changes...

It has been exactly one week since Matt and I sat down to watch Food Inc. as you probably gathered from the last lengthy post, it did profound things to us. I understand that not all people will have the same reaction that we had to this. I also understand, as in all things, everyone has their own point of view on the subject. But, since seeing as this is MY blog, and the only person's views I can really speak to our MY own. I thought I would share some of the changes that have taken place, since last I posted....

We have gone a whole week almost completely organic, & local.

It feels Awesome!

After watching Food Inc. we started researching...

Researching places to buy local meats, cheeses, veggies and fruits, and also different places to buy organic, local, and whole foods. Also, looking into one of our biggest questions, what do you do when you need to eat out? Turns out there are several good options (restaurant's) locally that do local, organic, grass fed, sustainable... etc.

Yay that was good news! Especially since one of my most favorite places was on the "good list" - Burgerville!!! Woo Woo, a girl cannot live without Burgerville!

Anyway, here is a list of places that we have found that meet all or some of the criteria...

Burgerville (A Northwest fast food Chain, serving local, fresh, sustainable foods)

Costco (lots of great organic available at bulk prices)

Corvallis Co-Op

The Grocery Outlet (again tons of great organic stuff at discount prices)

Corvallis Indoor Market

Bald Hill Farms

High Heels in the Barn (a blog that I think is just great!)

Trader Joes

Whole Foods

Life Source Natural foods (Salem, Oregon)

Who knew there were so many choices to choose from. Plus, there are tons of others I haven't even listed. These are just a few that have gotten my attention this week. I will let you know as others come along!

Making this commitment to our family feels great. I'm sure there may be times that it isn't always possible to follow it just right, but even the effort makes a big difference. Before our family was about 50% organic, local, and sustainable... mostly for a few reasons: expense, laziness, and denial that the food we were eating wasn't "that bad". We've never been unhealthy eaters. I wouldn't say. But, the commitment to not fill ourselves with chemicals, and man made and engineered foods, makes me feel like we are not only giving our kids a gift that will be long giving, but that we are honoring our bodies, and the land and animals that God has given us. I really feel like this is the way it's supposed to be. Yes, it takes a bit more effort, time, and yes even money. I can honestly say I really feel it's worth it. The funny thing is, I've found, is that when you fill your kitchen with good healthy foods, that's what you eat. When the cupboards are bare, and the fridge is lonely, that's when we got ourselves into trouble. So, making a bit more effort to plan ahead, as in most things, pays back big rewards!

Some of the things we're working on for the future are:

• Planning our Garden (this is something we've done for years, but this year it will be more intentional) I will also be gardening 100% organically, which I am excited to learn more about.


• Buying our meat locally from local butcher's... we are thinking about 1/4 of beef, 1/2 a pig, a few organic free range chickens, and are still looking into turkey (looks like it's a seasonal thing).


• Canning (now that the basement is almost done, I can finally get a freezer, and area to store pantry goods... so come summer I will be canning all kinds of things!)


• Learning more, more about label reading, more about what's good, what's not, what you should buy organically, and what doesn't really matter... basically educating ourselves, so we don't fall back into laziness, and ignorance!


• The possibilities of our own chickens (yes, you can have them in the city,... and no I haven't gotten the OK, so we'll see)


• Farmer's Market and Local Farms... looking forward to more things being in season. (Again, we have always gone to Farmer's Market as well as local farms, but we will be utilizing these resources more as we go forward!)

Well, for now... that's where we're at in this journey. Have you made any changes? Have you watched the film? What's your perspective... I'd love to start a conversation! Watch the film if you haven't... it's eye opening!

Have fun along the way, get the kiddo's involved. Mine have so enjoyed trying some new foods, visiting interesting markets, and even seeing some farm animals along the way! Make them part of the discussion, they might just surprise you!

eye opening...

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli—the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.
Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising—and often shocking truths—about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.

Learn more about these issues and how you can take action on Takepart.com

Here are 10 simple things you

can do to make a positive change!

1. Stop drinking sodas and other sweetened beverages.
You can lose 25 lbs in a year by replacing one 20 oz soda a day with a no calorie beverage (preferably water).

2. Eat at home instead of eating out.
Children consume almost twice (1.8 times) as many calories when eating food prepared outside the home.

3. Support the passage of laws requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on menus and menu boards.
Half of the leading chain restaurants provide no nutritional information to their customers.

4. Tell schools to stop selling sodas, junk food, and sports drinks.
Over the last two decades, rates of obesity have tripled in children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years.

5. Meatless Mondays—Go without meat one day a week.
An estimated 70% of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals.

6. Buy organic or sustainable food with little or no pesticides.
According to the EPA, over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used each year in the U.S.

7. Protect family farms; visit your local farmer's market.
Farmer's markets allow farmers to keep 80 to 90 cents of each dollar spent by the consumer.

8. Make a point to know where your food comes from—READ LABELS.
The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to your dinner plate.

9. Tell Congress that food safety is important to you.
Each year, contaminated food causes millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S.

10. Demand job protections for farm workers and food processors, ensuring fair wages and other protections.

(this information was taken from the food inc. official website)

Go check out this amazing documentary, as well as their official website:

http://www.foodincmovie.com/index.php

To search for sustainable, organic, local foods in your area go to:

http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home

This movie has totally made me want to change the way I live, the way I eat, and the way I feed my kids. It was amazingly eye opening to me, and I hope that you will take the time to watch this film and read and learn more about these important conversations we need to be having. For a long time I have wanted to make these changes, but because of ignorance and laziness have not... but it's time, at least for me and for my family, to make a real commitment! I'll keep you updated with the changes to come at our house. Let me know if you decide to make a change at yours! Please, Please, Please, watch this film!

seeing...

Seeing what we have right in front of us, is one of the most difficult things to do isn't it? It's easy in retrospect to look back at what we should have done, or what we miss, but it's so hard to enjoy the moment. Recently I was talking to a friend and she said she heard the birds singing for the first time, that she ever remembers. Isn't that so true. We hustle around, sometimes shuffle along, looking, searching, hoping for something, that we are too busy to see... what's right in front of us. God's bounty. His Grace. His blessings that he pours upon us daily. Family, love, friendships, blue skies, fresh air, green trees, birds in the sky. Simple things. Things we all take for granted everyday..........

Lately, I've been in a bit of a funk. A bit inside my own head... not stopping to enjoy the simple things. The sweet and wonderful things that sit right in front of me. Today I woke up with a different attitude, and a bit of a new purpose. For the most part it worked. Trying hard to ignore the loud sounds, and listen harder to God's whispers. It is there where I find my peace... It is in putting my weaknesses and struggles in his hands, rather than trying to take care of everything on my own that I feel free. Letting him sit in the drivers seat is not always (ever) the easiest thing to do, but when you change that outlook from needing all of the control, to handing it over to him, is when you start really seeing.

hmmm...

Hm mm, it seems I just haven't been too into blogging lately. In actuality, I have been thinking about giving this blog of mine up. I read other blogs and they have all of these followers, and comments, and people that read, and I just can't seem to get that going here. I have problems feeling motivated - especially lately to know what to write. Life has been busy, but somewhat underwhelming lately, if that makes any sense at all. I have just been going with the flow of life, getting swept up in it's mundane parts that don't always seem to be the most pleasing. These things aren't really what I want to write about or remember here, so there in a nut shell is why I haven't been writing too much as of late.

The last month has been a bit of a challenge. Potty training is tiring, and on top of that we have been traveling. The whole family to California, which totally got the girls off their routine, and then a few days later I left for Seattle, which further upset the apple cart (so to speak). Now I'm home and just trying to get everyone back onto schedule and routine, without too many tears or melt downs along the way. Potty training is going about the same, and I'm remembering how challenging the age 3 can be. When Bella was this age I remember thinking to myself, "man 3 seems harder than 2"... I am finding it to be true all over again.

Today has been a challenging day...
Trying to keep up with a tremendously crabby, fearless, strong minded, and energetic girl, is challenging me to my very core today. Maybe I'm more tired than usual. I'm not really sure, but I feel as though someone has pulled my plug - and my battery is dead. I hate when I have no energy to be nice. It's not the mama I aspire to be, but I'm human, what can I say? Hoping that tomorrow will be brighter, and that a good nights sleep will bring me fresh new beginnings. As far as blogging goes, I'll try to come up with something more upbeat to share soon.

M.I.A.

OK, OK, I realize it's been a while... I have good excuses I promise! The last two weeks has been far busier than any in December, that's for sure! We've been potty training at our house! Yay. Finally. We are having 99% success with tinkling on the potty, but are still filling our britches with the other... yuck. Not sure which is worse, dirty diapers or dirty undies... but we are getting there. With a BIG dose of patience, and lots of love! Next was getting Christmas all torn down at the shop, which I swear is almost a bigger job than decorating for Christmas, but maybe it's just that the decorating is oh so much more fun! Then we were off to California to visit our new nephews, which by the way, are sweet, and cute, and oh so precious! Just got home, and am just getting through all of the laundry, and unpacking, to get me packed again to go to Seattle. So, just in case you were wondering, Yep, I'm still alive, just busy. I'll be back soon, I promise... maybe even with some pictures!

sometimes...

Sometimes we hear something or read something that we need to hear with more need an importance than even we know until it hits us...

This hit me right straight in the eyes right when I needed it. Maybe you need it to?

I know your deeds.

See, I have placed before you an

open door that no one can shut.

I know that you have little strength,

yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

Revelation 3:8

Simply put, bloom where you are planted.

it's a new year!

it's a new year...

a new day...

what will it bring?

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

From us to you, we hope your Christmas is Magical!

feeling sentimental...

I see trees of green,

red roses too...

I see them bloom

for me and you...

And i think to myself:

"What a wonderful world!"

I see skies of blue

and clouds of white

The bright blessed day,

the dark sacred night

And I think to my self:

"What a wonderful world!"

The colors of the rainbow

so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces

of people going by

I see friends shaking hands

saying "How do you do.

"They really say: "I love you!"

I hear babies crying

I watch them grow

They'll learn much more

than I'll ever know

And I think to myself:

"What a wonderful world!"

Yes, I think to myself:

"What a wonderful world!"

(photo by Meghann Street - Your Street Photography)

Every time I hear this Louis Armstrong song, What a Wonderful World... (which I just happen to have on the Christmas CD playing in my car right now, ) I see this photo of Meritt and Matt in my head... I just can't help it. I don't know why but I get really sentimental when I think of them as daddies girls. The line in the song that says; I hear babies cry, I watch them grow, they'll learn much more than I'll ever know... Gets me every time! There is not a day that goes by that I am not conscience of the fact that my kids are precious gifts from God. I also realize that the time goes by way too fast. This picture of daddies little girl, will soon change to a daddies girl all grown up, and heading off in her own direction. I cherish this picture. You can feel the love straight through the image!

Christmas Fun

Friday when Bella got off school for her winter break, I told her that every day that she was off of school that we would do something "fun" for Christmas. Friday night we started off by going to the craft store to collect some supplies for our Christmas crafts we will be working on this week. Then, we picked up daddy from work and went out for Chinese food for dinner.

Saturday, while Meritt was napping and Matt was working on the door to the bathroom that Meritt decided to run through, Bella and I went and did some Christmas shopping. Just her and I... we talked, shared a treat at Starbucks, got groceries for our week, and special Christmas dinner. It was nice. It's not very often her and I get to hang out any more. I miss her. She and I used to be together all the time... it's a little weird when school comes into play and that all changes! After shopping we made dinner, and had a big family meal of baked penne, garlic bread, and salad. Later, we bundled up (not too much it was pretty warm) and walked downtown to catch our horse drawn wagon, so we could go caroling through old down, and enjoy the lights. It was a great night!

Sunday, we woke up and got dressed and went to church to see the childrens program. (neither of my kiddos were in it... Bella's too shy, and Meritt's too little - but I hold out hope that some day one of my kids will be in a children's program!) The kids were so cute, and it was so fun to see the kids really get into, and understand what CHRISTmas is really about! Came home that afternoon and just spent some family time... I love those kind of days!

Last but not least... yesterday, was our annual baking day. It was so fun this year!!! Both girls could participate, and we had a great time making and eating lots of sweet things! Childhood memories are being made. I hope they look back on these memories fondly!

Now, onto today... now I'll I have to do is come up with something "fun"... no problem, fun's my middle name!

let the baking begin!

Guess what today is??

Annual Cookie Baking Day!

Let the cookie baking begin,

and the cookie eating go on and on!

Happy Monday.

silly girls make me smile!

{whatever}

I just have to share this blog that I love to read called "whatever". She's a mother of 5, a photographer, a christian, totally creative, funny, and a lot of fun. I enjoy reading her blog, seeing her photography, and seeing her creativity bloom. This morning when I checked in, she had a great post on crafts that she did with her kiddos for Christmas. She had some great ideas for things to do at home with school out, rain, and cold days. I think we are off to the craft store soon to find some supplies for some Christmas crafts of our own. I'll try to show you what we come up with! Go check Meg out, I bet you'll love her as much as I do!

Christmas in the heart...

baby whispers...

Fabulous news to share today!!! Logan went home, and Liam will be on his way soon! This picture is too sweet for words. Hope you guys do great with your first little guy home tonight!