Week 15! Climbed The Mountain! Stepped on Scales With "No Fear" " I Ate It Up!"

Please click on the link below to listen to Mahalia Jackson w/choir singing the song on youtube that I was humming huffing and puffing up the mountain today.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3AsPjDtmTQ&NR=1

At week 15 it seems almost ridiculous to ask this question, "Will I make Week 5?"  Look at where I was 10 weeks ago! My photo after finishing week 5,  "Will I make Week 5?  I made it!!!" Challenging yes, but thanks to my hubby who is an excellent motivator, coach and trainer;  The two of us are walking, climbing, becoming closer friends and adding fire to our already hot romance.  He still carries the golf club, but doesn't have to nudge me with it anymore. Starting week 15 we climbed the mountain.  When we returned home he made bacon, eggs, fried potatoes with toast, strawberry jam, blueberries and a glass of orange juice.

While he was making breakfast, I showered and afterwards stepped on my trusty digital scale with "no fear."  I had only lost 10 pounds in 14 weeks!  Was I disappointed?  Honestly, yes.  Did I cry? A little.  But, I didn't boo hoo!  "Zumba will help take off the pounds," I told myself.  I enjoyed my breakfast and thanked my husband.

Why I didn't BOO HOO:  A few days ago I was running and playing soccer at the park with my 18 month old grandson when he saw a kid playing with a smaller ball that looked like his soccer ball and he wanted it.  The kid's mom walked over and said, "Your son is so cute, he looks just like you and if you don't mind he can trade with her for a little while."  She said, your son!  This lady had five kids!  The oldest 12 and youngest 6 months, all by C-section.   And she said, your son!  We talked for awhile about having children as we watched the kids play and she wanted to know if I had my son by natural birth or C-section!  I ate it up!  Which actually means, I doted on every word she said as I felt myself getting fuller and fuller from the joy I was feeling.  Well, you know the story.  Finally, after I felt full enough,  I said, "I'm his grandmother and I just turned 62," we both started laughing and hugging one another and jumping up and down as we hugged.  She said, "The way you were running, kicking that ball and keeping up with him, I thought, surely you had to be his mother!  Oh my God, what are you doing to stay so young?" You know the story, 15 weeks!  I told her my story.  She vowed to climb her mountain.

Again, thanks to all of you following my blog and to those of you that are sending much needed encouraging e-mails.  Please don't stop because it is encouraging to know someone cares about My Journey to Celebrating Life.  Please help motivate me to blog every week for 600 more weeks which equates to about 11 more years.  Then I can start over and go for 11 more years as a survivor.  Then start over, again.

Lord Don't Move The Mountain!  I have had this song in my heart for many, many years and never knew I would physically climb a mountain.  WOW!  Love to All.

Ending WeeK 14 Honoring My Grandmother Easter And The End Of Easter Season!

My Grandmother's Name Was Easter.  I think about my grandmother, Easter, especially now that I am a grandmother and especially during Easter Season.  She was the mother of nine children and God called her home when she was 84.  The comforting smile you see in the picture is what I remember the most.  She was a strong beautiful woman loved by tons of grandchildren and others.

*Why Do Christians Celebrate Easter?
Christians believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in him, eternal life in Christ Jesus.

(For a more detailed explanation about his death and resurrection, see Why Did Jesus Have to Die? and Timeline of Jesus' Final Hours.)

*Information taken from About.com 

Hope your Easter Season is a great one. Thank you again for reading my Blob and may God continue to Bless you.

Week 14 Zumba! Come Out Of The Closet Celebrate Life And Zumba With Me!

Last week I wrote about how "time waits for no one,"  but I didn't mean you have to rush things.  Look at the June Bride in the picture to the left and see how great she looks in her wedding gown.  It is never too late to enjoy life! At five inches tall, this doll was a lot of fun to create as an older bride and the wedding gown she is wearing is one of the best I've made!

At 62, I am having the time of my life.  I ended week 13 with a great accomplishment; I walked seven days straight!  Yesterday, starting week 14 was my first Zumba class and afterwards I went to my doctor's office for my usual random blood pressure check and for the very first time in years it was so low I walked out of that office feeling free!  Thank You Lord!

Today my husband and I went mountain climbing.  Tonight as I write this blog my eyes are burning and watery because I just had a massage with Tiger Balm.  Zumba is soooo much fun, but my class yesterday was intense and one on one, therefore, I used muscles I didn't know I had and they needed some tender loving care before going back to class tomorrow morning.  My hope is that my strength will continue to be renewed as I Celebrate Living.  Thank You Lord!

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV

  See Zumba in action on youtube by clicking on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4&feature=related

Again, thanks to all of you for your encouragement and prayers.  Love to All.

Week 13! Here Already And I'm Not Ready! Does Time Wait For Anyone?

No, time does not wait for anyone, so to all you beautiful ladies out there, waiting to drop a few pounds before you say, "I do," forget it.  Wedding Gowns can be made in any size, like the beautiful one I made to the left, which is 5 inches tall.

Before week 13 started I was going to step on the scales and proudly announce to my readers my new weight loss!  Well, I couldn't do it.  I could not force myself to get on those scales, although I know I've lost a few pounds judging by the more comfortable fit of my clothes, my blood pressure and diabetes readings, but most of all by the dreamy look in my hubby's eyes, especially when he "accidentally" walks past each time as I'm stepping out of the shower. 

So, I cannot believe time has flown by and now it is week 13.  I have not weighed since the day before I started my journey to Celebrate Living.  I am eager to see how much weight I've lost, but more eager to continue the road to better health. I gained a few pounds during my two weeks of illness.  But, the great thing is that I'm back to walking two/three miles a day.  And tonight I really enjoyed Zumba to the max!

Coming out of the closet is going to help me set new goals.  I imagine my new goals will be;  Don't let weight hold me back from doing the things I love to do.  To eat healthier and keep on walking and Zumba, no matter what, because TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE!

Again, thanks to those of you following my blog and keep the encouraging e-mails coming.  Love to all.

Week 12 - Celebrate Living! Dollhouse Miniature Wedding Gowns

Week 12 is a very special week!  I'm recovering from this awful cold, resumed training, celebrated another birthday, celebrated my 11th year as a cancer survivor and celebrated five years of designing and making dollhouse miniature wedding gowns.  WOW!  What a feast!  Hope you celebrate living too.  Please tell me what your favorite hobby is and how you celebrate living.

Week 12 - Celebrate Living Continues

Last night after I wrote this blog, I thought I had lost it and quickly wrote another one, but when I found it today I decided to post it so please excuse some of the repetition. Special Week!  Another year here on this earth starting my 12th week of sheer joy and pain training for my first marathon!  My cold is finally coming to an end and I was able to walk two miles this morning before enjoying a surprise Celebration visit from my sister and her husband.  It felt great to start training again, although I never stopped holding onto the back of my chair to Zumba during my illness.  As I celebrate my birthday and 11 years as a cancer survivor this week, I thank God that I am feeling as though I have my life back by coming out of the closet and sharing with others who may be experiencing what I've experienced hiding in the closet during the past 11 years since the cancer diagnosis and during recovery.  I am so happy to sit here tonight and blog to share my love of making Dollhouse Miniatures, a hobby that has played a very important part of my healing and my joy. Wedding gowns are some of my favorite miniatures to design and make.  Ideas for design and creation are abundant everywhere. 

 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1 

So God created mankind in his own image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them.   Genesis 1:27

My next wedding gown design will be a miniature replica of my favorite daughter's wedding gown.  WOW!  What a challenge!  Her gown was absolutely gorgeous and the wedding was the most beautiful one I've ever seen.  

 Nine months after the wedding a little male child God had created presented himself to this earth and upon his mother's breast he happily fed until grandma gently pulled him away and took him into her arms as tears rolled down her face.  My first grandson!  Thank you God!  Thank you favorite daughter and son!

Thanks again for following my blog and for keeping the encouraging e-mails coming.  Love and happiness to all of you.  Keep up the walking and Zumba and Celebrate Living.  Please let me know what your favorite hobby is.  Looks like I need to add photography as an additional hobby because I love taking pictures.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. Genesis 9:1  

Now I Have Two Grandsons!