Weight Loss Update: My weight has been fluctuating so much lately it is kinda crazy. Sometimes I can tell people I am down 48 pounds and sometimes it is 42-45, depending on when I weigh in. When I post on here, I go based off of the Medifast scale when I weigh in. As of this Tuesday morning I am down 42.7 pounds in 11 weeks. My weight is starting to maintain a little more than I want it to, but since we are in the Holiday Season and eating healthy isn't always easy, any weight loss is productive. I am finally starting to realize that I need to add more exercise to my program. I have been doing little by little everyday to work up to the Insanity program and I am officially starting that on January 6th after my first day of student teaching. I can't wait to get into that new routine.
When I looked up religious percentages in the United States, it says that about 80% of the US in Christian. It actually seems kinda low to me, but I checked multiple sources and that seems to be the finding among many. So how many people celebrate Christmas? 80%? 85? 90? The findings were incredible, but 95% of people celebrate Christmas. That means over 40 million people celebrate Christmas who are non-Christian, so my question to them is, "What do you celebrate?"
Do they celebrate so they get presents? Do they celebrate because everyone else is doing it? Do they celebrate because they feel weird if they don't?
This Christmas, I want us all to remember the true meaning of Christmas. If you have younger brothers/sisters, obviously they are excited about Santa Claus and presents but have we explained to them why we celebrate? Before we gather with family, do we pray for the time together or do we go right to opening gifts?
Obviously spending time with family is super important and I am not condoning people who celebrate with family even though they might not be religious. I am simply stating the numbers that there are millions of people who have no idea why they are celebrating. So go to Church with the family and hear the story of the Birth of Jesus. Understand that he is truly our savior and that tomorrow we celebrate the day he is born. Pray before you eat and thank God that everyone is able to be together. Some aren't so lucky.
Also, say a prayer to the troops who are abroad and can't be celebrating because they are busy fighting for our freedom. We wish them save travels home soon.
This Christmas I am also praying for some extended family members who are going through treatments and who aren't doing so well. I am praying anyone who is going through chemo treatments and fighting the battle with cancer. I am also praying for the Lefebvre family who needs special prayers over this holiday season. Even if you don't know them, please say a special prayer today for them.
Today and everyday I want to wish all of you the very best. I hope that no matter the struggles, that we can all take time today and tomorrow to celebrate what this holiday is really about. I speak for my family and the whole Hines family when I say that we all wish you a Merry Christmas. We will be spending Christmas Eve at church and then eating and celebrating at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We are all truly blessed to be able to have so many of us gather together.
Happy Holidays, I love you all
God Bless,
-J-
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Never Forget To Tell People How You Feel
Weight Loss Update: Today is day 70 of the diet. Although the weight is starting to come off slower, it is still coming off and that is still progress for me. I realized Insanity (like I mentioned before) was going to be much too hard after being a couch potato for so long. I have been doing little cardio workouts and once I start student teaching, I am going to come home and do insanity every day. I honestly can't wait to improve my body even more than I already have.
After 70 days I have lost 42.2 pounds which is right about half of what I wanted to lose!
The best is yet to come :) Just so everyone knows, this blog isn't as cheerful as usual. I am not trying to make your Tuesday miserable, I am simply letting you in to all aspects of my life. As always, I hope you enjoy my writing as much as I like writing to you.
For many of the people in the Rogers community, we know loss way too well. We have seen it through suicide and natural disaster. We have seen it through car accidents and illness and for many of the victims, it comes far too early.
After 70 days I have lost 42.2 pounds which is right about half of what I wanted to lose!
The best is yet to come :) Just so everyone knows, this blog isn't as cheerful as usual. I am not trying to make your Tuesday miserable, I am simply letting you in to all aspects of my life. As always, I hope you enjoy my writing as much as I like writing to you.
For many of the people in the Rogers community, we know loss way too well. We have seen it through suicide and natural disaster. We have seen it through car accidents and illness and for many of the victims, it comes far too early.
Now I am not just writing for people from Rogers as most people have dealt with death before. You heart sinks. You think of the family and what they might be going through. You might cry. You might get angry. You might meet with your friends or you might say a little prayer.
To me prayer is something that I always do when I hear about a family going through a tough time. When Sandy Hook happened a year ago, the first thing I did was pray for the families. Pray for everyone in schools, that they will never have to experience something like that. Most times I do not tell the people who I am praying for that I am praying for them because I don't think that I need to. Prayers are my conversation with God and every night, for about 10-15 minutes, I get to sit and have a conversation with someone who does nothing but listen. I ask everyone who has passed to look down on me. I pray to Megan and ask her to always help me through the tough times in life. I pray for her family and the families of anyone who has experienced a death in their family. One thing that I never got to do before Megan passed was tell her how much she meant to me as a friend. We were planning on hanging out soon but our lives got in the way and I never got that opportunity to thank her for being the easiest person to talk to. It is because of Megan that I am the way I am today.
From February 20th, 2012 to today I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned to enjoy the present and to stay positive in life.
To me, there is one thing that might be as important as praying and that is telling the people you care about that you love them. Say it early and say it often. I don't care if they are your parents, your brother, your sister, your best friend, your roommates, your classmates, your friends, or whoever else it is. If you care about them, let them know. Since the worst day of my life I have had a different impact on life. I stay positive for the most part. If I am tweeting, many times they have LOL or :) on them. If I am texting you, there is a chance that I am using smiley faces and/or exclamation points. I am doing that because I am that happy with how my life is going. When I call my mom and I am about to hang up, I always tell her I love her and the same when I am going to bed. I don't care that I am 22. If Cassidy falls asleep while we are texting (like she usually does) I always make sure that I send a "love you" text so that if anything were to happen, she would know how much she means to me.
At the end of the day none of us know if we are going to be here for the next day. I am the biggest believer in the saying that, "Everything happens for a reason." I am not sure why car accidents and tornados have to happen. I am not sure why illness has to happen or why there isn't a cure to cancer, all I do know is that God has a plan. He isn't going to send you down a path that you can't make it through. It might be tough at times but he will be there to hold your hand and push you through.
So as you are going to see your families this Christmas that you haven't seen for a while, don't forget to give them a hug and let them know how much you care. Much too often we don't know we are running out of time, until it is much too late.
So from me to you, if you are reading this, you hold a special place in my heart. If you have experienced a loss or are going through a hard time, know that I am praying for you tonight and every night.
I love you all.
-J-
-J-
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Weight Loss Update/My Bucket List
63 Days ago I started this crazy journey of weight loss. I was unhappy when I looked into the mirror and decided that I wanted to better myself. I got to Medifast today and a random girl who had seen me 9 weeks ago gave me a compliment, saying she wishes that I continue and that I look great. I don't even know this women's name but she already made my day and it isn't even noon yet. I was nervous to step on the scale this week. I was stranded at school last week and so my eating/drinking habits weren't as good as they have been over the course of 9 weeks. I hopped on the scale. The numbers went up and up and up..... Oh no I said out loud to the Medifast specialist, this isn't good. Then the numbers stabilized and then started moving back down to where I was used to them being. Finally it stops. "Whewwwwww, that was close," I say and the Medifast specialist laughed at me. I lost two more pounds this week. I didn't know if it was going to be possible with my circumstances this week but I made sure that I drank lots of water and ate healthy over the weekend because early in the week my diet choices weren't the best.
Total progress. 63 days, 40.2 pounds and counting.
I continue to ask for your support as we start moving to the new year. I am receiving more compliments day by day and I love it. Some people say they don't know if they should give people on a diet complements about how they look because they think it will send the wrong message. I can't speak for anyone else but for me the compliments keep me motivated and show that you notice and that you care enough about me to tell me that I look better than I did 63 days ago. Keep them coming :) Thank you for everyone who reads this. If you have someone who is struggling with weight loss feel free to send them the link to this blog. Ask them to contact me if they want general weight loss information or information on Medifast as well. Much like anything, people enjoy talking to others who are going through the same thing as them.
So what am I going to talk about today? I was looking back on my earlier blogs from last year and I wrote about my bucket list. I decided that today I am going to update my bucket list. As you will notice many of them will be sports related because well I'm obsessed. Some will be big, some will be small, and some may even seem impossible. If anyone can ever help me accomplish any of them I will have a special place in my heart for you. The following list is in no order at all. Number 30 is just as important as number 1. :)
1) Go Skydiving
2) Visit every state in the US
3) Get married (I already have my bride picked out, sorry ladies) :)
4) Get a teaching job
5) Have something I write get published in a newspaper
6) Raising kids the right away. This will be easy as I was raised with two amazing parents as role models
7) Attend a Super Bowl
8) Attend a Duke/North Carolina game at Cameron Indoor Stadium
9) Get my Master's degree
10) Coach my children's sports teams
11) Be able to travel to other countries just for fun
12) Catch a Walleye or some sort of trophy fish. (I have a fear of fish so this one is kinda odd)
13) Be "fit" enough to play with my kids in the yard as they grow up (Well on my way) :)
14) If I have a daughter....walk her down the aisle at her wedding
15) Go the Abbey Road and take a picture like the Beatles did
16) Go to TomorrowLand with Dom, Andrew, Tommy & Sam
17) Buy a brand new car
18) Buy a house for my future family
19) Earn some sort of recognition because of my career
20) Never stop learning (I would be a full time student if that was a career)
21) Write a book
22) Have a living room with 4 TV's so that I never have to miss a moment of the action during Saturday's and Sunday's
23) Attend all the weddings of my brothers
24) Graduate College at SJU (This one should probably have said first)
25) Own season tickets to the Twins or the Vikings for one season
26) Have a Harry Potter marathon and watch all 8 movies back-to-back (any takers?)
27) Leave a $100 tip for someone at a restaurant
28) Hit a Pick4 at Canterbury and have it pay out big
29) Fit into my jeans from high school (Kinda girly but important to me!)
30) When I leave this earth I want people to be proud to know me. My life already has tons of meaning and I want that to continue for the rest of my life. :)
Total progress. 63 days, 40.2 pounds and counting.
I continue to ask for your support as we start moving to the new year. I am receiving more compliments day by day and I love it. Some people say they don't know if they should give people on a diet complements about how they look because they think it will send the wrong message. I can't speak for anyone else but for me the compliments keep me motivated and show that you notice and that you care enough about me to tell me that I look better than I did 63 days ago. Keep them coming :) Thank you for everyone who reads this. If you have someone who is struggling with weight loss feel free to send them the link to this blog. Ask them to contact me if they want general weight loss information or information on Medifast as well. Much like anything, people enjoy talking to others who are going through the same thing as them.
So what am I going to talk about today? I was looking back on my earlier blogs from last year and I wrote about my bucket list. I decided that today I am going to update my bucket list. As you will notice many of them will be sports related because well I'm obsessed. Some will be big, some will be small, and some may even seem impossible. If anyone can ever help me accomplish any of them I will have a special place in my heart for you. The following list is in no order at all. Number 30 is just as important as number 1. :)
1) Go Skydiving
2) Visit every state in the US
3) Get married (I already have my bride picked out, sorry ladies) :)
4) Get a teaching job
5) Have something I write get published in a newspaper
6) Raising kids the right away. This will be easy as I was raised with two amazing parents as role models
7) Attend a Super Bowl
8) Attend a Duke/North Carolina game at Cameron Indoor Stadium
9) Get my Master's degree
10) Coach my children's sports teams
11) Be able to travel to other countries just for fun
12) Catch a Walleye or some sort of trophy fish. (I have a fear of fish so this one is kinda odd)
13) Be "fit" enough to play with my kids in the yard as they grow up (Well on my way) :)
14) If I have a daughter....walk her down the aisle at her wedding
15) Go the Abbey Road and take a picture like the Beatles did
16) Go to TomorrowLand with Dom, Andrew, Tommy & Sam
17) Buy a brand new car
18) Buy a house for my future family
19) Earn some sort of recognition because of my career
20) Never stop learning (I would be a full time student if that was a career)
21) Write a book
22) Have a living room with 4 TV's so that I never have to miss a moment of the action during Saturday's and Sunday's
23) Attend all the weddings of my brothers
24) Graduate College at SJU (This one should probably have said first)
25) Own season tickets to the Twins or the Vikings for one season
26) Have a Harry Potter marathon and watch all 8 movies back-to-back (any takers?)
27) Leave a $100 tip for someone at a restaurant
28) Hit a Pick4 at Canterbury and have it pay out big
29) Fit into my jeans from high school (Kinda girly but important to me!)
30) When I leave this earth I want people to be proud to know me. My life already has tons of meaning and I want that to continue for the rest of my life. :)
Everyone have a good day :) Next week's blog will be about Christmas!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Weight Loss Update/SJU Journey
Hello again. I usually write my blogs on Monday night and then post them on Tuesday after I get back from weighing in. I decided to write today's blog today mostly because I needed to gather my thoughts on what I was going to write about today. I hope that you enjoy!
Weight Loss Update: I just got home from the Medifast center and have just completed week 8 of my weight loss. I am now down 38 pounds in 56 days. Every month we do a Body Exam to look at my BMI and other things like that. My BMI is down and much of the weight I lost has been pure body fat. I am extremely happy with my progress and hope to continue to work on it. My goal is 87 so if you ever hear me say, "The Road to 87" that is what I am referring to. It is supposed to take me 44 weeks to get to 87 pounds and I am almost halfway there in 8 weeks!
Also, last week I posted that I was going to start the Insanity workout. After doing more reading about the Insanity workout I decided that I need to work my way up to that intense of the workout. I am going to do some other interval training workouts before I start Insanity. If any of you have any workouts that have been working out for you please let me know because I have been trying to find something to start!
Today's topic is my Journey at SJU. My journey started 3.5 years ago and in 2 weeks I will be done taking classes there. It feels like just yesterday that I was taking my campus visit. Saint John's was the only campus that I visited and once I got there I realized that it was where I wanted to be.
My Freshmen Year: I arrived with a truckload of stuff and got set up at my new "home." I met my Freshmen roommate who was Willie Versen. He was a great roommate. We had very different schedules. I would do all my homework during the day while Willie did his in the middle of the night with his friends. I would get up to go to work at Kennedy Community School and he would just be going to bed. Overall Willie was awesome and I am glad to have shared my freshmen experience with him. As far as classes go though, that was a different experience. I came from Senior Year at Rogers where I did the biggest senior slide imaginable. I make the joke that I did more homework in my first two weeks at SJU than I did my whole senior year but it might actually be close. The first couple of weeks at SJU kicked my butt. I dropped Calculus and thought that I had failed college. I was skipping class just because I could and highly considered transferring to the University of Minnesota to pursue journalism (For those of you who don't know, I love journalism and love to write as well.) I decided to stick out my freshmen year at SJU and it turned out to be the best decision of my life. I met some amazing people who I will call my friends for the rest of my life.
Sophomore year: Sophomore year was a completely different experience. I decided to live with Sam. Sam is my best friend and so I knew living with him was going to be a great time. I was dating Cassidy and still was poor (like all college students) so I was going home on the weekends to work and see Cassidy. Even now I barely ever drink. The one negative to not being at SJU on the weekends was the social aspect. I felt like I knew no one. I felt out of place. The good thing was that my classes were great. I was really enjoying my major and everyone in my classes. I made all my friends through my classes since I knew that I wouldn't be making them on parties on the weekends. Sophomore year was also the hardest year of my life. The night we lost Megan was the worst night of my life. I tried to go to class the next day but left halfway through. I emailed my teachers and gave myself the week off. For those of you who go to college, you know that taking a week off of school and trying to catch up is extremely difficult. I kept constant contact with my professors who were beyond amazing with understanding my situation and helping me out. They allowed me to makeup everything and keep me on track. It was then that I knew I made the right choice to attend SJU and to stay there through everything. When I got back on my feet Sam and I got an offer to move in with Sam's freshmen roommate Andrew and some of Andrew's golf buddies. Now I knew who they were but I barely knew anything about them. We decided to accept the offer and move in to the town homes for Junior year. I didn't know it then but it ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made.
Junior Year: Newly 21 with a new outlook on life I moved into the town homes in August of 2012. I still barely knew Andrew, Dom, or Tommy but I felt right at home. It was a whole new experience too. No more sharing rooms in the dorms and sharing a bathroom with 20 other guys. No more RA's (we had them but they were our neighbors and loved us). Nobody to watch over us, but us. The year at the townhouses was crazy. Being 21, going to the bar was a new experience. Sam and I were 21 the whole year so as we went to the bar more and more people started turning 21 and joining us. I was finally starting to meet some of these people that I never met on the weekends my first two years. These people didn't just become drinking buddies, they became friends outside of the bar. We did homework together in the library and went out for coffee. The roommates and I pulled pranks on each other and became more like brothers than anything. We played video games and watched sports. We argued like brothers but forgave each other 2 seconds later. I had the time of my life. I valued my time a lot more at school and decided to spend many more weekends at SJU, even though I would still come home more than most people. The roommates also accepted Cassidy like she was a part of the 446 family. Even today they talk about her all the time and it meant the world to me that they enjoyed hanging out with her and that she was accepted as one of us when she came to visit. Junior year was the best year of my college experience.
So here we are, Senior Year. I am writing this from Rogers because I now commute to school as many of you know. Once this semester is over I will be student teaching in the Monticello School District. This semester has been crazy. 22 credits was a lot to handle but I knew that living at home was going to help me focus more on my studies. Some days I leave for school at 8 and don't get back until 10:30 that night. It has been a crazy experience but I have loved every second of it. My favorite day of the semester so far was Tommie/Johnnie game. Johnnies FINALLY beat the Tommies in football and we got to storm the field. Storming the field and having an experience like that has always been on my bucket list so I was glad that I got to cross that off.
So for every professor and student at CSB/SJU I want to thank you. Thank you for making my college experience so great. Thanks for helping me through my classes and for being my friend. Thanks for holding the door open for me and giving me a smile as you walk by. It is people like you that let me know that I will be successful when we all graduate in May. I don't have time to list everyone but you know who you are. Whether we had a conversation at the bar or you were in one of my classes I love you all. I can't wait to see where the future take us all.
If you made it this far on my blog congratulations! This has taking me forever to write and I know it got a little wordy. I haven't decided on the topic for next week yet but when I know you will know.
Today is December 3rd. Don't wait a month to start a "New Year's Resolution" Get started today and get a head start on your goals. I used to keep pushing mine off but look at me now :)
Thanks for reading, you all mean the world to me.
-J-
Weight Loss Update: I just got home from the Medifast center and have just completed week 8 of my weight loss. I am now down 38 pounds in 56 days. Every month we do a Body Exam to look at my BMI and other things like that. My BMI is down and much of the weight I lost has been pure body fat. I am extremely happy with my progress and hope to continue to work on it. My goal is 87 so if you ever hear me say, "The Road to 87" that is what I am referring to. It is supposed to take me 44 weeks to get to 87 pounds and I am almost halfway there in 8 weeks!
Also, last week I posted that I was going to start the Insanity workout. After doing more reading about the Insanity workout I decided that I need to work my way up to that intense of the workout. I am going to do some other interval training workouts before I start Insanity. If any of you have any workouts that have been working out for you please let me know because I have been trying to find something to start!
Today's topic is my Journey at SJU. My journey started 3.5 years ago and in 2 weeks I will be done taking classes there. It feels like just yesterday that I was taking my campus visit. Saint John's was the only campus that I visited and once I got there I realized that it was where I wanted to be.
My Freshmen Year: I arrived with a truckload of stuff and got set up at my new "home." I met my Freshmen roommate who was Willie Versen. He was a great roommate. We had very different schedules. I would do all my homework during the day while Willie did his in the middle of the night with his friends. I would get up to go to work at Kennedy Community School and he would just be going to bed. Overall Willie was awesome and I am glad to have shared my freshmen experience with him. As far as classes go though, that was a different experience. I came from Senior Year at Rogers where I did the biggest senior slide imaginable. I make the joke that I did more homework in my first two weeks at SJU than I did my whole senior year but it might actually be close. The first couple of weeks at SJU kicked my butt. I dropped Calculus and thought that I had failed college. I was skipping class just because I could and highly considered transferring to the University of Minnesota to pursue journalism (For those of you who don't know, I love journalism and love to write as well.) I decided to stick out my freshmen year at SJU and it turned out to be the best decision of my life. I met some amazing people who I will call my friends for the rest of my life.
Sophomore year: Sophomore year was a completely different experience. I decided to live with Sam. Sam is my best friend and so I knew living with him was going to be a great time. I was dating Cassidy and still was poor (like all college students) so I was going home on the weekends to work and see Cassidy. Even now I barely ever drink. The one negative to not being at SJU on the weekends was the social aspect. I felt like I knew no one. I felt out of place. The good thing was that my classes were great. I was really enjoying my major and everyone in my classes. I made all my friends through my classes since I knew that I wouldn't be making them on parties on the weekends. Sophomore year was also the hardest year of my life. The night we lost Megan was the worst night of my life. I tried to go to class the next day but left halfway through. I emailed my teachers and gave myself the week off. For those of you who go to college, you know that taking a week off of school and trying to catch up is extremely difficult. I kept constant contact with my professors who were beyond amazing with understanding my situation and helping me out. They allowed me to makeup everything and keep me on track. It was then that I knew I made the right choice to attend SJU and to stay there through everything. When I got back on my feet Sam and I got an offer to move in with Sam's freshmen roommate Andrew and some of Andrew's golf buddies. Now I knew who they were but I barely knew anything about them. We decided to accept the offer and move in to the town homes for Junior year. I didn't know it then but it ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made.
Junior Year: Newly 21 with a new outlook on life I moved into the town homes in August of 2012. I still barely knew Andrew, Dom, or Tommy but I felt right at home. It was a whole new experience too. No more sharing rooms in the dorms and sharing a bathroom with 20 other guys. No more RA's (we had them but they were our neighbors and loved us). Nobody to watch over us, but us. The year at the townhouses was crazy. Being 21, going to the bar was a new experience. Sam and I were 21 the whole year so as we went to the bar more and more people started turning 21 and joining us. I was finally starting to meet some of these people that I never met on the weekends my first two years. These people didn't just become drinking buddies, they became friends outside of the bar. We did homework together in the library and went out for coffee. The roommates and I pulled pranks on each other and became more like brothers than anything. We played video games and watched sports. We argued like brothers but forgave each other 2 seconds later. I had the time of my life. I valued my time a lot more at school and decided to spend many more weekends at SJU, even though I would still come home more than most people. The roommates also accepted Cassidy like she was a part of the 446 family. Even today they talk about her all the time and it meant the world to me that they enjoyed hanging out with her and that she was accepted as one of us when she came to visit. Junior year was the best year of my college experience.
So here we are, Senior Year. I am writing this from Rogers because I now commute to school as many of you know. Once this semester is over I will be student teaching in the Monticello School District. This semester has been crazy. 22 credits was a lot to handle but I knew that living at home was going to help me focus more on my studies. Some days I leave for school at 8 and don't get back until 10:30 that night. It has been a crazy experience but I have loved every second of it. My favorite day of the semester so far was Tommie/Johnnie game. Johnnies FINALLY beat the Tommies in football and we got to storm the field. Storming the field and having an experience like that has always been on my bucket list so I was glad that I got to cross that off.
So for every professor and student at CSB/SJU I want to thank you. Thank you for making my college experience so great. Thanks for helping me through my classes and for being my friend. Thanks for holding the door open for me and giving me a smile as you walk by. It is people like you that let me know that I will be successful when we all graduate in May. I don't have time to list everyone but you know who you are. Whether we had a conversation at the bar or you were in one of my classes I love you all. I can't wait to see where the future take us all.
If you made it this far on my blog congratulations! This has taking me forever to write and I know it got a little wordy. I haven't decided on the topic for next week yet but when I know you will know.
Today is December 3rd. Don't wait a month to start a "New Year's Resolution" Get started today and get a head start on your goals. I used to keep pushing mine off but look at me now :)
Thanks for reading, you all mean the world to me.
-J-
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