Some of my current loves involve food. Of course! I eat gluten free so it can be hard to find snacks for on the go. Actually, you can find snacks, but most of them are full of soy, which can be very bad for your body. Most soy is genetically modified.

One of my current favorites are Larabar fruit and nut bars. They are made of dates, nuts and sea salt. If you don't like dates then don't bother, but I think they  are delicious! They fill me up and some flavors are made of only three ingredients. You can get different flavored bars from lemon to chocolate chip. Yummy!

It is that time of  year again. Time to plant some veggies! I can't take credit for most of the goodies grown around my yard. My sweet mommy loves to garden and will take the effort to plant peas and beans with the kids.
This winter was one of the best growing times for my plants. They just thrived all season and had no pests to attack them. Don't even get me started on those gross, green tomato worms that can eat your plant into oblivion in one night!

I really need to take some shots of what I have growing now, but for now, these are some beans we picked last month. Ya, they are big!

I have only recently found out about a washer that can wash up to 33 towels at a time. I was in Best Buy last month and saw it there. Drool! Only in my wildest dreams would I ever own one of those.

Laundry has always been one chore that is never or rarely caught up. With my family size, if you miss a day or two, you can become overwhelmed very quickly. So when Dan was moving my washer and dryer around in the laundry room the other night, I just assumed that he was being kind and wanting to arrange it in a easier fashion for me. He also was sweeping the floor, which it did need. Not too out of the ordinary. A bit later he said that my new washer and dryer would be in on Monday. He can never keep a secret from me. He wanted to just have it show up and surprise me, but like I said, he can't keep a secret like that from me.
Oh, happy day! These are the best appliances ever. Today, I was literally looking for laundry to do. Blankets, pillows today, shoes and rugs tomorrow. What a blessing. I am so grateful. It could not have come at a better time.

Valentine's Day is always a fun day for our family. The girls and I like to plan a special meal and pretty table decorations.
 This year we made one of our favorites, spaghetti pie. We served it with garlic bread, broccoli topped with cheese and a huge tossed salad. For dessert I made pots de creme. Seriously folks, this dessert is one of the easiest and best desserts ever!! We made homemade whipped cream to go with it ensuring that we met our calorie intake for the week!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/?s=pots+de+creme&submit=

Over the past few weeks, I have been juicing for breakfast. I am using carrots, apples and greens. I know that eventually I should work up to adding more greens than the apples or carrots, but for now, this is the way I do it.
It is quite satisfying and I feel more energy in the morning without heavy food. Later on I will have a gluten free bagel or piece of toast.

I am reading a book called 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko. She talks about going "cold turkey"  into a raw food diet. She and her family were over-weight, had heart issues, edema, diabetes and a son suffered from depression and a daughter had severe allergies. They got home from a doctor visit, in which the husband was told he needed yet another surgery. This would be his 10th time to go under the knife. Rather than go the typical route, they decided to just eat raw foods. They threw away their microwave and covered up their stovetop with a cutting board. Amazing things took place just after the first day.

I know it is super valuable for those who are not in a major  health crisis, but for right now, I am just sticking to one meal a day. I really can't imagine going 100% raw. I know that it have got to be so easy to eat raw or juice, but getting my husband and kids on board, not so much. Even I don't completely like the idea. There is something comforting about cooked food, however unhealthy it is. Soup, pizza, dairy, breads...no more. I would like to try it for an extended period though. But for now, I am sticking to once a day. Cheers!

Is it really February already? Wasn't it just Christmas? I guess this means that I need to share February's goal. Before I do that, I need to be accountable for January's early bedtime goal. How did I do? Well, not so good. I really need to have some quiet time at night and I feel that shutting everything down at 10 is too early. I am writing this at 10:15 p.m. So, I need to adjust a bit. 11 or 11:15 is my new bedtime. I will let you know how I do next month.

So, February's goal is to start T-Tapping. In case you think this sounds like a tap dance class, which may be great exercise, this is a fun way to tone up and not kill yourself in the process. My mom and I did this several years ago. The program is named after the woman who started it, Teresa Tapp. She speaks the instructions and has a lot of scientific background about each movement and the why behind what she does. The only way to describe it is it is a mix between Pilate's and yoga. That still doesn't seem like the right description. It does some great things to your body, in the way of toning and it doesn't take super long. You do need to be consistant, so I would like to do this at least 4 days a week and then walk or bike 2 days. I need to borrow the DVD from my mom before I can get this going. Let's hear it for getting in shape!

Finding joy. Yes, it has been somewhat of a struggle these days. Not that I don't want to find joy or it doesn't exist, it's just the fact that in the midst of all my blessings, I don't always see it.  I tend to see all the work that needs to get done and all the discipline issues to resolve...temporarily. Living in a household with 8 other people always lends itself to lots of opportunities to be selfish or loving. So many times, myself included, we choose selfishness.
There are those times, when you see some light, some kind deed offered to another without being told. Let's all sing the Hallelujah Chorus! It is a day by day choice to be in God's Word and to rely on His strength. So hard some days. There are the times when I lose it and have to come back to my kids and apologize.

I know that while we are in this flesh we will continue to battle our sinful nature. I do want to find those times that bring a smile to my face and store those memories up and to have my children recall them, as well.