JOJO's Journey

Monday, November 24, 2008

attitude is renewed.

for those of you that read my last blog will be glad to hear that my attitude has taken a turn for the better and my thoughts are back on the right path; or are at least headed in the right direction. thanks for those of you that commented on my blog, via email ( i love you Judy B....you are a rock!), via phone calls, or in person (Jen Miller....you are solid and i couldn't ask for a better friend!)...thank you! i am very thankful to have friends that stand by and do the hard part of life with me. of course, doing the easy part of life is just that -EASY...- but true friends stick with it when life is hard! so thanks-

I am super excited to tell you all that this past week i lost 5.4 lbs. YES!!!! i have finally attained my 25+ weight lose goal and couldn't be prouder of myself. It was so fun to step on the scale Saturday morning and have Cindy (the lady behind the counter) say "OH MY GOODNESS, you lost 5.4 lbs and have surpassed your 25 lb goal." i was sort of astonished at first. But than was just happy. I feel great. I am doing this weight lose thing for one reason and one reason only....FOR ME! and i feel great physcially and it has been a much needed confidence booster. of course, getting complimented is always nice and i got lots of those this weekend, which only added to how proud i am! chessey?- maybe; but i don't care. This week will be a challenge. Thanksgiving food is crammed packed full of points. but I am determined to enjoy the food provided, but am also determined that i will NOT over due it and will not gain back any of my 28.8 current weight lose. i've also decided that running is way easier the lighter i get...it's been super good on the old knees!!!! i have a goal in mind in how much i want to lose total...but will take it in small steps. so my next big goal is to lose 35 so i can go jeans shopping!!!!! i need new jeans bad. Jen Kendrick can attest to that when she came to visit the other weekend: i stood up and my pants fell off!!! whoops!!!! so- 35 lbs = new jeans!!! sweet!


best of wishes to you all and have a super duper happy thanksgiving. be safe.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

when it rains...it most often pours!

ever just have one of those weeks that NOTHING seems to go the way you want it, or plan it? my past week was similar to that. I don't mean this blog to be an 'attention-getter' or a self pity party sort of blog......just hope to work out some of my issues by writing. I've journal alot this week and am not sure i completely understand my current thought process - so bare with me.
last Monday i started to come down with what i thought was the 'common' cold. started to feel stuffy and a little achy; nothing some black berry brandy wouldn't cure. or so i thought. woke up Tuesday feeling horrible, but decided i could convince myself that i wasn't that sick and that i could go to work. work was insane. i had the worst headache and at mid-point in my day had a low grade fever. no big deal- so i popped a couple pills and continued my day with basketball practice. by Tuesday night i knew i was sick- (the kind of sick that black berry brandy wasn't going to cure). i woke up early Wednesday morning with a 105 temp, and was dieing- or thought so at least. took more pills, put a cold towel on my head and fell back asleep. woke up to my alarm and decided i was a little to sick to go to work, so called in. but, i had to go to work anyways to prepare a lesson plan for the sub. when i left work it took everything in me to not go to the emergency room. fever was back full fledge and i couldn't see out of my right eye. cuz i am Venhuizen i decided the doctor wasn't necessary...i took more pills and went home to sleep it off. later that afternoon i felt better; so left for ball. we had a scrimmage in St. Olaf. we took vans. i felt ok...and the night actually went ok. i couldn't stand without getting super dizzy, but otherwise, things were fine. Thursday, i called in sick again. still was having some vision issues with my right eye. slept it out. got a call that afternoon from a friend that i haven't talked to in a long while that i guess was a little angry at me- so had to work that out. it was completely out of the blue and totally an attack on my heart, my attitude and my self-worth. Thursday night i had grad class and since my prof takes points off our grade if we miss class...i decided to go. that night i found out i got a B+ in my last class...so my current 4.0 went down the drain. i was upset. my friend Scott told me i looked like i was stoned...not something a girl likes to be told. and i found out that i have to re-due an assignment that i guess i did wrong. see - when it rains it often pours. Friday i went back to work to find out that there was an intruder in one of my classes the day before, so admin was mad at me for not leaving better instruction for my sub and why my sub didn't have a current class list. so had to work through some 'am i really a good teacher???' issues!!!! Friday night got here and i just couldn't shake this 'i am a loser' feeling. i have no idea where it came from, but it came fast and it came hard. I've spent many Friday evening sitting at home alone- so i didn't think much of this one, but for some reason i was having a major issue with it. i expended many thoughts on why I'm STILL single, why i don't have peeps to hang with, why i was struggling with my self-esteem, and why i feel like a loser! it was a tough night. emotionally draining if you will. Saturday i woke up with a re-newed attitude (not sure where it came from, but was thankful i had it regardless)....or so i thought. was excited to go to weight watchers and weight in. i thought for sure that I'd lose weight and that would make me feel a little better about myself. but....the rain decided to come regardless. i gained 1.4 pds. not sure how when i hardly eat anything this week. but i also didn't work out- so am guessing my body just was burning up calories like it has been use to. gaining weight is not what this girl needed to deal with. i wanted so bad to reach my 25 pound weight lose goal- but am currently 1.8 pds away. in the grand scheme of life i realize that 1.8 pds is not a big deal, and i have currently recovered from feeling like a loser in that area, but it was yet another thing that required a battle with my thoughts. That morning i decided i needed a little something 'happy'- so i went shopping. i told myself that i wasn't going to buy new jeans until i lost 30 pds, but couldn't help it. i found 2 pairs of dress pants, 3 sweaters, a funky shirt, some socks (i love new socks) at JCpenny - and all for only $75 bucks. so that was fun! but, that afternoon i went to the bank and realized i forgot to deposit my check from a week or so ago, so was over drafted and got stuck with a $30 transfer fee. NICE! also decided i needed to try to get a workout in, so went to the club. i wasn't planning on doing anything major cuz i am still very stuffy and clogged...but thought i needed some exercise. got on the treadmill and started to walk and some random dude came up to me and started up a big old lecture about how i need to take more vitamins and drink protein shakes (he must have heard me coughing)...and that would keep the 'colds' away. he was annoying and totally made me feel like i don't know how to take care of my own health. again- when it rains, it pours! Saturday night was the only highlight of my week. our opening game. we played Hamline. i was excited to be back on the bench coaching after a year off....and was excited for the girls. we played really well, and i had a blast- but we lost. today (Sunday) was another struggle. church was good. but just had this overwhelming sense that i wasn't good enough, especially for the friends that i sat with. not cuz of what the pastor talked about- but cuz my week. talked with my friend Keith very briefly about it and almost started to cry. he talked me down a little and made me feel a bit better, but still feel a little like a loser! so here i sit this afternoon watching the viks and wondering at why i feel the way i do. and to add to the madness, i have an extra free mens gophers basketball ticket and cant find one single person that wants to go. am i that much of a loser that peeps don't want a free ticket to a gophers game? anyway-it's a battle that i am trying to figure out. but like always - i am sure the rain will soon stop, the sun will come out and life will go on. it's just a part of the journey, right?

Sunday, November 09, 2008

9 year old girls and basketball.....whoa

i peeled out super early Saturday morning in time to make it to Emma's basketball games in Mora. She is 9 years old, playing ball with a bunch of other 9 year old girls....man, the insanity of it all. i will say that at some point in my life i am sure i played just like them. Emma did great. She has so much fun playing...i don't think her smile ever left her face. She often cheered for her teammates and got super excited the couple of times they scored. Emma as the potential to be a great player- but has a long way to go. after her first game, i took her aside and told her that sense she was the point guard she needed to dribble right past the girl that was guarding her and go straight to the basket; and the 2nd game she did! She did way better. She took a couple of shots even, all of which didn't go in...but at least she got them off. I was super proud of her. but- i have to say it was painful to sit and watch....coaching college ball makes for a short fuss. cant wait to see her play again.

David Crowder Band, Live in Concert

This past Thursday night i skipped out of grad class 40 minutes early to make it to David Crowders show. Keith Anderson (see last picture) hooked me up with a couple free tickets. I love connections. See, Bee-Wack (the drummer; and i have no idea if thats his real name) plays risen drums...the drums Keith makes- thus Keith gets free tickets. And Keith is nice enough to hand a couple over to me. David Crowder is a very popular band; mostly praise and worship sort of stuff. Here is a pic of the crowd getting totally into it. Keith has enough tickets for me to invite Anna, a good friend of mine from bible study and her boyfriend Paul came after he was done with work. The evening was fantastic, full of singing, laughing, hand clapping, and loving on Jesus. I haven't had a lot of time to hang with Keith and Allison as of late but totally dig our friendship. They are solid peeps, love Jesus and love life. They have 2 beautiful girls that look so much like their mom. I wish we all had more time to hang like we use to back in the day....but life changes so fast and time seems to be limited. But i will never stop appreciating who Keith and Allison are. Thanks guys for a super fantastic night of praising our God... so glad we have that in common!