Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

If I had the time to sit and list all the small things I am thankful for, we would be here all day. The number of things is endless. I can tell you I am thankful for the odder trapping kitty litter in my bathroom, or the invention of the remote controls. but that to me would take away from the point of thanksgiving.
Sure modern conveniences are wonderful, and I would be lost without them, but....I feel this time of season is to reflect on the things I am deeply thankful for. Ponder on these things, and lift my voice to heaven and remind the Lord how wonderfully thankful I am. So in honor of the Thankful Thursdays, I am making my final list, my simple list......the list that will be chiseled into my heart for the rest of the year, and possibly the rest of my life.

My Husband, he is my best friend. My soul mate. My lover. My heart. He takes care of me like no other person ever has, will, or can. I love him.

My family. Yes, all of them. Even though we have had our issues, and or are still going through them....my family has molded me into who I am. I love all of them. Sisters, Mothers, Father, Nephew, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. I love them.

Jason's Family. Despite what has happened and the recent dramas that have left scars, I am thankful to have learned from them, for those who honestly do, I am thankful for the acceptance they have given me as I enter into their family and take their name. But mostly, I am thankful for Julie, who gives of her time energy and money for just about anyone who needs her. She gives me a friendship beyond the ages, a sisterhood of sorts....she is my bestie!!!

Our Friends. I say our, and not my, because we share them. The friends that have been there through it all, the new ones we made, the ones we lost touch with, casual and best friends.....each soul that has entered into our lives has made an impression into our hearts. Without friends Jason and I would have never met (Thanks again Jennie!)....

My Personal Savior. Last but definitely not least, Jesus Christ. Without Him this life would be lived in vain. Without Him, I would be lost. Without Him, I would be putty in the hands of Satan. He is my source of Strength, my source of Love, and my source of Life. I am nothing without Him. He paid the ultimate price for me. He had me in mind when He hung from the cross and He did it despite of the me who sins, He did it so I can live with Him in Heaven and with that, I am truly THANKFUL.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

30 in 30 November Update

1. Lose "30" pounds. (8/30)
2. Get my diabetes under control (0/12
)
3. Visit my grandmother at least twice a month (1/24)
4. Read three books for leisure (0/3)
5. Complete three bible studies (0/3)
6. Complete 30 sewing projects (1/30)
7. Learn 3 new crafts (0/3)
8. Complete 30 new scrapbook pages (0/30)
9. Do 30 random acts of kindness (30/30) - helped a family out for the whole month of September, and it looks as if it will continue on for months, also is continually helping a single teenage mom, plus other small random acts...
14. Plan a Christmas gift exchange for Jason's side of the family
15. Have a "sister night" with Veida and Shayda three times (0/3)
16. Learn to make homemade pie crust
17. Learn to make yeast rolls
18. Blog twice a week (6/104)
19. Make caramel apples
19. Get a pair of glasses
20. Go to a pumpkin patch (never had the money or had the money and not a kid to go with)
21. Shop on Black Friday
22. Start a new tradition for Thanksgiving and Christmas (0/2)
23. Have two date nights a month (2/12)
24. Activate and use Etsy Account
25. Raise $10,000 for church in fundraisers ($330/$10,000)
26. Seriously track fertility each month so I can have a child (3/12)
27. Plan a birthday party for Jason, Aaron and Alyssa (1/3)
28. Make/eat breakfast at least 5 times a week (23/260)
29. Pray for 15 mins a day (8/365)
30. Make a weekly budget with Jason and stick to it (0/52)


bolded is being worked on
red is not going to happen
strike out is finished

Thursday, November 11, 2010

The LB Story Part Five

The Pre op diet from Hell..... or so I thought.

The pre op diet is required because we being fat people, have fat....with the fat it collects around organs, and since they have to move your liver out of the way to do the surgery, they want as little fat as possible around your liver. The pre op diet helps to shrink the fat....

The pre op diet our doctor had us on was as follows.

breakfast: 1 egg and 1 piece of toast
lunch: 1 protein shake
dinner: sensible foods
a few hours after dinner: protein shake

Well, we bought Vanilla muscle milk, thinking, we can add chocolate flavoring and or make all sorts of smoothies with it....
that stuff was G.R.O.S.S.

I gaged on it with every smoothie I made. The peanut butter smoothie wasn't bad till you got to the after taste. UGH.

We tried Strawberry EAS.
NASTY
Even Jason couldn't do it, and he has a strong tongue that can tolerate lots of gross stuff....like liquid medicine and nasty protein shakes.

Then we ended up with Special K premixed shake, less protein but do-able. Until I finished the whole one, and had the after tastes, and it was gross again.

I would cry almost everyday because I didn't feel like I could do it, the diet part wasn't all that bad, but the shakes *gag*

So I modified my diet, I did no protein shakes.....and sensible lunches instead.....i got over it. lol.

I did for real cry EVERY DAY. lol.....it was bad. Poor Jason. I love him so much for putting up with my crying. lol.

The day before our surgery was our one year anniversary. And luckily it was the one day we could cheat on our diets and eat whatever we wanted.

We went to Golden Corral (because we figured after all said and done we will never eat a buffet again).....we I was excited to get my food on. I made the usual huge salad I always made, and got my chicken .... I make a big chicken salad then go back for dinner then dessert. I began eating, and I didn't even get half way through it when I realized that I was way too full to even go back for regular food....WHAT? my stomach had shrunk a little because of the preop diet.

That night we went to Chilis with friends and ate and we shared our new traditional white molten lava cake.

We were sooooooo full it was horrible.

As of midnight though, we were unable to eat or drink anything......and so the day of surgery is next.

The LB Story Part Four

Surgeon Consult.
Oct 18th,2010
We went to Dallas for our Surgeon consult. I was for sure that since I couldn't get my PCP to clear me the Surgeon would say no....no lapband for Layla.
Getting to the office, we were in a group setting, there were several people there who like us needed to schedule their appts, there was a woman there with her husband who just had lapband the day before our appt. And there was a lady who was there just for information, she hadn't had any meetings, consults or anything up to this point.
In the group meeting, we were greeted by an advocate who had lapband done three years before. She lost over a hundred pounds and is now in the "maintenance" process. She explained she is keeping her weight off herself, there is no saline in her band to give her restriction, so she is doing it on her own.
After the advocate went through the do's and don'ts of lapband, pre and post operation diets and any questions we had, we went one on one with the surgeon.
In the office, we were weighed, and our date of surgery was scheduled. We had the choice of two dates, November 8th or November 22nd.
Our wedding anniversary is the 7th of Nov and having the surgery on the next day would put a damper on our celebration, because we would be in our pre op diet.....or if we waited for the 22nd we would then be on a post op liquid diet for Thanksgiving. Being my choice, I chose the 8th.
Choosing the date was fun and all, but I was still convinced that the doctor would not operate on me because of my diabetes.
Dr Marsden came in and proceeded to tell me how he would still operate on me as long as my sugars were not over 400 on the day of surgery. He was saying that Diabetes basically kills your metabolism and that if i tried to lose weight right now it would be an uphill battle.
He was very laid back and easy to talk to. He made me feel really comfortable and eased my mind. He also thought it was cool Jason and I wanted to go together, when everyone else in our lives freaked out saying we needed to stagger our days so we can take care of each other.
We went home from the appointment with the surgeon with a week before our two week pre op diet was to begin.....eeeeek.....it was closer than I realized.

Thankful Thursdays - GlamLife Linkup

I am a avid fan of a young mother/wife from the midwest. She always has the funnest posts, and I covet her mothers style and grace and gifts at holidays, ha ha...you should take a look sometime her name is Whitney and has the cutest kid....not that we know each other, but, it is fun to read and pretend we are best friends, ha ha...
Well with all that said, she is doing a Thankful Thursday link up for the month of November. Now I am a bit late, so I will be starting with this Thursday and go ahead and join in. I have a lot to be thankful for!

Thankful Thursday

1. My husband - he is a man after God's own heart. He is a strong leader for my family, he is fair and kind and sweet. He makes sure to tell me daily he loves me, and will sacrifice anything he has for my happiness.

2. Family - Between my sisters who always lend a hand when they can, to Aunts Uncles and Cousins, I always have someone who is willing to help me out at any point for any reason.

3. God's Grace - to know it is new every morning, is amazing.

4. Jason's job - not only for the fact he has one, but because of his job we had the insurance to do the lapband, he provides for our family allowing me to stay home, and he gets to work from home so I get to see him more than most wives get to see their husband.

5. Holidays - No matter how crappy life got as a kid, the holidays sparked happy times, traditions, normality that I crave to this day. I think of the holidays and go into the lists of things we did as a kid from watching the parade and making stuffing for thanksgiving to staying up late on Christmas Eve with candles flickering everywhere, watching Christmas movies and wrapping gifts..... I need this stuff like I need air.