Photography

I want to know how to use my nice expensive camera before I turn 30.  Why buy more than a point and shoot if all you know how to do is point and shoot?  I got a book from one of my students who is self-taught and has the same camera as me and has turned into quite the photographer recently.  I don't know when I'll get time to start learning, but it's on the docket.

12? Really?

I'm in trouble.  Less than six months away, and I have two goals done. So, here are a few more.

• #12 - Lose 30 pounds - Why yes, yes I have.  I know I still have ten to go, but I'm feeling pretty good.
• #13 - Learn a new skill - This year I have starting learning about Photoshop- I've been able to design business cards, a presentation poster, and a real estate yard sign.  And although it's been freaking hard, I am pretty proud of what I can do.
• #14 - Pay off my Kohl's card - Yup - did it
• #15 - Learn how to make whole wheat bread - I make fantastic whole wheat bread- not gonna lie.
• #16 - Get Paul potty trained - seriously was getting to the point where I thought this was never going to happen - but yay!  It did.

That's all for right now.  Even though it appears I just sat down and thought of things I'd already done and set them as goals, not true.  I have so many things I want to do, I just don't take the time to write down.

Ohhhh - just thought of one - 

• #17 - Write consistently in my journal - At least once a week - Thanks Chels!

Working on it...

One of the things I have always wanted to have done is to have read "Jesus the Christ".  I've started it probably no less than 50 times, but never made it far.  This time, I'm persevering.  You can't be 30 and not have read it, right?

One more down

Finished David Copperfield last night!

Oh Dear...

**warning, this is a long post**

So... we have 6 months and counting until the big 3-0, so we're supposed to be on about #15 right?

HA!

Okay, I have been busy, but since I have only documented up to #3 (that's right, three!), let's see if we can check some more things off the list!

Okay, so one of the biggest things I have wanted to do/become before I turned 30 is to eat healthy, cook healthy, and feed my family healthy stuff so that we can all do all the things that we need to do.  I have always had an interest in this, but, let's face it, there is an ocean of misinformation out there and every little magazine you pick up at the Dr. office has advice on nutrition.  It IS difficult to sort through all this information and find the truth, which is why I've never really done it before.  It takes TIME!  (and who has time these days?)

But when it got to the point where it was affecting the health of my family, and my energy levels in trying to be pregnant and take care of the craziness that has been our life for the last few months, it was necessary.

So...I started with reading.

Shayla's item #4

Pretty much The-Best-Book-I-Have-Ever-Read-And-It-Changed-My-Life... 'nuff said.  I recommend it to anyone, whether you have kids or not.  It's just good information on how to live a long, healthy, disease free (including cancer free, diabetes free, asthma and allergy free, heart disease free, etc.) life and have the energy to get the most out of it.  Maybe I was just ignorant before, but I've always thought that cancer especially was not anything you could control whether you got it or not...such a stupid idea.  The book is very research based and it's almost frightening what we do to ourselves with our "western diet".  It gave me the kick start to get in gear and initiate major changes in our lives, and we've already seen some great results.  It has a lot of recipes in the back too.

We've been working with a specialist who has been saying a lot of the same things that I've been reading, so I asked him for some book recommendations.  He recommended the next 2 books.

Shayla's item #5

The specialist we've been working with warned me about the language of the book, but he thought the content was good enough to recommend.  I think he was right about most of the content. Obviously, they were marketing it to appeal to a certain type of person... and that person is not me.  So I didn't LOVE this book.  Good information, yes.  Bad language, yes.  And let's just say, not everyone is interested in eating healthy to have a sweet a**.  I just want to live a long and healthy life... so I don't necessarily recommend this book.  Also, there was a huge section of the book that was about animal cruelty, and while I think it is an issue, I don't think you have to scare people into not eating meat any more.  People are smart, and we can make informed decisions.

Shayla's item #6

This book was also recommended by that specialist.  It had a lot of really fantastic information, but it was not very well written at all.  It has a lot of information how hydrating your body properly actually can take care of a lot of common illnesses like colds, migraines, etc. and can help with bigger issues like diabetes, etc.  It jumped around a lot and read a lot like a medical journal in some parts, but again, good information.

Shayla's item #7

This also goes into the category of The-Best-Book-I-Have-Ever-Read-And-It-Changed-My-Life.  And I'm not even finished yet.  Why is this information not public knowledge?  If it was...I can't even imagine how life would be so different.  So good!

And I still need to get to:

and

and

So, I have been challenging myself to learn about a new kind of healthy food (or actually use a food I already know to be healthy) and use it in my meals.

Shayla's item #8

Quinoa.... a super food and one of the best protein sources on the earth.  I have had some mild success with this.  I made a good pesto quinoa tomato salad and it was pretty good as a hot cereal in the morning, but I need to continue to work on it.  I just found some good looking slow cooker recipes for it.

Shayla's item #9

Kale...Dr. Fuhrman's website sells a bumper sticker that says "Kale is the new Beef".  I thought it was funny, but I'm not sure I'm buying it yet.  But, I did make a Kale-apple smoothie this morning that was deelish.  Click here for the recipe.

Shayla's item #10

Bran...I've found some good recipes for this and need to keep experimenting.  The best so far has been homemade raisin bran. yumm.

Shayla's item #11

Flax seed...I know a lot of people that are really good about putting flax seed in everything, but I've never known what to do with it before, nor why it was so important, though I've bought it a few times.  So now, ground flaxseed goes in everything at our house.  Everything.

Shayla's item #12

Agave...meaning 100% raw organic agave in place of white sugar.  We have not used any white sugar at  our house in 2 months and already seen huge improvement.  Cory had 2 sebaceous cysts that have almost disappeared completely.  And yes, I've read the debate about agave.  I'm still doing some research and looking into stevia and other natural sweeteners.

Shayla's item #13

Almonds... I always knew they were good for you, but I've been trying to eat some almonds every day.  I put them in all smoothies I make and you can't even taste them.

Shayla's item #14

okay, this isn't really incorporating a new thing, but eradicating an old thing.  We haven't used a stitch of white flour for a few months and I gotta say, I don't feel like we're missing anything.  good riddance!

Shayla's item #15

Lentils...I just made the best lentil soup the other day.  I've been trying to incorporate a lot of other types of beans too, especially black beans.

Shayla's item #16

I'm just going to throw all of the little changes we've made into one.  Things like Almond milk instead of Cow's milk.  Raw peanut butter instead of the "regular" kind... plus this provides entertainment too: Jocelyn loves watching the machine smash the peanuts.  Our snacks are now mostly nuts and seeds and raw fruits and veggies.  I'm trying to buy organic more than I used to when affordable.  No cheese, etc.  Just little things that have added up.  And I'm not even going to count our failures... that's right, homemade brown rice milk IS as disgusting as it sounds, as is Burger King's Veggie burger (puke).

I'd love to start incorporating avacadoes, kefir, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, rye, barley, kamut, and spelt more... but line upon line, I guess.  Also, I need to be a lot better about when we eat away from home.  At this point, we are eating really well when at home, but when at others' houses and at restaurants, it's been harder to stick to.  Let's face it, I've always disliked those people who, when then come to your house, look down on your food and ask "well, what's in it?". 

So... there you have it.  A journey towards better health that will continue.  And if any of you have any great healthy recipes, send them to me, please!  I am starting to build our repertoire little by little (the first month we pretty much ate the same thing over and over)

 And...I'm caught up!  Here's to the next 6 months!

Moving right along do do do do do

Our relief society lesson today was sharing and discussing our wards goals that were set by our ward council.  There were several that have been running around in my mind for a while, but now I'm ready to commit. So here are some goals:

• #6 Family History and/or indexing four hours each month
• #7 Community service project at least once a year
• #8 Give a Book of Mormon to someone once a year

Check! on #8.  I gave one to a friend I work with who asked me some questions after seeing Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD's in my collection. It's the first one I've ever given away so I was pretty proud of myself!

One of my friends is using the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants about having a house of God.  119^aOrganize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a ^bhouse, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;

So this month we are working on:

• #9 Becoming a house of prayer - this means we are trying to say morning and night family prayers.  Mornings are hard for us, so we are really trying. 
• #10 I'm also trying to step it up in personal prayers - I'm pretty good at praying with Paul and Jared, but don't always take the time to pray myself.

Also, Shayla gave me the Deceptively Delicious cookbook, that you puree fruits and veggies and use them in kid-friendly recipes.  Because you have to plan to have the purees ready, I decided I'm really ready to plan my weekly meals.  I already use Cozi.com as my calendar, so I just have started planning a week at a time.  What my goal  is to 

• #11 Get to the point where I have a month worth of recipes, and can simply change they day they are on.  I have included ingredients in the notes section so I can include them on my weekly shopping list.  I have done one week so far.  

I'm excited to go part time next week (I hope!) and will do better on getting my goals done.  I have seriously slacked on the playing the hymns, so I need to get some headphones and do that while Paul is napping. So, there you have it.  Time to step it up!

Cheating doesn't work

Well,  I was hoping to "borrow" some of Shayla's goals and make them my own.  So far, though, cheating doesn't work. Since my choreography skills are about the level of the Macarena, I will not be attempting that.  Since I got a Kindle for Christmas and consequently don't have to haul David Copperfield around to read it, I may try that as well.  Maybe cheating will pay this one time.

• Goal #3 Read David Copperfield

My next goal comes from the fact that the craft section of my closet overfloweth with unfinished projects.  I am super good at starting projects.  Something always happens.  I run out of money to finish the project, I forget how to do it, it takes a lot more time than I think, blah, blah, blah.  So my

• Goal #4 Finish all my crafts in my closet before I start another one.
• Goal #5 Get my 72 hour kit together

So, there we go.  One goal down, 29 to go.