Learning

Sometimes in the last couple of weeks I have found myself lacking. Not doing the things that I usually do (like cleaning my house and making good dinners) and getting stressed/frustrated easily. It's not really bad, but I was trying to decide whats going on and I realized....I am just learning. Russ started his new job last month and the schedule is kinda crazy. 7-7 on three days and then off at 1 (but sometimes it is more like 2) on Tues and Fri. It is not that I hate this schedule, it is just taking some time for me to learn how to work around it. I definitely have not figured out how to do dinner yet and this shouldn't be hard, but I just don't have it down yet. I do make dinner, I am just not in a good flow.
Then there is William and his stubborn ways that need extra attention these days, trying to make and follow a budget, getting health insurance set up, house hunting, and trying to keep this place clean. When I say clean I mean organized because I am finding that we are running out of room here and I have a hard time staying motivated to organize and re-arrange when I think we will be moving soon.
So things will be better once I get a new routine down and learn to work with this schedule. Because it is awesome that Russ has a job he loves and that we have a budget to try and follow. It is wonderful that I have beautiful children (even if they are stubborn) to love, teach, and watch grow. And it is great that we have such a nice place to live while we have to endure the torture of finding a home to buy:)
I just have to tell myself, "don't worry, you're just learning".

Sounds good to me

I am planning on getting our family pictures taken this month, it is that time of year again:) I love family pictures...a lot. I am not sure why. Probably because I love my family so much and I like to look at pictures. So there you go, pictures of things I love. Anyway the girl I have asked to do our pictures just posted this on her blog:And not just school age kids! I am so glad my kids will be going to school when I will have options like this. I hate school pictures.

Click on this to go to her blog

Anyway, it sounds like a good idea to me.

The kids bathroom

Since we have had a contract for the house we are buying (okay before that:) I have been collecting pictures from the internets for inspiration for how to decorate it. I have decided to put them up on my blog so that I can view them when I am not home.

I will not be posting the links where I got these pictures mostly because I got them from places that were not the original source and I just don't know where they came from. If you want me to take anything down let me know and I will do so right away.

I am starting small with the kids bathroom. There is wall paper that needs to be taken down in there (bleh) but I found some tips to do it fairly easily and frugally. This is the main color inspiration.

This is how I want to do it. The toilet and bathtub and in a separate area with a door. I want to paint the door like this one and have the little room yellow and the sink area blueish. I am not sure about the door color. What do you think black or something else? We could do a different color. This is a (bad) picture of the shower curtain we will use there.
Oh, and these are some things I found thrift store shopping in Flagstaff. I think they will look cute with the blue-ish walls.

This is just another picture of colors together. So pretty.

And then I want these cabinets with the built in stools. I already showed my brother that works magic with wood and he is pretty sure he can do it.


Our bathroom will look nearly nothing like the pictures poster here but it should be fun to see how close I get to my "inspiration" rooms.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Breakfast - nearly every morning. Either on Alpine Valley spelt bread or Trader Joe's organic whole wheat bread.Lunch - Pesto Tuna sandwich

Mix homemade pesto with tuna and put on favorite bread with your favorite cheese. This is fontina on mine (Nice cheese is much less expensive at Trader Joe's, and I love me some nice cheese). Tomato with a little salt on it and some greens. Made for a yummy lunch.

Dinner - Apple Gorgonzola pizza

I actually got this recipe from Trader Joe's (I love their sample foods) I altered it a little. You get some whole wheat pizza dough (make your own of get it from TJ's like I do) and put alfredo sauce on it. Top with pieces of apple (they used pear at TJ's but I didn't have any) and sliced avocado and sliced onions. Then put 1/2 cup of gorgonzola cheese on top. Don't do more like we did...it is too strong. You could also use feta or something like it. I think the recipe called for some mozzeralla on top also (fresh of course) but I forgot to get some so we put all the gorgonzola on and it was very strong, but still good.

bake as long as it takes for your dough to bake or until the cheese is golden.
Let cool and then drizzle with balsamic vinegar. If you don't have any, don't fret it is good without it.
Now for my alfredo sauce recipe. You can use some from the jar, but if your like me you don't like that.

1 cube of cream cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Now some have been known to put a stick of butter in it also, but as I realized that the butter is mostly for the smooth consistency I could do without it and have a sorta grainy alfredo sauce. You could add butter in little increments if you think you need to. Russ also likes to add a bit of ricotta cheese if we have any left from when I do lasagna. We eat it about once a month on whole wheat pasta with steamed broccoli and chopped tomatoes. Yummy.

I realized while typing this that I wrote Trader Joe's a lot (which I will now refer to as TJ's). I do this because it is where I shop. I don't get my produce there I get it at the Superstition Ranch Market and then everything else at TJ's and we spend about $70.00 a WEEK on groceries (When I first typed this I wrote $70 a month, which I believe would be impossible and still be nourished. Sorry for the extreme error:). I am not sure if that is good or bad, but we can budget that much and feel like we are eating healthy and well. Sometimes if I am going to go to a regular grocery store I will get milk and Tilamook cheese:) And if I get a Costco card the we will probably spend $150 a week on food.

Food

So there are some gradual changes that have happened with me and food over the years. And it will continue to happen. It all started with pregnancy. I wanted to eat better for the baby but I also realized that it was something that I wanted to do for myself. I have learned bits here and there about how to eat better.
I'm in no way perfect, but I try. I think I have expressed somewhere on my blog(s) that I have cut way back on meat. This happened with my last pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage. I had known that I wanted to eat less meat, but I was stuck in a routine and menu plan. With that pregnancy I wanted nothing to do with raw meat and since I was the cook I would look at my menu plan before I would go to the store and substitute a vegetable that sounded good for the meat. Then we moved in with my sister who also doesn't eat a lot of meat and now I rarely buy it and I LOVE IT. I no longer have to wash the knives and cutting boards in between items and worry about getting everything the meat juice touched disinfected. I am not a germ freak unless it comes to the meat ones that can KILL. I also spend less money on groceries - awesome. and I am eating more veggies - double awesome.
Not too long ago I stumbled upon raw diets. People who eat everything raw and don't cook anything. I was confused when I first heard of this and didn't see how it was possible, but when I learned more I became very interested. Mainly because one of the things people on raw diets claim is to have more energy. I want that. It is a huge lifestyle change (tons of props to my friend Lauren for doing it) and one neither I or my family is ready for.
This is my plan:
breakfast -
oatmeal or 1 egg in a frame - egg in a piece of spelt(half the calories and carbs) toast.
Snack -
Green smoothies (which consist of fresh fruit a leafy green and a small amount of apple juice water and flax.)
Lunch -
Whatever it is half the plate will be raw veggies
Dinner -
Again half the plate will be raw (or almost raw;) veggies. (This one will take time to build up to because I don't believe in doing things all at once, it takes time)

And drink LOTS of water.

And I am hoping to get better at doing this menu so that by the new year we are eating much healthier and it will be a breeze because we are so used to it. Lets hope. Lets alos hope that we will be in our new house with a garden and our own chickens.

Pictured is what some call cowboy caviar or Texas caviar and I add it to fresh romaine and a few chips and and dressing. It is yummy and a great way to eat half a raw meal. I will try and share other good food ideas I have.

A good idea

My neighbor was telling me something that she heard of someone else doing and I wanted to do it to. Every time I read to Book of Mormon I get a new one and mark it all up with my thoughts and feelings as I read it, and then someday I will give it to one of my children or Grandchildren.

I finished the Book of Mormon this month so I went and got a new one for a couple bucks and started reading and marking it up. I can tell already that this is going to be good. When I know someone will be coming behind me and reading it I am more likely to comment on the things that mean the most to me. I wonder how each books markings will change over the years?

I think it is a neat way to share my beliefs for those who will come after me.

Sweet thrift store shopping

Last Saturday I stopped by Goodwill on my way to my sisters (I was going to crash a writing group and I got very excited about their great writing project, but not enough to start one of my own:) Anyway, it was a good thing I decided to stop by because I found a couch I love. And if we actually get this house we are trying to buy we will need more than the one couch we have.

It met the requirements that I had:

gold-ish yellowish color

old

good condition

comfy

except I really wanted something tufted, but I never see those second hand so I gave up on that one.

And as I was walking through the store I spotted these

And these

and could not leave without them, Mimi calls them my Penelope shoes.

All in all it was a fabulous shopping day and the total price tag?

$25.00
I don't think I will be able to shop at a real store again.