My Mission Now Has Direction

All my life I’ve heard that it takes 30 days to develop a habit.  I’m not sure about that.  For me, 30 days is just long enough to encourage a habit, but not to set it up to succeed. I have to really be committed for a habit to stick!

So here’s my grand scheme:  We’re doing The Whole 30 Challenge, starting on May 1st.  I’m looking forward to learning new ways of cooking, eating new veggies and all along, I’m going to share the experience on my blog!  (really it’s just another excuse to take pretty food pictures with my new camera!)

Lots of recipes in this cookbook look like I’d love them.  Hello Ranch dressing!

One of the things that initially worried me about this plan was all the time involved in making meals.  (Currently, I don’t love to cook.)  This book recommends that you pre-cook the staples and assemble meals out of those items most of the time. 

I just have to stay positive and enjoy the learning process of it all.  Don’t let myself get overwhelmed because that’s the first step in the wrong direction.  Just do it!

I’ve been buying organic and non-GMO for a while now.  But the truth for me is: buying healthy veggies and meat when most of your diet consists of processed, high-carb foods, isn’t making that much of a difference. 

Another reason I want to do The Paleo Diet is health.  I’ve been dealing with undiagnosed chronic pain for a little over 4 years now.  I have very high hopes that eating a whole diet will be “the magic pill”.  (I’m optimistic.  The science behind it just makes sense to me.)

I’m actually excited about getting this thing started!  I’m going to do all the prep cooking tomorrow, and a new way of eating starts on Thursday!  The boys are not amused.

Weekending

Will and I were left home alone this weekend.  He wasn’t feeling well and Scott and Bee wanted to go get some new- mountain-house measuring done in Big Elk.  So they went on their own little adventure while Will (and the girls) and I were homebodies.

Wow, every single day that goes by, I can see a little more of the grown men our boys are becoming!  In this shot, surrounded by computers, tablets and phones, he looks like a young man working on something very important!  (in reality, it was probably gaming or watching Youtube videos about gaming.)

This girl busied herself, keeping an eye out for the neighbor dogs.

And the tiny girl can’t be bothered with such childish pursuits, preferring to stay warm on her soft, fuzzy blankey.

I walked around the yard to see what was going on, yearning for it to be just a couple weeks from now and TIME TO PLANT!  We might actually have a whole bowl of strawberries this year, unless the girls find them…

I didn’t know, when I took this sunshine shot, that it would be the last time I got to see the sun all weekend…  Oh well.

On Saturday, I got my Project Life book all caught up!  These days I just focus on words and pictures – not much embellishing going on anymore.  The pictures were always the stars to me anyway…

I discovered that Will likes eggrolls.  I mean really likes eggrolls.  He had two with Chinese chicken Friday night and asked for more on Saturday!  It was an All Eggroll Weekend!

So below is my last Bountiful Basket.  We aren’t big fresh produce people unless it’s specifically the few fresh items that we love:  broccoli, strawberries, lettuce, onions, garlic, green beans, squash, cauliflower. So this week we got:  squishy tomatoes, a leek that was black and smelly in the center, 1/2 cup of green beans, some peaches and bananas that won’t be ripe for another week and grapefruit that none of us will eat.

For us, it’s better to buy the things we love in quantity at the supermarket.  Live and learn.  Besides I detest having to drop everything in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday to go pick up my basket…  Just not for me, I guess.

In the meantime, I think Daddy and Bee were having way more fun than we were, hanging out in the mountains, hiking, atv-ing and taking pictures.  And I hear that Bee drove our atv! I haven’t even driven it yet.  And they ate at the Colorado Cherry Company in Pinewood Springs.  I made Scott promise to take me AFTER our Whole 30 Challenge in May!

Perfect, peaceful Sunday morning in Will’s book:  eggs, homemade strawberry jam on biscuits, Spongebob  on television and Clash of Clans on the phone.

The cold front got here!  It’s cold and windy and sprinkling today.  But it isn’t going to freeze tonight, so my tree blossoms and tulips ought to be ok.  And the wind chimes, singing through my office window are pure Heaven to this girl!

Scott and Bee should be home very soon.  So until then, I’ll make a cup of hot tea, knit on a sock and hunker down with a blanket and my slippers.

Hope you’re having a sweet weekend too!

Springtime, Rare and Beautiful

In our part of the country often times we don’t get Spring.  Last year we had a blizzard on May 2nd.  Late freezes kill all the tree blossoms and bulbs half the time…  But this year looks to be a good one:

Getting really, really excited for new garden boxes and an expanded garden this year!

Better Than I Ever Imagined

If someone were to ask me what the secret to a good marriage is, I wouldn’t know what to answer.  I could give you a list of qualities that makes my marriage perfect for me.  But that might not be perfect for you.

I believe opposites “attract”, but I don’t think opposites last.  I think in order to live-with and love someone for life, you have to be like-minded:  you know, like some of the same things, want some of the same things.  (you don’t have to have everything in common.  Differences are fun too.)

For me there MUST be kindness and respect and trust.  Scott was born with kindness.  The respect and trust he extended to me in the beginning was a HUGE leap of faith.  HUGE!  And it was tested greatly, in the beginning.

I was still so immature in many ways, with a damaged set of expectations from trying to make incompatible relationships work.  I had a lot of growing up still to do.  He was patient.

And then, over time, I realized he wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t leaving. He loved me even though I was flawed.  He wanted me, no matter what.  What on EARTH had I done to deserve this man?!?  I don’t deserve him.  I don’t.  But, for some reason, he loves me. 

He wanted a family too.  I wanted to be a Mom with all my heart!  We struggled with fertility issues, but God gave us two boys.  Two boys!  Two of them! 

Two babies in three years!  It was unbelievable, full and fun, tiring but most of all SHORT.  We made magical memories in Iowa when our family was young!  Pure magic!

And now, just a few, short years later, Will is 13, Scotty is almost 12 and at 5’10’, he towers over me.  Scott went solid gray in the last five years and gained the sexiest aura about him.  He’s come into his insight and wisdom at a very early age and I’m amazed by him every single day.

He’s a great Dad, such a good role model for our boys.  They love him to death!  But they aren’t old enough yet to know how truly blessed they are to have him.

And someday soon, before we know it, it’ll just be the two of us again.   And no doubt I’ll still test his limits and I’ll be blown away when he continues to love me. 

We are better than I ever imagined, babe!