All Is Going To Change (Come October)

This last weekend was sad. Dearest Elaine, my cousins real grandmother, and my "adopted" grandmother, passed away on Saturday, the 15th of September. Only in her 70's, she was quite young, but she had so many health problems it's a relief she's not suffering anymore. Her passing is made much more bearable by the fact that Grom, as we liked to call her, loved Jesus so much, there is now no doubt where her eternal soul came to rest--in the bosom of her beloved Savior.  Grom, you will be missed. 

But that wasn't the only thing that made the weekend sad. At least, not for me. 

To start off, you should know that this month Jon and I are trying the Sperm Meets Egg Plan. 

Sunday night I made a big decision, and was in mourning Monday. (Today I feel better about it, but it will still be difficult.) Sunday night I was praying to God. I told God that we would continue to try to get pregnant this month, but that if we didn't, I would take it as a sign that I need to lose weight first. Meaning that after this month of trying to get pregnant, if we are unsuccessful,  attempting to achieve pregnancy will be put on the back burner for a while while I lose weight.

I have long been overweight and sick of it, but it's gotten to the point where I need to do something about it, not only for myself (eczema, embarrassed to be in public, feeling distinctly unattractive, etc) , but for my husband and future children as well. Hence, we will be starting the GAPS intro diet in October (if I don't get pregnant this month). The goal of this diet is to cleanse out our innards; to heal our bodies; to gain health; and for me, to lose weight. Once we complete the intro diet, we will move on to the full GAPS diet, and go from there. I don't know how long it will take us to heal our bodies. But I am committed, despite the Holiday Season coming up, that I will do this, that I NEED to do this. And it's now or never. 

SO. My plan is to lose at least 80 pounds, then wait 6 months, before we try to get pregnant after this month. I am anticipating that it will be at least 18 months, then, when we can start trying again. I am giving myself a year to lose the weight (that's only 1.5 lbs a week! Doesn't sound so bad, then! And I'm thinking I'll probably lose quite a bit right at first) and then I want to wait the 6 months after losing the weight to allow all the toxins to be flushed out of my body. (Note: if I lose more than 80 lbs, I wouldn't mind... wow, I'm fat! But that is ALL GOING TO CHANGE.)

This was a surprisingly easy decision to make on Sunday, but I was really depressed Monday, thinking that I will have to wait so very long for my dream of a family. But then I realized: I'm still working toward achieving that dream! I could sit here, over weight, trying (in vain, more than likely, as I believe my weight is what is hindering pregnancy) to get pregnant each month and then being depressed it doesn't happen, OR I can do something about it! It won't be easy, but I feel good about having a plan and knowing that this has so many AWESOME repercussions. Not only will I start to feel better about myself, but healing your gut helps with anxiety, depression, IBS, and moodiness (all of which we both suffer from) , as well as joint pain, eczema, food allergies and intolerance, and increasing energy levels. It can also minimize the symptoms of autoimmune diseases (which Jon has not been diagnosed with, but his mother has, and he has many of the same symptoms as she does).  

I am not looking forward to going grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free, but I know this is what I need to do. I doubt it will be permanent. I like my rice and bread, my cheese, and cookies, cake, cupcakes, cheesecake, brownies, pies, and bars way way WAY too much. But for now, that's where we are. I will do updates weekly on how I'm doing weight-wise (we weigh ourselves Sunday morning, so it will probably Sunday that I update) .

I AM USING THIS BLOG AS MY ACCOUNTABILITY.

 ENCOURAGEMENT ENCOURAGED. 

Please pray for us. 

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Today is my husband's birthday! 

I think I was more excited for it than he was... We didn't do anything special. He worked. I did the dishes and swept the floor, picked the house up a bit, made it nicer (he likes having things in order, and who can blame him? Too bad I'm so lazy most of the time...). We're ordering Jim's pizza for dinner. I got him Coke for some Rum and Coke (one of his favorite drinks!) and some "real fruit" popsicles for dessert. We'll probably watch a movie tonight. I got him a card, a hat, and Lady and the Tramp on Bluray and DVD.  Nothing terribly exciting.

But I'm just so glad he's here... Glad that he's mine.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this man. He is SO PERFECT for me. Laid back. Quiet, Calm. Calming. Sweet. Kind. Gentle. Loving. Amazing. Gentlemanly. He does things for me. Helps me. Loves me. He's irreplaceable. And I love him.



Okay, sappy much? Sorry, guys. I'm done.

I love you, Jon!! Happy birthday!!

 

 Okay... now I really am done!

We Will Never Forget

I bet you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing eleven years ago today.

I know I do. I was eleven. We were just starting our day of homeschooling, and it was in the "early years" of homeschooling, so we were downstairs sitting at our desks (mom relaxed the rules after a while). We were listening to Classical music-- Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire, I think. Dad called. "Turn on the TV," he said. Fox News. We watched as the World Trade Centers, the Twin Towers, were bombarded with hijacked airplanes. 2,606 people lost their lives, including the al-Queda suicides. The worst part was watching those poor people jumping to their deaths rather than go up in flames. NYFD lost 340 firefighters, a chaplain, and 2 paramedics. The police department lost 37 officers. 8 more private EMTS were lost, as well. Citizens from over 90 countries were killed. Makes my heart sick just typing this.

Then the Pentagon was hit. 125 people killed there. They had more warning. But still, I remember thinking, "How can this be happening?! Our own capitol!" This was the kind of thing from movies; something that only happened in distant, far away places, not my beloved country!!

Eventually we found out about United Airlines Flight 93 over Pennsylvania. The one that was headed for our capitol building. About the 40 heroes that died bringing that plane down to save their capitol, my capitol, your capitol. The plane went down only 130 miles from Washington, D.C.

That was a very solemn Tuesday. And We Will Never Forget.

We will never forget the 3000 people who died. We will never forget the attack on our nation by terrorists. We will always hold up, appreciate, admire, and remember the heroes who died. The families of the victims.

WE WILL REMEMBER 9/11. WE WILL REMEMBER THE FALLEN.

(Source 1, Source 2)

I Still Love You

HEY, LOYAL READERS!

(aka my best friends)

I just want to inform you that I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU! Oh no; on the contrary, I've been thinking quite a lot about you all! I have just been CRAZY BUSY. We went up to my parents' cabin over the long weekend, and I had to play catch up getting things done at home. And I have nothing good to write about :-( Except that I made a sourdough starter (any name suggestions for it?), drank a pint of whole, chocolate milk all at once, soaked some almonds, made some butter, that type of thing. Nothing really worthy of their own post (partly because I forgot to take pictures AGAIN). But soon that will change!!

I have really kicked off my healthier eating initiative, thanks to this article that I stumbled upon on how to Slay the Sugar Monster in Four Doable Steps. I am going to be getting rid of my processed sugars, but in the meantime I did buy some Sucranat (evaporated cane juice, a natural sweeter that's not refined like other sugars) and made some cookies with it; Jon was a huge fan. They tasted very different than regular chocolate chip cookies, but they were still awfully good with a glass of organic whole milk. I have also increased my [healthy] fat intake; no more trans fatty veggie oils, hello whole milk, butter, and coconut oil (which is AMAZING in a pot of brown rice, by the way. [Soaking rice and flour, etc. is next on my list of healthy-things-to-get-used-to]). We also will be purchasing a quarter of a cow (you read that right. One-fourth of a giant bovine. 126.5 pounds, to be exact) that was grass fed and hormone/antibiotic free. This is surprisingly cheap. Expensive up front, but when you figure out per pound, then realize that some of that is going to be high-quality cuts, it's really very reasonable. (My parents rock; they're letting us store all the extra meat at their NEW RANCH. So awesome of them.) I am also making bone broths/stock to consume/make CHEAP soups with this winter (like this one). Doesn't that sound amazing?

Speaking of winter, I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!!! I want to put up our Christmas tree and string it with lights, drink hot cider while reading a good book, take a hot bath... Ahh, I'm just ready for cool weather and holiday cheer! Can you believe they're already putting decorations and stuff out for Halloween? Insanity.

Anyway, keep checking back for more posts on my experiments with "real food" and healthy living. Let me know if there's anything you're particularly curious about and would like to see a post on.

Love you all!