Shipped Out!

Oh, if only blog posts could get published directly from my brain.  I am still trying to work regular blog posting back into my daily schedule.  As you may have noticed, I have been cleaning house around here.  The design is still frustrating me a bit.  My social networking buttons don't look the way I'd like them to, but I just cannot seem to come up with a workable solution.  Feel free to leave ANY input for me.  All comments and suggestions are welcome.  I'd like to have the simple, square buttons next to each other, but I honestly do not think it's possible with this blog format.  Anyhow...

A lot has been transpiring in the Smith Household over the past couple of months.  Our oldest son left for Navy Boot Camp the beginning of September.  We had an amazing going away party for him.  We even managed to pull it off as a surprise.  How cool is that in a family as large as ours?  Not to mention the fact that he was still living at home at the time.  Here are a few highlights from the celebration:

"You mean this is all for me?"

Andrew's second grade teacher, Mrs. Miyamoto was a HUGE surprise!

Nana and Tony were a nice surprise, too.  They came all the way from Florida!

A special blessing for Andrew before we got too far into the fun.

Since he won't be here on his birthday, for the first time ever, we sang to him
over  his favorite  birthday dessert, Banana Pudding.  Yes, that is a punch
bowl full of  Banana Pudding, and there wasn't a drop left!

You know I had to include a shot of Little Man!

It's not the whole family.  We were missing Amie and Steven and Amy.

Grandma and Grandpa Sheldon.  Our rocks!

Andrew being himself!

*All above photos courtesy of Don't Blink Photography.

As you can tell, we had a wonderful celebration.  There were SO MANY people here!  I've never hosted such a large party.  I can tell you something.  I totally understand why people have large parties catered.  I did an extremely simple menu, but it didn't matter.  It was SO difficult to socialize with our guests.  Some people came and went, and I never even knew they were here.  There were people I had never met, people I had not seen in over a year, and people that were just down right dear to me that I would have LOVED to chat with.  It was just impossible.  That being said, everyone had a spectacular time, including myself.  The best part is that Andrew got to spend time with so many people that were dear to him, and it really did help us send him off in style.

The next day we spent the entire day hanging out together on our boat with Andrew's cousin.  It was a lot of fun, and it gave us some time to relax after such a whirlwind of a weekend.  The boat is new to our family, and it really enables us to have some spectacular adventures.  We have a bit to learn, but that will come next summer.  Avery loves the water, as you can tell:

These boys are two peas in a pod!

The next task on our agenda was to send Andrew off.  On our last day together as a family under the same roof we had breakfast at one of our local haunts and headed to Downtown Port Huron to walk the boardwalk at Vantage Point.  Andrew and Avery had some great quality time together.

Racing down the boardwalk.

After taking it slow, hanging out together, and just soaking in every last minute we could before he left, the time finally came where we had to head to the recruiter's office.  The guys there are super friendly, hospitable, and supportive.  It was nice to have the last little bit of time together that we did.

Some final paperwork.

Avery kept busy with the aircraft carrier.
Andrew had one when he was a little guy.

Brothers through and through.

The final farewell.

As time would have it, you are sharing this experience with us as we prepare for another emotional jog in this journey.  Currently, we are preparing for a road trip to Chicago to watch Andrew graduate from Boot Camp.  If you knew our family personally you would know just how big of a deal this is.  Andrew has wanted nothing other than a military career since he was the age of five.  I never in a million years would have imagined encouraging anyone, let a lone any of my children, to enlist in active duty military.  Don't get me wrong.  I appreciate each and every member of the U.S. Armed Forces, and I praise God for my freedom.  It's just a scary venture seeing anyone accept such a calling in their life.  However, it brings me great joy to watch our son realize such an awesome dream.  There has been plenty of hard work along the way, and he overcame many hurdles.

I know this was a decision that Andrew did not take lightly.  He spent the better part of two years searching and praying and making certain that this was indeed the calling on his life.  God walked with him hand in hand through this journey, and I have faith that God will continue to be with him every step of his natural life.  Knowing this brings me great peace in wherever this journey make take Andrew.  My aunt once said to me, "God needs people everywhere."  Yes, I do believe he does.  God does indeed have a plan for each one of us, but there is a special joy in watching anyone, especially our children, realize something sought after with such passion and determination.

After graduation Andrew will head to San Antonio to complete A School to become a Hospital Corpsman.  This will mean he will have achieved another ambition; a career in the medical field.  So exciting!  I don't know where God and the U.S. Navy will take him after that, but I do know that our prayers will follow him wherever he travels.

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that a lot has gone on in our household over the past couple of months.  I guess the rest of the stories will be told a later date.  You'll just have to come back, and visit me again.

Take the Challenge...I Dare You!

If you've been paying attention for any length of time you may remember that I did a fast back in June to kick start a new approach to eating and health.  As I shared previously it was a great success.  I have continued on to lose nearly 25 pounds, which I am thrilled about.  It's especially noteworthy for me, as I did not slip back into old habits despite tremendous stress over the past couple of months.  There were times when I did allow myself to sway from my plan of no wheat and no sugar.  Fortunately, the times were few and far between, and one time of eating a sandwich on wheat bread instead of lettuce did not result in me throwing the baby out with the bathwater and just diving back into consuming bread on a regular basis.  I was able to have a sandwich, be okay with it, and continue on my journey.  If you know me at all you know this is totally awesome since my normal M.O. is to completely disregard diet in times of extreme stress and pressure.  I guess I must be serious since it didn't happen this time.  I'm attributing most of my success to my constant pleas to God to help me stay on track and keep me focused on the end goal; a healthy lifestyle.

The other day I was tooling around online and happened upon this challenge.  Apparently the challenge began back in 2009 with an idea.  It has grown in success, participation, and coverage over the past couple years.  I read through the website, and thought to myself, "Why not?  I've already made such drastic changes in my diet.  How hard could it be?"  Well, I guess we'll find out.  I signed up for the challenge yesterday.  The commitment is to eat no processed foods for the entire month of October.  What is unprocessed food, you might ask.  Well, the simple definition from Eating Rules is this:

"Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person 

with reasonable skill in a home kitchen 

with readily available, whole-food ingredients"

If you'd like a more elaborate example of what exactly is considered 'readily available' or 'whole-food' then you can read about it in much greater detail on their website under Defining Unprocessed.  To me it seems quite simple.  If it doesn't come in a package with a label full of unrecognizable ingredients than odds are its suitable for a month of eating only unprocessed foods.  In my line of thinking a bag of frozen corn would work, as would a container of fresh peanut butter that only contains ground peanuts or a jar of pure honey.  If there are flavorings or additives on the ingredient list, then it's a no go.  So, I guess there will be some label reading going on if anything other than fresh produce is to be consumed.

So?  What do you think?  Are you up for the challenge?

It's Just Weird

Those of you that have big families know that there are certain things that are just unique to being a large family.  Since our family has been steadily downsizing I have been noticing things changing, and it is just weird.

It's weird that...

...I am actually considering not renewing my Sam's Club and Costco memberships.

...I have to keep all produce in the refrigerator so it keeps fresh long enough for us to eat it.

...I have room to keep all of my produce, including fruit, in my refrigerator.

...there are often TWO spare seats in our vehicle when we travel somewhere.

...we can all go somewhere in ONE normal sized vehicle.

...it is quiet in my home way more often than it is noisy.

...it costs just as much to feed our family of three as it did when we were a family of nine.

...there are leftovers when I make an 8 x 8 pan of lasagna.

...I can feed my entire family with just one 8 x 8 pan of anything!

...cooking for three is more challenging than cooking for nine.

...there are NO teenagers living in my house.

...we now have two extra phones and no land line.

...paper lunch sacks have officially disappeared from my cupboards.

...we create as many dirty dishes in a week as we used to in a day.

...I can go two or three days without doing dishes at all, and it's no big deal.

...not having a dishwasher doesn't even matter.

...a package of 100 paper plates lasts over a month.

...there are several extra chairs at the dinner table.

...I officially have more grandchildren than I do children.

...we have five bedrooms and one child.

...there is actually a shortage of bed linens.  What happened to all that bedding, anyway?

...sometimes it is cheaper to eat out than it is to eat in.

...I actually have to throw food in the freezer to prevent it from spoiling because we don't eat it quickly enough.

...the same amount of animals live in our home as people.

...toiletries last forever, and I do not have to purchase industrial sizes of anything!

...we have one son in the Navy, one at Wayne State, and one in diapers.

I am sure there are plenty more things to add to this list, but these are the things I've noticed so far.  More and more differences between then and now become apparent as time presses on.

I really is just weird.

...

Friday Farmgirls - Thankful

Raspberries

Right now I am thankful for things that are naturally occurring in my yard.  This picture of the raspberries was taken a couple weeks ago, and honestly, with this heat and all the bugs, I've only been back out once to check on them.  We did enjoy gleaning them on that walk, though.  Little Man can't get enough!

With our daughter's wedding taking place during the planting season and the fact that it has gotten so ridiculously hot since we returned home I have not done as much in my yard as I would like.  I feel guilty for not capitalizing on my land.  I feel like I'm missing a wonderful opportunity this year.  I did plant one purple pepper plant that is producing fruit, and I planted eight heirloom tomato plants that are sill quite small.  I'm guessing we'll have tomatoes after most everyone else.  Oh, I also planted a horseradish plant.  The hubby loves horseradish, so we'll see what happens with that.  

I did throw some asparagus into the ground as well, and we all know that won't be a crop for a few years anyhow.  The blueberry plants that I put in the ground in the spring are still VERY scraggly.  At least the cherry tree is doing well.  We had a massive Japanese Beetle infestation that disappeared as quickly as it appeared.  They didn't do too much damage.

I'm still waiting for my replacement Jane Magnolia tree.  It was a huge disappointment to have it die.  I do believe it was dead when I received it, not dormant like was thought.  It is heart breaking as I planted it over my beloved Gypsy dog.  Hopefully, the new one will come soon.

With this heat and some unexpected health issues that I will write about at a later date I have not made the progress with my yard I was hoping for this year.  Does anyone else suffer from guilt related to stuff like this?  I don't know what my deal is, but I am pretty good at feeling guilty.  I had big dreams of preserving food that I grew from my own labor.  It looks like that plan will be moved to next year, and I will support the local farmers again this summer.  The markets are starting to open with actual produce, as opposed to just flowers, here in Michigan.

For now, I will live vicariously through the gardens of others and be thankful for what I do have.  I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of you have accomplished in your yards.  So, please do share!

  

First Step Taken

It appears that the fast was successful for both hubby and myself.  I am glad that we ended up doing it together.  The desired outcome was achieved.  We both did lose a little weight, but it truly was the first step toward eating healthfully and more consciously.  An entire week passed by with no eating out and no grain consumption.  It's a miracle!  Well, maybe not a miracle, but it is a humongous accomplishment for the both of us to be sure.

We both have developed some terrible habits over the last several years.  The worst, by far in my opinion, is regularly dining out.  Back in the day dining out was a special treat and something in which we rarely indulged.  Then, the kids got older.  Before you knew it we went from having seven children living at home to just three.  Eating out picked up a bit.  Then, we were down to two at home.  Then, we went from two teens to one young adult and a new baby.  Holy cow did we ever start eating out a lot!  It wasn't like we woke up one day and decided that we'd rather eat out than eat at home.  There was no conscious decision made by anyone.  It just kind of crept into our lifestyle.

Eventually, hubby eased into eating carry out in one form or another EVERY DAY at work.  Not to mention the occasional breakfast at the restaurant before work and the occasional dinner out with me after work.  On top of all of his eating out I started eating out with the remaining boys as well.  It was nothing for me to grab some Mexican food for lunch while running errands or to allow myself to be 'conned' into the occasional stop at Coney Island.  Basically my average became about two or three times per week eating out.  For someone that has to be super particular about what she consumes in order to be fit and healthy eating out is not a good thing.  At least it wasn't with my previous attitude about it.

See, even though eating out had become regular and normal and expected I was treating it like it was still a special treat.  With it being a 'special treat' I was still of the mindset to indulge in items that I would not normally eat or prepare at home.  Things that are not so friendly to my waist line.  I have to be careful with the carbs.  Bread and pasta, even whole grain, are terrible for me.  They pack on the pounds.  Not to mention my meal out was almost always meat based.  This fast allowed me to take a break from grain completely, and I did okay without it.  Even though our fast is over I do plan to continue with no grains for this week as well.  It seems to make a tremendous difference.

This past week of fasting has allowed me the time necessary to dig a little deeper into researching food and how it effects our health and weight.  Why does it have to be so complicated?  It's a wonder more people are not obese or deceased with the corruption in our food system.  I seriously feel like I need to be a detective in order to figure out what to eat and be healthy.  I mean, certain things are obvious.  Don't eat fast food.  Don't eat processed food.  Stay away from sugar.  Caffeine really isn't good for you.  Meat and dairy may not be a good idea either.  Vegetables are important.  Fruit is good for you.  I'd say that's about where the beginner knowledge level stops.

Then, you get into the more complicated stuff like Monsanto, GMO's, pesticides, food additives, the corruption of the food system, wheat (or is it?) and other grains, good and bad oils, and on, and on, and on. Somewhere along the way I discovered information about eating for your blood type as well.  That is pretty compelling and definitely got my attention.  When I read about it it was completely like it had been written just for me in describing my blood type, and wouldn't you know it that I have the most complicated one of all; AB.  Oh, yippee!

Oh, then I learned about the Paleo Diet.  It seems all the rage right now and really does make some sense.  It's about eating foods that do not require additional processing to be consumed.  So, things like grains and dry beans and dairy would be out.  It's mostly fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats.  Not too bad, really.

My bottom line, at the moment, is eat mostly vegetables, some fruit, no sugar, no grains, and little meat.  The vegetables and fruits are no big deal.  Sugar is a little challenging.  Grains will get added in slowly starting with rice next week.  I also plan to switch all my flour to rice flour for a while and experiment with baking some of my own things like tortilla shells, bread, and healthy baked goods from scratch.  Meat really isn't a big deal either.  We only eat venison that we procure and process ourselves and beef from our friend's farm. I plan to add lamb and turkey when I manage to find a good, local source.  The hubby also eats fish, but I am allergic.  Since I don't purchase what I call 'grocery store meat' we are a little more conservative on our consumption already.  My current goal is to not consume meat more than once per week.

I have spent hours on Pinterest researching foods that fit my new requirements, and I have even been taking mine and the hubby's blood type recommendations into consideration as well.  I absolutely LOVE Pepperplate and have been using that to collect all the recipes I plan or desire to actually cook at some point.  It's awesome, because I can use Pepperplate to create menus, create a meal planner, and print a grocery list.  It really is an awesome tool, and it's FREE!  I originally discovered it as a free download on my Kindle Fire. It sat there for a while without me realizing what an awesome tool I had at my fingertips.  I use it all the time now.  We are even using it to catalog and edit our recipes for the cookbook I am co-writing.  If you've been around here regularly you know that this is an on-going project of many years.  We are finally ready to start wrapping it up and hope to have it completed within a year.  So excited to finally see a light at the end of the tunnel on that one!

It has been hitting me lately just how much time actually goes into food in our lives.  Some of us grow it, so we have to plan our gardens, procure our seeds, plant and tend our gardens, and preserve the spoils.  Even if you don't do all that there's still learning to cook, planning the meals, shopping for the food, loading and unloading the food, preparing the food, and cleaning up afterward.  Plus, we have to stay educated on food prices, availability, and quality.  It's a cycle that can never end.  We all have to eat and feed our families.

No wonder I was dining out so much!