Oh yeah, I forgot...

...I did weigh in on Saturday. It was nice to me, weighed in at 270. That puts me at 21 pounds gone since I began WW at the end of March, but down 27 since the day after Christmas when I began my journey to lose weight (again).

The Catch All

I ended up doing a 2 page layout but somehow only bought one piece of the green cardstock, so its a 2 pager but in different colors....I like how it came out regardless.

Journaling: What does my purse have to say about me? It says that I don't care much about trendy. I am picky and have a hard time when it's time to find a new one. The things in my purse would tell you that I enjoy reading and love my choco-mint gum. I wear contact lenses and suffer from dry eyes. I love lotion and lip stuff. The wallet & checkbook are obviously necessary for daily life. There is always a calculator and sanitizer for grocery shopping - I'm anal about stayng within the budget. I'm also terrible about throwing away receipts and pens that don't work. I have a note pad and points calculator on hand because I'm on Weight Watchers. Lastly there is an extra key to my work vehicle and my badge to verify that I am an employee at Hinds EOC. So, in reality other than my love for scrapbooking my purse does tell my story.

Purse Pictures...

The challenge at ASF this week is to dump out your purse & explain it's contents...but don't simply 'make a list' because we've done lists before. This time make a list with descriptions......why it's there, what it's used for, etc. Take pictures of your pile of STUFF after you've dumped it out & even take a picture of your purse. Maybe tell us where your purse came from & why you love it.....or what you DON'T like about it & why you NEED a new one. Be creative & have fun!! So I've taken the pictures, sent them to Walgreen's for printing and will pick them up and run to ASF for paper and hopefully by Sunday I'll be uploading a layout and not just pictures.

Feeling better....

...and I can prove it. I was creative! My nephew was born on the 4th of July and his bedroom is done in the Americana look with the deep navy, deep red and cream colors. I just had to make him a bulletin board to go over his desk for his birthday. I hope he loves, I know I do!!

Back to the land of the living....

...almost. For the first time in over a week I feel almost human. Although I still do not feel 100% I am very close to getting there. The doctor says I can return to work on Thursday and oddly as that may sound...I CAN'T WAIT. I love my furbabies and my house, but they don't talk back to me. Not that I've really felt up to talking, but I'm amazed at how boring sitting around the house with nothing to do or think about can make you. All rest and no work or play makes Robin a dull girl. I do not want to be a dull girl. I want out of this house and into the sunlight...okay so I know work is a dungeon and there will be no sunlight but there will be other people with lives and things going on around us. Anyways, I'm just saying, I'm glad that I am finally starting to feel better and soon my quarantine will be up.

Not much else to report...as I just said...I've done absolutely nothing for about 8 days now. I am eating again and paying attention to not let it be out of hand, hopefully come Saturday I will have a good weigh in after 2 weeks of not weighing in. I opted not to weigh in again this week so that I did not get another "sick " reading. So now, that I am eating, the scale will probably be accurate this coming Saturday, we shall see.

That's all for now, just wanted to check in for my faithful few and let you know I'm getting better and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers while I was recovering.

Under the weather...

..It's been a long week. I've been diagnosed with walking pneumonia...so if you read my blog, pray for quick recovery....Jesus is my HEALER!! By HIS stripes I AM HEALED!!!

Announcement..

There will be no weigh in tomorrow. If I have learned nothing else in this life long journey that I am on...it is that when I know I have blown it and am already struggling with being discouraged do not get on the scale. The scale can be a tool of the enemy if I allow it to be and I choose not to.

Instead - I choose to forgive myself and move forward not backwards. I'll weigh in next Saturday at the regularly scheduled time and I will have a postitive report. Some might not agree that this is a good strategy, but please know that I'm not ignoring the issue, I'm just not giving the devil place to tear me down by looking at numbers that will not encourage me. I need encouragement not discouragement and I have learned enough to know to avoid the negative, it will not help my cause.

Thank you all so much for being here to read and love and support me on the various trails this journey takes me down. I have read in many places in the past 2 days that the important thing is to never give up. The only way to not get to the finish line is to quit. I am not a quitter! My goals will be met but I apparently will be more like the tortoise than the hare. Slow and steady with a few little bumps along the way.

You Light Up My Life...

This layout was done for a challenge at ASF last week.

You had to use pictures that spanned over a few years.

I found perfect pictures of my mom and my niece and knew that I

had the makings of a very special layout.

That darn flower took an hour to stitch, but it was

worth it, cause I love it!!

Struggling but holding firm...

It's been a long hard week and I have struggled daily with food. I was at a conference the first 3 days of the week which meant being inundated with muffins for breakfast and eating out at lunch. I did not overeat except on Monday but did not make great choices. I have done okay today since I'm back in my regular daily routine.

I choose not to be defeated so I'm keeping my head up and reminding myself continually that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and hoping that weigh in on Saturday shows at the very least that I was able to maintain. I would be in shock if there was a loss.

This week has gone by pretty quickly, probably because of the conference. It's almost Friday already and that means its time for the weekend. We are celebrating Father's Day at my sisters house on Saturday night since J&H are going to be leaving for camp right after church on Sunday.

This past Sunday was dad's birthday and we all went to their house and had cake, ice cream and opened presents. It was a pleasant afternoon and mom made an awesome german chocolate cake and I only had a small piece...that was TOUGH. I love german chocolate almost as much as I love a good italian creme cake. Okay, I just love SWEETS...thank God for 100 calorie snack packs, it helps me get some sweet without overdoing it (too often anyways).

I'd like to ask whoever is reading to be praying for Rocky's brother. He's been having some issues with seizures and a spot on his brain. He's been doing pretty well but just had his yearly MRI and they seem to think it has gotten larger so he's been referred to a surgeon to decide if they can do anything or if radiation will be recommended. Thanks ahead of time for your prayers that he will see the healing power of our Lord Jesus who already bore stripes on His back over 2000 years ago for our healing. We are believing that He will receive what has already been done for him. Our God is bigger than a brain tumor! His promises are yes and amen and He always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus!!

Blast from the Past...

This picture was taken right after graduation.

I attended Moanalua High School in Honlulu, Hawaii.

Graduated with the Class of 1987!

Picture is of me and my 3 best friends.

Left to right: Donna Amrich, Kimberly Kral, Robin Whitby, Dawn Albertson

Sagging my tail feather....

.....*sigh*.........

Scale said 273 this morning. Which is where I was before the stomach bug, argh. So I gained back the 4 I supposedly had lost last week...or likely I hadn't really lost them the right way and since I started eating again and had some struggles this week and didn't do great I found all 4 of them.

New week, new day. I have pinpointed the source of my struggle and God will walk me thru the disappointment that I was trying to cover with food. Thankfully He is faithful to show us the error of our ways without judgement or condemnation. I love Him so much and am so glad that His mercy endures forever!!

Shake your tail feather...

...okay, so somebody had that as a subject line on a bulletin on myspace and it tickled my fancy, so I used it here. Cute huh.

It's been a while since I did a post with just words and stuff so I figured with all that has been going on with us the past few weeks maybe I should take the time and post something besides layouts and pictures. Not that those are bad things because well you all know how much I love my pictures and my scrapbooking.

Well, as you know I painted the gorilla habitat and then we ordered some knife stands, put the new comforter and curtains in place. We also bought a barrister bookcase and some lights to go in it. We also bought some burlap to cover styrofoam pieces we will be using to give depth to some of the knives in the case. Eventually we will get all of that stuff in place, but it takes time and we haven't had much of that lately that both of us were home and felt like doing it. But we will and when it's all done there will surely be a layout or two coming your way.

I have a public service announcement. I have decided that every new homeowner should be warned that at the 10 year mark of owning said new home that everything will begin to go on the fritz or just stop working. I say that to say...start a savings account for this purpose. Don't touch it no matter what because undoubtedly you will need it to fix refrigerators, light fixtures, vent-a-hood fans, washing machines, septic treatment plants, air conditioners and I could probably add a few others but they are slipping my mind. So just for future reference be prepared, when you buy new all at the same time, there is a great likelihood that it will all start going bad at the same time, so be prepared because you can't say now that you weren't warned!!

On a good note, the men at church are going on a deep sea fishing trip in a few weeks. Rocky really wanted to attend this year since he couldn't go last year. Last year it took place during the time that we were hoping to pull Holly through all of her health issues and it was costing every extra penny plus some. This year the cost of repairing the a/c is the cost of the fishing trip. We obviously had to choose to fix the a/c because we live in Mississippi and no a/c is just not an option. Well, last night at church, I said (wrote) a simple prayer to the God "who supplies all of our need* according to His riches in glory" Phil 4:19. I simply wrote.... Lord, I ask you to make a way for Rocky to go on this fishing trip, I thank you for it and I'll be expecting for it to happen. Amen" Well, lo and behold he gets a phone call this morning from our pastor asking him if he could get off to go on the trip if it was paid for!!!! We don't know who paid for it, but we are thankful and appreciative to whoever allowed themselves to be used by God to provide this desire.

*need: the Greek/Hebrew word for need in this passage actually means "necessities, needs, wants and desires". God really does care about our wants and desires and we are very grateful for it!!

I had to put a good thing in the middle so it doesn't look like this is one big pity party. Last week I had a stomach bug or something of the sort, so I did not really eat last week. On the positive side of that the scale logged me in at losing 4 pounds. Ready for Public Service Announcement #2??? Do not weigh in and get excited about a great loss the day after a stomach bug. It is deceiving. When you actually eat again and get on the scale midweek, you find out quickly that it was deceiving. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed when I got on the scale yesterday and it was said 273 pounds. That puts me exactly where I was before the stomach bug.....*sigh*.

It didn't help that all of the little things going on gave me an "excuse" (because I occasionally try to find one to self sabotage my efforts) to eat when I should not have been. I have had a rough week with the food. It has been a war and I have definitely lost a few battles. I refuse to give up and am determined to not let one week of struggle derail my efforts. I will be fabulous by forty no matter what that small voice (not the good one) says to me. Yes, devil I just said you have a "small voice" and you are a liar and I refuse to listen or fall for your old tricks. I am an over comer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony. The word says that my God always causes me to triumph through Christ Jesus, He also tells me that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, I am the head and not the tail, above and not beneath and you devil are under my feet! I rejoice always and count even this setback all JOY because my God is with me and if God is with me who can be against me!! I am the champion of my world because He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world! I'm excited and ready to go head on into the rest of this week. No matter what the scale says on Saturday morning I win because the only other option is to quit and I will not quit.

Speaking of Saturday, we are excited because we are taking a road trip to Natchez with D&J. We haven't really had much time to hang out since we returned from our cruise, so we are all looking forward to the drive and some time to spend together doing nothing. We spent the day together for our garage sale, but that was work, not play. This is a play date and I know I can't wait to hit the road. We are going to drive down the trace and get the best tamales in the state from a wonderful place called "Fat Mama's Tamales". They are so fine and I can almost taste them. I usually get a whole dozen and make myself miserable, but I will be good this time and only get 1/2 dozen. I can do it. I'm sure we will bring some home for the freezer!

I can't think of anything else at the moment...other than our cruise is in 262 days!!! I know I'm obsessed and that is still a very long time from now, but it makes it fun to count it down and know its getting closer. Galveston, Cozumel, Montego Bay and Grand Cayman here we come (in 262 days)!!!

Let me leave you with this thought....the bible tells us many many many times to Praise the Lord....specifically in the morning, at noon time, in the evening, at midnight and all day long! So remember all day long in all things to praise the Lord and even in the hard times and in the midst of the battle praise Him for bringing you out of your situation! I've learned that it helps and you see yourself come out of it quicker and stronger when you spend the time in it praising Him and not complaining and whining about it!!!