Exciting News!

Something I forgot to mention in my post about IEW is that I had not contacted IEW about promoting their materials and I did not receive any compensation.  I was merely sharing my unbiased opinion because I care.

Well, Jamie, who blogs for IEW, found my mini-review and posted about it on the IEW website blog.  She even linked to the Write Brothers and called us "famous".

I am trying really hard not to get a big head!

The boys are thrilled and working double time on their next assignment.  They are hoping Mr. Pudewa will read it and award it two thumbs up.  :)

Thank you, Jamie.

And thank you again, IEW.  We think you rock.

Another exciting development is that I am once again the owner of a camera!!!

This one to be exact....

FYI, I am not trying to sell you a camera but wanted you to see which one I bought.  Putting in an Amazon link was the easiest way to facilitate that.  I realized once I started typing this post that I was not going to be able to take a picture of it myself.

Duh!

However, I was able to use it to take some pictures by the lake today.  I hope you enjoy the return of photos to my blog.

I have pictures of my children again!
See how they've grown!!

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 25

25 weeks...that is unbelievable.

I have never stuck with a diet and exercise program for that long and feel like I should hold a celebration.  It's my silver diet-versary, y'all!  :)

I couldn't have done it without your support.  Thank you.

However, I have two kiddos with colds and am coordinating a science fair to be held Friday while preparing the boys for another big event on Saturday.  In other words, I have to keep this short.

So...let's get to it, shall we?

I lost 1.6 pounds,

bringing my weight-loss total to 27.8 pounds!

Woo Hoo! 

The ball is rolling in the right direction again.  My Fitness Pal has a lot to do with that.  It just works for me.

I think I found another critical element this week, too.  I had started exercising during the day because it is hard to find the energy for it in the evening as I had been doing for the first few months.  I switched back to exercise before bed and have found that a) I sleep better and b) the pounds shed more easily.  Perhaps it gives my metabolism a boost so that I lose while I sleep.

Not sure.  I'm not a health professional so I can't begin to say that with any confidence.

It would make a neat science fair experiment, though.

Oh yeah...science fair.  That reminds me of 3,593 other things I need to do.

I will see y'all later!

Please pray for the following:

1. Continued weight loss and energy to exercise at night.
2. The Science Fair and my sanity (there seems to be a correlation between the two)
3. My loved ones facing legal situations- One has been resolved in his favor, praise the Lord!
4. Friends and missionaries in Japan- all are safe but facing difficult situations.
5. Decisions M and I are making about next school year.  We need wisdom.

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Disclosure:  I have not been compensated for linking to My Fitness Pal.  I just find it helpful and wanted to share my unbiased opinion.

Disclaimer:  I am not a health science expert.  Truth be known, I'm quite the opposite.  However, I am hosting the Wednesday Weigh-in challenge to encourage Christian dieters to pray for each other.  Please do not expect your results to be exactly like mine or any other participant's.

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 24

Well, I'm back.

I continued my diet as best as I could while my computers were in the shop. 

It's amazing how much of my life is inside my computer.  I couldn't grade several of the boys' school assignments because the teacher's editions are on CD.  I couldn't check my email on a regular basis and had to sort through almost 200 of them when I was finally back online.  I didn't know what was going on in the world, and we were dressed in the wrong sort of clothes almost every day because I couldn't check the weather report. 

After a week of freezing in shorts and tees or burning up in jeans and long-sleeves, we I finally realized that one of the boys could step outside in his PJ's BEFORE we dressed for a temperature check.

Wow, technologically-impaired brain cells, y'all- I've got them!  :) 

And, most tragic of all (tongue in cheek), I could not calculate calories on My Fitness Pal. 

MFP really does make things easier.  After two days of living in the dark ages and flipping through a print calorie counter to find out how many calories are in a banana (because for some reason I cannot remember this info from day-to-day), I gave up.  It was too much.

I continued to eat "right" and exercise but I could not keep an accurate count and am not sure if I kept to my calorie goal or not.  I did weigh daily and it went up, up, up and then down, down, down.  Then back up.  Then back down....

Finally last Thursday, I was able to track calories again and after six consistent days, I am happy to report

I lost 0.6 of a pound,

bringing my total weight loss to 26.4 pounds!

And I would like to point out that after three very stressful weeks (not having a computer was just a hiccup; much more was going on which I cannot share at this time), I decided to sleep in this morning.  If I had weighed at 6:30 a.m. like I normally do, I may have seen a full pound difference (like I did yesterday morning)!  I was exhausted and stressed when I went to bed last night, so I will trade 0.4 of a pound for a little extra and much-needed shut eye.

Thank you to those who have continued to pray while I have been unavailable.  I have been praying for you, too.  Please pray this week as follows:

• For wisdom- Michael and I are praying about several issues in which we need to make wise decisions for next year.  Ask the Lord to show us His will.
• For protection- Two people I love dearly are in the middle of difficult legal situations.  Neither are in the wrong and we are praying for the Lord to hear our prayers and bring them relief. 
• For extra energy, perseverance and extra measures of grace:  I have a lot of "things" to take care of in the next two weeks.  I want to serve my family and community graciously while not neglecting my health.  Now that I can use MFP again, I want to keep the ball rolling in the right direction.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement!  Let me know how you are doing.

Blessings,

Dawn

IEW

At the beginning of this school year, I bought IEW's Student Intensive for both of my boys with some hesitancy.  However, many of my friends raved about the program and highly recommended it to me, so I took the plunge.

Boy, am I glad I listened.  The boys have finished most of the student intensive, and I am now teaching them from the Ancient History-Based Writing unit.  They completed their first two assignments this week, and I have posted the finished works over at The Write Brothers.

If you are considering what to buy for writing next year, please allow me to make a suggestion!  IEW has been a huge blessing for us.  One of my boys is a reluctant writer. He used to cry when I handed him paper and pencil.  The other has loved to "write" since he was little and words flow from him naturally.  If you have a minute, hop on over and see if you can tell the difference.  It will be difficult!

Thanks, IEW!

Happy Writing!
Dawn

Hanging by a Thread

Those were the best words I could find to describe the current condition of my laptop. 

I have the power cord "attached" to the port by packaging tape.  I am typing very carefully.  I know at any second I will knock it loose and have to start over for the 8,439th time.

Our desk top that was running at a snail's pace earlier this week is no longer running.

All of our computers are going to the doctor on Monday, and I don't know when I will be back online.  I will probably miss my weigh-in but will catch you up asap.

Please enjoy some of my reader faves from the archives while my computers take a brief sick leave.

Blessings,
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 21

Click the Wednesday Weigh-in tab
at the top of my home page
to join the weigh-in torture FUN!

I lost 0.7 of a pound,

bringing my weight-loss total (back) to 25.6 pounds!

That means I lost about half of what I gained last week which is really good considering I did not exercise this week at all.  I have been fighting a really bad cold for a week now.  Persistent coughing has kept me from sleeping well.  I averaged 3 hours sleep per night and I could barely talk without coughing.  I just didn't have the energy for the Gazelle and felt like deep breathing would cause me to cough so hard a lung might truly come up.

So it's slow going right now and will probably take me a full month to get back to where I was.  But no one said this was going to be easy or that in order to keep my commitment things have to go well and be rosy.

But that's where I'll stop today because

1. I'm still coughing profusely.
2. My computer is running at a snail's pace.
3. The boys need to practice their speeches for tomorrow's 4-H Project Achievement, and I need to listen and give feedback.
4. I have been verging on a bad mood all week and am really not in a place to be a motivational writer.   

Because it is taking me about 5 minutes to type every few lines, I won't type a list of prayer requests either.  Please pray for my typical requests.

Let me know how you're doing!

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Great Backyard Bird Count Summary

I started the new blog so I could take up less air time over here about birding. 

I promise. 

However, just once more, I wanted to let those of you who follow Olive Plants for the birding content know you can read all about our birding adventures at Birders for Life.

We participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count this weekend and saw a lot of interesting birds.

We saw 35 species on Friday, 35 species on Saturday (although there was a lot of overlap), and only 14 different species on Monday.  However, we counted nearly 1,000 birds on Monday and almost 1,500 birds in all!

Fly on over to read all about it!
Dawn

Birding 101 has moved....

If you have been following Olive Plants for my bird watching content, please check out my new blog that I coauthor with my fellow birding enthusiast, Heather.  Together we are The Birding Chicks, and our blog is Birders for Life.

I have moved Birding 101 to B4L and am adding in several new posts and updating the old ones to include even more tips!  I have feedburner set up now so that you can have our posts delivered directly to your inbox.  Please subscribe so you won't miss any of our tips and tweets!





Also, don't forget the Great Backyard Bird Count is this weekend.  It only takes fifteen minutes to participate; however, like eating a bag of Lay's potato chips, once you start, I'm sure you'll want to keep going! 

Click here for more info.

Lay's Potato Chips?!?  Why did I mention those??  If, like me, you are trying to rid your life of unneeded calories, join me for Wednesday Weigh-ins!

Read about how to join the weigh-in
torture FUN under my Wednesday Weigh-in tab!

And Heather is hosting a meme on her blog called Tweet and See.  To participate, keep a record of the birds you see and hear during the month then record your list on your blog on the last day of the month and link in at Kingdom Arrows.





Heather and Barb, the Harmony Art Mom, are also hosting a new meme, Drawing with Children, Nature-Style.  Barb has written lesson plans to accompany the book, Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks, and has made them available for free on Squidoo.  I am going to use these plans with my VSL.  They look great.  Thanks Barb!  Thanks Heather!





Happy Birding and watch out for those potato chips!
Dawn

Wednesday Weigh-in: Week 20

Click here to join in on the weigh-in torture fun!

For those of you wanting to join the weigh-in, please leave a link to your post in comments.  I have not had time to find a solution for Linky this week. 

Today is a day when I would like to put my hand up toward the computer screen, shake my head and say, "I don't want to talk about it."

*sigh*

However, I made a commitment to do this.  To be real.  To tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  So here goes...

I gained 1.5 pounds this week

which lowers my weight-loss total to 25 pounds.

:(

This is the first week I have gained in 20 weeks, and there is a simple reason why.

I did not follow my own advice.  I only made it to MFP once this week and did not carry my food journal with me. 

I was way too busy this week, too.  In the mere seven days since I last reported, I have done the following:

• Lead a monthly mom's meeting
• Take Orville to the orthopedist
• Attend the circus
• Coordinate a Valentine's Day skating party for over 100 people
• Attend a second Vday party
• Lead a science fair committee meeting and finalize registration
• Add a new flute student to my schedule
• Assist the boys in setting up their science fair projects
• Start a new blog and post 3 articles
• Have an article published at MMCW
• Prepare an extra-special Valentine's Day meal for my family
• Tutor or teach flute every week day due to make-up lessons and rearranged schedules for all those meetings and parties!

Oh yeah...

... and there was this thing called homeschool, too.  And somewhere in the midst of all that, I cleaned the house, put together curricular plans for next year, and began registration for classes my husband and I will teach next fall.

And did I mention that THERE WAS CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE I WENT?!

Valentine's Day was much more difficult to navigate than Thanksgiving and Christmas were.  All of my students gave me boxes of chocolates and they served me chocolate cake while I tutored them.  When a precious child hands you a big red heart filled with chocolate goodness and tells you they love you while smiling from ear-to-ear, you just have to eat some chocolate. 

I gained that weight for the cause of love.

That makes it sound much more noble, doesn't it?

*sigh*

Well anyway, today begins a new weight-loss week for me, and I am thankful for a fresh start.  It is a reminder of God's grace and how totally dependent upon and indebted to Him I am. If I had to earn favor with Him, I would be doomed.  However...

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,

of whom I am the foremost. 

But I received mercy for this reason,

that in me, as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience

as an example to those

who were to believe in him for eternal life. 

To the King of ages, immortal, invisible,

the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. 

Amen.

1Tim 1:15-17

How thankful I am for His perfect patience toward me, that He loves me and I have favor with Him as imperfect as I am.  I can't even stick to a diet perfectly when losing weight is what I most desire for myself.  My weakness causes me to stand in awe of the greatness and perfection of Christ.  Only He is worthy of our praise. 

So this week I will seek the grace to start anew.  The house has been purged of chocolate (I let the boys eat the rest!), and I have my journal close at hand.  I will be seeking extra measures of grace daily, more likely moment-by-moment, to get back on track and do what I know needs to be done. 

Please pray for me this week as follows:

1. For perseverance.  I don't want discouragement to creep in and defeat me.  Pray for God's protection on my thought-life, that I won't "beat myself up" but will just get back to doing what works.
2. For rest.  This week really was too much, and most of it was my doing, meaning there were things on my schedule that did not have to be there.  We have a nice weekend planned to enjoy the Great Backyard Bird Count as a family.  M has Monday off from work, and it looks like the weather is going to be lovely.  I think a few slow days of bird watching will do me some real good.  Pray that I will be refreshed.
3. For wisdom.  Most weeks are not as busy as this past week; however, there are a few things on my schedule that have to go.  The tutoring business is growing for both M and me, and this is something that we have a family vision for doing.  We are praying about what existing commitments have to be removed to make that possible.
4. For a replacement.  I have asked someone to serve as the support group president next year.  I have served for almost 2 years and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but it seems this is one of the things that has to go for the sake of the family business.  I am asking the Lord to send someone to replace me.
5. For good health.  Strep and stomach viruses are moving through our community.  Orville is in bed today sick.  Pray that this will pass through our house quickly and won't keep anyone from enjoying our bird watching weekend.  Pray also that fevers will break and Orville will be able to keep down some food and liquid.
6. For my friends.  I look forward to reading their reports; however, a couple of them are going through rough patches with issues facing their families far more serious than my busy schedule and our viruses.  Pray for them to receive extra measures of grace and that their faith would be increased through these circumstances. 
7. For this blog.  Though my blog may just seem like a weight-loss blog as of late, it is really about me learning to enjoy God while glorifying Him, even in the mundane, even when things don't go my way, like this week's weigh-in.  I pray that all who read and participate in this meme will taste and see that the Lord is good.

Happy Healthy Living!

Dawn

Managing a Calorie Budget

Mentoring Moments for Christian Women published my article on weight-loss strategies today.

You can read it here.

Thank you to Kellie and everyone at MMCW for including me in your great publication!

If you are an Olive Planter, please check out their wonderful site dedicated to mentoring and encouraging Christian women in their roles as wives and mothers.

If you are visiting from MMCW, thank you for stopping in!  Please pull up a cyber chair and make yourself comfortable.  I hope I will see you around often! 

If you are interested in joining me for Wednesday Weigh-ins, please click here for info on how to get in on the torture fun!

I mean FUN!

Really, I do!

Blessings,

Dawn