The Day of Groundhogs

Happy Groundhogs Day! Word around town is that old Punxsutawney Phil says that there will be an early spring this year...he's been wrong in the past though, so I won't hold my breath. Truth be told...I don't particularly mind the cold weather. Living in East Texas the weather is hot and humid a lot of the time, so I welcome a cool breeze. In fact I welcome an arctic breeze. I figure we have a nice warm house, comfy warm clothes, the ability to make fires in the fireplace...we'll be fine and before too long it will be hotter than Satan's breath...or something equally outrageously and uncomfortably hot, so I'm not complaining! (That's right, I just equated the summers of East Texas to the the devil's mouth.)

Anyway, because it is Groundhogs Day, Derek and I will be watching the glorious Billy Murray movie in which he repeats the day over and over and over again. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's pretty awesome. So I would recommend stopping what you are doing and watching it immediately. It's definitely one of those "once-a-year" viewing type deals...kind of like how you watch Christmas movies starting AFTER Thanksgiving (if you watch them before Thanksgiving and/or listen to Christmas Music before Thanksgiving...you should be ashamed of yourself. Just kidding...but seriously.) Watching Bill Murray relive the same day multiple times in the movie always gets me thinking "What if I had to live ONE day on repeat?" In the movie he is having a horrible day, but lets just say that you got to choose the day you would relive...obviously you'd pick a really good day, right? Imagine how horrible that favorite day of yours would become if it was all you could ever do? Or maybe you would pick your worst day ever and try to "fix" it. Stay with me here...it's easy to look back on certain days and wish that you could repeat or change something which would hypothetically change the course of the rest of that day and maybe even your life, but you know...you can't. Sad, but true. Sometimes I struggle with the "what if" attitude and I have to just snap out of it and keep moving forward. There really are no "what ifs" or "buts"...you only get one chance to live each day. Ideally you would do everything right and never want to change something about your day...unfortunately none of us have that ability. So, our options are: move forward or let your "mistakes" consume you and ruin your life from there on out. I choose to move forward and you should too. Don't let mistakes that you have made crush you, learn from them and try to teach others with your experience. Don't let "what ifs" overtake your life so that you don't enjoy your life NOW. Don't make excuses for circumstances in your life, own up and move on. I have faith that God can right my wrongs and undo my misdeeds, even I have done something seemingly irreversible...I just have to be willing to cease the pity party and accept the help to get out of the hole that I have dug myself into.

Funny how something like a Bill Murray movie can make you think thoughts such as these, eh? Maybe it's just me. In any case, you just read what I wrote...so I know you're thinking about it too! Happy Groundhogs Day everyone!

Today marks the third day of me attempting to detox from my caffeine addiction. When I was pregnant with Brennan I quit cold turkey. I realize that drinking a cup of coffee is not like having a heroin binge, but when I found I was pregnant it was like this switch went off in my brain that told me "You need to be super healthy". So I was. For the most part anyway. I didn't pop a single Tylenol. On the rare occasion that I did drink coffee it was decaf. I only ate Deli meat that was steamed in the microwave (if at all), I drank water like it was my job and took my vitamins like a good girl. Funny thing...after Brennan switched to formula (not by choice, mind you) I sort of just snapped out of it and I wish I wouldn't have. I kind of enjoyed being all "clean". Now it's almost a year and half later (holy crap!) and I find myself needing my coffee in the morning and sometimes another dose in the afternoon to get through my day. Call me crazy, but I just don't want to be dependent on the stuff. Once again, it's not like coffee is going to kill me or become an addiction that I need to be hospitalized for, but an addiction nonetheless. I find myself feeling jittery and anxious when I drink coffee too. I have also been having trouble sleeping lately. Not too difficult to figure out, huh? So anyway...here I go. I am nixing caffeinated coffee. I have been drinking decaf in the mornings for two reasons: #1, it tastes yummy and #2, it has a *slight* amount of caffeine so that my brain will not implode to a sudden absence of my "fix". So far, it's been ok. The first day was the worst and I had a ridiculous headache. Day two a little better. Today...still a little better. I think you see the trend. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new and healthy me! I would also like to mention that I have nothing against coffee drinkers and I will most likely indulge in a caffeinated beverage at some point in the future, I just don't want it to be one of those things where I am unable to function if I don't have it. Cheers!

Hide and Seek

Let me just start this by saying that my son is such a joy to me (and lots of other people too) and I truly feel like he is doing or saying something new every day. I know, it sounds cliche, but seriously...they grow so fast!

One of Brennan's favorite things to do is to hide. In fact, he has a special little "nook" that is perfect Brennan size at Grandma and Grandpa's house and it is endless entertainment for him to squeeze into the space between the wall and the book case and snicker as we say "Wheeeeeeeere's Brennan??" Pretty much the cutest thing ever, although I can foresee this type of behavior being troublesome in the near future when he ACTUALLY hides himself and I cannot find him. Yikes.

He also really enjoys hiding things or I guess it is more like "storing" things...for instance...we have a kitchen island with a butcher block top(got it from Ikea long ago and it is amazing and still one of my favorite kitchen things) that has a shelf underneath where we keep all of our pots and pans. Brennan loves to play with the pots and pans and their lids and I will frequently upon post-Brennan-bedtime-organization find toys, mittens, keys, etc. inside of the pots. Anyway, a few days ago I was smelling this horribly nasty smell in the kitchen. It was so annoying because everything was spotless and I felt like I was losing my mind. I couldn't figure out where in the world this stench was coming from. It was really quite a funny sight: Me, on all fours sniffing around trying to locate the source. TA-DA!! Found it! OH the smell....the wretched, wretched smell. As I mentioned before, Brennan really enjoys putting things inside of the pots. Well...his favorite pot is our "asparagus steamer" (many people mocked me for wanting this, but it has proven to be quite useful. It is a tall, skinny pot with a wire basket inside so you can just snip the bottoms of the asparagus stalks and drop them in the basket upright...perfectly steamed, unbroken, unbent asparagus...every time. Thank you very much!!) I don't know why he has chosen this as his favorite pot...maybe because it a shiny stainless steel? Who knows? Anyway...Usually I will see whatever he has dropped in there because the lid is glass and therefore see-through...Well this time, I did not see. Why, You ask? I'll tell you why...because THIS time, my precious baby boy thought it would be fun to "hide" his milk in the bottom of the asparagus steaming pot. Like I said...this thing has a wire basket inside of it and the milk went straight through the basket and settled nicely in the bottom of the pot. UGH! When I finally discovered where the smell was coming from there was a nice, thick, semi-solid layer of rancid Organic Whole Milk at the bottom. I'm starting to dry heave just thinking about it. Ahhh...lesson learned, I suppose. I now make sure to check the pot for any sippy-cup liquids lest we be plagued with curdled milk once more. Or maybe we should eat asparagus more often and then I would have discovered the milk sooner? Either way...I hope that you never have to endure the nasty stink of old milk.

Holy Guacamole! (and Hummus)

Have you ever been afraid to try something new? In this particular instance I am thinking of food-tasting. Either you think the food in question just looks/smells/feels too weird or perhaps you have been psychologically damaged from childhood? A perfect example...me and mayonnaise. *shiver* I hate mayo. Well, not really...I will eat it when it is masked inside of things (like tuna or potato salad...but even then I am a MINIMAL mayo kind of girl.), but the thought of spreading mayo on a piece of bread and eating it on my sandwich or worse...the people who eat mayonnaise as a dip...like on fries...uuuuugh. See, the thing is...I don't actually recall ever TRYING mayonnaise by itself. I just know that from my earliest memories I can hear my mother saying "ICK!! MAYONNAISE!!" and let me tell you, it has totally warped my brain into an unhealthy loathing of mayonnaise. I just can't seem to shake it! I am really not doing what I am about to say justice by sharing with you my totally ridiculous fear of mayonnaise, but let me just preemptively defend myself here for a second. It's not like mayonnaise is something that is super healthy and good for you to begin with, so it isn't a huge bummer that I don't like the stuff right? My pants probably fit better because of it. Anyway, on to my point...trying to get you to broaden your horizons and try something new. (Oh the irony...stinkin' mayonnaise) Or if you already like the things that I am going to mention then you should definitely try the recipes that I will provide. DELICIOUS, I tell you.

In an effort to spark our "healthy eating" appetites I have been searching different cookbooks, websites, and magazines to find stuff that is healthy AND satisfying. I don't want to convert to eating cardboard-esque food just to drop some pounds because lets be honest...sooner or later I would go insane and gorge myself on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Nachos because I was sick of eating nasty food. I think the key is to find delicious food that is good for you, have the *occasional* Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and helping of Nachos, and ultimately make a lifestyle change that involves eating these healthy foods forever after. If not, you'll diet...you'll lose weight...then you'll go back to eating what you did before your diet and BAM! You're back to the way you looked before your diet. *sigh* Sad, but true. I'm getting side tracked...sorry.

SO my husband really enjoys "dips" and I do too. Unfortunately chips go with dips...usually. Chips aren't really part of the old getting healthy business (although I did find a recipe for homemade BAKED corn chips-made from corn tortillas, haven't tried it yet) so I was looking for dips that would taste good with say...carrots. Or Celery. Or Cucumbers. You get the picture. In my searches so far I discovered two things: Edamame Guacamole and Creamy Hummus. My mouth is literally watering right now as I type this. Both of these dips are incredibly yummy and also very good for you! Hallelujah! They are also both "vegan" friendly. Not that I am a Vegan, I love me some steak...but in case someone reading this IS Vegan or Vegetarian...this one's for you. I am including the recipes. Enjoy. Seriously...if it freaks you out that both of these dips include Tofu, get over it. You can't even taste it and it's just some added protein!! Mmmm....You won't be disappointed. Well, maybe you will...but I hope you're not and HEY...at least you can say you tried it right??

EDAMAME GUACAMOLE

10-12 ounces of Edamame (We bought the frozen kind and it was conveniently packaged in a 10oz pouch)

2 Large Avocados

2 Cloves Minced Garlic

2Tbsp Silken Tofu

2Tbsp Lime Juice

a pinch of Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Steam the Edamame, cool it off (I just put it in a collender and ran it under some cool water), and peel the skins off so you just have the little beans. Put all of the beans + the rest of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and make it smooth. Ta-da! You're done.

CREAMY HUMMUS

2 Cans of Chickpeas (Drained and rinsed)

1/2 Cup Silken Tofu

2Tbsp Minced Garlic

1 1/2 Tsp. Cumin

3Tbsp Lime Juice (I use a bit extra because I really like lime)

Kosher Salt

Fresh Ground Pepper

Put it all in the food processor or blender and mix it up! You're done! SO GOOD!!

I'm not naive enough to believe that everyone who reads this will be anxious to try, but I just thought I'd share. My family really enjoys both of these dips. EVEN BRENNAN! Thank you God for a child who enjoys eating healthy food!!

Walmart Woes

This weekend I kicked off the New Year by doing something outrageously dumb and embarrassing. Seriously...Lindsey=the antonym of smart.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my family is on it's way to becoming "fit". To get started I made a very detailed and long list of foods to buy from Walmart that would support this makeover of our cupboards. We basically have a few options as far as grocery shopping goes...drive 5 miles to a not-good-at-all local grocery store, drive 15 miles to a not-so-good Walmart (lets be honest...does a "good" Walmart even exist??), or drive 35 miles to a Walmart that has way better produce and product selection and is also very close to a health foods store that we can find certain "non-walmart" things. So, of course...I chose to go the extra mile(s) to get the good produce which would allow us to begin our "diet" (I hate that word...it's more of a healthy eating plan...) Well, I spent a good hour-hour and a half scouring the aisles (looking for the best deals...we're going to get financially fit too, remember?) and finally made my awesome cart full of delicious food to the check out lanes. I loaded everything on to the conveyor belt and kept loading as the cashier started to ring up and bag my groceries. About halfway through I started to get my method of payment ready only to realize...I had no wallet. NO Wallet. As in...NO wallet. OH...MY...GOSH. I was horrified. I just told the cashier to stop and apologized profusely. She was actually pretty nice about it (a rare find at a Walmart store) and she assured me that this sort of thing happened more often than I would think. So...after nearly 2 hours in walmart and an hour of driving I made my way home without a single item off of my list. Needless to say I was beyond defeated. To add insult to injury, I HAD to go back. We didn't desperately need all of the items on my list, but my sweet little Brennan boy needed milk. I couldn't manage to explain to him that Mommy would rather lay on the floor and cry than go buy some more milk...so I packed the poor kid up and headed to Walmart...AGAIN. Ugh. This time I went the 15 miles to the not-so-good Walmart in an effort to save a sliver of my sanity. When I got there I thought "I'll just try to recompose my cart full of groceries" but it was just terrible. The produce is a joke. SO, I opted to just buy a few necessities (milk included) and head for home. Which means...you guessed it!! I have to go to Walmart (the 35 miles away-nicer one) AGAIN today. What is wrong with me?? Clearly I have brain damage of some sort.

Well, here we are again. About to embark on a whole new year's worth of excitement and adventure. At the risk of sounding like "one of those" people I am going to take this opportunity to share my goals and resolutions for 2011.

You know when there is something in your life that you know is wrong or maybe even just slightly "off" and you don't really notice it because either a) it has been there so long that it's just normal now or 2) you are so far in denial about it that you pretend it is normal? Or is this just me? Well...it's not the most fun experience in the world to finally come to the realization that this "thing" is really taking it's toll. Not fun at all, my friend.

This year myself (and my husband) will be getting in shape. Physically and Financially. WHOA. "She really DOES sound like "one of those" doesn't she?"---I know you're thinking it. That's fine. I'd probably think the same thing about someone else. I just really feel like this year is different. I KNOW it is. Every other year before this I have had the same picture in my head. That I will magically wake up with a hot bod even though I seem to be stuck on eating ice cream and chips. Not going to happen. But THIS year...this year it has really hit me. I don't just want to be able to fit in smaller jeans (believe me...I do) but I want to be HEALTHY. I want to be a good example to my son. I don't want him to be the kid that refuses to eat anything but Happy Meals and Donuts. I want to provide a stable and loving environment and show him that healthy food can be and IS delicious. I think we're on a pretty decent start with Brennan. I started out when he first began eating solid foods with a book called "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. It's pretty awesome and breaks down into incredibly simple terms how you can prepare your own fresh baby food and freeze it so that you know exactly what your baby is eating. The kid eats better than we do, seriously. He loves things like broccoli, lima beans, spinach and avocados...I'll take it. I just don't want to be a hypocrite. I don't want to eat things and have my son say "Can I have some?" and me say "No, it's not good for you." or worse..."Sure, have some." Don't misunderstand...I don't want to be one of those parent's that has this crazy anti-fast food and sugar agenda. I don't want my kid to be the one in the school cafeteria eating his tofu cake and bean sprouts while the other kids enjoy their snack packs...I just...want him to be a healthy boy who knows that Snickers are an occasional treat, not a daily ritual. So there you go...we're getting healthy. Besides, I have already had a membership to the gym here for the last 2 months and I would say that I have been going (on average) 3 times a week...a good head start if you ask me! PLUS...we're starting a garden (I'm practically giddy thinking about all of the fresh produce and how much cheaper and WAY tastier it will be!) and getting chickens so we will have fresh eggs. I WILL do it this year. For my family and for myself.

As far as the financial aspect goes...if you have any kind of debt or financial stress...read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey. Now. Seriously...stop reading this and go read that instead. My husband (love that guy) has been trying to get me to read the book for about 3 years now and wouldn't you know...I didn't until just the other day. I'm tellin ya...good stuff. I am under no illusions that this "money makeover" of ours will be a walk in the park, but I totally psyched about it. I'm ready to not be a slave (in debt) to a master (creditor) anymore. Proverbs 22:7 It's like I said before...one of those things that you know is wrong in your life, but you just choose to ignore or become so in denial about that it gets a little bit out of control. Unfortunately in today's society being in debt is "normal"...having student loans, credit cards, car loans...whatever. It's expected. It's the only way you can get what you want, right? Wrong. If you don't have money for something you want...don't buy it with money you don't have. Period. It's hard work when you have "stuff" shoved in your face all day long giving you the impression that you "need" certain things to be happy. I'll tell you what I NEED...I need a God who has patience with me and all of my shortcomings and loves me anyway. I NEED the support and love of my husband. I NEED to be able to know that I am raising my sweet boy to know that he is loved by God and by his Mom and Dad. I NEED to my son to learn to make wise decisions concerning money by watching his parents. Luckily I have a husband who is awesome and a leader in our marriage...we both want the same things in life...to have a solid family and marriage and to be debt-free and able to live and give "like no one else".

Another reason why I feel like this and our physical fitness will work is that we are on the same page! Isn't it awesome to have someone to share your goal with?? Thank God for my amazing husband! So there you have it...two incredibly typical New Year's Resolutions that are about to have completely atypical results. Keep our family in your prayers! Maybe I will report back on December 31, 2011 and let you know how we're doing.

Happy New Year Everyone! May your 2011 be better than your 2010!

A Very Merry Christmas

I sincerely hope that everyone had a blessed and joyful Christmas. I know I did. It was pretty low key at our house, but I loved watching Brennan experience his Christmas this year (last year he was a bitty little guy so he didn't do much...although he did enjoy laying beneath the Christmas tree and gazing up at the lights last year.)

Derek was gone on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (The life of a pilot!) but he came home around 3 o'clock on Sunday so we celebrated from that point on. We started with chopping down a "Christmas" Tree and hauling it back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to decorate. There were a few reasons for the delay in the tree festivities this year, but the main reason was that Brennan is quite "grabby"...so we wanted to hold off as long as possible so we wouldn't place an unnecessary temptation right in his lap. It was actually quite nippy outside (rare for Texas) so we bundled Brennan up in his batman hat and mittens (SO CUTE!) and we hopped on the gator with Grandpa and drove out to the pasture where we located the perfect tree. Not your typical Christmas tree, but a tree nonetheless. This was my first tree-cutting experience and I will say that I didn't actually cut the tree, but watching Derek do it was awesome. He was a pro! The tree came down in under 5 minutes and it fell perfectly. I asked him later how he learned to cut down a tree like that and he said it was from watching "AxMen" on the Discovery Channel. Don't you just love educational TV? Anyway, we got it loaded onto the trailer and hauled it back home and set it up with decorations and all. It was lovely and smelled quite nice.
Then we had a delicious Christmas feast and we all ate way too much, but then again...what else can you do when you have such amazing food staring you in the face? It just wouldn't be Christmas without a healthy bout of food contractions.*

After dinner we opened presents. Let me just say that I enjoy presents, but not nearly as much as I enjoy giving presents. Now that I am a mother, I can't tell you how much fun it is to watch my baby boy open presents and get excited about them! Probably the most precious thing ever. By the way...it's official...we have the most spoiled boy in the world right here. He got so many books and toys and clothes. Funny thing about the clothes...every time he opened an article of clothing he would throw it over his shoulder as if to say "Are you kidding me?? What is this?? I asked for TOYS. T-O-Y-S. Not CLOTHES. Ugh." Hilarious. They learn early, don't they?

All in all it was a very sweet Christmas and spending time with family was wonderful. I love having Derek home to snuggle and watching Brennan reunite with his Daddy never gets old. It melts my heart into a puddle of warm, sappy goo. I am so blessed! I'm bracing myself for a fabulous New Year and I hope you are too!!
By the way, I had pictures to go along with this but couldn't seem to make blogspot upload them. Terribly sorry. Maybe next time?**

*Food Contractions were first introduced into my life whilst having a delicious-sinfully delicious-meal ala Lisa McCart (aka Mama Lisa) the mother of my dear friend, Kirsten.
**Speaking of Kirsten, I totally stole the "*" at the end of the word to express something below from her blog. Thanks Skirst!