21 Sugar Detox

After listening to mom talk about the awful things I was feeding my kids, I decided to embark on a 21 day Sugar Detox.  www.balancedbites.com I started researching the effects sugar and food in general has on our bodies and was quite surprised at all I was learning.  The thought of my food causing my back pain, my hip pain, etc caused me to really think about what I was putting into my body.  So, I decided to give it a try.  Jonathan embarked on this journey with me as well.

Here is what I learned on my journey:

Week 1:

-Meal prepped a ton and it helped!!!

-Totally crashed on day two.  I literally thought I was going to die.  My body was like what is happening right now!  I have never felt so bad in my entire life.  Lasted for about an hour and then I was ok.  

-Felt a lot better after day 2 and didn't have any more headaches 

-Lost 7 POUNDS!!!  Which is totally crazy!  And I ate as much as I want.  I didn't starve myself.  If I was hungry I ate something because other wise I would have eaten sugar!!  

-Really, Really, Really, Really like bread more than I thought!  After a few days I wasn't even thinking about Dr. Peppers, but BREAD!!!!!!!!

-Realized that majority of people to do not understand sugar.  The amount of people that said to me "But Amy, your body needs sugar." People have no idea what makes sugar in their bodies and I read a lot to make sure I wasn't crazy!  

Week 2:

--Meal prepped again people!  You have to meal prep especially if both of you work.  It just is too hard to figure out after a long day what you are going to eat.  

--Cocoa powder is my friend!!  It gives me the feeling that I'm eating chocolate even though I'm not!  I've put it in smoothies and made some "desserts" and it has really helped satisfy my hunger.

-I do not like cauliflower rice.  UGHHH

-Still no headaches!!

-My digestive system has been the best it has ever been probably in my ENTIRE LIFE!!  My stomach doesn't make weird noises (now it did the first week, but it was adjusting).  I am regular for the first time in my life.  (sorry if that is too much information)

-I really want BREAD!!!

-Still kept reading about macronutrients and micronutrients and how those work in our bodies.  Learned a lot about words like "Fortified" and "Enriched" and how the food industry is just LYING to us about how "Healthy" their products are.  

-Started reading labels of everything I purchase and realized that I was feeding my kids awful things, so maybe my mom was right (but please do not tell her ;-))  

-Started offering my kids two healthy items and allowing to choose which one they wanted to eat, but they had to at least try/eat one.  Hopefully this system will help with eventually offering mostly whole foods to my kids without them having a total meltdown.
--Lost 1 lb this week.

Week 3:
--Did not meal prep as much this week.  Getting better about just knowing what to choose to eat.
--I HATE brussel sprouts.  I couldn't even stand the smell of them.
--Parsnips are weird as well but tolerable.
--I feel great.  Not having really any cravings except for bread/pasta.  But it is not too bad.
--Still reading a lot of labels and trying to eliminate foods with artificial ingredients.  THIS IS HARD.    Learning a lot about dyes in food as well.
--I really wish I could go back and do this before kids.  Trying to get a 7 year old and a 3 year old to eat good food is HARD.  We started cutting back on sugar for our morning meals and the kids have been the most receptive to that.  No more powdered donuts, pop tarts, breakfast bars(or at least reading the ingredients before purchasing).  Trying no chocolate milk during the week.  Yes, we basically just open the kids mouths and pour sugar into it in the mornings.  BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!
--Teaching my dance classes have been so much easier.  I'm not dreading it because of lack of energy.  I'm going into class with a more positive attitude and wanting to move A LOT  more than what I was before this detox.

You may be asking yourself if I am just going to go back to my old ways since the 21 days is over with.  Definitely NOT. I'm going to continue to pay attention to what we are putting in our bodies.  Am I giving up sugar forever? NO!!   Here are my goals:

1. Continue reading ingredient labels to ensure we are eating good ingredients.
2. Research and experiment with more healthy snack options for the kids
3. Stay off Dr. Pepper except for special occasions--this will be HARD!!
4. Continue with Young Living Essential Oils to help live a more holistic lifestyle!

Jonathan's Joy Weekend

This month we are focusing on the virtue Joy.  We have a bible verse and definition we are focusing on memorizing and one of the activities we decided to do is to let everyone in the family choose an activity that we can do as a family that would bring them JOY!

This was Jonathan's Weekend........Hunting trip to the lease in Doss.

We had a great time.  Jonathan got 3 does, we went on a hike, built a fire pit and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.  The trailer isn't exactly the most ideal living situation, but we got through it or I guess I should say I got through it.  

It's been a while, well actually a long time!

So, I thought of this blog the other day. I haven't logged on in years! So much as changed since my last post. I was thinking of this little blog because quite frankly I was using Facebook as my blog to post pictures for my family and I'm really quite annoyed with Facebook. When you get on Facebook and then just feel awful because of all the negativity and complaining, then it's time to get off Facebook. Then I got to reading some of my posts and feel really, really bad for my daughter Landry. I have Logan's first year documented and nothing for Landry, so this post is going to be all about Landry.

 We have a daughter name Landry Lynn! She was born June 6th, 2012 and is such a joy in our life.

Landry was a much easier baby than Logan however I have decided I'm not a newborn/young baby mom.  I still never had an instant bond and was just really ready for Landry to communicate to me.  Landry was super tiny.  She weighted 5 lbs 12 ozs and was a super easy delivery.  I had to tell my nurse that I was ready and she didn't believe me.  She checked me and told me to just hold it while she called the doctor.  The doctor literally walked in and caught Landry.  I pushed twice!  Logan was super nervous about what was going on and was really unsure about Landry.  He wouldn't hold her for quite a while.

Landry is a very sweet little girl with a little bit of a sassy personality at times.  She has curly hair which absolutely terrifies me.  She loves all things girly and always wants to wear a dress.  She loves dress up, Sleeping Beauty, and loves to do whatever her brother is doing.  She is fiercely independent at times as well.  She is much more of a daredevil than Logan is which also terrifies me.  Logan was always so cautious and safe (and still is), but Landry has no fear.  Her favorite thing is her blanket.  She has to have it at all times.  The blanket has a satin ruffle around the edge and she always rubs her noes and sniffs it.  She can be in the middle of playing, catch the site of her blanket, and then stop to rub her noes and then go right back to playing.  

Jonathan and I are so blessed!  We have two beautiful, healthy children and we love spending all of our time with them.  

Logan's New Room

Before:



After:

Spread the Word

Tell everyone you know right now about this incredible artist. He writes his own music, he sings his own music, he plays his own music, he dances (well maybe not dance), but he is rrrreeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyy good!!

www.dillonchevalier.com

Mastering the goodness is so hard.

I've started working on #12 of my "To Do" list. I'm beginning to think my food is never going to taste like when Memaw or Nana make it.



My first attempt at Memaw's Red Velvet Cake......Fail. Not sure what happened, but the cake just doesn't taste right. It also did not rise at all. All three cakes were really thin. Logan said it tasted really good, so I guess that is all that matters. The icing however was GREAT!! The icing is suppose to be the hardest part, but I didn't have any problems making it from scratch. I do think I should have let it cooled longer than what I did because it wasn't as firm as it should have been.

I'm going to try again soon.

I did however MASTER my aunt Charlotte's Chocolate Chip Cookies. She makes the best cookies and I always try to make them, but always fail. This last time however I did it!! I did not remember to take any pictures, so I guess I will just have to make them again! Oh darn!!

The things you do for your child......

Meet Rex.

Who ever thought I would have a dog! I'm actually terrified of dogs. They scare me to death, but I'm going to get over that fear. Logan LOVES dogs, so I sucked it up and got him a puppy of his own.

This was not on my 2011 "To Do" list, but I guess I should add "Get over fear of dogs" to it. I should probably dedicate this blog to my adventures of owning a dog. It will probably make for some humorous reading. I don't know a thing about owning a dog, but I'm starting to learn it is lot like raising a child. I just can't put a diaper on the puppy to at least get a break from the potty training.

On top of getting Rex, I'm also baby sitting Dillon's dog Jango at this very moment. I mean what has happened to me. What have I become. Dogs are running my life right now.

More to come......

Caddo Lake

I've knocked out another "to do" on my 2011 "To Do" list!! I took Jonathan to Caddo Lake during the July 4th holiday weekend. Jonathan, Dillon, and I kayaked around the huge cypress trees while Rickydaddy, Memaw, Mom, Dad, and Logan hung out in Rickydaddy's catfish boat. Kayaking on the caddo is so peaceful. Paddling through the huge cypress trees is truly an awesome experience and something everyone should do at least once in your life. I've decided that one of my long term goals is to purchase a home on caddo lake. How awesome would that be to have the cypress trees in our own backyard and to be able to kayak anytime you wanted. Below are a few pictures of the day!!

EPIC trip of a lifetime!!

Our EPIC trip of a lifetime began in Barcelona, Spain! Barcelona was amazing. (get ready for me to say amazing like a million times in this post because everything was AMAZING!!) We had a tour of the city where we got to see the Sagrada Familia and then got to spend the evening exploring on our own. We went to La Rambla street, had dinner and did some people watching. There was a ton of bachelor and bachelorette parties walking through the streets that evening. Barcelona was also playing Manchester United in soccer that evening, so everyone was pretty excited! Barcelona ended up winning so there was a lot of screaming and fireworks going off that evening.



The next morning we boarded Norwegian Cruiseline "EPIC". I've never been on a cruise before, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but it was pretty "EPIC" if you ask me. We had gambling, water slides, endless choices in food, dancing, more choices in food, and lounging on the deck (which was my favorite). We saw the Blue Man Group and Cirque's "Dreams" while on the ship. We really didn't see any other shows, but they had a ton. We were always so exhausted from our excursions, that we didn't stay up late at nights unless it was to gamble.




Our first port was Florence and Pisa. We had an awesome tour guide Ramona that showed us around. Our first stop was the leaning tower of PISA. It was really cool and I'm glad a get to say I saw it. We did the classic "holding up the tower" poses. After Pisa, we went to Florence. We took a walking tour through Florence seeing the Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, and Piazza del Santa Croce. All had magnificent architecture and amazing statues.


PISA


Florence

Our next stop was ROME!!! We started Rome with a tour of the Vatican City. It was so amazing to get the experience the Vatican. We saw many, many, many statues and I wish I could remember all of the names and significance of each one, but it was so crowded and we were moving so fast, that it was hard to keep up. But we did get to go into the Sistine Chapel. Wow!! It was so beautiful and just jaw dropping amazing. After the Sistine Chapel, we got to tour St. Peter's Basilica. When we arrived that morning, we were told we were not going to get to see St. Peter's, but it had opened up by the time we got there, so we were excited! St. Peter's Basilica is HUGE! It was definitely beautiful inside as well. After the Vatican, we took a panoramic bus tour through Rome. We got to see the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, and Trevi Fountain. Rome was definitely my favorite stop. I wish we had more time to explore and see everything.


The Vatican

St. Peter's Basilica



Our next stop was Naples. Jonathan and I hike Mt. Vesuvius and toured the ancient city of Pompeii. The hike wasn't too hard, but the tour guide didn't give us hardly any time to enjoy it. We basically had to walk up at a steady pace and practically run down to get back to the bus on time. Pompeii was awesome! We stopped outside of Pompeii to eat some famous Naples Pizza and after the tour we had some lemonade. Pompeii is definitely something everyone should go see. It was so amazing to see how everything was so well preserved and how advanced the city was back then.


Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

Our last stop was Palma Majorca. We took a small panoramic tour and went on a wine tasting while we were there. Palma was definitely the most beautiful of all the stops. Very clean. Jonathan and I definitely want to go back. We decided not to venture out on our own because we thought it was going to rain, but it never made it all the way to us, so we didn't get to see as much of Palma as we would have liked.


Palma

Finally the reason we went on this EPIC trip was to celebrate our 5th anniversary and for me to celebrate the TVCC Cardettes 50th Anniversary!! The Cardettes performed on the ship and we had an awesome 50th Anniversary Reception as well. It was great to get to experience this trip with some of my Cardette Sisters!



Below are pictures from the trip! Jonathan and I are already planning our trip back! Just got to safe that money!!

Great Day, but SO mad at myself.

Saturday was an awesome day!! We decided to venture out and do some "Austiny" things. We ate at the Hat Creek Burger Company for lunch from there we took Logan to Toy Joy for the first time. He LOVED it! He had so much fun looking at all the little toys they had. He ended up choosing a small car and a grasper. After Toy Joy we went to Buffalo Exchange for a little bit. Didn't get to stay long because that really wasn't Logan's thing. Afterwards we drove downtown and did a lot of people watching. SXSW was going on, so we saw a lot of interesting people. We then decided to go to the Austin Children's Museum. Logan had a great time playing with everything. He particularly liked the train section they had. We had to finally pull him away from it. Afterwards we walked the 2nd Street District and did a little shopping. I've been wanting to walk the shops for a long time and it reminded me of how I wish I had all the money in the world to spend on cool clothes! After that, we drove down congress and did some more people watching. I decided that we are going to spend an afternoon on Congress soon! There were just too many people to actually enjoy the shops. After that we went to eat at Phil's Icehouse. Jonathan and I compared burger joints and I'm up in the air about Phil's. Phil's was definitely Jonathan's favorite, but I don't like the char-grilled taste. BUT.....there sourdough buns were TO DIE FOR! So, I would have to say Phil's was better than Hat Creek. Finally to end the awesome day, we stopped at Hey! Cupcake and got a yummy Red Velvet Cupcake.

So, why am I mad at myself after such a great day! I FORGOT MY CAMERA! UUGGGHHHH! SO MAD AT MYSELF! I even gave myself a reminder as we were getting to ready to not forget the camera and of course I did. There was so much going on with SXSW downtown that I could have gotten some great pics, but I didn't. I did have my HD video camera, but it is not made for pics. Below are some blurry pics of Logan at the Austin Children's Museum. I guess we are just going to have to do the trip again soon, so I can get pics of everything!

Snow Day!

Today is a Snow Day! Jonathan and I took Logan out this morning before it all melted away. Logan had a much better time than last year, but he still did not like touching/falling down in the snow.

Last February 2010--Not so Happy with a face full of Snow!!


February 2011-->Much Happier and more mobile!