A dear friend of many is leaving NZ to go back to India and other places. We will miss you Zoe. Here is her myspace page to listen to her talented music.
http://www.myspace.com/zoerayjohnson
Coffee
I love coffee! I can give it up if I have to, but I always end up going back to it sometime or later! Coffee is part of my morning ritual and I missed having it when I was pregnant! But, pregnancy didn’t stop me from having it after 3 months, I just went to decaf instead. I did end up cutting me sugars from 3 teaspoons to 1 though! I used to work with this guy that would have up to 4 or more cups of filter coffee through the day and have 6 teaspoons of sugar! Too much in my opinion!
I use 1 heaped teaspoon of Nescafe classic instant coffee, 1 teaspoon of brown raw sugar granules and 2 heaped teaspoons of coffee creamer/milk powder called Cremora and then a dash of low fat milk.
I know there are many way to burn your coffee and the thing I can’t stand the most is going to a cafe and, you order a latte and you take that first sip…. and it’s burnt! I sometimes think maybe it’s my taste buds but then when I do taste a good cafe coffee, it confirms my taste buds haven’t deceived me! I know I should take the coffee back, but part of me wonders if the 2nd round would be any better? If they can’t get the first one right, I hardly think they would get the 2nd right?!
So, in the world of the Internet I found google and typed in: “how to make good instant coffee?” This is the best results I found and will try it out tomorrow:
Method
1. Fill kettle with an enough water for the number of cups or mugs required (See Note 1)
2. Wash and rinse cups or mugs – ensuring ALL soap is rinsed away properly.
3. Pre-heat cups or mugs with hot water or steam from kettle – BE CAREFUL – HOT STEAM IS DANGEROUS – if you have a traditional kettle, two mugs can usually be balanced to allow one to be heated from the spout of the kettle. If not possible, use near boiling water from the kettle – or very hot tap water – but don’t be wasteful. (see Note 2)
4. Empty the pre-heated mug and dry the outside
5. Put fresh, preferably full-fat milk in the pre-heated cup or mug (See Note 3)
6. Add Sugar, preferably Brown, if required (See Note 4)
7. Add Instant Coffee AFTER sugar – a rounded teaspoon is a good starting point (See Note 5)
8. Add BOILING water to the cup or mug and stir well to dissolve sugar and coffee – take care with boiling water.
9. Enjoy a decent instant coffee – or delivery to someone you care enough about to not poison them with awful coffee!
Notes:
1. Don’t overfill the kettle – it wastes a lot of electricity heating the extra water and wastes time waiting for it to boil.
2. Preheating the cup or mug is important as it stops the (relatively) cold cup or mug from cooling the coffee too quickly. The coffee remains fresh and hot much longer.
3. You can use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk if you wish – but It’s just not the same! Note – the Milk MUST be added before the hot water to avoid scorching the Coffee granules with boiling water, causing a bitter taste to the finished coffee.
4. Sugar – this MUST be added BEFORE the Coffee. This is a very important part of the procedure. If the Coffee is added first, then using the same spoon to add the sugar will inevitably contaminate the sugar with coffee. The coffee then taints the sugar and removes the proper sweet taste, ruining subsequent cups of coffee.
My new business project
Since Asher was born which was almost a year and a half ago I came up with an idea concerning breastfeeding and touch/see/sound toys. Now my breastfeeding idea has been done in America and Australia and it seems that some companies import the product from the USA. Recently I’ve found a NZ website where they do them to and it looks like they may be locally made but they are the same design as the American ones. My thought and design is completely different and possibly more practice. The toys are done locally here too but the added sound and texture is not done.
So, I’ve done a mentoring session with my husband as he is a registered business mentor and I’ve come away with a guideline and time frame to follow and may have samples out by beginning of next year if all goes to plan!
Currently I’m looking for someone who sews and I can get them to sew for me on a contractors base and I need to set up a website and domain name and so on.
If this all goes well, I will plan to sell on Trade me, baby shops and ultimately sell new baby packs! I tried to do the sewing myself but I just can’t get my head around it! I just freak out at the idea that I might get something wrong and will have to start all over again! Getting a contractor will make things much simpler!
Embejo…. if you are reading this, I will tell you what it is I’m planning on making but I don’t want to say on here it in case my idea gets stolen!
So on that note 
Week 6 weight loss update
This week was going great, went down to 74.3kg from 74.8kg but then we took the in-laws out for dinner to wildfire which is an all you can eat meat place. I didn’t eat as much as I would have eaten in the past but it was still a lot of meat! Then the next day we had a big BBQ lunch for Max’s dads 79th birthday and our nephews’ 18th birthday so there was more food there and then we were invited to another friends place for dinner on Monday night and they dished our plates! So, as you can imagine, Tuesdays are way in days for me and thank goodness it’s only a 500g gain from 74.8kg to 75.3kg.
But, I did measure myself! Here are the total loss measurements in cm:
Waist: 11.5cm loss
Chest: 4.5cm loss
Hips: 5.5cm loss
Thighs: 12.3cm loss
Biceps: 3.5cm loss
Neck: 3cm loss
So there you have it! I think the cm loss is great! Especially my waist and thighs! A lot of people are noticing which I really enjoy getting the feedback as it keeps me going!
Max and I are wanting to try for another baby next year but I have discussed with him that I would like to reach my goal weight before we do try, so that gives me an extra 3 months or so to get to my goal weight. I just want a less complicated pregnancy with less pain and struggle and I don’t want to be close to the 3 digit mark when I’m due! Especially if I end up having a summer baby!
Week 5 weight loss progress
I’ve been without my computer this week as it went in for repairs so I apologies for not doing this on Tuesday!
This week I am down another 800g so that takes me to the over 7kg mark lost! I tried on some clothes but I’m going to hold off buying something till I’m about 15kg’s down or until I’m forced to buy something because my pants are falling down or something!! Now there’s a thought!
With introducing a meal back into our meals it’s amazing how much carbs plays such a role in weight increase! It’s shocking really and totally understandable as to why so many people avoid carbs! I believe it about what type of carbs you eat of course! White is definitely a no go!
My downfall is drinking the 2liters of water a day and eating the fruit!
I haven’t had a chance to measure myself so I will do it next week Tuesday for the 6 week entry
Weight loss tab updated
Have a look at the tabs above and you will see one titled “Weight loss ticker and photos” My ticker is there of how much I’m loosing, plus photos of me from the past at the weight I am currently trying to get back to.
Week 4 weight loss progress
This week I have a 800g loss! I haven’t done my measurements yet but I edit this page when I do and add it in.
I’m starting to fit clothes and belts that I couldn’t fit into and you have no idea how stoked I am about it! It’s like I have a new wardrobe! So, so stoked! A few months back I went through my “thin” clothes and packed them all away because I just gave up on the thought that I would be able to ever fit into them again! Thank goodness I didn’t get rid of them otherwise I wouldn’t have any clothes right now!
What I do plan to do now is go through the clothes that are too big for me and give them to pink bag people for cancer funds.
When people ask me how much I still want to loose they kinda freak out and look at me like I’m crazy thinking it’s too much. I currently still have around 10 – 16kg’s too loose. This is according to my BMI for my height. My current weight is still in the overweight range for my height. I have to get down to around 69kg’s to hit the top end of the normal BMI weight range for my height.
My goal is 60kg’s which gives me a BMI of around 21 which is half way between 18 and 24 for the normal BMI weight range.
I’m doing this all because I’m tired of being overweight and feeling unfit and not enjoying buying clothes and even not enjoying being with my husband.
Ultimately I’m doing this because when I fall pregnant again I don’t want to be putting on 15kg’s + like I did during pregnancy and reaching triple digits plus I don’t want the feeling of not being able to walk, sleep and generally enjoy pregnancy. I also had a scare of around 28 weeks when they tested my blood sugar and I potentially was a candidate for gestational diabetes! That was a scare and I don’t want to go through that again! Having the huge craving for iced coke didn’t help the situation… hehe :-0
So yes. Max is almost at the 10kg mark and I’m so stoked for him too. We were just so fed up with how we were and looked and felt!
Bring on summer and more weight loss!!
Week 3 weight loss progress
We indulged a little over the weekend that as a result, I had a small loss, but none the less, it is a loss! So here are my results:
Weight: 500g loss
Total weight loss: 5.6kg
Waist: 1cm off
Chest: no loss
Hips: 2cm off
Thighs: 1cm off
Biceps: no loss
Neck: no loss
Healthy vegetable soup!
I’ve just put together a delicious vegetable soup! Here’s the recipe:
What you need:
3-4 cups of vegetable like the below list or add whatever you have in your fridge
- zucchini
- carrots
- spinach
- mushrooms
- onions
- celery
Mixed herbs, salt and garlic to taste
1 tin chopped tomatoes in juice
3 chicken stock cubes
8 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
Cut up all your vegetables and sauté them on a medium heat with the olive oil, mixed herbs and garlic/salt. If you are adding mushrooms, do them for two minutes at the end. If you are using fresh spinach, cut off the stalks and add when you add the water.
Add 8 cups of water
Break/crumble the 3 chicken stock cubes into the mixture and stir.
Increase the temperature to bring the soup to the boil.
When it has reached boiling point, turn down the temperature, add the tin of tomatoes and cover till veggies are tender yet still hold some crunch to them.
Once you are happy with the taste blend it all in a blender and serve!
Other notes:
You can can add beans, potatoes and some pasta shells for variation and serve with a fresh pull apart bread.
Enjoy!
An incrediable experience
We had band practice last night for next weeks Jeff Jansen conference we are hosting at our church. Ross opened up with a little talk and a recorded sermon from Bill Johnson that I think was about the Glory of God. I found it difficult to concentrate and keep focused. Ross prayed and asked that we would too, but we were all pretty silent. So he then said I felt we should pray for each other, so we all came off the stage and Ross prayed and we started to pray for David…. and…. then Ross says I must pray for him! Yeah right I’m thinking… what am I going to pray? So I start praying and well, I don’t even know how to type the experience after that! I believe David felt greatly moved by the power of God and everyone prayed for me next.
What a powerful moment. I felt God just opened me up to see pictures, prophetic words, things that needed healing, shaking, crying, pins and needles type of feeling in my fingers, being knocked over numerous times and even just feeling God’s heart for some people that was so heart wrenching! Words came out of mouth that I can’t even remember or tell you what it was that I said and I saw things and felt things that I have felt since 2001!
I just want more of this, more of God to reveal himself through me, more power, more glory, more of being able to see things and give words and more intimacy and more ease to get into His presence. Just more of God. In my life.
I felt I needed to confess out loud that I have been doubting all thats been happening in church. I’ve been afraid to seek God in case He didn’t reveal himself to me for all this time that I didn’t even try. I just gave up.
I can’t remember what was prayed over me but I’m thankful for them.
Thank you Ross for pushing through and obey God.
