I thought we could have a thread specifically for us to introduce ourselves.

I'm Melissa. I live in rural Kansas, but will be moving by the end of the summer, hopefully. My dh is going to be transferring within his company.

We've been married 11 years. We have three kids, two girls and a boy.

We both served missions to Germany (nope, not where we met), so that's fun to have that second language in common, though we don't speak it nearly enough.

I'm going to be 36 this year. I've been heavy pretty much ever since getting pregnant w/ dd #1. I gained weight continually until I reached the 300 mark and then stayed there for a few years. That's pretty much where I started the LapBand journey from.

The band has been such a good match for my body. My weight loss has been steady and I haven't had any complications. I'm so grateful for the blessing it has been to me. It's truly an answer to prayers I've been offering for years.

Looking forward to getting to know more of you.

Melissa

WOW Melissa I was impressed by your website and journey how you took the time to write everything down. I am so excited for your and encouraged by your journey. It's good to write it down and you can look back where you have been. I will start writing today - thanks for the words of encouragement through your blog! Continued success!

Thank you for your kind words. I'm glad to be finally keeping a journal of some sort, even though it's about weight loss at this point. I haven't kept much of a journal over the last few years and I feel like I missed a lot. I write things in emails,etc., but it's not the same thing.

Hey! I'm Heidi. I'm 25 and have been married to my husband for two years. We live in Texas. We're both in Finance. My passion is social work, but that's on the back burner right now.

I've been heavy for as long as I can remember. I remember thinking I was heavier than the other kids at age five when I was in gymnastics.

I'm writing a journal too! I find it helps with my emotions on this little journal... but I write it and keep it personal. I'm thinking maybe I'll turn it into a book someday.

I just started a new hobby of working on my husband's genealogy. Mine is pretty far done and my whole family works on it, but my dh's has nothing done- seriously don't even have the 4 generation information. So, that's my newest adventure.

Hi! I'll do the formal introduction, too. :-)

I'm Laurie and live in Mesa, Arizona. I saw the thread about wards/branches, and I live in the extreme opposite of a branch. My ward in Mesa is less than 1/2 square mile. I do love my ward, although it's true that we aren't nearly as busy as I'd like to be, calling-wise. Oh well. More time to count my calories, right? :-)

My weight has been a yo-yo for years and I finally just got tired of it all. My back hurt, my hips hurt....ugh. I finally purposely gained a little weight so that I could qualify for surgery. I'm so happy with my decision. Weight loss has been a little slower than I like, but that's okay -- it's consistently moving in the right direction - finally!

I have 4 children and 3 grandchildren. Life is great and I'm a happy camper. :-) It's nice to meet you all.

Hi all! I'm Marie, I live in Salt Lake City with my husband. We have been married about a year and a half. I know I was overweight in high school but didn't care too much about it. I wish I had. But the weight didn't really start piling on until I was diagnosed with Osgood Slaughters Disease, that then severely limited my activities, and I was also on steroids for my asthma. It got up to 240 my first semester of college, and lost 25 lbs. I felt really good about that and kept doing what I was doing and gained it back-blech! By the time I got married I was up to 265, and now I'm 305. I am so grateful that my husband loves me for who I am, not what I look like. I prayed to find someone like that. Now I will hopefully look on the outside how I am on the inside.

Hi Heidi, Laurie and Marie!

Nice to officially meet you ladies.

Marie, congratulations on being so close to your surgery date. Yay! I was also banded in Denver. I drove over from Kansas. I couldn't be happier with my results so far.

Hello,

If I may, I'd like to stand and introduce myself. My name is Maggie. I live in Utah, and in Utah County. I'm married; we have five grown children, 8 grandchildren, 2 dogs, and 2 granddogs. My husband just retired from the Army after 37 years - a combination of full time, and traditional National Guard.

We live in a typical Utah ward (referring to the ward/branch post). I don't know any of my neighbors across the street because they are in a different stake! (Not really, but I certainly do not know them as well as ward members.)

I teach Gospel Doctrine. I love family history. I am an office manager for a small computer software company.

I am scheduled for surgery on July 22. I have been heavy since my first pregnancy, but usually could get down to a reasonable weight until my last child was born. He's now 25, so it is high time to lose the 'baby' fat! I had total knee surgeries in 2007, and the reduced activity, plus using it as an excuse, helped me gain another 25 pounds.

I have my pre-op visit on July 11. I've been doing pretty good about avoiding soda and chocolate, but today, I had a candy bar. It didn't even taste good! Awful slimy texture...why did I feel that was necessary?

I know that I have a lot of work ahead of me. I need to be more aware of my calorie intake. I am very aware this evening of how much better I feel when the food I eat is better for me. The last few weeks, when I have eliminated my Pepsi and chocolate, and cut down on carbs, I've been feeling better. Then that one indulgence today, and I feel kind of yukky tonight.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better, and I appreciate the encouraging posts you have all made.

Sounds like you're on a good track. I was a bit of a mess pre-op and was trying to get in all the foods I loved that I would have to give up post-op. I didn't end up having to give up any foods because of the band, but I've chosen to give up a lot of things because of the weight loss path I'm on.

It's a great thing to me when people are able to make positive changes without the band yet.

I guess I'll take a turn too.

My name is Tammy, I've been a member since 1998 when I joined the church in my senior year of high school. I'm married with 2 little boys, ages 2 and almost 4. My husband is a non-member but is very supportive of my faith and encourages me in raising the children in the church. He's also with me having the missionaries over for meals (he's had 3 of the discussions but progressed no farther) as well as my visiting and home teachers.

I'm currently in charge of planning the Home, Family, and Personal enrichment activities, so if anyone has any suggestions about fun things they've done in their wards in the past, I'd love to hear them!

I just moved in December and it is the first time I've ever lived in a city big enough to have multiple wards.

Anyway, nice to meet everyone.

Tammy,

I'd love to talk about HFPE, I'll start another thread on it so it doesn't get lost in this one.

Hi all, I'm Annette...a WV gal in SoCal. I'm 40 this year and I met & married my honey 5 yrs. ago moved out here to the west. I'm a convert of 20+ yrs. I currently am our RS chorister and the stake Family History Center staff trainer. I'm addicted to Family History...been doing it since I was a teen. No kiddos, but since I teach school...I get a few extra ones anyway. :redface:

I guess that's me....served a mish in Canada (eastern). Seriously, was farther away from home when I was in the MTC than on my mission...LOL.

Anyway, nice to meet everyone.

Annette

thought I'd come in and introduce myself!! My name is Jenn, married to Sean for almost 5 years (Nov. 29th) We have 2 babies, James is 3 and Sophie is 8.5 months. DH is in the Navy, has been in for 2 years. Doesn't like it at all though! He's not doin the job he signed up for, so he's not a happy camper! Although he does love the military and will undoubtedly re-enlist. I live with my in-laws right now, as DH is getting ready to leave on a deployment. We are in a pretty small ward, and very few young families here, but oh well right?! What can ya do???

Nice to "meet" all of ya!

Hi Jenn!! Nice to meet you on here!

Thanks Marie!

Hi there, I'm going to add on here too, even though it's been a bit since this thread has been active. I just discovered there was an LDS thread! I'm 29 (but will turn the dreaded 30 in less than a month!). I've been a member for about 10 years, converted while in college. I've been married almost 9 years. And I've been fat as soon as I left high school. My surgery is tomorrow. I have a good friend in my ward who went through this about 18 months ago, but otherwise am not telling others in my ward family.

I have my MSW and am a clinical social worker, but am between jobs at the moment. My calling is activities chairman, and everybody tells me that my activities have been the best they've gone to!