Christmas at Disneyland

Our last day for our annual pass was Dec. 21. We went with friends. Here are a few pics of that cold (48 degrees) night. Brrrrrrrr! (I got a cold that night that I still have. )
We went there on our anniversary in March and had a lovely dinner, Mother's Day with Philip and Heather, my birthday with dinner at the Blue Bayou, Halloween and Christmas and a few other times in between. It was fun using our pass for the special holidays of the year..

Christmas Pics

We had a nice time with family & friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I'll see if I can get some pictures to go on the blog.

Losing Inches :-)

I went back to my endocrinologist and found out that I am "insulin resistant" like 50% of Americans over 40. We have an "insulin meter" (fat around our waist) to prove it. The nurse there put me on a 1200 calorie a day diet! It's not enough!! But, I AM making lots of good choices. I have to write down every bite I eat. I should be making a list of all the things I'm NOT eating! Anyway, I wore a pair of pants today that fit now. :-) I've noticed that I'm losing fat.
I go back in January to have another BIA test. This monitors my fat vs. muscle ratio. I am trying to lose fat and not muscle. I am amazed that eating carbs make you want to eat more carbs. The days that I have NO carbs, then the rest of the day I don't even think about them. I'm eating good carbs (brown rice, whole grain bread, wheat pasta) greens, etc. and am feeling better.
It looks like I AM going to get my thyroid re-zapped in February. My last radioactive treatment (Nov. 2006) wasn't enough (16 millicuries). This time, it will be more powerful and will hopefully knock out my thyroid completely. We'll see.

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

On Thanksgiving Day Abby helped edit my research paper. The topic was how to share the Messiah with a Jewish friend. Abby got her degree in writing, so she was more than willing to help. She got me back on track and "we" got an A on the paper!
I finished the class yesterday and have a month off. Yea! My next class is Education 101. It should be interesting after 20 years of teaching!
Every year Heather and I make treats and take them, with a Bible tract, to our neighbors, friends at the post office, etc. This year we made chocolate covered pretzels and peppermint bark. Yum! I got a huge barrel of pretzels from Costco and we dipped about 250 of them.
Tonight Uncle Kirk and I went to the Brea Mall to shop. We go once a year to the mall at Christmas time. We bought 2 gifts but mostly people-watched. We held hands and walked around-a date night! Fun! I saw some items at Williams-Sonoma that are a fourth of the price at Wal Mart!
A family from Rwanda is arriving on Dec. 19th. They will be attending Granada while the father earns his doctorate at Talbot. He has been here since Sept. but his family is coming this week. Our church has furnished their apartment. I went to Wal Mart and bought them lots of items for their house. This is our family's "service project" this Christmas. They are all coming to our family Christmas Eve dinner. Each family is buying one of the family members a gift, so they will have things to open, too. We are looking forward to having Uncle Ray spend the night here, as well. Lots of family & friends.

Feeling Better

Luanne sent me a book about 7 weeks ago that has been most helpful. It is called "The Schwarzbein Principle". It is written by an endocrinologist from Santa Barbara, CA. The premise is basically that a balanced diet slows down diseases and aging in our bodies. She considers a balanced diet to have some protein, good fat, no-carb veggies at every meal. I have quit eating almost all sugars, sweeteners, "man-made white carbs" (flour tortillas, cakes, cookies, all sweets, etc.) I also eat whole wheat bread and 2 eggs every morning. She explains "Insulin resistance" also called Syndrome X. She says that all type II diabetics had insulin resistance before getting Diabetes. This diet helps to reverse that process. I feel SO much better! I am also taking the GNLD supplements; they make a big difference as well. I go back to my new endocrinologist (Jannet Huang) next week. I am anxious to hear what she has to say about this diet and the results of all of my tests. I'll keep you blogged.

My first class

All Distance Learning students at Liberty University must take the Christian Worldviews class for Philosophy credits. My lecturer and author of our workbook is Ergun Mehmet Caner. He is a Turkish, Sunni, former Muslim. He is the dean at Liberty Seminary! The class is a beginning apologetics class. This week's lesson is about Hinduism. I'm really learning a lot! I've gotten B's on the first 2 quizzes with the mid-term this week. Each lesson shares how we, as Christians, can share our faith respectfully, showing love, knowing that the Bible is truth.
He has also written a book called Unveiling Islam which won the Gold Medallion Award from the ECPA. You might want to get it. He converted to Christianity in 1982 and was disowned by his family. His brother is also a believer and is a professor at S.W. Baptist Theo. Seminary.
Because of my bad hearing (moderate to severe in my right ear and severe to profound in my left ear) I can't hear the lectures via the computer. LU sent me the transcripts of the lectures, so I am reading those instead.
I'll report back about the class after I write my first paper. :-)

Oak Glen Outing

On Saturday, Uncle Kirk and I with Lynn Landweer (surveyor for Wycliffe Bible Translators), Heather and her friend Suzy went up to Oak Glen for the afternoon. We bought some delicious local apples and stopped at our favorite gift shop. We met 40 others from our Sunday School class up at Riley's Farm. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner of steaks, corn, spuds, salad, beans, biscuits and apple pie!! Uncle Kirk danced with me for the first time since we married almost 30 years ago! We actually took a few spins Square Dancing. :-) What a lovely day!

I'm going back to school!

As most of you know, I never finished by college degree. I had always wanted to be a teacher and I was trained by Mae Carden herself to be a Carden teacher. I began teaching at age 18! I'm now starting my 21st year of teaching with 17 years in between owning Stampourri! inc. When parents or others ask me about me about my degrees (it comes up often in a school setting) I have to explain my Carden training, blah, blah, blah. My one regret is that I didn't get my degree years ago. Sooooo, that is the background for my new challenge.
I'm going to be "going to Liberty University" online. It's a lot less expensive than Hope International, Biola or APU. I am going to get the Multi-disciplinary degree which amounts to 3 mini degrees of 15 units each plus a lot of general ed. :0(. Each class lasts 8 weeks. Hopefully I'll fly back to Virgina to walk in the graduation wearing the Seelye family gown. We'll see. It should take 3 years!! yikes! I'm not much of a computer person, I prefer classroom interaction, but I'll try it and see. My first class begins on October 22.

The happy couple!

Phil and Abby's Wedding

Here are some pictures from Phil and Abigail's wedding!






The first is of our family, the second is Grandpa Stevens and Kirk, the third is of Mom and Dad on my side, and the fourth is of the Taylor's garden where the ceremony took place.