Youtube Video Contest

As many of you know, I entered a Youtube Video contest to win a free iPad. If you've got the time, please help me out by viewing my video a time or three!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYj7vd6G1mM

Thanks!
Lesh

A Long Journey

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5

 

A few posts ago I mentioned God giving me a spiritual makeover and helping me to realize the cause of my being overweight.  I have taken a few steps to help with losing the weight.  I joined WW and also marathon training group.  That's right...  I am currently training to run a half marathon!  I train 4 days a week and do weight lifting 2 days a week.

Lesh and I have several friends who have completed marathons and we have gone to their races to cheer them on and have enjoyed it so much.  Lesh ran the last five miles of the full marathon with our friend Garth and it inspired him to train for the race this year.  So I decided I would train for the half.  Crazy!!

If you have never gone to a marathon as a spectator/cheerleader I urge you to go!  It is an amazing atmosphere and inspiring seeing all those thousands of people pushing thier bodies past their physical limit.  I remember seeing people crying as they crossed the finish line.  Wow.

So since I have been watching what I'm eating, running and trying to give my overeating urges to God, I have lost 17 lbs.!  I know that God has been my rock and my comfort.  I am learning to lean on him to comfort me and not food.  I am by no means perfect and never will be.  My whole life I have used food to make me feel better.  How many of us when we have a bad day crave chocolate?  Ice cream? Why do you think "Comfort Food"  has that name?  In my case I've overdone it on comfort food. 

I'm excited to share this LONG journey with you for a couple of reasons.  One is that you can help hold me accoutable.  Two because I believe we should share the great things that God does in our lives to encourage others who may be going through the same journey.  It will take me over a year most likely to get to my "healthy" weight and I know I will only achieve that goal if I continue to allow God to help me through this journey.

Have you ever tried to lose weight before?  It is plain hard work.  I'm not complaining, I'm just saying it's a lot of work.  Have you seen Biggest Loser?  Yikes!  You have to exercise lots of will power which I call "God Power."  And you have to physically push your body into uncomfortable situations.  I do have to say that I thoroughly love the feeling I get after I finish running.  I get a great sense of accomplishment and I praise God for helping me get through the run. 

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 139:14.
I praise you because I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.  Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Do you know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made?  No matter if you are overweight or don't think of yourself as beautiful, You are God's creation and ALL His works are wonderful!  When I'm having a bad day I say this verse to myself in the mirror to help me remember that I am a daughter of the Most High.

I plan on continuing to share my journey with you and if you think about it say a prayer for me that I will continue to let God have control and that I would seek him for all of my comfort.

Thanks so much!!

Always, Sometimes, Never

3 of my blogger friends had this as their title so I decided to join the game!

I ALWAYS

kiss my husband before he leaves for work

snuggle with my baby boy when he wakes up

wear my hair in a bun to go to sleep

I SOMETIMES

go back for seconds

don't wear makeup to the grocery store

a little afraid of being alone

I NEVER

turn down ice cream

enjoy doing laundry

been to Disney...I know so sad!

Love you Friends!

18 Months Old!

One and a half years old! Nathaniel is a mess!  He is a comedian and loves to be the center of attention.  He can get a crowd's attention in no time and have them laughing in seconds.  This baby boy has stolen my heart!  Nathaniel is also very active and climbs on everthing and runs.  Because he is such a dare devil he is always falling.  Right now he has a big bump on his forehead from falling not once, but twice and hit the same spot.  The second  time he fell he looked like he had a unicorn's horn sticking out of his head!  My pediatrician said it meant he was all boy!  I'm not looking forward to all the future hurts that come from being an active boy.

At 18 months Nathaniel can-
-Sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 2 hour nap during the day
-Eats 3 meals and 2 snacks a day, feeds himself
-walks and runs like crazy
-Says many words, mama, dada, checkers, crackers, duck, dog, car, truck, bye-bye, more, nana, apple and several others I can't think of right now!  Of course this is not all said super clearly.
-Climbs on the sofa on his own
-Climbs in and out of the tub even our garden tub
-Gives hugs, blows kisses, waves, and sometimes bites. Ouch!!
-LOVES pictures
-Makes funny faces on demand
-Can drink from an open faced cup
-Still has a paci for sleeping, but I'm gonna take it away as soon as my Chinese girls leave.  Not excited about this!

There is so much more, but these are the highlights.

Here are Nathaniel's stats at 18 months

Height: 32 1/2 inches long 55%

Weight: 26lbs. 12 oz. 60%

More fun with Kelly and Elaine!

Wow has time flown by!  We have been having such a great time with our Chinese girls.  We have gone shopping until our feet feel like they are going to fall off, we have baked and cooked together, swam, and shared lots of laughter.  We went country dancing at a Hoe down and the girls humored me by allowing me to put their hair in pigtails.  They are dolls!  On Tuesday evening the girls also cooked for us a traditional Chinese meal that was delicious!  Then we went to the Chocolate bar where my girls ate a lot of ice cream.  When I say a lot I'm not exaggerating.  Elaine went back for a second large serving of french silk.  Here are some pictures of our past week.

Kelly and Elaine- Our Students from China!

I'm so excited about hosting our two lovely girls from China!  Kelly and Elaine will be staying with us for about 3 weeks and we have been having a great time!  They came in on Friday mid-day and seemed to feel comfortable with us right away. They absolutely adore Nathaniel and have fun playing with Checkers too.  On Friday we took them to my aunt's wedding rehearsal where they helped decorate the bubble jars to pass out after the reception.  On Saturday morning we took them jog/walking and it was super hot!  They walked under an umbrella.  It was very cute.  Then we all came home rested a bit before we all headed to the wedding.  On Sunday they enjoyed church watching the Big VBS show and were thrilled to recieve a free poster of the Superheroes.  After church we witnessed 2 dear friend's children get baptized.  I am so thankful that our students were able to witness this.  I briefly explained what it meant so they could understand what they were doing.  We had lunch with 2 other host families at subway which they seemed to enjoy the cookies more since they ate them before thier sandwich! Ha!  We went swimming before the rain and then ventured out to the Galleria where Elaine purchased an ITouch.  She is crazy about it.  Tonight my sister-in-love and I taught them how to latin dance with a video dvd.  It was a blast to watch them attempt to move and dance.  We laughed our heads off together.  So fun!  That is all for now and I'll keep updating the blog with more fun with Kelly and Elaine.

A Spiritual Makeover and July Happenings

"Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.  Jeremiah 32:17

I have been so behind in my blogging!  I have been busy taking care of myself. God has been doing a spiritual makeover in me and it hasn't been the easiest thing to go through, but I am thankful for the changes he is bringing about in my life. 

I'm learning to carry my own backpack, so to speak, and learning why I have spent most of my life overweight.  I have joined Weight Watchers and am joining a local running group to start training for the Houston half marathon.  I'm super excited to see what God has in store for my and Lesh's life.  He too is training, but for the FULL marathon.  I may change my mind later and train for the full, we shall see!  I have lost a total of 13lbs that I have worked hard to shed.  I have a long way to go but with WW, the running group, a great support group of friends, and of course God I hope to finally conquer the extra weight I've been carrying around for years!  Just like Jeremiah 32:17 says, Nothing is too hard for our God!  I know that his great power will help me to overcome.

Now on to the fun!  Nathaniel is an absolute hoot!  He is such a character!  He is charming and a big flirt with the ladies! Today at church he was watching people come into church and he would give the men serious looks, but the second a lady walked through the door he would put on a smile and throw his hand up to wave.  He also tries to get girl's attention in public places.  He is something else!

Nathaniel loves to play in the laundry basket and read his books.

Nathaniel loves to eat his snacks at his picnic table that my mom got for him.

He especially loves this puppy and will carry him all around the house.

On Friday we had some friends over to watch the Riff Trax for The Lord of the Rings.  What are Riff Trax?  It is an audio file that you down load from their website and they have hundreds of them.  Basically you play the audio at the same time as the movie and it makes hilarious commentary about the characters, the storyline and so on.  It is so funny and makes the movie 10 times better!  We told everyone we were doing a meat and potatoes night so everyone brought food to go along with the theme of the movie.

These are mashed potato cupcakes my friend Mindee made!

They are actually vanilla cupcakes with caramel sauce on top with a square of laffy taffy on top to look like butter.  Aren't they great?!  Quite tastey too!

Meatloaf!

These were actually sugar cookies with cinnamon and sugar.

These were rolls made with potato flour and were yummy!

Cheesey mashed potatoes!

And of course our fancy ales!

Yesterday we celebrated my Sister-in-Love's birthday and had a blast! 

Whew! That was the longest post I have ever written!  I told you I was way behind!  I'll try not to go so long next time.  Blessings!