 |
| Eliza Island, WA |
 |
| White Sand (Black Hills, SD) |
 |
| Antelope Island (Salt Lake City, UT) |
 |
| Just North of the Valley of the Gods, UT |
 |
| Minnesota (not sure which lake!) |
 |
| Montana |
 |
| Palisade Head (North Shore of Lake Superior, MN) |
 |
| Home |
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Mostly Wordless Wednesday: Some Beautiful Places
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
-4 Letters.
Dear Hubby, you are sick. I'm okay with that. It's all of -4 degrees
outside at the moment, and you're in our bed, safe and warm and not
lifting heavy things, breathing humidified air and drinking a
Avocado/Banana smoothie.
Dear computer, How come it's so much more fun to check Pinterest and Facebook and Blogger than it is to work on online classes?
Dear pile of dirty laundry, Stop looking at me like that. The washer and dryer are in our bedroom, where my sick husband is sleeping. You'll have to stay dirty a little longer.
I'm content right now to sit on my couch, keep the curtains closed to the cold outside world, and cut out quilt squares from Zeke's old, beat up coat. To smell the pot of water, orange peel, and cinnamon I have simmering on the stove. To forget about the dishes and just be for a little while. It's enough.
Dear computer, How come it's so much more fun to check Pinterest and Facebook and Blogger than it is to work on online classes?
Dear pile of dirty laundry, Stop looking at me like that. The washer and dryer are in our bedroom, where my sick husband is sleeping. You'll have to stay dirty a little longer.
I'm content right now to sit on my couch, keep the curtains closed to the cold outside world, and cut out quilt squares from Zeke's old, beat up coat. To smell the pot of water, orange peel, and cinnamon I have simmering on the stove. To forget about the dishes and just be for a little while. It's enough.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Maintenance Man Monday
Welcome to the first installation of my new weekly series!
When did it become socially acceptable for women to whine about their husbands? I have several married friends and work with many married women at schools, and the one thing that most married women have in common is that we complain. About our men. It almost becomes a contest sometimes- who's husband is the most disgusting/most inconsiderate/dumbest/laziest. Why do we do that? We should be raising our husbands up, being grateful for them and praising them in private and in public. Instead, how many times do we complain to our friends about his latest failing?
I, for one, am going to start bragging about my hunky maintenance man husband!
The other day, I heard someone say, "Women go into marriage hoping they can change the man, and men go into marriage hoping the woman will never change." Is this true of you? Do you sometimes wish you could change some things about your husband? I know I do sometimes.
One of those things is that my husband tends to empty his pockets all around the house, leaving little piles of stuff wherever. Yeah, it drove me crazy for a little while, and yes, it would be nice if he would just empty his pockets into a basket by the front door.
And then I started looking at those little piles. No one but a maintenance man, or maybe a mechanic, comes home with such a variety of things. I started taking pictures of his little piles of junk (before putting them away!). I've come to appreciate all the things he does for me and all the work he does around camp, and those little piles are just part of his work ethic and commitment to his job.
HH always takes a personal interest in whatever he's doing. He takes ownership, and whatever he does, he does well. It's one of the things I love most about him. And those little piles remind me of that.
When did it become socially acceptable for women to whine about their husbands? I have several married friends and work with many married women at schools, and the one thing that most married women have in common is that we complain. About our men. It almost becomes a contest sometimes- who's husband is the most disgusting/most inconsiderate/dumbest/laziest. Why do we do that? We should be raising our husbands up, being grateful for them and praising them in private and in public. Instead, how many times do we complain to our friends about his latest failing?
I, for one, am going to start bragging about my hunky maintenance man husband!
The other day, I heard someone say, "Women go into marriage hoping they can change the man, and men go into marriage hoping the woman will never change." Is this true of you? Do you sometimes wish you could change some things about your husband? I know I do sometimes.
One of those things is that my husband tends to empty his pockets all around the house, leaving little piles of stuff wherever. Yeah, it drove me crazy for a little while, and yes, it would be nice if he would just empty his pockets into a basket by the front door.
And then I started looking at those little piles. No one but a maintenance man, or maybe a mechanic, comes home with such a variety of things. I started taking pictures of his little piles of junk (before putting them away!). I've come to appreciate all the things he does for me and all the work he does around camp, and those little piles are just part of his work ethic and commitment to his job.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Frugal Friday: Water Bottles
Money escapes our homes in big ways and in small ways. The bigger things (like tuition payments, large purchases, insurance) are the ones that stick in our minds. We keep track of how much we spend on those big-ticket items.
However, as much as the big stuff hurts our wallets, the smaller items are the ones that sneak into our pockets and end up costing us a lot of money.
One of those things are disposable water bottles. We drink a lot of water around here, especially in the summer, what with a constantly working maintenance man and all. Water bottles are convenient, they may taste better than your tap water (my tap water tastes like lake in the summer... ew), and they don't seem that terribly expensive.
Oh, but they are. Just do the math!
Our solution?
We bought a bunch of BPA-free water bottles (and found one- it was in the lost and found for four years!). Every time one is emptied, it gets washed, dried, refilled, and stuck back in the fridge. Not only is this a better option cost-wise, but it's also better for the environment.
What about the taste? We also purchased a filter to put onto our kitchen faucet. This one switches from filtered to non-filtered by turning a knob. So far, we've only gone through one of the disposable filter inserts, and we've had the thing since July... so... six months. And like I said, we drink a lot of water.
It may seem like such a little change, but every little bit helps! If you're a big plastic water bottle person, give it a try!
Even if you don't drink a lot of water, consider changing switching to good old H20. Sugary beverages are super expensive, even more so than water bottles. Convenient? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Good for you? No. Cheap? No.
Making small changes to make yourself just a little more frugal is what it's all about.
However, as much as the big stuff hurts our wallets, the smaller items are the ones that sneak into our pockets and end up costing us a lot of money.
One of those things are disposable water bottles. We drink a lot of water around here, especially in the summer, what with a constantly working maintenance man and all. Water bottles are convenient, they may taste better than your tap water (my tap water tastes like lake in the summer... ew), and they don't seem that terribly expensive.
Oh, but they are. Just do the math!
Our solution?
We bought a bunch of BPA-free water bottles (and found one- it was in the lost and found for four years!). Every time one is emptied, it gets washed, dried, refilled, and stuck back in the fridge. Not only is this a better option cost-wise, but it's also better for the environment.
What about the taste? We also purchased a filter to put onto our kitchen faucet. This one switches from filtered to non-filtered by turning a knob. So far, we've only gone through one of the disposable filter inserts, and we've had the thing since July... so... six months. And like I said, we drink a lot of water.
It may seem like such a little change, but every little bit helps! If you're a big plastic water bottle person, give it a try!
Even if you don't drink a lot of water, consider changing switching to good old H20. Sugary beverages are super expensive, even more so than water bottles. Convenient? Yes. Delicious? Yes. Good for you? No. Cheap? No.
Making small changes to make yourself just a little more frugal is what it's all about.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Regrets (a Tattoo Story)
Confession time.
I have a tattoo. Well, two of them actually, but they're in the same general place and are linked together to look like one, even though I got them at different times.
I got the first one when I was sixteen, with my parents' permission (what were they thinking?). It's a small Japanese symbol on the right side of my lower back. It means "light."
My mom said, from the get-go, that when I'm fifty, I'll say "dumb-head."
I got "light" to remind me to be light to the world. I was very over-dramatic about the meaning, the tattoo... I tried to be a very deep teenager. Philosophical. In all honesty, the main reason for getting the tattoo was the attention. I thought it would be cool.
Two years later, I wanted to expand on the idea (and wanted more attention), so I added "moon" to the tattoo, making it "moonlight." Once again, I was very philosophical about it- as moon is the reflection of the sun, so am I supposed to be a reflection of the light of God. I said that exact sentence anytime anyone asked me about it. Like I said, over-dramatic.
It's been six years since I got the second part. Half the time, when I see the tattoo in the shower, I'm surprised. I forget it's there. The other half of the time, I'm embarrassed about it. I wouldn't get it again. The idea of putting something permanent on my body... forever altering what God designed... I don't know. I guess it's just not my style anymore. My husband isn't such a fan of it (he says I'm beautiful just the way I am), and I don't think it's nearly as cool as I used to. I'm glad I had the foresight to get the tattoo somewhere where I can easily cover it up, but that's about the only thing I still like about it.
It's a regret. When I'm asked about it now (like at the pool or when my shirt rides up by accident), I usually say that it was a stupid decision that a silly immature me decided on. Zeke says that I should stop saying that. And he may be right.
Because you know what? Even at the immature and silly as I was at sixteen, and then at eighteen, I knew who I was. I knew that I was (and am) a child of God, a light to the world. Yeah, the way I chose to express it isn't the way I would do so now. Despite my regrets about the tattoo that comes everywhere with me, I have no regrets about who I am in Christ.
I have a tattoo. Well, two of them actually, but they're in the same general place and are linked together to look like one, even though I got them at different times.
I got the first one when I was sixteen, with my parents' permission (what were they thinking?). It's a small Japanese symbol on the right side of my lower back. It means "light."
My mom said, from the get-go, that when I'm fifty, I'll say "dumb-head."
I got "light" to remind me to be light to the world. I was very over-dramatic about the meaning, the tattoo... I tried to be a very deep teenager. Philosophical. In all honesty, the main reason for getting the tattoo was the attention. I thought it would be cool.
Two years later, I wanted to expand on the idea (and wanted more attention), so I added "moon" to the tattoo, making it "moonlight." Once again, I was very philosophical about it- as moon is the reflection of the sun, so am I supposed to be a reflection of the light of God. I said that exact sentence anytime anyone asked me about it. Like I said, over-dramatic.
It's been six years since I got the second part. Half the time, when I see the tattoo in the shower, I'm surprised. I forget it's there. The other half of the time, I'm embarrassed about it. I wouldn't get it again. The idea of putting something permanent on my body... forever altering what God designed... I don't know. I guess it's just not my style anymore. My husband isn't such a fan of it (he says I'm beautiful just the way I am), and I don't think it's nearly as cool as I used to. I'm glad I had the foresight to get the tattoo somewhere where I can easily cover it up, but that's about the only thing I still like about it.
It's a regret. When I'm asked about it now (like at the pool or when my shirt rides up by accident), I usually say that it was a stupid decision that a silly immature me decided on. Zeke says that I should stop saying that. And he may be right.
Because you know what? Even at the immature and silly as I was at sixteen, and then at eighteen, I knew who I was. I knew that I was (and am) a child of God, a light to the world. Yeah, the way I chose to express it isn't the way I would do so now. Despite my regrets about the tattoo that comes everywhere with me, I have no regrets about who I am in Christ.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Mostly Wordless Wednesday
 |
| Pet shaming |
I thought Tucker Turtle could use a little shaming...
Maintenance Man Noir...
I'm working on a quilt! Isn't it pretty?!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Juicing Update
After that long and drawn out post about why we're juicing, I'll make this one short and sweet for you! Here's the report of how we're doing:
Friday: We continue on our two-meal-replacement juicing. We had the Giggling Gorilla Smoothie for breakfast- 1/2 head of romaine, 2 peeled and frozen bananas, 2 peeled and seeded oranges, 1 mango, and 2 cups water. We added a little ice, too. I should have cut out some of the more "stemmy" parts of the romaine, and I should have peeled the mango (I was in a rush!)- that would have improved the texture a lot. The flavor wasn't bad. Zeke said it tasted "good, and then like a garden." We had our solid lunch, and then for supper we had Be A Man Juice- 1 bunch kale, 2 apples, 3 lemons, 4 celery stalks, and a thumb of ginger. I abbreviated the name of this juice on the menu board to "Man Juice"... which got an eyebrow raise from Hunky Husband. Wow. This juice was SOUR. Those lemons were the primary flavor, and they really took over the juice. That one'll grow hair on your chest!
Saturday: The last day of one solid meal before we launch into full-time juicing. We started out the day with Jet Pack Smoothie- 2 cups seedless grapes, 3 peeled kiwis, 1 peeled and seeded orange, 5 leaves red leaf lettuce, 2 cups water, and a little ice. I liked this one. It wasn't very sweet, but the flavors worked pretty well together. We ate at a Chinese buffet for lunch (Hunky Husband's "last meal" request), and then had Lemonade Zing Juice- 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch red grapes, 1 lemon, 1 pear- for supper. I added the pear onto the original recipe because our pears are really ripe and I wanted to use them up. This juice was a total hit. Both of us loved it. This recipe made a lot of juice, so we shared one batch, but it was so good that we each could have downed a whole batch ourselves. I noticed that I was still going strong at 10:00 pm- not sure if it was the juice, sleeping in this morning, or having a later supper after washing Zeke's truck. Either way, I'll take the extra energy anytime!
Sunday: This is the day we learned what beets taste like. Oh yeah. We had Three Root Juice for lunch- 1 beet, 3 carrots, 1/2 a sweet potato. Ew. Ew, ew, ew. If you like beets, more power to you, but we really (REALLY) don't like beets. They taste like dirt. Honestly. Dirt. This juice was another tough one to get down. Luckily, we had an AvoBanana Smoothie for breakfast to hold us over- 2 bananas, 1/2 avocado, 1 c spinach, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup ice. This has to be my favorite smoothie yet. Yum yum yum! This day was supposed to be our "no solids" day, but Zeke's family came into town... and so we had Dairy Queen with them. Whoops.
Monday: We started the day with a Mile High Smoothie-1 banana, 3 strawberries, 1 apple, 1/2 c yogurt, 1/2 c water, a handful of ice. This was another good one- really thick and filling. For lunch, we attempted to down some more beet with the Velvet Elvis- 4 carrots, 1/4 beet, 2 apples, 1 orange. This one was way better than the last. Beets in much smaller amounts are way more palatable. Supper was the Mean Green- 6 kale leaves, 1 cucumber, 4 celery stalks, 2 green apples, 1/2 lemon, 1 piece ginger. I noticed that today (due to the beets from yesterday) my poop was red. Oh yeah. Personal now.
Tuesday: Breakfast was a filling green smoothie to start the day off right- Green Smoothie No. 1- 2 bananas, 1 apple (or pear), 5 strawberries, a handful of spinach, 1 c water, handful ice. This one was pretty good, too. I think our taste buds might be adapting to a lower-sugar diet! Lunch was Sweet Potato Medley- 1 peeled sweet potato, 5 carrots, 1/2 pineapple. This one was very sweet, and we both liked it. Zeke's dad rolled into town at suppertime (surprise!) and we again killed our diet by going out to eat.
From this point on, we started repeating recipes that we liked (and NEVER AGAIN trying the ones we didn't!!). A couple of highlights for the rest of the week?
- We had noticeably more energy.
- We did cheat a little- if we got really hungry in the evening, Zeke and I would have a carrot or apple to tide us over. I think that helped with keeping enough fiber in our systems because...
- Poop was still present. I was worried that eliminating some of the fiber from our diets would be bad for our digestive... regularity. No issues there, I'd think because of the snacks and smoothies.
We planned to keep up with the all-juice regimen until Friday evening, and then reward ourselves with some "real" food when we went to run errands in the city. Friday evening rolled around, and...
We both lost weight! Zeke lost 15 pounds in just these two weeks, and I lost 3 pounds. Whoo hoo!
Friday: We continue on our two-meal-replacement juicing. We had the Giggling Gorilla Smoothie for breakfast- 1/2 head of romaine, 2 peeled and frozen bananas, 2 peeled and seeded oranges, 1 mango, and 2 cups water. We added a little ice, too. I should have cut out some of the more "stemmy" parts of the romaine, and I should have peeled the mango (I was in a rush!)- that would have improved the texture a lot. The flavor wasn't bad. Zeke said it tasted "good, and then like a garden." We had our solid lunch, and then for supper we had Be A Man Juice- 1 bunch kale, 2 apples, 3 lemons, 4 celery stalks, and a thumb of ginger. I abbreviated the name of this juice on the menu board to "Man Juice"... which got an eyebrow raise from Hunky Husband. Wow. This juice was SOUR. Those lemons were the primary flavor, and they really took over the juice. That one'll grow hair on your chest!
Saturday: The last day of one solid meal before we launch into full-time juicing. We started out the day with Jet Pack Smoothie- 2 cups seedless grapes, 3 peeled kiwis, 1 peeled and seeded orange, 5 leaves red leaf lettuce, 2 cups water, and a little ice. I liked this one. It wasn't very sweet, but the flavors worked pretty well together. We ate at a Chinese buffet for lunch (Hunky Husband's "last meal" request), and then had Lemonade Zing Juice- 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch red grapes, 1 lemon, 1 pear- for supper. I added the pear onto the original recipe because our pears are really ripe and I wanted to use them up. This juice was a total hit. Both of us loved it. This recipe made a lot of juice, so we shared one batch, but it was so good that we each could have downed a whole batch ourselves. I noticed that I was still going strong at 10:00 pm- not sure if it was the juice, sleeping in this morning, or having a later supper after washing Zeke's truck. Either way, I'll take the extra energy anytime!
Sunday: This is the day we learned what beets taste like. Oh yeah. We had Three Root Juice for lunch- 1 beet, 3 carrots, 1/2 a sweet potato. Ew. Ew, ew, ew. If you like beets, more power to you, but we really (REALLY) don't like beets. They taste like dirt. Honestly. Dirt. This juice was another tough one to get down. Luckily, we had an AvoBanana Smoothie for breakfast to hold us over- 2 bananas, 1/2 avocado, 1 c spinach, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup ice. This has to be my favorite smoothie yet. Yum yum yum! This day was supposed to be our "no solids" day, but Zeke's family came into town... and so we had Dairy Queen with them. Whoops.
 |
| Beet juice does make really pretty colors... (Three Root Juice being blended with ice) |
Monday: We started the day with a Mile High Smoothie-1 banana, 3 strawberries, 1 apple, 1/2 c yogurt, 1/2 c water, a handful of ice. This was another good one- really thick and filling. For lunch, we attempted to down some more beet with the Velvet Elvis- 4 carrots, 1/4 beet, 2 apples, 1 orange. This one was way better than the last. Beets in much smaller amounts are way more palatable. Supper was the Mean Green- 6 kale leaves, 1 cucumber, 4 celery stalks, 2 green apples, 1/2 lemon, 1 piece ginger. I noticed that today (due to the beets from yesterday) my poop was red. Oh yeah. Personal now.
Tuesday: Breakfast was a filling green smoothie to start the day off right- Green Smoothie No. 1- 2 bananas, 1 apple (or pear), 5 strawberries, a handful of spinach, 1 c water, handful ice. This one was pretty good, too. I think our taste buds might be adapting to a lower-sugar diet! Lunch was Sweet Potato Medley- 1 peeled sweet potato, 5 carrots, 1/2 pineapple. This one was very sweet, and we both liked it. Zeke's dad rolled into town at suppertime (surprise!) and we again killed our diet by going out to eat.
From this point on, we started repeating recipes that we liked (and NEVER AGAIN trying the ones we didn't!!). A couple of highlights for the rest of the week?
- We had noticeably more energy.
- We did cheat a little- if we got really hungry in the evening, Zeke and I would have a carrot or apple to tide us over. I think that helped with keeping enough fiber in our systems because...
- Poop was still present. I was worried that eliminating some of the fiber from our diets would be bad for our digestive... regularity. No issues there, I'd think because of the snacks and smoothies.
We planned to keep up with the all-juice regimen until Friday evening, and then reward ourselves with some "real" food when we went to run errands in the city. Friday evening rolled around, and...
We both lost weight! Zeke lost 15 pounds in just these two weeks, and I lost 3 pounds. Whoo hoo!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)