Support Our Adoption! Take a Fun Vacation! - New Locations and Weeks Now Available!

Well...we haven't been successful so far but I am not giving up that someone out there needs a really great vacation for a good price and at the same time can help us out with our adoption expenses!  We have just made two of our weeks for 2014 available today for rental and what is great is that since it is early you can pick the dates you want us to book for you!  Here is what is currently available:

Property #1
 Marriott Grande Vista in Orlando, Fl 
7 Nights - June 7-14, 2013 
2 bed /2 bath with full kitchen and living room - sleeps 8
Best offer will be accepted! (includes all taxes and fees)
(We will lose this week so make us an offer! - We would love to get at least $700 to cover our basic costs.)
Click here to access details from our rental flyer.
Click here to visit the Grande Vista website.
Click here to visit Grande Vista's Tripadvisor page.

Property #2: 
Marriott Aruba Ocean Club - Palm Beach, Aruba
7 Nights with Flexible Check in!
You pick the check in date any time from May 2 - Dec 8, 2014!
1 bed / 1 bath Ocean View with full kitchen and living room - sleeps 4
 $1600 for the week and includes all taxes and fees
Click here to access details from our rental flyer.
Click here to visit the Aruba Ocean Club website.
Click here to visit Aruba Ocean Club's Tripadvisor page.

Property #3:  
Marriott Shadow Ridge - Palm Desert, CA 
7 Nights with Flexible Check in!
You pick the check in date any time from June 1 - July 1 or Sept 7 - Dec 2, 2014!
2 bed / 2 bath with full kitchen and living room - sleeps 8
$1400 for the week and includes all taxes and fees
Click here to access details from our rental flyer.
Click here to visit the Shadow Ridge website.
Click here to visit Shadow Ridge's Tripadvisor page.

If you want more information contact me!
Elizabeth -  [email protected]
Please feel free to link to this post if you would like to share with family and friends that might be interested!  The Shadow Ridge and Aruba weeks will be posted on www.redweek.com if you or your family and friends feel more comfortable going through that route but if you book directly with us now the more availability there will be for the dates you want.  We are going to both the Aruba Ocean Club and the Shadow Ridge Villages again this summer so watch for our pics and reviews on my blog in the coming weeks!

Learning About Body Fat

This is the gadget that I use at boot camp to measure my body fat percentage.

So this morning was my second body fat measuring day.  It has been one week since I started keeping track of my body fat percentage and so today I can begin to measure the change in my body.  I got a little lesson in tracking your body fat loss from the owner of the boot camp where I go and here are my results from my first week:

Week 1 Body Fat Percentage: 38.7 = 80.1 lbs of body fat
Week 2 Body Fat Percentage: 38.5 = 78.54 lbs of body fat

At first I was kind of upset.  I was glad there was a change but I thought the -.2 that I lost was fairly insignificant.  I learned that a good body fat loss per week is anywhere from .5 to .25 so I wasn't that far off from my goal.  I lost three pounds this week on the scale so here is how I calculated how many pounds of body fat I lost this week:

(week 1 weight x week 1 body fat percentage) - (week 2 weight x week 2 body fat percentage) = total pounds of body fat lost

I lost about 1.5 pounds of body fat this week.

Here is a chart that we looked at to determine my ideal body fat percentage:

Females Age Range (years)	Too Little	Healthy Range	Overweight	Obese
20-30	Below 21%	21 - 33%	33 - 39%	over 39%
31-40	Below 21%	21 - 33%	33 - 39%	over 39%
41-50	Below 23%	23 - 35%	35 - 40%	over 40%
51-60	Below 23%	23 - 35%	35 - 40%	over 40%
61-70	Below 24%	24 - 36%	36 - 42%	over 42%
71-80	Below 24%	24 - 36%	36 - 42%	over

I think my first goal will be to get down to 33% body fat which would put me in the "healthy range" for my age.  I would like to accomplish this by September 1st which gives me roughly 19 more weeks to reach my goal.  Now I have to think about the changes that I am going to make to help me pack on lean muscle.  I think I will start with these changes:

1. Go to boot camp five times per week instead of 3 to 4 times.
2. Drink a low calorie, low fat, protein shake after each boot camp.

Honestly, I am not sure what more I can do beyond that.  I think this is a goal that just takes consistency and time.  Maybe I will do some research today and see what else I can do to build muscle.  Tips anyone?

A New Goal and a Nice Treat!

So I am quickly nearing my weight loss goal of being under 200 lbs.  ("Onederland as they call it on  The Biggest Loser")  That will put me only 40 pounds away from my final weight loss goal.  I haven't been under 200lbs since I was in graduate school thirteen years ago.  In fact Dan has never known me skinnier than I am now.  Dan told me he wanted to give me a treat when I met my goal of being under 200 lbs and he asked me what I wanted.  At first I thought, "A trip to the cheese store!"  But that would have been counter productive to my future fitness goals.  Hee hee.  So instead I asked if I could get some new bras.  I only have one that sort of fits right now and lets just say it isn't really doing a very good job.  After losing 70 pounds then having a baby and gaining 60 pounds and then losing all those pounds again and then some I had no idea what size I really should be.  Dan being the wonderful husband that he is said,"Um, you don't need to wait to have a new bra for a treat.  Let's go right now!".  So he drove us to the nearest Victoria's Secret and I popped in to get measured and fitted.  The girl that fitted me was really great and in twenty minutes I got two new bras on sale that fit great!  Ah!  What a difference good undergarments can make!  Dan still wants to get me a treat for making under 200 lbs so I have chosen to use Dan's Massage Envy membership to get a facial and foot massage.   I am lucky to have such a supportive husband.  He is even going to run my half marathon with me!

Last Friday I met with the owner of Fit Body Boot camp where I work out and we discussed my progress a bit.  He said that it was time to set a new goal, one that wasn't a "pounds lost" goal.  Instead we are going to track my body fat percentage.  He taught me how to use the body fat measurer.  I was to use it before my workout the next time I came in.  Over the weekend Dan and I pondered where I might be.  When I was at my highest weight I was at about 52% body fat.  YIKES!  I was hoping to at least be in the high 20% or low 30% at this point so when I used the body fat machine I was a little sad to see that I still have 38.7% body fat.  I have decided that I need to focus on building muscle and getting enough lean protein in my diet.  I will be remeasuring my body fat every Tuesday so I can track my progress in a way other than a scale.  I still have so much work to do in getting my body to a healthy place but at least I am headed in the right direction.  I remember a year ago when I finally decided to try to get into shape crying in spin class because I felt like I was wearing a fat suit.  I was embarassed of my body and ashamed and angry that I let myself gain all my weight back.  I just had to accept where I was at and move forward.   I didn't think I would ever get this far in such a short time.  I will be taking my next progress pictures after my half marathon on May 5th.  I am hoping to be under 200 by then which will be twenty pounds lighter than my last progress pictures that I took in the middle of February.  The pounds are coming off more slowly now as I get nearer to my final goal but these last 47 pounds should be the ones that visually make the biggest impact as I gain muscle.

Adoption FUNdraising!

One of my big projects this spring has been to work on raising funds for our next embryo transfer for our remaining adopted embryos.  It is looking like August will be our month and we will need $3000 as early as July to cover our medical expenses and the cost of the medicine.  We were really close and then we had to use a big chunk to pay for our embryo frozen storage fees for 2013.  I have added to our blog a fundraiser tracker as well as an info list of all of the ways you can help us raise adoption funds.  Here are some additional details:

My little EBAY helper getting ready to ship several packages!

EBAY
Lena and I have been EBAYing quite a bit!  My store is actually a little empty right now so I need to get into the garage and find some more items to sell.  I am adding items pretty regularly so if you don't see something you like check back!  Visit my store here!  Also, if you are in Southern Cal and have something to donate to my EBAY store please email me and I can arrange to pick it up from you.

Marriott Grande Vista in Orlando, Fl June 7-14 . ($1000 OBO for the week and includes all taxes and fees)

Marriott Shadow Ridge Villas in Palm Desert, CA June 28-July 5. ($1200 for the week and includes all taxes and fees) 

Vacation Rentals
Our biggest items to "sell" are two weeks rental of our Marriott Vacation Timeshare.  We have just REDUCED THE PRICES of these weeks.  The Orlando, FL week is a use it or lose it week so please make us an offer or it will simply go to waste!  We only have two weeks left to sell the Palm Desert, CA week before we have to bank it if it doesn't sell.  Help us spread the word about these rentals!  Click on the captions above to get lots of details about the rentals.  Each unit is a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo that sleeps 8 people with full kitchen, living room, private laundry, and full access to the property's ammenities.

Clothing / Item Swap
A fellow adoptive mom is hosting a clothing/item swap for us on May 18th at 2pm in La Mirada, CA.  If you live nearby and would like to participate please email me and I can have her send you the evite.  You just bring $25 for our adoption plus one or two bags of clothes and items and you go home with one to two bags of clothes and items that you choose at the swap.

We may have some other fundraising efforts in the near future and I will be sure to post about those opportunities.  Thanks friends!

Small Victories: The Dreaded Long Run

9 mile long run - April 1, 2013

I didn't feel like going although it was the perfect weather for it.  Breezy, cloudy, and cool and Dan was home to watch Lena.  I already put it off from Saturday to today (Monday) so I had to do it.  In fact I wore my workout gear all day so that I wouldn't get too comfy and skip it.  Finally at 2 pm I headed out for my dreaded 9 mile long run.  I have about four weeks left before my half marathon and each Sunday I have to add one more mile to my long run.  So next week I will do 10 miles.  Today I ran sans baby stroller and dog so that I would have some freedom to run my best without distraction (Thanks Dan!) and I also ran listening to Pandora to keep me company for the duration of the run.  It is amazing what a difference good music can make!  My fastest mile was a little under 10 minutes to the tune of Coldplay's "Paradise".  I think I even smiled.  My goal was to complete the 9 mile run in under two hours.  My first 4.5 miles I finished in 53 minutes and then I slowed a bit on the back half and finished the 9 miles in 1:55.  I thought I might have to walk a good portion of the last four miles but I actually felt pretty good.  My cardio and strength training has really paid off and I never got winded or overly tired.  My left knee and hip did give me some trouble (which it always does past three miles) and I had to walk some spells because of it.  I am getting excited for race day because today I proved to myself that I am going to be very ready!  If you've ever run a long distance race you know that the long run training is the most difficult and tedious.  The actual race is usually much easier because there are people cheering for you and you have adrenaline pumping through your veins.  I can't say that I am looking forward to next week's long run but I can face it with a little more confidence now.  Thank you Jesus for giving me good health and a strong body.  May I honor you in all that I do!

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." -2 Timothy 1:7