10 lbs down.

a bizillion more to go.

Free Q City Players Show Friday!

The always hilarious (well, almost always) Q City Players Improv Comedy Troupe will be performing at Taza Coffeehouse in Clifton this Friday.

Here's the skinny:

when: this friday (I just told you that!) February 19th
time: 9-11pm
cost: $5 at the door UNLESS you bring a personal hygiene item or canned food good, then you get in FREE
ideas on what to bring: shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, hairbrushes, canned meats, canned vegetables, etc

All donated items will go to The Healing Center in Springdale. It's a very cool place that offers a number of services to the people of Cincinnati.

show up early - doors open at 8:20pm. It's street parking (although you can park across the street in UC's parking lot, I think it's like $5-10. Also, Taza makes wonderful drinks and healthy snack options. You don't want to miss it!

bad company

Until 2 weeks ago, I hadn't been to the dentist in somewhere between 5-10 years. I figured I was good, since my dad has really good teeth and he never goes. Plus, I had never a cavity. Turns out, waiting a decade between dentist trips isn't such a hot idea. I had 4 cavities and apparently, my 4x a year flossing habits didn't quite cut it. I ended up with some crappy gingivitis and periodontal disease. Which the later is code for Eastern Kentucky. It's basically a result of never flossing and your gums get hacked off and eventually deteriorate, causing tooth loss. I floss almost everyday now.

Anyway, all that to say, the dentist experience got me thinking. If I had been jacking my mouth up this long and never realizing it, what was I doing to the rest of my body? I began figuring out how much weight I needed to lose to be "healthy". It's right around 100lbs. WHAT???!?!?!?!? bleep, bleep, bleeeeeep.

I doubt I'll ever lose 100lbs, but I need to lose weight regardless. and a LOT of it. I would have to lose 40lbs just to get to the weight I was when I got married, which was just a mere 2 1/2 years ago. And I was fat then too. ugh.

So on the 3rd of February, I began eating better. Not amazing. But better. And I have dramatically lessened the amount of soda intake I was consuming. And overall, lessened the amount of calories I'm having been shoveling down my throat. And I started working out. Not everyday. But some. And I started Zumba classes yesterday. And as of this morning, I have lost 6lbs. Which, in the grand scheme of things, is like losing the weight of one of my earlobes or something. But 6lbs is still 6lbs. Just 94 more to go.... haha.

And for the first time ever, Isaac and I are on the same page. We're trying to lose weight together, eating better and staying positive. This has been VERY helpful.

The challenge will be (and will always be) that I am an emotional eater. I eat when I'm sad, when I'm happy, when I'm bored, when I'm nervous and I really eat when I'm depressed. And parties - watch out. A celebration is not a celebration to me without a bunch of food being involved. When I started talking about losing weight to Isaac, I told him that when I lost 50lbs, my treat to myself would be to buy some new glasses. He asked me what my "treat" would be for the first 5lbs or 10lbs... And I bit back with "probably a cheeseburger". I honestly do not know how to celebrate without food. And in the past several days, I have been going back and forth between "when" I lose x amount of weight and "if" I lose x amount of weight. Which are 2 totally different things. The if's are what's going to bring me down.

So, what are some good ways to "celebrate" or "treat" yourself for reaching small goals?

I Want To Be A Clone

Back in the mid 1990's a friend in band class introduced me to the music of Steve Taylor. Quirky, eccentric, intelligent, Steve Taylor. His tongue-in-cheek approach to life and the truth of Christ blended in such a fashion that it shaped the way that I thought about not only Christian music, but God as well. Steve would eventually go on to produce numerous records and music videos (Sixpence None the Richer, Newboys, Guardian, Rich Mullins). He also formed the short lived Squint Entertainment and co-wrote and directed The Second Chance (which starred Michael W. Smith).

And while I have been a bad girl for not watching his movie, some of his songs have stuck with me since the day I bought his cassette tape at Family Christian Store. Somewhat ironic, since several of his albums were pulled from stores like that.... But songs like Jesus Is For Losers and The Finish Line and Cash Cow (which has to be one of the weirdest and funniest videos out there) are life changing to me. When I'm having a crap sappy day, I think of The Finish Line and how the Christian life is not some happy go lucky day trip. It gets hard, and you fall down, but you have to get back up. As the apostle Paul wrote, "I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself." - 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 The Message

While his music is out of print, you can of course, always purchase it on ebay. I would suggest purchasing both Liver and Squint. Click here to watch/listen to a 1994 rendition of The Finish Line at Cornerstone. And remember to run hard in the race. Don't give up. He didn't come for the well, he came for the sick and the broken hearted. The losers. You and me.

My head is not really where my heart is. I think.

Sorry it's been forever since my last post. Not that anybody's been chomping at the bit for my next post. haha.

I have no idea why I write "haha" after everything. haha. (that was just for emphasis)

I'm a happy person for the most part, so please don't read this and think I'm a party pooper. This is just where my head is today, so bear with me. Actually, I'll follow every annoyance with a good thing.

I think I cut my gum on some mountain trail mix last Friday. It still hurts. I think it might be infected. And then tonight before church, my hand slipped and hit my jaw with a force. My bottom teeth smashed into my top teeth with part of my tongue somewhere in the middle. Now my whole right side of my mouth is annoyed and hurting.

Good thing I made a dentist appointment for Tuesday morning. It'll be the first time I've been to the dentist in about 5-10 yrs. It's also at 6:45am. Yes, I said AM.

The Vineyard's been switching the services around for the past 5 weeks. Basically, the teaching's in the beginning, and the worship musics at the end. I was really hoping that by the end of the 5 weeks, I would be getting used to the changes. I think this was week 5. I'm not sure if they're sticking with the change or not. Regardless, it's been hard for me. Wha. I know, right? But seriously, I can't stay focused to save my life. I don't have the time mentally to prepare for a video that has substance (Mardy) and then straight into teaching. I can stay focused for about 3-5 minutes at a time. Which, is weird. And then we go into music and I don't feel like I'm really into the music, because I really wasn't at all into the teaching. It doesn't transition for me. I just feel like I've been going to church lately, just to go to church. I don't feel like I've been getting anything out of it. And that's my deal, not the teachers. It's just frustrating. I leave the service without understanding what was being taught. I probably just need to catch up online a bunch. But it's also got me thinking. How long has it taken me in the past to "get into worship?" Isn't the music just as important as the teaching? Maybe, I don't know. It's just weird to me, that people are still talking when the teacher is speaking, people are still getting up and some are actually standing up to take off their coats. While Joe or Dave are talking. It's odd. I feel like people aren't mentally or physically prepared either. Not everybody, just a some. I'm just annoyed I'm not soaking in much. I'm just going to go for David and Kathy at this point.

Regardless if I'm not getting church, I've heard that lots of people are really happy with the changes. And honestly, that's really cool. And above all, I'm just happy that I go to a church that's willing to change things up a bit and try new things. A lot of places wouldn't dare. VCC is pretty dang cool overall. And I'm happy to call it home.

I did have a revelation tonight... about 4 years ago, I stopped going to the church I had been attending and kinda quit going anywhere. I'd had my fill of being burned my crappy churches and leadership. Eventually, I started visiting the Vineyard. Most times, I never came on time. I figured if anybody was going to complain about it, I'd just leave. Honestly, I was just testing the waters with VCC. They claimed to be a safe place and I had known some friends who went there for some healing time after being burned by a church. I wanted to know if what they said was true. Was VCC different? Sometimes, I got there so late, Dave was already 1/2 thru his sermon. Eventually, I started coming a little earlier and earlier. It took me a looong time, but eventually I realized that there is no perfect church. But VCCers seemed to be trying, so I thought that was good and I'd at least be willing to try them out. And about 2 years into me trying out VCC, I decided I'd start volunteering. This would be my home.

Meanwhile, I had been involved in a small group with a group of good friends. In the end, that small group didn't work out for me. Long story, but I got a bad taste in my mouth of what a small group was and should be and who you should be in one with. Fastforward a couple of years.... I've now been in a small group for a year. Most of my very favorite people are in that group. I'd rather be a small group with a random group of people than my friends. That seems safer to me. That way, in case the sm didn't work out, I still had my friends. wussy way of thinking, but whatever. And lately, I've been thinking that maybe they don't like me in small group as much as I'm nervous to be there. I got all emotional and honest on Thursday and that was embarassing. I think I've cried in front my small group friends like, 3x already. That's stupid. And probably really annoying to them. It just feeds in my s.m. group fears. Anyway, back to the revelation tonight.... I realized that while there is no perfect church, there's also no perfect small group. Why it took me so long to realize that, I have no idea. So I'm going to try and work on not freaking out so much. And just keep loving the people who I already adore. and to hash things out theologically. And to love and serve the ones around us as Christ would. Actually sounds kinda of exciting, doesn't it?

Honestly, I think this post was more for me than it was for you. If you even made it this far, I'm really impressed. And you're really bored : )

The Dog and His Bowel Movements

Love my new doggie. His name is Cassius Clay Kevin Stambaugh. He's a 7 wk old boxer.

Isaac and I are trying to teach Cash that we are totally down with him doing his business outside. However, today Cash has not been so awesome. After waking up at 6:45am to take him outside and standing out there with him for forever, he convinced me that he truly did not have poop. And stupid me, I believed him. So we came in, he got his treat for peeing outside, and by the time I had taken my coat off, I noticed something sticking out from underneath the guest bed. He had in one swift motion, ran to the back of the house, crawled underneath the bed and pooped. He's been having horrible gas and diaherra lately, so at least I was "blessed" by 2 hard(ish) turds this morn.

Then tonight, after I had taken him out TWICE, Cash got peeved because I had the nerve to actually fix dinner instead of fixating on him..... And then he got super quiet and polite and kinda hid.... which seemed weird... Anyway, so I started my search of the house. And this is what I found in my bedroom.

I made Isaac clean it up when he got home. That was probably rude of me, but I had already cleaned up a small puddle of urine and had burnt part of the dinner, because of the dog.

Isaac cleaned it up (by that time, apparently it had dripped into the base of the register) and flushed the poo and paper towels down the toliet. Wait - paper towels! So then the toliet overflowed on Isaac. We didn't eat dinner till 8pm.

Potty training is hard.

Victory is Mine!