Telling Stories

A few weeks ago I got an email from Shutterfly offering me a free photo book. I made a photo book for our wedding album and it turned out quite nice and so I jumped at the chance to get a new book full of pictures from the first 18 months of little J's life. I quickly started to upload pictures, then discovered I had no Idea how to upload pictures and gave up. I thought the time limit had past but last week they sent me another email telling me that I had just a few days left to create and order my free book. So I did. I am so excited.

I had an idea, I wanted to make a story book. I asked Ken "If Jared could tell you a story, what would you want it to be about?" Ken answered that he would love to hear a story about Jared and his friends Peter- the Penguin and Griff- the Hippo and how they saved the world from Bad Guys! So I wrote a story- it is called Dad-Napped and it is about a day when J wakes up to find that his Dad is missing, and he, Peter and Griff set about to find him and save him from the Bad Dad-Nappers- because after all if Dad is missing then someone must have taken him, right? They fear that if they don't rescue Dad that they will never have any fun, ever again.

After the story was written I took a few pictures , and then put the book together. It took a few hours but it will be well worth it when it comes in the mail, just in time to give to Ken as a Christmas Present- and yes Ken knows about it, he read and approved the story and even participated in the photo shoot- there are some surprises that I added to the book later though.

Here is one of the scenes from the book- Little J, Peter and Griff are climbing into the loft because that is the last place they remember seeing Dad.

I also told a different and true story to Utah Valley Magazine today. I put in an entry to participate in their annual Fitness Challenge. Every year they pick 4 or 5 Utah Valley Residents and give them a Trainer for a year, then they track their progress in the Magazine each month.

I figured I would put my name in for it, because you can not beat a free trainer, and I feel like I am at the point where I could use some help with my weight loss.

I told them that I felt I would be a good contestant in their challenge because-

1- I have a great need to lose weight- no I am not obese- but I do have a strong family history of Type II Diabetes as well as other weight related issues- high blood pressure, high cholesterol- and that I have been told by several doctors that if I could loose weight and keep it off I had a good chance of postponing the onset of those disease for several years.

2- I have a son who was born with a Congenital Birth Defect, that it was not life threatening but that he needed surgery to fix it. I participated in the National Birth Defect Study and after I was done they sent me information that they had learned from the study. To my Horror the first thing I saw was that one of the biggest risk factors for my Son's Birth Defect was the Mother being Overweight. We have a 10% chance of future sons having the same problem, if I am a normal weight I may be able to lower that percentage even more. If I had known that my weight could affect my sweet baby, that I could have possibly prevented his pain from Surgery, I would have.

3- I have lost and gained and lost the same 15 pounds over and over again over the past 3 years. I need help, I need a Mentor, someone who teach me how to prevent injuries, how to make the most of my workouts- as a Mom you really don't get a ton of time- and how to nourish my body well so that it is willing to give its precious stores of fat. I believe that type of Mentor would call themselves a Trainer and I do not have the resources to pay a trainer.

4- I realize that I am not Obese, but I am overweight, and I consider myself a good example of a Utah Valley Mother, right in the middle of the road, trying hard but not quite getting the results I want. I would be an amazing success story if they chose me. I have been able to lose that 15 pounds again on my own, but I want to do what the doctors have told me I need to do, I want to lose about 40-45 more pounds, I know I can and I know I can do it within the next year with their help.

This is the picture I submitted. It was taken this last summer before I lost the 15 pounds (though I didn't tell them that...I mean I told them I had recently lost weight on my own but not that this picture was pre-weight loss)

So, if you could remember me in your prayers, maybe if it is meant to be, I will be blessed with a trainer for a year.