To raw or not to raw?

I have begun reading The Maker's Diet which is very intriguing. From what I've read so far, it aligns with our eating philosophy. I don't have time to go into all the detail of the diet...but I've been considering replacing our regular ultra-pasteurized milk with raw milk. From my research so far, I found this article to be the most balanced. If anyone out there is considering raw milk, check it out! And let me know your thoughts! It seems like such a big decision to me!

33

I turned 33 last week. I've been really reflective of the fact that Jesus was 33 when he was crucified. And I think about how wise and how together he was. (At this point, Jason reminds me that He was God, you know!) Ok, so that makes me feel a little better about not feeling like I have it all together. But I thought it might be cool to right 33 random things about life, me, my ideas, really whatever. And it might be neat to reflect on it 33 years later and see how things have changed or maybe stayed the same.

1. Gosh, I'm blessed. 1 loving husband, 2 beautiful, healthy girls. A sweet dog. And Jesus loves me.

2. Architecture inspires me.

3. Even as much as I hate to admit it, I love some reality TV. Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor. (I kinda think Jason likes watching it with me.)

4. It is no fun to church shop.

5. I love learning about food. Gosh, what a huge world. It's hard to not let it consume you.

6. At this point in my eating philosophy, I aim for natural, natural, natural. Butter's cool. Whole milk is cool. Feedlot beef is not so cool. Coconut oil is intoxicating. But I still enjoy a Chinese buffet every once in awhile. What can I say?

7. Marriage is work. I had no idea. And I'd like to think that Jason and I have it easy. But it still involves a lot of growing and showing you things about yourself that you don't really like to see. Maybe to put it more succinctly, marriage is like a mirror. You want to see the good stuff, but you tend to be reminded of a few things you don't like about yourself. Ok...maybe a more than a few.

8. Being a mom is cool. Hard sometimes. Ok, really hard sometimes. But also the most amazing.

9. My views on abortion laws have changed in the last few years. Hear me...I whole-heartedly feel abortion is wrong. However, I don't think abortion is a legislative issues. It's a personal issue. If you want someone to not have an abortion, introduce them to Jesus (for the best results, introduce them to Jesus way before they're ready to have an abortion.) Jesus did not appeal to the government to change their ways. He loved people.

10. I eat dark chocolate everyday. Because I like it and because it is to help reduce stress. It makes me happy.

11. Smoothies are a mommy secret of mine. I can sneak in healthy things they never know about like spinach, broccoli, carrots, kefir, coconut, walnuts, flax seed. Yummy fruit makes it all complete! Yum!

12. I love Etsy!

13. I hate friends full of drama.

14. I'm watching a sweet dog endure the trials of cancer. I realize how harsh cancer is. Not cool.

15. I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. However, I think the Christian community has not been Christ-like to gays. Are we not all sinners? I think we all need Jesus just the same.

16. I wish there were a modern day Rich Mullins. His biography was a life-changing book for me.

17. Childbirth was life changing for me. I thought I had prepared myself the first time around and thinks took a turn that I did not expect. However, I have no regrets. I know if I would have had the natural birth I wanted the first time, I never would have experienced homebirth. To this day, I reflect on my homebirth and it left me healed and restored. I could write a book on this.

18. I love Oprah...I'm really sad that her show is ending. I wish we had cable so I could watch her network.

19. I also love Ellen. Her joy is contagious! And I think we should dance everyday!

20. Online shopping is my savior. I just bought a whole lot of clothes from my favorite store, Ann Taylor Loft. I plan to try them on and return anything I don't like. I need me some simplicity and online shopping does it for me.

21. I love cloth diapers!

22. I hate recycling...but I feel too guilty throwing stuff away to not do it.

23. I don't understand how anyone stops having babies. They're just so sweet. That and I adore pregnancy (well, all except morning sickness!)

24. Aging is not a bad thing...isn't it wonderful to be closer to heaven?

25. I love photography!!! I really want to take a class to learn more. I feel guilty that I have Photoshop and I know .01% of what it is capable of. :(

26. My midwife is one of the wisest women I know. I think the world would be a better place if more people had relationships with midwives.

27. Jason and I had the most amazing dating relationship. Ahh...I can still feel the feelings I felt when I opened the door to his blue eyes.

28. I'm very thankful for generous parents and in-laws. Giving is far more precious than consuming.

29. I sometimes wish I would've gotten a degree in architecture instead of engineering.

30. I spend too much time on the computer.

31. I wish I could hang out with my brother more.

32. Food comforts me. I think I need to do a fast where instead of eating when I'm stressed, I just pray.

33. Today, I'm going to throw Kale into our smoothie. We'll see how that goes. :)

simplicity, minimalism, whatever you wanna call it

So, I had a thought today as I was unpacking a box that was packed at least 6 months ago! Boy, talk about realizing how you don't need your stuff!!!

I had a variety of thoughts as I unpacked this box:

1. Oh boy, I've missed this item!

2. I don't even remember this item!

3. Really? Why do I even have this?

So, I'd say, those items that were #2's and #3's, 'BYE-BYE'!

I thought that might be an interesting challenge...box up some random items you don't necessarily use often. Put a reminder on your calendar 6 months out to open that box. And make a decision. Chances are you'll be visiting the Goodwill store to make a donation! I also heard a good thought about clothes in your closet...on those clothes you don't wear often, put the hanger on the pole backwards and in 6 months if it's still backwards, give it away. I like. :)

My Dear Simplicity, I will achieve you someday!

"s" is for simplicity

One of the ideas I've adopted into my life is instead of New Year's Resolutions, I like to focus on a theme for the year. Last year my theme was simplicity, and I love it. To live simply is a challenge, but worth it! I would not say I'm there, but I'm on a journey to simple life (and probably will be for the rest of my life!)

I wanted to save this site for future inspiration: MINIMALIST ADVENTURES

I'd love to explore it more, but the theme I've been experiencing the last week is "Let's sleep at complete opposite times so that Mommy gets no time to herself!"

Arrhhh! But I am so blessed!

food 101

On our little vacation back home, I picked up some books from the wonderful library. I wanted to read Pollan's (Food, Inc.) books, so I got Food Rules and In Defense of Food. 2 very intriguing books! I think a few things I've pulled out that I would love to do are:

• Eat more fruits and veggies...and try new things! I'm excited to go to the Farmers' Market soon! To not be afraid of certain foods.
• Jason and I discussed eating more wild food. He's going to go hunting...we're planning to add deer to our eating. Go fish and eat more fish we catch ourselves. I'll leave the dirty part to Jason, though.
• Make sour dough bread. My wonderful friend who is all about making her own food inspires me! And she suggested this, so I'm going to try it! Plus fermented foods are good for you!
• Eat less! I picked up some organic sausage from our local store and I found that I honored it more. We ate less because it was expensive, but it felt good to actually appreciate that it took care to grow this pig. Eating a full pound in a matter of an hour does not honor that pig's life. That might sound corny, but I don't care. :)
• Eat the full fat version, but eat less. I'm sure my dietician mother will not want to read this! Bring on the whole milk, baby! Pollan discussed that making full fat products skim uses additives to reach that product. Real food = good! Preservatives = bad!
• Buy products that have 5 ingredients or less. Not easy, but I like it.
• Celebrate food. It is not the enemy. It allows us to live and thrive and love!

I wanted to list some websites included in Pollan's book to keep on hand:

Center for Informed Food Choices www.informedeating.org

Eat Local Challenge www.eatlocalchallenge.com

Eat Well www.eatwellguide.com

Eat Wild www.eatwild.com

Food Routes www.foodroutes.org

Local Harvest www.localharvest.com (I've used this site a lot!)

Weston A. Price Foundation www.westonaprice.org

r-e-s-p-e-c-t

I don't know that these thoughts will make sense, as I'm worn out from a teething little girl and another girl who just would rather be up than sleep. However, when I have something on my heart, tis best to write it down so it doesn't linger too long on my too-full mind.

I think how people spend their money and utilize the resources God has given them, speaks VOLUMES of their lives. And I have witnessed 2 polar opposites recently. First of all, the good. I completely admired the owner of Jason's previous business. I mean, he's a billionaire, a billionaire. That's a lot of zeros to one's name. But the thing is, that's not what makes him great, at all. He is simply a great guy because of character. For one thing, he is simply a nice guy, not arrogant, not pompous, even though he could be. Jason has told me that when he would have a meeting with him, and they'd go in the conference room, this CEO would INSIST that Jason go first. Secondly, he operates his business very conservatively. Assets far exceed their debt. And because of that, they have succeeded in a down market, while others have failed. In fact, not one layoff. Very cool. At their Christmas party, the company always has tons of door prizes. He and the CFO have given away their personal garage spaces at the office. I mean, like everyone parks in the parking lot and they have actual garages. They give away their spots for not April, not August, but January (in Kansas!) Seriously, I wouldn't do that! And probably the coolest thing is not about him, but his wife. So, the wife of a billionaire...what do you think she'd drive? Maybe a Lexus, an Audi....close, an old Honda Civic Hybrid. Impressive. The scripture, "Your treasure is where your heart is." shows that their treasure is not their money. Just hard work and generosity. RESPECT!

And then on the other end of the spectrum seems to be the previous owners of our house. When we were looking at this house, of course, people knew who were selling this house (it is a small town after all!) We were told they were wealthy and had built a HUGE house in a new subdivision. The more we live here and discover another area of this house that has been neglected, I'm painfully aware of how little respect they had for this house. The care they did not give this house is probably what allowed us to get this house. I have a passion for houses and house design. Houses have stories to tell, and this may sound weird, but whenever I see an abandoned house, I always feel like I'm looking at house "corpse" (a previous body (house) without its soul (house-dwellers)), and it makes my heart a little sad. They were blessed with this beautiful home, but they did not give it the care it deserved. And I fear they're doing the exact same thing to the million dollar home they're residing in now. It breaks my heart.

Of course, this concept can be applied in SO many different areas. To our time, to our bodies, to our money, to our families.... May we just give honor to what we've been given, all along acknowledging it is not ours, but the Lord's.

inspire

My favorite aspect of our new town is that I feel inspired. In so many ways. And one of my favorites is the architecture in this town.

My heart has always been passionate about design, and the older I get I realize that is by design (no pun intended). I am made in God's image. And God is the ultimate Creator. And we are all creative, whether we think so or not. So I've been challenging myself to seek out creativity in other areas of my life. (If interested yourself, check out Hidden Art ) And one of my favorite areas right now is interior design.

I found this website and had to share: theinspiredroom.net It inspired me!

natural clean

This is an appropriate follow up to my previous post...but wanted to write these down so I don't forget them! I'm all about natural cleaning....it makes me feel good to know I'm surrounding my family with nature rather than chemicals. Plus, it's cheap. (That's why Jason likes it.) :)

All Purpose Disinfectant Cleaner:

2 tsp. Borax

4 T. Vinegar

4 c. Water

I'll add some Essential Oil to make it smell yummy. Either Tea Tree Oil or Lavender. I need to get some more EO's for cleaning purposes.

Natural Dishwashing Detergent:

1 c. Vinegar

2 T. Lemon Concentrate

1 c. Borax

1 c. Baking Soda

Shake it up (it will bubble) and use half the amount you normally do. Also, vinegar is a great substitute for the rinsing agent.

#2

Thank goodness it's Friday! Because it's not even 10AM, and there has been more poop in this house than should be allowed. Before 4AM, Jason discovers our poor Lucy had a serious issue last night. Not 1, but 5 instances of poop. Bless his precious heart for cleaning up that mess. Before 6AM, I had a sweet little girl with poop on her PJ's. And just now, Bella tells me in a worried voice, "Poop come out" and I discover poop on the rug, her leg, her skirt. Ahh...being a mom truly is a glamorous job. So many people tell us to enjoy this precious time, but really, I could live without so much poop!

But we are so blessed. :)

don't read if you want political correctness

One of the few shows I watch regularly is The View. Call it my lazy way of staying informed on what is going on. We hardly have the TV on and if it is on, it's usually a Shirley Temple movie for Bella. So, The View is kind of my hang out time with girls when I'm stuck inside. Except they get their hair and makeup done and I'm usually in yoga pants and a ponytail. Nonetheless, I enjoy it. I want to yell at the TV a lot...and today was no exception.

They had Mike Huckabee on, who happens to be someone I admire. He just seems authentic and nice...2 qualities that I find rare in today's political world. Mike had written in his book about the statistics of children in single parent households. Of course, a couple women attack him for his audacity to be critical of single mother situations. However, he was not attacking them, he was stating the facts. And they aren't pretty. But that's not my point.

He went on to say that because many fathers do not pay child support, our government must pick up the tab. Whoopi goes on to question him about the fact that many women want to forget their children's fathers. So, Huckabee is sympathetic to that. And I was thinking, "No! Why did you sleep with this man in the first place?!" Ugh! This drives me crazy! I am pro-choice...pro-choice in the fact of "You have a choice to not sleep with someone!" I think "waiting until you're married" is considered an old-fashioned idea. But, you know when you think about it, IT WORKS! Why would you sleep with someone who you would never consider marrying, but HELLO, there is the potential you could have a child with?! It makes no sense. The underlying purpose of sex is to procreate. The Lord did make it an enjoyable act, but there's a reason that it is to be between a husband and wife.

What would this world be like if family was a more paramount issue? What if a child did have 2 parents? And what's scary is that is a never-ending cycle. A single mom has a child. The child is raised with no father. She seeks out attention from another man, because she did not receive the self esteem that a father can give her. She becomes a single mom. And on and on an on.

I think this country needs a revolution for young women to see they deserve better. Be strong women! You deserve a man who treats you right! You are precious! Do not allow a man to undermine your value as God's child. I could go on and on about how this applies to the whole being a lady and making a gentleman out of your man. But I'll stop my bloviating because this soapbox is telling me I'm too heavy and need to get off.