Holly and Priya

On April 5th I said goodbye to my beloved Honda named Holly, and traded her in for a used Prius. The Pruis' name is Priya, which means "loved one" in Hindu (Yeah, I looked through baby names in order to find the right name for her. Don't judge me!). It was very sad to say goodbye to Holly because she has been such a faithful car, but Priya is awesome! Priya is a hybrid so she gets anywhere from 40-50 miles per gallon (I know you are drooling), and she has all sorts of cool features that dear old Holly just couldn't compete with. 

Saying goodbye to Holly

Hello Priya!

Bonus fun fact: My brother also owns a Prius (named Pat) and our cars are almost twins.  

Pat and Priya on Easter Sunday

The Big Announcement

So I realized that I may have hyped my "big announcement" too much when 3 of you asked me what it was. Oh well, it's big news to me. Are you ready?

Officially as of today I have lost 51 pounds!!!!!!

To me, that number doesn't seem like it could possibly be real. But it is. And I have the paperwork to prove it. That means less than 30 pounds to go to reach my goal. It is going to take a while since my weight loss has slowed down a lot, but I'm confident that I can do it.

I tried to find some common things that weigh 50 pounds like I did when I reached the 40 pound mark, but I couldn't really find much other than a small bale of hay. And that doesn't mean much to me. The only thing I could think of is the luggage requirement for most airlines. So on your next flight if you were to take the amount of weight that I've lost and put it in a suitcase you would have to pay an overage fee. That's a fun way to think of it!

Also, as of this weigh in, I am no longer considered obese! Praise the Lord for that!

Stripes, Sewing, and Size Changes

This post is brought to you by the letter "S" in honor of Spring!

1. Stripes- In the past month I bought and wore a horizontally striped shirt. That may seem like a weird detail to share, but believe me friends, it is exciting for me. Rule #3 in the "How to dress when you are bigger" handbook is to never wear horizontal stripes. They make you look bigger. For the first time in my adult life, I have felt confident enough to wear a striped shirt, and it felt great!
2. Sewing- My spring project this year is learning how to sew. So far, I have only tackled one project, but I am loving it! Do any of you sew? Any advice for a beginner?
3. Size changes- Today I bought size 8 jeans! That's right people, I am now in a single digit pant size! Now, some of you may be thinking, "Candace, don't brag about that. That's what size my fat jeans are." Well, I realize that a size 8 is not tiny, but it is for me! I really don't remember the last time I wore a size 8. I'm guessing middle school. And if you think about how far I've come, this seems like a big accomplishment. I started out this journey in a size (gulp!) 16. That's half of the size I used to be! And you better believe I kept a pair of those size 16s, so that when I reach my goal I can post the famous "Hold up your old jeans and drop them to reveal your new body" pose.

Thanks for letting me share my joys with you. Stay tuned for a big announcement that I will be making hopefully later this week!

Spring

Spring is almost here! (although I'm not sure that we really saw winter, but I'm not complaining about that) Here are some of my favorite things about spring:

1. Warm weather--not too hot, not too cold
2. Riding in the car with the windows rolled down
3. Getting to wear short-sleeve shirts, skirts, and sandals
4. Flowers and trees blooming
5. Daylight Savings Time
6. Festivals
7. Picnics
8. Reading a good book outside, preferably in a park or by the river
9. Grilling out with family and friends
10. March Madness
11. Cold Starbucks drinks
12. Lent and Easter

What are some of your favorite things about Spring?

Love

Well, it's been a over a week since Valentine's Day, and so I thought it was about time for a Valentine's Day post. Let's be honest, (although you probably know this already) Valentine's Day is not one of my favorite days of the year. Like most single people I groan at the mere mention of the name. Most of you know that one of my greatest struggles is with my singleness and with my desire to be married. And Valentine's Day tends to make all of those struggles worse.

But over the past couple of years I have realized the value of going into the big day with a positive attitude. Some people call that day "Singleness Awareness Day," and I admit that I have done so in the past. But I think this kind of attitude just makes everything worse. So I have tried to go into the day with a smile and thinking about all of the possibilities I might have to eat chocolate. And for the most part, this positive attitude commitment has made the day tolerable.

Even though there still was some lingering sadness surrounding the day, this past Valentine's Day was perhaps the best one that I have ever had. My parents waited in the longest line ever to bring me my favorite Muddy's cupcake, and my brother's fiance, Jessica, bought me a rose and had it waiting for me in my apartment when I got home from work. I'm not going to lie, when I got home that day I cried. The tears were not because I was single and I felt sorry for myself, but rather the tears came because I felt so loved. My parents and Jessica went out of their way to make me feel special and loved on a day when I normally feel like crap. Isn't that a huge part of what love is. . . seeing a need and then choosing to meet that need at your own expense? That's exactly how Jesus loves us.

I have been blessed beyond measure with a loving family and friends, and a Savior who loves me so much that He died for me. And from now on, that's what I want to celebrate on Valentine's Day. . . whether I'm single or not. I'm sure that if I ever am blessed with having a Valentine we will celebrate our love on that day, but I hope that day will always include a spirit of thankfulness for how I have been so radically loved by my Savior, family, and friends.

1 John 4: 11-12- "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

40 Pounds

That's right, people. Over the past several months I have lost 40 pounds! Here are some things that weigh 40 pounds:

1. A 15 foot canoe
2. A 3 year old child
3. An average human leg
4. 5 gallons of water
5. A mid-size microwave

I lost the equivalent of a MICROWAVE!!! I am beyond thrilled with the results that I have been getting from doing Weight Watchers. I have so much more energy. I feel better about the way that I look, which incidentally makes me want to step it up a notch in terms of my hair, jewelry, and clothing (which makes me feel even better about the way that I look). About a year ago, I went to the doctor and she told me that my blood pressure was a little bit high. I went back to the doctor about a month ago and my blood pressure was back to normal! I have gone down 1 shirt size and 3 pants sizes. And I am only a few pounds away from no longer being considered obese. I can't wait to get out of that category.

So, that was the good news. The bad news is that I still have another 40 pounds to lose before I reach my goal. But at least now I know that I can do it! I'm so thankful to all of my family and friends who have supported me and encouraged me during this process. I honestly couldn't have done it without you.

Highlights Part 2

Top 5 Kenya Highlights:

5. I mentioned in the previous post that going to the bathroom at night was scary. One night, Laura and I were returning from the bathroom and we ran into a snake. Yes, people, we ran into a SNAKE. Ugh, I hate snakes. We both (amazingly) remained calm and walked back to the camp to get the guards. I don't think the guards believed us at first, but sure enough, they found the snake and swiftly ended it's life. When we returned to camp everyone was curious if the snake was poisonous. The guards replied, "Of course. . . it is! Very dangerous!" (This probably doesn't sound like a highlight so far, and you would be right.) Later that night, Ezekiel, one of the guards, complimented me on my good eyesight. He even asked me what kind of food I eat to have such good eyesight (um, I don't know. Do chips count?). For the rest of the trip, every time he saw me he would compliment me on my eyes. Hilarious.

4. While we were at the children's home in Thika, one of the teams built the kids a playground from scratch (not sure if you can use that term in construction, but it definitely fits what they did). It was quite impressive! When they started building the playground, they asked the kids what they thought it was going to be. They thought it was going to be something for the animals that lived on the farm. Little did they know. They finally began to figure it out when we started to attach the slide and swings. Their faces were absolutely priceless. They couldn't believe the playground was for them and couldn't wait to play on it!

3. You may be wondering how a group of 15 Americans traveled around Kenya for almost 2 weeks. Well, you don't have to wonder anymore. We just hopped in the Overlander, or as one of our guides called it, "The Beast." The Overlander is a very large open-air vehicle (seen in the picture below). I loved riding in it for several reasons: 1. Open-air = lots of wind. I absolutely love the wind. Maybe I need to invest in a convertible? 2. It provided countless opportunities to practice your dodging skills. The Overlander was big and some of the roads we drove down were tiny. So the trees on the side of the road would invade the Overlander, and if you were not paying attention would potentially take off your head. 3. I'm guessing that it is not a common vehicle in Kenya. Because the stares we got as we drove through a village were hilarious. People either thought it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen or the strangest thing in the world. For the most part, everyone loved seeing the white people riding around in that ridiculously huge vehicle, and they would wave and smile at us as if we were celebrities. When you would wave and smile back, you could just tell that it made their day. I imagined the kids going home and telling their parents "A white person in the largest/craziest looking bus I have ever seen waved at me today."

Isn't she beautiful?

That tree branch decided it wanted to ride in the awesome Overlander

2. On Sunday we had the privilege of visiting a local Anglican Church. It was such an amazing blessing to worship with believers from the other side of the world. And because the service followed a liturgy, it was incredible to think that thousands of believers all over the world would say those exact same words throughout the day. What a beautiful picture of the world that is to come: believers from different tribes and tongues gathering together and praising the Lord as one voice! Seriously, it gives me chills.

And finally, my top highlight from Kenya is. . .

1. The safari! You probably already knew that if you've talked to me since I've returned. It was one of the most incredible experiences ever. You need to add this to your bucket list. We saw tons of different animals: zebras, buffalo, birds, monkeys, baboons, impala, warthogs (pumbas), antelope, rhinos, giraffes, a leopard, and my favorite- lions! It was amazing to see all of these animals in their natural habitat with nothing in between you and them except for the car. Throughout the safari I kept marveling at the Lord's creativity. His creation is absolutely beautiful!

Pumba

Rhinos

Very shy leopard

Pelicans

Precious!

Photo Credit:
1. Morgan Adams