Weekend Wanderings 3.10.12

          Source: absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

This past week has been the longest week I have experienced in a LONG time. I'm not going to go into detail as to why (at least not right now) but know that after this week I am even more excited to pick up B tomorrow. He has been in SERE (survival) school the past two weeks and we have not talked or seen each other since I dropped him off. This past week would have been the roughest week for him, so I think God decided to give me a rough week to so B wouldn't be the only one!

Anyway, I am so glad it is finally Saturday. I was up at 5 am this morning! I did not sleep well this week and was so exhausted last night I tucked myself into bed at 7:30. I love getting up early because I can get so much done before lunch. I have already cleaned the house, made the weekly menu and grocery list, caught up on FB and emails, started laundry, and now I'm sitting at a local coffee shop catching up on reading blogs and posting one! I will have my errands run and be back home by lunch time.  Enough rambling lets continue with the point of this post--links to articles/blogs I think you will enjoy.

BPA Rises By 1200% After Eating From Cans by Food Renegade. Great article!  I do not buy many canned food items anymore since we are eating "real food" but I still buy diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce in cans.  But this will be solved this summer after I process all my tomatoes from my garden. I hope to have a big enough crop to give us all kinds of things tomato related to last a year--spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and pizza sauce!  This will also be a great savings on the grocery bill!

Healthy Skin Tips and Recipes for the Winter Months by Keeper of the Home.  I know that spring is right around the corner, but there are still some great ideas and recipes to use year round. Using homemade beauty products also help save $! 

Why I Don't Clip Coupons by Divine Health from the Inside Out.  I have never been one of those people that clip coupons. Mainly because I have never had the time or patience to deal with it.  Since we switched to a whole foods diet several years ago I definitely didn't need to clip coupons because there just are not coupons for real/whole foods.  Instead, I plan my menu according to the season and what items I can get at local farmers markets, health food stores, and the grocery store.  I am able to stay within our budget if I plan and shop smart. 

How Bikes Can Save Us by Fearless Revolution. I love this!  Makes me wish I lived in a progressive city that encouraged commuting via bikes.  Where we live the only time I hear about people commuting to work is when they have received a DUI and they are not allowed to drive on post!

Hope you enjoyed this weekends links!  Have a marvelous weekend.

Til' next time,

Cinnamon Challenge

I'm sure some of you have heard of the cinnamon challenge. If you need a good healthy laugh watch this video!




For those that are not familiar with the cinnamon challenge, learn more about it here.

I'm still laughing and I am definitely not accepting this challenge! 

Weekend Wanderings

Source: absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I am not a fan of Sunday nights because I know Monday morning is close!  To finish out the weekend I thought I would do a Weekend Wanderings Post.  I have not done a Weekend Wanderings in a while, so I have a ton of things I want to share.  Although, tonight I'm only sharing a few with you.  Next weekend there will be a longer list! 


Did You See This Chipotle Ad?
This is a great commercial that has caused some stir in the food industry. I hope commercials like this continue to be produced and aired on television!

How to Hem Jeans in 3 easy steps
When I went back to Kansas in November for work I took 3 pairs of jeans I needed hemmed.  I do not have a sewing machine (yet) and do not really know how to sew, so I always take my pants to someone to get hemmed. I have not found anyone here in Alabama that I "trust" to hem my pants.  Before I went home I found this post and decided it could be a project mom and I could do!  So one of the Saturdays I was at my parents house we spent most of the day psyching ourselves up to try it.  We successfully hemmed 4 pairs of pants that day and they all turned out great! I will never again take my pants to someone else to hem.  Thanks mom for doing most of the work on the pants! 

Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Artificial Food Coloring
This is a great article about food colorings. I switched to an all natural food based coloring last year and they work great.  I will share more about this another time! 

That is all I have time for tonight. Enjoy!

Til' Next Time,
 

A Fresh Start

It is already the end of February and I have been on a LONG blogging vacation.  I'm back and ready to see where 2012 takes me.  I am hoping that it is a fresh and new beginning for me, both blogging and in my personal life.

Last year (2011) was a very emotional year for us.  The end of 2011did not go as we hoped, planned, or dreamed but we came out on the other side just happy we have each other. Everything we have been through this year has bonded us in a way that I would have never dreamed. 

I decided to spend my Christmas money on a necklace I have had on my wish list for awhile.  With my history of pregnancy issues I struggle sometimes with hope and staying positive about growing our family.   B has been wonderful the past few years, keeping me encouraged and positive. He always says to not give up hope.  I thought this necklace was perfect for me!  Hope is my "word" for 2012.

Designed & Made by Simple Starfish Jewelry.   

I always like the beginning of a new year. It means a new beginning and fresh start.  So I like to set realistic goals every year to help me work towards something.  Here are my goals for 2012: 

• Read 8 books.  I do not love to read, but I always have a large list of books I want to read. So I hope to cross at least 8 books off my list this year. 
• Run a 10K.  I would love to run the Bolder Boulder, but not sure I can swing flying to CO just to run in a 10K.  I have a friend running in it, so maybe it would be worth it?!!!
• Continue making baby steps with living naturally. My list is large of things I want to do. A couple things on the list--make my own deodorant, perfect my all purpose cleaning recipe, 
• Learn to sew--trying to decide on what my first sewing machine should be. Any suggestions? 
• Open my Etsy Store. I tried to open my store all last year, but ran into a few issues.  This is my year! 

Do you set goals for yourself? 

My blogging vacation is officially over, so check back often for recipes, natural cleaning recipes, and other random things!  

Have a great Saturday!

 

Weekend Wanderings 11.13.11

Hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weekend.  We ended up turning our heat on Friday afternoon, even though I was fighting it, because the low for that night was 30-something.  The great thing is it is a little chilly (cold for these southern people) in the morning and warms up to the 60's or 70's by early afternoon. I love that I have had my windows open for weeks.  Most of the time in Kansas there are not many weeks that allow for the windows to remain open all day and all night!

Enough about the weather! Here are some posts I have found over the past few weeks I thought were worth sharing.

Christian Yoga? It's a Stretch : Not sure how I feel about this article but I thought I would share it.  I participate in yoga classes. In the recent boot camp class I took we did yoga out by the lake early in the morning.  It was  a beautiful, cool morning.  It was great to see the beauty of God's earth while stretching. I'd love to know what you think of the article.

Modern Alternative Mama:  31 Real Food Baby Steps  This is a great post on things you can start doing to eat more real food.  Transforming your eating from processed to real food does require baby steps, it will not happen overnight. 

Healthy Home Economist: Video Introduction to Traditional Eating.  Sarah shares her video introduction for a series she worked on for the Dr. Weston A. Price Foundation. 

The Dr. Weston A. Price Foundation is a great resource for eating a more traditional/real food diet. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

Thoughts from a Military Wife

Source: beliefnet.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

A friend recently sent me this poem and I thought it was fitting to share it on Veteran's Day. 

Military Man's Promise
written by Megan Williams of To Love a Soldier

I cannot promise you every night of my life.
I cannot promise to be beside you for every difficult moment, every trial, and every hardship.
In truth, I can promise you that I will not be with you for most.
I will leave you at inconvenient times.
Any special date to us may be tainted with the anniversary of the death of one of my friends.
I will ask you to take over whatever life we have built together for months and years at a time.
And will then crash back into that life that you have used your sweat, your tears and your heartache to keep together, and try to take it back as I knew it before.
I will shut you out at times because it will be the best way for me to hold it together at that moment.
I will lie to you.
I will tell you I don't know things when I do.
I will not always tell you where I am going, when I will be back, or who I am with. 

I may not call you for weeks and months and you will not be able to call me.
You will ask questions that I won't answer.
You will know answers to questions that you will hope you never need.
I will share things with my brothers that you will never understand.
They will know things about me that you never will.
They will be a support to me in some things that you cannot be.
I will miss birthdays.
I will miss anniversaries.
I may need time to process things that seem natural to everyone else.
It will seem that someone - or something - will always take precedence over you.
I will uproot you and ask you to re-establish our family anywhere in the world, in any season, 

at any time - over and over again.
Sand and mud will be tracked through your halls from the boots I am too tired to take off.
I will leave you when you beg me not to. I will stand at attention while you cry beside me.
I will not turn my head and I will walk away.
I will knowingly break your heart.
And I will do it again - and again.
I cannot promise you all of me.
I cannot promise you much of anything.
But if you will have me, I can promise that as I march away from you, 

it is not without sharing your heartache.
I promise you that every time I break your heart I will be breaking mine.
Every time that I cannot answer you I will be protecting you.
Whenever you want to call and you have no number to dial, I will be wanting to do the same.
I will protect everything that we have created together with every fiber of my being 

while you do the same back at home.
I will honor you in everything - every moment that we are apart and every moment that I am with you.
I will fight harder and push further knowing that I do so for you.
And I will carry you with me in everything, until my boots once again sit just inside our door.

Being married to B the past 9 years has allowed every word of this poem to become our life.  Military life does not allow us to plan ahead, the days and nights leading up to deployments are always filled with too many emotions to process, knowing he has experienced & seen things he will never tell me, going weeks without talking when he is away, and spending countless holidays without him by my side are all things I knew when I married a military man.  I would not trade this life for anything, even with all the things a military family endures.    

On this veteran's day remember all the men & woman that have fought for our freedom.  Fly the American flag proudly and thank a soldier & their family for the sacrifice they make allowing us the freedom to live in the USA.

I had to share one video with you also that I just love.

Random Thoughts Tumbling Around My Brain

I have so many things I have been meaning to blog about that this will be a random post. 

I finished boot camp last Friday and on Saturday I ran the Spooky 5k.  It was a tough run with hills and wind. It is rarely windy here and of course it was blowing pretty good they day of the 5K!

Before leaving for the 5K.

After 5K with a Vanilla Latte.  B was a sweetie and came to cheer me on (not sure if he did any cheering!) and had a latte waiting for me at the finish line!

Some of the girls I ran with in the 5K. The third person from the left is my trainer! 

I had my followup appointment with the naturopathic doctor last week.  My hormones are definitely not where they should be. In an effort to get them back to normal I'm taking 4 supplements, taken several times throughout the day.  To help me remember I had to download a vitamin reminder app on my phone!  I will take them for the next two months and then have another followup.  I am hoping and praying it works so we can have a baby Merrigan!

I went to my first Zumba class last night and really wished I had a pair of these instead of my running shoes!  These are definitely on my list to find his weekend.  Zumba is really fun and I recommend it to anyone that wants to sweat alot,  burn calories, have fun, and shake those hips!

I wish I was going to the Wise Traditions 2011 Conference. Maybe next year I can make it and meet some bloggy friends! 

Well that is all I have for today. Check back tomorrow for a couple of recipes. 

Till next time,