Rice Weight

Long time no read. It turns out if you eat healthy food and don't exercise, you lose weight faster than exercising and not eating healthy food. Well, that puts me back into blogging. I moved to Korea for a year and didn't really exercise, but you can't do anything but eat healthy there. That way I lost 30-40 lbs in my year there. Since I've been back I've lost 5 more pounds and have maintained that weight. I've started working out with my friend Matt 3 times a week and that's going well. But I need to lose 20-25 more pounds to reach my goal weight. So, tomorrow i begin my diet or rice.
It started with my friend Matt. It turns out he's gluten free, not by choice but his body doesn't like it. So he doesn't eat anything made with grain or wheat and stuff. It turns out that's a lot of food out there. Did you know that hotdogs have gluten in them? Isn't that crazy? Well, he lost a good bit of weight and he looks thin and he believes it to be his eating habits. Now, his eating habits are boring; rice, vegetables, chicken, almost every meal. But to sacrifice some flavor to reach my weight goal is what I have to do. I start on my rice diet tomorrow. For breakfast I can eat eggs and fruit. For lunch it's rice and something else. This something else could be beans, vegetables, or some kind of meat. I want to make it a variety thing to mix it up from the norm. Matt eats the same dish everyday, but I don't want to be that monotonous. For supper I will eat the same thing but maybe have a touch of cool whip with fruit for dessert. I will try this all the way up to my other friend's wedding, Adam Poore. His wedding is in June, so I will do the diet up to that, and hopefully continue afterward. But I can't promise anything.
Anyways, I started this blog so you can hold me accountable. I will blog as much as I can and be completely honest. If I break my diet you'll be the second or third to know, so you must hold me accountable for my actions. This serves a double purpose, it helps me to stay on the diet and it makes you feel important. Also the diet serves a double purpose, I lose weight hopefully and I save money because what I eat is really cheap. SO, wish me luck and I hope to see your comments soon.
Also, I will start to put more pictures up of our girls again.

Doing fine

Video: Maple, The Beginning
We're doing good. I'm excited about coming to America. Can't wait. I'm also bringing Maple back because it doesn't cost anything for her to fly and everyone in America really wants to see her. Whatever! Like that would ever happen! She was just born, are you crazy for even thinking that would happen? You people are crazy! Anyways, here's the first video of Maple out in the this crazy world.

Two Daughters and a Beautfiul Wife

I actually stole that title from a song, but it's also true. I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy as usual. Well, she finally came. The little 7 lb 15 oz Maple Anne Thixton entered the world here in Korea at 10:30 am, May 22, 2009. I think we're sticking with the Korean time because trying to do the American time would just be confusing. So, it was only a 26 hour labor this time. 11 hours shorter than Chloe, so no complaining here. The Korean hospital isn't as accommodating as the American hospital but they did a good job. In America, there's more nurses, doctors, and machines. Sometimes it can feel cluttered. Sometimes you also need the nurses. The family is supposed to take care of the mother after the birth but the church made me work and Carol had Chloe to take care of. So, a day after having a baby, Brandy is sent home. This is great news for us because it's easier to take care of her at home then to keep taking taxi's back and forth from the hospital. Maple is very pretty, but I think she might lean towards Brandy's side of the family. I guess it makes sense because Chloe resembles my family, it's only fair. Anyway, everyone's healthy and happy. Enjoy the pics and videos that I'll post soon.

Maple Anne

She's so little

She's So Little

Just a video this time. A reminder of how little she was and still is.

I can't get it to work on youtube because of the music, but I can put it on Vuze for those of you who want to download it. I already explained in another post how to do this, so if you have questions, check the earlier posts.

Ansley's pics of us

These are some pics we got from Ansley's wonderful new camera. She was kind enough to share the pictures with us, and the world!

Ansley's Pics of Us

Today's Events

I did my spirit walk today. I do it every two weeks when the sun and the moon align just right to where the stars shine brighter than ever. Also, we need water. So every two weeks I walk to the grocery store to get six 2 liters of water. I also get a few other little items so I don't just carry the water home. I then walk back home which is about 1 mile, I think. The water is very heavy after about 20 feet. The first time I did it I underestimated the weather and I felt like I was in the desert because I was wearing long sleeves and pants. Today I wore pants and short sleeves so I'd be more prepared. Good thing too. It was fairly warm today which made the trek even harder. I then continue to trade arms as I walk home, half of me hoping someone would pick me up and the other half hoping no one would notice me. I call it a spirit walk because by the time I see our home, my arms are exhausted and I pray to God to help me make it the rest of the way. It's probably very similar to the spirit walks they have in Africa and Australia. I call this the Korean Spirit Walk. So when you come visit me I can guide you on this adventurous Spirit Walk. It'll cost you of course. Maybe a 6-pack of water will cover the cost.
Also, to start the morning off, Chloe was in her bedroom playing and decided it was a private party and locked the door. The problem with this is that it wasn't a private party and she didn't know how to make it public again, meaning she couldn't unlock the door. This lock is like a deadbolt, so it's impossible to just card it or pick the lock, because it uses a normal key. So, for half an hour we tried to get the door open ourselves because the pastors were in a meeting and we didn't know who to contact. Chloe couldn't quite figure out how to unlock it, no matter how many different ways we explained it. Then 30 minutes later a worker man came and unlocked the door with a key he had. I don't think Chloe will have a private party again anytime soon. She definitely didn't enjoy this experience, but I think we're all glad we made it.
To end the day, Chloe and I went to the playground. One of our favorite things to do on my day off. Sometimes if we wait on the playground and don't make any noises, the natives will come out to play. We stay quiet under the slides so they can't see us. The natives come out and play and we observe them from a distance so we don't scare them. Well, I think they could smell our American scent and they surrounded us. We didn't have much of a choice except to join in their games. It actually was pretty fun even though we couldn't understand each other because of the language barrier. After playing their games, they disappeared back into the concrete jungle. Chloe and I will continue to visit the playground and we hope to these natives again. I think Chloe had a fun time and I just enjoyed watching.

Story Time

Once upon a time and place and space, there lived a one-armed Cinderella and her Prince Charming. The reason she lost her arm is unknown to us. The two of them lived very happy in the Land of Giants. One day they were on a stroll in the Giant Park and they heard a noise. This noise was strange to them so they went to see what it was. All of a sudden a shadow jumped out and took both of them. The king of the Land of Giants heard this news and quickly sent out his best person for the job of retrieving the two royalties: Chloe. Chloe is the best retriever the land had ever seen. She started her journey looking in the Giant Park. She followed clues that soon led her to the Giant Maze of Fun. She heard a noise but wasn't quick enough for the shadow. When she woke up, she was in the Cage of Plastic. The king heard of the terrible incident and sent his next best thing, ninjas. These ninjas were trained to retrieve anything and everything. They could retrieve people if ordered, but they mostly retrieved lost household items, such as keys, remotes, and loose change. Since their training wasn't in combat, they were quickly captured. Chloe then remembered why she was the best retriever anyone has ever heard of, she could teleport. She then teleported out of Cage of Plastic and climbed the tunnel of darkness. There she found Cinderella and Prince Charming. Good thing it was tea time because the shadow was having tea with his friends. Chloe was happy that she was able to retrieve Cinderella and Prince Charming. Cinderella was so appreciative that she granted Chloe anything she wanted. Chloe wanted to know one thing and one thing only, why was Cinderella missing an arm? Cinderella was about to answer this most awkward question as they walked into the palace when they noticed the king drinking his afternoon tea...with the shadow! To be continued...

All of the pictures:

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