still here, just busy!

hey friends!  i haven’t posted in a couple weeks for various reasons (most of which you’ll see here later in the post), but i’m here now and ready to write!

so on to updating:

x. stinker alert!  pictures of ransom coming up!  just look at that stinker:

x. we went to durham last weekend for the onething regional at kings park international church (which is a way cool church, for what it’s worth) and got to see some old friends (and make some new ones!) from KC.  it was a fun and spiritually refreshing time for us, though we didn’t get to make vacation of the trip as much as we wanted to because darin wound up volunteering for the on-site bookstore and that meant i had full-time baby care on my hands.  i tried to help out with the conference at first in a number of ways, but ransom decided he didn’t much care for mom doing anything but dealing with his growth-spurty-whining self (growth spurts are the worst…).  but we still had a blast.

x. we did, however, manage to visit the famous barbecue restaurant The Pit in raleigh and it was everything it was supposed to be–delicious pit barbecue with savory sauces and old-fashioned sides.  darin got pulled pork and brisket with sweet potato fries and i got barbecue tofu and veggies (because we ate so poorly the whole trip so far and my body wa screaming “give me something good to eat!”) and everything was so flipping tasty!  we also got a scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream with a maple-bacon gingersnap cookie for dessert; i tell you, i never thought bacon would be good in a cookie, but this one sure was tops! we definitely recommend!

weekly weigh-in #5

i’m one month into this thing and so glad i did it…

it’s honestly been the most challenging to not go nuts with this.  we watch the biggest loser every week and i see folks on there losing 5-15 lbs a week (which isn’t really safe, and certainly not safe for a nursing-possibly-baby-making mom), and i use the show for motivation to keep at my regimen, but for me in my position, i am supposed to be losing an average of 1-2 lbs per week.  sometimes i pull 3, but that’s why 1-2 is an average, and usually i’ll lose nothing the week following (however unintentional) when that happens.  much more weight loss than the recommended level sends too many toxins into the breastmilk (because as fat cells are burned, they let go of everything they’d been holding on to, and fat cells are notorious for hanging onto toxins), which goes straight into baby.  no bueno.

and as far as calorie cutting/counting goes, i can only do so much.  i’ve got a baby to deal with every day, and i live in the reality that God is in control of my womb, so if he sees fit to bless us with another child and i’m not eating a decent amount of food to support its life, i’m going to wind up doing harm.

in any event, i’m doing this wisely as i can.  i have support and encouragement from family and friends.  i am getting healthier no matter what pounds and inches i have to show for it.  and i feel so much better.  it’s a great exchange.

update on the car

well, the damage is not as bad as we thought!  apparently, it is not the starter, but a bad cell in our car battery.  much less scary-bad on the finances.  i’ll take $75 over $200 any day, yes.

we are getting a new battery today, bless God.  thank you to everyone who texted responses to help us out and pray for us.  we were blessed and encouraged!  and thank you God for not-as-bad of a problem with the car!  we would have been flat broke at the end of the month if we would have had to deal with the starter…  a new battery is still a chunk of cahnge, but not nearly as serious.

so, my sister is here to enjoy some ransom time and lunch.  yay!  i love sister time!  i’m going to go enjoy it, too!  peace, friends.

just when we thought all was good…

the starter on our car went out last night.

awesome.

not.

it’s going to cost us $200 to get it fixed, not including labor since hopefully darin can take care of it, but still, that’s money we currently don’t have to spare…  this bites.  big time.  thankfully, we still have some friends in town with an extra car so darin could get to work this morning, otherwise, we’d have been in trouble, especially considering it was late last night when it happened and today is sunday, so most car-shops are closed.

would any of you be willing to send us some money (the amount at this point is irrelevant; $10 or $20 will still be a big help) to help pay for a new starter?  it would be a huge blessing to us if you would, i can guarantee you that.  you can use the paypal link at the side or otherwise contact me for details (816.806.2910 text, kaciedamme@gmail.com email).

if you are unable to help financially (or even if you are), will you please pray for us?  for darin, specifically; i think he’s taking this the hardest.  i don’t know what it’s like to bear the burden of supporting a family, but i’m sure it’s rough when stuff like this happens.

thanks for whatever you can do.  peace to you all.

weekly weigh-in #4 (on-time!) and update

much better week!

oh, and i figured out that waist measurements shouldn’t be in-line with where your jeans stop, no matter what clothing folks tell you.  a waist measurement is supposed be at the slimmest part of your torso, just above belly button, generally.  so, my apologies for the wacky-high number that’s been there all this time.  i’ll do it right from here on out.  yes.

so, anyhoo… this week i stunk at food diary-ing, as in i didn’t even keep it, but i still did great!  i simply watched my intake with a trained eye and a serious mental note, did some interval training, and ate veggies when i felt hungry in the evenings so that i didn’t splurge on something ridiculous.  i always feel more satisfied after a bowl full of vegetables; i don’t know why i try to tell myself otherwise sometimes…

just wanted to say…

i recently discovered honey bunches of oats with cinnamon clusters and i gotta say…

i’m in love.

i’m not much for cereals except for plain ol’ cheerios (unless i eat them like a treat, without milk and by the handful), and very few cereals qualify for tasty and healthy these days, but dang, this stuff is GOOD!

darin actually bought it for himself, but he’s not likely going to get as much out of this box as he wanted… : )

 

 

TASTY!

in the wake

so, everyone has been asking us what we’re doing now in NC since ZHOP is closed for business.  i reckon i can answer that question.

a few entries ago i told you all about the imminent close of the Zadok House of Prayer, and some of you found out in other ways (10th year anniversary of IHOP-KC announcement, heard from other community member, etc.).  all in all, it’s really happened and the general feeling of all involved is that it truly was a good thing and a God thing.  now we are living in the wake of the closing and trying appropriately to get our bearings.

one way we’ve been doing that is by getting involved with a local church.  we’ve chosen MorningStar for the moment because the prayer room we are hoping to help build from the ground up with some other remaining families is going to be intrinsically connected to MSM (MorningStar Ministries, from here on out).  MSM is much like IHOP-KC is this way: if you want to be a part, you have to work at it.  big ministries mean you can either go and do your own thing or you can go and dive in deep, getting your hands into whatever you can along the way.  as the weeks go by for us at MSM, we’re still trying to figure out how in the world to get involved deeper with a nearly full-time working man, a full-time-can’t-drive-anywhere housewife, and a 5 month old who will (by the grace of God) not be a nursery kid (unless in an atmosphere like the CEC in KC where “babysitting” isn’t in the vocabulary).

weekly weigh-in #3 (a day late, sorry!)

so i got way too busy yesterday with house things, and sick-and-at-home-for-the-day darin, and company in the evening and wound up not getting to post my weekly weigh-in, but here ’tis, in all its glory:

this past week, i ate out with my family a few times, which was not wise because i don’t have one of those cool books that tells you all the calories you’re consuming (translation: impossible to track intake) and darin was home a lot because walmart is lame, so all in all, i didn’t stick to my plan very well.  and what resulted is disappointing, though not utterly.

so in other news…

a few bullet points from our daily lives to update you all:

x. we had ransom dedicated to the Lord yesterday at EGS.  it was a relatively spur of the moment thing (though we decided to do it earlier in his life, the opportunity didn’t present itself until this week) and it was by far the most powerful baby dedication i’ve ever witnessed or been a part of.  the folks of the ZHOP community are truly outstanding people; thanks to them, i think we really can ensure this child and his future will be in the Lord’s hands.

x. ZHOP had its final service last night as well.  it was a wonderufl way to go out, blessing the next generation and rejoicing in what is to come in the service of the Lord.  darin got to play drums for a fantastic worship set, too (i love to see my dear behind a trap set…).  he played steady and strong, even if he thinks otherwise. :)

weekly weigh-in #2

here i am again, one week into my online accountability, and i have good news to report!

ALL THIS WORK IS PAYING OFF!

this past week, i have been cutting calories, eating way-a-lot of vegetables and limiting sweets and meats, and increasing my workout from one or two miles a day (15-20 minute miles) to a fast-for-me four (about 12.5 minutes/mile).  the first day i did four miles, i felt so accomplished!  i mean, there are folks out there who can do a four-minute mile, but i am simply not one of those and never have been, so this progress is something huge in my book.  and the workout i follow isn’t just walking for those four miles, it’s strength training and muscle work, too, so i’m getting a total body regimen.  love it!

i’ve also been drinking tons of water (and detoxing, appropriately… hello, peeing-every-thirty-minutes… and pooping out things with arms…) and drinking acai berry juice and milk at breakfast and/or dinner just because it’s something different.  i have no trouble drinking only water; i’ve done it for years.  sometimes, though, a little flavor never hurts.  and a 100 calorie glass of milk is way more filling and nutritious than a 100 calorie cookie or something else empty (though admittedly tasty).