Brightness

So, this past month I've been doing a lot of transformation in my life. What a good, scary sentance to start off with... :) First as of today I've lost 59lbs, which is a HUGE transformation. I still have a ways to go but I'm doing it! I'm making the necessary changes to become healthy and whole for my family. It feels great, it's exciting, it's hard, it's all those feelings wrapped into one. But as I have been transforming my outsides I'm finding that I'm transforming so much of my inside as well... I'm finding things out about myself that I don't like, issues I've never dealt with, issues that I struggle with that I've never seen. It's becoming a journey not only to become a healthier me on the outside but to become a stronger, more secure, whole person on the inside too. I realize each night when I run my 3.5 miles around my neighborhood that I'm gaining strength... I'm able to run longer, harder and sometims faster......

We have been attending James River Assembly for almost 6 months now and I can hardly believe it, for many reasons. First I NEVER EVER thought I would attend this huge church that is AG. I was raised in a pretty conservative small church. It was a wonderful church, full of amazing people I love and adore, but we had very few in our youth group and to be honest I never felt challenged to grow in my walk with Christ. Throughout our marriage Andy and I have attended 4 churches, placing membership in 1, but never felt challenged in our walks or in our relationships....something was always missing although at the time I never realized it. When we felt our old church was not where we wanted to be, and we had a almost 2 year old at that time, we were struggling to find the right place for our family. I wanted some place that Maddux would go to church with people he eventually went to school with. I always wanted this but never had it growing up and I wanted him to always be surrounded by peopl...

So, Saturday night I decided to be spontaneous (not very good at it) and pick up a movie of my choice from the red $1 movie rental place. I had heard that "Letters to God" was really good and I thought, hey, this is a positive, uplifting movie for Andy and I to watch. Let's do it...even though I had never heard what the plot was about. So I brought it home with a bottle of wine (that we didn't drink) and we decided to put it in. First let me say that the movie was LAME! It's a Christian movie and I'm not sure why Christian movies have to be so lame. The acting was poor, the plot was good but didn't flow well, it was just very predictable, lame movie. It's about a 10 year old boy who has a rare form of brain cancer. He decides to write letters to God and puts them in his mailbox. So the mailman ends up reading them and gets touched by this young man and his reliance upon God. It ends *SPOILTER ALERT* with the little boy dying.... It was a heart warmin...

So I just wanted to update our blog while I had a moment to think. :) Doesn't happen very often with a two year old running around! :) Life is good here in the Steinmann house. Maddux is a very active, very vocal, very opinionated two year old. :) He is into balls of all kinds, cars of all kinds, animals especially horses and cows, and loves his TV...not my favorite thing. :) He changes his favorite movie weekly. This week we introduced "Wall-E" to him, because I was tired of his current favorite movie "Horton Hears a Who". :) He also is obssessed with trains of all kinds. We got him a train table last year for Christmas and he's not really into it! Every night we have to put the trains to "night-night" before he goes to bed and every morning that's the first thing we do, get them up. They even sleep on a pillow and have their own blanket. :) Andy and I are doing good. We are still loving James River and have even joined a small group, whic...

So today (the 28th) my "baby" turned 2.....where did the time go? Could he REALLY be the same age of some of the kiddos I used to teach??? Sigh.... What a wonderful 2 years though. I have grown so much. I never realized how selfish I was (and still am..I'm a work in progress) until I had him. I never understood what it meant to WANT to die for someon...I do now!!! He brings so much joy to Andy and I's life. The things he says, the little quirky things he does, the different parts of Andy and I that come out every once in awhile, it's all been a joyeous ride. I'm sad that he is 2.... I am now a parent of a toddler, GAG. :) But I plan on enjoying each moment of his second year. Each season of his life I will enjoy, or force myself to enjoy if I have to. What a wonderful gift you are my son. I can't wait to see what God does with your life. I am proud to be your Mom, I am proud to call you my firstborn and my son. No matter where life takes you or where life ...

Well a few things to mention that are "new" for the Steinmann family. First on my weight loss journey I have lost 13 lbs in 4 weeks and I'm SO excited about it!! I'm on track and can't wait to see how many more I can lose!! :) Second, about 2-3 weeks ago we received some sad news that our pastor from church was let go. So Andy and I began questioning our membership there. So we began just trying new places and seeking God out for guidance. We visited Northside Christian Church and loved it. The only problem was location, it would be hard to be involved, especially as Maddux grew older. A friend of ours invited us to James River Assembly. We decided to "give it a try" thinking that there is NO WAY that we would end up there.. So we went, and guess what? We loved it! There are aspects that we want to know more about but their children's ministry is AMAZING!!! And really when I'm honest to myself that is the most important thing for me. I am a Chris...

"Change of lifestyle" that's what my sister calls a diet, and she's right. Over the last 9 years I have let things get in the way of keeping myself healthy. I could point fingers and lay blame for my weight but when it comes down to it, I am responsible for me. I have allowed myself to gain 100 lbs more than I should. Let me tell you it's awful to write/type that here where it is so public but I need to be honest. If I'm not honest this "change of lifestyle" wont ever work. So I am on a journey to lose that 100 pounds. This is a scary journey but also an exciting one. I want and need to be here for my son. If I keep allowing food to control me then I will be a fat blob who can't do anything with their child. I don't want to be that, so I'm changing. I'm taking the bull by the horns and doing it!!! :) So what am I doing you ask, well it's really quite simple. I'm cutting my calories. I have a Biggest Loser cookbook (which is ok...