hair!

SO I have tried so many ways since Ive had Nate to have an "easy" hair do so its a quick fix and it still looks good...I haven't found one yet... if its too short I think my face looks fat, if its got too many layers my hair flies in all sorts of directions and if there are no layers my hair looks boring! Heres the most recent pic I took of myself on my phone...not bad but this look took me like 20 min. SO if you have any suggestions let me know!

religion, friends, family FUN!

I had a great 4th of July weekend! I caught a little cold, and I think i'm on the back end of that now thank God!

Today I caught up with a friend of mine from 1999, WOW 11 years ago was when we first met. We were both staff at Camp Prairie Schooner in KC MO. We worked together for about 4 years, every summer. We always had a good time, we learned a lot, we played hard, and grew close. She is Muslim. I am Christian. I never thought about that large difference too much. I respected her for the great job she did as a Girl Scout Camp Leader. I respected and still respect her for who she is as a Muslim.

I remember asking her a lot of questions as we worked together about her religion, but I never thought any differently about her. I enjoyed her friendship and I have enjoyed being mothers together, although we rarely see each other we catch up on Facebook!

September 11th 2001 changed all of that, not for me, but for what seems like everyone else!

As I enjoyed catching up with her, meeting her two beautiful daughters, and just enjoying playing with all the kids today, (we went to Paradise Park in Lees Summit) I realized that people looked at her differently for who she was, she was just being a mom. Although I didn't notice it, I bet, people looked at me a bit differently today too because we were together, she obviously Muslim from her dress, me, obviously not because of my dress, but we were chatting, and laughing and playing with our kids together, just like everyone else there, I did not, and do not discriminate against anybody who is different than myself, and I enjoy every opportunity I get to learn about others and their religion and life styles. I can only imagine how she gets looked at and talked about today and any day. I think its horrible how we can do that to people. People, who have hearts, and feelings, and families just like ours.

I love my friend, and I love that my Son had the opportunity to experience with someone from a different religion. I love that I got to meet two beautiful little girls who have a beautiful strong mom. When it all comes down to it, we are all God's beloved creation, and we should treat each other that way, all the time!

Here is a pic of all of us together! All of our kiddos including my niece are so little that they may not remember this, but, I hope we can continue to play together as Gods creation!!

IT WORKED!!

YAY I IMPORTED MY OLD BLOG TO HERE....yes the web address changed a bit... i'll update all of you here shortly...

Summer has been good to us, we are BUSY but we are having FUN!!

here's the latest pic of Me and Nate...

trying a NEW thing...

IM TRYING TO IMPORT MY OLD BLOG TO HERE... lets hope this works...

Pre-DETOX

Okay SO i'm writing this the night before I start my 7-day detox. Part of this transitions lifestyle "diet" program is to detox your body from all the chemicals that consume through processed foods, coffee, etc...so for the next 7 days I will be drinking only water, eating 3 servings of fruit/day and eating as many vegetables that I want. No coffee, no meat, no bread, no milk/dairy products, nothing but fruits and vegetables. THIS is the HARD part for me. I rely on food to give me energy throughout my day and for the next 7 days all I have to rely on is vegetables...yikes.

I'm also going to add things to my water that are supposed to help with the detox, one is i'll be drinking hot lemon water first thing every morning (this is supposed to kick-start your metabolism), then then i'll be drinking "aloe-vera water which is supposed to help with the bloating that we all have, finally i'll be drinking "sassy water" which is lemons and cucumbers sliced up in water...not sure how all of these taste, but I'm up for an adventure especially if i'll feel better in the end.

SO here is a BEFORE picture...stay tuned for an AFTER picture...





i'm ready to be healthier for Nate, for Me, for my fruitfulness as a minister, all in the Name of Jesus my Savior.

BIG momma

OKAY so those of you that have recently started reading my blog, I'm guessing that you are wondering why it is titled 'big momma' well...it is simple...I am a BIG momma, I have tried several diets, I have tried working out, I have started using sugar free and fat free substitutes in everything I can. I still have not been successful in any major weight loss.

SO I started writing this blog to keep myself accountable and to kind of just write my struggles and triumphs on attempting to be a healthier individual, not just healthier by loosing weight but healthier spiritually, emotionally, and physically...this will be a life long goal, with short term goals in between...(the blog has also just kind of turned into a personal blog, with different stories in my journey of being a single mom).

SO I've got a small support group a couple of close friends who are supporting me in my weight loss journey and I've decided to do this program called Transitions Life Style. It is a 12 week program that starts with a 7-day detox, and then teaches one how to cook and eat healthier and teaches one what happens to your body as you consume certain kinds of food. I have always looked for the easy way out in my weight loss journey, and this is not an easy way out, this will probably be one of the hardest things I will do because I LOVE food SO much!

SO here goes all my weight, all my poor self esteem, all my fatigue and indigestion...HERE is to NEW me, I'm doing this for me, I'm doing this for Nate and I'm doing it all in Jesus' Holy and Awesome Name!

Despair and Sacrifice in the Lenten Season

So as I continue down my Lenten journey, I feel like I have connected with God, and I continue to seek yet a deeper connection. God has shown me 2 instances of despair and sacrifice that normally I wouldn't of thought much of, but sense I have been trying to be more receptive to what God has for me, I believe He has revealed these stories to me...

The first one was a few days ago, I went to a restaraunt for breakfast and to get some studying done. I asked the waitress to sit me back where it was fairly quiet, that didn't last long, as a large family piled in right next to my table. As I was slightly distracted by the family setteling into their table I overheard a little old man telling the waitress that they were all gathering to honor his grandson with a meal because he was returning over seas to fulfill his duty to the marine corps today. The first thought that came into my mind, was wow, what a sacrifice, what a great sacrifice for lent, how brave of that man, how scary for that family, how scary for me, this man, younger than me was sacrificing the possibility of his life for not only me but for possibly all of our lives and for his country, how humbling is that?! and I sit here and reflect on my piddly sacrifices...




This picture is not very clear, but it begings my second story of Lenten despair. It was taken from my car while I was sitting at a stoplight, I was in between Kansas City and Independence. This man was dressed well, ironed clothes, decent shoes, a coat and a hat, he obviously spent some money on creating a sturdy sign that said that he was seeking employment and it gave his phone number. I am not sure how he lost his old job, or what lead him to standing on the street corner begging for employment. I have been in that spot, I was laid off shortly before Christmas 2008 and spent a while with out a job, but I never was so desperate as to stand on the street corner to ask for a job, I was blessed with a job, in fact I have had 4 jobs since I lost my job, and am what I consider myself extraordinarily blessed... I cannot imagine the despair this man is going through, how close he and or his family is to being homeless, food-less, electricity-less, etc... How brave, how scary, how humbling...

so as I wrap up these sacrifice and despair stories, my question is, What does God have planned for them? Why did God bring me these two instances? I find myself still asking...what does God has for me?, do I need to make a larger sacrifice?, do I need to humble myself into despair?? what oh God do you have for me?