Deranged Genes

My deranged genes... and no.. I don't mean jeans :)

How does one go about losing weight when their genetic make-up leans toward fat. I've been a healthy sized girl my whole life. Pleasantly curved in all the right places, not obese. Until I got sick. I have so many factors now counting against me, it is seriously like an uphill battle even trying to raise my energy level. Let alone actually losing weight. I have so many strikes against me. I have hashimoto thyroiditis, I have gluten intolerance, I have chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia.

How do I end up winning at life with those against me? I've turned to prayer, yes I am pretty sure God has better things to do than worry about my weight. I have tried all the over the counter flavor on the moment bottles. I have even *gasp* tried working out. As my fibro has gotten worse over the years though my ability to work out has waned to such a degree that it is work just laying in bed at times.

So, speakup! Anyone with these issues have any common sense luck? I'm all for hearing stories of success. I could use some happyness, even if it is by hearing someone elses happy and successful weight loss story!

Oh Death How We Despise you

Death & Cancer

Two things most people don’t like talking about. The red headed step children of humankind. No matter what age your children are, they revert to young children when a parent is diagnosed with the big C.

can·cer

[kan-ser]

noun

1.

Pathology .

a.

a malignant and invasive growth or tumor, especially one originating in epithelium, tending torecur after excision and to metastasize to other sites.

b.

any disease characterized by such growths.

2.

any evil condition or thing that spreads destructively; blight.

How to have that talk with your kid when one of their parents have been diagnosed with cancer? What a hard thing that was. Harder yet when divorce has put a wedge, as well as miles between the two parents.

Several months ago the father of my youngest two kiddos was diagnosed with lung cancer. After hardships untold with the man, I found myself at a loss with how to handle the situation with the kids. Our daughter flew out to be with him, to spend time with him and make him as comfortable as possible while she could. The cancer quickly spread from his lungs to his brain. My daughter, God bless her, read the Bible to him while she was out there. Miracles of miracles he got better! Praise the Lord! He got stronger and was up and about and getting healthier. We thought he had won his battle. Til this past week. We got the call that he was back in the hospital worse than before. His life expectancy was days.

This vibrant man who had fathered 2 children that I adore, this man who had the power to frustrate me beyond all measure, this man who at one time in my life was my world. Died.

The mess that is my kids life now as they try to deal with the loss of their father, well,  it will take the rest of their lives. A son in denial that he will miss his father. A daughter that thinks if she had been there she could have got him better again. We will be picking up these pieces for many many years.

Just Pray

He asks so very little of us, is it so much out of our day to spend a few moments alone with Him and just listen to His words? 

We take time out of our day to listen to our children, our spouses, our best friends. 

He is forever patiently waiting for us to spend a few moments with Him. Just Do It. He spends ALL of  His time on us. 

A moment in time

I have had this blog for oh... well awhile now, and randomly post when the Spirit prompts me to. I am sure at this point you are seeing a distinct lack of posting. Am I right? Well Saturday night, January 26th 2013 to be closer to exact. The Lord answered a request I had been pondering, for awhile, quite awhile.

A little back story first, I am dealing with fibromyalgia as well as an assortment of autoimmune disorders which have sapped me, mind, body, and at times soul. When I feel good, I feel great and do what I can in the short period of time that I have til the pain overtakes me again. This has kept me from even thinking of going on any mission trips. My memory is not so good, so I can't go out and preach the word by being a teacher, or a leader of any type (this also falls under the aspect of most of my life is spent in pain and a good portion in bed at any given time). Essentially I have become someone you can't count on to be there when needed. As awful as that sounds.

However as I sat listening to my pastor Saturday night, the sermon was about how we can serve the Lord through different ways. He just wants us to spread His amazing word so that more people can follow those of us who have found Him. That's when it came to me, I have the way to reach the world at my fingertips. Pastor Daniel said the most amazing thing and funny, but it really struck me. He said "You don't see U'hauls following hearsts, you see people following hearsts." You can't take anything with you to heaven other than the people that you help God to reach.

SO I am reaching out to the world. Not for myself, but it's all for Him, His glory and His love.

Romans 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

So about that crafty side...

I have so many things in the oven, I decided to put my crafty stuff on hold for a bit. Or at least til a kid or two moves out so I can actually have room for my tons o craft! I do however still have my Cricut out! That is one thing I just can't give up! :D
Oh all the ideas still floating around in my head for stuff to craft and make. Til I get around to it though I just keep pinning away on Pinterest. Come on in and join me!

Shall we try this again?

It's amazing really what having someone who is holding you accountable can do for you. 
I remember when I was younger and my friend Lisa would drag me to our local recreation center and we would do aerobics. 
 Well here I am 25 years later searching for a work out partner again. I think I have this fibromyalgia under some semblance of control finally. 
HOWEVER! Because of being inactive for so very long my stamina is poooooof out the window, gone like a bubble on the wind, well.. you get the picture :). Stamina, something I haven't had in several years. And this coming from a person who used to walk 9 miles a day and could hold my legs in a raised plank position for insanely long amounts of time. I miss those days! 
ANYways.. So my options are, drag a friend kicking and screaming out to work out, or make up an imaginary friend to work out with. Neither of those sounds very appealing do they? Well, will keep things updated as I search for someone who wants to get healthy with me! Til then a motivational image and site!
Weight: 213
Height: 5' 3"
BMI: 37.7

Check out Jens Journey

Such a long hiatus

Quite frankly I just haven't had a whole lot of anything to talk about. Blogging is constantly at the forefront of my mind, and I do have ideas constantly floating around. It's just the actual sitting own and writing something worth while for anyone to find interesting enough to read.
So I think one of my New Years resolution is going to be to post once a week for starters, this is of course with hope that it again turns into a daily part of my life again!

And since I have nothing atm to talk about other than a baby bump shoot that I did a few days, that's what is going to be talked about! 
Note to self:
1. Give no more favors to friends for shoots until I have the right lighting
2. No more shooting in their homes, clutter and background "stuff" just causes way too much editing time for me and I gotta tell you. No matter how good you are at editing, you know that the person was extracted out of the background.
3. Run the show, don't settle for less then what you were trying to capture

It really is some simple rules that would have saved me tons of frustration and editing time. My time is worth more than booking multiple settings to "redo" a sitting because of bad lighting.

Can you see whats wrong with these images? Because they are glaring to me!