Sunday, January 29, 2012

Inspiration


"No self respecting wolf nor woman would follow a culture that takes them to their deaths... instead of toward vibrant life. Be not young, be artful. Be not carving the body as though it is a block of wood, be strong, be healthy." -Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes

If you are a woman, or lover of women, or misunderstand women, or misunderstand yourself, please read this book.

I always thought that I was different from other girls, then other teenagers, then other women, and I've found through this wonderful book that it is because I've embraced the wild inside myself, the wolf inside myself, the Mother and the Maiden and eventually the Crone inside of me.

Do not flee from the carnal, the feral, and the wild, embrace it.


Love it.

Live it.

I hadn't planned to post anything today, but then I found the above quote and I had to share it. This will be my inspiration today, tomorrow, and always. If I am healthy, then I am strong, and I am beautiful.

Go love and be loved, and as always, enjoy your life with a Spoonful of Sugar.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Miss Me?

Hey guys, I know, I know, it's been FOREVER! But, you know how it is right? At least, you do if you're a parent.

Does this sound familiar:

"I really meant to sit down and ________, but then ________." (My blanks are usually filled with "write" and "Baby Bear pulled all of the DVDs off the shelf" or "Baby Bear spilled
his whole bottle of juice all over himself" or "Baby Bear started shoving things in the refrigerator filter" or "Baby Bear attempted to upend the trash can." True story.)

So, let's play catch up for a few minutes.

1) We went to visit my family in Memphis.






<--- The bald head behind my mom and Baby Bear, yeah, tha
t's Craig Brewer.






2) Baby Bear experiences his first Halloween.






<--- Cutest bat ever? I think so.







3) Baby Bear turned ONE YEAR OLD on November, 23.






<--- Organic carrot cake with no processed sugar, and homemade whipped cream for icing? Win! Smearing it on mommy's face? Bigger Win!





4) We roasted a duck for Thanksgiving.








<--- Crispy skin, moist meat, and 2 cups of rendered duck fat? OMFG, WIN!









5) We adopted a stray puppy for Christmas.






<--- This is Guinness, our new dog. He's huge, and apparently he's only 7 months old. He and Baby Bear are the best of friends.





6) New Year, New Me.

So, I weaned Baby Bear, but didn't wean myself from what I'd been eating and how I'd been eating as I nursed, so I gained a little weight. (coughalotofweightcough) So, this month I'm buckling down and changing my diet. I'm exercising more, doing some yoga, not keeping sweets around the house, eating healthier in general, and trying to keep my metabolism running on high speed.

So far, I don't really see any results, and I don't have a scale to see if any of this is working or not. The first week was horrible. I mean, seriously, I haven't felt so ill since being pregnant with Baby Bear. I was irritable, I was always tired, I had horrid headaches, and I had no energy. Wait...isn't the OPPOSITE supposed to happen? Well, when you're an idiot like me and you cut your calorie intake by like MORE THAN HALF (dumbdumbdumb!) it doesn't matter how many protein packed snacks and shakes you have, you aren't going to feel good.

Now it's a little better. I've decided not to literally count my calories. I've been able to create a sixth sense of calories basically. I'm eyeballing my portions, watching what I snack on, still making sure I eat frequently, and staying away from anything too heavy and fatty.

I'm still cooking regularly for Baby Bear and hubby, but am trying to get hubby to eat healthier. (Yeah, that'll happen. Just as soon as he stops smoking.) -_-

My new inspiration is Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She's amazing. I love her. If you don't know who she is, go find out right now. I don't know how she does it though. She uses full fat, whole milk, half and half, and butter in all her recipes but is still relatively thin. So I emailed her and asked. If I get an answer I'll be sure to share, because America needs to know.

That's it for now. Hubby gets home soon from an all day class with no lunch break, so I need to go make him something filling and yummy. Does anyone else wish they lived in a grocery store sometimes? (read: all the time)

Oh, also, on a totally non-food note: I've been reading a lot lately, now that Baby Bear can kind of entertain himself for a while (when he feels like it), and the books I'm reading now are the George R.R. Martin series, A Song of Ice and Fire. SO GOOD! GO READ IT NOW!

Love and kisses and sugars until next time!