Thursday Portrait ~The Dreaded Article

I'm stepping out of hiatus in order to share this little tidbit with you. It's yet another reason for my complete break down.

Several months ago I told you all about being interviewed for a magazine. I was excited and nervous. I wrote up my answers and sent away my pictures. Apparently, the picture I sent was unusable. The writer called me while I was on a scaffold hanging a banner in the rain and told me that I had to get to her office to have my picture taken because the one I sent didnt' work. I drug myself there only to find that she had never used the camera before. So, I look like I have 2 foot tall legs and weigh more than I did before I lost weight. Also, I cannot take a flash picture with my eyes open to save my life.

I didn't misspell lose as loose or the spelling of my name Jenn. ;)

Click to read:

I truly appreciate all of your kind comments regarding my whereabouts. I'm pretty much just getting by. If I get up the courage, I'll share all of my woes with you. For now, I'll just tell you that my life went from fairytale status to the crapper in a matter of months.

Miss you all...

Thursday Portrait ~ Good Old Days

This picture was taken when I was about 3 years old. It's strange, because I can remember all of the things you see in this picture in detail. It seems like yesterday. Mom's pricilla curtains and dad's wooden magazine wrack. The rocking chair on the right was painted by my grandma who put my name on the back as soon as I was born. I still have the chair in my basement. This picture also lets you see that I had an obsession with my hair from a very young age and a penchant for stripped pants:


I believe I was about 5 in this picture. My sister would have been around 2 and a half. My grandmother always bought all of our clothes. They always had to match as though we were twins. My sister got the raw end of the deal because she had to wear my hand me downs, so she got very tired of the same prints. You can see the Jacobsens box in the background on the right. This was an upscale department store that I modeled for when I was this age. It was also where Grams bought all of our clothes. We were well dressed, even if mom and dad didn't have money.

Thursday Portrait ~Thankful

Every day is Thanksgiving for me. I have much to be thankful for and think about it daily. I have been blessed in ways that make me wonder why I am so worthy. I could list them but you already know most of them.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thursday Portrait ~ Baby It's Cold Outside

This is me with a frozen face after walking 7 miles in 29 F temperatures.

I wore too many clothes and was actually too warm as opposed to the last time when I didn't wear enough. I'm going to get this whole clothing thing figured out before the end of winter if it doesn't kill me.

Walking in the cold was invigorating and beautiful. There is still so much to look at in nature. It's amazing how much the trails change in a day. I love being nature gurl!

P.S. I made that scarf. I've got to get back to knitting again. Cozies for everyone!

Thursday Portrait ~ The Other Side

We have all wondered what it would be like to be someone else. If you have straight hair, you wish you had curls. I decided to see what the other side of blonde was like.



I think I'll stick with what I've got. The grass isn't always greener.

Thursday Portraits

Mr. Sign and I took some pictures on our walk last Saturday.

This one cracks me up because it looks like a Senior picture:



This one shows some of the beauty that is Michigan Fall colors:

Thursday Portraits ~ Family

Most of you know that I walk every night. I use this time as my "me" time and walk alone. Tonight I took daughter #2. She was a trooper and did 5 miles with me in an hour and a half. Not bad for a beginner. We had so much fun looking at all the beauty that is nature around us.

I give you, Number 2:

I had to strip down for a bit:



There is a story behind this spot. The fence is new this week (and it irritates me). Normally I walk along this ledge every day. At it's peak, it's about 5 feet off the ground and it scares me to do. I try to do something every day that scares me. This spot is famous since you can see the R.E. Olds mausoleum behind me. I have spent time just sitting in this spot to collect my thoughts. It's quiet.



I love this kid!

Thursday Portraits

Last night I was driving home and noticed that our capital building was brilliantly lighted with both the sunset and it's own lights. I decided to park (in a no parking zone) and try and get some pictures even though I didn't have my real camera.

I was running around like a tourist, standing in the middle of the street with my camera out, clicking away:

I'm titling this one, ALL YOU ZOMBIES. How freaky do I look? Ahaha!!!

Thursday Portraits

I was going through some old pictures and decided to scan a few. I apologize for the quality. I can't figure out why they are so grainy.

This is #1 and me taken on a wagon train trip 4 years ago.
Yes, we rode on wagons for days behind teams of mules and horses.
My biggest let down was when it was time to go horseback riding and I was too fat:

SignGurl in action taken in 2003:

Another wagon train picture taken after camping
for 3 days with no electricity:

My senior year in high school taken in Orlando, FL in 1987.
I was really shocked at how heavy I was. I didn't feel that fat then.
I weigh about 15 pounds less now than I did then:

This is me today:

My weight held me back from doing so much. Every day I find something else that I can do that I couldn't before. Life is good!

Thursday Portraits ~ Family

I'm forced to make you view more pictures from my cousin's wedding.

Here are my girls and me.
Don't they look just like their daddy?



This is one of my cousin's and me:



And some more cousins:



Can you tell we are a close family?

Thursday Portrait

I was perusing the SiteMeter and found that the Red Cross website featured my blog (along with others) because of a post I had written about September 11, 2001.

On with the Thursday Portrait...

I have found a new love:

Sugar Free Slurpees!! Yay!!

My new love makes my tongue red:

Thursday Portrait

Last week I spent 6 hours on top of a scissor lift in the top of a high school gymnasium. It was hot but also fun.

This was the view I had from the top. Notice the light that is now parallel with me. See how tiny the doors look? Those are tall doors:



This is the record board in the process of having the boarders stripped
because someone wanted to have them black instead of orange. This design is a collaboration between my step dad and me:



Here we have part of the football team that visited with me for about an hour. I have no idea what the guy on the floor is doing:



This is a view of the scissor lift when it was in it's lowest position. You still have to climb a ladder to get on top. This is also a picture of the finished board. The size is 10 feet high by 16 feet wide, just to give you some idea of the hugeness of this thing:



Here I am looking all dorky on top of the lift. It's a little blurry
because my cell phone sucks:

Thursday Portrait

I give you a little piece of the paradise I've enjoyed over the last couple of weeks.

Drinks by the pool:

A view from the dune I climbed
on the shore of Lake Michigan:

View off of the diving board:

Me, totally relaxed in the anti-gravity chair:

Ahhh....don't you feel better now?

Thursday Portrait

Ladies, have you ever had one of those days where you rethink your wardrobe, but it's too late because you are already on your way to work? Yesterday was one of those for me. I found a really cutastic (borrowed from Big Pissy) tank top really cheap. It fits me like a glove everywhere but the bust. Let's just say, I'm busting out of it, pun intended. Luckily, I had a hoodie that matched and I ended up wearing it in the 90 degree heat. Every man I came across wanted to know why I was dressed for winter. How could I explain that it was because the girls were hanging out?

Anywho, here is a picture that doesn't really show the severity of my boob faux pas:



I had the weirdest conversation with my step dad who is also my boss. He claims now to know everything about super morbidly obese people. *eye roll*. I let him know that he would never know what life was like until he had doors slammed in his face, was invisible and publicly ridiculed on a daily basis.

I explained that I'm still the same person inside, just different outside, only now, people want to talk to me because I'm not crazy fat. He claims that I am different now. I guess I agree, but only because people treat me differently now and that makes life much easier and tends to change one's outlook.

I was looking at pictures from a year ago and was startled to see how much I have changed physically.

Here is a picture taken last year with G-Man, me and Barman on July 4th:

Pretty crazy huh? I guess I really couldn't see the changes until I saw the difference, even since last year.

Thursday Portraits

Here are a few more pictures from this weekend.

My cousin, family friend, me, aunt, two cousins:

Me, my uncle's daughter, and my aunt's daughter:

I have no idea what dance we were doing. I'm on the left with two
cousins who are sisters:

I have absolutely no explanation for this one:

So today I surprised myself by walking 7.8 miles in one hour and 45 minutes. I just kept walking and could have gone further but decided I better not push any harder than I already had. It's pretty unbelievable to me that just a few months ago, I could barely walk a mile. Look at me now!! I love the life that weight loss surgery has enabled me to have. I feel better than I have ever felt, and that's what it's all about, baby!

Pictures taken along the 7.8 mile route:

Thursday Portrait, Spring Style

The weather is finally behaving itself here in Mid Michigan. That makes me happy since I've been freezing my tootsies off since October of last year.

School will be out on Friday. Both girls have received accolades for academics. For that, I'm eternally grateful. Both of them had quite a time this year in their honors classes. I'm not sure what's going on with the two of them. I hope it's not my new found self importance. For the first time in my life, I've been doing things for me (i.e. exercising). People are not used to me taking time for myself.

This picture makes me realize that I got a lot goin' on in my house as far as decor goes. Sheesh!

This one is just for G-man. My cute new sandals:

Ok, I wasn't going to post this picture since it was
VERY cold in the auditorium (ahem) but it's the only
picture I have of #2 and me. And yes, that roll is all mine too.

Work It!

It is said that many weight loss surgery patients will transfer their food addiction for something else. Many end up excessively shopping, gambling, having sex, doing drugs or drinking alcohol. I'm proud to say that I think I've transferred my food addiction to exercise.

I was slow to get on the wagon, but at almost 400 pounds, there wasn't a lot my body could do. I've been working out five days a week but have started walking at a local park 3 days a week.

For years I've known about this beautiful place, but never had the courage to try and walk the path. Once you are on the path, you have to continue on or turn around since it goes all the way around the lake (no short cuts). Even last year I knew that there was no way I would ever make it.

This year, on my first try, I made it twice around in about 50 minutes. I asked someone when I was done, how far the path is. It's 1.5 miles! I had walked 3 miles on my first try. I was so proud.

The trail is paved and snakes it's way through many trees and beside a river. It's peaceful and quiet, so much so that I was able to watch a Blue Heron perch on a branch by the water.



You can see a map here of the entire layout of the park. And here is an aerial shot of the park.

This is the boardwalk that is covered with water because we've had a lot of precipitation this year. I walked along it anyway and got my feet wet. I'm such a kid.


I stopped to take a picture of some of the emerging wildflowers:



And this is me at the end of my walk, as happy as I've been in many years: