Hey everyone.
I've decided that this blog is done. I've begun a new one and will be moving over the info I wish to keep in the next several days/weeks. This one will not be deleted, but I will update on the new one.
See ya there!
The New Blog
January 4, 2010
December 28, 2009
A Long One
Well, hello there :)
I'm back into the blog world again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We did, but we had some difficulties. I won't go into details, but we were all sick with a cold or virus or flu, however much of it lifted by Christmas Day. We had to call off the Swedish smorgasbord because my 85 yer old grandmother ended up having pneumonia, and need to be hospitalized!
But, all in all, we had a lovely Christmas. My sweet husband made savory crepes Christmas Eve, it SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!! That never has happened in my entire 27 years of life! I made the house as pretty as I could, we ate, drank sparkling grape juice in wine goblets (big treat for the kiddies), opened their 1 present (pajamas) and took pictures in them, hung stockings, set out cookies and milk, and after they went to bed Santa Clause came :)
What did I get? Well, I got a BEAUTIFUL amplified Bible. I really wanted one. I really like studying the Hebrew/Greek of the scriptures, but don't always have the time to do it on my own. The amplified does some of the work for you. Last night I was laying on my bed with that Bible and the King James, just looking up favorite passages.
I also got my own little toolbox! Great idea Matt, and we have used it a lot already. It's a small lightweight one, filled with wire cutters, a flashlight, a small hammer, screwdrivers (both kinds and in two sizes each) and some nails so I'll hopefully ditch the thumbtacks! I also got Samantha's birthstone girl to add to my necklace- I'll I have to take a picture of that one.
Oh, there was also a 25lb bag of wheat under the tree...hmmm....this was explained later at my mom's house. She got me a grain mill! I've been wanting one forEVER! This is the kind that fits onto the kitchenaid mixer. I used it this morning and even on the finest setting, the flour is more coarse, but I can mix it with unbleached flour.
My girls also got their own radio flyer scooter and they're doing great with them. The fold up easily, are lightweight, and they can use them in the house without driving me nuts :)
Saturday was Alexa's 6th birthday. We spent it eating McDonald's for lunch, going to see the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakel, getting ice cream and bringing flowers to my sick grandmother.
It's always kind of sad to me when Christmas is over. The build up is for over a month, and then just like that, it's done. My favorite part is Christmas Eve- the anticipation and making everything special. Yes I do enjoy the opening presents part too, but still, now it's done! I am going to take down some of the decor, but leave most of it because I am still having the smorgasbord for New Years.
Okie doke, I just wanted to say that my blog is going to take a different turn for awhile. I happened on some information about diet and health (yes still Nourishing Traditions) and I'm going to a deeper level here.
In the future I will post the links of where I got all the info, but for a quick overview here, this is what I found.
The whole basis of Nourishing Traditions is off the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist in the early 1900s. He traveled the globe searching for people who had never had much contact or any contact with civilized man. He found healthy, robust people with straight teeth!
One of the groups of people were the Inuits, or Eskimos. Well, what did they eat? Seal oil. Fish. Wild game. FAT! And, he noted, that during the winter, especially the women, ate a lot of food and yet they hardly moved at all. You'd think that someone eating all those calories and not burning them off would be fat. But he said they were almost to the point of being too thin.
Wow. So there was some more research done by another man I'll tell you about later, and basically this is the thing. More people exercise now, in their free time, than back in the 70s, yet we as a people are like 40% fatter than we were. Why aren't we thinner? It's all about diet. We now consume more sugar, processed oils, and corn products than in that time. Read labels! Corn syrup is everywhere!!
So, it's not that I lay around and eat all day that I'm on the fat side. Cuz I'm usually running! The last week I've barely been eating for lack of appetite. I'm not gorging. It's the quality of food!
So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to eat a lot of good fat and see what happens. I'm ordering some fermented fish oil (supposedly much more nutrient dense), buying raw milk, making butter from it, buying the best meat I can find and am going to have at it.
In the beginning, I won't be able to be perfect in this. I don't have grassfed beef and free range chicken yet. I'll get there eventually. Yes it costs a little more, but I have an article and a chart that costed out the regular food and this food and it wasn't much more at all if not less than typical supermarket food!
I created a meal plan that will work for us and that will be my focus for awhile. Food, clothes, dishes, kids and family, God. Not in that order :) I can't explain how relieved and excited I was to see that it wasn't totally my fault that I was overweight. My only fault was pregnancy and being on bedrest and all the food went to me not baby, then we kept having babies...honestly, that's the truth. My body has just stayed where it is for some reason.
There will more info and science to back this up, but that's what I'm doing. I did this before, but it's getting kicked up to a new level. I didn't worry so much about the quality of meat and fat and stuff before, now I realize that's very important.
Gotta go!
I'm back into the blog world again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We did, but we had some difficulties. I won't go into details, but we were all sick with a cold or virus or flu, however much of it lifted by Christmas Day. We had to call off the Swedish smorgasbord because my 85 yer old grandmother ended up having pneumonia, and need to be hospitalized!
But, all in all, we had a lovely Christmas. My sweet husband made savory crepes Christmas Eve, it SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!! That never has happened in my entire 27 years of life! I made the house as pretty as I could, we ate, drank sparkling grape juice in wine goblets (big treat for the kiddies), opened their 1 present (pajamas) and took pictures in them, hung stockings, set out cookies and milk, and after they went to bed Santa Clause came :)
What did I get? Well, I got a BEAUTIFUL amplified Bible. I really wanted one. I really like studying the Hebrew/Greek of the scriptures, but don't always have the time to do it on my own. The amplified does some of the work for you. Last night I was laying on my bed with that Bible and the King James, just looking up favorite passages.
I also got my own little toolbox! Great idea Matt, and we have used it a lot already. It's a small lightweight one, filled with wire cutters, a flashlight, a small hammer, screwdrivers (both kinds and in two sizes each) and some nails so I'll hopefully ditch the thumbtacks! I also got Samantha's birthstone girl to add to my necklace- I'll I have to take a picture of that one.
Oh, there was also a 25lb bag of wheat under the tree...hmmm....this was explained later at my mom's house. She got me a grain mill! I've been wanting one forEVER! This is the kind that fits onto the kitchenaid mixer. I used it this morning and even on the finest setting, the flour is more coarse, but I can mix it with unbleached flour.
My girls also got their own radio flyer scooter and they're doing great with them. The fold up easily, are lightweight, and they can use them in the house without driving me nuts :)
Saturday was Alexa's 6th birthday. We spent it eating McDonald's for lunch, going to see the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakel, getting ice cream and bringing flowers to my sick grandmother.
It's always kind of sad to me when Christmas is over. The build up is for over a month, and then just like that, it's done. My favorite part is Christmas Eve- the anticipation and making everything special. Yes I do enjoy the opening presents part too, but still, now it's done! I am going to take down some of the decor, but leave most of it because I am still having the smorgasbord for New Years.
Okie doke, I just wanted to say that my blog is going to take a different turn for awhile. I happened on some information about diet and health (yes still Nourishing Traditions) and I'm going to a deeper level here.
In the future I will post the links of where I got all the info, but for a quick overview here, this is what I found.
The whole basis of Nourishing Traditions is off the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist in the early 1900s. He traveled the globe searching for people who had never had much contact or any contact with civilized man. He found healthy, robust people with straight teeth!
One of the groups of people were the Inuits, or Eskimos. Well, what did they eat? Seal oil. Fish. Wild game. FAT! And, he noted, that during the winter, especially the women, ate a lot of food and yet they hardly moved at all. You'd think that someone eating all those calories and not burning them off would be fat. But he said they were almost to the point of being too thin.
Wow. So there was some more research done by another man I'll tell you about later, and basically this is the thing. More people exercise now, in their free time, than back in the 70s, yet we as a people are like 40% fatter than we were. Why aren't we thinner? It's all about diet. We now consume more sugar, processed oils, and corn products than in that time. Read labels! Corn syrup is everywhere!!
So, it's not that I lay around and eat all day that I'm on the fat side. Cuz I'm usually running! The last week I've barely been eating for lack of appetite. I'm not gorging. It's the quality of food!
So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to eat a lot of good fat and see what happens. I'm ordering some fermented fish oil (supposedly much more nutrient dense), buying raw milk, making butter from it, buying the best meat I can find and am going to have at it.
In the beginning, I won't be able to be perfect in this. I don't have grassfed beef and free range chicken yet. I'll get there eventually. Yes it costs a little more, but I have an article and a chart that costed out the regular food and this food and it wasn't much more at all if not less than typical supermarket food!
I created a meal plan that will work for us and that will be my focus for awhile. Food, clothes, dishes, kids and family, God. Not in that order :) I can't explain how relieved and excited I was to see that it wasn't totally my fault that I was overweight. My only fault was pregnancy and being on bedrest and all the food went to me not baby, then we kept having babies...honestly, that's the truth. My body has just stayed where it is for some reason.
There will more info and science to back this up, but that's what I'm doing. I did this before, but it's getting kicked up to a new level. I didn't worry so much about the quality of meat and fat and stuff before, now I realize that's very important.
Gotta go!
December 23, 2009
REally fast...
Fixin' to make gingersnaps, cherry thumbprint cookies, rolled sugar cookies, peanut butter ritz chocolate candies, white chocolate fruit bark, homemade crackers and Swedish limpa rye bread! Oh, and wrap the rest of the presents, finish whatever shopping that needs done, and somehow clean the house!!
Fixin' to make gingersnaps, cherry thumbprint cookies, rolled sugar cookies, peanut butter ritz chocolate candies, white chocolate fruit bark, homemade crackers and Swedish limpa rye bread! Oh, and wrap the rest of the presents, finish whatever shopping that needs done, and somehow clean the house!!
December 21, 2009
Christmas Plans
Merry Christmas early!
I am so happy it's finally down to the last few days before Christmas. That's when it gets exciting and we get to do all the fun stuff. All the school parties and extended family things are DONE and I can concentrate on my family now.
Last week I mentioned something about our Christmas Eve tradition. Well, I am working on making it a tradition. My husband, Matt, is half Swedish. His father is full blood and his great-great grandfather came from Sweden in the 19th century. I think this is absolutely wonderful because 1. being Swedish is uncommon and cool and 2. I have no idea what my family's heritage is. The records got burned up in the Civil War and we just have no idea. I do know there is some Native American and German mixed in, but that's all.
So I have thoroughly latched on to his family heritage and have made it my own :) I want the girls to know where they came from as well. Swedes have some really neat Christmas traditions and I have tried to replicate that here in Texas. Our real Christmas tree, as pictured below, is decortated with handmade traditional straw ornaments from Sweden, plus the ones I made in the colors of red and white. In Sweden you don't put the tree up till Christmas Eve, but they celebrate Christmas far into January.
Also, they have the Christmas Eve Smorgasbord, which is the massive FEAST they like to have at all celebrations. The Christmas one is the biggest though. A typical menu is mammoth in size, but I will make ours VERY simple. They also like lots of pickled fish and tongue, and well, uh, that's definitely not on the menu here :)
So, our much simplified plan is this:
homemade rye bread
homemade crackers (hardtack or knackkebrod)
assorted cheeses
sardines (for my dad)
chicken liver pate (I am experimenting with this one)
smoked salmon (if I can find it) and dill sauce
swedish meatballs
small red potatoes, boiled and served with melted butter and chopped onions
pickled beets (storebought)
dilled cucumbers
pickles
rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
ginger cookies
sugar cookies
coffee and glogg- spiced wine
Now, I tend to get freaked out and try to make everything perfect. I was going to do a ham, but unless I find an amazing deal I'm cutting that one out. I was also going to cook my own beets, but now I'm not. Anyways, hopefully today I can make the bread and crackers and freeze them, then the day before I can do cookies, mix up the meatballs and do the pate.
We'll see..
Also, I am doing an experiment that I'm really excited about and plan to blog about this week if possible. It has to do with diet and weightloss.
Maybe I'll post some recipes as I'm cooking them too :) But you know how that goes with me...
I am so happy it's finally down to the last few days before Christmas. That's when it gets exciting and we get to do all the fun stuff. All the school parties and extended family things are DONE and I can concentrate on my family now.
Last week I mentioned something about our Christmas Eve tradition. Well, I am working on making it a tradition. My husband, Matt, is half Swedish. His father is full blood and his great-great grandfather came from Sweden in the 19th century. I think this is absolutely wonderful because 1. being Swedish is uncommon and cool and 2. I have no idea what my family's heritage is. The records got burned up in the Civil War and we just have no idea. I do know there is some Native American and German mixed in, but that's all.
So I have thoroughly latched on to his family heritage and have made it my own :) I want the girls to know where they came from as well. Swedes have some really neat Christmas traditions and I have tried to replicate that here in Texas. Our real Christmas tree, as pictured below, is decortated with handmade traditional straw ornaments from Sweden, plus the ones I made in the colors of red and white. In Sweden you don't put the tree up till Christmas Eve, but they celebrate Christmas far into January.
Also, they have the Christmas Eve Smorgasbord, which is the massive FEAST they like to have at all celebrations. The Christmas one is the biggest though. A typical menu is mammoth in size, but I will make ours VERY simple. They also like lots of pickled fish and tongue, and well, uh, that's definitely not on the menu here :)
So, our much simplified plan is this:
homemade rye bread
homemade crackers (hardtack or knackkebrod)
assorted cheeses
sardines (for my dad)
chicken liver pate (I am experimenting with this one)
smoked salmon (if I can find it) and dill sauce
swedish meatballs
small red potatoes, boiled and served with melted butter and chopped onions
pickled beets (storebought)
dilled cucumbers
pickles
rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
ginger cookies
sugar cookies
coffee and glogg- spiced wine
Now, I tend to get freaked out and try to make everything perfect. I was going to do a ham, but unless I find an amazing deal I'm cutting that one out. I was also going to cook my own beets, but now I'm not. Anyways, hopefully today I can make the bread and crackers and freeze them, then the day before I can do cookies, mix up the meatballs and do the pate.
We'll see..
Also, I am doing an experiment that I'm really excited about and plan to blog about this week if possible. It has to do with diet and weightloss.
Maybe I'll post some recipes as I'm cooking them too :) But you know how that goes with me...
December 16, 2009
Normal lady is back
Well, since we're being honest here, Scrooge left. Part of my problem is I am like a little kid when it comes to Christmas- I want the last week before Christmas to get here and not have to go through the whole month before we get to the good part :) Those last few days before Christmas Day are the best and most anticipatory :)
Also, Aunt Flo, or our monthly friend did come and it's like a big sigh of relief in my body. Being a woman is HARD! I am in no way wishing the season to be over at all. The contrary- I want to prolong it because it's flying by. I did manage to get some presents wrapped today. I planned out the Christmas Eve smorgasbord menu, which we'll get to in another post. I'm a little nervous that I have no presents for my husband, niece and nephews or my parents. But I know that dh doesn't have any for me yet either :)
I snapped these the other day, but didn't get to it yet. Yes, here are our decked out halls. I wanted a more natural look this year. Decorating is very important to me. I can't explain it exactly, except that it has to do with the memory of being a child and being enthralled with all the Christmas decor and being SO excited. I try to generate the same thing into my daughters. I guess I think everyone is like me :) My grandparents were so crafty, so that's where I get that from, because I spent SO much time with them.
Here is the front door. A fake wreath, a cheap red bow, some pinecones and red berries from the woods.
Here is our real tree with mostly homemade ornaments. It smells wonderful.
The back wall. This was a grapevine wreath that I just stuck cedar twigs and red berries from the dogwood trees on it.
The snowman collection that someone started for me :) Somehow I keep getting snowmen. They aren't my favorite, but they make it out every year.
This is the Christmas village my grandmother gave me. It certainly could look better, but I can't keep little hands from rearranging :)
My kitchen. I couldn't get a good picture, but there are lights up above the cabinets and I nested cedar branches in among them.
The kitchen tree :)
The window above the kitchen sink.
The stockings I made, but haven't hung up yet.
Also, Aunt Flo, or our monthly friend did come and it's like a big sigh of relief in my body. Being a woman is HARD! I am in no way wishing the season to be over at all. The contrary- I want to prolong it because it's flying by. I did manage to get some presents wrapped today. I planned out the Christmas Eve smorgasbord menu, which we'll get to in another post. I'm a little nervous that I have no presents for my husband, niece and nephews or my parents. But I know that dh doesn't have any for me yet either :)
I snapped these the other day, but didn't get to it yet. Yes, here are our decked out halls. I wanted a more natural look this year. Decorating is very important to me. I can't explain it exactly, except that it has to do with the memory of being a child and being enthralled with all the Christmas decor and being SO excited. I try to generate the same thing into my daughters. I guess I think everyone is like me :) My grandparents were so crafty, so that's where I get that from, because I spent SO much time with them.
Here is the front door. A fake wreath, a cheap red bow, some pinecones and red berries from the woods.
Here is our real tree with mostly homemade ornaments. It smells wonderful.
The back wall. This was a grapevine wreath that I just stuck cedar twigs and red berries from the dogwood trees on it.
The snowman collection that someone started for me :) Somehow I keep getting snowmen. They aren't my favorite, but they make it out every year.
This is the Christmas village my grandmother gave me. It certainly could look better, but I can't keep little hands from rearranging :)
My kitchen. I couldn't get a good picture, but there are lights up above the cabinets and I nested cedar branches in among them.
The kitchen tree :)
The window above the kitchen sink.
The stockings I made, but haven't hung up yet.
December 15, 2009
Feelin' like Scrooge
I've been avoiding the blog.
Yes, because I can't seem to NOT write about my honest feelings or NOT be real and write fluffy stuff when I don't feel fluffy.
So, what do you do when the thing you want to happen isn't, and the things you DON'T want to happen, is happening? You feel disappointed and maybe guilty.
My situation is December is flying by. I did NOT want our holidays to be so crammed with activities and events and just stuff to do that it was a burden. The one main thing I wanted to do was put out lots of lights outside in our front yard.
Didn't happen. It rained for three weekends. The whole month of December got filled up by the the 4th! I feel obligated to do these things, because a lot of it is family, yet it feels unfair. I didn't hardly get to enjoy decorating our home because it was so rushed. I had zero time before Thanksgiving to do any Christmas prep as far as decor and gifts go, because I was hosting Thanksgiving and family. Then before you know it, there it is and now we're on December 15th. So much for making that Advent calendar!
Now, I have a child that has to stay home from school and miss all her fun stuff until Thursday because she came down with strep throat and bronchitis. I have two parties to attend and bring food and gifts to, make presents for teachers, make the rest of the homemade presents, make at least two more shopping trips and somehow get my children to see Santa Clause because they REALLY want to. This isn't what I wanted.
What did I want? More TIME! Time to make those neat cinnamon/applesauce ornaments I've been wanting to do for years. Time to make an advent calendar so that instead of asking every day when Santa Clause is coming, they can look at how many days are left on the calendar. I wanted time to enjoy carefully and slowly decorating the house and tree, time to enjoy making crafts and presents, and time to plan ahead with the baking and cooking. Time to read the Christmas stories, watch the Christmas shows and spend time with the kiddies.
I wanted all the other daily chores to do themselves so I could focus on other things :) Who wants to do laundry and plan meals when there are so many other things to do? Yet, here I am in the middle of a PILE of kid laundry, needing to make a pot of soup for the sick one, figuring out how to find time to bake cupcakes for school and just overall feeling bad because I don't want Christmas to be suddenly over before I'm ready.
Then I wonder, why do I feel like I have to make things perfect. Why do I feel that no one will be happy with a good try? I can't remember if the house was clean or the laundry done on Christmas morning. I don't remember if there was clutter or paper piles or if the floor was vacuumed or if the bedrooms were in order. I don't remember casting a judgmental eye at my mom for not looking or doing things perfect or spending time making crafts and gingerbread houses. In my eyes, they way it was, WAS perfect. It couldn't get any better- we had the BEST Christmases in my opinion.
So how do you make yourself chill? I don't know...I get into this mode and haven't figured out a way to let it go yet. I guess I need to prioritize better and make sure the most important things are covered and not sweat the rest. Maybe I'm just tired and dealing with hormones. Maybe I need a drink, ha,ha :)
Maybe it's because I don't think there are many Christmases left before Jesus returns, and I want to make the most of the ones we have. I don't want to be remembered in my children's eyes that mom was mean and stressed at Christmas.
I wish I could start December over.
Yes, because I can't seem to NOT write about my honest feelings or NOT be real and write fluffy stuff when I don't feel fluffy.
So, what do you do when the thing you want to happen isn't, and the things you DON'T want to happen, is happening? You feel disappointed and maybe guilty.
My situation is December is flying by. I did NOT want our holidays to be so crammed with activities and events and just stuff to do that it was a burden. The one main thing I wanted to do was put out lots of lights outside in our front yard.
Didn't happen. It rained for three weekends. The whole month of December got filled up by the the 4th! I feel obligated to do these things, because a lot of it is family, yet it feels unfair. I didn't hardly get to enjoy decorating our home because it was so rushed. I had zero time before Thanksgiving to do any Christmas prep as far as decor and gifts go, because I was hosting Thanksgiving and family. Then before you know it, there it is and now we're on December 15th. So much for making that Advent calendar!
Now, I have a child that has to stay home from school and miss all her fun stuff until Thursday because she came down with strep throat and bronchitis. I have two parties to attend and bring food and gifts to, make presents for teachers, make the rest of the homemade presents, make at least two more shopping trips and somehow get my children to see Santa Clause because they REALLY want to. This isn't what I wanted.
What did I want? More TIME! Time to make those neat cinnamon/applesauce ornaments I've been wanting to do for years. Time to make an advent calendar so that instead of asking every day when Santa Clause is coming, they can look at how many days are left on the calendar. I wanted time to enjoy carefully and slowly decorating the house and tree, time to enjoy making crafts and presents, and time to plan ahead with the baking and cooking. Time to read the Christmas stories, watch the Christmas shows and spend time with the kiddies.
I wanted all the other daily chores to do themselves so I could focus on other things :) Who wants to do laundry and plan meals when there are so many other things to do? Yet, here I am in the middle of a PILE of kid laundry, needing to make a pot of soup for the sick one, figuring out how to find time to bake cupcakes for school and just overall feeling bad because I don't want Christmas to be suddenly over before I'm ready.
Then I wonder, why do I feel like I have to make things perfect. Why do I feel that no one will be happy with a good try? I can't remember if the house was clean or the laundry done on Christmas morning. I don't remember if there was clutter or paper piles or if the floor was vacuumed or if the bedrooms were in order. I don't remember casting a judgmental eye at my mom for not looking or doing things perfect or spending time making crafts and gingerbread houses. In my eyes, they way it was, WAS perfect. It couldn't get any better- we had the BEST Christmases in my opinion.
So how do you make yourself chill? I don't know...I get into this mode and haven't figured out a way to let it go yet. I guess I need to prioritize better and make sure the most important things are covered and not sweat the rest. Maybe I'm just tired and dealing with hormones. Maybe I need a drink, ha,ha :)
Maybe it's because I don't think there are many Christmases left before Jesus returns, and I want to make the most of the ones we have. I don't want to be remembered in my children's eyes that mom was mean and stressed at Christmas.
I wish I could start December over.
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