim this morning with the accelerator.  Again, my morning back pain seemed to dissipate much quicker than before and the stiffness I live with for the first 4 or 5 hours of my day was gone by hour 2.  I haven't weighed myself... and I've decided not to until day 4 and then again on day 7.  Again today, I feel slightly jittery... almost like a nervous feeling my tummy, but its not unbearable at all... just makes me want to do something.  So far, no other yukky side effects, which is a huge bonus in my eyes.  It seems every medicine I take has some kind of nasty side effect.  I also had less cravings yesterday, but in the evening (of course, right before bed) I did start to want something sweet.  I wish I could say I made a good choice, but I don't think Runts counts as a good snack option.  :o)

Don't Waste Today

I think God has been showing me that life is a cycle... a set of seasons.
The seasons have a beginning and an end. From conception to death and every beautiful moment in between. This life is temporal and finite, meant to last only for a short time. 
I'm learning to cherish each moment. To not try to rush through one season to get to the next. 
To enjoy childhood until its time to be an adult, to enjoy single life until its time be merge your life with another, to enjoy time with just your spouse until your family grows, to enjoy your babies until they become adults, to enjoy your empty nest until the glorious day that we meet Jesus face to face. 
He is also teaching me we are not guaranteed to have all of those things... we are only guaranteed conception, death, and the chance for a forever in Paradise with Him. 
So don't wait for the next big thing to happen to you, enjoy the here and now. 

Enjoy what you are doing today, don't waste today wishing for tomorrow.

This Needs To Go

So.... its been another 6 months without blogging.  I see this is becoming a habit for me! :o)  And again... so much has happened to me.   I feel like I need to unload all of that... but another time.
Today I am using this blog as a place to keep track of my weight loss.

In January, I was put back on medicine to control my blood sugar after being told I was now a full-blown diabetic.  I changed my diet to a typical diabetic diet, but I was still having huge fluctuations in my levels.  My pain was at an all time high, and I couldn't muster up any energy.  I began to research different diets and became intrigued by the Paleo lifestyle... not so much for what it represents, but because it is very low in carbs.  I also liked parts of the Atkins diet, and the first phase of South Beach.  I realized that a super intensely drastic change was the only way to get this under control... because my goal has always been to be medicine free!  I also realized I had tried diets before and they never worked... because I didn't like them.  So I made my own custom diet, loosely based on Paleo, Atkins, and South Beach.  I cut out grains, sugar, processed food, most fruit, and legumes.  I also eat very very few starches and very little corn.  This wasn't easy to adjust to at first... I kept having cravings for bread and potatoes... but the longer I stuck with it and stayed completely away from those things, the easier it became.  After about 2 weeks, I had very few cravings and was able to stick to the diet completely.  Most I eat meats, dairy, nuts, and lots of salads.  I have added in potatoes on occasion (i love chips!), and all corn tortillas.

When I went back to the doctor my A1C went from 12.75 to 8.1, my triglycerides went from 1600 to 400 without any medicine to help that, and I had only gained one pound.  (Diabetes medicines typically make you gain weight very rapidly when you first start them, the last time I started them, I gained almost 60lbs in a year!!!)  I am due for more blood work in a few weeks, and I know I will be very close to normal range in everything.

But... the weight loss.  UGH.  I exercise, eat well, and still am not losing.  I truly understand why, but its frustrating, and sometimes I find myself eating things I shouldn't because I get in a slump of "who cares, its not working anyways".  When our worship pastors wife told me about something she used to lose weight, I was intrigued.  All-natural, known to help with blood sugar issues, and other health problems, including pain levels for those with Fibromyalgia (my newest diagnosis... but that's a whole other issue of doctors slapping on a label when they don't know what else to call it), and helps you lose weight with little effort, I was sold.  Today marked my first day of trying Plexus Slim with the accelerator.  I did the research.... I talked to my doctor.. weighed myself, measured my body, and took the first capsule and drank the first drink this morning.  Im ready for this stuff to work, and really praying that the Lord would use this to help me... the way the diet helped other areas!!

My goals for my health, my body, etc are fairly simple and not drastic.
Right now, I weigh 215 and I would like to get to 180, which is 30 pounds.  That's not skinny or anything... but that's ok with me.  I just want to be healthy.
Right now, I take 20 mgs of Glipizide 2x daily, 1 metformin 2x daily, 1 meloxicam in the morning, at least one muscle relaxer in the evening, and ibuprofen as needed (which is needed a lot), and B12 vitamins, cinnamon capsules, and vitamin D.  I want to get to a point where I take nothing but the vitamins.
I want to get pregnant, have a healthy full-term pregnancy, and give birth to a healthy baby who is not over or under weight.
I want to have energy every day... not just on days when I eat perfect.
I want to be around for my kids for a long long time.
I want to be ok with my body and my weight and not look pregnant!!  (I carry my weight in my belly).

I am hoping my diet, plus exercise and this Plexus Slim would be the key to completing my goals.  I know I can do this, and I believe that God is going to honor my dedication and use these things to heal me!!!

Today, I feel more energetic on this stuff.. the accelorator has caffeine, dark chocolate extracts, guarana, green tea extracts, and more.  Since I don't always drink a lot of caffeine (some days, I drink none), I do feel slightly jittery, but nothing horrible, and I expect this feeling to go away once I get off my tosh and do something other than type and edit photos.  No after taste from the capsule or the drink (which is just a powder mix put in water like crystal light... and it actually tastes very good!).  No diarrhea.. praise God! When I woke up this morning, I had a lot of low back pain, but after taking this and the meloxicam, the pain is almost completely gone.  It happened much faster than usual and without all the stretching I normally do.
So Im off to go outside and push Madi on the swing and check in on my garden!  I feel very good today!