Busy Busy Busy

Today has been an extremely busy day! It began with having to go to the Veteran's Hospital in Sepulveda to have my blood drawn which was surprisingly quick! The cool part was that they were filming one of my favorite shows at the time! Gray's Anatomy! Whoo-Hoo! Anyway, then it was onto San Fernando to the cake decorating store to buy supplies, then to Michael's (more cake supplies), then to Smart-n-Final (you guessed it...more cake decorating supplies), treated Isaiah and Jazzy to In-n-Out burgers and then home to begin practicing on the 1st cake! Pretty good Pound Cake! Yum! Make more hand-made roses for the cake! Then it was time to go to Zumba class. And now I can honestly say that my body hurts! My knees hurt, my feet hurt, my hips hurt, my elbows hurt and then some! Ugh! Rheumatoid Arthritis Sucks! I wish I could just say its the aches and pains of just exercising but ugh....Not! Anyway, still pressing through and still had to come home and write some more on my paper!

So, continue to pray for me while I continue to pray for you!

God Bless

Way too much homework!

Today, I have completely spent the day working on my computer! That's right! Homework! I am completing my Level II, Clear Credential for my Administrative Credential concurrently while completing my Literature review class this summer! Yes I know....Crazy....while also working this summer and making a wedding cake that is due this Friday! I have typed and typed and typed and when I thought that I could not type any longer....I typed some more! And if that wasn't enough I had to upload 3 out of the six standards that I am working on for the credential as well as all the evidence that I have met the standard! Good thing is that I have completed 1-5 and only have one more due before the deadline! Yeah! But I am also working on my paper that needs to have a minimum of 60 references! That's right! lots of reading and writing and organizing and putting together and more typing and more typing....Oh by the way more typing and more typing! and more reading and more reading. My hands are completely shot at the moment! My eyeballs are killing me and I still have to take that STUPID Shot! Ugh!
And no I have not weighed myself because we all know that that is a hopeless cause!

Okay...Continue to pray for me while I continue to pray for you! God Bless....

Camping Trip and the Crazy Guy

Alrighty...the first night of camping we had to deal with the sprinklers that they forgot to turn off and all of the kids believed that they were in a crazy rain storm! Then the next night, I heard the trash cans moving around and Porsche and Shelby barked a little so I decided to wake up, go to the bathroom @ 0500 and low and behold....the Crazy Guy was looking through the dumpster! Yes, that's right....deep in the dumpster! Looking for recycling....Hello! there were 15 tents....cars....all kinds of things to show people were here! and looney man....@ 5 in the morning was looking for recycling stuff! So, I asked him what he was doing and he looked at me as if he saw a ghost....and gave an explanation of he was getting "recycling" and I had to let him know that he was not welcomed there and that he was creepy and he needed to leave! Go figure...all of those men at the camp....(Elders of the Church) and not one of them woke up to assist or heard the crazy guy walking around the camp! GIRL Power....That guy was so scared that he really left I guess he thought that I was going to call the cops or something!...
Camping is so much fun!
I truly enjoyed working with the elementary kids again...You forget how much fun they are and how funny their stories can be.
We did lots of arts and crafts and played a lot of games.
Okay..when you go camping...it is so easy to forget how cold it does get at night! I'd wake up with my hands hurting and my hips really sore. My feet and knees are another issue...
To make things even worse...tomorrow is Monday and I have to take that stupid shot in my stomach again....Gosh those shots really burn and I can't stand taking them....
Anyway....until next time, I will pray for you and please pray for me!

Church was Great today! God is truly good and what a great pastor we have!
Trivia Question: Who were the three John's in the bible and what were their roles?
Who was present @ the cross when Jesus was crucified? What did Jesus say to them?

Camping!

What a great testimony to see the youth of our church preaching the word of God, learning about the word and accepting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Last night, well we all went to our tents and it was cold! I was freezing! As was Porsche and Shelby. Brrr! Then the sprinklers cam on and everyone thought that the flood gates had opened! Ha ha ha ha! That God for the covers on the tents that repel the water and are really and truly water proof! Ha ha ha. The water sprinklers hit every tent @ about 4:00 am. Still laughing! But truly, my hands are really hurting today due to the chilliness in my bones from last night and the sun is still not out now! My hips are hurting which makes it difficult to get up without some pain! The kids are all having a good time and it is worth it all! Until the next time, pray for me as I pray for you! God Bless.

Hollywood Bowl

Last night I surprised Rico with tickets to see FourPlay and Boney James @ the Hollywood Bowl. What a great place to see a concert! We had never been there before and to our amazement it's really a great place. It's outdoors underneath the stars and it was really a cool place! I'm glad that he liked it. It's good to be able to surprise someone else on occasion and to be able to pull it off was another thing! :-) Since walking at times can be a difficult task for me especially if it is uphill....it was great to know that they had golf carts available to take us to the front gate to pick-up our tickets from Will Call. They were very kind and very courteous..... There were escalators there as well to take you from the parking structures to the Bowl...in case you didn't know it's inside a mountaneous area in North Hollywood.....parking is up the HILL... beautiful scenery as the sun was setting and amazingly enough there was a cross that lit up at night towards the right! hmmm...God is good.

Okay we are off to our youth camping trip for the next 3 days at Point Mugu....Will keep you posted on how things go and I hope it doesn't get too cold at night so that my joints don't stiffen up too much.....

Until next time, I will pray for you, while you pray for me..

God Bless.

PS. Isaiah is preaching on Prayer! Go Isaiah.....

Zumba on You Tube

Here are some Zumba sites on you tube to watch.... They are really cool....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4 This is a Zumba class is Tampa Florida (Wow)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU8Q86T7Lpg This is another little girl that I'm glad is not my daughter with the moves that she has! Rico would die if his girls could move like this (hee hee hee) She has the ritmo latino! Go Julia!

Zumba Class - Wow!

Last night's class was great! Both Brittany and Tajah were there exercising with their mom! For some reason I started laughing hysterically and Tajah looked at me and asked why I was laughing...funny thing was I didn't know myself so I kept laughing until the giggles were all gone. (it took a while) Anyway, it was a great work out and I won't weigh myself for a few days to keep that frustration level down. But I found this great clip on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7fN-WtNuqw about a little girl named Victoria! If she can do it, so can I. I am truly not just exercising for the weight loss but I need to keep my joints mobile so that they don't forget how to move. I believe that if I take off some of the weight that the medication has put on me my body might be able to move a little easier. It's common sense that the more you weigh the harder your body has to work to get you from point A to point B. The harder your heart has to pump, the harder your lungs have to work....So, I challenge each and every one of you to try to lose at least 5 pounds in 30 days....That does not seem like much..but seeing as to I have had issues trying to lose one (1) pound it's going to be a lot of work for me. Go out and exercise. Go for a walk! Join a Zumba class! Turn the music on when you are cleaning the house (full blast) and dance while you clean! We can all keep each other uplifted with our thoughts and by sharing our stories. Today, my RA is a little of a distraction, but I am not going to give up. I will work through the pain and the stiffness and I will continue on this journey with all of you as friends and prayer warriors!
Until next time, pray for me and I will continue to pray for you!

Let me know if you are interested in the challenge of losing 5 pounds in 30 days by commenting to this post. This way we can see who all is working on it.

Priscilla is already walking almost 3 miles with her friend (Great Job)
*** IDEAS***
Ray and Amanda can take the kids for a walk in the neighborhood
Cyna can walk with the dog
Good Luck!

I'm not Mental

My sister-in-law, Priscilla works as a pharmacy technician, where she was able to ask her pharmacist about the medications that I am taking...low and behold....the meds can go either way! You can either lose weight (notice I said YOU!) or gain weight (referring to me). UGH! Priscilla, please tell your friend that I thank them very much for the information and that I have literally waited 18 months for someone to tell me that! I thought that it was just me and that I was losing my mind...now the real question that lingers is what can I do to lose the weight? I know that I do not sweat so when I exercise I actually gain a few pounds until my body cools off...I drink lots of water, green tea (diet of courst) and crystal lite. I try not to drink diet soda because I know that it still causes some weight gain...I'm watching my calories, I'm exercising, but I need to know whatelse can be done without having to take more medication? I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders knowing that I'm really not mental! okay a little but you know what I mean..Whoo-hoo....

Thanks again Priscilla.....I know God will truly bless you with love and happiness....just wait on Him!

Remember that: I'll continue to pray for you and please continue to pray for me...

Still Frustrated!

I religiously take my medications as directed! I am trying to exercise more than ever and this morning I woke up and got up on the scale and Nothing! Not one pound lost. Seriously, does anyone have information about Humira? Folic Acid? Methotrexate? Does anyone know if these medications retain more water than usual? Do they maintain your weight so that you wake up more depressed than the day before? Hello? Is this crazy or what? I'm not really depressed, just a figure of speech! But this is bad! This is really bad! I used to do weight watchers and lose the weight by counting my points! Tried that and NOTHING! Is it the disease? Does having a high rheumatoid factor make you gain weight and not be able to lose it? Okay, friends and family....it is your turn to figure out how I can lose weight! I would love to lose a total of 35 pounds...but I would take ten to start...I will take any suggestions that are out there.....Tonight is the Zumba class....and then camping this week....truly any suggestions are welcomed!.
As usual, pray for me and I will pray for you! God Bless

Church Picnic

What a Great, Great day! It was an amazing day in Southern California! The sun was out, there was not a cloud in the sky and the wind was not blowing more than 2 m.p.h. The food was great as usual thanks to my hubby, Elder Rico..The kids enjoyed the jolly jump and people were playing basketball, board games, dominoe's and just enjoying each other's company. Pain level today wasn't so bad...Achy in the mornings as usual but not so much throughout the day. Props to the young people who won the basketball game against the "older" people. There was so much food and so much dessert that I truly believe everyone was happy and full! The kids had enough people to watch over them and they were taken to the apparatus to play by their parents or teenaged "helper friends." I don't recall a sad face in the crowd. Of course we missed Ray and Richie and their families... But Richie called and said although it was a little rough he is hanging in there and he is okay! Yeah! We really miss him very much and can't wait to see him again! I am going to try and do a 2 mile walk later with my Christian video so hopefully that will keep my exercise level to where it needs to be. Keep us in prayer as we keep you....God Bless...

No Pain, No Gain!

So exercised like a crazy person this week! Ate lots of salad with chicken and didn't lost a pound! Are you kidding me? Seriously! Worked my buns off, rode the bike, ate like a bird and not one pound! I made sure that I stayed within 1500 calories, didn't cheat AND NOT 1 POUND! Frustration is not even a word I'm thinking about! This medication that I am on is not my friend! I'm sick of taking the meds! I sick of people saying you look fine! You look good! Whatever! I'm 35 pounds over than what I like to be! The doctors don't really listen when you tell them that you upset about the weight gain! They don't friggin care! Well, hello! I care! I want the weight to come off! Any ideas! The aches are stil there! The joints still hurt and oh to top it off the WEIGHT is still there! UGH! Can Somebody, anybodyfigure out something that will make the rheumatoid pains disappear and the weight come off! Okay now that I've vented will update more later!

Bike Riding as an Exercise

Alrighty....so I haven't been on a bicycle since last summer which didn't really last long but I decided to get up today in the hottest part of the day and ride my bike 7 miles through town!
What the HECK was I thinking? Seriously....I don't sweat! I overheat! The water that I brought with me made me want to throw up because I was so over heated! OMG! I must be nuts! Seriously!
The good thing is that I rode my bike for 7 miles through town and I didn't die! Felt like I was going to pass out from heat stroke but I rode my bike! yeah! Thanks Isaiah for riding with your crazy mom! Luv ya dude!

Starting with a new attitude

Okay...so I'm not a 100 years old! I still have life in me....I am not going to let this disease get to me....I am truly going to fight it tooth and nail! Last night I began a Zumba class....God did that kill my knees but you know what? I did the entire class...that's right! 60 minutes of Zumba!

Last weekend I walked @ Six Flags with my kids....Yeah! I even got on a roller coaster!..Imagine that! I didn't let the few little aches stop me from living life!..

Yeah! I actually did some exercise this week....

And I am trying to eat healthier! Go figure....trying to lose weight and exercise....who would have thunk it?