Week 4

So this is week 4! One month down. I am at 218.5 today. That brings my total weight loss to 8.5 pounds! I'll take it, considering I went and ate a like a cow when we went to the Mall of America. I at one point had gained 3 pounds. So to see weight loss like I had at the end of the week, was awesome!

I started my couch-2-5k program again today. Not with hopes of running another 5k, but to get back to the point where I can run a mile or a mile and a half every other day like I was before. This time around has already been tons easier then the very first time I started. I am hoping for good things to come with this. I feel very motivated to run. And just like cycling, it is a great stress reliever.

I have been hitting the gym hard with one of my partners. I was thrown a little bit of a monkey wrench when our days were switched. I work weekends, he works during the week. The only day that overlaps for us now is Thursdays. I get such a better workout when I am with him, I am alot more motivated and he really pushes me. Its too easy to say "Eh, that is enough for today" when I am buy myself vs. when I am with him and he is screaming "You WILL lift this weight and you WILL like it". Okay, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but he does motivate me. I do have some great news, though! I was able to bench 150 today. That is a new record and if I can get down to 200 pounds, that would be 75 percent of my body weight which has been a huge goal for me!

I am doing great! Krysta is doing great, and is a huge inspiration to do better!

Weigh in Wednesday

I woke up today, weighed myself, and was glad to see that for the second week in a row, I have lost weight. I lost another 3 pounds which brings my total weight loss to 6.5 pounds. I later cycled, and weighed my self and the scale went down another pound which meant I seen 200.0 on the scale. Super awesome to see these kind of results again. I am now 6.5 pounds down, and 20 away from my goal.


I have still been going strong at the gym. We have been throwing a little cardio in the mix to get our heart rates up a little more. I have started adding creatine to my post workout drink as well as taking a mens one a day multi-vitamen. I was also able to do the most amount of push ups today I have ever been able to do. I am starting to see some definition in my muscles. I am about to get a strict workout plan instead of going in saying "What do you want to workout today?" I want to get back into running as well.

I have been hitting the bike hard and loving it. It's been kind of rough this season with the wind. I have only had one ride where I wasn't fighting 20+ mph wind. I hope it dies down soon, it makes it hard for me to put up the miles I hope too. I have the Valley Rally coming up next week that I am anxious to do.

This blog was kind of lame, I wasn't really in the mood to write, though. However, I have to keep this going for the sake of my weight loss!

I promise a better post next week =)

Weightless Wednesday

1 week down! 

I can't say I am thrilled with my results so far, but I most certainly will take them. I lost 3 pounds my first week. Bringing me down to 224 pounds. Typically, in the past, when I have started this, I loose about 5 or 6 pounds my first week. But like I said, I will take it. It is 3 pounds less then what I was before. 

I have been hitting the gym hard. My FTO, Officer Johnson, has been working out with me every night we work together, around 3:00am. I am stoked he has been helping me out. He used to be a gym rat back in his college days, and he definitely knows what he is doing, and how to push me. I most certainly have been getting addicted to the pump (my arms feel huge when I am done) I get when I am done lifting. I look forward to lifting every night. My goal is to be able to lift my body weight by the end of the summer, so the more I loose, the less I have to lift. Haha. We are in week two of lifting, and so far we have just been getting a feel for the gym. Next week, we are going to write out a schedule for what day is what, start keeping track of how much we lifted that day, how many reps, ect. So I am looking forward to getting a schedule out, and actually start going even harder. It's been two weeks, and in some of the exercises we do, I can already see a difference.

My Diet has been pretty solid so far. The main thing is, I cut out all fast food, fried food, and high calorie items. So far it's been lots of 100 calorie items, tuna, Smart One dinners and sandwiches. I'm kicking butt so far, and feel super motivated to keep going strong! 

I cycled today in preparation for the Valley Rally. I cranked out 40 miles. Last season it was my right knee that bothered me, this season, it's my left. I feel I may have to go to the chiropractor. The weird thing is, I have put 1,000 miles on my bike, and it is just now hurting. No pain in all my rides before today. I think I might have over did it. I am just going to stay off of it and hope I can get back in there in time for my ride. 

3 pounds down, 24 to go! 

The weight is over

I am on a weight roller coaster. I lose weight, gain it back, lose it, gain it back. Losing weight was never really an issue for me, and I feel bad for saying that because I know alot of people struggle to lose on or two pounds. I know I can go drop 10 pounds in a few weeks with no problem. Once I hit that point, I start to get bored with my "diet". I like food, and I want to eat the delicious food. It doesn't help when I get free unhealthy food at work, too. 

I found some old pictures...

That was 30 pounds down, with pants that wouldn't fit, and a stomach that was getting flat. So that's my goal...27 pounds and to be able to run a mile every other day like I was before. I did a 5k, I have lost 30 pounds before, I road 875 miles on a bicycle in 6 months. I did a 68 mile ride in 95 degree weather. I know I can do this, I have before. 

I welcome you to follow along on my journey to the 27 pounds down. I will update my journey once a week, with everything from what I have been working out to what I have been eating. 

I am starting out at 227 pounds. I have a long ways to go, but every journey starts with a single step.

Every mile is earned, not given.

I refuse

"I could choose not to move but I refuse"

It is rare that a song moves me. I mean really moves me. Recently, I found a song that beyond did it for me. The song is I refuse by  Josh Wilsons. This song has become the cry of my heart. This song has inspired, motivated and convicted me.

I am blessed beyond measures. In my worst day, I know I don't have to struggle for the basic necessities. I know I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach a bed to sleep in every night and a car to drive. I know there are a lot of people out there that are not as fortunate as me. And I truly feel blessed for what I have. I want to do my part in try to help out my community and people who are less fortunate. That's what this song talks about

"I refuse

To stand and watch the weary and lost
Cry out for help
I refuse to turn my back
And try and act like all is well

I refuse to stay unchanged
To wait another day, to die to myself
I refuse to make one more excuse"

I refuse to sit back and do nothing when I want to. So I'm not. I made some calls, talked to some people, and found a place called Mission Norman.  I'm not sure if this is the place that God has called me to volunteer or not but I am going to see. It might be a different place, but God has called me to help. They said they are more than happy to have volunteers so tomorrow morning I am getting up early (which I hate to do) and going to go give a few hours to see if I can't bless someones life like I have been blessed.  I am excited!  ...I pray God could use me in a way I couldn't imagine.  I pray I make a difference in someones life. I pray that I can help someone in someway.  I pray I can show Gods love to someone. Tomorrow is my first day. I am hoping I can go once or twice a week and help out for a few hours. I have no idea where they will use me at but I am excited to lend a hand. I will blog, and keep you posted on how it is, what God is doing and what I am doing.

  Oh, I refuse

To sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse

I refuse

The broken clock is a comfort

Okay, so first off, I fail at blogging. I read my last blog, and it was filled with typos and lets just say that wasn't my best work. Anyways, I cleaned it up, actually made the links into links instead of posting the address to the web page and tried to make it "flow" a little bit better. Hopefully as I blog more often, I can get get this down...But hey, I am trying! And second off, why do I always feel the need to blog at 3:00 in the morning!?

It's bothersome, and I don't know why a case from 34 years ago has been on my mind so much, but it has. If you read my last blog, you know that I am talking about the three little girls who lost their life at a camp in Oklahoma. I found a book called "Someone cry for the children" that I was curious to read. Turns out this book is pretty rare and some what of a "collectors item". You can find copies on the internet that range from around 50.00 upwards to 460.00. I decided to see if a library would might have a copy that I could check out. Most libraries, had the book, however, had it as a "reference" book where you had to read the book there and could not check it out. Apparently people were checking out the copies and selling them. I found one library system that had branches throughout the metro, and had seven copies of the book which all were checked out, with a waiting list. My loving fiance was finally able to track down a copy in Ada, where I get the book Monday, and get to start reading. Thank you Krysta!

They also adopted the book into a movie, that was narrated by the late Johnny Cash. I want to warn you, its heartbreaking. And I think it would be even more-so to someone who has kids. Watch part 1 here. It gives a very good in-depth look at the case. It's hard to watch the families talk about their children. After you watch the movie, you will say without a doubt that Hart was guilty. Which at this point, I believe he was. I was told the book leans towards that he was. I look forward to reading this book. However, there is one other book entitled tent number 8 that was written (I believe) by someone from the defense. This book points out that Hart was innocent. I look forward to reading this book as well.

I have had a new appreciation for a few things since I have been reading about this. It has made me appreciate life a lot more. As well as family. It has been a reminder of how precious life is and to not take it for granted, and I know, its easy to do sometimes. I have snuck in a few extra hugs hugs, and let the ones I love, know how I feel. If you watch this movie, it will compel you to hug your loved ones and be thankful.

The original reason why I found this was by looking at the Weird Oklahoma book I mentioned in a previous post. After mentioning this to my mom, she told me of a book called "Oklahoma Curiosities" that had some neat stuff in it. And she was right, this is a cool book! It has weird stories of people, places, and even things you can go visit. One of these things (located outside of springer) was called "Magnet Hill". The basic premise was this; you go to a bottom of a hill, put your car in neutral and you roll backwards UPhill. We thought we would give it a try and drove to the hill. Krysta put the truck in neutral at the bottom of the hill, took her foot of the break and we started rolling backwards, up the hill at speeds reaching up to 12 miles per hour. It was freaky and a site definitely to go check out! and from where you can see where we was in this picture, to the bottom, is how far back you can see we rolled. We ended up with our own theories, mine differing from Krysta's and that varied slightly from my moms who had previously visited this oddity. I invite you to go check it out yourself, and draw your own conclusion. Whatever the truth may be, that boggles my mind, its a site to see, for sure!


One last sight I wanted to tell you about.... http://www.abandonedok.com/. If you want to go see the abandoned pictures of Camp Scott, there is a section on it that has a ton of pictures. It's kind of odd, looking at the pictures of a girl scout camp that shut down over night. But not only that, there are some cool abandoned places that are no longer occupied. A bowling alley and rec center is one. There's also a castle I found. I don't know why I think abandoned places are interesting, but truth is, I do. I have found a few "abandoned" places here I want to explore (legally, of course). That sites becoming a favorite of mine.

I want to leave you with a picture I took the other day at work that is a constant reminder of God's beauty

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Isaiah 42:5

-Fig

Someone cry for the children

We had just went into the bookstore to kill time. I am not one for reading, not like she is. But still, I never have trouble finding a book that I can kill time with. I found this one, "Weird Oklahoma" and little did I know what kind of a impact it would have on me. Amidst the strange and "weird" places and stories it had to see (that I found very interesting) it had a "Abandoned Oklahoma" section. I began to read... Ghost towns, I guess, is what they really are. Places that once had something to offer, now gone, empty buildings, empty places. As I began to read, I came across a place, a girl scout camp. Camp Scott near Locust Grove in Mayes County. I  was looking at pictures of empty buildings, and things that once was the home to girls for summer fun. Now empty, over-grown with grass.

A little background From Wikipedia...

In 1977, Camp Scott was in its 49th year as a keystone of the Tulsa-based Magic Empire Girl Scout Council. Situated along the confluence of Snake Creek and Spring Creek near State Highway 82, the 410-acre (1.7 km²) compound was located between Locust Grove and Tahlequah.
Gene Leroy Hart had been at large since escaping four years earlier from the Mayes County Jail. He had been convicted of raping and kidnapping two pregnant women as well as four counts of first degree burglary.
Hart was raised about a mile from Camp Scott.
Less than two months before the murders, during an on-site training session, a camp counselor found her belongings ransacked, her doughnuts stolen, and inside the empty doughnut box was a disturbing hand-written note. The author vowed to murder three campers. The director of that camp session treated the note as a prank and it was discarded. ^[2]
June 12, 1977 was the first day of camp. Around 6pm a thunderstorm hit, and the girls huddled in their tents. Among them were Tulsans Lori Lee Farmer, 8, and Doris Denise Milner, 10, along with Michele Guse, 9, of Broken Arrow, a suburb of Tulsa. The trio were sharing tent #8 in the camp's "Kiowa" unit, named for a Native American tribe.The following morning, a counselor made the discovery of a girl's body in the forest. Soon, it was discovered that all three girls in tent #8 had been killed. Subsequent testing showed that they had been raped, bludgeoned, and strangled.
Camp Scott was evacuated and would never reopen.
(end cite...?)


As I left the bookstore, I left with wanting to know something..."why". Who could do this and why could someone do this. So I began to research this a little bit. This entailed alot...this had one of the biggest man-hunts in Oklahoma's history as well as one of the biggest trials to ever hit the state. It was (obviously) before my time, and prior to reading about this, I had never heard about it. 

The weird thing is, after telling my mom about this, she says, "I think I heard a lady on the news the other day who was supposed to be there in their tent but stayed home cause she was sick". A little research later, and I found I found this was found. This was put on the news weeks before I had found out about this case. Also mom was telling me she had heard that a guy was supposed to make a film about this as well.Click for the article Turns out, this guy claims knows who killed them, and will reveal it in the film. I found it odd, that the time I find out about this case, is the time all this is coming out, when it has been relevantly silent since the late 70's.

There have been several theories as to who did this but mainly focusing around one man...Gene Leroy Hart. Hart went on trial, but was acquitted by a jury. I have found two books written about this, one which was adapted into a documentary that was narrated by the late Johnny Cash. It is in a 6 part series on Youtube. Here is the link to the first video. Video 1. One of the books lean towards Hart was guilty, the other states he was innocent. I am interested in digging in to both books.

The more I research, the more I am left with a heavy heart. I don't understand Humanity sometimes, why can someone do this. This is Aprils age, and I can't fathom something like this. I pray for the girls of tent number 8. I pray for their families, and that justice will be served.

To this day, the case remains open and unsolved.


-Fig