100 Days

      Happy October 1st! Last month Ben shared with me that the Lord told him we were to have a really good Fall. Now everyone has different interpretations of "good." We start to develop expectations...Man I am learning more and more that expectations are often a set up for disappointment,  but that's another post! I am anticipating that the Lord is going to bless us in unexpected ways. Fall/Autumn technically began September 22, my birthday :), but I think when Ben heard it, he thought, October. So it is October 1. Ben and I had an incredible date last night. The first in a long time. We went to this really cool place downtown and I had the most incredible glass of wine (it's affect on me felt like more than a glass wink wink) and truly enjoyed each other. I talked and talked, Ben just looked at me...good has begun.

Then this morning I woke up at 3:45am. Laid there for about 20 minutes and couldn't go back to sleep...The thoughts of having a few hours to myself with the Lord got me out of bed. Now let me back up a bit...I asked the Lord what He had for me this year of being 28, He said, "Grace." The kind of grace that empowers and ignites your endeavors. When the Lord spoke,"Good Fall" to Ben I think that is what He means. Grace. Grace to really do things that are in our hearts that seem so hard to actually do. Grace to Overcome Obstacles.  I know there will be "off" days mixed in, but I really believe what He spoke. There will be a powerful Grace on us....To Really Seek Him. To Experience Him. To Encounter Him. To KNOW Him. Intimately. To be better at life because of His Grace that empowers.  I mean, I can't really plan a morning like I am having right now. It's Him. There is no denying it. He is good. SO good.

So I'm doing this 100 Days thing that I discovered at Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience. It is a profound blog. Go see it. She gets it. I have not read her book, but hope to soon. You can read about the 100 Days here. I could not find an actual post on it, she talks about it in lots of her posts. You can also print out your own 100 Days if you get inspired. I discovered this a few days ago and just happened to begin today, oh it's October 1st, that's cool. See, it's little things like that that really woo me. For the 100 days you pick 3 things you're going to attend to every day. My Three Things are:
#1: I am memorizing Philippians.
#2: I am going to Blog every day.
#3: I am going to drink 8 glasses of water a day.

I have been wanting to be a better student of the Word, what better way than to engrave it in my mind and heart? Ben and I talked about it last night. We are doing it together. So I was not quite sure what to memorize, and I came across Philippians. My Bible's intro to Philippians says, "Although he is in prison, this letter from Paul brims with the theme of Christian Joy." For those of you that don't know, my husband works in the jail. Finding joy is a major battle. I would say this is.....Grace.

I am in the process of starting a new blog. For now, I will work on developing the habit by using the blog I have now, and will work on my new blog so that it starts strong.  I feel I have finally found my niche in the blogging world. I'm excited about it. I believe He will empower and ignite my endeavor, Grace.

With all my coffee and wine drinking...I am pretty dehydrated. I need more water. Today I memorized Philippians 1:6, 9-11. I decided not to memorize every verse. But I will do most of it. Some I don't feel necessary. But here is what I've gotten so far, I want to practice with you :)

"I am confident in this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ...My prayer for you is this, that your love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may discern what is best and may be pure and blameless on the day of Christ Jesus, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ--glory and praise to God."

Did I get it right? Check for me, it's NIV Translation.

A Little Lucy Love

I know all moms probably say this, but my Lucy is something special. She makes everyone's day. We were in Target checking out. Lucy started blowing kisses at the cashier, something she does all the time without prompting, and of course it made her day. I said, "This girl just gives love away all day long. She is always blowing kisses to just about everyone." The cashier responded, "That usually means she must have a lot of love to give." Made my day! I must be doing something right!

Anyways, I wanted to catch you up on the little "peanut," as my mother-in-law calls her. Share some of her "loves."

Love #1: Strawberries...as you can see.

She eats it like an apple...and makes a mess. But it's a cute mess so I just let her do it. I need to buy some more Oxy-Clean! There's a Strawberry farm about a mile from our house, we love to go. They have fresh ice cream, flowers, and sweet people. Lucy gave her half-eaten strawberry to a woman in her 80s and it made that lady's day! The things she gets away with...

Love #2: The Beach!

Look at her go! She walked the ENTIRE time we were at the beach last week. She would run up to the water, let the waves crash over her feet then turn around and run away. It was so much fun to see her play with the ocean. It is definitely one of Ben and I's favorite things--the ocean; there was something so special about watching her. Okay, you may be looking at this picture and thinking, "look at how little she is!"  She is SO tiny! People often look at her and say, "She is too little to be walking and doing that!"

Love #3: Headbands. This is also one of my loves! What baby keeps a headband on? In fact, in church Sunday she was going around to different people, handing them her headband so they would put it back on her. I think she loves to hear, "Wow, pretty Lucy!" What girl doesn't?

Love #4: Flowers She will pick them and smell them and give them away. It is so sweet, especially to see how happy she makes the lucky recipient of her smashed up flower...

Love #5: Lady Bug Lucy loves this little friend. She gives her hugs and kisses and you better give Ladybug hugs and kisses too! It is so sweet at night to put her blanket over the two of them! Nice to know she's got a cuddle bug with her. 

I could go on and on and on. But I'll spread out the Lucy Love because you may be needing some next week! I am loving being her mom in so many ways. She is full of surprises! Hope she made your day, she always makes mine.

Jenny:)

RAW CHEESE GIVE AWAY!!!

Hey Everyone! Raw Milk is soooo nutritious and sooo yummy. One of my favorite blogs, Food Renegade, is giving away a FREE Raw Milk Cheese Sampler. I want to win it, so blogging about the giveaway gives me an entry :) Go to the post and check it out and enter to win yourself!

http://www.foodrenegade.com/giveaway-raw-milk-grassfed-cheese-sampler/

Cheers to Cheese!

Healthier Living, One Week At A Time...

Ben and I are definitely hooked on eating healthy and being healthy. Like I shared in my last post, it is difficult to change when you've been doing the same things for years. Simply put, if your mindset doesn't change first, you won't change. So if your "why" for not eating any refined sugar is because Jordan Rubin says not to for 40 days, but your mindset about sugar remains, chances are you will have a really hard time sticking to it, and you will most likely go back to it after the 40 days are over. But if you understand what it does to your body, your mindset changes and therefore you won't want it. So my goal over the next season is to share with you my findings on something every week and how you can implement it or cut it out of your lifestyle. I will definitely blog about grains. I will share how you can cut out the bad ones and what to replace it with. Or I may share a blog on cod liver oil, why we need more of it. The first few blogs will be about things I have already gained ground in, and then I'll blog about my own personal journey into healthier living. I find it very overwhelming to change everything overnight. It is just too much for me. Maybe it's too much for you too. I definitely don't have all the answers but I can document the ones I find and share my resources. Right now, I love www.foodrenegade.com, she has great recipes, resources, and inspiration. I would visit your local health food store. Ask questions, browse around. Get in the habit of checking food labels. If there are words you don't understand, don't buy it. If there's a long, long list of ingredients, don't buy it. Look for my first blog about SUGAR, oh yes, very soon...Like within the next day or so... Cheers to healthy living!

Over half way through the Maker's Diet...or Just Beginning!

We are a little over half way through the Maker's Diet! It has been one of the most rewarding and informative health experiences ever for me. We have been far from perfect on in, but haven't given up either. I've been reflecting on it quite a bit and wanted to write some thoughts about it.

It is very difficult to change the way you do things, or the way you think about things--especially if you've done it or thought about it like that for years...since you were a child, and saw your parents doing it, it's simply all you've ever known. To sweeten your tea, you put sugar in it. To make chocolate cookies, you need flour, sugar, and brown sugar. Lunch? You need some bread. My favorite was Pepperidge Farm Oatmeal Bread. You never really ask what's in it or think to look into what some of those long words are in the ingredient list. Just buy it off the shelf, smother it with mayo and put some meat and cheese in the middle. But...It's just all wrong. All of it--just wrong. And to know where to begin and how to move forward can be very overwhelming. The industrialization of our food is literally deteriorating our health. I won't go into it too much, that isn't what I wanted to write about, and there are plenty of other people out there that can inform you way better than I can.

But, I've noticed as I get a little more understanding of how good good food is, I don't want the stuff that is bad for me anymore. Understanding is the key. Reading the Maker's Diet was great and very informative and inspiring and served as the beginning of our journey. But I definitely lost heart about a week ago. I was hanging in there (i lost nearly 10 pounds! of course I am game) but it is hard because I felt there are so many things that I love that I couldn't have. But then I found a recipe for Spelt Tortillas..Because I LOVE tacos. And then I found more blogs that reflect my heart on this issues and have gobs and gobs of recipes and resources. Guess what I made us tonight? Crock pot Chicken Parmesan! With sprouted grain breading of course! Not only is eating right possible, it is really easy once you know how to do it. I think people have such a hard time on diets because it is all about depriving of things that we enjoy. There is definitely wisdom and reason in doing that for a season, Phase 1 of the diet kicked my tail and was hard, but paid off! But it does not have to be like that. The reason to eat healthy is to be happy and enjoy life..and good food of course!

There is so much I don't know about healthy eating but I'm taking it one day at a time and making lists. First on my list of things to learn about: Cod Liver Oil. I read about it and see it in articles on respectable health website, in books, so that is next on my list...Wise Traditions, something I want to subscribe to...make my own kefir....make my own fermented sourdough bread...make Kombucha...and the list continues. And so do I...Continue on this glorious and liberating journey...Cheers to good health and good food!

Maker's Dinners

Ben and I were SUPER healthy when we lived in Florida. Whenever I went grocery shopping, I checked labels for ingredients ALWAYS. I wouldn't say we are unhealthy, but don't eat nearly as much good stuff as we used to. It's tough living in the south! Plus when hard times hit, you're just trying to survive it seems. We decided when we got back from my brother's wedding (which was in Florida:)  we'd start the Maker's Diet. It's definitely one of the most balanced diets we've seen. It cleanses your body of toxins and all those bad cravings. There are 3 phases. We did the first phase for a few days and then skipped to the 3rd which we are doing for 40 days. The first phase it tough--no grains (not even healthy ones) no bread, no sugar (which is the whole time) no beans, no sweet potatoes, no dairy from cows or soy milk or almond milk...It was tough to find something to eat! But it definitely is important to do it for a few days. We can only have sprouted grain breads (Ezekial 4:9 Bread) and tortillas made from spelt. I like how my sister-in-law coined it, "A Life-Style Change Diet." That's what we want, to start eating right! No more pastas...no more sugar....only on occasion. We've been sleeping so much better, and I've had way more energy. The other part I love about it is how much I've been cooking! I've been having such a blast in the kitchen. I wanted to share some meals and recipes to inspire others to eat healthier. The book is a must read! It's called "The Maker's Diet" by Jordan S. Rubin. It's really informative, inspiring, and eye-opening. He has a ton of recipes, which I use but add in some other things to make it my own. And also..I've lost some weight since I've been on it! I knew I would, but it was not my reason for doing it. I want to be healthy, bottom line.

                                                     BBQ Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

For the sauce, I got some organic ketchup sweetened with Agave Nectar and mixed it with a healthy Teriyaki  sauce, equal parts. Then I sliced sweet potatoes into 3/4 inch slices and boiled them for 10 minutes. Brush them with olive oil and throw them on the grill with the BBQ marinated Chicken Breasts! Yum! I also roasted some Asparagus in the oven, they were heavenly! Crispy yet melted in your mouth!

                                                                Thai Coconut Soup

This was insanely yummy! I boiled some chicken leg quarters. There's something sad to me about chopping up boneless chicken breasts and throwing them in a pot! I very much dislike eating bone-in chicken by itself, but boiling it not only gives the chicken good flavor it is very healthy. All those nutrients in the bones and marrow cook into the chicken. I had the leg quarters in the freezer so I used it, but you can use whatever kind of chicken you want! I put one can of coconut milk, 1 32 oz carton of chicken broth, some diced chile and jalapeno peppers, fresh minced garlic, fresh minced ginger, chopped lemon grass stalks, and the juice from 2 limes into the crock pot and let it simmer by itself for a while. It infuses the broth with flavor. I left all the bits in there, I red one recipe where you drain the broth but that just seems like a pain! I pulled the chicken off the bone and threw it in the crock pot along with some straw mushrooms. I could of done without the mushrooms, but i'm not a big shroom fan. Let it all simmer for a while, then when you serve it, throw some fresh cilantro on top. We had a salad with the most yummy Asain Ginger Dressing. I googled it and found lots of good recipes and just made my own. It was like i said, insanely yummy!

                      Grilled Chicken with Green Bean, Goat Cheese, and Sun-dried Tomato Salad

This was one of our first meals. Goat cheese is actually so yummy! I just cooked the green beans in coconut oil (no taste and way better for cooking than olive oil) and then tossed in some sun-dried tomatoes and topped with goat cheese and fresh ground pepper.

DisTRACKtions...

I was thinking about how I haven't really blogged in a while and was looking at my "Organization Station" that I'll have to blog about one day, and noticed that I hadn't used it in a month. The week of February 27th was still up there and it's the end of March! I finally get in a groove, in a routine, priorities in check and BAM! Distraction: TAXES. Now I was proud of myself this year because I got it done in time, got help with it, and am finished. I'm overwhelmed, stressed, my house in disarray only to realize we were going out of town for a week for my brother's wedding, a great distraction. The wedding was absolutely beautiful by the way...And I came home with a very  nice tan! It was in Florida:) But it is so difficult to stay on TRACK when you get DIS-tracted...Like the play on words?

So how do you stay afloat?  I heard this great teaching on the "Top 5%." The top 5% is the percentage of things we do that only we can do, it's the most important of all activities in our lives that I know I often neglect the most. Here's my top 5% list:

1. Spend time with God
2. Spend time with Hubby
3. Take Care of my daugther
4. Take care of my home
5. Exercise and Healthy Diet


There are a few other things in my top 5% that I didn't list. When I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed I evaluate my activities. 99% of the time I'm stressed because I'm neglecting my top 5%. Blogging is definitely an outlet for me and If I haven't written a blog in a while it usually means I've been distracted by things that seem important but end up draining me. What ways do you stay on track and focused?  Please Share!