Does it bother anyone else that we are seeing her mom and grandmother more than we are seeing pictures of Caylee Anthony? Someone HAS to know where this little girl is. It is apparent that not everyone involved is saying all that they know. I can’t help but be really angry about the whole situation. Seriously. Stop arguing about bail (lady, if you had paid a lick of attention to what was going on or LIVED ON THIS PLANET and actually reported your child missing when it happened like any sane person would do — which, come on, that whole thing is fishy — instead of running out and partying during the period of time you claim she was missing then you wouldn’t be sitting in jail), don’t concern yourself about the mother being imprisoned, get off your hindquarters and go find this little girl.

HELP FIND CAYLEE.

I have a friend visiting from New York in a couple of weeks. Already have a number of things planned out (Pops!, Chickasaw Recreation Area, Oklahoma City Memorial, OU, etc.), but I was wondering if any of you might suggest something? Thanks!

I believe that there are two kinds of people in the world–those who like musicals and those who don’t. I think the latter should be euthanized. - Me

Haha. I said that. Kevin and I are seeing Mamma Mia! this afternoon and I am terribly excited. I’ll be back with a review later, but for now you can enjoy these snippets.

Her voice is sweet like honey (that I can’t have *pout*)

This is the kind of middle-aged woman I aspire to be:

And finally, life should be like this. Anyone up for A Very Bloggy Trip to the Greek Isles?

The world waits to come out with this carbohydrate wonder until I can’t have them? How is this fair? BLUEBERRY MUFFIN CEREAL.

Have I told you that I’m on a quest to watch movies made in Oklahoma? Yeah, I am. And I’m watching one tonight. Four Sheets to the Wind. I’ll be posting a review about it soon. There’s a great line at the beginning.

Once in a while, something great happens in Oklahoma. Not often, but once in a while.

8:03 - Loving Cat Deely’s hair. Beginning dance was kinda weird. I don’t like it when eyes are blacked out.
8:06 - Okay. We get it. Go vote. I wish I didn’t feel like I really don’t have a choice this year.
8:15 - Maybe Comfort will go home for real this week.
8:25 - Woah, Twitch. Calm down. You’re my fave, but…don’t cry.
8:31 - Sigh. Pretty ballet. It’s a pity my parents never put me in dance classes. Ballet looks so fun.
8:42 - Twitch and Katee are my favorites. Really hoping they make it to the end.
8:51 - Not so into LL.
8:55 - Tata, Comfort!
8:57 - WOOOOOOOO! Twitch stays!

Thirteen of My Favorite Podcasts

13. GodlyGals Podcast - I’ll take this opportunity to plug my own! On a bi-weekly basis, GodlyGals hosts a podcast along with a live chat room. We also take calls via Skype and we’re having a great time with it so far. Check it out sometime! We announce podcasts ahead of time and if you’d like to be notified when we schedule a new one, join the GodlyGals Facebook group, friend us on Myspace, or just send an email to godlygals@godlygals.com and asked to be added to the mailing list.

12. GSPN.tv Lost Podcast - I mostly listen to this one for the callers because they have a lot of people listening live who call in with really great theories. And that’s really all I’m going to say about that one. Listen and you can decide for yourself what you think.

11. The Transmission - Ryan and Jen Ozawa started the first LOST podcast, left for some time, and are back again. Ryan is responsible for breaking a lot of spoilerific news about LOST because they live on the island — wait, I seriously just said, “they live on the island.” They don’t live on The Island (which I’m sure exists), they live in Hawaii.

10. Talk of the Nation podcast - I like this one, but I hate how they give a patronizing giggle toward conservatives. You seriously think you give fair coverage? No, you do not. But I still listen because I like to know what’s going on in the world. Or what some people think is going on.

9. NPR’s Fresh Air podcast - Why listen to the radio when you can download for free? (Bad Liz, bad!) But I’m not home when it comes on and I prefer the comfort of my tub to the seat of my car. I really enjoy hearing the various guests they have on. Unless it’s someone really boring that day, like a former aide to President Clinton. Seriously. It’s over, people.

8. The Lone Conservative - I just discovered this one, but I really like it so far. The guy has spirit.

7. The Jay & Jack Show - Jay & Jack’s Ramblecast and The Married Man podcast have merged to form this new show. Why are these guys so entertaining? They’ve even had special guest, Jorge Garcia on the show a few times. True, I can do without “Hybrid” (Cliff) and Dale, but I just love Jay and Jack together. For those of you who don’t know, Jack is Jay’s stepdad, but you’d never guess they weren’t related. P.S.; Call the show on your cell phone while driving. Jack will love it.

6. Mars Hill Podcast - I really enjoy hearing Mark Driscoll speak so it’s nice to have his sermons showing up in my iTunes on a weekly basis. I recommend the one on birth control and another on the “emergent church.” Strictly biblical. I like it that way.

5. The Dharmalars - You know. LOST. What can I say. Not one for the kiddies and you can pretty much skip the first 15 minutes as it’s nearly always them goofing around. Good discussion about LOST theories though.

4. The Lost Initiative - With Kim and Aimee. Not the stupid British one. I wouldn’t recommend this podcast to any children or anyone with children in the room, but I like to hear a female take on the show. And they played one of my calls (nerd alert) and were very impressed with my question. *beam*

3. LOST Unlocked - Voices. Sometimes they annoy. But I got past that and really started enjoying the show. A little bit cheesy, but they like to talk about in-depth theories from time to time and that’s fun for me.

2. This American Life podcast - I love this show. Love love love it. There’s something about being told stories that reminds me of when I was little and watching Reading Rainbow or something. Check out their episode, “The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar.” I’ve still got the episode saved so that I can let Kevin’s dad listen sometime. It’s about a kid disappearing in North Carolina back around the time his dad was growing up. I think he might find it interesting and might even remember what happened. Very intriguing story.

1. The Lost Podcast with Jay & Jack - At first, Jay’s voice annoyed me. Then I realized they are one of the best LOST podcasts out there and they won me over. I downloaded all of their episodes and listened. This week they are at Comic-Con and I can’t wait to hear all the fun LOST-related stuff they have to report back. Anyone else planning to join Dharma after the launch? (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you aren’t a serious LOST fan and you are dead to me. Unless you’re my fiance.)

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From Weddings.About.com

For a non-denominational ceremony, a secular ceremony, or a non-traditional ceremony, you can either borrow liberally from one of these traditions, or make up your own rules.

In all cases, the bride traditionally stands on the left, and the groom on the right. This dates back to medieval times when the groom might need to defend his bride in the middle of the ceremony, and wanted to leave his right hand, his sword hand, free. While few grooms even carry a sword anymore, the tradition has lasted.

Sweet, Kevin. You can carry your Lightsaber!

My oldest friend, Delisa, got married this weekend. It was a precious ceremony, the reception was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen at my church (so gorgeous I’ve changed my mind about having the reception at some nearby gardens and will be using the fellowship hall and lawn at the church), and a good time was had by all. Congratulations and best wishes to the bride and groom!

Thirteen Things About My Weight Loss Journey

1. If I hadn’t started getting sick, this probably never would have happened. As in, I wouldn’t have recognized that there was a real problem and that I was going to have to make drastic changes.

2. In September of 2006 I started working at a daycare and it wasn’t long before I started getting ill on a regular basis. One particular illness lasted around 2 months and at the end of November I was at my worst. This was also around the time that Kevin and I started dating. The reason I bring this up is because I never really got better. One week it would be intestinal, the next it would be and upper respiratory infection. I missed out on a lot of things that I had going on in my life. I had to drop out of the ministry team that I was on (due to a class, but being sick had made staying active a real problem). I felt like a loser being sick all the time. There had been things I’d dealt with in college, but nothing like this.

3. It was during this time that I started getting really, really tired. My hair was falling out. I was gaining weight. I didn’t reach my heaviest point until around the summer of 2007, and at that point and beyond I was eating healthy, balanced meals and exercising on a regular basis. None of it made any sense.

4. I was in a Pilates class and very active on SparkPeople.com to try and take control. I strongly recommend SparkPeople.com and if you go by and sign up, please list MISSWISABUS as your referrer. I’ll send you cool stuff on there because I have points running out my ears.

5. No matter what I did, nothing helped. I was listening to all the advice. Eating healthy foods. Could I chalk this up to “happy relationship weight”? At one point I thought I could, but seriously…what relationship is that good? I had gained nearly 20 lbs since Kevin and I started dating.

6. Finally, I got scared. I was having too many health problems — weight gain, fatigue, hair loss, migraines, muscle cramps and joint pain, abnormal menstrual cycles, low basal body temperature, heat intolerance, impaired memory, reactive hypoglycemia, increased need for sleep, irritability and mood instability. A description I gave someone of my life at the point when this was so bad:

I get up early in the morning for work or class, depending on the day, come home, eat a late lunch, and immediately crash for 2-3 hours. I get up, work around here and do homework, hit another tired point around 7 or 8 pm, press through that, and then I can’t get to sleep until around 12 or 1 a.m. Right now I am concerned that I could have some thyroid issues because I could literally sleep all day if I let myself.

Everything seemed to point to my thyroid.

7. In January, I visited my family doctor. Explained everything to him, expected to get my thyroid tested, get medicine, and start losing weight. The problem runs in my family and it seemed that simple. It wasn’t.

He is fairly certain that it is either my thyroid or PCOS. Knowing what that was, and being completely unprepared for that, I nearly lost it in the office. Kept calm though. Tomorrow I will have all the tests done. Then we’ll either medicate the thyroid condition (I’m hoping it’s that) or move on to a specialist (either my gyno or an endocrinologist). My doc thought the symptoms sounded more like PCOS, but my gyno never caught anything. It is possible that if there are cysts they are very very tiny and couldn’t be felt.

That floored me. Having been told that I had endomytriosis whenever I was in junior high/high school, I was familiar with PCOS. Did. Not. Want.

8. I was tested for everything under the sun.

All my tests came back clear. In a way, it’s a relief, in another, I am terribly discouraged. If it was hypothyroidism I could take the medicine and pretty much be done with it. This means that I have to go on to an endocrinologist for more tests and I’m not looking forward to it.

More tests.

9. I went to visit the endocrinologist in March. I wasn’t happy with what he told me and was basically ready to follows his rules, stick my tongue out at him, and show him that they wouldn’t work. Disclaimer: This was my reaction before realizing exactly what kind of problems I was having and their cause.

First of all, for future reference, be prepared to take off all your clothes (except panties) when you visit one of these doctors. I had not been informed and consequently had hairy legs. Oh well. Plus, it was a male doctor who was seeing me naked and that was unexpected as well. It’s not like it killed me, but I would have preferred a female doctor had I known that was going to happen.

He started out by asking me questions about my symptoms, I went down the entire list to him. He checked my reflexes, my feet, my breathing, and lymph nodes.

He asked me if I’d do a radical diet change if he needed me to. I said sure. Then he said “Atkins” and I just about checked out. I don’t agree with the diet. I think it’s a fast way to get results that are not permanent once you go back to eating balanced meals. Just wanted to get that out in the open. However, I have to do it for 90 days. God, give me strength. We’re going to focus on getting the fat off my body while we deal with the other problems.

Soon I will have to go in for some blood tests (about 10 different ones). What he was most concerned about is the chance that I may be producing too much cortisol. If you have seen commercials for various diet pills you will know that cortisol is the nasty little chemical that causes fat to build up in your middle section. That’s definitely where mine is.

Anyway, I’m getting a lot of hormone tests done in the near future and hopefully we will have some answers soon. And for the next 90 days I’ll be following a diet that I whole-heartedly disagree with, but at this point I am willing to try anything. Tomorrow I am going to the grocery store to buy meat and cheese. Yum.

10. The hormone tests came back and my endocrinologist told me I had PCOS and that I needed to see my family doctor. Only…my hormones weren’t the right levels to suggest PCOS, so I’m not exactly sure where he was getting that from. Either way, since starting the diet, all my problems have disappeared and PCOS doesn’t seem to be on the radar anymore. (More on that below)

11. So that was that. Little did I know what would soon happen. After the two week induction phase which ALMOST killed me, I was feeling great. I had so much energy. My need for a nap was completely gone. And I lost 9 lbs in the first week. I know, that’s a lot, but it was mostly water weight and the remainder has been much, much slower. Every single health issue was GONE. The digestive issues I had grown up with had disappeared completely. Even early on, I felt like a new woman.

12. I am to a point where I can say to the world, “This is how much I weigh.” I am a woman and I’m telling you my weight. This is a breakthrough. Why? Because I’ve felt fat since I was 6-years-old. First, I’ll tell you where I started. My highest weight on SparkPeople.com is listed as 168 lbs. That’s right folks. However, I distinctly remember reaching 171, being too depressed to enter it, pouring a jar of hot fudge on some Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, and dying a slow, fudgey death.

NOW…I am at my halfway point. I weigh 146.5 lbs on the dot. And my goodness, it feels good to say that. It’s less than I weighed when I graduated high school, maybe less that when I was in junior high. And I’m proud.

13. The point is: I FEEL GOOD. About myself (inside), my body, the things that I’m eating, the steps I’m taking to stay healthy, the direction my life is going in and EVERYTHING really. I had gotten to a point where I was looking at plus size clothing online and resigning myself to the fact that I would always be overweight. Looking for cute clothes that would hide the “fluff” I was so desperately ashamed of. Trying to make myself think that it was okay to remain at an unhealthy weight for the rest of my life, convinced that I couldn’t be where I needed to be.

What I had to realize was that I have a problem. I cannot handle the sugar and all the refined starches and such. My body just doesn’t do those. No matter what you think about low-carbing (I’m not “no-carbing”, I get my carbs from healthier, more natural sources like fruits and nuts), for me it is what works and what I have to do. I have made a life change and I praise God for bringing that crazy doctor into my life.

You do not have to stay where you are. If you are overweight (or under, though I’ve never experienced that and can’t really imagine) and dealing with the issues that come along with it, listen to me — realize that it is NOT okay to be content in an unhealthy place. You are killing yourself. You are worth more to God and the people around you and you have got to see that. Your excuses don’t fly. Tomorrow isn’t when you change. And understand, it’s not the world holding you back, not your friend or your family, your career or school — it is you. You have to take responsibility, understand that it is your body, and YOU have to want the change. That may sound harsh, but it is true. I learned it the hard way, but thankfully started crawling out of the pit before I was too far in.

You can too. And I’m serious, if anyone reading this wants to talk to me about what I went through, what you’re going through…whatever…feel free. Find me on SparkPeople or send me an email at liz@misswisabus.com.