{Weigh In Wednesday} Battle of the Spouses: Round 1

Ding! Ding!

Round 1

Biggest Loser Challenge

Here are this week's stats:

Week 1 {Team Meg}:

Wall Squat {time}: 70 seconds

In& Out {Abs}: 20

Push- Ups: 35 {girl push-ups}

Weight: 155 lbs

Measurements:

Waist: 34 1/2 inches

Thighs: 23 inches

Chest: 35 inches

While I didn't lose any weight this week 

{I blame PMS... but, whatever}

I am proud of the progress that I made. I mean, I lost 2 inches in my waist in one week! Not bad at all. Plus I improved in all areas of our fitness test, so I can't complain. And I'm losing inches in places that Greg and I aren't measuring in our Biggest Loser Challenge {like my arms- get your minds out of the gutter!} and I feel my overall physique changing, so I am anxious to see next week's results.

Now onto Greg's stats for the week:

Week 1 {Team Greg}:

Wall Squat {time}: 77 seconds

In& Out {Abs}: 35

Push- Ups: 35

Weight: 261 lbs

Measurements:

Waist: 46 3/4 inches

Thighs: 27 inches

Chest: 42 inches

I am so proud of my husband. 

He has been swamped at work {inventory at his store, auditing another store, training an MIT who is getting ready to manage a store of his own, and more} So by the time he comes home from work each day, he is exhausted. BUT- he doesn't let that stop him from working out. He has been focusing more on strength training recently rather than cardio {which explains the increase in weight} mainly because of time. But I have no doubt in my mind that he will accomplish his goal by the end of this challenge.

Also- I don't know if you noticed, but we received a $200.00 donation today for World Vision! Greg and I are running for Team World Vision when we run the Dallas 13.1 in October and we have each committed to raise $1,310.00 to go towards clean water projects in Africa. If you would like to make a donation, simply click on the World Vision logo on the side of the page and it will take you directly to my donation page.

***If you would like to donate under Greg's donation page so that he can reach his 

goal as well, email me at megan.card@gmail.com and I will get that information to you.***

 I wanted to thank you for all of the support and encouragement that y'all have given us in this fitness challenge and in training for this half marathon. While Greg and I are playfully competing to see who can lose the most weight by the time we go on vacation, we both feel incredibly blessed to have so many people {including those we've never actually  "met"} cheering us on. 

We appreciate each one of you. 

More than you will ever know. 

So again, thank you!

5 Pet Peeves {Listable Life}

If you commit any of these crimes... we can still be friends... I think. 

{Kidding! Of course we can!}

1. People Who Are Perpetually Late

Via

Life happens.
Cars break down.
Kids throw up all over you as you are walking out the door.
Traffic jams.
You get a speeding ticket.

Sometimes there are things that you simply cannot avoid or plan in advance. No big deal.

But... if you are perpetually late... I have a slight problem with that.

When you are late- all of the time- you are being inconsiderate of my time. If I extend you that courtesy, I would expect that you would extend that courtesy to me as well. When you are late because you hit the snooze button 15 million times this morning, it screams to me "you are at the bottom of my priority list." And that bothers me.

Okay... mini rant over. I apologize.

2. Smacking Your Food While You Eat

Via Google Images

I don't want to see the food that is in your mouth while you eat. That's just gross. 

3. Leaving the Toilet Seat Up

Via

Note to my sons:

Mommy is the only girl in the house right now. Please, please, please, put the toilet seat lid back down after you have used the potty.

I love you. Thank you. You will understand one day.

Love,

Mommy

4. People Who Say: "I'm Going to Go Get My Hair Did!"

What?! I just don't understand why people talk this way....

5. People Who Drive Slow in the Fast Lane

Via

There is a fast lane and a slow lane for a reason people. 

Enough said.

So what are some of your biggest pet peeves? Come on! I told you mine. 

Link up with Moments that Define  Life and let us know!

Another Milestone!

I ran 2 miles in 20 minutes 40 seconds!!!

That means that I am on par to meet my goal of a 30 minute 5k!

My first 5k is on March 31st and at the rate I'm going, I'm not only on track to meet my goal-

 but to exceed it.

I'm thrilled to say the least!

Now...

onto my weight workout.

Happy Monday Y'all!

The Waiting Game

I've always considered myself to be a patient person.

That is... until the Lord placed me in this particular season of life.

I cannot go into many of the details. Oh, how I wish that I could! Perhaps when it is over and we have closed this chapter of our lives, I will be able to divulge in more detail. Let's just say,this season has required more patience than I can offer in my own strength. And it has only been by God's grace {and perhaps divine intervention} that I have yet to take things into my own hands, because I cannot stand the waiting any longer. Believe me, it has been tempting. Very. Tempting. From our adoption to job promotions and everything in between- it all seems to require patience on my part.

This morning I seemed to be at a breaking point. In my morning quiet time I pleaded with the Lord to fulfill His promises to us...now.

"I'm tired of waiting." I would cry out to Him.
"This is getting really hard." I would whine.
"Can't You do something about it? I would plead.

Silence.

And then, after what seemed like an eternity, that turned out to actually be only minutes, He spoke. It was gentle, but firm. Loving, but full of authority. As an adoring Father speaks to His child.

"Dear One, 'I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.' {Psalm 32:8} Remember, it is I who initiates when to take action. Please, wait for Me. I have only your best interest at heart. And while you are waiting, come and sit at My feet. Enjoy My Everlasting Presence. It is My precious gift to you, child."


It wasn't exactly what I had wanted to hear. I was hoping for something more along the lines of, "I'll get right  on that. You've waited long enough. Now seems to be a good time for Me to fulfill My promises to you. Hang on just a second and let Me take care of a few things first." Instead the Lord wants me to continue to wait on Him and enjoy His Presence in the meantime.

As if to sense my displeasure in His response, He lead me to the book of Joshua. Now, most of you at this point would be like, "oh okay. cool." But for me, this has been the third time that the Lord has lead me to read this book in the past 6 months. Obviously, I haven't gotten the message He wishes for me to receive. And low and behold, guess what I saw on the top of the page in Joshua chapter 1? In my own handwriting were these words: The LORD initiates when to take action. Wait on His timing. 


BAM!

Message received.

But I am not the only human to have walked the course of history and asked God the same question, "when?" The Israelites were notorious for asking this question. In fact, throughout most of the book of Exodus and into the book of Joshua, you can find them asking, "when will we reach the Promise Land?" Many Biblical scholars believe that the majority of the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness, actually took place up and down on the banks of the Jordan River, merely hundreds of feet from their promised destination. I'm sure that it must have been extremely difficult to know that you were just on the other side of the river of the Promised Land, and yet, you had to wait in order to cross.

There are many reasons why the Lord brings us through periods of waiting. Sometimes it is a result of our own disbelief and distrust. Sometimes, like Moses, it is because of disobedience. And sometimes, I think it is because there are still valuable lessons that have yet to be learned before you are ready to move on to what's next. 

Regardless of the reason why He has asked me to tread through this season of waiting, I know that God always fulfills His promises. 

"Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; 

all came to pass." 

{Joshua 21:45}

Thankful Thursday

Because we all have something to be thankful for...

I'm thankful for new friends that I have met in the blogging community. I "met" Jamie through the SITS 31 Days to a Better Blog Challenge and we became blog buddies. Jamie is currently training to run her first marathon {not half, but a FULL marathon} that takes place next month. I'm taking away a lot of great advice through Jamie's blog, so if you are a runner, or want to be a runner, go check her out! 

Anyway, Jamie tagged me in a post a couple of weeks ago and I am just now sitting down to respond. {I'm such a bad blog buddy. Sorry Jamie!} Here are the rules:

RULES

1. Post these rules.

2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them.

6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 Random Things About Me:

1. I was born during an ice storm.

2. I am deathly afraid of snakes and sharks.

3. My favorite flavor of ice cream is mint chocolate chip.

4. I have only received one detention in my entire school career. It was for forgetting a pencil on the second day of school in 6th grade World Geography. {I'm such a rebel}

5. I'm ambidextrous. I mainly use my right hand, but I catch myself randomly switching to my left hand {expect when I write}.

6. I played the flute and piccolo in middle school and haven't touched it since

7. I have always wanted a large family {3+ kids}. We currently have two sons and plan to adopt in the near future.

8. My favorite color is sapphire blue.

9. I am married to my high school sweetheart.

10. I was a cheerleader throughout middle school and high school and almost cheered in college, but changed my mind once I got there.

11. I don't have a facebook account. {I did, but deleted several months ago after they published all of my phone contacts onto my MIL's facebook page.}

Questions from Jamie:

1. What is your favorite kitchen utensil/appliance? My KitchenAid mixer 

2. What fitness activity have you always wanted to try? Rock climbing

3. Where did you take your best or worst vacation? Best vacation was to Vancouver during my sophomore year of high school. I learned how to ski from a former professional skier. It was pretty awesome!

4. What’s your favorite season? It's a toss-up between Spring and Fall. 

5. Tap water or filtered water? Filtered water

6. You have no distractions or obligations, how would you like to spend your day? I would sleep in past 8am {I have 2 kids, I don't get to sleep in very often}, take my time in the morning- sipping on a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks, go for a run early in the afternoon, spend quality time with my family, then curl up under blankets and watch movies and eat popcorn before bed.

7. How many bones in your body have you broken? 1- my ring finger on my right hand

8. Who is your fitness inspiration? Not sure... 

9. Do you have a sweet tooth or a salty tooth? Sweet tooth for sure! 

10. What’s your favorite shoe style? I love wearing high heels.

11. What are you most looking forward to doing when the weather warms up? Going on vacation to the Dominican Republic!!! 

Tag! You're It!

I'm tagging: Cole from All the Small Stuff, Jessie from Keeping Up with the Joneses, Vanessa from vanessaschrotenboer.com, Sarah from Notice the Dirt, Lauren from {Talk of the Trains}, Holly from 300 Pounds Down, Ashley from The Ederington Family, Blair from Blairadise, Angie from Mama's Gone Madison, Jamie from The Roubinek Reality, and April from Red Dirt Mama

Your Questions:


1. Would you rather live in the mountains, or by the beach?
2. Do you consider yourself a city girl? Country girl? Or somewhere in between?
3. What is your favorite movie?
4. What is your ideal vacation?
5. If you could meet any one person, past or present, who would it be?
6. Where is your favorite place to eat out?
7. Is is coke or pop?
8. If you could do anything, knowing that you would not fail at it, what would you do?
9. Would you rather be hot or cold?
10. What do you like to do in your spare time?
11. Name one country you would like to visit. 

{Weigh In Wednesday} Battle of the Spouses: Starting Fitness Test

Well, today's the day. It's time to take our starting fitness test as we begin our Biggest Loser Challenge. We want to look our best when we hit the beaches of the Dominican Republic in May! 

Via

I still cannot believe  that I am about to post my weight and body measurements on the blog for the entire world to see. I must be crazy. But I figured that by doing so I could 

1.) gain support from family, friends, and faithful blog followers

2.) get weight loss tips and advice from readers who have walked this road before

3.) provide encouragement for anyone else out there who is seeking to lose weight the healthy way

4.) have accountability. Knowing that people will see my stats each week is definitely motivation to keep working!

So... enough stalling.

Here are the stats:

Team Greg:

Starting weight: 256.5 lbs

Goal weight: 200 lbs

Starting Fitness Test :

Wall Squat {time}: 70 seconds

In & Out {Abs}: 30

Push-Ups: 30

Weight: 256.5 lbs

Starting Measurements:

Waist: 47 inches

Thighs: 28 inches

Chest: 43 1/8 inches

Team Meg:

Starting weight: 155 lbs

Goal weight: 125 lbs

Starting Fitness Test :

Wall Squat {time}: 60 seconds

In & Out {Abs}: 15

Push-Ups {Girl push-ups}: 30

Weight: 155 lbs

Starting Measurements:

Waist: 36 1/2 inches

Thighs: 23 1/4 inches

Chest: 36 inches 

If you would like to keep up with our progress each week, there are two page tabs at the top of the blog, appropriately titled Team Greg and Team Meg. 

Feel free to leave comments, support, encouragement, or fitness tips as we work hard to reach our fitness goals! 

It's OFFICIAL!

Via

Greg and I are now 

OFFICIALLY 

registered for the 

Dallas 13.1

in Dallas, TX on Oct 27, 2012!

We will be running with Team World Vision.

World Vision is an organization that is very near and dear to our hearts, as our family sponsors a 5 yr old little boy from Chile. Our goal is to raise $1,310.00 each. The money that is raised will go towards clean water projects in Kenya and Malawi. If you would like to make a donation, please contact us at either 

megan.card@gmail.com or gregcard@gmail.com 

for further information.

Also, if you are in the Dallas area and would like to come out and support us as we run, we would love for you to join us! Knowing that we have a team of people at the race who are cheering us on helps to keep us motivated. If you would like more information on what you can do to support us in this endevour, let us know and we will get you directions to t he race. 

Via

5 Things You Couldn't Live Without {Listable Life}

Omg.

I cannot believe that I didn't link up with Nicole over at Moments that Define Life last week. While I would like to make excuses and tell y'all that I was just way to busy to do so, I cannot tell a lie. The truth is, I just didn't feel like blogging much last week. Ever have one of "those" weeks?

So anyway, I am pleased to say that I am linking up once again with Nicole this week, as I really do enjoy the various prompts we get to chose from. For Week #6, I have chosen the prompt 5 things You Couldn't Live Without. Hope you enjoy!


1. My Bible

God's Word means everything to me. EVERYTHING. And I cannot bear to think what would happen if I couldn't read my Bible. It is my rock. It is my comfort. It is my hiding place. It truly is my life-line.


2. My Family

These three guys are my world. I love them more than words can express. As much as I like to joke with my husband that I am swimming in a sea of testosterone, the truth is that I really do not mind being the only female. My boys take great care of me. All three of them love me with a fierceness that only a man can express. My sons love playing games in which I am in danger and they valiantly come to my rescue. What girl wouldn't want to be loved like that?!

If I can speak honestly, the first two on my list of things that I couldn't live without, are the only two things that would completely alter my world if they were taken from me. And because I wanted to have a complete list of 5 for you instead of two; the next three are simply things that I enjoy, but would not effect me if they were removed from my life forever. 



3. Coffee

Via

I love coffee. And now that I am limiting my caffeine intake due to fibromyalgia {and my weight loss goals}, I crave it all the more. Especially specialty coffee like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. Mmmmm.... I figure if I am going to indulge in some coffee, go big or go home, right?


4. My iPhone

Via

I can't help it. I wish I could. But I need my iPhone. I use it every single day. I not only use it to make phone calls and send text messages; but I use it to check the weather, stay connected via social media, plan my trip to the grocery store, and if you are as directionally challenged as I am, the GPS can be a lifesaver. Plus, if you are a parent of small children, you know how those apps can come in handy.

It's a blessing and a curse. The iPhone makes managing the various aspects of my life easier; but at the same time, I can easily neglect the things {mainly people} that are most important in my life, because I can sometimes spend far too much time on it. It's a balancing act, for sure.

5. Running

This was not always the case. However, the more time that I spend training for my upcoming half marathon, the more I enjoy running. I look forward to my daily run. It's one of those rare moments in my day where I can be alone with my thoughts. I know that that may sound selfish. I wrestle with this concept often. But after much prayer, I have come to the conclusion that taking some time each day to be alone, may not necessarily be a bad thing- healthy even. 

Running allows me to clear my head and work out {literally} anything that may be bothering me. I find the rhythm of my feet pounding the pavement, soothing. The adrenaline that runs through my veins after completing a particularly difficult run, or setting a new personal record, is addicting. It makes me want to push myself. To work harder. And I love it.

So, what are some things that you cannot live without? 

Link up with Moments that Define Life and let us know!