The Circle of ... life?

It's funny how God works sometimes. It's almost 2am and I just came to this realization -- on this date, September 21, 1999, I accepted Jesus into my heart - fully, completely, unconditionally. I had this peace in my heart; the joy.


Fast forward to 5pm, 12 years later... I'm overwhelmed with the news I've received and the knowledge I need to gain. I've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Ironic as this is - I hate numbers... yet numbers of blood sugars, blood pressure, cholesterol are swimming in my head. I despise numbers...

I call my mom to tell her the news. I now I have to take a pill for blood pressure (very low dosage, to protect my kidneys), a pill for cholesterol, and a pill for diabetes. I originally had lab work done to check my thyroid... apparently my thyroid is normal - nothing else is. I now have to test my sugars throughout the day. As if that wasn't enough - I also have to attend a class on how to eat. Oh, I know how to eat -- obviously. I mean how to eat CORRECTLY so that my sugars are skyrocketed.

Oddly enough, 12 years ago I was a freshman in college, and I actually had  moments when my sugar would go low. I'd get shaky and dizzy feeling... now I'm too high. Seriously, when I do something, I do it right. :) "Coincidentally" my pastor's wife is taking a class on how to be a life coach and needed someone to 'coach' for seven months. Weird how she asked me right before my diagnoses - our first meeting is tomorrow. I might add that her husband has been diabetic for years, and is now turning himself around to where his A1C levels show he's almost completely off meds.

There is hope, but I fear the unknown. The challenges I now face in everyday life. Many 'messages' from God today spoke to my heart, not only about pain, but trusting God. I know I'm not alone, but He'll carry me through my fears and challenges in the days and months ahead.

Baseball Trip

Wow. LONG time no write!!! I've had some things going through my head and have has some inquiries about where I've been with blogging.... this led me to realize I haven't blogged ALL YEAR!!! Wowsa. Time for some catch up.


Baseball trip was AMAZING!!!  It was just me and CJ on the open road. :)  This trip took place during all the tornadoes (including Joplin).  Saw parts of the country I haven't seen before, including Niagara Falls (American side and Canadian). Niagara Falls are B-E-A-U-tiful and amazing!  Another bonus of this trip was seeing all of our friends that live in different areas along the way.  I added 6 stadiums to my list; only 14 left!!! :)


The itinerary:



May 22 - Drove from KC to Cincinnati - hotel was WONDERFUL - including warm cookies and milk when we got there. Yay!
May 23 - Whirlwind tour of the city, saw the Great American Ballpark, lunch with a friend. Then we were off to Cleveland!! That night we saw the Red Sox take on the Indians (Sox lost)... sort of. After an hour rain delay, the game finally started. Then it started raining again, so we had another delay.

Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati

Progressive Field - Cleveland

After the game in Cleveland we drove a little way to no where PA. 

May 24 - We drove to Buffalo, NY. Long story about why we stopped there, but it worked out because we spent the afternoon at the American side of Niagara Falls. Then we drove to the Canadian side and stayed in a hotel with an amazing view of the Falls.

May 25 - We drove to Toronto and spent some time at Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays. Then we drove across Ontario (not really across, but you know what I mean), to see our friend Joel. On this day a small tornado hit Louisburg (where we live) and we had to read about it on the internet. Since we were in another country we had our phones off... we turned them on after we heard this. Scary!! It turned out it didn't do much damage, but wow!

May 26 - Drove across the border into Michigan. Saw a 1pm game in Detroit against the Red Sox (Sox whooped butt this time). It started raining in the 7th inning, so we decided to get the heck out of dodge. We drove to Michigan City and stayed the night.

Comerica Park - Detroit

May 27 - Drove to Milwaukee and saw the Brewers play the San Francisco Giants. I couldn't care about either of these teams, but our tickets were $4. :) We ate dinner at the TGI Fridays inside the park and watched batting practice.
May 28 - Drove from Milwaukee to Minneapolis... had to stop at a visitors center because we turned on the radio and heard there were tornadoes in the area. We didn't know county names so we had to get a map. We were driving west and the tornado was just south of us moving east. Yikes!! We saw the Twins play the Angels - after a gps snafu in finding the stadium itself. After the game we drove to our friend Hope's house to stay the night.
May 29 - Drove from Hope's house to Des Moines, Iowa... had dinner with our friend Tricia, then found a hotel and stayed the night.
May 30 - Drove from Des Moines to home. Whew!!!!

The good thing about this trip was that it looks like a lot of driving, but the longest day was from KC to Cincy... other than that, everything we drove were in little 3-4 hour increments, for which I was thankful.  Hope you enjoyed the mini-synopsis as much as I enjoyed the trip! :)

Dress to Impress

We've all heard the saying "You can't love, if you can't love yourself." I've pondered this phrase a lot lately... and come to realize how true it is. Why should someone accept you unconditionally if you don't? God does, but He is the Master of unconditional love.

While a lot of us have things that we don't like about ourselves, there is always something to be proud of! If you can't look nice or be proud when you have "no one" to impress; why should anyone be impressed with you in the first place?? I find myself guilty of this a lot, not really caring what I look like, but then throw pity parties when things happen that make me disappointed in myself.

I want to dress with JOY and CONFIDENCE. I want to be proud of who I am in Christ. I want to be a Godly woman who is striving to do what He has called me to do and be.

Progress

This week signifies a lot of 'anniversaries' if you will.

Tomorrow is 12 weeks since I got braces and I can totally see a difference!! I'll post a picture tomorrow after my orthodontist appointment. :) Here's me 6 weeks ago:



It's also kind of a mile stone in my weight loss journey. Since being at my heaviest weight EVER and beginning working out with the trainer, along with my new diet - I've lost a total of 18 lbs. I'm seeing a number on the scale that I haven't seen for a very long time... Yeah! Go me!!

Happy Tuesday - go kick some tail!!

Baseball tour

I posted this blog last summer, but we didn't end up going... thought I'd repost - with a few edits - and see if I could get some suggestions. :)

When I travel I love stopping at random "historic markers" along the way. Generally you won't find them in brochures and maps, etc. I'm kind of dork when it comes to the places I would like to go/have gone. For instance, my roommate and I took a day trip to Wamego, KS once... spent the day piddling around the small town and visited the Wizard of Oz museum. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Me and two of my friends are going on a baseball tour -- five stadiums, seven days. I'm quite excited I must say. :)

Here's where the tour will be taking us:

Kansas City - Cincinnati
Cincinnati - Cleveland
Cleveland - Detroit
Detroit - Milwaukee
Milwaukee - Minneapolis
Minneapolis - Kansas City


We will be going to games in Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. If anyone has suggestion, recommendations of places to stay and a few things to do in any of these cities, let me know! I'm very excited because I've only been to Milwaukee, but never saw the stadium. We'll be visiting friends along the way, only staying in Milwaukee at a hotel.

Suggestions?! :)

Any suggestions/recommendations would be much appreciated!

Six Word Saturday

Here's how it works: describe your life -or something- in six words. Explain or don't, either way, have fun! Visit Cate at Show My Face to read all about it and get started! :)

Weekend with no plans; now what?!

New Year's version of 6WS

Here's how it works: describe your life -or something- in six words. Explain or don't, either way, have fun! Visit Cate at Show My Face to read all about it and get started! :)

New Year - resolving to go MAD!

Happy New Year, everyone!! The last couple of years I haven't made resolutions, but goals on how to better myself and my life. Next year, my goal is to make a difference. In lives of those around me, maybe someone I don't even know. Whether it's random acts of kindness to the person behind you in the drive thru line, or donating money to build wells in Africa... what will you do to go MAD???