Wit, Wisdom, & Whining

In 31 Years....

Today is my last day of being 31.  A rather uneventful year, especially after turning 30, but a great year nonetheless. 

While I was 31....

My kids started public school and I served as PTO Secretary, volunteered regularly, helped with class parties, and got as involved as I could.

We started Kyuki-Do, a Martial Art that has helped to get us into better shape!

I ran a half-marathon to ease back into running after baby.

My kids turned 7, 5, and 1....and two of them will soon be 6 and 2! 

I took my third trip to Italy and had a great time seeing Tuscany (my favorite), Venice, Florence, and Rome-- and I did it with THREE KIDS!

I taught four more series of natural childbirth classes, with over 30 couples and attended many more births.

I met a goal of breastfeeding a baby for beyond a year.

I said goodbye to a friend (our Basset, Daisy) and hello to a new friend (Springer Spaniel, Stella).

I became a baseball and t-ball mom and watched a lot of games.

Mike and I are preparing to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary (it is in August).

Saved the money to rip out the formica counters in our kitchen and replaced them with beautiful granite!

Made our first (and now our second) gardens that have been a great success-- lots of our own fresh produce!

Got an iPhone 4.  Ryan broke it.  Got a new iPhone 4...love the Apple Store.

Earned a belt (and very soon another) in Kyuki-Do.

Grew my business to sell baby carriers, cloth diapers, and detergent.

Switched from regular milk to almond and coconut milk.

Finished my third year of being a small group leader in Elevate, our church's junior high ministry- and watched my babies graduate from 8th grade.  (Don't worry-- I am going with them in the fall into the high school ministry, Impact!)

Watched a close friend celebrate a baptism.  Invited another to church and into my Bible Study who continues to grow in faith.

Prayed a lot more than I ever have for lots of things.

Realized that I am darn lucky to have one of the most amazing best friends anyone could ever have and started making sure she knew it.

Joined Facebook.  Yep.  Just last year!

Celebrated with my husband as he started a new job with Lightsquared (that he loves!)

Read a few great books.

Got a sassy new (red) Kitchen Aid that I love-- after wearing my other one out.

Discovered the joys of Doggie Day Care.

Went to Florida and took the kids to Disney World for Christmas.

Learned how to mow grass and use the trimmer (which is not as easy as you would think!)

Did hundreds of loads of laundry and cooked hundreds of meals.

Completely cloth-diapered my baby (for 20 months now!)

Learned how to make home-made pasta from my mother-in-law.

I stepped up and started supporting the church in a bigger way financially and started supporting a World Vision child, Faith in Kenya.

I made my first loan on Kiva and bought two pairs of TOMS (which I love!)

Attended the Global Leadership Summit with Mike.

Saw a few movies.  Maybe one good one.

Went out with friends to celebrate birthdays, but not as many as we should have.

Had a 31 Party.

Got certified in Neonatal Resuscitation.

Supported a client in a loss of her baby at 11 weeks.

Struggled with my mom's spinal cord tumor diagnosis until I gave it to God.

Spent hours upon hours on the phone with Chris- they go fast when we talk.

Learned to use coupons.

Started going to bed earlier.

Went to the islands of Capri and Murano, and found the perfect glass necklace.

Tried new recipes.  Got PW's new cookbook.  LOVE it.

Started getting more serious about drinking tea and carbonated water....less soda.

and can't wait to see what 32 brings.

 

Keeping it Clean

So, 5 days in and Eating Clean is going great-- I don't feel the least bit "starved" or "deprived".  With most diets, I honestly have quit by this point-- but I don't feel at all like quitting!  I am excited by the energy that I have, the fact that I have weaned down to one caffeine serving a day (and have not had headaches), and the hopes that I might have lost a pound or two! 

I have found there are some great websites and online communities for people who are Eating Clean-- and they are loaded with amazing recipes!

Here is what I had today:

Breakfast: 2 over-easy eggs and 2 slices of Ezekiel bread toast with a trace of whipped butter (which probably isn't on the diet-- but I can't quite use hummus on my morning toast at this point in time-- baby steps).

Snack: Grande "Skinny" vanilla latte-- compliments of Starbucks when I was picking up the kids from camp.

Lunch: Buffalo turkey wrap (spinach/whole grain wrap) with carrots, lettuce, tomato, chia seeds, hummus, and a sprinkle of blue cheese).

Snack: Non-fat vanilla yogurt with granola and blueberries.

Dinner: Carribean Chicken (marinated in lemon juice, lime juice, fresh ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and worchester sauce) with Quinoa Pilaf and a Pumpkin Seed Salad (fresh garden greens with a garlic-y home-made dressing, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, a few pecans and dried cranberries).

Snack: 1/2 c. Coconut Milk Vanilla Bean Ice cream....yum!

Now to plan the rest of the week!

Starting to Eat Clean, A Journey to Being a Healthier Family

We were both raised in conventional cooking and eating families.  For my family, living in the country, we would buy our meat an entire steer at a time (700-800 lbs each), had a lot of garden fruits/veggies, and access to fresh eggs-- very "meat and potatoes".  For his family, in the suburbs with lots of kids in sports and activities and Market Day easily available as a school fundraiser, he grew up eating a lot of prepared foods.

So-- boy meets girl.  College days of pizza and beer end and having to cook for ourselves as newlyweds begins.  At first, I want to make everything my mom made- and I tried.  But we lived in Las Vegas and didn't have fresh beef and veggies in our yard.  He picks up the occasional convenience/frozen food, and I am not thrilled.  We slowly adopt our own meal time traditions-- that were not the healthiest.

When we had our first child who was getting started on table foods, I didn't want him to eat some of the things we were eating.  That is when changes started to come-- we drastically cut down on things with corn syrup and that were processed.  That has been something that I have been very particular about for a long time.  If my kids drink juice, it is only a small amount once in a while and it is 100% juice.  If they get a piece of candy, it is organic and made with real cane sugar instead of garbage. 

As time went on, I read more about artificial colors and their affects on children.  One article actually linked them to ADD and ADHD.  Parents claimed their children behaved much different when they were not consuming any artificial colors.  More rules came into play regarding foods-- for instance, if the cereal turns your milk a different color, we won't be buying it.  Ketchup is not a vegetable and you won't be dipping everything into it, and more....

Now, I would like to think that we are reasonably healthy eaters- but we have a long way to go.  I buy organic when I can, but only 60-70% of our foods are organic. Lots of white flours and sugars are in products that we buy and consume-- and they are not healthy for us.  So- changes are coming.

1) My new goal is to buy 90% organic.  Your body doesn't know what to do with chemicals and pesticides, so it stores them in fat cells.  I don't know about you, but I don't need anything else being "stored" in me, especially in my middle!  It does cost more, but it is worth it to eat foods free of chemicals (that are known to cause health problems) and to also support sustainable agriculture.

2) Sugar is a bad word.  Especially when we tend to eat and drink so much of it.  New goal is to make water the beverage of choice and to flavor it using lemons, strawberries, cucumbers, or by using the Soda Stream for carbonation.  Coffee and tea will be my new sources of caffeinated bliss.  We will greatly limit our sugar intake and use stevia (which I am growing in my garden) and agave nectar as our new sweeteners.

3) White is a bad word.  Wheat is a good word.  So is "whole"...especially when it is placed in front of the word "grain".  Pasta will be whole grain and organic when possible.  Wraps, muffins, bread- all will follow the same path.  Ezekiel bread is a new member of our family that we plan to adopt and learn to love.  Other whole grains are becoming regulars in my cabinet as well.  Steel cut oats for breakfast tomorrow with sprinkled flax seed.

Follow along with us on the new eating adventure on my blog!  There will probably be a lot of whining at first, but I hope to have great tales of energy increases and weight losses to report soon.

 

 

Anyone Like a Good Before and After?

So, these photos are almost embarassing to post...but at the same time they are too good NOT to post...so here goes!

On Tuesday, Mike left for a business trip at circa 4 am.  With Father's Day fast approaching, knowing that his idea of a great gift is something that doesn't cost much, and with our garage being the most disgusting hell-hole....it wasn't hard to figure out what we were going to do when he was gone. 

I know.  I called the garage a hell-hole.  That is because that is what it was.  No other more "gentle" words can describe it accurately.  Maggots.  I found MAGGOTS in there.  When your child lifts a bag of trash that he finds under a pile of clothing intended for Good Will and says, "Mommy!  I found lots of worms.  Can we go fishing with them?"  That is NOT good.  'Nuf said.

So, the biggest challenge was deciding where to start.  This is the view from the door- the view I had when I decided to start this project.  I wanted to turn back, but knew I couldn't. 

A couple of other "Before" shots...

The pile that greeted us when we came in the door.

Shelving-- intended for storage and organization.  Being used for anything BUT that.

The side where Mike would have liked to park his car...

And the side where I would have liked to park my car.  And an arm.  Might have lost a child in there somewhere!

So, since the next day was trash day-- I started with clearing out as much trash as I could- and as much recycling as I could.  I ended up filling 6 cans.  Three of mine and three of my neighbor's (who was out of town and had two empty cans and some extra space in her other one-- Thanks, Lisa!)  I also ended up with the most impressive pile of recycling I have ever seen.  The men were at my drive for quite a while before they drove away in their trucks on Wednesday.

With the trash out, we went into organizational mode.  It seems like at some point there were good intentions of organizing, because as I cleaned I found lots of empty storage bins!  I put them and our label maker to good use.  Painting supplies.  Preserving supplies.  Electrical. Plumbing.  Aquarium.  Camping.  All of these things and more got homes- and got labeled so they are now easy to find.  Tools all made their way from every nook and cranny to the work bench-- which got cleared off and scrubbed. 

Finally...the floor was cleaned- and it got washed.  The kids and I hosed it down with soap and scrub brushes.  I could serve dinner out there...but I won't.  I do remember what was out there just the day before...the fishing worms....ew.

So, now- after 18 hours of labor (of just mine) and many hours of the kids helping.  The garage is looking really good.  I think when Mike gets home he is going to open the door and think he is at the wrong house.  And, I can post this without ruining the surprise now because he is on the plane.  No access to internet until he gets home.  : )

The after pics...

See that?  Space two park two cars!  Imagine...having a three car garage and being able to park at least one of your cars in it!  : )

Shelves with order...things labeled.  Everything has a place.  Pets.  Garden.  Automotive.

The hockey area.  I even went as far as to wash all of the contents of my husband's stinky hockey bag.  Does your husband play hockey?  If so, you know the aroma of a bag left in the summer sun with dirty jerseys, socks, and more....that is LOVE for you.

Coming into the door....less to trip over for sure. 

Neatly labeled bins.  Everything in its place.  Ah, it makes me happy.  See, my house is usually pristinely cleaned....now my garage looks like it belongs with my house.

The workbench.  Ready for projects!

Even cleaned out all the drawers and shelves to the fridge...and organized it.  I also took an inventory of my Mike's Hard Lemonades.  ; )

The new view from the stoop....I think Mike will be pleasantly surprised.  I hope so at least-- cause he is the best husband I could have ever imagined...and the most amazing father to our children.  He is totally worth doing this (and more) for-- and we hope that this just shows him how much we love him and miss him when he is gone.  Happy Father's Day, Mike-- and also to the other dads (like my own!) who might read this.  : )