Sunday, July 25, 2010

How Great the Father's Love for us

This morning, Tyler and I sang "How Great the Father's Love for us"...During our run-through, it went like it was supposed to. Come the real thing, I messed up.. AHHHH! I have literally listened to this a hundred times. Each time I could just kick myself for messing up. Here's what happened...when we first got the song, it was hard to hear the intro to my part. I finally got it, but was still insecure about it. During the actual performance, I freaked out because I couldn't hear the music that well and thought I came in too early for my verse. Turns out, I came in at the right time. I stopped and then had to rush the words "my sin upon his shoulders". When it comes to singing, I am a perfectionist. I will sing a song over and over and over, day after day after day. So...you can imagine how upset I was with myself. Oh well...It could have been worse, right?

I've never really thought about recording myself singing...I had someone record my mom, Matt, and myself when we sang a trio simply because I knew it would probably never happen again! Matt used to sing ALL the time in high school. We sang duets at any opportunity and we were often asked to sing at city-wide events. He claims that he is nervous and can't sing as good as he used to. Also, he says that when he was in musical theater, he couldn't see the audience because of the bright lights. I told him that we could always put a blindfold over his eyes! I will try to post the trio sometime in the near future. OH...back to videoing..I'm going to try and record myself whenever I sing, and I'm going to do this for 2 reasons. 1., It will be a great thing to show my kids, grand kids, etc. 2., It's great for critiquing! ;)

Tyler, if you are reading this, thank you for singing with me!

How Rude!

Feeling frustrated tonight...maybe it's my hormones.

Matt and I took a nap today. It was entirely too long and I probably won't get to sleep at a decent time tonight. His parents are leaving in the morning to go to Kissimee, FL for a family reunion so we wanted to see them before they left. We were going to go out for dinner, but since we woke up so late, we had dinner at McDonald's. I can't begin to tell you the last time I've eaten at a fast food place besides Chick-fil-a! ;)

Anyways, Matt is a fast eater. I'm not horribly slow, but I don't shove the food in my mouth quite the way he does. We're sitting there and he has finished eating. I can kind of tell that he looks irritated. I finished my meal (didn't even eat all of my nuggets) and took one bite out of my apple pie and he says, "You ready to go?" Are you serious? Really? I'm not even finished and he's ready to push me out of the seat. I was not happy. I got up and left. Matt is normally a gentleman, but tonight, he really pushed my buttons. Would it have really hurt him to sit there for 2 more minutes? To me, that's saying, I don't care about you. I don't value you or the time we spend together. I felt like I wasn't important to him. We get to his parents and he sits on the couch playing around on his phone for a few minutes. During that time, I was thinking to myself "this is what we rushed out for". This is what was so important to him. We left and he headed to work. I headed home in tears. It sounds so silly to you, I'm sure, but how hard is it to spend an extra few minutes with YOUR WIFE? He called me because he knew I was upset about something. He didn't think anything was wrong with it... go figure.

So tonight I sit here feeling sad, lonely, unimportant to my husband, and hormonal...UGH. And no, I'm not pregnant.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

School starts in 9 days. I'm ready, but not ready. I've enjoyed my summer, but in a way, I'm ready to jump back into a routine. I've been working very hard in my classroom all summer. I will put pictures up next week!

Matt hurt himself this past week. He came home, got in the bed, and started crying out in pain. I was really worried about him. The pain was on his back but wrapped around to under his ribcage. He doesn't have insurance right now since he just got a job. I'm the type of person who researches everything and then think the worst. It's probably not healthy ;) I begged him to let me take him to the doctor and he repeatedly refused. It's Saturday and he gets better and better, day by day.

Yesterday, Mama and I went to the MART! For years we have wished we could go. Mama goes once a year for a dental conference and stocks up on things. At a training last week, I learned that they have something called "Corporate Friday". Anyone with a job can attend Corporate Friday. After we heard the news, we planned a trip! We left Phenix City around 9:30 and did not get home until 7:00. We literally shopped till they were closing! I had so much fun and bought a lot of birthday and Christmas gifts for others. I also bought a few things that I wanted. I don't really shop for "me" anymore. Of course, that's a good thing and I have everything I need. It felt nice to see something I liked and buy it. Not to mention, it was very cheap!

We got home to grumpy people. We refused to let them steal our happiness!!

I left my parents house and went to the church to practice a song. I am singing this Sunday. On Thursday, an idea popped into my head. For a while I have wanted to sing certain Selah songs, but needed a good guy singer...Well, I think I might have found him! He's in the youth. I messaged him on facebook and asked if he would be interested in singing a duet with me in church. (I figured it'd be at a later date). He was excited and asked when I wanted him to sing with me. I decided to go out on a limb and say this Sunday (which was only 3 days away). He responded and said, "Sure! What are we singing?" The next day we went to Lifeway and picked out a song. He does a great job. I'm pretty sure that the little old ladies are going to faint when they hear him ;).

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

weight loss

I've had it with my weight. I'm so tired of being so self-conscious...in front of my husband of ALL people. I can't do this to myself anymore.

I am singing Sunday. As many of you know, I am in-love with Selah's music. I sing just about any and every song they have recorded when given the chance. As I was listening to one of their songs, I went to their webpage to look up the lyrics. That then sent me to Amy's blog. Wow. Someone who has been going through the same thing as me. Someone who puts on a WONDERFUL front, but secretly (well, not anymore since she blogged about it) is broken. Read some of what she wrote.

h1
I can finally see it!
July 20, 2010

Every day I look in the mirror I think, “Why can ‘t I see it yet?” My clothes are hanging, but I look at my face and don’t see the change. Everyone says it’s because I’m looking at myself everyday, so I thought I’d pull out some pictures to see if I could see a change. And I can finally see it!

I couldn’t stop smiling last night! Now, I know I’m still far from my goal, but it was nice to look at some pictures and see the difference.

This is me 2 months into my HCG diet

This is me last year for the You Deliver Me shoot

Anyways, I thought I’d post them for you.

Also, just for an update on what’s going on with the diet… I hit kind of a plateau over the last 2 weeks and it took forever just to lose like 3 pounds, so Cyndi put me on the Reset for 2 weeks to give my body a break. Basically, for the next 2 weeks I don’t take the HCG and I can eat more of what I was already eating, including, now, some dairy and other fats.

To be honest, I was so nervous packing my lunch yesterday. I’ve gotten very comfortable with knowing exactly what and how much I can eat, the thought of thinking for myself and making a good choice kind of scared me. I still can’t have carbs or sugar, but that leaves a lot of food available to eat and I just want to be sure I’m making good choices. I figure these next 2 weeks are good practice for how difficult or easy it will be to maintain once I’m at my goal weight. I am enjoying cheese again! Woot!

The last thing I want to mention today is Allan Hall. As you know from previous blogs, he has been working so hard losing weight and he has two milestones approaching. As of yesterday, he is 2 pounds from 50!! He’s really hoping to reach that goal this weekend, and I’m praying he will. He is also 7 pounds away from reaching his halfway point for total pounds needed to be lost. At the rate he’s going, he could potentially reach both milestone goals within the next week, so please be praying for him. I’m so incredibly proud of how hard he’s worked.

It’s rare to meet a man who struggles with weight issues the way Allan has, and he’s agreed, once he reaches his milestones, to guest blog on here and I really can’t wait to read what he has to say. I think his journey can help so many. You know, some times we women think we’re the only ones who go through this, and that no man could ever understand our issues. But Allan understands; he’s been there too. So let’s pray for his success and wait in anticipation of the great blog he’s going to write very soon!!!!

amy


Hey all,

This week was VBS at our church and I have to be honest, I’m wiped! I’ve worked every day and gone straight to church after. I’m crashing around 9:30 each night and still am tired in the morning.

Something interesting happened this week. I was working in the storage unit for my job in 87 degree weather, and it was not going well. Several things hindered me from completing my job, which means I have to go on Monday and spend more time in dusty, bug infested storage; I was not happy. So, I picked Jake up around 1pm because he was going home from work early and we only have one car. By the time I picked him up I was pretty irritated, tired and starving; this is usually a bad combination for Amy.

When I got back to work I went into the kitchen to get my grilled chicken and lettuce and what did I see in an open box on the counter? Yeah, you guessed it; donuts. Beautiful, glazed, sugary donuts. Now, the “previous” Amy would have dug right in. It was the perfect storm of hungry, tired, and stressed, and I would have absolutely convinced myself that I deserved the donut, or 3…

As I stood there looking at the donuts I realized something; I didn’t want one.

For the first time I was in a typical stress eating situation, with the comfort food laid out before me, and I didn’t want to eat. HUGE moment for me. Of course, I still barked out, “Who leaves open donuts on the counter willy nilly? Are you trying to kill me?!” But I do that any time there’s food out because literally every day someone in my office leaves something horrible (and when I say horrible, I mean yummy, delicious and fattening) on the kitchen counter, open for all the world to partake.

You know what’s funny? I didn’t even recognize that huge moment when it happened. I just looked at the donuts and thought, “Eh, no thanks,” and moved on. I didn’t realize it until the next day when my scale betrayed me, and I was feeling so discouraged that all the hard work I’ve been putting in wasn’t showing up on my scale the way I’d hoped. I was so bummed all the way to work. Jake kept trying to encourage me, but I just wanted to scream at him that he couldn’t possibly understand what it’s like to work and work and then the scale says you’ve gained. I felt like giving up. I felt like if I had known I was going to gain, or not lose, I might as well have had the stupid donut.

I felt like a failure.

As I got to work alone, crying, the Holy Spirit showed me something. He showed me the donut. And He reminded me that even right then, I didn’t really want a donut. Even when I felt like a failure, or when I was frustrated, stressed out and exhausted, I didn’t want to make myself feel better with food. And the fact that I sat there talking to Him instead of driving straight to the pastry shop meant something.

This journey has not been easy but it’s been worth it. I was telling Jake about my little breakthrough and how it’s so hard when I look at the scale and it’s moving so slowly. But if I look at the big picture, I’ve lost 42 pounds! So what if I’ve had a few slow days? I’ve lost 42 pounds! I told Jake that sometimes it’s so much easier for me to see what’s not happening on the scale, then to recognize what is and he said something really cool. He said that that’s how a lot of us treat God. We’re so busy looking at what He’s not doing for us; dwelling on what He’s not given us, that we fail to recognize all that He’s done in our lives. PREACH Youth Pastor Jake! Man, that puts things in perspective really quick.

Thank you God for all You’ve done in my life! Thank You for this journey that is not only transforming me, but is helping others in their journey. Thank you for Cyndi and her amazing guidance! Thank you for Jake and his loving rebukes and unending encouragement! Thank you God for 42 pounds and counting!!

And thank You for donuts, because when the time is right, I just might have one, and that will be okay.

Amy


It's 1:31 A.M. I am PROCLAIMING that this is the start of my weight loss. I will post pictures of before once I've lost some weight ;)

I'm going to work on eating smaller portions and walking more...and healthier choices....more to come!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Donation Jar Frauds are serious!

There are some crazy people in this world! Too bad, I got caught up with one of them. This woman (girlfriend of a family member of Matt's) put jars out for her son. There was a picture of him from a time when he was in the hospital for something minor. She had the picture printed and put on a jar to collect money...HE'S FINE!!!! What a scam artist! Long story short, people like that get on my nerves! It's sad...Because of people like that, I will never donate to jars in fear that it's the parent who wants the money. So sad. Anyway, I deleted her as a friend on facebook. She went crazy. I honestly couldn't read any more of her "woe is me" stuff. I hate drama like that. I did my best to stay away from that crap in highschool and a 30/40 year old woman is acting as if she were in highschool...Seriously? Grow up.

Anyway, speaking of scamming and fraud, I found a few articles where others have done it....go figure!

Donation jar for 'sick girl' a fraud, police say
Comments 8 | Recommend 1
May 27, 2010 8:37 AM
Kevin Ellis

Gastonia Police are investigating a purported scam that involves a person putting out a donation jar for a girl supposedly sick.

"As it turns out the girl was not sick and nobody in the girl's family authorized the collection," Officer B. W. McConnell wrote in an incident report released Thursday.

The jar was being put out at a East Franklin Boulevard business, according to the report.

The report did not indicate whether an arrest was made in the case.

The jar was at DTS Bar and Billiards at 611 E. Franklin Blvd.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Businesses React to Donation Jar Scam
Mid Michigan Businesses React to Donation Jar Scam
Posted: 11:30 PM Dec 17, 2009
Reporter: Jamie Edmonds
Email Address: jamie.edmonds@wilx.com

* Story
* 1 Comments

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When a man walked into the Frandor Deli about a year ago and asked to leave a donation jar behind, Jamie Rodgers said he didn't think twice about it.

"He just dropped it off and said it was for missing children," Rodgers, the nigh manager at the Frandor Deli, said.

The owner of Evergreen Cycle and Repair has a similar story.

"A guy came in and asked do you mind if I put a canister up to help these lost kids and it had a picture on it," Hunter Seyfarth said.

The "Beacon Project" was supposed to help reunite families with missing children -- the owner of Tony M's said it struck a chord with a lot of people.

"People were donating to it on a regular basis," John Migaldi said. "It was only a quarter or you could give more money."

Nearly 90 businesses from Lansing to Williamston displayed the donation box. Police say all of them, including the hundreds of people who donated, were duped by 54-year-old Joseph Carr of Williamston because instead of helping children, they say he was pocketing the money for himself.

"I'm kind of in shock about it," Rodgers said "I don't understand how someone could stoop that low."

Newsten went to Carr's house Thursday for comment, but no one answered the door.

Needless to say, business owners across Mid Michigan are in shock.

"It's not right to take advantage of someone's generosity then turn around an pocket the money." Seyfarth said. "That's heartless."

And many are feeling more skeptical than ever to open up their hearts and their pocket books.

"It's very offensive to everyone especially to the good organizations because now you become more skeptical when people come to ask for help," Migaldi said. "You're going to question it now."

The Attorney General's Office said from February through June of this year, Carr collected between $1,500 and $2,000 dollars a month.
He was arraigned Thursday on three charges -- and faces a five year prison sentence if convicted.



It's a serious thing people, be careful! There are some serious scam artists in this world; including one in our very own city!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Hello...It's been a while..

Ethel had her surgery last week and she did great...until about 3 days later. When Matt brought her home, it was awful. She was drugged up and absolutely pitiful! We felt horrible, but by the next morning, she was more like herself. We did our best to keep her calm. Day 3 after surgery, I came into the kitchen that morning to find puke EVERYWHERE. It was awful. She puked almost every 30 minutes for a few hours. I didn't know what to do. We took her to the vet for them to tell us that they couldn't find anything wrong with her. The vet suggested that I boil some chicken and rice for her and gave us some nausea medicine to give her. The assistant comes in a few minutes later to check us out and she said, "That'll be $81.88".....?? I almost fainted. Are you kidding me?! $88.00 for someone to tell me that nothing is wrong with her and give her FOUR pills??....After we left the vet, she acted as if nothing were ever wrong. From then on, Matt called her "faker". "Come on, Faker, and go potty". haha... Here I am, in the kitchen, cooking a meal for a DOG! I put it in a bowl for her, and does she even sniff it??? Nope...time completely wasted!

Last Wednesday, Matt had a job interview. We left the house over an hour early to get there early...Boy, were we early! He asked me to go with him. If you ask me, I think I'm his lucky charm :) The last interview he went to, I accompanied him on the way there and sat in the car until he was finished..He was offered the job, but then declined it due to a raise at Golden's. Anyways...he went in at 4. An hour passes and I have to pee so bad that my kidneys are hurting. Another hour passes and he calls me and tells me to get some food because it'll be a while. I go and get gas, a candy bar, and pee. I came back and he was standing outside....I say all of this to announce that he got the job! He walked in at 4 and came out at 7. Now he's waiting on a call from HR to set up his drug test, paperwork, etc.

The guys have gotten back on the walkway. I will post pictures of the progress soon.

I've been working in my classroom and have gotten a lot done :)

Matt and I have made some new, married, friends :) The Stokes...I work with Ashley, and we continue to get closer and closer. We went to highschool together, but she was a year older. We've been supporting each other since the beginning of school and I'm so glad to have her as a friend. After I met her husband, Eric, I knew that he and Matt would get along well. After saying we needed to plan something, we finally went through with it. We went to Applebee's a few weeks ago and then went over to their house. Last week they came over to our house and we grilled out, played rock band, and watched a movie (which was extremely scary!). Yesterday we met up with them at the movies and watched Eclipse...Speaking of Eclipse, I went to the midnight premier. I haven't had that much fun in a while! We got there early and didn't have to wait long. It was awesome.

Matt went on a cleaning frenzy a few days ago and our house is cleaner than it was when we moved in. Now I'm bored because I don't have anything to do around here :)

We used to have a rule when we first got married..."You cook, I clean". It didn't really stick, because no matter who cooked, I normally ended up cleaning. Tonight I cooked, and while we were sitting at the table, he leans over and farts. UHHH. I was so mad! It literally made me lose my appetite. As I was throwing my food in the trash can I said, " I cooked, you can clean."...and walked into the office..I can hear him now, cleaning the plates and unloading the dishwasher..ha! Serves him right!!

Well, I'm off. Until next time...