Monday, November 19, 2012

What would you do in a little canoe, when the moon is shining all around?

I haven't posted a 'personal' post in a while, so here I am. Except after reading it you'll probably tell me to stop being so chipper and die in a ditch already. I've just been so happy even though I've been stressed about school and money and have had to take care of my gimp husband (is the term gimp PC?) who hurt his leg a few weeks ago and can still barely walk leaving me to take care of pretty much everything around the house and feed him out of a silver spoon and wipe his ass.

I think I can attribute the happiness to the fact that I've really taken to heart the about what I've explained in this post. I've been pretty good at managing my time and have gotten SO much done. Since I wrote that post at the beginning of last month, I've just been going, going, going and trying to fill my days with as much as possible.

I also attribute it to transitioning to the paleo diet, even though I'm still not 100% there.

I've had a lot more energy and have been having fun cooking some amazing (and not so amazing) meals. Having my kitchen warm and smelling delicious is just such a good and inspiring feeling, especially when it's cold outside. Vince has been interested in this as well and has even 'gasp' talked about trying to be gluten free for a month to see how he feels. When I cook it's always gluten free, but he still eats regular pasta and sandwiches, and isn't gluten free when we eat out. We'll see if he tries it!

Lastly, I attribute my happiness to seeing every little thing I do as an accomplishment. I finished organizing under the kitchen sink? Awesome! I ate that whole bowl of pumpkin ice cream? Amazing! I brushed my teeth and finished at the exact time as the timer? I'm a champion! Start seeing everything you do as an accomplishment and I swear you'll feel like your on top of the world, even if you just managed to walk up stairs without tripping.

General updates:
School: I'm fuckin' killing it. Today my math teacher talked to me on our break and said that I had a brilliant mind (I kid you not, he said brilliant) and asked if I was going to further my math career. I told him I am going to be a doctor and he said I would be a fantastic doctor and that it was a great choice. I was speechless! I still have all A's somehow and don't see them dropping in the next month before the semester is over.

I went to the cadaver lab with my class last week and was blown away by how awesome it was. I was nervous as first because hello dead bodies, but I quickly got over that and was awestruck with how amazing our bodies are. We were able to look at four bodies and to compare them was so cool. There was a lady who died of metastatic breast cancer and it was intense to feel it in her breast tissue, and then see the other organs that were just covered in tumors. It definitely made me more conscious about doing self breast exams, as every women should.

Roxi: She's as cute as ever. I've been taking her on more walks since Vince has been sick and there are guys in the yard all the time redoing the plumbing, and she's been pretty good. I took the sheets off the bed the other day to wash them and left Vince's pillowcase on the bed. She curled up into the smallest ball and laid directly on it. I was laughing so hard and thought it was just darling!

Vince: As I said before, he hurt his leg when he was mountain biking, so I've been at his beck and call. It's not bad anymore because he's got most of his mobility back, but he wasn't able to do anything for a while! He wasn't able to drink while on his painkillers and continued to not drink, so since he hasn't had any beer he's been eating sweets, which is so unlike him! I guess his body wanted the sugar it wasn't getting from the beer. So he was sharing my pumpkin ice cream with me, but refused to admit that he liked it. When I tried to take a picture he was mortified that I would document him eating something sweet.

Purchases: I bought a new wallet from Issa.Ino and love it. I was sick of my giant bulky one and now I don't even have to carry a purse, I can just throw my new wallet in my pocket! (Oh, and she's doing a promo soon for small business Saturday!

Projects: I've been doing a lot of random things around the house to make things more functional and pretty. I've been going through kitchen cupboards and getting rid of so much old stuff that has been there for god knows how long. I also hung up some new curtains that I got from the thrift store, made a fall table runner for the table and 4 matching placemats, and sewed two new gold spotted pillows since Vince ruined the old ones with a bloody elbow after his wreck and they were forever old anyways.

Drinking: Lots and lots of Yogi Chai Rooibos Tea with a splash of milk and a bit of honey. Vince and I are both in love with it (thanks to Sara's suggestion!) and I can't see it leaving our diets anytime soon. Pots and pots of it are made each week and all throughout the day since it's caffeine free.

Cutest little girl around: I got to hangout with my niece today and holy heck she is getting so big! She'll be two in January, and it doesn't seem possible. She's starting to talk a lot more and is so playful. When Roxi is happy, she makes a long sigh/groaning sound, and Alyla kept going up and putting her nose on Roxi's and making the groaning sound. Today we went to the park and played on the 'sings'!




8 comments:

  1. The one thing that really turns me off paleo is no dairy...I eat a disgusting amount of dairy, and I know supposed to be bad for you but it is just so. damn. good.

    But hey good for you for stinking to it! I'll be interested to see how it goes.

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    1. The last thing that I'll be giving up is dairy, well just milk! I don't actually like cheese that much. But, raw dairy is a grey area with paleo and a lot of people drink it! When I'm 100% paleo, I plan on not having any dairy for a month, then introducing raw dairy to see how I feel. It'll be more expensive, but I'm thinking since I won't be making cheesy soups and eating cereal, I won't use as much dairy!

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  2. I was reading through a few of your posts and thought: This blog is Awesome! Then, I saw how much you love Rise Against and I thought: THIS BLOG IS AWESOME! They're a favorite of mine too. :)

    Looking forward to following your adventures!

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    1. Yay! I'm glad you like it. I love yours too, obviously, and look forward to your adventures and lovely things as well!

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  3. I'm glad you're liking the paleo so much! I really do think it's one of the easiest diets to stick to (especially if you're already used to avoiding some of that junk) aside from the dairy. I have to have my dairy. =]

    I love your pillows and table runner! I want to start decorating a little more since I always loved seeing Christmas decorations as a kid. I want to start with a simple table cloth that'll fit our table but now I have to wait until we upgrade again so I know for sure it'll fit!

    Your niece is so precious and so big! It seems like barely a year ago you posted about her birth, sheesh!

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    1. I'm glad I like it too! The dairy is still hanging around haha Well, only milk. Not cheese or anything. And since I don't really have anything to eat cream cheese with, I don't care about it anymore! Soon I'll cut out dairy for a month and then might reintroduce it to see how I feel.

      You can always do a table runner instead of a whole cloth! Then you can reuse it. Also, since our table is round and in such a spall area, it doesn't overcrowd the room and make it look even smaller like a think a full cloth would.

      And ya, she's huge...she'll be 2 in January!!

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  4. Lol, GODDAMN STEFF STOP BEING SO FUCKING CHIPPER BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS.

    Just kidding...this post is really inspiring. I feel like I should get my ass on the ball now. What's the book that you read about time management again? Maybe I'll invest in it, it'll give me something to read in Sweden and prepare for 2013 when I return to the states.

    Also, I've been really interested in paleo...but I don't like meat, and isn't it kind of pro-meat? I should really do more research but maybe if I start this you can be my go-to person when I need recipes and stuff :P

    Anyway it's nice to see such refreshing positivity, yours is very sincere. :D

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    1. I JUST CAN'T HELP IT! =)

      The book was 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam.

      It is pro meat for sure, but it can be done! Do you not eat meat for cruelty reasons or just because you don't like it? There were a lot of meats I didn't like before and didn't eat a lot of meat (like chicken breast or ground beef...though I still don't like ground beef) but I've found alternatives. For example, drumsticks! I've never really cooked them before because of the bones, but now I use the bones to make broth and the chicken is SO much tastier! It's not dry and chickeny like the breasts are. We've also tried things like lamb and more fish. If you're worried about the cruelty aspect, you can always try to find a local farmer (or go to the CSA in SLC) and they'll have ones that are humanely raised. I eaither buy meat from our CSA or the local health food store that has free range, antibiotic free, yadda yadda meat from a farm that's kind of close. As long as your good eating eggs, you should be good. I eat an insane amount of them and love them! Hard boiled eggs are a staple in my diet haha

      Here are some vegetarian paleo resources to get ideas from:
      http://www.nomeatathlete.com/vegetarian-paleo-diet/
      http://www.paleoplan.com/2012/06-28/can-a-vegetarian-or-vegan-be-paleo/

      I think the main thing with staying healthy on a veg/paleo diet is you have to eat SO much. You get a lot of protein and healthy fats from meat, so by cutting it out you have to compensate by eating other things, like avocado, olive oil, etc.

      Lastly, if you do decide to eat meat at some point, take it slowly! There's a section in the Practical Paleo book about going from vegan to paleo (as a lot of health enthusiasts have) and since your body is not used to it, you'll want to start out by drinking things like chicken broth and making soups with broth, then slowly add meat. Before I went paleo I didn't eat a lot of meat (once or twice a week) but I feel so much better now that I do eat it!

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