On My Way, Home Sweet Home

Posted on July 2, 2014 by flamidwyfe

I’m sitting in the airport hotel, dressed, packed, phones charged, coffee in hand excited to be going home.

It’s been a fantastic work trip that included some play time. Two adorable baby boys born 2 weeks apart in China, time spent getting to know 2 more families who I will love and cherish… So blessed to have been welcomed into their homes and be with them while experiencing the beauty of birth. It never gets old for me, no matter how many times I’m present at a birth.

I also traveled to Jinan, China (near Bejing) to teach staff at the hospital there about the importance of water birth and breastfeeding. Beautiful city, lovely people!

I also was part of a month long virtual race in June. Held by fellow blogger Tatjana, the Midsummer Sun Kilomathon was a great way to get in that much needed exercise. It was HOT here in China and Hong Kong, but I did it. In fact I completed 107 kilometers which is 66.5 miles!

I finished off the trip to Asia with a 5 day trip with my friend Lillian “Alice” Sanpere to Ubud, Bali. We stayed with Robin Lim who runs Bumi Sehat, a non-profit birth center where care for the locals is free. What a giving, loving, honorable woman. Doing so much to ensure that babies enter this world gently. Alice and I were invited to be part of a birth there and it was magical.

So, I’ll let the photos do the talking. I’ve got to call for the bell cart to get my stuff over to the airport.

Ciao!

Dukan Diet – Update

Posted on June 20, 2014 by flamidwyfe

I can’t believe it’s been 13 days since I posted. Caught another cute baby and did tons of clean eating and exercise while in Shanghai.
Still on track, down 11 pounds!!!
Just spent two days in Hong Kong with my friend Alice…

And found a lovely running path this morning in Shenzhen…

Pleased with my progress!
How are your summer plans going!?
Ciao!

Dukan Diet – Days 9 & 10 – A baby and an update on Tiff

Posted on June 11, 2014 by flamidwyfe

Eating strict Dukan, feeling groovy! Feeling very good about the diet and the exercise. I set a goal to do 25 miles by July 1st, I surpassed that this afternoon! It’s the 11th! Woot!!!

The support I’ve had for Tiffany from family and friends, local and afar, has been amazing. I feel so blessed. Tiffany is feeling overwhelmed by the generosity. A reply yesterday from her had me in tears… My love, Tiffany, you DO deserve the love and support of all these people. TIFF had her heel set and she’s now in a cast up to her knee, no weight bearing for 6 weeks. Hard with four kids, but she’ll be able to do it with continued support. She had pain relief initially we the cast, but now that her swelling is going down, she’s actually having pain again. The doc will put on a smaller cast Monday, to support it more.

And…. A baby. A lovely wee boy slipped into my hands yesterday afternoon. This is my 2nd of the two babies I came to China to assist earthside. I’ve said it a few thousand times and will continue saying, I am so blessed to be present and in service to families at their births. I came home, had dinner and did 5K, faster than I had in a long time (which is slow for most, but fast for me… At least I’m out there, lol). A birth high… Feels so good!

During this run I also restarted C25K because Jenni and Sadie are doing it (my oldest daughter and my granddaughter). They started yesterday, too. So when I get home, we’ll be up to speed with each other and can run together. We’re doing the virtual kilomathon together this month and a 5K near home together in September. Three generations running together… How cool is that?!?!

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 6 – PV

Posted on June 7, 2014 by flamidwyfe

Another day in Shanghai. Went out on foot today while the sun was shining. Found a park nearby with an elevated walkway and a running path marked off in 25m increments. Pretty awesome!

Feeling like this today…

And this was my walk…

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs
Lunch: pork stir fry
Dinner: amazing burger (no bun) at Blue Frog with some veggies
Snack: FF Greek yogurt

And I finished reading Dan Brown’s Inferno. Lots to think about at the end of that book!

How was your week?

Ciao!

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 2 – Attack

Posted on June 3, 2014 by flamidwyfe

Day 2 and all is well. Still no scale, but I’m sure I’m losing. I’m heading up to Shanghai this evening for 2 weeks, I love visiting familiar places, although I feel Shenzhen is familiar now!

Feeling good, no tummy troubles, eating perfectly 🙂

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs
Lunch: Pork belly, 1/2 onion
Dinner: big ole hamburger (lean)
Snack: yogurt with flax seed meal
Water: > 2000mL

I walked 4.86 miles yesterday & did a 75 minute yin yoga class. This is from one of my walks:

Time to finish packing for my flight!

Ciao!

Dukan Diet Redo – Day 1 Attack

Posted on June 2, 2014 by flamidwyfe

So here I am again 🙂 China, needing to lose weight, needing to exercise more. I’ve gained back 40 pounds of the 111 that I lost, IN 10 months! Many things contributed to this, but the bottom line is I lost my discipline and accountability. I continued to eat well this past year, but it’s so easy to eat out. A fractured foot on Labor Day also added some down time and on and on.

So I figure I’ll start over where it all began! A challenge by Tatjana over at No Heels Just Sneakers started June 1, as well.

I have no idea what I weigh. No scale here. I do know what I weighed when I left home 2 weeks ago and feel like I’ve lost weight already, which is awesome! Lots of walking here in China. I will see if I can pop into a clinic and get a weight. But I’m back on Dukan, I’m doing 5 days of attack, and I’m committed to walking a minimum of 1 mile a day.

Yesterday morning before my first walk of the day, holding my bib. I had it laminated so it would last:

And this is what I walked/ran (intervals of 60/30):

Food:
Breakfast: Tea Eggs x 2
Lunch: Pork and garlic stems
Dinner: Beef stir fry with red onion chunks and garlic stems
Snack: Yogurt with 1 Tbs flax seed meal
Water: 1500 mL throughout the day

So that’s Day 1. Feeling great. Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

Ciao!

China – Again :)

Posted on May 31, 2014 by flamidwyfe

I’m back in China. This time for 6 weeks to be with two different birthing families. Baby number one was born this past Tuesday and he’s a keeper!

Yes, that’s a chip clip on his cord. Sometimes you have to improvise 😀

Wednesday my friend Alice and I met up with my personal assistant Rose from Guangzhou. She brought along Jack (yes, Jack and Rose) and they are now married! We went to Splendid China and had a splendid day!

We finished our day together with amazing, mouth numbing Hunan food!

Thursday Alice and I walked across the border to Hong Kong. Spent the day exploring and picking up things that Alice needed.

Last night I had dinner with Lotte, a midwife from Denmark. I wish our obstetrics were more like theirs! No competition for money = excellent care for women. The midwives take care of the 90% of women who have normal pregnancies and the OBs only take care of the complicated patients. Hmmm, what a concept. Their infant and maternal mortality rates are much better than ours. I wish we’d take the money out of medicine so all of us could receive better care!

I also signed up for a month long challenge (see yesterday’s post) and Tatjana sent me this very cool racing bib…

And last, but not least, not only am I going to do the month long Kilomathon, but I’m going to do strict Dukan every day the month of June. I’m committed, going to shed those pounds that creeped back on 🙂

So here’s to a wonderful June… You ready?!?!?

Ciao!

Run or walk this June and earn a beautiful medal!

Posted on May 30, 2014 by flamidwyfe

I’ve signed up and I’ve invited my Facebook friends to sign up… What a great way to get some exercise this summer and it’s for a good cause! I’m in China for most of June, so my walks will be here… Where will yours be?

run eat life

I loved my first virtual race so much that I thought I’d do it again! In April I raised over $1,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I would like to top this in June!

This June, run or walk 1k each night or run or walk a 5k any time in June to earn this beautiful medal (designed by Lahela Schoessler).

medal photo small

How does this work?
You can chose:

Run or walk a 5K fun run any time in June and enjoy the midnight sun! Take your kids, your spouse, your best friend and run or walk together!

Or:

Run or walk 30K in June. Run or walk 1K every evening and enjoy the midnight sun or break up the 30K any way you like. 30K is 18.64 miles.

How much will this cost?
$25 entry (profits will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society). $30 for participants outside…

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2014 Courage Challenge Mud Run 5 (unexpected) miles

Posted on April 28, 2014 by flamidwyfe

I got to do this on Saturday and it was AWESOME. My granddaughter Sadie, who has taken on my love for running asked if she could do the kid’s one mile run. She is a teeny tiny 9 year old. So off we went Saturday morning for some good, dirty fun!

The plan was that Sadie would run the kid’s 1 mile course after I ran my errrrr…. 5K course. About 20 minutes before my run they announce they are closing the kid’s course down at 1230. Here’s the conversation:

“Um, excuse me, but I thought the kid’s course was open until 200 p.m. We were planning on my granddaughter running her 1 mile when I was done with my 5K, and with the obstacles, I’ll probable be an hour and half”.

“Ma’am, this is a FIVE MILE race not a 5K”… big grin on the buff dude’s face.

Me: “Oh, my, Oh, oh… ummm, OK. (Now a tad bit concerned, but sucking it up and pulling on my big girl panties)… So what can we do about my granddaughter”?

“Let me speak with the coordinator”… 5 minutes later, “so they said she can run with you”.

Me: Mouth gaping open, speechless!

Sadie: Jumping up and down SQUEALING and shouting “YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!”

So that’s what we did. The kid ROCKED IT! She is a BEAST in the best way. This was an elite ADULT course with 20 obstacles… some so high off the ground we had to lift her to reach the rope! She even did burpees with me, when I couldn’t complete an obstacle. She amazed me and the adults around us. Towards the end I was fighting tears of pride. The 2nd to the last obstacle was a 12-15 foot high rope wall (not sure, but it was high!), after commando crawling through mud/manure, she climbed that rope wall like it was nothing. I moved around to the front and as she cleared the top, my normally quiet sweet girl ROARED like the lioness that she is!!! The tears flowed then, and not just mine, other adults witnessing this little lioness succeed, did the same. I am hoping upon all hope that the photographer with the very expensive camera caught those moments, because they are amazing. As she scaled down the other side of that rope wall, she hopped into the mud, put her arms in a power pose and screamed, “I AM POWERFUL”… YES.SHE.IS! We dropped back on to our bellies and commando crawled under the ropes again… and my sweet baby, who stayed with her Momma (that’s what the grandkids call me), shot off for the finish line! She did the final obstacle on her own, came back around and did it with me and we ran hand in hand through the finish line… amazing day!

Me and Sadie with my friends Bill, Dana, Shannon, Elizabeth and Ed.

This kid is a BEAST!

The last obstacle is nearly done!

LOVE and PRIDE

TEAMWORK

Running into the finish, cheered on by the best of friends!

Finished!!!

HAPPY!

Some of our Team

BUSY WEEK!

Posted on December 30, 2013 by flamidwyfe

Wow! So, Merry Christmas! It’s been a few weeks. I really miss blogging!!! I have so little time to do it, but I must get better at posting.

I have 3 jobs… yes THREE! So I have very little time to do much else but work and squeeze in some exercise!

I’ve fun two 5Ks this month and begun doing Galloway Half-marathon training. This week we ran 6.34 miles so 10K +!!! I actually did it. I’m definitely feeling it today, lol, but the joy of actually finishing surpasses all of that!!!

6.37 miles which is a little more than 10 kms!

This morning at church, my friend Natalie took photos of the families… this is the one she took of my clan…

Front: Jose, Sofia, Shane & Sadie
Back: Joey, Tiffany, Sydnie, Me & Nick

After church my son and I decided to take a bike ride to breakfast….

On the way to breakfast!

And then a different route home…

Bike ride home from breakfast.

And a few pics to round things out…

Color Vibe earlier this month! Elizabeth, Linnea, Me and Michele!

My new bike!

Saw 50 Shades the Musical (which was HYSTERICAL!!!!) with my girlies!

And a night out with friends that turned out to be quite profitable for Sadie and her rubberband bracelet sales!!!

We had Christmas dinner at GOLDEN CORRAL! Can I tell you how much fun it was not having to cook and clean?!?!? And it was WAY cheaper than Thanksgiving! We had a fantastic waitress named Natasha who took very good care of us and we got to eat all we wanted to!!

I also had 2 out of town business trips this month! One to San Antonio, TX and one to Tallahassee, FL (which even though it’s in my state, it’s a 7 hour drive!) And assisted on a couple births, one a water birth 🙂

So that’s my December wrap up! It’ll probably be next year before I get another blog post in! LOL

Ciao!