Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Five Factor Challenge

I've organized a fun health challenge based on various ones I've seen online. Here are the details for anyone who is interested or wants to join! It runs for six weeks, and we will do several rounds if the interest is there.

The Five Factor Challenge

Factor One: Exercise (20pts)
You have to do 20 minutes of exercise a day. It has to be intentional, nonstop exercise. Grocery shopping at Costco, while a marathon, cannot count. A 20 minute walk in the neighborhood in the evening does.

Factor Two: Nutrition (40pts)
Select any diet plan you choose. Then follow it. You can do weight watchers, calorie counting, my fitness pal, gluten-free, carb free-whatever. It just has to be a change for the healthier from the way you normally eat.

Factor Three: Hydration (10pts)
You must drink 3 L of water a day, this is six water bottles, for those who hate math. It's a lot, but it's amazing how much better your body feels and your skin looks!

Factor Four: Rest (10pts)
Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. If you can't fall asleep, you can lay in bed and meditate. If you have to get up and tend a child in the middle of the night, this does not count against you, assuming you go back to bed when they do. If necessary, you can use naps to make up your seven hours. You just need to give your body at least seven hours of rest within a 24 hour period.

Factor Five: Healthy Habits (20pts)
Choose one bad habit to stop, or one good habit to start during the six weeks. Bad habits to stop could include eating late at night, or limiting TV. Good habits to start might include journal writing, scripture study, etc.

That's a total of 100pts per day. You get one free day for each of the categories, but can take each one on a different day. Every category except Nutrition is a total loss of points if not completed. For Nutrition, deduct 5 points every time you eat outside your nutrition plan. If calorie counting, that's 5pts per 100 calories over your goal.

In order to play I am asking that everyone toss $15 into the pot, so you have some skin in the game (but if you really want to play but can't come up with the cash, don't worry about it, just let me know). I will hold the cash 'in escrow' if you will, until the end of the game, when the entire total of the entry fees will be divided into three winners, or more if there are ties in any of the winning categories. The three ways to win are
1) Transformation (highest percent of body weight lost)
2) Dedication (highest overall score combining all the points from six weeks)
3) Fitness Guru (logged the most number of exercise minutes)

Every Monday use the link below to the game google doc to report your score by noon. There are separate tabs for the weight loss and exercise competitions, if you are competing in those by logging percent lost and exercise minutes.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PhUnZUvjs_x6Yaxn5apxeZ8slD0pgKakrTHWxMYeIU0/edit?usp=docslist_api

To start, record your plan in the google doc and give me the $15 bucks for the pot the next time you see me! You can also send it via paypal, message me for a PM with my paypal email address. Be aware that paypal has a 3% fee for non business transactions, so it would be like, $15.50. 

Letty

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Look for Jack Updates on our Private Blog - G7KidChronicles

How it works:
ChroniclesofLetty is public, and so you can choose to follow it and get notified in your inbox whenever that blog is updated. Because this blog is private, you have to be added to the blog (which means I need your email address) in order to be able to click on the link and have it actually work - if the link isn't working, I haven't input your email address yet as an invited reader, or you haven't replied to the email blogger sent you saying that "your were invited to view G7KidChronicles" and gotten yourself set up.
 
Whenever I update either blog (with the exception of the daily picture journal for Jack) I will post the link on Facebook, so it's easy to click on and access that way.
 
What's on G7Kids:
  • Funny and sweet stories about Jack
  • Updates on Jack's development and progress
  • Adoption updates about trying to locate siblings for Jack and/or further IVF updates
  • Jack's daily picture journal, which is a super-cool idea I stole from online and we will see how successful I am at implementing it. The general idea is that you post at least one picture from each day - either a 'sum it all up' photo, or as the key to a funny story, or just the random one you took at night b/c you had forgotten to do it yet that day...if time allows, text and stories accompany the photo, if not, well, then that's that.
What's on Chronicles:
  • Vacation travelogues and pictures
  • Extended family stories and pictures
  • Myself and Richard's life, hopes, aspirations

Announcing the Sudden Unexpected Arrival of Jack Goering!

An incredible thanks to all of you who have helped spread the word through passalong cards, Facebook and other media, and word of mouth. Jack found us through a friend, who found a posting, that led us to a facilitator...

We know that our little miracle is the result of so very, very many prayers ascending to heaven on our behalf, and are so grateful to a God who hears and answers prayers, and whose timing is always perfect.

Please continue to keep an ear out for potential adoptive situations and let us know! Not only do we hope to eventually have siblings for Jack, we have so many, many wonderful friends who are still waiting!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Come Watch a 2.5 Minute Video About Adoption Passalong Cards!

First, we are so grateful to all of you for sharing our initial blog link on your Facebook walls and via messages. The beautiful responses and support from everyone has kept smiles on our faces for the last month. And okay, okay – we know we specifically said monthly updates, and this is coming at 3 weeks, but we just got our adoption passalong cards in the mail!

1)    We would love it if you would please “join” the event we launched today from our Facebook page.  What’s the event? Letty made a super-cute 2.5 minute Storyboard Video explaining adoption passalong cards – which we are asking all of our friends and family to help us pass out! You should have an invitation to the event in your inbox, or you can click on this link to go there directly and join it.

2)   Please also post the link to this page to your FB timeline so people can find it that way.


If you would like a digital file or some passalong cards (Letty ordered a few thousand) let us know how many (5, 10, 25 or more!) and we will get them in the mail to you the next day! At the very least, it’s great to keep an adoption passalong card in your wallet, because you never know when you might need it!

Love, Letty and Richard

Monday, November 4, 2013

Announcing the Launch of Our Adoption Blog

Dear Friends and Family-

We are writing to ask you to keep us in your prayers and help us reach out to birth parents who might be considering making an adoption plan. We offer some simple suggestions, like posting our blog link on your wall, on how you can do that in the message below.

Background
We have always wanted to raise several children. Earlier this year we experienced two failed In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) surgeries as the conclusion to several years of medical attempts to have children. We are still passionate about becoming parents and are excited to have finished all the required training and certifications to be eligible to adopt.

How You Can Help

We are pursuing adoption in two ways:  our adoption agency and through private placement.  Currently the waiting list for adoption thru LDS Family Services averages about 3 years (our case worker told us in 2012 they only had about 300 babies available to place nationwide). We ask that you pray for us.

Successful private placement is all about making contact with the maximum number of potential birth parents.  We hope that, through your friends, you can help us connect with individuals we would not otherwise meet.  Our goal is to get the address of our adoption blog and our contact information to as many people as possible, FLOODING every social media platform.  Here are a few ways you can help us make this happen.  
  • Send a short message via Facebook and/or e-mail (example below) with our adoption blog link (http://www.WaitingWishingPraying.blogspot.com) to all of your friends with whom you feel comfortable doing so.
  • Like our FB page at http://www.facebook.com/waitingwishingpraying and invite your friends to like it too!
  • Post a message with the adoption blog link on your Facebook timeline, Twitter feeds, etc.
  • If you are a blogger, grab the button from our adoption blog to post on yours.
We will be updating the adoption blog and sending updates on our progress every month or two.  We hope that you will be willing to share blog updates as well. If you would prefer to NOT receive any more messages about this, please let us know.

Example Message To Post:
My friends are hoping to adopt! If you or someone you know is considering making an adoption plan for their baby, please check out their adoption blog www.waitingwishingpraying.blogspot.com a the link below. And feel free to repost this on your own timeline if you wish to help spread the word!

Thanks in advance for all your help, the few minutes you spend will make all the difference for us.

Sincerely,
Richard and Letty Goering