Weight Loss Wednesday

To start my first Weight Loss Wednesday post I really want to share with you where I am at in terms of my weight loss journey.  Actually, filling you in is almost laughable.  My DH reminded me that yo-yo dieting was just as bad as yo-yo "gymning" and that I need to stop viewing my workouts as if every day is Day 1.  Thanks to a new "friend" in Lysa TerKuerst, I have come to a couple realities that I need you to know before I go any further on this road to weight loss. 

First, my body is the body of a mom.  What I mean by that is simply this, I have struggled for years with body image issues, especially after the birth of my children.  I think a lot of moms deal with this same mental block.  I see myself as that itty bitty little 98 pound college student wearing size 0 jeans, but the girl in my head is vastly different from the woman of my reality.  My body was stretched to the very limit and while I can admit that I was a very fortunate preggo that didn't end up with stretch marks, my body changed in other ways.  One way, in particular, that is really hard for me was the expansion of my rib cage; it was stretched and pained to accomodate Connor.  Stretch marks, expanding hip size, exploding rib cage or whatever your babies did in the process of growing in the womb made you a momma.  What a powerful thought.  I may not be always happy with the changes my body underwent throughout the pregnancy process, but without those changes, I wouldn't have become a mom to two of the most beautiful, precious gifts ever bestowed to me.  My first step in this journey to better health is to work hard and eat well because I want to become healthy, not because I am trying to change in unrealistic ways how pregnancy affected my body.

Second, I need to stop being a slave to the scale.  Scales are NOT my friend and I don't think they are yours either.  This isn't to say I don't step on the scale at the gym, just to see.  But I am not on it everyday and I certainly am learning not to live and die by the number is reveals.  I mean, seriously, the scale can't tell me what time of the month it is, it can't tell me if I ate a little more salt the night before and am retaining water and it certainly can't tell me if I lost a pound of fat but am building lean muscle mass.  Judging how I am doing in the road to a better, healthier me is now becoming based on how I am fitting into my clothes.  Running an extra 1/2 a mile on the treadmill and feeling great, lifting the next dumbbell during strength training to challenge myself.  It is about asking myself these questions: Did I eat well during the week?  Did I give it all my during workouts?  Did I make time for workouts?  Am I not as winded when I walk up and down the stairs or when I play with the kids?  Aren't those more important than a number on a scale or the one inside my jeans on the tag?  I think so.  I am understanding that this is a process, not a snap your fingers and you're there.

I hope that are you loving the body and person you are meant to be and that you are becoming the healthiest you you can be.  You owe it to yourself to be healthy without being a slave to what society says you should be.  I mean, let's face it, the Bionic Woman (otherwise known as Heidi Klum) doesn't help us mom's out in the body image department when she is walking down the catwalk in a barely there bra, thong and angel wings merely weeks after giving birth!  Don't let noise fill your head or heart.  Be the strongest, healthiest you you can be and that is all we can happily do.

The Winds are Changing

I have been thinking lately about changing up the format of my blog....especially since I realized I have written twice in the last two months.  Obviously, this hasn't been a priority of mine, but I have experienced or tried some cool stuff I really wanted to share and in the spirit of Pinterest (my new favorite website) the following is how I will approach Frantic from now on (at least for now!).  On Mondays I want to share something crafty I have done or we are doing at the house and call it Martha Mondays.  Wednesdays are Weight Loss Wednesdays.  Aye aye aye...I could probably write an entire blog about just this topic!  Fridays will be Foodie Fridays.  I am not a "foodie" by any stretch, but I do love to share a good recipe!  If I have the time or inclination then Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to be (for lack of a better word) the Rants and Raves.  The highs and lows of being a momma, the wife of a soldier, the child of God walking on a path of His light for His glory.  I hope you like the new stuff because I am really excited to share with you!!

So, with that said, the first Martha Monday is this super easy, inexpensive craft that I did last year.  I have the one you see for Halloween and a really pretty one for Christmas that says "Noel."  In the next few days, I want to try and make one more that says "Fall" for November.  You are not going to believe how simple this is and how cheaply (is that a word??) you can make a seasonal decoration for your home.  Head over to Hobby Lobby (I found all the materials cheaper there than I did anywhere else) and pick up lightweight unfinished wooden letters.  They have a variety of sizes, font styles and weights.  Make sure you find the lightest weight you can so there is no issue when the finished word is hung on your wall.  Next, head to the scrapbook aisle and pick out coordinating, seasonal paper.  Usually my rule of thumb is one sheet of 12 x 12 paper per letter.  (As a side note, Michaels is having a sale this week on all their 12 x 12 scrapbook paper- 6 sheets for $1!!)  You will also need a thicker width ribbon and spray adhesive.  When you get home, grab a pencil and trace the letter onto the paper.  Cut it out and with the spray adhesive (do this part outside, trust me, you'll thank me once you smell this stuff) spray the wood letter and very carefully place the paper on top.  Be careful because this stuff is very sticky.  Let them dry completely.  Once the are dry, you can bring them inside and "space" them apart.  Cut your ribbon long enough to extend securely from letter to letter.  To secure the ribbon to the finished letter, I double or triple my efforts to keep it on.  I use double sided tape to stick the ribbon to the letter, then tape over that and then spray adhesive to make sure it all stays put.  The last thing I want it letters falling off in the middle of the night and scaring the beejezus out of me!!  Lastly hang it up and enjoy a less than $20 decoration for the holiday of your choice!

A 31 Woman

I have been promising to blog about this for almost 2 weeks now and finally, here it is....the women's ministry conference recap!  My sister, Joanna, and I left on Friday at noon.  The drive to Findlay was a good 2+ hours so we had a lot of time to catch up, have a yummy Skyline dinner and a double yummy little coffee shop (non-Starbucks ;) )  To be really honest, I was a little nervous heading up with Joanna.  We have never been on a trip by ourselves.  I kept thinking, "are we going to have enough to talk about?"  Yep, no problem there!  And to boot, I really, truly enjoyed alone time with my sister.  We don't see each other often as it is, but to get to spend one-on-one time with her meant an awful lot to me and this was a weekend I will never forget.

So, we finally get to the hotel.  Check in and relax a little before we head down to being our 'girlfriend package' ammenities.  We had a little chair massage and manicures as well as dinner with a group of 6 other ladies.  They were all ages and in stages of their lives.  It is neat to just talk to other women who have seen and done so many things differently than you and to hear some of their stories.  Then the fun started...and I am not talking about anything with the conference.  Jo and I ventured into Findlay, Ohio.  If you aren't familiar with some of our smaller Ohio towns, I don't know if there are words to really express the oddities of small-town America.  We passed this fanastic little shop that advertised 300+ nightcrawlers for $30.  Yes, I am talking about the fishing ones and yes, we giggled about it about the rest of the weekend.  The shopping area of Findlay was interesting.  In one particular shopping area, the nightclubs were sandwiched by Party City and a craft store.  We did a little shopping at the mall and called it a night. 

Now the fun stuff- the Conference.  It was a one day event with Lysa TerKuerst.  The beginning of the conference, though, had praise and worship time.  In a super cool way, they brought up the P&W Team along with 2 artists who used chalk to free hand during the 4 songs.  They drew two hands, palms up, bound together by chains.  In the second half of the conference after lunch, during the 4 P&W songs, the artists came back and from the chains made a cross and blood coming from the hands.  WOW!  It was amazing to see this masterpiece appear from their creation during just 8 beautiful songs.  The most touching moment for me, during the entire day was when we sang "How Great Thou Art."  Albeit, a contemporary version, but when we got the chorus, I had tears and tears streaming down my cheeks.  "How Great Thou Art" was one of my grandma's favorite hymns and as I stood there lifting my voice with 600 other women to our Risen Lord and Savior, I couldn't help but think that my grandmother and I share this spiritual connection.  Standing together, praising our Lord, enjoying the same wonderous songs that are more powerful than the decade you worship.  It really was a special moment for me.

I can't replay for you the awesomeness of the Conference.  But I can share some of the nuggets of truth we learned from Lysa that day.  They were some pretty cool ones too!!

• God comforts us not so we are comfortable but so we are comfort-able.  Sitting on God's comfort isn't enough.  We receive it and give it back to heal.
• Past hurts can create lepresy of the soul.  The sadness and hurt eat away at you (Luke 17:13).  "Jesus, master, have mercy on us."  He doesn't want  temporary fix for us.  He (The Master Healer) wants so much more.  When the comfort from God heals us and we receive it, we can't help but shout praises!  We can't keep it inside.  God is big enough to handle the hard questions you ask Him, but we can't wallow in emotions we face.
• Thank you God for whatever it took to get me to a sweet place of intimacy with Him.
• Go and tell!!  Be comfort-able!!
• We are made well when we take what Satan throws at us and we use it to proclaim God's grace.  My story doesn't settle.
• Matthew 5:8- Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Through the messiness, chaos and unplanned, I will chose to see God.
• Jesus, I want to be a woman who says yes to You.  I want to expect to experience you every day.
• If we want to hear God, we need to get into His Word.  When we get done praying, we need to rise from our knees with eyes, ears and hearts open to see Him all around us.  He is always looking for ways to mold, shape, and teach us.
• Watch when the happy get bumped.  You want to see how far reaching they will be?  See how people react when their happy gets curveballed.  Our reactions matter.  We get so busy with our blessings, they stop being blessings.
• Our feelings can be indicators, but should never be dictators of our reactions.
• When our words fail, or there are no words for a situation- "Jesus" is the name we are equipped to receive.  We don't have to have all the answers as long as we stay connected to the one who does.
• Our job is to be obedient.  God's job is to handle it.  In the midst if what we're facing, we don't know how to fix it but we stay obedient.
• I will stand on my doorstep of life and tell Satan "You shall not pass!"
• When we position of our hearts low, in God's timing and in His way, He will lift us up.
• Our first line of defense should always be praises to go ahead of us.  Not praising the "situation" but knowing God will be on our side.  Making the fight from our knees is better than fighting in the flesh.

Where Were You?

The 10th anniversary of September 11. Since the moment that happened, you never needed to describe the tragic events that unfolded but simply saying "9/11" reminds people of the horrible day that changed our world. September 11 is one of those events that people can very vividly remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they saw the towers hit and come down. I was a senior at Miami University and had a 10:00am. class. I had just closed the door and gotten out to the bus stop from my apartment when the first tower was hit and had just walked into Shriver Center to see the second tower hit. With all classes cancelled that day, I hightailed it home and watched in horror as the Twin Towers came crashing down in a heap of rubble, smoke, and disaster. Like everyone else, I was glued to the television for the next few days trying to process what I just saw and understand how something this devastation happens to the strongest country in the world. I was personally affected as my sorority lost a sister who was on one of the flights. My now husband lived in New York with his immediate family and they knew very personally the loss the entire country felt. The overwhelming sadness also showed us the strength and resolve of the American people. We heard these miraculous stories of Twin Tower employees continuing into the buildings to save others. The superhero feats of the firefighters, policemen and emergency workers who risked everything they had to help those who needed them.
My son and daughter will never know about those intense feelings 9/11 evokes for those of us who lived through it. They will learn about it in their history books the way my generation learns about the assassination of JFK or Martin Luther King, Jr. While, September 11 isn't a national holiday, it is a national day of service. What an awesome opportunity for this up and coming generation. What an awesome opportunity for us!
This year, even though Connor is way too young to understand what happened on that fateful Tuesday morning 10 years ago, we are finding a way to encourage him (and us) to give back. We haven't quite decided exactly what we are going to do with him yet, but we are hoping to spark the desire for civil responsibility. To encourage a seed in his heart (and eventually Alaina's too) that years to give back to the country that is so generous to us. What will you do to honor this day? How will you continue remembering exactly what September 11 means?
http://911day.org/