Tasting Life Abundant

Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time." This verse offers hope and peace and understanding. We don't always understand why things are happening in our lives. When I have a flare up, I usually feel really broken... discouraged, ugly, messy, weary, guilty. I don't feel like I can help others when I can't even keep myself "together". I don't feel I can be the best wife and mother when I have mood swings. My first inclination is to withdraw, to lock myself away until the storms pass. But then I definitely won't be helping anyone AND I might be missing the point of the storm...learning to weather life while living it. Perhaps God is trying to teach me patience like I pray He will. Would it not be better learned when I practice speaking calmly and kindly to my children even though inside I am a stressed and overwhelmed mess? Or maybe courage and hope, which can only be learned by pressing on through the darkness, rat...

Breakfast scramble- grated sweet potato, Kerrygold cheese, spinach and eggs Low carb GF pancakes. The recipe called for stevia, but I used a couple teaspoons of coconut sugar instead, since I personally am more concerned with eating whole foods than strictly low carb. Beef Broccoli at P.F. Chang's. Mmm! Last Friday night and Saturday I got to go out with my sister and two aunt that are our age for a Girl's Trip. Fun because we haven't doesn't it in two years, but sad because it was also a goodbye trip for my sister who is moving out of state soon. 😪😘 Also from our girl's weekend trip, a beef enchilada from Las Brisas. Family dinner of split pea soup, rotisserie chicken, garden fresh sauteed green beans with bacon and garlic, more fresh veggies and toast. Sophie and Nathaniel we're very well behaved and waited patiently for 40 min while I had an appointment to check my supplements, so I took them to Rocket Donuts for a treat🍩 I love their GF...

Fried egg, fried sweet potatoes, kale and tea Fried eggs, and a ham, avo. mayo, Kerrygold cheese and green leaf lettuce roll-up. More eggs, ham spinach, and GF pancakes with honey Lovely meal outside in the sunshine 🌞 Soft fried eggs, baby potatoes and greens. And of course, a jar of tea. This one is a peach ginger tea from Pinkstork.com. it's meant as a morning sickness cure, but in general its just really good for digestion, and it's yummy. My low carb version of Pad Thai, made with cauliflower rice instead of rice noodles. Breakfast on a Saturday when some of my younger siblings were visiting: omelette with cheese and greens, avocado, GF toast with cinnamon and coconut oil, leftover GF cornbread and a fruit platter. I got this jar of lemon curd from my SIL for my birthday and I threw it in the freezer since I had alot of cake to eat 😆 now it's thawed and waiting in the fridge for me anytime I want a little bite of something sweet. Ok, so this is ...

Psalm 66:16-20: "Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!" I've had several conversations lately about some of the treatments I've received, mostly regarding the NAET treatments, so this has been on my mind... I just have a few things I want to clarify.  First and foremost, I want to make it very clear that I believe ALL healing is by God and for His glory. He alone gives life and breath and power. The Bible tells us this and I believe it is a foundational truth. Another foundational truth is that there is only one way for us to be right with God and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ; through His sacrifice and death on the cross and His Resurrectio...

So between my chiropractor appointment, talking to my Dr. and getting a couple supplements, modifying my diet, and taking a break from exercising, I am feeling better.  When I'm not feeling well, it's always especially hard when Brian is gone, since it makes me kinda panicky to be alone with the kids in case of an emergency. A few mornings ago he left super early in the AM, and I did not feel well at all...but he had to go, so I did everything I could think of at the moment to relax and de-stress.  I made myself some Chamomile tea, took a couple drops of calming flower essense tincture,  put some lavender oil in the diffuser our room, climbed into bed and read Psalms and prayed and did some deep breathing. After about half an hour I was feeling much better and was able to sleep again, and I've felt good since then for the most part.   Feeling grateful 💛

I seem to be having a bit of a flare up at the moment. It's been coming on gradually over the last couple weeks, but I've been trying to talk myself out of it. (Meaning telling myself it's all in my head.) But I had a chiropractor appointment today, and he confirmed a few things are off right now, so it's back to watching my diet more closely and making sure I am supporting my body they way it needs to function optimally.  For me, this means eating "Paleo" as much as possible, and cutting back on my treadmill cardio workouts, and incorporating more stress reducers; Epsom salt baths, yoga, deep breathing, prayer & Bible reading reading, quiet time, and less time on my smartphone/social media.  My symptoms are definitely familiar: intermittent pain in my abdomen, (especially gallbladder area), fatigue and not feeling great in the morning, and moodiness/having a hard time dealing with stress. I've also had some heartburn/reflux, slight nausea, some hear...

 When your day starts with a fried egg sandwich, with Paleo waffles for the bread, that's a good morning.😊  Dinner- Broccoli, fresh, sweet corn on the cob from the produce stand down the road, small lettuce and carrot salad with my HM dressing, and a turkey patty. Fast and easy.  After church dinner/snack- fried eggs (the yolks were perfect, just the way I love them), fried Spam (yep, that's right, we eat it. Not all the time though.), and avocado. And Yogi Bedtime tea.  Saturday morning breakfast- Paleo waffles, scrambled eggs with Spam and cheese, grapes, and a few fresh veggies.  Lunch- Broccoli, shredded sweet potatoes, cheese and sourcream, and ground beef. Tasted kinda like a casserole I ate growing up...and kinda like a loaded baked potato. I just threw together some leftovers for a quick meal, and it turned out good. Don't be afraid to experiment. Especially if you batch cook.  Scrambled eggs, roasted sweet potatoes and avocado. Te...

I've been working out almost every day for the past 10 days. Whenever I slack on it, it doesn't take long for me to notice my mood and energy and positive body image declining. I really just feel so much better when I do a good amount of fairly intense exercise. I usually do a good chunk (20-30min,sometimes 45-60) in the morning, and then stop and do 1-5 minutes of quick moves to boost my heart rate once or twice later in the day. My routine varies from treadmill, hand weights, exercise DVDs, trampoline, bike riding, walking, yoga and more. Keep it fresh! I do have some go to moves though, and a few YouTube videos I like to use, especially for the quick bursts later in the day. So, one thing I keep reading is that you need to find "your motivation" if you want to really be able to stick to your workout goals. Surprisingly I struggled with that...even though it boosts my mood, gives me energy, promotes positive body image and just overall super good for you, I sometim...

My meals might look a bit similar in this post because I batch cooked a few things, so my plate is often filled with the same foods, but I try to make each meal a little different so that I don't get bored. Shredded white sweet potato hash browns and a chive omelette. Salad with chicken and avocado and homemade honey mustard poppy seed dressing. This dinner was so full of brightly veggie colors, I couldn't resist playing with my food a little. Grass fed, home grown beef, spinach, onion, beets, carrot, cabbage, sweet potatoe, and cauli puree. Picnic lunch! We've been going to all the local beaches lately, for dinner picnic or Saturday afternoons.  This picnic had berries, carrots, fruit, cheese, GF crackers, salami, plantain chips, some deli fried chicken and sourdough bread with butter.                                               Breakfast of eggs wi...