Goodbye 200

It's been a lot of hard work, a huge test of my non-existent will power and I have not always been faithful but this morning I said goodbye to the 200 weight range.  It took a little longer than I wanted  (because patience is just not my strong suit) but that hurdle has been crossed - never to be seen again.  In my journey, this makes the weight loss total 28 lbs with a BMI of 36.4.  I need to get that BMI under 35 - which means I have 8 more pounds to shed before I'm under the Philippines requirement.

I do have to say that with ever pound lost, I am feeling the affects.  My knees hurt less, I have more energy and wow - you should have seen a couple of cool stretch catches I made in softball last night.

I may not be playing ball like I did 15 years ago but I'm playing better than I was just a year ago.  I can actually run the bases without feeling like I'm going to pass out.  I'm a very active gal and I love playing softball and volleyball and anything else so having the energy to play my favorite sports is a huge blessing. 
(Thanks Ansley for picking up my camera and snapping these shots last night.)


I still have a very long road to get to my goal weight of 125 lbs but this milestone is a huge step.  I was looking back at my weight growth over the past 6 years and this is the first time that I have been under 200 in almost 5 years.  I have loved the Carolinas and working from home but this relaxed environment and having the kitchen only a few steps away has not been kind. 


With these new lifestyle changes (not just diet), it is exciting to finally see the scale tipping a new direction.  I'm sure I will have setbacks along the way but I serve a very mighty God that can, will and has helped me to overcome these obstacles and win this battle of the bulge. 

For His Glory,
   Chris

Running In Place

A lot has been going on but at the same time, it's like running in place.  So much of this early work is spent gathering up forms & documents just so that we can complete the Home Study and Dossier.  So we are very busy but it doesn't feel like we are getting anywhere (like Fred Flintstone).  After all this work, we will then get to wait, wait and wait some more for the government to do their part in reviewing and approving everything.  Then we shuffle the papers around, get more approvals, do more shuffling and then send things off to the Philippines.  So - even though we appear to be standing still, we are making progress.

A few weeks ago I dropped off a big stack of paperwork to our agency in Matthews and another smaller set for our agency in Rock Hill.  This is the agency that we'll be using for the actual adoption process.  Because we live in SC and the agency for the Philippines is in NC, we have to use 2 different agencies.  We need a SC agency for the Home Study and then the NC agency for the adoption.  It gets confusing so we call them Rock Hill Agency and Matthews Agency because their real names are very similar:  Christian Adoption Services and Christian Family Services.  Our nicknames help us remember if the paperwork is for the Home Study or the Dossier.

With the exception our Psych exam reports, all the Home Study paperwork is done.  I've also read through a draft copy of the report and wow is it long.  I have one last small stack of paperwork on my table ready to be mailed to Matthews as the final needs for the Dossier.  Once the Home Study is complete - hopefully this week, it will get sent off to Columbia, SC for review & approval.  Then we wait for that approval to come back - prayer that it comes by the end of August.  Then we have to submit an Immigration form (I-800A) and after that is married to our Home Study and approved, then everything gets shipped to the Philippines for their approval.  My prayer is that we are able to send the Dossier to the Philippines by the end of September (it seem so far away).  Once the Dossier is in the Philippines, it will take another month for that to be approved and then, just then, we might be able to start work towards matching to our child (who is still unknown to us - God will reveal it when He feels we need it).

Once we get all of this paperwork out of the way, we will turn our focus to saving & raising all the funds for all the various fees (see the Adoption Funds for more info).  Currently we have 2 fundraisers underway.  The one is the opportunity to purchase some of my favorite pictures from my Tega Cay Photography site or also a new fundraiser called "FundRazr".  As we move along this process, we'll have some other great opportunities for everyone to get involved in this amazing process.

This is one of my newest picture postings.  This is a picture I took in the Bahamas with a wonderful scripture about caring for the Orphans.  I hope you like it.


For His Glory!!
   Chris