What I Did This Week

I'm a bad blogger.  I took my camera on our Spring Breakthrough trip and only took one picture with it.  I took a handful more with my camera phone, and stole a few more of the ones below from Facebook. Unfortunately, none of the pictures below reflect the awesomeness of this week (or, actually, any of the hard work we did).  

I'll be honest, Wednesday night I began to question my sanity in choosing to go on this trip. I was dealing with a lack of sleep after nights spent in a camp bed, missing my own shower, floating in a sea of drama in the middle school girls cabin I was living in, witnessing lots of high school heartbreak and physically exhausted from manual labor.  

That was just one night, though.  I really do love these students.  Not only did they choose to use their spring break serving and loving others, they did it willingly.  Yeah, the drama and the heartbreak and the camp beds are probably always going to be a part of of youth ministry, but being able to serve alongside these students every day and be a part of their lives for five days outweighs such minor inconveniences.

The whole crew

My beautiful and hardworking team!

During a lunch break we jumped

And jumped

And jumped.

And jumped.

Twins!

Another group pic of my crew on a break.

I love these guys

Here are a few of us covered in paint in our beloved van.

From these pictures, it doesn't look like we did much work. In my last post, I shared the week-in-review video from last year.  Here's the video from this year, if you'd like to know more about what we did.

Spring BreakThrough

It's time for me to give you the high sign that I will not be posting next week.  Instead, I will be using a week's vacation time to drive about 10 teenagers around Charlotte.  Our van (which, BTW will be rocking) will be just one of several teams of teens and adults who are using their spring break to do something that counts.  Each day we will load up and head to a different ministry site. Some days we might be doing hard labor, some days we might be playing with children, other days just sitting and talking with people who need someone to listen.

Sometimes when I tell people how I'm spending my vacation, I get sort of a crazy look. The "why would you want to spend your free time with teenagers" look.  But these kids inspire me and challenge me and are some of my great friends.  It's gonna be a wonderful week.

To get an idea of what it's like, check out this awesome video from last week's Springbreakthrough created by the talented Shoeless Works videography team.

The Cycle

I'm realizing that since last May, I've been very much on a cycle with my weight loss efforts, but I'm trying very hard to get off this not-so-merry go round.

I start off great, highly motivated and ready to make good choices.  This phase in the cycle is easy and feels normal  It usually comes after an extended period of making repeated bad choices and my body is ready for the change.  Usually this phase lasts anywhere from a week to two and a half weeks.  I usually lose a good bit of weight the first week and another pound or so the second week.  Then I get so excited that I've lost that much that I start weighing more frequently.  Right when I start weighing more frequently, my body slows down on the losing, which gets disappointing.  That, in combination with going too long trying to "be good," is usually what leads into the second phase of the cycle.

The second phase in the cycle usually lasts a few days, up to a week.  This is when I start to struggle. The choices aren't easy any more. I still make some good choices, but the bad choices start to creep in slowly, one at a time.  This is where I am right now.

The third phase is something akin to going "hog wild." Bad choices, bad choices, bad choices.  I eat whatever I want, whenever I want and usually a lot of it is chocolate or meals eaten out.  This can last anywhere from one week to one month.  I usually end up gaining several pounds during this period, thus the reason why I've never made it to 100 pounds lost yet.  I want desperately to avoid the third phase this time around and bust on through to my goal.

As of my last official weigh-in last Monday, I am only four pounds from 100. That sounds exciting, but I've been here before and more than once, and I've never been able to hang on long enough to cross that 100-pound barrier.  That's why I need to stay focused, look for good choices and keep working hard.  I've just got to try, cause this cycle is making me dizzy.

A Week in Outfits

After posting last weekend about my personal wardrobe consultant revolutionizing my wardrobe, I was asked to post some pictures of my week. Here you go!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

My favorite outfit was Wednesday's garnet skirt with a pink top and a cardigan that pulled it all together.  My second favorite was the polka dot skirt with pink top and black shrug from Monday.  

Happy List

Life has been good lately.  Here's a few of the things that have been making me happy, in no particular order.

• Tulips blooming
• Running errands with the windows down, country music up and sunglasses on
• Chile Verde with tortilla chips
• Zumba/Hip-hop fundraiser for Japan tonight
• Being outside
• Wearing skirts
• Swimming
• Eating dinner on my patio
• A productive Saturday and a restful Sunday
• A new pasta salad recipe I invented
• My dirt patch is finally growing grass
• Plans made to see a few of my fav cousins this summer
• Seeing the scale go down today
• Hormel Turkey Pepperoni Sticks
• Thoughts of the family beach trip (I love those people)
• Dogwoods blooming
• The book I'm reading, "Matched"

Really, though, life is good all time. It's just how you choose to see it. What are you seeing in your world that's making you happy this week?

What to Wear

My room last night was like an episode of What Not to Wear.  Except instead of Stacy and Clinton ridiculing me for my horrid clothes, I had the fabulous April of A Little of This and That pairing up outfits for me and telling me what worked.

It was exactly what I needed.

I have long followed a few basic rules when it comes to fashion. I must be comfortable.  There must be one solid and one patterned piece (ie if the skirt is patterned, the top should be solid and vice versa.).  There must be one color and one neutral (usually black). I'm not very adventurous, to say the least.

April came in and revolutionized my closet.  She put colors together that I never would've thought of, and basically showed me a whole new wardrobe with the clothes I already had.  Look at this, I have eight colorful outfits paired up and ready to march out!

 

An unexpected benefit to losing weight has been becoming more interested in what I'm wearing.  While I don't expect to have a great fashion sense spring up overnight, I do hope to continue experimenting and having fun with my new(ish) figure this summer.

If only I had a fantastic 80s song playing in the background, I could've had my very own movie montage wardrobe makeover sequence, which is my dream (and most people's).

Do you have a fashion philosophy? Please share if you do! I could always use the help!

Week's End

It's the end of another week, and what a great one it's been.  I mentioned that I was prepped mentally last Sunday.  It's like a switch was flipped. The last two weeks I was eating whatever I wanted, overeating, and eating out a lot. And it's not like I wanted to behave this way. It was almost as if I had no control over my eating.

But this week, I have hardly been tempted.  I was able to stick to my plans, eating healthily and working out five days this week.

I've been surprised how tough working out has been this week.  I wasn't as diligent with it in the last few weeks, so getting back into running and weight lifting has left me sore and tired, but feeling good about myself.  The running has not come back easily.  It looks like I can run a mile to a mile and half with ease and after that I have to walk/run in intervals.  I've kept up my cycling on the stationary bike, but today I was able to ride about 8 miles at the park. I had my first wipeout today, thanks to my shaky steering. I ran off the edge of the paved path, which was a pretty steep drop off. I lost control of the bike and fell over.  I was shaken up, but after a minute or so, I realized I was okay and got back on, completing two more miles after that.

I've officially registered for my first triathlon, which is May 21. I feel like I'll be ready, if I can just back into running  shape.

Today was such a gorgeous day here.  I took advantage of it by getting out on the bike, eating lunch outside and doing a little yardwork.  What'd you do?