Monday296
I’ve been a member of SparkPeople for quite some time, never really sticking to it long enough to make a lasting difference. I recently bought the book and started the 28 day program to get a jumpstart, but I’m finding it’s really difficult to get the initial motivation to start the forward motion.
Browsing their forums today, I came across a fellow Viriginian who is proud of her husband’s decision to get healthy. She has done it herself, and reading his blog I found out that he’s gotten tired of letting his life slip by and made the decision to get healthy too. I’ve got my own reasons to get fit, and I feel inspired by this guy. I’m going to be keeping tabs on his blog.
It’s really hard for fat people to take advice from skinny people, especially skinny ones who have never been fat. It’s one thing to let Jillian Michaels tell me what to do – she’s made a career out of it. But skinny friends and family trying to help me out is like rubbing salt in a wound. If you’ve never struggled with weight, you can’t understand it. Unless you tried to quit smoking.
But listening to a fellow “big-boned” individual is better. We’re in it together. That’s why I’m looking forward to seeing Ed’s progress. Kinda like JC, who has also become an inspiration to me. He was my size when I had seen him last. By the time I got back from Paraguay, he was a bean pole.
I’m going to try to make this progress more public here. I need people to keep me accountable. I want Kathy to almost not recognize me when I go back for our wedding. It can happen.
-j
Film? What?
Man, I miss having a digital camera. I thought I’d be OK using a decent camera that Amy had that takes 35mm film, but I guess I had been taking for granted that what you see in a viewfinder in a digicam is generally what you will get in the photo. With this film one (apart from the lens cover not opening all the way) what you see in the viewfinder is slightly to the left of what you will get. So a perfectly centered truck becomes half a truck and the left side of a remote that was out of the frame I had established. Supposedly focused letters are not, and macro shots are terrible.
I liked being able to see the photo right after taking it. Then I would know if it was super fuzzy, washed out from the flash, or not where I wanted it in the frame. I can’t blame the camera – I realize that people have taken photos for a really long time without the ability to preview them. I just had not considered that I would need to compensate my frame. At least I have a roll and a half that i know I need to do this with.
Hopefully I will be acquiring one of these. A dear friend of mine is upgrading and I have requested the privilege of buying her old model. I’ve wanted a DSLR for a while, which is part of the reason I had left my camera in Paraguay. In doing some research, I was considering purchasing a Canon Rebel XS or Nikon D3000, but fortune smiled upon this lad. I like this idea better because I will spend less on a probably superior camera (thought it’s a bit older), and it’s a great entry into the DSLR world. Now my mediocre photography will become slightly less mediocre!
-j
Project 365
I don’t have a camera anymore, but I plan on fixing that soonish. No, it didn’t get stolen again; I gave it to my friend Marcelo in Paraguay. For now I am borrowing a camera my sister has that she got from my grandfather. The only thing is it’s a film camera, and I haven’t used one of those in easily 7 or 8 years. But it’s a good camera, and I’m up to it. It’ll be weird not being able to see the image right away.
I wanted to get into a photo project. I’m no amazing photographer, but I like to pretend I am. I read about this thing called “Project 365“, which is – much as it may sound given the context – a 365 day project in taking shots. I might just start with a Project 31 to see if I can actually do it for a month. It’ll be kind of weird because I’ll be starting it out on film until I am able to get the camera I want (I want it to be good), so the photos might be a little post-dated.
If this gets anywhere, I will post some links here.
-j
I Must Miss Paraguay
I’m having a very Paraguay day today. I started by calling Mary’s sister who lives in DC to invite her to our choir program that we’re having in Maryland this weekend. Meanwhile, I was making sopa (trying to anyway). And while I cooked, I was listening to Obedira. I even saved enough cheese to make mbeju later.
I learned that our corn meal isn’t the same as their corn meal, so my sopa turned out more like a mix between the corn bread it should be and the corn souffle they also make. It’s tasty, it’s just not what I was looking for.
While the sopa was in the oven, I decided to put together a slideshow of various photos that span the year and some change I was there. If I ever get asked to do a photo presentation, I have one now. And when friends want to see *every* photo I have, I’m ready for that too.
Now all I need is a text from Kathy and I will be OK!
-j
Happy New Year
What will we call this one? We can’t say “Oh ten” because that sounds stupid. We can’t just call it “ten”, like “ninety-nine”, because that also sounds moronic. TJ suggested “ten-spot”, which is catchy. I suppose it could just be “twenty-ten”, but that gets long winded after a while. At any rate, I welcome this new year and eagerly await all God has in store for me this year.
I’m thankful for a church family who receives me back home as if I had never left, with the exception of the questions. Matt said even though I hadn’t stepped through those doors since October 15, 2008 it was almost as if I had never left. I felt the same. Some of the faces are a bit older now, and there are a couple new ones. I’m now glad to be back participating in the Richmond crew here. And they’re excited for the new addition we’ll have, Lord willing, in a year or so.
I’m thankful for friends who can quickly come up with last-minute New Years Eve party plans and that we can enjoy the last few minutes of 2009 together and begin 2010 together. Friends that are interested in the lives of each other and really care for one another.
I’m thankful for a God who never fails me and never leaves me. To call Him faithful seems like a joke, for He is so much more. Calling Him faithful makes me feel like he owes it to me to be that way, when I know that He owes me nothing but chooses to be with me and be “faithful” as my finite mind can understand it. He is True, Sure, Everlasting, Love. He took me to Paraguay, blessed me there beyond my expectations and imagination, and brought me home. Hopefully a future post will detail some of the abundant life that God gave me during my several months. I’m thankful for every minute.
I’m thankful for a brand new year, completely unwritten, in which I can seek God’s direction for my life and pursue His path. He will remain by my side as long as I don’t stray from Him, and I am excited for the amazing life He will reveal to me this year.
Happy 2010. May it be the best yet, filled with blessings from above. If you aren’t experiencing any, give Him your life so He can begin to show you how awesome it is.
-j