half a day

When I want to post but don’t have much to say or don’t feel like typing tons, I always just do wrap ups of a day or a few days. That’s what you’re getting right now…a wrap up of just what’s happened so far today!

It’s Sunday. We woke up at a decent time, and it would’ve been better if the dog didn’t decide to have a licking party at 8 AM. She ignored me getting up at 6 AM to feed Cora, but I guess we can’t expect to sleep much anyway. We had a good, relaxing morning of eating breakfast (Brian made cinnamon rolls), feeding Cora, checking the internet, and just lounging around. I usually have to go to band practice, but I got a break today. Cora at at the perfect time to get to Contact, so we went and had a good time. The sermon was great! After church, we hit up the Taco Bell drive through for lunch and ate it outside in our back yard while Cora slept. Next came Brian’s haircut. He’s needed one for QUITE a while. We did that outside, too. Cora woke up in the middle, so I did the harder parts with her in one arm and with one hand. It went surprisingly well. She finally let us put her in her bouncy seat for the hardest part. Brian trimmed his beard and showered after the haircut. Then, we took a family walk!!! It is dang hot today. The walk was pretty much a success. We saw several people we knew. Some (but not all) were: Andy & Dawn Wolfe at Matt’s house, Laura Eanes in her car, Phella & Guy working in their new yard (we left them alone), and Catherine Owen at her van. Now, we’re drinking Gatorade and playing with Cora! The dog is passed out on the floor because she got hot and tired on the walk.

Sundays aren’t always my least favorite day of the week anymore!

GOOD THING: The walk was physically easier for me today.
BAD THING: definitely sweaty 

food reviews

I’ve tried some new things lately – all organic, some gluten free, free-range meat, etc. Bear with me – it’s long but mostly pictures! I don’t go into nutrition because you can look that up yourself. Here are some ratings based on taste:

4.5, A+
Kashi meals are always great quality – fresh, tasty, and not your typical frozen meal. The spinach is so green, and there’s lots of it. There are beans, peppers, and the mentioned artichoke hearts. Good stuff.

 

4.0, A-
This one is just as good; I just don’t like the taste AS much as the other because I’m not a big garlic fan. I’d venture to say most people might prefer this one over the spinach & artichoke, but I do not. The chicken in this meal is outstanding for frozen dinners.

 

3.5, B+
These are awesome quality just like Kashi food. The chicken is findable and real (not tiny & mystery meat like typical frozen foods). These are HUGE. There’s some flavor of seasoning that is pretty strong, and I got tired of it after a while, but you may love that flavor. I like Amy’s burritos way better, but these are probably someone’s favorite just waiting to be discovered.

 

4.0, A-
What a cool company. This tastes similar to my Crock-Pot burritos. If you added Sriracha to this, it would be so good. I had it at home quickly, but I know it’s good stuff. It’s on the plainer side, but if you have stuff to add, I think it would be awesome. They ask you to compost the cardboard-y bowl, too.

 

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

4.5, A 
This ice cream is non-dairy. I’ve tried several varieties of non-dairy ice cream. This might be my favorite when I don’t want to taste the coconut flavor since it seems to be in ANY flavor made with coconut milk. (I find that annoying, but if you want coconut flavor with your chocolate chip cookie dough, then whatever.) Anyway, this is made with hemp milk as you can read. I had very low hopes for this thinking it’d taste dank. It does not. It actually has a very normal chocolate ice cream taste. The only difference I can tell is that it’s actually sort of…dry tasting. It’s not the melty, creamy coldness you expect with ice cream. I told Brian it seems almost dehydrated. That weirded me out at first, but the more I ate, the more I liked it. I honestly will probably buy this again and try another flavor. I also wish I could find the Whole Foods cashier I talked to about it to let her know to not be scared.

 

 

 

my back

I pulled a muscle in my back taking Cora’s car seat out of the car. It hurts so bad! I have almost fallen several times just because of moving the wrong way at times. Brian is being sweet and helping extra with Cora because I definitely don’t want to drop her or fall with her. I hope I get better soon! If you have tips, do share! It felt the best while in the shower and right after because I stood in really hot water. About 10 minutes later, it was back to its old self. 

myself

I’m sorry to CASEY because this one is long. You are allowed to not read it. I know you hate more than 3 sentences at a time.

I was thinking a bit yesterday, and I’ve realized I’ve learned a lot about myself in the last year. I’d say it’s been over the last 2 or 3 years, but in the last year especially, I’ve really become aware of some things. I have no reasoning behind blogging about this other than helping myself remember this. Definitely don’t take any of this as bragging, not that it’s anything people would brag about.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned about myself is that I am not one for taking the easy way out. Convenience is not usually a motivator for me. That can be cost, time, or effort, or other values. 

Here are some examples: FOOD – I feel strongly about certain foods my family consumes. Two things are meat and milk (we prefer organic and no hormones when possible). I know they cost more. I don’t care. That is a priority of ours, and we’ll stick to it. (And yes, I know I eat tons of other complete junk at times, but when I buy it for home, I have certain rules for myself.) People say when Cora is older and I need to save money that I will stop buying these things. They do not know me very well, because when people tell me stuff like that, it’s even more motivation to continue what I’m doing. On this note, you should read this book:

It is amazingly informational. It’s basically a textbook written by a nutritionist, and there’s something for everyone in it. You don’t have to be an organic food kind of person – that’s honestly not what it’s even about.

Another example came up when I had Cora. I had flirted with the idea of no medicine for her birth, but after people told me I was crazy, I was determined to do it! It would’ve been very convenient to knock my pain out, but I wanted to endure and persevere. I did it!

The same goes for cloth diapers. These fall under almost every category of difficulty – more effort, more time, more controversy/criticism – but they fall under even more positive categories for my family, so I’m sticking with them! The environment, saving money, the health benefits for Cora, not creating the demand for as much factory production/energy, etc. are things we like about using them. 

One more example is how I try to never shop at Wal-Mart. Yes, it’s convenient in multiple ways (can get everything in one place, cheaper), but I know enough about the company’s practices and effects that we, as a family, try to not support them. Again, money isn’t worth ditching our values. Before that comes across as judgemental, I understand that, if you’re seriously scraping to get by, THEN you don’t have a choice. We are fortunate enough to not be scraping, so I can choose to not support certain stores.

Another lesson I will say I’ve learned is that I’m freaking tough. I can do whatever I want to do, and I CAN get through it. It scares me to think ahead and wonder why I’ve learned this lesson, but either way, I know it’s true. My own physical body is tough (thanks, Cora!), and that plus God’s help is enough to get me through anything! Suck it, pain!

One more lesson, and I’ll stop here, is that I can get over some shyness. It’s impossible for 98% of the world to understand how awesome that is. I’ve battled being cripplingly shy my whole life. I cannot do anything in front of anyone without crying. I mean, if I’m in a group that just goes around a circle and says their name, I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack as my turn draws closer and closer. I now know that, with repetition, I can slowly overcome this a bit, at least. I have successfully been singing at church in front of people for a few months now, and it feels good to be free of a little of that fear! I know I’m not the best singer in the world or even CLOSE, but I’m glad I’m able to at least try and not cry when doing it these days.

I’m proud of myself! Thanks for reading. 

good report

Today, Cora was said to have a “FANTASTIC DAY!” It was her best day yet with Jo Jo, which is Brian’s mom. That makes me happy. She ate more than ever from a bottle, wasn’t fussy, pooped, napped well, and talked a lot with a new squeal sound. Here’s to hoping good naps equal good night sleeping like people say! It does seem to be true. We did try to video chat with my parents this evening, but she decided to cry from hunger about 2 minutes after we started. That seems to be her trend. At least I tried!

tuesday

Today has been very odd. It’s my last day at home with Cora, but I refuse to focus on that. I’ve felt very positive for the last week about going to work, and I want that to continue.

This morning started with great news from work. I can now work from home one afternoon a week and have a little more time with Cora on Wednesdays. This is beneficial especially since I’m usually back at the church for band practice on Wednesday evenings. I don’t want to work all day and also be gone half the evening. It’s a trial basis, so pray that my coworkers are satisfied with how it goes.

Then, there was some weirdness, and I over-analyzed because that is what I do when I have nothing else to think about. After that, I was afraid I’d annoyed a friend too much. By the time Brian got home, I was sort of crying about it all.

Also, a friend came over to talk Arbonne with me and to visit Cora. That was good.

After Brian got home, the day got better again because the above-mentioned friend called, laughed that I thought she was mad or annoyed at me, and then we discussed the other above-mentioned weirdness to length, which made me feel a lot better.

Now, Brian is making me a pizza, and Cora is asleep. He’s also volunteered to figure out how to use these new bottles I bought for Cora to try out. Fingers crossed she’ll drink from them! She HATES bottles usually! I guess there’s nothing like the real thing just like the oldies song says.

The only thing I haven’t done that I wanted to do today is go shopping. I am in dire need of some new clothes. A lot of my clothes were pathetic even before I was pregnant and stuff. Nothing fits great, and it’s mostly all low quality crap. I need better things to feel better and to look better – not to mention like an adult instead of a 15 year old. I still might get to go tonight, or maybe I will go another evening or this weekend.

GOOD THING: Paychecks are about to start rolling back in!
BAD THING: My back is killing meeeeeeeeeee.