so many things

When you are starting out a new blog, I feel like there are simultaneously so many things I want to say and yet I sit to type and there are no words:( Where do I start, do I sound as funny as I think I do? Will I even have readers who want to see what I have to say?

Long ago, I had a blog, with a few consistent readers, but my life very drastically changed, I wasn't the same and so I let that blog go...life goes on...well, life happened and now here I am years later, starting over.

Well, doesn't this all seem so cryptic, bahahaha.

Anyway, there are so many things that I want to share with you, about me. And I want to learn about those of you who will eventually follow me too:) I am a mother, and a wife. I am a NICU nurse and volunteer. I am a student and bible believen'. I am a foster mom and I am a friend to some.

Tonight I had my first actual school class in three years, Spanish, which I never had in high school and I also missed the first class. And I may or may not have sent a slightly irritated email stating how I hadn't heard back from the instructor yet for my make up work. (That's another thing you will learn about me, I used to pray and desire to be more forthright, to speak my feelings to just be blunt. As usual, God answered prayer and now I have a hard time holding back. Go figure. I spend a lot of time with my foot in my mouth.) Anyway, first class, speak Spanish out loud, get nervous, get red faced, make instructor laugh with red face. I survived. Guess I will go back. Any one else in school again?

I don't really have much else to say, no snark for you tonight, just thought I'd jot a few things down.

Ch-ch-changes

So this week as I am getting ready to head back to school (ugh, I can't even pretend to be excited)...I am kind of reflecting back to where I was in my life last year. Back then, I couldn't really even imagine being here now, and I didn't know quite how things would be. Let's see...

 LAST year at this time I had just made the decision to get healthy. I weighed 263 pounds, couldn't walk a mile, drank a 6 pack of pepsi A DAY, never drank water, never ate veggies and was working to work.

THIS year I've been getting healthier, I weigh 222 pounds, I can fast jog 5 miles, I drink 2-3 diet sodas A WEEK, drink a gallon of water a day, eat fruits and veggies daily, changed jobs to one I LOVE, and am back in school to finish up what I started years ago.

Totally loving these changes:)

What a difference a whole year can make! Of course, I'm another year older, my sweet babies are another year older, my littlest isn't nursing anymore, my oldest is in junior high school (with an attitude) my middle is in dance class, bittersweet changes too:)

What kind of changes have you gone through this past year?

eating healthy

     When I decided I wanted my family to start eating healthier, I really didn't know where or how to begin. I had read some blogs, and seen some websites and it all just seemed so....in depth. So much work was involved. I already work nearly full time....

     So I thought about it for a while and did something I do well....I got a plan!
    
     I looked at how we eat, what we eat, where we spend the bulk of our money on groceries. I thought about a more systematic approach than just jumping in. Well, sort of just jumping in, but in a nice orderly way.....and THEN I had to sell my husband on it. Which wasn't a hard sell because my husband usually lets me have my way. I'm gonna assume its because he knows how thorough and planned I am, well, that or he knows its just easier.

     So, I decided that we would start with bread and breakfast. I would bake all the bread we would use and I would begin replacing our breakfast foods with healthier, but still easy options.
 
     After that, I figured I would tackle dinners, one at a time and try to find more make at home replacements as well as healthier but affordable choices.

     Next it was snacks. I enjoy feeding my kids treats and teaching them to enjoy food. But the amount of preservatives in the cookies, the small packages and large price tags, the prepackaged convenience.....I decided to cold turkey not buy snacks, but instead bake and store enough for the whole family to enjoy while at the same time knowing they are getting more vitamins and sustenance out of even a simple snack.

     Finally, the most hectic meal for us, lunch. I am not sure why its our most hectic meal, sometimes it feels like it kind of sneaks up in the middle of the day and goes from 0-60 in ten seconds. One moment the kids are playing, and the next BAM! They are hungry!!!!

     I wrote out my plan, looked up recipes, began to research and uncovered more than I thought I would. I am going to share it here with you, along with many other family things.

     But, you gotta start a blog somewhere, and so I did.....