Week 154 Check-in: December 14, 2009

Starting Weight: Jan 1, 2007 – 278 lbs
Previous Week’s Weight: December 7, 2009 – 170.4

Current Weight: December 14, 2009 – 168.4 lbs

Week 154 Weight Loss:  2 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 109.6 lbs

Exercise Report:
Cardio x 5
Strength Training (Upper body) x 3
Strength Training (Lower body) x 3
Abs x 2

Food Report:
Another great week thanks to my Holiday Challenge Support Team!

Notes:

  • The Holiday Challenge still going strong!  Feel free to  join us at any time.
  • Still sticking to no eating after 9PM. Yay!
  • Proactively increased calories by 200 over weekend to counter PMS! Worked well!

24 to 40: Surviving a Broken Neck

I'm turning 40 in 24 days!

Broken neck? Yes, you did read that correctly. Of all the things that I am writing about in this Turning 40 series, this would definitely be at the top of a short list of the events in my life that I feel have impacted me the most.

The year was 1986. I had finished my semester at Oak Grove Boarding School and was back to small town living in Ferryville, WI. I was SO ready to get my driver’s license and my father was more than happy to take me out for driving lessons on the country roads in their small Ford Escort.

I had passed my driving class and had been feeling excited and anxious to set up the appointment that would give me the freedom that every teen-age girl longs for! (Assuming that I would pass, of course!)

My dad was taking me out for one last little trip before I took the plunge. We were only a few mile outside of town, on the country road that I had come to know pretty well. Coming to a bend in the road I had gotten off on the shoulder just a bit and the gravel pulled the car in a way that I was not used to. Heading straight for the railing of a bridge, my dad grabbed the wheel to point us in the other direction. We ended up rolling the car and landing upside down near the creek.

Here are the pictures of the poor Ford Escort:

carcar2car3

Wow! I never dreamed I would have such a bad car accident before I even had my driver’s license!

I haven’t seen these pictures for several years and going over them again brings back a flood of memories and an amazing feeling of gratitude that things turned out the way that they did.

Looking at that first picture above, you would not think that the driver could be OK considering where the roof of that car is! I call it divine intervention for sure that day that my car seat broke causing it to recline all the way back on impact. Two men had been fishing nearby and when they saw the car they proceeded to get us out and drag us away up the hill a bit (because of leaking gasoline)…another divine moment as they did not know that they were dealing with a girl who had a broken neck.

Yep, here’s the not so pretty result of the car accident injury to me:

hospitalI can remember the day very well. I think I had lost consciousness for a bit on impact and the next thing I knew I was screaming for my dad! I needed to be sure that he was alright. My mom came and we were all rushed by ambulance the 40 minutes to the nearest emergency.

At the time, my dad was in shock so there was a lot of worry about him, but we were talking and alive!

Once at the hospital, we were put in different rooms and I remember my mom going back and forth between the two to check in on us. X-rays were taken and I’ll never forget my doctor coming into the room, slapping the X-ray up on the wall and telling me “Well, young lady it looks like you have yourself a broken neck!” Say what?!

When my mom came in and I told her what the doctor had said, she did not believe me at first. I MUST have misunderstood! He looked at the x-ray with us and he actually said that it was somewhat surprising (I call this a miracle – divine intervention #3) 😉 that my spinal cord had not been severed. My 6th vertebrae was overlapping the 7th and decisions would need to be made as to how to proceed.

At that point, I was pretty much immediately put in the traction that you see above. Screws in the head, rotating bed (180 degrees) and all!

My father suffered a fractured sternum and was not admitted to the hospital.

The first few days were rough! I hated that rotating bed! I was on a lot of medication for sure but sleep was not coming too easily. My parents stayed at the hospital and what I remember most during those first few days after the accident was that my dad seemed always to be there. Coffee in hand, he would walk to each side of the bed talking to me. I know that he had a difficult time seeing me like that, but I was so thankful that it was me and not him because I was the one driving.

There was a moment while I was alone and in traction that had played itself out in my faith walk today many times. I believe that it was one of the first times that I really heard the voice of God. Depending on your own faith, you might think me crazy (it’s ok) but I heard God telling me that night that I would be alright, that He had a purpose for my life that did not include being paralyzed. (There had still been some concern of this.)

This voice was so real to me that I rang for my parents and told them and the doctors that I had heard from God.  Wow! Over the years, this moment has faded a bit but there have been times during my walk with the Lord now that He has reminded me of that exact moment, so much so that it can bring me to my knees today.

The rest of the story includes the decision to go ahead with surgery (as opposed to continued traction). This meant a bone graft from my hip and the shaving of much of my hair. (Which, by the way, they didn’t bother to tell me – a rude awaking for a young girl!) I would be in a neck brace of one sort or another for the next several months.

During this time, I discovered just how much people cared for me. EVERYONE from my small High School showed up as well as a few people from the boarding school in Fargo. It was right around Easter that I was in the hospital. Here is a picture of me in the room post surgery:

hospital2There are SO many things that I learned from this period of my life. I will just end in saying that I do not regret the accident at all. I think it taught me an amazing lesson about appreciating life at such an early age. I pray that I (and you) would never take life for granted, as it really CAN change in an instant.

P.S. I did go on to get my driver’s license after 3 ATTEMPTS! (At least one failure was marked as “drives TOO cautiously!” Go figure!)


25 to 40: Seeking Adventure

I'm turning 40 in 25 days!

Good boarding high schools do exist in the U.S. and I found a great one to attend in Fargo, ND. (practically one of THE coldest spots in the U.S., I might add) 😉

The is a picture of part of the campus of Oak Grove Lutheran High School:

Oak Grove Lutheran High School

I attended Oak Grove for the first semester of my sophomore year of high school. Why did I move from my family and life in small town Wisconsin to this cold place far away in North Dakota? This move has everything to do with what I described in my post about the childhood visions that I had for my life as I looked out over the river from the top of the hill in back of my house. At 15, I was starting to recognize limitations to the small town life and I really wanted to start seeing the world.

While traveling to visit my grandparents during a previous winter, (They traveled south in their motor home for the winters and our family would often go to meet up with them for our holiday vacation.) I had mentioned to my Grandfather that I really wanted to attend a new school…that I wanted to be a new kid in school for once.  Now mind you, I certainly had friends and wasn’t having any problems at my sweet high school in the Midwest, but I was an adventure seeker…even back then. 😉

My Grandparents said that once I completed my confirmation (something we did within the Lutheran faith) I could come out to join them wherever they happened to be in their travels to live and attend a new school for a period of time. Talk about exciting news! I was not going to forget this idea!

I think my grandparents thought I would forget about the offer, but when the time came I approached them with the reminder. As it turned out, they would not be able to take me with them that particular year so they offered me the option of attending a boarding school for one semester. The conditions were that I had to find a Christian boarding school and the curriculum needed to include some bible study.

I quickly located (with some help) Oak Grove Lutheran School and the wheels were in motion. Yay! I got accepted and discovered that during the only semester that I would be there the 10th grade girls would have P.E. class while the 10th graded boys had the bible class during this time. Because of my situation, they made an exception for me which meant I got to attend the bible class WITH the boys INSTEAD of P.E. Imagine my excitement – score on that count for both reason! LOL

Boarding school taught me a lot of things about myself.  I was homesick for sure…probably more so than I had anticipated. I did adjust to dorm life and had an awesome roommate (I recently reconnected with her after all the years via Facebook) and group of great friends to pal around with.  I was part of the school choir and participated in the school drama production. I also “fell in love” and was nowhere near ready to leave when the end of the semester came along. 😉

I believe going away to boarding school was the beginning of the recognition that I was a bit of a risk taker. The first glimpses of these traits came with my childhood business endeavors as I went against the grain a bit in terms of the things that my friends were interested in doing at this time in our lives. This would play out many more times throughout my adult life.

I am so grateful to my Grandparents (now deceased) for giving me this opportunity as well as my parents for being so incredibly supportive even though I knew it was a difficult thing to let me live so far from home.

I was spreading my wings! Let the adventure begin!


26 to 40: Music in My Life

26-to-40

oak-grove-choirI remember my first voice lesson with fondness. My parents had known how much my sisters and I loved to sing, even at an early age, so this is one of the many things they supported us to be able to do.  We would drive the 40 minutes to Virterbo College in La Crosse, WI where I would spend an hour of private voice lessons from Sister Arlene. I learned a lot from her during that time.

I grew up being involved with music in one shape or another. My earliest memories are of piano lessons and singing hymns in church. In elementary school I had a short time of guitar lessons and then beginning with junior high school I started playing the saxophone.

Throughout these years I was always in the school choir and also participated in the annual vocal and band contest each year. The picture to the right is a choir picture during my sophomore year at Oak Grove boarding school. (More on that in a later post) I loved to sing and would pretty much do so at any opportunity.

piano-hozannaHere I am playing the keyboard with the worship band at Hosanna Celebration Center during many of my years spent in San Francisco, CA.  I loved this time of my life.

Praise and Worship music has become my main source of listening enjoyment these days.

I’ve been known to sing a few songs at a karaoke club or two. My favorites to sing in this environment would be country favorites. This also reminds me of the early camping days at the ol Yogi Bear Campground – even then I loved to hop on stage and sing a tune!

Keep singing! 🙂



27 to 40: I Was a Young Entrepreneur

I'm turning 40 in 27 days!

young entrepreneurThis is the picture of what a young entrepreneur looks like! 😉

Its funny when we look back at our childhood and realize how much of who we are as an adult reflects those early days of our youth.

I have never really longed for a typical 8-5 job or career. I always felt that my career choice would be something with a lot of freedom in it.

As I was finishing my final years of High School, my biggest dream was to be a cruise director. (like Julie on the then popular TV show “The Love Boat”) I wanted to travel and see the world.

As a senior, I began exploring my college choice options and my dream of choice was to be an undercover FBI agent. Do you see the trend here? I was most definitely an adventure seeker. I was a young woman that was not thinking of something traditional here.

I went on to school (for the next 10 YEARS – more on this later!) but I digress…

I believe my truest passion in life is to be a successful entrepreneur, owning my own business(es) and shaping this path as I go along.

There were many signs of this desire at a very early age. Meet Paula, the child entrepreneur…

Here are some of the many childhood “businesses” I had going at one time or another:

  • Entertainer AND Event Promoter
    At a very early age, I would create these special programs, plays…you name it – with my siblings, friends, cousins or whoever happened to be around. I would promote to all my family and collect money for the tickets.  Then I would also be part of the entertainment. (Usually the star, I am sure!) 😉
  • Door-to-door Saleswoman
    At a very early age, I would literally copy from my children’s books with a pencil and paper. I’d color in the pictures, staple the pages and go door-to-door trying to sell these to the wonderful town mothers.
  • Errand Girl/Whatever Needs to be Done For Cash Girl!
    I was constantly pestering my parents, grandparents and any other adult that would humor me for tasks that they needed a hard working young girl to complete. I worked hard and was always looking for a way to make a $1.
  • Every Type of “Stand” You Could Imagine!
    As I grew a little older and my money taking skills improved, I would set up shop outside of my grandparent’s cheese factory. I sold lemon-aid/cool-aid, cookies and whatever else I could get my little hands on! When the leaves turned colors and traffic was busy, business was great!

Remember that I had the fantastic luxury of growing up on the Mississippi River. This meant lots of fisherman and a lot of opportunities for me!

pbyriverIt was at this very boat landing that:

  • I Sold Worms/Night Crawlers to the Fisherman
    I loved a great stormy night! This is when the big night crawlers would come out and my mom was a great one for grabbing a flashlight and taking us out to see what we could find. I loved to do this!
  • I Sold and Attempted to Mate Minnows to Sell for Bait
    I would collect minnows myself and take them home in the hopes that I would see some multiplying going on! I would then have something else to offer the fisherman besides worms.
  • I Collected Every Aluminum Can Within a Radius of About 10 Miles!
    In the summer, when my friends and I would be at the town ball park for the great tournaments, tractor pulls and goings on, (these were the biggest events in our small town) while they were enjoying the ball games, I would be the one climbing under the bleachers collecting the empty beer cans from the drunk locals. LOL I used to fill up big garbage bags full of cans to turn in for cash. I was not even opposed to going through those big dumpsters! ick!
  • I was THE Babysitter in Town
    As soon as I was old enough, (I actually think I was only about 10) I started babysitting in the small town where I lived. This was a pretty easy sell since I was the oldest of 5 and everyone knew my family. There was almost never a weekend when my nights were not filled with babysitting jobs. Sometimes I would cleverly try to double up when my nights were already filled with a gig. For example, I made a killing on New Year’s Eve! (This would later lead to my desire to become a Nanny.)

Later in Junior High School, I was the one to win the competition for selling the most magazine subscriptions. I could go on…I’m sure you get the idea. I was driven to have my own business, make money and find childhood success in whatever endeavor I was committed to at the time.

Here is a good description and definition of entrepreneur from Entrepreneur.com

Entrepreneur characteristics include such things as perseverance, passion, vision and the willingness to work hard. Yep, I’d say that describes me to a T, even at a young age!

When you look back at your childhood, what characteristics foretold the career or path you’ve taken as an adult? I’d love it if you’d share that with me…


28 to 40: What I Learned Working At McDonald’s

I'm turning 40 in 28 days!

I feel that I learned all about work ethics from my teen experience working for this famous fast food restaurant!

mcdsLike many teenagers, this is one of my earliest work experiences. Prior to working at McDonald’s, I made my fun money by babysitting all the neighborhood kids in my small town. That was great but I was literally making $1/hr if I was lucky! Good grief! I would go on to use this babysitting experience later in my nanny career.

I actually loved working at McDonald’s. Looking back at these early days I can see a lot of things that I learned from this first “real” job that I think contributed to the strong work ethic that I have today.

  • I learned about planning and time management.
    I had to drive 30 minutes each way to get to work.  This required planning in order to be on time and the commitment to not be late. This has most definitely stuck with me as I am rarely late for anything. I would tend to be the person that is always a bit early.
  • I learned to work well with others.
    The workplace definitely had a goal to be team centered. I made friends at work and we interacted well with one another to get the job done. Work was a lot of fun for this reason.
  • I learned that I enjoyed working with people.
    Typically you would start your McD’s career working behind the scenes…flipping burgers, dropping fries, creating salads, etc. If you were a good candidate to work the front cache registers, this would be next in your level of training. My favorite position was the drive through and I was fast! 😉 I enjoyed the face-to-face interaction with the customers the most.
  • I learned the value of an incredible business model.
    This lesson came much later in life as I learned more and more about business and recognize the value in how I had received my training while working at this famous franchise. McDonald’s works as a business model because of its consistency with training practices and procedures. You can know that whether you walk into a McD’s here in MI or one in downtown Paris, most often that burger is going to taste exactly the same and the person taking your order will be practicing the same procedure. Now when I look at my own business, I always keep this in mind believing that having a goal to be system oriented is a must for success!
  • I learned to work hard for my money!
    There were long days and a lot of extra hours during my times here both in High School and also my first year of college. I learned how to make my own money and to work for the things that I wanted. I didn’t always feel like going to work, but I did often feel that I needed the income, particularly during my freshman year at college.

Thanks “Golden Arches”, for helping to develop a good work ethic in me!

P.S. Also in later years, McDonald’s would come to haunt me as one of my main sources of weight gain and food comforts. So I did come to have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with this place.

P.S.S. I “think” I have made peace but I still tread lightly when it comes to fast food. 😉



29 to 40: Having a Vision

I'm turning 40 in 29 days!

We need to give ourselves permission to act out our dreams and visions.
Even if it takes a lifetime.
~ Vijali Hamilton

vision

Somehow I learned at an early age what it was to have a vision for my life. I’m not sure if everyone by instinct has this desire. I would hate to think that it’s not the case. I would like to think that everyone has the feeling deep down in the core of their being, that they were created for something greater than what they could see at any one point in time.

I think this is what I felt deep down inside as a child looking out over the river from the top of the hill in back of our home. I know that so much of the positive beliefs that I held for myself and my future had everything to do with the incredible support that I felt from my parents. I really did believe that I could do or be anything.

I think that many kids do have this belief and asking a child what they want to be when they grow up is one of my favorite questions. Don’t you love it how they dream BIG dreams at a young age? It’s only as we grow older, and are faced with dealing with some of life’s inevitable disappointments that we lose this kind of hope and thoughts of what is possible.

For sure, my life has not turned out exactly as I thought it would but then again I can’t say that I have a lot of regrets. I’ve made lots of mistakes to be sure. But I’ve also fulfilled many dreams and definitely believe that the dreams of my childhood are still coming to fruition.

I still believe that I can do anything I set my mind to. The 100+ lbs of weight loss has helped once again to keep that dream alive because for awhile my weight was such a limiting factor to my mind really.

I believe in the power of goal setting. I believe that it is of vast importance that one seeks to know a purpose for their life. Creating a vision and mission statement can be so very powerful in the process of change and forward movement. Weight loss has taught me that as well.

What are some of my current dreams as I get ready to move into 2010 (and celebrate my 40th!)?

  • to reach and maintain my goal weight
  • to be living a mobile lifestyle (this encompasses both the dreams of having my own business as well as A LOT of travel) 😉
  • meeting my future husband
  • to being living a more relaxed lifestyle that encompasses a lot more free time ( for family, friends, service, relaxation, etc)

…there are probably a few more but these would be the main points on my mind.

For sure as the New Year gets closer, I will spend a great deal of time specifically looking at how I envision 2010 and what are the goals needed to make that vision a reality. (more on this to come, I am sure)

I encourage you to think about your childhood visions and your current visions.

I would love to hear from you below…thanks!


30 to 40: In Appreciation of Good Parents

I'm turning 40 in 30 days!

Good parents can be found everywhere. I’m sure that you are among the best of the best! My parents were great and I as an adult I recognize the value of so many things that they did for me and taught me.

If I were ever to be a parent, I would hope to instill these same values in my children.

mom and dad

1. The importance of family
My parents were so great about creating the most wonderful family time. I am especially fond of the camping memories that I have. I did fight with my siblings for sure, as all kids do, but I also remember really enjoying being with them. We had a lot of fun together. I feel very fortunate that as an adult I count my four siblings among my very best friends and I know that is due to how our parent raised us.

2. They attended ALL of our events.
When I think about this today, it is absolutely mind boggling how my parents juggled everything. Somehow with both of them working full-time, they still managed to attend anything of importance for all 5 of us kids. I’m not just talking about the biggies here…I’m talking every sports game, concert, play, meeting, etc. They were SO present. I’m sure it could not have been easy at all. AND we were all VERY active in school. I so appreciate this about them. They were also always willing to open our home up for having all the friends over, sleep overs, parties (the good non-alcoholic kind). My friends would ask me to have them chaperone our dances. (really?!) and they did all of that!

3. They have ALWAYS been very supportive.
Related to point 2, I have always felt complete support from my parents. Throughout school, they would encourage us with our varied interests whether sports, music or general school activities. They hired a great vocal teacher for my sister and I. We would all travel the 40 minutes one way, once a week to get us to our lessons. When my Grandparents presented me with the opportunity to attend a boarding school (more on that in another post) for a semester, they supported it even though I know if was difficult for them to see me leave home at such an early age. When I wanted to spend my summers out East as a nanny so that I could begin to explore some of this inviting big world I’d been dreaming of, my parents allowed me to pursue this.

Even as an adult, I feel that consistent solid support of my parents. I know that they don’t always understand or agree with my decisions but they are steadfast in their support and believe in me. I have always felt that and I’ve always felt that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. I know this has everything to do with how they parented me. Even today, as I write this from my parents home (they are away traveling for the winter) I feel their support. I had planned to be here while they traveled and then that plan also became a necessity when I lost my job a few months ago.  I’m so grateful to them that I am here today.

4. They taught me the foundations of my Christian faith.
I was raised Lutheran and grew up attending church and Sunday school weekly as well as bible camp in the summer. My family would read the bible and recite prayers each night after dinner and I knew all the classic hymns of worship. I didn’t really know what all of this meant in my life at the time. Heck, I didn’t really enjoy it all that much, truth be told. It was just something we did because we had to. No questions asked…really.

Into my adulthood, I would wander away a bit in terms of my faith. Like many young adults I began to question the things that I had been taught about “religion” as a child. I knew that the Lutheran church was not really the place for me. (nothing against Lutherans, of course!)

While living in San Francisco, I visited both extremes. One moment I felt more like I didn’t believe in God at all to then finding a wonderful little Foursquare Christian church which would become my home of sorts. I will speak more about this in another post, but for now I’ll just say that it was here that I began to know what it was to be in relationship with God.

Even though our spiritual paths and beliefs (Our core beliefs are the same.) have been different, I’m so grateful to my parents for bringing me up in a Christian home and for giving me that core knowledge of the Bible which is so important to me today.

5. They taught me to be a good person.
I am in no way claiming to be a saint here. For sure, I have my faults. I think my parents raised my siblings and me to be good people….to care about others and to know and do the right thing. At a young age, I learned that lying and stealing were wrong. I  learned a lesson as a child that some of you may have experienced which was having to take back something that I had taken to a store. Ick! What a horrible thing! And what a lesson. To this day, I would go out of my way to find an owner of found money, give back incorrect change at the grocery store, etc. I say this not to make it seem like I am so perfect…believe me, I’m not. BUT I do know the feeling in my gut when I do the “right” thing vs. the “wrong” thing. My parents taught me this.

These are just a few of the many things I appreciate most about my parents. I mentioned in an earlier post that they were in a bad accident 4 years ago. My siblings and I are SO grateful that they are still with us. I plan to be appreciating them for many more years and have assured them that I don’t plan for it to be from their own home for much longer! 😉

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad! I love my parents!


Week 153 Check-in: December 7, 2009

Starting Weight: Jan 1, 2007 – 278 lbs
Previous Week’s Weight: November 30, 2009 – 175.4 (holiday weight – boo!)

Current Weight: December 7, 2009 – 170.4 lbs

Week 153 Weight Loss:  5 lbs YAY! See notes below!

Total Weight Loss: 107.6 lbs

Exercise Report:
Cardio x 5
Strength Training (Upper body) x 3
Strength Training (Lower body) x 3
Abs x 2

Food Report:
VERY Good thanks to my Holiday Challenge Support Team – you all rock!

Notes:

  • We are almost at the halfway point of the Holiday Challenge.  Feel free to  join us at any time.
  • I 100% believe that it is my challenge posse and the accountability that has helped me with this much needed loss…I have stuck to my calorie goals and have not eaten at all past 9PM each night – THIS makes all the difference! Please join us! 😉

31 to 40: Bullied or Harmless Teasing?

I'm turning 40 in 31 days!School bullying – I feel the pain of those that are bullying victims for sure!

3rd-grade4th-gradeThe pictures here are of me in the 3rd and 4th grades. I went to elementary school (grades 1-4 only) in the small town where I grew up.

My class was SMALL and by small I do mean that there were 7 of us. 4 boys and 3 girls! It was fun at times but mostly difficult the way that I recall it.

The three of us girls seemed to have a hard time ALL getting along. There was always a battle to be the best friend and always seemed to be an odd man (girl) out! How sad is that?!

I remember being teased like crazy from the 4 boys as well as the boys in the class ahead of us. At the time, everyone (my parents) would say the famous “they just tease you because they like you”. That may have been true, but it certainly didn’t feel like it. Looking back now as an adult, there really was some pretty serious bullying going on.

I can remember being physically hurt. In fact one day my parents got called in to the principal because I had been punched in the stomach. Yikes!

I know it was more than just teasing to me because I can remember not wanting to go to school and I can actually remember the feeling of wanting to die – yuck! Not being overly dramatic…it’s just the truth.

I admit to watching Lifetime movies sometimes on the weekend and I recently watched “Odd Girl Out”.  This movie was all about a poor young girl that went from being popular in school to getting bullied ALL because of a boy. (Her friend liked the boy and the boy liked her!)

The movie ended on a good note with the girl taking a stand and sticking up for herself against the bullies but this was after much turmoil including an attempted suicide.

Wow! We cannot be too careful with our children/teens when it comes to this fragile period of their lives. With today’s increase in technology there have been horrible cases of cyber bullying which have ended with teens taking their lives.

My story also ended on a good note. 😉 Years later, (in fact it was my high school graduation) the leader of that elementary school bully pack had shown up at my graduation party. He had moved away years prior to that. He pulled me aside with a gift and told me how sorry he was for the way he had treated me in grade school. Crazy, but good!

I’m a big child/teen advocate and believe that we must stop bullying before this situation gets even worse among our children and teens.


Malcare WordPress Security