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- We have a new Army Infantryman to be proud of. Shade’s boyfriend, Eric, graduated from basic training last week and is headed to his first post in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. I’m a Navy brat by birth and a long time ago I was an Air Force wife. I know the life of a military family can be full of equal parts pride and fear. We are thinking of you and all your brothers and sisters serving on our behalf.
- Been hiking a couple times a week and seeing views like this, literally, in my own backyard, makes me so grateful to live in this valley. The best decision I ever made on my own was quitting my job in Seattle and giving “two weeks notice” so I could move here. I didn’t even have a job, but somehow it all worked out.
- Our little valley lost a super young man this week. I did not know him personally, but both of my older daughters were close with him and I’ve heard many funny stories over the years. JD, you are loved and missed by SO MANY PEOPLE.
- Funny thing about Larabars. I tried one a couple years ago and didn’t like it. Then I got mostly serious about eating right (I try to follow a paleo lifestyle now) and after awhile it’s like my tastebuds reset themselves. Foods I would never eat before (most vegetables) are now delicious. My sweet tooth, GONE. Like many of you, I thought that was impossible, a genetic joke I was born with (baked goods and ice cream were the best tasting things on the planet to me,) but I can attest that it can change. I don’t crave that stuff anymore and am rarely tempted, indulging only very infrequently (and often feel sick afterwards.) I heard about Larabars and thought I’d give them a try again, because they are (usually) made from only 2-4 whole food ingredients, like dates, nuts and fruit. Maybe they changed their recipe? I don’t know, but they have a lot of flavor varieties and I’ve loved every one I’ve tried. Apple Pie and Cherry Pie are my favorites. (ETA: Unrelated to this, but related to Paleo, I just found this AWESOME story at Mark's Daily Apple, a main paleo blog. This young man's story is so inspiring: A Primal Comeback.)
- Things are clicking for me right now and weight loss has seemed almost effortless (almost.) I don’t get how I can do the same activities and eat the same foods and then suddenly it seems to melt off, when earlier weeks went by with hardly a budge. The human body is a big mystery to me, but I’ll take what I can get while I’m gettin’ it. Fifty-five pounds is now in the rearview mirror and 60 is fast approaching.
- We visited DJ's brother and his wife in beautiful Carnation, WA for Shade's 21st birthday. They have a beautiful home on 5 acres of very "pacific northwest" property. So much green you can't believe there IS that much green in one place. I took a quick walk before we left for home and this is one of the images I love from that. A beautiful tree reaching for the tiny patch of blue, as seen in a puddle reflection. I love reflection shots. They're magic.
- Took the above photo with my new little walking around baby, the Nikon P7100. A point and shoot, but with some definite pro benes (RAW files, decent response time.) A late Christmas present to me. It's not pocketsize really, but pretty small and easy to throw in a purse. I have it with me always.
- Found, and fell in love with, NOOSA yoghurt. Absolutely the BEST yoghurt I've ever had. It's called "Australian" (I guess, as opposed to Greek?) and it has a velvety smoothness I can't adequately describe. This was a product that purely led me to try it by it's beautiful design and marketing. Obviously I am a sucker for good design and this does not disappoint. The bad news is, I have discovered I do much better, health-wise, on a mostly Paleo lifestyle (diet) and so all dairy is out. I might work some of this back in after awhile, but for now, I can not believe the difference in how I feel after cutting out all dairy, grains and sugar. Like superman good. I am the girl who got sick with every bug that comes in the house, and since I've been exercising and eating clean (mostly clean) I've had 1 cold (that was really short-lived and not very bad) and nothing else that has run through family or friends has gotten to me. It could be coincidence, but I don't think so. More on this later. But I digress. If you love yoghurt, this is a MUST TRY.
- I blew past 35 lbs shortly after 30, but never posted it. Since then, however, I have been bouncing between there and 40 lbs for a couple weeks so can't claim that one yet. I will get there. The clean eating is helping and I have restructured my workouts a bit. Less is more style. Quality over quantity. I realized it's not realistic of me to think I will spend 400+ minutes doing cardio every week for the rest of my life. I'm working in some high intensity intervals and will see how that goes.
- Are you one of the 80 bazillion people who have downloaded Draw Something in the last couple weeks? I am. It's a fun drawing game/app, like Pictionary, you play against others online (via tablet or smartphone.) Pretty fun and much better for your creativity brain than Angry Birds. Or so I'm guessing, since I haven't played Angry Birds...
This pretty amazing person is turning 21 today. For real, twenty-one YEARS have passed in the blink of an eye. I say something along those lines every year, but 21? Really? I know my world was significantly made an infinite amount more awesome, more incredible, more MORE, when she came into the world and I know the world is a better place because she's in it. How could it not be? I could just say how beautiful she is, but that's obvious just be looking at her, and not even the important bit. What's awesome is she is determined, courageous, smart, funny, sarcastic, sassy, talented, strong, creative, talented, opinionated, stubborn, shy, helpful, compassionate, loyal and just plain ridiculously wonderful. That's her. All 21 years of her! I love you baby girl.
- My husband's cousin, Robert, passed away recently. They were very close and he will be missed terribly by his family and the many, many people he helped while studying theology and counseling in college.
- Another beautiful baby enters the world. I shot her sister when she was born 3 years ago also. Can't believe how fast time goes. Welcome baby Ally.
- Just a reminder I have a few sets of free printables for Valentines Day. They can be found in an earlier post here.
- 30 lbs. kicked to the curb. Not "almost 30" or "close to 30" but thirty actual pounds gone. I still have a long way to go, but the other non-scale-related benefits have been huge too. Smaller clothes, significantly lower resting heart rate, never winded, more energy, less stress...I could go on and on. It's enough to keep me going.
- Getty images recently contacted me to sell some of my photos as stock art on their site. I'm excited to be included in what feels like the cool kids' club and hope to have many photos represented there eventually.
