WACCy Wednesday

haha I thought that would be a fun title since I am writing about the women's retreat that I went on with the wonderful women at WACC (Whittier Area Community Church). We went to the Murrietta Hot Springs for the weekend and had a wonderful time. As you can see from the photo above, it was a beautiful place. I only took this one picture of it. lol Didn't even take my regular camera. Guess I needed a retreat too.

6 people to a room doesn't sound like much fun, but it was. My roomies were my mom, Shauna, Kim, Ekaterina, and Amy. We had such a fun time doing everything together.

The first night we got all checked in (thanked God we weren't the lady who broke her leg) and went to dinner together. It was fun eating all together in the big hall so we could see the other groups who were there too. Then we went over to our big room that we had the opportunity to meet our speaker. She was wonderful. What a natural gift this woman has. While walking back to our rooms and being very tired, we checked out the hot springs for the next day. Don't know if you have ever been to them but boy do they stink. lol Supposedly like sulfur but to me it smelled like rotten eggs. We didn't care. We just knew we had to experience it while we could. So we went back to bed and slept. Every one was so tired.

The next day we started with breakfast together followed by our morning session with the speaker and worship. The theme of the talks was friendship. We learned about  Barbaras, Pamelas, and Tammys. The need for having friends that are Barbaras are friends that are like Barnabus was. There for your friends no matter what. They live life with you and are willing to pick up your mat when you are too sick/tired to do it for yourself. Friends who are Pamelas are friends who are like Paul. A mentor relationship. Someone who has been there before. Someone who can pour into you, as Sherry would say. The third are Tammys. These are friends who are like Timothy. Friends that we can mentor. Someone new to the path you have been on. It was awesome learning all of this.

After that talk we had many different options of workshops we could go to or chose to do nothing at all. ;) I thought it was great that they emphasized that this retreat should be whatever you want it to be. So if you wanted to have activities, there were many to choose from. If you wanted to sleep all day you could do that too. Loved that. We chose to sign up for one workshop and have fun the rest of the day. We went to Anne's workshop on Building Healthy Relationships/Boundaries. Some good reminders about having healthy boundaries and sticking up for yourself really. A hard challenge but worth it.

We then went to lunch and parted ways. Some went to lunch outside the retreat and others went to other workshops, while 4 of us (mom, Shauna, Ekaterina and I) went out shopping after our lunch. There was a mall right down the street. A few of us got mini massages (10 min. shoulder ones). It was worth it. We got back to the retreat and decided to go into the hot springs. WOW, is it hot! And we were supposedly in the cooler one. The natural rocky bottom was so hard to sit in or on. It was amazing that we didn't stink like it afterward. We all still took showers after just in case. ;) Then we all got ready for dinner. After dinner was a wonderful night with worship and the speaker one last time. There were also other mini talks here and there throughout.

After that we had a bonfire with smores and spontaneous baptisms afterward in the hotsprings. The speaker had talked about her church and they did a polar bear baptism for someone who insisted to get baptized right away in natural water (not an inside pool or bath). I think people were inspired by the story and by the Holy Spirit of course. It was wonderful that so many people (7) decided to be baptized.

We actually left right before the baptisms and before the bonfire was over so we could get to our movie in time. We went to see The Hunger Games. The movie didn't end until 1 something. We were pleasantly surprised when the rest of our group was still awake when we got back. They had been relaxing in the hot springs late. The movie was good, but the company was even better.

The next morning we met for our last breakfast there together. I ended up getting an allergic reaction to the bread (manufactured with peanuts I found out). So I spend the rest of the morning in a daze of sleepiness due to the Benadryl. We had a great morning recapping our wonderful weekend. So many women talking about their experiences. I even felt the need to share. I got up to share how wonderful it was to spend some quality time with friends. To be somewhere, where I knew a lot of people, and got so many wonderful hugs from people. I think God knew I needed to be there. To experience the love of friendship this weekend. It was a rather emotional morning. We went to look at the bookstore before we left.

Thankfully my mom had offered to drive me to her house because there was no way I could drive. We were already planning on going to Whittier. I was just going to drive home to get everyone and Scott drive to Whittier. So this way my mom drove me to Whittier and Scott and the kids met us there. We got to hang out with my cousin Nicole while she was down from Washington and her fiance Greg. We had to leave way too soon. We waited quite a while though after taking the Benadryl to leave because I had to drive one car home. The weather going home didn't help. Windy, rainy, foggy, dark.

Got home safe from the retreat finally like at about 8 or so at night. What a wonderful retreat with my friends and family. But it was so nice to be back home. I missed those kiddos and my hubby.

Weekend Review

Wow, what an awesome weekend. The kind that needs more than one blog entry for sure. I'll blog in more general terms here and be more specific on the race on the next blog. :)

Friday's weigh in did not go well. I gained 1 pound. I could say it was because it's my "week before" AF (or TOM if you like that one better) arrives. But really, I needed to do more than just 3 days of work to recover from the 4 days of damage. The Holiday weekend was not good to the waist line. I could have made better choices, and didn't. I did run like a fool trying though. I did a 5.2 mile run, then a 3 miler, then a 6 mile run before weigh in. Then I had to rest before the race so I wouldn't be sore.

Friday, my friend Amy brought her kids over to play with some water balloons we made. They had fun while they lasted. Scott had his second day as a volunteer for the All Star events. I had a stamping party at my mom's house that night. It was fun to get out of the house and stamp with family & friends. Scott went to a Dodger game with my cousin, Bryan.

Scott and Bryan went to Fan Fest (an All Star event) while we were being lazy at home. Shauna and I were going to get together but finally decided on McDonalds at 11. Little did we know the boys were getting bored and were almost ready to come home. They picked up our race packets and met us there. We also ended up going to Frugos after. Not the best food choice places, but lots of fun. I got a mini-meal at McDonalds with a snack wrap (no sauce) grilled chicken. So, that wasn't so bad. But I still ended up getting sick off of it. I think I'm getting more sensitive to it.We just hung out and played/cleaned the rest of the day.

Sunday was race day. Scott was now working it (last minute schedule change) and had to be there at the butt crack of dawn 5:30am. I got to Shauna's house by 6am ready to head over there together. We had an awesome time at the race. It was so much fun to do it together. We even saw Scott working and saw a friend racing too.

We ended up going to my parent's house for lunch and to hang out for a little bit. Turns out Courtney and Scott needed a nap too. haha Then we headed home for about an hour and went over to Bryan and Shauna's for a BBQ. It was great to hang out and have dinner together. The kids played very well together and had a great time. What a fun weekend!

10 on Tuesday

1. Once again, the baby item exchange stuff in my house is driving me nuts. And of course, there are people who are still giving me stuff for the exchange. ahhh...The exchange is on Thursday. I just know people will be coming over all day. We really appreciate any donation. But it takes time to sort it all. At some point I'm just going to tell people that it's going to have to wait for the yard sale. Because I don't want to be sorting all day today and tomorrow only to have to do set up tomorrow night.

2. Set up for the exchange is tomorrow night. I have lots of stuff at several houses so that carting it all to church is possible. And even with that, my house is stuffed full. Thankfully it's sorted, so I know what's for the yard sale and what's for the exchange.

3. The actual exchange is Thursday morning at MOPS. Once it all gets in place, it's pretty fun watching people shop for stuff. Then the joy of trying to get everyone to put stuff back in bags according to the label on the bag. If only they would do it. I hope.

4. I keep trying to sneak toys out of the girls rooms. I got a bunch out today. Skyler seemed almost oblivious to what I was doing.

5. I've been thinking about friendships and how they change over the years. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not. When you get closer to a friend and start hanging out more, or intentionally going places together and making time to spend together. That's wonderful. It's the friendships that drift away to almost nothingness that make me a little sad. I know it's a fact of relationships that we aren't all going to be each other's best friend. Just sad when a good friend drifts away. Stops calling, calling back, emailing, caring if you are at a birthday party or not. Or not ever inviting you anymore. Oh well, I guess. I don't always invite the same people to our parties. And it's nothing against those we don't invite. It's just a matter of numbers sometimes. Too many people invited can be a bad thing if they all show up. I guess I long for the time in our lives when those friendships meant a lot to both parties.

6. The Biggest Loser challenge starts back up on the 23rd at my house. I'm excited to be using our scale this time too. So I always know where I'm at. We have 14 people signed up so far!!! Lots of room for more! And I'm so excited that my cousin decided to start the same challenge in her area (Huntington Beach).

7. I started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD a couple days ago. It's fun. I love getting new exercise things. So much fun to have variety in my workouts so I don't get bored. I started with Level 1 on the first day and it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Then the next day I did Level 2. Now that was a workout! I was breathing hard, couldn't quite do all of the moves with Natalie (who does it full out and hard), and was dripping in sweat. Loved it!! That's the kind of workout I want to do. And I can feel it in my muscles more last night and today too. Especially my butt. :) Not in a super sore way. Just in a, I feel my muscles, kind of way.

8. I want to run again soon. I really pushed myself the last time. I would like to see how fast I can do a mile again. I know my second mile last time was faster than the first. But I don't know by how much.

9. This week (Friday) is Scott's birthday!!!! We are celebrating by going to a Dodger game that night.

10. Saturday is a game for Courtney and a pizza party after!

10 on Tuesday

1. Skyler got sick last night throwing up. So incredibly gross. And I'm trying to not puke on her from the smell. Uh, how that gets me queasy. Today she is feeling better already. She says she feels all better, her tummy doesn't hurt, and she just started eating some normal foods. Hopefully it's a sign of a really quick bug that's about to be gone. Poor thing.

2. Sometimes it's just nice to talk to a friend. Just someone who gets you and loves you anyway. Who needs grace and shows grace. (Grace = Showing someone Mercy when they do not deserve it/not earned)

3. Is so frustrated right now.

4. I missed hanging out with my bible study ladies today because Sky was sick and last week had to miss MOPS because Courtney was sick. And Scott was sick in between. I really have had enough of the sicknesses in this house.

5. I'm back to 5th place in the competition. I'm hoping something was off with the scale for a bunch of people because it seemed like a lot of people didn't do as well as they normally do this week. Hopefully it will bounce back to normal next week.

6. So, with Scott's bonus coming in we were able to finally get some things we have not been able to get due to lack of money. It totally felt like a shameful spending spree since we should be saving most of it. But some things needed to happen and others were really fun things we splurged on (that we have not been able to spend money on at all last year). Scott's car was a necessity to fix several things. My car too. We also had to put a bunch away for property taxes.

7. I got the Nike+ Sportband to go with the shoes my friend, Sarah gave me. I can now run anywhere and be able to keep track of my time, miles, & pace. It's been fun trying it out. It makes me want to run more. Anything that offers me more motivation and variety is a good thing. I'm always looking for new ways to get exercise or be healthy.

8. I haven't even really said anything about this because it feels like such a huge expense that we weren't planning on. I can not be more excited though. We finally got a new camera. It has been hard not having one since Christmas day. We were originally going to get another one like we had but ended up getting the Canon Rebel SLR. (I'm totally drooling over it.) Since I have always had an aspiration to have my own photography business, this camera just brings out that photographer in me. Especially since it has an incredibly fast shutter speed. Getting the exact shot I wanted will be much easier now. Purchasing this new camera was supposed to be my award from my hubby for reaching a huge weight loss milestone. But we figured it would be better to get it now while we had the money. Because I will for sure be hitting that milestone this year. 20 pounds away. I promised Scott he could use it too. :) And he already has several times. Maybe at that time I will finally reveal my weight. Maybe.

9. I can't wait, but when we get the taxes back I can go clothes shopping for some much needed smaller clothes. Especially jeans. My jeans are all big. Even straight from the dryer I can wear them for a couple hours before they start falling off. What a problem to have, right? I love it.

10. I can't wait for this challenge to be over. It's wearing on me a little bit. It's hard when I feel like I have done a great job losing (like last week of 5.6 lb.)and still only gain a fraction of a percentage on people above me. If Roselia doesn't do another challenge again, I might run one. I would add a couple rules too. I like the motivation of the challenge, but being part of the front runners feels stressful. I need a break. A chance to relax a bit. I want some PANDA!!! (Panda Express that is.)


This blog would have been so much better unedited.