Jayzilla

When Wanting to Isn’t Enough

jason — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:34:46 +0000

I have still been struggling, and recently I’ve seriously started asking God why. Here are some things I know.

God wants me to be healthy.

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. – 1 Corinthians 3:17

I can be disciplined.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. – 2 Tim. 1:7
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control - Galatians 5:22-23
we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – Romans 6:6

I can be thin and healthy.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:13

This is not just a physical fight, and I don’t have to simply trust my own physical will. As a child of God I have the resources to realize this goal. When wanting to isn’t enough, He Is.

-j

Eastern Camp Challenge Results

jason — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:12:20 +0000

I just wanted to make a quick update and say I lost 2 lbs at camp. I probably could have lost more, but I noticed that as the week went on the amount of healthy options decreased and the amount of carbohydrated options increased. Probably due to conservation of food. Anyway, I will still call it a success. I’ll try to keep the momentum going!

-j

I love South American hospitality

jason — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:55:10 +0000

The Argentinians from Canada have finally arrived at Eastern Camp. I have been waiting for them all week! I wanted to sit in the afternoons and drink tereré and speak Spanish with them but their son told me they weren’t coming til Friday. This afternoon I was walking around drinking my never-ending iced tea and I heard someone say in Spanish, “who’s drinking mate?!” We didn’t even say a word of English for several minutes after that. It was like a breath of fresh air! I miss my castellano (but she would say ca-ste-SHA-no) and its special ways of saying things.

Anyway, before I was through with the termo of water, Kathy and I were invited (when she gets here) to their house in canada for an asado.

I’m glad they’re coming to Richmond this weekend! They’re even giving me some of their yerba! Mmmm…I enjoy RosaMonte.

-j

Eastern Camp Challenge

jason — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:07:46 +0000

Those of you that read this blog and know what Eastern Camp is are probably here (except Jenny ), so for the rest of you I’ll explain that it’s one of our church denomination’s yearly conferences. This one, as it is so aptly named, is on the east side of the US. I usually gain weight here because the food is abundant and we tend to eat more cookies and pizza than is necessary for human consumption. Especially when the family gets together.

I decided that this year would be different. I created the Eastern Camp Challenge for myself. The goal is simple: lose weight at camp. Putting it into practice *should* be fairly simple, but we shall see. At this campus, there’s lots of walking and most of it is uphill. My heart rate is accelerated every time I go somewhere. I am trying to eat right – lots of veggies and fruits and not a lot of fatty things and fries – drinking lots of water (I mean tereré), and taking the stairs everywhere. My room is on the 3rd floor.

I suspect I’ve lost 5lbs already, what with all the sweating and exercise I’m getting (I’m kidding, but I wouldn’t be surprised). I’ve eaten well so far. I’ll let you all know on Monday or so how it’s going. I may post some pics here and there if I feel like taking my camera around.

-j

We made it to the next round

jason — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:25:49 +0000

Whichever “we” you think I’m talking about, that statement stands true. For now I’m talking about both the “wes” that should be important to me. The US won their game and their group in dramatic fashion yesterday to push on towards the Group of 16 in the World Cup. Today, Paraguay tied the most boring and possibly sloppiest game I’ve watched yet to also win the group and move forward to the Group of 16. Vamos Albirroja and Go USA!

Last night I prayed, “Lord, I should run tomorrow. Please wake me up and make me do it.” When my alarm went off at 6:30, I snoozed it once and then turned it off. Finally at 6:45 or so I got out of bed and continued farting around (not literally). But finally at 7 I was outside pounding the pavement. I began listening to a message by NT Wright on Wisdom, and I felt compelled to raise my hands to God and praise Him for the morning and the exercise and my life. It was nice. I did just over 2 miles today.

Finally, I was 301 this morning. No more fooling around! For a while anyway…

-j

Father’s Day Things

jason — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:00:35 +0000

Paraguay could win their division! I think if Italy doesn’t win their next game, Paraguay will win the division. I also think that if Paraguay at least ties their next game they are guaranteed to pass to the next level. That sounds right…if Paraguay ties, they will have 5 points, and if Italy wins they will also have 5 points, and the others will have less, so they will go through. If Italy doesn’t win, the other team will have 4 points and Paraguay will have 5 (if they at least tie) and will go through. So go Albirroja!

We had a fun barbecue today. I tried to make it as authentically Paraguayan as I could. I even bought 2 lbs of mandioca (for $6!!!! Robbery!) to go with my beef, ribs, and sausage. The prices are quite similar, but the cuts of meat are tastier down south. I mean, mine turned out really tasty, but I think the cuts are better (for taste) in Paraguay, for the price. Please to enjoy the slideshow.

-j

Dale Albirroja!

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:13:47 +0000

I’m all soccery this week!

I think I’d seen maybe six soccer…er…football matches in my life before now. Some of you probably have heard that it’s World Cup season. My Canadian follower(s) might realize this more than my American ones, but outside of the US this thing is as big as the Olympics. And I realized last night that it’s going to take a while to finish!

All of the games, except *maybe* one Superclasico (a soccer match between Paraguayan clubs Cerro Porteño and Olimpia) have been the Paraguayan national team. I’ll admit frankly; if it comes to Paraguay vs US in the finals of the World Cup, I’ll be rooting for the albirroja (white and red) all the way! We have to dress up at work on Monday (clients coming), but under my shirt I’ll have my Paraguayan jersey, close to my heart…

Now I just need to learn how to play. I was mowing my grass when I realized my kids will need a dad who can play soccer!

-j

Things I want in my Garden

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:09:27 +0000

Veggies:

carrots
onions
peppers, hot and sweet
cucumbers
summer squash, green and yellow
snaps (green beans, for you northerners)
tomatoes
lettuce
spinach

Herbs:

oregano
basil
rosemary (mmmmmmmmm…)
mint
thyme

Fruit:

raspberries
strawberries
pineapples
lemons
tangerines

The stretches will be the pineapple, lemon, and tangerine. I have a lemon tree growing but it will be a few years before it starts budding I think. I also have a pineapple started (I had three growing for almost two years (they take two and a half) before going to Paraguay, and they got left at my house and died in the winter). My big question is how much space will all this take? I am going to take a page out of the Shurance book of gardening and keep my hot peppers in a pot and bring them in at the end of the season. I’m told they last a while that way. Almost everything will be my first attempt, but I think Kathy and I might like tending a garden. This year’s job is deciding where to put it and preparing the soil.

If you life in Richmond, and things go well, I might have some veggies for you next year.

-j

303 and Mouse Art

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 21:14:31 +0000

This morning the scale read 303 on the button. It was actually better than I expected. It’s nearly impossible to lose weight when you are surrounded by way too much food. I haven’t learned how to go against the grain and eat well instead of eat like everyone else was. Baptism weekends do that to a guy. But I’m not concerned about its ability to come off. It’ll be gone here in a couple days.

As you can see, my mileage hasn’t gone up in a long time. I have gone back into my old habit of staying up too late and not being able to get up in time to run. I know, I could run in the evening, but we all know that doesn’t happen. I will get back out there tomorrow. There, I just committed to it.

For some pictures, here’s something interesting I found. It tracks your mouse positions and graphically represents it over a period of time. They look neat.

-j

The Road to Happy Finances

admin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 14:39:39 +0000

Getting financially stable is FRUSTRATING!

I won’t say that I’m financially *unstable*. But I could always wobble a little bit less. Before I went to Paraguay, I had eliminated my credit card debt and was working on Stage 3 of the Crown Money Map, which is establishing an emergency savings of 3 months expenses and paying off student loans. When I went to Paraguay, I put my loans into deferment, and eventually had to start tapping into my savings to pay off my mortgage when rent wasn’t coming in as timely as it should have been. I had to buy my flight home with my credit card, and I lived on it for a few weeks while I was getting my job back and a paycheck once again.

So here I am once again at Stage 2. Trying to pay off my credit card (singular…one is all you need) and establishing a savings of one month’s expenses. I’m about halfway on both fronts, but I’ve recently decided to stop saving as much and start putting more money to my credit card. I figure I’ll end up paying more in interest than I will get from my savings if I don’t. Additionally, I’m saving for my wedding, and I’ve committed to saving a specific amount each month no matter what. I don’t want to not have enough when the time comes, even if I have to skimp for right now.

For the first time in my life I am actually living from a budget. I developed a spreadsheet using a modified version of Crown’s spending plan (email me if you want it) that keeps track of everything I spend and what type of expense it is. I can play around with percentages to increase one category or another. Or let’s say I know I will need $1400 for home expenses, I can set its percentage to allocate that much, and then I can play with the rest to make sure I have enough for food and car and whatnot. It’s handy.

Now I can get to the frustrating part. I only get paid twice a month, so that means I can only see progress for about 20 minutes twice a month. The two things I’m working on are my savings and my credit card. So twice a month my savings go up a tad, I allocate money towards my credit card. I feel like I’ve been given the green light to go and make some progress, but it only lasts for a brief moment, then I have to wait again. Frustrating!

I know I’m making progress, and that’s the important part. If you’ve decided you need to straighten out your finances but don’t know where to start, I’ve included two links at the bottom that have provided direction and keep me motivated. This is definitely an exercise in patience, but it works out in the end. My goal is to be completely free of consumer debt in 5 years, which includes almost $30,000 in student loans. So you can expect to see more financial posts here between now and then.

Crown Financial’s Money Map – a guide through 7 destinations that will get you financial freedom
Get Rich Slowly – a personal finance blog that I find has lots of good tips and suggestions

-j