September 2018

Working on my relationship with my Higher Power.
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I grew up Catholic, like Catholic school 1-12th grade, Altar-Serving, Rectory-working Catholic. My mom is also the queen of “Catholic Guilt.” I stopped going to church in college and it wasn’t until a year I to my Measuring Life journey did I begin to explore churches again, but this time not Catholic. I was living in Alabama & a coworker’s husband was a Methodist preacher. I liked John so I figured I’d like him as Preacher John too. I was right! However his church was like 40 min away & I knew I couldn’t make that drive a habit so I explored other Methodist churches in my area and found one I loved. They had great contemporary music. I love all music & being able to sing awesome praise music & listen to a great band at church, SCORE! I attended there for a year before I moved up to the DC area.
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In 2014 after 18 month of living in DC I decided to church hop again & found another Methodist one I really liked, it was also a very laid back service, the music was okay, but the Preacher was great. I attended for over a year, but life got in the way.
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We’ve lived in our current town for ~2 years & I had been curious about churches in the area & did a bunch of research, but didn’t work up the courage/make the time to go until this month. My Sunday’s have been pretty tied up lately, but I made it to a Saturday late afternoon service Labor Day weekend. It was quite traditional & there was a substitute preacher filling in for the new preacher who joined this church in June. I was disappointed & saw it as a bad sign, but after the service one lady encouraged me to come back to see the new Preacher & since I told her I like music she said come to the 10:30am service. She didn’t pressure me, but just wanted to tell me it had a different vibe than the service I was at. So today was the day I had time to go and wow I’m glad I did.
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It was a great service with good music & a laid back feel that I am most comfortable with. I also really liked the Preacher & the message. It was less about letting go of “stuff” and more about letting go of the baggage that weighs us down. I’ll def be back!

Beautiful day for a 4.5 mile hike with my class yesterday! I can’t believe next week is already our last class!

I wore this dress yesterday to work as pictured on the right, but I bought this dress on NYE aka December 31, 2017 which is right before I fully re-committed to @ww, as pictured on the left.
My #weightlossjourney has been full of ups and downs, but I’m thankful to be where I am today and I know this time not to take my progress or body for granted.
There is about a 20 lb difference between these two pictures.

Finally ready to work the 12 steps after 14 months in ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics). I’m going to participate in my first step study meeting after our regular meeting tonight.
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Bonus late night #transformationtuesday for you.
Came across that picture on the left in my Timehop today. I remember how big I felt that day melting in the Alabama heat and how I squeezed my arm to my side to cover my love handles and hips. Now I much prefer the skinny arm pose!

Holy sh*t I did it! Tonight I finished tagging the last of all 3,139 posts on my blog! I literally started this at the end of June and worked at it little by little. I created QUITE A FEW categories to tag. Over time I recognized the themes within the subcategories are: weight loss, fitness, love, music, goals, self care (physical), self care (mental/emotional), and changes.
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These categories are the chapters of my story, I need to shape and polish what I have but between my Measuring Life blog that I’ve had since 2010+ the 4 other smaller blogs I had from 2006-2010 + all my paper journals = my book/play/musical.
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My website is the next undertaking, which I want to have a soft launch on November 18 which is the 11th anniversary of my fathers death.
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Thank you all for your support!

My sexy felt metatarsal pads to help relieve a vascular issue with one of my toes. The podiatrist scheduled me for an MRI ? next month to get a closer look at things.
I’ve had essentially a purple bottom of my toe for 15 years and have had previous podiatrists look at it, but only recently has it been causing me some sporadic pain.
Lesson: it’s always important to speak up and try to stay on top of any nagging issues.

Great hike with my class in an urban environment today! Embassy row to Dupont Circle!

Post #bodypump seated shiatsu massage. My friends has these two massagers at their place and we tried them out a few weeks ago. I used a $100 amazon gift card I had to buy them both. Best decision ever. I’ve been using the seated massage cushion for like 30 min a day on heated shiatsu massage, its such a treat.

Summer 2006 ➡️ Summer 2018
I was going to do a face to face Friday, but I couldn’t resist a whole side shot once I put these two next to one another.
I’ll take age 35 over age 23 any day! I was so clueless when it came to nutrition, health, exercise, etc. I’ve made it a point to learn about these areas and also share what I’ve learned with others!