the matts:

On Monday (just 2 months after beginning his new job), Chris was promoted and received his dream territory. Keep in mind that of those 2 months on the job, 3 weeks were spent away at training, and he had only been back 6 work days since returning from his last trip. Talk about over-acheiving! He has been lighting up the sales board this week, and I know he will continue to achieve enormous success. He has a boss that believes in him 110% and is his supporter and mentor. Pres and I are SO proud of him that words cannot even express it properly. Congrats, baby!!!

As for my weight loss and fitness goals, I went in for a re-assessment this morning to see what the last three months of eating right and working out have really done for me. I knew I had lost about 20 pounds, but what I found out today blew my mind. I’ve lost 13% of my total weight, but have lowered my body fat percentage by almost 12% (a 32% improvement). I gained 3.5 pounds of muscle and have lost 24 pounds of fat, making my fat weight 40% lower than what it was!

Now here’s the kicker- I lost 7.5 inches off my waist!! I also lost 3.5 from my chest and 4.25 off my hips. Plus in each leg I lost 3.5 inches off my thigh and 1.25 off my calf… And I lost 2.5 inches off each arm!! Overall, I’ve lost 22.5 inches off my body. Is that crazy or what? When I lost weight in Elevate it took me nine months… This time it took me 3 months and I started off bigger than I have ever been in my life.

A little hard work has gone a very long way in our family. I am so proud of my hubby for all of his success at work, and he continues to maintain a great weight and looks hotter than ever. I feel much better about myself, too, but I am going to keep setting goals and achieving them. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but nothing is impossible with God, right?!

A couple months ago I posted that Chris and I would be traveling to Africa next year on a trip with HPC. Now we are seriously praying about another route to Africa. As you know, we have always felt in our hearts an urging to adopt at least one African orphan. Recently we have been feeling that we should adopt our next child from there. If we did, we would begin around Presley’s first birthday in April of next year, and we aren’t sure whether we would then be able to also go on a mission trip in the summer. International adoption to Africa costs between $20,000-30,000 dollars with a lot of legal fees, translation costs, documentational fees, etc. However, we feel this is a small ransom to pay for a child’ life. We would pay millions of dollars to keep Presley safe, so why not for another deserving, innocent child?

I say all that to say this- please be in prayer for us. We know that God wants us to take care of His orphans, but we just want to make sure the timing is right. We also will need support raising money. The good news is that Chris’ new company gives a $4,000 allowance towards the costs, and you get a $10,000 tax credit back over the course of a few years. However, we would still have to come up with all that money up front through grants, fundraising, and interest free loans from Christian organizations. We believe that if it is God’s will, He will provide a way.

Thanks in advance for your prayers, and enjoy these pics of Pres!

As you may know, I am really obessed with two places in this world: Africa and New York City. A dream of Chris and mine is to one day own a home in NYC. In fact, the January before I began HPC full-time Elevate, I almost moved there. I had an apartment, a roommate, and two jobs all lined up. At the very last second I realized that I didn’t have a peace about it and backed out. That fall I began Elevate- a year that completely changed my life, rocked my world, and reintroduced me to Mr. Chris Matt. Good move, huh!?

Chris and I have been racking our brain for months as to how we could afford to go there this year after Thanksgiving, when it’s all decorated for Christmas like a winter wonderland. The reality is that we can’t afford it right now. Without ever telling my mom, she offered to take us there at that very time! She’s selling her rent house and this is her present to herself, and our Christmas present. She and I are going to see Tina Turner at Madison Square Garden AND we are going to see The New York City Ballet Company performance of The Nutcracker. It was always my dream growing up to be a professional dancer… Though that didn’t work out, now I get to see the most beautiful ballet on the stage and by the company that it was created for. Plus, Chris and I are going to see a Broadway show (his first) and we are going to hit up some awesome NYC attractions and hot spots. Presley will get to see New York before she’s even a year old!!

We are so excited and so blessed. We can’t wait for this amazing trip!! God is so cool

Geesh… Say that 5 times fast. Sorry about the lack of posting (if any of you care). Chris has been gone at training in NY again, and so things have been a little crazy here… But he comes home tonight and doesn’t go again for a really long time. Yay! We are making progress with Presley’s sleeping. We tried something new and it really seems to have been a miracle for us, so pray that it keeps working. That’s all the big news in our world. Enjoy the pics- I took about 75, so narrowing it down was tough.