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This is me on 1/5/00 at 370 pounds & gaining.


And this is me now. :) (180)

I have never been like everyone else. For a lot of kids being fat is something they never have to think about. Something they never have to worry about, and lucky them. But for me, that was VERY different. I thought about it every day of my life, what I ate and didn't eat since I was 10 years old. I started gaining weight rapidly. I ate less then everyone around me but I was the one gaining weight on a daily basis and getting bigger. I had people telling me to eat less and exercise more. Eat less when I was eating less then all the other kids already?

I'm surprised I didn't end up with a eating disorder too. As the years went by the weight went up and up. When I graduated from school I was already 270 and a year later when I married my hubby I was up to 310. Can you imagine being that big? Try picking up a 50 pound bag of dog food and walk around for a hour. See how tired you get from just 50 more pounds. Of course with my weight going up so quick, my health went downhill. I was going to the Dr every week for things. I couldn't paint my toes nails much less even see my toes. I would get out of breath walking from the car which was parked in the closing parking spot to the Store entrance. My ankles were so swollen they looked like balloons. My Dr finally discovered that I had low thyroid. Started me on meds which helped me not gain weight so fast but about nothing else....

After my hubby graduated we moved to San Diego for his job. Imagine being 350 pounds now and living in a city where everyone is obsessed with looks. I'd go out in public and hear comments n snickers n laughing. After a while I couldn't take it and would only leave my home when absolutely needed. I was a prisoner in my own home. Now I just moved to CA so of course I was extremely homesick as ALL of my family lived in AZ and they were my support. My hubby was busy with his new job n well not very interested in me anymore, n who can blame him? I had such bad sleep apnea that I would stop breathing 113 times in 1 hour. I was dying and I was invisible to everyone. This is were the thought of killing myself came in. I could no longer handle being so big that I was not really living at all. Well, one day I was online and just happened upon a website that saved my life in every way possible. WLS. Weight Loss Surgery. And NO, It's not a "EASY WAY OUT". It was either WLS or die a slow death. What would you choose? I choose WLS. I choose life. I'd either die on the table or come out in a better situation. Not much really to lose. I went into surgery weighing 371 or more.

Well It worked. One and half years later and ALOT of exercise, I was 205 pounds lighter. I weighed 165 and I was happy and healthy and most important I was living life again. All my medical problems were gone. WLS saved me. Saved my life and made my kids possible! Yup, 2 years later I had my first child and 4 years later my second. I gained some baby weight and I was at 218 before starting my exercise and diet routine. WLS was just a tool for me and that's all. It gave me the chance to have a normal life. It doesn't mean that I won't gain weight back, I know, because well I did. I gained a total of 50 pounds between my two kids. But my kids are worth it and so I am. So here I am again WORKING to get weight off. Weight loss is not easy for me. It never will be. I was always have to work harder then everyone else around me with normal thyroids. But I'm ok with that. If I didn't go through everything that I have gone though then I wouldn't be me and I wouldn't have my kids who are my life. They are a big part of why I am trying to lose weight again, So I can around longer for them.

My Current stats & Goals -
SW - 218.9
CW - 193.4
GW1 - 199
GW2 - 189
GW3 - 179
GW4 - 165
GW5 - 150

I feel 160/150 is a good weight for me, even with me being 5'3 since I have large heavy bones from being so overweight at a young age. I was 165 before getting preggo n a size 12. I felt VERY comfortable at that weight. I'm doing pretty well with my eating and exercise, now it's just time for the hard part - sticking to it!

If you have any comments or questions about my story, feel free to contact me. :)

jamie@jamies-designs.com









































Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Pumpkin Patch & Freebie

The Girls had field trips at school today and yesterday. They went to the Pumpkin Patch. Barney went yesterday with Trinity and I went to today with Novalee. Barney had a blast and said that the field trip didn't last long enough! lol Too cute. I got comments from other parents on how good he is with the kids, not just ours. Apparently he played with all the kids in Trinity's classs and the other parents there thought it was really cute. :) Trinity told Barney that her pumpkin was a Cinderella Pumpkin. It had to stay at school for a school lesson but she should be able to bring it home soon. She showed to me this morning and was very proud of it.






Novalee told Barney this Morning that she was nervous about the field trip but she had alot of fun. I met her there and drove there on a school bus for the first time. She said it was fun and it bounced her around alot. lol Her favorite part of of the whole thing was the petting the goats. I think I need to take her again to the Zoo again to see their petting Zoo. :)





Last week at Bumper Buddies I took some pictures. They have a blast and we have fun watching them. Novalee is getting better and better. She is getting less and less balls stuck in the middle. lol We went again today. :)



Barney's Birthday is coming up on the 22nd I'm trying to figure out what to do for him. I asked him and all he said he wanted to do was to go bowling. Hmmmm. I guess that is where we should go then huh? lol Barney is weird, once he likes something he does it over and over and over and over until he is sick of it. Then he waits a year or so and starts doing it again until he is sick of it. lol Whatever floats his boat and turns him purple I guess.

New Quick Page Freebie!



To Snag this Quick Page go to http://www.jamies-designs.com/ and
click on Quick Pages! Please leave me a comment if you download it so
I know people actually want more quick pages like this. Thank you!

Monday, October 08, 2007

A Long Update, Freebie, & New Group

So It's been a REALLY long time since I posted here. I'm sure no one even come here to check my blog anymore. I got out of the habit of posting here and scrapping over the summer. My girls were out of school and that left me with very little amount of time to do anything for myself or that enjoyed. That's life though, one moment your super busy and the next you have nothing to do.

My girls are now back in school. I can hardly believe that my Trinity started Kindergarten this year! She is learning to read and starting to write alot more. Her teacher is wonderful and a big part of why we decided on private school this year. She loves school and get to go on a field trip once a month. Last month they went to the Library and got to get their very own library card. They got to borrow a book and do a craft too. Aftwards they went to Jack In The Box for lunch and then they walked back to school. Trinity loved it but I think her favorite part was getting to eat at Jack In Box with all her friends.

The other day Novalee got really mad at me. She was upset because it was Tuesday and she didn't have school that day. She started whining and talking about wanting to go every day. It was really cute but not going to happen this year. Next year she will be in the pre-kindergarten class and she will go everyday, until them Mommy is going to hang onto her baby as long as she can.

Two weeks ago I also sign the girls up for bumper buddies aka bowling league for kids.. It costs $5 a week along with a one time reg fee of $10. The girls have only done it once but they really seem to enjoy bowling and hvae alot of fun. I think Trinity likes it more but only because she is older. If they want to keep going after this session then I plan on signing up again.

Barney and I have started to go on weekly dates again. So far we have gone on 3. Guess what Barney choose to do? Bowling. Twice. Yup. He seems to be pretty good it and he also really enjoys it. I had fun too but after 45mins or an hour and my arthritis starts acting up making it hard for me to bowl very good at all. I end up throwing the ball down the lane or doing granny style and pushing it. I still enjoy myself though so I'm sure we will go again, I just need to buy a wrist guard so my hand doesnt hurt so much by the end of it. This last Saturday we went to Dave & Busters. Had alot of fun but it was tooo crowded.

Poor Trinity missed PERK on Friday. Perk is kind of like an exercise Class. She absolutely loves it. She started acting weird the night before while we were at Chuck-E-Cheese with a kid and mom from their school. The next morning she threw up all over herself and me. :( Ewwwww. Poor Kid. She is fine now and going to school today so she should get to go to her Field Trip tomo also. Barney will be going with her. She is super excited. They are going to the Pumpkin Patch. Novalee will be going on Wednesday with her school and I'll be tagging along with her.

On Friday I got an email from my mom at 2am. That is REALLY late for her. She was emailing me about one of my older brothers. He was/is in the hospital due to a heart problem his doctor found. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Also keep his Wife in there too, she is about to have her baby and this has to be very scarey for them.

A Freebie For You!
I made these balloons for a LO I was making for pictures of my oldest daughter's 2nd birthday. (She is 5 now, I'm just WAY behind on scrapping. lol)

I hope you enjoy them! Please leave me a comment if you download them. TY!



Click HERE to download. Then Click on Embellishments.
Please leave me a comment here or in my guestbook if you download them. TY!

I started a new group to share just Quick Pages and thats it. Check It Out & Come Join Us! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Just_Quick_Pages/

Friday, January 26, 2007

Two New Quick Pages!

I love how both of these came out. :) Both are freebies and are on my website now. Go to http://www.jamies-designs.com And Be sure to leave me a comment in my guestbook or here if you grab them! I'd love feedback Thanks much!

I've always loved butterflys so I tubed this one and turned into this!

Credits - JamiesDesigns & ConnyB's Template


The inspirations for this one came from a magnazine. I LOVE it. I thought I would share. :) Credits - JamiesDesigns / Flowers & Tags by Scrappy Expressions - Used with permission.



I hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Sick Kids

So I still have to make a preview for my new kit but I've been super busy here since Trinity seems to keep getting sick. :( Poor kiddo. I'm gonna try and make it today. I started it but it may not get done. Trinity woke me up at 5 am and was crying about her ear. Poor kid. :(

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Two Freebies Today

So I added these two freebies to my website today. :) Sorry I havent been posting here much I've been busy with my yahoo groups and changing my website around. Hopfully I will have my new kit up tomo. :) To grab these go to go to http://www.jamies-designs.com/ and click on Alphas. Please leave a comment if the guestbook if you like my website or my freebies. Thank you! :)





Monday, January 08, 2007

Morning

6:20am-I've been so bad at writing here. I'm sorry. I know not many people read this blog but still I do it for myself too. This weekend was great. We went to the Zoo on Saturday. I got alot of cute pictures of my girls. Even got some good ones of me. We went on the "bus" around the zoo and spent some time in the chirldren's zoo area too. Yesterday we went to my kids clubhouse. It's basically a huge indoor play place. My kids love it and so do I. They make it so the parents can pretty much go on everything with the kids. :) It makes me feel like a kid again and who doesnt love that!

I have also been working on my website. I totally changed it's look and now I'm trying to add the rest of my creations to it. I've been alot of IM Letters. lol Anyways if you wanna peak go to
http://www.jamies-designs.com/ to see it. Leave me a message on my guestbook and let me know what you think. :)

On another note, Another reason I have been so quiet is because I'm on a personal/spiritual journey. I finally have the chance to go out and figure out who I am, heal from the past, and look at differant religions and try to figure out what I really believe. Sometimes I feel so lost. There is so many religions out there, and I don't think there is that "magic" one for me. I believe in too many differant things. Anyways, I gotta go get ready for the day I will BBL.

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Long Update

So I guess I need to post a major update! :) It's been quite a while since I posted. We left on Friday the 22nd to AZ so I guess that would be the place to start! :) Just a warning though this is going to be a LONG post.

Friday 22nd - We packed the car that morning and then hopped in the car and went and got the girls from school. Grabbed lunch for them and then headed to AZ. It was a rainy day but luckily we didn't get much rain. Thank goodness because traffic and rain combined makes Jamie very nervous from her car accident in April. Anyways, we ended up getting to AZ around 7pm. Ate dinner, hung out and then got the girls to bed. My sister Joy stayed and helped us. We hung out and got to talk. It was great.

Saturday 23rd - Saturday was a good day. We spent all day Hanging out with my Sister's kids while she was at work. After she got off of work we all(gma/gpa/my kids/hubby n i/my sis/my bro/etc) went to see the movie Happy Feet. My hubby and all the kids loved but I honestly never want to watch it again. It wasn't very good. After we grabbed food and headed to my mom's house and ate and hung out until it was time for the kids bedtime. After we got them settled down in bed we got to work helping Santa. Barney and I headed over to my sisters place to watch a movie and help her with Christmas stuffies. We got to talk and hang out more. I really enjoyed it and realized how much I miss having my family near me.

Sunday 24th - Christmas Eve! We spent all day watching my sister's kids while she was at work. We helped them do Christmas crafts and get into the Christmas sprit. My oldest nephew Dennis LOVED making the cards for people. It was so cute. He must have made his mom about 5 cards. He also was a good helper, gotta love 8 yr olds. :) Afterwards we hung out and played and did more crafts while Joy, Mom, and Dad went were getting dinner ready. Once it was ready we all ate. (All 18 of us) Afterwards we sang Christmas songs and read Christmas Stories. And then the part that the kids love best, We open presents from each other. My kids got a ton of stuff. Too much but they had a blast opening it all and being with family. A few thing I got is Godiva Chocolate(drool), Photoshop Elements 5 & Photoshop Elements Premiere 3, turquoise necklace, 2 rings, a book about angels, an angel bookmark, shirt, and some earrings. After we were done we hung out and talked. It was a great day. Once everyone left the girls, Daddy, and I left out cookies for Santa and jumped into bed.

Monday 25th - Christmas Day! The girls slept in until 7 or so until Novalee decided to crawl into bed with mommy. :) We sat in bed playing and tickling each other until Trinity woke up. I asked her "Do you think Santa came?". She smiled the smile that melts my heart and screamed "YES!" lol That woke Daddy up. So we all head out to see what Santa left. The girls were amazed by their stocking and all the presents he left them under the tree. We spent the morning opening presents and playing. Later we had to stop and get ready to go to Grandma's Barbara's house for Christmas Supper. We got the girls in their pretty dresses and headed over there. Supper/Lunch was yummy and we spent the day opening more presents and playing. I got $50 from my MIL since she never knows what to get me and Barney did too. The girls got LOTS of stuff and also got $25. All in all we had an amazing Christmas. I'm grateful that I have so many people who care about about me and my family.

Tuesday 26th - While Barney and the girls headed back to Grandma Barbara's house I had to go shopping for a Bridesmaid dress with my sisters and Mom. It seemed to take forever to find a dress that Julie said ok to. I finally agreed upon a dress that I didn't really like so I could leave the mall. lol It's silver and sparkly and it would be pretty on most women. I think it looks icky on me though. It shows to much cleavage and I think I'm going to feel very uncomfortable in it. They are going to have a jacket made to go with it but still I'm going to be around family and a bunch of Mormons. Eeeeeek. N showing all that cleavage is going to make me feel weird and uncomfortable but I'll do it for my sister since that is the dress she likes. After that we went and saw Julie in her Wedding Dress. She is going to look beautiful....I'm really happy for her but also jealous. She gets to be the beautiful bride I never got to be. My parents also seem to be so proud and happy with her. They are going to paying for a lot at the wedding when they paid for very little at mine. Maybe it's because she is Mormon? Who knows and I'm definitely not going to ask because it can't change what they did in the past. After that Joy and I grabbed Coffee and then got her kids and headed to her place. I got to hang out all evening with her and her kiddos. It was Great. I really got a chance to see them and play with them without my hubby who they love being there to distract them. lol.

Wednesday 27th - Today was a lazy day. We just went over to Gma B's place and hung out and played. It was nice to spend more time with her and Barney's family. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to in-laws, I like all of mine and we all get along. In fact Gma B is one of the major reasons I want to move back to Az. I miss her too. Novalee also had been sick for a few days now. Small cold and a fever that won't seem to go away. If she isn't better soon I'll have to take her to the Doctor. The fever is starting to worry me a lot.

Thursday 28th - Today we Drive home. I hate the drive home. It seems to take forever when you travel with small kids. Although the DVD player we put in the car does help a lot. I just wished we had a bigger car so I could sit in the back with them. It would be ALOT easier to take care of them that way. Once we got home I got everything out of my car. Got the mail and found out that my Scrap bag I ordered came! I wished it was a bit bigger but I still love it. I'm going to try and make some layouts today to put in it and once I do I'll post pictures for you all to see. :)

Friday 29th - Today we got up and went to the Chiro and then headed to Target. We dropped my car off to get a oil change and a car washed and then we walked over to Target to let the girls look around and picked 1 thing out that they could buy with their Christmas money their Gma gave them. Trinity bought her first Brat Doll! ACK! Hide me. lol I've been avoiding buying those. lol. Novalee picked out the movie Any Bully. Afterwards, we went and got my car and headed to Albertsons and got some food n other stuff we needed. It was a nice morning and we got some family time together while doing the errands. During Novalee's nap Trinity and Barney helped me take down Christmas stuff and clean up. Trinity was a GREAT helper and had fun doing it. Novalee slept in late from her nap so I had to go in and wake her. She had a fever again. :( Poor kiddo. I decided to call the doctor. They told me to be there in 10 minutes since it was close to the time they get off work. Well it turned out that Novalee had ear infection. Ouchie. My poor baby. Those are no fun at all. The doctor also saw more fluid behind ears. NOT good. Novalee had tubes put in when she was around 1 because she had thick fluid for months behind her ear drums. The doctor wants to keep a close eye on her ears now. We go back to the doc in 6 weeks for a follow-up. I really hope the fluid clears on it's own. Then he will also check them at her 3 yr old check in March. If the fluid is still there she will more then likely need to have tubes put into her ears again. Ugh. :( Not fun for her or mommy so I really hope it goes away on it's own.

Today - Today has been a lazy day sorta. I'm still cleaning and organizing everything. This morning I went through the drawers and cabinets in my bathroom and threw out ALOT of crap and re-arranged stuff. After I took a long nice hot bath while I read a new book I bought. It's called Peaceful Parents, Peaceful Kids: Practical Ways to Create a Calm and Happy Home. I read the first chapter which is pretty long. I really like this book alot so far. I need to do the exercises in the book later today when I get a moment. Then I went to the store to get coffee and a few things. I also had to call my phone carrier and up my txt messages. I have started using quite a bit since my sister and I have gotten so close. So I had them upped the minutes so I wouldn't get charged up the butt for them. Anyways, I'm off to cuddle with my kiddos and eat some lunch in a bit.



Of course a Christmas Present. :) A Scrap Freebie called Journal It Pack 1




2 bulletin boards
2 pushpins
1 thumb tack
1 Burnt Parchment
12 Notes
2 Index Cards
4 Note Book
2 Notbook Papers
3 Notes With Holders
1 Paper Pad
1 Parchment
1 Polaroid
1 Scroll
1 Card With Envelope

I'm also currently working on Journal It Pack 2. :)

Download Journal-It Pack_Part 1
Download Journal-It Pack_Part 2
Download Journal-It Pack_Part 3
Download Journal-It Pack_Part 4
Download Journal-It Pack_Part 5

FYI: All my scrap freebies links on my blog will be coming down soon and moved to my website. :)



Question Of The Day -

IF you could Have One Last Meal, What would it be?

Hmm. Thats a hard one but if it was really my last and calories didn't count I would prolly have a whole box of Godiva Chocolate. hehe. :) YUM!