Goals for the competition

I have been thinking about the final days of this slim & sassy competition. I've also been thinking a lot about the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of this competition. I thought I would share those goals on here and share what I wrote when I registered for the competition that has changed my life forever! Any guesses on how many goals I've accomplished or surpassed?


Goals:
My goals for this competition and this year are to be able to get onto any of the roller coasters at Lagoon that I want to ride with my children. I want to be able to fly without needing to ask for a seatbelt extender. I want to drop 3 pant sizes by the end of April. I am aiming for being able to finally be able to run a 5k. I want to be a healthy example for my children and my husband. I have my 20th class reunion this summer, and I would love to be able to turn heads and surprise all of my friends with a newer, slimmer, healthier, happier me! I look forward to shedding this prison cell that I've made for myself and showing the world the "real" me that has been hidden for so long. I can't wait to see all the wonderful, amazing adventures that I am going to be taking with this journey toward ultimate health and healing.

12 days left!!!!

There are only 12 days left in the Slim & Sassy lifestyle competition.... OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I feel like I've just started!!!! I feel and see so much wonderful difference from when I first started out in January. There has been so much healing happening, not only physically, but emotionally and mentally and spiritually as well. I have been so blessed to be able to work through so much in such a short time with no medication whatsoever. I've worked through cravings and eliminated them. I have learned so much about my body and the signals I am receiving and what I can do about it.  It used to be, that I would pick up a bag of m&m's and eat it all by myself, or eat whatever chocolate or cookies or cake I could find. I was trying to fill a void and protect myself.  I know I've talked about a lot of this in my previous blogs, but, I feel that it bears repeating because of the impact that this emotional eating has had on myself and my family.  I know there are others out there with similar situations and may even feel lost as I did.  There is a way, there is hope, there is healing. That is the beauty of the whole deal... THERE IS!!!!

I may or may not be the final winner of the doTERRA Slim & Sassy lifestyle competition, but I am a winner in my own slim & sassy competition. I had set some pretty specific goals at the beginning of January that I reached for...some were loftier than others. One of those goals was to drop 4 pant sizes...at the time, I thought..."Can I really drop 4 pant sizes in 4 months?"  That would mean going from a size 32 to a size 26. I have been amazed at the changes and improvments that have happened. As of last week, I fit into a size 24 pants. Last friday, when Tim and I went to Portland, my size 24's were falling off of me. We went to the goodwill in Portland and I played around in the clothes and let my curiosity get the best of me. I tried on some really nice size 22 capris that were half off. I decided before I tried them on, that I would get them either way because I would be in that size before summer started :)  I tried them on and they fit a little snug. Today, April 18th, I put those same 22's on....they fit better and were comfy to wear all day :)   I know that different brands are different sizes, so my size range is still 22-24 size range, but that is a total of 5-6 pant sizes down from January 1st 2012!!!! REMARKABLE!!!

As for another goal, I want to be able to do a 5k this year. I am in week 5 of my couch to 5k training schedule. I will be doing a 5k with some friends possibly in June and am looking at signing up for the color run in August in Boise.

Two of my other goals, I am really hoping to be able to see if I met them, however, they take some money...but they are great goals :)  One of them was to be able to ride any roller coaster at Lagoon with my boys and not have to step off the ride because the ride can't buckle down like it needs to.  My other goal was to fly and not need a lap belt extender :) I believe I have met that goal, however, I need to be able to get onto a plane to try that one out hahahaha.... I have faith and know that it will happen, I don't know how, but it will happen this year :)

One amazing thing about this journey is that I have kept my eye on the prize, but not limited myself or given up, I have added new goals and kept all of the original goals. I continue to add goals each week if not each day. I love how my body feels and how it craves the good food and exercise. I can totally tell when I've not eaten the foods that my body needs. As far as sweets... the bag of m&m's or cadburry mini eggs that I would devour in a matter of minutes by myself,,,, that's not me... It never was the real me, but it is not a part of my burdens anymore. I can open a bag of candies and eat only a few and be fine... that is not very often when I do eat candy, but when I do, I can be in control.

I want to be a great example for others like me who are lost and trying to find their way to a healthy lifestyle. I am going to share with all I can, the wonderful blessings that have come to me through this single lifestyle change competition. I know that I've influenced so many already, I pray that I can continue to influence others and be a positive role model for them to aspire to the greatness that is in them. I thank doTERRA and my dear friends Matt and Kelly for blessing my life in such a way that it brough doTERRA into my life :) I thank Justin Harrison and Lynda Decker for giving me the positive boost that I needed to make this daring plunge out of hiding. I am so very thankful for the faith that everyone has in me and the amazing support that all of my friends and family have been to me these past few months and continue to be. I am continuing this lifestyle change and will be an influence for others to follow :)

Happy happy birthday Kyler McKay

Kyler turned 9 today!!!! Where has the time gone???? It's totally not possible for my baby to be this old! He's still my baby no matter how old he is :)

Kyler had a great day today :) He had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, took snacks to school and had Uncle Don's double decker tacos for his special birthday dinner. I asked him the other day what he wanted for his birthday dinner...he chose Uncle Don's tacos :) I love it when the boys want to include far away loved ones in their birthday celebration :)

I'm so glad that Kyler was born in the spring time around Easter :) He loves bunnies! Every year for his birthday, he likes to have an Easter themed family party! We do an egg hunt with all the filled eggs and all sorts of basket filler items for birthday gifts :) It's so simple to plan his birthday.... I'm afraid that this simple birthday idea may be coming to an end soon though, but I will enjoy it for now :) This year, I made Kyler a 3D bunny cake. The cake looks so cute :)

I am so grateful that Kyler had such a good day :) I love you Kyler McKay Hallam! You are such a blessing to our family!

LOOK AT THIS!!!

I posted this on my oil blog, but wanted to share it here. This is just so AMAZING!!!! Just look at these pictures! This is my progress since January! I am so very excited about my numbers and sizes! I feel AWESOME! I am absolutely loving the exercising I've been doing as well as the even healthier eating :)

I am still working on my goal with the slim & sassy competition as well as my other goals. I have met my goal of being down 4 pant sizes and am continuing to expand that goal to be down even more! I have one more size of a few capris hanging in my closet...I want to be in them before the middle of April... Lofty goal? Maybe... but I have come so far and I'm not giving up!

I have loved seeing even small changes that have been happening all over. My cheeks are more defined... YAY!!! When I look in the mirror, it's so nice to see a shrinking me :) I can't wait to see more progress and more shrinking!!! I can't wait for the REAL me to imerge triumphant from this cushion and extra padding.

Happy sweet 16 Brandon!

Oy vey!!!! Another one turned 16 on March 5th! It is such an exciting time to turn 16! Brandon will be ordained a priest this sunday! He will be able to bless the sacrament next sunday. He gets to go on dates now! WOW!!! Stay back girls! I get to take him on his first date!

Brandon has overcome so many obstacles and become such a wonderful, amazing young man. He has a heart of gold! It's crazy how much life throws at us, yet we are still so strong and resiliant. Brandon has a wonderful sense of right and wrong and stands for right in all things. He has great plans for the future and is looking forward to being able to go on dates and learn to drive :)

Brandon is looking forward to his 16th birthday party tonight with girls and guys invited! He set the whole thing up. I've come up with some ideas of games to play, so it will be a fun night :)

I love you Brandon! You are such a blessing to our family! I am so very grateful that you chose to come and be a part of our family. You are a wonderful young man and will be an amazing missionary. You have such a sweet, tender testimony of the gospel and a deep love for our Savior.

My yoke is easy and my burden is LIGHT!

Last week, I had a wonderful opportunity to go to one of my upline in doTERRA for an energy session. Our bodies and spirits have energy. When we are experiencing different things in life, those energies change or show. This session was so very amazing! It was so nice to be able to experience such an incredible thing. I would love to learn more about energy.

I learned so much through this energy session. For years I have been sheltering my body in this mass, trying to find safety and comfort through food and self destruction. Those feelings of insecurity, lack of safety, lack of comfort have stemmed from so many life experiences that have caused so much harm to my body and spirit. I have been feeling guilty for things that have happened in the past and have been adding to it everytime more things would happen that were out of my control, but I wouldn't do something about it.

For me, I would turn to anything chocolate, or cookies. That one chocolate bar would only cover those feelings of guilt and fear with a sense of comfort and safety for a short time. When it would wear off (which was about the time it took to eat it) I would feel the need for more because I was still feeling those feelings. After time, one small bag of m&m's became a bigger bag, eventually those huge party size bags would become single serve bags. bleh!!!! Looking back now just makes me sick to realize the damage that I had been doing to this body that Heavenly Father has blessed me with.

Thankfully we have a Savior who asks us to give Him all of our burdens...ALL of them. Those self destructive burdens are ones that we seem to think we need to hold onto. Either that or we just don't realize that it's something we need to turn over to the Lord. We also can't take someone elses burden and make it ours...when we try to take someone elses burden, we only take a shadow of their burden, they still have their burden. When we do this, we add to our load already, which is totally un-neccessary. What a sweet special peace it is when we can really give all of our burdens to the Lord, even those shadows of others burdens.

Matthew 11:30 The Lord asks us to give him our burdens and take his yoke upon us because his "yoke is easy and his burden is light". Not just the weight kind of light, but light that chases away darkness. When we allow the Saviors light to radiate in us, we are filled and can share His light. When we are filled with His light, there is no room for darkness, or despair, or fear, or guilt, or hurt, or anger. The Saviors light shineth for all the world to see. I will no longer hide my light (the real me). I will allow Jesus Christ to take my burdens upon Him and let His light radiate in and through me. I am safe in my body now and I do not need this outer shell any longer. I am a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves me and I will let His light shine in me.

18! How did that happen????

I remember when Aaron was a brand new baby and I would just hold him and marvel at the miracle of my new precious angel. As I would sit in amazement and just watch him, I would have these glimpses of him growing up; it brought tears to my eyes everytime I would see those glimpses. I would ask Heavenly Father to stop time so I could enjoy my baby and not worry about him growing up. It truly does seem like just yesterday that I was holding my sweet baby in my arms and bringing him home.

Aaron's arrival was wrought with much difficulty and stress, however, the joy of having my son finally here and in my arms was a joy that no words can express... I know every mother feels that inexpressible joy so I don't need to try to express it :) I knew that Aaron was a very special spirit from the time that he was growing inside of me. I felt the spirit so strong, yet I also felt satan's power strong as well. He knows how noble my God's son is and he has not stopped trying to lead him away from the path. Aaron has such a sweet, pure testimony of our Savior and a love for Him. He is such a wonderful son. He's so loving in his own sweet way :)
Aaron has always had a sweet, silly side of him that would make my heart smile. When he was little, he was so genuine and loving; he would hug everyone and loved everyone! I loved watching him play and laugh. What a blessing it's been to be able to stay at home and be a stay at home mom!

I have learned so much from Aaron in these past 18 years. I know I am still learning as is he. It is such a blessing to have him in our family! I love you Aaron Matthew Hallam! Have a most wonderful 18th birthday!

Sharing a smile!

The other day, Kyler was playing outside in the sun while I was fixing dinner. He was playing around the suburban and on the back of it for quite some time. I went outside to see what he was doing and just giggled and smiled. Kyler had made a smiley face on the back of the suburban in the dust that was on it haha.... It was too cute to keep to myself.

If you were driving behind us and saw this.... wouldn't you smile too ???? It's too cute to not smile :) It looks almost like the kool-aid man :)

GREAT QUOTE!

I just saw this quote on pintrest this morning and it made me choke up. "Your first breath took ours away"

I thought about each one of my boys and their birth. I wasn't awake for Aaron's first breath, but I was for the rest of them. It is so true, they took my breath away! I was in love with my babies from the very beginning and have loved them more and more each day.

I remember how tiny and precious they were....how helpless they were and how much they needed me. They need me still, but are growing up to where they don't need me as much. I am saddened by how quickly time is passing and how fast they are growing. At the same time, I am happy that they are growing and learning and becoming righteous men of honor. I am taking every chance that I can and cherishing every moment that I can with my precious children.

I love them dearly and pray that they will always need me in some way, just as we need our Heavenly Father. I am always here for my children, in good times and bad. I love them no matter what!

Better to look UP

Sunday I taught the lesson in Relief Society. I was asked a few weeks ago to teach for someone who would be out of town. This lesson was on a conference talk by Elder Carl B. Cook "It's better to look up". This talk was one of my favorites from conference!

Elder Cook shares an experience that he had when he was new to his calling. President Monson entered the elevator where Elder Cook was looking down. Pres. Monson asked him what he was looking at....when he responded that he was looking at nothing... President Monson said "It is better to look up." This phrase is so very important. Throughout everything that we do, whenever we are feeling down or overwhelmed, all we need to do is look up.

Look up to our Father in Heaven for strength and comfort. Just as the children of Israel were bitten by the serpents, all they had to do to be healed was to look up....just the same for us...We need to look to our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ for redemption and salvation.

Elder Cook shared an experience that he and his wife had while in South Africa. At the Stake Relief Society meeting there, the stake RS President had everyone go outside. There they had a balloon that represented whatever burden, trial or hardship that was holding them back in their lives. On the count of three, they released them. What a relief it is to finally let our burdens go, just as those balloons.

We can have that in our lives always. The atonement makes these blessings possible, to not ever have to be held back by any burden or trial. We can rely fully on the atonement for comfort, forgiveness, salvation and happiness. As we remember our Savior and turn to Him, we will feel His love for us and be strengthened and bouyed up through all of our trials. I am so very grateful for the Savior in my life. For His atoning sacrifice in my behalf and for His constant love for me, even in my weakness. His love is infinite!