It's been over a year since I last posted anything. I have lost about 30 lbs and would still like to lose another 15-20 lbs. In August, I moved to a different town for 6 months and met some wonderful people. I even made friends with a few South Africans (who happened to be married to some of my friends) and I was able to learn some of their language. I plan on furthering my learning of Afrikaans because not only do I find it interesting, but then I can be able to talk with my South African friends in their language and not just in English.

This past year, I also learned how to be a stronger, tougher, and wiser person. A guy I dated treated me like I was nothing. He made me feel so small and insignificant. To him, I could never do anything right. Many times, the way he said things was almost so subtle that I missed it or if I had caught what he meant, I wasn't sure if others heard. I was starting to feel like I was going crazy. On the night of my 30th birthday, I had invited my family and a few close friends over to my mom's house. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves from what I could tell. My family and friends were picking up on some of the things he was saying to me, and they didn't like how I was being treated. Towards the end of the evening, something changed. The guy I was dating decided out of the blue that he and my out of town friends needed to leave. He told me I made him look bad in front of my parents after we left. The next day when I asked my parents about it, they said he had made his own self look bad.

It took me about another 4 months or so to finally end the relationship entirely and cut off all ties. I remember telling friends to never put up with an abusive person, whether it was physical, mental, emotional, or otherwise. But here I was going back over and over several times. I am thankful I finally got the common sense God intended me to have to get out of it. Ladies, if you are ever in a relationship with a guy and your family is telling you to get out of it because of the way he treats you, please listen to them.