Category Archives: Sarah

David, Project 365, Sarah

Running Buddies

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Sarah and I are on a new plan. We decided to commit to losing a certain number of pounds, by her birthday (July 16). Basically, we eat according to loose THM standards, alternating between ‘E’ (low fat) and ‘S’ (low carb) meals, with no snacking. It is a hard, but livable plan — lots of people do a modified THM plan for months and years at a time.

We also have started walking together at night. Not to be left out, David has joined us in our exercise and no-snacking discipline, which is very encouraging to me. For some reason it is a lot easier to go out walking and jogging at night when I have my two cheerful buddies with me.

Back in July, we all were running, but it was pretty miserable, so I decided to start more gradually, this time. We walk a certain distance (about 1.2 miles) and I’m slowly adding in a little jogging, along the way.

“OK, how ’bout we jog from here to that white mailbox,” I’ll say to Sarah. If she agrees, then we do it — and we often find we can go further and faster than we thought. After we catch our breath, we do it again.

Today it was raining, but David and Sarah are Washington bred, and didn't mind at all.

Today it was raining, but David and Sarah are Washington bred, and didn’t mind at all.

Some days we walk a lot more than we run, but today we were down to about a 12-minute pace, which means we’re doing a fair bit of jogging (our walk-only pace is more like a 17 or 18-minute mile). Hopefully over time, we can get down to a 9-minute mile (which was my best pace last summer).

I’ve found that dieting alone just doesn’t do the trick — my body seems to need some kind of exercise to keep it in fat-burning mode. Otherwise, my metabolism decides we’re in famine mode, and I burn less calories as I eat less, which seems extremely unfair.

David and I were laughing about our the imaginary Calorie Foreman in our stomach’s control room:

Foreman: “OK, boys, it seems Tim has been marooned on some terrible and snack-less desert island. We’d better ratchet the furnace down a bit, until he is rescued.”

Down at the bottom of the bar on the left of this blog is a progress meter for our weight loss. Sarah and I are neck-and-neck at this point, but we’ve made a good start. We’ll keep you posted.

Project 365, Day 36
Tim

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Daniel, Project 365, Sarah, Tim

A Farewell to Wanda

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Early in 2006, my ’92 Ford Escort was dying, so my brother very kindly sold me his low-mileage ’98 Honda Accord. He was concerned that something might go wrong with the car soon after he sold it to me, so he gave me a $500 guarantee — basically, I paid him $6000, but he promised to give me $500 back if something significant went wrong with the car in the next 6 months.

But nothing went wrong, and we were both happy. I drove that car for another 120,000 miles, with help from Joshua and Daniel, rather haphazardly replacing the tires, windshield wipers, and brakes. I figure I spent another $2000 on the car over the intervening nine years, before one of Daniel’s classmates rear-ended him about 10 days ago. When the dust settled, the other driver’s insurance company decided to total the car and promised to pay me $3800 as replacement value.

Sarah and Daniel saying their goodbyes to Wanda the Honda.

Sarah and Daniel saying their goodbyes to Wanda the Honda.

Not bad — 3.5 cents per mile, not counting fuel costs. I think I can live with that.

Tomorrow the salvage company comes to take the car away, and it is very sad. Daniel and I have become attached to that little car — our respective identities are (in some mystical way) bound up with that little car.

Now both Daniel and I are in the market for a new (or, more likely used) car, and maybe new identities as well. I have my eye on a sleek, almost-new red Camry, that I think I will purchase later this week. But what will Daniel buy?

The kids cleaned out everything -- but we couldn't get the gas siphon to work, so we lost seven or eight gallons of gas.

The kids cleaned out everything — but we couldn’t get the gas siphon to work, so we lost seven or eight gallons of gas.

Since the insurance company is being so generous to me, I’m sharing some of the ‘profit’ with Daniel, to get him started on his first car. But this is contingent on getting a new job, so he’s beating the bushes for work, again.

In my opinion, a young man needs to have a beat-out, old car, to properly reflect his financial and social position, and to motivate him to remedy that condition. I think a young man with a fancy car could be prone to having a rather inflated view of his own importance — not a good long-term strategy.

My first car was a 1974 Datsun B210 — I paid $380 for it in 1988. It was very dilapidated, and the floorboards had rusted through so that you could watch the lane stripes as you changed lanes. The previous owner had put down pieces of wood to take the place of the floorboards, but the fit was imperfect. If you hit a large puddle, the passenger’s legs would be drenched to the knees — for some reason, people rarely asked me for a ride more than once.

Not my actual Datsun -- mine was MUCH more rusty.

Not my actual Datsun.

The brakes on the Datsun required two or three pumps in order to work, and the exhaust system was held together with chewing gum and a prayer. One of the pins was broken on the passenger door, so if you opened it all the way, it would rest on the ground. It was a great little car, and it reflected my financial and social status very accurately.

Sadly, I wrecked the Datsun on a bridge abutment in the middle of an ice storm, on my way to Phil and Deb Dickerson’s wedding. What kind of a car will Daniel buy, I wonder?

Project 365, Day 34
Tim

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David, Project 365, Sarah

Playmobil Break

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So many people - so little time!

Enough Playmobil people to populate an entire city!

Daniel and his friend James cleaned up the garage this weekend. And by clean up, I mean they piled all my Christmas bins and random projects into nice, tidy stacks against the edges and walls of the garage. I’m not sure I will ever be able to find everything. But then, Daniel would probably say that was my fault for leaving it a mess and hinting that they should clean it up before the party. Ha.

Time for some Playmobil

Time for some Playmobil

With all of the Christmas containers shoved aside, you can actually see things on the shelves in the garage. At some point during our party on Friday night, someone took down some Playmobil for the little kids. Several years ago I bought a HUGE amount of Playmobil from a friend who offered me a deal I couldn’t resist. I’ve organized and separated the pieces into separate containers, but nothing has been played with or enjoyed in a long while.

Sarah has a knack for building.

Sarah has a knack for building.

During our school reading today, David and Sarah pulled out four of the Playmobil bins and started to put the castles together. I couldn’t resist getting a few pictures of them, and we ALL wished the afternoon reading/playing time could have stretched on longer.

For now the living room is still covered in people, odd pieces and wonderful potential Playmobil fun.

Nothing like a little hands on activity during reading time.

Nothing like a little hands on activity during reading time.

As long as I don’t worry about company or having a tidy living room, we can leave out the Playmobil and enjoy them this week. There isn’t as much time for “play” as there used to be when the children were little. Interesting how homework, friends, and computer activities (games, social media, etc) replace simple “playing” as the kids get older.

Even though I am constantly decluttering and giving away bags and boxes of things, I insist on keeping Legos, Playmobil, Knex and shelves and shelves of kids’ books. I love toys that encourage creativity and inspire the imagination.

Project 365- Day 2
Kathy

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Project 365, Sarah

They Gave Each Other a Pledge?

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Sadly, it is time to face reality.

I gained a lot of weight over the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, and have now officially returned to my pre-appendicitis and pre-cancer-surgery weight, which is very unfortunate.

So yesterday, Sarah and I made a pact. We made a pledge. We swore an oath. We are going to stick to a rigorous diet and not-very-rigorous exercise regimen until both of us reach our weight-loss goals.

This is our official 'before' picture.

This is our official ‘before’ picture.

We’ll keep you posted. So far, I’m up half a pound. But, as is often the case, I already feel much skinnier after only two days ‘on the plan’.

Please pray for us, that we would stick to it and be faithful to encourage and hold each other accountable.

Project 365, Day 27
Tim

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Being a Disciple of Jesus, David, Project 365, Sarah

Conference & Journaling & Kids

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We’ve been very blessed to bring David and Sarah with us to this year’s Impact Prayer Seminar. Originally we were going to leave them with friends or grandparents, but things got complicated and other families attending encouraged us to sign David and Sarah up for the conference.

These notebooks are getting FILLED up!

These notebooks are getting FILLED up!

I can only echo what John wrote in 3 John 1:4,

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

What a joy it is to have shared this conference with all of our children over the years. As I sat with David and Sarah in the sanctuary, watching them take notes, listen to the speaker, and concentrate, I was reminded, once again, how blessed we are to have such thoughtful, careful, godly children.

Tim and I have attended this prayer conference many times over the past eight years, so we were more than willing to let David and Sarah be responsible for the note taking job this time. The material ranges from goal setting and time management to the incredible blessings of being a praying leader. This year we’ve especially enjoyed the company of several other church friends and families.

A little search of our blog reveals that we’ve written about the prayer seminar before:

The Lord has taught me many things as I’ve walked this path of godly woman, daughter, wife, mother, sister, friend, mentor, leader, homeschooler. He has greatly enriched my prayer life, humbled me through hardship, blessed me beyond measure, and ALWAYS continues to work in my heart and life.

Journaling with colors is WAY more fun!

Journaling with colors is WAY more fun!

I am still processing, thinking and praying about all we’ve studied and discussed and learned during the two and a half days of the conference. 16 hours of teaching on prayer! More than anything I want to be a Champion for Jesus – honoring Him in my service for His kingdom. I want to delight in Him, bring glory & praise to His name, and be purposeful in my days. This seminar has both challenged me and inspired me. Not to mention, been a bit overwhelming as I contemplate being a good steward of all the Lord has given me – my time, energy, finances, gifts, and talents.

Praying that Tim and I, along with David and Sarah, will leave here with renewed passion for following Jesus. Praying that Joshua, Rachel and Daniel will also find encouragement and a fresh love for Jesus even though they weren’t able to join us.

Project 365 – Day 20
Kathy

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