30 Days... We can make it 30 days, right?

Jeff and I have been trying to figure out some things regarding our family's eating habits. Many of the things we have looked into have been convicting but we have yet to really follow through on them in our home. We have decided to take the 30 day challenge, removing all sugar, dairy, beans, legumes and grain for 30 days. Our main reason for using this as our starting point is that we would like to limit processed foods in our daily eating and want to go through a "detox" before adding them slowly back into our routine. We want to know how these foods are making us feel and if we really need to eliminate any of them completely. I personally struggle with taking things like this to an extreme but 30 days sounds reasonable and I really need to try and get away from how much sugar I have been eating. I do not see us maintaining this as a forever lifestyle... who knows, maybe we will feel so good that we will not want to stop. What I am hoping for is that we come out on the other side with better habits. Maddie will be eating mostly the same meals we are eating but we are not removing dairy for her and I will be letting her have some grain. We have purchased a cookbook and there are also a few blogs that have some recipes. A friend has been sharing her family's 30 day challenge on her blog and I have really enjoyed it so I will be sharing ours here.

A few of the documentaries we have watched that made us think about our way of eating:

Food Inc
Food Matters
Fat, Sick and nearly dead

Christmas 2011

We had another fun Christmas this year! My Mother was visiting once again which always makes the time extra special. Jeff was busy with work but, with all the crazy warm weather we are having, it went very smooth and he was not gone as much as he has been in the past. Here are a few pictures:

A Big Texas Thanksgiving.

Now that it's almost Christmas, here are our photos from Thanksgiving in Texas. There was a great deal of fun had with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmothers and great grandmothers. We can't wait to go back.

Grandpa's Farm

Today we went to the pumpkin patch known locally as "Grandpa's Farm". There were animals, and slides and kettle corn. We managed to get some cute pictures in spite of everyone being hungry when the camera came out. It's amazing to look at last year's pictures and see how much Maddie has changed. They really do grow up too fast.

Cross One Off the Bucket List

Yesterday I had the privilege of realizing a life-long dream by flying on a piece of history. I got to fly from Helena to Provo in the Boss' P 51 mustang. I've always loved the mustang, It's a beautiful airplane that looks fast just sitting on the ramp and it oozes horsepower and history. It could be argued that the Mustang is what brought about the defeat of Germany in WWII as it was the first fighter capable of escorting our bombers all the way to Berlin and back. Chuck Yeager, Bob Hoover and the Tuskegee Airmen flew mustangs. The V12 Merlin Engine produces 1490 horsepower and the most glorious roar you will ever hear. Everything about the airplane is awesome.

Our flight was awesome too. As we wove a course around snow capped peaks supported by the red, yellow and orange foliage below them, we could see elk running through the trees and the hunters that pursued them. We did loops and rolls and "strafing" runs down canyons. The only thing that could have made the flight any more fun is if there were still six .50 cal machine guns in the wings with which we could do some real strafing runs (perhaps in Heaven?). Thanks Gene, I had a blast and count it an honor to be one of the few privileged enough to fly in a piece of history. Here are some pics, be sure to turn up your volume for the video, that my friends is the sound of freedom.

Stuff

Perhaps it's the fact that I'm nearing the end of my weekend and the beginning of yet another work week that has caused me to spend the better part of the day pondering the question, do we really need all this stuff? How much time do we spend at jobs we don't particularly enjoy so that we can make enough money to maintain our stuff? The house that is too big, the car that is too new, the iPods, iPads and iMacs, the smart phones and HDTVs, all this stuff that we bought to "enrich" our lives. But when we are honest with ourselves, far from enriching our lives, these things take over our lives and distract us from what is really important.

A quick perusal or our home will reveal 3200 square feet, we use the basement for laundry, storage and nothing else, the attic will be a master suite some day but we don't use it yet. The four of us live on the main floor in about 1000 square feet which means we have 2200 square feet of wasted house that we heat and cool for nothing. You will also find in my dresser twenty pairs of socks, eight pairs of underwear, nine t-shirts, and five pairs of pants. The worst part is that it's laundry day so most of my clothes are not in my dresser, they are on the laundry room floor. I have 9 pairs of shoes! In the basement you will find an inflatable kayak that I just had to have and have used once in the 3+ years that I've owned it. Three tents, four backpacks, six sleeping bags, I guess you could say we are well prepared for the one camping trip we do each summer. I could go on and on.

In light of all that waste I've become fascinated with the idea of simplifying. It's exhilarating and horrifying all at the same time. I love my toys, I love buying them, thinking about buying them and hunting for the best deal on them. But, how freeing it would be to walk away from all that stuff. Live in a tiny house with no mortgage to worry about each month, drive a really cool old car that doesn't require a payment or comprehensive insurance, just buy what you need and not much else. Just think what you could afford to give to worthy causes in time and treasure.

We are thinking about, I guess I should say we are in the primal stages of beginning to think about, doing something like this . A small house we could build with our own hands, on our own land and pay cash for. The size necessarily requires a reduction in the amount of stuff you have, but that shifts your priorities to what is important.

Madeline is 2

Friday was our sweet Maddie Mae's birthday. We celebrated slowly throughout the day, homemade pizzas, playtime outside, the big gift reveal and then cupcakes. It was pretty low key but we did our best to make her feel special. It is very interesting to tell a 2 year old happy birthday and have her stare back at you with the exact same huge smile that you always get, a little question mark in her eyes about why I am so excited. We bought her a toy kitchen with a few accessories and it was a hit! There have been very few moments since we gave it to her that she has not been cooking, making coffee or doing dishes. It is in our kitchen and throughout the last day and a half she has grabbed our hands saying "see it?!" and led us to her kitchen, handing us something to stir or try... so much fun!! We have been blessed with a joyful, inquisitive, affectionate, precious little girl and we had a great day celebrating her birthday.