Hi ya’all! Sorry to have been a stranger for the last few months. I am making strides to get back here. I have missed it. I won’t make excuses…suffice it to say…Life happens. And there has been a lot of “life” in the last few months. Loss. Gain. Heartache. Peace. Heartbreak. Love. Grief. Sunshine. Death. New Life. Deceit. Trust. Fear. Faith. Sickness. Health. Mourning. Laughing. Ecclesiastes 3:1 comes to mind…To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ~seems that every single one of those seasons needed to show up during the last year or so of my life. Overwhelming…absolutely at times! But God. God is always faithful. Still in the thick of it? Yep! But learning…ever learning…one day at a time. Isn’t that how we need to do life anyway? One day at a time? With all of the chaos, however, I have managed to not have any major flares. Some minor issues, yes, but no major flares. We all know stress is a trigger, but thankfully I have had no major flares. I was sick seemingly most of the winter, but seems like about everyone was. It is some weird times we live in ya’all. I am a grandma again. This time to an adorable little boy. Cuddliest little guy! Love being a grandma. One of the reasons I chose this healthy path. So I could be the best “me” I could be for my family. I am needing to tighten the straps a little more and am making moves to do just that. I have noticed my energy levels are down a bit, so it it time to be a bit more strict and fix this. I didn’t have any big exciting post other than to tell you all I am hopefully back. I do have a list of some post ideas, but What would you like to see me post about? Thank you again for being here…
Happy New Year to you all! I want to share something with you that I have been doing for years! It seems over the course of a year a lot of things can pile up, become unused, replaced, broken, no longer needed…etc. Several years ago I started “Spring Cleaning” in January. I go slowly. Very slowly. It started that way, because I was homeschooling 3 boys, and it was just easier time wise. Now they have all grown and graduated, but I still do this slow process. It takes me all of January and part of February. I do small sections at a time. Maybe spending 30-45 min each day. Unless of course I just “feel” like doing more. But that also frees me up to do other things. Besides! What else are you going to do in those cold months you are in the house anyway? Now, what does this have to do with food? Well…food…not much…until I get to the kitchen anway. đ But it does have a lot to do with my mental, and emotional health. 1. It keeps me busy during those cold, slow months. 2. A clean home makes me feel so good! 3. Decluttering and freeing up space makes for less work in the long run…which also makes me feel good! How to get started. I make a list of each section that needs done. I break it down by room. (I like lists. I like marking things off of lists!) Example:Master BathroomWallsCeilingCabinets/drawers under sinkLinen ClosetMedicine cabinetWalk-in Closet x2 (I usually take 2 days to work on this. The closet is off our bathroom)tub/sink/toiletFloors I do this with each room in the house. You can work on as little or as much each day as you want, but broken down this way is so much easier for me. As I go through things…I empty every cabinet/drawer/closet…whatever I am working on…I have 4 general questions I follow. Have I used this within the last year? Does it have sentimental value to me? If I was shopping right now would I buy it? If it’s broken, is it worth fixing? If the answer is NO…it goes either to the trash, donate (a lot ends up here), or selling pile…depending on what it is. I generally start on the main living level, but by the time I get to the basement I get in a hurry to finish. So this year I am shaking it up a bit, and starting in the basement. I know I will do the main level, so I am doing it last. If you want to follow along with me, you can follow each days task in my Instagram stories. It is all part of my health and wellbeing. As for “food news”. I am back to being extra strict for a while. So basically, lots of veggies, & protein. I haven’t felt super good lately and felt like I needed to be a little stricter. So even the “allowed” treats are being put on hold for now. I will still be blogging and posting so check back often! My goal is to TRY to blog at least once a week. Sometimes that is not doable, but it is my goal…
I am stepping away from “food” for this post. This post will be considered mind/body/soul health and healing.
Where are you Christmas?
This song came on the other day and I always thought this was a strange song, but I happened to be in a rather melancholy mood, so I paid attention to the words.
You see, I was having a rough time. This year…just 3 days after Christmas…marks 10 years since my mom left us. Someone mentioned to me that there was only a few years, if that, left for “Christmas to be the way it used to be”. I didn’t reply to this family member, but for me…that ended 10 years ago. Christmas has never been the same. It has never been “the way it used to be.” It never will be. I lost so much more than just my mom 10 years ago, and it has been a long, rough road towards healing. But I have learned so very much.
I had hoped to blog more often during this quarantine, but goodness! It’s a little harder than I thought! I have a hard time focusing on what I want to type when everyone keeps asking me questions, or needs something, or just around me talking…so I will do what I can. I am trying so hard to focus on what is important. While my blog is important to me and helping anyone that it may help, I also know that this is a special time in the life of my family. Probably the only time we will all be together for this long, and I want it to be a time we look back on and smile about. Good memories, not miserable ones!
So, we all know what’s going on in our crazy world right now. As of last night…(and I am saying last night because we ran out for a few last minute essentials…before we heard the announcement to shelter-in-place), I am camping out in my cozy little home…”sheltering–in-place. Even though for the last, 2 weeks really, I haven’t gone much of anywhere unless absolutely necessary, but now! Now I am staying home! My hubby is working from home, and my boys are home. (At least one of them…not 100% sure on the other at this exact moment, but he sees one maybe 2 people, if that, on his job, so I’m not overly worrying…although I would feel better if he were home…but that’s all part of “growing up.”
I know me…and I also know that when things are busy, it is much easier to just grab something to eat. If you have to clean/prepare it first…probably not happening. Enter…Food Prep.
I do not usually do this the same day I go to the grocery. It’s usually just too much for one day. Normally it is the day after. I clean and prep ALL my fresh produce, boil eggs for the week, and my husband always fries my turkey bacon for the week for me. (I hate frying bacon, it takes…forever…He, however, loves it! Says it is relaxing for him. Far be it from me to hinder his relaxing time! LOL)
I had my yearly physical that my husband’s insurance requires, last week. Our awesome family Dr. ordered a slew of labs for me. Which I actually appreciate. It helps give me an idea of where I am and how I am doing. He has so far supported my decision for the way I am dealing with my health. In fact, at this visit, he said, “I am so proud of you! You are doing a great job!” Woo hoo!
As I said, he ordered a slew of labs. And guys! I was so excited! While I was interested in several of them, there were 2 in particular that I was anxious to see. My CRP (which tells you if there is inflammation in your body), and my Vitamin D levels. Well, ALL but 2 of my labs were NORMAL! NORMAL! This was the first time in 2 years my CRP was normal. And My vitamin D was the highest it has been in 2 years as well…and that is in the middle of winter and can’t get outside!
Grocery shopping has ALWAYS been one of my least favorite “chores” as a mom/wife. Seems like such a waste of time and money! But everyone in this household anyway, think they need to eat…every.single.day. LOL
Stress is the #1 trigger for flare ups for autoimmune diseases. The first fewe months every grocery shopping weekend was a rough weekend for me. So, in trying to figure out ways to make it a little less stressful, we have found a few alternatives. Now mind you…eating healthy, for some crazy reason, is more expensive. So the alternatives still need to be worth it. Here are my tips as of now. I will keep you updated on things as I find stress reducing tactics.