Life, uninterrupted.

Many times a day on many days of the week, I complain to myself and to my children and to my patient husband that my life is constantly being interrupted by children, chores, leaky refrigerators, laundry, and cleaning up toys. But really, all these interruptions make up my life and days like these, when I quietly blog on a laptop while my son watches Thomas the Train on Netflix, I praise God for giving me a family who I can love and loves me. I thank Him for healthy bodies and appliances that make my life more convenient. And on days when I fantasize about my days pre-babies, the Lord humbles me by a hug and "I love you very much Mama".

Detox Diet and the Finer Things in Life

I realized that eating only fruits and veggies and almond butter on rice cakes for three days straight will make you hungry. The evening of day three I was very hungry. I felt good, and not tired and very healthy, but I was starving. So I called it quits, had a piece of toast and went to bed. My kidneys and liver can do the detoxing for me, and then I can enjoy beer and breadsticks with my husband on Valentine's Day.


Look at that family and all the boys (plus Natalie). My sisters and brother better have girls. I'm done so don't look at me.

Wine tasting in Sonoma was relaxing and fun and very adult-like. Much needed after spending hours on the floor building Star Wars Lego ships.
And, a picture from one of my favorite beaches in Santa Cruz. The lighthouse in the harbor. I love this beach. There is a coffeeshop right on the sand, so I can sit and drink coffee or eat a pastry while the boys put their sticky ice cream hands in the sand to build castles. Beautiful.

Detox Day 2

Too weak to post anything.

Ha ha just kidding, but I don't really know why I'm doing this. I feel nauseous today. I have had a lingering headache again, and I'm really craving bread. I'm thinking i could go a long time without meat or dairy or even sugar, but not having wheat and yeast is torture. I've heard the third day is always the hardest, so I'll let you know tomorrow if I'm going to make it. I also have a stomach ache, probably from the mass amount of fruits I've been eating. I'm not leaving you with pictures of the food I thought about today, but didn't eat because it would make me hungry. Cue soft, inspirational music.

Detox Diet

Here is the food I am eating in the off chance I might start feeling a little better. Last night I went to bed feeling heavy and lethargic and gross. So I decided to eat what this website said I should. It was a detox website, but it made sense to me and was very similar to this blog I read about a man's 30 day trial on a raw food diet. After his initial detox, he felt better than when he was on a vegan diet. So I am attempting this detox for about a week or so (I may only make it past today), but I will tell you all about it here.

DAY 1: I can only eat fruits, veggies, brown rice products, almond butter, nuts, seeds, olive oil, teas, water with lemon, 1 cup of coffee. NO dairy, meat, food additives, processed food, eggs, wheat, yeast, alcohol, sugar...you get the idea. Today wasn't bad. I love fruit, had a huge salad at dinner with veggie broth for filler, and the rice cakes with almond butter and bananas is filling and super good. But I've had a headache half the day, probably because I haven't had any sugar. I'm not tired and I feel good. I do crave a dessert while I watch TV, but I think that is just a bad habit. I think if I make it to day 3, you should be impressed. Talk to you manana.

Cheesy smiles, but at least they smiled. They're standng inside a stick house that someone built in Capitola after a huge storm

Low tide is awesome!

Look at the grandkids. We make cute babies!

We cut down our own Christmas tree! This was the first tree we had. Sage and I have spent 11 Christmas' together and this is the first one with a tree of our own.
Sawyer learned to ride his scoot bike at the pump track. He fell in a mud puddle, but cried when we told him it was timt to go home.

Zeke can ride the whole track and he learned how to stand up and pedal which is a must if you want to make it through the whole course.

Obviously this hasn't recapped the year plus I didn't blog about, but it sums up most of it. More though on our living situation later.

Why I love my apartment

I have an obsession with looking for places to live that are bigger and better than my current abode. These "new" houses, apartments, whatever, have a garage, a backyard, a washer and dryer inside the house, a dishwasher and at least a wall unit AC. I don't live on the second floor and there are overhead lights in all the rooms. I have enough floor space for a Christmas tree or more simply, an end table. Yes, my place is bigger than 750 sq ft.

But, God has been working on my heart, gently reminding me to love what I have. My family is healthy, my children are beautiful, my husband loves his job. My husband has a job. I can walk to the park safely, and by myself. I can push my double stroller to the store and restaurants, theater, coffee. I could go days without driving my car, and honestly that's how I like it. I have a neighbor downstairs who shares a similar life and having her steps away has often broken the monotony that a stay-at-home mom's life can quickly become. And she understands that monotony. We started a Bible club with the neighbor kids. I guess my "new" place doesn't come with a Bible club.

My apartment is easy to clean, is cozy and I can see what everyone is doing in every room simultaneously (okay, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea). I can vacuum the entire house, though, without changing outlets. My point is, God is opening my eyes to what has been loitering in front of me, to what he has graciously provided me with. Who am I to want more, just to make my life more comfortable? Life isn't even about being comfortable, but about humbly living and understanding that we serve a God who gives and a God who just as easily takes away. Besides, how awesome is it, that I can sit on my computer in my living room, and examine the entire contents of my bedroom closet without getting up from my computer chair?

Jesus was born in a manger, friends.