Wednesday, July 22, 2009

This, that, and the other.

We were shown last week to another potential expectant mom, but she turned us down. But we have another showing on the 28th.

TV Free month is going well. The basement is 3/4 organized! It will soon be done. Then we will move on to organizing the garage. Now that will be a task! :)

We finally got going on the gym. We went Monday for an upper body work-out. And we went back this morning for a lower body workout. So every other day, and every other workout.

I've been enjoying walking on Monday mornings with a group of women from church. But I need to get more aerobics in. So I will. :)

Not too much going on. Just lots of busy work organizing and cleaning the house. It's a really nice feeling to get that done.

The no TV month has it very peaceful around the house. We aren't really listening to the radio much either. But we do listen in the evenings, to:

"Vine & Branches" (You can also listen online) http://www.rabbiyeshua.com/webstore/vine&branches/index.html

Followed by

"Walk in the Word" http://www.kkms.com/ministryaudio/walk_in_the_word/

That has been really enjoyable and informative too.

So all in all, things are looking pretty good right now. :)

Love,
Julie

Sunday, July 12, 2009

TV Free Month

Ok, so we're going "TV FREE" for one month. With the exception of maybe am/pm news (so we can keep up to date with weather/storms etc.)

Anyhoo, as part of that, we're also cutting down on internet time as well. So I will be on here a lot less. As if I've posted a lot lately huh? :)

All this is part of our effort to break our little rut, get into better habits (walking, cleaning up big areas like garage, Bible study, talking time, reading books, I think you get the idea :) ).

So it's for a good purpose. :)

I remember a lecture I went to through Hearts at Home, where they said it's good to "fast" from TV or Internet for a month at a time here and there and just reconnect with God and stop any bad habits. Oh You want me to remember who that lecturer was too, don't you! Umm . . .

YES! I found it! It's Susie Larson: http://www.heartshoppe.com/6096.html


"Balance That Works When Life Doesn't"

For many Christian women, life seems out of control. The conflicting demands and various pulls on their time seem irreconcilable. Prepare healthy meals, exercise, rest, study and pray, serve, keep the household running, and even manage a career . . How can a woman possibly balance all the demands of a twenty-first century Christian lifestyle? Learn how to make choices that create a natural flow and rhythm that you can live with as you develop physical and spiritual health.


Anyway, I'll be praying for you all, and please pray that we have a truly blessed time. :)

Love,
Julie

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

This and that

Well, we still have not made it to the gym.

I was ready to work on the garage and basement on Saturday, when Joerg had a headache. Then Sunday, we were out visiting friends, and I came down with a headache that won't quit! It is still here, on Wednesday.

So we haven't gotten to the gym this week yet either.

Not much else going on.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Getting to the Gym

I stink at getting to the gym. I sit here all dressed and ready to go. But I think I'll wait until Joerg get's home and see if he'll go with me over there. We haven't been since we signed up!

Well, at least we're getting the carpets shampooed. Now if we can just get that basement and garage organized . . .

I think I just need a little more discipline. Any ideas how I can get that?

Saturday, May 23, 2009

May 23, 2009

I had a really good trip. I posted pictures on Facebook. :) Too many to post here! :D


I'm still suffering jet lag. I keep trying to stay up later, but I end up waking up at 5 am anyways!!! So I am going to try going to bed at 9pm instead of 10/11. I need my sleep. :) I was up until 945 last night.


The Dr. at the NEDC would like me to lose weight before we try again. It's really weird. Not that he wants me to lose weight, but what I'm about to say. I weigh the same as I did 1 year ago. I have proof. I have my weight logs. But I look way heavier in pictures than I did. It's just bizarre!


Anyway, we're joining a gym today. It's less than a mile from our house. I'm excited. I have a routine too. It's from "Get Stronger Feel Younger". It puts you through everything, but tells you how to use the machines. In fact, it tells you 3 different ways:

1. in the gym with those machines

2. at home with a bowflex type machine

3. at home with free weights


And then it gives you the complete routine and how to breath and use the equipment properly. And it's easy to read!!! :D So I'm excited. I have used it before, when we were members at another gym that was more expensive and a lot further away. I gave up on it last year thinking too much money. But now I'm like, I should have kept it up! I'm excited there's this gym so near to us and they have all the machines we need, and a pool! :D So hopefully I can turn this fat blob around and get back to fit.


So that's kinda what I'm up to.


In Germany we basically went around visiting the relatives. We went to an aunt and uncle. And then we also went to a cousin reunion. And went to another aunt and uncle. And we went to a lake and walked around there too.


We did a LOT of walking. Lemmie see if I can copy it over from FB:
Just how much walking do you get done if you're on vacation visiting relatives in Germany?

I took my pedometer. didn't have it on every day but here goes:
4/29-4/30 was flight.
5/1 didn't wear ped.
5/2 13,247
5/3 car trip to relatives, didn't wear.... Read More
5/4 11,384
5/5 10,360
5/6 5,451
5/7 18,859 (that's not a typo)
5/8 7,218
5/9 11,090
5/10 2,986
5/11 7,611
5/12 6,704
5/13 6,205
5/14 7,881
5/15 8,196
5/16 11,694
5/17 7,989 (just in case you wondered how many steps you'd take if you were on 2 different planes, 3 airports, crossing the ocean from Germany to Atlanta and back to MPLS).



5/7 was our 15th anniversary. We took my parents-in-law and drove to Hannover. And we parked by the train station and walked all over. My IL's are older. So we didn't walk fast, or very far with them either. Nothing more than they could handle. A few times they went to sit down and had us run through stores. We went to some stores they wanted to see. We had a nice time dining out over lunch. Then we drove back home. And when we were home, Joerg & I went across the bridge over the Weser river to the Fair and walked a couple times around. So that's why we had sooooooo many steps!!! Boy did my feet ever hurt. I had to take it easy for a bit (as you'll note the difference in the steps for a while).


This week with the jet lag and everything I haven't been getting my walking in. So I gave up on my ped for this week. Now that we're joining the gym I'll start wearing it again. Goal is of course at least 10,000 steps a day, from the time you get out of bed, until you go back into it again.


I have been productive though! Getting up early in the morning, I actually feel like working on the house, and then the jet lag hits about mid morning and it's just blah. I had Caribou Coffee one day. And then yesterday I made 2 cups at home. I have been trying to avoid the caffeine though.


Let's see . . .


* completely emptied and washed (literally pulled drawers out and hand washed et al) the fridge as I left veggies in there and they spoiled, and well, let's just say there wasn't a whole lot left as I went through condiments and tossed a lot of them too.

* shopped for basic necessities to restock fridge

* briefly went through pantry (had gone through before we left)

* shampooed spots of the carpet (pretreating)

* laundry of course! Although my MIL did all the laundry before we left. So I just had to hang it all back up. It was just laundry we had some left before we left, and then of course what we were wearing and towels. I have more to do today too . . .

* called several gyms trying to compare prices and facilities and contracts and month to month etc. I'm really excited about the one we're joining today. Well, sounds like we're joining that one. I'll have to let you know for sure later.

* vacuumed several times


I don't know. regular stuff we're supposed to do everyday like dishes. But I would get everything done before like 9am because I just felt tired after that. Last couple days I've been forcing myself to do stuff in the afternoon trying to adjust my time frame. We'll see how it goes.


Paid my bills and balanced the checkbook too. :)


I have a specific weight I'm supposed to be below before August 1. Typically in the past, like at WW, I would never lose more than 1.6 pounds a week, as my average. But I didn't work out like this. But WW never let me get very far and I'd stop losing and platau for like months bouncing around the same weight.


Anyway, I am diagnosed Insulin Resistant. I am going to use the Insulin Resistance Diet, and the gym and see what happens. But honestly, I need to lose more than 3 pounds a week to make the goal. Scary for me. But I'm determined. I know that on Biggest Loser they work out 6 to 8 hours a day. No way do I need to kill myself that much. But I figure if I can get my weights in 3 days a week, and try aerobics (bike/treadmill) for an hour and day, and join the aqua fit classes (I think they're 4 or 5 days a week) that it might really kick my body into gear. Hopefully . . . I don't want to overdo it either. So we'll see how my body responds. If it rebells too much I'll slow down back to 30 minutes of aerobics a day. But I was able to do all that walking, other than my feet hurting, without problem. And my primary Dr. told me that I would do very well with the recumbant bikes. So we'll see how it goes. :) I have some friends who want to go walking with me at least once a week too. So this will really get me out there, motivation to keep it up. And if I can get myself really going strong before August, maybe I can really make it a habit to keep up. I know they said that after they lose the weight from those 6-8 insane hours a day, they back it down to 1 to 2 hours a day for maintenance. We'll see what needs to be done as I go. I might find I like a class or something to switch things up as we go too. Gotta keep it fun and interesting right? :D


So I have a few goals this weekend.

*clean/organize/unpack garage
*clean/organize/unpack basement
*shampoo carpets
*join gym

We'll see how much I can get done!


Love,

Julie

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Just call me abscent minded!

I neglected to mention that we celebrated our 15th anniversary on May 7th! :D We celebrated by taking Joerg's parents with us to Hannover, and walking around, going out to dinner over lunch, and shopping. It was a good day, and of course the reason we had over 18,000 steps that day! Mutti & Papa did not walk as much as we did. They sat down and had us run through some stores too. And when we came home, we walked across the bridge over the Weser and walked a couple times around the Fair.

Hard to believe it's 15 years already! Time just keeps slipping by. At the same time, while it seems so short of time since we married, it seems like a long time since we started trying to have kids, with assistance from Doctors or adoption people etc. We started medications for trying to conceive all the way back in December of 2000. So I guess that means well, just a long time trying to start a family, and a long time waiting on the list for adoption too.

I know God has a plan for us. Sometimes I wonder why it has to be such a long and hard one. And at the same time, I look around and see the paths others have to take, and I'm thankful we haven't had to go through some things ourselves, as well. The Lord truly knows what we are able to handle. And what we're not able to handle, He helps us to handle. I just praise Him for being in our lives and caring about us.

Love,
Julie

So what are we up to now?

Ok, so I know you're really wondering after all those posts I copied over from my posts on Hannah's Prayer, what we're up to now.

Dr. K at the NEDC would like me to lose weight before we try another transfer possibly in September. So I'm doing the Insulin Resistance Diet. Joerg & I are also looking into joining a gym this weekend.

We just got back from a trip to Germany to visit the in-laws. We had a great time! I walked a LOT! But I didn't lose any weight. I guess I balanced out all the food I'm not used to eating!

ust how much walking do you get done if you're on vacation visiting relatives in Germany?

I took my pedometer. didn't have it on every day but here goes:
4/29-4/30 was flight.
5/1 didn't wear ped.
5/2 13,247
5/3 car trip to relatives, didn't wear.... Read More
5/4 11,384
5/5 10,360
5/6 5,451
5/7 18,859 (that's not a typo)
5/8 7,218
5/9 11,090
5/10 2,986
5/11 7,611
5/12 6,704
5/13 6,205
5/14 7,881
5/15 8,196
5/16 11,694
5/17 7,989 (just in case you wondered how many steps you'd take if you were on 2 different planes, 3 airports, crossing the ocean from Germany to Atlanta and back to MPLS).

I'm still suffering some from jet-lag. Joerg seems to have recovered more than I have.

We have a dear friend who is thinking of possibly sharing her embryos (also via embryo adoption) with us. But I won't leave anything details about that here, because it's totally up to them, and I don't want to pressure them at all. Which is why I just mention it, so it's an honest update that you all (whoever reads my blog! :) ) know what's up with us right now.


We've been waiting on the domestic infant waiting list since 11/30/2007, and there really hasn't been much movement there. We'll see what God has planned as time goes on here.

In the meantime, we're going to work on cleaning out the garage and basement, and getting fit and losing weight. :)

Love,
Julie