Get Your Affairs in Order

So the other day I was learning about green smoothies and how they apparently make you invincible. I took a health quiz on one of the websites, and I failed! Not a C, not a D, a big fat F! This is what it said:

"Get your affairs in order. Or, make major changes immediately to begin reducing your enormous disease risk."

If only I had gotten a few more points, because this what a D looked like:

" Your risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and overweight is very high, and you are likely suffering from a variety of symptoms and chronic conditions. Please consider a dramatic change in lifestyle such as the GreenSmoothieGirl.com 12 Steps to Whole Foods right away!"

Much better!

And I consider myself a fairly healthy person. Of course, I do think it was a tad bit exaggerated, and may have had to to with the fact that because I was so unhealthy, it was crucial that I start their green drink diet before I spontaneously drop dead...and for only $170 for a limited time!

Still, it got me thinking. Honestly, I'm always thinking about my diet and how it should change. Part of it is the OCD in me, I know, but another part is the Gestational Diabetes that forces me to eat healthier every pregnancy, and the impending doom of permanent diabetes later in life. I need to make some changes. Just to clarify, skinny does not equal healthy.

I stumbled upon this the other day. If you feel like blowing some time you can go peruse the site, but here's the Reader's Digest version: this guy is a personal trainer, and he is doing what he calls fit-to fat-to fit. Basically he has spent the last several months totally trashing his body; eating poorly and not exercising. The before and after pictures are amazing. He has gained somewhere around 70 lbs. in the past five months. His goal is to turn around after he hits six months and spend the next six months getting his body back. It's quite interesting, really. And disgusting. But I like the premise and I really admire the guy. Especially since he's not just trying to prove a point, but he wants to teach individuals how to take care of their bodies.

I'm rambling. My point: I have decided to make some changes in my own life. Will you join me? I am going to try to improve one aspect of my eating habits each week. I'm not talking about resorting to a birdseed diet that is totally unsustainable, but rather a healthier outlook that doesn't ostracize you from the rest of society or break the bank. It will be a good opportunity to explore what healthy looks like.

This week my challenge is to drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. Here is an article on adequate fluid intake. Easy, right?? You don't have to cut out any comfort foods or add any vegetables to your diet that you've never heard of. Just drink more water.

I've been filling a 64 oz juice bottle with water every morning and trying to at least drain that before I go to bed. That's approximately 8 cups, though if you are exercising (which you should be), pregnant, or nursing, you should drink more.

Leave a comment if you're willing to do this with me. I would also love to hear how everyone else is staying healthy--suggestions, tips and tricks, complaints, you name it.

P.S. Stock up on spinach for next week's challenge--you're going to need it!

SBB

Tell me how you're suppose to discipline with a straight face when your kid turns around and he's got a mustache drawn on his face.

The funny thing is, this was all done under "adult supervision". I'll give you two guesses as to which adult was supervising.
And a clue: it wasn't me.

Giving a 'thumbs up'. You'll notice those aren't his thumbs.

Cleanup

It's been an interesting week. I'm starting to think that the baby blues are a little more than the baby blues. I have found several ways to fight it, or at least get a little reprieve, and those are the things I am grateful for:

Music. Oldies especially, or anything clean and upbeat. Uplifting works to.

A project. I started on a crochet project that has kept me busy off and on. At least it keeps me from pulling my hair while I am sitting. I like to crochet and listen to conference talks.


Listening to conference talks.

Forgetting about the housework I don't feel like doing, and just being with the boys.

Getting outside/the sun.

Getting exercise.

Being around other people.

NOT going to Walmart :)

I'm also grateful that it comes and goes. I woke up from a nap this afternoon with a burst of energy, and was finally able to create some semblance of order out of my wreck-of-a-house.

This is how most of my house has looked for most of t he last two weeks. Let's be honest; this is a cleaner portion of the house. Much cleaner. Thank you, Isaac, for documenting. Thank you, also, for the 79 pictures you took with your fingers in front of the camera lens.

No worries, though. It could be a lot worse, there are still good days, and I can still count my blessings. I'm grateful for a supportive husband who works hard to help out. We're just keepin' it real. Next week I'll show you my Thankful Tree. It's coming along!

SBB

A Week's Worth

Today I am grateful for an awesome long weekend.

I've been fighting off some baby/cold weather/daily grind blues lately, and it was just what I needed.

Saturday morning the boys and I got to watch Ed do a triathlon. He did great! Second place in his age group, fourth place for the men, and fifth place overall. We were so proud! His brother raced, too, and did awesome! Later that day we went to a family birthday party, and topped the night off with a BYU win. It was a good day at the P. household.


I'm thankful for an ambitious and fit husband and for family.
-----
Church was particularly uplifting on Sunday, there was a great turnout for choir, and we had delicious stew with our upstairs neighbor-friends.

I'm thankful for the Gospel, people who sustain me in my calling, good food that I don't have to prepare, and friends.
-----
Monday the Mr. took a day off work and we all played. It was wonderful. He let me sleep in, and we had omelets for breakfast. We took the Bug to a little kid center called Jungle Jim's with a playground and a bunch of rides. It was great because 1. He could ride the rides as often as he wanted. 2. Parents were free, and they let us ride all the rides with him. 3. The employees were super nice and accommodating. 4. It was fun to let him dictate his own activities for once. I feel like I'm always telling him what not to do, and cutting off his play time. There weren't even any screaming fits when we had to leave.

"Momma, you ride Maximus"

"I gonna get you"

It was nice to fall in love with my kid again. Does that sound weird? Some days I forget to slow down and enjoy him, and he is such a fun, sweet, amazing little person.





I'm grateful for rest and relaxation, a happy Bug, cheap, family-friendly entertainment, and especially for a husband who is considerate and mindful of my needs.

Happy living!

SBB

Fall is in the air! I celebrated today by wearing a scarf and long sleeves, putting the Bug in a sweater, and making soup.

I love this picture.

This week I am thankful for:

Adam's happy screeches.

The Bug. That kid is killing me. He's got more personality than any one person should be allowed. It seems like he has grown up a ton just in the last week.


Repentance.

Cooler days that are still warm and sunny.

General Conference. It didn't disappoint--now I have to go back and re-read all the talks fifteen times.

Fall. I think I love Fall. I'm just always so preoccupied with winter's looming imminence that I forget to enjoy it. Seriously, how is it October? Didn't Christmas just happen?

Our umbrella stroller. So, crazy story: two weeks ago I accidentally left a stroller outside a friend's apartment a few blocks away. I didn't even remember until a few days later. I called my friend, but she hadn't seen it. I walked the grounds of the apartment complex and it was gone. I was disappointed, but it's just a stroller--there are worse things to lose. Today I was walking home from another friend's house, and saw a stroller that looked an awful lot like the one I had lost. The owners of the house were outside, and I asked them about it. They didn't speak english, but their son interpreted (I don't know how to say stroller in spanish), and one of the ladies walked over, picked up the stroller, and handed it to me. I could not believe we had found it, especially nowhere near where it had been lost! So I'm really not so grateful for my stroller as I am for answers to prayer. I feel like I list that one a lot, but I am. In the scheme of things it wasn't a big deal--we had the money to replace it, and it wasn't very expensive to begin with. We had other strollers we could use. That's what is so cool to me. It may sound silly, but I know that I was led to find the stroller; it wasn't just dumb luck. It's a testimony to me that God cares about us--big things and little, too.

So we're coming up on Thanksgiving, which usually means I bring out the old Thankful Tree. I'm not exactly feeling the urge to drive down to Payson, pull it out of storage, smash it into my car, and find a place for it here. But believe me, we WILL have a thankful tree. So start feeling grateful. Any comments left about what you're thankful for will go on the tree and I'll send you a dollar for your contribution.

Okay, that last part isn't true. Come on, people! It's a thankful tree, not a money tree! Isn't being grateful enough?

SBB